Day 54: Recreational Field

[mustbethesuit]

And thus concluded a perfect start to a perfect day. Making him explode from every facial orifice was a totally justified response to Peter not doing anything at all.

The nurses' hearts had defrosted just enough to permit them a change of clothes and a desperately needed wipe down. Nurse Joyce - Rachel had been apologizing the whole way back to

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[razing_phoenix]

While he and Anise had only been able to hear and see so much from the Sun Room, Guy had decided that that was more than enough. "Tear gas," as a nurse had called it, wasn't a term that he had ever heard before (though he couldn't help thinking of the person he knew with that name), but it wasn't like there hadn't been similar things on Auldrant. The effects of this one seemed to be pretty severe, if the way he'd seen coughing and drooling patients being pulled out of the cafeteria by nurses was any indication

[notachick]

Since everyone was already changing, Okita had taken the opportunity to ask to return to his room. He needed his journal for notes and paper in order to give Hijikata the list the man needed, and he wanted to replace the pen he'd given away. Unfortunately, he couldn't hide it again with the nurses right there, so instead he clipped it to his journal and headed outdoors with the rest of the patient body

[razing_phoenix]

With no one around him that he knew, Guy figured it was best to keep to himself. The soldiers were already on high alert, so he wouldn't be surprised if they got upset at patients just for talking amongst themselves while the roll call was going on. The whole thing was so regimented that it was pretty tedious, especially for someone like Guy had had never officially been in any military ranks.

Still, he knew how to lay low, so this part was easy enough, at the very least. It looked like the patients who responded to their name promptly and without an attitude were then left to themselves, so...

But that was when he heard a familiar voice sound right behind him in a whisper, causing him to stand stiff-straight and clench his fists. It was a good thing that it was Okita who was responsible and not someone like Anise, though, since that really would have caused him to shriek in the middle of something that was supposed to be strict and orderly

[full_score]

Claude knew he should have had the presence of mind to get himself and Ippo out of the cafeteria at the first sign of trouble. But, if he wanted to be perfectly honest with himself, he'd never had a good sense for those kinds of things. It hadn't even occurred to him that the staff would use a chemical agent on the patients during the day. An action like that completely contradicted the image of a safe, comfortable mental hospital that they worked so hard to project to the outside world.

Well, he glumly thought as the nurse led him outside after a shower and fresh change of clothes, I sure learned my lesson...

The cold air stung his irritated eyes and lungs -- or, actually, maybe they were just stinging, period. Granted, he hadn't been sedated, so he'd at least been quick to close his eyes and clap his hands over his nose and mouth the moment he realized what was happening. There wasn't much way to avoid clouds of tear gas, though, and so now Claude just had to hope that the residual pain would clear up soon

[notachick]

He would never grow tired of sneaking up on people. It was always so interesting to see how they reacted and nearly everyone did so differently. Tatsunosuke jumped like he'd been stuck with a pin, Tetsunosuke always seemed so glad, and Guy? Well, he apparently stiffened like he felt a sword at his back, standing even further at attention. Okita couldn't help but laugh a little as he joined his roommate in line, smiling at both him and the grim-faced soldiers at once. They didn't seem too approving of the patients talking to each other, but Okita still hadn't heard his or Guy's name being called yet, so he felt safe in chatting a bit.

"Yes, we did. And was it a gas? I'm still unfamiliar with these things and..." Okita trailed off as he noted Hijikata had finished his laps and was talking with someone with a very unamused expression on his face. Then again, it was rare that Hijikata ever had any other expression on his face, come to think of it. Ah well. Turning his attention back to Guy, he said, "I'm glad to see you made

[razing_phoenix]

While Guy had only been able to watch the whole event from the Sun Room, the way the patients had reacted and the lack of visibility had made him pretty sure that it was some sort of gas. He didn't know what was in it or how it caused the reactions that it had (really, he didn't even know how bad the reactions had been, except for what he could see in the aftermath here), but he figured that the details didn't matter. The real point was that the soldiers had gone to such lengths to suppress them

[full_score]

Since people who'd already been called were free to wander around the rec field, Claude wasn't sure if he was expected to leave the formation now. On the other hand, he didn't want to stray too far from Guy and Okita, since he felt like he ought to say something to them after this morning's disaster. Though he decided to pull himself from the line, he stayed close by, waiting for the soldier to say his friends' "names

[notachick]

Guy seemed a little bit embarrassed about his name, but Okita didn't understand why. Was there something strange about it? All Western names sounded the same to him (meaning completely incomprehensible) so he didn't think much of his or Guy's names. Julian Ikeda and Dana Browne sounded just as normal and just as strange to him as any other name here.

Running up, Okita was glad to see that Claude was just as willing to talk to them as he was to talk to Claude. It had been awhile since he'd seen the blond and he always had meant to thank him for taking care of his roommate. Guy relied quite a lot on Claude as far as Okita knew, and he was grateful for that. Having someone to rely upon and trust in was important anywhere, but especially here.

"We made it out alright," Okita replied with a smile, looking Claude over. He seemed to be doing well, if a little bit worn. Perhaps he hadn't been so lucky. "Is that what it is called? Tear gas?"

[razing_phoenix]

It was only as they drew closer to Claude that Guy realized that his friend had almost definitely been caught in that gas, if the redness around his face was any indication. More than that, his tone sounded strained, which probably meant he'd been coughing a lot. Guy did what he could to not sigh; he felt guilty that he hadn't been able to get Claude out of there as well, but he didn't even know where the other blond had been sitting

[full_score]

Claude nodded in response to Okita's question. "It's a chemical that can be used to subdue riots," he explained. An apt name, too, considering it made a person gush liquid from pretty much every orifice in the face. At least now he knew for sure that Okita and Guy had managed to escape without having to deal with its nasty effects. That still didn't account for Mom or Leon, though, and he knew he'd have to try to track them down one way or another before the day was through.

At least he knew Anise had gotten out unharmed as well. When Guy asked after him, Claude scratched the side of his head. He'd been doing his best to keep a stiff upper lip abut the whole ordeal, but he probably kind of looked like a mess right then. He sure felt like one. Ugh

[notachick]

So this is what 'tear gas' looked like up close. Okita felt a little bad that he was using Claude as an example of what to avoid, but he was a little relieved to see it didn't produce any lasting consequences beyond red eyes and sniffles. The way people had been coughing in the cafeteria had been unnerving. If the Institute had a system in place to release the gas at any time now, Okita would have to be far more careful about getting involved in any daytime insurrections. "I'm glad you're alright," Okita said, quick to follow up on Guy's concern for his friend

[razing_phoenix]

If anything, the fact that Claude hadn't done anything wrong made it even worse. He shouldn't have been gassed in the first place, but it was like the soldiers had just tossed up their hands and decided to deal with the lot of them like they were berserk animals rather than intelligent people with good reason for their actions. It bothered Guy, but voicing that anger would just get him in trouble

[full_score]

"Thanks," he said to Okita with a nod. "I'm glad you guys are all right, too." The soldiers had been pretty rough with some of the patients this morning, tear gas aside. Granted, a lot of them had provoked the staff by attacking them or throwing food. But he had to wonder if there were some others who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, or who intended to stay out of it, but found themselves swept up into the fighting when they saw a friend getting shoved around. Claude wasn't so sure he could have kept to himself if they'd started beating up Ippo, after all

[notachick]

Well, that was odd. Okita listened not just to what his two friends were saying, but also what they were doing. He couldn't help but notice things about people since his life depended on being able to read even the smallest of signs. The twitch of a finger, the shift of one's weight, even the simple act of changing one's focus away from one thing to another could all signal an attack. Which was why he perked up when he saw Guy shift his gaze away from Claude. Claude himself seemed to be looking at Guy, so why not the other way around

[razing_phoenix]

Guy's thoughts about the food fight were more or less the same as Claude's. He could understand the basic idea behind it, but getting into an uproar when there were unknown factors involved and when even more people were watching them just didn't make sense. It had been guaranteed that they'd end up in some sort of serious trouble, and things had turned out even worse that most had probably imagined

[full_score]

Claude had been prepared to talk more about the mysterious visitor and what it could mean for the institute. That was why, like Guy, Okita's question caught him off guard. He, too, lapsed into silence for a moment, considering how he ought to answer. Unconsciously rubbing the back of his neck, he glanced over at Guy as his friend explained that they chose not to go out last night. He felt kind of sheepish to admit that they hadn't explored like most people did, but that didn't change the fact that they'd really needed to take some time to sort through things.

"Yeah," he said with a nod before giving a shrug. "I mean...well, you know how it is. With the staff breathing down your back during the day, sometimes it's better to discuss stuff at night."

That was probably oversimplifying the issue, but Claude didn't want to go into details about their shadows' appearance and needing to sort through their personal baggage with each other as a result. Hopefully, his explanation said just enough while still staying reasonably vague.