Day 19 - Game Room

[muted_flame]

The day had been a long one. Roy groaned as he stepped into the Game Room - he hadn't even eaten at lunch, too distracted by Elena's discovery and then Greed's (and his own) outburst. A nap sounded fantastic, but he doubted his body would cooperate and actually let him sleep, as tired as he physically felt

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[clone_boy]

Something was going on.

Darman was very interested to know just what that something was

[muted_flame]

It felt so nice to be out of that horrible outfit and back into the normal Landel's uniform. Roy never thought he'd be happy to be wearing the drab clothing, but it certainly beat that skirt...

In a way, he had gotten his just desserts, considering he was so eager to get so many women into miniskirts. The alchemist mentally scoffed as he realized the irony after the fact.

He was so immersed in his chess game that he didn't notice anyone had wandered over until the man spoke up. He slowly lifted his head to regard the stranger. Hmm. Maybe Greed wouldn't come stalking him this shift, then. (Then again, he hadn't cared about barging in on his conversation with Elena and Hughes at lunch. Still, he could hope

[clone_boy]

Darman shook his head.

"I've never heard of it," said the clone. It wasn't worth mentioning that the concept of a non-lethal game had been pretty much foreign to him up till recently. "Can you show me how to play?"

Darman shifted in his seat to better get comfortable, memorizing the array of alternating squares and committing it to memory, taking in the different shapes of the pieces. One side was black, the other white, but aside from the color differences looked to be direct mirrors of each other. He wasn't quite used to the idea of playing at strategy for fun, especially since it looked like no one would be slotted for losing.

Darman supposed if this chess could teach him a new outlook on strategy, then, it probably wouldn't hurt to learn it.

[muted_flame]

Roy hadn't expected to be asked for a lesson. He tilted his head at the other man, glancing down at the chess board in consideration. "I suppose. It will take a while, though. We might not have time to get through all of it." There was nothing better to do, though. Not that many people were around yet

[class_one]

No more dress! Not that it had bothered him much in the first place, but at least his hair was back to the way it should be--instead of up and decidedly not spiky enough.

Zack stretched as he walked into the Game Room. It was a shame it wasn't a place with more couches. Curling up on one and falling asleep sounded like a great idea. As far as Cloud went, he'd probably found out everything he needed to know--but that didn't make it any easier. He knew who to blame, yes, but...

Questions kept popping into his head. What had been going through his friend's head at the time? Had he cried? Screamed? Yelled his name, called for help? What had happened to the body? What were his last words?

It was probably better that he didn't know the answers, though, which is why he'd decided not to ask Vincent. He needed to stop dwelling on it, but it was no small incident. This was his best friend--and he hadn't even been there to try and prevent it

[not_complete]

They took her crown, they took her crown! Her gold and a jewels and everything those bastards those horrid bastards they took Master's gift from her they would pay dearly

The homunculus found herself back in the gray scrubs and being pushed into another room like a sheep. Her left eye twitched in morbid thoughts of revenge, though it was thankfully hidden underneath the curtain of hair. They even had the nerve to take her from her conversation, away from the not-princess. She needed to question him and thosevacuousbastards!

Pale lips turned down in a sort of pout, eyes narrowing at the man she had been placed next to by the nervous nurse. If he knew anything…

"The blue-haired man," she started slowly, hand reaching into the other's game and taking a card, "he has stolen the Master's gift. Master Lorenzo would hate for anything to be taken from his precious little princess." She sneered, fingertips aligning themselves over the edge of the card as though to rip it in half. "I do not like it when Master is disappointed."

[class_one]

The way the nurse was steering a certain patient toward him made Zack slightly nervous. She didn't seem to have much control over what she was doing, being led instead of walking to herself.

She exuded the feeling that she wasn't all there, wasn't together, collected.

Maybe he was just analyzing a bit too much, but he didn't usually go to extreme lengths to read people, so it must have been very obvious to strike him so strongly.

As she began to speak, he found that he wasn't wrong. She was talking about things he'd never heard of, speaking names he'd never heard - most likely they had to do with where she came from. "I don't know any blue-haired men," Zack replied uselessly. If she wanted his help, there wasn't much he could do. "And hey... uhh, miss? That's my card," he said weakly, tempted to reach out to take it back from her back worried that she'd somehow lash out at him.

[not_complete]

Did not know? How could he not? He was a liar, that was what was happening. She could feel it, feel his nervousness in her bones. The maid slowly made her way around the table to face him directly before bending towards him, eyeing him silently. Black hair, lively eyes…

She hated him already.

She leaned in closer, lavender eyes trailing across features and expressions, almost as if he was an experiment. A model of emotion, not like the others she had seen. The others were empty, incomplete as her, or filled with hate. This one held remorse and sadness and she wondered briefly what exactly it was to feel such a thing. After a minute, her hand blockaded their distance with the small piece of plastic and paper she had taken, her voice letting out only a small noise of amusement to fill her previous silence.

[brilliant_azel]

Azel was ushered into the game room, going without complaint. He'd had a rather disappointing lunch and now felt somewhat ill, so he didn't feel like running around trying to track his friends down. For all their bold words, for all their promises, he'd had to face Darman alone

[perfect_meld]

The nurse had a look of pure surprise to find that her charge had gone from the nurse's costume to a pair of Landels pants. Kasady just gave her a grin. Let her figure out that magic act on her own

[brilliant_azel]

"Oh! What?" A blink at the man who had approached him. There was no recognition in his mind, seeing the other's face. Azel smiled and shook his head. "Oh, it's nothing, really. I'm fine."

It seemed he had to get used to being overlooked, except by people who wanted to hurt him or use him for their own gain. Typical behavior, considering their location. How could he ever have thought real friendships could be formed here? Wasn't everyone just waiting for their own moment?

"I don't think we've met yet." He continued, putting on a bright expression, nay eager. He was trying at least to keep on the upbeat side of things. It didn't help that certain events served to bring him down to a darker mood. "I'm Azel." The petite swordsman put out a hand.

[perfect_meld]

Their first thought was that they had messed up. He'd honestly thought this was a girl - it was probably the face and the slight build - and then the other patient opened his mouth and a decidedly not-female voice came out. Luckily they were a little bit better at acting, and that included keeping a straight face.

Well, in the end, it didn't really matter, did it? Brains were brains.

Kasady took the offered hand, returned the sunny expression with one of his own.

"We haven't. Name's Kasady. Nice to meet ya."

[lustful_thing]

Lust excused herself from Haru and Kyo when the announcement came- they would be herded off to the shower. If Kenobi wanted to continue their conversation, she wasn't difficult to find.

The bit about locking down an area of the hospital didn't escape her. What was going on? The announcement was not the usual shuffling about announcement that Lust had grown used to. It was something she'd have to look into. At any rate, she was disappointed to change back into the dull and drab clothing that was Landel's standard. She'd liked the skirt. It had been far too long since she wore anything nice.

The Game Room was littered here and there with a handful of other patients. The colonel seemed busy, and Lust didn't recognize anyone else. With her luck, she'd run into that bitch again. At least the colonel was here, in case something happened.

Ignoring the various boxes and boards about the room, Lust tucked herself into a chair and watched the door.

[repolarization]

Ginji came into the room munching on the candy he had grabbed from the cafeteria. Game.... room. It was a little confusing to him, but the taste of sugar in his mouth distracted him. He was also a little pleased that he didn't have to deal with the big hat or the huge sleeves anymore. He looked around, unsure who to talk to. His eyes widened slightly when he looked at a really pretty lady in the room.

Ginji was usually interested in cute girls, like Natsumi-chan, the high school student who worked at the cafe and and Ban liked to hang out at. They had recovered her precious memory of her mother. Still, his affection for cute didn't mean he could completely overlook elegant beauty. His interest wasn't a perverted one, he just had a small moment of awe before he went up to her.

"Uh... excuse me?" he asked, frowning slightly out of nervousness. She was even more pretty up close! "Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" He had to know if there really were monsters in this place. It wasn't that he didn't believe Sora, of course he did

[lustful_thing]

"You're new, aren't you?" Lust raised her eyebrows and chuckled. So many of them, and so many of them found their way to her. She wasn't entirely surprised, of course. Even though much of her homunculus nature had been stripped from her, she still exuded a certain air. And by this time she really did have the 'welcome to Landel's' speech memorized.

"I imagine you have many questions. Sit down and I'll tell you what I can." She waved her hand to a chair beside her, inviting the man to sit. "I'm Lust. I've been here for weeks."

As she thought of it, she realized she truly had been here almost the longest. She could only think of Kyo, besides herself, who had been there that first day and still remained. All the others seemed gone in one way or another - gone or changed.

[repolarization]

Ginji smiled and sat down. At least this pretty lady was helpful! "I'm Ginji," he said cheerfully. He always liked meeting new people, even if they could have met in a better situation. "Sora-chan told me that there are monsters in this place at night," he got right to the point, lowering his voice a bit just in case it wasn't the truth. "Are there really?"

He had encountered monstrous people before, people with amazing abilities who tore through other people without guilt, indeed even with pleasure. He had grown up in a place saturated with those kinds of people. His job often pitted him against those kinds of people. However, he had never actually seen a real monster. It was really scary to think of, but he swallowed the fear in favor of figuring out what was really going on.

Besides that, he didn't want to seem like a wuss in front of a pretty lady.

[soul_defender]

Dammit...why'd she have to look so much like Rukia...?Out of all the problems and injuries Ichigo had fought his way through, being homesick was by far the most painful and embarassing all at the same time. He just couldn't help it, though. Just when he felt like he was getting a solid grip on the situation at hand, something from home managed to light a tiny spark in his mind and remind him of all the comforting things back home he was missing. It wasn't necessarily Rukia that he missed, though, but everyone and everything. All it took was one girl, dressed in a familiar way, to make everything come crashing down

[soulofdiscord]

So many Outlanders... if anything, it was that alone which made Ling realize that she was truly not in the Empire any longer. That, combined with what she had seen during the night and what Schuldig and Lust had mentioned, were enough to make her wonder what else might be lurking around. There was so much potential here, Ling couldn't understand why so many seemed to be so afraid of this place.

...ah, right. They weren't proponents of her philosophy. That made all the difference.

That was why she wasn't intimidated at all by the scowl on the latest Outlander's face, nor by his apparent wish to make himself scarce. Rather, she sat opposite to him, a faint smile on her face. "Something is troubling you, Outlander."

Honestly, his emotions were written on his face. Just like all of the other ones; did they not learn how to maintain some dignity in the face of adversity?

[soul_defender]

Apparently, his luck still hadn't failed. Or, had it

[soulofdiscord]

A slow consideration at that, Ling's black eyes sweeping up and down the other man with a scrutinizing look. Strong, but thin... another weapon-wielder? If he had something like Mirabelle, she'd be greatly impressed. Or even if he was a half-way decent fighter; he certainly had the surly demeanor of some such men.

As for that question, she slowly shook her head. And merrily contradicted what she had said to another person, but different situations required different approaches. "No; I say what I mean, always. Something is troubling you, one needs not my talents to sense such things. Why pretend to go through niceties in a place such as this?"