Day 36: Waiting Room/Lobby 2

[notachick]

Okita hadn't been expecting it when his nurse suddenly appeared in the Game Room. He'd expected to be left alone like last week, but instead she gently took him by the arm and told him he needed to say goodbye to Kaden for now. Okita assumed it was time for his visitor and waved goodbye to him, only to be led off himself. The swordsman had

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[blurred_divide]

There was no way this could end well. There was no way this could start well. Because this was edging entirely way too close onto personal territory and the best case scenario involved Angel getting a visitor he didn't recognize at all. Someone they made up for him the same way they'd made up his name. Which he was hoping for.

How much did this place know about him, anyway? They couldn't possibly know...

Wishful thinking, probably. Damn it.

He swept his gaze briefly over the room, attention lingering for a moment over the magazines. It bothered him, how American this setup was when they were obviously elsewhere given the skewed laws of the universe. Unless something even whackier was going on. He'd have liked to say that that wasn't possible, but it...actually was.

[damned_visitors]

Brittany knew she wasn't really supposed to be here. Forget having a cow, her mother would have an entire pasture if she found out that Brittany was actually visiting her "violent, dangerous stalker." One of the up sides of living in the dorms at UC Santa Barbara, though, was that her mother never had to know. It was good to finally be 18!

Granted, Sean had hurt her pretty badly and it probably wasn't very smart to be coming here, but very few people had ever accused Brittany of being a genius. Okay, no one had ever accused Brittany of being a genius. Besides, the doctors wouldn't have let her come if it was still dangerous... right? And she had to make sure he was okay. Yeah, he was creepy, but she still felt guilty about letting things go quite this far--if she'd said something about his weird behaviour sooner, maybe he could have gotten voluntary help and wouldn't have ended up in a nuthouse.

[OOC: Please forgive me for not being as witty as Joss. ;_;]

[blurred_divide]

Maybe a part of him had expected it. He'd played enough mind games of his own and he'd sensed her before she'd walked through that door. But there were just some things that were impossible to prepare for and even if he hadn't been here, in this place, seeing Buffy would've still thrown him. It always had.

Angel blinked once, twice. Her name fell from his lips before his mind could completely catch up, quiet but startled. "Buffy?"

[damned_visitors]

Brittany rolled her eyes and plopped into a chair. "Oh, ha ha. Been in here so long you've forgotten my name, but you know it's something silly that starts with a 'B', right?" Sean's sense of humour had always been pretty lame, but if he was at least trying to make jokes that was a good sign, right? At least he hadn't tried to strangle her, muttering 'If I can't have you...' again. "You gonna sit, or do you prefer to loom for a while?"

[winged_moon]

When the nurse came to get him, cheerfully informing him that his "visitor" had arrived, Yukito had felt a sudden weight settle into the pit of his stomach. All the warnings he'd read on the bulletin board or heard from his roommate echoed in his mind as he accompanied the woman to the waiting room, drowning out her chattering about how pleasant it must be to have someone from home, how nice it was that he had friends who cared about him.

Yukito barely even noticed the others in the room when he arrived, only peripherally noting Fai's presence as he settled onto one of the chairs. Who could be coming to see him? And would they be expecting this "Alex" to be him or Yue? He closed his eyes against a wash of dizziness, hands in his lap closing into tight fists. Was he even ready to cope with something like this right now, on top of everything else?

After a long moment he finally drew in a breath and slowly opened his eyes again, focusing on the door and waiting with mingled fear and anticipation to see who would enter.

[damned_visitors]

Thomas pushed open the door, once they'd made it through all the visitor's paperwork just to get in to the place. It was a pain, but Alex needed them now that he was trying to get better. It couldn't be easy.

Lily kept trying to peek around her older brother's long legs to catch a peek at Alex. She hugged a handmade card and cookies tightly to her chest and seemed eager to be the first one to say hello.

"You're gonna make me trip you little monster," Thomas teased her, trying to look stern as they walked over to greet Alex. He wasn't sure exactly what he should say, which was at least part of the reason he'd let Lily tag along too.

Speaking of, his energetic little sister was quick to pipe up. "Alex!" she gave him a genuine smile as a blush started to color her cheeks. "We missed you! Are you doing okay?"

Thomas greeted Alex in his own way, giving the other boy a half-smile and a wave. "Hey."

[winged_moon]

They weren't real. They weren't real. They couldn't be real.

And yet they were. They had to be, nobody could imitate them so perfectly. Of all the people in the world, these were the two that Yukito knew best, sometimes better even than himself, and they were exactly as he remembered them, in appearance and mannerisms and everything.

After a moment he realized he was just staring wide-eyed at the pair and belatedly pushed to his feet, blinking rapidly to combat the tears that rose in his eyes. "It really is you," he said, a real smile slowly dawning as he looked from one to the other in turn. "Sakura-chan...Touya..."

In the back of his mind, though, he still felt Yue's suspicion and wariness, "heard" him wondering if he'd been betrayed by one master the night before only to be rejected by the other now.

[damned_visitors]

It was obvious that Lily had been expecting this place to be some kind of magical fix for the things that were wrong with Alex. When he called her by that other name, her face fell, and it was a few moments before she found a much smaller smile to replace it

[wantsyourzex]

ZEX had expected to be allowed to wander freely this shift, as he had before for visiting day, and was not at all prepared when a nurse guided him to an unfamiliar area. She explained, in that irritating, condescending way that most nurses used, that he was somehow expecting a visitor.

A visitor? Who would visit him? Visit him here?

His crew on Cerenkov, surely they'd be worried, but if they knew his location they would have staged a rescue by this point. While he had a professional relationship with Trademaster Greenish, there was no way the Melnorme would come to see him for a personal chat. There were no goods to exchange. And his Captain, he was here already...

Who would come to see him here? Could a VUX even walk in here without sparking a panic? Perhaps this was another mindgame played by the institute...

ZEX sat down in one of the chairs, puzzled and still not completely expecting his visitor to actually show up.

[damned_visitors]

But show up Dexter Favin did; after all the footwork he'd done to find out just where his former charge had been taken, he could hardly pass up the chance to see him. Still, it was...disturbing, to see the state Mr. Vyer had fallen into. Dexter didn't quite know what he had expected. It would be foolish to look for the Max he'd known for so many years, especially after one of the nurses informed him of Mr. Vyer's progress, or distinct lack thereof.

Easily hiding his distress behind a mask of professionalism (his "default expression" as Max had once called it) Dexter crossed the room and seated himself across from Max with a short nod. "Sir," he said calmly, by way of greeting.

[wantsyourzex]

ZEX still didn't believe a visitor would actually come, and when an unfamiliar human sat across from him, he assumed that perhaps they had the wrong person. They did refer to him as 'sir', as if they recognized him... but that could easily be a case of mistaken identity. The first, and only, human he'd ever met outside of this place, ever formed any kind of relationship with, had been his human Captain, and this was certainly not him.

ZEX stared at the new human blankly, one eye covered by his hand. He waited for a moment for him to move on, but it seemed he was staying in place.

"I'm sorry, do I... know you?"

[damned_visitors]

He'd been told, of course, about Mr. Vyer's delusions, his insistence on clinging to a false identity -- but Dexter had hoped, at the absolute least, to have some kind of place in the delusion, if nothing else. Not being recognized at all was a painful blow, one rather difficult even for him to conceal.

"My name is Dexter Favin, sir," he said sharper than he intended, and leaned forward slightly, studying Max's face. "And I've known you since you were sixteen. You really don't recognize me at all...?"

[dasgift]

The nurse had returned sooner than expected, cutting his conversation with Adelheid fairly short. Shorter than most exchanges he'd had since arrival, but Kristoph could hardly count that as bad. Chances of repeat encounters were higher here than in Central Prison; provided neither died, they could continue at a later date.

Besides, the woman had mentioned a visitor. It was not like him to choose passing words over a familiar face. Kristoph, of course, had read about visitations on the bulletin: how every caller seemed manipulated or brainwashed by this Head Doctor, enough to break even the stouthearted of patients. The lawyer should have no problem, given he sought information, not emotional attachment.

As directed by the nurse, Kristoph entered into the lobby, claiming one of the chairs by the entrance. Unlike other patients who seemed perplex or frightened, he remained unusually calm, as if weekly visits were protocol, not an exception.

[damned_visitors]

The minute Konrad Godfrey stepped into the room, at least three nurses could be seen turning their heads to look, and at least one of those three batted her eyelashes in his direction. He flashed a bright smile at each of them in turn, then took the chair opposite his brother's. "Guten Tag, Bruno. You certainly don't have any shortage of nice scenery here, do you?"

[dasgift]

There he was, neither off on schedule nor entrance. He even looked the same, all bright-eyed and smiling, enough to make Kristoph hesitate. If manipulation was involved in this visit, the man would have to congratulate the orchestrator. Nothing about his brother appeared different.

Except the name. That tugged at his curiosity a bit. "Guten Tag," Kristoph greeted, casually waiting to see a new name existed for that face. "The place has its visual appeal, I agree." Though, he had a feeling they were addressing two separate definitions of scenery.

He gazed up "Klavier", inspecting the young man as if concerned for his health. "You look well."

[damned_visitors]

"I can't really complain," he replied. "I've been busy between things at the firm and with the band. It's better that way, even if it does mean I'm working a lot of late nights. Oh, and don't worry, I'm not letting you down. I'm handling your cases personally, and I'm still on the winning streak I'd been on before everything." Konrad smiled.

"What about you? You look like you've gotten settled in well, which is good."

[gald_digger]

Spending the previous shift on her own had given Anise a chance to mentally prepare herself for what was to come. Even though it wasn't a big surprise when a nurse came to take her to the waiting room, Anise still felt a lump form in her throat. As much as she wanted to see a familiar face, it was still scary to think about how much this place had changed the people she loved.

Anise returned to her room briefly to drop off the journal she had been carrying around all day, now with new recipes and near-complete maps copied onto its pages. Tokunaga remained on her shoulders - she hoped whoever visited her would recognize it. They had to.

The waiting room already had quite a few people in it when Anise entered. She felt a little small in the crowd, so she opted not to sit. Instead, she stood with her hands on her hips, keeping her gaze fixed on the door.

Was it going to be her parents again? Or someone else who had disappeared? Anise wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do or say in either case. There was only one thing she did

[damned_visitors]

They knew some people didn't visit every week, but for Carmela and Grover Haze, there was no question where they would be going this Sunday. How could they not come see their precious little girl? Once they'd left the Institute last week, it was all Carmela could do to keep herself from falling apart, but Grover kept gently reminding her through the week that Sunday would come again soon.

With no way to get in touch with Dolores between visits -- not even a phone call or a letter! -- they simply had to come see her again

[gald_digger]

When she saw her parents walk through the door, Anise's gaze softened immediately. Even if this wasn't the way she wanted to see them, she felt relieved to see them safe. Were there any dangers outside of the institute to worry about? Anise wished she knew just what kind of place her parents were living in, but it would be strange to ask, wouldn't it?

Anise nodded at her mother's observations, doing her best to muster up a good smile for her parents. She thought they would be happier to see Tokunaga, but it was hard to tell if they remembered what the doll meant to Anise, and to the family. How much of their real history had been kept intact in their fake lives?

"I got them done over the field trip yesterday," she explained with one hand raised to show off the bright pink color, supposing that that subject was a little safer to comment on than Tokunaga was. Considering how she had gotten the doll back, she wasn't sure what sort of story would excuse it showing up out of nowhere

[damned_visitors]

"Oh, they told us about the field trip," Carmela said as she admired her daughter's nails. "It must have been nice to get out for a day." And, really, if they were letting her get free nail treatments, it sounded like the doctors were at least going out of their way to help her relax and unwind a little. Heaven knew she needed it. "I do wish they'd let us visit you more often, though..." Once a week wasn't nearly enough