Dayshift 43: Library, third shift

[bitpartgod]

Kibitoshin left the cafeteria in what could only have been described as a state of sheer, unleaded anxiety. Why did he have to be the one Dory had spoken to first? With everything he’d said and failed to say she’d probably ended up with a reverse education. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she came out of it knowing even less than she had when

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[ruthless_hunter]

This was interesting. Apparently he was free to go where he wanted today. He considered his options, before he decided to check out the library. He hadn't been in there yet, and perhaps it would contain some useful datapads.

As soon as he was left on his own and went over to the shelves, Lockdown got something of a surprise. There were no datapads. The shelves were lined with cardboard rectangles with words (which he guessed were the titles) on them. Just what kind of library was this

[brooklynisangry]

Beelzemon argued with the human about getting pulled away from Renamon. He didn't want to leave his friend! But the lady wasn't giving up, and he didn't want to get 'sedated' again. He was only just getting over the first one!

...But seriously, why'd she have to drag him here? What exactly was he going to do with books?! He glowered at the human as she left, then looked around to see if Loz was there. He wasn't, but... There was a guy with weird marks on his face. He'd never seen a human that looked like that before. And Renamon had marks on her face too! Maybe this guy was one of them!

"Hey!" He said, totally shattering the general rule of 'when in a library, stay quiet' "Are you a Digimon?"

[ruthless_hunter]

Lockdown looked up from the book he was skimming through (some story or account called 'Christine' about a car that killed people, which he actually kind of enjoyed) at the young man who had just approached him, his face blank, but still a little grim.

This was one of the stranger looking humans. Like himself, the man was tattooed, although his was a single human-optic on his forehead. Lockdown also noticed the pointed teeth.

"No," The bounty hunter stated. "What the frag is a Digimon?"

[brooklynisangry]

"Aww nuts." Just another human that looked weird. And didn't know what a Digimon was. "Sheesh, what's wrong with this place... Digimon's short for Digital Monster. We get made outta data in the Digital World an' 'f yer lucky, can get ta the Real World too. An' it's a helluva lot nicer bein' a Digimon than a human, I can tell ya that," he grumbled, feeling like his tail should be twitching right now, but it wasn't there. Aaaaugh he hated not having his tail. Or the third eye. Or, y'know, his guns.

[slipperymagic]

If Howl had been convinced of anything, it was that he needed to remove himself from this place as soon as possible. The lack of showers was no small part of his decision, but the growing dread of what was reported to happen at night was steadily overcoming his vanity. Whether or not it was true (and he was desperately trying to convince himself it was not), he didn't want to stick around any longer to find out. If it were not true, then he could leave these people here with a clean conscience. However, if the stories of zombies, monsters and kidnappings had merit

[quarter_english]

L's conversation with Lunge left him with a lot to think about, and he had decided to ask to be escorted from the sun room to the library based on the possibility that there might be something there of interest, or someone new and of a thoughtful bent to talk to.

He doubted that the library would offer any direct link to the location of the patient files. Even so, getting the lay of the land, a systematic idea of the contents of other rooms, would prove helpful in the long run -- and since his own movements were so curtailed, this would be as good a place as any to start.

As he approached a corner, wandering through the stacks, he heard someone mutter, "Useless," in a sour tone, then the sound of a book being pulled from a shelf.

He watched the dark-haired man, who he'd noticed earlier, with interest, and decided to fully round the corner to speak to him.

"You are looking for something useful? How would you define the term?"

[slipperymagic]

Howl hadn't expected anyone to strike up a conversation with him, but that was the risk you ran when talking to yourself in a public place. He looked over his shoulder at the young man who had approached him. The first thing he noticed, beyond the wild mop of hair, was that it didn't appear as though he had slept in a week or two. The bags under his eyes were considerable.

"Something that applies to my current thread of interest," he said with a sigh. Howl sounded less sour and more just exasperated at this point. "All of the books in this pitiful excuse for a library have been designed for the purpose of entertainment. A high concentration of classic fiction," he replaced a book in one of the shelves with a thunk for emphasis, "with a bit of nonsense on the side."

[quarter_english]

L fixed his stare on Howl, staying a few feet away. There was no way to know what a new acquaintance might be capable of, and squatting on the floor next to Howl would put L at a physical disadvantage in case of a fight.

"What is your current thread of interest? The esoteric?" He eyed the stack of books. "It might be possible to discern some kind of pattern in the books that have been selected for the patients here... apart from the pattern you already mentioned, that is." His tone was courteous enough, but there was an odd flatness to it.

Inside his slippers, he flexed his toes.

[mister_fine]

[Poking Kibitoshin a bit, if you don't mind!]Apollo was sort of glad when the shift change came, although it was a little frustrating when the nurse insisted he tear himself away from the bulletin long enough to go relax somewhere

[bitpartgod]

Kibitoshin didn't look up. The pages fell open at a strange black and white illustration of Alice being attacked by what looked like a set of armed cards. Card guards, maybe...? "Uh-huh. Well, not exactly, the plot still seems a little contriv-"

Wait a minute.

"A-Apollo!" The book nearly hit the ceiling but Kibitoshin barely noticed. "It's you!" Immediately forgetting everthing he knew about normal library etiquette, he leapt to his feet to get a better look at the young man. Hmm. Even when checked from every available angle he didn't look badly injured, but maybe the serious bandages were under his clothes? Well, whatever, it didn't matter. So long as he was well enough to walk, that was good enough for him.

Satisfied with his makeshift examination, the concern in his face gave way to a sunny, relieved smile. "I'm so glad you're okay! I was really worried last night!"

[mister_fine]

Apollo jumped at the outburst, eyes briefly following the book as it flew into the air. He was caught somewhere between feeling shocked that it'd gotten thrown so high and impressed that he'd apparently done it without even trying. Now that took talent.

Still, it was kind of nice to see someone so excited to see him -- heartwarming, even, especially since they'd already gotten in touch over the bulletin board earlier today. Apollo couldn't stop himself from smiling as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I could say the same thing about you!" the lawyer replied, and he genuinely meant it. He was pretty sure he'd seen him in the Tasty Burger at some point yesterday, but once night had fallen, Apollo had lost track of where everyone had gone. The fact Kibitoshin had been injured to start with hadn't made him worry any less.

He really did owe him for his valiant attempts to help him and Ms. Hawthorne during that time in the entry room. (Really, he was starting to owe a few people for things like that.) After some of his research on

[feartehreaper]

[Hope this is okay, lol.]

Haseo had initially chosen to visit the recreational field, where the weather was chill, the air was fresh, and there was enough area to just run without the risk of smashing into another "patient" or one of the infernal nurses. Ryou didn't really make a habit of too much exercise or anything, but if he was going to be running around in Haseo's body he was going to have to take measures just in case the being in abnormally good shape didn't stick around indefinitely. Plus, he lived in an apartment in the city, so it wasn't particularly often that he got that kind of chance. Even if it had pretty much been like that in town too, but after last night....

Anyway, the Adept Rogue intended to put full use to the concept of "free time," and so after only a few laps around the field he opted for coming back inside. For now, he stifled a false yawn as he was "kindly" led into the library, using the gesture to stay focused on remaining calm despite the staff's utter idiocy.

-- Books. Huh.Haseo definitely wasn't

[razing_phoenix]

All things considered, Guy's talk with Asch had gone pretty well. Better than expected, at least. It meant that he was going to have to track down both Jade and Anise to talk to tomorrow, though. He didn't think there would be time to organize a meet-up today, and he wasn't comfortable talking about something like this over the bulletin board. Even if they used Ancient Ispanian, Asch would still be able to read it

[timeleaper]

Ronixis had slept late for once, but he doubted that anyone could blame him for that after the night that he'd had. He was worried about Claude and Guy though. The look on both of their faces after Claude had... well, it was something to be concerned about. They didn't know anything about this infection and how it could spread. How fast? How long would it be contagious for? Was there a cure? They just didn't know. People seemed to be unaffected this morning at least, so perhaps there was some kind of vaccine which the nurses had access to.

The library seemed like a good place to go for some contemplation, and it was only by chance that he spotted Guy in the room. He hesitated for a moment before heading over towards the younger man, giving him a reassuring smile. "Hello. How are you feeling today?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

[razing_phoenix]

So it wasn't Claude, but it was probably the closest he was going to get here. Actually, Guy didn't know that for sure, seeing how children were often very different from their parents. He didn't know Ronixis well enough to judge either way, although the fact that he'd made the effort to check up on him despite any possible awkwardness already made it seem like Claude took after the man at least a little

[timeleaper]

Ronixis nodded solemnly at Guy's words, not finding them reassuring in the slightest. So Guy was worried that it would return as well. It was a reasonable fear and it left a bad taste in Ronixis's mouth. "Waiting is all that we can do then," he said seriously. He couldn't even help and if it hadn't been such a terrible place, he would have wished for Milly's presence. She was a healer and could do more for Claude and Guy than he would be able to in this matter. "If you or Claude need anything for tonight, let me know and I'll see what I can do," he continued with absolute sincerity.

But it was easy to see that Guy didn't really want to discuss it. Ronixis couldn't blame him for that one bit. "I feel I should introduce myself properly since last night didn't leave much time for that kind of thing. Ronixis J. Kenni for the Earth Federation."

[forgot_it_all]

Tamaki seemed to be doing well. At seeing that he hadn't just forgotten Ritsuka had...really helped. He'd worried when the guy just disappeared and hadn't responded to his notes, but Ritsuka supposed not everyone watched the bulletin board and maybe that was why. At any rate, he felt better, a little bit, and since he was feeling better, he went to the library.

Soubi was still a problem, but he didn't think the Fighter would follow him in here. Until it was time for that ridiculous 'playdate' or whatever it was that Soubi had planned, Ritsuka had a little bit of time to himself. And whenever the boy had time to himself? It was time to read.

Despite only being here for a few weeks, the selection of books he hadn't read was growing smaller and smaller. Which meant he'd soon have to turn to utter trash or start rereading what he'd already read. For now, however, he turned to one book in particular that he'd always meant to read and yet never had the time for. War and Peace was a bit heavier than he expected, but he held it

[deadlynoble]

What information Ciel had gathered thus far didn't yet seem to be adequate. There were still too many holes, still too many unanswered questions, and the mysteries were compiling. Where were those monsters being stored during the daytime? And for what purpose did this Doyleton exist

[forgot_it_all]

Why couldn't be concentrate? Maybe it was the book's themes that were getting to him, or maybe it was simply the fact that he was tired. The night hadn't exactly been easy on him, or anyone else, but he should have been able to get over it. Realizing that he'd read the same paragraph twice, Ritsuka lowered the book and sat back, rubbing his eyes with one hand - only to have an unwelcome image float up in the back of his mind. Blackened bodies burning in piles on the stairs - the sound of them screaming as their flesh curled beneath the flames. Even if they were undead, the smell had--

Someone was watching him. Ritsuka lowered his hand and caught sight of a boy not much older than he was, regarding him carefully, as if studying him for some reason. If he still had his ears, they'd be flattened against his head right about now. What was this kid's problem? Hadn't he ever seen someone reading Tolstoy before?

"...what? You wanted it?" he called out, careful to keep his voice low so as not to disturb the other patients.

[deadlynoble]

Ah... and one with a sour attitude. Definitely a child. Though Ciel refused to associate himself with being that petulant. He'd only been silently regarding the book, which made that sort of response entirely unnecessary. Ignoring the urge to react with a bristled comment of his own, Ciel reminded himself profusely that he had a role to play here. He had to carry it through, no matter how much these sort of things easily grated on his nerves.

Plastering on a friendly smile -of which he had done far too much today already and was guaranteed to make his facial muscles sore-, Ciel approached the younger boy curiously. Again, he wasn't one to discredit even someone his age from giving him necessary information, though he had to swat away the insistent voice in his head that sounded like Sebastian, reminding him why he should attempt to befriend others in the institute.

"I couldn't help noticing you were reading such an advanced book," he said softly, "wow, you must be really intelligent!"