Day 43: Music Room [Fourth Shift]

[fuzzy_diablo]

[For Kitty!]That'd been a good nap, and the conversation with Tony had reassured him a little. It was nice to regularly talk with someone who knew what he looked like without the watch. Bracelet. Whatever

Comments

[goesthruphases]

Well, one thing was for sure: The announcements seemed to get progressively worse with each one. First if was graduates and re-education and now I.R.I.S. had mentioned memory and perception modifiers. That only proved (in Kitty's mind) that avoiding the nurses was a good idea, but unfortunately doing so wouldn't be so easy this time. One of the nurses managed to sneak up behind her, and Kitty was steered away from... from... crap, she hadn't gotten his name, had she? Thankfully the woman didn't insist on conversation -- other than once again trying to encourage Kitty to make some friends -- and the teen relaxed slightly once the nurse left her side

[fuzzy_diablo]

"Hm?" Kurt opened one of his eyes when he felt the hand tapping his shoulder. Was the nurse going to tell him to turn it down? Scott had always said something about it ruining his ears before he was thirty or something with his loud music.

Once he realized who it was, though, his eyes opened wide and the music wasn't so loud anymore.

"Kitty..." he breathed, pulling the headphones off his ears. Oh no... she wasn't trapped here too, was she? Well, obviously she was, but Kurt still couldn't believe it. He looked more sorry for her than excited to see her.

"When did you get here?" he asked, sitting up and suddenly pulling her into a hug. It was a little tough going with the bandages around his arms from the burns, but he'd learned to deal with them so it wasn't too awkward.

[goesthruphases]

Kitty couldn't say what type of reaction she had expected, but she knew that wasn't it. It was mostly his expression that had her worried. The announcements had definitely been creepy, and it was certainly strange to wake up in a strange hospital, but she couldn't quite understand why he had looked like that.

The sudden hug came as a surprise too. Thankfully, though, she managed to keep her balance without accidentally phasing in the process. Somehow, she didn't think that would go over to well here. Trying to push aside the worry that was threatening to creep in, she returned the hug.

"A little while ago," she replied. "If I'd known you were here, I would've tried looking for you. But I guess that doesn't matter too much right now." It was a bit of a comfort to know she wasn't alone in this place.

She smiled as she pulled back slightly, though it quickly faded once she noticed the bandages on his arms. "Kurt, when did -- what happened?"

[fuzzy_diablo]

"Huh? Oh..." Kurt looked down at his extended arms. "Uh, burned. By another patient. He wasn't himself. Brainwashed. That sort of thing, uh, happens here.

"You said you just woke up here, though?" Kurt said, keeping himself perfectly balanced on the edge of the sofa back. He felt most comfortable when perching, for some reason. Maybe because in his mutant body, he looked a little weird all sprawled out and lying down. At least, he thought so.

Anyway, this wasn't about him. He should be more concerned with Kitty right now. It sounded like she didn't know what was going on, maybe.

"You might want to sit down," he said, gesturing to the couch. "Unless someone's already told you what's going on?"

[moral_liberty]

Kaworu did not speak much to his nurse while she led him to the music room, as had been promised. Although she was kind and asked him questions, Kaworu could not find the words. He felt weak all over, and unable to think of anything that didn't lead back to Shinji. He could still feel his hand, and hear his voice. He wondered if perhaps it would be easier if he were able to forget about Shinji, just as he had been fearing, but immediately recoiled at the thought

[cannotlogout]

The nurse had been typically patronising about his drawing when she came to get him. Awww, he'd drawn a kitty. Wasn't that cute. Tsukasa had been tempted to scrunch up the drawing and throw it away with those words, but he folded it instead, shoving it into his pocket and ignoring the nurse entirely as she led him to another room. All this being led around was really getting on his nerves.

Music assaulted him as soon as he entered the room. He smiled slightly at it, only then realising how much he missed not having background music. It was something that you just came to take for granted in The World.

He wasn't musical himself really, but he could appreciate it at least. He found a chair near to where a boy with almost the same shade hair as him was playing the keyboard skillfully. It must have taken so long to learn to play like that.

[moral_liberty]

Kaworu saw a figure approaching him out of the corner of his eye, and his playing began to slow. Soon the tune had transformed into something simpler and slower, so that he was able to glance over and smile at the boy who had sat down to listen. As he looked the Lilim over, the similarities in their hair color did not escape him. It distracted him from his heavy, overcrowded mind in a way that the music has only partially done. The song, he knew, was the one he had been focused on while waiting for Shinji not even a week ago. He feared that as soon as he stopped playing, he might have slipped back into the place where Shinji had left him.

So when Kaworu felt the familiar tug of curiosity, he latched onto it.

"A song can cleanse the soul," Kaworu said to his small audience, though as he spoke he softly stopped. He held his fingers lightly over the plastic keys. As long as he thought only about the new face before him, his mind stayed as still as his fingertips. "Would you like to play?"

[cannotlogout]

Tsukasa was a little surprised when the other boy addressed him, still a little lost in the music that he was playing. It was good, as good as any proper CDs that Tsukasa had heard, even played on a little plastic keyboard in this room. He flashed the other boy a smile though and nodded. "I guess it can," he agreed. Sometimes he'd just sit around listening to the music of The World to the point where he'd become used to having it there. That had been startling when he'd finally woken up.

He looked down at the floor when the boy offered to let him play. "Ah, I never learned how to play an instrument. You're really good though."

[poolcuemurder]

Of course, any reprieve Venom had been looking for was short lived. "Vincent! You can't stay in the library with your head stuck in your journal all day."

"Funny. I was under the impression that was what libraries were for."

Nurse, for once, did not smile. "You aren't reading anything. You're writing."

He shook his head. "Libraries are also places of study."

"Not for studying harmful ideas that just further your illness! Mr. La-" When he kept writing, she pulled the journal away, much to his annoyance. Evidently, she was immune to the aura of anger he let off. "Give me that. You'll get it back at the end of the day. This isn't going to help you

[rely_upon]

Sherry had intended to go into the Library and get herself a book, but had actually managed to fall asleep on a chair in the sun room. Besides, when she'd stepped in, some idiot had taken a bunch of the books off the shelf and rudely planted himself in the middle of them. Sherry was certain that it was not only 1) incredibly rude, but also 2) a huge, inefficient mess (her mother would've had a heart attack if she'd seen it. Annette Birkin had liked things clean). So, the little girl turned tail from the library and picked the room with the least amount of people

[poolcuemurder]

"Un pájaro, solo y triste,
vino a morir en mi huerto.
Cayó y se murió en seguía.
¡Pa vivir tan triste y solo,
mas le vale haberse muerto!
El la abandonó por otra
¡Y ella de angustia murió!
Pa desengaños de amores
no hay nada como la muerte,
que es el consuelo mayor."

He had never really learned Spanish. After all, when you were regularly in such a high position of power, you had a ready supply of translators. There wasn't a need to learn it within the Guild, or at least there wasn't a need for him to. It would be a waste of time and effort for him to learn every language when he could be focusing on something more important, especially now that it was his responsibly to ensure the Guild did not collapse as it had threatened to before

[rely_upon]

Sherry blinked at him and shrugged. "No, not really, you just seemed like you needed a headband." Blunt, as always, as ever. Was it really any wonder that she had been honest with Claire when she'd asked if she missed her parents? Honesty was the best policy, school said, but her parents didn't seem particularly enthused with that advice. They never talked about their work, and her father in particular had always been so blunt.

Children are meant to be seen and not heard, Sweetheart. Go do you homework.

The little girl blinked again and tried to smile. It was thin, and wholly unnatural, but she'd tried. "I'm Sherry," she introduced herself and put her headphones over her ears. She hadn't even looked at the CD the nurse had given her, and frowned deeply when the familiar notes of Brahm's Lullaby bled through the headphones.

"...This song is stupid," she muttered. She was used to being treated like she had some sort of intelligence! Not like some little girl.

[no_arcana]

There was a music room? That caught Souji completely off-guard; he hadn't expected a mental institute to have music in it. Of course, his hopes were promptly crushed when he realized there were no trumpets there, but... there was a next best thing. Recorders. Tinny things, not at all as good as what he liked, but they were the starting point for a lot of musicians- Souji included, rather pridefully on his part.

Regardless, he took a seat off by himself and started to play. It was a simple little melody, a lot of drawn-out notes and not as many finger changes on the recorder, but it still sounded decent enough in Souji's estimable opinion.

The problem came when he started playing something else, a tune that he had learned in music club. Normally, that would have caused his mind to drift back, to think of Ayane and the times he'd spent with her. All of the times he'd spent with her. Right now, though, there was nothing. The bond he'd formed with her had been unbreakable, or so the voices in his head had said, but... now he didn't

[foolishmessiah]

Music had always been something Minato relied on. Varied and expressive, it was an outlet for emotions that he oftentimes did not show to the outside world. If he ever felt angry, he could reflect that by changing his music and flicking the volume button. If he needed something to contemplate to, he had instrumentals on his player for those occasions. There really were no situations where music could not be helpful, at least on a personal level

[no_arcana]

For himself, Souji was broken out of his contemplative reverie by the unmistakable feeling that someone was watching him. This wasn't necessarily an unusual thing- he was used to it by now, what with being the New Kid in Inaba- but there was an undercurrent to it. It felt... odd, but at the same time, oddly familiar. Like a subtle tugging, there and yet not in a most odd way.

When he looked up, he found himself taken aback. Few people had the same shade of eye color as himself- a fact he took a little bit of pride in- but when he locked gazes with that blue-haired kid, he knew that was where the odd feeling was coming from. Now he just had to figure out why.

For now, he put the recorder on his thigh and gestured the other kid over to where he was. It was entirely possible that his invitation wouldn't be accepted, but he was certainly going to put forth the effort. Why not do so, after all?

[foolishmessiah]

So it was a mutual feeling, whatever it was that was tugging at the corner of his mind. There was some sort of link there--faint, familiar, and yet new at the same time--that made him want to talk to this boy.

At the silent invitation, Minato walked over to the north side of the room and took a seat near the other, his hands still in his pockets. It wouldn't be proper to stand over the stranger if they were going to talk.

But what were they supposed to talk about?

"Are you new?"

[the_clown_king]

Tamaki wasn't entirely surprised to see the keyboard was taken already. It was such a popular instrument! Well, he probably ought to think un-distracted.

Ritsuka had given him a great deal to think about. Was it true? Did the Clinic need him that badly? He hadn't brought it up to anyone else, not wanting to bring anyone down or impede good spirits with something like that. It was his problem and his silly angst, after all.

Well, if that was the case, he had to get things back on track! He'd re-open tonight, and hopefully everyone would be alright with a new room. Or maybe he could just try and get to his old room in time...

No, that wasn't feasible. Well, a new location would just have to be dealt with. And he'd put out a call for supplies and doctors....

Whipping out his notebook, Tamaki hunched over in a chair to begin writing out preparations.

[Free!}