DAY 45: LIBRARY

[byname_bynature]

Even before he got sick, Sean had enjoyed reading. His teachers had always said that he read 'ahead of his age group', but he figured that was just because he read more than most kids his age did. He liked everything: fantasy, science fiction, biographies, journal articles... There was just something satisfying about holding a book--something

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[mitase]

By the time he was finished with his conversation at breakfast, the only thing Hanatarou really wanted to do was hide somewhere. Therefore, the option of the library seemed like a perfect one: bookshelves would give him some cover, at the least, and a book might be a distraction. Maybe. He could hope.

There were a couple of other people already present, including Artemis and Haku, and Hanatarou paused for half a second as he wondered if he should stop and say hello to them. But...they both looked like they were busy reading, so he instead went farther back into the shelves. It was quiet back there, and he could pretend he was the only one around as he looked over the rows of books with vague curiosity. He didn't recognize these titles, but maybe there'd still be something he would want to read.

[for the bandmate]

[sitard3d]

Demyx normally wouldn't have gone to the library; he really wasn't a big reader of anything that wasn't written in the form of sheet music(and, even then, he tended to play his own songs, to which there was no sheet music unless he wrote it himself). However, while he was being guided through the hall, he spotted Hanatarou going in and he'd immediately veered in that direction. It'd been awhile since he'd had the chance to talk to the kid, and since he hadn't seen Matsuda or Ginji in a long time - he was beginning to worry that maybe they weren't around anymore - it was all the more important to touch base with the one bandmate he could keep track of, right

[mitase]

Hanatarou pulled a book from the shelf, wrinkling his nose a little at its condition; it had been read so many times that it was all but falling apart, mostly held together with several strips of tape. If anyone had treated a book like that in Soul Society they probably would've had to face the wrath of the 8th Division lieutenant well before they even reached the library again. His sympathy for it, however, promptly ended when he allowed it to fall open and caught sight of some of the text, whereupon he promptly blushed and shoved it back into place again.

It was at that point that Demyx's cheerful greeting rang out, and he gave a quiet yelp of surprise before quickly turning away from the shelf, trying to block sight of that book as he smiled a little nervously up at his...well, friend, he supposed. "H-hello, Demyx-san," he replied, twitching a little as he kept himself from bowing automatically. "I haven't seen you in a couple of days. Er. How are you?"

[sitard3d]

Fortunately for Hanatarou, nervousness due to inappropriate book selection was, to Demyx, indistinguishable from the perpetual low-grade anxiety that was Hanatarou, so the Nobody didn't think anything of the shaky greeting. "Been better," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Things have been really weird recently, you know? But I guess they could be a lot worse." After a pause, he added, "Uh, hey, I was wondering...have you seen Ginji or Matsuda around at all? I mean, besides you, they're the only bandmates I officially recruited, and I haven't seen either of them around in days...maybe a week. And I've been looking. I'm starting to get kinda worried."

[perfectrecord]

The library?! How in blazes did he arrive here? Though Dr. Fuchs was anything but displeased at this location, he was supposed to have returned to the cafeteria table, just as he had promised Ms. Jackson after excusing himself to use the men's room towards the end of breakfast. He had used the facilities, and then... he couldn't remember exactly what had happened after that

[bitpartgod]

Geeze... just when he'd been in a good mood about fixing Sechs up, Franziska had to come along and burst his bubble. The worst part was Kibitoshin knew she was probably right, and on top of it all still wanted to make sure she was okay every day. Was that Stockholm Syndrome? Hmm. Maybe he'd look it up, he decided, trailing his fingers along the self-help section of the library bookshelf

[perfectrecord]

[skdjskjd sorry for the delay. D: ]Dr. Fuchs had just settled into the dialogue between Socrates and Crito, when he caught a glimpse of motion in the periphery of his vision. He looked up in the general direction of its origin, but all he saw was a bookshelf bearing tawdry romance novels published by Harlequin. Frowning, he returned to the classical philosophical debate over the nature of justice and injustice. Though he would have preferred a more modern and less theoretical text, this appeared to be the closest material to the study of law that this library had to offer. At any rate, for his purposes of getting his mind back into proper shape for his imminent return to his career, this would certainly suffice

[bitpartgod]

[It's no problem~]

"Y-yes, sir! I'm sorry, sir!"

Not-Franziska snapped his fingers and Kibitoshin, like the well-trained Kaioshin he was, jumped. Or at least, he would have done, had the table not been hanging dangerously over his head; he just about caught himself at the last second and ducked out of the way, saving his already-bruised head the pain of another knock.

Well, there was definitely no mistaking the resemblance now. As he stumbled to his feet, dusting off his knees and fiddling with his uniform in a desperate attempt to make himself more presentable, he knew he recognised that authoritarian ring to the man's voice. And he'd been bossed around by a lot of people, so he definitely should have known. But that begged the question, just how did he and Franziska know each other? Moreover, did he really want to know? He had, after all, sworn to himself that he wasn't going to talk to Franziska herself anymore. And what if he was just as bossy and mean? Obviously, he was going to have to be subtle about th

[poolcuemurder]

Needless to say, breakfast hadn't cheered Venom up.

An introduction had almost left his lips until Nurse appeared to scold him for refusing to eat. He wasn't a child, damn it, he'd be fine... But for that stubbornness, she warned as she dragged him from the unusual company, she wouldn't let him go back to his room and retrieve his journal like he had been planning. Constantly writing down those little ideas of his all day was bad for him, she said.

He hated this woman.

His fingers were twitching at his side by the time he had gotten to the library and sat down. He felt useless. If he wasn't working, what was he doing? Nothing. He was doing nothing and he could have never imagined before how much that could wear him out. He wanted to be working. He wanted to have this figured out already and he wanted to be home. Yes, a home that felt empty, oppressive, and cold, but it was still home, still his only purpose. If he wasn't working, wasn't finding a way to destroy this establishment, he couldn't get closer to that and he would never

[constellates]

Well, unlike her dark-skinned brother in bookitude, breakfast had cheered Alkaid up. She hadn't seen Badou in a day or so, and so seeing him again had lightened her mood enough. The possibility of going to the library psyched her way out. She could spend all day in here if she had the chance! And the other day she hadn't gotten to be in here enough, so... yes! Even though Badou had called her a kid - jailbait, even (ugh, she still hated that stupid term, even if it was technically some kind of twisted compliment) - she could be happy with how things had turned out

[poolcuemurder]

Fiction, fiction... It was all fiction, no non-fiction in sight. Where were the history book, biased as they might have been? Documentaries, information of any sort about this world? Any useful resources?

It was like being in a bubble. There was nothing here, nothing related to what was on the outside world. Like all traces of even where they were had been wiped from existence to keep them from progressing...

He didn't have much more time to dwell on it, though. Alkaid... His hand tightened around the spine of a book he had been placing back into the shelf when he heard her call his name, but didn't turn to greet her. He just couldn't be left alone, could he? Just thinking of the last time they'd spoken face to face was making that anger begin boiling again, but he quickly pushed it aside. She hadn't known any bette-

...?

The Guild Head turned to look at her and the dropped pile of books, concern in his eyes (not that she could see them). Unfortunately, concern wasn't what came out of his mouth. "You're clumsy."

[dual_worlds]

Nights, it seemed, were prone to ending without him making any significant progress in their investigations. Even when disaster didn't strike, they still had to concern themselves with the limited amount of time granted to them. Spock had barely been given the opportunity to greet Kirk and Chekov before the dayshift suddenly began. Meeting at a designated rendezvous point and venturing deeper into the building would normally not have been a difficult task for three Starfleet officers, but it was clear that time was not on their side

[ran_on_empty]

By the time his nurse escorted him away the intercom came to life, signaling the end of breakfast and the beginning of their next shift. Stephen didn't mind that he wasn't able to eat his food; he doubted that he would've been able to keep it down anyway. The teen knew he had to eat eventually, however, so lunch was as good of an option as any. For now his nurse offered to take him to the library, something he consented to quite happily

[dahliahasthorns]

That was... interesting. So she didn't eat any breakfast and, because of that, didn't take any of the aspirin Geffy got for her, which in turn made her feel horrible. In both a "I feel like I just used someone for nothing again" way and a "wow, I really do have a headache" kind of way

[ran_on_empty]

In a way Stephen was surprised he could recall most of these gospels, but maybe some part of him just refused to forget. They brought a sense of familiarity, something he desperately craved for after all these years, and so he allowed himself to reminisce, if only for a little bit.

However, he was shaken from his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching, followed by a voice timidly calling for his attention. Stephen blinked, glancing up with his good eye to settle on an all-too-familiar face.

Dahlia.

That was the name she referred to when they first met, back when he'd accepted his delusions as 'Sync'. Even now he could remember their first encounter and how he used her in order to use up his time in Doytleton. In fact, hadn't she been doing the same? In retrospect, it was rather funny, and yet he couldn't remember the exact moment he'd discovered this. The only thing that came to mind was later on that night... but everything about it was so bizarre that he was embarrassed about conjuring up such a wild fantasy in the first

[dahliahasthorns]

Oh god, just hearing his voice made her flinch. Run, she told herself. Run. Run or hit 'em in the mouth. Or both. But not in that order. Her brain just kept flashing back to those nightmares. To being horrible people and using others and the deaths and the screams and the blood and and fire and

They were just dreams, Linda. You're just crazy. You're making things up. Calm down. Breathe. Breathe. Okay.

Since he offered a seat, Linda took it after some visible jittery indecision. She was wrong about her nightmares; this guy was a sweetie. Why was her brain flailing and telling her to run away? He was always so nice to her! So she gave him an awkward smile and reached over to pluck a discarded book off the table. She wasn't going to read it. She just wanted something in her hands.

Say something. "...How are you?"

[piggy_king]

Before Porky had even realized what had happened, his nurse had already escorted him from the cafeteria straight to the library. Porky had no idea why she would have dumped him here. Was it because he was old? Did "old" equal "likes books" or something to her? What's more, she positioned herself right in front of the exit, sealing off any possibility of escape. Had Porky been a bit...uh, a lot younger, he might have been able to make a break for it, but there was no chance in his current condition.

Grumbling, Porky walked off to find something that wouldn't be completely mind-numbing to read. It wasn't likely that he would find anything remotely entertaining, but hey, what else was he gonna do? At the very least, he could get a really thick book and look like a brainiac in front of the other patients. Plus, there was the chance that the book Porky chose would be interesting. In the end, it was actually a win-win situation, wasn't it?

After a few minutes of searching, Porky finally settled on a book called The Divine Comedy by some

[vsyourface]

The Library hadn't been Scott's first choice, but it was better than staying in the boring old Sun Room. And who knew? Maybe he would find a useful book or something. He'd heard good things about How to Dig Out of a Mental Hospital With Your Teeth.

Sadly, the selection at Landel's seemed to be lacking. No comic books, no useful-looking non-fiction, and no switches for secret passageways. Bummer. With nothing better to do, Scott grabbed the first small-ish book he could find - The Jungle Book - and headed over to the tables.

To his chagrin, the only spot available was across from a very, very fat man with an annoying laugh and skin that looked like it had seen better days. Here's hoping for no old man smell, thought Scott as he sat down. Before he could get started reading, however, he noticed something about the man's face that looked incredibly familiar. Probably another character he knew, he thought with some excitement. Maybe this didn't have to be a painful place to sit after all! Now who did he know that was this fat, with

[piggy_king]

So there Porky was, just happily reading about people being tortured by demons, when some punk decided that it would be a good idea to randomly shout right in Porky's ear. Normally, Porky would have just grumbled after the initial jolt and gotten back to what he had been doing, but what the boy had said...Well, Porky simply couldn't focus on reading after hearing that.

"Ah..." Porky said, trying to smile, but beginning to sweat, "Did you just call me...'Pokey?'"

It had been years since anyone had called him by that name. If Porky's memory served correctly, the last person ever to address him as Pokey had been...Ness. That wasn't the important part, however. The important part here was that this strange boy knew about Porky's past. He had been able to get by so far precisely due to the fact that no one knew his past.

Porky would have to be careful around this boy. That was for sure.

[vsyourface]

Scott was already kicking himself for not having realized before. He had seen a "Porky" posting on the bulletin board before, hadn't he? Wasn't that the other romanization of that name, the one that fit better with the information that was out for Mother 3? Auuuuuuugh, why hadn't he noticed?! What kind of Mother fan was he?!

Then, suddenly, Scott realized that his exclamation had been out loud rather than just in his head. Pokey/Porky was staring at him, a disconcerting little smile (or something like a smile) on his face. Scott was starting to sweat a little now himself. "Er . . . maybe?" he said weakly, laughing nervously.