Day 50: Courtyard

[hasnomeaning]

Again, there were choices. After leaving the child and the animal, Rei had followed again. When prompted where she wanted to spend time, the pilot had no preference. If they wished her to do something, they would place it before her. If they left her with options, she would take the ones they did not want. So her response was minimal, and so the

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[thatmaskedchick]

Ruby didn’t know what to think about her little visitor. Obviously, the child had been their answer to Lilith, but why had they chosen her, specifically? Out of everyone that they could have sent her, the evil grade schooler was a little much. Then again, a lot of crazy people believed they got their marching orders from the TV or Jodie Foster. An insane woman thinking that her bratty niece was Lucifer’s First wasn’t too much of a logical leap. And yet…why? Why had she been chosen? Ruby had thought she’d been pretty good about keeping her head down, hadn’t attracted any unnecessary attention to herself in the few days she’d been here. Honestly, getting a visitor hadn’t even been something that crossed her mind, and she was regretting it. Lily-or-Lilith or whoever she was supposed to be in this messed up version of reality, had left Ruby shaken, just a little bit. It meant that they knew. If they hadn’t known the end game that was about to go down, the seals that were about to be broken and for what true purpose,

[allroadslead]

It was probably about time Sam looked for Ruby, especially given what had happened last night. He wanted to know what she knew before he talked to Dean tonight.

Had she ended up with a visitor? He couldn't imagine who would visit Ruby, but then again, he hadn't expected a complete stranger to show up for him, either. It was entirely possible Ruby had had the same thing. And what about Dean

[thatmaskedchick]

Ruby looked up when she heard someone approaching. Enter the jolly green giant. She gave him a brief smile, partly out of force of habit, and finally sat at the bench, indicating that Sam might want to do the same. If they were going to have a long, serious talk they might as well be comfortable. “Yeah,” she said, a little distractedly. “Wound up in a ballroom that looked like it belonged in a Disney movie.” And yet, that didn’t seem quite as important as it had earlier. Sure, there was still the what the hell factor, but it was slightly less pressing than the possible visit by a Lilith clone.

Which Sam might want to know about. In fact, she could use it to her advantage; Lilith was one scary bitch and having the threat of her presence in this place looming over their heads might make give them some incentive to get the apocalypse show on the road. Having someone press the reset button on Dean’s memories by a couple of years had sort of put a damper on things. Sam was obsessed with saving him again, rather than

[allroadslead]

Sam brushed off a wet leaf stuck to the bench before sitting down. After everything he'd heard, a ballroom didn't seem that out there, but he'd barely had time to process even that much before Ruby sidelined him with-

He snapped his head up, startled. Did she just-did she say-? What?

"What?"

That couldn't be right. It had to be a trick. Didn't it? Why would Lilith be here? They'd already established that this wasn't the work of demons, and Sam couldn't imagine Lilith having anything to do with this place, certainly not as an indirect party.

Jesus, his head was gonna explode. "Ruby, that doesn't add up. You're sure it was her?"

Normally, he'd say Ruby would've been able to tell the difference between Lilith and a decoy, but the institute put a lot of those certainties up in the air. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. Except that they knew. About Lilith, that was. Whether she was real or a fake, it didn't matter. They knew. Not exactly a surprise, of course, but it unsettled him regardless, these things which were so personal to

[she_is_ruin]

[For Homura.]

Her talk with Mele may not have amounted to much, but their little walk had revealed Homura and Okita, absorbed in heavy conversation. She’d given them a cursory glance at the time, letting their private business remain private, and moved on.

Now that the whistle had been blown, she was waiting to see if they would both head inside with the rest of the prisoners, or if one of the two would stay. Yomi brushed off her own nurse’s suggestions about trying out another area, leaving her alone under the trees once the woman retreated back to the fringe. Truthfully, King Kong wasn’t any more attractive an option than it had been the first time. Whether or not Homura lingered to keep their date, Yomi would probably stay where she was. Even a creature like her could want to see the sky over a white-washed ceiling.

(How cracked she would’ve grown, had that become her fate instead. Suffocated. A decaying hospital flower for the rest of her life.Yomi leaned back against a tree trunk, one ankle crossed over the other. Landel had

[screwthegods]

No nurse came for him; after he'd parted ways with Okita, Homura had watched members of the staff escort certain patients inside. Not one approached him, and that meant that another week would pass before he saw Rinrei, or Lily, as this prison had made her believe. Perhaps his belief in the reality of her existence had convinced Landel a return wasn't necessary. Everything this prison forced them to endure had a purpose; Homura couldn't believe otherwise, given his experience. Inspiring conviction like Homura's might be the true reason for the visitors, making further calls unnecessary

[she_is_ruin]

Her eyes had been on the ash-colored clouds when she’d felt an approaching presence, and when it continued toward her, she assumed it was an innocuous caller, like most company turned out to be. She didn’t look over until the footsteps stopped.

Ah. Yes.

Pushing herself away from the trunk, she turned around to face him. "Right," she said needlessly. Although her eyes were on his face, she could see that his earlier companion was no longer nearby. A one-on-one chat, then, hm? "I thought it was a good time, now that I’m taking on assignments and us having been together on one. Even just to formally meet. Though that might not be something you do normally, I don’t know. Is it pretentious?"

[screwthegods]

"Not always, I'm afraid." When it came to the History Club, Homura met most of its membership in the same way he'd met Hayashi: through assignments at night. The day was filled with planning more often than not, to give focus to action when the patients were free to move. No one needed to be imprisoned for long to understand how fleeting their freedom was, after all. "Though I wouldn't consider it pretentious, given our positions. Loyalty rarely comes without question, as it should be."

And after his impressions the night before, he suspected Hayashi's loyalty might be hard to come by. That likely was due to her difficult-to-read presence, however. Homura hadn't quite gotten a grasp on her tells just yet, and so this meeting would serve to his advantage as well. "Did you wish to know anything in particular?"

[divinebrushwork]

[From here]Morning had come and gone, yet there was still no sign of Oki or Issun anywhere. The doodle Amaterasu had left at the bulletin board had not yet received any helpful information (though she had managed to find a notice for the Cake Club, which she replied to in her own way). With the monstrous amount of food she had eaten still digesting in her belly, Amaterasu had once again been guided by her nurse to another location

[laguz_decoy]

As he stepped out into, what had to have been, the most pleasant weather he'd experienced since he arrived at the Institute, Ranulf stepped out of the path of other patients exiting into the Courtyard and paused for a moment. Closing both eyes and inhaling deeply through his nostrils, he smiled contentedly. Being outside was something he'd needed and if he kept his eyes closed long enough it was almost as if he were back in the home-forests of Gallia. Almost.Opening his eyes, he exhaled slowly through his mouth and smirked as he sneaked a side-look at the patrolling nurses and orderlies stationed around the Courtyard. Nurse Flo had tried to steer him toward the Sun Room. After being very uncooperative with her, she'd given up and escorted him to the Courtyard, warning him that he'd be lucky to see it ever again if he resumed his activity of fishing in the nearby pond. He'd responded with a look of "Who, me?" which only exasperated her more as she stomped back toward the building, muttering odd words like "salary" and "college

[divinebrushwork]

A friendly voice interrupted her thoughts and Amaterasu was forced to divert her eyes away from the rest of the courtyard. There was a very peculiar young man standing beside her now and just by looking at him, she could tell he was different from the other individuals she had met at the institute

[laguz_decoy]

Ranulf kept his smile intact and forcefully kept his his eyebrows from raising as the girl spoke to him. Her stammering reminded him a lot of Mordecai and the other laguz in Gallia attempting to learn the beorc language. There was no way this girl originated in a beorc body. If he hadn't been raised in such an environment, he doubt he would've come to this conclusion so quickly. Well... conclusion was hardly the word to use. It was only a theory.

When she was done speaking, he couldn't stop his face from falling a bit. He'd never heard of anyone named "Issun" or "Oki", though they seemed to have the same language origin as Tsubaki. Perhaps Tsubaki knew this girl's friends? He'd save this information for later, but first Ranulf had a few questions he was inquiring to know.

"Your friends? What do they look like?"

[finalwitch]

The last hour passed in leisurely strides, albeit none of it proved useful. The game room held nothing but incidentals and the occasional interest, and every single object required two or more participants. Eventually, she had the nurse escort her to the courtyard. If nothing was to come out of the afternoon, Ange might as well take a solitary stroll.

She started on the paved walkway, her eyes staring nonchalantly at the clear sky. Her thoughts briefly flitted to Jonah and that damning talk of theirs, and the girl wondered if anything would come of it. Telling the masses might not work so well while the idea of an investigation proved desirable, it generate too many distractions. She needed to fulfill other obligations first. Gaining clarity could be done at another time.

Sighing, Ange paused and gave the road an annoyed tap with her feet.

[Come to me, Yukari.]

[whichwayagain]

[ From here, after visitors, waiting for Badou.]Seeing them go had been all Mihai could manage before he began to suffocate. Being there, a prisoner, with the life he'd dreamed of dangled in front of his face like bait: it was all too much, and when his nurse asked where he wanted to go for the remaining time in the shift, all Mihai could mutter was "Outside