Day 51: Arts and Crafts [Second Shift]

[gald_digger]

They actually listened to some of the suggestions people put in that box? Anise thought the Head Doctor had to be joking when he said that, but she soon heard him mention something that she herself had suggested: sewing supplies. They were really going to get some? Anise could finally get a real needle, so she could make repairs to Tokunaga

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[moral_liberty]

The woman sat him down at a table, and slid the box of instruments towards him. There was already paper set in front of him. Kaworu reached into the tangled collection of markers, and came out with an orange one. He had seen it clearly through the plastic wall. It was a color that did not come alone. It carried memories, but before those images would come to him, they would be preceded by emotions. He would see the impact of the events before he could recall details. This color first came to him as familiar, but also dark. He expected to smell blood, and not the sting of alcohol when he removed the cap

[sangouki]

Fumbling would be a good adjective as to how Toji left the cafeteria. He had a kind of fatigued scowl his entire way to the Arts and Crafts Room, though his expression didn't hold much gusto; the nurse merely had to shove him in the right direction and he'd follow along.

More than once he felt like kicking his foot in aggravation: he actually did, once, on his way out of the cafeteria. When he realized he kind of needed that leg stapled to the ground, and he fell back ass-first onto the cold, hard floor, something clicked in his mind that said that foot-kicking as a bad idea. After the nurse helped get Toji back onto his foot, the two continued in silence. An awkward, unwarranted kind of silence, where one party wasn't at all inclined to say anything, and the other party was paid and trained to, but didn't necessarily want to

[avengingfists]

Just thinking how someone may have cleaned her body while she was unconscious made Ilia squirm. How could they do something like that to her without asking first? But it didn't help to dwell on it now, not when she had enough already to deal with in this crazed facility. This human zoo, as Leela had called it. Ilia hadn't appreciated how her nurse had led her away from Leela without offering any further explanation than "breakfast is over." She had gained some great information, but she still had questions. She could only hope the next patient she stumbled upon would be just as open and helpful

[gald_digger]

When someone sat down nearby, Anise looked up curiously from her book. It was a woman, fairly young, watching her with a smile. When she spoke, her voice was gentle and... almost motherly, in a way.

It wasn't so strange for people to act that way around Anise. She probably looked so cute and helpless, they couldn't help but want to come to her rescue! Anise wasn't about to correct them by insisting she was capable, so she usually just basked in the attention it got her. Like now.

"It's Anise!" she replied cheerfully, grinning up at the woman. She set the book down on the table, leaving it open to the page explaining how to make the rabbits. Maybe she'd give that one a try, but for the moment she was going to be polite and give Ilia most of her attention. She studied the woman briefly, then went on to say, "I don't think I've seen you around. Have you been here long?" Anise had been here a pretty long time herself, so she liked to think that she could recognize most veteran patients at a glance, even if she didn't know who they all

[avengingfists]

What a darling smile and such beautiful, brown eyes. Anise didn't seem nearly as down about their situation as Leela had, but perhaps she was unaware of the gravity of their situation. In fact, Ilia hoped she was. An innocent young child shouldn't be worrying about being observed and held captive by mad scientists or whoever it was that controlled this place.

"Anise. That's such a pretty name." Ilia found herself relaxing a bit, forgetting for a moment where she was and focusing on the company she kept. "Not long, actually. The nurse said I was brought in last night, but I don't remember that. I just woke up here this morning." She shrugged. "How long have you been here?"

She turned her attention to the page Anise had left open. Rabbits. Cute, fluffy little animals certainly suited little kids. The design for the rabbit didn't look too difficult, so she expected Anise to have no problem in making one. It had been years since Ilia had tried her hand at origami. She wondered if she could still make frogs from memory.

[gald_digger]

"Eheh. You think so?" Anise beamed at the compliment. Being trapped in Landel's Institute, with both obnoxious staff members and brainwashed loved ones trying to convince her she was someone else, Anise treasured her name more than ever before. It was the name Mama gave her. She was going to hold on to it, no matter what!

Ilia was new here, then. That sucked for her. There was a lot of information that new patients needed to learn in order to be as safe as possible here - and not all of it was easy to believe. "I've been here for..." Somewhat absently, the girl lifted her hand - the one with bandages over the palm - and seemed to be counting something on her fingers. "...about three weeks now." Going on four. She'd been on four field trips to Doyleton, and had been here for four visitor shifts... It was kind of depressing.

"Three weeks is a pretty long time here," considering most patients didn't seem to last even one week, "so if there's anything you want to ask, don't hold back!" But it wouldn't hurt to try out those paper crafts

[bodhiandspirit]

Following Riku's advice from the previous day, Rita had posted a note on the bulletin board, asking for maps in a somewhat vague (though fairly obvious) way. When she returned from breakfast, someone had replied. It looked like this method of acquiring information was effective after all

[antiheroed]

It wasn't that his talk with Rei was completely effective, but he hadn't minded having someone who would toss questions back and forth. He wasn't sure if he'd ever see her again, but he decided he'd try. Some part of him wondered how a girl like her would handle this place. It hadn't occurred to him when he was caught up in communicating with her in that clipped way, but the moment he was pulled away, the thought occurred to him. The same way it had with Shinji, actually.

Of course, he hadn't talked to that guy since his first day. Maybe it was time he finally followed up on it.

Riku considered heading to the Sun Room to do just that, but his nurse came and cut him off, placing both hands on his shoulders as a bright smile lit up her face. "You've just got to show us what kind of artist you are!" Her voice sounded a little too shrill for his tastes, but he allowed her to turn him in the direction of the Arts and Crafts room. Right. Great. Just what he wanted to do

[bodhiandspirit]

Rita looked up when someone seated himself at her table, and was somewhat relieved to see it was Riku. For a moment, she thought the nurse might have come back to harass her some more.

She scoffed a bit at his question. "Aside from being a complete disaster?" Virtually nothing had gone right last night. She still didn't know where the hell she had gone. The area around the lake was considerably colder than the institute, which could have been due to a difference in altitude, though it could also mean that she had traveled somewhere significantly far from the building.

When she thought about it, Rita realized it would be best to discuss her findings with other patients. This wasn't something that she could figure out just by thinking about it.

"... Do you know where the nearest body of water is?" she asked after a long pause. Riku might not have claimed to know much, but he had been on the field trip, which meant he had at least seen the scenery along the road to Doyleton.

[antiheroed]

"Sounds like normal," he remarked. "None of my nights have gone as planned. At least last night, we didn't run into anything." Which was a relief, he had to admit. His voice was a lot lighter than it had been the previous day, when every interaction was met with a certain level of frustration. He could act at ease about it now, especially since he had a plan and he was involved in Sora's club. Funny that it turned out that way, but he knew he and his friends needed to do something more active here. Maybe the club they were taking over would make that possible.

As for her question, he left it aside until he thought about it. A body of water? He hadn't heard of anything like that, but he realized he'd been distracted both ways from Doyleton. Maybe his problem was not looking into the scenery well enough. "I don't have any idea. Why? Do you?" It meant she knew something that he didn't. That could only be a good thing.

[jouer_sans_voir]

The routine of the intercom announcements prompting the supposed patients on to their next activity was starting to become a familiar one, and Nunnally usually found little of interest in what Dr. Landel had to say. The nurses would insist upon whatever activity had been chosen, and she would go, and in the meantime wish that she had more choice in the matter or, even better, could return home. She made no protest, of course, and often was praised by the staff for how cooperative she was, but... the fact that she was patient and disliked confrontation hardly meant that she enjoyed the routine.

Today, however, at this announcement she visibly brightened and almost even outpaced her nurse on the way to the Arts and Crafts room. Today's activity was origami? And with instruction on how to create figures that she didn't know? Now that she could see the various origami figures with her eyes rather than her fingers she especially wished to try it for herself, and see what she could make other than a simple crane

[herr_inspektor]

[aaand from here]

"Really, Mr. Jung. You can't just sit in here all day like you always do. Why don't you try and get the most out of the activities on offer, hmm?"

Lunge's expression remained glassy. There was, admittedly, little point in waiting around while so many people were in the showers (possible implication: the patients involved in the 'meeting' are possibly adults/ >18?), and the chance of his presence putting anyone off answering was still there. Besides. He had other objectives he needed to chase up. But even if he couldn't think of a way to justify moving, he was in no position to argue. It wasn't long before he found himself whisked off to the arts and crafts room

[jouer_sans_voir]

Though the book had diagrams and pictures of what each step was supposed to look like, Nunnally found it wasn't nearly as easy to follow them as it had been to learn from Sayoko's patient guidance. She could see the paper now, certainly, and make the folds with more confidence that they were straight, but the instructions she was to follow seemed oddly cryptic. Or perhaps she was supposed to know what squash folds and petal folds were before opening this book

[herr_inspektor]

There. "Thank you." Lunge nodded and gave an appreciative smile before taking a seat on the other side of the table- a nice, non-threatening distance, but directly opposite her nonetheless. He wanted to be able to watch her face. The question was now one of how to broach the subject of her brother, if at all- he didn't want to push his luck, but he wasn't entirely convinced that his interest in Lelouch ran so deeply that he would be willing to spend more than a shift pursuing leads on him. He had to prioritise, after all

[see_my_back]

Sure enough, Naruto was right where he said he'd be. That in itself was a relief. With how little she'd seen him before he'd been released, it was good that he was feeling well enough to be out and around again. But his methods were so... typically Naruto that it was probably best to get him some solid plans before he hurt himself.

She took a seat at his table, giving him a friendly smile, "morning."

[see_my_back]

That dorky smile. Geez, like things were so great! But once again, it did leave her feeling at ease, even if she'd never admit it out loud. There was something about him that just made her want to try harder.

"It was this or the Sun Room. At least they have supplies in here and there's not so many people," she explained, giving the nearest nurse a rather pointed look before glancing back at the table.

"Let's get right into it," she added, setting her notebook on the table as well as if to emphasize her point. "It doesn't look like the direct approach is gonna work so well here. Escape is right out, I don't think any of this will stop unless we stop whoever is pulling the strings. I have some maps so we should really decide where the people in charge are likely to be hiding out, right? What do you think?"