They had been so close! Celes woke, furious with their inability to accomplish their mission. She hid her suddenly pilfered sword away with her other clothing, in the closet. When her nurse bustled in moments after she’d finished (thank all the Triad for that), Celes was more than willing to let the woman chitter away like an overgrown squirrel while the General dressed.

“Oh, won’t you be so very happy, Nancy,” the woman chirped. Celes raised an eyebrow and let herself be dragged along to the Chapel. “I won’t tell you why, it’s a surprise, you see. But, I’ll be you’ll be pleased as punch!” She left the General to herself after Celes seemed no more willing to help bolster the conversation. With an irritated sigh, Celes took a seat in one of the pews and folded her hands in her lap. She was a picture of piety.

Oh Triad, give me strength, so I do not choke my idiot of a nurse. She was worried, however. There were visitors today; would her surprise be in that horrid form?

[from here]

The patient corridor widened out as it hit the Main Hall. Patients were already moving about, his senses told him, but he was unable to identify who they were. Qui-Gon moved on in the darkness.

[to here]

Unlike the week before, the buses pulled in to the front of the Institute before the sky became dark, and so the departure was a very organized situation rather than a chaotic one. Nurses and orderlies escorted patients off the buses, and just as the front doors to the Institute opened and the patients were taken back to their rooms, the intercom clicked on with its usual jingle to the sound of the Head Doctor's cheery voice.

"Hello, patients, and I hope you all enjoyed a delightful day at our neighboring town! I regret that last-minute duties prevented me from joining all of you on your trip, but I'm glad I can talk to you a bit now before you retire for the night!

"As far as dinner tonight, we have a wonderfully exotic meal of tasty, spicy lamb curry for you, served on a bed of steamed rice and with a side of seasoned vegetables and plain Indian flatbread. For desert, we'll be having sweet rice pudding, and we'll be offering our normal assortment of juices, milk, and water as drinks. As always, for vegetarians and for those of you with mild tastebuds, a large, fresh garden salad is always an option.

"And... I believe that's all! I hope you all enjoy dinner and that you're able to wind down from the excitement of today's excursion."

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Thank you! ]

Armand wearily climbed the steps of the bus. He was less tired than cold, but it made his limbs ache. He hoped they'd actually make it back to the Institute before dark this time. He hadn't seen either Citan or Morrison in town, so he kept an eye out for either one climbing back  into the bus. He still wondered if Morrison had been able to rest today instead of coming to town. Other than a lunch that he hadn't liked and meeting a new face or two, he wasn't sure at all what he'd gained by the day. Oh well, he was more than used to disappointment and failure.

[waiting for Citan if Fey is backish]

Claude couldn't fight the sinking feeling in his stomach when he woke up. Nightshift was over, and they hadn't even made it into the basement. Man, how tough was that? Sometimes it seemed like the night could drag on and on, and when he actually needed the extra time, it went by too fast. It didn't make any sense.

Too bad he wouldn't have much to report to Ashton. But now the blond's curiosity was peaked, and he had to admit that he was pretty interested in finding out just what was under there. But first things first -- he needed a sword, because walking around there unprepared was probably one step short of suicide, really. The scars in his side were a stark reminder of what happened to people here who weren't ready to face the dangers.

Until that time, the Earthling had plenty of projects to keep him occupied. It really was too bad that they couldn't get anywhere, though. And when Ashton had finally let him borrow a sword, too...

The blond decided not to dwell on that for too long, especially once his nurse came to wake him up. She handed him the same set of clothes he'd worn for the last trip to Doyleton -- a dark, faded jacket, a blue, button-up shirt, some casual slacks, a brown paperboy cap, and a red scarf. He knew he'd have no problems staying warm today, and he didn't really look all that bad, but he kind of wished they'd given him a better pair of shoes than the over-sized sneakers that kind of flopped when he walked around.

As he exited his room, he caught sight of someone sleeping in the other bed, and while he'd never formally met his roommate before, Claude knew it wasn't Asch.

Once he'd boarded the bus, the blond didn't waste much time in finding a seat. There weren't many people here yet, so he opened up his sack and took a bite of his muffin. It was kind of sad how small the portions were for today's breakfast, but he was an adult, so he wouldn't complain about it. At least Landel bothered to feed them at all.

((For Sync, I believe?))

[From here, waiting for his bff. ♥]

The walk with the nurse provided little more information; the woman still refused to go into detail on his particular diagnosis. She did reveal, however, that Near's name in this place was Nathan Ritter. Again he noticed the closeness to his real name, but given the woman's insistence on referring to him as either "Nathan" or "Mr. Ritter," Near decided it was safe for the present.

She'd revealed that he would be given a choice to where he would stay for that period of time. Despite her encouragement to choose the outdoor Courtyard, Near instead opted to remain inside. The large window overhead no doubt gave the Sun Room its name, and from the position in the sky, Near would wager that it was mid-morning and approaching noon. The room itself was lobby-like in appearance. Several doors lined the walls, which were painted a mild green--unsurprising, given the calming nature of the color. Accompanying pictures also seemed place to induce a sense of relaxation, completed by the inviting furniture. The only thing that seemed to contrast with the atmosphere, in fact, was the balcony above, on what was presumably the second floor. So the patients were to relax here, and at the same time, perhaps be watched by the keepers?

Interesting.

But clearly what held the most promise for Near was the large board hanging on the far wall. His nurse left his side after he came to the room, and Near approached what was clearly a place for communication and messages. The number of notices signified that it was well used, and the information within was fascinating. Near ignored the patients filing in around him for the moment, instead focusing on reading the various notices as quickly as he could. The information was quite extreme--different worlds, non-humans being forced into human bodies, the dead being brought to life here. Certainly things that one might expect to see in an asylum.

And yet all of it was made much more believable by one note in particular, written in hands Near was intimately familiar with.

A sense of urgency crept into Near's thoughts then. He didn't show it outwardly, save for twirling his hair tighter, tugging at it before freeing his finger. If he was here, and they were here, then who else had arrived? Already Near longed for his toys, or a fingerpuppet kit to make them, the task ideal for filtering through the information. As it stood, the thin paper of his notebook would be a lacking substitute, but the only option at the time.

First, however, Near began to write on several of the notices. There was obviously much more to this hospital than its surface showed, and the push to solve the puzzle was quickly born in his mind.

_{[from here]}

If there was one thing that made Aidou the best person in the whole damn Institute to be partnered up with during a night time adventure, it was that he was a vampire. A genius vampire, at that.

The vampire part just meant that he could clearly see that the cafeteria was unoccupied, from his position just inside the doors. The genius part meant that Aidou didn't move farther in until he'd passed a glance over the entire room, listening as well as watching. Making sure his initial once over was right. Or as right as he could hope to be, with his overly sharp senses slightly dulled as they were.

He didn't bother to hide the fact that he didn't have a flashlight, at least not this time. Jack might have still been using his, but Aidou had to admit that complaining about it was rather moot, given that he'd probably see something sooner than Jack, and could tell him to turn it off if he had to. Hopefully the kitchen would be just as unremarkable, he thought, looking over his shoulder briefly to check on the others before starting up the center row.

[from here]

Upon entering this hallway, he did slow his movements a little just to be more careful. He did know the way, but this was not a hallway he was used to traversing and that was reason enough to be more careful. The trip through it was quick enough though as he slipped into what was the only female block he was aware of. F3 wasn't far now.

[gone here]