Day 57: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

Varying opinions aside about the new caretakers, the efficiency of the military was worthy of some admiration. The Great Escape ended with minutes to spare, and the staff wasted no time in dismantling the equipment in the Sun Room. Visitors were kindly informed that visiting hours were over while patients were ushered to their rooms

Comments

F14

[gald_digger]

With three colorful drawstring bags in hand, Anise returned to her room in a good mood. Though the events of the day hadn't all been good, she'd managed to make the most of things. Talking to Claude and making crafts had taken her mind off of the Colonel and her parents long enough for Anise to relax a little. She felt a little better prepared to face the night

Re: F14

[roseoverture]

It was the first new voice Utena had heard over the intercom all day, and surprisingly, it didn't sound that threatening or forced, the way Landel's usual over-the-top announcements tended to be. Nurse Harrington seemed practiced at public speaking, and had a mild manner of address that was easy to take. Well, easier, anyway. That said, Utena still wasn't willing to give the man a pass just because he sounded decent. If he really was military, it made sense that he would be more professional at everything, including presenting himself. She was just waiting for the shift to night, fully expecting the man to show his true colours after the lights went out

Re: F14

[gald_digger]

Anise was already halfway through her steak. When she heard the door open, she scrambled to chew and swallow the food in her mouth, then turned to greet Rei

[roseoverture]

"Is it?" she wondered aloud, lacing her fingers behind her back as she wandered over to the dresser to get a better look at the dolls. "I guess so. I like it either way," she answered. If someone wanted to be that kind of girl, there wasn't really anything wrong with that. It just wasn't Utena's usual style. The flowers maybe were, but the dolls were a little feminine and kid-ish for her. Not that she wanted to take them down now that they were up; they were adorable, for sure. They just weren't something Utena would have thought to put out if she had been in charge of decorating

[gald_digger]

Anise nodded when Utena clarified for her. That name seemed easy enough to remember. "Nice to meet you too!" she cheerfully replied

[roseoverture]

Ah, so she had a name for it and everything! Utena smiled a little brighter as she moved closer to Anise and Tokunaga. This was the sort of thing that made it easier to settle into a new room and finish out the day back. These moments were what buoyed Utena's spirits, and reminded her that no matter how dark things got, there was always some kind of light to reach for. She knew that Himemiya would agree, wherever she was right now.

"Your mom had a lot of talent, then! It looks great!" she said, holding out a hand as a silent request to hold Tokunaga for a moment. "Did you get it back the way some people get their clothes back at night?"

[gald_digger]

Not a lot of people said nice things about Tokunaga, and even fewer complimented the artist behind the doll. The truth was that Tokunaga wasn't sewn with a lot of technical skill, and that showed - but it was sewn with a lot of love, and that was something Anise saw shining through whenever she looked at it. Anise's smile softened a little, and she passed Tokunaga over so Utena could hold it.

Utena's guess was technically right in a way, but Anise had a feeling she was referring to the way that people's outfits would suddenly appear in their closets. "Not exactly. I got it through special counseling." While she didn't look too broken up over the experience (it had been a long time ago, after all), she looked down at her plate as she mentioned it. It still wasn't that easy to admit she'd been brainwashed like that.

[roseoverture]

True, Tokunaga wasn't a great work of art, but it was cute with its big Cheshire Cat grin and button eyes, and Utena could indeed see the love that had been put into its construction. She held the doll up where she could see better, hefting it in her hands and feeling the stitches and the fabric. The only thing that stopped her after a few moments was the mention of

[gald_digger]

"Um..." Anise had to think a moment, twirling her fork with a piece of meat speared on the end as she did. "I think it was about three weeks ago. I've been here a pretty long time." She grinned a little, but there wasn't much cheer in it this time. The things she'd been through over time were pretty taxing, even if she tried not to let it show most of the time

[roseoverture]

Though Utena had already suspected she had come across something private, she hadn't been expecting Anise to be so immediately...suspicious-looking. She boggled a little at that, watching her roommate hold the doll close to her chest and fiddle with it. What could Anise possibly have that she would be so protective of

[gald_digger]

It was a little weird that Utena didn't already know about the privileges given by the military. She seemed to already have some experience with the institute, so it wasn't like she was a brand new patient... Maybe she just didn't listen to announcements? Anise wondered.

"I think it's a military rank thing," Anise replied as she cut the cheesecake in two halves with her fork. "People who've been here longer have higher ranks, so we get treated better." She placed one half of the cheesecake on her plate with the fries, then stood up with the plate in hand and brought it over to Utena's desk. It didn't look like much of a meal, but next to that pink mush, it probably looked really appetizing.

With that done, Anise returned to her desk and started on her portion of the cheesecake. She nodded vigorously at Utena's complaint before she swallowed her food and was able to respond. "Yeah! It's really annoying, having to dig through everything to find what I need every night." Especially since Anise had a lot of stuff, and her collection was

[roseoverture]

"Huh..." Utena set the rest of her outfit on the desk as she listened to Anise. Military rank made sense, but she wasn't so sure about it being determined by length of time in the Institute. Plenty of good people disappeared for no good reason all the time, people like Juri, or Naoto, or Harley. Just because a patient had been around for a while, that didn't necessarily mean they were better than anyone else. Just that they had gotten lucky and been careful at night, pretty much

[gald_digger]

While eating her cake, Anise watched Utena unpack her things, noticing the clothing she'd pulled out of the box. Those weren't military issue, were they? They had to be her clothes from home. She was kind of jealous, having never gotten her own cute clothes back, despite being at the institute for so long

[roseoverture]

She took her plate over to her bed and sat down with it in her lap. A french fry was popped into her mouth. It wasn't until that moment that Utena realized just how much she had already started missing food with flavour.

"I don't know, and that's the frustrating part!" Utena answered after Anise's outburst of surprise, her frustration with the day thankfully tempered by the taste of salt and fried potato in her mouth. "I'm pretty sure I was just asleep, but I'm totally blank. The staff weren't saying much today, either. I think they'd have said something if I was released and came back? That's just a guess, though."

She watched as Anise pulled materials and candy out of a bag, munching on her fries and cake all the while. "Oh that's nice of you. Who are those for?" she asked, wiping a bit of cheesecake off the side of her mouth.

[gald_digger]

"I guess I see what you mean... The military's even less helpful than the old staff, so it's hard to get any information from them." Anise had to sympathize with Utena. It had to be pretty disconcerting to lose six days and have no way of finding out why or how that even happened. "Well, if you need to know anything about the past few days, you can always ask me!" Anise couldn't do a lot to help, but she could do that much, at least.

When asked about her little project, Anise's smile returned. "These are for my friends! Some of them have been sick lately, and all they have to eat is gruel, so I thought I'd bring them some snacks." She brought the drawstring bags closer, and started stuffing the newly wrapped candies into each of them, along with some granola bars.

Anise suspected that a lot of people were skipping more meals than usual out of disgust at the new menu. She hoped that with her gifts, her friends would at least have something in their stomachs. If nothing else, it would cheer them up a little, she hoped.