Three-day trials at most, often more like two-a-day, plus running a department where the main hiring condition appeared to be a vicious streak of individualism and competitiveness meant Lana was used to a pace that started before dawn and often didn't finish until well after midnight. So the Institute's odd notions about day and night weren't going to tire her out, not today.
Not in the slightest. Stir-crazy was a good word for what she was. Energy, constrained into a small, institutional space, needed an outlet. She was pacing the Sun Room in long, perfect strides. She needed something to do, and she'd shrugged off several offers of musical instruments. That wasn't anything anyone needed; she wasn't musical, and never would be, and while it would give her something to do, she didn't want to inflict the attempt on anyone's ears
( ... )
Claire had taken a lot of energy to handle, leaving her just as stuck thinking about Shinra as she'd been before dealing with the red-haired man. This time though, she couldn't even bring herself to smile or the comfort of the memories because she was too flustered by it all. Maybe because Claire had actually been a bit harder to deal with than the man who was head over heels for her.
Entering the Sun Room, she took a deep breath and tried to relax as she let it out. There was no use in staying stressed during the day, especially with no real outlets to relieve that stress unless she wanted to be sedated. Actually that was... no, a bad idea. She wasn't that desperate. Shaking her head, she looked around for a place where she might be able to have a seat, heading off for a clump of chairs to the side as she muttered, "Is getting a break too much to ask?"
"Apparently." Lana stopped mid-pace, next to a set of chairs. As good of a idea as any she'd had lately, she thought, and set her hands on one of them, though she didn't sit down.
"I'm not sure Doctor Landel knows the meaning of the word, as much as he seems to enjoy his small pleasures." Her tone was neutral; the tone that someone who knew her would know generally preceded the quiet presentation of damning evidence, but here she needed none. Everyone had their own, and while a pain shared laid easier on the shoulders, getting that conversation started was something everyone had to do for themselves.
"When everything seems quiet, that just means it's worse than usual somewhere else."
Celty hadn't expected to really get an answer and was halfway into a seat by the time she got one. A woman was near enough to have apparently have heard her complaints which, while embarrassing Celty some, might not have been a bad thing. There weren't all that many women in the place, and she was convinced that a good deal of the male populace was too exasperating to bother with.
"Didn't he... just take a break though?" she wondered, pointing up at the ceiling after taking her seat fully. And the woman's other words... Celty wasn't so sure she understood. The woman didn't seem to be joking any, but to be so serious about somewhere else being worse was...! Well, it was realistic, but Celty would have rather focused on the difficulties facing her there and not others elsewhere. "I guess so."
"I wouldn't call being forcibly dragged from the office a vacation." Some people didn't seem to know the meaning of the word. Von Karma, for example. "He didn't take it well. I gather you weren't present for that little exhibition?"
She'd almost felt sorry for him. So surprised. It was a look she'd seen a dozen times on men she'd just put away for a crime they were sure they'd gotten away with, but she hadn't been the one taking Landel down. If she had, it would have been sweet. As it was, it had just been another bizarre chapter, now over.
There was another possibility, too. If the woman hadn't seen night here, she might well take the staff at face value. At least if she had any inkling that crazy could be accurate, which anyone still firmly attached to their sanity should. "Did you just get here?"
Celty pouted, but did remember hearing about that having happened from someone. "I wasn't there, no..." she admitted, "though I heard... still, it was a break. Maybe not for us, but a little bit for him."
Though she wasn't sure what she was saying herself, she at least understood that the woman hadn't been joking before. Of course that made continuing a bit more uncomfortable for the Dullahan who wasn't used to conversations anyway, but she didn't want to appear to be rude either. And she'd just been asked a question. "I've been here about a week. I think." I lost track, actually... she admitted pathetically to herself.
"I see." That was a relief. Bad enough to be stuck here, but stuck and unaware of the truth about the Institute was far worse. "I'll skip the part about explaining that you're not crazy, then."
"I'm afraid you're right -- that we've lost our opportunity to find out more in his absence, or to take advantage of the confusion." A violent overthrow wouldn't be Lana's first choice, but the same reasons why she'd be disinclined to help would mean she wouldn't be able to stop it, either. The best she could do was work within the system. "We still don't even know why they're holding us here."
That was only one question, but she left it hanging, unanswered but not quite rhetoric. If the other woman knew anything, perhaps an open floor would draw it out.
Not in the slightest. Stir-crazy was a good word for what she was. Energy, constrained into a small, institutional space, needed an outlet. She was pacing the Sun Room in long, perfect strides. She needed something to do, and she'd shrugged off several offers of musical instruments. That wasn't anything anyone needed; she wasn't musical, and never would be, and while it would give her something to do, she didn't want to inflict the attempt on anyone's ears ( ... )
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Claire had taken a lot of energy to handle, leaving her just as stuck thinking about Shinra as she'd been before dealing with the red-haired man. This time though, she couldn't even bring herself to smile or the comfort of the memories because she was too flustered by it all. Maybe because Claire had actually been a bit harder to deal with than the man who was head over heels for her.
Entering the Sun Room, she took a deep breath and tried to relax as she let it out. There was no use in staying stressed during the day, especially with no real outlets to relieve that stress unless she wanted to be sedated. Actually that was... no, a bad idea. She wasn't that desperate. Shaking her head, she looked around for a place where she might be able to have a seat, heading off for a clump of chairs to the side as she muttered, "Is getting a break too much to ask?"
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"I'm not sure Doctor Landel knows the meaning of the word, as much as he seems to enjoy his small pleasures." Her tone was neutral; the tone that someone who knew her would know generally preceded the quiet presentation of damning evidence, but here she needed none. Everyone had their own, and while a pain shared laid easier on the shoulders, getting that conversation started was something everyone had to do for themselves.
"When everything seems quiet, that just means it's worse than usual somewhere else."
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"Didn't he... just take a break though?" she wondered, pointing up at the ceiling after taking her seat fully. And the woman's other words... Celty wasn't so sure she understood. The woman didn't seem to be joking any, but to be so serious about somewhere else being worse was...! Well, it was realistic, but Celty would have rather focused on the difficulties facing her there and not others elsewhere. "I guess so."
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She'd almost felt sorry for him. So surprised. It was a look she'd seen a dozen times on men she'd just put away for a crime they were sure they'd gotten away with, but she hadn't been the one taking Landel down. If she had, it would have been sweet. As it was, it had just been another bizarre chapter, now over.
There was another possibility, too. If the woman hadn't seen night here, she might well take the staff at face value. At least if she had any inkling that crazy could be accurate, which anyone still firmly attached to their sanity should. "Did you just get here?"
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Though she wasn't sure what she was saying herself, she at least understood that the woman hadn't been joking before. Of course that made continuing a bit more uncomfortable for the Dullahan who wasn't used to conversations anyway, but she didn't want to appear to be rude either. And she'd just been asked a question. "I've been here about a week. I think." I lost track, actually... she admitted pathetically to herself.
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"I'm afraid you're right -- that we've lost our opportunity to find out more in his absence, or to take advantage of the confusion." A violent overthrow wouldn't be Lana's first choice, but the same reasons why she'd be disinclined to help would mean she wouldn't be able to stop it, either. The best she could do was work within the system. "We still don't even know why they're holding us here."
That was only one question, but she left it hanging, unanswered but not quite rhetoric. If the other woman knew anything, perhaps an open floor would draw it out.
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