Day 52: Library (2nd shift)

Sep 27, 2010 15:32

Scar possibly couldn't have been more thrilled at the prospect of being escorted to the library. He had visited this particular room plenty of times to know that it was entirely useless and uninteresting - like most daytime activities, for that matter. Still, the nurse seemed rather convinced he'd like one of those silly books filled with papers ( Read more... )

leela, sechs, s.t., naruto, jo, asuka, scott pilgrim, anise, austria, the doctor, sora, riddler, naraku, indiana jones, asch, rei, woody, zex, claude, claire bennet, peter parker, snow, gant, lana skye, mello, xemnas, roxas, natalia, tim drake, hanekoma, shizuo, guy, tsukasa, agatha, gaara, peter petrelli, mitsuru, nigredo, ilia, rita, two-face, castiel, erika, edgar, tifa, matt, maya, trickster, riku, aidou, ishida, ema skye, wolverine, spock, zack, l, scar (tlk), justin hammer, rubedo, haseo

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timedork September 27 2010, 23:36:05 UTC
The Doctor had kept an eye out for Donna during breakfast, but had seen no sign of her. He hoped it meant that she was sleeping in, recovering from last night, but it left him feeling uneasy nonetheless. He wanted to see her today, up and about, to know that she was alright. Would be alright. He needed a chance to speak with her alone.

He had wanted to stay in the sun room after breakfast to continue looking for her, but his nurse had other ideas. She'd coaxed the Doctor into the library instead.

"You seem tense today, John," she was saying, but the Doctor wasn't paying much attention to her, instead looking around to see if maybe Donna was in here. "Why don't you read for a while and try to relax? You were reading this the last time you were in here, weren't you?"

She pressed a book into his hands then-the copy of Wells' The War of the Worlds he'd picked up last time he'd been in here, with Donna-and hung around until he'd taken a seat in a chair. As soon as he had, she hurried off, leaving him alone with the book ( ... )

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quarter_english September 29 2010, 11:06:09 UTC
Consciousness came only in halting stages.

At first, L was aware of pain. It had no specific origin-instead, he perceived it as a dull presence, filling his body and making the idea of moving unappealing. Then, there were distant sounds: noises in the hall, a low-level bustle of activity. He was set apart from them, both by his location and his condition, but they broke into his sleep in bits and pieces, demanding his attention. Finally, he was chilled.

He woke up while the other patients were at breakfast. Resting on his side for what felt like a long time, he kept his dull gaze focused on a patch of the wall that had no precise boundaries. This is... soothing? Yes.He knew where he was, and he knew that he wasn't in good shape. It wasn't urgent that he try to spring into action; doing so, even if he were capable, might be detrimental to his recovery. They had performed a medical procedure on him without his consent, and for all the talk of technology and necessity, putting him back together was more difficult than taking him apart ( ... )

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quarter_english September 29 2010, 11:07:53 UTC
The nurse came before the intercom announcement. She seemed pleased that he was awake, but suggested that he could stay in bed for the day or return to bed whenever he needed to; some of the patients were unusually tired, she said, the day after a sleep study. He gave her a flat look of disbelief, or as much of one as he could muster with his head turned to the side. "I'll go to the library," he said, his voice coming out in a less resolute tone than he would have expected. With a short, irritated sigh, he added, "I'll need help ( ... )

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timedork September 30 2010, 01:40:36 UTC
The Doctor hadn't quite expected any company, and the man who'd joined him-seated nearby under the supervision of a nurse who then went to fetch a book for him-looked worse for the wear. And that was putting it lightly; he'd been moving carefully before sitting, his head was bandaged, he had dark circles under his eyes, and looked pale...

He was reminded briefly, sharply, of finding Donna, and the Doctor gave another quick glance around the library to see if she'd come in. But she wasn't there, and now the bandaged stranger was talking to him. He turned his attention to the man and then glanced down at the book in his hands.

"Oh. It's... good, decent. I've read it before." Knew the author, too, but he held his tongue on that. The Doctor nodded his head towards the book that the other man had left on the table. "I'd ask how you like yours, but I take it you're not interested."

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quarter_english September 30 2010, 08:07:32 UTC
As soon as he heard his new acquaintance speak, L recognized the accent: Estuary English, a little like the faded hint of Winchester that was sometimes detectable in his own voice. It suggested that the man was probably a Londoner. If not, he had spent a lot of time in or around that city in the recent past. His voice was higher than L's, almost reedy in comparison, and he had an engaging air, one of intelligence and amiability.

L raised his eyebrows, which caused his eyes to widen, then glanced at the book. "No, not particularly. I seldom have time for fiction. I doubt, however, that the nurses would allow me to sit here for an hour without-- ahhh." Although his feet were on the floor, and he hadn't even attempted to perch on the seat of the chair, the ache in his lower back still distracted him. A definite twinge caused him to stiffen, straighten his spine, press his lips together, and tense and turn down the corners of his mouth ( ... )

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timedork October 1 2010, 00:44:12 UTC
"Seldom have time for fiction?" the Doctor repeated in question. "That's a shame-especially around here. It would be a good time to catch up on some reading during the day... Well, could be. They don't exactly boast a large selection." A new selection of science fiction available or not, this library paled in comparison to the TARDIS library, or especially in comparison to the Library (infestation of Vashta Nerada aside).

Of course, the other man may simply have meant that he preferred non-fiction over fiction, but... Well, even 'non-fiction' had its own elements of fiction, when they'd gotten it all wrong ( ... )

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quarter_english October 3 2010, 02:20:14 UTC
L frowned. A wave of disorientation followed, so he placed his left palm flat on the table to support himself. His gaze was steady and his tone calm as he replied, "There are more productive uses of time here--or uses that could be productive." He paused to let out a miserable sigh. "Maybe it's just wishful thinking ( ... )

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timedork October 3 2010, 18:59:44 UTC
"During the night, sure," the Doctor agreed with a small shrug. "Not much that can be done during the day, though, with the staff watching. Well, you could make plans for the night, try to find out from others what they know, but actually using the time to work towards any sort of real accomplishment? That would be stopped rather quickly, don't you think?"

He gave the man a friendly smile. "All I mean is that taking an hour or two out of the week to do a little reading wouldn't hurt. Might even help."

The Doctor couldn't argue with the man's other point, however; the staff certainly had done quite enough already. Maybe what went on after hours wasn't the nurses' fault-he liked to think it wasn't, in hopes that they were victims of deception rather than willing collaborators who knew well what those who should have been in their care were going through-but having a sense of bitterness towards them... The Doctor couldn't be sure of the man's circumstances, but from his rather obvious condition, he could understand that sense of ( ... )

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quarter_english October 5 2010, 02:45:17 UTC
"Active accomplishments, certainly," L replied, with raised eyebrows. "Still, while knowledge of all kinds may be useful, I don't think that anything we find in books here will have much practical application." Little was left for them to find that could constitute a clue. L was still convinced that his theory--that changing elements were more important than static ones in terms of his investigation of the Institute--would prove to be true ( ... )

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timedork October 6 2010, 14:42:15 UTC
The Doctor wasn't going to try to persuade the other man into taking time to read-it was true the practical application of fiction was a rather narrow field, but there were cases where it could come in handy. Very, very handy. But if he thought his time could be better spent towards other purposes-conversation, for one, which was useful in its own right-that was his choice.

"I'm the Doctor," he said, supplying the name the other had been fishing for. "Just 'the Doctor'. And my friend is-the one who was taken for the... procedure-'Donna' is her name ( ... )

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