049 looked at the dinner for awhile after it was served. There was a scoop of white rice, a large slice of salmon, and sunny mixed vegetables, with milk as a drink.
He continued to look at it. At what point did it become staring?
035 knew exactly what was going on inside of his head at that moment.
"Eat up. The whole tray is yours."
He said, smiling as always.
049 looked up at him, simply stunned.
"You're sure..?" 049 asked, somewhat nervously
"Would everyone be eating if I weren't?" 035 replied, nonchalantly
049 thought it very plausible. He took his chance and ate.
It was really good, and he practically forgot to chew.
He was hungry, and he was malnurished, 035 actually felt a strange sense of pride that he got his new friend to eat. Even if it didn't take much convincing.
He finished fast and looked around, and was about to ask a question to 035 when he heard a voice.
Don't trust them. they're sick. they need to be cured you're the only-
As soon as it came, it left, making him feel that prickly feeling in his skin that came when he got scared,
035 could see the casual smile he was wearing quickly morph into a scared frown, like he just overheard that he was the next target for the soul swiping. Ok, That surfaced out of no where, didn't the kid mention something like that earlier?
He was getting off track and quickly snapped out of it.
They weren't supposed to conversate during meals, but he took the chance.
"Hey, doll, what's going on?-"
He asked the question and was answered right away.
"Have you seen anyone here displaying symptoms of the flu within the past 72 hours?" His demeanor had completely changed within those few seconds,he was scared and angry. And of course, the nurses didn't see any of it.
It was fine, he could take care of the kid himself.
He made a face of thinking for a few moments, before saying "No, I don't believe so, why?"
The boy looked nervous at his answer, but didn't question it. He took a breath and quickly whispered
"I need my notebooks. Everything depends on it."
035 had nearly contradicted himself once again, but didn't let that happen. "Ok, do you need yours specifically, I could get you a few new ones, does that sound good?"
He thought for a few moments and said "it's not ideal, but it'll work...
049 looked to be pondering something and 035 could already tell what he was going to ask, so before he got the chance, "No form of payment required. Just stay with me and we're good." 035 said abruptly, and he had to admit, it had a hint of desperation. What the hell...?
This was so confusing, he needed to overthink his life tonight.
The kid smiled sweetly but nervously at him. And goddamn, he would kill to see that precious smile on his face again.
.
.
.
15 minutes passed by and the nurses had counted everything,
They had gone through quick and shallow contraband checks, and they were being led somewhere new.
6 nurses came from the nursing station, and 24 patients were to a room with shoes and coats and such. The shoes were all the same, all scruffy and old with no laces, the only difference being they were different sizes. The coats were on a rack, getting smaller as it went more to the left.
049 was in the middle of the line.
It took approximately 5 minutes for everybody to get appropriately dressed for the weather.
Finally, 049 stepped in. He looked around the room, purely analyzing it for a moment.
"Are one of these pairs mine?" He asked, a little confused.
He saw a blonde nurse scoff, but another just said his was the 3rd to last one on the rack.
He thanked them and went to pick up the shoes. The shoes were a little big for him, but this was more than he hoped for when he was viewing the room.
He walked out of the room after another guy and the next 2 patients were let in.
.
.
.
Outside was nice, although 049 didn't quite understand why there were fences surrounding the area. 035 said it was so they wouldn't escape. But back at home it was just common sense not to leave!
The yard was really big. Benches, general paths to walk in, trees that were too small to climb, a little pond, a small field of flowers and such.
035 disappeared for a minute, but the nurses were a bit ignorant and didn't notice, just doing anything other than watching the overly intelligent mental hospital patients.
He emerged from under a table of flowers, and approached 049, holding something behind his back.
He was given 2 notebooks, they were both stringed in notebooks, and they were both a crimson shade of red.
"These are for you, if anyone asks where you got them, say a man named Dr. Bright gave them to you, ok?"
He also gave 049 a red pen and told him to put it in his sleeve and hold his sleeve until they were inside.
049 let him know of his gratitude (It was very cute) before running off to find the cure. And 035 was slightly regretting not telling him to cease interaction with most patients.
.
.
.
049 was walking around, observing everything. He stopped when he noticed stifled cries.
The boy looked around and noticed a long pale man quietly crying behind a bench.
Why was nobody helping him?
He didn't want him to get put in a white room and have his arms tied up, so he walked towards the man. It would he rude not to make himself acknowledged in such a situation, so he spoke "Hello... Are you doing well..?"
The pale man appeared to flinch and turn his head away quickly.
"Is it ok if I come sit with you?" He asked once again.
There was a long moment of hesitation before he saw a small nod.
049 walked closer and sat down next to the other patient. He was wearing one of those hospital masks that covered half of his face.
"Why do you wear that mask? Don't they make it difficult to breath?"
The pale man's body shifted slightly towards the boy, in a trusting way.
049 realised he didn't introduce himself and immediately went to doing so.
"My apologies. I should probably begin by introducing myself. I haven't really used my old name in years, but my name here is 049. You don't appear to have any symptoms, and this place reminds me of my home."
The lanky man was a little confused on what this boy was saying. He kept switching topics, seemingly at random, but he did appear to be genuine. He was good company, and no one but the doctors have tried talking to him in months... It was nice to have something new...
"My... Name is... 096... The mask... Is a comfort to me... It makes me feel protected... From what? I do not know..." 096 said with a croaky voice.
"I find that nice. For me, I have my notebooks for comfort. I got my first 2 notebooks that I really owned when I was around 12. Those 2 didn't hold vital information, but the new ones did. I don't have them here which kind of bothers me, but I can always just remember it and write it all down again if needed."
The pale man spoke at him. He wanted to turn, but what if the kid didn't like his face? So he just stayed facing forward.
"You can.. remember... it that easily?"
The boy, from what 096 could tell, was confused. There was a small head tilt visible in his peripherals.
"Yes? The great leader taught us a method of thinking. I call it the mind palace. It's memories unconscious, now completely conscious. It takes awhile to get used to, though."
096 wasn't quite sure what that meant, but he went along with it anyway.
"What language did you originally speak?" 049 asked, rather bluntly.
"Russian... English is my second... language that I learned.."
"Really?? I haven't learned Russian yet, I'd like to though. My first language is French."
"I could... Teach you Russian... If you wanted to..."
049's face seemed to light up at this. There was a smile that could make anyone's heart melt. And behind that mask, he wore a shy smile.
"I would really like that-"
In a swift motion, they were interrupted.
"I would say I hate to intrude, but I clearly don't."
It was 035.
049's smile widened, while 096's only seemed to fall. 035 was very manipulative, and it was obvious the boy was very trusting.
"Hey, I may have forgot to tell you to cease conversation with people here, quite alot of them could be dangerous."
He said the last word with a threatening look at 096. It wasn't the usual are you trying to scare my fun off? Instead it seemed more like a did you hurt this kid.
With seeing him, 096 shifted away.
"Come on, there's a lot to see before we go inside!"
"I was talking to 096, and I would sort of like to continue."
035 looked visibly annoyed at this, and you could see a glimpse of it before he went back to his classic painted smile.
"We should really go. Lanky's more of the introverted type. I'm sure he'd be fine just hanging around by himself for now."
049, wether he realised it or not, didn't quite have a say in this matter.
As they walked away, 096 was left questioning what 035 wanted with the boy. He had this oddly genuine tone to his voice, like he was actually concerned.
It's either 049 really cared for someone or the more likely, he's gotten better at acting.
096... He needed to ponder this for a bit.