The dinner had been somewhat disappointing, but it was more a problem of quantity than quality. Despite her whining, the tiny, crimson-haired girl did not, in fact, join them for dinner, which meant he could eat his food in relative peace.
After the rather humble meal, they turned in for bed, having taken a shower, as the orphanage insisted on maintaining a strict routine when it came to hygiene. Bathing late was tolerated; however, not bathing at all was not.
***
Lucan woke up a bit earlier than he had expected, he stared out the room's window and saw that the sun still had yet to come up, licking his now dry lips he opened his locker and was greeted by his very dry and very empty water can. 'I suppose this one's on me'
He had slept surprisingly well, he had imagined there would be some mild discomfort since the standard beds would be different from the medical ones, at least that's what he assumed, but he was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.
That being said, he had observed people storing up water in their bottles and such in the cafeteria but had not thought much about it, having woken up thirsty it had just occurred to him that with the size of the building and the nearest source of water being a whole floor below them nobody was willing to make the trip.
The corridor wasn't so dark that he couldn't make his way through, it was just bright enough even for someone unfamiliar to wander through yet still dark enough to not disturb anyone sensitive to light.
"Why in the world are there only like four taps in this place?" He complained that while filling his water can and taking a drink, he was completely parched, ending up drinking a lot more water than he had planned.
"It prevents… water waste, but the building is old, don't know much" The disjointed and strange speech pattern that felt like he was chewing on his words coupled with his deep monotone voice had nearly frightened Lucan into choking.
'I think I'm starting to build a tolerance' . He removed the can from his lips and placed it back under the tap to fill it with water. "Good morning sir" he greeted.
The man moved his head like he was still digesting the words he had been told before he finally returned the greeting "Morning, what you doing so early?".
Lucan's face twitched, understanding him wasn't difficult, it was easy to tell what he was saying, at least that's what he thought, but the fact remained that his speech patterns weren't very pleasing to hear, it made his brain itch with every syllable that escaped his lips.
"I came for water, I didn't fill my can up before I slept". The man remained quiet for a moment then nodded and continued on his way with his small flashlight still held out. He hadn't even spared him so much as a second glance as he passed him by and walked upstairs. 'I might as well follow him, we're heading in the same direction, probably.'
Trailing behind the tall slender man, he decided he should ask the time, he knew it was morning or at least he felt it was morning but he had no idea how early "Can I ask for the time?". The pale man looked at his wrist for a few seconds.
"You have three hours before the rising bell". Lucan cocked an eyebrow, he had no idea what that meant nor was there any plausible way he felt he could translate it. As though sensing his confusion the pale man cleared his throat and answered again.
"Three o'clock". His face lit up in realization while equally feeling slighted by the roundabout method he had used to tell the time and he asked himself a question.
'How and why was this annoying guy allowed to work here? Is it some sort of deterrent?'. Perhaps the presence of a talking wall discouraged unnecessary explanations.
Lucan sighed and just quietly walked behind the creepy tall man until they got to the central floor upstairs where the two split off as he headed towards the girls' dorms.
He watched the man wander into the rooms with curiosity, wondering how they would share shifts and if perhaps this was something he did alone.
He went back to his room and lay down in his bed after placing his water canteen back in his locker, closing his eyes and falling back to sleep.
***
Sleep is never as good as when you tried to sleep for the second time , any subsequent attempts tend to never be quite as satisfying.
Lucan was experiencing this disparity first-hand with how tired he currently felt after being woken up by the 'Morning bell' which consisted of an ear-piercing and loud snare sound, if he had to compare, it would be like the sound of a duck being choked out by a piece of string into a megaphone.
He followed Blondie's example and put on a uniform similar to what everyone else was wearing and followed them down.
Gathering in the fields around the orphanage everyone stood in a rather loose formation dressed in their similar uniforms, he had thought so before but looking at it like this reminded him of sportswear.
"What's happening right now?" He asked his roommate who looked at him strangely before rolling his eyes.
"Today's Thursday" he said curtly, causing Lucan to blink, what truly baffled him was that he really had no plans to elaborate further as he simply turned away from him, he could almost physically feel the blood going to his head.
"And?". His voice was strained as he struggled to contain himself, Lucan was dumbfounded, first it was the night shift horror story ghost and now even this blonde was starting to reply like a broken fax machine, he suppressed the urge to shout. The people here seemed determined to test the limits of his patience.
He took a deep breath to steady himself, it was only at a time like this where he now understood what a great inconvenience not having general knowledge from someones memories could be, it almost made him want to apologize to all transmigrator protagonists for every time he called it a garbage plot device…almost.
The older boy chuckled somewhat mischievously, a small smirk finding its way to his lips "You'll find out soon enough, just remember to turn in the uniforms for washing the last guy that forgot had the entire room stink for a week"
'washing? They aren't going to try and eliminate the weakest link or something like that right?' Lucan soon heard the sound of a whistle, one of the nurses was standing in front of the crowd next to the man with the Hypnotic voice he had seen previously when he was 'exploring'
"Good morning children" he addressed them with a smile, a bit off-putting but otherwise friendly. "Now then let's start our exercises"
It was just a simple exercise, nothing special, world-breaking, or life-threatening, just plain old exercise, as someone who had moved around a lot before coming here. He was obviously someone who was deeply in tune with his muscles, he wasn't a slacker, so he was happy to participate.
But it would seem Lucan had forgotten to inform his new body of his enthusiasm and perhaps in a not so shocking turn of events his mind was willing, but his body was not, which was why he lay sprawled out on the grass sweating as if he had just been chased through a forest.
He felt ashamed of himself for not being able to keep up with radio calisthenics, but he also noticed that many of the children also didn't follow along till the end 'Shame is best when it is shared' is a funny principle, but for now, he was quite devoted to it.
With their morning exercises concluded they were all to head off and clean themselves and turn into the cafeteria, taking a subconscious note of the people he saw he asked his equally exasperated roommate. "This isn't everyone is it?".
The sweat-dripping blonde shook his head "Some… people aren't well enough to attend". Lucan frowned slightly, he felt a little sorry for those who couldn't participate even if they wanted to but he was equally envious that they didn't have to feel like a deflated balloon.
'Hold on where's the little crimson one'. Noticing his expression the blonde boy who had sat up after regaining some of his strength replied to the question he seemed to have written all over his face.
"Polly is exempt from training with us, she's not unwell, but her case is special, you know powers and all" The blond boy wriggled his fingers about like he was talking about something like sorcery.
"She must feel special," the blind boy shook his head.
"I doubt it"
'odd thing to say but, whatever'. Lucan took a deep breath and quickly rose to his feet, trying his best to stretch without nearly toppling over as he walked back towards the orphanage, with no other thought on his mind except getting clean.
***
The water was cold, not that Lucan had expected the water to be preheated or anything, this wasn't a hotel, though he suspected some people got to bathe with hot water, he was not amongst that percentage.
Maybe the reason they took them out to exercise to begin with was to make bathing with cold water more psychologically appealing, since everyone would be sweating and exhausted the idea of a cold shower was less threatening. 'But if the internet is to be believed, cold water is better than no water at least'
"That was nice" Lucan exclaimed, temporarily putting a stopper over his imagination and shoving his scary thoughts away as he reached for his now very sweaty clothes, regarding them with relatively mild disgust before tossing them into a pile.
They would pile their clothes together and the oldest person in the room would act as the deliveryman for all their dirty laundry. He had no idea who had come up with this rule but he most certainly was thankful for its existence, though he was curious if the girls had a similar rule. 'I'm blending in faster than I thought'.
He laughed internally, he had been hit with so many shocks that maybe doing mundane things like this was a welcome change to what he was expecting, 'Maybe I could meet Batman.
He felt a shiver course through his body and shook his head. Lucan was well aware that if he was in any position to see the caped crusader then he very well wasn't in a very good place, and hopefully, he never would have to bear witness to such a tragedy.
'Not that I have criminal tendencies, I just don't want to be told to "be brave" with a bomb strapped to my chest'. Despite it being a morbid reflection of his current reality he had almost chuckled.
The door opened and his blond-haired roommate had returned from the showers, only to catch sight of the pile of clothes in the corner and then take a once-around of the members, shooting everyone a glare before tossing his uniform into the pile with a hiss while mumbling something about life being unfair.
Lucan, avoiding any form of direct eye contact, had thought that the landscape outside the orphanage was particularly worth admiring today much like how the others had suddenly decided that refolding their clothes and measuring the creases in their beds had become very distracting tasks.
While he felt sorry for him Lucan also didn't want to be the one doing the laundry runs, it was one thing to carry his own stinky laundry, but getting everyone else's would leave a bad taste in his mouth. 'He's Not gonna strangle me to death with a dirty sock is he?'
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.