Rating: R

Warning: The rating should be enough of a warning.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Beyblade, but I do own Damian

Summary: Saint Ann's Hospital is a place for mentally ill young adults, and when a new patient is transferred to their facility the world there is turned upside down for a handful of the other patients. Can they overcome their problems and be deemed cured, or will they become yet another slanted mind?

Slanted Mind

Chapter II - Meeting Tala

"Tyson.." There was a groan as the said teen rolled over, pulling a blanket over his head and fell back asleep. An insistent shove given to his shoulder, yet he still slept right through it as if it was nothing but in his dreams. Another call of his name was given, and when Tyson didn't answer he felt a small tug upon the blanket that was covering him. A long pause then settled in, and the navy-haired teen was falling back into a deep slumber when there was a sharp tug upon the blanket. This caused the teen to fall from the bed with the pulled blanket, dark blue eyes slipping open groggily.

"What the hell was that for..?" Tyson didn't sound too happy, sitting up from his position sprawled out on the floor where he fell. Damian was hovering over him, panther plushy being hugged with one arm while the other hand held the corner of the blanket from having pulled it along with Tyson off the bed.

"I'm hungry…We're going to miss breakfast." Standing up fully Damian let go of the corner of the blanket, glancing over towards the open door. "I don't know where the cafeteria is.." He still spoke quietly, as if shy or even unsure. Aquamarine eyes held a tired look to them, as if no sleep was gotten the night before.

"Alright, alright… I'm up then." With a large yawn Tyson gave a slow stretch before rising to his feet, messily shoving his blanket back onto his bed. A fresh shirt was then wrestled on from his drawer, navy hair being pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck with a rubber band. Even as he went about leading Damian out of the room and down the hall he still looked half asleep; dead to the world.

Wandering into the cafeteria Tyson went through explaining to Damian how things went in the lunch room, telling him where he and his friends usually sat and what the servers usually put out for meals. He then watched as the new kid retrieved only a muffin to eat and found his way back to his side. With a yawn Tyson then proceeded to tell the other what his friends looked like, explaining more about them as he led the quietly eating teen to the lounge.

"Now remember what I told you, Damian. Don't bother Tala if he'd reading, no one in their right mind would. Don't mention anything about Rei being too skinny and not eating enough, and Kai's just Kai. He's an ass, but he'll warm up to you after awhile. Oh, and never go to the showers alone. If you want to take one just come get one of us and we'll stand outside the stall and wait for you. Look, there they are." Waving with a big grin on his face Tyson dragged a reluctant Damian into the main lounge.

The floor was carpeted and there were groups of chairs and couches around the room while small tables were grouped here and there. Most of the kids who didn't have enough stars to go anywhere stayed in the main lounge, and the atmosphere was always calm despite the crowds of people around the tables.

Sitting down on one of the couches near the left side of the room was Kai, a hand resting lightly on Rei's thigh as he sat on the arm of the couch. Both seemed pleased to see Tyson, though mildly curious at the protesting person he was dragging behind him. Tala on the other hand was sitting away from the group against a wall with a worn book in his hands. Every looked as if they were giving him a wide birth.

"Hey Tyson! You're up early today, what's the occasion?" Grinning in a cat-like manner Rei received a friendly punch in the shoulder from Tyson who finally let go of Damian's unbruised but now red wrist. The aquamarine eyed teen was quite intent on looking at everywhere but at the others in front of him.

"My new roommate woke me up trying to get me to get to breakfast on time because he was hungry. I don't blame him though, as I doubt he got any dinner last night when he arrived. He was the cause of all the commotion last night, which reminds me to ask the nurse if the orderly is still sleeping. All I have to say is that he deserved it after not listening to Judy. I mean she was furious as hell with the night team because they wouldn't listen to her orders." With a large smile Tyson went on talking even as Rei tried to interrupt him by constantly saying his name, amber eyes following after Damian as he moved to sit next to Tala.

"As small as the kid is he put up on hell of a fight, and he even won! Judy wouldn't let them sedate him, and I bet you that the staff wasn't even briefed on the kid's file. They hardly ever read anything they're supposed to, and we all know it-"

"Tyson…"

"But they're all asses anyways. I mean you should see the bruises that they put on the new kid. It was like they were actually trying to hurt him, and that's against all the rules in the book. Even I know that, which as you would say is something-"

"Tyson.."

"Oh and you should've seen him hit that big and tall guy they call Boris! That one is going to leave a mark indefinitely. Boris was pissed as can be though, and if I know him he's going to try to get back at the kid to hitting him. I mean not even Kai could get a punch in, but you only had a scuffle once-"

"Tyson," growled Rei as his amber eyes showed clear impatience for being ignored.

"And all that the kid needed to calm down was his stuffed animal, I mean Midnight. That's his name, it's a panther. In fact I don't think I've seen him put it down once since I saw Judy give it to him. But anyways I told him I would introduce him to you guys. He's got some list going on about what the doctors' think is wrong with him. Lets see… He said something about general anxiety disorder…-"

"Tyson Granger…"

"Depression, and schizophrenia. I think they've got it all wrong, but I've only known him for what, one night? But yeah, the kid's name is Damian Pierce-"

"Tyson Granger! Shut your trap and look around you. Your new friend is going into bad territory." Rei's voice was filled with impatience, but he made gesture towards the general direction in which Tala was sitting. Kai was just watching on with a mild smirk.

"Huh, what do you mean? He's right behind me…" Turning around Tyson found the spot that Damian had once been indeed bare of his presence, his dark blue eyes blinking in mild surprise before turning a bit too late to watch at his roommate took a quiet seat next to Tala.

"What does he think he's doing! I had to at least tell him a hundred times to leave Tala alone, and I even gave him a detailed description of him before we came here. Hey! Dam-" A hand grabbed his wrist and tightened, silencing Tyson as his attention turned to find Kai to be the source of the hand.

"Lets just see what happens Tyson. He's already sitting down next to him, so there's no need to go and drag him back over here and risk another incident. I'd like to have a halfway decent day for once if you wouldn't mind. Just shut up and sit down already." With that Kai released Tyson's wrist, sitting back against the couch as Rei settled himself on a cushion beside him.

Sitting down as told to in a nearby chair Tyson muttered to himself under his breath, crossing his arms in a mock pout. "You're just trying to get him killed…" Blue eyes turned to watch Damian and Tala slowly, ready to stand up and go over there if need be.

Bringing his knees to his chest and hugging Midnight with his one arm that wasn't sore Damian leaned back against the wall, closing his aquamarine eyes and allowing the silence to overcome him. Despite Tyson's constant warning's he felt quite safe sitting so near Tala as he read from his worn book, taking his time to let himself settle away from the prodding eyes of the other patients other than Tyson and his two friends.

"You should change your bandages before they bleed through anymore than they already have," muttered Tala as he turned the page of his book, his azure eyes never leaving the words it looked.

Startled Damian snapped his attention to Tala, shrinking away slightly as he now clutch his bandage wrapped hand and wrist to his chest. The wound on his wrist was from the orderly, and the small gashes on his hand under the bandages were from the glass he had shattered when the fit first started.

"I take it Tyson told you that I'm some vicious person that's going to hurt you if you sit next to me when I'm reading?" In response Tala received a meek nod from Damian only to soon sigh and close his book to look towards the teen sitting next to him.

"As true as it is that I've hurt people for merely bothering me while I'm reading you didn't bother me. You sat there, remained quiet, and didn't stare." The tone of his voice was unusually flat, lacking any shift in tone to signal emotion. Azure eyes glanced over Damian's form, taking in his light hair and aquamarine eyes while noting his too large clothes and the stuffed panther under his arm.

"What's his name?" Tala made a small gesture towards the plushy with the hand holding his book, his eyes however ever seeming now glued to Damian's face which shifted into a partial smile. Unconsciously Tala found himself returning that smile, rather wanting to see it brighten and the look of partial fear in the aquamarine colored eyes to fade away.

"His name is Midnight. We didn't want to disturb you from reading, but it was quieter to sit over here. I didn't want people to start asking me questions about last night… They took Midnight away from me, and he doesn't like that. They were going to put him into the trash like a broken toy." With a frown Damian hugged Midnight to his chest protectively. "My name is Damian, Damian Pierce."

"I'm sure Judy has taken care of everything and won't let them take him away from you. May I..?" Reaching out his other hand Tala made a move to touch the stuffed panther, and only upon receiving a nod did he touch and pet the plushy briefly on the head. "Hello Midnight." Lifting his hand he brushed the fingertips lightly across the smooth skin covering Damian's cheekbone, smirking inwardly at the suddenly very shy expression that came to the teen's face. "Hello Damian."

"See, he's perfectly fine sitting over there by Tala. If you've ever bothered to ask Tala why he goes after people who bother him when he's reading he'll tell you it's because they try talking to him, or they stare at him. The new kid did neither, and now that Tala isn't reading anymore we might as well as go over there to see what they're talking about." Shooting a warning look to Tyson to make sure he wouldn't say anything about the whole matter Kai soon rose from his seat only to have the two other he was sitting with do the same.

"They're probably talking about you Tyson and how you've such a big and loud mouth." Smirking slyly Rei hid himself on the other side of Kai as Tyson made a move to take a playful punch at his shoulder again. Even as Tyson made a move to lunge at him around Kai the raven-haired teen was moving around the Russian and out of reach, grinning the whole way.

"Well look what the cat dragged in. I wonder if it's even identifiable. Why Tyson, up so early are we? No wonder the cat is having fun poking at you with a stick then ducking away behind its guard dog." Tala's words were dripping with sarcasm as he turned his attention to the approaching three.

"Why must you guys always pick on me.." Playing mock hurt Tyson jutted out his bottom lip, crossing his arms at his chest and acting as if he was trying to keep from crying. He didn't act very well because the corner of his mouth kept quirking up in a smile, and soon enough he was smiling full fledge, well knowing the others were just playing around.

"You know we love you Tyson, but you're the one who always takes the bait, we only provide it." Sticking his tongue out at his navy haired friend Rei soon shifting his amber eyes to Damian who was all but looking at them or seeming to pay much attention. It actually looked almost as if he was asleep sitting there, head cradled in his arms and cheek resting against the stuffed panther Midnight.

"Say Tyson, did you happen to even ask if he got any sleep last night? You know that the only reason the other kid was moved out of your room was because he complained nonstop about the fact that you snore while you sleep, and not just that but you sleep like a log and are a hell of a person to try to get up in the morning." Curious amber eyes that belonged to Rei blinked softly at Damian before shifting to whom the words had been directed to.

"Well, no…. Who sleeps their first night here anyways? It's like a bad omen or something if you do." Shrugging Tyson made himself comfortable sitting cross-legged in front of Tala. It wasn't as if they were going to be moving anytime soon since lunch was so far away and no one had therapy until after lunch out of the four of them. As for Declan, no one was really sure what his schedule was.

"Then you must be certainly cursed. You slept your first day here, and frankly so did I and most of the other kids here. What's his problem anyways? He's insane to have been picking fights with the orderlies and nurses last night," questioned Kai as he sat down with Rei settling down to sit on his lap.

"Hello, can anyone say schizophrenia? I told you that the doctors were trying to tell him he had that among other things. Do you people even bother to listen to me when I tell you things?" complained Tyson with a roll of his dark blue eyes. It would never fail when the things he said merely went over people's heads.

"What was that Tyson? I'm sorry I didn't catch what you just said." With a smirk Tala gave a shrug of indifference. "He's probably calmer around other kids anyways, as his breathing his calm a rhythmic. If he feels safe enough here to sleep out of his room, then let him be. The last thing we need is to have you agitating him to wake up and go after you." With a yawn Tala leaned more fully against the wall behind him, keeping one eye on Damian and the other on those whom he was speaking to.

The hours the day went on as slow as this, Damian eventually waking and wandering off with Tyson after lunch. Tala had dispersed into the library by himself, leaving Rei and Kai to do as they pleased without the others around. They merely spent time in each other's company in one of the free rooms, quietly talking amongst themselves.