damned_institute | Day 58: Cafeteria

Anise woke up feeling lucky to be alive. She still felt a bit waterlogged, even though her skin, hair, and clothes were completely dry. During last night's adventures, she'd swallowed a lot of water, and it still felt heavy and disgusting in her stomach. Her arms and legs were tired from treading water. Lying still in her bed, she still kind of felt like she was floating and bobbing in the water.

But she was alive.

Knowing how close she came to death last night, and remembering the lengths her friends had gone to in order to save her, there was no way Anise could let a little discomfort get her down. She had to be at her best today so she wouldn't seem ungrateful to Guy and Claude. On that note, she had to remember to thank them properly, now that she was better able to express herself.

While getting ready, Anise was surprised to actually run into Claude that morning. He came to her room asking for the notebook he stored there (or maybe it was an excuse to see her cute face again), so Anise happily located it and handed it over. She was pretty tired, but the big smile she gave him was genuine. Who wouldn't be happy to see her savior so soon after a dramatic rescue?

After he left, Anise finished re-tying her pigtails into a low position so the military beret would fit on her head, and then she was ready! Even though her stomach wasn't feeling that great, she figured sitting down to a decent meal would help normalize it. And luckily for her, she was among the few who had the privilege of eating such a meal. Anise filled a plate with french toast topped with syrup and fruit, accompanied by small portions of each of the available side dishes.

It looked like she was early, which meant there weren't a lot of people around. That was okay, though. Anise could get a good head start on her meal before any company came around. She sat down at a table by herself and started on her sausage first.

[for Tolten!]

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The end of the night felt like something of a blur, but Yuuhi woke up in his bed, dressed in the uniform once more. Unfortunate, since it meant he wasn't allowed to wear his eyepatch. He carefully brushed his hair to cover most of the injured eye before putting on his hat. His hair was starting to get a little long, he noticed, but cutting it hardly seemed like a priority.

He followed his escort to breakfast, once again self-conscious when he was served a normal meal and so many patients were served the same pink goop as before. There were fewer and fewer seats the more he lingered, so he latched on to the first familiar face he saw and took a seat. It'd been a while since he'd seen Chise, but she seemed to be doing alright.

"Morning!" he said cheerfully.

"Ah, good morning Fai," she smiled in reply. "You're looking at lot better than the last time we've talked." Granted, he had been drinking at the time and was a bit worse for wear. She wondered if that's how he usually acted whenever alcohol was involved.

It was then that she noticed that Fai's tray was filled with regular food, instead of the pink yogurt-sludge. She couldn't help but stare at it in hunger. I'll never take food for granted ever again.

"Hey, do you know why some of us are only allowed to eat regular food? This pink yogurt doesn't taste as bad as at first, but a bowl of oatmeal would be tastier than this. It makes me almost wish that the head doctor was back in charge. Do you think it's randomized among us?"

"Haha, am I?" he laughed a bit at that. He'd seen her last in town, wasn't it? He'd been a little tipsy, was that why? Which reminded him, there was still a whole second bottle of wine stored away in his room. Maybe tonight would be a good time to open it...

"Ah..." he started at the question she asked next. He felt guilty enough that he was given the normal food while others were forced to eat the same thing day in and day out. A lot of times, he wasn't even hungry. But when he had and others had not, it seemed particularly bad to be wasteful. "I think the soldiers said something to do with how long you've been here or pins or maybe you're right, maybe it is random afterall."

It wasn't that he didn't want to share, but he'd already gotten in trouble for trying a couple of times with Mokona. Maybe he could pocket some for later and slip it to her discreetly? Or something from dinner maybe?

"The length of our stay...huh, seems like a cruel reward to me. Congratulating someone for spending the longest time away from home. Guess I'll have to visit the staff lounge tonight, heheh," she giggled. "Looking back, I suppose things were a bit better when the head doctor was in charge, in terms of food choice of course."

Finished with the rest of her pink sludge (and no longer staring at Fai's tray), Chise started toying with her package of pills, tapping it against the table every so often. A few seconds passed before her demeanor changed into something serious.

"Hey Fai, you've been here longer than I have, right? Have you ever met the head doctor, Dr. Landel, in person? If so, is he the type of man that would do anything to get what he wants? I wouldn't mind having a chat with him. I'm tired of this military facade, it brings too many unpleasant memories."

Cruel seemed to be the name of the game here. For as long as he'd been in this place, it'd been one punishment after another, pushing them all slowly to their breaking points. Still, he nodded his understanding and even smiled a little when she giggled. "I'll see if I can save you anything at dinner. I think it's the only meal where they don't watch us closely the whole time."

It wasn't long before the conversation took a more serious turn though, and he glanced every now and again when Chise tapped her canister of pills on the table. Medication? He was almost sure she'd mentioned it before, though after his own experiences, he could hardly trust the doctors here to do what they claimed.

Her question though, was one he was all too familiar with. He'd met the man at least twice in person. Once as he watched over his match with Yue in the coliseum and again when he'd met with Kurogane and Tsubaki the night the doors were all enchanted. Truthfully, he did want to see the doctor again, but for Chise to actually want to seek out a meeting? To what end? "Me? Well, no, not in person. I hear he's made some appearances though. Ah, and I did see them escorting him out when he was... well... fired and all. I'd be careful going that route."

This was the first time at the institute that somebody was offering food for her. In fact, throughout all her food exchanges, it was her who did the offering. "You'd do that for me? If...you're fine with setting aside a bit for me, I'll come right away when night starts!"

To tell or not to tell. If she told him that she intended to make a deal with the head doctor, there was a chance that he would try and stop her. On the other hand, he might not and instead offer her some helpful advice. Under the constant watch of the guards patrolling the area, the cafeteria didn't seem to be the best place to talk about said plans. Their rooms were basically the only secure and safest place to converse.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be extra careful in my search for the head doctor's whereabouts. Aside from history, I'm also good at playing war," she said with a smile, then lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'll explain it in more detail when tonight begins, is that okay? It'll be like a secret meeting between us."

"Of course I'll save some! I can never finish anyway," he nodded, somewhat relieved to be able to help someone, even with something so small. Besides, so many of his meals went unfinished, there was so much food. It didn't seem fair not to share.

That was the easy part, of course. He listened intently as she lowered her voice. Chise really did want to meet the doctor and by the sound of things, she was serious about it. It was almost enough to make him wish he could tell her what he knew, though that enchantment hadn't lessened, even in the doctor's absence. He'd found Marc, so he did even need them anymore? What of the promised reward? If there was a way to assist the man now, maybe that would be near as good as the other bargain.

"Sounds like fun," he replied just as easily. "I'd be happy to help."

Day 58: Cafeteria

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