Day 58: Cafeteria

[gald_digger]

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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[dualistic]

When asked for a nickname, Harvey was once again tempted to just say "Two-Face," but he realized how stupid that would be. It was too easy to identify him by that name and the whole point of this was to stay under the radar. "So long as it's something plain that isn't going to stand out, I don't care what name you use. What do you want me to call you?"

He was probably going to get a ridiculous answer to that question, but it was a necessary evil at this point.

In the end, Grell's answer about what he did with his nights was pretty vague, but it seemed to boil down to "whatever I feel like." Sometimes that was exploring and sometimes that was teaching someone a lesson, which could really mean any number of things. Still, what stood out most was the fact that Grell didn't seem that interested in getting home. Considering what he'd said before about waiting for his boss to come find him, that seemed contradictory.

But then Grell had to mention Jones again, even if it was just a reference. He didn't even know who it was, couldn't have any way of knowing, and yet Harvey had to fight not to flinch. "Yeah, it hasn't been all fun and games on my end," he said darkly.

"But why aren't you gnawing at the bit to get back? I thought you were waiting for your boss to come get you." It was a question that was going to bug him unless he asked and he saw no reason not to.

[deadlyjuliet.livejournal.com]

"How boring," he sighed, going back to poking at his food and nibbling at what little there was of it left. Although, giving Harvey his own little nickname would be rewarding. Just what to call him though? Oh, there were just so many names to choose from...! Grell smiled and wondered if he should just reuse some of his old aliases or if he should stick to new ones. One name in particular seemed appropriate to use here, but it could attract attention. Well, it wasn't like Grell wasn't used to doing that. "Angel," he said, winking at Harvey. "Since I'll be your angel of death from now on to help make your days full of fun and games from here on."

No more frowns for Harvey. No, Grell would be making sure the pretty American attorney-turned-vigilante would get his revenge in the bloodiest way possible. What would Harvey look like, Grell wondered, with Aguilar's blood splashing over his skin? Soaking into those bandages? Or whatever was hidden behind them?

You're not wanting to come back because you know there's no place for you to go back to. You're going to end your days as a mortal, Grell Sutcliffe. No one is coming for you.

The sudden reappearance of William's cold voice caused Grell to hiss at the air beside him. "You be quiet," he snapped, knowing how crazy it looked but not much caring. When it seemed no more disparaging comments were coming from the unseen gallery, he turned back to Harvey. "And as for that?" One last bite of toast, let Harvey stew in silence as he paused for effect and to allow himself to swallow. "Because I'm rather enjoying myself right now. And a damsel in distress should wait for her knight to save her, don't you think? William would be so disappointed if I went back before he had a chance to make his grand entrance."

[dualistic]

That seemed just a little bit ironic. There was nothing angelic about Grell, but his explanation about the angel of death was easy enough to accept. Either way, it worked well as an alias since no one was going to look at the redhead and think angel. "All right, I'll keep an eye out for notes signed with that name." There was the slight chance that there was someone else around here who was actually called that, but Harvey figured that he would be able to tell if a note was meant for him.

Grell was still doing a fantastic job of acting totally nuts, and Harvey had to wonder if it was all an act, something meant to unnerve whoever he was talking to, or if it was the real deal. He knew that beggars couldn't be choosers, though, and anyone who was comfortable with death was bound to be a little unhinged. So he ignored it.

It was hard to believe that anyone could actually enjoy their time here, but with someone like Grell... Maybe it was possible. He clearly wasn't your average person, especially if he was telling the truth and had lived a life that consisted of reaping souls.

Whatever, he'd let the guy believe that he was going to be heroically rescued if he wanted to. It was no skin off his back, anyway. "Fair enough," he said with a shrug, more or less in unison with the sound of the intercom coming on. Well, wasn't that well-timed for once?

As Harvey stood from his seat, he offered Grell a tired glance and a weary smile. "Pleasure doing business with you." It was clear that his tone was only half-serious, though, since he couldn't yet make any judgments on how it would be to work with Grell. For all he knew, this could be a terrible mistake.