Day 62: Breakfast

[baniichan]

A misplaced sense of familiarity met Barnaby the moment he opened his eyes, and the sight of the blank, white ceiling from yesterday morning greeted him. After rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, Barnaby sat up and felt around for his glasses. Had he blacked out again and wasted an entire night? Where was Kotetsu? And what had become of the man who had seemingly vanished before his very eyes at the end of dinner?

Once Barnaby slipped his frames onto his face, the world came into clearer focus, even if he didn’t get any answers out of it. He was in his room, and someone had apparently stripped him out of his street clothes in favor of the hideous hospital pajamas. Barnaby wasn't sure what he found more offensive -- that someone here had once again touched his things without his permission, or that he’d been undressed while unconscious for the second time since his arrival.

The thought made his skin crawl.

Just as he looked over to find a lump in the bed next to him, though, his assigned nurse came to retrieve him. He would have to confirm Klavier Gavin's whereabouts later. For now, he had no choice but to allow the nurse to escort him into the cafeteria. Strangely, she seemed to be under the impression that he and the other patients had slept soundly the whole night. While he might have assumed it was an act, Barnaby got the feeling that she genuinely believed what she was saying.

Regardless of her intentions, he knew she wasn't going to be any help. Instead of trying to ask her anymore questions, Barnaby left a note on the bulletin board concerning his roommate. If his observations from yesterday were any indication, he'd get some responses, at least. While he could have taken the time to leave something for Kotetsu, Barnaby didn't feel inclined to do so, especially when he knew he probably wouldn't check the board anyway.

He had no appetite this morning, but his nurse wouldn't leave him alone until she'd assembled a tray of fresh, fluffy pancakes for him. Honestly, Barnaby didn't see why some people felt the need to butt into his personal choices like this. At least there wasn't anyone forcing him to eat -- for now, at any rate. He sat down at an empty table close to the wall after setting his food down, privately hoping that she wouldn't try to find a "friend" for him to eat with this morning. He was tucked out of the way, so maybe she would forget about him for a few minutes as long as he didn't draw any unnecessary attention to himself.

Hands neatly clasped on the table, Barnaby didn't look at anyone in particular as patients filtered into the cafeteria for their morning meal. There were too many questions buzzing in his mind for him to focus on the names and faces of people he didn't care about. If Kotetsu wanted to find him, he could. It wasn't like Barnaby was going anywhere.

[For Kotetsu.]

Comments

[age_of_kings]

Tolten looked up and offered a smile in return when his friend approached, glad for the company.

"Of course! You're always welcome." The young king wrapped a bit of meat in pancake before tearing bits off to eat. At least his time here had cured him of his nervousness to be observed doing normal things. "How was your night? I hope nothing terrible happened..."

Which, really, was the best he could offer. It wasn't as though anyone ever had a good night in this place.

[earthling]

"Oh, no, nothing terrible," he quickly assured Tolten. Well, he could be certain of that once he heard back from Mom, but there wasn't any reason to trouble his newest friend about those kinds of things. "I've just been exploring with a couple of friends of mine." Not that he really wanted to go into details, and so Claude just offered a small shrug. "Well...you know how it is. Practically everyone is looking for a way out."

After cutting off a piece of pancake, Claude took a bite and swallowed. "What about you, though?" he asked. "You've been sticking with other people, right?"

While he was sure Tolten had been here long enough to know it was a bad idea to travel alone, Claude always wanted to make sure people he knew were safe at night.

[age_of_kings]

"That sounds the same as what I've been doing," Tolten said with a nod. "And yes. Another young man and I have taken to spending our nights together. We explored some of the second floor halls and rooms until...."

Until a nightmare made real had come for them.

"Well, there was a creature of some sort," he went on, "and we ended up simply running as it didn't look like we could fight it. It was horrible! Like something from a movie broadcast designed to frighten even the hardest of hearts. And then we ended up in the chapel and that rather sealed the night for me. Have you ever been in there at night? It's ghastly! How can Landel profane a house of God in such a way?"

If nothing else, Tolten was certainly chatty this morning. It said a great deal towards how at ease he was growing around those whom he considered friends.

[earthling]

"Wow, that sounds horrible," Claude blurted, unable to hide the alarm on his face. He wondered what kind of creature it was -- whether it was something Claude had run into before, or if it was one of Landel's more specialized terrors. While he sort of wanted to ask for more details, he could tell Tolten was disturbed by what he'd seen. No reason to dredge up a bunch of bad memories if he didn't need to, right?

"I've been to the chapel at night, yeah," he admitted. "I didn't get to see the sights, exactly, but I'm kind of glad it worked out that way. Is it really that awful?"

Glancing over Tolten's form, he tried to get an idea of whether he'd taken any hits from whatever had chased him and his friend. "And were any of you hurt?"

[age_of_kings]

"It was horrible," Tolten agreed, sighing. "I've seen some terrible things in my life, creatures that defy explanation and good sense, and yet..."

Nothing like that. Nothing even approaching that.

"I think perhaps it may have been human once..." He shook his head, trying to clear the lingering, vague images that lasted in his mind. "And no, we weren't hurt. We ran before it could get close to us. We spent the rest of the night in the chapel, and nothing bothered us there. Except the blood fountain, but it didn't do anything. It was...simply there. I did bruise my arm trying to break down a door, but that was my own fault."

And most of the pain from that was long gone, just a lingering ache deep in his shoulder.

"Though to be fair...usually I'm stronger than doors."

[earthling]

It may have been human once. Claude's expression darkened once Tolten expressed his concern. To be honest, he'd also suspected that Landel used humans to create some of his monsters, which was one reason he'd gone to the morgue as soon as possible after that horrible night in the coliseum. The thought of his friends' corpses being used for something like that had made his stomach sick.

"Well," he quietly said, doing his best to brighten up and focus on the positive side of things, "I'm glad neither of you were hurt too badly." Claude tried to give him a reassuring smile. "And don't feel too embarrassed about the door. Plenty of people here aren't at the same strength they once were."

He could understand the frustration behind the power gap that some people experienced -- hell, it was something he grappled withe everyday. But at least they were all in it together, rather than having a few of them get singled out in that way.

"Do you know how to use any weapons?" he asked, genuinely curious.

[age_of_kings]

"Well they aren't normal doors," Tolten was quick to agree. "We tried picking them, tricking them, breaking them in...it was like an assault on the gates of heaven! Only much dirtier and darker than one would imagine that scenario, of course..."

Those damned doors.

"We're hoping the staff has keys stashed somewhere. Though the search for those will most likely prove to be just as frustrating and harrowing. You know...I didn't have this problem back home. I'm sure this situation has me exaggerating in hindsight, but it was as though you could hardly shake a stick without finding a..a sword in a barrel or a potion in someone's potted plant!"

Or just treasure chests that had somehow managed to escape pilfering until he and his friends showed up.

"Oh, and yes! I'm a knight. Royal knight sort of...anyway. I've been trained with swords and barehanded since I was a small boy, but I've only excelled in swordsmanship. I'd truly prefer a proper sword to the pipe Anise gave me, but I'm remarkably thankful for that bit of metal! It's saved my life on a few occasions now."

[earthling]

There probably was some way to unlock the doors, but Claude wasn't sure whether they'd find a way to open them or not. He wondered if there was an actual key or if the locking mechanisms were controlled remotely somehow. Either way, he could understand Tolten's dissatisfaction with how scarce resources were.

"I know what you mean," Claude said with a hint of laughter. "It was kind of like that where I was, too." Expel was just the kind of place abundant in all sorts of weapons and artifacts. Considering one had to face monsters during journeys between towns, though, Claude imagined it was more out of necessity than anything else.

Maybe, then, the fact Tolten was another fellow swordsman wasn't so surprising. Claude's eyes brightened. "No kidding," he said with a grin. "I fight with a sword, too, you know." To think Tolten had been saddled with a pipe, of all things. Granted, Claude had been stuck with a clothes rod for the longest time, so he could relate. A pipe worked well for beating creatures upside the head, or even as a possible conductor for heraldry or other spells, but it was no blade.

"I actually might have something you can use back in my room," he told him. "I mean, it's not large or anything, but it's still technically a sword and has more of an edge than what you've got. I could check tonight to make sure it's still there."

[age_of_kings]

"Really?" Tolten couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice. "Anything with an edge would be...it would make a world of difference!"

And the pipe could be passed on to Locke, and that whole problem would be solved!

"I would be forever in your debt if you could! Check, I mean." He understood that it wasn't a definite, but even the possibility of an actual blade was enough to stir the young king to delight. He wasn't even going to ask where it came from, or how Claude had come to have it in his room.

[earthling]

"Sure thing!" Claude brightly said as he took another bite of his food. Though he remained chipper and optimistic for Tolten's benefit, he couldn't quite shake the pang in his chest when he remembered the last owner of that sword. He'd been hoping that Ashton would someday reclaim it now that Guy himself had graduated onto weapon better suited for his fighting style, but Claude's hope for such a reunion privately diminished with each passing day.

Holding onto that sword while others struggled just to find something that wouldn't break seemed incredibly selfish to him now.

"I'll let you know first thing in the morning, if that's all right," he added, a little more subdued now. While part of him wanted to find Tolten the moment he confirmed whether the blade was still in his room, he'd had enough experience with the institute to know that wouldn't necessarily be easy to coordinate.