Day 64: Cafeteria (brunch)

[gald_digger]

Well, that went well! Anise had gained herself a gorgeously handsome new friend. She just hoped that weird illness didn't get either of them killed before she could get to know him any better.

... Yeah, that was morbid. It was hard not to think about, though.

Before going to the Cafeteria, Anise made a stop at her room to grab her journal, maps, and a pen. Once she finished eating, she could get a start on copying the maps for Barnaby. He was going to be so glad he met her!

With that done, Anise made her way to the Cafeteria, where she picked up an assortment of food, making sure to get some meat, vegetables, and milk on her tray. She then sat down at a table and set her notes aside while she started on her meal. It was hard not to feel self-conscious about the rash on her arm, though the makeup she used had blended the discolored part enough that it couldn't be seen from a distance. Anise just hoped no one would come specifically looking for it.

[Ilia!]

Comments

[pullstring]

As usual, he'd slept longer than he'd wanted, though at this point Woody wasn't sure whether it was a blessing or a curse. On one hand, it was frustrating and really, really worrying. But on the other, this place scared him so bad that sometimes just regular sleep felt like a huge relief.

At least he hadn't missed brunch. The aroma wafting through the cafeteria made Woody's stomach growl, and though he still hadn't entirely accepted this eating stuff, he eagerly filled his plate with pancakes, bacon and eggs.

With that taken care of, the former toy's thoughts turned toward what he'd seen last night. Within seconds, his gaze locked onto the back of Rita's head. Even though the two of them hadn't ever had the best relationship, he still hadn't liked seeing her so hurt, and the obvious signs of injury made him cringe. Woody wasn't heartless, after all, and he hadn't completely forgotten how young Rita was.

Frowning with concern, he approached her table with his tray in hand.

"Uhh, hey," he greeted, a trace of hesitance in his voice. "Are the nurses treating you okay this morning? You know...with your injuries and everything..."

[overlimit]

Rita was halfway through her first hot dog when the man approached. This time, it wasn't as much of a surprise as it was the previous night, and she merely watched him disinterestedly for a few moments as she chewed the large bite she'd just taken, then swallowed. She didn't care if Woody joined her at the table, though she wasn't in the mood to be pleasant. Then again, she rarely was.

"If anything, they've been too nice," she replied dryly, her gaze drifting to the staff that monitored the Cafeteria. "It's annoying. I know how to handle my injuries." She gave a small hmph as she took another bite of the hot dog. It wasn't her first time suffering an injury so severe as to threaten her life, but she hoped it would be the last. At least for the year. She'd had way too many close calls in such a short amount of time.

[pullstring]

Woody wondered if she really knew how to handle injuries better than nurses, or if that was just her imagination talking. On the other hand, he knew this place wasn't a real hospital, so maybe she had a point. After setting his tray down onto the table, he settled in the seat across from her.

"You sound like you get hurt a lot or something," he muttered as he slowly picked up his fork and knife. Even after all this time, using eating utensils still felt foreign to him.

[overlimit]

The remainder of the hot dog was crammed into her mouth with little grace or delicacy. The hunger was starting to fade, and Rita was finding it easier to focus. A big meal with tons of calories was just what she needed, apparently. She started picking at the fries.

“What, are you worried?” she asked, tone dubious in a teasing way. Although... Rita supposed he had to be if he’d bothered approaching her again after last night. Not being one to concern herself much over people she didn’t particularly like, however, she couldn’t quite understand why. Maybe Woody was just the bleeding heart type.

“I try not to get hurt, but it comes with the territory,” she elaborated after a pause, giving a slight shrug with her left shoulder – the right one wouldn’t quite move in sync with it. “Sometimes taking risks is the only way to achieve anything.”

[pullstring]

While it was true that Woody had taken huge risks for both Andy and his friends in the past, he couldn't quite get around someone so young saying something like that. Maybe Rita had stuff she wanted to put her life on the line for. Still, it wasn't like he could fault her for that, crazy space case or not.

"What, so..." Woody pulled back in surprise as he looked at the girl's petite frame. "Do you know how to fight, then?"

With the way that boy had been babbling last night, it sounded like the two had gotten into a scuffle. But, on the other hand, the little guy had thought the intercom was a witch, so Woody wasn't sure how much of his story was to be believed.

[overlimit]

"Yes, I know how to fight," Rita replied, rolling her eyes as if that had been a ridiculous question. Maybe it wasn't something that could be guessed at a glance, but... well, she just didn't have a lot of patience at the moment.

"Anyway, I could have sworn I mentioned..." They'd know each other for a few weeks. Surely Rita had mentioned the single most important, defining detail about herself in passing...

... or maybe she actually didn't.

"... Well, whatever. I'm a magic scholar - a mage. A damn good one, too. I'm not bad with a whip, either." It was a little hard to brag after being beaten so badly in her last fight, but Rita managed. Maybe Woody would be skeptical about her claims, but she didn't care. There was nothing she held more pride in than her magic ability.

[pullstring]

Though he knew it wasn't what Rita had in mind, Woody couldn't help but imagine in her locked in some at-school brawl. Didn't kids get suspended for that kind of thing? Not that he'd really know. Andy never got into trouble for anything like...well, that.

"Magic," he deadpanned. Not like a magician or a witch, either. Rita, apparently, was a mage from outer space. Which was a really great idea! But the thing that freaked Woody out was the fact that Rita actually believed it. If it weren't for the fact she was so young and obviously needed her parents to help her out of this mess, he would have laughed in her face. As it was, though, the only reaction he could muster was a small grimace. Yeah, the more he thought about it, the more he didn't even want to touch that one.

After finding her in such poor shape, he could at least try to be nice.

So instead he focused on the less magical part of her story and turned his attention onto the whip bit. "Oh, yeah, like with the chain belt you found awhile back, right?"

[overlimit]

What was that reaction supposed to mean? Well, whatever. If Woody wasn't going to comment, Rita wasn't going to push it either.

"Yeah, like that. I managed to get my hands on a proper weapon recently, though." It was insulting to receive it as a twisted sort of reward for her involuntary participation in the military's human experiments, but Rita would take what she could get. She'd "thank" them later, as well as the rest of the institute staff.

"What about you?" she asked, finally looking up from her plate, which was now mostly cleared. "Find anything better than a clothes rod yet?" She had to wonder how anyone survived a place like this without a few tricks up their sleeves. If she had to guess, Rita would credit Woody's survival to dumb luck, for the most part.

[pullstring]

While he listened to Rita talk, he stuffed a few sweet bites of pancakes into his mouth, savoring the explosion of flavors before he instinctively swallowed it. The more he ate, the hungrier he became, so Woody was content to focus on that for a second.

When Rita turned the question back on him, though, he couldn't help but get a little annoyed. There was nothing wrong with that clothes rod! It had gotten him through some tough times, after all. Instead of owning up to it, though, he casually waved his fork at the girl.

"I'm gettin' there," he told her. "It's not exactly easy finding something in a place like this."

[overlimit]

He sounded a little defensive. Rita managed a small grin.

“Do you even know how to fight?” she asked, finally turning Woody’s question back around on him. “You don’t exactly look like the rugged warrior type.” And Rita would know, being acquainted with plenty of those. There wasn’t much reason for her question other than to kill time and feed her own sense of superiority - which wasn’t such a bad reason, in her view.

In the meantime, the mage slid her now-empty tray away from herself, and pulled the pad of paper close. She wanted to write a note for the bulletin, and with only her left hand to move, it was going to take some time to write.