Day 69: Breakfast

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar scowled, both relieved and angry that he had woken up once again in his own bed. That lanky man who had become his new roommate on the night of his death was sound asleep one bed over.

This was coming to be the new "normal." It was infuriating.

As always, he begrudgingly followed his nurse into the cafeteria and took a seat. He preferred to file in with the majority of the patients in order to avoid sticking out, but no such luck this morning.

Scar stared at his food rather than starting in on it, despite the newly found appetite that had been lost thanks to that blasted sickness. He had a lot to think about. He hadn't managed to find Frank last night. The damn intercom had beaten him to it. And judging by Tsubaki's reaction to him, he had been out for at least a day's time. How many had noticed? Cared? It couldn't have been many.

But it was the few who did whose detection Scar was desperate to avoid.

[Eddyyyy!]

Comments

[dividedby]

Of all the prisoners who could have sat down and tried to strike up conversation, it was very fortunately X - someone Zero liked and was relieved to see in one piece - who ended up actually doing so. He was considering himself lucky for that. However--

"Oh, it's your friend Alex!" the nurse chimed in before Zero could say a word. "Why don't you two have a nice breakfast together?"

...That's what I'm going to do if you'll just be quiet, he wanted to say, but he held his tongue; no need to give her another reason to keep yapping. Instead, he ignored her by turning his full attention to X. (Of course, the irritation his expression had held while interacting with the nurse was noticeably absent now.)

"X. Are you okay?" The younger former Reploid seemed to be in good health, but looks could be deceiving. What had happened to him last night, while Zero had been off getting himself injured in a foolish way? Hopefully X hadn't put himself into any dangerous situations...

[maverickhunterx]

Was he in good health? Yes. Yes, he did seem to be. His body was unbruised, and he didn't suffer any discomfort other than feeling cramped and achy after his date with his bedroom floor. Even the imprints of the textured outside of the flashlight in the palm of his right hand wasn't alarming, and X himself...

...well, he felt fine.

But he didn't say that, nor even mention anything relating to Zero's question. At least...not concerning himself.

"I should be asking you the same question."

It came out of X's mouth faster than expected, but he couldn't help it. Was it because of simple worry? Was it because it had been on his mind all night, sitting in the edge of his thoughts like a particularly insistent bird chirping in his ear?

...No.

His eyes had settled on the nearby crutches, finally, and his stomach had wrenched. All thoughts of speaking about himself flew the coop, concern fluttering to the surface (and on his face) faster than one could blink.

His head jerked towards them as he spoke:

"Or are those someone else's?"

[dividedby]

...X was too obvious about his thoughts and feelings, wasn't he. And he was so good at showing such absurdly intense worry for his friends, enough that Zero could practically feel the worry radiating off of him. It seemed like he did this every day since showing up in this place...though perhaps Zero shouldn't be so surprised. Even though the X he knew from his own time was much different, he remembered how X used to be in some way...and he had never, ever lost his concern for the people he cared about.

Nevertheless, it made Zero frown, seeing how X reacted to the sight of the crutches. The worry was not necessary. He was fine...really.

"They're mine," he confirmed, plain and simple, as if answering any old question. He stared at his friend, saying nothing else for a moment. But then, he decided to turn the conversation back around, as it should be. "...You didn't answer my question."

[maverickhunterx]

X sighed.

Really? He shouldn't have been surprised that Zero was going to talk about this like he was making a simple remark about the morning coffee, but it didn't make it any more vexing. No explanation? Nothing?

"I'm fine, but..."

He shook his head.

"What happened? I'm pretty sure you didn't just fall down the stairs. Were you...?"

Attacked? Trapped somewhere? Had a wall collapse on you? All three things at once?

[dividedby]

"Maybe I did fall down the stairs," Zero replied at first, the sarcasm perhaps a bit noticeable. Clearly he wasn't happy about where this conversation was going, and for good reason: was this really necessary? This miniature war on who talks about their problems first? Zero only cared about what X had been doing last night, not himself. He didn't think explaining his own failure the night before was necessary, or was going to make the man feel any better. If anything, it was likely going to make X feel worse.

But if he wanted to know so badly... (In other words, X probably wasn't going to shut up until he got his answer.) Zero let out a small sigh. "...I got lost upstairs. Then an eagle attacked me. It injured me, but I got away...that's all." Once again, he spoke nonchalantly, like there was nothing to talk about. And to him, there really wasn't.

...But apparently, the nurse disagreed. "Now, Yūdai," she suddenly chimed in, "I understand your injury frustrates you, but please don't make up stories about it. Eagles don't attack people."

Did she really have to interrupt? The frown on Zero's face became even more noticeable, though he once again tried to ignore her outwardly, not even looking in her direction when she spoke. Still trying his 'ignore and maybe she will go away' tactic; he quietly stared at X in the hopes that he would participate.

[maverickhunterx]

Ignore her and maybe she would go away...it was a childish notion, sure, one that X had found hadn't worked one bit in his days of staying here, but it was something he still ended up doing from time to time...

Like now.

"A...what?" he asked.

Eagles? Eagles. Eagles. First monsters, then strange, disgusting afflictions that caused him to want to do things that he didn't even want to think about, and now eagles? Where were they even hiding? In the rafters? Why was Landel keeping them? Where were they even living?

The nurse was right about one thing, though; eagles didn't normally attack people. And yet it attacked Zero, enough so to where he was on crutches.

...

If X didn't feel that...that...feeling tonight, he was going to watch over Zero, to make sure he was safe.

But really...

What else did Landel have hidden in this place?

[dividedby]

"...An eagle," Zero said again, his expression unchanging despite X's reaction. Was it really so unusu...oh. Wait. Beyond his first night here, had X really been outside at night? From what Zero understood, the answer was no. So he probably hadn't encountered them or even heard of them yet...hmm...

With that in mind, he was going to add on to that - a description of what the eagle had looked like, perhaps, or what it had done to him specifically - but before he could say anything, the nurse chimed in yet again. This time, she spoke directly at X. "Actually," she oh-so-helpfully said in that cheerful voice of hers, "he had an accident in the Greenhouse yesterday afternoon. But he'll be alright!"

... Clearly, she wasn't going to catch any clues from being ignored. So this time Zero, with his frown still quite noticeable, momentarily glanced back at her as he said rather flatly, "We're having a conversation."

But as originally predicted, that only provoked a defensive response from the nurse. "Yūdai, please. Not one of your moods again, and especially not in front of your friend." She spoke to him as if he were a child throwing a tantrum. It was almost enough to make him say something far ruder to her, but once more he held his tongue. As satisfying as being a jerk might be, in the end he knew it...wasn't worth it. Not when X was sitting right next to him, and not when any prolonged conflict with an Institute staff member always ended poorly.

So instead, he grunted with displeasure, then looked back at X again; the expression on his face seemed to say Well? Aren't you going to say anything?