damned_institute | Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

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Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

Scar felt cold and sick, though more the latter than the former. As he rose from his bed, he didn't quite know which way was up, and the artificial light coming from overhead seemed as hot and as blinding as the Ishbal sun.

His head hurt, but that was nothing new. After all, the last thing he remembered from the night before was fighting a homunculus off of Lust and then having a conversation about events best left forgotten. The man hadn't been his brother. He just hadn't. And if what Lust had said they'd done to her was true...

Scar stood with shakiness that he wanted to attribute more to a bizarrely weakened physical state than a mental one. Had he been knocked out by some kind of lurking monster before the morning had come? He felt as if he had been out for days, being a veteran of such circumstances, though as he took the practiced role of being an obedient follower behind the nurse and orderlies that came for him, it didn't seem as if much had changed.

This place was probably just playing tricks on him again, and he was tired of being the man left out of the loop. He grabbed some food he didn't really care for and sat down, not seeing anyone he knew already seated. On one hand, he wished he had someone to talk to, and on the other, it scared him that he was no longer used to being alone.

He dug his fork into his food and tried to block out any related thought.

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Fortunately, it put no damper on Usopp's mood, as he'd already thought the same thing. He might be an idiot at times, but this qualified under a general rule even he knew, the fact that People are Stupid. And Usopp had known some very dedicated swordsmen... hell, when Zoro fought barehanded, he called it 'no-sword style.' Every one of those people couldn't be like that, though.

Just like everybody can't be like you, and grab anything and everything at hand on the off hand it'll be useful, he admitted reasonably to himself. Some of the weapons weren't so great anyhow... brainstorming didn't automatically come up with genius every time, and he was trying to only think of things that could be made with supplies he could get himself.

"Yeah, I don't know about in your world, but in my world, making swords takes weeks or months, and it involves melting metal over and over on itself, then hammering it into shape at a forge. Even if I were a blacksmith, and even if you could just alchemy me up a forge to hide in my closet or under my bed, I don't really think we have the time for swords the traditional way. I don't mind helping alter blades that are already around, at least the non-blade parts." In fact, that sounded like what Yuber was going to ask for already. "And I could try carving swords, if they don't mind wooden ones. I noticed someone wanted throwing needles, I don't see why those couldn't be sturdy wood or maybe from some of the plastic around here." Frankly, he didn't see why those couldn't be self-made, but people seemed to have latched onto the idea of an alchemist who could magic up the perfect weapon. Even he'd thought like that at first, wishing for gunpowder. Poor Roy.

As Roy pointed at the contraption, Usopp's face broke into a grin, and he waved his finger at the ceiling, leaning forward so the conversation wasn't too obvious to those surrounding. "You have a good eye! This, if I can get it to work, is a pump system for spraying burnable liquids past a small flame while avoiding allowing the flame to back up into the device. It is called... a flamethrower." He'd made one once, as a kid, when he'd just been getting into his inventive phase. It had been smaller, but when Pepper had accidentally gotten burned, he'd abandoned the device. Here, though, it seemed as though destruction on a larger level would be quite useful. "The tank at the back is to hold the flammable liquid. Right now, I'm thinking alcohol... I have some cans of juice I could open and let spoil, and even if they aren't drinkable they'd catch fire well. I could only get a few good blasts per can, and of course it'd be dangerous as anything, but that's the idea of a weapon, right?" Even a room full of leeches ought to step back at flame-throwin' Usopp. He'd planned on incorporating the Breath Dial to do the same effect using gas on his secret in-development new weapon Kabuto, but this was the heart of invention; improvisation. "This is also something that couldn't be made without the soldering iron; the seals need to be absolutely perfect, or else the fire'll back up into the tank and it'll explode. I'd still need some more supplies for this... mostly the tubes. I think I'll be raiding the kitchen appliances, and if that doesn't work, the gardener's shed ought to have what I need. Especially if they have any trouble with weeds around here." He sat back, almost insufferably pleased with himself. A step up from flour smokescreens, but better supplies meant better weapons--that was just obvious. And he wasn't about to abandon the usefulness of flour either.

That did sound like a horribly tedious way to make weapons, especially when they could be mass-produced so easily in Amestris. Then again, that might have been why it ended up as a military state that engaged in war far more than peace. Making a sword wouldn't have tired Roy in the slightest back home. If he'd had the materials, he could have done it all day. While that sort of ability had been abused, it would have done a world of good here.

Except there were always people who couldn't be trusted, and he hardly had the time to figure out who those people were, so he was just handing out weapons to anyone who wanted them. It made him a bit nervous, but there wasn't much else he could do about it. Some of the people honestly needed them, and he wasn't going to deprive them just because of some reservations.

Roy almost wanted to cut in to explain that the forge idea didn't make much sense, it would take too much time, especially when Usopp was already in the belief that that wasn't an option. "Once again, I think you'll just need to post to the bulletin board with what you're capable of. I'm sure some people will require your services." Maybe not as much as an alchemist's, but that was probably to Usopp's benefit. Sure, Roy got a lot of attention, but it was mainly due to people wanting to use him, which got tiresome after a while. It was a rarity for someone to come up to him just to chat these days.

Apparently he had asked the right question. When Usopp leaned forward, Roy did as well, examining the sketch once again before listening to the boy's explanation. It sounded like his type of weapon, and Roy's face lit up slightly as he continued to listen. Though it did make him a bit homesick. Here, his firepower was pitiful, and he usually didn't even have the strength to use it because he was always worn out from making a weapon for someone. He wanted to see this flamethrower in action, if only to be reminded of what a real blast of fire should look like.

"I'm impressed. That sounds helpful, though it also seems like it's going to take a lot of work to put it together. I would suggest trying it at least once, though, just to see if the amount of work it takes is worth it for the end product." He smirked at Usopp - he'd done good.

"Well, of course I'm going to try it!" Usopp was pleased at Roy's reaction. "Even if nobody's interested in using weapons that aren't swords for whatever reason I don't understand, it's not going to stop me from equipping myself as best I can! I'll probably want to come up with a remote trigger puller for the first trial shot, though." He didn't really like the idea of his jury-rigged flamethrower exploding beside his face or under his arm. Wait, that was an excellent idea. Bombs. He started scribbling something down on the notebook as he spoke.

"Maybe I will post on the bulletin board. Cooking seemed like the most weapon-making-oriented group, that's why I wanted to talk to you. What does Arts and Crafts do, anyway? It's hard to understand with all the weird codewords, but I thought they were training people to fight or something." Usopp had no interest in that; he'd seen people training, and quickly come to the realization that it was just plain not for him. His pride was still a little bit stung, even though he couldn't really blame Roy; Roy had clearly been hoping for someone to take some of that sword-making burden off of him, and Usopp had disappointed on that front. Maybe he'd form his own group. He could call it, The Group of People Who Make More Than One Recipe.

C'mon, don't be petty. Roy's a nice guy.

"Anyway, I don't mind helping you get supplies or something if I'm not already busy. So... to go back to the start, sure. If Luffy wants to help the Cooking Group, then I'll be helping too."

"From what I can tell, they mainly focus on searching out materials and training those who need it, like you mentioned. But really, it's for whatever needs to get done, to make sure it's done efficiently. Sometimes they work on mapping as well." Roy agreed with what the shinigami were doing. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was wasting resources. With so many patients around, there was no reason why they shouldn't band together to get things done quickly.

"I do appreciate the help, for when you can offer it." Though he wasn't quite certain what Usopp was capable of as far as combat went, he had managed to fight those leeches alongside Luffy in order to get the soldering iron, so it seemed like they could at least take care of themselves. "I assume you and Luffy will always want to be grouped together?" Something like what Ashton had said about himself and Dias - they worked well with each other, so why separate them?

"Also, you'll have to let me know when you get that flamethrower made," he added with a smirk. "I'd like to see it in action."

"It'd be kind of weird if we weren't paired together, we are crewmates." Usopp answered. "Anyway, Luffy hasn't got a great sense of direction, so giving him orders without someone to help him get around wouldn't do a lot of good." Granted, there was no reason that someone absolutely had to be Usopp, but, well... it just made sense for them to be together. They were already a team.

When Roy added the comment about the flamethrower, Usopp grinned back. He knew he remembered Luffy saying something about the guy shooting flames. "Sure, you bet. I'll be sure to let you know. We'll probably want to test it outside."

Folding up his notebook, he started to finish eating with more speed, speaking between swallowed bites. "I wanna try to see Luffy and Sai during lunch too if I can. Do you think we need to talk about anything else?"

Crewmates? That was a weird way to put it, though now that Roy thought about it, hadn't Luffy once mentioned that he was a pirate? Something like that. It was a little hard for the alchemist to fathom, seeing how his home country of Amestris was landlocked. It wasn't like he was a big fan of water, anyway.

"I'll keep you together, then. And yes, outside would be best. I think scorching other patients might put us in a bit of trouble," he joked. Even with his apparent popularity, he wasn't certain he could talk his way out of something like that.

At Usopp's question, he offered a quick nod. "Oh, of course." Far be it from him to keep the boy from his friends. They had more or less finished their discussion, and it would be best if he found Hughes, anyway. He didn't know who Sai was, but he felt a little guilty for only being able to wonder if he would be willing to help as well.

It was all for a larger cause, wasn't it? He wasn't being completely selfish.

"It probably depends on the patient," Usopp responded, also joking. Well, mostly joking... but when he thought about weapons that could stop human-like creatures, he couldn't help also thinking about the less sociable of the other patients. Non-lethal ways to stop them, of course, in case of that brainwashing thing he'd heard about.

Usopp finished off his meal, then pushed the tray to the side and tucked the notebook, pastels and medicine to his chest before standing. "Well, it was nice meeting you! Maybe we can talk some other time."

[heading to Sai (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/177215.html?thread=12032575#t12032575)]

"You as well. And I'm sure we'll see each other again soon." And that was that. For once, Roy had actually managed to finish up a conversation before the shift changed and he got dragged somewhere else.

So he decided to take a breather and eat some of his food, getting through it quickly so he didn't waste too much time.

Once he was finished, he searched the room for Hughes. As expected, he looked to be consoling Heiderich. The colonel wasn't certain if he should go over, but he could at least take a closer look and see if it seemed like they were speaking in private. So with that, he stood from his seat and crossed the room.

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Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

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