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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It was time for the masses to get their 2nd meal of the day. However, unlike them, Suigintou could afford not to eat now, even if it smelled somewhat appetizing.

There was little to do during these meal shifts for someone who wasn't eating. Her options were limited, but Suigintou managed to stay off her boredom after spotting one of the humans she saw last night.

"Well, look who it is." she said, taking a seat across from his table. "Have you managed to settle in yet?"

Javert filled his plate almost absentmindedly; he didn't particularly care what he was eating, as long as it was food. There were more important things on his mind than that. He stood in the middle of the cafeteria uncertainly for a moment, scanning the faces around him; no sign of Faust anywhere, or Trevelyan for that matter. It appeared he was relatively early.

He headed for a seat near the wall as usual, and halted for a moment when he saw the man who'd made such a commotion in the showers. It appeared he was already in a conversation with someone else, but that was of little consequence.

Javert seated himself nearby, but not so far away that he couldn't speak to the man if he wished, and began to eat.

Armand smiled at the white-haired girl, trying to recall her name if he'd known it. "Some," he said. "The nurses don't allow us to stray very far from their routine." He wrinkled his nose at the mere idea of the nurses. "This fake name they've given me, they cannot even pronounce it."

It was only then that he noticed the other man who'd seated himself nearby. Not someone he'd met already, but there were so few of those anyway. Older, but with his hair long. He turned his shaky smile the man's direction.

"I don't understand why the second meal is so soon. Is... supper also early?"

Fake names and acquainting himself with the staff..? "Hmm, it seems they’ve already begun treating you the same as everybody else."

Suigintou paid little attention to the man that sat close to them, and would not speak to him unless spoken to first. "I've never understood it myself. Two meals would be more than enough for me.” Yet the humans here expect to be fed three times a day? What a demanding species.

“However, supper is usually given before the arrival of night, when we are left to our own devices.”

Javert had only been half-listening, but he felt it might be best to interrupt now, when the girl had finished answering a question. Better now than when the other man had asked another question.

"Forgive my intrusion," he said abruptly, glancing at the man in question, "but you are the fellow who was speaking French this morning, were you not?"

An odd question, to be sure, but Javert had never cared much about that sort of thing.

Armand's eyes darted back and forth between the two, and his cheeks colored slightly. The man's question was easy to answer, if embarrassing. "In the baths? I am afraid I was."

"I am sorry for disturbing your morning." He did not miss the man's accent, but he didn't want to assume anything more either. Assumptions seemed to be apt to getting him into misunderstandings.

Like the young lady... "Mademoiselle, are you not human?"

After somehow missing Javert for half the day, Alec was resigned to not finding him at all. He'd gotten some spaghetti and tomato sauce, and was looking for a place to sit, when sideburns caught his eye. Yes, that was definitely Javert, hanging out with two people Alec hadn't met yet. Then again, he hadn't been going out of his way to be friendly. Perhaps he should remedy that.

He wove through the tables, still walking like a spy, wandering rather than making a beeline for his target, and sat down across from Javert. "'Lo," he said, nodding to the other two.

"It depends on what you consider a human to be." In her time, Suigintou had seen people act not as humans, but like monsters and animals. Even the Rozen Maidens tended to act more human-like, and they were just dolls. Ironic, wasn’t it?

"But in the general sense, no, I'm not. Or I'm not supposed to be, as this place has changed me to suit its needs."

Javert shook his head. "It wasn't a disturbance," he said in French, a trace of the South in his accent. Abruptly remembering his manners, he held out a hand to the man whom he hoped was Armand St. Just. "Javert. I believe I spoke with you on the bulletin board this morning."

He nodded briefly to the girl sitting across from Armand (thinking of him as St. Just was slightly unnerving). "Good day, mademoiselle," he said, switching awkwardly back to English.

Another nod to Trevelyan, who had just sat down. "I trust you returned to your room safely last night."

Another man joined them just as Armand was getting used to the small crowd already. He nodded back with polite caution, then shook Javert's offered hand. Standing and bowing would be awkward, and manners seem to have changed. "Ah yes," he said. "I'm Armand St. Just. I am grateful for your invitation concerning tonight."

His gaze drifted back to the young woman. "I am beginning to fear your situation is not uncommon here. I apologize if I was insulting." There was something different about her today, though he couldn't quite decide what it was. "You are from somewhere else then?"

"Yes, I did, and my shoulder still hurts like f...anything," Trevelyan amended. He looked down at his lunch. Not bad. At least they knew how to do food here. "I suppose you did, too?"

Wait a minute, did that man just say his name was St. Just? That name struck a chord somewhere in the depths of Trevelyan's mind, but that was almost immediately washed away by the rest of St. Just's statement. Invitation? Do we have another one for tonight? he wondered, and shot Javert a questioning glance.

"There is nothing for you to worry about." The doll shrugged, somewhat intrigued at how proper and polite Armand was acting towards her. "You would know if you had insulted me, and it has not happened yet."

Indeed, all it took for someone to offend her was a specific word. That one word was enough to make her lose all restraint and self-control...

Javert responded to Armand's thanks with a simple nod and a slight smile. "It is safer to stay in groups at night anyway."

He glanced across the table at Trevelyan. "I did." At the man's questioning glance, he continued, "Trevelyan, this is Armand St. Just - I invited him to join our little expedition tonight." Then, to Armand, "M. St. Just, Alec Trevelyan, an - acquaintance of mine."

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Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

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