Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

[right-handed.livejournal.com]

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.

Comments

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

Haku nodded. "I've met a lot of people here that do not seem to know Naruto-kun," he said. "Indeed, not even be aware of what a ninja is. However, those of us from our world all know him." He looked out over the faces in the room, spotting the boy they were speaking about.

"So those of us taken from our reality all have that one factor in common."

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

[briefly barging in with permission from Sai-mun, excuse me ^^;;; from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/177215.html?thread=12100159#t12100159)]

Having finished the interview with Roy, finding it a mixed success, Usopp's next mission was to find his friends from the leech raid and share the medicine he'd gotten. After a bit of searching, he'd spotted Sai and walked over. Sai was speaking to someone feminine... someone who was smiling as much as Sai usually did. In tandem, the effect was downright unnerving. But Usopp mustered his bravery and made a little coughing noise as he interrupted.

"Uh, Sai? I got a little medicine for the leech bites off my therapist today, I thought you could use it too. There's plenty left." Sai definitely could use it--he'd gotten the worst of things last night, no question. Usopp held up the tube helpfully. "It's supposed to help with the itching, he said. There's also some painkiller, he called it Tylenol..."

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

"Usopp-kun!" The smile Sai offered the long-nosed pirate was about as real a smile as he was capable of. The fact that the young man had bothered to find him again spoke well of the truth of his earlier comments about them being friends.

He took a short look at the items Usopp offered. "I won't be needing painkillers, thank you." The nurses seemed to mean well enough during the day, but he wasn't sure if he was willing to trust any medication offered by them yet. The cream, however... Just the mention of itching had immediately started making his arms irritated. He had been trying to ignore it to the best of his ability. Still, it wouldn't be good to unwrap his bandages at the lunch table. He was a aware of that much. The bites wouldn't be anything anyone would want to see while eating. "You want me to use that here?"

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

Haku blinked up at the new boy. A long-nosed young man, unfamiliar. Nervous. He smiled warmly and bowed his head in greeting.

Listening carefully, he frowned in thought and wondered if he should offer help.

They seemed fine for now, so he was happy to sit and watch them interact. He looked up at the new boy.

"Did you want to sit down?"

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

"I used it at the table," Usopp admitted, "just on my arms. You could try hiding it a little under the table if you like, but I think most of the people here've seen worse, so as long as you aren't too obvious about it, it shouldn't be a big problem?" Had it been his imagination, or had Sai's smile warmed up when he'd come over? No, that was probably just ego. Though the feminine person's smile seemed warmer too. Maybe they just both liked his nose.

As Haku nodded at him, Usopp bobbed his head back in greeting. "S-sorry for interrupting." Your super-secret ninja talk, or whatever it was. "I don't really need to sit, after this I need to find another guy, but thanks."

He turned back to Sai. "If you don't do it now, it might have to wait 'till late tonight."

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

Sai gave that a bit of thought. It would be nice to have his arms itching less sooner rather than later. After a moment, he began unwrapping them. Not all the way up, or else it wouldn't be as easy to re-wrap them when he was done.

His skin was very pale even without the loss of blood, so the splotches against this paleness seemed almost otherworldly. Even Sai had to mentally admit it wasn't pretty. And they were itchier now that he was actually looking at them. "All right. I'll try to be quick."