Day 27: Breakfast

[lighthearted]

Day came too soon.

Sora hadn't been able to find Rena, had instead been forced to crumple onto the grass of the recreational field and bleed all over himself, and hadn't even accomplished what he'd been sent out to do. What he'd been entrusted to do. He didn't know how he was going to be able to face Renji and the others, but he also knew he wasn't going to hide from them, either. That would just be low, after all, and he was ready to face up to the consequences.

He didn't try to make excuses for himself. Even though there had been a Special Counseling patient, they had managed to take her down by sheer numbers. The fact that he hadn't seen any sign of Rena was what had him the most worried. He hoped he could find her today.

The boy laid in his bed for a good while that morning before his nurse finally came in to collect him. She clucked over the bandages wrapped tightly around his chest and leg, and asked him if he was okay to walk.

Once Sora assured her he was fine (he didn't really want to use crutches, as that would just attract attention to himself, and he didn't need others worrying over him), they made their way to the cafeteria. Sora yawned and winced against the bright light of morning - it seemed even earlier than usual, and he realized why when they entered the cafeteria and found it empty.

The boy shuffled over to grab a chocolate chip pancake, a bowl of cereal, and a glass of milk (good for the bones, or so his mom had always told him) before settling at a table. He kept an eye on the door, hoping he would see Rena walking in soon.

Comments

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

"Cloning doesn't work like that. The clone has none of the memories of the original, and has to grow to the age where they can fight." Somehow, quite a lot of people thought like this juvenile did. Kid, your act is slipping again. Try harder.

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

"But surely you didn't DIE," The child lord insisted, "No one can die and come back. That's one of the rules of life, isn't it?"

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

"The last thing I remember was the explosion of something the size of a small moon. I was standing on top of it. I'm fairly sure I should be a cloud of atoms by this point." And he'd never shown any signs of mental instability. He always went in for the psych tests. But he had no idea what had really happened. He was damn sure everything he had seen was actual memories, and not hallucinations...

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

"Interesting," The Mazoku lord mused, not really interested at all. He poked a fork through the last of his pancakes and held them up, looking at them with some interest. "Well, somehow you've found yourself to Landel's, mister." He turned back to TK and grinned. "I hope we can be friends. Do you want to be my friend?"

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

"As long as you stop trying to do the dumb kid act to get sympathy, I have no objections." If the boy thought he was going to let himself be manipulated, then maybe the 'dumb kid' act was a little more real than he thought it was...

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

More and more people were seeing through his feigned naïvety. Some, of course, still fell for it, but it was given that the world was ripe with suckers. Perhaps he was out of practice; more likely, he was dealing with a different sort of people. It was true as well that since coming to Landel's, he had been forced to interact personally with a plethora of individuals which he would have avoided all together back home. Short of the rare occasion, dealing with anyone other than the upper echelon of Mazoku was unheard of; he would bark an order and it was the servants job to speak to whomever it was necessary.

Really, this was why he kept people like Xelloss around.

Still, this one wasn't threatening his wellbeing and seemed to be of sound mind, unlike some of the others who had noted his less-than-innocent mannerisms. Perhaps he needed to approach this differently.

"Ah, my apologies, mister. I can see you're not as easily fooled as some of the others. If I've offended, do forgive me."

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

TK made no attempt to hide his (quite warranted) suspicion. "Just stop the acting. What are you actually after?" If only non-clones could talk in straight lines, everything would be so much more simple.

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

Phibrizzo, in return, made no attempt to hide his unfazed attitude. "Tell me, do you always take yourself this seriously, mister?"

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

"Yes." It was his job to take things seriously. The Empire didn't look for a sense of humor in their soldiers.

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

"Ah~hh...so you're really into this soldier thing," Phibrizzo smirked, then nodded toward the doors. "But what kind of self respecting soldier allows himself to be incarcerated by women and girls in white uniforms?"

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

"One who has no armor or weapons and doesn't know how many guards there might be, or what sort of security lockdown might go into place if someone tried to escape. And this is supposed to be a mental hospital, isn't it? They have to be carrying tranqs." This was getting annoying. "What kind of self respecting soldier would be so stupid as to do something like that?"

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

"A brash and foolish one," Phibrizzo said. So, this guy was a VERY serious sort. It made Hellmaster want to poke him until he broke. He just had to find a sore spot to tap.

"...but certainly not a prime Mandalorian copy."

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

"No. I'm not." He was technically one by genetics, but not by culture. He didn't care about the fact that he wasn't completely part of a culture that he knew almost nothing about. He was a soldier for the Empire, and that was all.

"You're doing an incredibly poor job of trying to make me do something idiotic."

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

"I'm not trying to get you to do anything," Phibrizzo stated. This was true, he didn't have anything specific in mind. He was just trying to be annoying and it appeared he was succeeding. "Would you prefer I did?"

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

"Leave. I see no reason for this to continue." He hadn't been in a good mood to start with today. He had found the spy who killed Commander Akobi, who turned out to be someone he had seen several times over the past week. The Death Star was attacked. He had died. Or thought he had died.

...And then he woke up in a mental hospital and was immediately pestered by a little kid. This wasn't improving his mood.

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

"Why should I leave?" Phibrizzo reached over and forked some of the food off TK's plate, which he had already been forbidden from. "You said we'd be friends if I dropped the act." He flashed at toothy grin that dripped arrogance. "So I'm being friendly."

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

"The last time a kid like you acted this 'friendly', he was shooting at my squad." Along with the rest of his family. And the neighbors. Who hadn't been shooting at them on Raltiir?

This one was just stealing his food. "And do people actually fall for that weak little act of yours?"

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

'Shooting'? Phibrizzo, being privy to travel outside the barrier was well aware of guns, though unschooled in their use. There really had been no need for him to bother with them. "Well, don't worry about that, Mister!" He chirped brightly, take a bite of pilfered pancakes. "I've never even held a gun."

He didn't answer the second question because, frankly, it was none of the Storm Trooper's business. Instead, he commented on the food. "You should try these. Very tasty."

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

He didn't respond to the first statement. It was damn obvious the kid had never held a gun in his life.

But taking his food was more annoying. The next time the fork made its way over towards him, he calmly made a grab for it. "Go find someone who actually likes kids, and stop bothering me."

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

Phibrizzo, finding his fork no longer in his possession, made a swift move for TK's and, spearing another piece of pancake, leaned in towards the Storm Trooper. "You just need some pancakes. Say 'Ah!'"

He dangled the food in front of TK's face, snickering.

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

Suddenly finding something unidentifiable shoved in his face never produced a good reaction out of 622. He knew it was just a piece of the food, so he didn't reflexively send the boy flying with a punch.

The proper course of action he decided upon was to swat at the 'pancake', sending it back towards the kid.

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

Phibrizzo let the pancake hit him, less than amused.

Really, this attitude wasn't going to do.

Casually, he peeled the food off his cheek where it was affixed and took it in his fingers. He could feel the syrupy residue it left behind on his skin, disgusting him slightly. These human bodies were so prone to uncleanliness.

"No, not like that. Like this-'Ah'!" Plastering a smile back on his face, he moved in closer this time, this time pressing it directly to his lips with his hand. "You shouldn't be so picky when it comes to your food, Mister!"

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

He had just been cleaning the sticky mess from the food off his hand, when the damn thing was sent back at him. This was just getting too annoying to sit and do nothing about it. He moved far enough away in his chair so that the pancake couldn't reach his face, and backhanded the boy.

Usually when he did a strike like this, he had the armor on. This was probably only slightly less effective than normal.

[hellmunchkin.livejournal.com]

The blow hit him across face and Phibrizzo slid back, blinking a bit before the pain fully registered. Did this man just HIT him?!

The throbbing immediately kicked in and Phibrizzo put a hand to the rapidly forming bruise. This...this...

This WAS UNACCEPTABLE.

"Why you-" Phibrizzo began to curse the other man, straightening up and bristling. NO ONE treated him like this and got away with it. It wasn't so much the injury as the very nature of it. He had DARED to backhand Hellmaster Phibrizzo and quite openly at that.

[damned-nurses.livejournal.com]

And here the morning had been going so well --

"That was completely uncalled for!" the nurse said, approaching the table with a disapproving frown. "Mr. Morrison, there is absolutely no reason for you to slap Brandon!" Yes, she had seen Brandon stealing Mr. Morrison's food, but it didn't seem like there was a big argument going on. The slap came out of nowhere.