damned_institute | Day 27: Lunch

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Day 27: Lunch

Renji wasn't so certain what this grilled cheese thing was all about, but he liked the sound of some soup. Even if it was strange western soup, well... there wasn't anything bad people could do to soup, in his experience. His good mood was starting to fray at the edges, a little, from the strain of dealing with the Ichimaru issue, and even more from what had been on the bulletin board earlier.

He'd never had difficulty simply writing something before. But...

He shook his head as he entered the line. He didn't want to think about it. He wanted to hold on to the tenuous equilibrium he'd managed to find.

Renji got himself a large bowl of soup, water, and even one of those sandwiches, just to try it. Old habit, recently awakened, had him over to one side of the cafeteria, where the fewest people possible would have the chance to pass behind him. He sat there with his back toward the wall and started eating.

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Fortunately for Naminé, there were others that were keen on preventing that from occurring, namely the lanky redheaded individual that was now making a beeline right towards her. However, his nurse forcibly coaxed him into to the direction of the line before he could even reach her table.

Resisting was all but futile, but Axel was quick to dump everything haphazardly on his plate, hardly noticing that the scalding broth of the soup had soaked his hand when some of it spilt over the bowl's edge. Instead, he kept both eyes planted on the blonde who sat closeby, dashing almost wildly towards her once he was free of his nurse's supervision.

As usual, the redhead dumped his tray on the table, but instead of sitting across from Naminé he inched over to the seat next to her, almost as if he was using his body to shield her from anything (and anyone) that dared to come by. Green eyes glared across the whole span of the Cafeteria before he finally relaxed and sneaked the blonde a small grin.

"Hey there, stranger."

Feeling someone sit next to her, Naminé panicked, thinking it was Xemnas already. She glanced sideways fearfully, only to be met with green eyes instead of orange.

The sigh Naminé let out was very audible.

"Axel, you scared me!" She smiled back weakly, glad that it was someone she knew and liked. The map she was drawing was neglected on the table. It was certainly sloppier than the ones she normally made, the lines looking crooked, since her hand was shaking when she was drawing it.

"I thought you were..."

She didn't need to say anything after that. But at least Axel was here, so she already felt much better about the whole thing.

"Scared? You mean pleasantly surprised." Axel corrected, wagging a finger at the girl before leaning back on his chair, relief washing over him to know that he had made it to her first. Now, if Luxord or Sora decided to join the fray they'd definitely have a working blockade, but the redhead wasn't willing to let go of his sanity for the sake of having the bottle blond as a drunk, grammar correcting shield.

"Don't worry, he'll have to go through me to get to you." He reassured her with a smile. The very thought of it made his stomach churn, but one couldn't blame him for his defiance. Admittedly, if the Superior was granted with all of his powers the idea of rebelling wouldn't have ever crossed Axel's mind.

Except now that he knew that he was as good as dead in the future, why not take advantage of the situation?

"Ah... I still think scared fits it," Naminé blushed, scratching the back of her head. She would have remained content if Axel didn't tell her the real reason, however indirectly, that he was here sitting with her.

"... Thanks, Axel," Naminé was truly grateful, but now she just felt helpless. Why did everyone always try to protect her? Soma, Axel, Sora... She was sure there was some other ulterior motive to Axel doing this for her, but in the end, she was still benefiting from it.

So, why didn't Axel want her to see Xemnas? Sometimes figuring out Axel's motives was complicated, but Naminé knew they could be really simple at the same time. Still, who was she to question it?

She didn't care if Xemnas had no power here, he was still scary and she didn't want to talk to him if she could help it.

"No one told him my room number, right?"

Giving a firm nod, Axel finally glanced down at his plate of food and frowned. Most of the broth had spilled over and onto the sandwich, making the once crispy delight into a soggy mess. It was still salveagable as a meal however, and so he used his spoon to cut into one of the corners and stuck it in his mouth.

"Not since the last time I saw it." He answered, much calmer now that the sudden rush of adrenaline had faded away. This meeting actually benefited him in many more ways, seeing as that he didn't get to talk to the blond in what felt like months. She looked to be well enough, which was all he could ask for.

"So, what has my busy bee been up to these past few days? ... No one tried to touch you, have they? Young boys, ages fourteen to twenty five?"

Aw, wasn’t this touching.

Her two favorite Nobodies were having a nice conversation with each other. Of course, Axel had ruined her and XI’s plan by setting the witch free, so it was only natural that they would seek each other whenever possible. It would’ve been oh so very rude to interrupt them and not give them the privacy and space they wanted.

Like she cared.

“Well hello there you two.”

She didn’t even bother asking if it was okay for her to sit with them. Surely they wouldn’t mind being graced with her presence, oh no. Even if Axel had taken one of the chairs next to the witch, it still left one available on the side, which she gladly took.

“How are the two of you doing on this fine day?” Her tone was casual, almost cheerful, even.

Yet it was also as genuine as Landel’s was an ordinary mental institution.

So much for a happy reunion. Sometimes Naminé forgot that they were sitting in a public area - merely having company would stop some of the more pushy people from interrupting a conversation. She really should have seen this coming.

However, Naminé was actually grateful that it was Larxene interrupting them and not Xemnas. Really, anyone was better than Xemnas. Though she knew that this conversation was going to go downhill. Very quickly.

"We're doing fine," Naminé mumbled back, though she still sounded oddly cheerful for someone who just had her mortal enemy sit next to. Because Larxene wasn't Xemnas, and she doubted Larxene would make a move on her with Axel around, Naminé felt safer already.

"I've just been traveling with Soma and Roland. You know Soma; that's the name the Riku Replica chose for himself," She replied to Axel, inching ever so closer to him as she did her best to ignore the other Nobody beside her. "And Roland is the one who suggested it, I think. But uh... none of them touched me?"

Axel's grin instantly disappeared when that familiar voice cut through their conversation like a hot knife through butter. What came soon after was a pair of green eyes looking un amusedly over at Larxane, almost as if she had the most boring and unflattering pair of breasts in the whole universe before facing Naminé again to pick up their conversation.

"They better not. Luxord taught you how to dislocate someone's shoulder right?" He muttered out before that grin returned, using his free hand to pat the girl's head lightly. The redhead wasn't sure if Kairi's experimentation had affected Naminé anyway, choosing to be a little more cautious than usual with his movements.

"If not I'll be more than happy to show you. Maybe we can get Luxord to volunteer. After all, he'd be doing it for the greater good." Axel suggested to the girl with a sage nod.

If she didn’t know better, it looked like Naminé and Axel weren’t paying her much attention. What a silly thought. Why would they ever do that when they loved her oh so very much?

Well whatever, they could ignore her if they wanted. It wouldn’t take long for someone like Larxene to garner their attention.

“I don’t think Luxord will be doing much for a while.” She said, calmly taking a bit of her sandwich. “I seem to have left him a little worse for wear."

Naminé blinked when Axel asked if Luxord taught her how to dislocate shoulders. She knew he was kidding about the whole thing but... that seemed to be the common response whenever Naminé mentioned boys. She couldn't help but feel that she was missing some joke or something.

"..." The witch glanced at Larxene when she said that, because she really did believe it. Since it was coming from Larxene, she could only imagine what kind of things the Nobody did to Luxord. But at the same time, she knew she shouldn't have been acknowledging the other Nobody. It'd be like letting her win.

But she was so curious...

"Luxord would show me, but I think he'd rather demonstrate on you instead," Naminé laughed, fighting temptation. Luxord was tougher than to be defeated by Larxene... she hoped. "What about you? I hope your nights were more successful than mine have been."

Surprisingly enough Axel actually believed Larxene's words, and not because he had faith in her to be a genuinely honest woman, but because he'd seen what she did on his way out of the Cafeteria earlier that morning. If the two had been on good terms the redhead would've applauded the blond for her efforts, but instead he remained completely passive at the woman's prodding, smirking over at Naminé when the girl did the same.

"I'd like to see him try." Axel scoffed, digging his spoon into his soggy sandwich and took in another mouthful.

"As for me? Oh, nothing out of the ordinary. I took Kairi out last night and we made it to the Kitchen after taking a detour." He answered lazily. Larxene's presence prevented him from explaining how they managed to meet up with one of the alchemists while also finding one of the radio's prizes, but he could always tell her that another time.

"How far have you explored anyway?"

Still no reaction from them, but that was fine. It only meant that she would have to try harder and dig deeper. Not a problem, Larxene already knew what her next move would be. She would use their talk of X against them.

“Speaking of Luxord, he told something rather interesting lately.”

She took a sip of her juice before facing Naminé yet again. “Witch, did you know that your dear friend Roxas isn’t here anymore? The gambler told me that himself.”

If it was from X, then Naminé wouldn’t be able to disregard it as ‘another one of her lies’.

“I don’t suppose he ever told you, did he? Or VIII? I mean, he had to have known, seeing as how he practically stalks him all the time.”

"I saw most of the first floor. I'm going to try and explore more of the second floor tonight and maybe find more-"

That was enough to get Naminé's attention.

She still wasn't sure if she could believe it, but Naminé could imagine Luxord saying something like that. He didn't like Roxas, as much as a Nobody could dislike someone, and she could see him happily (as happily as a Nobody could) remarking to Larxene that 'XIII' was no more.

And she hadn't seen him in quite some time, had she? At least, with Kairi and Sora and the others, she had seen them when she glanced over a room, or read their messages on the bulletin board. But she hadn't seen nor heard from Roxas.

She looked to Axel for confirmation. She didn't even need a confirmation; if Axel reacted, she would know that what Larxene said was true.

She could only hope not.

Unfortunately, Naminé's hopeful glance wasn't enough to tear away from the truth.

Axel had been busily tuning out the woman's inane babbling when Larxene struck the very chord that made his mechanical heart plummet beyond his stomach and into his very bowels. No shock had hit him, as the inevitable had been foreshadowed ever since he spoke with Luxord himself yesterday. Instead, something calmly washed over him that caused his jaw to clench before finally going lax.

It was acceptance, and a painful one at that. The redhead bowed his head slightly, but he still fought to keep it as high as he was able. Axel had already lost his best friend once, and he'd long since been informed of being a failure for not bringing him back. This could almost be a step above all of that if he was selfish enough; after all, there was always the chance of Roxas coming back here.

...

"Maybe I should take a trip to the second floor one of these days. I haven't actually gotten a good look at it myself." Axel remarked finally, loosening his grip on his spoon.

The pause in their conversation and the silence that followed afterwards was just what Larxene was looking for. “It’s so sad, really.” She said, grinning. “The way they’ve kept such an important detail from you, my precious little witch, knowing how close you were to XIII.”

But not her. She would tell Naminé anything she wanted to know.

Why keep the truth hidden when it was so wonderfully devastating?

“Hmm, I wonder who’ll be next to follow our departed traitor.” With disappearances being so sudden and unpredictable, it really could be anybody. Though Larxene did have some picks as to who she’d like to see gone.

“Superior, the key bearer, VIII himself…”

Hopefully, Axel would stay long enough to make him pay for what he’d done in Castle Oblivion.

“Oh! Maybe that cute Other of yours, the one with the red hair. What was her name again?”

Larxene was not lying, then, if Axel reacted like that. Naminé realized, quite suddenly and sadly, that Roxas really was gone. Did he escape, or did he...?

She didn't want to think about it, but maybe that meant Roxas was actually OK. if one them made it out of this place, then shouldn't she be celebrating? Yet she had heard of people actually dying in this place, killed by monsters or other patients. Obviously, since she had no other information as to how Roxas disappeared, she naturally assumed the worst.

Axel was still talking, but Naminé was not listening. Larxene's words hurt, even if she was not supposed to have her feelings hurt, as she had none. As Larxene started listing off people whom she wanted to disappear, Naminé was slowly growing more fearful of the people she cared about.

Until Larxene mentioned Kairi.

It was very sudden, and Naminé didn't know what came over her. She might have perceived Larxene's statements as a threat, or maybe she was just sick of hearing the other Nobody talk, but Naminé did not let that comment slide.

"Or you. You might disappear too," She shot back at Larxene, looking at the Nobody in the eyes. Naminé's sudden bravado faded though. There was no use getting angry over something she had no control over. That would be letting Larxene win.

"... I can take you there sometime, if you want. I think all of the good supplies are up there. At least, I haven't found anything down here that seems useful."

Axel felt more or less the same as what Naminé would've felt if she truly had a heart, but all of it was washed away and replaced by confusion when the girl finally snapped back at Larxene. The redhead eyed her cautiously before a smile finally broke through, taking the time to pat her on the knee from underneath the table.

"So far as I know, the Kitchen's the only real place on the first floor to get anything useful." From what Roy said on the bulletin, the bathroom was apparently another hot spot, but it wasn't really his forte to tear out tampon dispensers and toilets for the sake of weaponry.

Naminé's suggestion was a welcoming one, and Axel accompanied his grin by ruffling her hair.

"You know what? That'd be a fabulous idea. And who knows, maybe we'll be able to find something that'll help us with our roach problem." He commented in that ever so casual tone.

Silly Naminé, Larxene had already won.

The whole purpose of this visit was to cause her pain, and she had accomplished just that. Her tactics must’ve worked even better than expected for the witch to actually respond like that.

Such insolence, no matter how minimal, would have to be dealt with.

Safety in numbers truly was their best chance of survival, even more so for someone as weak as the witch. For the time being, the Nobody let her continue her conversation with Axel uninterrupted, glancing at VIII momentarily when he mentioned the 'roach problem'.

As if she hadn't heard that one before.

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Day 27: Lunch

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