Day 27: Lunch

[norainu]

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.

Comments

[afraidnot.livejournal.com]

Raven was already eating her sandwich by the time Fai, better known to her as Big Kitty, had joined. “Yeah, nice to uh, meet you, I guess.”

Judging by what he told her, it looked like he had spent even less time in here than Kyon. Not only that, but chances were that he hadn’t experienced a Nightshift just yet. He would have to know how to handle to the varying dangers of Landel’s if he was to survive.

That was were she came in.

“What do you want to know about first?”

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Raven's name was very... fitting, Fai decided. The way she spoke mirrored the way she'd written on the boards and her disposition only complimented that. Though Fai felt comfortable around just about anyone. He dipped the crispy sandwich in the soup and took a bite, humming quietly to himself as Raven spoke. He took a bite and swallowed before answering.

"Ah, well, everything I guess! I wound up here just in time for Arts and Crafts and that's about it. I did talk to a couple of people and the message board helped a lot. Can't say I've ever been anywhere quite like this before!" he gave a short laugh, still smiling brightly in spite of the dreary situation.

[afraidnot.livejournal.com]

It was good that Fai seemed to be taking this well. Not everybody could adjust to such a change while keeping a smile on their face.

She might as well get the obvious out of the way.

“Well, I’m sure you already know that you’ve been brought to Landel’s Institute. How exactly, nobody knows that either. All of the nurses here think you’re crazy, and they want you to get better, even if they don’t do a very good job of it.” She didn’t bother lowering her voice for that last part. If was true, after all.

“If you start a fight, or cause too much trouble, they’ll sedate you on the spot.”

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Sedated? Fai had mixed more than a few potions of that nature. Some of them worked even better than liquor for knocking a person out! Though liquor always tasted much better. Most of the potions were... kind of gross. "Haha, well let's not do that then!"

"Hm... what about weapons, things like that? I heard there's some people I should talk to. Or these clubs?"

[afraidnot.livejournal.com]

“There’s one person who’s been helping to arm the others.”

Raven remembered seeing his name on the message board from time to time. “His name is Roy Mustang; you can talk to him if you want a weapon. Finding materials for making those weapons won’t be easy, and I think he’s already swamped with requests. You may be better off by looking around at night for anything you can use”

Then there was…

“The Arts and Crafts club is the most talked about. They’re led by a Captain Hitsugaya.” Raven had yet to involve herself with any of them.

She worked better alone, or with people she could trust.

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

At least it meant that old Alucard had been telling the truth. Roy Mustang was the weaponsmith. Fai kept a mental note of it. He'd probably just find something or other he could use. He wasn't terribly picky.

"Materials?" He doubted there was a place for melting down metals and crafting weapons, that would just be silly. "What kind of materials, exactly?"

So the Arts and Crafts were a military-run organization? He actually might do well with that. And if they were the most talked about, it stood to reason that they had plenty that they knew about too. He knew enough of how military worked too. He'd been part of it at home and a couple of times in their travels.

"Okay, and another completely off-topic question," Fai added, "Does the name 'Dracula' mean anything to you? Someone seemed to think I should recognize it."

[afraidnot.livejournal.com]

"Weapons need materials to be made, the way a sword needs metal to be forged. You give Roy the materials, and he makes them into a weapon using his abilities." It was called alchemy, but Raven didn't know much about to warrant bringing it up in the conversation.

Fai might have been cheerful, but his topic-changing abilities could stand to be less obvious.

“It’s the name of Bram Stoker’s famous novel, the main antagonist, the most talked about vampire out there, and an icon as far as gothic horror is concerned.” Having read many books in that field, Raven knew a thing or two about horror.

Not to mention that it was also her favorite genre.

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

"Sounds pretty impressive," Fai didn't whistle, but instead made a "hyuuu hyuuuuu~" noise with his lips pursed together to emphasize his point. "But I think I can manage with what I find."

A famous vampire! Well that made sense! Alucard seemed just right for that role. "You're really smart!" Fai smiled, his face never betraying the inward thoughts. "I ran into someone who mentioned it, so I thought I'd ask around."

"Anything else I should know?"

[afraidnot.livejournal.com]

She raised an eyebrow at that. Was that an attempt at whistling just now...?

"You're going to run into all kinds of people here. I suggest you make friends and allies to travel with once the doors open at night." Raven would've followed her own advice if she wasn't so comfortable with wandering the halls alone.

Why start now when she had done fine so far?

"How powerful are you? What could you do before coming here?"

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

"That's what everyone says. Lots on the message board," he pointed out. "I think I might talk with some of those clubs later just to see. They seem like a nice enough bunch." He shrugged his thin shoulders, leaning heavily on the table.

"Powerful? Me?" He laughed quietly and shook his head. "I'm nothing all that special. Just a traveler, that's all. I was helping some friends look for... various artifacts."

[afraidnot.livejournal.com]

"Keep an eye on it. The message board can be a good source of information from time to time." When it wasn't being cluttered with 'missing person' posts and immature messages with no point whatsoever, that is..

"Good, then you might not be much of a threat if they captured and brainwashed you for a night." Then again, they could always capture and run experiments on him.

Fun.

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Oh. So it was common for the people here to take a prisoner, likely it was preferable that it be a strong one, and brainwash them into doing something?

He could still use his magic, but he knew he wouldn't. Besides, they were the ones that had placed restrictions on it. Wouldn't do much good to have him fight anyone if they were going to hamper his abilities like that. He rubbed his upper arm as though the room had gone a little cold and the smile slipped briefly from his lips. "And if they do that...? What exactly do they make these brainwashed patients do? Why just for one night?"

[afraidnot.livejournal.com]

"You'll attack the others once you find them, with all the abilities and powers you had before coming here." Last night's victim must've been exceptionally strong to give off so much energy. "But I guess that won't be a problem for you since you're just a traveler, right?"

His question about the durations of the brainwashings was also just as easy to answer.

"Night is when everybody is most active, and lasts longer than you'd think. Sending them then would prevent us from accomplishing our goals and making any real progress."

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Was she intentionally trying to bait him? If that were true, and they made people attack with all the power they had before arriving... that could be troublesome. He didn't want to explain, but he also didn't want to be responsible if someone were to get hurt.

He was quiet for a moment. It wasn't something that was easy for him to admit. "It's a bit different if that's the case. If you do find me in... that state, it would be wise to stay far away. I don't want to hurt anyone."