damned_institute | Day 27: Lunch

Entry tags:

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They've already gotten to me. Valyn shrugged. I have been fixed up more.

Which didn't say much. Even the healers here can only do so much. And my wounds were extensive.

Max nodded in agreement, glancing down at her hands as she fidgeted. "Yeah, you were. I was half prepared not to see you today at all. I wasn't sure you'd make it till morning. That thing really ripped into you."

"I'm sorry," she added, glancing up to meet his gaze. "We should have been quicker. Or put up more of a protest when you wanted to wander off alone. After the scolding you gave me about it, too."

Yes, well, I'm rather tough.

He didn't want to get into an argument. Or deal with apologies. He'd made a foolish mistake and he wouldn't be doing that again any time soon. That was all there was to it.

Instead, he decided to change the subject.

Someone from home did show up today, though.

Max recognized a subject change when she saw one. And since she probably would have done the same thing in his situation, she let it slide.

Instead, she leaned forward with interest at his topic change. "Oh? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

It's never a good thing for anyone to be brought here, Valyn wrote, and that was honest. I'd rather see my friends back home than here. But if we want to look at it strategically.... well, she has survival experience.

Speaking in that sense, he supposed Shana could be an asset. She was powerful and as long as she didn't too hung up on her own ideas, she was bright.

But she was also stubborn, short tempered, emotional, and infatuated.

"Always a plus here," Max agreed with a nod. "It's better than someone normal to be brought here, someone with no training or experience fighting like others of us. I don't see how anyone just off the street could survive a night here, even if they did manage to find powerful friends."

Valyn shrugged. He didn't know either, but from what he'd seen, they did manage to survive. At least Shana and Keman were capable and he didn't need to worry too much about them.

But he still would.

That's her, over there. Valyn pointed to Shana, who was sitting off by herself. Keman was occupied, he saw. Very occupied. If it weren't for Max, he'd probably head over and at least keep her company. But he had Max and didn't need to do that.

"The redhead sitting by herself?" Max followed Valyn's finger. "She's pretty. Is she the one Keman says I remind you both of?"

And why on earth was Max commenting that Shana was attractive? Of course, Shana was attractive, but that was beside the point!

Yes, that's Shana. He didn't know what else to say about her. She was never a pleasant topic of conversation for Valyn. She was just Shana.

Noting the abrupt reply, Max gave him a curious look. "I thought from Keman's description of her, you guys were all pretty close. Isn't that the case?"

Close?

Valyn shrugged again. He wouldn't exactly describe his and Shana's relationship as 'close'. He didn't know how he'd describe it, honestly.

She's a friend. And Keman's foster-sister. We traveled together for some time. We've been through a lot together. He supposed that summed it up well enough. He wasn't about to share the details of the whole mess with Max.

Oh, and she's handfasted to my cousin, he added.

A confused expression flickered across Max's face at the unfamiliar term.

"What's handfasted?" she asked, turning to glance at him, searching her memory for any previous knowledge of such a term.

It's an elven tradition. It isn't marriage, but it can be used in place of marriage alliances. It's a familial tie, you could say. While not legally binding, it's accepted as being a strong and direct tie between two individuals.

He left out that he had bagdered them into it. And used magic to get Shadow to agree.

Max blinked again, the definition a strange one to her. "So they're sorta married, but not? Wow, she's awfully young for that. Her and your cousin are close, then? He's not..."

Some sort of understanding flickered in her gaze as she shot him an assessing look. "That was your cousin last night, wasn't it? Or something with his form?"

It doesn't have the same connotations as marriage, Valyn explained. And besides that, marriage on my world seems much different than marriage on other worlds. It's all about politics. And Shana's not young at all. Women younger than her get married quite often. But they aren't married. It was just a political move to ally my family with Shana's people.

He didn't like having to explain all this. Or the way that Max was looking at him.

I don't want to talk about last night.

"So it's a political agreement. I get that," Max answered, still looking thoughtful. "This is all about the elves and the halfbloods and stuff, too, right? The conflict you and Keman were telling me about? So your cousin's an elf, I'm assuming, since that's what you are, and she's a halfblood, so this was like some seal of truce or something?" she guess, trying to puzzle her way through it.

"Sucks to be them, I guess. And alright. That's an answer enough about last night."

No, Shadow is halfblooded. Like Shana. And yes, it's simply a way to to pave the way to peace between our races. The politics of our world are very complex and fraught with tradition and centuries of tradition. And it's all very dull.

Valyn wasn't in the mood to talk politics. Ancestors, he'd rather deal wit Shana right now than with where this conversation was going.

"Alright, alright, sheesh," Max relented at his abrupt writing. "We won't talk about that either. Is there any topics you won't snap at me for bringing up? You're not the easiest person to find a common topic of conversation with, you know."

I'm not in a pleasant mood today, Valyn wrote, forcefully. And no one seems to be able to simply leave me be! I apologize that I don't make things easy for you, but I was unaware I existed solely to make conversation with irritating females!

It was proper to storm off after something like that. But all Valyn managed to do was turn his wheelchair to the side and back it into the table.

"Alright, alright, spare me the temper tantrum," Max replied, sounding a little miffed herself. Irritating females her ass. "I'll leave you be, if that's what you want. If you didn't want company, then just say that. Being polite just gets you shit you don't want anyway."

She slid out of her chair and reached for her tray, determined to give her the privacy he'd not so subtlety demanded.

Valyn knew he should apologize. He knew he was acting like a spoiled brat, and that there had been no call for that sort of behavior. But damn it all, he hadn't recovered from the night before and no one would leave the subject alone! Or any other subject that he just plain didn't want to talk about.

Besides, Renji had told him he needed to let out his emotions now and again.

So rather than saying anything else, he just looked away and glared at the wall.

He'd apologize later.

Max merely rolled her eyes and said nothing more, moving off to find a quiet corner and finish her lunch by herself.

Wonderful. She'd actually gone. Of course she had, Valyn had drive her away.

And now he was moody, in pain and alone. And all he really wanted was someone to offer him some comfort.

(moving here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/211721.html?view=14877193#t14877193))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 27: Lunch

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject