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

[ontheabyss.livejournal.com]

Well, that had been interesting. Lyta would have to find that psychotic military man when she had a chance. He could prove very, very useful. Maybe with a little extra firepower, so to speak, they'd finally make some progress.

Lyta grabbed her lunch and looked for a free seat, finding the mess hall insanely crowded. She had her shields up, finally, and at least she couldn't hear all the damn background chatter anymore.

"Mind if I sit?" she asked a woman who didn't seem to be engrossed in conversation with anyone.

[demon-beast.livejournal.com]

Argilla turned her attention to the newcomer when she approached and offered a smile to her. "Sure. Go ahead." Maybe she could get a few answers finally.

It was a little strange to be sitting and eating with so many people around her. Probably more than she'd seen together all at once before. Definitely more 'real' humans than she'd ever seen in one place before, although she still didn't really hold with their ideas of what was real or not. The Lokapala... she wondered if they'd survived or not. She had no doubt that Fred would make a great leader, but he was still young.

She shook herself out of her thoughts enough to introduce herself. "I'm Argilla."

[ontheabyss.livejournal.com]

"Lyta." The red haired telepath sat down. "Nice to meet you." Even though she wasn't. She didn't care one way or another, but people were obsessed with being polite. And it didn't do to make enemies. More enemies. She knew that allying herself with Envy opened the door for a good many people to not trust her. Even want to harm her.

Not that she was worried.

"New?" she asked.

[demon-beast.livejournal.com]

The greeting was a little surprising. Not something that was used in the Junkyard, and if it was a human thing, the Lokapala had been in too dire straits to waste on pleasntries. She smiled in slight puzzlement and shrugged. "If you say so. You've only just met me." Not long enough for it to be nice to meet someone in her mind.

"Yes, I'm new. It's... different to anything I've experienced before."

[ontheabyss.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, join the club." Lyta snorted. "This place is different than anything anybody's experienced. You get used to it. Read the bulletin board in the Sun Room if you haven't figure out what this place is all about yet. It'll save you and me a hell of a lot of time."

She'd never been one for the introductory speech. She didn't care all that much about helping people adjust, or warning them. They'd figure it out one way or another.

"just watch yourself at night."

[demon-beast.livejournal.com]

At least she wasn't the only one. But Argilla had lived through this kind of change once before and it hadn't phased her much then, even with the bitter disappointment of finding out that the Nirvana promised was a lie. At least in the Junkyard, they'd always had that to aim for.

"I've been reading it," she replied simply. "First thing to do is find out as much as you can." It was only sense. She wasn't as logical as Gale could be, but some of the things humans ignored baffled her at times.

She smiled slowly at the mention of nighttime. "The monsters, right? I can take care of myself. I've been dealing with monsters for my whole life." Tuners... that's what they had to be! And much as she disliked the whole process, the fact was, she needed to eat and for that, she needed to kill.

[ontheabyss.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, about that..." Lyta chuckled some, almost patronizingly. Oh, how many times had she had this conversation? And it always went the same way....

"It doesn't matter what you did or what you're used to. Here? You're screwed. Trust me. This place shouldn't be any problem for me, either, but it is. These things are stronger, and we're all weaker. And no one ever believes that until they get sliced up at night...."

[demon-beast.livejournal.com]

And that was supposed to make a difference? The Embryon had been the weakest of the major tribes, the smallest and they'd eventually won out against the odds and come to the Karma Temple. And they'd fought through the armies of the Karma Society to their goal, against enemies who were much stronger than them.

She considered that for a moment and then nodded. "That must be why..." She shook her head, deciding not to say more for now. "Thanks for the warning. It's not the first time I've woken up somewhere and found myself severely weakened." Waking up that first time and losing all of Prithvi's fearsome power that she'd acquired in the Junkyard... "It's disconcerting." But it explained why Prithvi's voice in the back of her head seemed just a little muted. No less hungry, that would never go away, but like it was blocked somehow, preventing Argilla reaching the demon's power.

[ontheabyss.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, if you've got some fancy tricks, you'll probably notice they don't work like they used to." Lyta prodded at her sandwich with little interest.

"It takes a while to get used to. And it sucks. It sucks a lot. But there's ways to work around it if you pay attention and you're smart." Which so few people were. And yet they seemed to be doing better than Lyta and Envy were.

That was what really sucked.

[demon-beast.livejournal.com]

Fancy tricks? Well, yeah. But those could be ignored. All she truly needed to survive were her instincts and Prithvi. Of course, the way Prithvi felt so muted she was beginning to wonder... That could be a serious problem.

Argilla smiled slightly though. "My Tribe only survived by being smart." They'd stayed alive by picking their battles carefully, and being clever enough to outsmart the enemy.

[ontheabyss.livejournal.com]

"Good. Keep it up here, you'll do alright." Lyta was tempted to look into this woman's mind, but she supposed she ought to be more careful with her telepathy.

"So where are you from?" she decided to ask. She could always get information the old fashioned way.

[demon-beast.livejournal.com]

Not that Argilla was intending to be here very long if she could help it. She needed to find the others, find out what had happened to Sera and help them make things right. Even if she was meant to be dead, the fact was that she wasn't so she couldn't just start forgetting her promises.

"A place called the Junkyard, originally," she replied easily. It was no secret to anyone, Lokapala or Karma Society. She didn't see why it should be any different here.