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

[sneak.livejournal.com]

Ashton's theory had some merit, or so Raiden would have liked to think. It still felt like he had been on that mission, even if it hadn't actually happened, and the some of the people he had met during his time on Big Shell might be considered 'friends.'

It wasn't really that simple, though, and friend didn't seem like the right word for it, anyway. He couldn't see himself getting too friendly with his fellow mental patients, but maybe he was just being negative. He wouldn't be surprised if his doctors ordered him to socialize more.

At the mention of lies, Raiden felt himself detracting from the conversation again. He was fine with believing what he was being told by the nurses at this point, and he didn't need one of the patients throwing another variable in. As for nightshift and going outside, he didn't know what that was all about. "What do you mean?"

[part1of3.livejournal.com]

This guy sure didn't know how to string together more than six words in a sentence, did he? Well, Ashton could forgive that. Some people were more shy than others, after all! And Ashton could always be doubly chatty to make up for it.

He reached behind his head and scratched it for a second, around the place that the seam of the headband he'd constructed from a shirtsleeve met his scalp. It wasn't as good as what he was used to back on Expel and Nede, but he just felt so naked without it. No matter how much it itched.

The cheerful swordsman tapped his lip for a moment, theorizing out loud. "Well, I'm pretty sure that the monsters that they put in the hallways and the rooms are to keep the more cautious of us from going out at night. But if that's true, there's no reason that they should unlock the doors..."

He shrugged, taking on a sheepish smile as he reached for his cheese sandwich again. "Then again, Martin Landel's always going on about how we aren't very exciting for him anymore, or at least he was last night, if you were listening. But, yeah, you're the sensible type of guy, so you probably stay inside, don't you?"

[sneak.livejournal.com]

There was the talk of monsters again. This probably all was derived from the dreams that Ashton was having, and he just wasn't able to distinguish it from what was actually real. That was the only explanation Raiden could come up with for it, anyway. It was pretty remarkable how the other patient could talk about all of this and actually be serious.

He could take comfort in the fact that he was now more aware than some of his fellow patients, though that came off as pretty selfish at the same time. It wasn't like he could do much to snap Ashton out of it, though.

"This is my first day here," he explained, even though it didn't actually answer the question. "But I think you must be a little confused. This is a mental hospital." He was even making an effort to speak slowly, to make sure he got through to him. "So I don't think that sort of stuff is really happening at night." It was more like he knew for certain they weren't, but he didn't want to get mean about it. Ashton was just trying to be friendly, after all.

[part1of3.livejournal.com]

"Your first day here..?" Wow, this guy had Ashton totally fooled! He'd expected Jake to be one of the hardened regulars or something, the way he was talking! It was like this guy was one of the Head Doctor's model patients or something - exactly how much had his head been screwed with before he woke up this morning, in that case?

And if they'd messed with his head, there was a chance that they'd messed with Dias' head, too! ..Except that it was more probable they'd screwed with Ashton's. He was the one with the terrible luck, and he was the one who remembered different things from everyone else, too.

These thoughts made Ashton's smile fall just a hair, though he was still looking pretty positive as he replied to Jake. "Well.. ahh.. you'll see. I could show you my injury, but I think you really need to see how the night is for yourself." He looked momentarily sheepish. "I can't force you to believe me or anything, but you're always free to come talk to me tomorrow! I should be out of this thing by then."

He could see the nurses starting to lead the first few people out of the cafeteria, so he stuffed the rest of the cheese sandwich in his mouth and downed it with the rest of his juice.

[sneak.livejournal.com]

Wait and see. Raiden didn't have much of a problem with that, mainly because he doubted that anything was going to come out of it. Unless he fell back into his own delusions, but he was going to do his best to make sure that didn't happen. He didn't know how he was going to go about that, but now he was aware of what was happening to him, which would hopefully make it easier to fight.

Raiden also took note of the fact that people were leaving, which probably meant that lunch was over. What came next, then? Though when he saw his nurse coming over, he figured she would explain. He glanced over at Ashton as he got to his feet, pondering over what he should say.

"It was... nice meeting you." Even if Ashton wasn't all there, he had been good company. He wouldn't mind speaking with him again, since that was probably better for him than being on his own all the time.

With that, he turned to his nurse. When she mentioned a library, he shrugged his shoulders and followed after her. He didn't know how a library would help them get better, but he supposed the peace and quiet might be good for chaotic minds.