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

[osakapwnzu.livejournal.com]

Heiji leaned on his hands, his face relaxed, thinking. "Yeah, I'll see if I can find a map from someone, but until then it'd be best if we familiarized ourselves with the layout," Heiji sighed, "It will be especially easy since you don't know what your room number is.

"Wait, a pipe?! Awesome!" Heiji leaned out of his seat in excitement, "Where'd you get it? That'd be a great substitute until I can find something better! And we could get one for you too, Edward! We could be like all those juvenile delinquents, ruling the halls with an iron fist. Er, three metal pipes, really. But you get the idea!"

He frowned when Bella seemed to not be taking this well, "Hey... did I say something wrong?"

[her-lion.livejournal.com]

Friend. Edward was immediately suspicious, but kept the questions to himself. If he didn't agree to at least this, god knew she'd go off somewhere by herself and attract every thing with teeth in the whole institute.

He seemed preoccupied for a brief moment, but returned to the conversation easily enough. "I'll agree to that, at least. I haven't heard of any patient being attacked outside their room - as many have actually mentioned being attacked." It wasn't just one two-headed monster to worry about. But then again, what else was new?

The bronze-haired boy chuckled at Heiji's upbeat attitude. "A pipe would do well. Until something better could be found. I'll try to map what I can while I make my way to Bella's room, so we'll at least have a starting point."

Heiji's worriment over Bella's attitude earned a smirk in her direction. Even with her mental block, he knew she was steaming over every way he was going to ruin her night. Most were probably accurate.

[his-singer.livejournal.com]

“That sounds fun.” Bella replied to Heiji’s comment with a laugh, smiling soon afterwards. “The guy I was traveling with last night got it for me. He put me down in some … I think it was a janitor’s closet? And left and went and got it for me.” Shrugging her shoulders as if it were no big deal, her eyes drifted to Edward for a second before once again returning to Heiji. “So it had to be close. I’m sure we can find the room again? Near the janitor’s closet.”

Well, now that her room was to be considered as a starting point, Bella really couldn’t argue. At least she would be able to find out what her room number was.

“Oh, I’m fine. Just thinking about how much fun I’m going to have smacking things with my pipe tonight!” Grinning towards Heiji, Bella didn’t even have to glance at Edward to know that he was most likely going to reply to her comment with an eye roll or something equally as obvious.

[osakapwnzu.livejournal.com]

"Sorry Bella," Heiji said with a smug shrug and matching grin, "But you'll be hitting stuff IF I don't get to it first! I've got a lot of pent up energy that I intend to get rid of tonight!

"Let's... just hope we can find this janitor's closet before something decides we're intruding. Then I think we'd be in trouble," he paused, thoughtful again. "I'm pretty sure I could keep it occupied. D'you guys have any skills or anything?" Hopefully they'd have some sort of self-defense, right? I mean, schools taught girls basic self-defense at the drop of a hat.

Edward looked pretty built, but that didn't mean he knew what to do with himself. Privately, he was worried he would be the one to protect the group. Not that he minded, really. Heiji was used to it, after all.

[her-lion.livejournal.com]

And an eyeroll he did make to her comment. Wonderful. Two people bent on bashing some random monster's brain in. This night was just going to prove itself to be a great time.

"Skills?" Edward thought for a moment, wondering how best to put it. "I've had my share of sparring. Nothing with a weapon, I'm afraid, but I can improvise." He gave a reassuring smile. "And I'm quick."

Oh, what a way to sell himself short.

"And Bella can handle her own, I think." He turned to give her a mischevious grin. Not that she'd be given the chance, if he had anything to do with it. But, worst of all, maybe he wouldn't have a choice.

[his-singer.livejournal.com]

Bella grinned. “Is that a challenge? Then I’ll take it!” This would at least make the night a little more interesting.

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Edward’s own comment on his skills, knowing how much he wasn’t saying. He was a good fighter, this she knew for a fact. After all, hadn’t she seen it with her own eyes?

Turning to grin up at Edward at his comment about herself, Bella gave him one of her “Don’t-even-think-about-it” looks before turning back to Heiji with a smirk. “Well, I can punch … and I remember how to break noses thanks to gym and all that. Plus, how hard can it be to swing a pipe around?” A pause, and Bella continued. “Oh, and last night there wasn’t anything in the room, thankfully. Though, who knows if it changed tonight?”

[osakapwnzu.livejournal.com]

Heiji grinned, "Fine, fine. Let's see if you can keep up with me. That is, if Mr. Stoney-face here will let you," He flashed his toothy grin in Edward's direction.

He leaned his head on his fist, his grin falling into a light smirk, "Really Edward-han, there's really no need to stand on ceremony here," His eyes flicked to Bella, indicating that he'd seen her roll her eyes at his statement. "If you're a good fighter, than that'll take a load off my chest, seriously. I know enough kendo to protect myself, but I've never had two people behind me. It'll make me feel a whole lot better if I know I can count on you.

"My dad always says that his team is good because he plays to their strengths. Let's try to do the same, yeah?" He smiled. It was a normal-enough smile, but with just a hint of a polite warning. If people lied to him, he would know. He wasn't about to jeopardize the entire group because he made a miscalculation. All of the pieces had to fit.

He laughed a little and shook his head, "How hard could it be to swing around a pipe? If you don't want to injure anyone--very hard!"

[her-lion.livejournal.com]

"I'm nothing special," he tried to assure the boy, in more ways than one. "But I won't need protection, either. I'll hold my own." At least the boy wasn't against fighting, but then again... he seemed the type to run into danger when it reared its head, too. Both a blessing and a curse. Edward hoped he knew when to retreat. As much as he loved a good fight, he had to deal with the fact that he was as human as Bella and Heiji.

And he was worried that Edward was lying to him? At least it was because he was looking out for a strong front. Better reason than most.

Hearing Heiji's teasing, Edward laughed as well. "And knowing you," he turned to Bella, raising a finger to point at her, "You'll find a multitude of ways to hurt yourself. But I suppose we'll have to see, hmm?" The teasing was light, but he knew it would annoy her further. Which only made it all the more amusing.

How easy it was to forget sometimes that he was stuck in this place.