damned_institute | Day 29: Cafeteria, Brunch

Hitsugaya left the chapel no less frustrated than before. The head doctor once again had chosen not to hide his face, yet promised he would be making an appearance at some time in the near future. He didn't like being patient, but there wasn't much choice. Either the head doctor would show his face, or he wouldn't. Renji had already seen him, and knew how to find him. That was enough.

The thought of eating made him slightly nauseous as usual, but he knew he needed to get his strength up. He could either be weak and try to force his way through brunch without eating anything, or he could be smart and actually give himself something to eat. And there was rice. Rice and fruit. He took a heaping pile of rice, and grabbed as much watermelon as he could fit on his plate, then proceeded to an empty table. He scanned the room, watching for Momo. He wasn't exactly looking forward to their conversation, knowing how she'd acted yesterday; however, he knew he had to speak to her, and there was a good chance that she would show more restraint now that the drugs were out of her system.

Thoughtfully he consumed his rice and waited.

[free at the moment, pester if you wish]

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Kadaj stilled as the girl drew closer, not quite looking up at her just yet but obviously aware of her presence. Why people insisted on talking to or hovering nearby people who clearly wished to be left alone was beyond him. Yazoo and Loz had always kept their distance when he was in a mood like this, but it seemed like they were the only ones who had that kind of restraint. Lucky him.

After a long pause, he resumed his earlier pointless activity, his head canting to one side almost thoughtfully as he stared down at the mess he was creating. "You know, if you're looking for people like you to relate to, I'm sure you'll have no trouble at all if you searched elsewhere. Lots of people seem to share your traits in this place, wouldn't you say?"

Of course, none of what he'd said made any sense without knowing what he'd been thinking just before that, but Kadaj was either blissfully unaware of or pointedly ignoring the fact that the blonde probably would have wanted to know what the hell he was talking about. He was just contrary like that.

"...What?"

Claire blinked for a second, clearly confused. She thought that maybe she'd chosen the wrong table, but scanning the cafeteria once more she realized she had few options as the remaining patients filled in. Claire wasn't going to go hunting for an empty seat now when there was a perfectly good one right in front of her.

Sliding into the chair across from him, she broke her english muffin in half while still looking at him curiously, wondering if he was always this friendly or if he'd just had a bad night. Either way he obviously wasn't interested in chatting with her, and Claire wasn't really interested in starting arguments so early on in the day. If he wanted to just ignore her while she ate, that was fine with her.

... And naturally, the girl sat down in her chosen seat instead of listening to him like any sane person would have. He wished he could say he was surprised. Giving her a dirty look, he turned slightly away from her and stabbed viciously at his sausage patties for no real reason other than because they were there. Stupid things. He really shouldn't have gotten any.

"You're not the first person to wander where you're not wanted," he said by way of explanation, sounding distracted. "I'm beginning to think that everyone here is like that. Of course, no one's going to admit they are, but the truth always comes out in the end. People can't deny their natures for too long without suffering some consequences."

Claire paused, crumbs falling from where her sad little muffin was split down the middle. Once again, the word What came into her head, but she didn't think he was really going to explain what he was talking about to her in any detail.

"Sorry that I'm...not wanted," Claire offered. "I just want to eat my muffin. You can just pretend like I'm not here."

That would have been the logical route to take, yes, but why would Kadaj ignore her when making her life difficult was so much more fun? Not that he was having fun right now, but it was almost amusing to see her pause like that. Her fault for being so stupid. Hadn't he been perfectly clear?

"If you really were sorry, you'd have left by now," he replied in a matter of fact tone, tilting his head at her and regarding her almost curiously. "That leads me to believe that you just like being annoying. Do you?"

"If you were really annoyed by me, you would have stopped talking to me or left by now," Claire said, pointing to him with her half muffin. "This leads me to believe you want somebody to bother. Do you?"

She took a bite of the muffin, eyebrow raised and waiting for his response. Claire really didn't want to argue, but this wasn't more than a mild annoyance so far.

"... What?"

It took Kadaj a moment to realize he'd subconsciously mimicked the girl after she'd not-so-subconsciously had mimicked him, and after glaring at her as if she was the one to blame for his reaction, he snapped, "No, I don't want somebody to-- what does that have to do with anything? I was here first. You're the one who decided to wander by without my invitation, so why shouldn't I treat you how I want? It's what you get for irritating me."

He attacked the food on his plate a bit more viciously after that, still revolted by the thought of eating it but running out of ideas for what he could do with it now. Maybe throw it at her? No, that would get him in trouble with the nurses. Damn it. Well, maybe he could get rid of it some other way...

Claire grinned, sunny as sunshine as the boy across from her stabbed at his food. She bent her head down, still smiling at her plate as she started to eat her waffles. There was no need for her to retaliate now -- she'd won, although something told her he might not just let her eat the rest of her meal in peace now.

Did she have to be so pleased about it? It was bad enough that she'd been ignoring his attempts to chase her off, but now... He set down his fork and stared blankly at the mess he'd created on his plate, at a loss for what to say or do next. He had to say something-- he couldn't let her get away with it, of course, even if he was a little uncertain about what exactly "it" was-- but nothing was really coming to mind. This was turning out to be such a horrible day. Trust yet another annoying blond to make things worse.

"I just wanted to be left alone," he mumbled, still not looking at her. He hadn't actually meant to say that out loud, but now that he had, there was nothing to do but run with it. "If I'd been polite, would you have gone away?"

Day 29: Cafeteria, Brunch

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