damned_institute | Day 29: Cafeteria, Brunch

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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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[ Feel free to bother! ]

Normally, Sora would have been eager to stack his plate with tons of food so that he could feast, but he wasn't all that hungry today. It probably had something to do with something wanting to eat him last nightshift, but he didn't let it stop him from grabbing a hot dog, covering it with ketchup and mustard, and finding a place to sit.

The boy wasn't sure what to think of the fact that it was time for visitors again. The last time he'd been forced to talk to a Riku who wasn't exactly Riku, and considering he hadn't seen his friend around as patient in a few days, there was always a chance that could happen again. He wasn't sure how it all worked, but he knew he had to be prepared for it.

There had been a longer break than usual since they had last gotten new patients, which was weird. It probably didn't mean anything, but maybe there would be fewer patients coming in now? He could only hope.

((ooc: hope this is okay?))

Bridget had been slightly sad to be taken from Mr. Armand, but he was pleased that he'd made another friend in this place.

With Roger tucked securly under one arm, he gathered up a tray of food that looked like he might enjoy. Hot dogs, fruit, and a glass of milk. Should be tasty... right? Spotting another boy that looked like he might be around his age, Bridget walked up to him and smiled his best smile.

"Hi there! Can I join you?"

To be honest, Sora wasn't very used to girls coming up and trying to talk to him. He was in the middle of pulling the hot dog up to his mouth to take a huge bite when the other patient spoke up. Instead, he paused and looked the girl over.

They seemed to be about the same age, and Sora always wanted to make friends who were closer to his age range.

"Nope, I don't mind!" He gestured to the chair across from him with a bright smile. "Please, sit down." And she even had a hot dog, which meant that she had good taste!

Bridget set his tray down and set Roger to his left as he sat down. "Thanks!" He beamed and held out a hand.

"I'm Bridget, and this is Roger," he said, gesturing to the bear. "I'm pleased to meet you!"

While Sora made sure to shake Bridget's hand when she extended it, he was more interested in the stuffed bear she had set down and introduced as "Roger."

"Roger, huh?" he asked, leaning forward to get a closer look at the bear. "Where'd you find him?" It had to have been somewhere in the institute, but he wasn't sure why a stuffed animal would be laying around, or why anyone would think to grab it. There were more practical things to hoard, right? Then again, maybe Roger was a comfort to Bridget.

"Oh, and I'm Sora," he added quickly. "It's nice to meet you, too."

Bridget laughed softly and shook his head. "I didn't find him," he said. "He's my friend. Has been since I was little." He reached over and set the bear on the table so that Sora could see him better, though a little bit away from his food to make sure he stayed clean.

Or, as clean as possible given the place they were in.

"He's always been with me. Even when I woke up here."

While it seemed a little strange for someone his age to still be carrying a stuffed animal around, Sora wasn't one to judge people. He was more interested in the fact that Roger had come with Bridget to Landel's.

"Really? I haven't heard of any patients getting to keep any of their belongings except for glasses and stuff like that," he explained, pointing to his eyes. He had to wonder why a stuffed animal made the cut - maybe because it was harmless?

The one thing Sora wished he still had with him was Kairi's charm, or the crown necklace he always wore. The Keyblade was with him, though, and that was the most important thing.

Bridget looked at Roger and his smile changed to something a bit more worried. "I noticed that myself." He had, if the odd looks he'd gotten were anything to go by. They weren't the usual looks he got, either for having a tedy bear in the first place, or for being a boy who looked like .... well, like he did.

"I'm glad I got to keep him, but I'm worried that they migt take him away if I let him out of my sight too long." He smiled, blushing slightly. "I probably seem kind of strange, huh? I know I'm kind of big to have a bear..."

At least Bridget realized that it was kind of strange for her to still be toting a childhood toy around. Sora just smiled, though, and shook his head. "It's okay, though! Anything that reminds you of home has to be nice to have in this place." Sora could have been jealous, but he had the people he cared about the most here with him, and that's what really mattered.

"You should probably be really careful with him, though, yeah." He didn't even know if it was that smart to bring the bear out during the day, but Bridget didn't seem like she had any intention of leaving Roger in her room. Considering how much she cared for the bear, Sora doubted she would let anything happen to it.

Bridget nodded. "I'll take very good care of him," he said, looking down at the bear. "After all, if I could just get him working again, he might be able to help us out."

He wasn't just his friend after all. Roger ... well, used to be his valuable partner anyway. Now, since he was just a toy, he was kind of useless....

Working? What did that mean? Was there more to Roger than first met the eye? If that was the case, then it would be more reasonable that Bridget had carried the bear around with her everywhere, though Landel's had likely incapacitated him somehow.

"Help us out, huh? How?" Considering where they were, it might have been logical to assume that Bridget wasn't completely right in the head, but that didn't even cross Sora's mind. He knew that no one here was really crazy - they all just came from very different worlds and had all sorts of stories to tell and information to provide.

((please ignore my massive fail. Sorry. ^^;;;; ))

Bridget beamed and hoped that maybe Sora would know more about robotics, genetic manipulation and AI than most here did.

"Roger's supposed to be a fully functional robot with AI capabilities. He's very useful in almost any situation and he's a lot smarter than me." His shoulders sagged slightly. "I just haven't been able to find anything I can use to try and repair him. I don't even know what they did to take him offline like this..."

While Sora didn't know much in regards to what Bridget was telling him, he wasn't exactly giving the other patient blank stares, either. He wished Tron was here, since he might have actually been able to explain some of what the girl was telling him, but he knew that there was no way his friend could get out of the computer system.

Still, it would have been kind of interesting to see how Tron fared in this place. Sora smiled at the thought, though when it came down to it, he knew it was a good thing that most of his friends were safe.

"Well, he doesn't really look like a robot, really," Sora responded, tilting his head. "Does he always look like that, or did he change from a machine into a stuffed animal?"

Bridget shook his head and smiled happily. "Well, he's different than most robots," he said. He was thinking of Robo-Ky and his apperance. "He's supposed to be a companion, but we've done a bit of upgrading since I was little."

Playing with Roger's arms, Bridget went on. "He can't change his shape, but he can change size. From really small to giant size."

"A companion?" Sora was getting a little confused now, but he saw no reason to keep that to himself, so he just came forward with the questions. "What's that?"

Changing size, huh? That was pretty impressive, and Sora wished he could see a demonstration of it, but he seriously doubted that Roger could do anything like that here at Landel's. At least the institute hadn't taken him away completely, though, and Bridget was probably glad enough to have him with her, even if he wasn't working properly.

That was Sora's guess, at least, judging from what little he knew of the girl.

"Like a friend that goes with you where you go." Bridget beamed. "Roger's been with my since I was little and he was just my friend and protector. A companion. Now he's more of a partner and weapon, though he's still my friend."

He looked fondly down at the bear. "I'm glad they didn't take him away though... even if he's not working."

[ Sorry for the super late reply! ]

So Bridget had just meant it in the normal sense of the word. With all the places Sora had been, with different customs and different terms, he had been expecting more than that. Still, the simplicity of it made it nice, and he found himself smiling.

It occurred to him that he didn't have someone who had been with him from the start, who he had never been seperated from. Riku would have counted as that at one point, but they had been pulled away from each other. It didn't mean they weren't friends, of course, but he didn't have anything or anyone that had always been there.

He decided it probably didn't matter. His friends were the best he could have.

"Yeah, definitely," he responded eventually. "It sounds like... you two are really close. You're lucky to have kept him."

As Sora finished his food, he wondered when the next shift was going to start. It wasn't that he minded talking to Bridget (quite the opposite, really), but he was still anxious about the visitor thing.

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Day 29: Cafeteria, Brunch

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