Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

[whiteychan.livejournal.com]

Hitsugaya woke with a start.

His entire body ached, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been the night before. His injuries had been tended two with clean gauze and bandages, and he found every movement wasn't agony. He wasn't in the best of shape, but thanks to the miracle of landel's strange time distortion, he had mostly recovered from the vile poison without having to waste anyone else's talents.

And in his hand, still...there was the key.

He dressed quickly, sliding the key onto the key ring from his desk drawer and stuck it into his pocket. Whether the key stood to gain them anything or not, it stood as a vital reminder that they could succeed in this place. There was hope, as insignificant as it often seemed. They could beat this place.

That small shred of hope made getting up worth it.

The nurse who escorted him to breakfast was cheerful, and commented idly about how wonderful it was to see young Tommy Winters up and about again after his unfortunate run-in with a bad case of food poisoning. He smirked slightly, knowing that any lies the institute forced into their heads were only that: lies. He wouldn't buy it for a second. And on top of that, the concept of muffins sounded almost appetizing. While he still preferred his authentic Japanese cuisine, the food here was slowly becoming more and more bearable. He would have preferred a warm bowl of sweet nattou over rice over the mufffins, but they would do. The plain yogurt and fruit, on the other hand, was excellent. He piled his plate high with fruit as usual, and got several small bowls of yogurt as well.

Finding the most convenient table to the end of the food line, he took a seat and scanned for the new arrivals. New arrivals meant people who would be lost and confused. Renji did a good job of making a bulliten post last time...he should recommend abarai-fukutaicho do the same again this time.

[Waiting for Angel]

Comments

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

Qui-Gon looked up, eyebrows raised as Sanzo launched into a question without so much as a "hello".

"Good morning," Qui-Gon said mildly. He set down his journal, gazing across the table at the other patient. "I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're talking about."

He hadn't done much, in his opinion. Sanzo had been too strong-willed - distracted, yes, but still strong-willed - and his own control of the Force was weak. The most he'd been able to do was try to siphon off that anger and frustration and let it drain from the other patient before he blew up even more in the radio-man's face. It hadn't been as active as Force persuasion. But perhaps that was what Sanzo was talking about. It was surprising that he seemed perfectly aware that Qui-Gon must've done something though.

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

He'd done something in Sanzo's opinion. Having the anger drain right out of him like that just wasn't natural, at least for him. The timing had been almost on cue too.

Qui-Gon didn't seem like an enemy, at least not like any he'd encountered so far. Something in the priest's gut said he just wasn't one. However, that didn't mean he was going to let the older man off the hook so easily. Sanzo wanted to know what he was dealing with in another patient.

"I think we both know what I'm talking about," Sanzo replied. "You did something last night to me when you touched me. What was it, and how?"

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

Qui-Gon folded his hands together on the table. His look at Sanzo was frank - not in a confrontational fashion, but it was clear that he wasn't going to talk down to the other patient. "Last night I had to channel some of your anger away," he explained. "I'm sorry I had to take the liberty, but I was concerned that the situation would become more...tense."

Tense wasn't really the word he was looking for, but it was probably the most diplomatic. He at least owed Sanzo an explanation. What he'd done to him last night wasn't anywhere as invasive as Force persuasion, but that was besides the point.

"I used the Force," Qui-Gon added, keeping his voice low. He didn't expect this Earthian to know what the Force was; he'd have to explain it in terms that that Earthian Renji had told him. "It's somewhat like a universal 'spirit', if there's another name for it. Once again, I apologize for last night."

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

Sanzo just absorbed all this with a small grunt.

Under normal circumstances, he'd be pissed that someone even dared take that liberty with him. The idea that someone would decide for him what he should be feeling was just unacceptable. The idea that he could influence someone with a touch was disturbing enough.

The fact that Qui-Gon was owning up to it and taking responsibility, and apologizing was enough to set that irritation aside. Also, he was curious enough about this to let it pass, for now.

Revan had mentioned that very word, the "Force" in conjunction with "Jedi" and a "Republic", right in the middle mistaking him for one. So this was one of those people she'd spoken of with such reverence.

"You're a Jedi, aren't you?" Sanzo asked.

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

That made Qui-Gon pause. So this Earthian did know about Jedi, much like young Artemis Fowl had. The question was how he knew, especially considering how far Earth was from Republic space; yet another matter that they would need to investigate. There was no reason to deny that he was indeed a Jedi, at any rate. He had, after all, used the Force on Sanzo.

He nodded. "Yes. I am." He paused, and then went on. "How did you know?"

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

So that hadn't necessarily been a load of bull from Chusa. He hadn't thought she was lying at the time, but she had been under the influence of a cocktail of drugs at the time. Everything she'd said, hinted at, had been almost too hard to believe.

Sanzo was still having a hard time wrapping his mind around that there might be other planets out there.

"A woman named Chusa," Sanzo replied. "She thought I was one and started going off about it, and the Republic."

Come to think of it, he hadn't seen her around. Had she been removed, just like Hakkai? Like Goku earlier?

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

Qui-Gon sat very still as he listened to Sanzo's story. The other Earthian's he'd met seemed to have little to no knowledge about the Republic, much less intimate knowledge.

"What did she look like? Did she say where she was from?" Qui-Gon asked. He needed to know if there were other beings from the Republic here, if people had been taken before. Just how long had this been going on? "Was there anything else she said?"

Just because she knew about Jedi didn't mean she was one. Most of the galaxy knew about Jedi, even if their actual "facts" were wrong - there was a surprising number of beings out there who believed that Jedi were the thieves of children, were killers, or were the Republic's personal security force, all of which couldn't be farther from the truth.