damned_institute | Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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]

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"Not for breakfast." Valyn wrinkled his delicate nose. "Too sweet and heavy. They insist on serving it in some form every morning, though. And that strange curdled milk product in the small jars."

"That was actually rather good," Shana remarked, having had some yesterday morning. She took his cake and pushed her own bowl of fruit across the table to him. "Here. So. Do you have any plans for today?"

"Thank you." He took the fruit, glad to make the trade. "Plans? No." What plans would he have? He didn't even know what the schedule was for the day. "Though I hope they allow us to shower today. It's been three days...." And that was three days too many to go without, as far as Valyn was concerned.

Shana wrinkled her nose. "Yes, I would like one of those myself. Although I've been using the normal facilities for that, when I can. That's better than nothing."

"It still isn't much." What Valyn would do for a bath. A proper bath. With hot water and oils and fragrances and someone to wash his back. Call him spoiled, but he did miss some of elven life's little luxuries.

"You never got to that place in town, did you?" she asked, a small wistful smile playing across her lips in remembrance of that day. It had turned out so nicely. He'd brought her flowers. She still felt sad that she'd lost them in the chaos of nightfall falling with them all outside.

"No, I didn't." And she'd had to go and remind him. "I...ended up doing other things." Mainly attempting to patch things up with her. "The showers here aren't anything to gossip about. You're familiar with the slave barrack showers, they're the same."

"At least we can get clean," she replied with a slight shrug. "I'm sorry. I know you'd said you were looking forward to that. I hadn't intended to monopolize your entire day."

Valyn just shrugged. "I made my choices." It had been decision to chase after her, after all. He didn't have to. He could have just let her fume and stew until she calmed down - it was what he generally did.

Shana eyed him for a long moment before asking softly, "Do you regret them?"

Valyn sighed. He had the sudden urge to drop his head against the table and groan. Instead he just pinched the bridge of his nose and lifted his eyes towards the heavens.

"Shana, why do you ask me things like this?"

"I'm cursed with an insatiable curiosity," she remarked wryly. "Can you blame me for asking? I... I don't know how to read you, Valyn. I haven't known you as long as Shadow has, and your thoughts never show on your face. I feel like I'm always second-guessing myself, and I'm never entirely certain where I stand, with you. One minute it will seem like maybe things are going fairly well, and five minutes later, it feels like you'd rather avoid me at all costs."

"That's just who I am, Shana. We talked about this." To an extent. "And pestering me isn't going to make any difference. There's no good in asking me these sorts of things, and you know that. It only leads to us fighting, and I'm not in the mood for a fight this morning."

"You're still upset about yesterday." It was both a question and not, as Shana looked at him, her face expressionless.

"And it's nothing I want to discuss." He hoped she'd understand not to push. He tried to make his voice firm, and imply there was no room for argument. Did she expect him to simply recover from that so easily? She'd looked in elven minds, or so she claimed, surely she understood what elven families were like.

Shana opened her mouth to persist, but thought better of it at the last minute and closed it again. "I wasn't trying to pester," she replied, the words muttered softly as she went back to picking at her breakfast.

"I know. But it's nothing to talk about. And I thank you for not pushing the subject." And he was honestly thankful for that. "It's been getting cold out," he ventured, falling back on the weather as a safe topic.

"I wonder if it snows here."

Shana wrinkled her nose at the very thought. She despised cold weather, having grown up in the desert. "Oh, I hope not. I don't like the cold."

"It's pretty," Valyn said, shrugging. "We get it sometimes at the manor. I always enjoyed hunting in it. And a day in the cold makes mulled wine and hot roast afterwards all the better."

"Give me desert sun any day," she replied with a rueful smile and a shake of her head. "I'm not made for cold weather. I hope they have enough blankets here if it does get colder." She shivered at the very thought.

"I'm not much for the desert," Valyn had to admit. "Cold weather isn't that bad, assuming you aren't caught out in it. And I'm sure they have blankets. If they're even needed. The interior temperature never seems to change. It must be controlled by something." At least they were on a safer topic.

"Snow always looks nicest from inside, though. Did you know there are some Lords who live near natrua hot springs who take baths in them - outdoors, mind you - and then lay down in the snow?"

Shana blinked at him in disbelief. "Why in the world would they want to do that?"

"It's supposed to be invigorating for the blood, or something to that effect. I've never done it - you'd be hard pressed to even get me into a lukewarm bath - but apparently it's good for the health." He shrugged. It was just something to say.

"My kind will do anything if they think it will lengthen their life or increase their power."

Shana snorted. "Well, not tempting fate with asking for chills and fever for being out in the snow with no clothes on doesn't seem like the smartest move, if you ask me. But then again, none of them do."

"We don't get chills or fevers," Valyn pointed out. "You know how we elves are. Only a few things matter to us. Power, wealth, blood, alliances...." he trailed off as his mind once again reminded him he would need to jump on when he returned home. Especially with the Citadel. Though... Shana was a Hernalth. If that knowledge was made public, that was an alliance that could never be denied. Direct blood kinship. It couldn't be contested....

As loathe as he was to admit it to anyone else, Shana was far more valuable as his sister than anything else.

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