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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"Of course," Mark answered to Aidou's vague statement about the time he'd been here. That was exactly what was expected.

Sasuke was being prodded again, twitching, and frankly bearing the insults with far more grace than Mark could imagine himself having in the same situation. He'd met rulers of worlds with less presumption... but then again, the more power one had, the less one felt the need to compensate in self-defense. Not that he knew Aidou well enough to surmise that was the young man's problem, of course. For all he knew, Aidou was worse when in his native surroundings, whatever those might be.

"I'm not the most polite or the most diplomatic person in the galaxy," far from it, "but barring anyone's requests for special testing, I don't think Sasuke's skills need to be vouched for before he can continue this breakfast. And since Sasuke's already agreed to travel with me tonight, we're both blindly, if you'll excuse the phrase, trusting each other to be competent enough to do what we say we'll do. If we're wrong, we'll suffer for it, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. And it's Sasuke's decision whether or not to take that risk as well. Maybe this is your way of saying you care, but it's really not any of your business at the moment whether Sasuke is at full capacity or going to fall over his own feet just trying to walk. Helping people who don't ask for it isn't generally a good idea. Just in my experience."

It didn't happen often, but there were times when Aidou's considerable thought process was unexpectedly forced to a halt. And this? Was one of those times.

The phrase 'misplaced maternal instinct' clicked into place in his mind.

And then he just started laughing.

If Aidou was thrown for a loop, Sasuke was outright dumbstruck when Mark spoke -- what the hell was the man -- was he actually defending Sasuke? Once that definition had actually clicked, Sasuke blinked hard, turned to stare blindly and blankly in Mark's direction as if trying to figure out why he'd said all those words, and wracked his brains for the last time sometime like this had happened.

... huh, probably never.

Aidou's abrupt laughter made Sasuke almost glance back around, startled and still confused.

He really wasn't sure how to respond to a situation like this -- thank Mark? what was he supposed to do about Aidou's hysterics? -- and for once, his mind was completely blank as to a reaction. When he finally did come up with one, his voice was still more perplexed than anything else.

"I will maintain my end of the mission," he said. Well, if Mark's goal had been to diffuse the tension, it seemed to have worked, if by sheer confusion; Sasuke had slipped back into shinobi terminology. "And though it's good to hear that you have confidence, I don't need anyone to defend me, much less against Aidou."

Never let it be said that Sasuke was particularly gracious about accepting help in any form whatsoever.

"I wasn't defending you, I was criticizing him," Mark corrected mildly, watching the blond laughing. "I can't defend you, I barely know you."

The laughter, on the whole, slid off his back. Some insults could hit, but a pompous ass laughing at his words was like being congratulated on a job well done. Though it wasn't entirely true that he didn't feel a need to defend Sasuke, or rather Sasuke's ability to decide what he could or couldn't do. He might appear young, but appearances were deceiving, and Mark was sure from his movement that Sasuke knew how to fight and how to kill. As did Aidou, although that meant little to Mark at the moment.

"Then do overlook my blatant and insidious personal attack on a fragile psyche." It was as much as Aidou could get out before the smooth laughter overtook him for a few moments. It set Aidou off like nothing else could: Mark actually admitting he knew nothing about the boy's capabilities, and yet insinuating one was, somehow, stepping out of line for objectively analyzing a fellow prisoner's ability to adapt under pressure while under long-term detainment.

But oh, not at the breakfast table! That was just too crude under the circumstances!

The vampire touched the back of one pale hand to his eyes, trying to suppress the shudders of mirth. The rampant idiocy in this place was so sad. Sasuke had lost visual stimulus--and as his little experiment had proven, he hadn't returned to full offensive capacity yet--and Mark would be a splat on the wall if he crossed Aidou the wrong way. The vampire, at least, had experience with physical handicaps that could certainly be applicable to Sasuke's quickened recovery, getting him back into the best form he could be in.

Somehow, though, Aidou was mistaken. It all made perfect sense.

"Yes, you're right, it's none of my business, since I simply don't care. To add my own tasteless idiom, are you both done beating the dead horse? I think it's suffered enough."

There was enough commotion in the cafeteria that Sasuke could seriously consider getting in at least two or three solid punches before the staff would be able to get an orderly in to sedate him. The idea of the disappointed tone of his nurse's voice almost inspired him to actually do it, but the fact of the matter was that Aidou was clearly a brat with delusions of superiority, and Mark had ... weird priorities.

And that Sasuke still failed completely to live up even to his name. (Whose son was he supposed to be?)

"I doubt you'd know anything about suffering, Aidou," he said, voice perfectly bland again, and pointedly picked up the cup of juice his nurse had put on his tray. The vampire had a point, though -- this had gone on long enough. Mark was also right insofar as the sedation went; Sasuke hadn't had to deal with the drugs yet, and he didn't want the experience. "Mark, you've been out at night, but have you had a chance to arm yourself?"

Duly changing the subject, but if Aidou thought all was forgotten already, he was a fool.

"You were the one last talking about it," Mark pointed out mildly to Aidou's idiom, still bearing the laughter without concern. He might not be the most stable individual, but someone here was making an ass of himself, and it wasn't Mark. Then again, with all that laughter, maybe he also wasn't the most unstable person sitting here. At any rate, let the kid get the last word, Sasuke's mild comment aside. Either he knows about suffering enough to be trying to make up for one hell of a lot of it, or he's an idiot.

"I can fight bare-handed, but I was planning on picking something up tonight. My first few evenings were primarily spent networking." That was true enough. Not always by intention, but... well, he'd made some interesting allies and acquaintances.

"Cry argumentum ad verecundiam and lick your wounds already," came Aidou's most blithe response from over the rim of a cup. By now, exactly who he was talking to wasn't clear. Both of their reactions were starting to bleed together into one four-armed creature of nonsensicality. Why did every irrational little pest in this place have to butt heads with him?

Now that that momentary dip into the realm of the absurd was over, Aidou was able to turn back to more important thoughts of his own. Tapping the edge of the cup against his bottom lip, he gazed out over the cafeteria, sense of humor flipped off like a switch. Although he now had a vial of an unknown blood source to examine, it made sense to do so thoroughly like any other objective mind was wont to do. Biology was not really his speciality, but he'd run more than one human biologist under the table by accident, anyway--the only problem was that he'd need to take the lab for a night, and that posed problems.

And it wouldn't bring him any closer to finding Akatsuki, at least not directly.

The tip of his tongue swirled around a fang idly. Breakfast was almost over and there would be plenty of time to speak to Sasuke alone during the shift change, but he hoped the boy's spitting and hissing routine didn't imply Aidou was going to waste valuable time.

"I have some makeshift items," Sasuke said, ignoring Aidou's words. Sasuke could move on (for now), and Aidou could dwell until he realised he was. "If you want, I can bring them for you."

Sasuke was about as well-armed as he really needed -- projectiles at this point were practically wasted material, with the exception of using them to sound out position, as with the spider -- and the pile of things under his mattress was growing a little lumpy.

He was about to continue when a voice cried out a familiar name, making Sasuke snap to attention and glance around for the source. River? It wasn't as if he could see anything, and through this commotion River's voice was hardly going to be obvious -- but the commotion seemed to be getting louder. Actually, that was putting it mildly: the usual shouting and mild fighting seemed was escalating into outright brawling, and there was the definite sound of combat. What the hell was going on?

Abruptly, there was the familiar clicking of footsteps, and a moment later his nurse's infuriating voice was there, saying ridiculous things: "Sean, dear, it's gotten dangerous, and I'd like to move you somewhere safe where you won't get hurt. You can bring your friends, too!"

Sasuke didn't even bother turning his head towards her, although he was definitely getting close to punching the woman. River had started something, or something had been started for her, and he wanted to know what had happened -- but damned if he was going to ask, after that breakfast.

Following along, Mark ignored Aidou, who was apparently not done with the horse yet after all. "I'd appreciate it. The other person I wanted to bring was unarmed when I saw him, but I don't know if he actually would be more useful arm..."

Oh, wonderful. One of his predictions about the nature of this place was coming true. One woman yelling, then more patients gathering around, and now people standing on tables and screaming. There was a disconcerting lurch in perception as the Other started to try to emerge, but Lord Mark pushed that down, despite the sight of nurses and orderlies and needles en masse. He had a thing about being drugged against his will...

"I'm surprised it's taken this long for a riot--or maybe I simply haven't heard about earlier ones," Mark commented almost idly as Sasuke's nurse approached, one hand tapping a finger on the table with a little more urgency than he'd have liked. She's not a threat yet. Calm down.

"Considering the odds we can win by group force against something that knocks us all out simultaneously at will each night, I'm inclined to stay out of it. Madam." He nodded at the nurse as though some of it had been meant for her. "Sean? Pokey? Shall we exit and let the competition weed itself?"

In comparison to the other two, Aidou was positively serene. Despite the delicious scent of blood in the air. He took another delicate sip of water before pushing away from the table himself--even he wouldn't attempt this feat. He had never, ever been stuck with a human needle before, and he would not start now, not when it was reminiscent of a horde of rampaging baboons throwing feces.

He stood up, dusting off his backside and surreptitiously checking the tucked away items were still in place.

"Quite agreed, though if you call me that again, I will drop kick you into the fray, you troll," said the vampire, as pleasantly cherubic as nobody's business. "Take us away, miss."

A riot? It didn't sound like anyone had planned it, but there were a lot of patients (although Sasuke also remembered an improbable number of staff), and concerted action in daytime, when the Institute's inexplicable powers seemed to be weakened -- but were the goals of everyone in this place really aligned enough for it to be successful? Landel's kept them too well-fed and content for real desperation to link them together, as was obvious in the way those like Aidou kept hold of useless attitudes and grudges.

"I'm delighted you've found some reasonable friends, Sean," his nurse prattled, mostly background noise to Sasuke. He registered that Mark and Aidou were ready to leave, and logically, that was what he should do as well. Still, the temptation to punch one of the staff, and River ... "Young Aidan seems to have improved so much since the first time you've met -- you could stand to follow his example a bit, dear. And Mr. Evgeni, I'm so glad to see you've taken time to be friends with Sean!"

... did the woman not shut up? There was only so much background noise Sasuke could handle, especially when he was still trying to see if there was any sign that River (or any other ally) needed help. Not at all as an excuse to take out some pent-up aggression.

"Where's Miranda?" He asked abruptly (almost added a question about Naruto and Sakura, but they could handle themselves and were more sane), and his nurse made a slightly distressed sound.

"She's been a little silly," the woman said, and put a hand on his arm that Sasuke shook off roughly. "She'll be fine, Sean, really! Come along with your nice friends, now."

There really was no reasonable alternative. No matter how much Sasuke itched to hit something, injured hand or no, it wouldn't make sense at this point, especially since the calmness of the nurse implied that the 'riot' had a fairly low chance of success. And, damn it, without his sight Sasuke wouldn't be able to tell the difference between patient and staff if he were to get involved enough. With a frustrated sort of noise, Sasuke stood, following the distinctive click of his nurse's shoes.

"Troll? I do believe that's a new one," Mark couldn't help his twitchy smile, amused by the phrase (he didn't get insulted with something new often) and on edge with the violence around them. "If you do, take care not to put your back out." After all, even if Mark was short, he was rather heavy. But surely Aidou... Aidan to the nurses... was stronger than he looked. Everyone here was.

He stood, smiling at the nurse too, feeling something similar to what he imagined Miles usually felt when in his manic modes, or perhaps closer to what he'd felt on the stimulants and painkillers Lily Durona had loaded him with months ago. No painkillers for me today, thank you, madam. Miranda... the institute name for the woman who'd started this mess? O brave new world, that has such lunatics in it...

"I'm happy to be friends with Sean, madam, I hope to make friends with Aidan as well. They're very interesting conversationalists." He could feel his accent slipping from his usual mixed-galactic tones into Barrayaran as he put on airs, following after Sean. Just a responsible gentleman and two younger fellows following a nurse peacefully out of the fray, yes.

Aidou practically skipped a little ahead of the nurse, neatly sidestepping any obstacles. If he just happened to nudge a few people out of his way, it was a necessary formality. A vampire was never jostled by a non-vampire in a crowd. For one, that meant actually being caught off guard by another species, and two... please. Getting caught in a brawl was probably the most unskilled thing a young aristocrat could do.

Not unless he was at the core of the fight, and intended to win.

Eventually he turned around, and said to Sasuke, "If this farce of a hospital has any sense, we'll have an impromptu lockdown of sorts. I intent to find you as soon as it's over." Despite being rudely interrupted, there was still business to discuss. That didn't change even if some crazy girl drew her makeshift harem into a riot right in front of him.

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Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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