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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[feel free to pester!]

The headache and nausea had gone by the time Keman woke, but in their place was a strange sensation, a feeling of something...lost that he couldn't quite place. It felt like something was missing, but he had no idea what it could be.

Well, at any rate, he was absolutely starving after using all that power (not to mention the fact that he hadn't exactly kept his dinner down), and the food in the cafeteria smelled heavenly.

It tasted even better.

The nurse had called them "cinnamon rolls," but they looked unlike any rolls he'd ever seen. They were warm and sticky and covered in a sweet, white goop, and their taste...was indescribable. Sweet and mildly spicy and totally amazing. Not quite as amazing as a freshly-killed fork-horn, of course, but there was quite a lot to be said for two-legger food. It was definitely something that the young dragon could get used to.

He was halfway through his second roll when he realized why he felt so...empty. At Landel's, he'd always been able to feel a little of his power--not much, but enough for him to realize just how weakened he was here. Now...he couldn't feel anything.

Keman had to force himself not to panic. Taking a deep breath, he set down his breakfast and tried to channel energy out through his fingertips. All he needed was a spark. Just one tiny little spark...

...Nothing. He felt a sharp pain behind his eyes, but nothing else.

He hadn't just pushed past his abilities last night. He'd completely exhausted them.

[About to get pounced on by Sanzo]

Qui-Gon woke up to the feeling of something cold and hard in his hands. It was an odd feeling, waking up without ever feeling like he'd actually gotten any sleep, much less "waking" with a knife in his hands.

So they were finally armed.

Blades were fairly obvious; you didn't need to be a Jedi to handle one, to understate the matter. But they were also fairly messy. "Uncivilized" was another way of putting it, going by what Obi-Wan probably would say. But considering their desperate circumstances, sometimes one would have to dirty their hands a little in cases like these, uncivilized or not. They needed to defend themselves with something more material and solid than the Force. At least for now. The Jedi Master swung his long legs over the side of the bed and went about concealing the knife in the room.

His nurse was her usual pleasantly chatty self. Qui-Gon honestly liked her. Technically she was his guard, another cog in this prison, but he knew that she was unaware of what happened in night, that she could be prey to Martin Landel's corruption of the Force once the Earthian sun set. She was as much a victim as the patients themselves. Qui-Gon wished for some way to warn her, to enlighten her and others like her.

Unfortunately, one needed some real, hard evidence besides just waking up "magically" in your bed with a knife in your hand.

The cafeteria was still pretty much empty when Qui-Gon was ushered in. Despite getting armed, there was still plenty to do, plenty to plan for. Sitting down at a table, Qui-Gon consulted his journal. There was the matter of trying to construct a crude commlink. What they really needed was an Earthian with intimate experience with the electronics here. One who could also translate their uses to the standard Galactic ones that he was used to, but Qui-Gon suspected that was wishful thinking at that point. At the very least, they would need an Earthian who could at least identify what was what inside the devices here.

Taking a bite of some kind of flaky roll, Qui-Gon focused on his journal, listening to the intercom. Yes, he had been thinking that the staff seemed distracted today, although he wasn't sure what could be happening during the day to warrant an emergency meeting. It might be that confrontation last night, he thought. That was unusual. Usually what happened in the nightshift tended not to translate over once the sun rose - unless he counted injuries.

It was like deja vu, those first few minutes. Waking up with a gun in his hand, just like before. The cigarette was new.

Except he'd wised up. He wasn't about to waste this one trying to break out and get to Landel during the day; one bad attempt was enough. That crap with the bullets swerving around the targets couldn't be a coincidence.

He had another chance and this time, he was going to do it right. Even if it went holding his tongue until the nightshift.

Still, there was something he couldn't leave hanging.

Sanzo didn't wait to get permission to sit down or even an acknowlegment. The monk promptly seated himself across from Qui-Gon.

"What the hell did you do to me last night?" he asked.

[reserved for Sei-chan!]

Everything felt distant and unreal to Subaru, come morning. He could tell he was running a fever even before the nurse came in and started fussing over him. She tried to get him to stay in his room, but he'd only end up brooding if he did that and besides, Hokuto would flip out if he disappeared for another day. So eventually he got a cane from the nurse and limped his way into the cafeteria with her hovering behind him worriedly.

Subaru hardly even noticed that the selections for breakfast today were largely vegetarian, just letting the nurse choose his food for him and pile it onto a plate. He honestly wasn't at all hungry, but he'd have to make an effort to eat something if he didn't want to end up keeling over by mid-morning.

Slumping over his tray once he sat down where the nurse directed him to, Subaru poked idly at his food. Cereal of some sort, and a sticky bun thing that smelled strongly of cinnamon, with a generous side of fruit. Normally so much fruit would have him quite excited, it being a luxury in Japan, but right now he just focused on not falling asleep in his cereal.

[free for threading ^_^]

Being able to get around using only a cane instead of crutches was an improvement, but not quite enough of one to make Leon any less cranky.

The smell of sweet, sticky cinnamon rolls, on the other hand, did a great deal in improving Leon's mood. And though the ever-present nurse tsked at him disapprovingly, Leon managed to get two of the delicious-looking confections onto his plate before the wench demanded he take some cereal and fruit as well. A small victory, perhaps, but a victory nonetheless.

And so, as he carefully made his way to a table and sat down, Leon was almost--not quite, but almost--smiling.

For a moment, there had been burning pain like thousands of needles digging into the skin of her hand, enough to make her grip on the katana loosen. But the worst of it was what she felt along with that touch.

She hadn't noticed... hadn't known and she'd never been able to stop anything... Hinamori and her captain and should she have gone with him?

The feeling didn't leave in the cold light of morning when Rangiku woke. SHe stared at her hand for a few seconds as the pattern faded, feeling raw and hollow and sick.

For once, breakfast was less than appealing and although she filled her plate as usual and feigned cheerfullness, anyone who knew her would be able to tell that she wasn't quite herself. She didn't seek out company, instead, picking out a seat in one corner and poking the food unenthusiastically.

[feel free to pester! :)]

Well, he'd come out of the night no worse for the wear and with another weapon for his stash, but Farfarello still wasn't terribly happy about how things had gone--it didn't seem like enough profit to make the time spent with do-gooders worthwhile.

And then he discovered what was for breakfast. No sausages. No bacon. No meat of any kind. Just sweet crap, more sweet crap, and cereal. Bollocks! Did he have some sort of 'kick the psychopath' sign on him today? Snarling at the too-helpful nurses, Farfarello took a helping of the least-sugary cereal he could find with a side of fruit, then stomped off to a table to sulk.

After spending the whole night chanting and drawing spells, Seishirou felt a bit drained. He hid yet another yawn into his palm as he stepped into the cafeteria not long after Subaru. The yawn was cut short as he saw the younger man, however, limping, obviously hurt and sick.

The assassin shot a glance at the nurse who came with him, his eyes narrowing a little, his single amber eye painted with murderous intent, heavy on the violent side. It was a new kind of emotion to have, and Seishirou found himself chuckling softly. Interesting.

He didn't pay much mind to the food he piled on his plate, for once, as long as there was something. He doubted that he had time or energy for culinaristic pleasures this morning. However, when he lowered his tray beside Subaru's and pulled himself a chair beside the younger man, Seishirou was smiling just like he always was.

"You look rather horrible, Subaru-kun," he said quietly as he sat down, turning his chair slightly towards Subaru.

That... could have gone much better.

After waking up yet again without any idea exactly how he'd ended up in the same situation, Kurogane had dealt with one bad occurrence after another. First he'd found his shoulder to still be in pain, though much better wrapped than what Subaru had done with his shirt. The pain hadn't been a problem so much as the wound still being there. It had proved the events of the night a reality. Next he'd found that Fai was missing, and with the confirmation, Kurogane had considered his absence a major concern. Finally he'd had it out with some stupid woman who couldn't get his name right, and that had ended with where he was now - being led to a table under heavy sedation, courtesy of the orderlies.

He wasn't sure what they'd done to him - he hadn't really even noticed the needle during the mess - but he was sure he did not like the feeling. Every part of him felt slow, and while that did help with the pain in his shoulder, it certainly did not help with anything else. It was impossible to be alert in such a state. That would have made him care a good deal if the sedative hadn't also slowed his mind as well.

Once he was seated, he tried his best to get his senses about him, but found it a trying activity.

Sweet crap was fun! And it was currently keeping Rhode's thoughts away from both the events of the evening and from exactly where she slammed down her tray. She didn't want to think about it - how there had been two Tykis, how both hadn't been the ones she'd wanted - it was just too confusing. For now, she was just giving up on figuring out what was real and what wasn't as far as her older brother went. The cinnamon rolls were all the real she needed!

She bit into one, and while she munched, finally decided to look around for her favorite little exorcist. Yesterday's events were long gone from her mind as well (or were just getting ignored), so there was no problem if she went and tackled him again. Just as long as that Renji meanie wasn't around. Allen wasn't to be seen, but she did notice someone else at the table. And his hair was white too! Sorta...

"Yu din't gef anithfin suee," she mumbled out with the roll still hanging from her mouth, eyes looking down at his pathetic excuse for a breakfast.

I should be dead. Not... Edgeworth looked down at his body. There were bandages all over; his head, neck, chest, arms, and ribcage were wrapped tightly. Everything hurt, which was really no surprise.

For once, his nurse wasn't overly chatty, instead offering to bring him a tray. He instructed her to bring him a fruit plate, bowl of yogurt, blueberry muffin, painkillers, and if it was entirely possible, a strong cup of Irish breakfast tea, with milk and honey. She arrived a few moments later with everything but the painkillers, explaining that she'd need to go have a chat with her supervisor about that.

He sighed, taking a long drink from the mug of tea. At least they had gotten that right, he thought.

Edited 2008-02-09 13:52 (UTC)

In a way, Subaru had been expecting Seishirou to show up for some time now. He was still a bit surprised that the older man hadn't put in an appearance during the debacle last night. It was just as well that he hadn't, mind, but it was unusual--Subaru had been leaking blood all over the place, after all, and that was usually when Seishirou showed up or intervened or otherwise made his presence felt. Well, maybe he didn't feel the need for the fiction of "rescuing" Subaru anymore.

"I had a bit of a difficult night." It wasn't as bad as it could have been--everyone made it out more or less in one piece--but he'd used a fair amount of energy on top of being injured. And then there had been all that tension between Kurogane and Fai... it had been awkward and unpleasant, and Subaru still wasn't sure what to make of it. He did want to check on Kurogane at some point today, though, and make sure the man was adjusting okay to life in this strange place.

Farfarello scowled at the odd young girl who started talking at him. There was something decidedly off about her, aside from her appalling lack of table manners, so he kept his guard up for the time being. Not that his guard was ever really down, particularly.

Stabbing grumpily at his cereal with his sad little plastic spoon, Farfarello grumbled, "I don't like sugar. I like meat. Red meat." Even if they did cook it too much here, when they served it at all. But even fish would be better than this morning's vegetarian-friendly fare.

Well, Schuldig would probably be happy about all the sugar, though less so about the lack of caffeine. Farfarello scanned the cafeteria briefly, looking for his partner, but not surprisingly the telepath hadn't made an appearance yet--without coffee he was even less of a morning person than Farfarello.

Red, there was red in his hair. White going into red roots. Rhode stared at his hair with a wide-eyed curiosity. It wasn't nearly as dark as the picture she had in her mind of Allen Walker's blood smeared hair, but it was close enough. Lighter, but still close. That alone gave her a reason to find this person interesting. He might have been human, but so was Allen Walker. Anyone with a similarity to her favorite plaything could hold her interest for a while. There was, of course, no replacing the original though.

She pulled on the sticky roll with a hand, then swallowed her current bite before speaking again. "But sugar's good~~~" That was like a law. She pouted a bit when he mentioned meat, licking at the sides of her roll, then perked up when he mentioned red along with it. "You mean bloody meat?" she asked almost hopefully. Anything with blood was also interesting for her.

[feel free to bug him. I'll be slow to post, however.]

Now that had been quite useless night, not that there had been any other kind this far. Waking up in the same white room, under the same white sheets, Aya could have been just as well strapped to the bed, pumped full of drugs, helpless. His head was hurting. He couldn't remember why he should care enough to get up.

And yet there was the fact that he didn't know why he shouldn't.

In the cafeteria he gathered quickly something on his plate and found an empty table beside the wall. He sat down quietly, not paying any mind to the fact that the bandages around his middle had lost tightness and weight considerably from last night. Right now he just didn't care.

With an arched brow, Seishirou reached for Subaru's forehead, cool fingers brushing over the feverish skin, taking strands of black hair with them. "They've given you something for the fever?" he asked softly.

He glanced at Subaru's tray, noting what he was eating and how much liquids there was. That was quite virtually all he could do for now.

"Tell me about the night," he suggested as he withdrew his hand, propping his elbow on the table and his chin to his palm, watching Subaru. He was still wearing the smile, even warmer one this time, full of hidden meanings.

Sasuke woke with a start and realised that he'd only barely gotten back out of the patient blocks before nightshift had ended. That was annoying on more than a few levels, but the first order of business was to hide the loop of extension cord and the chokuto. They both still fit under his mattress (possibly a little lumpy to sleep because of his collected odds and ends by now, though).

He glared in his nurse's when she arrived, babbling cheerfully as ever, and generally took out his irritation at not having successfully completed a second goal during nightshift on her.

The quantity of food she gave him was good, though, and by the time she left, Sasuke was feeling satisfied enough that he dug in with a certain amount of gusto, too-sweet muffins notwithstanding. Even if he'd missed the radio's announcement, he'd built a good alliance -- one that might extend beyond just Usopp, too -- and gotten in a fight.

It wasn't too bad, compared to the nights before.

[Waiting for Luffy]

Well, that had been productive, although maybe there really could be 'too much of a good thing,' as even waking up in bed he still had a few little bits and pieces he needed to secret away. Most importantly, he had his slingshot, a blunt weapon (and how great would it be if he attached a frying pan to the end of that pipe??) various missiles and enough stuff to make whatever he could imagine.

Unfortunately, his imagination was running away with him as he wandered through the breakfast line and sat down, not even noticing the blueberry muffin and yogurt his nurse helpfully placed on his tray for him when it became obvious he was not all there. His notebook was tucked under one arm so he could start trying to draw sketches for new things. The nurse guided him to a seat, and he took a bite out of muffin before opening the book.

Sai and Sasuke's injuries were on his mind, but only a little. He'd seen Sai personally recover from a lot worse practically overnight, and Sasuke had chosen to march off again on his own. As for himself, the bruising was nearly gone already.

[Waiting for Vlad, probably. XD]

Danny woke up in the same white bed that had been his own for the past several days. He'd quickly adapted to the routine by day and night--by day, follow the nurses around, by night try not to get torn to pieces. Simple enough. That wasn't to say, however, he liked waking up to the sound of the nurse's voice. Couldn't they have gotten some alarm clocks?

He jumped out of bed and followed the nurse into the cafeteria for breakfast, barely paying attention to the morning announcement. After picking through some food and choosing a few muffins and juice, he sat down at a table that was mostly empty. He picked up a muffin and began chewing it idly, wondering what he'd end up doing later today and then, later tonight.

He'd wanted to accomplish more last night, but there was never any way to tell just when the night would end. Something was fishy about the whole thing. He hadn't been gone long, just enough to fetch the green-haired girl, but when he'd returned Ururu was shrieking about something as simple as a spirit or a hollow. There had been marks too, on the little girl; just what kind of ability did that spirit have?

Gin tucked away his bloodied robes and knives just in time for the nurses to pick him up for breakfast. He picked a couple of muffins and a cinnamon roll, then some tea and water. Whatever he couldn't finish, Ran would be just as likely to help out with. She liked this kind of sweet stuff more than he did.

His smile disappeared for a moment when he caught sight of Ran. He knew her body language well enough to know something was wrong. He set his tray down next to hers, whether or not she wanted company, sitting away from the rest as she was. "Mornin'," he offered. He'd never been able to come right to the point and now was no different. "Y'have a bad dream or somethin' darlin'? Or is it jus' the food here tha's givin' you that sour face?"

After getting two chocolate chip muffins, an apple and a banana along with a yogurt cup, the nurse had cut him off and all but forcefully nudged him out of the breakfast line to go seek a seatmate for breakfast. Mark felt the urge to think something negative, either about the people here or the nurses, but he was honestly in a reasonably good mood after the previous evening.

What drew him to the blind young man he'd eaten beside the other day, he didn't know; perhaps just the familiarity. "Hello. How was your evening?" Or perhaps because the blind man couldn't see how much Mark was having for breakfast.

The nurse had tried to give him a mini-tour as they walked toward the cafeteria, but Junior was only half paying attention to it. He was looking for anything that may be a weak point in the building, an easy way to escape. But to get a closer look, he needed to get away from his escort.

And he still didn't know what the hell was going on, where the Elsa was, or anything. She left him at the doors, and he looked around for a second. At least he wasn't the only one dressed in such strange clothes. He wanted to just go find a place to sit, maybe someone who knew more, but the breakfast was pretty tempting.

Junior went through the line and picked up a few muffins, a cinnamon roll, and a glass of water. It probably wasn't Shion's cooking, but at least they got fed in this prison. Mental hospital.

...Same thing.

He went to go sit down at a nearby table, intent on finishing his meal before he went to ask someone what was going on. He may not have another chance to eat until later, for all he knew.

His body was exhausted. He'd lost more blood over the last couple nights than he'd thought he had. His shoulder was stiff and ached terribly even though the healer had worked on it. But that sort of thing he could handle. Bodies healed. They left scars sometimes, but they could be fixed. The emotional scars, however, he wasn't sure they ever went away.

He'd killed someone. Not just anyone, but someone he'd known and trusted and cared about. A friend. It would've still hurt, had they simply been an Akuma, but it was his duty to set those souls free. This... Komui had simply been the victim of the terrible experiments this place practiced on its patients. It wasn't fair. He hadn't meant to hurt anyone, but... he already knew how it'd happened. When his Innocence had activated before, destroying Mana, then again, lashing out at Eliade. He couldn't stop it.

The nurses had to help him even with something as simple as walking. He was winded by the time he reached the table and the nurse brought him back a small offering of this morning's sweets. He hardly tasted them, chewing slowly and thoughtfully(quite a change from his usual gusto) as he stared down at his tray.

"What the--!" Vlad cut himself off as he jerked awake again in his bed, staring around in confusion. One moment, walking the halls of a strange place with an obviously confused gentleman, the next in bed again with some intercom overhead announcing breakfast items? Worse, waking up in that outfit again. He looked down at the smiling face with a scowl.

"Mr. Masters, good morning." A young blonde woman dressed as a classic nurse, complete with the jaunty white hat, came in smiling at him. "I know you must be very confused this morning, but don't worry, everything's going to be just fine!"

He took an immediate disliking to her shrill perkiness, then smiled back and raised a hand automatically to his face to check before brushing his hair back with it casually. "I'm afraid I must admit I am rather put out at the moment, my dear lady, if you wouldn't mind explaining a few things..."

"Of course!" She took his arm and led him out of bed, down the hallways. This was a different location from last night, he noted absently, assuming that this place didn't also rearrange itself overnight. By the time they reached the cafeteria and he'd heard the story, he was positively steaming, although he kept up the polite smile and tone for the nurse.

"I believe there must have been some mis..."

"Don't you worry at all, Mr. Masters!" She placed a tray in his hands, still using that obnoxious tone of voice as though he'd been admitted to an institute for the mentally challenged rather than the deranged. "Everything'll be just fine! I'm sure your loved ones are all looking forward to you being well enough to come home again."

He didn't have loved ones, unless one counted... Oh, but he had enemies. And whatever this place was supposed to be, it obviously wasn't an ordinary mental institute, not if last night's excursion were any sign. Taking some milk, a banana nut muffin and a yogurt cup since starving himself wasn't likely to do any good, he glanced over the room and was startled to see a face from the short list he'd been compiling of individuals who would pay for this indignity. Marching over, he sat his tray down firmly beside the other half-ghost and outright beamed at him.

"Why, Daniel! Imagine meeting you here!"

Danny had been looking the other direction, distracted by a blank wall of the cafeteria. When he heard a familiar voice, he blinked for a few moments, his mind unsure of how to react. It couldn't have been Vlad...after all, Vlad was one of the people who might've been behind this (somehow). Slowly, he turned to face the person sitting beside him. Yep, it was definitely Vlad.

He wasn't quite sure how to react now, really--should he be shocked and surprised? Or angry? Normally, it would be anger, but under the circumstances, it ended up being shock.

"Vlad?" he asked incredulously, asking the standard questions. "What are you doing here?!" Wasn't he supposed to be back in Wisconsin buying a cat or making more holograms and clones? Although in all honesty, he didn't have any problems imagining Vlad as a real patient in a real asylum, considering what he'd done.

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Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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