damned_institute | Day 30: Cafeteria, Dinner

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Day 30: Cafeteria, Dinner

The cafeteria was all but empty when Zelnick got there. He was a little disappointed; he had gotten the impression that patients usually ate dinner in their rooms, so he hadn't arranged to meet anyone, and there really wasn't anyone to sit by and engage in conversation yet.

Quietly, he collected dinner and a big glass of orange juice, and chose a seat near the food-serving counters. Talking for so long had made him thirsty... and, well, fruit juice was a luxury he had missed.

[Stalk away, my dearest Admiral. <3 ]

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[reserved for the twin!]

The barbecued pork smelled really, really good--almost like the filling of nikuman. The fact that Subaru liked meat just fine made it more difficult for him to stick to a strictly vegetarian diet here, but he just couldn't take the risk that his powers would be weakened if he ate meat. So, with one last, longing look at the barbecued pork, Subaru took the vegetarian option and headed over to the tables.

Hokuto had no makeup to apply, no clothing choices to agonize over, and really couldn't do much with her hair, and she still took forever getting out of the bathroom. No matter how many times the nurse currently assigned to her (or any of the others) told her she looked fine and she just had to be careful so the bleeding didn't start again, she was still in front of a mirror for a while to make sure she'd at least wiped away all traces of blood; nearly a week in Landels, out every night, and rarely idle, and she'd managed to give herself her first injury. Worse (in her eyes), running into the wall had left its mark on the outside of her nose, too... didn't she look just wonderful.

At least they were having dinner in the cafeteria instead of having to spend another shift in their rooms. She'd missed having dinner with Subaru, and she wanted to find out how he was doing, what he'd been up to. Even when knowing the answer hurt.

Finding him was easy; she couldn't actually read his mind (technically), but she still had no trouble finding him in a crowd, no matter how packed it was. "Good evening," she smiled, dropping into the seat next to his. As good as the pork sounded, she'd elected to take the vegetarian option; it was what Subaru would be having, and he shouldn't have to watch her eating something he couldn't have.

Rather belatedly it occurred to Subaru that he should have hidden his cane. Maybe it would have been futile, since Hokuto had some sort of sixth sense for these things, but he still felt bad making it so obvious that he'd been injured. Now she was going to worry.

Still, he made an effort to perk up when Hokuto joined him, and it wasn't entirely forced--as always, he was genuinely glad to see his twin. "Good evening, Hokuto-chan."

"How have you been?" Hokuto had definitely seen the cane, and it was clear she was also asking why he needed it. She was worried, but... he'd had a lot worse, and here, that was probably considered a minor injury.

Because she could be something of a hypocrite, she was hoping he either wouldn't notice or wouldn't ask what had happened to her face.

Someone caught her eye and she glanced over; was that flash of blond hair Falis? Nope; aww. She was worried she'd angered the girl more than she knew, but she still wanted to see her again.

"I've been as well as anyone can be, around here, I think." Subaru smiled sadly, shaking his head. "I've met some nice people, anyway." Of course, he'd also spent a lot of time with a not-so-nice person, but Subaru really didn't want to talk about Seishirou right now, and especially not with Hokuto. It was... awkward, to put it mildly.

He sighed, nudging the cane a little, since Hokuto had clearly noticed it. "Some people were in trouble with a strong monster last night. My knee got cut a bit while I was holding it off so they could escape, that's all." Compared to the burns one of them had sustained, and the nasty bite Kurogane got, it really was a pretty minor injury.

When Hokuto turned her head to look at something, Subaru saw the faint bruise forming on her nose, and scowled. "Hokuto-chan! Did someone hit you?!"

"It's showing already?" Hokuto groaned, dropping her face into her hand--carefully. "No, I just slipped in the bathroom; it was a random accident." At least it probably still would have happened if she'd been distracted by the presence of a cute girl or not.

"I had an easy night last night, but that was because we just never got to our destination. I've mostly just talked to people today." And took one of the most memorable showers of her life, but there was pretty much no way to say that in a way that didn't kind of sound bad.

Of course, that might not stop her...

"It's not that bad." Subaru was just hyper-aware of his twin's health. "I'm glad you didn't get hurt last night." Or involved in the riot this morning. That was an unpleasant thought, partly because it drew his memories back to Seishirou's behaviour at breakfast.

"I've survived a fight against a group of zombie rats and someone on Special Counseling without a scratch, plus a couple Nightshifts of wandering aimlessly with only one or two others when none of us were armed, and my first injury is from a wall," Hokuto muttered. On top of being embarrassed, she really was unhappy about lack of cover-up makeup. If she'd gotten bruised or cut on the face in battle, that would be one thing, but running into something on her own?

"Do you have plans tonight?" Oddly enough, Hokuto was only reasonably certain she did; the usual assignments list either hadn't been posted or had been ripped down, and she'd seen Signum in the riot--the only thing that stopped her from joining in at that point was that it had been starting to die down and she couldn't see how.

Subaru shuddered at the thought of Hokuto facing all those things. "Hokuto-chan... please be careful." He knew he'd said that before, but it bore repeating. He didn't want to lose Hokuto again, not after being reunited with her so unexpectedly.

"Tonight? I have to make a copy of the map for someone, but that won't take long." After writing out so many ofuda and wards over the course of his life, Subaru could write very quickly, indeed. "After that, I'm not sure. Do you know if there's somewhere I could find a round mirror?" If he had more of his ritual tools, maybe he could gain a little bit more power. A dagger would be harder, no doubt, but if he at least had a mirror...

"I am," she assured softly. "You too."

The mirror question was a good one. "A hand mirror could work, I think. Maybe the infirmary would have those... except I don't know for sure that there is one." It made sense, but nobody had ever found one that she knew of. "Hmm... I guess it's possible the employee locker room would have something. Look for compacts--and if you get any, can I have the half with the makeup?" She grinned a little.

Actually, wait... "You might have more luck in the patient possessions storage room. It's hard to get into and it won't be unguarded, but it has what we supposedly did when we were admitted. Almost any purse you can find should have at least one compact with a mirror, and it shouldn't take you too long to find perfectly round ones." Makeup and the assorted things that went with it really came in handy more than most people knew.

"The patient possessions room would probably be less well-guarded than the employee locker room. Relatively speaking. I'll try there first." Though how he'd get locked doors open was something he'd have to think about. He couldn't pick locks, and he probably couldn't kick a door down with one leg so weak that he needed a cane.

"I'd feel better if you went with someone..." He was the loner type, but just this once? She would have suggested Sei-chan, but neither of them could easily talk about him yet. "You can't be the only one who wants to get in there. Once you're in and the room's clear, everyone could go after their own goals."

Hokuto was well aware Subaru didn't talk to many people, but he could put up a notice on the board to get a group together. Or, if he wanted, ~~and technically speaking, even if he didn't~~ she could ask around for him. She had enough connections so she should be able to arrange something.

"I'll be okay, Hokuto-chan. From looking at the bestiary someone posted, it seems like what I ran into last night was among the worst things in this place, so if I could handle that I'm sure I won't have too many problems tonight." Of course, he'd been at full strength last night, and he'd had help, but he wasn't going to mention that.

He didn't have to. "Were you injured when you fought the monster last night?" Hokuto pointed out. Subaru was powerful, but home and here were two different matters. While he'd retained a lot of, maybe even most of, what he usually had, the monsters here were also very little like the ones he was used to facing. He knew how to prepare himself, but he still insisted on going alone, and that worried her.

Of course, she would have been worried anyway... this in spite of the fact that she didn't want him to worry about her. She was the big sister, it was different!

"Only a little. I'll be fine." Subaru was very aware, now, of how much magic he did and did not have here--wanting to find a mirror was part of his desire to at least take full advantage of what he did have left.

"I'll be careful, Hokuto-chan. I won't fight if I don't have to." Tonight was a personal mission, not a rescue mission, so Subaru didn't see any reason to stand and fight if it was clear he wouldn't win.

"Is your definition of 'have to' the same as I remember?" Hokuto asked. It came out a lot softer than she intended; she really wasn't dealing with things as well as she claimed.

The last thing she wanted to do in front of Subaru was let her voice crack, though, so when she spotted Naoya and someone very familiar she was glad for the distraction. Did she know the other man...? No, he just looked a lot like his companion.

...so much that he had to be Naoya's brother.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, maybe a little too quickly. "Naoya's brother is here!" How long had it been since she checked up on him? "Come on, let's eat with them!"

[[Dragging Subaru to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/299179.html?thread=24224683#t24224683).]]

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Day 30: Cafeteria, Dinner

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