Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

[darwinism]

Sylar's gears were still turning as the nurse and a burly orderly escorted him down long halls and through a strange, sunlit room. He'd been forced to drop his pen when the orderly had seen it, and since then, he'd realized that this place had better security than he'd originally anticipated, as well as a large population of patients. It looked like he'd have to bide his time for now, pretending to be this 'Zachary Blaine' and trying to figure out how the hell he'd gotten here.

His mind went over and over the events in Mohinder's lab, tracing every second that led up to his unconsciousness. According to the computer logs and the decked-out loft, Mohinder was working for the Company now, so had that woman with the electricity been an operative? Was this all a Company front? Even so, it didn't make sense for them to drop him off somewhere without any close supervision. They knew how dangerous he was. How special he was.

But right now, his abilities had been nullified and he was left only with the option of playing along. It was a very good thing that it was something he excelled at, even with his sudden loss of the cure clouding his thoughts and telling him to do something drastic.

Still, it was fun to take ahold of strings and let someone think they were pulling him when in fact he was the puppetmaster. Who knew? Maybe he could find a new toy now that his last one had worn out.

Sylar took his syrup-covered waffle to a table and tried to keep track of both the security and the people flooding in. Soon, he'd find an opening, a weak link he could exploit. It was only a matter of time.

Comments

[officer-leon.livejournal.com]

Leon woke up, feeling rather dizzy. The sudden change from the basement to his room was more disconcerting than normal. He sat up and shook his head. A sphinx. He'd have to visit the library today and try to figure out more about the creature. If they returned to the basement tonight, he wanted to be ready to answer it's riddles... and get some answers out of it, as well.

While he was busy plotting, one of the nurses showed up to escort him to the cafeteria. He followed along in brooding silence. This was his fourth day here. Four days, and still all he had to show for his efforts was a baseball bat. And he hadn't even acquired that on his own.

Leon piled up a plate with food and found an empty table. The Head Doctor had said there were new patients arriving today, and already he thought he saw a couple people he didn't recognize. How was Landel able to get them all here? He munched contemplatively on a piece of bacon, watching the doors as the patients arrived.

[free for bothering]

[roses-bleues.livejournal.com]

The morning brought a change in Diva. It wasn’t so much the fact that she was battered, cut, and covered in human bite marks, all mostly hidden behind swathes and swathes of bandages, or the fact that her fight with Heat had been cut off against her will, or the fact that she was once again considering if she could drink someone’s blood, a quick snack, before dinner. (Whether or not Yukari was alive, if another human got penned in with her then it was all the same…)

No, it wasn’t really because of any of those things, though they might have played a part. Mostly, Diva suddenly woke in the same hospital bed, in the same hospital room, with the same human nurses cooing at her like she were stupid, and reluctantly accepted the thought that she was going to have to try new things to get her way. And in Diva’s language, ‘new things’ meant being craftier. Thinking ahead. After all, the longer she went without any clue as to the whereabouts of her children, the more she realized that the stakes were so much higher than she kept thinking.

A feeling of vulnerability, of urgency, never suited Diva. It confused her.

Despite the large number of injuries, she showed no signs of pain, not even a limp. Since she didn’t consume human food, she had no need for the cafeteria line, and instead stepped into the cafeteria and towards the first table (and occupant) that caught her eye.

She stopped beside him, but then needed a moment to think of something to say. Or rather, something to say that a human would find human-like. "Hello," said Diva.

[lost-turkey.livejournal.com]

After being dropped off by his less then helpful nurse, John walked into the cafeteria and grabbed a tray, figuring that he would eat. There weren't many people in the room which suited him just fine. He wasn't in the mood to talk just yet. He needed to think things through. There had to be a reason why he couldn't remember how he arrived here.

He took a plate of waffles and a glass of juice before sitting down at an empty table. John didn't start eating right way. He stared at his food, his mind racing as he tried to remember the events that led up to the gap in his memory. He'd been in his room. His Mom had walked in and they had talked. She had mentioned his birthday and that they were going to celebrate with cake. Cameron was going out to get it and then there was an explosion. After that, John couldn't remember. It was frustrating and strange. He never had a point in his life where he just couldn't remember what had happened to him. The only moment he felt as though he'd lost time was the one moment when he literally skipped ten years...

John caught his breath, his mind replaying that moment of setting off the device in the bank vault and showing up in the middle of the highway, naked. Well, that shot that theory to hell. He hadn't woken up without clothing so he couldn't have time jumped... could he? What if the explosion had knocked him out and he'd arrived here where the nurses took care of him and put him to bed? Could that have happened? But they knew his name! How could they know who he was if he jumped to the future again?

He rubbed the side of his head feeling a headache coming on. Someone had to know something about what had happened to him. It was just a matter of finding a nurse who was willing to talk to him. Hopefully they weren't all as rude as the one who met him this morning.

[theycutitout.livejournal.com]

"You fell asleep, and you woke up in a strange place. You don't know how, and you'll never know why."

She didn't say anything in the way of introductions, figuring that she wouldn't have to in a roundabout way. She had a face like one he knew, maybe, and she could be without saying a thing or whispering a word. He was young. He was like her even when he was sitting in a different room pretending he was a potted plant. River took the seat across from him without a word, only limping a little bit on the way with her tray balanced carefully in hand. There were things to think over and things to wonder and things to deal with, but for now there was a boy. And for now she was a girl. A few bites of food were taken before she looked up to acknowledge him again, this time smiling like they were old friends.

"Happy Birthday."

[longlivetheking]

[free to bother]

Not long after he had fled the room (of which its purpose still remained unclear to him) with Mozenrath, Scar awoke in his bed.

The result of last night's exploring-trip had been rather disappointing to put it lightly, as he had only been able to explore a single area. But at least it had been entertaining. With the exclusion of the woman with the poker, of course.

After climbing out of bed and hiding his steel pipe, his nurse arrived to escort the feline to the cafeteria. He followed quietly, more occupied with trying to walk decently than trying to uphold some sort of conversation with the woman. The nurse didn't leave him alone until his breakfast had safely arrived on the table.

The cafeteria was rather empty still, an opportunity Scar intended to use to try and eat without any audience to watch his clumsiness. As he chewed on his first bite, he couldn't help but to find the taste of these 'waffles' odd. It somehow reminded him of the food he had on his first day in the Institute, but not entirely the same. He munched on his next bite as he watched the doors once in a while, curious to see who would get in.

New patients, hmmm?

[light-wicca.livejournal.com]

The very first thing Willow did when her eyes blinked open was, strangely enough, to check and see if her map and scalpel were still in the room. They were. She slowly slid them under her mattress, noting that she wasn't nearly as exhausted as she had been the night before.

And she couldn't feel the darkness anymore.

That simple fact, after a few minutes of refusing to believe it, filled Willow with incomparable relief. She sat down heavily on her bed, looking down at her hands. She wasn't sure if she was actually safe, but... she was willing to bet her eyes were no longer black. There was no mirror to check up on that, but... thank God it was over.

She needed to find Hokuto later to make sure she was okay, and that their last-minute companion made it back alright as well.

The nurse came in shortly afterwards, and Willow actually tried to listen to some of her speech as she was led down to the cafeteria. These nurses had to know what was really going on, last night proved that much. And even though this nurse wasn't actually the one, Willow couldn't help but regard her with suspicious caution. Especially since the nurse seemed very intent on making Willow socialize, pushing her and a tray stacked with waffles towards a man sitting alone at a table. "Come on, Leslie, you need to make some friends!"

Willow smiled awkwardly at the man as the nurse left. "Hi. Sorry about that. I didn't exactly have a choice."

[haiiro-no-chou.livejournal.com]

[ I can has pester creepy Caterpillar Eyebrow Man? ]

When Rukia blinked, and was in her room again, she wondered if the nights were getting shorter. The last two, in particular, seemed to have gone by in less than an hour. It was definitely something she'd have to think about. And she would ask Renji about it whenever she saw him today.

Thankfully the nurses let her dispense with the wheelchair, though she was still on crutches. Moving around the previous night had definitely aggravated the wound in her knee, and the place where two of her toes had been, but she preferred the mobility of crutches to the wheelchair. Hobbling through the line with a nurse, Rukia asked for a waffle with lots of fruit, and a big glass of water. The nurse added syrup to the waffle, which Rukia would have foregone, but she didn't think it was worth complaining.

The nurse picked out a spot fairly close to a dark-haired man Rukia hadn't met before. In fact, she suspected that he might be one of the new patients Landel had mentioned on the intercom. Sitting down, Rukia waited for the nurse to leave, then opened her notebook - which contained copies of all the maps including the roof - and began to carefully recreate the roof map on a blank sheet of paper.

"Good morning," she said, looking up at him for a moment before going back to drawing. "Are you new here?"

[darwinism]

[ In Soviet Landel's, creepy Caterpillar Eyebrow Man has YOU. >D ]

Sylar watched as a girl with crutches was escorted to his table by another nurse. In fact, it seemed as if many patients in this cafeteria were injured, another mystery to add to the already frustrating dilemma. He noted what she was doing as he ate his food; it looked like a series of maps.

He was pleased when the girl started a conversation for him. It was always better to let someone think they'd made the first move.

"Yes, I am," he said with a smile, looking at her, observing her. Her demeanor was reserved, though not cold. She was nicer than she wanted to appear.

"I'm a little confused, though." He furrowed his brow in a show of concern. "I don't seem to remember how I got here."

[norainu]

Renji's first thought upon arriving in the cafeteria was to sit by Rukia, but she was already talking to someone. He decided to let her alone for now, unless the kind of weird looking guy she was talking to started flirting with her or something. Then he might have to deal with that. Or laugh his ass off, depending on how it was going.

It was probably a bad thing that his initial thought had been to go to Rukia, instead of trying to find Hitsugaya to tell him what they'd found out the previous night. Hitsugaya wasn't even there yet - almost no one was - so it wasn't like he could go sit with the guy anyway.

Renji grabbed a tray and put a couple waffles together. They reminded him a little of taiyaki, but would have been much better with red bean paste in them. He sat down at an empty table and kept an eye on the door. There would be new people today. Maybe he should just dust off the old bulletin board post with basic information on it.

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

Momo entered the cafeteria and, after retrieving some waffles and fruit, looked around the cafeteria. Her eyes fell upon Renji and she smiled. it'd been a while since she just sat and talked to her fellow vice-captain, so she headed over and sat her tray down next to him.

"Heya, Renji," she greeted with, for the first time in a long while, her normal smile. "I'm sorry about the punch the other night, but..." Momo's attention was distracted when she caught sight of Rukia.

"Who's that guy sitting with Rukia? He's kinda creepy looking..."

[killing-suzie.livejournal.com]

Jack felt vaguely bad that he'd never made it to meet Gin, but it had been a good night, so he couldn't feel that bad about it. Still, he decided he'd best find the other half of Team Fabulous some time today so that they could get organized for this coming night. They hadn't gotten anything done in a while, and even if it didn't bother Jack, who had all the time in the world as far as he could tell, it might be starting to annoy Gin.

Humming a cheerful tune to himself (and he had a lovely singing voice) Jack grabbed some waffles and sat.

[contentincloset.livejournal.com]

Kurogane did not pay much attention to what was for breakfast or for where he took a seat either. Again. It had happened again! Much as he should have been used to waking up as though the whole night had been nothing but a mere dream, it continued to irk him how suddenly it happened. And yet again he'd managed to get nothing at all done.

Now after four days, he was starting to wonder if the kids were even still alive. The basement could not be a pleasant place, and this place was clearly given to torture. He knew the Princess, strong as she could be wouldn't be able to handle anything for too long, either physically or mentally. The kid was stronger, but he was still just that, a kid. He'd break too. Three days had been enough for the Magician, so now, it was either three days or a week they'd been separated by the time differences.

He had to do something tonight.

[iamyourflower.livejournal.com]

It would be an understatement to say that Anthy was at a loss as for her direction. Her confusion and general helplessness kept her in deep thought even as she smiled and gathered her breakfast like an obedient girl.

As strong as she had once felt... she couldn't face this horrible place alone. She was weak.

And yet, the thought of collecting pawns to protect her made her ache inside.

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

[If you don't mind?]

Usopp had woken up slowly, still mulling over his conversation with Sai. They had gotten enough done for one night, considering that Captain Zelnick hadn't been able to show up and Mello had been off doing something--maybe even really working in the clinic, as he'd said. But there was still a lot to be done. More importantly, it had been a long time since he'd spoken with his crewmates, or it felt like a long time. He hoped Nami and Sanji weren't still sick...

The breakfast looked good, if a little heavy, and he took some fruit to balance it out. Then, to find a seatmate. In the crowd, he didn't see anyone from his crew, although that could have just been thanks to the business of the cafeteria in full-swing. Sai he spotted, but he already was talking to someone.

Meeting new people was always a good thing. There was a pretty girl with tan skin, a little darker than Usopp's, sitting by herself. He decided to come over, smiling a little. "Hi, I'm the great Captain Usopp. Mind if I sit here?"

[crimson-handed.livejournal.com]

Kimbley wasn't in a terrifically good mood as he made his way into the cafeteria, pointedly ignoring the nurse at his side. He could have been; after all, he'd deflected (another) attack on his life with little trouble. But maybe in spite of (or because of?) that, he was irritated, fire ants pricking at his spine. He hadn't gotten anything done because of the attack last night. He'd gotten the gasoline and the fertilizer, sure, but those had been brought to him. If he didn't find anything himself soon, he was going to start getting a little ... edgy.

Tonight, at least, would provide him with yet another opportunity. If he could wrench free some pipes from the bathroom walls, he'd have shells for the explosives. The only question was, how would he get them out of there in the first place? Alchemy could only provide so much, unfortunately.

Tray in hand, Kimbley sat down and began eating absentmindedly, half-focused on where he could find the next set of ingredients and half-focused on watching for the bitch from last night - and Lust.

[jei.livejournal.com]

The cafeteria was already starting to fill up enough that Farfarello quickly gave up on finding himself a quiet seat. In any case, this way he could choose who he sat with, and not end up with some perky dipshit.

Tray piled with, as usual, bacon and eggs and only token amounts of fruit, Farfarello headed for a cranky-looking bitch. Good. Cranky, he could work with. Perky made him want to hurt people.

Of course, linoleum made him want to hurt people.

[son-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Clark hadn't hurt anyone with his powers today. Okay, so he'd trespassed and stolen his file and a list of names from Dr. Burroughs' office, not to mention broken the locks on her filing cabinet drawers. He wasn't really proud of that, but sometimes you had to do what you had to do.

And he'd come out with the patient file for this "Kal Jefferson" guy.

Still feeling disoriented from "waking" up again in his bed, Clark had barely enough time to stash the stolen file under his pillow before the nurse opened the door to collect him. Offering her a nervous, slightly harried smile, Clark slipped the folded-up list of names into his journal with the excuse that he might feel like writing a little bit today for once. It didn't look like he'd have time to read the patient file for now - maybe during dinner - but he could still at least look into the names of the people who'd mysteriously died. Tucking the journal under his arm, a part of him half-expecting to run into a suspicious Dr. Burroughs in the hall, he was once again led into the cafeteria.

It was pretty much empty at the moment except for some early birds, but that didn't stop the smell of waffles, sausages and scrambled eggs from filling the room. Clark breathed it in, relaxing just a little. It'd almost smell like home if it wasn't for the fact he could still get a whiff of that faintly clinical, clean smell under the food. This was still a hospital through and through no matter how good the cooking was.

His plate heaped with food, he wandered to one of the tables, his journal tucked under his arm. Sitting down, he opened it and unfolded the stolen list of names, staring down intently at it. There had to be some kind of pattern here if Dr. Burroughs had compiled these names into a list. Clark was still frustrated that he hadn't been able to get a look at his file yet, but at least this could be distracting...and it was also important, too, to find out the story behind the previous patients here. This was probably more along Chloe's line of work, but he reminded himself that technically he, too, worked on the school's paper. Maybe it wasn't as front page or as eye-catching as Chloe's exposes, but he knew he could research and write if he had to.

Wait, write?

Clark smiled a little sheepishly at himself. Well, maybe not write. He could probably do it, but he wasn't the kind of reporter like Chloe was. But he could try to do the legwork and understand more about this place; he somehow doubted, however, that he could just write up an article exposing the truth of this place and somehow everything would fix itself just because of the truth.

[Waiting for Kyon]

[bored-narrator.livejournal.com]

Kyon yawned as he picked up his light tray and made his way over to a table of some kind. He'd oddly enough, fallen asleep last night before even doing anything. He didn't exactly have plans so there really was no reason to leave. It seemed like he'd avoided the monsters somehow as well.

There was a bit of optimism in him today, thanks to his more or less pleasant night. He felt a familiar tug on his mind from his bloodthrist, but for now, it was going unnoticed. He'd worry about it later, no doubt when Aidou found him later in the day like the uppity vampire often did.

He sat his tray down without really looking at who else was at the table and started to prod at his waffles.

[blacksustenance.livejournal.com]

For the first time in a while, Eddie Brock woke up like a normal human being.

Not that he'd suddenly turned normal (thank God). But there was no just jolting awake, like catching himself before falling asleep, no freaky jump from their activities in the night to suddenly being back in bed and knowing he'd lost hours he couldn't account for. It almost felt weird to just wake up in stages like a normal guy. He even yawned, feeling actually a little sleepy still.

His symbiote was alert, not needing the kind of rest he did. Brock allowed himself to lounge in a bed that wasn't his, for a moment just enjoying a good night's rest and the feeling of his Other puttering about house, putting things in order. It wasn't unusual for it to perform little tweaks on his body, trying to optimize things here and there or just testing around just because. It didn't have to be that way - he didn't have to be able to feel it. Parker hadn't until it was almost too late for him. But Brock took comfort in knowing his symbiote was there and so it didn't try to conceal itself from him, instead carrying on its business just as shamelessly as it had every right to and letting him know it was there and wasn't going anywhere fast.

Seriously, the fuck was wrong with Parker? Leaning on his side with his cheek propped in one hand, Brock still couldn't find an answer to that. Having the kid's genetic memory didn't make him get him even if technically he knew everything about him, from his exact shower routine to the first time he mustered up the courage to say "hi" to Mary Jane Watson. For a guy who used his superhuman abilities to help people, he had a tendency of looking a gift horse in the mouth.

It was a sore spot for the symbiote. We could have be everything for him; we could have given him everything he could ever want and all he had to do was accept us.

Didn't he know it. Well, that was history for you - if it wasn't for Parker, Brock wouldn't be shouldering his hand-me-downs. Feeling considerably better with some sleep behind him, Brock still wasn't really looking forward to the whole breakfast thing. For starters, while he could still smell the food, it was starting to appeal less and less to him - he knew it smelled like waffles and eggs, but it wasn't making the same connection in his brain that it normally would. Another sign they'd have to feed soon, before he started looking at everyone's heads and focusing on that pulse of life that he could somehow feel when he got close to his fellow patients.

Looking down and frowning at his plate of waffles, Brock picked out a seat and sat down. The taste of Belgian waffles heaped with syrup and whipped cream just wasn't registering on his tongue as strongly as it should.

[Open]

[ellectriclights.livejournal.com]

Elle allowed herself to be steered into the cafeteria, which was full of people dressed in the same icky grey clothes she was.

"God, this is pathetic," she grumbled to herself, shrugging her nurse off and wandering over to the waffles. This was all just organized chaos! Daddy would never let things deteriorate like this in the Hartsdale facility. Patients didn't even get to leave their rooms there. They were so much more fun when they were trapped.

Having taken a a couple of waffles and piled them up with fruit and whipped cream, Elle began looking around for somewhere to sit. She spotted a cute guy - all by himself, poor thing - and bounced over to him.

"Hey there," she greeted him cheerily, running a hand through his hair before installing herself in the seat next to him and taking a bite of waffle. It was actually pretty good.

[i-promised.livejournal.com]

[has a date with the Musician~]

Waking up disoriented was nothing new for Zoro. He calmly sat up and set about stowing the things he'd gotten the previous night in his closet. He wasn't worried for Mousse, knowing instinctively that nothing could have happened between that last moment by the door and his waking that morning.

He hadn't achieved his ultimate goal of locating the basement, though not seeing any of the Straw Hats that evening had been odd. Nami was probably still down, considering she took so long to get better the last time she was sick. The chef, though... Zoro couldn't be sure.

Going about that morning routine took little effort on the swordsman's part. Without any nakama in sight, he took an empty seat and ate his food in silence.

[promisedawhale.livejournal.com]

He'd kept his hand to his head during the walk with the woman, and when he did finally take it away, he found himself staring into a room with tables and chairs and people! More things he was not used to seeing in his dreams! Part of him was hoping that things would fall back into sync soon and he'd see one of his dearly departed crew members run through and tell him to stop dazing, while the rest of him nearly wanted this to be a reality. The part about him being alive and with skin, at least. The rest of the happenings were just too strange!

Was he alive, or dead and dreaming, or alive and perhaps daydreaming, or...? Well, it had been raining candy the previous day on the Grand Line, so he supposed absolutely anything was possible, and maybe there was some kind of explanation for this. Nothing logical, but at least some explanation. He turned to look for the woman that had lead him in, hoping she may be able to present that explanation, but found upon looking that she'd already scurried off.

"Calm down, Brook," he told himself, closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath. "Dream or not, there has to be someone here that you'll recognize. It's not as though you're alone on the ship. I don't think so at least! Right!" confidence returning, he took another deep breath, then reopened his eyes (what a sensation it was having eyelids again!) to look around. Both of his crews had been fairly eccentric, so it should be too hard to spot... green! Oh there was some green! That head of hair was certainly one he recognized!

"Zoro-san!" he called excitedly, then hurried over. Oh excellent! One of the Straw Hats was here! Maybe not the most talkative of the lot, but seeing someone was better than anyone! He nearly tripped over himself before getting to the table, but somehow he managed to get his mess of limbs into a chair across from the fellow swordsman. "Yohohoho! I'm so happy to see that you're here! I was so worried!" For obvious reasons. "Can you tell me what happened, I'm so confused! First I wake up with skin, and now there's this weird place, and I was sure that when I retired last night I was on the Lion-chan! Is the Grand Line playing tricks on me again, because this wouldn't be the first time? Or maybe you're just as confused as I am!" he rambled out quickly, not giving himself a chance to breathe or Zoro a chance to answer one question at a time.

[0bnoxious.livejournal.com]

When Albel finally awoke in his room, he was in agony. He gasped as he felt a sharp jolt of pain in his chest, preventing him to breath properly. A wave of panic washed over him as he fought for air, his lungs beginning to ache even more than they already did.

"Calm down, Jonathan." came a voice that was supposedly soothing. "Keep breathing." The voice belonged to the nurse towering over him, pulling him into a sitting position to allow him to breathe easier. He wanted to scold the wench for doing so, he didn't want her goddamn pity, but instead there were only coughs and gasps.

He was even too weak to scold a stupid woman. Damn it! His panic was replaced by anger, anger he couldn't vent. He wanted to smack her annoying face, but couldn't find the strength to lift his arm and do so.

"Leave me...alone, wench." It was all he managed to choke out, which earned him a preach about minding his tongue. He didn't even listen to what she rambled about after her prattling, about how he had received his injury. He didn't care what story they came up with, he knew the truth. He knew he had acquired his injuries because of his own weakness. He couldn't defeat that man.

Why hadn't that maggot simply finished it? He didn't deserve any mercy. Was he that weak? That pathetic? So much of a failure?

After the captain had finally regained the ability to breath properly (though it still came out in short gasps), he was moved into a wheelchair. He glared at the offensive object, he wasn't given any choice. Walking without any assistance would put too much strain on his lungs, or so the nurse said, and crutches simply weren't an option because he lacked a left arm.

The stupid wheelchair only served to remind him of his own weakness.

The trip to the cafeteria was made in silence as the captain glared towards the floor. The nurse moved the wheelchair to one of the tables, leaving him to his devices after she had brought him breakfast. He glared at the plate that had been put in front of him, not even bothering to touch it. He felt nauseous, and food was the last thing he wanted to think about.

He'd have to become stronger. Much stronger. And Albel the Wicked wouldn't rest until his knife had been stained with that maggot's blood. He'd make him regret showing him mercy, even if it was the last thing he would ever do.

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

[[can delete if unwanted! 8D]]

Sasuke awoke to his nurse's disappointed noises and nearly screamed with frustration, the only thing stopping him the still (still?!) present lethargy from Muraki's sedative. His limbs were much more obedient now, but there was a reluctance -- and, when he sat up, a distinct wooziness and dryness in his mouth.

"Oh, Sean," the woman said, and Sasuke nearly punched her, only residual commonsense staying his fist. "If only you hadn't tried to hurt yourself in Dr. Muraki's office! Tsk, look at your poor neck."

"Shut the fuck up," he snarled, because whatever his poor neck looked like (probably finger-shaped bruises), it sure as hell wasn't self-inflicted.

And yet why hadn't Itachi just -- was Sasuke still not worthy to kill? Nothing at all, in Itachi's eyes? (But of course, a familiar voice in Sasuke's head chanted, you're weak, weak, weakweakweak!)

"Language, Sean!" The woman sounded shocked, and Sasuke thought, immaturely, Good. "Now, let's get you to breakfast. You need some nutrition!" To kill Itachi. "Today's breakfast is just what a growing boy needs!" To kill Itachi. "And here's your tray, and don't wear such a sad face, Sean!"

Sasuke shot a glare at her with much more accuracy than he'd managed last night, but the woman was unfazed as usual. Sasuke was propelled in what felt like a random direction and nearly pushed into a seat, his nurse chattering away the entire time. "Now here's someone who's even more hurt than you are, Sean! Perhaps that will help you gain some perspective. Eat up!"

... perfect. Some injured idiot, doubtless.

"You can see, right?" Sasuke asked without preamble.

[lost-metal.livejournal.com]

Damn it! Fox... Ed had slipped back to his room after leaving the clinic, but Fox still hadn't been there. And he wasn't the type to just not turn up so... well, Ed was more than a little worried. Like very worried. Wasn't it the night they did experiments? Like they'd done to Adel?

He snarled at the nurse when she came to get him, earning himself (another) scolding. But his patience had pretty much snapped when it came to this place. He just wanted out now, with all of his friends. It wouldn't have been so bad if it had been him, but it was Tamaki and Adel and now maybe Fox who were suffering. And he hated 'his' people getting hurt. It was just a much larger group of people who were 'his' now, larger than he'd ever thought it could be.

Still, the waffles were good, all warm and sugary and... he took as many as he could away with, liberally smothered with syrup, and went to the nearest seat. He'd find Tamaki later and Fox.

[the-clown-king.livejournal.com]

Tamaki entered the cafeteria looking as though he were in something of a good mood. He was spending his nights feeling fulfilled now, and it made a great deal of difference.

After getting his breakfast he spotted Ed and immediately made his way over. He hadn't been able to slip away from patients to see him last night.

"Ed!" He exclaimed, sitting now next to the other teen. "I'm so sorry about last night."

[scaredy-crow.livejournal.com]

Crane listened intently to the nurse as she escorted him to the cafeteria, filing away some of the rooms that she mentioned for future investigation. The bulletin board might be useful, as well.

When they got to the cafeteria, she pointed toward the line and told him to go get some food, then find someone to talk to. Crane thought that he'd rather just sit by himself and see what sort of people his mind had come up with. That it would even go this far for a dream was interesting, and the former doctor could only think that he had to have been completely exhausted back in Gotham.

After the nurse left to go retrieve another patient for breakfast, Crane went over and picked up a Belgian waffle covered with syrup, some scrambled eggs, and a glass of water, then went to sit by himself. He looked out at the current patient body, and was a bit shocked to see people with green and purple hair sitting out there. This could be taken as proof that it was a dream, but why green and purple, of all things? For that matter, why this non-existent institution, instead of Arkham, as the setting of this dream?

Well, at least in his dreams they let them choose where they wanted to sit in the cafeteria, and the food was good. He wouldn't have had that as a patient at Arkham.

[2cuprhubarb.livejournal.com]

Nothing had happened last night. Perhaps the delay in arrivals had caused it; GLaDOS had thought she'd contacted HK-47 about meeting, but apparently this hadn't been the case. As a result of the waiting (the late arrival of both Akabane and Dairine added as well, and her own distracted observance of the fight int he hallway), they had gone nowhere.

There would be other nights. Losing one to waiting was not something that upset GLaDOS's plans terribly.

Accompanied by her nurse, who claimed her jerky movements were somewhat worrying (human bodies were difficult to adjust to after never having limbs before), GLaDOS took two platefuls of food and a few glasses of various drinks. This morning's food was relatively sweet, but there was still no cake. (One day, she would find it.) She was then seated across from a man who was introduced as a new patient, and wouldn't she please try to be friendly and help him out on his first day here?

She gave the man a laser stare for a few long moments, then turned to her food and began to eat. Once her stomach stopped sending demands for food to her brain, she would introduce herself.

[captain-hunam.livejournal.com]

[Reserved for Xigbar~]

Last night hadn't been much fun.

Not that any of his nights so far had been, but last night had had a lot more crying and clinging and comforting ZEX than Zelnick was retrospectively comfortable with.

Not that he didn't kind of understand why ZEX was hit so hard...

This morning wasn't going so well, either. He felt weirdly exhausted, barely able to be excited over the fruit he'd piled onto his plate, and when he found a seat near the door-- make it easy for Xigbar to spot him, right?-- he wound up staring kind of blankly at his food, barely nibbling at it.

[numberii.livejournal.com]

In stark contrast to the Captain, the Freeshooter was feeling pretty darn pleased with himself. He had a bow, and the promise of arrows, and a nice way to cap off the evening as well. Mm... didn't get much better'n that, did it? Of course, if breakfast kept up with the rest of it, then Xigbar's day was just going to get much better.

So he plopped down across from Zelnick, a bright grin on his face as he did so. "Rough night, huh? Looks like you got put through the wringer."

[udo-retrovirus.livejournal.com]

Well, that little excursion had gone nicely, after the ghost-child incident. Junior, Edgeworth, and Sanosuke had managed to pretty well clear out the bathroom. The night had ended before they could get back to someone's room, but when he woke up, Junior had found some of the materials in a makeshift curtain-bag beside his bed. He'd managed to hide it away in his closet before the nurse came in, and had gone with her happily to the cafeteria.

A successful mission like this always put him in a good mood. He'd really kinda missed things like this, an in-and-out job. Get it done and come on 'home'. And from what Edgeworth had told Homura over the bulletin board, they all had some of the materials.

They didn't have any more of those pigs in blankets today, but waffles were always welcome to the redhead. He grabbed two large ones, covered them with whipped cream and strawberries, and grabbed a glass of orange juice before going to take a seat.

In the back of his mind, he did sort of wonder if the ghost-child would try to find any of them again tonight, but he tried to ignore that as he dug into his waffles. After all, maybe it had just been for the night and maybe it'd get distracted with something else.

[for-marian.livejournal.com]

While not quite as excellent as cinnamon rolls, waffles were definitely a welcome breakfast choice, for Leon. He piled on the syrup, and whipped cream, and some fruit as well just for good measure. Hopefully no riot would interrupt his enjoyment of this sweet breakfast treat.

Mindful of keeping the nurses off his back--and of maybe genuinely trying to practice making allies--Leon chose someone who seemed relatively pleasant, but not too chirpy, to sit with. "Hello."

[accursed-rock.livejournal.com]

Zelgadis was pleased to be well-rested, for once, but less pleased to consider the conversation about to take place. You couldn't trust Xelloss as far as you could throw him (though how far you could throw a mazoku was up for debate), and he wanted Amelia to have nothing to do with the Trickster Priest if possible.
Sadly, his will didn't seem to factor in much these days.
Taking a plate of bland-looking food stuffs, Zelgadis sat at a table and waited for the others to arrive.

[reserved for Amelia and Xellos]

[enigmaticmedium.livejournal.com]

He'd really been hoping that Amelia would be at the table before he arrived, considering the effect she usually had on the anti-social Zelgadis despite himself. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case, and while he took as long as he could gathering waffles and decorating them in nicely festive fruit toppings, there was only so much time he could waste on that task before one of the nurses gently hinted that he ought to make room for other patients.

So with a wide smile on his face, he walked over to where he'd seen Zelgadis and sat down, then began cutting into and eating his waffles. Maybe they could just avoid speaking altogether until the princess arrived.

[notaghostreally.livejournal.com]

[Waiting for Brooklyn.]

When he 'woke up' this morning, he did not try and sort through his mind what had last happened in a frenzy. There had been nothing shocking about the previous night, and thus he had nothing to mull over. No, Danny Fenton had spent the previous night pent up in M91. After injuring several people two nights ago, he didn't feel right going out once more. It would've made him sick when a giant bird or something came up and chewed his back out, and he would've known that that was what he did to some other powerless soul.

If they were going to make him fight on their side, the least they could've done was make it a fair fight.

Now, with a plate of random food he piled on for the sake of having it, he took a seat awkwardly, not particularly looking for a person to talk to.

[manhattan-red.livejournal.com]

Brooklyn was hoping to find Cloud as he wandered around the cafeteria that morning. The blond hadn't looked at all well as they left his doctor's office. (The thought of what they found in the drawer there caused him to pick up much less for breakfast than he might normally.)

As he passed one table, however, he couldn't help but pause and take a longer look at the occupant. He was the size of that kid. He even looked like that kid, but his hair color wasn't the same.

Then again, Vlad's hair had changed during that brief time he transformed too, hadn't it? In any case, even if this wasn't the same person, they might at least be related. So he changed direction and sat down at that table instead, leaning his head in the palm of one hand and just staring at Danny.

"Feeling more like yourself?" he asked finally.

[littlestrawdoll.livejournal.com]

Well, that had been a waste of a night.

The doll wasn't sure how much accounted for him being stuck in an unwieldy human form, trying to navigate darkened and dangerous hallways in pitch black, or if it were just him and Ojou being awfully slow. Either way, there'd been a lot of time wasting and not much progress made, and it made Ren a little disheartened.

It wasn't something worth dwelling on, however. It was a new day (how long had he been here, already?) with plenty to occupy him. Like the intercom announcement, which made him think that yeah, it was pretty likely the thing 'stolen' might have been that fellow's dead body. Good reading material on the bulletin board, he had to admit. His only regret was not being able to confirm all of the dropped hints himself.

For food, he just took some bacon and fruit and settled at a table near the door. There were new 'patients', apparently, and he had no problem giving someone the rundown if they needed it (or needed anything else, for that matter), but he didn't move to approach anyone yet. He felt a little bad for it, but Ren simply wanted a moment to collect his thoughts.

[screwthegods]

[Waiting for Hijikata]

The night had been successful, not only for himself, but it seemed for several members of his club as well. It put Homura in good spirits as he moved through the breakfast line, a knowing smirk on his lips as he plotted the next steps. Of course, plans could only be made so far in advanced, at least without knowing who would be coming along. Still, it had already been one of the most successful nights of his stay, and the demi-god was allowed a bit of smugness for it.

He headed to an empty table, settling in where he could watch patients coming and going through the door. While he did tell Junior he had plans (and certainly, someone could very likely want to talk to him), at the moment Homura intended to enjoy himself, and simply observe.

[haikudemon.livejournal.com]

It didn't take Hijikata long to spot the History Club's leader seated at an otherwise empty table in full view of the door. He spared Homura - clearly watching the door - a short nod, and went to collect something for breakfast. The options, as usual, looked like too sweet, too greasy, too heavily spiced, and fruit.

His arm being back in normal working order was too pleasant to let him get too annoyed at the food, though, and so he loaded his plate with fruit and the too-greasy option (some sort of sausage and something fried). He picked Homura's table, curious about what the man might have come across after leaving Momo's room.

"Good morning," Hijikata said as he set the tray down, pulling his chair back to take a seat. Bothering with a greeting was enough proof that his mood was bright.

[bewarethecute.livejournal.com]

[Free!]

Ururu wondered many things as she got her waffle at breakfast. She wondered if Kurogane was mad at her for not leaving the boy right away, since they hadn't made it to the basement before night ended. She wondered about the boy, and if he would find his Mommy. She wondered about Fai, Orihime, and Keman, if they were okay now, and how had things gone after she left.

And the little girl wondered about Kisuke-san, and Yoruichi. Were they both gone now? Ururu hadn't seen Yoruichi for a long time. Maybe if Rukia was free, she could get the shinigami to check. Except Rukia wasn't free, so Ururu sat down by herself instead. Maybe if Yoruichi was gone, she'd gone to where Kisuke-san went, and they'd come back to get her soon.

Maybe.

Or maybe they'd be upset because Ururu was going to leave the boy. Night had ended before they got too far, so technically Ururu hadn't left. But she was going to, and Jinta-kun got in trouble when he was going to do something bad, even if he got caught first. Would they be mad at her? Had she done something bad.

Ururu looked down at her waffle, its whipped topping staring back at her in a smile. Ururu didn't feel like smiling though, and she didn't feel very hungry just then either.

So she stabbed her waffle in the face instead.

[sugarsweetblood.livejournal.com]

Over half the night spent hanging out on top of a bookshelf. How boring could it have gotten!? Though it would have passed as pretty exciting for some, Rhode was annoyed by the whole thing. A stupid insect thing hadn't left them alone to ransack the place, which would have proven far more fun than trying to find a door in the dark so they wouldn't get eaten!

She had to wonder if Harley had managed not to get eaten. After all, she didn't know if everyone woke up at the same time. Harley could have still been back there when Rhode had gotten pulled to her room and had been gobbled up! That would have been messy.

And speaking of, she had a mind to have some fun with her pancakes this morning as well. Sticky syrupy fingers were so much fun! After getting them, she looked around for someone to play with and found the strange little girl she'd met a few days back by herself. Girls weren't usually her playthings, but since Harley had proven amusing, she decided to give it a shot. "Hey Ururu!" she said, picking out a perky approach as she slid in beside the smaller girl.

[damnrudecock.livejournal.com]

[Waiting for Okita to be all grumpy. Mmmm...bacon.]

Western food was fucked up. Sanosuke had come to this conclusion before, of course, when it came to the orange rice. But breakfast was fairing him no better, with the flat things, the yellow things, and the crispy thin things that smelled a lot like burnt pork. And to top it all off, there was...well, Sanosuke wasn't sure what it was, but the lady in line said it was made for the flat thing, so Sano dumped some on there too.

Now he just had to figure out how to eat it all.

At least he didn't completely smell of whatever had soaked him last night. Sanosuke was definitely thankful for it, since the lingering traces mixed with the sweet smell of breakfast wasn't entirely pleasant. It wasn't going stop him from eating, of course. Just made it smell a bit too much like Karou's cooking.

And that wasn't something Sanosuke really wanted to think about at the moment.

Keeping an eye out for Kenshin, Sano used the lesson of the previous day's lunch to make himself one of those burrito things. The big flat thing was almost the same shape even if it was thicker, so it seemed right. Wasn't the neatest way to eat, but at least it didn't explode this time.

[notachick.livejournal.com]

The night ended all too abruptly as always and Okita sighed as he sat up in bed, his arm tightly bandaged and treated for burns. Apparently, he hadn't noticed some of the acid wearing through his clothes, leaving small wounds here and there that were neatly taken care of. He only hoped Heiji and Kaito were given the same treatment and that Heiji would be alright. The boy seemed spectacularly adept at getting stomach injuries, meaning he needed to learn how to guard himself a little better. Should they get the chance, Okita would train that into him. Hopefully next time, Hijikata would be there. It still set Okita on edge how he hadn't seen his vice commander all night.

Slipping the metal pipe and his sword under the bed, he checked his kimono, happy to see the burns and the missing sleeve back in place. There were some good things here, apparently.

His nurse came to get him and Okita smiled at her excuse - he somehow or another found a "lighter" and hurt himself. From now on, they'd be more diligent about keeping contraband away from him. Okita wasn't sure what sort of lighter they could mean, but he didn't care seeing how it was a lie. Getting a waffle with fruit and cream, tater tots and eggs, he avoided the pork and took a glass of apple juice. Now the only thing that remained was finding a place to--

Alone. Sanosuke was alone and that meant this was the perfect opportunity to speak with him about that little "you're dead in 10 years" slip-up. Sliding his tray down across from the fighter, he smiled and sat without asking for permission. "Good morning, Sanosuke-san. How are you today?"

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

Sai hoped Usopp had gotten a decent amount done that night. It had been too short for his liking. He wanted to find the pirate again once he reached the cafeteria, but his nurse insisted he find someone new to get to know - especially with more patients arriving.

In the end, the ninja picked an empty table. His nurse didn't approve, and as she frowned and wandered off, Sai couldn't help but think she was going to find someone to sit with him.

It didn't really matter, overall. He supposed he should be looking for members of Usopp's crew, but new contacts were new contacts and what crewmates he recognized were already chatting with others.

[deathbymidget.livejournal.com]

Sai had been right, much to Hiei's dismay. Only minutes after she left, the woman came back leading the demon, who looked entirely unhappy to be there, and was in fact doing his very best not to take his plastic knife and stab the woman. This was the second time in so many days that the nurses insisted Hiei make friends, and he was getting annoyed with the pestering.

Just what had Hiei done to deserve the human's twittering, he couldn't figure out. Maybe someone had pointed out his behavior to them, in which case, Hiei had an obligation to find that person and put them to a slow death.

But for now, he knew what he had to do to make the woman shut up and go away. Putting his tray down on the table, he stared across at "Simon," the picture of contempt for his current situation.

"I hope you can manage a decent conversation." By decent, Hiei of course meant not stupid. "Otherwise that human twit will come back and nag us both more about our so-called need for 'positive, non-violent interactions.'"

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

Miku had woken with her hands over her mouth, and she shifted uneasily in her bed, sitting up to watch the last of the tattoo eat itself away and leave her skin perfect and normal and guilt free, all over again. Except she wasn't guilt free, because last night Sagara had been hurt, and Ritsuka-kun had apparently thrown himself under the bus... and Soubi-san. Well, he was Soubi-san, so it didn't much matter. He might have been someone for Ritsuka, and that was the important part, but he didn't mean very much to Miku.

And Alfons! She hoped he hadn't gotten hurt, or worse. The photographer drew her knees up to her chin and breathed. It could be worse. She could be a ghost. It could be worse. The litany repeated until her nurse cheerfully bustled Miku through her early morning activities and promptly dropped her off in the line for food in the kitchen.

Waffles? Miku smiled at the attempts of... certain creativities as she carefully decorated hers (it would looks so much better with a few plump strawberries and a chocolate wafer, she decided) and made herself sit down to stare at her plate.

She had to smile, so no one would worry. But it was becoming more difficult to keep it up, Miku knew. With a somber, rallying sigh, the young woman began cutting her meal to pieces.

[thehellismycar.livejournal.com]

If they'd lived a relatively normal life before waking up here, they could go with calling the experience 'educational'. Leads were more like loose-fitting jeans than anything else – never really certain if they applied to the situation or if they were even worth the effort to tailor in the first place. Luck was hard to come by, only presenting itself in the most inconvenient manner, such as how Landel announced the end of night whenever worse was about to come to worst.

They'd nearly achieved something, but the fact there'd been another setback felt important; maybe because the overdue change in tact – that of dropping other issues and dealing with what was in front of him – had finally earned a response.

... Whatever. He was tired. Thinking in circles wasn't his job. His job went the extra mile to make a difference. He wanted to meet that spirit again, show her what a mistake it was to confront a hunter.

Somehow.

Softness entered the mask he had on this morning as he glanced around the room. He picked a seat opposite a young girl. Didn't matter whether normalcy worked into her past or not; he wasn't familiar with her background, so it was less to think about. He offered her something between a smile and a grimace, staring at her face a bit longer than was considered polite, until it occurred to him that being oblivious to anomalies might ensure he didn't lose his appetite.

"How you holdin' up?"

[per-ardua.livejournal.com]

[[reserved for the rest of the Symphonia crew]]

Raine woke up with more of a start than usual, and wasn't sure why... until she looked at the other bed. Empty. Her heart skipped a beat; did that mean...? When people vanished, they usually didn't come back, and she hadn't seen Reinforce in over a day now.

When the nurse came in, she demanded, "What happened to--my roommate?"

"Oh, Jeanne, didn't anyone tell you?" the nurse said, sounding concerned. Raine's blood actually ran cold, even before the woman went on, "She went home."

No... She could hardly say she wasn't used to being abandoned, starting with some childhood friends, making the most impact with her parents, and continuing with more than a few friends in her teens and adulthood, but... Reinforce had been the first person in a long time to get that far past her trust and abandonment issues--and now she was gone, too. There was--little doubt in her mind that she hadn't chosen to go, but that didn't make it hurt much less.

Raine wasn't much for emotional displays, though; the last few times she cried had been because of her mother, and after a few moments she felt numb more than anything else. Not saying another word, and tuning the nurse out, she simply followed to the cafeteria.

Paying little attention to what she got--she wasn't that hungry anyway--she sat down in a corner somewhere and simply wondered what now.

[divine-judgment.livejournal.com]

As he was dragged through the corridors of the Institute, Zelos looked around as he flirted with the nurse (who, to his disappointment, didn't say anything about where he was or why he was really here).

Entering the Cafeteria, he inspected the number of people dotting the room. And his eyes caught a familiar head of silver hair.

Zelos always thought that if he survived the betrayal, Raine would've been the one most openly suspicious of him.

He tried to veer the nurse away from moving towards the Professor, but the woman in white seemed to get the idea that he "needed company". So he was plopped across from Raine. Shit.

Forcing up what he hoped to be a casual smirk, he spoke.

"Hey there, my Gorgeous Professor!"

Maybe she'd believe in amnesia.