damned_institute | Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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.

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"You are so cute!" Elle told told him, still biting her lip but grinning now, too.

Daddy had probably put Eddie in here for a reason - maybe his powers were dangerous or he was dangerous. Normally the harmless ones got released back into the wild, so unless there had been a mix-up like Eddie said... Oh well. She could make a promise and not keep it, right? And who knows? Maybe it was just a big misunderstanding.

"Of course I'll get you out, Eddie," she assured him sincerely. This guy was too adorable to resist! She'd held back a little with Peter and Mohinder, because Daddy had a special interest in them, but Eddie was all hers. She slid off her chair and onto his lap, keeping her fingers wound through his hair and resting the other hand open-palmed on his chest. "As soon as I figure out how to get in touch with my dad, I'll make sure he has you released, too."

"So just out of curiosity," she asked casually, playing with his hair, "have you got any... superpowers, anything like that?"

And then she actually climbed into his lap.

Brock's eyebrows raised in sheer surprise. Not that he was complaining - his hands were already resting on her hips with a mind of their own, apparently - but he hadn't met someone so flirty since the last time he'd been to a strip club. Which, to be frank, was a long damn time ago and he was all too aware of the heat of Elle up close when she was perched on his lap like this, far too close to have it just be her being friendly.

"Thanks," he said.

And then she had to go and run her fingers through his hair, practically glued to him now with one hand pressed up against his chest. If the symbiote could eye roll, it would - it could feel its Host's heart beating a little faster on its own, reacting in response to the close proximity of the human female. Humans. Its exasperation coiled in Brock's head. Brock figured that so what if he was just an animal to his Other; couldn't fault a guy for wanting to get some every now and then and he was still human enough to be attracted to girls like Elle here.

Still, Elle might be hot, but he wasn't about to go blurting out their little secret. "Nope," he lied, hands still resting on her hips. "You?"

"Nope?" Elle repeated, pouting a little. He was probably lying, but what the hell. Maybe if she promised to keep Eddie on the pills, Daddy would let her keep him as a pet.

"I've just got a little one," she admitted coyly. She wriggled a little on Eddie's lap, enjoying the feel of his hands on her hips and aware that he was enjoying himself, too. "You'd like it." Gently, she tapped the tip of his nose. If only she could spark him, just a little! "But they've got me on the fu- damn meds that take your powers away."

Letting her hand slip back down to his chest, Elle leaned closer to him and whispered playfully in his ear. "When we get out of here, I'll be sure to show it to you. It is pretty nifty, as far as superpowers go."

So she was a mutant like all the others. Somehow he wasn't surprised.

What did surprise him was how in his face she was; she was probably about as ballsy as Luffy but that was where the resemblance ended.

"Oh really," Brock said, voice a little husky. He wasn't used to women wiggling around on his lap, much less them being so damn flirty, but he had to say he wasn't at all against it if Elle wanted to be a tease. "So tell me about these meds; love to know more about something that's keeping you from being all work and no play."

Considering how she was acting now, Brock was curious to know how she'd been when she could "play". Probably be the kind of thing that the Spider would be against, what with his idiot morals and inability to treat his needs as just that - needs. No, he was the kind of guy who was just too damn honest for his own good and wouldn't be caught dead having a little fun on the side unless they were there to encourage him. Brock smiled at Elle, the expression not quite going to his eyes. At best, she'd give them answers if she even had any. If not, then she might just be some good entertainment before the night shift got her.

"Just power-dampening meds," Elle said vaguely, convinced that Eddie knew all about the Haitian pills. "But who wants to talk about boring old pills. I wanna know about you, Eddie." She put on her sweetest expression for him - wide eyes and just a hint of a smile.

Sliding one hand up across Eddie's shoulder and letting the other one fall from his hair, Elle draped her arms lightly around his shoulders, edging herself even closer to him so their noses almost touched. "What's your story? How'd you get here? What is 'here,' exactly? Tell me everything!" she demanded enthusiastically.

But how were they given them? Were they ground up and put in their food? Eddie wanted his powers back as soon as possible - it wasn't just missing the strength, the wall-crawling, the agility, but feeling naked and exposed and incomplete being this close to normal. The one thing he hated more than Parker and his rejection of them was the fact that he was being denied that close connection with his Other, its "voice" only a far away whisper instead of being everywhere and everything.

But he wouldn't get his answers just shoving Elle off his lap and making her get to the point. In fact, it was far too early to be trusting everything she said just because it was stuff he might want to hear. So instead he just smiled again, kept his fangs to himself, and played nice because even if Elle was making crap up, she was still hot enough to be a good distraction.

"Don't have much of a story," he said. "Used to live in New York, was a photographer, ended up here. Like everyone else here, I've no idea how I got in this place."

But she'd know where here was, wouldn't she? If she had any clout to get them out of here, wouldn't she know about this place? Unless this was one of many mutant facilities and there apparently so many of these freak prisons that he actually had to detail out which one of them they were in to jog her memory.

"You're in Landels, sweetheart," he said dryly. He'd given the whole rundown to more people than he wanted to. At least this new patient was taking it a lot better than others and wow, she was just the right fit for his lap. He found one of his hands reaching down to cup Elle and adjust her so she wouldn't slide off him. If he coped a feel in the process, well hey, she put herself out here by practically jumping on him in the first place. "And I might not have powers, but you're not the only one with them here - from what I can tell, it's mutant central here."

"Mutant? That's a funny word for it." Eddie just wasn't being helpful! What a shame.

Elle leaned back, knitting her fingers together behind Eddie's neck. "What's on your mind, Eddie?" she asked brightly, smiling encouragingly at him. Yes, his hands seemed to be having fun, but his brain was clearly not all focused on her. Why did boys get like that?

Letting go of his neck, she ran one finger through his hair and down the side of his face. Almost reflexively, she tried to give him a few gentle jolts, but of course nothing happened.

"What's ticking away in that pretty head of yours?" Her voice was almost sing-song as she allowed her eyes to drift down towards his jaw, following her finger. But her smile was still bright. She couldn't help but smile; she liked Eddie.

"Miss Cardinal," spoke a disapproving voice from behind the pair as a nurse weaved her way through the breakfasting patients to pause with her hands on her hips and frown down at the young couple.

"This is hardly appropriate behavior. Return to your seat right this instant and finish your breakfast, there's a good girl. Let Mr. Lancaster finish his own meal."

Brock would've swiveled around at the voice if he could. Having Elle seated snugly in his lap and practically straddling him didn't exactly do wonders for his mobility and he could instead only half-turn awkwardly to watch as one of the ever-present nurses came at them. She was frowning now.

Looks like fun's over, Brock thought. If Elle was this forward in a crowded cafeteria, he was definitely curious to see how she'd be with more privacy. She'd probably be downright insane where it counted.

"She's not bothering me," Brock chimed up. He reluctantly lifted his hands away from Elle though rather than resist the nurse's orders. While he was happy to cop some feels, he wasn't really wanting to trade that for a sedative to calm him down, no matter how hot Elle was.

"Aw, we're just playing," Elle assured the nurse, not budging from Eddie's lap. She didn't even take her eyes off Eddie's face.

Gosh, his eyes were big and blue. Reminded her of Adam a little. That thought made a flicker of annoyance cross her face. Oh, but Eddie was so much sweeter than Adam!

She turned her head towards the nurse, spinning quickly and making her long blonde hair fan out behind her before it settled back down. "Can't I keep him?" she asked the nurse, a wheedling note creeping into her voice. She kept one possessive hand firmly on Eddie's neck.

"Mr. Lancaster is not a pet, young lady," the nurse chided her, reaching out to place a hand on Elle's shoulder to nudge her off the young man's lap. "There will be time for games later, but this is not at all acceptable for the breakfast table. Return to your seat and finish your meal or we'll have to find you a more private place to sit to finish your breakfast, if you can't behave yourself."

"Might want to do as she says," Brock said. "Much as I enjoy you hogging my lap, you don't want to have your first day here high on sedatives, know what I mean?"

He was taking this pretty well - at least he was amused. His symbiote, however, was starting to get irritated; it was the "pet" thing that did it. While it had nothing against the idea of humans as pets, seeing as they were inferior in just about every way, it was above all that. Obviously it couldn't understand the finer points of human joking or teasing...although considering he barely knew Elle - aside from she had a great ass and it was currently on his lap - Brock asn't entirely sure if she was joking or not, despite what she said.

This close, however, they could definitely feel that pulse of life in Elle, right inside that pretty little head of hers. Swallowing a little, feeling a twinge of their hunger, he looked away for a second and gazed up at the nurse.

Elle was all set to put this nurse in her place - even without her ability she was still Bob Bishop's daughter - but Eddie's advice got to her. Well, if he didn't want to keep playing, she wasn't going to force it on him... At least not until the meds wore off and she could spark him.

"Fine," she said brightly, with only the tiniest trace of audible sarcasm. She smoothed out Eddie's shirt, making sure to to pay special attention to all the wrinkles that seemed to have accumulated on the fabric clinging to his chest. Once he was straightened out to her satisfaction, Elle hopped off his lap with agility, and settled back in her own chair, which was only an inch or two away from his.

"That better?" she asked the nurse grouchily. She wasn't really paying attention though - who cared what the nurse thought? Far more interesting was the circle she was tracing with one finger around Eddie's kneecap.

"It is," the nurse nodded decisively, although her disapproving frown still lingered. She shook her finger at the girl. "Behave yourself now, Miss Cardinal. I've got my eye on you."

This warning given, the nurse turned and walked away once more.

"First day here and you're already making friends," Brock said, distracted by the hand caressing his knee. It occurred to him that he was probably being wrapped around Elle's finger, but he couldn't deny that running into a girl who was so touchy-feely that you'd have to be a oblivious or gay not to be interested here.

If you're so interested, the symbiote was annoyed at what it thought was a lot of dragged out time being wasted here, then you should just fornicate already and move on. It's a wonder you humans manage to procreate at all with how much time you waste on your primitive mating rituals.

Brock almost lost it there. He was used to his symbiote's bluntness, but apparently he could still be surprised by sometimes. Hopefully his poker face was still in place because while it was true he found Elle attractive and wouldn't mind a romp in the sack with her, it was kind of wrong place, wrong time, wasn't it? Anyway, if he was going to absolutely bang anyone, he had to admit that Elle wasn't at the top of the list - a certain Spider was.

"What can I say, I'm a people person," Elle said, shrugging a little and flashing an innocent smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

There was that distracted feeling again, like his mind wasn't where it should be: on her.

"So are they all such prudes here?" She leaned closer to him, staying off his lap but well within his personal space. The hand that had been stroking his knee moved upwards to rest on his thigh. "And why do they call us those names? My name's not Cardinal, and you said yours was Brock, not Lancaster."

The way she was going, Brock was ready for her to skip his leg and get near the real interesting territory. He might be better than human with his Other, but some human instincts didn't go away; if she started manhandling his junk, he was probably going to get pretty damn vocal despite himself. She couldn't be that gutsy, could she? He was all for some flirting, but he really didn't think it was a good idea to go beyond that when they were surrounded by people...

"It's supposed to be a mental institute - I think being a prude is a prerequisite," Brock said, flicking a glance down at her hand. Seriously, straying near some sensitive territory, and it wasn't like he was even wearing jeans.

He half-wished the Spider was here. If she was thinking people were prudes, she clearly hadn't met Peter Parker, the king of prudes (which was weird when you thought about it, considering what he wore when he "worked" - it didn't exactly leave a lot to the imagination).

"That's their names for us, doll," Brock said, glancing back at Elle. She was wearing the loose gray Landels uniform, but he could still see her curves. "They claim that's our real names and we've just made everything else up. Why, does it bother you?"

It didn't really bother him anymore. They knew who they were, what they were supposed to be, and being called a different name wouldn't change that. Brock might've doubted his sanity before, back when he was normal...but he had that little alien voice inside him, inside his head, and he knew he wasn't crazy. Not unless they both were.

"Nope, no biggie," she said casually, still smiling at him. People here didn't seem to know who Bob Bishop was, and as long as that name meant nothing, her own name meant nothing. But Daddy would come and rescue her and kill them all. That'd teach them.

"I'm just curious about this 'mental institution,'" Elle continued. "I've been in an institution before; my Daddy runs one. But things here seem to be run a bit... differently."

With a burst of gleeful energy, Elle wrapped her arms around Eddie's neck and hugged him tightly. "But you'll look out for me, won't you Eddie?" she said, her voice full of trust.

If he was expecting anything, it wasn't being jumped and hugged. Brock almost tipped over in his seat from the extra weight around his neck and, just barely, managed to keep from falling over and cracking his head on the floor.

"Uh, sure," Brock said. He supposed if she had powers, it wasn't like she'd need his help - especially if she thought he was a lowly human. But maybe she just liked having someone nearby. "I'd love to."

Especially if he could verify what she was saying was true and if she could start giving them some damn answers. There were worse people to be stuck with than Elle, who seemed to be both incredibly naive to him and yet attractive at the same time that definitely wasn't girlish to him. It was disorienting in a way, actually, because he couldn't place a finger on her. If this was an act, it was working - he thought he'd been good at reading people, but apparently he wasn't as good as he thought.

"This isn't a normal institution, obviously," Brock said. He reluctantly disentangled Elle's arms from around his neck, more for her sake than his - he didn't want the nurse coming back again with something more than a slap on a wrist. "I think it's like some kind of rat maze, for mutants or people they don't like or whatever. During the night, you can try to leave, but good luck with that. I'd give you a gold star if you even made it out the front door."

Kind of harsh, but there wasn't any sense sugar coating it. Might as well get it out there and they could worry about tact later. Brock was finding himself liking Elle in that she was everything that Gwen and MJ weren't, but he didn't trust her yet. She offered a lot of promises and teases that he wanted to know had any weight to them.

Elle pouted when Eddie untangled her arms from around his neck. But she understood, she guessed. If that mean nurse came back she'd just make them separate again. Or make Elle eat her breakfast by herself, like she was some kind of little kid!

"A gold star?" she repeated, resting her hands on his thighs again. This time she put more weight on her hands and leaned in towards him. "Since they probably don't have actual gold stars around here, I'm betting you'd have to give me some other kind of reward. And that sounds like fun." There was more innocence than coyness in both her voice and her smile; she sounded more like a little kid talking about playing with a puppy than anything else.

She would just love to get her hands on Eddie when her abilities were working. He'd be so much fun to play with!

"Depends on your definition of 'fun'," Brock replied. He was aware of her hands on his thighs, but he was still trying to decide if she really was being naive about this or if she was leading him on, considering how often she kept touching him. "But yeah, I think I could manage something between the two of us."

He just hoped that she wouldn't get hung up on him, assuming they even made it past second base (seeing as Elle jumped right past first). While he was always up for some one-night-stands - hell, he wasn't even sure he had to worry about protection anymore, what with his symbiote and all - he was concerned that she'd turn batshit crazy afterward and get possessive or something. He could deal with her hitting on him; he thought she was hitting on him, but he didn't want her getting the wrong idea here.

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Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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