Day 34: Lunch

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

Yuffie bounced all the way through collecting her lunch, all the way to a good seat- one with a nice view of the whole cafeteria, which was something she'd been missing out on during the past day or so that she'd been stuck in the Institute- and hell, she even bounced into her seat.

A good mood? No, really?

Despite the occasional blip, talking to Sagara had been awesome. He was a fun guy; he wasn't a prude, didn't have a stick shoved so far up his ass it was poking out his eyeballs, and he'd actually had a conversation with her. One that hadn't revolved around doom, gloom or how much life sucked. If she could find other people like that and keep in touch with Sagara, maybe there was a little hope for this place.

After a quick gulp of pink lemonade, Yuffie settled to munching through her food and keeping an eye on the door.

[Waiting for Dean, I think? :x]

Comments

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"I don't believe in fairies either," Tony muttered. "It was Tia who did all the reading. These people, the ones herding us from place to place try to kill and eat us?" He shook his head. Being strange can lead one to believe any number of strange things, but this was too much.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

With a shrug, 'Takaya' seemed to lose interest. "I don't really care what you believe in or believe. They are not doing it to kill or eat us. No one is sure exactly why we are all here, though there are some wonderful discussions going on about it being something for the military, the government, or something equally inane. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones that doesn't see anything their first night. Who knows?" He smiled.

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"If you don't care then why tell me stupid things," Tony retorted. Both aspects of Takaya's personality were exhausting. And he still felt like he'd not had any real sleep for more than a day. "This is stupid."

He was bright, but he'd reached the point where his brain just didn't want to take in anything new. He'd been deep into solving the problems of his own past and getting himself and his sister to safety when he'd been snatched here where there were new mysteries and dnagers. Tony was tired, plain and simple. "I can't think," he sighed.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Then you've lost my interest," he said. "But I'm always listening."

Takaya went ridgid suddenly, eyes glancing around the room as though looking for signs of damage, then turned to Tony... and quickly looked away.

"Fuck."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

Tony folded arms on the table and rested his chin on the top of his hands. "Look who's back," he said wearily. "Busy head you have there, Takaya."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"You have no idea," Takaya grumbled. All traces of his previous mood had been erased by utter embarrassment. "Sorry about that. He's a dick, but...." Snorting, he shook his head. "No, he's just a dick."

Frowning, he turned to look at Tony. "Are you okay? Did he do anything?"

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"He just tried to scare me. i don't know if he was lying or not." Tony sat up and shrugged. "He seemed to be all talk."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Takaya shook his head. "He's not. Not usually." With a small shudder, he looked back over the cafeteria.

"Look, I'm sorry about all the shit I said before. I mean, I'm not sorry I said it, but I am sorry that I was being such an asshole about it." He frowned suddenly.

"I taste... lemons."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"You were in a mood." Tony shrugged again. He honestly was tired from all this. "He took some of my lemonade. It was rude, but are you okay?"

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Takaya scowled and glared at the table, embarrassed by his own behavior. "Fuck. Yeah, sorry. It ... doesn't happen too often. Only when I'm really on edge."

Taking a breath, he turned back to Tony. The harsh look that was the norm for him was back, but it was tempered with embarrassment and concern. "All bullshit aside, do you have any questions you actually want answered? I've been here ... a while. So I know a lot of what's going on."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"He was a little scary there at the end." Tony closed his eyes and tried to think of his questions. "Well, there were a few. Was he lying? About the nurses and staff, I mean. Do they really turn into monsters at night?"

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Takaya nodded. "Yeah, they do. The last time we went into town, everyone was trapped on the buses when the sun went down." He glanced over at a nurse and wondered if it was the same woman he'd lobbed a chair at before.

"Nobody really put it together before then, but watching it happen was pretty fucked up."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

Following his gaze, Tony shivered. "Oh-kay. It is more awful here than I thought." He rubbed his face, scratching his nose especially. "Ummm... is it really that dangerous at night alone? I'm pretty fast."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Depends." Takaya thought about it. "Some people find that they are safer alone while others are safer in small groups." He shrugged. "If I'm out, I'm usually alone or with one other person." His tone was more amused than annoyed.

"Between my own dumbass self and him, people don't stick around for a second time. But I haven't had too many problems outside the usual shit."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"What's usual then?" Tony asked. "I don't know very many people yet."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"The usual is you run into a monster or whatever, escape if you're lucky, wind up hurt if you're not." Takaya shrugged, then frowned, remembering something.

"Shit. I forgot. Every night, this place takes people and fucks with them." Anger crossed his face for a moment. "They either brainwash you, give you back whatever skills or weapons or whatever you had, then send you out to attack the rest of us, or ... or they use you for experimentation." The last was said considerably softer than the rest.

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"Neither of those sounds like something I want to mess with," Tony admitted. "Do the monsters run very fast?" he asked. "I don't know if I should even go out."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"They can be," Takaya said. "But they tend to be tied to one place or another. The big shit is really all you have to worry about."

Looking up again at a nurse,he sighed. "Staying in is a bitch too, but you won't get hurt there."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"You don't learn anything either, do you?" Tony asked. And that was the problem. "I need to see what's out here."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Then you go out and watch yourself." That was obvious.

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

Tony nodded. "This is a big building. Is-I hate to ask this, but is there anywhere I can find a musical instrument." He wouldn't mention a harmonica out loud, but he could hope, couldn't he?

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"There's a music room," he said, nodding his head in the direction of the room. "I don't know anything about music, that's more my sister's thing, but they've got a few different kinds of stuff there."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"Are any of the instruments small?" It didn't matter what kind. He could learn to play about anything so long as he could carry it around. Though that gave him a destination.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Takaya shrugged again. "I guess so. I never really paid any attention."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"So important question. Where is the music room?" He grinned, thinking he was sounding so deadly serious about something that should be simple.