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

[his-singer.livejournal.com]

… What.

Bella blanched at the girl who sat in front of her, asking if she were human or not. What kind of question was that? Was she taking a jab at being pale or something? “Uh … I’m a … human? I don’t really have a story …” a pause, and the teenager quirked an eyebrow in the strange girl’s direction. “ …Were you expecting me to be otherwise?”

Something was definitely up, but … Bella had to be cautious. Who knew what this girl was getting at?

[mind-caster.livejournal.com]

Expecting her to be otherwise? Yeah. To be someone with an actual taste, like maybe about five percent of the population in this place. Why did she even bother expecting anyone to be normal anymore?

Melissa didn't say that part out loud, mostly because she didn't want to explain anymore than she had to. Instead, she just sighed and gave a wry smile. "You don't have a story. Let's see. Have you ever met a... a telepath?" Melissa really didn't like using that word, but somehow, she doubted anyone here would understand 'mindcaster.'

[his-singer.livejournal.com]

Bella couldn’t help but freeze at the mention of “telepath”. Had she ever met a telepath – did being engaged to one count? She couldn’t tell the girl this – how could she? Never would she ever have told anyone Edward’s secret.

“You mean like the ones in the movies? That can read minds and everything like that? Uh, nope. I don’t think so. Why? Have you ever met one? I don’t really believe in that kind of thing. You know, fortune telling, Ms. Cleo nonsense.” It couldn’t be that this girl was one, could it? Though, knowing her luck, it wasn’t unlikely.

A pause, and Bella quickly switched topics. “My name’s Bella, by the way.”

[mind-caster.livejournal.com]

"Melissa," she responded quickly, not easily deterred from a topic she was actually interested in. If 'interested' was the right word. "You don't believe in it?" she asked with a hint of disbelief. "Would you, by any chance, know why you can't be..." It was really annoying how difficult it was to find words, especially considering she'd lived her entire life with the power. Then again, she'd only had to actually explain it to other people a grand total of four times. "Why you can't have your fortune told?"

[his-singer.livejournal.com]

Bella shrugged her shoulder at the question, trying to look nonchalant despite the fact that she knew exactly what the girl was asking about. Perhaps this girl really was a telepath? It must be hard for her. “I have a pretty private mind, I guess. Maybe a mental block? I don’t know. Why would you ask such questions?”

A pause, and then Bella finally decided to drop the bomb. “Are you, by any chance, a telepath? And you can’t read my thoughts?”

[mind-caster.livejournal.com]

Melissa rolled her eyes. "No, I was asking out of the blue because I'm some sort of god. Come on, why else would I ask?" Certainly not to initiate small talk or anything like that. Melissa usually didn't have to ask questions, since the only people she ever hung out with already knew what she could do. This place was slowly forcing her to get used to that, and she really didn't like it.

Although Melissa once again had to admit that talking to people like this girl and Ren was a little... refreshing. The jury was still out on whether it was more trouble than it was worth.

[his-singer.livejournal.com]

Shrugging her shoulders once more, Bella turned her attention away from Melissa to look around the crowded room. “I don’t know, this place is pretty weird already. You can’t really blame me for wondering why you would ask.”

“And,” she continued, her eyes still not quite looking at the girl, “Maybe I do know a telepath. They don’t work on me either. I’m like a complete blank slate. Broken brain and all that, blah blah.” Eyes turning back towards Melissa, Bella gave her a blank stare, a frown crossing her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Any more questions?”

[mind-caster.livejournal.com]

Blank slate, broken brain. Not exactly terms Melissa would have used to describe it, but she supposed they fit the sensation. So did that mean Bella wasn't human, or was she really in the dark about why she was tasteless? 'Blank slate,' whatever she wanted to call it.

Melissa blinked at the question. "Yeah. This... telepath you know. Is he here too?" There couldn't be many telepaths here, not without Melissa knowing about it. She'd only met one so far, but she could feel at least one other, and she kind of wanted to know who they were. If there was even the slightest chance this girl knew who one of them was...

[his-singer.livejournal.com]

Did she know of one? “No.” Bella answered too quickly, chewing on her lip when she realized what she had done. It didn’t help that she was also a terrible liar. Turning her attention back away from the girl once again, the teenager took in a breath and tried to deepen the lie. “I mean, this place is pretty big. There are a lot of people, and I don’t really … talk to … a lot of people …”

This wasn’t working.

“But, uh,” she quickly corrected once again, keeping her eyes on something that was apparently very interesting on the wall closest to her. “If I see any or hear of any I’ll tell you?”

[mind-caster.livejournal.com]

Melissa raised an eyebrow. She'd met darklings who were better liars than that. Or would be, if they could talk in a way that Melissa understood. Honestly, she could practically feel the bitterness of the lie on her tongue, despite the girl's 'blank slate.' That, however, begged the question of why Bella was trying to hide that she knew someone here who was a telepath. It wasn't like that was front-page news in a place like this.

"Question. Would this telepath you know be a guy?" Melissa asked on a hunch, completely ignoring everything Bella just said. "Really pale, kind of tall, and... not... human?" When she'd first met him, he'd had a strange, sort of dark taste. It was only now that Melissa realized it could mean he wasn't human. It was just a little bit like the way darklings tasted.

[his-singer.livejournal.com]

“Pale? Uh. Nope. Not at all. Don’t know any pale people, really. I mean, I’m from Arizona. I love the Sun.” It came effortlessly. Bella bit down on her tongue until she tasted blood, not wanting to say anything else. This was just not getting her anywhere.

She really did need classes on “how to lie.”

“ … But, uh, I think I did hear about a telepath once, on the bulletin, now that you mention it. it was a long time ago, my first day here. I don’t know if he’s still here, though. You’d be able to know more than I would.” A pause, and Bella frowned. “What did this pale person look like? I can look out for them too. … And what do you mean, not human? You mean like one of those monsters that wander around at night?”