ext_201930 (
byname-bynature.livejournal.com) wrote in
damned_institute2008-09-10 08:17 pm
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Day 35: Twin Pines Restaurant
(From here!)
Artemis walked into the restaurant and glanced around at the decor. He wasn't impressed, but he wasn't disdainful either. He simply smiled. It was nice... for a town with a population of barely three hundred.
The boy smiled up at the person up front. "Two, if you please."
Artemis walked into the restaurant and glanced around at the decor. He wasn't impressed, but he wasn't disdainful either. He simply smiled. It was nice... for a town with a population of barely three hundred.
The boy smiled up at the person up front. "Two, if you please."
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Country Fried Steak. Probably Artemis' three favourite words put together. He wasn't really much for fried food himself, but he doubted if there was anywhere in town to pick up some Italian.
He signaled the waitress, "Deserving or not, there's no point to staying here."
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The waitress picked that moment to arrive at their table. She seemed a little wary, concerning the topic of conversation which was coming from the fourteen year old. 'Flagellate'?
"Ah, here you are," Artemis smiled up at the woman. "I'll have the Caesar salad--without any of the chicken, if you please." The boy indicated the adult menu as he ordered, just so his intentions would be clear.
"And my associate here..." Artemis looked to Badou.
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He waited until she was out of earshot and picked up the thread of conversation again. "Out of curiosity, what'd you do that was so terrible?"
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"Among other things? I extorted an entire species. And when I was done with that, I started ruining people's lives. And I did that sort of thing well before I turned twelve. I put people in danger. Once I threw a temper tantrum and caused the extinction of a species. I even would have killed the person who had taken it from me, just because if I couldn't have it, no one could.
"I've stolen, blackmailed, and cheated my way to the top. Not once did I think of anyone besides myself. I believe that's punishable by hell, wouldn't you say Badou?"
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"Sure. But if this place hadn't kidnapped you the worst you'd get is a comfy seat at the top of some company. Hell is just a way of making people feel better about it."
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"I think that is quite a ways off, but you have a point. Still, I think you'll find the longer you stay here, the more you become a part of the building itself--unable to move."
Artemis ran his finger around the rim of his glass, eyebrows furrowed in thought. Yes, if he were given the option to leave now, he wouldn't be able to. Not when he had Haku and the Captain and Renji and Sora and everyone else to worry about. How had this happened? In the span of eleven days? Unheard of.
"For some of us, who have created ties stronger than those that hold us here, leaving will be the ultimate test. This experience will scar us all, possibly for life. Unless one is able to leave as soon as one arrives.
"Strangely enough," Artemis moved his water glass more to the right. "Because of this inability to leave comfortably, I would give up a 'comfy' seat at the top of some company for what has happened here. Despite the fact that this is sheer and utter hell in the most poetically ironic and mortally fatal forms. Do you find that strange?"
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So what happened if he got stuck here for a few weeks? Haine would probably kick him in the face whenever he got back. Maybe he wouldn't even last that long and just die for nicotene withdrawl.
Man, his attention span was too short for all of this poetic stuff Artemis was going on about. "It's called 'making friends'. That can happen anywhere." He rested his arms on the table, slouching again. His eye drifed down to the scar running through the back of his hand. "Just like leaving people. Being forced to if you want to get out. Whatever. The point is it's not something special about this place.
"You're making a big deal when this isn't even close to hell."
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Cracking jokes. Another thing this place had done to him. But it wasn't anything he'd give up, just as he wouldn't give up his memories of meeting those he cared about. That still wasn't going to make leaving them any easier. Except Haku. He wouldn't leave Haku behind to die again. Never.
The waitress came back with their food and set each man's meal in front of him. She smiled and bustled away. Artemis picked up his fork and took a tentative taste. It wasn't up to par with Rome, of course, but what had he expected?
"It's good," he commented. Artemis didn't want to think about leaving anymore.
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He leaned back a bit when the food came so his arms weren't taking up half the table. "Didn't think I'd ever hear that from you." Badou commented, cutting into his fried steak. It was actually pretty good given that it was fried steak.
"Lowering your standards for free food?"
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The boy watched Badou cut into his steak. He suddenly felt ill. Just a little. He shook his head slightly, trying to remove the feeling.
"I suppose one shouldn't have any expectations when free food is in play."
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Seeing as how the first piece hadn't poisoned him or anything, he cut off a bigger one this time. Artemis didn't look like he could stand to watch. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't make The Face." He paused, his question sounding a little weary. "Are you ok?"
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Artemis took a sip of water, which seemed to help. His mind began working. He was disgusted by meat suddenly--why? He'd had no reason to before. Perhaps he was having some sort of psychological break.
The boy took another bite of salad, testing his stomach. Fine. He wasn't ill. Just... having an allergic reaction to meat. Wonderful.
"So, what do you do back where you come from, Badou?" Change the subject, talk about something else, don't look at his plate.
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"I'm a Private Investigator." Plus occasional intermediary, whipping boy, hitman, and grocery store clerk. "Mostly."
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"But a private investigator. That must be an interesting job," Artemis took another sip of water. "Do you deal in unfaithful spouses, or mafia rings?" he joked.
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"Both." Badou replied, grinning. It was damn uncanny that he managed to bag it in one go. "Preferably not at the same time. Ever again."
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"At the same time... I could barely handle the Russian mafiya, but an unfaithful spouse would have been far too much."
Considering that the unfaithful spouse, in that situation, would have been his father.
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If that was the case, his first guess about Artemis might be right too.
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It hadn't been the smoothest of operations, to be certain, but in the end his father had returned home safely--and a changed man at that. Artemis was beginning to see how near-death experiences had an effect on a man.
"And I'm sure there's something I haven't done. Like taking over a small country."
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He remembered his steak and cut of more of it, reminding himself to eat between snatches of conversation. "It's because you've already taken over a large one, right? When I was thirteen my biggest accomplishment was learning how to knit - and if you laugh I swear I'll choke you with this fork."
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"Oh," Artemis blinked. "And I haven't taken over a large country either, but it is on the list," he joked. "Now, why did you learn to knit? I haven't figured it out myself."
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Or maybe Artemis had enough self-preservation instinct to avoid risking death-by-fork.
"I was raised by a delinquent." Badou replied flatly. "I figured I should pick up anything that might be useful. Knitting was slow and boring as hell, but he bet me I couldn't learn how to do it and I was a stupid kid."
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That was one of the better things about being his age. People didn't expect what he could deliver. Though the fairy world was beginning to catch on. Humans were really dumb, weren't they?
"And those who believe that they have no potential, that they are worth nothing, end up being worthless in the end."
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He was starting to understand Artemis, or at least that part of him. Being constantly underestimated meant he could and would prove everyone wrong as long as it was within his power. No wonder talking to him in the beginning felt like picking a fight.
His steak finished, he finally took a sip of the water to help it down.
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Artemis might think it was all of that, but that wasn't the way he saw it at all. He'd learned his lessons a little too late, roughly at knife point, and he was still the kind of person who lived too much in the past. The most he'd accomplished was playing into a prank and not falling for the same one twice.
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