Day 21: Lunch

[totallytheseme.livejournal.com]

Hikaru and Kaoru had been so caught up in their little game that they initially hadn't heard the intercom go off. The new "ding" system was far less jarring than the old SCREECH, and as such, wasn't as easily heard, even in a place as quiet as the library. All too soon, the nurses came to separate the twins and take them to the next activity--lunch.

It only felt like a few minutes since breakfast, somehow, and yet Hikaru was starved. The lunch selection was ridiculously Americanized food of the "Pan Asian" genre, as bad as when his family had wanted Japanese food in California and had gone to the "nicest" restaurant in the English language guidebook. He cringed visibly when the surly cafeteria worker poured sauce on his rice--which was supposed to be plain--but...food was food, and he wasn't feeling terribly picky right now. At least it smelled all right.

One of the good things about being the first one into the cafeteria was having his pick of the tables. Hikaru chose one of the larger ones, saving seats for Kaoru, Tamaki, and (in a fit of hopefulness) Haruhi.

He hoped they'd come soon. He hated being alone.

Comments

[damned-ivy.livejournal.com]

"Even without my chi, I'm hardly defenseless. Besides, I have rather limited experience with weapons, if you'll recall. I'd likely do more harm than good." Sanzo should know that Hakkai was more than just his chi techniques. Qi-gong was a complete discipline, for all that it had its flashier elements.

Not that anything short of a chi blast was likely to stop something like the monster they'd run into last night.

Something else occured to him, bringing the amused and mocking smile back. "I also wouldn't have thought weapons would be so common in a place like this. You speak as if they could be found around every corner."

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

Sanzo already knew that Hakkai had more than enough experience in hand-to-hand, but he also didn't see how much good it would do against some of the creatures here. Especially if the number of nurses that night had been anything to go by.

Damned near perfect imposter or the real thing, Hakkai's special brand of sarcasm was something else entirely.

"One wouldn't have also thought that the doors unlocking at night would be common either," Sanzo replied wryly. "But it does allow you free reign at night. One of the other patients here mentioned something about looking for a tranq gun in the medwing here."

Sanzo didn't mention the run-in with the group near the Sun Room several nights ago and getting a hold of that pistol. It would lead to too many questions, one of which would result in him giving away the fact that he no longer had the gun anymore.

[damned-ivy.livejournal.com]

Hakkai's special brand of humor was a thing to be marveled at, if only in horror that he actually finds it funny.

"No, and one wouldn't think anyone would go to this much trouble to convince people they were crazy. This place is just full of surprises, isn't it?" Surprises that seemed to enjoy cornering them in dark corridors at night.

He considered that. "A tranq gun? I'm afraid guns are more your department than mine. The scorpion we encountered last night, though... it would take more than one hit to take something like that down."

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

"I never got the chance to get to a tranq gun. We were surrounded by these...things," Nurses wasn't even close to doing them justice. Just the memory of those vacant eyes, the lids stapled upon was enough the make Sanzo's mouth tighten with distaste.

"A scorpion?"

The last scorpions he remembered seeing was back in that desert where the bitch poisoned him. But those things had been small; a single stomp would have been enough. A gun would be overkill.

[damned-ivy.livejournal.com]

"Surrounded? So the things here run in packs, too. That could complicate things." He had years of experience at reading Sanzo, so he could pick up on the fact that there was something worse involved than just being attacked. Sanzo hadn't so much as batted an eyelid at some of the things that had attacked them. Whatever he'd run into here must be bad.

"A scorpion, yes. One the size of a large dog. Fortunately, it didn't seem to enjoy bright light very much, so a simple shield deterred it for a short while. Long enough."

And then he'd felt the pull. He'd left the others behind, but they'd been starting to run last he'd seen them. On some level, he should probably feel bad for that. Ah, well, he'd just add it to the pool of guilt later.

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

A scorpion the size of a fucking dog? A tranq gun probably couldn't have taken it down, even if someone'd managed to get in more than one shot. Sanzo had doubts that the pistol would have brought it down in time either.

And Hakkai's chi had been weakened. It was just a guess, but Sanzo was willing to bet that over-exerting himself like that was the reason for the foggy memory and unsteadiness.

Sanzo frowned,"You were lucky."

[damned-ivy.livejournal.com]

"Oh, quite. Then again, luck does tend to follow us around." Usually bad luck, granted, but who's counting?

He laughed, whether in true or feigned embarrassment it was hard to tell. It all went back to pushing boundaries. Somehow, Hakkai had never quite understood that he should be as worried about himself during fights as he was about his friends.