damned_institute | Day 37: Breakfast

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Day 37: Breakfast

[for Sylar, I believe]

At the sound of the intercom, Wally jerked awake and blinked around at the room. He’d fallen asleep. He should have been up and keeping an eye open for ZEX, but he’d fallen asleep waiting on his bed.

“Idiot,” he groaned, ruffling his hair and sighing in annoyance. “Way to help a guy out, hotshot.” Hopefully ZEX hadn’t dropped by and thought he’d left or something, or wouldn’t be too mad at him for just forgetting about it like that. If he was lucky, he’d be able to catch up with the other patient at some point and explain what had happened.

Rolling himself a little awkwardly out of the bed, Wally took the opportunity to stretch his injured leg and test how well it was holding up. It was feeling a bit better, not so much that he could abandon his crutch or that it didn’t pull painfully if he wasn’t careful, but better. Tony had apparently made it through the night in one piece as well, which was a relief. He really didn’t feel comfortable about the thought of his roommate wandering about on his own with an injured arm. Not when Wally himself could relax and fall asleep in the apparent safety of their room.

Yeah, he wasn’t going to let himself forget that one in a hurry.

It was at that moment that the door swung open to admit one of the nurses. She seemed surprised to find him awake and ready to go already, but smiled warmly. “Hungry, are we Mr. West? Well in that case, let’s get you to the cafeteria. The staff have provided some delicious French Toast as well as a range of other foods I’m sure you’ll like. Now will you be needing a hand with your leg, dear?”

“No thanks, I can handle it,” Wally replied, smiling back. After all, it probably wasn’t the nurses’ fault that this place was so messed up, so it wasn’t like picking fights with them would do anything. With a cheery wave goodbye, Wally slowly made his way to the cafeteria, keeping a tight grip on his crutch all the while. Obtaining a plate of food was only slightly less difficult than it had been yesterday – he didn’t have the painkillers to work around this time – but he managed well enough, coming away from the buffet with a tray containing a plate piled high with slices of French Toast and slathered in maple syrup, butter, and sugar, as well as a glass of juice. Not quite as good as some coffee would be right now, but the sugar would hopefully make up for it. And, with how few people were here at the moment, he could afford to take more food than might have been considered ‘normal’ – he’d have most of it gone by the time anyone came to keep him company, then he could just worry about how many extra serves would be allowed before he aroused suspicion.

Feeling pretty happy with how things were looking so far, Wally hummed faintly to himself as he dug in to his breakfast.

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"I...can imagine you would." Eileen, having never been anything but human, couldn't imagine it was too great an inconvenience. At least there were still opposable thumbs in the equation. Get rid of those, then there was a problem.

But watching ZEX eat....

"Um. Do you need any help? With your breakfast, I mean?" Alright, so maybe it was an inconvenience. Eileen tried to imagine what it would be like to suddenly not have the limbs and shape she was used to. She couldn't.

"Well, we'll just have to keep working on getting out. Nothing's impossible."

"It's been interesting, definitely, even from a purely scientific standpoint." Not that ZEX spent most of his time looking at humans with a dispassionate, analytical eye. "And I suppose it does make interaction with your species easier... my natural form seems to..." Searching for a word. "It has a tendency to make most humans uncomfortable. Or at least, the less open-minded humans uncomfortable." ZEX sighed and looked at his hands. "A human body certainly has its drawbacks though..."

ZEX blinked at her request. Any excuse to be touched by a human was a good one, in his opinion, even if he was gradually getting the hang of things. "Ah, yes, if you'd be willing. Human food is very strange to me! I never gave much thought to how your fangs might be used until I became human..."

If he'd become human. Not now. "Yes, I'm sure you're right. There must be some escape from here... it's just a matter of finding it."

"Well, here." Eileen scooted around to sit beside ZEX, to hopefully help him eat his breakfast. It was the least she could do - he'd been so nice to her, when they first met. "At least you can look at it scientifically," she went on, reaching for ZEX's plastic utensils. "And you're probably collecting all sorts of data on it." And he seemed to like that sort of thing, so it couldn't be all bad.

"And these are very handy for eating." She held them up, smiling. "It's easier to cut food with a fork and knife than just using your teeth. Um. May I?" She let one of her hands hover over one of his, not about to just start touching him without asking first.

Hmm, she was coming around to sit next to him! How marvelous... that was a welcome distraction from less pleasant thoughts. She had the same slender shoulders that he had... perhaps that was not a gender-typed feature of humans after all? Or perhaps ZEX's human body was unusual somehow...

For a moment, doubts again rose, but he fought them away. "Yes, I've always been very fascinated with your species." There, this topic always made him feel better. "I had little chance to really study you in detail before I came here... if nothing else, this unpleasant experience has at least given me that." A smile at the thought of his activities last night. "And I've learned a great deal since coming here..."

ZEX would have nodded, if the motion didn't make him extremely nervous. "I see..." And his smile inching into unconsciously-lecherous territory. "Of course, please go ahead."

"Okay...." Eileen gave a small laugh and put her hands over ZEX's, guiding them to the utensils. "Hold them like this," she said, her fingers over ZEX's to show him how to hold the fork and knife.

"It's a good thing we're not eating Chinese food," she joked. "I never could figure out how to use chopsticks." She still wasn't sure if she completely believed ZEX - some things were too much for even her mind to grasp - but even if he was just confused, he was a nice person and she liked to help people.

Even with something so small.

Hee! He felt better already. Her skin had such an interesting texture... at least this body's heightened sensitivity had its benefits. He followed her directions, although he fumbled a bit at times to hopefully keep contact between them.

Although... "What is a 'Chinese'?" ZEX asked, curious. It sounded intriguing. "I don't think they've served one here before... are chopsticks a kind of condiment for it?" Humans did eat very bizarre things, after all.

"Oh!" Eileen laughed a little bit. "China is a place. Chinese food is just food from China. It's eaten with two sticks instead of forks and knives. A lot of Asian cultures use them." It was good food, Eileen had just never managed to master the art of using chopsticks to eat.

"I can't remember if they've ever served any here or not." She thought maybe they had, but it was hard to remember things like what food was served when.

"Okay, so just stab with the fork," Eileen guided ZEX's hand. "And cut a little piece off with the knife."

"A place on Earth?" It was difficult to remember at times that humans probably had a culture and society as complex and differentiated as his own... it was an almost intimidating thought. So much to learn! "Ah, a different region then, I see. Two sticks..." ZEX tried to picture what she described and failed. "As a utensil... one in each hand then." That made sense... well, sort of.

The most difficult part of holding any utensil was keeping his grip with all his fingers (did humans really need so many?), so he was glad for the assistance. More glad to have her sitting so close beside him though. "Hmm, I see... it really does seem like a great deal of work for humans to eat..." Ah, she was very lovely...

"A country," Eileen explained. She didn't mind explaining things, really. And it was nicer to explain silly things like how to eat with chop sticks than it was to talk about this place.

"And no, both of them are held in one hand. That's why it's such a pain. Some people just never get the hang of it. And the work doesn't seem like work at all once you have a little practice." She patted ZEX's hand and withdrew her own to focus on her own breakfast.

"I promise I won't laugh if it takes you a little bit," she swore, not wanting ZEX to feel as though she were judging him.

"I see..." ZEX again tried to picture what she described... two sticks in one arm, but what use would that be? After a moment he corrected himself... in a human hand, perhaps it would be different? He couldn't think of how that would work... perhaps they were stabbing implements, like the tined one? "Humans have so many tools for this kind of thing... you'd think having so many fingers would make them less necessary..."

Ah, she moved her hand! No more touching for now, unfortunately... but perhaps later... "Thank you." He tried to smile at her again, the motion still difficult and unnatural when given thought. "Human hands and fingers are very foreign to me... but I'm gradually learning, thanks to help from kind humans such as yourself." And when he stopped thinking about it, his smile did look a bit more natural, although probably not the way he intended. "Mmm, and knowing a human as beautiful as you, that can only be fortunate, despite everything else that has happened here."

"We're tool building animals," Eileen agreed. Humans had made so many things to do things for them. It was really amazing, when you thought about it. "And sometimes it's a pain to use fingers for things. Like eating messy food."

She was glad it seemed that ZEX was catching on. No matter what he was, or who he was, he was very nice and Eileen liked him.

"Oh! You're very sweet," she managed to the compliment, flushing a little bit. She didn't think she looked particularly good, in drab gray and minus any makeup. He was probably just being nice.

"Yes, it certainly seems so." ZEX looked at his hands. "It's amazing to me, that you can manage so many small limbs at once, and coordinate them as well. One would think that'd get too complicated over time, but humans do seem to very resourceful."

She changed color! That was encouraging. ZEX's smile grew a bit broader. "Mmm, it's my pleasure, you know. I adore your species, and I haven't met nearly enough females, I don't think. Particularly any as striking as yourself."

"Oh, um...thank you." Eileen's blush deepened, and she had to wonder if he was...well...flirting with her. Which was just weird. One, they were prisoners in a bizarre mental institution, and two, as far as Eileen could tell, they weren't even the same species.

But weirder things had happened.

"There's...plenty of women here," she managed, searching her mind for an appropriate response.

Hee! So far she seemed rather receptive! How fortunate... it was much easier this way, although he did enjoy the chase. And this certainly did wonders for his mood.

"That may be true..." ZEX was still grinning, although he wasn't aware of it. "Although I haven't had as many opportunities to speak with them as I had hoped for. Which is why I'm very grateful for your assistance, and your time." ZEX took a bite of his food. "I do hope we can get to know each other better..." He smiled at the thought of how.

Eileen wet her lips a little nervously. "I'd really like it if we could become good friends," she said, feeling that was a safe enough answer. It wasn't like she had anyone back home - sure, there was Henry but...well, that was just a weird situation. And it was probably some psychological thing. He'd rescued her and risked his life for her, of course she'd feel some affection for him.

And he was cute.

But the idea of flirting and whatnot here was just weird.

"And anytime you need help with anything, I'm happy to do what I can."

"Wonderful! Hee! Hee! Hee!" ZEX was delighted at the prospect, and it was very obvious. "One can never have too many friends in a place like this. I would be very happy to be your... friend."

How he wished he had his head feelers! He could really convey his mood properly otherwise... he'd have to trust his human face to do it for him, however it decided to do so. "And I will gladly call upon you if I ever need assistance... if you'd be willing to give it." And what things she could assist him with! This was going very well...

"I'm always happy to help," Eileen repeated, deciding maybe it was just some cultural thing. She was sure ZEX wasn't trying to be creepy. It was just one of those things - they came from different places, they had different societies, different ways of speaking.....

Hey, at least he seemed happy.

"And you're right, it's good to have friends around here. I don't think I'd be okay here, if not."

ZEX was still very pleased at having made a new human friend here, and while he hadn't really posed the question just yet, he hoped she'd be open to some of the experimentation that he'd done with some of his other friends. Surely things weren't so bad!

"Yes, it's very good to have friends here." ZEX smiled a bit, although it faltered for a moment. "It does keep one safe at night, of course, although I must admit... back home, I did not have a great deal of friends either. Much less any humans." Such a shame, the slave shield...

"But many things have changed here." Struggling not to think about that too hard, and to keep his smile.

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Day 37: Breakfast

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