Day 37: Breakfast

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

[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.

Comments

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

She relaxed a little when Gin said nothing, no insult or smart retort or needling comment towards Kira. She doubted that either of them would be willing to accept it right then. Which was good because she actually liked him in one piece and would hate to be forced to disassemble him forcefully because he couldn't keep his mouth shut at inopportune moments.

She sighed softly, understanding Kira's reaction all too much. Out of everyone, Renji had been able to come back from damn near everything that had been thrown at him. She supposed that Rukia's disappearance had injured him more than any of them had been able to account for.

"I don't know the details," she said. "I still need to talk to taicho but, from what I've seen on the bulletin, he died protecting a couple of the humans here." It was how he would have wanted to die, but it didn't make it hurt any less for those left behind.

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

It was a pain to keep from saying anything. So instead of feigning interested in the conversation, he casually picked at his food, as though this conversation had nothing really to do with him. Whatever reason Abarai had, it still seemed like a stupid thing to have done, throwing his life away like that. And for all they knew, death here might just release their soul and send them right back to Soul Society. Doubtful, truly, but it was still a possibility. They, of all people, understood death best.

[loyal-despair.livejournal.com]

The shock of hearing that Renji was dead was enough to overpower any possible realization that Gin was actually keeping quiet. Kira stared down at the food in front of him, mostly unseeing, and tried desperately not to imagine what that death must have looked like.

If this place could take away their powers up to the point where someone like Renji could be killed, then what chance did he have? Renji had been brought to the brink of death again and again and had always come back ready to fight one more time. For him to be dead ... Kira couldn't even imagine what kind of enemy it must have been to do that.

"I see." It was all he could really say as the waves of despair rung through his skull. Despair, of course, tinged red by hate - transferred from his prior hatred of Gin to a sudden new target. This ... whatever that thing had been that killed one of his closest friends was quickly ascending the ranks of loathing in Kira's mind. (It landed neatly in fourth place, just below the traitorous captains.) He glanced back at Gin again - it may not have been you, but I'm sure you would have been happy to be the cause.

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

The conversation lapsed into uncomfortable silence for a few moments now that that awkward conversation had come to an end. What more could she really say on the topic? At least, what more could she say without making herself want to scream or cry more than she already did? She leaned over instead, grabbing the plate of food and starting to pick at it unenthusiastically. The fruit she ate, but the toast stuff seemed utterly unappealing at the moment.

Finally she turned her attention back to Kira. That couldn't be anything good to hear when first waking up in this place; that one of your best friends had died. "How much do you know about this place, Kira-kun?" she asked more quietly. "I've been here for two weeks now, I think."

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

Whatever Izuru might be feeling, at least for a few seconds, it wasn't directed at him. Not that Abarai appreciated it in the slightest, but Gin had actually helped him in the past. When his own captain abandoned him after the fight with the Ryoka, who had called in the fourth squad to heal him? It certainly wasn't Kuchiki. Ah well. Hadn't done much good in the long run, only to die pitifully here.

He was actually greatly interested in just where Izuru had been back on their home world. Or more importantly, what might be going on there. Yamada had mentioned that there was something big, but he hadn't said much more than that. Curiosity could be such a terrible thing. He was tempted to leave these two to their own conversation, but he also wanted to hear, just in case Izuru divulged some important detail.

"Two weeks, thereabouts," he agreed. "Me n' Rangiku got here th' same day."

[loyal-despair.livejournal.com]

"Only what you've told me," he said, not looking up from the plate before him. "And that everything I've ever known is apparently a lie." That he was a human, with living parents and no knowledge of Soul Society. That he had never attended the Academy and never met his friends. That he had never suffered a betrayal so hard and crushing that it nearly destroyed him, left him in a thousand razor-edged pieces on that rooftop after his fight with Matsumoto.

That he was, in one sense of the word, normal.

Kira continued ignoring Gin for the moment (although could he ever really ignore him, being so close by?) as he struggled to imagine what kind of enemy could possibly kill Renji, of all people, and tried not to picture what his friend's corpse must have looked like after that kind of fight.

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

That's what she'd figured. It looked like the introductory speech was left to her this time. She hated doing it, having to tell people that they were trapped and they'd better find someone to stick with because otherwise they'd end up injured or worse. She nodded slowly. "They'll tell you that what you've lived is a delusion," she agreed. "That you're really a human with a different name. Sometimes they even have 'visitors' to back it up. I haven't had one but from what I've heard, they're people who you know, down to almost the very last detail. And they'll tell you the same thing as the nurses."

She tapped her fingers against the edge of the table idly. "At night though, all of the pretenses fall away. The door to your room will unlock, the Head Doctor mocks us and there are monsters. Not Hollows, although there are a couple of malevolent spirits here at least that I've encountered."

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

Nothing interesting. Just the usual welcome stuff and the advice that only fools wouldn't take. How could anyone truly believe that any of the lies here were real? It was pathetic.

He listened though, only half paying attention. Izuru stood a better chance of actually believing what was said if it came from Rangiku at any rate. Just as Yamada had hardly believed a word he'd said. Though that one had been much more fun to tease when he'd first arrived.

"I don't imagine Izuru'd be fallin' for somethin' like that anytime soon," he commented. While the temptation might be there, would Izuru really let himself fall into another web of lies. He made it sound innocent enough, but the other shinigami could take it as they liked.

[loyal-despair.livejournal.com]

Gin just had to get in another word, didn't he? Kira's ire seethed and swelled as he mulled over Matsumoto's words, thinking about a nighttime filled with danger and a daytime filled with lies. It had already started, and he'd almost been shaken by it - foolish of him. Weak. He chastised himself briefly for it, but didn't dwell for too long. Otherwise ... otherwise, the lie might start looking better than the truth.

He was sure it had happened before. He could name several people who, in his place, would have swallowed the lie gladly and gone on with it. But he would never do that. There had been enough lies already, spun into delicate, razorlike webs by the man sitting only a few seats down from him. The man who was bringing those lies back up in such an innocent manner, as if it was a compliment instead of a sharp jab.

"Then we're free to do as we like at night?" he asked, one prevailing thought darting forward with a tiny spike of hope. If the doors unlocked at night and they could wander freely, then what was to stop him from finding Gin and finishing what he'd started?

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

That was not helping.

Rangiku's expression darkened at Gin's words, the jab at Kira. And it felt like a jab at her too, for always trusting Gin, for not having seen beyond his kindness to her. Scowling, she drove her elbow back into his stomach, gritting her teeth to keep herself from saying anything that she'd regret later on.

"Sort of," she agreed, answering Kira's question. "No-one has managed to escape yet, even if you do leave the grounds. We traveled a decent way last night, outside of the wall, but still woke up here in the morning. And there are some areas that are locked or heavily guarded of course."