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

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

What Aidou said meant, in effect, that Landel's was essentially starving him of necessary sustenance. The idea held an interesting implication -- if Aidou did manage to find a regular source of sufficient amounts of blood, would he end up somehow less repressed in terms of power? Did that mean the Institute allowed a significant difference in the amount of power each patient retained?

The other answer held implications of its own: namely that Aidou was essentially attacking other patients in secret. The vampire was far too cautious with the information that he was a vampire for another option. In order to minimize the number of people who knew, Aidou couldn't afford to establish several 'feeding' relationships, however many kind souls in the Institute might have volunteered to help him.

So if he hadn't incurred similar debts, the most logical conclusion was that he'd found some way to avoid being pinned down for repayment.

Which led to the obvious question of -- "Can you be traced by your bites?" Sasuke asked, and forced himself not to think of Orochimaru. Compared to that Sannin, Aidou was almost benevolent. "Do you leave any kind of mark?"

[idolism]

There was one thing he hadn’t yet lost a grasp on, and that was his anonymity. So far, no one had any real idea of his true dealings, especially not when they found out that, “There are other things calling themselves vampires and the like in the prisoner population, aside from me. By excluding themselves, they might be able to narrow down who did it if they know who the others are. Otherwise, there’s no real way to trace a bite…”

Or else it would be much easier to connect a vampire to a victim, and flood the execution lists with names. Not so. A lot of the time there wouldn’t be memories of the feeding at all. Sometimes not even a bite.

He considered Sasuke’s neck without shame, though undeniably, there was an underlying sense of temptation. “May I?” he asked perfunctorily, schooling his voice. Reaching out to touch Sasuke was perhaps foolish for various reasons, not the least of which was knowing that vibrant, fragile human life was so close under his hands. It gave his hunger a new voice. But he only touched Sasuke’s chin with two cool fingers, so as to tip his head away and reveal the bite. The boy’s skin felt almost hot to the touch--a reflection on Aidou’s state, more than Sasuke’s.

And there, nearly hidden in the shadow of Sasuke’s collar was the spot he’d sunk his fangs into last night. Without thinking, he drew a fingertip along where he knew either hole to be, barely touching. The skin wasn’t even upraised. Sasuke had healed well. Instead of a new wound, the flesh was slightly pink, with hardly a mark.

“They’re already closed,” he said absently, withdrawing his hand without needing to remind himself.

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

Sasuke hadn't noticed Alucard's presence in a long while, but the news that there were other vampires (that Aidou didn't approve of, judging by his tone) was hardly a surprise. It was curious that this many of them were managing to sustain themselves without gathering some degree of notice. Whether a mark was left or not, it was somewhat difficult to forget the experience of losing large quantities of blood.

He hadn't quite expected Aidou to touch him right after asking if he could, but if he'd been able to control himself last night when already injured, he definitely should have been able to control himself now. Sasuke allowed the touch, tilting his chin obligingly enough for the examination.

That didn't make him any less tense when Aidou's finger traced out the spot where the bitemarks should have been, if there were any. It was uncomfortably close to where the juuin lay on his skin.

"Good," he responded shortly to the conclusion. It'd be a good deal easier hiding the fact of a vampire bite if there were no fang wounds.

[idolism]

As though reading Sasuke’s thoughts, Aidou’s hand hovered over his shoulder, caught in a reluctant retreat. No, his situation was never far from his mind--how careful he had to be if he wanted to stay unknown, how despicable it was to have to acknowledge others who so wrongfully stole the title of ‘vampire’, how constant his appetite was--all made more pressing when he’d been injured and somewhat fed by the very person sitting beside him.

Always more to think about, like how he was going to procure blood come nightfall, and how he was going to last the day without breaking his calm…

The pads of his fingers came down on the area where he knew the unnatural black smudge on pale skin was located. “I noticed you have a mark of some kind.”

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

Sasuke wondered for a moment if Aidou wouldn't benefit from something similar to the scheme he'd set up for Kyon -- a regular 'donor' every couple of nights, without taking enough blood that the other patient wasn't able to function. Still, the vampire had been managing on his own so far. If Aidou needed such a thing to survive, he'd have arranged it.

It was hardly Sasuke's business, anyway, as long as the vampire's effectiveness wasn't called into question. Not like he had any personal interest invested in Aidou's well-being.

That train of thought was conveniently paused when Aidou actually tapped Orochimaru's seal. Sasuke had considered the fact that Aidou had probably seen it, and its deliberate shape could hardly be passed off as a birthmark.

It wasn't like he cared much, and Aidou had spoken about himself already. Sasuke nodded, reaching up to tug his collar down enough for the mock-Sharingan to show. "It's a curse seal," he explained shortly. "Normally it's a source of power, but it's useless here."

A pause, and then with a slightly bitter amusement, he added, "Also the result of a bite."

[idolism]

Ah… not a mark without meaning. The vampire tilted his head, considering. Given its position, somehow the fact that it was related to a bite of some kind was unsurprising.

He made an airy, thoughtful noise at first. “I see. Someone with power gave you that.”

Seals that required such intricate work either suppressed something, or released it. He didn’t think he needed to say more than that; he had plenty of knowledge on the subject. Questions were unnecessary. Asking questions into Sasuke’s past was, too, a show of curiosity Aidou refused to give. Not then. Maybe not ever.

It was enough, wasn’t it?

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

Someone with power. It wasn't untrue. The way it was phrased reminded Sasuke of how little strength he'd had of his own back then -- that he'd had to find and rely on Orochimaru in order to reach a level where he might even consider being able to kill Itachi.

And now, in the Institute, Sasuke was weaker than he'd been when he was twelve. Even younger than that; he'd been able to hit moving targets with pinpoint accuracy since he was eight.

"Someone who was useful," he said, not bothering to confirm Aidou's statement out loud. The vampire knew, anyway. With a shrug (the curse seal was hardly relevant information in a place where he couldn't even rely on its power), Sasuke released his collar back to its proper place and found his glass of water.

Still needed extra hydration after the blood loss, however quickly Landel's healed things.

[idolism]

It was weak to rely on a weak creature’s power, so Aidou didn’t put much stock in Sasuke’s words, as expected. At the very least, Sasuke didn’t seem the type to disagree with that line of thinking.

He was, if anything, a human more easily understood as time wore on. Whether or not Aidou had an interest.

With the most important issues touched on, if not turned over and pulled apart fully, the vampire’s reasons for approaching Sasuke were satisfied. In the light of day, he’d gotten to see what the effect the events of last night had had--through what went unsaid as much as what did--and with Naruto’s curiosity being waylaid… The vampire pushed his chair back and stood, brushing off the swell of pain. The dangerous knife’s edge he was paused on wasn’t going to dull for a while; he had no desire to entertain others and strain his already fragile mood.

“I think I know what next to do in the basement. We’ll discuss it tomorrow, at the earliest.” Later, when he could spare the later half of the night’s results some thought. “You can leave a note if you need to speak with me before then.”

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

Aidou seemed like he had gotten what he needed to know, and Sasuke was through with any questions he happened to have at the moment. (The main problem he was dealing with now was how to handle Naruto, but Aidou had already provided his suggestion.) The scrape of the chair confirmed Sasuke's thoughts.

He had been about to nod to acknowledge the vampire's departure when Aidou spoke again, giving Sasuke pause.

It was less that Sasuke couldn't work in a group without being the leader -- more that he'd grown too accustomed to leading. It remained true that Aidou had been through more of the basement than Sasuke, but Sasuke had been the one to complete the trial last night.

"I'll contact you if new information comes up, then," he said, voice and words conveying a subtle, but clear, message: Sasuke contributed just as much as Aidou, and he wasn't planning to be any sort of subordinate. If Aidou wanted Sasuke to be part of any long-term goals, they would definitely be discussing as equals.

And even if Aidou didn't intend to return to the basement himself, that didn't mean Sasuke couldn't find others to explore the area further.

[idolism]

The vampire's upper lip curled at Sasuke's meaning, the sudden smile edged with a kind of disdainful viciousness. But his expression didn't hint at any pique. In fact, he looked almost amused. But then the change in mien disappeared as suddenly as it had come on. Only his eyes continued to twinkle, coldly, like two bright chips of ice.

That the boy would say something like that to Aidou merely proved how little he knew.

He cast one last look at the back of Sasuke's head, before sliding his hand along the back of his chair and turning away. "With what we each have in our possession now, keeping each other informed is an even smarter venture," Aidou agreed obligingly. It was as much a sportive dig as anything. Had Sasuke forgotten? A sword in Sasuke's possession and a shield in Aidou's. Two equal parts to a puzzle.

He wasn't going to be told his place. They had the same advantage.

But before he'd taken more than a step away, he paused. The barbed mirth gave away to contemplation. Then, eventually: "The way you fight... you remind me a little of a hunter." By the tone of his voice, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "They have their own talents."

Aidou didn't pause again. He wanted to get clean.

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

Aidou sounded like he'd gotten the point, although he also didn't refrain from reminding Sasuke that they both held different parts of the same puzzle. It wasn't like Sasuke denied that Aidou had his importance, so he let it go.

He'd assumed that that was the extent of the conversation, especially since Aidou had stood to leave already. When the vampire spoke again it took Sasuke by surprise -- especially since that sounded almost like approval. At least in Aidou terms.

Before he could ask what the hell a hunter was -- beyond the intuitive guess of 'one who hunts' (perhaps one who hunted vampires, given the situation and Aidou's world?), Aidou was gone.

Still, Sasuke turned back to his breakfast in a slightly better mood. Not that Sasuke needed, wanted, or cared about anyone's approval. It was that the conversation had been useful and informative, and he was without a doubt finally making progress.