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 didn't run into anything," Valyn said, cutting up his breakfast meat. "I slept through the night. What in the name of the ancestors did you do, to wake up feeling so miserable?"

Shadow didn't look as though he were freshly injured, after all. But Valyn's protectiveness of his cousin kicked in, worry beginning to blossom in his stomach.

"I'm not sure," Shadow shrugged. "Unless I've taken to running around this place asleep, I don't have any memories of leaving my room last night. But something just feels... off."

Shadow gave Valyn a serious look. He was afraid that whatever Lord Dyran had done to him here had long lasting effects. "Does anything seem to be missing to you?"

"Considering I stayed in my room, the only thing I missed were the monsters." Valyn glanced around the dining hall, but he couldn't say he was left with any sort of nagging feeling.

"Everything seems the same to me," he responded, noting his cousin's serious expression. "Even the food is food we've had before. There are new prisoners, but I can't imagine that would leave you with any sense of something missing." He frowned. "You don't suppose something happened to you last night that you aren't aware of?"

"I would think that if something did happen to me they would want me to remember it," Shadow replied sourly. "Perhaps I'm just getting ill. I don't know. It's probably nothing and I'm worrying you about it."

He looked around the room once more, searching for Keman or Shana's face. "I take it you haven't seen Keman or Shana since yesterday, then?"

"You could be falling ill," Valyn agreed, with a small nod. "This many humans all kept in close quarters, germs are bound to thrive." At least that was one problem Valyn didn't have to worry about.

"No, not since yesterday. Ah, Keman had a visitor session, it left him greatly shaken. I spoke to him a little, but...I felt it best to just leave him and Shana alone." He wasn't very good with the emotional conversations. With Shadow it was getting easier, but....

"And I believe Shana's upset with me yet again."

"Again?" Shadow asked, truly not surprised that Valyn had said the wrong thing and sent her into a mood. "What did you say to her this time? Or was it something she said to you? Do I need to speak with her to soothe her ruffled feathers?"

"I have no idea." Valyn ran a hand through his hair. "This time, I honestly don't. I told her I'd made up my mind to pursue her, and she became irritated. She kept saying I couldn't just make up my mind, we needed to discuss things...."

He shook his head.

"We've discussed everything. Many times, in great detail, and often loudly. I don't understand women, Shadow, I don't. I thought she wanted this. I thought she'd be pleased." He paused. "Should I have given her more flowers?"

Shadow laughed and reached over, putting his hand on Valyn's own. "I don't think flowers would have made a difference," he said, though he was amused and even a little touched that his cousin would think of that. "Shana... is complicated. That's an understatement but it's how she is. She isn't like the elven ladies at home or even the concubines. She's strong willed and stubborn and wants what she pleases. Did you say that you would 'pursue her'? Is that exactly how you put it?

"Ancestors no," Valyn said, shaking his head. "I said...woo. Or court. I used the words women tend to prefer, I was very careful. She's been pursuing me for months, but the moment I agree to it...she turns on me."

He was at a loss.

"Ancestors forbid I ever have to get married, Shadow, I don't know if I'd be able to stand it."

Shadow laughed loudly, practically dissolving into tears. The serious look on Valyn's face just made the situation more humorous and it took a few minutes before Shadow was able to pull himsef together once more.

"That's why you have me," he said with a grin, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Whatever you do to offend your lady fair I'll put things right. You have my word on that."

Valyn nearly scowled at his cousin. This was hardly a matter for humor! It was serious, and he had no idea what to do.

"Shadow, this isn't funny. It's taken me a great deal to work out my intentions towards Shana, and I had hoped this was the end of it. I don't even know what she has to discuss with me. She wouldn't even tell me beforehand." And it was driving him mad.

"And life would be a great deal easier if I could just marry you."

"You should just marry me and be done with it," Shadow mused, still smiling at Valyn. "You would save yourself a lot of headaches. You wouldn't have to worry about courting or wooing any lady since you would already be married off. Harem girls are much easier to bed, anyway."

He nudged Valyn beneath the table playfully. "You should know by now that Shana is just as stubborn as you are. Whatever it is she needs to speak to you about I'm sure she's not so angry with you not to tell you. Just be gentle with her. For as much as she has elf blood running through her veins she grew up far from elven society. What seems straightforward to you may seem too blunt and harsh for her. Give her some time. I'm sure she'll come around."

"No she won't." Keman's voice was totally devoid of emotion, but his hands were shaking. They were clutching the mostly-empty tray so tightly that the knuckles had gone completely white.

Shana wasn't at breakfast, and though part of him wanted to believe that everything was okay, that he just kept missing her, but there was no ignoring the increasingly persistent feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. And after everything that had happened to him in the past twenty-four hours, why not? Why not take the one person he loved most from him? This place had already taken the rest of his family. Shana was just icing on the cake.

"I went to her room last night, and it was like she was never even there. If she doesn't show up this morning, then Shana's gone."

"It seems we do nothing but give one another time," Valyn muttered, before Keman joined them. He glanced up, his expression registering confusion before anything else.

"Keman, what in the name of the ancestors are you talking about?" That was ridiculous. They'd just been speaking with Shana less than 24 hours ago. The idea that she was 'gone' was preposterous. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation for last night..."

Shadow could see that the dragon was clearly very upset. He stood up and shifted over, making room for Keman.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Shadow asked, confused. "How could she be gone? She was here yesterday, wasn't she?"

"Yes, she was, but she isn't here today," Keman replied running his hands through his hair distractedly. "I don't know, I can't explain it. I'm sure that there is a logical explanation for last night, but I can't shake this feeling that there's something wrong. It...it feels exactly like when she was banished, only worse. I can't think."

Valyn said nothing. He looked down at his breakfast, his face unreadable. He knew that it wasn't strange or unheard of for people to just vanish. But it had yet to happen to anyone he knew. Not even in passing. Oh, he supposed perhaps it had happened to someone he'd only spoken with once, but that was far different.

Loss wasn't a concept Valyn was terribly familiar with. Slaves died all the time, but he was used to that. And while he was certainly compassionate towards slaves in general, that was what it was. A general sense of emotion. He had certainly held fondness for certain ones, but when it came to actual closeness...

All he'd had for so long was Shadow. And now Keman and Shana. And he'd never had to deal with any sense of personal loss before.

"I see," he finally said, though his words were rather cold.

"What?" Shadow said, feeling something close to panic in his chest. His headache, the sense of something missing - it was all beginning to make sense and he wished to the gods and Ancestors that it didn't. He looked between Valyn and Keman, the sinking feeling growing worse as Valyn's face grew cold and distant.

"Where did she go?" Shadow asked. "Is it like what happened to me? If so then we're going to get her back right now!"

Keman sighed and put his head in his arms. He didn't want to deal with this. He'd put a notice up on the bulletin board just in case, but deep down he knew that nothing was going to come of it. Shana was gone, and it was all his fault. He'd been so selfish yesterday, oly thinking about his troubles and the visitors he'd gotten. He should've noticed she was gone earlier, should've looked for her harder last night instead of avoiding it completely.

He should have protected her.

"People here just...disappear. Or...or die." Like Renji. "I don't...I-I don't know. I just don't. I was supposed to look out for her." I failed her.

"There's no way to fight the power of this place."

It was Valyn's single contribution to the conversation, really. He was too busy trying to understand the fact that Shana was gone. She wasn't going to flirt with him anymore, tease him anymore, ask if he was alright anymore. He'd never know what on earth it was she wanted to talk to him about.

It was something a bit larger than he was used to comprehending.

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Day 37: Breakfast

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