Day 38: Lunch

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Soubi was beginning to feel the effects of a busy morning on a tired body. To make things worse, they were serving Tacos and Burritos. He could really do some with something a bit softer today. Blander. But it was hardly his biggest concern right now.

Having picked out his lunch, he looked for Ritsuka. He had to apologise, but these things usually ended up in bigger arguments, so, as could be expected, Soubi was a little nervous. Maybe they wouldn't find each other this shift. Maybe he had a little more time?

Soubi sat alone, being sure that his face was set in the expression that sent the girls at College the other way.

[He gots a Sheeny Beeny]

Comments

[notachick.livejournal.com]

[free]

Okita had spent the last shift resting. After his talk with Kaito and the rough night before, he'd needed it. The tightness in his lungs had gotten to him by the end of lunch and he'd been taken back to his room to rest for a bit. At least there, he'd been able to cough and sleep in peace. Now that the shift was over though, he was brought back out and lead into the cafeteria. He wasn't much for eating again, especially since his stomach hurt, but the food was something he recognized. Of course, that was just because they'd had it awhile ago, too.

Taking a burrito so he could dissect it again, Okita made his way into the nearly empty cafeteria. He glanced at the other occupant, but the man's face was nothing if completely unfriendly at the moment. Normally that wouldn't deter the swordsman, but today he was still tired. He found a seat toward the middle and sat down, facing the door so he could see who came in. Then he began pulling the burrito apart, bit by bit to see what was inside.

[quickdrawbkiddo.livejournal.com]

Beatrix vaguely wondered if she should start making a tally of the various 'robotic' beings in this place for her own amusement. She doubted this Rampage was about, but it might be worth her time to find out of Depth Charge really was as worked up about him as he seemed.

Taking her tray, the Bride was directed by her nurse to a table with a lone woman sitting at it, some excuse about not sitting alone given to her. She didn't care enough to argue, so she sat down. Peering over, her keen eyes noted that her first impression was wrong, that this was a man, despite his feminine appearance. She supposed it was enough to fool a good portion of the male populace. How amusing.

"It's better if you don't bother looking inside it," she stated in regards to the burrito. "Refried beans never make anything look appetizing."

[mizuhomaiden.livejournal.com]

Soubi's expression might have sent the girls from College away, but Sheena was somewhat immune to this face. After gathering her tray, a smug look on her face, she plopped herself down right next to Soubi.

"Heya," she said, bumping his shoulder with her own. "You wanted me? Here I am." It wasn't meant to be flirtatious, no matter how it sounded, but the ninja was in a good mood.

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Soubi's expression didn't improve for her cheerfulness. In fact, it got a little worse. Even the chance to tease her for her choice of words was unwanted right now.

Raine had been more troublesome than he'd hoped.

"You seem cheerful. Who's life have you been trying to ruin today?"

[no-barbarian.livejournal.com]

As strange a conversation as that had been, Teisel was in much better spirits now. He'd made what could turn out to be an excellent ally, he had a solid goal for nighttime rather than his usual aimless wandering, and he had a chance to do something useful, which, considering his currently fragile sense of self-worth, was not trivial. As long as he didn't screw anything up.

He hadn't really felt up to eating at breakfast, so he was good and hungry by now. Unable to decide which kind of meat he'd prefer, he ended up taking one taco of each, and some of the salad. He had missed breakfast. Finding an empty seat, he started with the chicken, since that was the most familiar (and therefore least speacial). He ate mechanically, still feeling pretty glum, but not as soul-crushingly bleak and depressed as he'd been earlier.

[bullygeneraleva.livejournal.com]

[[Someone set us up the Bonne!]]

Evangeline would never say something like 'hope springs eternal' except as perhaps a sarcastic castigation, to her naive apprentice or one of his idiot friends. Yet somehow, despite a long line of disappointing conversations ever since she'd arrived here, she found herself looking for someone to bother the second she was finished making up her plate from the buffet.

Boredom and a childish impulsiveness that had survived her immortality had a lot to do with it. So did the situation- any of the people she talked to today could just up and die tonight. That knowledge not only offered some solace when they were annoying, it invested otherwise mediocre conversation with meaning. The ability of humans to be trite and uninteresting even in the face of death was almost interesting itself.

Almost. She still wanted something better. She just wouldn't call that 'hope.'

She homed in on Teisel, whose gray hair loudly advertised his not-kid-ness. Way too many kids here. He was also about a mile tall, something that became annoyingly obvious as she sat down at his table and, courtesy of her little (ha, ha) Napoleon complex, tinged her greeting with a certain malice.

"Hey, Adamastor," she said with a superior smirk that made it plain she was teasing, "Don't look so gloomy. You'll bring down the whole room from up there."

Well, it was just moving the schedule up a bit. She was constitutionally incapable of being pleasant for more than a minute at a time anyway.

[scalyfishman.livejournal.com]

By all accounts, Depth Charge should have been, if not happy, then at least satisfied.

That made at least four people he'd asked to look out for X now- Lugnut, his roommate Matsuda, the man he'd met that night (Javert?) and now Arlene- with X himself possibly making himself known during the next shift. The net was tightening already, he could feel it, and he was going to be there when it closed on the mutant.

But none of that stopped Depth Charge from taking his sweet time getting from the Sun Room to the cafeteria for lunch. Dawdling along the corridor, 'forgetting' his journal, stopping to look out of every available window... all delay tactics, designed to prolong the time it took him to reach the cafeteria.

He really didn't want to see Blitzwing.

Partly because he knew the topic of conversation wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Slag, he could lay the facts out well enough, spin a little story to whoever asked about Colony Omicron, but actually discussing it? Forget it. That meant thinking about it. But mostly? Mostly he didn't want to admit he was wrong about the 'con. Depth Charge didn't like to be wrong. It opened far too many doors in himself that he didn't wasn't prepared to look into.

He couldn't put it off forever, though. Eventually, his nurse took his arm (gently but firmly) and led him to the cafeteria, put a little salad on a plate to pick at and sat him down at a table. Bring it on, Decepticon.

[lossofface.livejournal.com]

Talk about terrible timing - Blitzwing hadn't even caught the bald human's name before the nurses were rushing them both off again. Still, it couldn't complain; it shouldn't be that hard to contact the human over the bulletin board, if he learned anything new pertaining to explosives. And Blitzwing had every intention of learning as much as he could -- blowing this slagged place up wouldn't be nearly as satisfying as wrecking it with his own hands, but only just. Though, he reminded himself, it would be a bad idea do any lasting damage to the structure when he still didn't know where his body was stored. But that was all the more reason to keep an optic on the stranger! He could always sabotage the human if his plans got too grandiose...And in the meantime, a good explosion would go a long way to shaking up that smug slagger who kept making broadcasts on the intercom.

Letting the argument go for now, Blitzwing's attention was arrested by the sight of food he actually recognized: burritos! They'd use to feed Dr. Sumdac burritos, after the squishy scientist had made it clear just how much humans needed to eat -- by passing out mid-explanation. Admittedly, the stuff Blitzwing had eventually found for him (by way of - literally - knocking over a convenience store) had been frozen, but it amounted to the same thing, didn't it? Sumdac had seemed grateful enough -- Blitzwing had to try this!

Piling his plate with a small stack of the tortilla-wrapped food items, Blitzwing balanced his tray on one arm and held it close to his chest as he gave one of the burritos a try. The texture was nauseating, as always -- but once you got past how unnaturally soft it was, the burrito wasn't that bad! It was even kind of fun to suck the soft part out of it's shell, though he quickly reminded himself that it would be most efficient to eat it all regardless. He couldn't be like Lugnut, letting perfectly good food go to waste when his human body needed it to function. Somebody had to be the responsible one -- even if it was really, really boring.

Speaking of responsibility, wasn't he forgetting something? Something about lunch shift, and somebody he'd been talking to on the bulletin board...Oh, right! Depth Charge! He was supposed to meet the Maximal this shift; he'd completely forgotten in the wake of discovering that at least one human imprisoned here was planning to do interesting things with explosives. Such a tantalizing thought. But meeting the Maximal was bound to be interesting too, especially after the very interesting conversation they'd had on the bulletin board.

Decepticons weren't given to empathy, as a general rule, but Blitzwing had to admit it would be...well, interesting to actually meet someone who had experienced loss on something even approaching the same level he had. Especially since Depth Charge didn't seem to be coping with it very well. It'd been funny to see how angry he'd gotten -- Maybe Blitzwing should make him do it again? Hm, best wait and see how the conversation went, first. Lugnut seemed to think they might have a potential ally in the Maximal, and fool as he was it still might be worth looking into. And speaking of looking...

Blitzwing surveyed the cafeteria, trying to pick out any tall humans with blue hair. Fortunately it seemed to be a fairly rare color -- he hadn't realized humans even came in blue! -- so his search didn't take long enough to get boring.

"Depth Charge?" he asked coolly, just to be sure, as he loomed over the blue-haired human, now holding his tray normally with both hands. First impressions counted for so much, after all.

[diamondstorm]

Renamon had much on her mind when she came to the cafeteria, and it was safe to say that food was not one of them. She moved to a table near the wall and sat down, closing her eyes as she started a light meditation.

It wouldn't do very well if she was preoccupied when the person she was to interview showed up. She tried to focus her thoughts.

[Peter Petrelli =D]

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

While Peter's talk with Roland hadn't left him feeling much better, at least he had been able to actually tell someone about last night without having to go into the gross details. After the shift in the library, however, he made sure to check his bulletin post, and he did end up having to deal with some prying questions.

Along with a few implications that Elle deserved what she got, which left him confused and upset. While she had acted strangely at times, and giving him small shocks was apparently her idea of fun, that didn't necessarily mean she was better off dead. But then what did merit that amount of ruthlessness? Would Peter have it in him to kill Sylar if it came to that? Someone had basically responded and volunteered to help him do the deed, but now Peter was just conflicted.

If possible, he'd prefer to prevent the man somehow, stop him from murder without actually taking his life. But at this point, he had come far enough to wonder if that was a bit naive of him. He'd been willing to tell Claire that she had to kill him if it came down to it - why was it so hard to apply the logic to someone else?

These thoughts were all running through his head as Peter got his lunch - the Mexican food smelled good and reminded him of the cheap food he'd eaten while working his way through nursing school. Just as he was turning to find somewhere to sit, he suddenly remembered that he had someone to meet today. With everything that had been going on, he'd almost forgotten. He couldn't say he was up to talking about Nathan right now, but he wasn't going to stand the person up.

Looking for someone who fit the description he'd been given, Peter soon found the girl - except she was sitting with her eyes closed, like she was blocking out the rest of the cafeteria.

Not quite sure what to do, Peter stood there for a few seconds before he cleared his throat.

[windstwilight.livejournal.com]

Senna was doing a little bit better after the talk with Meche. Some of the sedative had worn off and she was able to walk almost fine she only ran into the wall once. Stomach growling angrily at her not eating earlier, she loaded her plate, and made it over to an empty table.

Not wasting any time, she started eating. Food was more important right now than any drama.

[Demyx!]

[sitard3d.livejournal.com]

Fortunately for Senna, the person who sat down across from her and grinned at her tried to actively avoid drama - and anything else that could lead to him being smacked by somebody - as much as he could. Some of the Nobodies liked the sensation of pain - liked any sensation, period - but he wasn't one of them.

"Hey, Senna," Demyx greeted her happily. "How're you doing?" He probably should've been looking for new friends to make today, instead of seeking out ones he'd already made, but...well, his continued sitarlessness made him want to just draw what comfort he could from people he already got along with. It wasn't like he needed to be any more on edge when he was already feeling impatient for another shot at the patients possession room the coming night.

[blurred-divide.livejournal.com]

Anya was usually attracting attention of some sort -- she was fairly hard to miss -- so the fact that Angel hadn't seen her since last night was...concerning.

But he wanted to talk to Willow first before he moved on to asking around.

The nurse shoved a tray into his hands. Angel frowned down at it and steered away before she could navigate him to a seat of her choosing in an attempt to get him to socialize. That rarely worked out well.

[Sora :3]

[lighthearted]

Sora's breakfast chat with Shiki had been pretty distracting, so he hadn't eaten quite as much as he should have. So with his stomach making it quite clear how much it needed food, he rushed to the food line and grabbed one of the pre-made burritos that had beef in it. Something that heavy would definitely hold him until dinner! And if anything, nightshift took away a person's appetite.

Holding his tray carefully, Sora started to look around the cafeteria for a good place to sit, and as he was taking backward steps to get a better look at the whole room, he ended up bumping his back into someone else.

"Sorry!" he quickly said. He hadn't bumped into the other person too hard, though, and while his tray got jostled a little, he was able to right it before his glass of water fell over.

[arrogantflame.livejournal.com]

[Kaoru~ ♥ ]

So breakfast was okay. But there was no Yuuri. And then Wolfram waited impatiently in the sun room, eyes never leaving the door. He barely allowed himself to blink. But still no Yuuri. Finally he couldn't stand it anymore, and asked a nurse if he could go to his room to check in on him.

Only to be told it wasn't necessary, that the boy in question was no longer here. He'd tried to go down the hallway anyways, only to be firmly stopped and forced to go into the cafeteria for lunch. He didn't fight back, only because his mind was in shock and he couldn't motivate himself to struggle. Wolfram didn't want to be in the cafeteria. Or anywhere else, for that matter. He was still in shock, but even that was starting to be taken over by a hated that was slowly starting to burn deep inside. Once left to his own devices with a plate of food, he stared down at it blankly, expression both dark and emotionless at the same time.

And then he slid the plate off the table with such force that the dish almost shattered, making a loud clanking noise and spilling food all over the floor. Wolfram stood up, intending to make his way back over to the food line, reacting rather than thinking.

If he couldn't have what he wanted, then no one would.

[hangenki.livejournal.com]

Kaoru was facing Lunch with more gusto than he had on previous days. Mostly because he wanted to find Ed and see what the bulletin was about. Spotting Wolfy, he was about to smile and wave, when the old man decided to throw his lunch on the floor.

Kaoru almost laughed, confused. But then he took a good look at Wolfy. Something was really wrong... Without a second thought, kaoru followed his roommate.

"Hey," he smiled, deciding to approach him gently.... He didn't want he same fate as the plate.

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

[Free as a cranky, verbose robot bird! ...Or something like that.]

Ugh, more food. HK began his usual mealtime ritual, poking suspiciously at the least threatening-looking dead, processed organic product on his plate, trying to determine whether it was likely to attack. It was unlikely, but still. Some neurotic (or justifiably cautious, as he preferred) part of his processing core still didn't trust this idea at all.

[mind-the-sukima.livejournal.com]

Yukari filled her plate full of all sorts of things; she'd only had food like this once or twice in her life. Japan was no source of Mexican cuisine, and Gensokyo itself, well...

She hummed happily to herself as she looked for someone to torture annoy harass talk with. The conversations she'd had so far had been quite amusing - if rather unproductive, a, notably small, part of her pointed out - and she saw no reason why this trend shouldn't continue.

Picking a spot by a dark-skinned man who was prodding his food as if testing murky depths, she smiled broadly and dug into her meal with gusto.

After masticating and swallowing a few bites with far more enthusiasm than any burrito could warrant, she grinned at him, burrito still in hand.

"Food not to your liking?" she asked teasingly.

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

Talking to TK had helped. Armand now knew what was facing him. He clenched his jaw shut to keep quiet as the nurse, still fussing over his apparent lack of being fat, piled food onto his plate and steered him to a table. No matter what name he answered to, Armand could very well pick out his own food and find a seat himself. He sighed, then pulled the burritos apart to see what was in them before trying one.

[for Bridget!]

[roger-hug.livejournal.com]

Bridget had argued (well, pouted and fussed and apparently was cute) with his nurse to allow him to bring Roger to lunch. She'd said that with only one hand, how would he eat? While there was logic in that, this was Roger and clearly much more important that silly logic.

The nurse got her way, he'd stuck his tongue out at her, and still wound up in the lunch line, sans teddy bear.

Tacos and chips on his plate, Bridget looked around for a place to sit. He grinned when he spotted Armand and quickly walked over to his table. "I hope you don't mind if I join you Mr. Armand," he said with a smile.

[tartaros-avatar.livejournal.com]

Recluse sat down at an isolated table, waiting impatiently to see if either Marcus or Kimberly would arrive. He really should have expected it, but once again, doing something at Marcus' suggestion had turned out to be a complete waste of his time. He'd waited all night, but nothing had happened. He could often wait decades to see a plan fulfilled, but the instant anything remotely tied to Marcus was added into play, he had to work so hard not to ignore all common sense and just kill something.

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

Ken sighed as he got hustled into the line for food once again. He would've been happier spending the time in the library, even (wow, that was a phrase he thought he'd never think) but his nurse had been insistent, since he hadn't eaten any of his breakfast, he had to go to lunch.

Ken managed to escape the line with a burrito, bowl of fruit, and glass of water. Even more annoying, though, was the fact that his nurse sat him down and just stood there, arms crossed over her chest, until she'd deemed that he'd eaten enough of his lunch, at which point she walked away.

He knew it was her job to be an annoying busybody, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

[Arty? :D?]

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

Artemis' nurse, on the other hand, had detected enough distress in her assignment's temperament that she felt sorry enough to let him alone. He was quiet, followed her instructions perfectly, and was for the most part, apathetic to everything. It wasn't like him at all.

The only thing he requested was that his burrito contain more meat than any other ingredient--which was odd, because normally Sean insisted on having a well-balanced meal with as little red meat as possible. He'd even shown an aversion to chicken and fish before now.

She wheeled him over to Ken, smiling brightly. "Here, why don't you sit with a friend, hm?" His nurse patted him on the head and Artemis was unresponsive yet again. He looked tired, but was unable to slouch or relax because of the back brace. His IV had at least been removed for now--probably due to the high volume of people and the chances of injury occurring. But these were minor inconveniences, really.

The nurse left and Artemis smiled weakly. "Hello Ken."

[prisonerofdeath.livejournal.com]

[One Fox, free to a good home. He's had all his shots.]

There was still no sign of Lyta. Fox had managed to reach a state where he had been fairly relaxed during the day, but he found himself slipping back into a tense, high-strung state of alertness that was really only warranted at night.

Fox gave his lunch only enough attention to poke and prod at it, not really in the mood to eat. He kept a very alert eye on the doors to the cafeteria, looking at them each time they opened.

It wasn't healthy to sit here and just think about it. He knew that, but he wasn't able to bring himself to go sit with someone he didn't know. Fox rearranged the food on his plate, but none of it actually made it anywhere near his mouth.

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

TK piled food onto his plate with his normal enthusiasm, then tried to figure out where to sit. He headed for a table with someone he'd met before, even though the last time he'd talked to Fox was eight days ago now. It didn't look like things had gone all that well since then, what with the extra scars he seemed to have collected. "Everything alright, Sir?" He knew he'd been told not to be that formal already, but it was so drilled into him that it was hard not to do it.

[remedying.livejournal.com]

Alright, maybe it wasn't the greatest idea to not eat during breakfast, especially when dinner was skipped out on the previous night (and by this point, she was about ready to give up on the opposite ever happening); after dealing with the most downright aggravating person Yukari had come across so far in the library, she was nothing short of ready for a meal.

In a contrast to that morning, there was a lot more food piled on to her tray, and in no time at all Yukari picked nowhere in particular to sit at-- by herself, for now. While she was feeling generally better-- although, not by a whole lot-- she couldn't spot anyone she was in the mood to talk with. And new meetings were nice and all, but right now she hardly had it in her to drive in that direction.

Well, time to eat. After this, things had to pick up for sure.

[for a phantom theif~]

[flashyaudacity]

Kaito had thought that he'd be okay hanging around Hattori and Kudou, but being in the library together with both of them had made him feel more nervous than he'd anticipated. He'd felt cornered.

Maybe he'd have to take Okita up on the offer of arranging a night away from the detectives sooner than he'd thought…

He had been grateful for the announcement of lunch, partly because it meant food and partly because it meant he could escape from Kudou's presence without it looking like he was escaping. What he needed now was a nice detective-free lunch in which he could relax...

Once he'd gotten a tray full of food, Kaito looked around to see if there was anyone he wanted to sit with... A-ha! He spotted Yukari sitting by herself, and grinned. After spending time playing 'kiddie crafts' with the brat yesterday, he'd successfully finished a couple of tissue paper flowers for his magic repertoire. Who better to present one to than a pretty girl?

He crossed the cafeteria to where she was sitting. "Hey! Mind if I join you?"

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

He still couldn't believe Callisto had the nerve to try that stunt earlier. He'd made it clear what he thought of her from the getgo, and he had no reason to change change that assessment. Either he'd been just unlucky or she'd tried Qui-Gon and failed. Even if she'd just been blown off, Sanzo doubted she'd give up.

Sanzo sat down, looking around. He didn't see any sign of Goku still, but for right now, he wasn't going to think too much of it. The idiot was probably moping about last night.

[braidless.livejournal.com]

The conversation with Vlad was weighing on Obi-Wan as he entered the cafeteria, the journal feeling somehow heavier in his hands as he carried it. He hadn't permitted himself to open the book in front of others, mainly because he wasn't sure what kind of information his former Master had written down, but he intended to read it during this shift if he could.

To be honest, Obi-Wan had always thought these Earthian "burritos" were a little on the strange side -- that coupled with the fact he wasn't feeling particularly hungry made it tempting to skip it altogether. But if he wanted to stay in good condition, the Jedi knew he needed to eat properly. It was already a challenge to get the exercise he needed to stay in shape.

Once he had his tray filled with a burrito made with poultry, he was fully prepared to grab a seat by himself so he could read in peace. But he stopped short once he caught sight of a familiar face among the throng of patients, and for a moment, he was vaguely reminded of the day he'd stumbled across Qui-Gon during his early days in the Institute, and that strange feeling one got when they saw a dead man eating lunch.

Funny how he'd had more than his fair share of that since being captured.

Still, he knew he couldn't jump to conclusions. It was possible this wasn't the Sanzo he'd killed in the basement, as strange as that might have sounded to him before arriving in Landel's. But even if that were the case, it still didn't exempt him from the responsibility of taking another's life.

The Jedi Knight slowly approached the other man, his eyebrows furrowed a little as he decided to see whether he'd recognize him or not.

"Sanzo," he said quietly, unsure of how to proceed from here. It wasn't often words failed him, but it wasn't all that often he was faced with this kind of situation, either. The Jedi decided to go with the most obvious thing for now. "Are you all right?"

[full-score.livejournal.com]

Having decided what was going to become of Ashton's sword took a load off of Claude's mind that he didn't even realize he'd been carrying. Now it was just a matter of talking to Guy about it, as well as about what was going on for tonight. It was possible his friend had already made plans, but...well, he'd figure things out later. He was just happy Dias had asked him to team up for once. He might have made a joke about how it was the sign of the apocalypse, but it was sort of inappropriate, so that line of thinking died as soon as he'd thought of it.

Looked like today's lunch was Mexican food. He wound up taking one of their beef burritos, as well as some salsa and tortilla chips. After taking a seat by himself, he didn't waste much time in digging in. As he ate, however, he made sure to keep an eye on the cafeteria's entrance, but whether it was for Guy, Leon, someone else, or even Ashton, he wasn't really sure. He guessed it was for whatever familiar face he saw first.

[For Sync.]

[godforsaken]

Unfortunately for Claude, while he was going to be accompanied by someone familiar it was far from whom he probably wanted.

While teasing Guy was fun in its own way, getting under the swordsman's friend's skin was just so much more entertaining in comparison. Maybe it was because Claude knew next to nothing about keeping his temper, and that meant that he could easily play that to his advantage whenever he wanted. Of course, he knew he couldn't do it every time, but maybe he was giving the blond's intelligence too much credit.

This was why he casually strolled over to the aforementioned patient after picking up his plate of food, sliding his way into the seat right next to Claude and smiled.

"Claude, it's so good to see you," Sync began in an enthusiastic tone.

[shallweplay.livejournal.com]

Ophelia left the library with a satisfied grin on her face. She would have to be on the lookout for that odd fellow from now on so that she might torment him again sometime. He did have the most incredibly amusing expressions. Perhaps when she regained her powers, she would kill him last, just to see his expression at being the last one left alive in this miserable institute.

Not caring much for which type of unfamiliar food she got, Ophelia reached for a random wrap (a "burrito" was it?) and took it with her as she looked for an empty seat. On the way, she saw both Arlene and HK-47, and she debated going to them to discuss the plans for the evening. She quickly decided not to, though. If they were going to the basement again, all she would need to do was meet the lot of them in front of the Sun Room again and ask if they required her assistance. No need to engage in conversation with Arlene about it unless it was necessary.

She eventually settled on a table on the side of the room opposite Arlene, wondering if she would be joined by someone as interesting as her library tablemate had been.

[stalksperverts.livejournal.com]

Although the Library had proved a worthwhile endeavour, Kio had not seen either Ophelia or Soubi. For a while he had thought he'd be alone but Allen had made sure to keep him company. He wondered if he'd ever see the other people again. Siegfried and Leon came to mind. Sure, he'd only met Siegfried two nights before, but the man had done wonders to keep Kio mentally stable. And Leon, with his helpful bits of information...

Shaking his head, Kio entered the Cafeteria, where more foreign food awaited. He picked up something with chicken in it, hoping to at least be able to munch on it. He looked around the room. No Soubi, not yet anyway. Or maybe he couldn't see him again. And what could he really ask him? Would Soubi even look at him? Kio had never been that bold. This place was changing him.

Walking slowly, tray in hand, he noticed Ophelia. If she wasn't waiting for anyone, maybe they could talk. That would be a good idea. Smiling, Kio approached his friend and sat down opposite her, with a small, "Mind if I sit down?"

[sir-savien.livejournal.com]

Kvothe was a little reluctant to put his book down, it was a nice mental escape from the reality of the Institute, but the story of Jekyll and Hyde reminded him almost too much of Dr. Landel. He didn't recognize any of the food he was offered so he let the nurse fix him a plate of those burrito things and he found a seat, watching as the other prisoners filtered in.

[for Clark]

[son-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Clark nearly dropped the tray full of lunch as he scanned the room and saw a familiar face.

Kvothe!

Hurrying over, trying to keep his tray balanced and not have it tip over onto someone's head, the farmboy sat down across from him, his face creased with worry as he studied the other kid. Kvothe was bandaged up, but he still looked terrible in the cafeteria's light. At least he was alive, though, right?

"I'm really sorry about last night," Clark said. "How're you holding up?"

[gottabetactile.livejournal.com]

[For Tsubaki]

Kon was initially reluctant to leave Sakura until he remembered his date with Tsubaki for lunch. Perking up he trotted happily after the nurse who was taking him back to the cafeteria. Mmmm burritos, beans, cheese and salsa! Nothing like what they served at those fancy restaurants Tana had tried repeatedly tried to take him out to - and funny how those sorts of dates always got interrupted - but good enough for him.

He plonked himself down at a table near the door like they'd agreed. Just cause Tsubaki knew what he looked like didn't mean he should make things difficult for her. He hadn't seen her since they'd been fighting the spiders and sure she'd said she was OK but he'd still like to see it for himself. And just see her again. The dude in charge might be all crazy and evil but he had great taste in babes, not that Kon needed anymore evidence of that besides having being kidnapped himself.

Starting in on his meal, Kon hummed happily as he waited for his girl to join him.

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

It was hard to put up with sometimes, the Institute’s back-and-forth schedule. The ‘patients’ rarely got the chance to go outside, or exercise, or do anything more than spend time in different rooms until nightfall. She was thinking of Shito, how exhausted he’d looked like in the library, the result of being dragged away for some unknown experiment. Being coaxed out of bed each morning--while people, shinigami, were dying at night--to be treated like a mental patient who was hazardous to oneself and others, like nothing had happened, was just so… tiring.

Tsubaki wished there was some kind of end in sight. And some people had been here months longer than she had.

Once again, her thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind when the shift changed for lunch. She and Superboy had still agreed to meet, which she was glad for, because seeing him in the cafeteria that morning hadn’t exactly relieved her worry. She spotted him quickly enough, too; waving, she went to hurry through the line-up so he wasn’t left waiting, but instead nearly smacked into her nurse. “Oh, go on and sit down, honey. I’ll grab some lunch for you,” the woman said, casting her own look at Superboy’s table.

“Um, that’s all right,” Tsubaki tried to decline, but no matter what she said, the nurse wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, leaving the girl to stand there on her own until she finally cut through the crowd to the seat across from Superboy. Oh well… “Hello. How are you, Superboy?”

One of the last things she remembered from the previous night was that pained expression of his.

[screwthegods]

The discussion the shift before had been interesting to say the very least; Homura walked away with a great deal to consider. And with the meeting of the leaders postponed until the following day, the demi-god found himself with no engagements (or playdates, as Okita might say) for lunch. He recognized the meal from days before, knowing how to eat it thanks to a person who had long since vanished from this place. So much had happened, though Homura had been in this place for only a few weeks. It was almost daunting to think about.

But having lived for so long as he had instilled a level of patience in Homura that he was now thankful for. Certainly there was unavoidable frustration when he compared the progress they had made to the things that had happened to them. Yet progress had been made, and that was what mattered most. Even small steps could provide hope, and gave strength to his determination. Homura found a seat alone, and began thinking over the assignments for that night. It would be somewhat difficult with the injuries his group had sustained the evening prior, but the Institute hardly gave them leeway for such trivial things as broken ribs.

And Homura in turn wasn't going to let such a small injury stop him.

[For Ayu-nee]

[tostepforward.livejournal.com]

Whatever suspicions Robin had developed seemed to have been assuaged, at least for the time being, leaving Ayumu thoughtful as she returned to the cafeteria for lunch. If she knew what he thought she was after, it might help her to reassure him that she didn't want it. Now how to get him to volunteer such information, though; it would be easiest if she could overhear a conversation between himself and Mello, if she were fortunate enough for such a thing to happen, but it was probably about as likely as one between herself and Okita in the middle of the day.

Which reminded her: Okita had left that message asking her to meet that evening, and yet she hadn't managed to find the place in her perusal of the bulletin board thus far. It seemed she would have to ask, though she was reluctant to do so even in a similarly cryptic note. The board was simply far too public - one never knew who else might be reading it as she was.

With that influencing her thoughts, it seemed a fortuitious coincidence that as she turned away from the line for food her gaze fell upon the man Okita had pointed out to her the morning before. The one with whom he'd been having some of the most interesting conversations on the board. And this time the man in question was seated by himself, which seemed to be somewhat unusual.

How convenient for her.

She took her tray of food (or so they claimed it to be; she really wasn't certain just what this was) over to his table and paused opposite him with a friendly, if somewhat hesitant smile. "Your pardon, but is this seat taken?"

[youlackmascara.livejournal.com]

Itachi woke up to find that he had slept through the first two shifts. His body had probably needed to rest after the damage it sustained the night before, healing notwithstanding. The lingering pain in his side was almost completely gone now. Good, he would be at his full potential tonight, or at least as full as it could get here.

He checked to make sure he still had the kunai from last night, safely hidden under his bed along with the utility knife (in what seemed to him a very original hiding place). With that ascertained -- and he couldn't prevent a slight twinge of satisfaction at the procurement of such a weapon -- he headed to lunch. His body would need nourishment after being injured, so he took a couple "burritos," briefly regretted the lack of anything sweet being served, and found a seat by himself.

Last night had been successful, but the question was where to go from here. Each day that went by without this place being destroyed stone by stone was shameful. There was no point to this life if he could not overcome the challenges in his path, and he felt this even more keenly now that he knew he didn't have that much time left.

[reanalyze.livejournal.com]

"Quite interesting food they give us here, isn't it?" Citan sat himself down in an open seat across from an unfamiliar fellow prisoner. The food at least smelled good, though it reminded him of Bledavik fair food. He'd never enjoyed fairs terribly much, but the food was often a bit of a treat. Assuming one didn't mind the gastronomical distress that was likely to follow, of course.

"And every day it's something different, for at least one meal. They're very generous to feed us three times a day. When the prisons in Kislev still stood, prisoners were allowed one meal a day, even if they were fighting in the tournaments for the general public's entertainment. Of course, Kislev was always considered rather barbaric and backwards. Landel's seems to pride itself on sophistication and enlightenment."

The doctor rambled on as though he and the man across from him knew one another, not bothering with an introduction as he struck up his conversation. He wondered, as he chattered through his benign and rather absent minded smile, what the reaction would be.

[intoindra.livejournal.com]

((For Masaru))

This really wasn't fair. Tacos and burritos... bread-wrapped meat. Meat. Steaming and fragrant with spices, but of absolutely no nutritional value to demons like himself. Roland sighed as he took a desultory pair of burritos, then trudged over to a table and sat down, pushing the food far away from him. Maybe no one would notice that he hadn't bothered eating? As it was, even after the conversation with Peter, he was still feeling the effects of gnawing hunger. It was starting to get worse again... which meant that he'd need to find something in the night.

While this place was still infinitely better than the world he'd come from, Roland was starting to wonder what path he should take. Should he and Embryon just live here? Should he trust in the head doctor to remove the demon virus and start a new life? Or should he go back, back to a world where he existed only on the molecular level? None of them seemed that enjoyable...

[burningdigisoul.livejournal.com]

Masaru was glad when lunch came about. After all, there was something about boredom that just made a guy hungry. There were some interesting people around, sure, but he felt like he was dragging his feet, waiting to act like this.

At least, as he realized earlier, the end result would be the same no matter when he took out that Head Doctor asshole. A day wasn't so long. He'd back with Agumon soon enough.

He scanned the room for a good place to sit. If nothing could be done during the day, then it'd be best to get some kind of enjoyment out of it, be it by finding someone interesting or looking forward to teaching Landel a lesson. While doing so, he spotted a familiar face - wasn't that the Roland guy from the day before?

Masaru shrugged, giving a casual greeting and sitting across from the man without asking. The guy looked kinda serious somehow, and he did have his food pushed out in front of him.

"Got a stomach ache or something?" the boy asked, only half-seriously.

[toxicspiderman]

Lunch? Hadn't they just had breakfast? But the cafeteria was, in fact, filling up quickly with people. The ratio of happy eaters to people looking cross-eyed at their plates was higher than usual -- were burritos really that foreign? Especially when it seemed to be Mexican food of the "put it in a tortilla and it's Mexican". No fucking way would that salsa show itself in any self-respecting ethnic restaurant. Smelled like a step up from Taco Bell, and the cheese was cheese rather than radioactive-yellow goo that could double for as axle grease in a pinch.

S.T. piled a heap of chips on a plate and assembled a reasonable facsimile of blue-plate special nachos. He wasn't really hungry, so he sat down at an empty table and held up a chip covered in little gobbets of beef and some cheese, inspecting it carefully.

Bread and circuses. They certainly had the bread down, and the prisoners/patients/whatever the fuck they were had a good handle on the circuses. Without even considering the nighttime menagerie. The problem was, what was the fucking point? Sure, the staff had them all toeing the line, but all they had to do for some peace and quiet was to let them all go.

The little bits of meat looked kind of like ants, swarming over the chip. Was that it? An ant farm? Some semi-omnipotent asshole got tired of just kicking over anthills and set up a little insectoid terrordrome? He looked at it for another long moment, and then popped the entire chip in his mouth.

[Free.]

[strange-unlife.livejournal.com]

Shito wasn't sure whether it was better for the food offered to be something he didn't care for anyway, since he was so lacking in appetite that he had to force food down, or whether some actual good food would maybe whet his appetite somewhat. It was a moot point, of course, since today's meal was, indeed, western food and rather unappealing. Shito glared at the nurse who, once again, tried to help him serve himself, and just took a little of everything and a lot of salad and fruit. It would have to do.

Grunting vaguely at the person seated nearby when he finally found an empty seat, Shito poked listlessly at his food. Was normal rice really too much to ask for?

[hope you don't mind me inflicting my characters on you two shifts in a row!]

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

Well the discussion with Joe had certainly been interesting and maybe he was being a little too trusting, but Wally was inclined to believe him about having powers, though they did sound weird, even by his standards. It was too bad that a nurse came to lead them both away before he got the chance to find out much more though.

While he was looking forward to lunch, Wally hadn't forgotten he had a pretty important meaning now too. Bats was expecting him to have some useful information after all, and considering how things had gone yesterday, he didn't want to mess that up as well. Thankfully his nurse didn't mind him asking to duck back to his room to retrieve his journal, so with that securely tucked under one arm he ventured into the cafeteria.

The smell of the tacos and burritos hit him instantly, going straight to his stomach. "Man, that smells good," Wally said to himself. Needing no further prompting he hijacked a tray and piled on several burritos and tacos in an assortment of types until he had a substantial pile... which looked really suspicious now that he thought about it. And Bats did want him to keep things as secret as possible. With a sigh, Wally returned a few of the items until he had something approaching a normal, if slightly large, serving. Hopefully he'd have enough time to grab an extra helping or three, else he wasn't sure how he'd be able to cope. Specially because there persisted in being no coffee available at all.

"Well, they say being a hero involves sacrifices," he muttered to himself. A glass of juice joined the tray and he made his way over to an empty spot near the wall where hopefully Bruce would be able to find him.

[gothamnight.livejournal.com]

Bruce left Tony Stark and Heart of Darkness where he'd found them, and after retrieving his notebook from his room, entered the cafeteria area. Whoever had brought Bruce to Landel's must have forgotten to bring his appetite with him; were Bruce at home, he would likely have missed this meal in between this or that search or meeting, so focused was he on things other than eating. Avoiding the premade burritoes and filling a taco instead, Bruce ended up sticking to what looked the least processed. True, it was probably a futile effort, if the Institute was giving them drugged food. But it helped Bruce.

It didn't take him long to find Wally, and although it still felt slightly strange to meet the man, Bruce didn't hesitate before walking over and sitting down next to him. The amount on Wally's plate wasn't atypically large; Bruce looked up and glanced at the man, going over what he knew about the Flash and his powers.

"Hey," Bruce said with a grin. "Going on a diet? Good idea. I mean...gosh, burritoes...how long has it been since I've had these?"

Okay, so maybe he was overdoing the obnoxious elitism a little--that statement wasn't even true. Still, fresh from a carefully guarded conversation with the guy's sarcastic roommate, Bruce allowed himself the right.

[never-learns.livejournal.com]

A shift spent reading in the library had kept his mind off things for a while, even if it had come with a pang of hurt, remembering his conversation with Cliff in there, they day that they'd... Yeah, well, that was a long time ago.

He spotted Ken across the room, being glared at by a nurse and forced to eat. It would have been funny if his own nurse hadn't given him a harsh look and a few stern words about eating properly and not picking at his food. Great. He started to eat lightly, enough to convince her that he wasn't going to completely ignore his food. There was something faintly obscene about being mothered by a woman who was helping to keep a couple of hundred people prisoner.

[fear-attachment.livejournal.com]

The peaceful interlude in the Sun Room had been quite lovely--no one had bothered Chidori, and she had managed to finish her drawing of Tartarus and start on another, of a Shadow. The quiet alone time had ended all too quickly, though, and Chidori was herded back into the cafeteria for more food she didn't really want.

Foreign food again, too. There was rice, but it was visibly different from anything Chidori was used to. Still, it was worth a try. She took a bit of that, and otherwise stuck to the offerings of the salad bar. Hard to go wrong with fruit.

Unfortunately, her delay in the Sun Room had resulted in there being hardly any free seats left by the time she got her food, so she was forced once again to sit with someone else. Hopefully this one wouldn't be a pest, or a flirt. "...."