Day 40: Lunch

[whiny-egomaniac.livejournal.com]

*hobble wobble*

"Damn that SCOURGE!" Starscream cried out, the slowly-filling cafeteria producing a jarring echo of his raspy voice. His limping, already bad enough from not knowing how to properly use his crutches, was now exacerbated from the injuries he'd received the shift prior. Despite the gauges in his non-casted leg so lovingly provided by the aforementioned 'patient', Starscream could still put some weight on it, but not so much that he could really stop and rest; relieving the soreness under his arms was out of the question. The nurse that walked behind him with his tray, already upset at having to deal with yet another troublesome inmate, was growing rather impatient as his charge slowly made his way down the food line.

"Just...give me a standard serving of the aquatic creature's flesh, some of those fried potato slices, two bananas, and three bottles of juice," Starscream sighed, his anger from just a moment ago assuaged by the physical exertion needed to move the way he did. "I'm going to sit down here...bring it to me when you're done."

He was hardly surprised to find that one of the bananas was completely bruised along its inner curve, or that the handful of 'chips' on his plate were all on the small side. Tired and frustrated as he was, however, he could barely muster a 'damned flesh-creature' before moving his fingers to the plate, picking one of the longer 'chips' and shoving it into his mouth listlessly.

There was an unusually high concentration of sodium chloride crystals on it. Of COURSE.

[For Tony Stark]

Comments

[tightsofmight]

What self respecting megalomaniac used the phrase 'yum yum'? This guy was so lame it was painful.

Despite the ineptitude of the fearsome head doctor and even the bleak outlook of life in the institute, Peter was feeling ten times better as he piled his plate with fries. Talking with Matt had been a real boost - who would have thought? If he actually ever got the chance to know his Matt, maybe he would find that there was a nice guy buried underneath all the layers of jerk.

Still, the events of this morning were not forgotten, and he made a cursory sweep around the practically empty cafeteria before coming up with absolutely zilch. Again. It was with only a hint of frustration that he sat down at the nearest table and started on his meal.

He'd find them. Eventually. For now, he just had to keep on looking.

[For Meche!!]

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

Meche couldn't help scanning the cafeteria for a certain lost friend as soon as she got through the door. She didn't find it, but she did pick out another familiar face--one she hadn't expected to see again. With a smile, she hurried to fix herself a tray of food and headed towards him.

Peter did look a little different than she remembered--younger, she thought as she got closer. She'd been picturing him as a college student. Then again, it had been the better part of a week, and she'd only talked with him the once, she told herself; it wasn't impossible that his maturity had just impressed her into thinking he was older than he really was. Still, it was unmistakably Peter, and she was happy to see that he was all right.

"Hello, Peter," she greeted him with another bright smile as she approached. "It's good to see you--to be honest, I was a little worried something had happened to you. Mind if I sit down?"

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

It was good that Skuld wasn't going to be making the Noah any weapons. Momo was sure Tyki would find a way to acquire something better than a knife at some point, but at least she knew he wasn't going to be aided by the goddess. What Momo didn't like, though, was the girl's insistence that she take time off and let the others do it all for a bit. That was something the shinigami could not do. At least, it seemed the goddess had understood that, finally.

Sitting down by herself off to the side, Momo too out the reports from the three that had given them to her while her nurse went to go get her some food. The scent of food was starting to bother the shinigami now. It wasn't that she was hungry, far from the case, but it made her a bit nauseous. Even though it was fish, she didn't want any part of it when the nurse finally set the tray down next to her. With the tirade the nurse was going into, scolding the shinigami, Momo decided maybe she should at least make it look like she'd eaten some of her dinner. At the very least, she picked up her fork and cut into the fish which was enough to make her nurse finally go away.

Setting the utensil down, she reread over the reports before secreting them away in her journal. A fresh page was opened up so she could start working on categorizing their priorities and listing who was available for the night. At least that's what she'd thought she was going to do when she opened the book up. Momo just blinked at the page, not quite sure what she'd been planning on writing. Idly, her hand started shading the corner of the page indiscriminately; something clearly wasn't right with her.

[Raine and Reinforce]

[per-ardua.livejournal.com]

Predictably, after several whole hours without her, Raine was looking for Reinforce... she was doing her best not to cling, but they hadn't seen each other all day so far.

When she saw the shinigami, though, she realized one of her other friends might need her. "Momo," she said, sitting down next to her. "How have you been?" She knew the basic answer was "not well at all," but maybe she could help. If nothing else, she was going to try.

[purgatio]

The boy wasn't exactly sure his thoughts at the moment. Albedo held tightly to the two notebooks in his arms, and fingered the origami butterfly with his fingertips. Why was it that people kept giving him things here? It didn't make sense at all. He couldn't wrap his mind around....

The game he had played on the board was both relaxing and extremely frustrating. He could say for the simple fact of it not being completed, but in truth it was more Nigredo's insistent necessity to not communicate at all. Was the younger really so stupid as to believe that Albedo would leave him alone if he was silent? The baby was reaching too far with that one. His actions, and lack of it, were just fueling Albedo's building rage.

But that wasn't for now. Carefully holding his things, he took a tray filled with the fruits and nuts and such that had been mentioned--Albedo couldn't bring himself to eat whatever the main course was. He slid into a table and picked at the things on his tray, the butterfly sitting next to him, watching. He stared at it with a blank look, not noticing that he was still holding on to the notebooks. Three people here--four, if you count how helpful Allen was--had given him things, been kind to him, in the solitary day he had been here. Four. For no reason other than their own kindness, from what Albedo could tell. And he couldn't understand that.

The thought seeped into his mind like a disease, swirled around those thoughts, and settled, with weight, over his heart. The pressure was almost unbearable, squeezing his chest like a giant hand that saw fit to snuff out his eternal life. That heavy thought. Why?

Why, if those other people, those strangers, could be so kind, wouldn't Rubedo, his own twin, do the same?

[Taken.]

[purgatio]

Like a drug, like a habit, Albedo watched as his twin came in, as fine as could be, and soon after started interacting with another at his table. This was a kind of torture in and of itself. He couldn't sit through this for another shift. He needed something--

A faint tingling brushed his mental shields, and his eyes scanned the room. There. Another brother, looking all too worse for the wear. Albedo watched for a moment, the faint buzz of pleasure at seeing Nigredo so... off not as strong as he would have liked. Again, a stranger's brief kindness had shifted his mind, and he wondered about Nigredo. He wondered if the other had ever cared.

Here was his dilemma. Two brothers, one a twin, and all three supposed to be as close as close could be. Instead this ate away at them, deteriorated them from the inside, and Albedo didn't know if he wanted to let it. He didn't know if he wanted to force it faster.

He glanced at the nurse close-by, and stood up.

[to here]

[quickdrawbkiddo.livejournal.com]

[Grab her while you can!]

Fish and chips were always appreciated. Sadly, there wasn't any beer to go along with them. Pity.

Beatrix took her tray in hand, balancing it carefully so as not to need her left hand as that arm rest in a sling, and looked it over. In her mind's eye, she replayed the fight with Ophelia, her gaze moving to the various points in the room where it had ranged. Being one of the first ones in the room, she was easily able to do so without having to remove pesky prisoners from the mental cinematic.

A satisfied smile on her face. the Bride made her way to one table in particular. As she set her tray down, she touched the table surface and nodded. yes, this was where she'd severed the bitch's braid. Suddenly, this was her favorite table. Perhaps she'd make this her seating preference every time she had to take a meal while trapped here.

[see-my-back.livejournal.com]

Sakura hadn't managed to make it to the greenhouse until it was almost time to leave. It was disappointing, especially given all the herbs she might have collected, but at least she'd been able to mentally map out a new location. If she needed them later, she knew where they were.

It only took a little while to get through the lunch line and she checked around to see if there was anyone she ought to sit by, or at least speak with. Her eyes fell on the woman she'd seen fighting in this very room just last night. She was skilled, no doubt about that, and had held pretty well against her opponent. It figured that she might know a little more than most about how this place worked, or perhaps some valuable information if she was lucky.

She still wasn't great at being the bubbly social girl that was expected of normal people her same age, but she had to blend in sometimes. Might as well try a little extra social interaction.

"Hi," she greeted the woman cheerfully. "I'm Sakura. Is it alright if I sit with you?"

[How about a ninja?]

[whos-da-man.livejournal.com]

[I swear, Akihiko-senpai, Ryouji and I found the inflatable dolphin abandoned at the station. How could we possibly not rescue it?]

Sweet! The food smelled awesome, looked awesome and Junpei bet it'd taste awesome too.

With the onset of lunch and the pressing matters he needed to talk to Akihiko about, since the teen's usual sounding board was conspicuously absent and probably pimping it up with half the school while they were gone, Junpei put the matter of Kiato and Yukari's steamy love affair out of his mind. He had his own to worry about.

Finding a table in a corner where he could keep an eye on the rest of the room, mostly so he could keep track of where all three girls were going to be sitting so he could know when he needed to shut up, Junpei started into his food. Halfway through one of the pieces of fish, he spotted Akihiko. Waving to this senpai to get his attention, Junpei tried to figure out how he wanted to talk about this, especially since it wasn't like Akihiko had any experience with this kind of thing either.

Maybe he'd break the ice with Kyoto...

[fourtharcana.livejournal.com]

[Sure you did, Iori. Sure you did.]

Well, that had been fun. Sure, soccer wasn't his sport, usually, but even with having gotten Boxing Club up and running, it wasn't the level of training he was used to, so having some time to run around had been good.

And probably a good thing, too. Akihiko noticed Junpei waving as soon as he got into the cafeteria, so he filled up his tray quickly and took the seat across from him.

"Hey. You wanted to talk to me about something?"

[unmocked-lawr.livejournal.com]

The morning had been unusually kind to Javert, it seemed. Hopefully the rest of the day would continue in this fashion.

He filled his plate quickly, deciding at the last moment to add an apple. He hadn't been in the habit of eating fruit much before he arrived here, given his modest income; he supposed he could afford to indulge himself in that regard here.

Finding a seat near the front of the cafeteria, he began to eat, keeping an eye on the incoming patient population as always.

[fencing-captain.livejournal.com]

Juri's relief that they were going to have fish for lunch faded when she saw the breaded and deep fried pieces put onto her plate with more western potato things. She collected some salad vegetables and fruit and a large pile of napkins. Maybe under all this breading there was a real fish.

The nurse was able to seat her quite easily with no protests, because Juri was paying far more attention to her tray than her surroundings. When she sat, she didn't smile at the older man nearby. She tried to think of something scathing, mostly to keep in practice, but then she shrugged.

"I'm willing to bet that you're not Japanese," she said. It never occurred to Juri that her red hair and blue eyes would make nearly everyone think she wasn't either. It wasn't ethnicity that made one Japanese, it was culture.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Lockdown was curious as to what "fish and chips" were, and whether or not they tasted good.

The bounty hunter grabbed the usual supplies (plate, silverware, a glass), and went to gather his food. He took a piece of crispy-looking food, and some yellow strips. He had gotten curious as to what 'salad' tasted like, so he gathered a bowl and filled it with green vegetation and toppings. After getting a drink of white liquid, Lockdown found an empty table and began his meal, taking tiny bites out of the yellow strips.

[For Depth Charge. Here fishy, fishy, fishy~]

[scalyfishman.livejournal.com]

And that, ladies and gentlebots, was why Depth Charge didn't like therapy.

It was probably fortunate (for Doctor Yumeno as well as himself) that he hadn't let it get to him. The prying questions, the playing dumb, the false calm... all of it reeked of deception. And Depth Charge despised deception.

Still, even with his little black cloud in tow he couldn't help but give a wry little smile at today's menu. Fish and chips, huh? The latter didn't exactly look like the chips he would have recognised, but the former... hah. He'd have to pass on this one.

Depth Charge carried his mostly-green tray to a table occupied by an older-looking human: covered in black markings, powerfully built and... taking dainty little bites out of the food? Sure. He didn't say anything, of course, but if expressions spoke a thousand words the Maximal's could've written a novel.

[flashyaudacity]

Fish.

Again.

The discovery of today's lunch was enough to send all lingering thoughts of his conversation-slash-interrogation with Iori out of his mind. Upon arrival at the cafeteria, he stubbornly refused to go anywhere near the serving counter. His nurse fetched a tray of food instead, insisting that he shouldn't skip lunch.

She left him holding that tray with shaking hands, which he tried his best to still as he headed for the nearest empty seat. The piece of fried fish on his tray stared threateningly up at him.

Next time (if there was a next time, which he fervently hoped there wouldn't be), he'd insist to his nurse that he wasn't "in the mood for fish." That he only wanted a salad. Something, anything, to remove the offending piece of cod from his day.

He slid into the seat, dropping the tray onto the table with enough force that the cup of juice the nurse had gotten nearly fell over. It managed to remain upright, but some of the liquid sloshed over the side.

Kaito reached for his napkin, doing his best to ignore the fish.

[For his not-twin, and possibly for his BFF as well?]

[meitantei.livejournal.com]

"Something wrong with your food?" Smiling innocently, Shinichi walked over to Kaito's table with his own cod-laden tray. He hadn't really talked to the guy in a couple of days, and it was good to see him in one piece. Even though the detective hadn't quite known him long enough to really call him a friend, he was still someone from home, and a decent kid. Shinichi didn't want to see anything happen to him.

And right now, it looked like Kaito was about to be sick.

"You look like hell," he observed with all the subtlety and grace of the great Holmes himself. Only...not. It was statements like that that usually got him chewed out and/or punted over the side of a fence by Ran. Hopefully, Kaito would be a little more understanding. "You sick?"

[superdynamic.livejournal.com]

In the end, he hadn't learned much from Luffy, but it had been fun to kick a ball around anyway. The mood didn't last, however, and Suzaku was worried. He had been watching Lelouch and Porky carefully, seen Porky have some kind of attack and witnessed them have what appeared to be an angry exchange. He hadn't stepped in because there seemed to be no physical threat, and he knew it would be better for Lelouch to deal with the situation on his own unless Suzaku's assistance was absolutely required. Even so, Lelouch's sudden need for secrecy on the bulletin implied something had gone wrong. Maybe Suzaku was paranoid, but that was his job, and his instincts were telling him that all had not gone as planned.

So it was in a much more serious manner that Suzaku indiscriminately loaded some greasy fried food onto his tray and found a place back in the corner of the cafeteria, where hopefully he and Lelouch could talk undisturbed.

[kingside]

The codenames hadn't been something Lelouch had planned on resorting to (as a remnant of his apparently doomed time with the Black Knights, he'd thought it best to avoid them), but with the need to contact Suzaku quickly and secretly, he'd fallen back on them without a second thought. Porky wouldn't be able to make the connection, and as that and a way to let Suzaku to know exactly who was being addressed and by whom had been all that Lelouch had needed, it seemed only natural. That he'd been forced to do so by a man he now thoroughly detested gave Lelouch all the more reason to destroy him later, but that could wait until he'd finished briefing his knight on the matter.

Trailing after his nurse slowly as usual, Lelouch bit back an exasperated sigh and suffered through the by now routine nagging from his nurse about eating more and the resulting mound of food on his plate. So what if he had barely had any breakfast? He was far from hungry now, and although he made vague reassurances that he'd finish his entire meal to placate his nurse, they were nothing more than that. Of all the people he could have gotten saddled with--

He headed over to Suzaku once the ritual was finished, his expression pensive and more than a little annoyed. The tight reign he'd held over his emotions was beginning to slacken, and although the faint slouch in his step and sharpness in his gaze were all carefully calculated to give the impression that he was still stinging from a few of Porky's parting shots, the thin, hard line his mouth was pressed into bespoke of genuine fury. How dare he!

"Afternoon, Suzaku," he said in a tightly controlled voice, setting his crutches aside and sitting next to him without preamble. The nurse thankfully took the hint, set down his food in front of him, and went away. "I take it you followed my instructions?"

[longlivetheking]

Had the Head doctor just mentioned fish?

Selective hearing or not, between the Head doctor's more-rushed-than-usual ramblings he found one word he liked. But his hopes were soon crushed after realizing that humans had the habit of ruining any type of food available, and the long list of yet-to-be-identified things the man began mentioning only confirmed his thoughts.

He should have known.

In any case, the previous shift had turned to be interesting after all. For some reason, Diego happened to be the first other cat he had met in this place. Though the other was still new, it could be useful.

Another interesting part had been the bulletin board, where fishing for bits and pieces of information regarding the club wasn't all that difficult. His little investigation had been spontaneous and merely there to feed his own curiosity, but as annoying as 'writing' was, it was somewhat worth it. Humans were, indeed, arrogant creatures. It had been amusing how they immediately acted defensively upon his 'well-meant suggestion'. Of course, he had known the 'suggestion' wouldn't be practical, but at least he had now confirmed that each club mostly worked separately. That was all he had wanted to know. He had yet to decide what to do with this information for now, however.

But first, there was lunch. And the challenge of eating it.

Considering the cafeteria was still mostly empty, it wasn't difficult to pick a table that wasn't filled with humans. He supposed being early had it's benefits.

[For Luxord!]

[clockmongler.livejournal.com]

Well, that conversation was... interesting. It also proved IX's lack of knowledge. How dare he question Luxord's acting abilities! enthusiasm for their plot, meaning II and X would simply have to forgo any other plans involving him. He had obviously become too attached to the others here. How pitiful... Really, X expected more from him (which, in hindsight, was never a bright thing, but). At least he could still rely on II.

...sometimes. Hopefully Xigbar would not see anything bright and distracting that would convince him to stay here. That would not be productive to X's cause.

The promise of fish was a nice distraction from this train of thought, however. He made no move to disagree with McNursingson as she led him from the field to the cafeteria, eventually stopping him in front of a stranger and declaring he needed to actually try to make some friends. Really, X did not think three in four weeks was so horrible... So, sit across from the stranger with his tray he did, if only to make Nursey turn and leave him be. It could not be worse than breakfast with Axel 2.0 Badou, in the very least.

Despite having never met this man, he did seem... awfully familiar, particularly with that scar on his face. But why would that be-...oh. Oh. Luxord could not help but comply to his sudden need to smirk with the dawning realization. Of course, the one who inquired information about the Pride Lands so many days ago... It could only be one person.

"A pleasure to see you, your highness."

[rubbermancan.livejournal.com]

Playing outside had been kinda fun, but that was dwarfed by thoughts of knights using giant robots to kick some serious ass. He couldn't help but wonder if those robots wore the same kind of armor a knight would normally wear, and he had to admit the idea was pretty cool! Maybe he'd run into an island with that kind of set-up someday. (If he did, he was so asking for a ride.)

But now it was lunch time, and, with high spirits, Luffy went through the line and gathered as much food as the Cat Ladies would allow. Really, all of this was pretty routine by now, which was, well...sorta boring sometimes, but he had a feeling the Cat Ladies would get mad if he tried to make lunch more interesting.

Now that he thought about it, music would definitely be cool -- pirates sang while eating all the time, after all! But Luffy didn't have an instrument with him, much less a singing partner.

Taking a seat at the table, Luffy took a bite of his fish, eyebrows knit together in thought. It was pretty good, and if it weren't for the fact that Sanji's cooking was better, it might have even reminded him a bit of home. Within moments, he was more focused on eating, however, and soon the faintly serious expression on his face had pretty much melted away.

[Free to a good home!]

[lastlovesong]

[Mind a small girl?]

The shift spent in the greenhouse wasn't filled with emotional tears or outbursts, which was a good thing considering Chise's tendency to cry 24/7. Her nurse led her to the cafeteria and told her to stay put for a moment before retrieving a lunch set. They still didn't believe that she was physically capable enough to pick-up her own lunch tray, afraid that she'll make another mess. The nurse came back with her lunch (and package of pills) and directed her to an occupied table, stating that she should make more friends with people around her age.

Directly across from her was a boy with a straw hat, munching away through his meal. Chise stood still, nervous about the boy in front of her. "I-Is it alright if I sat here? I'm sorry if you do mind."

[winged_moon]

The chance for some exercise had been most welcome, and Yukito was rather reluctant to leave the field again once the appointed time was up. Some of his cheer returned again, though, when he realized that the interruption meant lunch; the soccer game had left him even hungrier than usual, and that was saying something.

He accordingly piled his tray with as much food as he could get away with, and after a glance around told him nobody he knew was there yet, he just shrugged and picked a spot at a nearby table. Once seated he started in on his lunch, eating neatly but with obvious appetite, intending to down all that he'd taken and see if they'd let him get seconds again.

[for Armand, I believe?]

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

The walk back from the doctor's office seemed to take a long time. Armand felt mostly lost inside himself. Talking to the doctor hadn't damaged his sense of himself, but he felt very unconnected to the outside. His nurse took advantage of his distraction to indulge in her personal delusion that her patient was too thin and piled his plate with an extra piece of battered fish and another handful of "chips."

On the way to the table, Armand could smell the fish and picked up a few lemons from the salad bar. He didn't argue with the glass of apple juice either. He was so busy not arguing that she led him to a table and set the tray down. Her smile at Armand's surprise was cheerfully vicious, as if she was teasing him, which he knew she wasn't. He shrugged and took his seat.

Over the mound of fried food, he could see gray hair and large brown eyes behind glasses. Something made him think this was a youth. Armand made himself smile. "I'm sorry for her; she doesn't realize that I'm quite friendly enough to meet people on my own." Of course, when he didn't have specific meetings planned, he tended to visit his particular friends. Perhaps the nurse was working against that.

"I'm Armand."

[tyki-pon.livejournal.com]

Fish wasn't so bad. Unless a man would eat it multiply times a day, but considering this was only Tyki's first time all was well. He randomly picked a table and dumped his plate on the surface.

The lack of people around didn't make it difficult to spot Miss Shinigami sitting at one of the tables. The burns he got two nights ago were entirely her doing. She had unleashed some kind of spell right before the night ended. He guessed the death of Lady Knight really did hurt her. Unfortunately for her, his burns would heal.

He munched on his food as he continued to glance at the other patients walking inside the cafeteria. It suddenly occurred to the Noah that hadn't seen Cheating Boy A for a while. Maybe he needed to make sure the kid still lived or something. It'd be a waste if the Exorcist had already died on him or something. After all, playing card games was kinda difficult with a corpse.

Not to mention other games.

[As free as a...hobo?]

[missedfortunes.livejournal.com]

Kaiji was absolutely miserable today. Between the monster attack, the passed-out girl in the hall, and bludgeoning the hell out of himself with a flashlight during the monster attack, last night had been pretty rough on him. Even moreso because he was being weighed down by a bit of guilt: he had, after all, claimed personal responsibility for anything that might have gone wrong last night. Meaning that whatever happened to Scarecrow and the girl was, in his mind, his fault.

Not to mention his own injuries. Kaiji knew that he wasn't the only one around here who had done this before, but he still felt like an idiot limping all over on a chewed and clawed-up leg. To make matters even worse, his nurse had chattered something about therapy earlier, the thought of which made him cringe. He had no idea what to expect and it honestly frightened him.

Lunch was pretty much the only thing that he felt like he could look forward to and fried fish was a pretty good option as far as comfort foods here went. Collecting his food and drink in an unusually (for him) unenthusiastic manner, Kaiji moped over to a table and settled down across whoever he happened to land near without even looking at them.

"Hey," he muttered in a classic charming Kaiji greeting.

[full-score.livejournal.com]

Claude was still in a foul mood from last shift as he was led into the cafeteria. He hated how Sync seemed to single him out whenever the nurses were around, almost like he wanted to see how much he could get away with before Claude physically lashed out at him. Then again, it was probably just as well that it was him instead of one of the other Auldrantians or some of Claude's Expellian friends. Still, what he wouldn't give to have a chance to sock that guy in the face. Claude doubted Sync would be laughing if he was the one sporting a broken nose.

Either way, someday that bastard was going to pay for all horrible things he'd done. If Landel's didn't eventually catch up with him, then one of the captives would likely take him down a few pegs. Until that time, though, Sync was as much of a threat as any of the other monsters here, as far as Claude was concerned.

He halfheartedly waved off the nurse's questions, assuring her it was nothing. As if to prove his point, he made his way through the lunch line and got himself a healthy serving of fish and fries, along with a glass of water. It didn't take him long to find a place to sit, and he kept his eyes glued to the door in case he caught sight of Dias. He had a lot he needed to talk to him about, and the sooner he got a chance, the better. Dias probably had a few questions of his own. There was no reason to keep him in the dark if he could.

Thankfully the cafeteria wasn't crowded yet, so maybe Dias wouldn't have a hard time seeing him once he did show up.

[For Dias!]

[heavens-too-far.livejournal.com]

The talk with Guy hadn't exactly lessened any of Dias' concerns - if anything, it had only confirmed them as being reasonable - but knowing what he had to be concerned about was at least better than being ignorant, so overall he was still glad he'd gotten a chance to speak to the other man.

Of course, Guy wasn't the only blond swordsman he had questions for.

Claude wasn't difficult to pick out in the cafeteria, and after Dias had picked up a tray and loaded it with food, he moved over to sit down across from the blond. If Claude didn't want to talk, then too bad.

"Thomas?" he asked, a trace sardonically. He assumed Claude would figure out what he was asking.

[scarefaux]

The Scarecrow had been so enjoying the sunshine and fresh air and political conversation with Sangamon that he hadn't noticed how fast the time had passed. He was disappointed when his nurse arrived to take him to the next shift, but it wasn't like he could protest. Well, he could, but he had a feeling it wouldn't do any good. Giving his new friend's hand a farewell shake, he followed the girl in white. He took a last deep breath before walking into the building. He would rather have had the outdoors than food- that certainly was saying something.

The sterile air of the institution seemed to suck the good feelings right out of him. That nagging feeling in his legs came back as he walked alongside his nurse, keeping a hand on the wall for support. She showed him to a seat and retrieved some food for him, setting the tray on the table before walking away. He eyed the meal before him: the smell was less than appealing. Maybe being injured made food smell different. Using his knife to awkwardly cut a small square of whatever it was, he took a bite. It had an interesting taste to it- one of those that sort of stayed in his mouth long after he had swallowed the morsel.

He looked around for his nurse- no sign of her. The cafeteria was still fairly quiet. He set his fork on his tray and pulled his left leg onto the seat next to him. Rolling up his pant leg, he decided to see if he could take a quick look at how his leg was doing under the bandages without actually taking them off. Then again, he wasn't sure how to go about that, or how to take them off if he wanted.

[Needed: one girl who isn't unconscious in the middle of a necrit-filled hallway]

[mugenreppa.livejournal.com]

Maybe she needed to vary her questions or something. She was starting to get repeats.

Sighing as she followed the nurse, Mele went over the greenhouse conversation and decided she'd learned nothing. Besides that this institute was holding someone who looked a little inappropriate for the place, considering Chise had been covered in bandages. And had apologized for not seeing Mele there. Mele was used to that from rinshi, not from humans.

Speaking of productivity, Mele tapped the nurse not-lightly and curtly informed her that she needed to go back to the room for a pen. The nurse frowned but complied, which Mele still found vaguely suspicious, but having a pen was better.

Mele made a mark on the bulletin board, glanced at the various other notices without interest, and then headed to the cafeteria herself, the nurse trailing behind. Hopefully he'd see it. Hopefully Long some nurse or whoever wouldn't immediately rip it down.

Her trip through the Sun Room made it apparent that it was not yet dark, so...lunch. It looked like fish of some kind, but Mele had no idea what was good so she actually listened to the nurse for once and took a little of whatever the nurse suggested. Mele had survived last night's food, so the food was likely not poisoned. And no one else was keeling over yet.

Usually Mele just headed for whichever seat, but...there. Kind of familiar, kind of suffering. deliciousssss suffering exuding just that cadence of calm....

She thunked her food on the table and took a seat opposite him. "Encounter any huge-eyed critters lately?"

[contentincloset.livejournal.com]

He'd taken a well-needed rest in the Sun Room, thankfully avoiding the gaze of any young girls who'd start crying at him person who had the desire to bother him. Just before the shift had ended he had also given the board a look but hadn't replied to anything. He rarely did anyway, but he especially had no want to today.

Lunch looked fine enough where the food was concerned, but as one of the first people in the room, Kurogane didn't think he could avoid dealing with someone. His luck only lasted for so long on a given day. Still, he took a seat at an out-of-the-way table and focused on eating in hopes that he could be left alone.

[bewarethecute.livejournal.com]

Ururu felt better after meeting Nataku; the boy wasn't much older than she was, and he was very nice. It said a lot that she wasn't crying by the time she walked into the cafeteria, since they hadn't found any of the people Ururu had been looking for.

But there was someone, and Ururu didn't even bother to get a tray this time (which was good, because she might have dropped it again). Instead she ran straight for Kurogane as soon as she saw him, and moved to hug him around the waist as soon as he was within reach.

"Kurogane-san!" Even though she knew the man would be grumpy about it, Ururu didn't care. "I'm glad you're okay!"

[tostepforward.livejournal.com]

The time spent in the greenhouse was well-spent, Ayumu decided as she was led back inside for the mid-day meal. Though she'd not accomplished anything in particular, not found any significant new information, she'd still had a chance to relax amidst the familiar scent of growing things rather being confined to the sterile hallways of the building in which she'd been trapped. It was a welcome change - but now she had to return to work.

After leaving a note for Okita in an attempt to reassure him that she was all right, she entered the cafeteria and glanced around quickly for familiar faces. Though she'd seen those present before, none of them were any particular acquaintances of hers. It was unfortunate, then, that she'd arrived so early: it would have been nice to be there after Homura had taken his seat, in order to conveniently situate herself where she could overhear or at least see the conversation that would most likely interest her.

Still, though, it afforded her a good selection of places to sit, and after examining the food options available and ended up with much the same thing she usually took, Ayumu found a place and settled down, assuming her usual watchful pose under the pretense of fussing with her lunch.

[Phoenix?]

[pleading-ngri.livejournal.com]

Eating still wasn't high on Phoenix's list of priorities, despite his nurse's insistence that the fresh air should have helped his appetite. A nap after dinner and before night fell was already starting to sound like a good idea; he'd never known that having a headache could be this tiring. Then again, he'd never had both a migraine and uncontrollable hallucinations, so it wasn't as if he had much basis for comparison.

Pulling out the first available chair he found, he took a seat and sat back, picking at his bowl of fruit. He could only hope the constant headache wasn't a permanent side-effect of the treatment. He was planning on getting out of here sooner or later, and he wasn't too keen on the idea of spending the rest of his life in sunglasses, chugging painkillers.

"Afternoon," he greeted mildly, glancing at the woman beside him, who also seemed to be more interested in rearranging her food than eating it.

[sir-savien.livejournal.com]

Kvothe limped slightly as the nurse led him into the cafeteria for lunch and he held an icepack to his face. From the ache and the response of the nurse when she gave it to him, he gathered that it was brusing. Because what he really needed just then was a black eye. Really.

The nurse bustled off to the food lines and sooner than he'd hoped she returned with a full plate that she placed in front of him, and a tiny cup with a pair of small pills in it. He nodded listlessly as she told him to take them, they'd make him feel better, and when she seemed disinclined to move until he had, he trapped them under his tongue while he took a drink of water and dropped them to the floor when she had gone. He was in pain, from both the newly inflicted injuries and the returning ache in his hand now that the earlier dose of painkillers was wearing off, but he'd rather be in pain and clearheaded than without pain and unable to think through the medicinal fog that had surrounded him that morning.

Kvothe silently pushed the chips around with a fork as he engaged in a staring contest with the fried fish; he knew that he should eat, especially after eating nothing at breakfast but he seemed unable to muster any sort of appetite. He just hoped that maybe he'd be left in peace for this shift, he didn't feel like dealing with any other dangerous nutcases.

[for Sheena!]

[mizuhomaiden.livejournal.com]

Lucky for Kvothe, Sheena was far from being a dangerous nutcase. Still feeling quite embarrassed about case of mistaken identity that she had absolutely no desire to relay to anyone, the ninja spotted the boy from the previous night sitting alone. With an ice pack to his face.

What the hell? Sheena was pretty damn sure Yukari hadn't slapped him that hard. The youkai had actually been trying to calm him down, even though her technique was a little heavy-handed. She hoped someone hadn't tried to take advantage of the boy's injured state this morning and ended up hurting him more. This damn ranch! Sheena hated it.

Setting her tray down across from the boy, Sheena's lip showing the fruits of the boy's struggles the previous night, she offered him a warm smile. "Hey there," she said. "I'm sorry about last night. If it weren't for the monsters out in the halls, I would have let you go, but I didn't want to risk you getting eaten on top of everything else."

[udo-retrovirus.livejournal.com]

That wannabe soccer game he'd played with Klavier had been fun, and definitely got his mind off of everything from breakfast. He almost hadn't wanted to leave the rec field, but he didn't want to tangle with his nurse. She commented on the way back inside, though, that he seemed to be in a better mood than before.

Being taken away from the game brought his mind back to what he'd been stressing about before, but he was able to think it through better now. The answers for exactly what to do about his brothers were still just as hard to grasp, but he had places to start. He'd go find Nigredo after lunch, see what was up there, and then try to figure out what to do about Albedo after that. He needed to keep an eye on the boy, if nothing else.

For now, Junior stuck up a note for his twin on the bulletin before heading into the cafeteria. He grabbed a couple of fillets, some tartar sauce, fries, and a glass of water before going to take a seat.

[overdoingit.livejournal.com]

Cross hadn't been wrong. He was far hungrier for lunch than he'd been for breakfast. The nurse, after chastising him for straining his injuries in the sun room (apparently he was to ask them for help more than he did) helped him through the lunch line and insisted on carrying his tray for him. He didn't argue, just let himself be led around, even when she started heading for a table with a young boy he didn't know.

"Here," she instructed. "Why don't you come sit with George." He was eased carefully into the seat, and he offered the boy a light smile. Hoping that by ignoring the woman she would leave him to his lunch in peace, he turned his attention to his food. This seemed to work and she'd soon wondered off to help some other poor soul.

When she was gone, he nodded to 'George' and said "Hello."

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

After much too long one of the nurses came to collect him away from Tim and Brainiac 5 found himself being pushed gently into the cafeteria again. He wasn't particularly hungry, but the nurse insisted he try eating something to 'keep his strength up' while he was healing.

To his dismay, not only did she insist on picking out the food for him (fortunately she chose a salad and a small piece of fish), but she also cut it up into small chunks that he could easily manage with one hand. He hadn't been able to check if Luxord or Grell were in the room at the moment, but if they were he had no doubts that they were laughing at him. Finally done, the nurse set the fork in easy reach of his right hand and produced another couple of tablets.

"This should help with the pain, Michael," she said soothingly. Brainiac 5 just nodded in response and took them wordlessly. With a final smile, the nurse left him to his own devices.

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

Having managed a nap over the last shift, Leon was feeling a great deal better. Most of the lingering weariness was gone, and he was plenty hungry. It looked to be a nice healthy lunch as well. (No carrot juice, of course, but perhaps if he kept asking...)

Figuring he should continue to meet new people, the young mage wandered around until he saw someone sitting by himself. He was fairly sure he'd seen this boy around, but they'd never spoken. Mustering up a large smile, he took a seat just across from him. "Hi there!" he greeted cheerfully.

[notachick.livejournal.com]

[For Homura and Peter Petrelli]

Playing with Honey had both been informative and fun, and Okita headed inside with a bit more spring in his step than before. He hadn't had time to play in so long that even tossing a ball around was enough to lift his spirits. With a smile on his face and a little bit of dust on his clothes, Okita followed after his nurse and learned that today was the fried fish thing again. Okita didn't mind and after playing, he was hungry. Grabbing a tray and asking for extra pieces of fish and that tartar sauce thing, the swordsman just grinned through his nurse's surprise.

The food this time was something he actually liked and, more than that, he needed something to do while the mysterious visitor came to talk with Homura. Or was it with him? It was likely Homura, though. Okita didn't mind and since it had been awhile since he saw his leader, he was merely happy to get a chance to possibly tease the man about something or another. Sitting down somewhere with a few open seats around, Okita positioned himself to watch the door and started cutting his fish up into smaller pieces.

[screwthegods]

Talking with Allelujah had been satisfying, and Homura expected similar results with Okita as he came into the lunchroom. He enjoyed his conversations with the other man, and this one would definitely be interesting, thanks to the patients who had most recently come. He'd yet to give Okita any word on the new version of Hijikata, or on Nataku, and he was eager to discuss both.

Once he had gotten his meal, Homura found the younger man, and sat across from him at the table. A brief glance revealed high spirits, and Homura grinned to his friend. "You seem almost refreshed, Okita. Did something good happen?"

[toobothersome.livejournal.com]

So, apparently, taking a break was a foreign concept in this place. Everyone else seemed to be able to do it, Shikamaru noticed with annoyed envy. Playing soccer, having conversations for sheer amusement value...not that he considered either of the two relaxing activities, but still, they were better than quizzing people like some kind of really bored interrogator. At least he'd gotten to watch clouds for a few minutes before company arrived, and Sora had been unobtrusive, if a little nosy. It could have been worse, but that didn't mean he was happy with the way things were going. And worse, all of this effort had yielded next to no useful information.

Lunch was some kind of battered fish, unappealing and greasy but not outright disgusting. Once again, he put the standard amount of food on his plate and headed off to an empty table, resigned to the fact that he'd only get a few minutes of peace before another patient or one of the pushy nurses decided that he needed friends.

[free]

[prisonerofdeath.livejournal.com]

Last night had been painfully short, and Fox had apparently slept much longer than he would have liked. Time unconscious, time unaccounted for. Both of those things were bad signs. Fox took a seat next to one of the few people he recognized that had already made their way to lunch.

"Hello, Nara," Fox greeted. No sign of Snake, but only a small portion of the people here were in the cafeteria so far. Fox didn't pay much attention to the food, at first he'd been surprised by the quality of it, but it wasn't really worth any attention now.

[showtime-matsu.livejournal.com]

When Phoenix had first stumbled his way over to Matsuda, the detective never would've guessed that they would get along so well, considering the lawyer probably shouldn't have even been outside. But it had gone pretty well, really. And they were even having fish for lunch, to top it off. He preferred it not covered in batter, but fish was fish. They weren't exactly able to be picky here.

On the way inside, though, he checked the board to find that both Mello and Near were supposedly gone, too. All the geniuses that he knew were devoted to catching Kira were gone, leaving him with just Naomi to rely on. He was going to have to confront Mikami sometime soon, to put an end to this.

He couldn't let this get him down...he had to keep at it, for their sakes. It was something he repeated over and over in his mind as he went through the cafeteria line, grabbing several fillets and some dipping sauce before going to take a seat. Maybe if he repeated it enough, it would stick.

[sitard3d.livejournal.com]

Demyx was definitely not his usual cheerful self at lunch. He wasn't exactly unhappy, but he was definitely worried. Heck, he had so much to worry about that he wasn't sure what concerned him more - the idea of Xigbar and Luxord leaving(and the decision of whether or not to go with them), or the thought of them possibly plotting against Sora. Entirely aside from the fact that there seemed to be something of a tentative truce between Sora and the Nobodies now - which an attack would undoubtedly destroy - Sora was, well, half-Roxas, which meant he was half a friend of Demyx's. Maybe more than half, since Demyx was sort of tentatively getting along with Sora now, too...even though he'd killed Demyx and pretty much all his friends, too. (Of course, that meant Demyx might not even need to worry - sure, Sora didn't have the Keyblade, but Xigbar and Luxord were weaker here too, right? It might balance out...but Demyx didn't want them getting killed any more than he wanted Sora to.)

What'm I gonna do?

He was vastly relieved to spot Matsuda; at least he could go hang out with a friend who (probably?) wasn't contemplating running off on him or murdering anybody. But as Demyx got closer, he realized Matsuda looked pretty unhappy himself.

So, when Demyx sat down beside him, he forced a smile. It looked natural enough; after all, every smile of Demyx's was forced, technically. "Hey, you okay? You look kinda down."

[deadlyjuliet.livejournal.com]

[For Godot]

Blood on the field and actually meeting that crazy robot had been the highlight of the last shift. Of course, Grell hadn't been able to tease said crazy robot, but at least he'd been out of Brainiac's irritating glare for a little while. The brat was still alive and since it seemed that going after him wasn't doing any good, Grell would have to change tactics in order to amuse himself at night.

Right now, however, was an absolutely beautiful shift - lunch. With lunch? Fish and chips. Maybe it wasn't the most elegant meal (honestly, pub food?), but it was good and Grell was hungry. Taking his meal from the nurse, the death god found his way to an empty table and sat down. Fork and knife in hand, he cut the fish apart and wished for a bit of malt and vinegar rather than the tartar sauce. Regardless, the first bite was good and he relished it - albeit carefully, in order to stay in character.

[gald_digger]

After an awkward breakfast, Anise had spent most of the second shift in the Sun Room, getting in touch with people on the bulletin and organizing some of the information in her journal. There wasn't much point in keeping the room numbers of people who were already gone, so she set to work crossing out the names and numbers that couldn't be used anymore. Emperor Peony, Colonel Mustang, Naminé, Cyrille, a lot of people she wasn't sure about... and Ion. In the end, it was just too depressing to have a page full of crossed-out names, so she scrapped it and wrote a new one with the few people she was sure were still around.

The rest of the shift was spent just thinking by herself. Anise still didn't know what she was going to do with Ion gone. She didn't know what she could do. By the time the shift changed, she still didn't have an answer.

When she came to the cafeteria, Anise was careful not to show the slightest hint of a frown to the staff or the other patients. She filled her tray and took a seat in the middle of the room. The girl quietly started on her food, not giving much attention to the other patients in the room. She knew there was a high chance that one would end up taking the seat across from her, but that was okay. Even if she wasn't feeling much like her usual cheerful self, she could still handle a casual chat or two. Maybe it would even do her some good. Sitting around by herself definitely hadn't.

[Count Gailardia~♥]

[nobleman]

It wasn't like Guy had expected the chat with Dias to go well, and while it definitely could have gone worse, he did feel bad now for keeping the information from the man. But it wasn't like they had known each other for very long, and he had kept it from Claude, who he was much closer to, for an even longer stretch of time... But Guy was just going to have to accept that his phobia would cause problems for him sometimes. He still hadn't figured out a way to tell people about it from the start without coming off as completely strange.

It was something he would have to think about. For now, he needed to eat. Today's lunch was pretty greasy -- while it was unhealthy, fried stuff also tended to be pretty good, and so Guy waited in the long line for his plate of fish and chips.

Once that was taken care of, the first thing he did was search out Luke, but there was no sign of his friend. Or Van, for that matter. Guy needed to talk to the man at some point, even though he would have been happy to avoid that for as long as he could. Apparently he was going to luck out for a little longer...

But then he spotted Anise. She looked well enough, but Guy knew that she was a pro at hiding the way she was really feeling. There was no way she could be doing all that well after what she had discovered last night, and so Guy quickly headed over to give her a shoulder to lean on. Well... figuratively, at least. Besides, they were due for a talk. Communicating over the bulletin alone didn't really cut it.

He sat down across from the girl and sent her a small smile, but his expression turned serious soon enough. "How are you holding up?"