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

[haplesstracker.livejournal.com]

The aforementioned Scourge was brought into the cafeteria a bit later, with one orderly still holding him by the arm. They'd given him a lecture on getting along with other inmates even if they say something mean, but most of it had gone over his head and stopping to leave a small, distorted note to Lugnut and Blitzwing had been the extent of his higher-level functioning.

Fortunately the quest for food was handled by far more primitive mechanisms and the nurses were pleased to find Mr. Cho turning his attention to the fish and chips rather than the blood still under his nails. He gathered what he could of what interested him and sat down hard at his table, trying to get his limbs working properly again.

He felt...good. Powerful. This whole place was designed to make a strong Decepticon helpless and here he'd just kicked Starscream's legs all over the place. Lugnut would see it as a sign of loyalty and Starscream would watch his back a lot more frantically. It was a small victory, and one at the cost of his fine motor skills, but it cheered him up immensely.

[For Diego]

[oober-tracker.livejournal.com]

Okay. So every new thing he learned about this place seemed to be nothing but bad news. Not only were there monsters to fight at night, but people could just disappear whenever Landel chose without anyone knowing where they went? Just great. At least Diego could understand the sense of urgency in finding escape now.

But hey, food he recognized for lunch. Fish. That brightened things up a little bit, even if the fish was probably 'cooked' over a fire just like the meat this morning had been. The woman who was gathering up food for him chattered away cheerfully as she gently led him towards one of the long platforms. "You've been so good so far, Mr. Copland, maybe you could try and help this young man here be a little bit more well-behaved? You two have fun now!" And with that last statement, the woman bustled off to bear down on some other poor unsuspecting soul.

Diego sank slowly and awkwardly into the seat. "Uh... hi." They were supposed to talk, he'd probably get lectured later for not doing so, and getting that out of the way now meant Diego could focus on the new mystery of the food in front of him and how to eat it.

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

Indy hadn't gotten a hell of a lot out of the morning--a little more fodder for the "other worlds" theory, but nothing too convincing. Even the ruins last night had been preferable, he decided; swapping question for question at least made you feel like you were getting somewhere, getting deeper into the mystery. Questions like what kind of society hadn't developed sports were a brick wall.

He'd told the man this morning that he was interested in exploring that town further. The statement had been automatic, but now Indy considered it more carefully. As interesting as it was, sifting through the rubble might not be the best use of his time, especially since (as Pierson had pointed out, aggravatingly right as usual) he didn't have any real equipment at hand. The odds that the town was connected to Landel's somehow--and more importantly, that figuring out how they were connected would do anything to help him get everyone out of here and get home--were slim at best. Maybe those file rooms would be a better plan, or outside in a different direction.

Well, he had time to figure it out, Indy decided, shrugging to himself. He was kind of in the mood to talk to someone other than the usual procession of teenaged or twenty-some-odd-year-old males, but the only lone woman he spotted right off didn't look like she'd be very receptive to his company. So Indy helped himself to a hearty plate of fish and chips and a seat by himself, hoping either information or eligibility would take the opposite chair.

[for Utena]

[revolutionise]

Utena left the greenhouse feeling a lot better than she had felt at breakfast. The talk with Harley had been refreshingly upbeat, even with the talk of the many less savoury aspects of the institute. She left feeling ready to take on anything Landel could throw at her.

On her way to the Cafeteria, she checked on the bulletin board. There wasn't as much that caught her eye as there had been the previous day, disappointingly. She did notice, though, that there hadn't yet been a post from any representatives of the Cooking Club, which was worrisome. If nothing was posted by the 4th shift, she would throw in her hat with Arts & Crafts for the night, Utena decided. Whoever she ended up helping, she was looking forward to doing something useful at least.

For the time being, Utena gathered up some lunch and took it into the main part of the Cafeteria - just in time to witness quite the spirited speech from a skinny girl with short, dark hair. If the conversation in the greenhouse hadn't been enough to pick her up, the fire in that speech was certainly was enough to make her grin with confidence. "Why couldn't we have more people like you in Ohtori?" Utena said to herself with a little laugh as she went to find an empty seat.

The first seat she found was opposite an older man. Utena settled into the seat without paying much attention to him initially, listening to the rest of the girl's speech up until an interruption by the inevitable force of nurses and orderlies. At least it had been a valiant effort while it had lasted.

When the speech was finished, she turned to her lunch. She wasn't used to fish the way they were serving it, but it wasn't that bad. As she ate, however, it felt odd not saying anything to a person who was sitting so close, directly across from her. After a few more bites, she looked up and smiled at him. "Seeing stuff like that makes me wish that we could all just rise up as one during a meal sometime and overpower the staff with sheer force of numbers. Too bad Landel'd probably just knock us all out like he does at night or something," she remarked, gesturing in the direction of the girl and the nurses. "Gotta find more creative ways of getting the upper hand here, I guess."

[toadally4boobs.livejournal.com]

Jiraiya's conversation with Sasuke had been... interesting. The kid was really trying too hard to be an asshole, though. It didn't suit him very much.

The Sannin let his nurse 'helpfully' gather food on his place, pretending he was having a bit of trouble with figuring out what he wanted to eat. Of course, he was actually looking at her breasts with his peripheral vision, there was a good reason for him being distracted. Eventually, he couldn't stall any longer and found himself being led to a spot by himself.

He watched his nurse walk away appreciatively, then began to eat. Of course, eating didn't stop him from checking out the other ladies in the room, either. Sometimes, it was nice to eat by oneself....

[For Harley!]

[jokers-wildcard.livejournal.com]

Actually, no. It was really boring to eat by yourself. At least in Harley's opinion. Heck, even when she ended up running into some of these grumpy bastards who wanted to start a shouting match, it was better than being alone. Especially today. Why?

Fish. Ugh... Of all the things, why did they have to serve this junk? Just the smell floating around the room was enough to make her want to gag. Thus, she was going to be settling with an apple for lunch. The smell wasn't doing much for her appetite, anyway. And since she wouldn't be eating, she was going to have to find someone interesting to talk to.

It actually didn't take very long to find someone who fit the bill (hell, it NEVER took long). It was this huge guy with equally huge, white hair. She'd have probably need a blindfold not to notice this one. But what caught her attention most was the face paint. Or maybe they were tattoos. It set off bells immediately either way. Another gang member, maybe? What kind of gang would have marks like that? Oh, this might be interesting.

Without asking for permission of any kind, Harley plopped herself into the seat directly across from the guy. She waved her apple-hand in what she thought was an acceptable greeting wave. "Hey-hey! Enjoyin' the slop?"

[madeinthehrl]

That had been almost pleasant, Soma admitted to herself. The presence of so many plants had been oddly soothing, and her conversation with Argilla had been somewhat relaxing as well. It was a marked improvement from the day before.

Lunch appeared far too rich for her palate, so she filled her plate with a salad and some fruit instead and sat down with a glass of water under her nurse's watchful eye. Soma tried not to glare at her. It wasn't as if she would go and attack E-0057 now, not with those orderlies present and her reflexes still untested. She'd learned to bide her time.

Taking a bite of the salad, she contented herself with watching the rest of the patients come in. If someone from Celestial Being were here, surely there had to be someone else from her home world as well.

[Free!]

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

Having effectively skipped eating breakfast, Tony was hungry by lunchtime. He'd kicked a ball around the recreational field nearly all morning. Exercise and sunshine made for a healthy appetite. He took his tray and looked for somewhere to sit. Spotting Kvothe talking to someone and the ice bag in addition to the cast took some of his cheer away, but he knew he'd be able to talk to his friend in their room at dinner.

He arranged his glass and plate on the table and set the tray on a nearby chair. "I don't mean to interrupt, but if I'm going to eat here, we may as well say hello."

[adorkabledragon.livejournal.com]

See Emily. See Emily fail. Fail, Emily, fail! LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN.

Keman was in a fine mood. He was still fuming from his encounter with the rude "telepath" at breakfast this morning. The redheaded human had seemed perfectly content to flaunt his powers in the dragon's face, asking awkward questions, making infuriating statements, generally being obnoxiouss, and souring his day completely. The last shift had been spent in his room, taking out his frustration on a poor, hapless pillow. That had helped to improve his mood, at least. He would have liked to stay in his room longer, but the nurse was very firm. He needed to eat.

At least the fish didn't smell too bad, he reasoned, and he'd enjoyed the "chips" quite a bit in the few times he'd been exposed to them. Though, he was fairly certain they'd been called something else the last time. Now wasn't that odd...

[timedork]

The Doctor had been doing quite a bit of sleeping lately, and to be frank, that annoyed him.

He couldn't entirely figure it out, either. Sleep was something of a luxury; he didn't need much of it to begin with, and it was a relative waste of time. Time was something he had plenty of, but there was too much to do and see to spend it sleeping! And especially here; every hour he had slept was a setback to finding the TARDIS and getting Rose, Donna, and everyone else back to where and when they belonged.

The announcement that lunch consisted of fish and chips cheered him considerably, however. It was with a tray full of said fish and chips in his hands that he looked around the cafeteria for either a familiar or a friendly-looking face. He could certainly do with a good conversation.

There was no sign of Rose or Donna yet, so the Doctor's gaze settled on a young man who appeared to be in his late teens. He headed for the boy, stopping across from him. "Is this seat taken?"

[remnantsofflame.livejournal.com]

Asch didn't like the look of this so-called fish. It was apparently fried, but it didn't look very appetizing. That was two unappealing meals in a day. Great.

He was still in a bad mood from the day's earlier events. Dealing with the replica, being mistaken for someone else...it wasn't a very good day. He hadn't found out anything useful about how to get a weapon made faster, and he knew that he was still on shaky ground with Teisel. So maybe he'd misjudged; he'd pinned Teisel as being rational. Well, no, in Teisel's place, he'd have been pissed off too. But still.

He sat down at the table and remembered that he'd wanted to talk to a nurse. Well damnit. He still had time to catch one after lunch. He'd have to actually remember to do it this time.

[birdbrained middle child, where art thou~]

[no-ones-son.livejournal.com]

Jason was still turning things over in his mind as he moved through the line to serve himself some lunch. He'd had a productive morning and was feeling pretty damn good about the rest of the day too. He'd gotten everything he wanted to know about the two psychopaths who'd assaulted that Brainiac kid and he should be able to track them down without much difficulty. He couldn't see them anywhere in the cafeteria right now but he could always look for them next shift or just put a notice on the board asking them to meet him at night.

And then there was his other notice on the board which had produced better results than he'd expected. He'd learned there was someone else here with a grudge against Batman who might be willing to help him out if he ever needed it for some reason. Jason couldn't tell who had answered there but they sure as hell weren't the Joker so he could work with them, at least until he decided it was time to get rid of them. He'd also fooled Harley and had a way of luring her out when he was ready to finish her off. And he'd learned that Batman had a few allies here or at least people who would be willing to work with him, but the only ones who'd present any threat were the Flash and Robin's little pet meta. So long as he caught them off guard they'd be easy pickings.

Most importantly, Bruce had to have seen the notice. He couldn't guess how Bruce would respond, but he'd been warned that Jason wasn't going to accept being ignored. Now he'd just wait and see what happened.

Trying to plan out what he should do now and searching for a free table, a familiar face caught his attention. For a moment he thought it was Luke, but when he looked again at the man sitting alone, Jason realised there were some subtle differences between this guy and his roommate - which meant it had to the voice in Luke's head, 'Asch'. Curious and unable to spot either Luxord or Grell he sauntered over to claim the seat opposite the man. "Hey," he greeted nonchalantly. "Asch, right?"

[strayfag]

[for Alle]

...Why didn't Dr. Evil just end his announcements with 'tee hee hee' or something? Badou was seriously ashamed to be a prisoner sometimes.

He skipped the fish and went for a plate of fries slathered in salt and ketchup, plus some juice to get his daily intake of nothing-resembling-real-fruit. He wasn't really hungry, but it was free food and all that.

He flopped down in an empty seat to wait for Allelujah and munch on his fries. With any luck, they could skip right over what had happened yesterday by pretending they'd both forgotten the whole thing. Or maybe it would work to his advantage...somehow. They weren't really friends or anything, but he didn't have a lot of options.

[tender-cruelty.livejournal.com]

The conversation with Homura had left Allelujah feeling a little better about the situation. Even if some sort of truce could be agreed between himself and Ma- Soma, then it would be a step forward. He didn't want to have to keep watching his back all the time. Speaking of, she was sitting there now, a dark look on her face. He quickly went to grab some food and sit down before she spotted him. He didn't want a repeat of yesterday.

It was easy to spot Badou when there were so few people around in the cafeteria so far, and Allelujah sat down next to him. "Hi, Badou," he said, offering the other man a little smile before taking a mouthful of food.

[oftemptation.livejournal.com]

Well, if he'd had to be outside at all, Endrance thought, it could have been a whole lot worse. Allen had been pleasant to talk to, and at least his nurse hadn't made him get up and try to do anything.

After making the obligatory trip through the salad bar, he took a seat and waited on his companion from last night to come by.

[o hai bb - er, I mean B.]

[bthebest.livejournal.com]

The schedule of this place was really focused around mealtimes, wasn't it? After the reunion between himself and Cross, B found himself following the crowd of other "patients" into the cafeteria, sorted like usual through the foodline in order to receive his helping of what was supposed to be fish and chips. He stared at it. Yeah right.

Endrance was easy enough to spot though, and he dropped his tray on the table with an clatter next to him, climbing into a seated position rather than simply settling down, addressing his companion without actually ever looking at him openly.

"Hello again, Endrance." Funny how all his acquaintances sported strange nicknames. Had it not been for other evidence on the board, B might have thought that that was the determining value in who was sent to the place after their death. But anyway... "Been taking care of yourself after last night?"

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

Even though Sousuke had calmed Miku down from the earlier upset with Aidou, she'd spent the second free shift in her room. It wouldn't do her any good to be surrounded by flowers, and she wanted time to herself to think. She wrote in her journal, thought of a way to untangle her mess of feelings and left a note on the board.

Just like she promised herself she would at breakfast while in full view of Sousuke, Miku collected her meal and sat down, but poked at the battered cod fish. Maybe if she pretended it was tempura or something, instead of being oddly square-shaped... She carefully spread some sauce across the top of the fish and stared at it. She promised that she would eat, so she would.

In a minute or two.

[Soubi]

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

What with last night’s success with the gifts for Ritsuka and this morning’s strange conversation, Soubi wasn’t sure what to do about the portrait he was working on. Of course, he ought to finish it while the face was a fresh as it could be in his mind. But he wasn’t exactly sure when to give it to Ritsuka or how he’d react when he saw it…

And, as it happened, Soubi was given an opportunity to get some help. Kio’s help would have been appreciated too, but that’d come later. First he needed to check details. Miku had known Alfons too, hadn’t she.

Soubi wandered over, a smile in place and leaned down beside Miku.

“Mind if I join you? I…need your help with something,” he said, sitting down.

He put his tray down and pushed it forward, more interested in his journal.

“It’ll only take a moment,” he continued, opening the journal up to a page of rough sketches, all of them eyes. “I’m making a portrait for Ristuka. Of Alfons…. But I’m having trouble remembering every detail.” He flipped to a page with a full face sketch and showed her, flipping through more pages of mouths and noses and ears and hair.

“Think you can help?”

[icy-demise.livejournal.com]

The past twenty-four hours had been full of surprises. Ophelia was secretly a snake monster, and Haku was secretly a boy. SubZero had about as many surprises as he could handle. It didn't help that his nurse insisted on carrying his tray. He could easily have managed that, even with the use of only one arm.

SubZero sat by himself, and hoped that HK wouldn't decide to come bother him at lunch. He'd seen the other two assassins talking in the sun room but hadn't given them much attention. Spending the night planning with the two of them really wasn't his idea of a good time either, it was time that could be better spent doing something else.

[For Haku]

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

Haku had enjoyed a relaxing, uneventful time in the Sun Room and was looking forward to a simple meal. Frowning down at the fried foods, he decided to at least find some company that wouldn't push him too hard.

Perfect.

Walking over to the familiar face, he smiled politly at SubZero and bowed. "Good afternoon. May I join you?"

[kagurazuki.livejournal.com]

Kagura wandered back inside with her nurse, still somewhat bewildered by the girl she'd met at the greenhouse. She picked up her food and looked around, though she wasn't really sure who she was looking for. The Pigmask leader hadn't really given a description, so she really just had to wait and see if he showed up. Hopefully Bridget was having better luck.

She seated herself at an empty table and started eating her meal, picking at the fish and humming quietly to herself.

[I can has pigmask club meeting?]

[piggy-king.livejournal.com]

Well, shit. Everything was going just super for Porky now. He hadn't expected to announce to everyone that he had a power. Not only that, but he had given everyone a serious case to not trust Porky at all. And on top of it all, Porky, for all his worth, had been wrong about Lelouch's power! As if to add insult to injury, he had gloated so much, and he had actually been wrong!

Well, fuck it all. If no one trusted Porky, then Porky would just act how he would have on the Nowhere Islands: brutal, merciless, and, above all, violent. Porky grabbed three orders of fries and, after a moment of thought, six apples. Porky had read messages about someone who loved apples on the bulletin board, and he seemed like a very interesting character. Perhaps meeting him in the future would prove useful...for now, though, he had a meeting with a no-longer prospective Pigmask Club member. No point in beating around the bush.

Porky searched the cafeteria for the girl who had wanted to meet with him, and unceremoniously dropped his tray onto the table she was sitting at when he had found her.

"No point in meeting, I suppose," Porky sighed, "It's pretty obvious from your messages to Lelouch on the bulletin board that you have no interest in joining the Pigmask Club. Such a pity."

Porky sat down and began eating his fries. It was obvious that this wouldn't be productive in the least, but that was no reason to be silent.

"So..." Porky began slowly, "How have you been doing since you came here?"

[high-prosecutor.livejournal.com]

Edgeworth was in full swing that morning and was satisfied with his progress thus far. If the other shifts were just as productive as the first two had been - and there was no reason to believe that they wouldn't be - then it would count as one of the more productive days that he'd had in some time.

...never mind the fact that a certain other attorney was being a bother on the bulletin board. He put that out of mind as he stepped through the cafeteria line and took a seat, waiting for Miss Kirijo's arrival.

[For Mitsuru]

[marin-karin.livejournal.com]

Second shift had been rather...boring, really, but either way lunch could not have come sooner. It didn't take long after getting her food for Mitsuru to find her contact. There were only so many people around with grey hair, after all.

"M.E., I presume?" she asked upon reaching who she believed to be the person on the board, taking a seat across from him. "I'm Mitsuru Kirijo."

[lostonlifesroad.livejournal.com]

Kakashi couldn't remember the last time he's actually had a debate over what shape the clouds had taken. It was strangely relaxing, and certainly the most carefree shift he'd had since he'd arrived in this place. Now, however, came a trial of a different sort. Kakashi had gotten his tray and his food, and then moved to a table to being inspecting it.

Apparently, the fish was a lie.

Instead of actually eating the monstrosity on his plate, Kakashi began taking apart what had to be tempura, and poorly done tempura at that. Half-tempted to look around for his roommate, Kakashi instead sighed and pushed the stuff aside. This time they hadn't even given him anything decent to go along with it. Maybe it was his punishment for having a decent time last shift.

His stomach growled a bit, and Kakashi found himself wishing he hadn't just been looking at a giant bowl of ramen in the sky.

[For Arty]

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

Fish. Fish was a once-living animal, and thus Artemis felt sick when he looked at it. He had no desire to be Vegan-Lite, damn it all. But his back was still painfully pressurized, and the noise level in the cafeteria was its usual deafening blare, and even poking fun at SubZero couldn't make up for how miserable he felt at that moment.

Common sense told him that he should sit with someone he liked. Someone who would pat him on the shoulder and tell him that if he pretended it was fake crab, it might go down okay.

Of course, as intelligent as Artemis was, common sense he lacked sometimes.

He was about to go see if he could meet whoever Badou was talking to, but the white-haired man that he'd seen Haku speaking with that morning caught his eye. No, he shouldn't pry into Haku's life. He should not pry into Haku's life.

"Do you mind company?" Artemis asked, smiling politely.

Honestly, he should learn to exercise some sort of restraint...

[4lulzngiggles.livejournal.com]

((Free!))

Mm... this wasn't exactly an amazing meal, but Joshua supposed that he'd just have to deal with that. It seemed like he was back to square one, for the most part, but that wasn't quite correct; he had his phone, and Nataku had proven to be surprisingly adept partner. Perhaps things were looking up after all...

Well, he'd see about that later on. For now, he got himself a nice bowl of salad and some grilled fish to go with it, and sat off on his own to watch the other patients. It had been awhile since he'd last been able to just watch... there was something oddly peaceful about letting the white noise wash over him like the waves of the ocean.

[lighthearted]

Sora's chat with Shikamaru hadn't been the most interesting thing ever, but it had still been nice to get outside for a little while -- and that soccer game had been fun to watch, too! Sora was reluctant to go back inside the stuffy building, but he knew better than to put up a fuss. He might be back out on that field soon enough if he was going to make a third attempt at the quarry, anyway. Though it was possible Momo had given up on him actually succeeding at that.

Hopefully not. He wanted to prove that he could do it! It was just the lack of time that was a problem, usually. Well, that and the monsters, but the two kind of went hand-in-hand.

Either way, there was fish for lunch, and that always got Sora in a good mood since it reminded him of home. The way it was deep-fried was different from how he usually had it back on the islands, but it was close enough.

Once he had his food, Sora started looking for somewhere to sit, and he almost immediately caught a head of silver hair. That wasn't so shocking since a lot of people here had that hair color, but the fact that the boy it belonged to looked about Riku's age made Sora pause. Riku's hair was a lot straighter, but still -- there was a small resemblance, sort of similar to the way he'd felt when he'd met Shiki.

It was enough to get the boy interested, and so he soon headed over and set his tray down on the table nearby. "This seat isn't taken, right?"

[wantsyourzex.livejournal.com]

Well, that had overall been a waste of his time. Wilson hadn't had any answers for his problems (for the moment, ZEX was avoiding the idea of taking Max's life for his own, since he really wasn't sure how he felt about that), had been just as judgmental about his invisible admirer's affections, and ZEX had lost out on a potential shift where he could have been molesting his human Captain. All in all, rather frustrating.

Well, at least his invisible friend (she really needed a name...) seemed intent on keeping him company, and that somewhat lightened his spirits.

More strange human food (this didn't look anything like any aquatic creature he was familiar with), and he sat down with a sigh. His arm still hurt, so it looked like he was going to have to deal with things one-handed again. ZEX stuck a few fingers into some of the sauce on his plate and sucked it off.

Hmm... he still had to post some notices to the other non-humans before the day ended...

[Free]

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

(Wow SOuji fail. Try again? With a less than happy guy? If not, he can leave.)

Takaya was Not Happy. He hardly ever was, but this food was just getting on his nerves. Too much grease.

He took the tray shoved into his hands by the orderly, and moved to sit down near a guy that at least looked like he might not be cheerful or annoying.

"Hey." He nodded at the seat. "You mind?"

[bullygeneraleva.livejournal.com]

Wash, rinse, repeat. Just like at breakfast, Evangeline elbowed her way through the lunchline and took her food to the most desolate table she could find, and began to eat. If she was left alone, well, that was fine... and if someone else to eat with her it'd be the same as with the German this morning, see how long they'd deal with her personality, and maybe, maybe discuss business if the conversation wandered that way.

Repetitive, sure, but she'd had a nice nap instead of gardening or whatever rot they'd had planned and she was ready for another round of the social discourse that was supposedly so important for all the little prisoners.

[[Free]]

[mind-the-sukima.livejournal.com]

[Drugged Youkai is Drugged]

Unfortunately, intelligent conversation was the last thing the vampire was likely to get. What she instead got was a very drugged, very tired youkai who, even had she been in a coherent state of mind, would have been more interested in harassing the girl that conversing with her.

After the disaster the shift before, Yukari wanted to sleep this off, but having missed breakfast due to part of it being drugged and the other part being contaminated with hands, she decided she needed to actually partake of this meal. With this in mind, by the time the youkai made it into the cafeteria itself, she had forgotten just why she wanted to take a nap and any reservations about holding another conversation. But who to talk to? She wasn't so drugged as to try approaching a stranger again in this state. She had of course spotted Sheena on the way in, but had recognized the one she was talking with as the boy from the night before. In spite of the Valium, or perhaps because of it, she decided that trying to talk with someone she'd slapped and possibly not handled with the best of graces was something to be avoided at all costs. So, instead, looking for other familiar faces, the youkai spotted the face of someone she'd actually spent more than one shift with. Trundling over through the medicinal haze, tray of fried killer cod in hand, the youkai fell into the seat across from the girl heavily, her tray hitting the table with a bang.

"You," she managed to say after a few blinks and far more effort than it should have taken her. "I know you. But. But.... I forgot your name."

She recalled saying this before. Not recently before, like she'd been doing recently. And before. But earlier. So. So she was pretty sure she had been told the girl's name. If she could just remember...

But then her eyes were closing and her head was drooping forwards and the table looked so inviting...

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

After the week that she'd had, Yuffie really didn't think anybody would be able to fault her for wanting to act out a little. So what if this would take 'little' and blow it to smithereens? Screw inhibitions! She'd been quiet for too long, serious for too long - and the bulletin didn't count! It was time, at long last, for the Great Ninja to take a stand. On a table. Okay, it wasn't the most dramatic of vantage points, but she could deal! Abandoning her tray of food, Yuffie somersaulted onto the tabletop and stood tall - dramatic, confident, and proud; now take a deep breath, ready those dramatic gestures. Three, two, one…! Go!

“FELLOW VICTIMS OF TYRANNY AND SUBJUGATION!” She announced loudly, setting her stance. “EVEN IN THE FACE OF TORMENT AND DESPAIR, CAST OFF THE SHADOWS OF DOUBT AND WORRY! THE DAYS OF EVIL-DOING AND NEFARIOUS SCHEMINGS ARE NUMBERED - KNOW THAT AS LONG AS YOU STILL LIVE, AS LONG AS YOU STILL LAUGH, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE HOPE.”

She paused for effect. It all came so naturally, from the intonation to the body-language, the poses and the gestures. Yuffie was good at delivering speeches. Just like she was good at turning any everyday conversation into an improvised skit; a graceful dance routine and boy, this was liberating. Doing her best to attract attention - and hold it - was an art form that Yuffie knew well; she'd spent so long believing that she and her own goals were the center of the universe. The well-timed pause ended, and Yuffie plunged onwards:

“WE CAN MAKE THAT NUMBER ZERO, IF YOU CAN ONLY FIND THE PASSION IN YOUR HEARTS AND THE COURAGE TO TURN HOPE INTO TRIUMPH! HOW CAN WE DO THIS, YOU ASK? WELL, THERE ARE INNUMERABLE WAYS! ALLOW YOUR IMAGINATION TO RUN RAMPANT! FROM SPAMMING THE BULLETIN WITH PICTURES OF FLUFFY KITTENS AND HILARIOUSLY LAME POETRY TO INSTIGATING WORD GAMES OF QUESTIONABLE PROPRIETY! FROM PERSONAL OUTFIT MODIFICATIONS SUCH AS FLOURESCENT PAINT AND SPARKLES TO GREAT FEATS OF GROUP-WIDE COSTUME ENGINEERING! CROSSDRESSING! INSTIGATE IMPROMPTU GYMNASTIC COMPETITIONS! YOU COULD EVEN --” Out of the corner of her eye, she spied movement. Oh, there were the nurses - and the orderlies - swooping towards her. Figured. But they were coming in pretty fast there. So fast that she couldn't just go back to completely blowing them off. “Hey, back off, I'm still talking here! Hey-!”

[damned-nurses.livejournal.com]

"Miss Bloom? Miss Bloom, really." It had been a relatively quiet day thus far, with only a couple of notable exceptions, which meant that of course someone had to get an idea. This was relatively harmless thus far, but one never knew who else would decide to react and how, which was why the staff had to move so quickly.

The nurse paused beside the table with her set of burly escorts, resting hands on hips as she frowned at the girl atop her improvised perch. "Please come down from there, Miss Bloom. Tables are not for climbing on, and you're disrupting all the other poor patients who are just trying to eat their lunches in peace."

She was trying for reason right now, in the hope that maybe the young woman would actually behave - she wasn't exactly a known troublemaker. Mischievous, perhaps, but. There was still a chance that this could be handled quickly and quietly.

[mitase.livejournal.com]

Today's food didn't seem quite as strange as some of what he'd seen, but Hanatarou still eyed his tray somewhat dubiously as he made his (very) cautious way to the nearest empty spot he could see. His talk with his new acquaintance had managed to distract him for the last little while, but now he couldn't help but remember the very, very unpleasant experience of finding a tangle of hair in his throat.

In fact, if he thought about it he could almost still feel it tickling the back of his throat, almost taste....

The healer hastily set the tray down, ignoring the way it made his glass of water slop over onto the tray, and dropped heavily into the seat. Not going to think about it, he chanted mentally, as he screwed his eyes tightly closed and tried to suppress nausea. Not going to think about it, not going to think about it...

Of course, not thinking about it only made him think about it, but he still did his best. At long as he didn't throw up in public - or worse, cough up another hairball - hopefully he'd be all right.

[free as a twitchy little bird]

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

It was amusing to think that there were still people here who actually believed in the fake smiles and easy-going attitude he wore. Ritsuka was a sweet boy, but terribly naive.

As Gin made his way through the line at lunch though, he caught sight of the fourth squad shinigami. He'd seen Yamada out with Izuru for a couple of nights now and while he didn't think he'd get much out of his former lieutenant, Hanatarou might be easier.

"Yamada-kun," he greeted smoothly, setting his tray down and sitting as though they were old friends. "You ain't lookin' too well." Not that this one ever seemed to be in the best of health...

[intoindra.livejournal.com]

((Free))

Fish. Well... it was better than nothing, Roland had to suppose, but it wasn't like he'd get any nutritional value out of it. He wasn't hungry, but he still went through the motions anyway, getting fish and fruit before looking for somewhere to sit. This routine was starting to get to him; all of those years of organizing a resistance force told him to try to save every last usable scrap, and here he was, effectively throwing things away every single day. Damn, the things that got to someone after long periods of confinement, huh?

Ah well. He eased himself onto a table, staring at the fish with an angry expression. Sometimes, he had to wonder if this was done on purpose. Sometimes, he had to wonder if the Doctor wasn't mocking him with the food, taunting his condition. It was insane, as there were only a handful of those who couldn't eat normal food and many more who had to, but at the same time, Roland had to wonder. In either case, he wasn't going to be eating a bite; he'd have to find something else to distract himself.

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

Distraction was coming in the form of a blonde bounty hunter that had no idea who she'd chosen to sit with. Honestly, it had been the way the man had stared at his fish, as if the thing was giving him the equivalent of the fishy middle finger that drew her.

Falis was in a good mood, had been all day, and was determined to stay that way. So when she limped over to the man's table, a couple thin cuts visible on her cheek, she didn't immediately say something sarcastic. Okay, not too sarcastic. At least it was lightly delivered.

"Aa. I don't think it likes the prospect of being eaten any more than you like the idea of eating it."

[falseblack]

[Free.]

It was only noon, and the day had already grown unbearable.

What was Albedo thinking? Revenge? Simple torment? Nigredo could not tell, and frankly, he had reached his limits in patience to bother. A brother's cruelty was a horrible thing, a fact he had forgotten until Albedo's game, until he saw his title laid out in plain sight by strangers who understood nothing of its origins. Not their fault, yes, but it made him want to forget he ever had blood relations. Or powers. Or anything remotely reeking of himself. The child even considered retiring for the day (no afternoon drills meant no obligations) but ultimately left it alone to keep an appointment with Rubedo.

How funny. In a sickeningly ironic way.

With permission from his nurse (and a promise to eat the entirety of his dinner), the U.R.T.V. choose to have a glass of ice water. He sat down at one of the vacant tables and--with link twitching--stared into a wall.

[purgatio]

[from here]

A brief conversation with the nurse watching him--layered in remorse and words sickly sweet--allowed him to be led to his younger brother and be sat down across from him, a chair away. His untouched tray of fruit was placed in front of him, and the boy held two notebooks to his chest. The nurse watched, waiting.

Albedo watched, too. Watched the brother that had cut him out as surely as another. And this one... This one shouldn't have the right. Albedo should have been the one to cut Nigredo out, in all that he was. But yet, again, Albedo was the odd one out, the one that didn't fit, and somehow this bothered him more than ever right now. The fact that Nigredo wouldn't give him the time of day.

Last night... He had learned from last night, learned from earlier today, and still he didn't know what path to take with this brother. Retribution seemed likely, but he found an unwilling tiredness soaking through him at the thought. No, perhaps what he wanted was--

"Alan."

Albedo looked up, glaring for a moment before remembering himself. He smiled at the nurse, then turned to Nigredo with a pleasant expression, wide-eyed. "I'm sorry for attacking you yesterday. It wasn't right of me." Almost invisibly, Albedo raised an eyebrow to let Nigredo in on the game, something familiar in tricking adults to play with his brothers at the edge of his consciousness. No matter where they went, they were still dancing at adults' whims, still playing their little games underneath the scenes.

The nurse patted him on the shoulder, not seeming to notice the way Albedo flinched. She smiled at Nigredo reassuringly. "We'll be right over there, so if anything bothers you at all, you let us know, alright?" With another smile, the woman walked a few feet off, slightly out of earshot, but deliberately within sight. Albedo was not to be trusted.

This, he supposed, was an intelligent deduction.

The boy looked at his brother blankly. Albedo still hadn't decided how he wanted this interaction to go. "Hi."

[fuzzy-diablo.livejournal.com]

The nap had been nice, and had given Kurt some semblance of feeling like he was sleeping. Waking up after he'd been running around all night was just too weird for him. Naps might have to become a regular thing.

Once he'd picked up his tray, Kurt began looking for Logan... again. It had been a whole two days, and no sign of him. The mutant was beginning to worry--but maybe Logan just didn't recognize him like this...?

No, he should have been able to. Logan wasn't usually the type who was faced with Kurt's image inducer on a regular basis, but he'd seen it once before at least. Still... it worried Kurt that he hadn't been able to speak with him.

He stood in the middle of the cafeteria, looking a little lost amongst those passing by with their trays, going to meet various people. Maybe he should try to find someone else to sit with to take his mind off things...

[For Marvel's Punching Bag ♥]

[paper-murdock.livejournal.com]

Matt wouldn't have noticed Kurt standing in the middle of the cafeteria if he hadn't come up right behind him and caught the faint sound of a now familiar heartbeat. Smiling, he tapped the nurse and let her know he'd be fine,grateful when she left him alone.

Tray in one hand, he stepped a bit closer. "It's usually easier to eat sitting down."

[dualistic]

The last shift had been a complete waste of time, but Harvey was at least glad to be back inside where he didn't have the cold air bothering him. He didn't have any more information than he'd had when he woke up this morning, and he was starting to get the feeling that he wasn't going to find out what the hell had happened to him last night if he wasn't more open about the details.

He wasn't that desperate yet, though. He could do some more digging around tonight on his own, and if he was still at a loss after that, then he would see. His trust in the patients here fluctuated depending on who he spoke to, but the fact that he had lost his chance to possibly get at Batman meant that he needed to make up a new plan.

First of all, though, was informing the stranger that he wouldn't be working with him after all. It took a forceful tone from him, but his nurse let him stop at the bulletin board to leave another note for the mystery Gothamite.

He really should have found someone else to ask about the hallucinations - someone who looked like they might be lucid and have half a clue of what was happening in this place - but he wasn't in the mood. He needed to think, and so after ditching his nurse the man found an empty seat and did his best to drown out the incessant noise while he tried to decide what his next move would be.

[Please feel free to bother him!]

[stalksperverts.livejournal.com]

Coming back from the Courtyard in a surprisingly good mood, Kio didn't even think about complaining that the cooking in the Institute was atrocious. He left a small note about his details on the Board and went into lunch. Sou-chan wasn't there yet, but the man felt that he had done well by his friend. Things weren't even close to patching up, but it was a start. It was something Kio could work with.

Grabbing a tray, he pondered what to do next. There was still the question of the upcoming night and whether he would go with Ritsuka or with the Cake Club. He felt somewhat guilty at having blown Honey and his group, so his conscience told him to go with the latter. Well, two more shifts to decide what to do.

Spotting an empty seat, Kio walked over and addressed the man at the table. "I'm sorry, is this taken?" He tried as hard as he could not to stare at the bandage on the man's face. He hoped that the night creatures hadn't done that to him. He hoped desperately Ritsuka and Sou-chan would never share that fate.

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

Idealist attitude aside, Wally had a point. There was that risk of being no better than Landel.

Sanzo didn't think the issue of eliminating him was that absolute. For one, killing Landel didn't mean he'd take over and start the same bs. All he wanted to do was get out of here, and get back to the mission. The only thing they had in common was a willingness to kill. The Head Doctor actually got something from it though. He did it in self-defense.

There was a lot more good that would come from putting him down; enough to outweight the bad. There were far too many problems with leaving him alive. He was finding it hard to believe there were actually prisons strong enough to contain this. Even the ones Wally had mentioned. Everything had a weakness somewhere. He wasn't about to put too much faith in it.

Sanzo sat down at a lone table, picking at the food.

For now, there was a few personal things to take care of before he tracked down Landel. Homura was top of that list. It'd taken some digging, but the monk had managed to track down the bastard's room number.

[givemeoblivion.livejournal.com]

Well, hadn't that been fun. Callisto was about as interested in gardening as she was petting kittens. Luckily, no one had come to bother her while she'd been there. She might have found some other fun uses for a trowel that would have broken her current streak of good behavior.

Thankfully, her mood was easily brightened by a familiar face in the cafeteria. Coming over with her tray (Was this fish or bread?), she slapped it down on the tabletop and grinned. "Hello there, handsome! Get any further than I did?" She knew he hadn't, but why miss a chance to share her own irritation?

[16hitmagnum.livejournal.com]

[free "chinese" loli]

Kagura would have went to the cafeteria all covered with dirt had a nurse not caught her and forced her to at least wash her hands. Again she stuffed her tray with everything she could and got herself a seat.

So she was alone at last, leaving her to do either one of two things: to think about what just happened to her or to eat like the greedy little girl that she was. Her choice was obvious. She took a handful of fries and stuffed them in her mouth, then took a forkful of fish and tried to fit it in with the fries that she was still chewing. It was a bit hard to swallow but it got to her stomach all the same so why bother. It's not like thhe food was delicious anyway.

The simple fried fish Shinpachi would cook for them tasted much better. Gintoi might be a lazy bum but he works wonders in the kitchen even with cheap ingredients. No, she didn't miss them. It was the food that she missed. It's only been one day so why should she miss them? Besides, they were big boys now, they could live a day without Kagura even if Sadaharu liked her more than he liked them and with Gintoki always getting into trouble. Kagura was strongest among the three of them but they'll do just fine. She nodded her head. And if they're not doing fine by the time Kagura met them again then she'd make sure to kick their ass for it. Hard. Because she can.

She lifted her shirt to see if the wound she got from last night's fight was still there. It was. Suddenly she didn't feel so strong anymore.

She realized that she was just poking her food with her fork now and shook her head. It was meal time! Focus, Kagura! She took another fistful of fries and stuffed it in her mouth.

[whohitreset.livejournal.com]

Had he really slept through the last shift? He must have, because he'd found himself being awoken by an oh-so-considerate nurse just in time for lunch. Given that he'd hardly touched his breakfast, Matt allowed himself to be served lunch, but found to his great displeasure that it was Not-Quite-Fish-And-Chips day. Well, since none of the food served here was all that bad (though whether or not it was drugged was still an unsolved mystery) he figured he might as well eat what he could.

The cafeteria was filling up quickly, and he spared the room one long look around in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, the asshole on the bulletin had been lying and Mello was still around. But he saw no familiar disheveled blond head. That doesn't mean anything, he told himself, knowing it to be a lie. The chances of him showing back up at this point were slim.

Goddamn that bastard for leaving him here.

Angrily, Matt dropped his tray down at the first available seat and plopped himself down in front of it. Only then did he even take notice of who he'd sat across from, and he blinked, momentarily brought out of his anger, at the hurried manner in which she was devouring her meal. "Hey, now," he muttered. "I don't think it's going to run away on you."

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

Wally was definitely feeling a lot less of the happy feeling he'd had this morning after breakfast. While talking with Sanzo was interesting, he couldn't agree with the idea that killing Landel was the only way to stop things. They didn't know enough about the situation for one thing, and killing people was something he just wasn't comfortable with.

At least he had managed to get some information about Landel though. Bats would probably be interested in it, even if it wasn't all that much.

The smell of fish and chips had his stomach rumbling the moment he walked through the door and Wally quickly snagged a tray and set about piling on as much food as he thought he could get away with. Breakfast had felt like days ago rather than hours, probably because he hadn't been able to eat as much then as he would have liked. It wasn't easy to come up with reasons to be eating so much food, even if it seemed like he wasn't exactly the only one with that problem.

But... maybe he could afford to pile on a little more than he might have previously...

A short while later saw Wally, laden with a tray piled with several pieces of fish, a stack of chips and a salad, settle himself down at an empty table. The cafeteria was relatively busy, but it looked like everyone already had plans to meet up with others and he didn't see anyone he knew, so he was happy enough to just sit on his own for the time being. And hey, it wasn't like he could get bored, what with the energetic girl jumping up on the table to start declaring things loudly to everyone. Wally laughed, but hoped that she wouldn't end up getting herself sedated over it. That wouldn't be so funny.

[mukuchi.livejournal.com]

[hope you don't mind?]

Mori didn't know how, but he'd slept through the first two shifts. Two. Not one, but two. Two shifts of Mitsukuni going it alone. Two shifts of his cousin without anyone to watch over him or save any sweet things that might have been served for him. And as if that wasn't bad enough, when Mori finally made it to the cafeteria and scanned for his cousin, he wasn't there. He could see that Mitsukuni was okay by the bulletin board, but Mori still felt like a failure. His family would have been disappointed in how poorly he was taking care of the Haninozuka heir.

Getting a tray of food and making sure to take some extra fruit for Mitsukuni later, Mori made his way through the cafeteria in search of the boy. What he found instead was a girl standing on a table and shouting at the top of her lungs about... Revolution? Apparently with tricks and-- oh, there were the nurses. Holding his tray, Mori quirked his head at her and was about to go help, when his nurse caught up to him halfway and forced him to sit at the first table she could push him toward. "Will, please try to make friends, won't you? Following that boy around isn't good for either of you. Wally, this is Will. Will, Wally. Have a good day!"

Mori wanted to protest, but the woman took off before he could, leaving him to sigh in response. Turning to his impromptu companion, Mori bowed his head in greeting and caught sight of the guy's tray. Could he really eat all that?