damned_institute | Day 40: Lunch

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Day 40: Lunch

*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]

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Brainiac 5 glanced up at the cheerful greeting, but he didn't much feel like returning it at the moment. His body still ached from his injuries and would doubtlessly continue to do so until the painkillers started to take affect, so as such he wasn't inclined to make much by way of small talk. However he doubted he would be left alone so easily as the nurses seemed intent on convincing him to make friends, so he sighed and managed a faint nod.

"Hello." And then he went back to picking one-handedly at his lunch.

The not-so-excited reception wasn't all that unexpected. Asking how the other boy's night went wouldn't be the best of ideas either, given that he was obviously wounded. He could ask about the injuries, but he probably wouldn't like that either.

He'd keep it simple then. Sitting in awkward silence wasn't something he wanted. "I'm Leon Geeste, scientist and master of heraldry from the planet Expel."

Brainiac 5 paused, blinked down at his lunch, then turned a confused expression up at the boy sitting opposite him. While he could understand that it was difficult to think of topics to discuss, just announcing your name and profession seemed rather... random, not to mention dangerous here. It seemed more logical to him not to waste time with discussion at all in that case.

"I'm sure that holds significance for someone," he said automatically, then winced. That was precisely why Grell had sought him out to begin with, and while it was undeniable that the self-proclaimed 'death god' was psychotic, perhaps Brainiac 5 should at least try and reduce the chances of that happening again.

"I... apologise," he said carefully. "I'm not exactly in the best of conditions at the moment." He stopped and took a sip of water to alleviate his sore throat. "I am Brainiac 5."

That had to be the most interesting name he'd heard at the Institute so far. Brainiac? Like he was really smart? Leon wasn't all to fond of the word, but to each his own, he supposed. And then to add a number? Was he the fifth one to have that name? No other parts to the name, either. Just... Brainiac. It seemed rude to ask about it, though he was very tempted. Maybe if he hadn't seemed so unhappy...

"It means I'm a genius," he answered the first comment seriously, sticking one index finger up in the air. "And a spell caster. And don't worry about it. I didn't want to pry."

"A... spell caster," Brainiac 5 said flatly. "I see. Magic." It was impossible for him to keep the bitterness from his voice, even if he had been trying at least a little. Magic. Gods. Terms he was used to hearing applied to concepts that others simply didn't, or couldn't, understand and that science would often prove to be the result of something else. Something able to be explained and rationalised without handwaving and claims that there was no need to explain, it was simply 'magic' and that was all.

He half wondered if this Leon was purposely trying to needle him; his views on the subject had been easily available on the information board and from the number of replies he knew it had been read by many people here, not to mention his name had been clearly attached to it. It felt too coincidental that he would run into another person sensitive to the subject, particularly after the last time had ended so... badly.

He decided it might be best for him to avoid commenting on the matter entirely, which wouldn't be particularly difficult with how he was feeling at the moment. "It's fine," he said eventually. "I can hardly fault your curiosity. I've already had to answer several questions on the matter."

Leon didn't like the way Brainiac 5 made that comment. Not in the slightest. He frowned for a moment, then sighed. It wasn't as if he'd never run across people before who didn't care for the heraldric arts. After all, only a select number of people were gifted with them. Others had to settle for waving swords around while claiming it was the more proper and manly way to fight. That was fine. He wasn't going to argue about it with someone who clearly wasn't feeling their best. "That's one way of putting it, I suppose."

With his own little side project taking up a lot of his time and energy, Leon hadn't been following the board nearly as much as he probably should have been. When he did, it was mostly to search for familiar handwriting, like that belonging to Claude, or the leader of the Cooking Club. He'd missed Brainiac 5's post completely.

"Well, there's not much point in asking. Something or someone attacked you, and even if I knew what it was or where it was located, the chances of the same enemy being in the same place at a later time aren't all that high." He shrugged, cutting his fish up with his fork.

"I suppose that is correct," Brainiac 5 had to admit. "I doubt you would have the same issues with them that I did." After all, if Leon claimed to also have magic, then he would be unlikely to be targeted by psychotic mental patients claiming to be gods of death.

Mindful of his shoulder, Brainiac 5 took up his fork again and picked over the meal in front of him. While he could understand Leon's desire to make small talk and be sociable - the Legion had never seemed to be able to have any meal silently, and he'd often retreated to his laboratory to avoid the inevitable arguments and food fights - he simply did not feel up to the effort at the moment, and particularly not when the topic was one that he'd had so many problems with.

Automatically he glanced around the room, trying to find Clark's familiar face and sighing to himself when he couldn't see the other boy. Not that he was entirely certain what he would have done had he seen him, but it would have at least made him feel a little better.

That was an interesting choice of words, and Leon tilted his head a bit in interest. He did want to delve deeper into the subject now. how terribly bothersome it was that he was trying to be polite and not grate on this boy's nerves any more than he already had. (Though he might be failing that that anyway...)

Leon ate some of his fish, made a face, then ate more of it anyway. He didn't need to eat all of it, but he did need to keep his strength up. He was optimistic about the upcoming night.

"So," he went on when he noticed his audience's attention wandering. "Where are you from, Brainiac 5?"

The fish was palatable, but Brainiac 5 found that he wasn't particularly hungry, most likely a side effect of the drugs or his injuries. He forced himself to eat a little more of it, but was secretly grateful when Leon asked something of him as it gave him the excuse to set the fork down again.

"Originally I came from the planet Colu," he began, "but since then I've been living on Earth in the 31st century. It's why I've been finding some... difficulties here." He paused, almost as if realising he should say something more, and added, "and yourself?"

The young mage's eye's widened a bit as he told him where he was from. He didn't know the name of the planet, and he didn't know the time period in relation to Claude's, but that was a closer answer to his own than he'd heard from most.

"I'm from the planet Expel," he explained, though he didn't expect Brainiac 5 to recognize the name (due to that pesky Underdeveloped Planet Protection Program). "Have you met my friend Claude? We're both from some time in the future, but he's from earth. He might be more familiar with the world you know."

"I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with that planet, but from what I've heard, that's not entirely unexpected in this place," Brainiac 5 answered carefully. "Does that mean you are also not normally human?"

He listened as best he could to Leon, though his concentration required more effort than it had previously. More patients from the future? That was interesting, though to date he hadn't met anyone other than John Smith who had also been a time traveller. "No, I haven't met anyone by that name. But it might be... interesting to see how similar or different our respective time periods are."

"I'm Felpool!" Leon straightened up a bit as though proud of this fact. "It's, well, I don't usually look too much different from this, except for the ears." He the held both hands up on the top of his head to represent the feline ears he usually had. "Like the cats in the sun room," he clarified. "It's a recessive gene."

He tugged once at his puny human ears before letting his hands fall back into his lap. Only then did he recall the also Brainiac 5 had thrown into his question. "Oh! Are you not human either?" Of course that would make sense, him being from another planet and all.

Brainiac 5 nodded as he listened to Leon's explanation. Another person altered upon arrival here, though the changes were apparently not as in depth as they had been for others. Either way, it would be worth adding it to his notes on the subject...

His eyes were drifting closed again and his mind was wandering. With some effort, he brought his attention back to Leon in time to catch the returned question.

"No," he answered, though there was a rasp in his voice that had him wincing and reaching for the glass of water again. "I'm Coluan, though my external appearance was largely similar to how I look now, unlike the rest of my people." He sipped at the liquid while talking. "I suppose I was unusual in that respect." He stopped, considering for a moment. "But I imagine if your ears were a recessive trait, you may have been in a similar situation."

Leon had never heard of a Coluan, but since Brainiac 5 hadn't heard of a Felpool he figured they were even. He'd been about to ask about what little differences there were between his former and current appearance, but was distracted by his last comment.

"Felpool aren't entirely uncommon," he said thoughtfully, recalling others he'd seen like himself. "Sometime in our planet's past there was a race of feline humanoids that interbred with the regular population. Every so often, traits like my ears will show up." And if the man's comments from the day before were anything to go by, it might have occurred on other planets as well.

"I see," Brainiac 5 said slowly. Surprisingly, the information Leon provided might actually be useful for his investigations, as well as serving as an intellectual distraction from his injuries. "Did this give you any other abilities or differences as well?"

Recalling the earlier comment about 'magic', he reluctantly added, "like your... magical abilities. Are they related to your genetic differences? And do they still function here?"

The boy shrugged. "There doesn't seem to be too much of a connection." It wasn't as if the matter hadn't been studied thoroughly, after all. "The ability to use spells, we call it the Blessing of Mana, is something someone is either born with or isn't. Who it appears in, however, varies equally." There were other methods of harnessing heraldry, but they weren't widely practiced.

"And my abilities do work here, but only just. I can manage a couple spells a night if I'm lucky. I'm working on putting them toward a better use by joining the alchemists in their crafting endeavors."

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Day 40: Lunch

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