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

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

Miku jumped slightly, surprised by Soubi's sudden appearance and sputtered. "C-certainly!" She remembered his name now, only because Ritsuka had mentioned him, and their brief meeting on the bus to Doyleton seemed like a lifetime ago. Miku listened to him explain his plan and felt her heart twist painfully.

Alfons... she missed him. Ritsuka seemed to have been especially struck by his loss, too. "I'll be happy to, Soubi-san." She looked at his sketchbook and nodded to herself, trying to bring to mind Alfons' face. "What do you need to know, specifically?"

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

"Just Soubi," he smiled. He never really liked anything than plain Soubi. And Soubi-kun? He despised that almost more than he despised the man who always called him by it.

Her reaction to the request seemed.... a little hurt. Not outwardly, but still. It worried him all the more about how Ritsuka would be with this gift. But Soubi knew how much memories and photographs meant to the boy.

"I need to get every little detail. Freckles, eyelashes, everything. This has to be as accurate as possible." He turned to the page of eyes. "Do any of these seem right?" he asked.

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

Miku closed her eyes for a moment to bring up an image of Alfons' face, and opened them after a moment. Some of the eyes were too wide, others slightly too narrow. "His eyes were like..." She trailed off and lifted a finger to the one closes to it, "Like these, but a tiny bit wider, and kinder. Very kind and gentle." She flipped back through pictures of noses, "And like this one, but a little straighter. His nose was... slightly fleshier at the end, but only slightly." Miku wondered if this was something like exercising her grief at Alfons' loss.

Even though he'd been gone little over a week, and so much had happen in that time... It was still painful. It still hurt a lot. Miku took a deep, shuddering breath. "S-sorry... I just haven't made myself think about him for a little while now," she bowed her head in apology. "Ah..." Miku flipped through the book a little more and smiled up at Soubi after a long moment. "Ritsuka-kun... I think he'll be very happy with this." Maybe a little sad, but definitely happy, she was sure of it. "His lips always looked a little sad, even if he was smiling. Wide, the way men's lips usually are." She shifted in her seat, looked down, and took another steadying breath.

"What else?" she asked and looked up, her eyes deeply sad. She would do this for Ritsuka, definitely.

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

On a spare piece of paper, Soubi began to sketch a new pair of eyes, hopefully closer. He attempted a few at different proportions and angles and watched as Miku picked a nose. Then he began work on that.

“How are they?” he asked, nodding at the new page of eyes, they were very bare and rough, but hopefully enough.

“I’m sorry,” Soubi frowned. “We don’t have to do this.” In all honesty, he just wanted to get it as perfect as possible for Ritsuka, even if the boy wouldn’t notice the smallest errors. But his desire to please his master rarely left room to think about other people’s feelings.

He just knew that of he upset Miku, Ritsuka would be angry.

“I hope you’re right.” He knew Ritsuka liked to have pictures to treasure memories but was this out of line? Miku didn’t seem to think it was strange so…that was a good sign.

Soubi finished a pair of lips and showed them to Miku. “I suppose that’s it, if you think this is about right?”

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

"They're much better! More like his. These, especially," Miku said softly and pointed out the correct pair of eyes. "And it's okay," she held up her hands to stop him. "I don't mind helping you for this. Ritsuka-kun's 'memories' are important, even if this one isn't one he made himself."

She took a little bite of her fish, to keep herself distracted for a moment longer. "The lips look perfect, Soubi-sa.. Soubi."

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Soubi began to sketch and, while he didn't look up, he continued to talk.

"So, Miku. How have you been?" Always an awkward question, especially when bandages were visible. "Who's that friend of yours. Souske, was it?" Some little brat had practically attacked Soubi on the board once before, just for mentioning Miku. Really, why were people always defensive around him?

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

Miku turned to her meal and had another few bites before answering, "I've been... well. I'm healing, so that's the important part." She added with a smile. "Ah, yes, Sagara Sousuke," Miku flushed and looked up for a moment before turning her eyes back down to the table. "He's my protector and then... then some." There, that was the vaguest way she could describe her relationship to Sousuke, without embarrassment wanting to make her take cover in her meal.

"We're together a lot, but last night he went to work with the Arts and Crafts club, so I spent time with Sumeragi Subaru-san, learning how to better control this unwanted ability of mine," she added. Soubi didn't know, did he? she realized after a moment. Well, she'd just have to field those questions as best as she could. What a relief she couldn't really use them during the day.

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Soubi's gaze flickered to Miku and he smirked a little. "I think it would be nice if Ritsuka referred to me like that," he said. Of course, not if she meant sex more than love. Soubi knew that had to wait and, personally, he'd prefer it that way. He wasn't a pervert.

"...ability?" he asked, assuming it wasn't rude since she was the one to bring it up first.

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

Miku smiled, and her cheeks continued to redden. "It's a nice feeling to have," she replied mostly to her cod fish. "A-anyway," she continued. "I... can see things, ah, like the dead, and sometimes I can see memories in certain objects. Sumeragi-san called it 'psychometry', I just call it 'weird'." She laughed, nervously.

"And sometimes, it doesn't even want to work at all!"

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

"Is that so?" he asked, apparently surprised but not sceptical. As to whether or not really believed her...Soubi was learning to just go with the flow. Maybe she could do these things. He just hoped she didn't see people’s memories. Soubi liked his to be locked away in a dark room.

"You don't like this...skill, then?"

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

For a moment, Miku thought of her brother standing at the Gate with Kirie, and her mother hanging from the cherry tree. All the dozens of other people she'd read about that had been like her, but laughed off as cracked and crazy. "No... an ability like mine doesn't have a place in the world. It's very dangerous."

She took another small bite of her meal, carefully constructing her features to look that special kind of serene from quietly accepting her fate.

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

"Dangerous?" he asked. Disturbing maybe, but was it really dangerous to see dead people? Perhaps they led her astray or bothered her all the time, causing dangerous distractions?