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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"Thanks," Suzaku said quietly, in response to both the information and the compliment. He should let Lelouch work on whatever it was -- the monster information, he could see from looking over his shoulder. But he caught Lelouch's expression as he leaned over, and couldn't help wondering what was bothering him. His Prince's mood had obviously improved since he'd thought of a way to deal with Porky, because there was no reason for Lelouch's pride to stay wounded after he'd won. Suzaku was glad, though he wouldn't forget the insult and Lelouch probably wouldn't either, but that didn't change the fact that he felt like he should say something now.

It was easy not to have to think, to rely on formalities and the distance that came with orders. However, he wasn't just Lelouch's knight, and that honestly wasn't what he wanted anyway. He'd agreed to this because he felt he could serve and protect Lelouch as a person, not just as a commander. The Prince's humanity was what had ultimately resulted in this arrangement, even if they weren't quite friends right now and he didn't know what they were. So he couldn't just leave it at that, he had to break the weird tension that came with formality.

"Just write up what you can," he said lightly, almost idly, his gaze traveling from Lelouch's face to the notes. "We'll get more information later." He knew it was something unnecessary, but Lelouch was obviously irritated and he just wanted to ease the silence.

Lelouch made a small, noncommittal sound in the back of his throat and twirled his pen a few times. He'd have to begin by reformatting Mello's notes, he supposed, and while that would delay him from organizing the far more fruitful information he'd gathered on the board, it would at least give him a better idea of which questions to ask the next time those monsters were brought up... if at all. Were people really this apathetic about contributing to the efforts to organize and inform everyone? No wonder none of them had escaped yet.

He turned to a fresh page and started writing, flipping back every so often to check on a detail or two from the so, so, so very incomplete record he'd "inherited" from Mello. It was a good thing the man was no longer around; Lelouch would have had to waste even more time berating him for his substandard work.

It took him awhile to notice he was ignoring Suzaku (and his meal, which he'd be hearing plenty about from his nurse later), but once he did, the pen wavered mid-stroke. "You-- have you made any other progress so far?" he asked, his gaze flickering briefly upwards before focusing on the page before him once more. The "s" he'd been writing was only minutely less perfect than the others, but he found himself dissatisfied with it regardless. "Or met anyone of interest, perhaps?" The topics weren't exactly casual, but he wasn't entirely sure how to bring things between them back to that level. Maybe that only happened if one of them had a spontaneous fit, and yes, he was going to mentally refer to it in that way from now on. It was better than the truth.

Suzaku had finally taken a decent crack at his fish when Lelouch spoke again. He looked up as well, before sighing and leaning forward on an elbow. "Not really. Most of the people who make weapons are way too secretive, so I'll probably have to find out more information by asking around. I woke up late, and then most of my day was taken up by this Porky business, so I haven't talked to anyone that interesting."

His lip quirked a bit. "Aside from Yuffie, I mean." He still didn't know what to think about that, other than the fact that she was pretty hilarious, however embarrassed he'd felt at the time. But she seemed intelligent and capable, and he wouldn't mind working with her at some point, even if she continued to say uncomfortable things about him and Lelouch. Which were a hundred times more uncomfortable than she could ever know, because they weren't really even friends and he hadn't been so sure about being that casual toward Lelouch on the board. He still wasn't sure if he had crossed the line, or if he even wanted to go anywhere near the line, and it was all confusing enough without insinuations that. . . yeah. He was just not going to think about it.

He went back to the fish with a passion to distract himself, unable to help another glance at Lelouch as he did so. "You should eat something." He wasn't sure if Lelouch could get skinnier, but it wasn't something that should be tested.

Oh god, Yuffie. That was-- Lelouch considered her to be a valuable resource, but he would have been much happier about incorporating her into his project if she hadn't been so... he couldn't even think of the word. Rambunctious? That was probably too polite after the incident on the board, but then it could have been much worse... somehow. Why had Suzaku felt the need to allude to it, anyway? If doing so wouldn't involve actually talking about it, Lelouch would have ordered his knight to never mention what had happened again, but as things were, he just continued staring down at his journal and hoping his embarrassment wasn't too visible.

The change in subject was very, very welcome after that, and hiding his relief under his usual detached mask, he looked over at Suzaku once more and slowly raised an eyebrow at him. First nagging at him to get some sleep, now this? This wasn't going to become a running theme between them, was it? "You're beginning to sound like my nurse," he observed coolly, his mouth twisting a little in distaste. The last thing he needed was another mother hen on his heels, as far as he was concerned, and while Suzaku was his knight and Suzaku, there was something inherently wrong with being reminded by two people at once to eat more. What were they trying to say to him?

Expression souring further at the thought that he knew exactly what they were getting at and just didn't want to acknowledge it, he plucked one of the fries off of his plate and ate it. "Happy now, Sir Kururugi?" he continued sotto voce, picking up another fry and eating that, too. "Mission accomplished: I'm not going to starve to death." Another fry. "You'll be receiving a medal shortly to commemorate this valiant effort."

Edited 2009-04-07 08:46 (UTC)

It didn't escape Suzaku's notice that Lelouch didn't address his comment on Yuffie. Was he still that embarrassed? Then again, he'd always been more susceptible to embarrassment than Suzaku. Either way, Suzaku was fine with pretending it had never been mentioned, because he didn't even know how he could possibly have a conversation about that with Lelouch, face-to-face. Hopefully that would never have to happen.

Instead, he got treated to some stunning sarcasm, which must mean it was okay not to be formal anymore. The change of tone was so welcome, even if Lelouch was pissed off, that Suzaku couldn't help the faintest of grins. Maybe he was getting a little carried away in his duties if he involved himself in his Prince's eating habits, but again, he just didn't want to know what Lelouch would look like if he lost weight.

"Your nurse is saying that too? Does that mean you haven't been eating at your other meals? You should, you know." The grin widened a bit, but he kept his own voice just as soft. "I'd be a terrible knight if I let you starve to death. I'm supposed to die gloriously at your side in battle, not let you waste away before we even get to the battle."

Damn it, he wasn't supposed to pick up on that. Not that Lelouch actually believed his knight was stupid enough to miss those kinds of details, but winning this dispute would have been a lot easier if Suzaku had. Besides, it would only make him worry even more in the end, and with how annoyingly protective he'd been so far, Lelouch didn't think he could stand it. He was perfectly capable of looking after himself. That task might be made significantly more difficult in this place, but he could still do it.

"You're absolutely insufferable, you know that?" he muttered, turning his attention to his fish. Again, he couldn't help but think he would have done a much better job preparing the meal than the cooks here, but that wasn't the issue right now. "Putting me to bed, watching me while I sleep, making sure I eat-- in another life, you would have made an excellent nanny, I think." For someone else, mind. Lelouch didn't need anyone like that. "What's next? Are you going to sing me a lullaby?"

Edited 2009-04-08 02:04 (UTC)

Suzaku laughed a little, aware he should probably feel insulted. But he didn't think he would really mind being a nanny. It would be a lot simpler than the way his life had turned out, at any rate, and right now any kind of normal life sounded good. Especially if he got to be Lelouch's nanny, that would just make his day. All those opportunities to annoy him. . . make him do his homework, clean up after himself. . . Not that Lelouch didn't act responsibly already, it would just be fun to nag him with more of an excuse, and with less of a worry about whether he could say those things.

"I don't know if I'm much of a singer, but I will do my best if you so desire, Your Highness." The words were barely above the level of a whisper. Even if "Your Highness" could just be taken as a joke, it was better not to risk anyone overhearing. "I might even tuck you in tonight. On the condition that you finish that fish." He didn't even care that much; now he was just needling the other boy. Lelouch always made it so damn easy.

Why was the idiot laughing? This wasn't funny! All right, fine, it may have been on some level, but if he was just going to keep saying those things instead of letting the matter go, Lelouch was going to devote more thought than ever on coming up with a way to retaliate for that cross-dressing remark. How to do that when the only thing that would possibly embarrass Suzaku was the-- that thing on the board, though, was extremely difficult. The Cross-Dressing Festival had proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was utterly shameless, but surely there had to be some other option Lelouch was overlooking...?

"Don't you dare," he snapped, spearing his fish with his fork to emphasize his point. "Stop treating me like an infant, Suzaku. I don't need coddling and I certainly don't need you pestering me about taking better care of myself." Which was... probably not true, given how determined he was to make the most of the relatively peaceful days here and how willingly he'd done so at the expense of both sleep and food so far, but Lelouch remained convinced of it anyway. He could eat and sleep when he had fewer things to do.

Suzaku's vaguely evil grin faded to just a slight smile. It must be really annoying to have someone nagging you about basic things a child could do, and he knew perfectly well that if anyone could take care of himself, it was Lelouch. Most of the time. Still, Lelouch couldn't deny that it was irresponsible not to eat properly. And while Suzaku was wary of seriously offending Lelouch's pride, it was awfully funny and it felt good just to be able to talk about something inconsequential.

"I'll only do that if you don't take care of yourself," he said softly, trying to make it clear that he didn't think of Lelouch as someone who needed to be coddled, but that he would stand firm nonetheless. When Lelouch refused to look after himself, someone would have to do it, and that was not only Suzaku's job but something he wanted to do.

Lelouch made a face and glanced off to the side, covering up his momentary inability to think of a response to that by eating more of his fish. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate what Suzaku was trying to do, it was just--

He sighed and stared down at his plate. Talking to his knight was still hard, and while he wanted to change that, he wasn't sure how to proceed when he didn't even know what they were to each other now. It had been easy to assume last night that they were simply bound to each other by their common goals and the vows between a prince and his knight, but when they kept falling into old habits and just barely avoiding old wounds, it was... much, much more difficult than he'd imagined. And then with people like Yuffie around--

"I will," he replied, forcing himself to make eye contact again. After all that had happened, it was the very least he could do.

There was a second or two's pause while considered saying more, but he soon (rather visibly) dismissed the matter and tried returning the conversation to its previous tone. "Until that happens, you'll have to content yourself with more traditional duties. I'm sure you're heartbroken."

"Good," Suzaku replied, a little startled at the capitulation but pleased that he had been taken seriously. It was a stupid thing to argue about, how much fish Lelouch was eating, but there were a lot of things Suzaku wasn't really saying. This new turn to their relationship felt fragile somehow, like it would suddenly dissolve and join every other instance of someone mistakenly trusting Suzaku. This time it should be different, there should be no element of selfishness in his position as someone's knight, yet their relationship was so much more complicated than a convenient alliance. He couldn't truly consider Lelouch his friend, not ever again, but this was the one thing he had left in the world and if he lost this. . . He didn't even know what he would do.

"Devastated. I think being a nanny would be kind of fun, actually," he admitted after a moment, again welcoming the change in tone. This felt weird, after everything that had happened between them, but the banter was familiar territory and felt more comfortable than -- than the things that weren't being said.

Lelouch made a disbelieving sound. "Fun? How could it be fun? You know what children are like. They're stubborn, noisy, and self-centered. All they ever do is demand things or run around and find new and interesting ways to hurt themselves. It's exhausting just to look at them." Not that he actually minded children or the concept of taking care of them, but he wasn't about to say that. He supposed... well, there was no point in thinking about that now, especially with all the other things it would dredge up. It was better to pretend.

He poked at the remainder of his fish and frowned, his thoughts still hovering elsewhere. The expression was thankfully fitting given his continuing disapproval of the food here (he wouldn't have permitted it otherwise), but there was definitely more to it than that. Neither of them could talk about it, though, so he merely added as a mock afterthought, "Not that that would bother you, what with your freakish stamina and all, but to the rest of us normal humans, it's a valid concern." Not. It was far more worrying to think of how Suzaku would take the jab when "exercise nut" had been right up there with "idiot" in the long list of insults they'd used when they were children, but since he hadn't seemed all that bothered by the latter, indirectly using the former had to be okay, right? They were just going through the motions anyway. It didn't mean anything.

Suzaku just stared incredulously. Stubborn. Noisy. Self-centered. Demanding. Always finding new and interesting ways to -- he tried desperately to school his features into a frown of disagreement. Thankfully it managed to hold, but just for a moment, and then to his horror he felt his jaw twitch. He ducked his head with a choking sound, devoting every ounce of self-control he possessed to not laughing. The second statement barely even registered, let alone the indirect insult, as occupied as he was on processing that first revelation. But all that effort went to waste, because it was too late -- his shoulders shook from suppressed hysteria until it finally broke forth with a strangled sound, muffled against his plate as he bent forward. Trying to suppress his laughter somehow made it even harder to stop, and as he struggled to get himself back under control he prayed Lelouch wouldn't ask him just what he was laughing at. He had a terrible feeling that would not go over well, not now when there was this unspoken tension between them and some unknown list of things he didn't think he could say.

When he finally managed to reign in the minor fit, drawing great gasps of air, he caught up with the rest of what Lelouch had said. "I'm not a freak," he replied easily, tone light and face serious as if nothing had happened at all. Please don't ask. "And I don't think you're a good standard for 'normal humans' when it comes to stamina." Even if his own stamina was freakish, that could only be a good thing, since apparently he already was a nanny. At least according to Lelouch's definition of everything that made children hard to deal with.

Lelouch was concerned at first (surely that wasn't a normal reaction), but when it became clear that Suzaku was laughing and not trying to dislodge a fish bone from his throat or something, the worried look he hadn't quite managed to hide was swept away by a fierce scowl. What was so damn funny?!

Glaring at his knight and doing an even worse job of hiding his confusion (what the hell was so damn funny?!), Lelouch prodded at his food again and retorted, "Just because I don't spend every waking moment jogging or lifting weights doesn't mean I'm somehow substandard. People like you just keep wrecking the bell curve for the rest of us." What was the use in all that running around and sweating, anyway? It might suit freaks like Suzaku, but not the more cerebral types. Lelouch simply had a different area of expertise.

He delicately ate a few more of his fries and tried to ignore Suzaku's obvious and still baffling amusement. He didn't have something on his face, did he? It had been bad enough the last time that happened, but then since Suzaku had been the one to point it out before, there was no reason for him not to now. So why--? "What is it, Suzaku?" he ~~demanded~~ asked finally, beginning to tap the fingers of his free hand against the table's surface. He supposed he should be thankful that there hadn't been a negative response to what he'd said at all, but he was beginning to think he would have preferred that.

Edited 2009-04-09 07:25 (UTC)

Suzaku's forced calmness was still being broken by lingering snickers, especially at the clever retort he'd just thought of. "I don't wreck the bell curve, because you balance me out at the other end." He was proud of himself, statistics not really being his thing and all. "You don't just not spend every waking moment exercising, you spend no moments exercising."

He wished he could have distracted Lelouch from the other thing with that comment, but he was only postponing the inevitable. He knew Lelouch wasn't going to let it go, and if he just answered "nothing," the other boy would keep asking and probably get irritated in the process. So Suzaku could get it over with now, or try to evade the question and end up answering it later to an already-irritated Lelouch. Might as well bite the bullet. Why couldn't he just have controlled himself properly in the first place?

"Um, well, I just don't think you made a very good argument against taking care of kids. Because those are the kind of things I already have to put up with." Oh God, he couldn't believe he'd just indirectly called his Prince noisy, self-centered, demanding, and all those other things. Maybe, just maybe, Lelouch would assume he was talking about the other people he had to deal with sometimes and not just Lelouch himself. Probably not. "I mean, some people would think so, at least." Nice cover, Suzaku. Nice. Why wasn't lunch over yet? Why wasn't the floor opening up and swallowing him down into a pit of eternal darkness? Why couldn't he just redo the last five minutes of his life? Not like he hadn't thought that a thousand other times.

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Day 40: Lunch

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