damned_institute | Day 40: Lunch

Entry tags:

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]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'm sure that I can manage to keep out of your way," Allelujah replied with a grin. "I'm sure the cigarette smoke will tip me off as to your location."

He shook his head when Badou offered the use of his lighter. "Don't worry about it. It seems silly to waste it just for me to have the satisfaction of burning it. I don't even know if the damage will remain in the morning."

"Hey, shut up." Badou tossed a fry at him. It didn't sound like an insult or anything, but he was sure he was being teased and thus should be offended enough to waste food.

"Probably won't. Some of the monsters alone must tear this place up at night, and I can't be the only person looting cigarettes from there, but the following night... It'd still be fun though. Therapeutic. Isn't that what the offices are for?" He bit the end off a couple of fries. "Speaking of... did you have a bad appointment or something?"

Allelujah easily ducked out of the way of the thrown chip and smirked at Badou before taking a bite of his own food, looking as pure and innocent as the new fallen snow. Well, as innocent as he could manage when he was halfway to laughing anyway.

"That is a shame," Allelujah lamented. If he burned something, he tended to want it to stay burned. "But it would be more theraputic than an actual doctor session." He eyed Badou for a moment before shrugging, peering down at the table-top. "He asked about Hallelujah. All kinds of questions about him and why he's there and they probably want to force drugs on me to make me 'better'."

Badou glared. Allelujah looked about as innocent as a hooker in an orgy as far as he was concerned. What was with him and making biofucked friends who liked to torture him? Maybe he wasn't the normal one after all. He must have some kind of pheromone that screamed 'If you're an asshole and you know it come to Badou.'

His offence was so serious that the glare disappeared moments later, replaced by a defeated sigh at Allelujah's words. "Tell me about it. I could use the stress relief."

As for his doctor... It didn't take a lot of imagination to understand why forcing drugs on Alle would be a bad idea. "Shit," Badou offered. "What're you going to do?"

Heh, he must have had a point if Badou was giving up so easily. Otherwise he would probably have argued more. Well, it was a little surprising that he wasn't arguing anyway, but he did look a bit subdued. Maybe the doctors had taken their toll on him too?

"I still have the pack of cigarettes if you're interested," Allelujah offered.

He shrugged in response to the question, not entirely certain what he could do. "I won't take anything. He's mine and I won't get rid of him. I took the file that my doctor had on me, so that's a start."

"Cigarettes?" Badou perked up instantly. If he was dying of thirst in the desert and he had to choose between an oasis and half a pack of smokes, he would still be hard pressed to think about it for more than half a minute. "What the hell? Was that a joke? No, I don't want them. I'm trying to maintain my healthy active lifestyle. Of course I -- Oh, right. What is it going to cost?"

He did know where to find more, so he figured if it was too much he could just pick some up when he raided the offices tonight. No big deal.

"Yeah, it's a start." Badou agreed, feeling odd about the way Alle called his other half 'mine'. "...Hey, how close did your file match your real life? Not just generally; were there things in there only you could know about?"

Allelujah nodded, trying not to laugh at Badou's words. He shook his head when Badou asked about the cost. "No cost. I don't smoke so you're welcome to have them." He'd rather Badou have them if he wanted them. He wasn't that bothered about trading them for anything. What would he even ask for in exchange? "I just picked them up on a whim a few nights ago." It had been the night that he'd met Badou, if he remembered correctly.

He shrugged in response to the question. "I didn't get chance to read it before night ended," he admitted. "But the doctor knew about Hallelujah, knew his name. No-one else should have known about that. Not even my... my comrades in my own world know about him, except maybe one."

"Really? Just like that?" The excited anticipation was replaced by weariness, though a little bit of soon-to-be-crushed hope snuck in there somehow. It wasn't anything about Alle personally, but even among his friends - he had more than one, really - people didn't just... give things away like that. Information? Useless shit? Just a single smoke? Maybe. But a carton in a place where they were so hard to come by just made Badou want to call bullshit. He believed in peace and love but not charity. He wasn't crazy.

And even if he was, it just felt too fucking weird.

Though he thought it was suicidal to admit it in any way, he was sort of relived that Allelujah's doctor seemed to know more than he should because it meant Makiko hadn't just singled him out and found a little more than what would be in the police files. He could just be reading too much into her. Didn't make it any more comfortable to wonder how either of their doctors knew that kind of thing.

"And whoever it was wouldn't sell you out unless..." Allelujah could finish that thought by himself. He was a big boy. Depressing thought though, imagining your secrets being ripped out of your friend's skull. "Man, this place is fucked up. I'm still all for burninating the offices." He grinned lazily. "Hey, does that mean I'm special because I know about your kill-happy side?"

Allelujah nodded, a little surprised by the wariness in his expression. Then again, maybe he shouldn't have been. This place wasn't exactly conductive to trust and paranoia was such an easy trap to fall into. "Yes, just like that," he agreed. He hadn't used them until now and he doubted that he would. One pack of cigarettes was hardly enough to build an alliance on, and Badou seemed like he needed them.

His expression hardened at the implication that Tieria would sell any of them out. Kill them perhaps, for failing, for abandoning the mission, but he would never sell them out. "He wouldn't sell us out." He didn't doubt that Tieria would remain strong, even under torture. He was Tieria after all. He smiled back at Badou though and nodded. "You know and you're still alive. That is pretty special, yes."

"Ok... thanks." Badou was still having some trouble wrapping his brain around the concept. Like any moment Hallelujah was going to punch him in the face, snort with laughter and walk off. Since his nose was still in one piece after a few moments, Badou thought what the hell and figured he might as well go with it. Worst case scenario was that he'd be no more screwed than he already was. "Really man, thanks."

He was saving the 'you're my best friend in the whole goddamn world' song for after he got them.

He saw Alle's expression harden and shook his head. "I don't think he'd have a choice. Met any visitors yet?"

Most people wouldn't call 'you know and you're still alive' something special, but Badou thought the part about not killing him was really neat. It didn't mean much since he'd found out about Halle through a fluke and some minor death threats, but it was the thought that counted. Badou laughed. "I wouldn't say that to anyone remotely normal, Alle. Just saying it might scare the shit out of 'em."

"Visitors?" Allelujah said and then shook his head. "No, I haven't had one. I've only heard bits on the bulletin about it." And some things from Homura. If they really were the people that they knew, then what had happened to them? The idea of anyone making Tieria believe something like this fake life was difficult to believe. "He's Tieria. He'd never give up on our cause." He was the one most dedicated to it. He always was.

He smirked a little at Badou's comment. "Everyone is scared of me in my own world practically. It doesn't make much of a difference here. If they would be scared by me saying that, they'd be scared anyway."

Badou raised an eyebrow. "I can see how they'd get that impression."

He was a veritable wellspring of sympathy but he was still sitting here, which was saying something.

He shrugged, returning to the previous topic. "No offence, but I don't think it matters how dedicated he was. I've had a visitor; my partner from back home. He's..." Badou hesitated, but he doubted he'd ever see Haine here as a patient so it probably didn't matter much what he said to Alle. "It's a long story but what they did to him would be the same as ripping Halle out of you. I don't think there's a whole lot they couldn't do if they wanted to."

Edited 2009-04-11 15:52 (UTC)

Allelujah shrugged. He was used to hearing what the world thought of Celestial Being. The point was that he believed in what he was doing. "Most of the world doesn't even know what I look like," he replied with a faint smile.

The next made him frown deeply, not liking what Badou was saying in the slightest. Tieria was Tieria. There was no-one more dedicated, no-one with a tougher resolve, to hear that they could break even him was disturbing to say the least. His eyes widened with horror at what Badou said about his partner and he swallowed thickly. Having Hallelujah ripped away would be removing half of his personality. "That's horrible," he said, shuddering just at the thought. "I'm sorry about your partner."

That news caused some obvious confusion. "So then why would they be afraid of you?"

Badou didn't know much about that other side of Haine but he was well-acquainted with his partner's feral slasher-smile and penchant for wearing dead cow. For better or worse, it was a part of him. A part of him was sure if Haine had really wanted that spine ripped out he would have done it to himself, repercussions be damned.

He shook his head at Alle, "The bastard seems happy enough with his goddamn car. I don't think he was too fond of his other half to begin with." Despite the words, he sounded like someone who was complaining about how much onions had to cost these days. He caught himself reaching for a cigarette and stopped, lacing his fingers together in front of him. "It just doesn't make sense, you know?"

Edited 2009-04-11 23:51 (UTC)

Allelujah bit his lips and then shrugged. He couldn't exactly keep it a secret, especially not with her here. "I wasn't kidding when I said that I was an international terrorist. Or at least, that's how most of the world sees us." They feared them, even if they never knew them personally. He believed in what they did, but it was painful sometimes, knowing that the world wanted them dead.

Oh, he supposed that made sense. He didn't like Hallelujah a lot of the time and until recently, they had practically been enemies, but he would never have dreamed of wanting him gone. "It does sound strange. I wonder what they do to them to make them like that. Tieria wouldn't be Tieria if he wasn't living like we are now."

Despite himself, he found that kind of cool now that they weren't roughly snarling it at each other. There weren't any terrorists that he knew of in his world, which was a testament to just how much control the mafia and the government were able to execute. He didn't doubt there were some underground rebels but he didn't have much faith in their retirement prospects either. He sort of wondered sometimes if his brother's friends had been getting too close to something like that.

"Oh yeah, that too. I stand by my assumption that your world is full of douchebags." Badou replied, deadpan.

He pulled a salty french fry out of his plate and swirled it in ketchup. "I could be wrong but I'm not the only one who thinks they're the real deal. Then again, for all we know they just drag the information out of our heads at night.The best advice I've got is don't think about it since we can't do shit about it anyway."

He couldn't help but snort in response to that. Eloquence such as he'd come to expect from Badou. "I'm sure that there are a lot of people like that in any other world," he replied. "We#re not expecting praise for what we're doing, we just believe in it." All of them did, in their own ways.

"i talked to someone earlier who believed the same," Allelujah admitted, remembering his conversation with Homura. "I suppose you're right. We're not in a position to do anything now, she focus on what can be done."

See, when people asked him why he was such an asshole he was going to point this out as evidence of what happened when he tried to be slightly less assholeish. "That's not praise, it's a statement of fact. At the risk of falling asleep halfway though a political lecture, what are you fighting for anyway?"

Badou bit off the end of his ~~fried stick-o-salt~~ french fry. "And speaking of things that can be done, you didn't bring those cigarettes with you, did you?"

"World peace," Allelujah replied, with a soft, bitter laugh. "We intervene in wars and take out war inciting elements," he explained further. "It depends on the situation. We took out drug fields once, then were fighting the military soon after." So many things which could cause war. It seemed like a never ending battle.

He shook his head. "I didn't bring them with me. I didn't want to risk getting them confiscated by a nurse."

"Doesn't doing it that way just mean you eventually become the top dog? What happens when you've got everyone following your orders?" It was an unusually serious question for someone who rarely looked like he gave half a care.

His expression changed to something more familiar soon after, and Badou sank a bit in his chair, releasing a sigh. "Thank fuck. Haine tried to bring me some during the visitor shift and they got confiscated out of nowhere. Can I stop by your room tonight on my way out? If you leave them somewhere I'll grab them."

It wasn't like he had a reason to snoop or anything. If he wanted to know something about Alle, he was pretty certain he could just ask.

"No!" Allelujah protested, shaking his head. "It isn't like that! We aren't trying to take over. We haven't conquered anywhere, we aren't planning to. When the world is united, probably again us, we're all ready to stand trial for what we've done. I wouldn't want to work for them if they were trying to rule the world." He frowned, looking down at the table top. "I just don't want any more people like me to be created."

The sudden change was a little odd, but quick changes like that were something that Allelujah was intimately familiar with. "Sure," Allelujah agreed easily. "I don't even know what I'm doing tonight, but if I go out, I'll leave them in the top desk drawer."

"So, what? You destroy your weapons and hope nobody finds a way to create them again? You just trust that they're not using you for their own agenda?" Badou pressed the heel of his palm just above the eyepatch. "Just be careful. Man, I really hope you're right about whatever you're doing."

He nodded at the information about the smokes. "Thanks. I'm probably going to pick up my file so I'll just stop by beforehand. You found yours in your doctor's office right?"

Allelujah couldn't even think of a response to that. He knew that Celestial Being had done terrible things, that he had done terrible things and they were, in the end, only human. Humans could be corrupted by power, by greed, by pride, but what else could he do? He was a weapon who could do nothing except fight. His hands clenched into fists in his lap. "There's nothing else that I can do," he said quietly. Beyond Celestial Being, he had nothing.

Allelujah nodded. "Yes. it was just there in a filing cabinet," he said. "I looked for other things but there wasn't anything useful really. I don't know if the other offices will be the same."

Dammit. He was just like a kid sometimes. "Come on Alle, don't do that kicked puppy thing." Badou sat up a bit and reached over to poke him in the cheek with a french fry. "I just don't want to see you taking the fall for some asshole."

He actually meant that one. All things considered, he kind of liked Allelujah.

"I wanted to pick up some more smokes too, so it'll save me some trouble if my file is in the same area."

Allelujah blinked when the chip hit him in the cheek, leaving a smear of grease and salt which he reached up to wipe away. "Sorry," he replied, giving a little smile of apology. "I'll try not to," he said after a moment. He desperately wanted to believe that what they were doing was right, but he knew that it was foolish to be so trusting.

"I don't know which office you'd try for that. Office 6 didn't have any though."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 40: Lunch

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject