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

[heavens-too-far.livejournal.com]

"It's probably better if you do," Dias said with a slight nod. "I doubt you could keep the lie up for long, anyway, and the quicker you own up to it, the less suspicious it'll make you look. You can tell him you were trying to put on a show of looking sane for the nurses, or that you thought he was someone else, someone dangerous...anything, really. Or even that you don't trust your real name to people in this place until you're sure of them. I don't think he'd question those sorts of motives too much." After a pause, he added, "I don't know what effect it might have on the...timeline, but do you really think he'd never find out on his own if you tried to keep this up? Too many people know you as Claude who you might not be able to warn before they meet him, or who might just forget. Unfortunately, I don't think this is a choice so much as an inevitability - so it's best if you just approach it like one, and make sure it happens on your terms."

[full-score.livejournal.com]

He'd be hard-pressed to admit this out loud, but sometimes Dias was almost too good at making sense. The idea of keeping up this kind of lie was impractical at best, and just plain stupid at worst. Something would have to be done, it was true -- the trick was just figuring out what.

"Well, I might need to do a little more explanation than that, since I don't really hide my real name from everyone," he said with a sigh. "But I'm sure I can think of something." Maybe he could use what happened between him, Guy and Sync as one of his reasons for not being truthful about his name. It'd be a total lie, of course, but it would at least check through if Dad decided to ask a nurse about any injuries he'd gotten this week.

Not that there was a huge chance he would, though. It wasn't like Dad had any reason to be overly concerned about his welfare, he reminded himself.

"I don't think I can do it today, though," he added before finally forcing a bite of fish into his mouth. "I need a little more time to think."

[heavens-too-far.livejournal.com]

"He wouldn't know that," Dias pointed out with a slight shrug. "And if it did come out, you could just say it was a precaution you only recently started taking."

He nodded his agreement when Claude admitted that he probably wouldn't be coming clean that day. Undoubtedly he'd need to decide on just what to tell Ronixis(and, hopefully, practice making the lie sound believable). Anyway, it was unlikely the lie would unravel so quickly that immediate damage control was necessary. "So long as it's soon, I doubt you have to tell him today if you're not ready." After a pause, he asked the obvious next question. "You'll want us looking out for him, I assume?" He wasn't sure what the ramifications would be if something happened to Ronixis in the institute, but even if there weren't any, that the man was Claude's father was undoubtedly reason enough for his rival to want him safe.

[full-score.livejournal.com]

"I guess that's true," Claude agreed. In theory, it was a lie that was easy enough to explain. He just hoped it didn't make Dad ask too many questions. He probably looked suspicious enough, being an Earthling who was friendly from folks from underdeveloped planets and all.

When Dias mentioned his father's safety, Claude paused before letting out a small breath. "I know you have enough on your plate as it is, but...I don't think I can look after him alone," he quietly admitted. "This place is so dangerous, and Dad, he's...well..."

He fell silent, trying to word what he wanted to say. "I grew up thinking he was invincible," he continued, "but now I'm old enough to know that simply isn't true."

Wow, that was kind of a depressing thing to say, wasn't it? At least he knew Dias was on his side, though, and that was all that really mattered right then. They just needed to focus on keeping Dad safe, and then Claude could worry about the finer details later.

"Anyway," he said as he leaned back in his chair, "I really appreciate your help, Dias. Thanks. And..." Claude rubbed the back of his head, looking a bit sheepish now. "I've been meaning to apologize for the way I acted a couple nights ago. It was wrong of me to lash out at you like that, and I'm sorry."

[heavens-too-far.livejournal.com]

Dias was briefly silent. He couldn't think of many events that could shake a child's belief in the invincibility of his father - even once they were adults - save for the obvious. There was a chance he was wrong, of course, but somehow...he doubted it. "I understand," he said quietly. "I'll keep an eye on him."

He found himself slightly taken back by the apology, if only because it had been long enough that he'd assumed Claude had forgotten the incident...and also because it was the sort of behavior he tended to expect from Claude. After a moment, he smirked slightly. "Don't worry; I'm used to it."

[full-score.livejournal.com]

Geez, when Dias said things like that, it almost sounded like Claude was a jerk all the time. He was probably reading too much into it, though. And, anyway, Dias had a pretty thick skin, and it didn't sound like he was too bent out of shape over what had happened. Still, that didn't mean his actions that night were okay. They'd both been under a lot of pressure lately, but that just meant they needed to cooperate more than ever, right?

He was about to open his mouth to say something when the intercom sounded, and nurses began herding captives out of the cafeteria. Before he could get hassled by one of them, Claude went ahead and picked up his tray before standing up. "I'll see you tonight, Dias," he said with a small smile.