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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What self respecting megalomaniac used the phrase 'yum yum'? This guy was so lame it was painful.

Despite the ineptitude of the fearsome head doctor and even the bleak outlook of life in the institute, Peter was feeling ten times better as he piled his plate with fries. Talking with Matt had been a real boost - who would have thought? If he actually ever got the chance to know his Matt, maybe he would find that there was a nice guy buried underneath all the layers of jerk.

Still, the events of this morning were not forgotten, and he made a cursory sweep around the practically empty cafeteria before coming up with absolutely zilch. Again. It was with only a hint of frustration that he sat down at the nearest table and started on his meal.

He'd find them. Eventually. For now, he just had to keep on looking.

[For Meche!!]

It was good that Skuld wasn't going to be making the Noah any weapons. Momo was sure Tyki would find a way to acquire something better than a knife at some point, but at least she knew he wasn't going to be aided by the goddess. What Momo didn't like, though, was the girl's insistence that she take time off and let the others do it all for a bit. That was something the shinigami could not do. At least, it seemed the goddess had understood that, finally.

Sitting down by herself off to the side, Momo too out the reports from the three that had given them to her while her nurse went to go get her some food. The scent of food was starting to bother the shinigami now. It wasn't that she was hungry, far from the case, but it made her a bit nauseous. Even though it was fish, she didn't want any part of it when the nurse finally set the tray down next to her. With the tirade the nurse was going into, scolding the shinigami, Momo decided maybe she should at least make it look like she'd eaten some of her dinner. At the very least, she picked up her fork and cut into the fish which was enough to make her nurse finally go away.

Setting the utensil down, she reread over the reports before secreting them away in her journal. A fresh page was opened up so she could start working on categorizing their priorities and listing who was available for the night. At least that's what she'd thought she was going to do when she opened the book up. Momo just blinked at the page, not quite sure what she'd been planning on writing. Idly, her hand started shading the corner of the page indiscriminately; something clearly wasn't right with her.

[Raine and Reinforce]

The boy wasn't exactly sure his thoughts at the moment. Albedo held tightly to the two notebooks in his arms, and fingered the origami butterfly with his fingertips. Why was it that people kept giving him things here? It didn't make sense at all. He couldn't wrap his mind around....

The game he had played on the board was both relaxing and extremely frustrating. He could say for the simple fact of it not being completed, but in truth it was more Nigredo's insistent necessity to not communicate at all. Was the younger really so stupid as to believe that Albedo would leave him alone if he was silent? The baby was reaching too far with that one. His actions, and lack of it, were just fueling Albedo's building rage.

But that wasn't for now. Carefully holding his things, he took a tray filled with the fruits and nuts and such that had been mentioned--Albedo couldn't bring himself to eat whatever the main course was. He slid into a table and picked at the things on his tray, the butterfly sitting next to him, watching. He stared at it with a blank look, not noticing that he was still holding on to the notebooks. Three people here--four, if you count how helpful Allen was--had given him things, been kind to him, in the solitary day he had been here. Four. For no reason other than their own kindness, from what Albedo could tell. And he couldn't understand that.

The thought seeped into his mind like a disease, swirled around those thoughts, and settled, with weight, over his heart. The pressure was almost unbearable, squeezing his chest like a giant hand that saw fit to snuff out his eternal life. That heavy thought. Why?

Why, if those other people, those strangers, could be so kind, wouldn't Rubedo, his own twin, do the same?

[Taken.]

Edited 2009-04-05 20:04 (UTC)

[Grab her while you can!]

Fish and chips were always appreciated. Sadly, there wasn't any beer to go along with them. Pity.

Beatrix took her tray in hand, balancing it carefully so as not to need her left hand as that arm rest in a sling, and looked it over. In her mind's eye, she replayed the fight with Ophelia, her gaze moving to the various points in the room where it had ranged. Being one of the first ones in the room, she was easily able to do so without having to remove pesky prisoners from the mental cinematic.

A satisfied smile on her face. the Bride made her way to one table in particular. As she set her tray down, she touched the table surface and nodded. yes, this was where she'd severed the bitch's braid. Suddenly, this was her favorite table. Perhaps she'd make this her seating preference every time she had to take a meal while trapped here.

[I swear, Akihiko-senpai, Ryouji and I found the inflatable dolphin abandoned at the station. How could we possibly not rescue it?]

Sweet! The food smelled awesome, looked awesome and Junpei bet it'd taste awesome too.

With the onset of lunch and the pressing matters he needed to talk to Akihiko about, since the teen's usual sounding board was conspicuously absent ~~and probably pimping it up with half the school while they were gone~~, Junpei put the matter of Kiato and Yukari's steamy love affair out of his mind. He had his own to worry about.

Finding a table in a corner where he could keep an eye on the rest of the room, mostly so he could keep track of where all three girls were going to be sitting so he could know when he needed to shut up, Junpei started into his food. Halfway through one of the pieces of fish, he spotted Akihiko. Waving to this senpai to get his attention, Junpei tried to figure out how he wanted to talk about this, especially since it wasn't like Akihiko had any experience with this kind of thing either.

Maybe he'd break the ice with Kyoto...

The morning had been unusually kind to Javert, it seemed. Hopefully the rest of the day would continue in this fashion.

He filled his plate quickly, deciding at the last moment to add an apple. He hadn't been in the habit of eating fruit much before he arrived here, given his modest income; he supposed he could afford to indulge himself in that regard here.

Finding a seat near the front of the cafeteria, he began to eat, keeping an eye on the incoming patient population as always.

Lockdown was curious as to what "fish and chips" were, and whether or not they tasted good.

The bounty hunter grabbed the usual supplies (plate, silverware, a glass), and went to gather his food. He took a piece of crispy-looking food, and some yellow strips. He had gotten curious as to what 'salad' tasted like, so he gathered a bowl and filled it with green vegetation and toppings. After getting a drink of white liquid, Lockdown found an empty table and began his meal, taking tiny bites out of the yellow strips.

[For Depth Charge. Here fishy, fishy, fishy~]

Fish.

Again.

The discovery of today's lunch was enough to send all lingering thoughts of his conversation-slash-interrogation with Iori out of his mind. Upon arrival at the cafeteria, he stubbornly refused to go anywhere near the serving counter. His nurse fetched a tray of food instead, insisting that he shouldn't skip lunch.

She left him holding that tray with shaking hands, which he tried his best to still as he headed for the nearest empty seat. The piece of fried fish on his tray stared threateningly up at him.

Next time (if there was a next time, which he fervently hoped there wouldn't be), he'd insist to his nurse that he wasn't "in the mood for fish." That he only wanted a salad. Something, anything, to remove the offending piece of cod from his day.

He slid into the seat, dropping the tray onto the table with enough force that the cup of juice the nurse had gotten nearly fell over. It managed to remain upright, but some of the liquid sloshed over the side.

Kaito reached for his napkin, doing his best to ignore the fish.

[For his not-twin, and possibly for his BFF as well?]

In the end, he hadn't learned much from Luffy, but it had been fun to kick a ball around anyway. The mood didn't last, however, and Suzaku was worried. He had been watching Lelouch and Porky carefully, seen Porky have some kind of attack and witnessed them have what appeared to be an angry exchange. He hadn't stepped in because there seemed to be no physical threat, and he knew it would be better for Lelouch to deal with the situation on his own unless Suzaku's assistance was absolutely required. Even so, Lelouch's sudden need for secrecy on the bulletin implied something had gone wrong. Maybe Suzaku was paranoid, but that was his job, and his instincts were telling him that all had not gone as planned.

So it was in a much more serious manner that Suzaku indiscriminately loaded some greasy fried food onto his tray and found a place back in the corner of the cafeteria, where hopefully he and Lelouch could talk undisturbed.

Had the Head doctor just mentioned fish?

Selective hearing or not, between the Head doctor's more-rushed-than-usual ramblings he found one word he liked. But his hopes were soon crushed after realizing that humans had the habit of ruining any type of food available, and the long list of yet-to-be-identified things the man began mentioning only confirmed his thoughts.

He should have known.

In any case, the previous shift had turned to be interesting after all. For some reason, Diego happened to be the first other cat he had met in this place. Though the other was still new, it could be useful.

Another interesting part had been the bulletin board, where fishing for bits and pieces of information regarding the club wasn't all that difficult. His little investigation had been spontaneous and merely there to feed his own curiosity, but as annoying as 'writing' was, it was somewhat worth it. Humans were, indeed, arrogant creatures. It had been amusing how they immediately acted defensively upon his 'well-meant suggestion'. Of course, he had known the 'suggestion' wouldn't be practical, but at least he had now confirmed that each club mostly worked separately. That was all he had wanted to know. He had yet to decide what to do with this information for now, however.

But first, there was lunch. And the challenge of eating it.

Considering the cafeteria was still mostly empty, it wasn't difficult to pick a table that wasn't filled with humans. He supposed being early had it's benefits.

[For Luxord!]

Playing outside had been kinda fun, but that was dwarfed by thoughts of knights using giant robots to kick some serious ass. He couldn't help but wonder if those robots wore the same kind of armor a knight would normally wear, and he had to admit the idea was pretty cool! Maybe he'd run into an island with that kind of set-up someday. (If he did, he was so asking for a ride.)

But now it was lunch time, and, with high spirits, Luffy went through the line and gathered as much food as the Cat Ladies would allow. Really, all of this was pretty routine by now, which was, well...sorta boring sometimes, but he had a feeling the Cat Ladies would get mad if he tried to make lunch more interesting.

Now that he thought about it, music would definitely be cool -- pirates sang while eating all the time, after all! But Luffy didn't have an instrument with him, much less a singing partner.

Taking a seat at the table, Luffy took a bite of his fish, eyebrows knit together in thought. It was pretty good, and if it weren't for the fact that Sanji's cooking was better, it might have even reminded him a bit of home. Within moments, he was more focused on eating, however, and soon the faintly serious expression on his face had pretty much melted away.

[Free to a good home!]

Edited 2009-04-05 20:15 (UTC)

The chance for some exercise had been most welcome, and Yukito was rather reluctant to leave the field again once the appointed time was up. Some of his cheer returned again, though, when he realized that the interruption meant lunch; the soccer game had left him even hungrier than usual, and that was saying something.

He accordingly piled his tray with as much food as he could get away with, and after a glance around told him nobody he knew was there yet, he just shrugged and picked a spot at a nearby table. Once seated he started in on his lunch, eating neatly but with obvious appetite, intending to down all that he'd taken and see if they'd let him get seconds again.

[for Armand, I believe?]

Fish wasn't so bad. Unless a man would eat it multiply times a day, but considering this was only Tyki's first time all was well. He randomly picked a table and dumped his plate on the surface.

The lack of people around didn't make it difficult to spot Miss Shinigami sitting at one of the tables. The burns he got two nights ago were entirely her doing. She had unleashed some kind of spell right before the night ended. He guessed the death of Lady Knight really did hurt her. Unfortunately for her, his burns would heal.

He munched on his food as he continued to glance at the other patients walking inside the cafeteria. It suddenly occurred to the Noah that hadn't seen Cheating Boy A for a while. Maybe he needed to make sure the kid still lived or something. It'd be a waste if the Exorcist had already died on him or something. After all, playing card games was kinda difficult with a corpse.

Not to mention other games.

[As free as a...hobo?]

Claude was still in a foul mood from last shift as he was led into the cafeteria. He hated how Sync seemed to single him out whenever the nurses were around, almost like he wanted to see how much he could get away with before Claude physically lashed out at him. Then again, it was probably just as well that it was him instead of one of the other Auldrantians or some of Claude's Expellian friends. Still, what he wouldn't give to have a chance to sock that guy in the face. Claude doubted Sync would be laughing if he was the one sporting a broken nose.

Either way, someday that bastard was going to pay for all horrible things he'd done. If Landel's didn't eventually catch up with him, then one of the captives would likely take him down a few pegs. Until that time, though, Sync was as much of a threat as any of the other monsters here, as far as Claude was concerned.

He halfheartedly waved off the nurse's questions, assuring her it was nothing. As if to prove his point, he made his way through the lunch line and got himself a healthy serving of fish and fries, along with a glass of water. It didn't take him long to find a place to sit, and he kept his eyes glued to the door in case he caught sight of Dias. He had a lot he needed to talk to him about, and the sooner he got a chance, the better. Dias probably had a few questions of his own. There was no reason to keep him in the dark if he could.

Thankfully the cafeteria wasn't crowded yet, so maybe Dias wouldn't have a hard time seeing him once he did show up.

[For Dias!]

Edited 2009-04-05 20:26 (UTC)

The Scarecrow had been so enjoying the sunshine and fresh air and political conversation with Sangamon that he hadn't noticed how fast the time had passed. He was disappointed when his nurse arrived to take him to the next shift, but it wasn't like he could protest. Well, he could, but he had a feeling it wouldn't do any good. Giving his new friend's hand a farewell shake, he followed the girl in white. He took a last deep breath before walking into the building. He would rather have had the outdoors than food- that certainly was saying something.

The sterile air of the institution seemed to suck the good feelings right out of him. That nagging feeling in his legs came back as he walked alongside his nurse, keeping a hand on the wall for support. She showed him to a seat and retrieved some food for him, setting the tray on the table before walking away. He eyed the meal before him: the smell was less than appealing. Maybe being injured made food smell different. Using his knife to awkwardly cut a small square of whatever it was, he took a bite. It had an interesting taste to it- one of those that sort of stayed in his mouth long after he had swallowed the morsel.

He looked around for his nurse- no sign of her. The cafeteria was still fairly quiet. He set his fork on his tray and pulled his left leg onto the seat next to him. Rolling up his pant leg, he decided to see if he could take a quick look at how his leg was doing under the bandages without actually taking them off. Then again, he wasn't sure how to go about that, or how to take them off if he wanted.

[Needed: one girl who isn't unconscious in the middle of a necrit-filled hallway]

He'd taken a well-needed rest in the Sun Room, thankfully avoiding the gaze of any ~~young girls who'd start crying at him~~ person who had the desire to bother him. Just before the shift had ended he had also given the board a look but hadn't replied to anything. He rarely did anyway, but he especially had no want to today.

Lunch looked fine enough where the food was concerned, but as one of the first people in the room, Kurogane didn't think he could avoid dealing with someone. His luck only lasted for so long on a given day. Still, he took a seat at an out-of-the-way table and focused on eating in hopes that he could be left alone.

The time spent in the greenhouse was well-spent, Ayumu decided as she was led back inside for the mid-day meal. Though she'd not accomplished anything in particular, not found any significant new information, she'd still had a chance to relax amidst the familiar scent of growing things rather being confined to the sterile hallways of the building in which she'd been trapped. It was a welcome change - but now she had to return to work.

After leaving a note for Okita in an attempt to reassure him that she was all right, she entered the cafeteria and glanced around quickly for familiar faces. Though she'd seen those present before, none of them were any particular acquaintances of hers. It was unfortunate, then, that she'd arrived so early: it would have been nice to be there after Homura had taken his seat, in order to conveniently situate herself where she could overhear or at least see the conversation that would most likely interest her.

Still, though, it afforded her a good selection of places to sit, and after examining the food options available and ended up with much the same thing she usually took, Ayumu found a place and settled down, assuming her usual watchful pose under the pretense of fussing with her lunch.

[Phoenix?]

Kvothe limped slightly as the nurse led him into the cafeteria for lunch and he held an icepack to his face. From the ache and the response of the nurse when she gave it to him, he gathered that it was brusing. Because what he really needed just then was a black eye. Really.

The nurse bustled off to the food lines and sooner than he'd hoped she returned with a full plate that she placed in front of him, and a tiny cup with a pair of small pills in it. He nodded listlessly as she told him to take them, they'd make him feel better, and when she seemed disinclined to move until he had, he trapped them under his tongue while he took a drink of water and dropped them to the floor when she had gone. He was in pain, from both the newly inflicted injuries and the returning ache in his hand now that the earlier dose of painkillers was wearing off, but he'd rather be in pain and clearheaded than without pain and unable to think through the medicinal fog that had surrounded him that morning.

Kvothe silently pushed the chips around with a fork as he engaged in a staring contest with the fried fish; he knew that he should eat, especially after eating nothing at breakfast but he seemed unable to muster any sort of appetite. He just hoped that maybe he'd be left in peace for this shift, he didn't feel like dealing with any other dangerous nutcases.

[for Sheena!]

That wannabe soccer game he'd played with Klavier had been fun, and definitely got his mind off of everything from breakfast. He almost hadn't wanted to leave the rec field, but he didn't want to tangle with his nurse. She commented on the way back inside, though, that he seemed to be in a better mood than before.

Being taken away from the game brought his mind back to what he'd been stressing about before, but he was able to think it through better now. The answers for exactly what to do about his brothers were still just as hard to grasp, but he had places to start. He'd go find Nigredo after lunch, see what was up there, and then try to figure out what to do about Albedo after that. He needed to keep an eye on the boy, if nothing else.

For now, Junior stuck up a note for his twin on the bulletin before heading into the cafeteria. He grabbed a couple of fillets, some tartar sauce, fries, and a glass of water before going to take a seat.

After much too long one of the nurses came to collect him away from Tim and Brainiac 5 found himself being pushed gently into the cafeteria again. He wasn't particularly hungry, but the nurse insisted he try eating something to 'keep his strength up' while he was healing.

To his dismay, not only did she insist on picking out the food for him (fortunately she chose a salad and a small piece of fish), but she also cut it up into small chunks that he could easily manage with one hand. He hadn't been able to check if Luxord or Grell were in the room at the moment, but if they were he had no doubts that they were laughing at him. Finally done, the nurse set the fork in easy reach of his right hand and produced another couple of tablets.

"This should help with the pain, Michael," she said soothingly. Brainiac 5 just nodded in response and took them wordlessly. With a final smile, the nurse left him to his own devices.

[For Homura and Peter Petrelli]

Playing with Honey had both been informative and fun, and Okita headed inside with a bit more spring in his step than before. He hadn't had time to play in so long that even tossing a ball around was enough to lift his spirits. With a smile on his face and a little bit of dust on his clothes, Okita followed after his nurse and learned that today was the fried fish thing again. Okita didn't mind and after playing, he was hungry. Grabbing a tray and asking for extra pieces of fish and that tartar sauce thing, the swordsman just grinned through his nurse's surprise.

The food this time was something he actually liked and, more than that, he needed something to do while the mysterious visitor came to talk with Homura. Or was it with him? It was likely Homura, though. Okita didn't mind and since it had been awhile since he saw his leader, he was merely happy to get a chance to possibly tease the man about something or another. Sitting down somewhere with a few open seats around, Okita positioned himself to watch the door and started cutting his fish up into smaller pieces.

So, apparently, taking a break was a foreign concept in this place. Everyone else seemed to be able to do it, Shikamaru noticed with annoyed envy. Playing soccer, having conversations for sheer amusement value...not that he considered either of the two relaxing activities, but still, they were better than quizzing people like some kind of really bored interrogator. At least he'd gotten to watch clouds for a few minutes before company arrived, and Sora had been unobtrusive, if a little nosy. It could have been worse, but that didn't mean he was happy with the way things were going. And worse, all of this effort had yielded next to no useful information.

Lunch was some kind of battered fish, unappealing and greasy but not outright disgusting. Once again, he put the standard amount of food on his plate and headed off to an empty table, resigned to the fact that he'd only get a few minutes of peace before another patient or one of the pushy nurses decided that he needed friends.

[free]

Edited 2009-04-05 22:10 (UTC)

When Phoenix had first stumbled his way over to Matsuda, the detective never would've guessed that they would get along so well, considering the lawyer probably shouldn't have even been outside. But it had gone pretty well, really. And they were even having fish for lunch, to top it off. He preferred it not covered in batter, but fish was fish. They weren't exactly able to be picky here.

On the way inside, though, he checked the board to find that both Mello and Near were supposedly gone, too. All the geniuses that he knew were devoted to catching Kira were gone, leaving him with just Naomi to rely on. He was going to have to confront Mikami sometime soon, to put an end to this.

He couldn't let this get him down...he had to keep at it, for their sakes. It was something he repeated over and over in his mind as he went through the cafeteria line, grabbing several fillets and some dipping sauce before going to take a seat. Maybe if he repeated it enough, it would stick.

[For Godot]

Blood on the field and actually meeting that crazy robot had been the highlight of the last shift. Of course, Grell hadn't been able to tease said crazy robot, but at least he'd been out of Brainiac's irritating glare for a little while. The brat was still alive and since it seemed that going after him wasn't doing any good, Grell would have to change tactics in order to amuse himself at night.

Right now, however, was an absolutely beautiful shift - lunch. With lunch? Fish and chips. Maybe it wasn't the most elegant meal (honestly, pub food?), but it was good and Grell was hungry. Taking his meal from the nurse, the death god found his way to an empty table and sat down. Fork and knife in hand, he cut the fish apart and wished for a bit of malt and vinegar rather than the tartar sauce. Regardless, the first bite was good and he relished it - albeit carefully, in order to stay in character.

After an awkward breakfast, Anise had spent most of the second shift in the Sun Room, getting in touch with people on the bulletin and organizing some of the information in her journal. There wasn't much point in keeping the room numbers of people who were already gone, so she set to work crossing out the names and numbers that couldn't be used anymore. Emperor Peony, Colonel Mustang, Naminé, Cyrille, a lot of people she wasn't sure about... and Ion. In the end, it was just too depressing to have a page full of crossed-out names, so she scrapped it and wrote a new one with the few people she was sure were still around.

The rest of the shift was spent just thinking by herself. Anise still didn't know what she was going to do with Ion gone. She didn't know what she could do. By the time the shift changed, she still didn't have an answer.

When she came to the cafeteria, Anise was careful not to show the slightest hint of a frown to the staff or the other patients. She filled her tray and took a seat in the middle of the room. The girl quietly started on her food, not giving much attention to the other patients in the room. She knew there was a high chance that one would end up taking the seat across from her, but that was okay. Even if she wasn't feeling much like her usual cheerful self, she could still handle a casual chat or two. Maybe it would even do her some good. Sitting around by herself definitely hadn't.

[Count Gailardia~♥]

Edited 2009-04-05 23:24 (UTC)

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