damned_institute | Day 22: Brunch

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Day 22: Brunch

Cid usually liked sleeping in, especially in a place as messed up and uninviting as this, but this happened to be one situation where he really wished he hadn't.

Right there, on the bulletin board. The Head Doctor and he'd fucking missed it? Some part of him wished he'd been there to take his eye out and another part of him knew he wouldn't have been able to. No man that powerful who hid for so long went to dangerous places without some kind of entourage.

Brunch sounded like it'd be filling, at least, though he nearly stopped in his tracks when the bastard announced TEA. TEA. It'd been a damn long while since he'd had some fucking tea, though with all the stress this place had found fit to rain down on his fucking head, it hadn't really been the first priority on his mind. Kinda nice, even if Cid was sure this was just some game the mother fucker was playing to get them all stuck neck-deep in Stockholm Syndrome.

He scanned the mostly-empty room for any sign of a familiar face once he'd piled waffles and sausages and syrup on his plate, though the person he really wanted to talk to was that Reynolds guy. "Spaceship" was the last word he remembered clearly before waking up in his bed, and dammit if he wasn't going to keep it stuck like glue in his mind.

He found a table where he could watch people come into the cafeteria and grabbed for his mug. The steam rising from his drink and the bag of herbs in it was nearly enough to make him grin despite it all, and it was with marked leisure and a little relief that he drank his goddamn tea.

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"So it has," Roxas agreed to Axel. For supposedly being best friends, they sure didn't talk much. Though in a place like Landel's that couldn't really be helped, could it? But then again, he had plently of conversations with Sora, so maybe not.

....Honey, huh? It was an odd name, but it fit the (assumed) younger boy, somehow. "That's right," he affirmed to the question. "I'm Roxas. Nice to meet you."

The words felt a little awkward to say - unlike Sora, Roxas wasn't used to meeting new people. But that was going to have to change eventually, so why not start now?

It was nice to have someone there behind you to fall on when you needed it the most, as Axel was that secure in his masculinity to admit. Though on Roxas's behalf he'd like to admit that he was watching the blond's back as well. They've had plenty of conversations in the Institute, but it was around when they both just arrived there. Still, no one would ever find Axel saying no to seeing his best friend, and he was ever determined to keep their friendship as close as Nobodies could get.

The redhead watched between the two blonds with interest, taking notice of Roxas's usual persona when he meets new people.

"Roxas comes from the same world as I do, the one filled with Darkness and skyscrapers. It's very empty there but Roxas keeps me company." He explained to Mitsukuni, giving his friend another smile. Every time the other Nobody was around it really did feel like he had a Heart of his own.

… But all of a sudden a feeling of RAGE welled up inside him, and Axel immediately whipped his head over to it’s source. Green eyes narrowed into poison darts at the sight of the man whose body language was obviously more flirtatious around Naminé than he would’ve liked. And he would’ve gotten up if Xigbar and Luxord weren’t already there. For probably the first time since he came into this Institute, the redhead was relieved that the other members had came to Landel’s.

So he brushed the scene off with a well placed smile, using his fork to idly pick at Roxas’s plate.

The loud noises from across the cafeteria briefly distracted Honey from the conversation. He was shocked to see one person covered in blood and being dragged away. He'd always been taught that you used your skills to protect other people and protect yourself, not to be the one who started the fight. He guessed there really were people in this hospital that needed a little help managing their anger. But that situation had been quickly handled, and after watching it, he turned back around.

"Axel-san was telling me about that place. It sounded scary, and it's not like where I'm from at all."

He went back to the large pile of cake in front of him, and then noticed Axel wasn't watching. He looked at the pretty girl he was looking at. "Is she a friend of yours too?"

Roxas was actually somewhat used to all the commotion that went on in Landel's by now, so he wasn't really paying attention to much but his food and the conversation. Putting large egos together was bound to cause some fighting, if his days in the Organization had taught him anything. It was something of an annoyance, but some people just couldn't be helped.

He was a little surprised to hear that Axel had told Honey about The World That Never Was, but then again, the redhead couldn't really claim to be from anywhere else, could he? And Roxas couldn't really say otherwise either, even though he wasn't exactly welcome there anymore.

"It's not really scary," he replied with a mild shrug. "It's just kind of... sad? The way that everything there is missing something." It wasn't quite the right word, but Roxas wasn't really sure how else to describe it.

On the second question, he turned his head to look at whatever Axel was finding so interesting. Naminé, Luxord, Xigbar, and some redhead? That guy was getting a little friendly, so as much as he disliked his "comrades," Roxas was glad that they were protective of Naminé. Still, both Xigbar and Luxord were a bit non compos mentis, so if things got a little too intense, he was going to have to get her away from there.

"That's Naminé. She's kind of like my sister, and she has a lot of other people to help look out for her, too," he explained, a little too preoccupied to notice Axel stealing his food. He was definitely going to have to keep his eye on that scene.

Snake simply slammed his plate in front of the cafeteria workers and allowed them to pile on the food however they pleased, and made his way through the cafeteria without even looking at it. Pot luck, but whatever they'd given him he'd eaten worse. He'd never been anything close to picky.

The first thing he had to do would be to find Otacon - or Fox, he realised, although something close to shame began to fill his thoughts as he remembered him. He couldn't force Fox to stare him in the face again and see Big Boss. Who he'd stolen from him.

He glanced up and down the rows of people, all talking away and eating like machines, and -

- comes from the same world as I do, the one filled with Darkness and skyscrapers. It's very empty there but Roxas keeps me company.

That voice.

He shouldn't have been brought here, he thought fiercely. The kid's mentally unstable as it is, and he needed to be left alone. He needed to go free. Not even this Landel would lock away a man like him and expect him not to lose it. It's beyond madness.

He moved swiftly over to where he'd heard the voice. Two kids, and a young man.

But that voice...

"Raiden?" he asked, weakly, realising his mistake too late.

"Yeah, she's a friend of ours." Axel said after Roxas's statement, having already polished half of his friend's plate and was making a move for his drink. However, just as he was reaching for it the redhead blinked when a newcomer came by their table. The Nobody glanced amongst the two other blonds for a moment, wondering if either knew this man, before clearing his throat.

"Er..." Considering this man's demeanor he didn't seem to be the type to just walk up to anyone without a good reason, though Axel didn't have the slightest clue as to why he'd stop by them out of all the groups in the Cafeteria. The Nobody looked around to make sure if there was some other guy hiding in the shadows before cocking his head to the side.

"Is there something you need, Mister?"

Honey didn't know the man, either. He'd just been wanting to ask if Roxas and Naminé were twins, since they looked to be about the same age and he said he was like his sister, but...

"I don't know a Mr. Raiden. I'm sorry. Do you need help finding him?"

It was terrible to be without friends in a place like this, he thought. And even if he didn't know the man who had sat down next to them, he was willing to lend a hand.

Roxas made a glance up at the newcomer. He'd definitely never met this man before, and from the sound of it, neither had Honey or Axel. Was he looking for someone? 'Raiden.' That didn't sound familiar, so Roxas figured he wouldn't be of much help.

Of course, by the time all that had happened, he finally picked up on the fact that Axel had been stealing food from his plate, and while he was distracted, Roxas did the same in retaliation. He'd gotten all that food for a reason after all; he wanted to eat it.

Snake had never been good at recognising faces. It was not one of his gifts. If he'd been apart from someone for long enough, his knowledge of their face slipped out of his memory, leaving only sets of mannerisms, behaviour, voice. From what he'd heard it ran in his blood - he faintly remembered Fox telling him once that Big Boss had once been fooled by a woman who 'simply pulled back her hair and put a pair of glasses on'. But there was no use dwelling on that now.

At least the kid's face was fresh in his mind, although already fading - they'd only known each other for a day, after all. Even so, he could recall him enough to know that he wasn't in front of him. There was some similarity in facial features - sharp nose and chin, small mouth - but nothing significant enough to get him wondering if there was another cloning project going on starring the kid. The mannerisms were all different - the look in his eyes all wrong - but then there was that voice. And it was similar enough to scare him.

"Sorry," he finally said, to the doppelgänger, noting little marks under his eyes, like a clown's makeup. "Your voice reminded me of a friend I had. I thought they'd brought him here, too. I'm glad they haven't."

He seated himself as close to the man with Raiden's voice as possible, and finally looked down to see what he had. Blueberry pancakes, and a cup of tea. Not bad.

If Axel had noticed that Roxas was picking at his leftovers he would've scowled before slapping the blond's hand away. But he was far too busy following the man's own green eye, knowing he was being compared, critiqued and probably even scrutinized to this 'Raiden' character. The Nobody took the time to study the latter's features as well, wondering if something would spark in the back of his head and it'd all make sense in the end. Alas, no matter how many times he looked there was nothing Axel felt for this man.

... His voice?

The Nobody let himself reach up and clasp his own throat, nails scratching at the surface while he listened to him speak.

"Well Mister, it's good to know that you care for your friends." Axel sighed, not minding too much that the latter had now taken a seat right next to him. It was overwhelming to be close to so many hearts at once, but the Nobody tried his best not to be giddy about it.

"Anyway, care to share your name with the rest of us? Sorry to disappoint, but mine's Axel."

"Axel," he repeated, faintly disappointed. Well, there was no real significance to be found in names anyway. "Call me Snake."

He took a drink of his tea, scrutinising Axel over the lip of the mug. Yeah, that was it. Same voice, different demeanour, just enough of a lookalike to prove interesting.

Then again, there'd been some whiny, sickeningly-pretty boy in one of Otacon's cartoons who Otacon kept insisting had the same voice as Snake, and he hadn't been able to hear it at all, so maybe he wasn't the best judge.

"My friend," he said, changing tactic. "He was...I can't say I knew him that well, but no-one really did. Good kid. Bright, tougher than he looked. He was also single-minded, self-obsessed, and stubborn as a mule. We got along well." He smirked. "You look a bit like him yourself. Different hair, but I'd know those hips anywhere."

Honey was confused, really. It didn't seem like Axel knew the man, and he didn't really think Roxas knew him, either. But, it was...good, he thought, that his friend wasn't here?

The person he was talking about oddly sounded like Kyouya, or at least the "self-obsessed" part sounded right. He wouldn't have called him tough or stubborn, though. The toughness was reserved for Haruhi and Takashi, because he didn't think either of them were afraid of anything. And the stubbornness was reserved for the twins - if something didn't fit into their world, they stubbornly held out against it.

But if Axel looked like the man's friend, he could understand the mistaken identity. He didn't really say anything in reply, not sure where to jump into the conversation. Instead, he focused on the large pile of cake that was still on his plate, diving in and making short work of it.

"Snake..." Axel raised an eyebrow but didn't question it further. It was probably just some nickname, much like Mitsukuni's, and the redhead would play along with it until he got a real name. This 'Snake' was certainly an interesting enough individual that the redhead would surely like to keep him around for at least a little while longer.

The Nobody took the time to drink his own tea, catching Snake staring at him and sighed again. This was going to be a long Brunch.

However, at the hip comment, Axel abruptly choked. And it was a good thing the redhead had an affinity for fire, paying no mind to the scalding heat that ran down the surface of his throat before he wiped it off with the back of his hand.

"Well it's nice that you took the time to notice that, I'm simply flattered." The Nobody almost forgot that Roxas and Mitsukuni were still there, giving them both questioning glances for their own opinion about this guy. The smaller blond looked to be just as confused as him, and Roxas was probably too busy salvaging whatever food he had left to pay attention.

"He sounds like an interesting guy though." Axel piped in with another sip of his tea. "How'd you meet him anyway?"

Roxas' reaction to this 'Snake's' name was relatively similar to Axel's. It wasn't really the type of namehe was used to hearing. But then again, since they were all from different worlds, maybe it was perfectly normal where the man came from.

The conversation was getting a little weird. He supposed it made sense for Snake to mistake Axel as someone else; Roxas himself seemed to be asked if he was related to Sora or Naminé quite often, and he knew he'd made out a pair of twins at one point. But recognizing his hips? He made a glance between to the men at the table. Normally, he would at least try try to introduce himself, but..

"So, Honey. You like cake?" He asked. It was an awkward way of trying to get off the subject, especially since he seemed to only be pointing out the obvious, but it worked for him.

"It certainly wasn't fate I met him," Snake responded calmly, slightly impressed at Axel's stunning moodswing - from choking distaste to easy interest in less than a second. There was evidently more of the kid in him than he'd initially thought. "It was all arranged."

No, he had to be less vague than that. He sounded like Fox. Or Mantis.

"I don't know if the same thing happened in your 'timeline'," he began, "but in mine there was a crisis, off the shore of Manhattan. A cleanup facility got taken over, by terrorists. My friend...he was the soldier who'd been sent in to sort out the mess, and I was in there, cleaning it up of my own accord. Or so it seemed. I don't want to talk about the details, but he was being used." There was a concept he resented. "And I was, too. But in a way so indirect I only realised it when I was told. That's my legacy - I'm always the tool someone else uses to get the job done."

He'd already said more than he intended to. It was hearing the kid's voice again - had to be. Even from a different face...

"And no need to be shy," he added. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with your hips. They're..." he thought of the right word, came up with 'androgynous', and decided not to risk it, "...honest."

Axel and Snake's conversation was going over Honey's head, and it was with great relief that he turned to Roxas. Cake was a topic he could talk about all day long.

"I love all sorts of sweet things, but strawberries and cake are my very favorite things, and the combination of them is even better! I was really surprised to see that they had it here, because my friends Hikaru and Kaoru - they're twins! - said that they didn't have many sweet things most of the time."

He smiled widely and continued. "It's not quite the same as the cake they have at school, or the cakes we get delivered to the Host Club, but it's pretty good!"

Oh! This would be a good time bring up the Club, he thought, even though it wasn't something he was terribly good at advertising. "Speaking of the Host Club, having a Club meeting this afternoon. I told Axel-san about it before! You're welcome to come too, and you can bring your friend Naminé if you want."

Axel was glad that Roxas decided to talk to Mitsukuni, too busy immersed in Snake's explanation about his own world. This talk of terrorists and soldiers on secret missions was fascinating, but compared to his own empty world everything else seemed like an adventure.

"So you were both being used by the higher ups? I wouldn't want to be in your shoes" It certainly sounded familiar on some of his own context, especially his best friend's perspective. But Axel always managed to flip the sides of power in the end, so the thought of being powerless to stop it would really drive a thorn deep into his side.

And speaking of hips...

"Why are you so interested in them? Do they bother you that much? If you want a closer look, all you have to do is ask." The Nobody snorted before giving the man a casual grin. However, hearing Mitsukuni's words he glanced at Roxas and added his own 2 cents.

"You should go, it's not like you have anything better to do. And besides," He took a sip of his tea. "I bet Sora's going to be there too."

Roxas was half paying attention to Honey, half paying attention to the conversation between Axel and Snake. It was something of an oddity being directly between something so cheerful and something not-so, so he was finding it difficult what to concentrate on. Especially in the case of Snake, where the words were hitting a little closer to home than he would have liked. Arranged, used, tool - they were all words he was familiar with.

The rest of the conversation between the two men fell on deaf ears. Roxas wasn't fond of the direction his thoughts were taking him, so he did his best to ignore it. What was past was past, and it was better not to worry about. It was too late to change what had already happened.

"I'm not really sure what a Host Club is," he responded to Mitsukuni with a shrug. "But I guess I could give it a try." In a place like Landel's, distractions were always a good thing to have, after all. He made a glance to Axel upon hearing his comment on the issue, but didn't make much of an effort to respond.

Sora, huh?

"I'll hold you to that," Snake smirked. He honestly hadn't intended for his words to be taken that way, but was willing to play along with it. After all, it was at least friendly contact, and Otacon had suggested befriending as many patients as possible.

He liked flirting. It certainly wasn't a gift of his - it'd never come naturally to him. Why would it? He wasn't trained for people skills after all.

But it was satisfying. It showcased intelligence, quickness, and tension. And it had the useful side-effect of throwing people off-guard.

He started it, he assured himself.

"Mind telling me your room number?" he asked. "You never know when I might need to call you up on that proposal. I'm in M51."

Honey had been conveniently ignoring the conversation between Snake and Axel. The Host Club conversation was something he was much more comfortable in, and as such, he continued it inbetween bites of the quickly diminishing pile of cake.

"We told Sora-chan about the club meeting this morning! I think he's coming...and I'm sure Tamaki is telling his new friends over there about it," he said, gesturing in the Lord's direction. It was funny...they didn't seem too happy. Maybe they hadn't liked the idea?

Axel seemed to be doing a lot of snorting around this man, but he was far more amused about the situation than he should've been. Every person he'd met had been refreshing in some way or another, and Snake was no different. But Axel felt that he could act more casual around him than the others, though it wasn't certain if that was an entirely good idea.

Still, Brunch with two other people besides themselves wasn't exactly the perfect place to be exchanging flirtatious comments, as awfully tempting as it was anyway.

"I'm in M12, but there seems to be another bed in my room besides my own. So if you don't mind an audience then you're welcome to drop by." And with that the redhead casually smirked before finishing up his mug of tea and setting it down beside him. Green eyes glanced to the clock, its hands revealing that the next shift was coming soon.

"Though I want to know more about your world, so do your best to come. I'll even go to yours if it's too much of a stretch for you."

"Well, my room-mate doesn't seem to have appeared yet," Snake responded, "so if privacy's a concern, you're probably better off heading my way. There's no point both of us trying to meet up - too dangerous, and we'll never find each other in the corridors, even with that red hair of yours."

He'd often told himself he had no interest in other people's lives, but, even so, he felt curious about this world of 'darkness and skyscrapers' - and Axel himself. It was sickening how a little nostalgia for something that only happened about a week ago could completely colour his behaviour, he realised.

He felt Axel's glance scrape the clock (how?) and looked up himself. This shift was nearly over.

"It's the Visitor shift soon," Snake pointed out. "I'm curious about it, although they don't have anyone to send me." He took another drink of tea. "Besides, it's not as if they can do much worse to me, anyway. I've already lost one eye, and they're not about to blind me completely."

The intercom announcement rang out, and Honey frowned. He realized that if they were calling him "Bobby Wright", they had to be calling his friends other names, too. He wondered if any of them were friends of his, but he wasn't sure.

Honey stood and looked around the cafeteria once more. He couldn't see any of them, not with the blur of activity and nurses pulling patients in every direction.

"I'm sorry, all of you. I should probably go and find everyone, and I need to get ready for the Host Club meeting...wherever Tama-chan decided it was going to be!"

A moment later, a nurse came up, "Mr. Wright?" Honey nodded to her and let her lead him out. He could figure out where he was going soon, he thought.

"That's the thing, mine hasn't either but the bed surely looked like it was used." So this 'room mate' thing was widespread after all. Whether that proved to be an advantage or not was something the redhead would find out soon enough, but for now it was best to just continue doing what he originally planned.

The intercom went off soon after, and it wasn't long before Mitsukuni was escorted off with his nurse. The Nobody said his goodbyes rather 'light-heartedly', knowing he'd see the blond in just a few minutes at that 'Host Club'.

"So your room number is M57? That's a bit of a stretch but I'll see what I can do." It wasn't impossible really, and running was always a welcoming option. When Snake referred to his missing eye Axel snuck a glance at the eye patch the man had been wearing the entire time. He almost didn't notice it, having been so used to Xigbar's that the redhead thought nothing of it.

He was about to continue when his own Nurse came by to escort him out in which he followed with no qualms. Axel gave the two men on the table a quick grin before he was out of the Cafeteria all together.

Snake sat in silence, feeling the heat of the people moving around him - like shadows, shapes. Their gazes coloured the walls and floor, and his skin prickled with a sickly sweat.

It was the injection. He was hallucinating again.

He snarled, slammed his hands down on the table, yellowish cold running up his arms as he touched the desk, and squeezed his eyes - eye - shut, the empty socket screaming in phantom pain as muscles that were no longer there tried to move, and the heat carried on behind his eyes. He could feel them. Hot hearts and brains and cool eyes and hair and skin, their shapes, the hot food and the cold floor and the cold tools with which they served the food and -

- was there an empty space in Axel's chest, a blank black nothingness the size of a fist, as he headed away, or -

- no, this was a hallucination, it didn't mean anything, it wasn't real -

He brought his forehead down to touch the table - cool, greens and yellows - and felt the nurse approach, felt her gaze upon him, even before she touched his shoulder and led him away.

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Day 22: Brunch

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