Day 22: Brunch

[dawning-dreams.livejournal.com]

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.

Comments

[to-blood-bound.livejournal.com]

The trembling moved from his hands and to his whole body, only this time, it was out of pure relief. Then he saw it-- or didn't see it, and his eyes widened, mouth gaping faintly. "The oroborous tattoo, it's gone!" His eyes flickered up to Lust's face, questioning.

In that moment, the nurse returned with the promised tray and set it down in front of Alphonse. "Here you are. Make sure to eat it all, okay?" He seemed fine enough, so she stepped away. After smiling thankfully at the nurse, Al turned right back to Lust.

"Does that mean...you're human now?"

[a_sin_for_him]

"Not human," Lust said, returning to her meal. "But close enough. I 'm....somewhere between the two, I suppose you could say. I don't really know what I am anymore." She shrugged and winced, letting out a small gasp as her stitches pulled.

"Human enough not to heal, at the very least," she muttered. "And to need food and sleep and to... have no control over my reactions to much of anything. They did it to me, I know they did. I simply don't know how." She sighed.

"I've grown used to it. I've been here for some time."

[rabastlestrange.livejournal.com]

Trust Bast to be late for everything and then make the worst possible decision that could be made when things came down to it.

"BELLATRIX!"

Even the nurses had to give Bast a worried look when he fairly shrieked coming into the cafeteria and then took off like a shot for poor Lust.

"Bella, Bella, Bella!"

Reaching her (a feat in itself considering how many people the vertically challenged man had to get past), he fairly bounced right beside her.

"Bella! You're here! My beautiful Bellatrix!"

[to-blood-bound.livejournal.com]

[reposting to follow Bast. =D]


Alphonse had picked up his fork, playing with it absently as he listened to Lust. The metal felt cool beneath his fingers, then it quickly warmed with his touch. If he let it drop, it would turn cool again. Was this what his temporary body had felt like?

-- She was hurt, she wasn't just fine. "Are you okay?" Concern was in his voice, and now it was as clear as day on his face, too. His voice had gone a long way when he was in the armor, it had had to; but his face, now, it added a whole new dimension of expression. "What happened to you? Was it-- was it those monsters?"

Al suddenly jumped in his seat, taken by complete surprise by the new voice. He'd been so concentrated on Lust and his own thoughts-- He turned to face this new man, a man he didn't recognize, and blinked in pure, simple surprise. Bella? This couldn't be right. Or maybe he was missing something?

[a_sin_for_him]

"Yes, I was attacked last night and unprepared." Lust shook her head and smiled at Alphonse, warmly. "I've been stitched up, I'll be fine. It's merely an annoyance."

And then Lust found herself more confused than she had been in some time. She had never seen the man who was now beside her, who had practically bolted across the mess hall to get to her.

"Bellatrix?" she repeated, perplexed. At hearing the name 'Bella' she had momentarily worried that she had been mistaken for Isobel. But the name Bellatrix meant nothing to her.

"I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else."

[rabastlestrange.livejournal.com]

Bast glanced at Alphonse, studying him for a moment and trying to place him in his memory. Given that his memory had more holes than swiss cheese, it was quite a job.

"Erm... you're Draco, right? Narcissa's boy?"

When Lust spoke to him, Rabastan's attention went back to her quickly. After all, she was the true Bellatrix, not some other person who just acted a little like her.

"Bella!" he crowed again happily, restraining himself (for the moment) from full out snuggling against her. It was Bellatrix! Sure, she looked a little different, but the Dark Lord probably helped her some. Her denial of being the woman Bast assumed she was went ignored easily. Reality was a subjective thing for Bast.

"I found you! I thought I wouldn't, and here you are! You look so pretty too! Did the Dark Lord do that? You always was his favourite. After all, you are the only woman in the Death Eaters, and even Lucky is a little scared of you. Where have you been? How did we get here? Where's Rodolphus? Why is Draco here with you? I bet Narcissa is going to be furious that he's not at home!"

[to-blood-bound.livejournal.com]

Draco? Did this man... No, Alphonse wasn't missing something; this man definitely didn't know what he was talking about.

"Sir, I'm not--" But he was off again, just like that, and Alphonse could do little more than watch.

[a_sin_for_him]

"That is enough!" Lust's eys anrrowed and she fixed Rabastan with a rather hostile gaze. "Alphonse and I have no idea what it is you're on about. You've mistaken us for other people. I am not this Bellatrix you seem to think I am. I'm not even human. My name is Lust, and I have never seen you before in my life."

She winced once more, as drawing hersef up in that manner pulled and twinged, and then she sighed. Her voice was softer this time when she spoke.

"I understand if you're confused and frightened. But listen to us when we say that we don't know you. We aren't your people, I'm sorry."

[rabastlestrange.livejournal.com]

Bast frowned at the two of them, lifting a hand to scratch at his head thoughtfully. Thinking didn't appear to be one of his better points given how he gnawed at his lip for awhile before breaking back out into a childishly happy grin.

"They Obliviated you! Both of you! That's why you don't remember. Oh Bella, my Bella, they knew you were far too dangerous to ever get loose, so they Obliviated you. You are pretty scary, especially when you get mad about Sirius and start smashing things with a fireplace poker. You even used to scare Dolph! Oh wait, you don't remember him either, do you? He's my brother, and your husband although you've always had an... err... open relationship, I think. Oh Bella! It's so wonderful to see you!"

Poor Alphonse was given an equally happy grin, Rabastan fairly vibrating in his joy at finding people he knew. It was truly and honestly Bellatrix! Sure, she looked a little different, but that was only to be expected.

"They stole your memory and did this to both of you. You're Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy fortune, and you're Bellatrix Lestrange, the Dark Lady of the Death Eaters. You're both very powerful people, even if you don't remember it. You're the two most powerful wizard and witch in the world, except for the Dark Lord."

When trying to bring someone over to his way of thinking, Rabastan had zero problems with stretching the truth some.

[to-blood-bound.livejournal.com]

Maybe if Lust hadn't been here, in this place, this other world, maybe then Alphonse would've let himself believe this strange man. Maybe, even, he would've been completely right -- what did Alphonse know about what was on the other side of the Gate? But this wasn't the other side of the Gate, and he was still the same Alphonse.

So he turned a pleasant smile to Rabastan, the sheer strageness of the situation helping him temporarily put his swirling thoughts aside, and in a warm voice told him, "I'm sorry, sir. I'm Alphonse Elric," and he wasn't a heir to any sort of great fortune. He was a heir to no fortune at all. But he had family he wouldn't trade with this Malfoy boy for all the riches in all the worlds. "But if I meet anyone named Draco or Bellatrix, I'll make sure to tell them you're here."

[a_sin_for_him]

Lust could only stare for a few minutes, listening in silence. Was this man mad, having a bit of fun, or was he merely like Gluttony in that reality and higher thinking were sketchy concepts at best?

Whatever it was, Lust had the feeling that neither she nor Alphonse were going to be able to tell this man differently. She sighed and shook her head.

"I don't think anything we say will make a difference, Alphonse." She gave the boy a look that clearly said she was tired of arguing. "Fine, then. Call me whatever you'd like, it isn't as though I'm unused to being called names that aren't mine. Do you have a name, while we're on it?"

There was always the chance that this man could be useful, after all.

[rabastlestrange.livejournal.com]

"I'm Rabastan... Rabastan Lestrange."

Frowning at the pair, Bast patted the radio he held in the crook of his arm. Ever since it had spoken up the second time, Bast had become even more convinced that there was a small man trapped inside it. If he kept it safe, maybe it would let him stay here in Landel's forever.

"Ohhh... is Alphonse the name they keep calling you, Draco? They keep calling me Stephen King. Whatever Obliviate spell they tried on me didn't work. You know, everyone always did say that you didn't have that strong of a mind or a will for that matter. That's all right though. You're just a kid."

Giving the man a sunny smile, he turned back to Bellatrix/Lust.

"Don't you worry any, Bellatrix. You're the smartest, wickedest, and slyest of all the Death Eaters. It's why the Dark Lord likes you the best. He hasn't let any other women join, you know. I'm sure you know at least fifty ways to make the rest of these people do whatever you want or to take over. Can't I help? Please? I promise not to tease you about Sirius anymore!"

[to-blood-bound.livejournal.com]

Alphonse turned to Rabastan, keeping a soft frown back. He didn't want to deceive this man, not at all, but it looked like Rabastan was already doing all the deceiving himself.

Not a strong will? ... that was Draco, not him. So he only smiled, while his mind inched back towards confused wanderings. --Then his eyes suddenly flickered down. The food.

While still courteously listening to Rabastan, Alphonse's eyes ran over all his choices. The nurse sure had piled the tray up. For some reason, it all made him nervous. There were eggs and sausages and bacon and some things he wasn't even sure he recognized, but they all looked good. And now he could try them. Then there was an apple, just on the edge of the tray. And maybe it was for the familiarity, a big red country apple... He reached out for it.

And took a slow, almost shy bite of it. He seemed to just stay there with the piece in his mouth for a while, then he started gradually chewing it, and in the next minute had eaten the entire apple. He wasn't a wildly hearty eater usually -- he hadn't been an eater at all for the past few years -- but in the next moment he was excitedly diving into the rest.

[a_sin_for_him]

"Rabastan," Lust repeated, carefully enunciating the strange name. She watched Alphonse out of the corner of her eye, curious to observe him. From what he'd said... he had only just been returned to a body, hadn't he?

But again, she was distracted. The comment about getting people to do what she wanted struck a chord. After all, how many men in the place had already pledged to protect her, already sworn to lay down their lives for hers? How many scrambled like eager dogs to do as she asked, get her what she required?

"I have my ways," she said, carefully. "And his name is Alphonse, it's the name he has had since birth. And mine is Lust - they call me something altogether different." And then there was Isobel, the name she had answered to in another life and had no claim to now. But she doubted she could convince this man to call her anything but 'Bellatrix'.

"I suppose I could be persuaded to allow you to aide me," she went on, narrowing her eyes. "If you're useful. Tell me, Rabastan, what can you do?"

[rabastlestrange.livejournal.com]

"You have lots of ways! Men and women listen to you. You're the Dark Lady after all. You have people just waiting to do what you want, like Peter Pettigrew. Snape really doesn't, but he doesn't do much of anything that anyone wants."

Bast stopped suddenly, lifting up his little radio and pressing it to his ear. A puzzled look was on his face for a moment before he nestled it back in the crook of his arm. Whether or not he actually heard anything or it was just another facet of his madness was hard to tell. A sharply intelligent look came over his face, crafty like a fox before it was gone and he looked to be nothing more than his usual stupid self.

"I'm happy to meet you, Alphonse and Be-Lust! You have very pretty eyes, Alphonse. Reminds me of Remus'. They probably look better in than out. What's for breakfast?"

It had taken him a moment to catch up with the last of Lust's question, his nose wrinkling up thoughtfully. "I have a wand! I can make lots of light. I'm dreadfully scary too. Everyone says so."

Beaming in pride, Bast started eyeing poor Alphonse's food, probably trying to decide what he could snare up for himself.