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

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

"And I ain't kid, gramps," Yuffie replied, sticking out her tongue at the pilot before turning to Tifa and waving off the concern. "I'm ok. It's just a little sore." She didn't really want to go into everything that had happened last night...

But the ninja was thrilled to see Tifa. And Cid. And Vincent, again! She really was. But when Barret approached, she frowned and moved out of the way, avoiding eye contact with him. She didn't want to talk to him. At all. What did he care about the rest of them anyway?... He had new friends here, didn't he?

[reduxvalentine.livejournal.com]

Vincent briefly nodded at Barret, glad to see him looking at least a bit better today. Injuries here were far from a good thing, he was discovering.

"Tifa," he said, wincing a bit as he crossed his arms on the table. Exposition was not his strong point but everyone else seemed reluctant to explain. "We're not really sure what this place is, but it claims to be a mental house. At day, it's normal, but at night..." Vincent shook his head, the words coming out of his mouth sounding so ridiculously awkward and stupid. "At night things come out. Dangerous things. Cid and I have survived a week so far, but you need a plan before nightfall."

He would avoid the timeline part for as long as possible. The morning was bad enough without that headache.

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

The news only set Barret slightly at ease. At least she wasn't here as far as Tifa knew. This whole different world/different timeline bullshit was terribly confusing, but Marlene was Marlene no matter what time she came from. Same as Tifa, which allowed him to recall her reassurance. Mentioning Denzel led him to believe she was closest to his timeline than the rest. In retrospect, that gave little comfort.

He was about to settle into one of the seats as the adrenaline leaked out of his pores, until the frustrated tone of his abandoned nurse approached with a scowl on her face. At least his forgotten wheelchair was in tow, "Mr. Fischer," he almost clocked her right then and there, "if you hope to have a full recovery, you are going to have to limit your exertion." Without a further word, she gestured to the rolling device. She took the plate of food from its seat and set it in a vacant spot as Barret glared, but complied with her silent suggestion. This wheelchair made him feel like a gimp. Even though his knee was feeling remarkably better in comparison to the first night, running on it made it progressively worse. He didn't hate the thing--it was responsible for saving a life after all.

When the nurse departed their company, Barret's eyes grazed across all of their faces, even Yuffie's--his anger toward her almost forgotten, "We all oughta stay together," he said firmly in relation to Vincent's comment aout nightfall plans, taking notice of his injury with an internal cringe. Maybe Yuffie had a right to be angry with him... "We ain't easily fucked with when together."

[dawning-dreams.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, yeah..." Cid waved the young ninja off as he handed his mug to Tifa. Although he'd stayed out of the less superficial aspects of the conversation so far, everyone's apparent relief at being buddy-buddy and sticking together was beginning to get on his nerves, if only because there was one problem hanging over their heads like a damn harbinger of denial.

"Yeah, well," he began with a sigh, tossing his fork at his plate as he stretched his arms over his head and leaned back in his chair, "the one point that these bastards forgot to address is the one that makes this whole operation a damn sight trickier than it should be."

He looked to each one of his comrades in turn.

"Last thing Gothman remembers is us on our merry way to the damn Northern Crater. Barret here hails from two years after that, from when you guys did in... Kadodgy or whenever the fuck cornrows are in style. Yuffie... I got nothin', but a kid who calls me gramps doesn't count anyway."

He then looked back to Tifa, mouth twisting into a wide, wry grin.

"Me? Last thing I remember is some fucking bright backlash once Meteor was about to blow." He winced both at the memory and at the wounded arm he'd stretched too hard, then nodded towards her. "I'm guessin' from the fact that you have a different hairdo than I remember and ain't reactin' to Barret's new one that you're gonna tell me I'm lookin' too good for my age."

He then shot Yuffie a glare.

" 'Cause I sure as fuck ain't 'gramps.' "

[somekinda-lady.livejournal.com]

Things?

So that was why everyone was injured. She felt even worse when a nurse came by, scolding Barret for leaving his wheelchair. His wheelchair. What kinds of creatures could have done this to her friend?

She gratefully accepted Cid's mug as she listened on. The fact that they had somehow been drugged and brought here was bad enough, but from different points in time? However, she couldn't help the small smile that was forming - Barret's new hairdo had certainly taken some time to get used to.

"I was just about to ask you where the gray hair went," she teased lightly. "I'm around Barret's time - two years after Meteor." Then she tilted her head, curious. "So you already know about what happened with Kadaj?"

Then she realized. If everyone could be taken from different points in time...did that mean...?

"Is...is Cloud here?" she asked, glancing around the table.

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

Despite he decision to keep out of the way, Yuffie stuck her tongue out at Cid again when he mentioned her opinion not counting. "Do too count. And the last thing I remember was finishing up with the whole Meteor thing and going our separate ways, so there."

She was a little surprised that Barret had mentioned them sticking together at night, though. She had a good mind to call him a hypocrite, but she kept her mouth shut for once. If she started yelling at him again, she figured she might actually go hoarse. And that would totally suck. She settled with just giving him a 'you're one to talk' look.

"Cloud was here two days ago, I think," Yuffie replied to Tifa's question. "But I haven't seen him since, then..." Where had Cloud gone to, anyway? With everything that had been going on, she'd almost forgotten about him being here...

[reduxvalentine.livejournal.com]

Cloud---?

"Wait," Vincent interrupted, all thought on the Landel's explanation dissipating immediately as he forced himself to remain calm. He scanned the cafeteria for any sign of spiky blonde hair, and when there was none he stared intensely back at Yuffie. "You haven't seen him?" He'd been too busy the past few days to find Cloud every shift, but if he'd gone missing...

"Have any of you seen him?" he demanded, voice edging on desperate. None of them knew except Cid, and as long as Cloud was alive---if he'd been alive at all---it would stay that way. Dammit.