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.

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[part1of3.livejournal.com]

Ashton allowed Dias a knowing smile. He knew he'd caught a little bit of a nerve mentioning Dias' tendency to 'adopt' younger girls. Rena had never fully explained why Dias did it, but Ashton had a good idea nonetheless. After all, Ashton was interested in learning about all of his new friends whilst on his travels with them, and had never been above gossip.

He prolonged the stare for a moment, then, feeling awkwardness coming on and deciding to nip it in the bud before he got more nervous and - Tria forbid! - blush, he let his eyes finally wander to River, smiling at her as he scarfed down a bit more of his burger tower. "I'm glad.. he has someone taking care of him, then." Rena'd be glad, too, he thought comfortingly. This girl was strange, but if Dias was happy with her, then Ashton would be too.

Another bite. Another burger. He looked at Valyn, chewing and swallowing, and spoke to him for the first time. "...and what? You don't look quite right, something wrong? Besides this place being wrong in general?" Ah, small talk.

[theycutitout.livejournal.com]

River was clearly quite pleased with herself, even if Dias wasn't as prone to reacting like Simon did. Different brothers, different reactions. It was just a pleasure to be had, being graced with what she'd been graced with, and a curse to bear the marks that she bore. But for now, she was all smiles.

"He needs it. One might dream to wonder if you don't too." She frowned suddenly and looked up as the intercom piped up. "Someone to watch your back." The meaning wouldn't be lost on him.

The worried, troubled look on the lord's face was a cause for some concern, concern that was addressed by River jumping up and literally prancing across the table effortlessly to sit next to him in some attempt at offering comfort. With someone like River, it was hard to tell sometimes. Still.

"You're worried that you're delusional, experiencing a false inference based on external reality. You're worried that you're holding to a false perception despite what's incontrovertible. You're not." The dark-haired girl looked at him, very serious and seeming almost gentle for a moment as she folded her hands in her lap, just like a proper girl. "When the giant, carnivorous spiders come after you, it'll all make sense. Or at least cement the reality that your perception is not based on false notions."

[notmyfather.livejournal.com]

"And nothing," Valyn said, shaking his head softly. "Just a stray thought." That hardly needed voicing. And it seemed River - another curious name - hadn't heeded his request to stay out of his mind. He couldn't even feel her, either. He'd never felt Shadow, either, but that had been different. Shadow had been a constant presence - both physically and mentally - since Valyn was sixteen. He'd grown to accustomed to the other boy to ever notice.

"Please, I'd appreciate it if you didn't look inside my mind. Or at least ask my permission beforehand; it's considered polite to do so. I can't seem to keep you out on my own here."

He frowned, his food still relatively untouched. "If I were to assume that everything you're telling me is true... why me?" If this were some place that... stole people for purposes Valyn still couldn't quite grasp, why him? It wasn't as though anyone would pay a ransom for him. His father would kill him the moment he lay eyes on him, and his twin would most likely attempt to have him collared and locked away as a madman.

Funny, that.

When the loud voice came out of nowhere, Valyn did jump and look about, trying to determine the source of it, expecting an overseer or some such. This place was looking more and more like slave barracks by the minute.