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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"Now, Mr. Haushofer, I really must protest!" A poor nurse, who had been shuffled back and forth a million times already, huffed good-naturedly as she deposited Adelheid onto one of the empty seats, a tray piled high with good food going with him. "I know that it's important for you to talk with your friends, but you should try to remember that all of this talk about alternate worlds is nonsense! And remember to stay in your room at night! Ooh, I should really have a word with the night shift."

Not that Adelheid was listening to a word of it. He was slumped, listless, against the table, his red eyes clouded and his entire body limp. It had been a miracle that he could continue to string coherent thoughts together, after being sedated. And yet, despite that sedation, raw rage filled the back of his mind. He was the scion of a deity! He was of the esteemed Bernstein lineage! And yet he hadn't even gotten past the first line of defenses.

"-and be sure to eat all of it! You're a growing young man, Mr. Haushofer, you really need to take good care of yourself. And look at those bags under your eyes! If you don't start getting more sleep-"

Adelheid hoped that no one would see him, no one would talk to him, no one would bother him. He'd gotten Tamaki to promise not to stop by, and he was certain that Phoenix would be too busy with Edgeworth and Edward with that meeting he'd promised to attend awhile back. So long as nobody saw him in this pathetic state, he'd consider himself fortunate.

Tifa managed get the orderlies off her back once she got to the cafeteria. She had made a note of the path they had come, and was ready to turn back and run as soon as she got the chance. She didn't care that her nurse seemed to honestly believe she was crazy - Marlene and Denzel were alone at home and someone had managed to kidnap her. This was some kind of trick.

The nurse stayed with her long enough to stuff some food on her plate, despite Tifa's insistence she wasn't hungry. The plate was shoved in her hand anyway.

As she plotted various ways to subdue the staff and run for it (she felt kind of sluggish...did they use a drug to bring her here?) she scanned the room.

Oh. God.

It was Cid. They'd kidnapped him, too?! Her half baked escape plans forgotten, Tifa ran over to where he was sitting, practically tossing her plate on the table in her haste. She didn't care if the food spilled over or not.

"Cid?!" she exclaimed. So they were lying - he was the proof. They must have known about Gaia, if Cid was here...

Axel was certainly pleased to be one of the first people there, catching sight of only a handful of individuals as he sauntered himself into the Cafeteria. The sight of all the food was really wetting his palette, and the redhead took no time in helping himself to everything that was graciously offered.

After plating what could be considered the strangest combination of food known in existence Axel situated himself in a spot where anyone could walk up to him if they desired. He was feeling rather rejuvenated after taking a break from last night's shift and that post in the bulletin only fueled his curiosity even moreso.

So the dastardly man finally showed himself, eh? The Nobody was hoping to find someone who'd seen the Head Doctor with their own eyes, someone who was kind enough to describe every single detail of that demented man's face. Unlike Luxord, a man who held his grudges like his alcohol (and in no means was that a compliment), the redhead felt nothing for this Doctor, as his nature of being a Nobody preceded him.

So Axel sat there, cutting up his waffles/burger/chicken burrito with blueberries on top and ate it all diligently.

As Iruka arrived at Brunch, the wonderful smell of food pulled at him like a leash on a dog. He spotted the food right away and hurried over to it without questioning. He was used to this at least. He skimmed over the cereals and low fat milk, stopping at the fruit, taking a few grapes to pop into his mouth. Looking for the unch part of brunch he'd heard about in his room, the ramen, he was pleseantly surprised to find some and helped himself. There was tea too! It was definitely a nice menu.

Finally, after re-examining his brunch plate and giving in to his need for cereal and a beef burrito (out of curiosity, of course), Iruka found himself a seat and began to eat. Things seemed to be looking up already... though he was worried about his once-student. He wondered if she was okay. He knew for
certain he was in a new place now, and that meant she was probably still in the other.

"She'll have gotten out; I'm sure." he said quietly between mouthfuls.

Oh God... the Ramen is... he nearly felt his brain melt with happiness. It wasn't as good as Ichiraku, but it was GOOD.

He chuckled to himself, unable to fully contain his mirth at finally being able to eat something that reminded him of home, and of Naruto. It felt good to be reminded of such things after having been depressed for what seemed like ages. Yes, he decided, things are looking up.

Weary of the games Landels continued to play with them Inara had kept to herself for the majority of the morning. Had she known there would've been a meeting with the Head Doctor himself, she might've been more inclined to emerge from her room. Granted it hadn't yielded terribly impressive results, but she hadn't exactly had the proper materials. A day of solitude was also rather tempting, but she was worried about Mal and probably wouldn't have been able to take in the peace and quiet without confirming that he was alright. The ankle wound had been bad, but the dark-haired woman found herself thankful that whatever he'd stumbled into hadn't delivered a more serious blow.

The patients were just beginning to file into the cafeteria, Inara among the first of them to receive her tray and find an empty table. The food, as usual, was quite good, though she found it difficult to eat it without wondering if they'd slip some "medication" into it after gaining the patients' trust. However, she wasn't terribly hungry herself at the moment and only nibbled on the brunch daintily, keeping her eyes peeled for the crew or any other acquaintances she'd made.

Of course, some new company would not be entirely unwelcome. As such, she was sure to exude a certain amount of approachability as she sat by herself.

Claire was about to rush over to Eric's side when a nurse dragged her away. The shift change was probably the only thing that had saved Claire from a needle in the neck, because she was surely not just going to stand there as they did as they pleased to her friend. Something the head doctor had said filtered through the angry haze she was in. Something, something about experimentation. He sickened her and the thought of him touching her family made her all the more angry. Who exactly did he think he was? She could completely understand the need to attack him...on the other hand, it was obvious a direct approach wouldn't work.

People were just starting to fill into the cafeteria. Claire grabbed some food and sat down, keeping her eyes open for a familiar face. She wanted to see Eric. She had to know if he was okay.

The words strawberry cake were really all Honey needed to hear, and he'd almost forgotten what Tamaki had said about monsters, almost forgotten his offer to the twins, and almost forgotten that he wasn't in the familiar settings of either his home or Ouran Academy.

He left his nurse behind the minute he'd entered the cafeteria. First, he piled a plate high with strawberries. Then, he filled a second plate high with cake. He knew he might get a cavity again, but he hadn't had cake all morning, and nothing in the world would stop him.

He looked around the room. He didn't recognize any of the faces that were there so far, but that was all right. He didn't mind if anyone came and sat next to him.

Ramen. Sakura could only assume who had suggested adding that dish to the menu. Naruto could be such an idiot sometimes...

...not that she wasn't going to pick some up for herself since he'd gone to all the trouble of proving that food was his biggest concern when he'd been locked away in a fake mental hospital and given a false name.

The cafeteria as they called it was beginning to fill up with numerous patients, all clad in the same, dull, gray uniform that she was wearing. It wasn't hard to pick up on the way things worked, and Sakura filed right into line along with the rest of the "crazies". The food was served and, against all her better judgment, smelled so good that it made her stomach growl a little. Quickly, she looked around the room for a good place to sit. Haku and Naruto would hopefully be joining her, and-

Wait, was that Iruka-sensei? Sakura blinked twice to confirm it. When he didn't disappear after the first one, her face lit up and she hurried over to him. Maybe he had more clues as to what was going on here.

"Iruka-sensei!" she exclaimed when she approached the table and wasted no time in setting her tray down. "I can't believe you're here too!"

Yuffie was feeling a little better after her talk with Zelos, but not too much. She didn't understand... Why wouldn't he go and talk with Aerith? It wasn't right... It didn't help her mood that her throat still hurt from yelling at Barret. She was almost afraid she might end up hoarse.

Absently, she rubbed at the bandages as she entered the cafeteria, the flower girl was the first person she looked for. Instead, however, she noticed the familiar long hair of another comrade. She stared for only a moment before running over to see her, ignoring the food completely.

"Tifa!" the ninja exclaimed as loud as she dared, which wasn't more than a normal tone, and launched herself at the woman's back, hugging tightly from behind. Were all of her friends going to show up here? She wasn't entirely sure if she was happy or sad about that. She didn't want them getting hurt , but she didn't want to be alone either.

It took a moment to notice that she'd been talking to someone. Pulling away from Tifa a bit, Yuffie grinned around her at Cid. "Hiya, gramps."

And so someone came and sat with him indeed.

Out of all the sights that Axel had seen, never had he spotted a real child walk the halls of Landel's. It was somewhat disturbing in a sense, but one the redhead sought fit to investigate.

Besides, he caught Sora talking to this kid back in the Sun Room, and anyone who talked to the brunet was deserving of his attention.

In 5 seconds flat he had dropped his plate right across from the blond and took his seat in front of him. And with that Axel propped his chin with his hands and gave the child one good look over.

"... How old are you, exactly?"

[Jumped Here. (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/65478.html?thread=3317958#t3317958) ]

"Mr. Pierce! I thought you were a quiet, well-behaved patient. You've been so cooperative so far. It was a shame we had to give you something to calm you down."

The nurse sighed as she and an orderly escorted Edgeworth from the chapel to a seat across from Adelheid's, then set a plate of food and a steaming mug of tea in front of him. "I'm going to put you over here with Mr. Haushofer. Now don't go scaring him with talk of demons and death. And I certainly don't want to hear any more threats from you towards any of the staff members."

The prosecutor was too dazed from the sedatives he'd been injected with to argue that she had gotten it wrong, that it was a nickname, that there weren't actually demons. He weakly tried to protest about being put with another patient - he didn't want that - but the nurse was having none of it.

He recognized the person he'd been seated with - Adelheid, who was Wright's friend, and now, he supposed, an ally of his own, if not a friend quite yet - and then tried speaking, his voice coming out tired. Without so much as a greeting, he said, "I said this on the bulletin board, but. Don't think you didn't do anything last night."

He heard her voice and turned to see Haruno Sakura set a tray of food down at his table. His heart swelled. He wanted to give her a hug... but she was a young woman now; she wasn't a little girl anymore. He'd leave those kinds of things up to his once-students to decide upon.

"S-Sakura!" he gaped. "I'm... I'm so happy to see you again! It's a shame we're in this place, I mean, but it's still wonderful that you're alright."

He slurped up some more ramen before continuing.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, wondering if this was indeed the same Sakura he'd met in the other place. If not, he'd assume the other Sakura had been a part of some kind of cruel illusion. It would't be above them to have done that to him. He smiled at Sakura, completely overjoyed to see her safe. It had been quite the shock.

Honey didn't know the person who sat across from him, and that was all right, he thought. He was used to being taken for far younger than his actual age, though. He smiled up at the man next to him. That was certainly a haircut that wouldn't fly at Ouran, he thought, as he started to respond. "I'm seventeen."

The reaction was generally always the same, he had learned by now. He decided it would be better to deflect some of the shock.

"I'm just short for my age! Really." He took a large bite of cake, and realized he'd been awfully rude by not introducing himself.

"My name is Haninozuka Mitsukuni, but everyone calls me Honey. What's your name?"

Well, that had been interesting, to say the least. Yoskiaki was probably right about the human bit, but there were some inhuman aspects of the protection that Head Doctor had. It was, he thought with some irritation, probably time to ask Naruto what he'd supposedly learned about the man.

He glared at his nurse as usual.

"Don't look so sad," she said, winking at him, and he blinked. "You'll have a special surprise of your own by tomorrow morning!"

... right. Sasuke ignored her and loaded a bowl of ramen onto his tray. He could guess whose request that had been, but it was at least better than the strong-smelling alternatives.

Speaking of Naruto -- he wasn't in the cafeteria yet, but Sakura and -- Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. And Iruka. Couldn't whoever was in charge of capturing the shinobi pick up someone not part of the Konoha-Suna alliance?

With a sigh, he headed for their table. He was going to have to deal with them sooner or later, and he might as well get it over before it became as much of a problem as it had been with Naruto.

Sasuke set down his tray and sat, making sure to keep his face blank. Time to get this over with.

"Iruka," he nodded at his former teacher. "Sakura. You're new here, then?"

Two things to clarify: one, what they remembered of their world, and two, if they were as drained as the rest of them seemed to be. Some of the other patients had been able to retain some powers, after all. Maybe it was an arbitrary decision?

After that, he wanted to find the girl who'd been screaming that morning.

Qui-Gon was rather quiet as he was escorted to this "brunch" (whatever it was), rather than chatting pleasantly with the nurse as had been his custom. Thinking he was upset about something, the short woman patted his arm and offered a comforting smile, said something about "cheering up" and getting some food in him. Supposedly it would make him feel better.

Food wasn't the problem.

The graying Jedi stood in line for filling up his plate and accepted what was piled on absent-mindedly, a faint frown creasing his face. He kept thinking back to the events in the chapel, to the "surprise". To Martin Landel. The "wound in the Force". It was almost more troubling than suddenly waking up not dead and not impaled on the end of the Sith's red lightsaber and thinking this is it. Qui-Gon to some extent believed in destiny, that the Force sometimes willed something to be so, but wasn't sure if his life after death was one such case; he did know that it was somehow imperative they learn about just what Martin Landel was. And what the consequences of such a being's existance would be, not just for the patients here, but for the rest of the galaxy.

For the Force.

Sitting himself in one of the farther corners of the cafeteria and suppressing a sigh as his bruised body relaxed, Qui-Gon toyed with the sausage links, looking thoughtful. He would have to talk to Obi-Wan about this when the time permitted. He also would have to find out how everyone's special abilities were affected and if they were decreasing or staying stagnant for the time being. What happened in the Chapel had only convinced him that escape wasn't his priority.

Well, it was a reaction that no one could blame Axel for. Even when he'd first seen Sora within the walls of Castle Oblivion he couldn't remember the brunet being that short in comparison. So with the facts kindly straightened out the redhead saw no other reason to press it any further.

Was he disappointed? Maybe, but it was something he'd gotten used to.

"Everyone...?" Axel repeated, finding himself somewhat ‘unsettled’ with calling a seventeen year old something like 'Honey' despite his matching demeanor. "Would you mind if I called you by the former name instead?"

And since it was only right to exchange the favor, he kindly offered his hand to shake the latter's.

"My name is Axel. ~~Got it memorized?~~"

Brock wasn't convinced there would be strippers in Landels, despite the mysterious advertisement he had seen on the bulletin. They would be nice, he had to admit, because what man could say no to tits?

He wasn't too fazed by the Doctor's appearance and announcement; it was the symbiote who had grown quiet and calculating, wondering how to topple this new new, foreign predator and resume their rightful place at the top of the food chain. It retreated very far now, and for one of the few times in his life Brock felt almost like a normal human being. It was both nice and....kind of boring, now that he thought about it - he had grown used to "hearing" the owner of his (their) body in his skull, even feeling it moving around like a house guest who had decided to make their stay permanent.

Brock sat down next to an attractive woman. Make that very attractive, because glancing at her he saw that she wasn't just pretty, she was smoking hot, in a regal, I'm too good for you kind of way.

Brock broke out into an easy going grin that was a mix between genuine and wry.

"Hope you don't mind if I sit here," he said.

Waka really hadn't gotten any questions answered since he'd woken up, not that this bothered him too significantly. He was, after all, a tao master, and ought to be able to handle himself in most situations. His mask was gone - and with it his quickest and easiest mode of retreat - and his flute seemed to have lost a great deal of its power, if not all of it, and he still understood next to nothing about this place, wherever it was...but these were setbacks only. He would adjust.

However, the condescending cheerfulness of the nurse who escorted him to the food hall was starting to get on his nerves, as did the strange name she persisted in referring to him by. He rated some measure of respect.

Still, she was a woman, and displayed nothing like actual malice - much less any sort of demonic aura - and as such Waka wouldn't have attacked her even if he'd had Pillow Talk at his disposal. Anyway, there was no sense in rebelling against a situation one didn't even understand, so for the moment he was willing to go along with her in an effort to discover what was happening.

The food he discovered being served was a disappointment. Much of it he didn't recognize, and some of it appeared to be highly suspicious(the meat tubes, if they truly consisted of meat, in particular). He settled for taking a number of different foods and some plain rice, and accepted the lack of any sort of seafood as stoically as he could after the initial stunned inquiries to the women serving this strange breakfast.

Waka withdrew to an empty table - recognizing no one, which was odd, as he'd been all over Japan in the past two hundred years; but then again, most of them looked like foreigners - and resignedly picked at his food with a fork, which sat uneasily in his hand. Of course, going from chopsticks to a fork was a bit easier than the reverse - a fork's mechanics were more easily grasped - but he was used to chopsticks and the lack of them simply underlined that he was not exactly in control of an unpleasant situation.

At least he understood the language. The place was obviously not Japanese in nature and a lingual disadvantage on top of everything else would simply have been too much.

Well, there was no point in putting it off any longer.

Schuldig had loaded up on food - only a few savory items, mostly going for things loaded with sugar like waffles, pancakes, and the french toast (or, at least, they were loaded with sugar by the time he was finished with the syrup) - and found an empty table to sit at. Not that he didn't want company; there was new prey around, and the slit-eyed silver-haired man intrigued him in particular. But he was damned sure he would quickly have all the company he could handle. Vincent almost certainly wasn't finished with him, and as for Greed...

Schuldig ate quickly, willing his body to convert the sugar into pure energy for his mind, because he was going to have to think pretty damned fast to explain himself to his 'allies' if he wanted to stay allies. As opposed to, say, violent enemies, which were the last thing he needed.

"I don't mind." It was a little more formal than Honey really liked, but he'd been warned a hundred times about it by his parents when the nickname really took off. "If you want to be taken seriously, go by your given name."

He smiled and shook the red-haired man's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Axel." He didn't add his usual honorific - it seemed a little too soon.

"Where are you from? I'm from Japan. My friends Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru are also here, and I made a new friend this morning! His name is Sora."

"We've only just met. It's only polite before I start calling you by your nickname." Yes, his previous actions seriously contradicted what he was saying, but that was before Axel found out that Mitsukuni was practically an adult. In fact, part of him still couldn't really let the fact settle as he shook the latter's hand before making a move for his fork once more.

"I know the Sora you're talking about. You can say that we came from the same parts. But not... entirely." The Nobody stated, sneaking a blueberry as he thought of a way to approach this. He'd certainly heard about a 'Japan' before in the different conversations he picked up, but Axel doubted it was like the one Mitsukuni was referring to. As for his own world...

"Where I come from it's always dark... It's actually some kind of Metropolis, but no one lives in the buildings."

Hughes had heard on the bulletin board that the Head Doctor himself had showed his face. Now he almost wished he'd been in the chapel. To be able to see the man... and, well, he wanted to see if his guesses about the man had been right. But if the man showed up once, he'd show up again.

Now it was brunch, and Hughes was more concerned with who was going to actually show up. He didn't plan on keeping folks long - there was no need to drag this out the entire meal - but he wanted to make some progress.

Hopefully no one would keep him waiting too long.

The chattering woman - who called herself Valyn's 'nurse' - said a great deal, but none of it made any sense to the young Elven Lord. He only knew of the term nurse as a nursemaid, and had certainly never heard of a 'mental institute'. And he didn't know why she was calling him by such a strange name, either. He did grasp that she thought he'd gone mad, and at this point, he was beginning to agree with her.

None of this made any sense! One moment he'd been neck deep in a gruesome war and the next.... here. Wherever here was. He didn't hear or feel any magic, which meant either he truly was burnt out or....

He found himself led to a large room with tables and benches, and it struck him almost painfully familiar to the mess halls of the slaves. The fact that the only people he could see in the room were other humans only emphasized that.

Where was he? He wanted to ask someone, but he feared more answers he wouldn't understand. And none of these humans wore collars - they weren't slaves. How would they react to a full blooded Elven Lord mingling with them? No, Valyn was not a fool. He allowed the human female who had led him here to take him to the line for food, and load his plate with food. Then he excused himself for her presence - which seemed to be alright - and placed himself as far off by himself as he could manage.

So confused and bothered by the situation, Valyn's normally calm expression showed a hint of nervousness. Years or Elven training hadn't prepared him for this. All he could hope for was a familiar face, who could explain what was happening.

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Day 22: Brunch

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