Day 44: breakfast

Yuffie had died.

No, really. Seriously. She had actually died. Bleeding all over the place, making a horrid, sticky mess and scaring the hell out of Suzaku; she remembered it clearly. Kind of. Sort of. Through the blood loss, the pain, and the visions. Through Aerith's voice whispering in her ear, Cloud's stricken eyes, and her own panic. As bad nights went, it had been Bad, capital B and all the trimmings, and oh, god. She sat, trembling on the edge of her bed, eyes closed and hands pressed hard over her racing heart. The by-play between Landel—Landel!—and Lydia barely even sunk in. There was nothing in the whole world, any world, that could prepare you for something like…

Had it all been some kind of hallucination?

Had she imagined the whole thing?

No… She didn't think so. Nightmarish or not, Yuffie knew reality. But if it had been real, how was she alive now? That kind of pain wasn't something you could just cook up, was it? She thought about it all the way to the cafeteria, drifting behind her nurse without focus or intent. Maybe if she tried to stay clinical, tried to step back… But she'd never been good at that when things got personal. And every time she closed her eyes or blinked, she swore that the scenes played back to her, like an overused commercial on a crappy channel on a crappy TV, in a run-down dump of an inn that smelled like mothballs and yesterday's breakfast.

The scent of blood and damp, rotted wood clogged her nose. Disgusted, Yuffie shoved her bowl of cereal—handed to her by a clucking Plucky—off to the side so that she could melt into her chair, palm heels scrubbing against her eyes. Too much. This was… Too much. She couldn't even paste a plastic smile on her face to make herself feel better. Her usual shield, the white noise of inane babble that could filter out almost any crisis, was in tatters all around her. Five minutes, she gave herself.

Five minutes (not) to think, five minutes to get her act together, because there was no way she could let herself shatter here. No way…

[Closed to Sheena]

[identity profile] tostepforward.livejournal.com 2009-09-22 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
The boy who'd been with Lelouch was led away, and Ayumu mentally filed his appearance away for future reference. Someone else that she'd need to talk to, most likely - the list seemed to be growing rather quickly, though hopefully any of them would be more forthcoming than Lelouch himself. Even Suzaku had been more willing to talk.

She just blinked at Brook and shook her head, holding her glass of juice before her in both hands as though it would somehow shield her from him. "That's not really a question I think you should be asking," she replied, with a small frown. "It's not very polite, especially with someone that you've only just met."

[identity profile] promisedawhale.livejournal.com 2009-09-22 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
"Eh? But it is what I ask all the beautiful women I meet upon first getting to know them! Yohohohoho! What was it my captain once called it..." he lowered his head in thought a moment, then came upon the word he was looking for, "Ah yes! An 'icebreaker' I believe it is!" he laughed heartily again, but eventually calmed himself back down. "I apologize if it was not to your liking though. As I said, it never hurts! But I suppose it is a bit less polite than many other things I could ask."

He had been in contemplation as to what he should ask one of the mermaids once they reached Fishman Island, but as of yet had not come upon a good idea. It was so strange, thinking of what to ask a young lady who did not and had never had the need of panties!

[identity profile] tostepforward.livejournal.com 2009-09-22 09:20 am (UTC)(link)
If that was the sort of thing that was considered a conversational icebreaker where Brook came from, Ayumu thought she'd really rather avoid anyone else from the same place. If there was anyone else - she couldn't recall any other ridiculously tall individuals, at least not to Brook's scale. So perhaps she was safe from anyone else asking to see her underthings.

Well, except perhaps Robin, but then he was allowed. (And probably not likely to be able to work up the courage to do so anyway.)

"Ah." She nodded a little, still seeming rather dubious, but she did turn her attention back to her breakfast again. "You might want to save that kind of question for someone you know a little better. I imagine it could get you slapped by certain people."

[identity profile] promisedawhale.livejournal.com 2009-09-22 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yohohoho! Well actually, if I know them better, then there's far more of a chance of getting slapped! My friends can be quite viscous at times!" Brook admitted with a cheerful attitude. Slapping would have been on the lesser side of the scale from what he usually got from Nami (and Sanji), but he certainly knew he was risking his life each time he made any comment about her undergarments. It was still great fun for him, however, if it ended up making things more lively on the ship!

"Though that isn't always the case. There are so many different reactions upon first meeting the women here! One young lady attempted to kill me, while another teased me a little but never did say no," he told her, then lifted a finger, "That isn't to say I actually have been able to see any panties since arriving. Such a shame really!"

[identity profile] tostepforward.livejournal.com 2009-09-23 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
If he was really determined, Ayumu supposed that he could always just raid one of the womens' rooms at night, after the occupants had left. But she decided that part of the appeal would probably be the fact that someone was actually wearing the undergarments in question, in which case she wasn't going to say a word about it.

"Well, perhaps you should start using a different icebreaker, then?" Ayumu glanced up from her tray briefly, quirking one brow in mild inquiry. "Unless perhaps you enjoy having women offering violence on a regular basis. I've heard some people here can be quite mean."

[identity profile] promisedawhale.livejournal.com 2009-09-23 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Brook had never once considered that it would be easy to raid another room. The thought hadn't crossed his mind, but of course, he was a gentleman, and raiding rooms would be stealing! So of course he would never think to do such a thing! Something like that... aside from being illegal, would only make others suffer, himself included! Why, what was he supposed to ask to see if the young ladies were without panties?!

...

...

... perhaps he should consider it just for one time though.

"Ah, but being shown violence from my friends already is a regular occurrence! Of course Nami-san is the only woman... no, rather, she's the only one who does it constantly. Robin-san is a little more... restrained?" Oh but when he went too far, Robin had to be the last person he wanted upset with him. Just that look of her's!! It was enough to give him shivers all over! And he didn't even have skin! "I've yet to find anyone here quite as violent as either of them, however there one a young lady that came fairly close," he admitted, as though she held some kind of position of honor.