Day 44: Lunch

[mizuhomaiden.livejournal.com]

That had been a very frustrating shower. For many reasons. At least Raine was going to at least look at Forte. Hopefully, she'll actually heal him. The showers had also succeeded in making the ninja feel like a pervert. A mild one, but still... It was as if Yukari had picked that spot in the showers because she knew the ninja could easily see her.

Ugh! Damn youkai.

Squirreling herself away in a corner of the cafeteria, Sheena finger combed her wet hair before pulling it back with the bright red ribbon. She so needed her own hair ribbon back. She was attempting to formulate her plan of acquisition - she was ninja after all - as people started trickling into the room. The plan was put on pause, though, when her stomach rumbled.

Food now - plan later.

[Closed to Haseo and Endrance]

Comments

[quickdrawbkiddo.livejournal.com]

Third table from the back, by the windows.

Beatrix was pleased to see that there was no one at that present location. In fact, there were so few others in the room, she could watch every one of them as they entered. Hopefully whoever it was that was curious about the basement keys wouldn't take long to show. Whereas the cafeteria's general noise levels made certain types of conversations more convenient, it still lacked the privacy other rooms did.

Her eyes held a subtle coldness as she watched the entrance, and she kept her face carefully neutral. As much as she could while eating a surprisingly juicy burger.

[closed to Nigredo]

[falseblack]

Lunch was a matter of business for the third variant, and without wasting another precious second, the child closed connections and stifled his waveform. Brothers were pleasant factors in more than one sense, but not in business. Not today, either, at least in regards to the middle child.

Tall, blonde, and female. Third table from the back by the windows. There happened to be such a person in the aforementioned location now, which meant no need to wait. Nigredo checked the premise for any familiar faces and then excused himself from his nurse.

He approached quietly, eyes level with the blonde's. "You're the one from the bulletin," he stated.

[tyki-pon.livejournal.com]

After a pretty relaxing shower, Tyki was glad to enter the cafeteria for some free food. Though he got fed three times a day in this place - which was arguably better than what he was used to when he lived the hobo side of his life - his stomach still grumbled while he was in the middle of getting his ugly clothing back on.

He guessed kicking someone's ass during the night made a man more hungry during the day. Or something.

He shoved his thick bottle-glasses back on his nose before being escorted back to the cafeteria to get his meal. Fast food, huh? The Noah helped himself to a decent amount of it before heading over to one of the many still-empty tables.

It wasn't often, but for once he seemed to be early.

[Free as a hobo!]

[gundamned.livejournal.com]

He was feeling slightly better, or at least he felt so right now, as Feldt and he left the Arts and Crafts room to head to lunch. And there was something in the menu he could actually tell he somewhat liked: Hotdogs had always been something he ate on a regular basis, and admittedly he found its taste rather appealing. So he took one of those and some onion rings and walked ahead, glancing behind to check on Feldt—an automatic reaction, as he was more cautious now that he had experienced his first night at the institution. The likeliness that monsters were present was close to zero, of course, but there was always the possibility that there might be.

And suddenly it hit him: nausea.

He dropped his tray on the nearest table and fell onto the seat, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut, completely unaware of the presence of the man occupying it.

[lawful_perfect]

Well. That had not gone as planned exactly. Though Ms. Taura's leg fracture indeed seemed to have been completely healed, it was as she had said on the board: there was little to see. Still, she was much more mobile than she had been the day before, which was telling proof for him. Furthermore, were she unoccupied for this night shift, he would have asked her to accompany him for his trip up to the Patient Possessions Storage. Unfortunately, Ms. Taura had other plans for tonight, so von Karma was on his own. Perhaps tomorrow night...

He grumbled as he saw what was for lunch. More of this disgusting, greasy food?! The French toast for breakfast had been edible enough, but it seemed that this blasted institute was intent on serving inferior swill for the noon mealtimes. He fixed himself yet another salad, then sat down at the end of one of the many unoccupied tables. As he nibbled absently at his lunch, he peered around shrewdly for familiar faces, hoping that none of them would be tempted to sit adjacent to him.

[Unknowingly waiting for the unfamiliar face of Randal Oland]

[att-901.livejournal.com]

The nurses had a hard time trying to get him out off bed. He had a hard time convincing himself that he was capable of leaving bed. Last night he woke up to go to the bathroom and then BANG! He felt shot. No, he was shot. It was smaller than a tank shell, and larger, longer and more explosive than your average bullet.

It being called a "Door Knocker" had to be the greatest euphemism ever.

He was sure he died. When he woke up he was shaken, to say the least about his emotional state. Physically he was shaky. A giant bundle of nerves. It took all of his concentration to keep his tray still while he carried it across the cafeteria. And one could get distracted. He tripped on something, thankfully managed to keep himself from falling by leaning on the table...

... and realized that his bowl of salad managed to land on somebody's...

[fill in the blanks?]

[himetsuru.livejournal.com]

"You shouldn't make little girls cry, Rose."

"She made herself cry."

"But you shouldn't have said those things to her."

"She shouldn't have lied."

The nurse clucked with her tongue like she understood all about the lies in the building. As if. Falis glared at her.

"Rose, dear, you need to keep your strength up. Get something to eat."

"No. I don't want anything to eat."

"A proper diet will help you get better."

Falis snorted.

"Why don't you just have a seat, Rose, and I'll go get you something from the buffet."

"Are you fucking deaf, woman? I said no. I don't want to fucking eat."

"Language, Rose!"

"Go fuck off."

The two stood in the middle of the cafeteria locked in a staring contest at Falis' last words. The hunter narrowed her eyes and raised her head just enough in warning. Her nurse understood how strong she was. The last time she'd been sedated (and ended up in solitary), it'd taken three orderlies to restrain her. This wasn't the same woman, as Falis generally tried to tolerate her personal vulture, but the woman was aware of the damage the girl had done to the nurse in the showers a few days back.

"Very well, Rose. Should you find yourself hungry before dinner, you will have to endure. I will not allow you a snack."

"That's fucking fine with me. Leave me the fuck alone now. I've got someone to talk to."

After another brief, silent struggle between the two of them, the nurse left and Falis let out a long breath. Grumbling, the hunter limped over to an empty table where Soma would be able to easily find her and sat down. She put her hands flat on the table top, palms down, where they were easily seen. Now she had to make herself relax.

She didn't want to have to have this conversation, but she knew it was needed. If only for Hokuto and Senna's sake. The fact remained, she had started it. Soma might claim it was her fault for showing up in the first place, but Falis didn't believe that shit. The girl would have stayed in control, probably, if there hadn't been another predator around. It's the same reason why even with Senna laying completely vulnerable, asleep, in her lap, the hunter had not torn into her.

Tilting her head down a little, Falis closed her eyes. Deep breaths. Find the beast inside and claim dominance. It will not control you. You are the hunter, not it.

[closed to Soma]

[madeinthehrl]

That had gone...better than expected, inasmuch as the word "better" could ever be applied to a situation involving E-0057. It seemed they had established an uneasy truce, although it had seemed to Soma that it had mostly been her telling him that she wouldn't try to kill him so much anymore instead of the two of them reaching some sort of agreement, and that frustrated her.

(Why wasn't he trying to kill her? What hadn't he told her?)

All things considered, though, she was still hardly in the best of moods as she entered the cafeteria, and certainly not entirely willing to speak to Alita. It was easy enough in the daylight, apologies and reassurances of it's not your fault, but Nightshift was another matter entirely. And what if they never got rid of this urge, this hunting instinct? What if they had to live the rest of their lives with a raging creature in their heads every time the sun went down? (Was this how they felt? She brushed that thought away.)

Still, she'd summoned up enough self-control to speak to her sworn enemy this morning, and both of them had walked away unsedated. Whatever was coming had to be easier than that. Filling her tray and locating Alita, she set her food down and seated herself across from the other girl silently.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Okay, what was he expected to choke down this time? Lockdown recognized the burgers and fries from that brief meal he'd had at Tastey Burger in Doyleton. Might as well eat something he was familiar with, he figured. Primus only knew what the other stuff tasted like.

After getting some juice, the bounty hunter found an empty table near the back. Luckily the cafeteria was still mostly deserted, so he did't have any trouble finding a place to himself. Once he was seated, Lockdown began nibbling on his burger.

[Unknowingly waiting for Honey]

[host-club-honey.livejournal.com]

Arts and Crafts had been plenty of fun and helping Kurt with his fingerpaints while learning more about him had been a great way to spend time. He hadn't seen much of his friends today though. Takashi posted on the bulletin, but so far, no sign of Tamaki or the twins.

Lunch today reminded him of the time they'd all gone to the commoner's market and they'd been able to try all the fast foods that were so popular among those with little money. They'd been alright. Honey had been much more interested in the small toys that were included in the children's meals. Unfortunately, here he only got the burger and fries, no toys.

No sign of Takashi yet either. That was a little disheartening. His nurse, however, seemed to misjudge his sigh and hesitation when it came to choosing a table as something else.

"Dennis? I'm sure there's plenty of people who you can sit with. Why don't you try to make some new friends?" Heaven knew the boy could cheer up even the most sour tempered patients, so the nurse led him over to sit with Lance, offering both patients a warm smile. "Here now Dennis, I'm sure you and Lance will get along just fine."

Honey gave the nurse a friendly smile as she left and promised to behave himself. His tablemate was definitely not someone he would've picked out of the blue to sit with, but this place had a funny way of throwing things at you. He turned his smile on Lance, holding his pink stuffed rabbit under one arm as he climbed up into his seat.

"Hi! I'm Honey, it's nice to meet you!"

[oldestremnant.livejournal.com]

Boy, shower-time had just flown by. Time to see what was for lunch. Those meanies on the bulletin had gotten to him a little, but they hadn't upset him to the point where he didn't feel like eating, like last night had done for him.

Loz looked at the various choices of food, unable to decide. It all looked so good. The Renmant eventually decided to just get some of everything: a burger, a hot dog, some fries and chips, and some juice to drink. He then put lots of toppings on his burger and hot dog and went to find a seat. Once he was comfortably seated, Loz began eating his hot dog. He made a satisfied noise, clearly liking the taste.

[For Takasugi; No limit]

[silent-shades.livejournal.com]

Rude spent his shower tucked into a corner, thinking about Elena. Not like that. He was just...pissed off. She was gone. Just gone, without anyway to get a hold of her. From what he'd read, people just disappeared, went home, whatever. Alternate universes and shadow worlds and whatever. So, somewhere out there. She was ok.

In his own world, she was stuck in the crater with the Sephiclones, but Yuffie had told him things...straightened out. Which was kind of why he figured there was no harm sitting across Platinum Rock'n'Roll.

He put his tray down nice and loud before sitting down. He even pushed his face to smile a little. A part of him wondered if he should take his shades off to avoid them getting smashed, but if he was quick on his feet, the lonely clone should get sedated before any harm was done.

"So, what you here for?" he asked. "Oh right. I remember."

[should-be-dead.livejournal.com]

When Yakushiji Tenzen lay eyes upon the choices for his lunch, he couldn't help but to give it a disapproving scowl. They called this food? He couldn't help but wonder why this place provided them with such sad excuses thereof. The ninja opted for the likely healthier salad along with some juice.

There were not many individuals in this cafeteria just yet, which meant there were plenty of empty seats still available. He carried his plate over to one of them and sat down. He pushed a stray lock of damp, black hair after his ear before he started on his lunch.

[Free!]

[inviolentgrief.livejournal.com]

Jun was led into the cafeteria with a solemn look on his face. He wasn't very hungry, but the nurse filled up a tray with food despite his quiet protests. If anything, he was eager for the night to come again: he wanted to see what the full extent of his powers were, if his Persona was limited at all. What he wasn't happy about, was the fact that he didn't know how he was going to navigate the hallways. Though he had the potential to be healed, he wouldn't know whether or not he could walk after it until it was time.

According to the Bulletin Board, wounds apparently healed fast, and there was the possibility of the Chapel, which he'd also read about, but neither were in his best interests. Leaving his wounds to heal on their own meant that he was potentially a sitting duck during the night, and the Chapel had side effects, of which it didn't seem the rest of Landel's inhabitants were fully aware.

He sat in the corner of the room, watching people as they walked in, pondering the possibilities.

[free!]

[idontregret.livejournal.com]

Apparently, Heat's nurse had caught the fact that he hadn't eaten his breakfast that morning and was intent on piling his plate high with burgers this afternoon. Such a big boy, she'd said, required lots of nourishing. The way she'd said it had left the demon wondering if she was actually serious. It looked as though she fully intended to watch him even from across the room during the meal. Surely there was more to this than her wanting him to eat. The only reason he was going to put up with this for the time being was because he knew his comrades were safe so far - at least the ones he'd seen here.

He found an already occupied table, not even eying the boy already there as he was too busy glaring back at the far too pleasant woman standing near the door. Even after he'd slowly lowered himself into his seat, it took him a couple minutes to give Jun a good look-over.

His chair was different, he noted. Wheels. It was only some faint memory tugging at his subconscious that kept him from making a remark about how lazy a chair with wheels had to make a person. No, he was injured. It was necessary.

Heat picked up one of the hamburgers, sniffed it, then swallowed in down in no more than a couple bites. "So, what happened to you?"

[reallyshortfuse.livejournal.com]

With her black hair still damp from the shower, Kuukaku entered the cafeteria. The place was still mostly empty, she noticed. There wasn't even a line for the food yet so the fireworks master quickly filled her plate with food, ignoring her nurse's attempts to help her carry it because she only had one arm. Che! Like that meant she couldn't carry one damned plate!

The woman left her alone eventually and Kuukaku picked an empty seat, a bored expression on her face as she chewed on a piece of her 'hamburger' or whatever these punks called it. Most her whole day had been pretty uneventful, though.

[Free!]

[mitase.livejournal.com]

[:D?]

Since he'd barely eaten anything for the last few days, Hanatarou found himself still pretty full by the time lunchtime came around - after all, he'd somehow managed to clean his entire plate at breakfast while not paying attention to what he was doing. The nurse, however, refused to let him pass by the serving line, and chided him for not eating enough as she added food to his plate.

Hanatarou winced a little as he glanced down at his tray, but sighed and moved to find an empty spot in the rapidly-filling cafeteria. He really should eat something, but didn't think he wanted all of this. Why was there always so much meat in these meals, anyway?

He paused at the first open seat and blinked uncertainly at the woman sitting there. Did she look...familiar, somehow? (And kind of scary.) But he'd stopped and she'd probably seen him and it would be rude to just keep walking. "Er," he began shyly, "D-do you mind if I, um, sit here...?"

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

622 had washed quickly and efficiently before taking a few minutes to himself in the Sun Room, almost managing to really relax. It was warm under the sunlight, and almost safe enough for him to consider drifting off.

But now it was time for another meal. It almost didn't feel right to not have to work hard for his food, but if he just made sure to keep doing drills every night before setting out, then he wouldn't get out of shape. His body burned through the food quickly anyway.

He took what he needed and sat down at an empty table, digging in. He needed to find Trevelyan and some point to see if they would be getting anything done soon.

[For Alec!]

[janus-006.livejournal.com]

Alec didn't really feel like eating - he was sick of the food here - but he knew he needed the energy, so he loaded up his tray anyway and went to go find a seat. He really wanted to be alone, but he knew that wasn't helpful. Just as he decided to be useful today, he saw TK. Excellent.

Trevelyan slid into the seat across from TK. "Sorry I didn't show up last night." This place had changed him - he never used to apologize.

[kindalikedit]

If there was one food he'd eaten just about every variation of, it was the hamburger. Dean supposed it was unhealthy to eat the amount of crappy food he did and booze it up and not, y'know, settle for a nice side salad instead, but he figured, what the hell. What was he gonna have to worry about, putting on pounds or getting a heart attack early on? Dean figured if he had that year expiration date, he might as well just eat whatever he damn well wanted and not sweat something like how healthy he didn't wanna eat. He had enough problems on his plate. Dean was gonna pig out, maybe eat both that hamburger and hot dog, and damn well enjoy it.

Automatically checking out the cafeteria for any sign of his brother, Dean picked a table that was relatively close to the lunch line, enough Sam could pick him out, and sat down with the tray before him. The hunter took a big bite of his hot dog, piled high with onions and ketchup. Closed his eyes as he chewed. Man, he was getting so friggen spoiled on the food here. It was way better than 7-11. It was one of the best hot dogs he'd ever had. Dean choose that moment as his moment of zen.

No deal. No seeing Sammy dead on the floor.

Just the hot dog and him.

Dean savored the hot dog. Okay, so he could eat whatever he wanted, but that didn't mean he was gonna inhale it like he was starving. The hunter took another bite and it was just as good as the first. Even better when he got a big old gob of relish on this one.

Yeah, going back to their usual of fast food and hole-in-the-wall burgers where you hoped that fly hadn't already landed on it was gonna be hard. Dean kept his eyes closed as he focused on just enjoying his lunch, reaching up with his thumb to brush off a bit of ketchup from the corner of his mouth and licking it off before continuing to eat.

[For Sylar. Don't mind Dean's food porn]

[darwinism]

After the run-in with Peter, Sylar felt weirdly quiet. Not sad, but not satisfied either: just quiet. By all means, he should have been happy right now; he'd managed to push Peter's buttons exactly the way he'd wanted to, even in this pathetic state. Peter's warpath against him was freshly renewed, which would cause trouble, but trouble was better than nothing.

It was much better than nothing.

Either way, the short conversation had allowed Sylar some extra time to relax, or at least let his mind wander until his gaze fell on the mass of papers that comprised the bulletin board.

Right. He'd been meaning to check that.

He wasn't so crippled that he wasn't able to get back in his wheelchair on his own, but he was injured enough that a nurse had to roll him over in the thing. Though degrading, he felt more neutral toward the help now than he had before, and he tried to focus his attention on the bulletin board rather than his own weakness. He left a note for Faize – hopefully, the kid wouldn't be busy saving people this Nightshift, since Sylar didn't see himself doing much of anything – and then checked for any important updates.

And important updates he did find, even at the bottom of the board.

He grit his teeth by the end of it, nearly crumpling the paper he was reading.

So. Tyki hadn't beaten him. Not really.

He settled morosely down in the chair and let the nurse wheel him into the cafeteria when the next announcement came on.

No, it'd all been this place again, this place and its... its games. It looked like a whole damn bunch of people had experienced the death of a loved one last night and woken up without the wounds; apparently, Sylar was the only unlucky son of a bitch who'd been in the middle of mortal combat when the effects had spread across the Institute.

"Dammit!" he found himself muttering under his breath as they entered through the cafeteria doors. His nurse clicked her tongue and once again lamented how "Zach" had been such a good patient up until this point.

Sylar didn't respond, not even when she wheeled him to a table across from some gluttonous man scarfing down a giant hot dog.

The nurse left to grab Sylar some food. Sylar continued to stare at the man, blankly. Finally, in a deadpan, he said: "Glad to see someone's enjoying their day."

[tender-cruelty.livejournal.com]

Allelujah seemed a little more subdued than normal when he entered the cafeteria that lunch time. The conversation with Soma had been somewhat draining and not exactly pleasant. He still couldn't quite bring himself to believe that she had absolutely no memory of him at all. What had the HRL done to her during the time since Allelujah had escaped? How had they made her forget everything that they had shared?

It didn't matter though, did it? They were enemies now in an uneasy truce. At least he didn't have to fight her here.

He filled a tray and then found himself a seat near the doorway waiting for Artemis to arrive. He couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive about what he wanted to talk about, but he was Badou's friend and seemed reasonable enough.

[For Arty]

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

He didn't hold out much hope for Arts & Crafts: a thought that weighed heavily on his mind. Even if he'd climbed the ranks from Pipe-Grunt all the way to Strategic Advisor, it didn't do much good when the group had been scattered to the winds and was currently lacking a head. At least, a head that had been there longer than four days.

But that was fine. Artemis himself wasn't an abandoned puppy, sitting in a box out in the cold begging for someone to take him home. He was a secure puppy. People took him for walks, even. He just wished that these walks didn't include traumatic events and zombie invasions on a regular basis.

Soon, he would be back on his feet. Conducting his investigations in comfort and style (yes, he had to admit that even Badou could pull off the Little-But-Fierce air when he tried). And the more contacts he had, the more comfortable his outfit would be.

Which was why he was meeting with Allelujah. Badou liked him, Artemis had no objections so far, so it only seemed natural that Artemis offer the invitation before Allelujah felt excluded from the proceedings.

With his tray full of vegetables (the hamburgers had made his stomach turn when he looked at them), Artemis began looking for Allelujah. He hadn't exactly dallied in the Arts and Crafts room, but hamburger didn't exactly sound appetizing to his fairy-boy stomach. Sure enough, though, Allelujah was sitting by the door waiting for him. Smiling, Artemis moved to set his tray down across from Allelujah.

"So, I hear that you broke it off with Badou."

[runner-up-robot.livejournal.com]

Alright, even with that kid to talk to to pass the time, this being-stuck-in-a-wheelchair was getting very old, very quickly. Yes, he'd been disabled while waiting for repairs before, but he was offline most the time (actually... that's sort of what happened those three days or so, but they didn't finish the job).

It finally occurred to him, however, that the announcements weren't being made by the automated voice from the previous day. He'd never paid much attention to the announcements, but hadn't someone said that started because the head doctor was dead? Ugh, who even cared anymore. He'd only listened to know who to blame, and now it kept changing from him to a machine to her.

The only thing that brightened up his mood was that lunch was hamburgers. He really enjoyed them the week before, and best of all, everything the nurse put on his plate was something he could eat with one hand, without tiny utensils! Once he was brought to a table, he happily dug in.

[whiny-egomaniac.livejournal.com]

A brief stasis nap in the Sun Room always did him wonders.

Starscream, still stretching and letting out an uncovered yawn, strolled into the cafeteria rather amicably, grabbing a tray and sliding it down the metal rails in front of the hot plates. "Hamburgers" and "hot dogs" were the entrees; the Decepticon recognized them immediately and went for the former, eschewing the cheese and settling for some of the "toppings" (he had found himself becoming partial to the crunchy, green plant shells). The "onion rings" seemed new; shoving his plate forward, he accepted a handful of thin, breaded toruses with a cocked eyebrow, nodding a quiet, forced thank you as he continued onward to the water bottles.

Tray full of food, he wandered the aisles, looking for no one in particular, but not necessarily seeking out an empty spot. The encounter with Lugnut that morning left him... ambiguous, at best, about further company, but he found that keeping to himself was damaging to his personality circuits; it seemed Starscream needed SOME form of sounding board, even if that board was just going to shoot down and mock everything he said.

Luckily for him, he soon came across a familiar face. As the individual was seated, however, all he could discern of his injuries was his bandaged arm. Starscream slid into the seat across from Forte and smirked. "What in Cybertron's name happened to you?" he spat out. A master of tact he was not.

[oftemptation.livejournal.com]

Endrance wrinkled his nose as he stepped into the cafeteria. This was definitely not his day when it came to food choices, and if he'd been able to get away with simply ignoring it all, that's exactly what he would have done. As it was, though, he saw a nurse peering at him expectantly. He sighed and put together a salad, then moved to a table, keeping an eye out for Haseo and the girl.

[feartehreaper.livejournal.com]

"I think we might be pushing it," Haseo said, tense and quiet as he slid into a seat near Endrance. Immediately several fries went into his mouth-- not because he was hungry, or because he actually felt like it as he settled next to such a big reminder of what could go wrong and kill an appetite in this place, but because he had a good suspicion that he probably did need something to keep up this body's undoubtedly high energy.

He also didn't want to seem too terribly interested in what the man was doing, considering the weirdness of what had taken place on the board before the idea of finding and finally talking to this mysterious something-Avatarlike-summoning woman was put up. Shoving food in his mouth, bringing up another topic, and obviously looking around the cafeteria as if he'd somehow be able to recognize the girl they were looking for, as he was now, seemed the best bet. It was a shame though that they hadn't served burgers when he was feeling better. If there was any American food he could actually enjoy, that was probably one of them.

"Well...? See her?"

[tightsofmight]

It was all too easy to sympathize with those little squirrels he occasionally found stuck to the pavement down his street, with the big old tire tread right down the middle and one eye bugging out. Peter kind of felt like that right now. Landel's was a Hummer with spinning rims, and he was a squirrel crossing the road.

Splat.

Cue children with poking sticks.

His time with Kitty hadn't helped much. Big surprise. She didn't seem to think he was a total weirdo. Maybe like eighty five percent weirdo. There was no way to come off better than you started with a situation like that. Now that little stabbing pain was following him around the institute, like somebody stuck his lung on a shishkabob. She was supposed to be his friend. Not some estranged acquaintance or whatever she thought of him as now.

Peter scratched another perk off the list. Wherever Landel was grabbing his friends, it wasn't anywhere near his world. Was it really too much to ask for? To be a familiar face to somebody?

He hadn't caught sight of Brainy yet either, but that could be for the best. Peter was assuming he'd taken down the note he'd put up earlier. There hadn't been a reply. It worried him, but he could understand if he was feeling off about it. He was too smart to miss the ruckus on the board, the reports of deaths and surprise resurrections sprawling over the cork until there was hardly any room to post left. But with Clark dying and then having to watch Peter die, he probably needed a breather. Something. Point was, Brainy was already walking on eggshells in the first place. He didn't need more crap like this.

As for Peter...

His nose kept itching, regardless of how many times he rubbed it. Some part of him kept expecting it to snap, for that thing to grab him again and beat his head in like a melon. Sickening it may be, but he was glad it was quick. That meant Harry didn't suffer. Not for long.

It was hard to say about the one here. He was nearly dead when Peter showed up, and whether it was the bite or the bleeding that did him in was hard to say. Should he be mourning two separate people? Is that what last night was about, a reminder? Young Harry and Older Harry?

The nurse was seemingly unaffected by his glare, pointing him into the cafeteria line with a stern finger and then to an empty table. Peter sat down without a fuss, and quickly set to pushing the mushrooms off his burger with a fork and piling them to the side.

Fungus. Gross.

[For Senna!]

[windstwilight.livejournal.com]

Ah! Why did everything keep going back to work? She needed to not... be thinking about this all the time. And since when did she become since a nine to five girl? What the hell was this? She was too upset over this and she knew it, and talking to Artemis had just underlined that... Things were different. A lot different. And Senna was changed.

This was a sobering thought, and once that was realized, she made an effort to dismiss it. It was lunch, after all! One of the best parts of the day. With grim determination, she entered the cafeteria, ready and willing to fill her tray and pile it high, and consume so much she would burst. She was well on her way to trying that, stacking hot dogs like a pyramid high in front of her face. Her nurse moved to intercept her, and Senna tried a grin, a little bit less than normal. "You know I'm good for it."

The nurse couldn't help a grin herself and nodded once. "Yes, dear, I know, but there are other patients...." The cafeteria worker behind the counter interrupted, smiling. "Let her. It's hard enough getting most of the kids to actually eat here. We have enough." Senna almost beamed at the strange relenting, and the worker nodded.

Still resolute, she took her carefully balanced tray, and glanced around, almost immediately zooming in on a kinda dreary looking Peter. Her mouth thinned into a line, and she marched over, slamming the tray down--rather lightly, actually; no good if they fell all over--in front of Peter's tray. Senna gave him a serious look, and returned to the cafeteria line, briefly conversing with the nurse again. The woman glanced to Peter, then added to Senna, "Just don't make yourselves sick."

The process was repeated, and the girl again marched to Peter's table, an identical towering pile on the second tray. She sat down carefully and picked up the first hot dog, pointing it at him. The serious expression melted finally, and she smiled mischievously. "You. Me. Eating contest. Now."

[scarefaux]

The Scarecrow took a seat, feeling immensely better after his conversation with Mele at breakfast and his shower the previous shift. He still had a lot on his mind, but he was in much better shape than he had been in the morning.

The room was still fairly empty, so the nurse picked him a seat at an empty table, wandering away without a word. The Scarecrow turned to look for her as she came to mind- he probably should have asked her where Kaiji was. He snapped his fingers, cursing his missed chance.

His attention returned to his food, which smelled extremely enticing. Ready to dig in, he took his fork awkwardly in one hand, knife in the other, and got to work on trying to cut his burger into pieces.

[For Junior, I believe?]

[udo-retrovirus.livejournal.com]

All in all, the discussion with Sora had gone better than Junior could've hoped. It wasn't every day that he met someone who'd take his explanation without more questions or suspicion; maybe that was more normal, and the universe he came from was just paranoid.

Of course, then Albedo had had to go and ruin his good mood through that little stunt on the bulletin. It only proved that even if he had friends who took it well, Junior was completely, utterly screwed when it came to his twin. At least he'd had the sense to head to the cafeteria before it got him too hot-headed.

The nurse settled him down at a table across from a man that looked kind of familiar to Junior. Hadn't he seen him before, a few days ago or something? He watched the man try to cut his burger, and a bit of a grin tugged at the edges of the redhead's mouth. "Never seen anyone eat a burger quite like that," he commented. "I'd figure it'd be too thick and would fall apart or something."

[scalyfishman.livejournal.com]

Depth Charge emerged from the showers cleaner and considerably calmer than he had been for days. They were no ocean, that was for sure, but spending even a little of his day submerged had a deliciously placating effect. "Stupid slagging beast instincts," he muttered, but it was hard to stay mad at something that relaxing and his spark wasn't in it. It wasn't as though he could get stuck in Beast Mode here or anything.

He made the usual round of the cafeteria, plated up and took a seat. Come to think of it, today hadn't gone too badly, relatively speaking. No one to smelt him off, no intruding nurses, a fair mood to boot- again relatively speaking in that he didn't feel like kicking anyone's teeth in just yet, but... if he hadn't known better, he'd have said he had a couple of bolts loose.

[justanimpulse.livejournal.com]

[:D?]

Not really know what to do with himself, Bart had just messed around with some markers and construction paper for most of the shift. Now it was time to eat again, and...he still didn't really know what to do with himself. Was it possible to actually get bored with emotional trauma? Well, if it was, then Bart was probably the person to suffer from it.

Filling his tray as usual, Bart cast around for a likely seat mate, finally settling on some guy with...blue hair? That was different.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" he asked, putting his tray down next to the other guy's. He'd only just realized, with a belatedness that was pretty bad even for him, that he'd been acting kind of rude lately, just sitting next to people without even a greeting in some cases. Well, he'd been traumatized. It was a decent excuse. Besides, he'd do better from now on.

[girlsandgadgets]

The food smelled inviting, but it was certainly different than anything Edgar had seen before. While he'd become accustomed to many kinds foreign delicacies during his travels, this exact concoction was somewhat unique. With a shrug, he took a bite into the food- the taste of the meat was fine once he'd gotten over the unfamiliarity of it.

The nursemaid ignored his advances once again, leaving him alone at a table for the second time that day. There were not enough lovely ladies here, the king lamented. With no one to talk to, he pulled out the journal and one of the writing utensils they'd left in his room. Maybe he could design something to make use of that pressurized tank on the second floor. That would be interesting.

[Free!]

[dualistic]

With Harvey's mind still buzzing and aware from his conversation with Edgeworth, he was almost tempted to actually try and eat something at this meal. It would keep his mind from falling into sluggishness, since he could really only get so far with the very limited amount of food that he was getting.

Almost as if the nurse had read his mind, she suddenly brought up his lack of eating. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Eckhart! We really should have considered your condition more, but we think we've got a solution for you!" Normally he would have waved her off, but he knew perfectly well how badly he needed sustenance if he had any hope of maintaining his strength. He followed her to the side of the lunch line, where she called to one of the cafeteria workers.

A few minutes later, they brought over some sort of milkshake imitation, and he soon realized that it was one of those nutritional drinks where they packed all of your daily supplements into one unholy concoction. It would probably taste terrible, but it would actually be edible while giving him the nutrients he needed. He would just have to deal with the embarrassment; it beat trying to cram small chunks of food down his throat.

Milkshake in hand, his nurse then herded him off to sit with another unoccupied patient. Harvey paused when he realized it was the man from the janitor's closet last night - it was almost as if the nurse knew. Still, she sent him an innocent smile as she deposited him into a seat and then ran off.

Harvey glanced from his "meal" over to the stranger. This was something that would have to be dealt with carefully, since his cover could still be blown if the man asked the wrong questions and Harvey didn't already have lies constructed to answer them.

"Fancy seeing you here," he muttered as he took an experimental sip of the drink. As expected, it tasted foul, but it wasn't like his taste buds were up to par these days anyway.

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

After the refreshing shower, Momo was pleased to see that the nurses weren't wrapping as many of her burns. The long cut down her left arm was still bandaged, but only the more severe or the burns were covered. Overall, the shinigami didn't feel too bad thanks the all the healing she'd received. In fact, the burns on her hands weren't bad enough to need bandaging, but she requested it for some added cushioning when she went out upon nightfall. It was going to hurt to hold her sword, but this would help some.

Momo chose a seat near the entrance to make it easy for Shikamaru to find her. As she waited, she prioritized the information she had and pondered how much she should let the boy know about the keys.

[closed to Shikamaru]

[toobothersome.livejournal.com]

It didn't take long for Shikamaru to show up, despite his usual laziness. He was determined to make full use of this day, proving that although any Leaf-nin could tell that he was emotionally damaged, he wasn't completely useless. His conversation with Sokka and the hour spent in his bedroom had only strengthened his resolve not to let himself become a helpless burden on his team.

So, after the nurse filled his plate, he accepted it and sat down across from the woman. Shikamaru had no interest in eating, though his pangs of hunger were sharpening. His mouth had tasted like blood since last night, and although he knew it was all in his head, he was afraid that eating anything would make him vomit.

The woman had seemed reliable the last time they talked, and although Shikamaru had nothing to report, he sensed that part of the reason Momo shared the information she did was to have more people working on the tasks she hoped to complete. He didn't mind being used in his way; Shikamaru was smart enough to know when something was mutually beneficial, and here, that seemed to be the case.

[clockmongler.livejournal.com]

Ah, the best mornings were in the afternoon.

Yes, yes, Luxord had awoken with everyone else, but after a bit of speaking with his cards and spending Time wasting that of others' with II, X learned something very, very unfortunate about pain-killers: they eventually wore off. Needless to say that, when the pain returned, he was not a happy Gambler and requested of Nursey to return him to his room.

She complied and what ensued was a thankful five hour coma.

But now it was lunch and that in fact meant the Nobody could awake, take more pain-killers, and perhaps eat something (that something being a salad completely drenched in ranch dressing, topped with onion rings and strips of bacon. What? There was nothing wrong with that!). It had been quite a while since he'd spent time on himself, what with these games of Grell's, and Celes', and Xigbar's, and "Tim" and... sigh.

Yes. This afternoon would be a fine one. The cards had said as such.

[BANANA CLUB MEETING TIME]

[mind-the-sukima.livejournal.com]

[WE HEREBY COMMENCE THE FIRST OFFICIAL MEETING OF THE BANANA CLUB. LET THE APPLE-LOVER PERSECUTION COMMENCE!]

Feeling cleaner, if a little guilty about scaring Kagura, Yukari came into lunch pondering both that issue and what she'd seen: the purple orb set in Sheena's torso, the very same one she had found last night and the last time they had showers. There was something about it that felt like she should know what it was.

Oh, well, she could always ask the ninja later. It was a great excuse to bring up last night and embarrass her more.

That weight off her mind, Yukari collected a hot dog and small salad before choosing a seat more a less at random, her hasty scan of the room missing the ninja in question among the growing crowd. Instead, she found herself sitting across from a handsome man who looked cheery despite his injuries.

"Hello there," she said pleasantly enough before taking a bite of her salad. "Enjoying your stay in the interdimensional hell hotel?"

[aleaderwillrise.livejournal.com]

Nathan had gone through the day as if he was going through "the motions". Getting up, getting dressed, letting his chatty nurse cart him through the halls and ignoring his feeble murmur that Peter was dead. Life, it seemed, went on in this place as usual, even if you spent the previous night holding your brother and daughter as they died in your arms. He wanted to ask so many questions - had the bodies been recovered? Would he be able to attend any funerals? Had they informed their mother? Or would they be covering this up, too, like they covered up every little other thing? Would they just brainwash Angela into thinking she'd never even had a younger son? Someone was already trying to mess with him, trying to pretend that Peter was still alive, trying to pretend to be him on the bulletin board to give Nathan some kind of dreadful false hope.

It made Nathan sick.

He was getting used to picking over his food, so getting a tray and sitting at a table was just another mindless motion for him. He slid down onto the bench seat, stared past the tray to the tabletop beyond and filtered out the sounds of the patients around him, talking. None of them, he was sure, had been through what he'd been through last night. None of them could possibly know what he felt at this moment, with the images of death and sounds of Peter and Claire's cries in his head. He pushed the tray of food forward, the smell churning his stomach unpleasantly, and raised balled fists to his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut. He couldn't do this. He couldn't possibly sit here and deal with this. He couldn't go on in this damn place, day in and day out and pretend that nothing had happened.

When he'd been in the hospital, moving had been taxing. There'd been no way to strike out, to release his anger, to do anything but lie there and feel anger and depression and panic bottle up inside of him. He couldn't do that again. Without even thinking, he suddenly lashed out, throwing his arm forward and tossing the tray and its contents across the table and onto the floor beyond.

His gaze shot up towards the mess he'd made and he stared at it for a moment. Suddenly, he wished he had another to throw, and another, and another. It wouldn't make Peter or Claire come back. It wouldn't even, really, make Nathan feel any better. But it was doing something, something that wasn't just sitting around feeling sorry for himself.

It was the only thing he felt like he could do.

[Hey little brother. ♥]

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

It had taken a whole lot of self-control for Peter to just stalk away from Sylar rather than grabbing him by the collar so that he could punch him a few times in the face (in the spots where he was already bandaged, he'd thought, only to subsequently be a little scared that he'd had such a brutal idea), and he still practically had steam coming from his ears as he moved into the cafeteria.

He hadn't eaten much at breakfast due to being distracted by that woman, but there was no way that he could stomach anything when he was this pissed off. Peter shot his nurse a death glare when she tried to get him stand in the line, a look that quite clearly said not now. She was so shocked by the uncharacteristic behavior that she let him go, much to Peter's relief.

Not even knowing where he should sit, Peter was in the middle of wandering the cafeteria when he heard the crash of a fallen tray. No, more like a thrown tray. Another fight? He didn't really care, but when he instinctively looked in the direction of the noise, he saw none other than his brother glowering at the mess he must have just made.

There was really only one reason that Nathan would be acting that way, and Peter felt all of his anger seep out of him as he rushed over to kneel down and pick up the hamburger and french fries that were now scattered all over the floor. A different nurse was standing nearby; she had probably been preparing to sedate Nathan if need be. Peter made eye contact with her and shook his head, and she seemed to think well enough of his responsibility to leave them alone.

As Peter worked, he glanced up to make proper eye contact with his brother, to let him see that he was perfectly fine and that the message on the bulletin had been no trick.

[ryuuzaki]

The brief conversation L had in the Sun Room after the shower had not interfered too much with his goal of contemplation, a few minutes to himself. Then, there had been an argument on the bulletin board -- There is no denying that the supernatural appears to be a factor here, but people accept it too readily, without the application of Occam's Razor.

The announcement on the intercom irritated him: hamburgers? He would stick to the salad bar, which meant that he would probably eat very little, and would not enjoy what he consumed.

As he was escorted into the cafeteria, he cast his gaze around for people with whom he had a prior acquaintance. Lunge was no problem -- they would talk after lunch -- but he wanted to speak to Howell and perhaps to Matt. Amane... I have not seen her today. Her parents were killed in front of her; therefore, it is possible that she had an experience last night which was similar to my own.

He filled his plate with salad and took a seat, picking at the leaves of lettuce with a fork and an expression of deep annoyance.

[For Klavier!]

[rocksthecourt]

Ugh. This was horrible. How was it that every day (and night) somehow turned out even worse than the one before? He was almost considering claiming he was sick and hoping the nurses would react as normal nurses would and let him stay in his room alone for the rest of the day. He didn't think he could handle much more going wrong. He couldn't even distract himself with work as he normally might have. He'd had such an astounding lack of progress, looking over his notes just made him realize how far behind he'd gotten in his investigation. Just thinking of how badly he'd failed to keep up with his own pace was enough to almost make him itch. He had a lot of catching up to do.

Needless to say, food was the last thing on his mind. One and a half days. That was how long it had been since he'd last eaten anything. He knew he was going to hurt himself at this rate, but he couldn't possibly stomach anything even if he should have logically been starving. However, it seemed his nurse had caught him skipping breakfast this morning and stayed with him until he'd picked up at least a little something to eat. He opted for little of the salad, ignoring her protests that he take something 'more substantial.'

She then escorted him to a table to ensure he didn't throw out his tray. "Here, David. Why don't you keep Daniel company? Be nice, okay?" she said, throwing a bright smile at both before leaving them to their lunch.

'Daniel' was a particularly disheveled-looking young man who was... er, squatting in his chair and poking his salad with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. He couldn't help but stare for just a beat before looking down at his own food. It was his understanding that there were a good number of people here who actually were crazy to a certain extent, and although he liked to give people the benefit of the doubt, this first impression wasn't working in the young man's favor. The way things were going, it would probably make sense that the woman would place him across from a lunatic.

Oh, well. Playing pessimist now wasn't going to get him anywhere, was it? He pulled his gaze back up and offered a moderate smile, trying to mimic his usual upbeat attitude if only for the semblance of normalcy. Maybe it'd actually work and he'd start to feel better, somewhat. "You'd think if they were going to force everyone to eat, they'd at least offer more options, ja? Though I suppose it's better than what's offered in normal asylums." He widened the smile a bit more in greeting. "Ah, my real name is Klavier. Klavier Gavin. Hope you don't mind the intrusion."

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

"Vincent vowed vengeance very vehemently," Yuffie said, quickly. "We surely shall see the sun shine soon. The boot black brought the black boot back."

The nurse blinked, nonplussed, at her charge's rapid fire chatter. "Pardon, dear?"

Combing her fingers through her still-damp hair, Yuffie added, "Nine nice night nurses nursing nicely."

"I… I see," said Plucky, with a little sigh. "At any rate, here's the lunch line. Please do try to eat a plateful? I'll know if you don't." She smiled, nodded, and wandered away, murmuring softly under her breath: "Nine nice nice… No, nine nice night nurses nicing… nursing nicely…"

Yuffie watched her go. Geez… She was really going to have to come up with more material to keep Plucky distracted with, because this was bordering on ridiculous; the nurse was starting to get good at tuning her out, or talking around her (since talking over her was pretty much impossible). Like she needed anything more on her plate! Uh, metaphorically speaking, that was. Her stomach gurgled, and she slapped it, her cheeks colouring. "Yeah, yeah, I get the picture."

She grabbed some food, mostly salad with a few fries on the side. And a hotdog, because if nothing else it'd make a hilarious projectile. Bracing the tray against her hip, she picked her way through the cafeteria. It was filling up as quickly as usual, she noticed, just like she noticed pretty much everything else in the room; you couldn't turn off instinct, and it was second nature for the ninja to check out her surroundings. Eventually, she dropped herself down into a seat with a good view of the whole room, kicking back to wait for Kenshin.

Whatever he had to say to her was probably gonna be important, but… Yuffie shook her head, eyes flicking from her plateful to the door. The shower had done something to perk her up a little, but she couldn't shake the itchy, hunted feeling that made her skin crawl and sharpened her reflexes to a knife-edge.

[Come n' get it, Daikonkiri~]

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

"You know," Kenshin said, indicating his tray of mostly fruit (and one rather dubious-looking hot dog shoved far enough to the side that it wouldn't contaminate everything else), "it has to be unhealthy, the way they keep serving meat in this place. Beef at practically every meal! At least...this one is assuming this is beef." The rurouni poked at the hot dog experimentally, a slightly horrified expression on his face. "He's, ah, never seen anything quite like it before."

Kenshin knew that they were going to have to talk eventually about...everything, but after his conversation in the showers with Okita, he wanted to delay that for as long as possible.

"How are you doing today, Yuffie-dono?"

[i-dont-paint.livejournal.com]

After a brief stop to tack a note to the bulletin board, still without pausing to read it over, Tony allowed himself to be ushered into the cafeteria. He wasn't precisely hungry, too caught up in his thoughts to be bothered by more mundane concerns such as food, but after letting him sleep through breakfast, the nurse seemed ill disposed to the idea of allowing him to miss lunch as well. And so he found his tray forcibly loaded down with half again as much as he would likely be able to eat, and found himself ushered to a seat. Thankfully, the table was empty; it was apparently still early enough in the shift that the options for seatmates were slim.

Tony flipped his journal open, using one hand to page through the scattered notes and half-drawn designs, and the other to pick through his food. Without noticing, he made steady progress through the meal, his body still in need enough of fuel to ignore the steadily-constricting knot of tension in his gut.

[wing-head.livejournal.com]

It was another day at the institute. They were a welcome reprieve from the night, and while Steve had spent the first part of the day sleeping in he was up in time for lunch. A stop at the bulletin board had revealed very troubling information, although he hadn't had time to look into it too deeply before his nurse sternly directed him into the cafeteria. The food smelled delicious, as usual.

Steve was glad to spot Tony sitting in the cafeteria. They hadn't spoken to one another in some time and if the note on the bulletin board was any indication it seemed Matt had gone missing. He spared a glance for the notes and half-drawn designs in Tony's journal. His own was filled with various sketches he had drawn during the day.

"Good morning," Steve said as he took a seat, even though it was probably afternoon by now. It was so difficult to tell with the complete lack of a clock.

[see-my-back.livejournal.com]

At least Arts and Crafts hadn't been completely useless. She'd found another medic, one who had access to a lot of vital information. With that and all the books she'd hopefully have soon, she might actually have her fill of study materials. Yeah, right.

She smiled a little when they brought her back to the lunchroom and she picked up a burger and a few sides, using her tray to set her arts and crafts projects down too. The notes she'd drawn up she tucked away, but the crudely made flower of tissue paper and pipe cleaners sat on the tray next to her plate. If she missed Sasuke again tonight, she could at least leave something to let him know she was worried about him. There was little doubt in her mind that it wold end up in the trash, but it was the thought that mattered. Whatever happened, she wasn't going to let Sasuke think there was no one who cared.

Still no sign of Kakashi, she noticed, glancing around the lunchroom. Then again, she didn't know why she was expecting him to be on time in the first place. There might be fewer distraction here, but it was Kakashi after all, and being late seemed like second nature to him. Sighing to herself, she found an empty table and set her things down.

[closed to Kaka-sen~!]

[lostonlifesroad.livejournal.com]

Kakashi wasn't that late to lunch. Or at least, he thought he wasn't. But Sakura had always gotten particularly feisty whenever the jounin didn't arrive on time, so maybe it was more her perception than anything else. And even Sakura hadn't been as bad as he'd been towards Obito in his younger days, so Kakashi considered himself fortunate that the worst he'd get was probably a frown and a smart remark. Or so he thought, from the way he saw her sigh as he walked in the door. It would only take a few minutes to get his own meal, so Kakashi didn't signal to the kunoichi just yet. Kakashi showing up without warning would be closer to their normal routine anyway, and that made it for the best.

Especially when it seemed like certain others were acting strangely. Kakashi paused when he saw Sai cross the cafeteria (), tray held over his head. Maybe it was time to get in touch with the ROOT member as well.

That could wait for a little longer, however, as Kakashi had already kept Sakura waiting for awhile, and had no desire for her to get too testy. Crossing the room to where she sat, Kakashi set down his tray, and gave a friendly wave as he claimed the seat across from his student.

"Sorry I'm late, Sakura. I had to pick up a book." Which wasn't untrue; Jiraiya had given him the novel after the showers, as promised. Kakashi even had the volume with him, though he wouldn't read it just yet. While it was tempting, there were a variety of foods and sauces around. Even indulging in his favorite hobby wasn't worth certain risks.