Day 46: Lunch

[tostepforward.livejournal.com]

The mere fact that she'd been susceptible to whatever hold the Institute had had on her yesterday was sufficient to leave Ayumu both upset and angry - no, not angry, downright furious, both at herself and whoever was responsible for that. But there was also the fact that because of it, she'd lost out on an entire day of work, and in several ways had ruined some of what she'd done already. That little conversation with Himura the day before, for instance, was something she'd sincerely prefer not to remember if she'd had any choice in the matter.

Unless the man was a complete moron, which, unfortunately, was one thing she couldn't believe of him, he had to have realized just who her brother was. After all the effort to keep that fact quiet (not exactly a secret, but certainly not advertised; half the Shinsengumi probably never even realized it because there was no reason to) she'd gone and chatted about it with him. Told him all about it, practically painted a bright target around a weakness that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

She'd spent the shift in the Sun Room pretending to sleep, while in truth forcing herself into calm. After years of practice she could shunt away the useless and distracting emotions, focusing only on what was important and needed to be at the forefront of her mind, and by the time the intercom signaled the lunch period she was feeling considerably calmer. The time to silently observe others had, as well, alerted her to something she probably should have noticed earlier: Mello was back. Would her previous objective be reinstated now? He seemed to have far less of a bulletin presence this time, so perhaps not. Still, though, it bore investigating.

None of her thoughts were visible, of course, as she moved through the line, examining the lunch selection somewhat dubiously. Now with the benefit of Yuuko's memories she might recognize the food, but she certainly didn't share the enthusiasm for it that her imaginary self apparently had. Ayumu skipped past that part and settled for the salad bar and some bread, then positioned herself in a place where she could watch both the door and the rest of the room, setting her journal open in front of herself as though planning to write something. There was far too much that she'd missed, too much work to do now.

[for Okita]

Comments

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

More food. There was always some part of 622 that wondered why they were given three meals every day. It just seemed too generous, too much for this place. Why hadn't they been made to starve? People's defenses lowered significantly when all they could think about was getting food, after all.

He took some of the 'pizza' and sat down in the mostly empty mess hall, trying a bite of this strange new food. It tasted like grease and bread.

He had half the piece eaten before he even stopped to think.

[For one Doctor McCoy!]

[hes-deadjim.livejournal.com]

Whoever that man was on the primitive speaker, McCoy was finding his bedside manner more and more abrasive by the second. Maybe abrasive was the wrong for it. He'd have called it sickeningly sweet. He preferred frankness, honesty, and being treated like an actual person, not someone you had to tip-toe around, dammit, or talk down to. He found it hard to trust any medical practitioner who felt like they had to resort to downplaying any potential problems to a patient's face. It made him feel as if they were hiding something. If they could go glossing over vital facts to a patient, who knew what they'd decide colleagues or commanding officers really needed to know? It was a slippery slope.

Either way, it made his skin crawl. Maybe it had to do with the almost oily way the man laughed. Maybe it had to do with the overly enthusiastic way he rattled off the menu, like he was trying very hard to sound that way. Or it might have to do with the way he was acting as if he was doing his patients all a favor by treating them as if they were children.

The fact that McCoy himself was a terrible patient may have contributed to his overall exasperation.

For lack of something better at the moment, and finally feeling hungry, McCoy stopped to pick up some food. It was the only good, and sensible, he thought, thing about this place; the seeming lack of food replicators. He turned and seated himself at the closet table.

McCoy didn't say anything at first. He did stare despite himself. He watched the male patient already occupying the other side all but inhale the food. It reminded him of the Commander earlier.

Never get between a man and his appetite, McCoy thought, even as his eyebrows slowly crawled up his forehead.

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

Refueling shift, again. It was pathetic that meatbag bodies needed so much processed organic product to maintain function. It was especially irritating that something in his mouth was producing more saliva at the smell of whatever that flat, gooey-looking stuff that had been set down before him was.

You had to hand it to the meatbag body for coming up with disgusting subroutines. Smell lipids-->produce slime. Ugh.

[SHO!]

[number-crunch.livejournal.com]

Waffles and pizza in one day? This 24h period just kept getting better! Too bad about the chocolate chip cookies last night. No 8-legged exponents to spoil this meal though.

Biting back a rant as the cafeteria workers refused to let his pizza pile exceed 25cm, Sho trundled over to a free spot by some guy staring at the food like it had skewed his calculations.

"It's pizza; it goes in your pi-hole," he explained as he let his weighty tray hit the table loudly and sitting down. "If you don't want it, I'll be > happy to add it to my sum."

[brooklynisangry.livejournal.com]

Okay, so that had been pretty cool. There might not be other Digimon here, but there were loads of people (well, two so far) who were actually giant robots. Sure, he knew some metal-type Digimon, but the idea of things like that from out in the Real World was a new and weird idea to him. Now, if only they weren't all jerks or grumpy old guys, then things would be great.

Actually, things were great anyway. He'd never had pizza before in his life, but now that he had, wow! Beelzemon started chomping on a pizza slice with enthusiasm. If there was one thing the Real World could do right, it was definitely food.

[Sylar! Come and get yer Digimon!]

[darwinism]

While some of the information Wally had ended up spilling had already been obvious to Sylar from his previous observations, some of it... hadn't. For one thing, Clark Kent seemed to be out of the picture entirely at this point, which erased most of Sylar's original intent in befriending Wally in the first place. Disappointing, maybe, but it sounded like there were a hell of a lot of other interesting people who Wally knew. Maybe they'd show up again, like missing patients sometimes did, and if not, at least Sylar knew for a fact that he was closer to Wally than anyone else here. The man was becoming more and more malleable by the day, and soon he'd probably implicitly trust anything that came out of Sylar's mouth.

Sylar couldn't help but grin as he one-handedly set down a plate of pepperoni pizza and chips. Now, now, he was in a damn good mood. In fact, he was feeling so high in spirits that when he glanced up and saw the tattooed man in front of him gobbling down a slice himself, he smiled and said: "Good stuff, huh?"

[mitase.livejournal.com]

Lunch was the greasy triangles again, and Hanatarou wrinkled his nose slightly as he regarded the food lying in front of him. At his nurse's prodding and claim that he "loved pizza" he took one piece and set it on his tray along with a piece of bread, then quickly moved on over to the salad. He was starting to get heartily sick of salad, but really, it was about the only edible thing they served.

He sighed and dropped into an empty seat and started picking at his food, eating more out of the knowledge that he needed it than any real hunger. It wasn't as though he expected to be able to do anything worthwhile, because, well, that would have been silly. But nothing he did really helped anyone, or got him any closer to getting back home, and...well, it was better than cleaning sewers in Seireitei and he had friends here, but sometimes he just couldn't help but want to go home. To just tend the 4th Division greenhouses and sweep the courtyard and have Hisagomaru's comforting presence at his side.

For now, though, all he could do was stare at his tray, completely oblivious to anyone and anything around him as he mechanically put food in his mouth.

[for Kenren]

[opposingheaven.livejournal.com]

"You look like someone kicked your puppy, kid," Kenren said with a grin as he slid into the seat next to Hanatarou, reaching out to ruffle his hair in a friendly way. He did look pretty miserable. Then again, Hanatarou looked pretty nervy all the time so maybe it wasn't such a surprise. But he didn't like seeing it and to be honest, he was still pretty angry about what that jerk had said to him on the bulletin. Free will was something that Kenren favoured more than almost anything and he hated this idea of slavish devotion to duty.

He set his own plate down and took a bite of the pizza. Not his favourite food, but it wasn't bad. "Something wrong, Hanatarou?"

[thirdboywonder.livejournal.com]

Tim was more or less satisfied with the conversation he'd had with Mr. H during the last shift. Even though he probably could have continued it, it was all right. At least he had some sense of purpose again, which he'd been sorely lacking since coming here.

Now if only he could get in touch with Batman. Where the hell had he gone, anyway?

The Head Doctor sure seemed SUPER EXCITED or something about lunch. What an ass he was. Tim really wanted to meet him, just so he could dislocate his jaw real good. That, and there was no one else who would have any idea of how to get out of here. That much, he was pretty sure about.

He didn't see any familiar faces in the cafeteria when he got there, so he just got his pizza (pepperoni, thanks) and sat down. He wasn't sure garlic bread really went with the pizza, what with all the starch content, but whatever. Like he really cared about calorie count or something.

He sat down at a table and mulled over where he'd need to go that night. The rope and grappling hook thing was still important, and he hadn't heard back from Kvothe on whether or not they were going to team up. There were still a few shifts to go, though, so he wasn't super worried yet.

The pizza wasn't as good as some of the other food, but it could always be worse. Always.

[Oh, Harvey~]

[dualistic]

And so it had finally come around to lunch. This would be the moment of truth, and while he hadn't been able to get as many pointers from Jason as he would have liked, Harvey was sure that he'd be just fine in the end. This was the sort of thing he was good at.

The first thing he did was go to pick up his food shake, but he spent each moment he had to waste in line scanning the crowds of patients for a boy fitting the physical description Jason had given him last night. There were a few who fit, but in the end it was the grim look on one boy's face that gave him away. Harvey made sure to avert his gaze once he'd found him, focusing on grabbing his meal before he wandered the room for a bit to give the impression that he just happened upon the boy as a matter of course.

He was going to have to make sure that the kid realized who he was, though it probably wouldn't be too hard: the bandages were a dead giveaway. A lot of people were injured here, though, and so he decided to keep up his normal attitude while acting oblivious of the other patient's true identity.

"Not many other places to sit," he grumbled. "Do you mind?" He didn't look like he was willing to wait very long for an answer.

[destroyeroftime.livejournal.com]

Allen was definitely glad it was lunchtime. Even though he'd eaten just a couple hours ago, he could definitely eat again! Pizza didn't sound so bad. He got one three slices of cheese, but they wouldn't let him have a fourth. He was annoyed by that. Surely if they knew about him, then they knew he could eat without any problems. Oh, well. He supposed it was better than only having one piece. Plus there was salad and everything.

He found himself wondering, again, how the others were doing. He hoped they weren't too worried about him. He'd hate to see the look on Lenalee's face when they met again. She'd probably scold him for disappearing, but in the end it would be all right.

As long as they were all right, that was.

He shook that thought away. They had to be okay. They had to.

He sat down, not really paying attention to who else was at the table, and dug in to his pizza. No sense in wasting time.

[Waiting for a fellow Exorcist. Well, sort of.]

[cursed-exorcist.livejournal.com]

When lunchtime was announced over the intercom, Kagura almost ran to the front of the line in the cafeteria. She was so hungry. Not only had Kagura not been allowed to finish her breakfast, but she was also naturally a big eater, so this last shift had been like torture to her unsatisfied tummy. She might have looked like a slim teenager, but she could certainly pack food away. Maybe she had a high metabolism, or maybe she was eating Shiro's portion too? The spirit beast could certainly eat a lot, though he tended to prefer spiritual matter.

The teenage exorcist shamelessly gathered a ton of food, filling two trays, drawing several pairs of eyes in the process. She would've gotten more, but she could only carry two trays with her hands. If she had Shiro he would have been able to help her out too.

By now, Kagura was aware of the stares she was getting, so she decided to sit down at the closest available table. The only problem with that was the nearest table was already occupied by a white haired youth. "Excuse me. Do you mind if I sit down?"

[donetakinorders.livejournal.com]

Well that'd been interesting. If Raph had been counting on the bulletin note to help him find some actual help, he might have been disappointed in how it turned out, but since it been kinda that and kinda just annoying the hell out of Pinky? It had worked out pretty well.

Of course there were some people who just couldn't take a hint and shut the hell up when they were told to, but he'd gotten some good offers of sparring matches out of it all, not to mention some meet ups. And who knew? It might even be fun.

Lunch was pizza, which made Raph think of Mikey again. He actually missed the goofball; lame jokes, annoying pranks, bragging about his stupid trophy and everything. Hell, he'd have put up with that bragging if Mikey and the rest of his bros were here and safe rather than somewhere else and in who knew what condition.

Raphael scowled and helped himself to a few extra large slices of everything before picking a place to sit down. If anything, worrying about his family should remind him that he had to get out of here as soon as possible. Find a way out, find his family, then worry about getting back to normal. He was already starting to go a little nuts without them all.

[for one pissed off pink-haired ninja]

[see-my-back.livejournal.com]

This was so freaking ridiculous. Sakura stormed into the lunchroom after reading the latest bulletin updates. Not only did Kakashi put her on the same level as that overbearing JERK, but he wanted to work together with him?! Seriously!? So not funny. That moron probably couldn't even keep up! Which made it all the more obnoxious that Kakashi thought she was anywhere near the same mentally as that thick-skulled dimwit!

She picked up a tray and took some pizza, but wouldn't you know it? The man in question just happened to be sitting by himself. Well, she wasn't about to rise to his bait again. No. She was the mature one here and she could prove it to herself and Kakashi!

Sakura set her tray down across from Raphael with a loud clatter and didn't even wait to see if he wanted her to sit or not. Unlike the other supposed ninja though, she was actually on her guard. Since she'd kicked his ass last time, who knew what kind of things he might do to retaliate?

[ryuuzaki]

L's conversation with Keman had been relatively simple, but useful, in its way. While the relative merits of feline companionship weren't worth discussing, he had been able to determine that Keman's experience the day before had been materially similar to his own: a replacement of his personality, coupled with an irrational unwillingness to credit logical arguments if they contradicted what he "knew" to be true. The difference was what had happened at night, and what it might mean.

He had also acquired information about healing. In another day, it would have been apparent anyway; still, even if he thought the mechanism was suspicious, it was good to know that he could expect the wound on his leg to vanish in short order. Between its rapid repair and the fact that he was favoring it, the pain had dulled to a stinging sensation.

He moved through the line, taking one slice of pineapple and ham pizza, a plate of salad, an indecent amount of fruit, and two cups of grape juice. When his tray was full, he made his way to a seat at a table apart from other people. A nurse tried to divert him on the way. He smiled at her, with no warmth in his eyes. "Yes, I have plans to meet a friend."

A repetition of his behavior at breakfast, and it seemed to be working, as long as the friends in question actually made an appearance. He watched the door as he began to eat.

L wasn't looking forward to the meeting he had planned, but the disaster that had been the previous day made it necessary. There was a lot of ground to cover. Laurier's story had to be demolished entirely; then, there was not only the question of events within the Institute, but the one of events at home. He hadn't had the opportunity for a second conversation with Matt.

Sunday had been like practicing at death. It was not a role he enjoyed, but he seemed to have a talent for it. He wanted to know the date of the scheduled performance.

[Mello.]

[swornandbroken.livejournal.com]

Mello left the sun room with mixed emotions. He'd made some progress in gaining knowledge about the place in his conversation with Edgeworth, but there were still far too many unanswered questions. And now he had to face L, if it was L. Just like before, part of Mello wanted to believe it could be possible that L was alive, and part of him wanted to demand that the other man tell him what the hell his agenda was, who'd put him up to it, and why.

The intercom announcement was as irritating as ever. At least this time the nurse didn't tell him to be good and eat; he was nervous enough, and annoyed enough about it, that he probably would've snapped.

When he came into the cafeteria, he spotted L, and though he'd been trying to think of the perfect thing to say since answering the note on the bulletin board, something that would be not too rude, but not too trusting, he was no closer to finding it after going through the line and selecting two pieces of pepperoni pizza.

He went to L's table, set his tray down, sat across from him, and finally just went with the direct approach that usually served him well, making a point of using the alias. "So. What the hell's going on here, Coil?"

[world-makeover.livejournal.com]

Talking with Jade had been surprisingly relaxing. It wasn't exactly reassuring, since he still had no real friends in this place, but as he'd said, it was comforting to know that they weren't alone.

Though he was in higher spirits than he had been, he still felt no need to find someone else to sit with. Eating alone was one of those habits that he had yet to break, but in a place like this all he had were his habits.

And Jade. Never forget Jade, even if he was annoying and a liar and showed up at the worst possible times to belittle him and oh yeah he'd helped destroy his gorgeous machines Duplicitous snake.

Hey, Dist never said that he forgave him.

Dist had decided to stop griping about the food. Fattening yes, but it was very good, so he simply went down the line without a fuss. A quick glance around showed him that the cafeteria was mostly empty, so finding a place to sit by himself was quite easy.

[bprd-fishman.livejournal.com]

Ah, pizza. Abe really didn't like pizza. On the one hand it lacked proper nutrients and had far too much grease and meat in it to be worthwhile. On the one hand it was one of Hellboy's favorite stake-out foods (cheap, easy to transport, no utensils needed) and the smell brought back fond memories of dark nights huddling in the garbage truck, watching the cameras and heat sensors, waiting for something interesting to spring out of the darkness and face the twin might of Red and Blue as they stood between unwitting humanity and the dark unknown.

Hellboy would be proud of him, Abe mused as he craned his neck around to search for Minato in the crowd. He'd always said Abe needed to take a more aggressive role in their work rather than just being the "R" in BPRD all the time. As terrified for their lives as he'd been, the thrill of actually getting out and taking something down with his bare hands had felt quite good after his heart stopped pounding. Of course, Hellboy would probably take awesome points away for Abe's target being a human teenager...eh. The Persona's presence made it count.

Abe took a sizeable gathering of healthy fruit and vegetables from the "salad bar", eschewing the grease-covered meat and dough. Perhaps he could eat meat now, and perhaps he might even enjoy it on occasion, but this was not one of those occasions.

[Minato]

[foolishmessiah.livejournal.com]

Unlike breakfast, Minato tried to keep his head up as he walked around. For once, he wasn't particularly hungry, but he went through the lunch line anyway to make himself more visible. Hopefully the bandages would make it easier for his attacker from the night before to see him.

It was amazing how one night could change so many things. His first two nights had been fairly uneventful in the institute, and now his Personas had been used against absolute strangers, his head ached terribly, and he owned a woman a throwing knife.

And now he would have to answer questions about the Personas and his Evoker. Minato bit back a sigh as he stopped by the utensils, taking his time so he could look around the cafeteria.

[tartaros-avatar.livejournal.com]

Last shift had been moderately productive. He'd have to think on what could be done with Haku. Normally there would be at least eight different plans that had presented themselves immediately, but this place had forced him to limit his thinking so much.

He took the food his nurse gave him without comment, finding an unoccupied table and sitting down, watching the other prisoners. And what plans do I have for all of you...

[Free!]

[no-barbarian.livejournal.com]

Today had been very quiet so far, which didn't suit Teisel's current mood at all. Yesterday had been so strange, he felt as though he needed to do something to make up for it. Something violent, possibly, meaning he'd have to wait for nightfall.

In the meantime, he needed to keep his strength up. No moping, no fasting, and no wallowing in self-pity today! No! Today Teisel Bonne was his own illustrious self again, and that was cause enough to celebrate for now. Four slices of pizza seemed like a good starting point...

Giving his seatmate a cursory nod, he set into his lunch.

[she-is-ruin.livejournal.com]

_{[For Nigredo, and possibly Albedo?]}

Once again, Yomi had no interest in food, or in the growing din of voices and movement. As though she were deep in thought, her eyes were on her feet as she walked.

No, her body didn’t need any rest or food, and certainly not that day, when she was more than ready to make up for her wasted time. After all, who thought they could put something like her in here and then go on to use her mind as a toy (more than it already was)? The scales would tip in her favour eventually, and when they did… But that was an obvious outcome, whether far into the future or not. In the present, she had a half a day to sit through before she could wriggle off the hook and perhaps do something worthwhile with her night. Half a day to be patient, all the while managing a strange sense of restlessness that started somewhere behind her eyes and ended in the itching of her hands.

Something was chafing inside, something that should have been smooth instead of sharp. It left her wanting… ugh, she didn’t know!

As she had with breakfast, Yomi took a seat without going through the line-up. She was not going to listen to the nurses’ squawks about eating; she had better things to do, a belated conversation to have. At the same time, the thought crossed her mind: did Yoshiko like pizza? Had she laughed over it with her blood sibling as Yomi had with Kagura? The phantom creeping inside her skin grew in response, and a flash of irritation cut through Yomi like a knife. She wanted to tell the source to shut up, but she didn’t know which part of her it was. Her? The sesshouseki? Yoshiko?

She crossed her legs and arms, squinting out at the overcast sky while she waited for Nigredo. And if he sidesteps me this time…

[falseblack]

This time, the opportunity to wait did not befall on Nigredo. Probably for the best, given how well the last was handled. It had at least distracted him from whatever else might have been transpiring in the room. He could simply dread about the aftermath, instead of harping on what he might have stopped in the present.

Smell of spices hung heavy in the cafeteria along with the usual bout of nausea, but the child pushed them aside in favor of the one recognizable figure. He slipped away from his caretaker and her insistence on basic needs and approached the older girl, who appeared... Nigredo couldn't tell. He wouldn't if given the chance; he knew when to keep the observations to himself.

An so the variant slumped into the seat across Yomi, his lips sealed with an apology for the little faux pas, eyes trained on the empty place in front of him. "You wanted to talk."

[lookitmemama.livejournal.com]

Good, lunch. Finally! Asuka couldn't move fast enough to get away from Kaworu and Shinji and their.......... well, suspicious behavior. Not that she was in denial or anything, but she still had her claws deep, deep in Shinji and it was going to take this new kid in town more than a little special attention to unhinge her.

Whatever. There were better things to think about right now. Namely...

Pizza! OhmyGodIlovepizza!Yespizzaahhhh!! Though her inner squeeing didn't betray the usual scowl firmly planted on her face.

The nurses followed her as usual, but once she found out the patients could actually serve themselves, the little redhead didn't let the orderlies get a chance to prance into line. She was not an invalid, she could get her own damn food.

Ignoring the fact that her blue eyes were bigger than her stomach at this point, Asuka felt no guilt in piling her tray high with tomato and basil slices, garlic bread and marinara sauce, and water (she was watching her figure after all). She all but hissed at her pair of hovering she-vultures as they tried to coax her into sitting with a stranger. She just wanted to eat her fucking food by herself was that so goddamn hard to understand? She was hungry. BACK OFF!

God, she needed to calm down. This was not conducive to survival. Anger just clouded the mind and allowed for stupid mistakes. Taking a few deep breaths, she found a vacant table to sit down at and inhale her food, and hopefully to cool off.

[Bring it Brainy Dx ]

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

[Consider it brought! :| ]

The morning had gone much better than Brainiac 5 could have anticipated. He'd gotten a surprising amount of information from both his questions over the information board and his conversations with Robin and Impulse. Enough that he'd begun to develop a slightly clearer picture of the Legion they'd both met, and of the events of yesterday and their effect on people.

The latter was enough that he was also beginning to doubt Geoffrey's continued existence as well. When apparently everyone else had recovered today yet he claimed to be the same, Brainiac 5 was understandably suspicious. While there were always strange coincidences, things that went against the expected trend, they were extremely rare for a reason. It would have been stupid for him to accept Grell was telling the truth, especially when the psychopath had lured him in in the first place by pretending to be harmless.

Still deep in thought, Brainiac 5 accepted a tray and picked himself out a selection of salad items as well as some fruit before automatically turning away in search of an empty table. Before he could take more than two steps, however, a hand dropped onto his shoulder. He jumped and stared up as his nurse in surprise. "...what are you doing?"

She ignored the pointed look at her hand. "You can't keep hiding yourself off in the corner every meal, Michael," she said cheerily. "You need to spread out more, talk to more people. Make some new friends."

Before the Coluan boy could object an further, he found himself forcefully steered towards an empty seat opposite a red-haired girl. "Here, why don't you talk with Lorelei? She's new and could use a friend."

The nurse continued to stand there, smiling while Brainiac 5 blinked in confusion, and eventually he gave in and sat down with an annoyed sigh. "I'm sure if you two just try and talk to each other, you'll find lots of things in common," the nurse said. Then she patted his shoulder once and finally left.

"Somehow I sincerely doubt that," Brainiac 5 muttered. He looked over at the girl and sighed again. "So, what's your real name?"

[idolism]

_{[free, no limit]}

The vampire didn’t mind being in the cafeteria quite as much as usual. The weather so rarely changed, but yet it was fairly overcast, the perfect kind of day for vampires to be afoot in daylight without it being too much of a hassle. Too bad he’d already had to get used to the imperfect days… which was every day.

Biting back a yawn, Aidou entered the cafeteria, looking for faces of interest and coming up with nothing. Hmm.

For a Wednesday, it was to be junk food again, but he really couldn’t complain. In fact, he wasn’t even exactly looking at what kinds of pizza he laid out on a plate as he went through the cafeteria line, more interested in the door than in the food that was going to do little more than carry him for the next hour or so. He had other things on his mind, anyway. Those who had been making inquires about therapy had given him something else to consider for the next shift, when he was scheduled to meet with his doctor.

This time, Aidou was feeling more guarded than anything else.

[zack-fair.livejournal.com]

That chat with Axel had been surprisingly fun, but it seemed like the nurses didn't like to allow the patients to get too cozy. Just as he was getting really comfortable, that intercom had gone off again and he found himself being led right back into the cafeteria. Seeing how Zack still didn't feel too set on the idea of eating anything this place saw fit to serve him, he dodged out of the food line when he saw that none of the nurses were watching him too closely and instead looked for someone new to talk with.

It would help if he could find someone who had been here a while and could tell him some more, even if there was the chance that they might be brainwashed. He was hoping he'd be able to figure it out pretty quick, but he wasn't sure how advanced the techniques were. He didn't like to think too hard about human experimentation and conditioning, but...

Well, he'd just have to go with the flow.

However, Zack was completely distracted when he saw a young kid sitting by himself and glowering down at his food. It was enough to put him a smile on his face, and he immediately thought of the nervous new Shin-Ra recruits that he'd always made the attempt to feel welcome.

While it was hard to tell how long someone had been stuck in this place just by looking at them, Zack figured it was worth a shot. "Hey there," he greeted as he slid into the seat across from the kid as if he already knew him.

[churchbelled.livejournal.com]

There really was a cafeteria, and they really were serving pizza for lunch. It wasn't quite like anything Shizuru had ever seen before. She could come up with no reason why she was here, nor were the nurses (and she could tell by now that was what they were) providing much help. This was some kind of hospital--but she was uninjured. The one who needed care was Natsuki, and she was nowhere to be found.

That was what worried Shizuru most. It terrified her, in point of fact--but she couldn't let that show. Instead, she politely took her food, smiled as she received it, and headed for a seat where she could get as good a view as possible of the area. Maybe examining the people around her could give her some clues.

And so she remained calm, or at least apparently so. Actually, realizing that many of the people around her were just as upset as she was to be here, or at least seemed to be, even if they didn't seem as confused as she felt, was a bit of a relief. A worst-case scenario would have had her being the only one out of sorts.

[free!]

[finalwitch.livejournal.com]

Her plans came to nothing. Escape from a man-made institution required the help of other men, and Ange... Ushiromiya Ange had no ally, no human to rely upon. What she had were distractions and dead hopes. The insane dressed as dreams, a few who appeared trapped in a situation no better than her own. And Rika, that girl, had offered something not many had given.

What was the point in that, though? This place was proving no different from Saint Lucia. The people held a better disposition than those annoying bullies, and yet, she could detect no change. A prison, again, was still a prison.

Therefore, she had to wonder: how long would it take for the short bursts of color to fade to grey?

Food was ignored for a second time, and the girl drew up a seat as far from the crowds as possible. She escaped all but one, another female close to her age, whom Ange eyed carefully before sitting down. Something like worry was written across her expression--one that warranted addressing--but true to form, Ange nodded once in greeting and then looked away. Its source didn't have to be her business as of yet.

[sixth-attack.livejournal.com]

Ah! Pizza! Now this was more like it!

Being sure to gather up a plateful of meat-only slices and chips, along with a large drink to go with it, Sechs carried his burdened food tray to his usual aloof spot farther down in the cafeteria. It felt like it had been months since Sechs had such a bounty of food or even the appetite to stomach such an amount. Instead it had only been a few horrible days that stole most of his desire to eat. Today, the talks he had with Kibitoshin and ZEX had eased a good portion of his anger. But the results of the fight from the night before still loomed overhead, along with a new set of problems: the two idiots who got in his way.

Slouching over his plate with both elbows leaning on the table, Sechs hungrily woofed down his meal like a starved canine. He was going to need as much nourishment as possible to face today's problems head-on. Once in awhile his wolfish eyes would sweep the area for any familiar faces -- and threats.

[runner-up-robot.livejournal.com]

That was probably most horrible conversation Forte had ever had. Possibly the worst thing that had happened to him since finding himself in this institute. Being cornered, forced to talk about his... feelings... if he'd had a self-destruct he probably would have activated it. When the blessed announcement came on, he fled into the crowd and hoped Yukari had lost him or at least moved on.

By comparison, talking to Sechs about last night would be a walk in the park. He certainly didn't have to worry about how he felt about it now - he wasn't in his right mind, and he shouldn't have stopped the fight. He knew how frustrating that must have been for the other 'bot, having an enemy in his grasp and being stopped before the finishing blow.

After getting a plate of whatever his attending nurse thought he should, he picked out Sechs and made his way to his table. If he'd been carrying his own tray he would have dropped it in front of the other guy to punctuate his appearance, but all he had was the journal he'd forgotten he was carrying (since he was holding it against the handle of his crutch anyway).

He dropped the book on the table as dramatically as he could before sitting and setting his crutches aside. "That wasn't me. They did something - put someone else in my head."

[tightsofmight]

That last shift had been a wallop and a half, Peter thought as he sidled into the lineup. There was a distinct niggling feeling that Alex wasn't letting him off the hook that easy, and whenever he caught him alone again Peter'd have to explain how he knew about the Bat Signal and Batman and all that jazz. Woof. Maybe he could pass it off as another alternate dimension quirk, like how Kurt had never heard of Spider-Man in his world but Peter knew Kurt in his. Gotham could just be floating around in there somewhere, far enough away that he'd get away with saying he'd never paid it a visit. Who, Batman? I only hear about him in the papers. Not much to say, ho hum, tiddly dee. Hmm. Was Washington a good bet? He had no clue where it was supposed to be. With any luck Alex would just let the geography slide, because fifty states didn't narrow it down one bit.

And Kurt, geez. Peter gave the pizza a morose once over as he visualized the other boy's face at being told Matt and Logan were gone. He hoped that Alex would maybe talk to him tonight, keep his spirits up. He couldn't help looking for them himself, scanning the strangely vacant cafeteria for a head of red hair and an easy smile or a stocky man with sideburns from here to Mexico. Nothing. He knew they weren't here, but he still wanted them to be. Selfish as it was.

He winced as he snagged himself a seat alone. Really selfish. In fact, the last thing he should want is anybody being stuck here. They could wind up like Harry. Caught off guard, up against something they couldn't handle, then it's over. Just...done. And here Peter was whining because he wanted company.

The thought soured the normally scrumptious first bite of his pepperoni pizza. If that wasn't depressing enough, he realized he was eating pizza again. As in for the second time.

The schedule was repeating. Oh god, had it really been a week?

[HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO TIL THE END OF THE Free.]

[scarefaux]

[HI :D :D :D]

Well, even with Scourge's sour attitude toward humans on his mind, the Scarecrow still felt this day was going much, much better than the previous day. People seemed to be back to themselves, his friends weren't attacking him randomly, lunch was being served- he didn't know if he'd be in a tight spot again that evening, but he'd enjoy the day while possible.

Speaking of the evening, he did need to think of what he'd be doing later. That could wait until after he'd eaten. He loaded up his tray in his usual one-of-everything manner and took a seat near a lonely individual, not wanting to sit alone for the shift.

"Hope you don't mind if I take this seat," he said with a smile as he sat down.

[buteo-sapiens.livejournal.com]

Tobias was feeling way better, after meeting Hayes and hearing his story about Spathi, smiling unconsciously as he got a small mountain of pizza (it looked greasy and delicious, and exactly like something Ax would eat ten slices of before anyone could stop him; Tobias felt a pang in his chest, missing his shorm even more than Jake or Cassie or Marco or Toby) and looked around for a place to sit.

There was a free spot over there, not too close to anyone, but not so far away that he'd look like he wanted to be left alone. That'd do, he decided, and wandered over, plunking down and starting to work his way through the pizza.

[free, no limit]

[mugenreppa.livejournal.com]

Mele sighed as she entered the cafeteria, capping the pen she hadn't even realized she'd grabbed that morning. Must be some kind of reflex or something; it was the closest thing to a weapon she'd—

...Well, at least Soma was...Soma. 'Ok' was only something they'd find out later, wasn't it?

"Have an interesting night?" Mele deadpanned to whoever she'd ended up sitting next to.

[violent-varmint.livejournal.com]

The past few days had been... trying for Tanaka, but he felt that his luck might be changing. ZEX had shaken off the Institute's control, and now Hayes was here. Tanaka had never known the starbase commander very well, although they did talk occasionally when there were housing or discipline issues involving the Shofixti population there, but from the little they'd been in contact he'd always seemed to be a level-headed man, and not one to run away from a fight (being willing to ally with the Captain before he knew the Ur-Quan had begun to ignore Earth was testament to that much). Perhaps he'd even be able to avoid ZEX drooling all over him... but then again, perhaps that was too much to ask.

Tanaka picked up a few meat-topped slices of pizza, and then sat down near the door, watching the crowds to see if he could pick out Hayes as he entered.

[for Hayes, and possibly ZEX too]

[cmdr-exposition.livejournal.com]

When lunch shift was announced, even the godawfulness of the actual announcement couldn't spoil Hayes' good mood. He didn't recognize one of the names from the board, and the one he did was as an enemy, but in this place "enemy" had taken on a very different meaning. The point was that they knew the Captain, which meant that whatever report this Tanaka fellow had for him was sure to be interesting.

As he walked into the mess, largely ignoring his minder, his eyes swept the room for someone short. It wasn't a lot to go on, really.

[zip-it-good.livejournal.com]

"...So today's lunch is pizza," the nurse stated plainly, "I'm sure that you heard the announcement, but there are also sides of potato chips and garlic bread and a salad bar, should you be in the mood for something a bit healthier."

"My mouth is watering just thinking about it!" Bucciarati laughed.

On the inside, however, Bucciarati was deadly serious. As it stood, Bucciarati knew next to nothing about his current situation. All that he knew for sure was that he was now in a mental institution in America. He had his theories as to how he had gotten there, of course, but very little was certain for the time being. Because of this, Bucciarati didn't have many options. All he could really do was bide his time and wait for his current predicament to become clear.

"Well, here we are!" said the nurse brightly as she and Bucciarati stepped into the cafeteria, "I'm sure that everything will go just fine, but should you have any problems, there are nurses there, there, and there." The nurse pointed to three other nurses, each stationed in a different section of the cafeteria.

"Thank you very much!" Bucciarati said cheerfully. After the nurse smiled back and started walking away, Bucciarati's expression hardened and he began walking towards the cafeteria line. He silently picked up a plate of pepperoni pizza and a side of garlic bread.

After briefly surveying the cafeteria and making mental notes of any potential weapons and shields should anything unexpected occur, Bucciarati made his way to an empty seat and cautiously began eating his lunch. All he could do was wait for the time being.

[for Kanji]

[liveforthispart.livejournal.com]

Alright yeah, Kanji was starving after skipping breakfast. That much was true. Hell, he probably could have eaten a whole cow at this point. But seriously, pizza? Not like he was picky when it came to food, but he'd never actually had this stuff despite all the international food back home. Just never appealed to him when he could have ikayaki or something. This stuff that the lunch staff slipped onto his tray wasn't doing a bang up job in changing his mind either. These things looked greasy as hell! He was having trouble figuring out if this stuff was supposed to be that way or if this place did it wrong. He wrinkled his face at the staff in disgust but took it anyway. Whatever. He'd give the stuff a shot, he guessed.

Normally, he would have picked a spot far away from everyone else, but there was something about the food that gave him a bit of a bad feeling. Like maybe he wanted to be somewhere with witnesses when he took his first few bites. Finally, he settled on sitting across from another guy who seemed a little wary of the food himself. Looked that way to Kanji, anyway.

He took his seat just as the guy had taken his first bite of the food. "Hey. How is that thing? Any good?"

[timeseal.livejournal.com]

Lost in thought, Rolo didn't even really notice his surroundings when his nurse herded him into the cafeteria. He just stared blankly, being settled in a random seat and staring into some fixed point in space when the nurse started to harp about getting him to eat, and that he was "so eager" to eat yesterday.

Yesterday.

Rolo wasted no time in crossing his arms and lowering his head as the nurse finally left, for whatever reason. His only thoughts now were... what now? He thought he had dealt with this already; that his brother hated him at that moment, sure, but then Rolo had proven himself and besides, wasn't his brother lying anyway? To be told that no, it wasn't like that, and knowing that his brother didn't even remember (well, no, it hadn't happened yet) his sacrifice, much less benefited from it. And to top it all off, he was dead. Well, he had died, and Rolo didn't know what would mean when he finally escaped. To where, he wondered, because they weren't in Area 11 anymore, much less... Britannia. The world. Rolo would have even settled for Australia.

He let out a sigh, as he just sat there and tried very hard to calm himself down. It just meant Lelouch hated him now, which meant Rolo's first priority was to find out where he fucked up and fix it. He couldn't help but wonder if it had to do with Euphemia, whatever mess he had gotten back there. Lelouch certainly wasn't happy about his behavior with that.

The assassin's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of a tray being set in front of him, looking up to see that the nurse had brought back with her a tray of food. The smell told him what it was immediately: pizza.

Rolo's mouth twitched, and he gently took the plate and set it upside down, hiding the slice of pizza underneath the greasy white paper. Not for the first time in his life, Rolo idly wondered if the universe was conspiring against him.

[ hey Sync, here's a perfectly good emo kid for your gimpy ass to kick around. ]

[godforsaken]

While Sync would've been damned to show it in front of Luke, the replica's words seemed to have affected him more than he initially thought. His mind was already racing, trying to denounce the ridiculous idea that Guy might actually still be alive. However, he knew something like this just couldn't be ignored, and so it was best to find out for himself as soon as possible. It was no surprise that the God-General's first stop was the bulletin board, scanning the various notes pinned up to try and find a few clues.

In fact, it was a good thing he did, because there were a few conversations that definitely caught his interest. Tucking them aside for now, it wasn't long before he came across a simple note.

He was alive.

Sync didn't even think, reaching out with his free hand and tearing down the note and every single response to it. Eyes wide with anger, he had to refrain from attacking his nurse when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Stephen, it's not nice to tear down other people's notes like that," The woman chided lightly, frowning at the sheets of paper the teen was gripping tightly in his hand. At first Sync didn't respond, but in the end he took a deep breath before answering quietly.

"... Sorry, there was something on there I didn't like."

There was nothing signifying that the note was legit, but the fact that someone had decided to mock his actions like that was unforgivable. Yet if the writer was indeed Guy...

Gritting his teeth, the God-General decided not to think too deeply about it now. He wasn't a fool; he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything in his current state. However, Sync wasn't planning on wasting his time waiting. There was the matter with Dahlia he had to deal with, yet he refrained from answering just yet. In the end the replica finally followed his nurse into the cafeteria, carefully folding all notes he'd gathered and slipping them in the waistband of his pants.

"Go and pick out a spot you'd like to sit in," His nurse replied before going off to get his food. At first the God-General didn't move, rather content with just scanning the crowded space for an empty spot. But all of that seemed to be forgotten once he caught sight of an individual who was sitting alone off to the side. It may have been dark, and he may have been dying, but he had burned that wavy brown hair and pink eyes into his mind. There was no doubt that this boy was the very same one that 'saved' him last night, successfully prolonging his useless life.

The God-General was already one the move, slowly making his way over to where the other teen was sitting and stopping barely a foot away.

"I guess you're my savior." However, while Sync had accompanied those words with a smile, the tone of his voice was a little dry for someone who should've been more grateful.

[moral-liberty.livejournal.com]

Kaworu was reluctant to leave Shinji and Asuka, but his nurse was insistent that he not be allowed to remain with Shinji. It weighed uncomfortably on his shoulders, and he could not dismiss the memories he retained from Addison. The nurse could not, or would not, differentiate between them, and so his time with Shinji would be monitored, analyzed, judged.

At some point, he would have liked to speak with Asuka on her own, but as he was led into the cafeteria, he saw that she was already engaged in conversation with a different boy. He wanted to understand Asuka, as well as her bond with Shinji. There was something there. Kaworu imagined that she felt somewhat similar; Shinji was the only thing that connected them. At least, the only thing of depth. They had piloted the same Eva, sat in that same seat. They had walked the same halls. But their relationship was defined by one boy.

Kaworu wasn't excessively bothered, and it seemed that his nurse trusted him enough to allow him to pick out his own food and table. He had eaten very little that morning, as his thoughts had been entirely occupied over breakfast. Now, he could feel the sharpness of hunger.

Idly, Kaworu wondered if Otacon was there, and if he knew of Asuka as well. But when he looked, he couldn't see the familiar man anywhere. He frowned faintly at the crowd of faceless Lilim, and took a seat alone.

[Free; no limit.]

[forcalmeternal.livejournal.com]

Wait, so what was&mdash

...Er.

Broadcasting sphere? Microphone sphere? Who was that guy, who told them where to go?

Yuna walked into the cafeteria shaking her head. Another conversation unfinished...did the lady do that on purpose? Speaking of the lady... "Umm, what's your na—ack!" Yuna squeaked as a plate was plopped unceremoniously in her arms. "Um, I can do that my—

—self," Yuna finished as she was plopped into a chair by the shoulders. "Hey!" Yuna turned around in her (forced) seat, but the lady was already walking away. Yuna considered going after her, but the lady was being really obvious about being left alone, and, well, it would be rude to just walk away from...this person here, wouldn't it?

She smiled sheepishly at him as she turned back around. "Sorry about that."

[war-wounds.livejournal.com]

With an entreaty to please try to eat something, the nurse left Ratchet to examine his second ordeal of the day: a slice of pizza and some leaves, along with a glass of water. He knew what pizza was, in an academic sense. Sari was very fond of it, and could consume a surprisingly large amount of it relative to her size.

Ratchet couldn't see the appeal. He caught a peculiar odor from it when he inhaled, but couldn't analyze it the way he normally could. It likely wouldn't have made a difference--he didn't have many organic compounds in his repertoire. It wasn't precisely unpleasant, but he didn't know what to make of it. Best to steer clear.

Liquids were familiar enough, so Ratchet contented himself with sipping the water. It was flavorless, which suited him just fine, and while it seemed strange to take in water on purpose he supposed it couldn't do him much harm at the moment.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Lockdown was relieved when the shift change finally came. He'd had enough of that meatbag Wilson for one day. That medic could try and study him all he wanted, it wouldn't do any good. Lockdown hadn't said anything Landel didn't already know or could take advantage of. It was all about playing the cards right in this kind of situation.

Well, the day was about half over by now. Just had to grab some fuel, suffer through one more shift, then get things straightened out with HK. The bounty hunter grabbed some food and juice and started looking for a place to sit down. Before he could make up his mind, his nurse pushed him towards some old relic. Apparently he was a newbie.

Lockdown grumbled to himself as he sat down with the old meatbag. He was drinking nothing but water, which Lockdown couldn't help but find strange. He thought all humans liked to eat.

[lighthearted]

It was lunch already? Sora was pretty taken aback by that, but it must have had something to do with the fact that his time spent with Naminé had gone by way too fast for his taste. Whenever he was with someone he considered a friend, the time seemed to just fly.

After his attempt to jump into the conversation in the Sun Room, Sora had made sure to respond to the note about Arts and Crafts on the bulletin. It felt good to get back to that after he'd totally shirked his duties the day before. As "Matt," he hadn't wanted to get involved in something that he'd clearly thought was part of the delusion.

That had all been really silly of him, but hopefully he could make it up with whatever assignment he got tonight. Meanwhile, Sora was quick to pile his plate up with a few slices of pepperoni pizza before seeking out an empty spot in the cafeteria. He wasn't sure how much help he'd been earlier, but at least he'd given it a shot.

[For Hitsugaya; might be open to one more?]

[itstaichoutoyou.livejournal.com]

Hitsugaya sighed. His conversation with Sai had started out simple enough, but somehow business had been brought into the equation, leaving him feeling slightly on edge. It was probably Hitsugaya's fault; he was a very work-oriented person. Talking casually seemed like a waste of time to him, so he usually ended up trying to recruit strangers or finding out what they knew.

As he entered the cafeteria, the smell of pizza overwhelmed his sense of smell, and looking at all that cheese piled on top nearly turned him away. He was used to lighter meals. Hitsugaya was fine with fruits and vegetables, but he hadn't been eating much lately, and he knew he needed to replenish his reiatsu. Against his better judgment, Hitsugaya took three slices of pizza.

Hitsugaya was about to find an empty seat when he spotted a familiar face - Sora. Thanks to his conversation with Hinamori, Hitsugaya now knew he had to take a different approach to running Arts and Crafts compared to how he had run the 10th Division. First, he needed to get to know his allies better. With Matsumoto and Hinamori (in a way) gone, Hitsugaya would have to personally familiarize himself with the other club members. Socializing wasn't his strong point, and it hadn't really been much of an issue, until now.

"Sora. Can I sit here?" Hitsugaya asked in his best attempt to not seem imposing. As usual, his ice-cold tone wasn't helping.

[nobleman]

After his talk with Claude, Guy had remembered to drop by the bulletin board and leave a note for Luke. He'd noticed how many notes had been ripped down or edited, which only made him more careful about what he wrote to his friend. He wanted to make sure that Luke saw it, and now he just had to hope that the younger man would be able to decipher what he'd written. The two of them were usually pretty good at getting through to each other, though; that's what happened after spending so many years in each other's company, it seemed.

Once that was taken care of, he moved into the cafeteria, carefully holding on to the paper bird that Claude had handed over to him. He was going to make sure to take the thing around with him until dinnertime, at which point he could ask for Okita's opinion on what to do with it. At least he could admire it for now, even if he was kind of curious about what could be written inside. Still, he had enough restraint to not read it.

It was a good thing that there was no shower shift today; while it meant staying dirty, there was a good chance the trinket might have been confiscated from him in that situation. Instead, he was able to place the origami on his food tray as he grabbed a couple slices of pizza.

The medicine from last shift seemed to be working, since his body was much less sore now. He wasn't looking forward to when it wore off, but at least he had a few pills in his room as well. Guy figured he'd enjoy the reprieve while it lasted, and so he found himself a place to sit and started to eat.

[For Ronixis; strict reserve.]

[timeleaper.livejournal.com]

Ah pizza, food of college students of all kinds for centuries. Ronixis snorted softly as he was passed a plate, and he browsed the selection of pizzas with a little interest, finally taking a couple of slices with pepperoni on them. He'd eaten worse in his time and well, it wasn't space rations, for which he was exceedingly grateful. Trying to get through this place on food like that would be torture entirely on it's own. No monsters required.

He really needed nicer things to focus on here, didn't he? The fact that he was happy about getting decent food was just depressing. Seriously depressing. It was like being happy about being able to take a shower (which was a much scarcer thing here so he intended to savour them when they came along). It wasn't something that you should have to be so pleased about.

The room was quickly filling up, but he spotted a free seat and it was next to someone he already knew which was a bonus. He needed to start doing better at keeping in touch with people. Having allies rather than acquaintances was a definite help here. "Hello Guy, I hope you don't mind if I sit here?" he said when he approached the blond. He looked a little the worse for wear but that was probably to be expected. Some days he felt like the only person who hadn't had to fight off monstrous hordes during the night.