Day 46: Lunch

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]
nobleman: (how did it come to be.)

[personal profile] nobleman 2009-12-22 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Guy looked genuinely shocked when he heard a vaguely familiar voice and glanced up to see none other than Ronixis; Claude's father; the only other person who had been witness to that night back in town. Squashing the immediate feeling of anxiety that came with being around this man, Guy smiled politely and nodded. "Of course you can," he responded. Just because it was a little nerve-wracking to sit with someone who he was keeping such a huge secret from didn't mean he was going to refuse the man.

Besides, there was a thing or two that he needed to tell Ronixis, now that he thought of it. If Claude hadn't already, but his friend hadn't mentioned anything like that. Both of them had been so busy that he got the feeling Claude hadn't been able to yet.

"I have some good news for you, actually," he continued. While there were a lot of other terrible things that had happened since they'd last spoken, Guy didn't think he was going to mention them. Ronixis hadn't been involved, and it should probably stay that way. He had already dragged Claude into his problems with Sync; he didn't want to do the same with his friend's father. If Claude decided he wanted Ronixis to know about what had happened, then he could go ahead and tell the man himself.

[identity profile] timeleaper.livejournal.com 2009-12-23 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
"Thanks," Ronixis replied with a genuine smile as he took a seat, setting his tray down in front of him. He didn't make any move to eat just yet though, more interested in initiating a conversation. Guy seemed like a nice guy and capable of taking care of himself, whichw ere things that Ronixis could definitely appreciate.

"Good news?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the other man. "That seems a little unusual here," he added with his lips quirking upwards in a faint smile of dry amusement. Good news was something to be savoured he supposed, not that he wasn't grateful for receiving it. Not at all.
nobleman: (wash the blood off your hands.)

[personal profile] nobleman 2009-12-25 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
"It is," Guy agreed with a light laugh. But there was so much other bad news to go along with it... Not that Ronixis needed to know that. Guy didn't see why he should depress the man for no good reason, and the zombie issue was the only part that directly involved him. While Guy wasn't sure if the man knew Dias, he still wasn't the person who should be telling him about that.

While his chest was still in pain from the coliseum wound, Guy was glad to know that the zombie bite wasn't the thing that was hurting him anymore. "Well, remember that infection that me and Claude had? It's gone, for both of us." It was good timing that he'd talked to the man's son right before running into him, since this way he could report good health (more or less) for both of them.

"How've you been holding up?" he asked. He hadn't seen the man in a couple of days, but at least he looked well enough.