DAY 23: BREAKFAST

[norainu]

That hadn't felt like an entire night.

And his goddamn head hurt. Pounded, even. Enough that he wondered if he was going to end up playing another round of "Christen the nurse" this morning.

Maybe it was because he'd spent so much time and energy trying to find Nowe. That could be the reason behind both those problems. Just the thought of it made his stomach turn, made him want to fucking choke something.

Still, there was shit to do. He forced himself out of bed to put away his pens and the other leftovers from the adventures that didn't happen last night. He'd have to try to talk to Sora today, to see if they could just do tonight what they were going to do last night... and to see if the kid was doing alright.

...he just wished his head would stop hurting. That was probably the result of just how badly he'd overreached himself the previous morning.

The nurse that showed up to get him was cheerful. He grunted at her, listening to her with only half an ear until she mentioned all the excitement, about someone pretending to be a patient, all that crap that Landel had mentioned.

Renji gave her a narrow-eyed look. "Dr. Landel is a goddamn lying coward, and he's lying about that, too," he said. Whether it was true or not, there was only so much good cheer he could take on a shitty morning. "I hope he chokes on a cock." No matter how much venom he put in that statement, it wasn't enough.

Then he had to listen to a lecture about language and gratitude for the rest of the walk to the cafeteria, so maybe it wasn't worth it after all. She dragged him through the breakfast line, and he ended up with granola and toast and tea and a cinnamon roll, because not even a shitty fucking night could ruin his sweet tooth. Though that thing was looking a little too sweet.

The cafeteria was pretty much empty; he had his run of the place. He sat himself about as far from the doors as he could get, and proceeded to stare at his breakfast.

Comments

[clone-captain.livejournal.com]

"I didn't actually make it outside my room, a man named Abarai Renji came looking for a friend of his... I attacked him when he entered my room. Eventually we sorted out the misunderstanding, and he gave me one of the metal pipes he used as a weapon. Then we sat around to wait for his group to show up, which they did shortly before morning. There was a girl among them who knew you." Ordo was use to reporting, and it was a good idea for them to share information.

"They don't appear to realize what I am. None of them, so far no one knows that I'm even a clone, they think you and I are twins. Nothing in this place makes much sense. Why do you insist on having people call you 'RC'?"

[clone-boy.livejournal.com]

It sounded like Ordo ran into Claire, then. At least he could confirm the idea that the Earthians didn't quite know about clones or just what part they played in the Republic.

"Why would I give out my name?" Darman said, looking at Ordo with open surprise now. A squad nickname was private, personal, something you gave out to those closest to you. Not just because some random civvie asked. "All they need to know is my designation number. If they want to shorten it to whatever is easiest for them, that's fine."

Darman frowned. There were no official rules on if you gave your name or not out, but he personally didn't believe in bandying it about like it was sweets, much less to a bunch of nonclones. With fellow brothers and Skirata (and the occasional Jedi), it was fine, but a name was one of the things a clone had that was his and his alone.

[clone-captain.livejournal.com]

Ordo couldn't help but be slightly amused at Darman, and he shook his head, he never went by his number. He knew that among the other clones squad names were a private thing, but in this situation, for the Null ARCs it was different, they never went by designation number.

"The designation number makes you more suspicious, there are some strange naming schemes, but this is an entirely human facility. It draws unneeded attention to you, Dar'ika." Ordo took a bite of what was a 'cinnamon bun', and after the briefest moment of considering the taste he finished eating it very quickly, it was strange food, but it was sweet.

"That human female does seem to be rather close to you, RC-1136." He used the number in a teasing manner. "You commandos certainly have a way with the opposite gender." It was more teasing, and Ordo found himself missing Fi, he could almost hear the commando making some comment about the skirts.

Ordo's hand was clenching at his side at the thought that something had happened to Fi.

[clone-boy.livejournal.com]

The only sign of any embarrassment was a slight flush of Darman's cheeks. When the clone looked up from his meal, though, he was composed, and just shrugged. He supposed Ordo had a point, personal preferences aside, but he didn't know the Null-ARC as much as Skirata or Fi would, and so took his words at face value, not quite taking it as open teasing.

When Ordo mentioned the human female, Darman for a second thought of Etain before realizing his brother meant Claire. He supposed they had got a little buddy-buddy over the days, but that was to be expected when you were either fighting for your life or incarcerated with them.

Darman shrugged, poking at the fruit on his plate with a fork. "I guess. She's just another prisoner. And what can I say," Darman looked up, cracking the beginnings of a smile, thinking fondly of Fi and hoping he was out cracking some Sep skulls. "They're attracted to my youthful looks."

The smile faded.

"Later I need to talk to you about something else," the clone commando said, lowering his voice. He felt the compulsion of Order 66, but Ordo was a Null-ARC - maybe he wouldn't. "It's about the Republic..."

[claire-ity.livejournal.com]

Claire had gotten used to abruptly waking back up in her own bed while she was in the middle of doing...whatever. Feeling frustrated and feeling like the night had been wasted, she ignored whatever the nurse was chatting about and tossed whatever looked good on her plate.

Scanning the room, she spotted Renji, but he was already in conversation with a few other people. Another sweep and her eyes caught sight of RC...and his brother (Ordo, right?).

Hoping she wasn't interrupting, she shuffled over to them and sat down. "Morning," she said, deciding not to do individual greetings for fear of mixing the two of them up.

[clone-captain.livejournal.com]

Ordo frowned at Darman when he mentioned something else, about the republic, the way he spoke about it, Ordo doubted it was going to be something good.

But he decided against telling Darman to get it over with when the human female from the previous night walked over.

He nodded politely to her, and started in on a second cinnamon bun.

[clone-boy.livejournal.com]

Darman looked up as Claire sat down. She had that look that he knew well enough; she couldn't tell them apart, though Darman thought he and Ordo didn't look or act very much alike (different scars, different memories), and was glancing from his brother to him like she was seeing two mirror images.

"'Morning," said Darman.

He took another bite of the Earthian's cinnamon pastry, savoring the taste and waiting for Claire to get settled before speaking up again. She looked...good, he supposed. Healthy, still in good physical shape and she hadn't gotten that dull, glass look from shock.

"How was last night?" he asked.

[claire-ity.livejournal.com]

Claire figured out which one was which from their reactions to her - Ordo was the silent one. Well, this wasn't so hard.

"A waste," she told RC, the disappointment clear in her voice. "We didn't get anywhere, and someone disappeared."

Tearing her roll in half, she looked over at Ordo. "Oh, are you okay? Most people seem to avoid trouble in their rooms - it must have just been bad luck last night." Even Sora's group had been attacked in the patient hallways, and that usually seemed a safe place.

[clone-captain.livejournal.com]

"It was a minor problem, Renji and I resolved it quickly, and my chair was replaced. Neither of us sustained injuries." He didn't feel like sharing that he'd attacked Renji, he doubted that the female would quite understand the nature of what had occurred. Let her think they'd both been attacked in his room if she wished, neither of them had come away from it damaged.

Well, Ordo was bruised, and Renji was possibly bruised from when he hit the chair, but there was no need to share that, either.

"What do you think about this place?" It might be useful to get a civilian's perspective, he could get tactical information better from Darman.

[clone-boy.livejournal.com]

Darman had to wonder who disappeared, looking back at what he'd seen on the Earthian's primitive communications board: he only knew that two patients called "Ichigo" and "Nowe" were missing. Probably dead, in his professional opinion, if they weren't back by now. That or shipped off to another prison facility, which really amounted to the same thing: might as well be dead to the prisoners here either way. Unfortunate, but all the clone could think was something along the lines of better them then me.

Biting at his cinnamon roll, Darman was content to let Ordo question Claire. He found himself a bit relieved (only because she was an Earthian, he told himself sternly) she was fine and not "disappeared" like her companions. Taking a sip of his juice, the young clone peered over the rim at the blonde girl and then at his Null-ARC brother.

[claire-ity.livejournal.com]

Claire blinked for a moment, surprised at the question. He was asking her opinion?

"Well, the staff really does keep up the illusion of it being a mental hospital during the day..." Claire fiddled with the roll, not hungry anymore. "It's too neat, you know? And the nurses are too eager to help. They're like the Stepford Wives or something..." Then she blinked and looked up. Ordo probably never heard of that movie, but it didn't matter.

"Night is like some big game to Landel. It's like...it's like he knows we can't escape, but he gets some sick pleasure out of watching us try." She was no longer looking at Ordo, but at the destroyed roll on her plate. It was hard to forget that feeling she'd gotten just by being in the same room as Landel.

Claire sighed and looked back up at him. "In a nutshell, I think this place sucks."