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

[theycutitout.livejournal.com]

Heaven and hell, humans and gods. All subjects River never would've thought of entertaining as possible reality, even in light of the alternate universe theory that was so widely disputed. Fascinating and preposterous all once. A bothersome, inconclusive string of thoughts.

It should've been great fun. It should've been.

"It's not forever. It can't be forever. Gods accept their fate just as people do. Just as girls who've lost their right," she replied quietly. She was being selfish again.

[opposingheaven.livejournal.com]

He reached out to clasp a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. There was obvious concern in his voice when he spoke, the easy smile gone and turned into something more serious. "Who said anything about accepting fate?" he murmured. "You fight it tooth and claw, just like you'd fight this place."

Fight it every way you could until you either won or died, and honestly, in certain situations, dying wasn't the worst case scenario. Sure, they'd been killed, but they at least, from what he'd seen, got to have lives which were a hell of a lot more interesting.

[theycutitout.livejournal.com]

River's sullen expression snapped into one of shock as she felt the other's hand on her shoulder. Sharp and alert once again, she lifted her eyes to look at him, quite obviously confused. She could never understand it. Folk had their way where she came from, and most people just looked out for their own hides and the hides of their own. Even despite his heroic tendencies, the Captain had been a hard shell to crack too. He'd been so wounded by his concern for people he didn't know. People here, they were... overt and kind as though they'd known her for years.

It was so puzzling. So many people. So many heroes. She'd thought Mal and his crew (most of them, anyhow) were extraordinary folk. Everyone here seemed to be the same, if in different ways. It wasn't pattern, human behavior. Then again, this one was a god.

"Does the god have a name?" The words spoken were hesitant, maybe a bit shy as she continued to peer at him quizzically. "She knows, but she'd like to have it offered this once."

[opposingheaven.livejournal.com]

Kenren met her eyes squarely, watching when the cloudiness seemed to melt from her eyes and her expression. He smiled at her reassuringly and pulled away slowly resting his elbows on the table as he'd been told a million times not to do in meetings with senior officers.

His smile widened when she asked his name and he nodded. "Kenren Taisho, at your service." He bowed to her as bets he could while still sitting, as he would to a noblewoman. "And what about you, my Lady Sage?" Because that's what she reminded him of; someone like Goku who knew more about everything than any scholar ever could.

[theycutitout.livejournal.com]

The notion that this had to be somehow worth it was briefly entertained. They'd made an error in putting them all together like this, unless the intent had somehow been there all along. Dangerous little boys and girls. And some of them were ducks.

"River Tam," she replied simply, grinning proudly. "I know lots of people here." More then they'd like her to, now that she thought about it. This one probably would've danced without a wager.

[opposingheaven.livejournal.com]

He grinned back at her just as enthusiastically. "Then's it's an honour, Lady River the Sage. May the Merciful Goddess smile upon you." He leaned in conspiratorially. "Although, between us, the Merciful Goddess has a sense of humour twisted enough to make even a War Prince run for cover."

And the power to back it up, unfortunately. Even the Jade Emperor was wary around the Bosatsu.

"And you seem the type people like to be around. Doesn't surprise me one bit."