Day 23: Lunch

[part1of3.livejournal.com]

The second the intercom sounded, while the man on the intercom was still talking, Ashton pulled himself off the couch in the Music Room and slowly made his way to the door. He walked, glided even, as if he were a ghost in a dream. The nurses had already filed up to escort the patients to the lunchroom, and one bustled over to walk Ashton those few feet from one room to another.

"You're not looking very well, Mr. Pritchett," she said cheerfully. "Didn't you enjoy your shower?"

Ashton replied with a small, forced smile, then shook his head. He didn't feel like talking now. Though the nurses were pushy and downright annoying, he figured he owed this one at least a little explanation. They didn't know - or didn't believe - what went on after dark, but he owed them the benefit of the doubt. "Bad day," he decided on telling her.

Bad day indeed. The showers and the music had done nothing for his nerves. But then again, what could get that graphic image out of his head?

He glided ghostily through the taco line and settled on two chicken and bean tacos, with chips, a scoop of guacamole, two churros on the side, and a glass of apple juice. He wasn't used to this sort of food (save the juice) and he wasn't even sure he'd eat it, but the chances were high that he'd be able to pass it off on someone.

He was on the verge of tears again, too. What he would have given to just sit down next to a barrel and eat a hamburger.

Thank goodness the cafeteria was bare just now, too. It left all the corner tables open, the tables that shouted 'Don't talk to me, I'm brooding over here.' He sat at one, pushed his food a little away from him, and buried his head in his arms.

Comments

[shiki-master.livejournal.com]

Tsuzuki was feeling marginally better when he was lead back to the cafeteria for lunch. Crying and talking with Amaterasu had gotten most of the emotional stress out of him, and the shower had given him a chance to calm down and think. Especially since he'd hidden himself away in the corner, unwilling to talk to anyone else. Not entirely like him, but he needed a little time to sort things out.

And he realized that it had been too soon. He knew Hisoka well enough that the boy didn't like talking about things... He shouldn't have pressured him so soon about something that he knew from experience was painful to talk about. But he was good at meddling like that, wasn't he? And anyway, he had said that if Hisoka needed him, he'd be here. The next step was just being patient, right?

All of this weighed heavily on Tsuzuki as he was lead to the cafeteria, but on the way, the topic of food on the bulletin board caught his eye and cheered him up just a bit, as it was apt to do. Thus, the marginally better mood.

Resolved to give Hisoka some time and space, Tsuzuki piled up as much food as he would be allowed onto his tray, having forgotten to eat breakfast. His heart weeped at the loss of the cinnamon rolls, but two churros made the passing more tolerable. Taking his tray, he set it down at the closest table, not really inclined to sit anywhere else since it was so empty, and began eating.

The one good thing about this place so far: There was plenty of food that he could eat and didn't have to pay for.

[somber-secret.livejournal.com]

The last thing Hisoka needed at this point was a shift change. He was exhausted, emotionally unstable-- though he was adamantly determined not to admit that out loud-- and he was actually getting the opportunity to get some sleep.

Not that the nurse really cared about that, it was time to eat! The shinigami was suddenly glad he was so tired, beheading an obnoxious woman would probably be more than enough motivation for the drug-happy staff to pounce. Then again, being drugged would lead to sleep...

The boy sighed, sending one last glance at Ritsuka, who looked as if he was to meet his own doom in the form of a nurse. He might as well go along for now, but if she touched him one more time... The walk to the cafeteria was a quiet one which Hisoka was thankful for, the music had eased his headache but it still lurked like a bad cough and he needed nothing to draw it out again.

Stepping into the cafeteria, the boy glanced around the room until his eyes landed upon the lone figure of Tsuzuki. And the guilt began to rise once more. Guilt for shooting at him when he had gotten the stupid idea in his head to protect him and guilt for yelling at him when his partner's actions warranted him deserving of no such thing. It wasn't his fault...

The boy shifted awkwardly in place as his nurse disappeared to get a tray of food. He knew he should go apologize... Even if Tsuzuki looked as if he could die twice with all the food piled on his plate, Hisoka knew he had acted like a child and had hurt the other man in the process. Yet, had he not been taught that giving in was weakness? Fighting back the thought Hisoka quietly walked over and seated himself next to his partner, wordlessly staring down at the table as he fidgeted slightly.

He wouldn't say he was sorry, but he could imply it. Or at least he hoped...

[theycutitout.livejournal.com]

After leaving Kadaj to his own devices post therapy session, River had happily allowed herself to be escorted to the cafeteria for lunch. Tacos, from what the intercom had described, sounded like something she might enjoy. There was also the surprisingly interesting task of piecing together a satisfactory concoction based upon pre-prepared ingredients to think of, even if she hadn't much time to master the science of cooking.

The girl breezed through the assembly line, preparing two, soft tacos with chicken and an array of vegetables, sauces, and spice to give it optimum flavor without any of the assortment canceling one another out. With some water, poisoned of course, in hand and some churros, she made her way down the aisles to an empty seat. Among the patients slowly filing in, she was quick to pick up on Ashton in the corner, lamenting an apparent humiliation in front of Dias. Instinct would call her to reach out to him, but there was much to be done before night fell. Schuldig would need to be contacted, one of XIII had wished to speak with her... And, really, she missed her mother. And her father. And her brothers. Simon's disappearance was troublesome, the thought almost making her cry before they raced on, assuring her that he wasn't lost just yet. She would know if such were the case.

Of course, the wielder would be needed. And the other psychic. And a particular assortment of pieces. Then there was Renji. She'd needed to meet him, though she wondered if now was a good time to bestow the curse upon him as well. He couldn't interfere. And her family... They would have to subdued if there were sufficient objections. Perhaps she was overestimating her worth. And perhaps she hoped so. For their sake.

Tray in hand, River took a seat in the center of the empty room, clearly waiting as she observed the effectiveness of her experimental combination.

[clone-boy.livejournal.com]

Darman had no idea what a taco was or why one would waste time making it nice and neat and wrap it up in these little Earthian bread things.

"You...I guess you could eat them separate, Daniel," his female guard said, holding his tray for him and smiling as she led him to a seat. She cast about, searching about the mostly empty cafeteria for a face she was sure he wasn't familiar with. Part of his recovery involved making lots of new friends.

"I just don't see the point of wrapping all this up. It goes in the same place."

The female nurse laughed - not mockingly - and settled on the mousy girl sitting alone at one of the tables in the center of the room. "How about you sit over there? I'll check up on you in a bit."

Darman accepted the tray and trudged over, not glancing behind him. He was starving again (that's what happened when you had an accelerated growth metabolism) and he wasn't too particular who his tablemate was. Sitting down and flicking a glance at her, the clone saw she looked just as human as everyone else, although it was hard to tell what with all that long brown hair.

Darman studied her as he focused on eating, going methodically through everything on the plate despite its taste. She didn't look like a physical threat, seeing as he probably was taller and outweighed her, but that didn't mean squat: he'd be trained to assume that anyone could be a threat, whether they were a man, woman or child - or were hiding under civvie's clothes.

[voiceless-rage.livejournal.com]

The shower had been brief. That was really all Caim needed. His right arm was still marked with bruises and pocks where he'd slammed into the courtyard's shed door the previous night and gotten slivers, and his ribs still felt unusually soft, but that meant nothing to him. He'd cleaned, and he'd been done, and then he'd stood under the hot water with his eyes cloesd for the rest of the time.

It had been almost a reminder of better times ...

And then they took him to lunch. He spent five seconds staring at the food presented to him, thinking What the hell is this?

One of the people nearby refreshing the food tried to explain it to him - something about putting the meat and vegetables in the thin, circular breads and rolling them up, or just putting it in harder breads and eating it that way. It was ridiculous. Caim took his share of the food and found a table, still somewhat unsure of what lay before him.

How were you supposed to ... ?

Eventually, he gave up and used his fork to stab everything together into proper pieces and ate them that way. There was a tinge of humiliation in him at having been frustrated by food, of all things, but it only added to his hatred of this place. Besides, it was just food. He'd had smaller things frustrate him before.

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

Haku was about to introduce himself when the intercom went off. With a sigh, he allowed himself to be collected and listened with half an ear to the nurse telling him that he was 'thin' and 'needed to eat'. After all, he was a growing boy. He tried not to sigh and look as though he agreed with her.

Until he got a look at the food. He didn't know what the man on the intercom had been talking about but had at least expected the food to look remotely familiar. He was disappointed.

Still, he allowed the people serving him to choose food for him and took a glass of water. That, at least, was familiar.... he hoped.

Looking around, he spotted a large, unhappy looking man. Maybe he had a fetish death-wish when it came to making friends, but he walked over anyway and sat down with a warm, slightly tired smile. He didn't like this being hustled from place to place much.

"I hope you don't mind if I sit here?"

[idolism]

He despised intercoms. Simply for the fact they were loud and annoying, but only more so since it allowed the "Head Doctor" to hide behind his updates. Stupid little man. Aidou was weak, but human staff members wouldn't be a challenge to bypass, even if they managed to sedate him with everything they had in this stupid place. Unless things were specifically created to affect vampires, they rarely had any effect. Vampire physiology was vampire physiology, after all. It was what came after that that made Aidou hesitate. The man and his companions had power, power enough to bring him here, power enough to keep him. It was the only thing that tamed his impulsiveness.

The words 'new patients' caught his attention during his slow return to wakefulness, however. More "patients"? How often were these people bringing in new numbers? It was astonishing no one had gotten out yet, or at least done something more productive.

Aidou trudged to the cafeteria, expression turned blank while he thought. He spoke only to the staff, greeting them as a polite human boy would. He hated the cafeteria too. Blood. The smell was everywhere, bothering him.

With a mountain of food twice the size of the one he'd had at breakfast, Aidou secluded himself, eye lids drooping in drowsiness. To distract himself, there was always writing in his journal.

[killing-suzie.livejournal.com]

Jack was more than happy to let the nurse guide him through the lunch line. He even flirted with her as he was getting his tacos together.

Then he had to decide where to sit. It was tempting to bother Lyta some more, just because he wanted to know what her big problem was. He was curious. But then he spotted the young man from the showers, which brought up other questions...

He sat himself down across from him. "Your stalker is certainly an odd fellow," he said, conversationally.

[reunion.livejournal.com]

Kadaj was oddly subdued as he made his way to the cafeteria, still disturbed by his conversation with River and not really given much of a choice but to think about it. No matter how many times he tried turning it over in his head, though, he couldn't decipher the meaning of her last words to him, so he eventually gave up.

If this entire day continued the way that it had been these past two shifts, he would be sorely tempted to lock himself in his room this nightshift and sulk. It was either that or go hunting for metal with Sephiroth again, and as much as the man had been pissing him off lately, he'd likely end up trying to kill him before the night was through. He'd never succeed and he'd probably never make a completely sincere attempt to do so (Mother would be so angry at him), but it was just so tempting.

He ended up getting two tacos with pretty much everything when he finally arrived, as well as chips with that... guaco-whatever the Head Doctor had said and salsa. Pretty much the only thing he was sure about were the churros, and that was only because of the fact that the Head Doctor had said they had sugar. The juice he'd picked out for himself was also much less mysterious (apple) that the tacos, but at least the other strange foods distracted him from what had gone on earlier.

Finding himself a nice secluded seat, he stared at the chips and tacos on his plate for a little while before picking up and starting to eat a churro instead. He'd get to the rest of the food later, really.

[seiran314.livejournal.com]

As expected, the shower had been eventful experience; luckily Aya had been able to avoid the entire ruckus. He had gotten in and out as fast as he could and without any unwanted attention. Damp hair brushed and neatly tucked behind his ears, fresh pair of gray uniform on, he was ready for yet another stroll around the madhouse.

Granted, Landel's made an effort not to bore the patients to death with food, Aya still felt weary about today's menu. He had nothing against the taste, even if he would prefer something with subtler flavor, but it was bothersome. Any diet was just as good as long as he could cut it into bite size pieces to shove down his throat without further fretting over it. This was just too much trouble.

Sighing, he gathered a plate with just barely enough food on it to please the nurse who was giving him a disapproving glance or few for his lack of enthusiasm considering any kind of nutrition. Then glanced around the cafeteria, he might as well make a use of these moments and try to act like he didn't belong in here.

After spotting someone sitting alone, he made his way across the cafeteria to the table and stopped beside the chair opposite to the young man. "Hello." He did not like meaningless chitchat but might as well try to get to know some of the other patients - supposedly they were on the same side here anyhow. "May I?" He nodded towards the chair politely.

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

The intercom alerted him to the coming shift change and he quickly brushed away any signs of his depression just as Hisoka was whisked away and his own nurse approached. Suddenly remembering his journal, he ran over to get it from where he'd left it on the chair just as the nurse reached him. She beamed at him as he put the CD player away and, noticing the choice of music, began chattering on about how he should have been listening to pop music instead of boring old classical. "Pop is so much better for little boys! You can talk to all your friends about it, wouldn't that be fun?"

Ritsuka only smiled and nodded, trying hard not to roll his eyes at her saccharine tone. It was sickening really.

Lunch meant the annoying woman was determined to make sure he ate even if the food looked positively disgusting to him. She piled his plate up yet again and handed him his tray, ushering him off toward the tables with a cheery, "Enjoy!" before disappearing again. At least the place wasn't crowded yet. Ritsuka noticed Hisoka talking to someone else, so he moved to a table by himself. He'd never eaten anything called a burrito or a taco before and he didn't want anyone watching him make a fool of himself trying to figure it out.

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

Miku had left the showers in better spirits than when she'd entered them. Matsumoto-san was certainly nice, and the fact that she was now very clean made her exceedingly chipper.

The lunch announcement wasn't so bad either - she hadn't made a taco or a burrito for Rei in some time, so, when she was handed a plate and and a tortilla she carefully chose some beef, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, rice and a little bit of the refried beans (Mexican food was sometimes a little much for her Japanese stomach) and went to find a place to sit down. There was a little dark-haired boy battling the forces of Mexican food! minding his own business at a nearby table. Miku figured that as confused as he looked, he might use a little quiet example.

She sat down across from him and smiled. "Is it alright if I sit here?"

[1imited-edition.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately for Ashton, running into Amaterasu in the showers had put comforting the disheartened at the forefront of Rein's mind. As soon as her burritos were constructed (this guacamole had an intriguing look to it!) she made a beeline for the collapsed young man, taking a seat next to him.

But how to proceed? Amaterasu just always seemed to know what to say. That kind of intuition wasn't hers yet...

"Having a hard day?" She peered at the buried face. She'd just ask what she thought to be true; neither assume to much nor step too lightly. He'd seemed fine where her memory stopped last night...

[part1of3.livejournal.com]

Ashton looked up, eyes swollen from tears, gaze alighting on the woman in front of him. He'd seen her before. He'd passed his flashlight over her face in the dark of the kitchen.. he'd heard that strange voice speak to the woman who might have healed Dias if she had just had the time.

If only he could heal Dias. He was no healer, though - emotionally or physically. All he knew how to do was fight, in any sense of the word he could think of. Right now, though, he didn't feel like fighting.. he just felt like laying there.

He nodded slightly to Reinforce, speaking hoarsely, congestedly. "I guess you could say that." What else could he say?

[tartaros-avatar.livejournal.com]

The head doctor was growing increasingly annoying. The bit about 'a slew of new patients' was supposed to be noticed, of course. Smug bastard.

The nurse really wasn't helping his mood any. He responded to her empty questions with equally empty answers, trying his best to stay polite. He would rather let the staff think he was cooperative until he had a good excuse to appear otherwise.

He didn't care for the taco idea, really. He just let the nurse ('that blasted thing', his brain now labeled her) select whatever food she thought was nutritious for him and escaped the cheerful menace situated himself at an empty table. The reporter wasn't there yet. Recluse watched the door, waiting.

[ontheabyss.livejournal.com]

That shower had been bliss. And she'd been left completely alone. Finally she was able to just have some time to herself. And her shields had worked well enough to keep background noise to a minimum. Real hot water and mental privacy. What could have been better?

More meat at lunch. Hot showers, meat... it was almost worth the insanity. Almost. Lyta piled her tray as high as she could manage before taking a seat. She felt the girl, but left her alone. If River wanted to talk, she could come to her. Lyta had meant what she said that she wasn't going to push herself on the girl. She wanted to help her, not push her.

For the time being, Lyta Alexander was in a good mood. She kind of liked that guy she'd met at breakfast - Mitchell, had been his name - and she had a deal to offer Envy when she saw him next. She was clean and relaxed, she had real meat, and she had pills and syringes to use and trade with. Between all that, she figured she could keep away from the Psi-cop.

All in all, things weren't looking that bad.

For once, the redhead actually looked approachable.

[prisonerofdeath.livejournal.com]

Fox had yet to have any real interaction with any of the female patients, he'd spoken with Claire, but she had been strange...

He found himself wandering over t a red-headed, pleasant looking woman after loading his tray up with tacos that had more than their fair share of meat on them.

Fox offered the woman a polite nod as he sat down close to her, but not so much that he violated personal space. He had considered for a moment going over to see River, the talk on the bulletin board had him concerned, but she appeared to be chatting with one of the other male patients, the one with the strange letter-number combination for his name.

"Hello." He was in a much better mood than he had been the past couple days, and while he was never particularly expressive concerning his mood, he did seem to be more open than usual.

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

The shower was a little awkward, and he didn't make it much better with the random conversation he had with the random patient within the showers. The point was to receive information, not give a pep talk. Yet he did, while at the same time trying to convince himself of the words he was saying to ease the mans' anxiety. It seemed to merely annoy him.

Barret constructed his tacos mostly of meat, craving the protein it provided. His expression was set fierce and firm as he concentrated silently on his future endeavor. He planned to leave this place--he planned to leave it tonight no matter what it took, or how many bodies he planned to climb over to reach the outdoors.

He took a seat alone and began to munch on his food. He seemed somewhat distant and not too intent on focusing on his surroundings.

[somekinda-lady.livejournal.com]

Tifa felt a bit better with the support of Inara and Kaylee, but just couldn't shake the numb feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. Making her taco so there was just about an equal protion of everything she wanted, Tifa took a seat next to her friend. She recognized the expression on his face.

"Want to let me in on whatever you're cooking up?"

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

A shower had done wonders, and Hughes was looking forward to some lunch. Ed and Alfons had seemed to patch things up at breakfast, and he figured they'd do fine. And now that he was informed that Ed's boyfriend wasn't a hooker, he was feeling better about Ed's situation in general.

The food was completely unfamiliar, but it looked good and filling. And with a big night ahead of them tonight, he wanted to be well prepared.

Filling his tray with soft bread circles stuffed with whatever smelled good, he sat down and pulled out his journal, making a few notes as he started in on his lunch.

[norainu]

Renji really wasn't sure about this whole... burrito thing. The nurse dragged him through the lunch line and (humiliatingly enough) made one for him when he appeared to have no idea what any of the food was. He managed to escape her to get his own drink (water) and headed over to the first seat he spotted that afforded a view of the door. He needed to talk to Sora at some point, to let him know he wouldn't be able to do any exploring tonight, and to make sure the kid would be okay, among other things.

His hair was still down from the shower - he didn't want to tie it up until it was dry - and sported quite a few tiny braids courtesy of Kairi and Claire. He wanted to take them out, but at the same time he didn't have the heart to. The girls had been having so much fun.

He ended up sitting next to a man he vaguely recognized but didn't know. What little spirit he could sense was calming, which was good, since he was still in a terrible mood.

He stared suspisciously at his burrito and tried to determine how best to begin eating it. It was like a giant eggroll gone horribly wrong.

[0bnoxious.livejournal.com]

Albel was glad to got that over with, even despite a certain blond maggot (which, for a change, wasn't Cliff) that bothered him.

His stomach instantly decided to grumble for missing breakfast. Filling his tray with some more food than usual, he sat down at one of the tables.

His 'taco' provided enough distraction for the moment, as he hadn't seen food like that before. How was he supposed to eat that thing?

[look-bunnies.livejournal.com]

Well, at least his shower had been private enough, but why did the nurses insist upon staying so close? They were like flies that swarmed the carcass when they sensed it about to die, insisting upon walking with him everywhere and watching him dress, and Raistlin had no intention of dying anytime soon.

After all, that's why there were other people, in his mind...every powerful mage who found himself without his magic needed a shield, even if none were as large and broad as Caramon had been.

Raistlin didn't by-pass the food line this time, though he didn't make a 'taco' or a 'burrito', whatever in the Abyss they were, and only picked up a little bit of lettuce, a few tomatoes and a glass of water before heading to take the first available seat he found, which happened to be just a couple of seats down and across the table from someone whose gender he was unable to determine. Wonderful.

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

Rangiku left the showers feeling much refreshed, her good mood bolstered by the promise of food. She didn't recognise the names of the food that the intercom said, and she didn't recognise much of it, beyon the basic meat and vegetables, but it was food. She stuffed one of the 'taco' things with chicken and vegetables and poked poked curiously at one of the 'churros' before taking a couple and settling down in the middle of a table in the middle of the room and tucking in.

She managed to get a good portion of it over her fingers with the first bite, the taco thing collapsing on her, but she didn't let that deter her!

It wasn't too bad. Not what she'd have chosen to eat, but still good enough. Satisfied that the food was edible, she looked up, trying to spot any familiar faces. Renji was over at another table, talking to a man she'd seen around the place and... wait, were those braids in Renji's hair? She couldn't help but snicker slightly at that, covering her mouth with one hand to stifle the sound.

[haiiro-no-chou.livejournal.com]

Rukia hadn't even had a chance to tease Renji when the intercom crackled to life and everyone got ushered to the cafeteria. Hadn't they just eaten? She wasn't even hungry, but a nurse made her take some food. Rukia had seen this kind of food in the living world, but had never tried it. It smelled strong, though, and not very appetizing. Still, she filled one of the bread things with vegetables and some meat, gingerly added a 'churro' to her plate, then turned away from the buffet to take a look around the room.

She saw Renji - still sporting those braids, it seemed - but he was talking to someone else. She wanted to go sit with him, but thought it might be better if she left him alone for a little while. She sighed, then spotted Vice Captain Matsumoto sitting by herself. Ichimaru was nowhere in sight, and Rukia felt a little irritated at Rangiku for having spent so much time with the traitor during breakfast. Still, she figured it was better to ask the woman her reasons before getting too upset.

She approached Rangiku somewhat hesitantly. "Excuse me, may I sit with you?"

[screwthegods]

Homura could not yet decide if he was satisfied with what had happened in the shower or not, largely because he had yet to decide if it was a positive step towards achieving his goals. Before it hardly mattered; those who wished to follow him had, with loyalty enough to die for his cause. And even if no one had, Homura had been the Toushin Taishi, the single god sent down to risk his life for Heaven, who fought alone in each battle...who relied only on his own strength.

But in this place, he no longer had that strength, nor even the power to coerce weaker wills to his side through the temptation of immortality (though admittedly, it was never a method Homura preferred to use). And while his arrogance was seemingly untouched, while he still toyed with others without care of the gaps it forced between them, in these quiet moments of solitude, Homura couldn't help questioning his own actions.

Because part of him didn't want to push Konzen--or rather, Sanzo--and the others away.

"Such doubt." Only when the nurse escorting him to the cafeteria turned to look at him did Homura realize he had spoken aloud, and claimed his words to be nothing. Doubt could kill a warrior as quickly as any blade, and Homura would not expose such a weakness to the enemy.

Or even to those in the same position as himself; Homura once again got a variety of the strange food, though not constructed as a taco should be, and instead arranged small piles on his plate. He then sat down by himself, something he had not done since his arrival at Landel's, but was quite used to, thanks to his childhood in Heaven.

[coolegoist.livejournal.com]

Kyouya searched for a familiar face as he moved through the cafeteria line for his food, surprised (and bothered) to find no sign of the host club. He knew they were around though, and so somewhat impulsively made his way to the man he'd met last night. No injuries, not as far as he could tell. Good.

"Good afternoon, Homura-san," he greeted, setting down his tray nearby but not so close as to be imposing. "I'm glad that you're... well."

The food was hardly to his taste, but Kyouya wasn't feeling so rebellious that he wanted to start skipping meals. He tried a chip in salsa, all the while keeping his gaze on Homura.

[red-dragon-mode.livejournal.com]

Junior was still a bit upset over the news MOMO had given him, but he was determined not to let it show. He wanted a chance to mourn the Durandal's crew, but being here wasn't the right time or place for it. Survival took precedence.

He hadn't paid it much mind when he first heard it from the intercom, but as he walked into the cafeteria, Junior's mind was dwelling on the 'slew of new patients' comment. Again? God, was enough never really enough? They just had to screw with even more lives before they decided their fun was over.

He went through the lunch line quickly and ended up making a chicken burrito with all the extras and grabbing a 'churro' (or what he assumed to be the churros that the doctor mentioned) and a glass of juice before going to take a seat, looking around for MOMO or Renamon since Ashton was talking with someone already. Now that he thought about another part of the announcement, his hair was starting to get a bit long...it'd probably be good to get it trimmed in a bit.

[divineglutton.livejournal.com]

Food!

Food, oh food! Okami Amaterasu, despite her stomach ache in the shower, shoved all of that aside as she grabbed another heaping helping of food- it was spicy and with meat and flour, but she didn't much care about how it looked- and darting over to a table so she could bolt it down in peace. She'd learn to control herself, and she swore to only get one serving of seconds, but as soon as it was in her mouth the goddess was in heaven.

Metaphorically speaking, of course. But it really was good.

[pimp-plan.livejournal.com]

Communal showers weren't ideal, but at least he was clean. Zelos wasn't really sure how to contruct a taco, but he grabbed whatever looked good and chose the perfect spot - right next to the hottie from last night. She looked a lot better than how he'd seen her last, and she was eating. Good signs.

He took the seat across from her, watching her eat with an amused look on his face.

"So I take it the food's pretty good, huh?"

[lost-metal.livejournal.com]

Ed would admit to a certain amount of relief when the Nurse came to lead him to lunch before whichever twin it was started to tease. Ed had never liked teasing. He'd become too used to it in Risembool because his father had left and his mother wasn't married. And the short jokes. He'd much rather just hit people for something rather than throwing nasty words at them.

At least there was food. He Wasn't entirely sure what kind of food, but there was meat at least. He let the nurse pick out what to give him when he stared too long at it, trying to figure out exactly what it was.

Hughes was there already, talking with the guy from Breakfast. Renji, right? And Fox was chatting with a woman. No-one else he knew yet then. He carried his tray over to one side of the cafeteria. He hoped Al would show up. He was starting to get worried.

[a_sin_for_him]

Showering? Had not been pleasant. Nor had been the humiliation of being helped to clean herself and then trussed into bandages by those damned nurses. Her wounds stung, her muscles ached, her ribs hurt and the mark on her face seemed even more livid after being washed.

She wheeled herself into the dining hall with a scowl on her face, and waited while a nurse set a tray full of food on her lap. Glaring, she wheeled herself to where Ed was sitting, and didn't even bother with pleasant talk.

"If you happen to see Envy," she said, her words laced with deadly venom. "Kill him with my blessing."

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

Sasuke had blinked awake to find that Landel was announcing lunch. He blinked again, remembered flickering briefly awake when the intercom had first announced the arrival of morning and snapping at the nurse when she'd come in to lead him out. And then, a lazy habit from Sound and its emptier stretches of time, he'd gone back to sleep.

He sat up and cursed when his back shifted against something sharp, and then remembered his shirtful of kitchen utensils.

So the nurse had either not seen it, or chosen to ignore it. Either way boded ill. A glance over proved that the nurse had probably been put off enough by his snarl to leave without waking Alphonse.

The food in the cafeteria made him curl his lip, but he attempted to gather as much healthy food as possible onto his tray before heading towards a relatively empty stretch of table. There were a few people he considered speaking with, but he'd eat first.

With an expression of determination, Sasuke set his stomach and started on the 'taco' that Landel had described.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Taco. What the fuck was a taco? Takaya glared at the food, if you could actually call it that, and took only the few things that looked familiar. Chicken, rice, though it wasn't rice he thought he'd like, and some of the veggies. And water. Couldn't forget that.

Looking around, the teen didn't really see anyone he wanted to sit with right now. Well, he spotted Obiwan and that guy who'd felt like him, but they were talking and he didn't want to get involved in that.

So instead, he moved to a fairly empty table and nodded at the kid sitting there in a greeting before sitting down and starting in on his meal.

Ew.

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

Lunchtime at Landels was almost exciting, Naminé thought, as she saw the food being served. It was usually something new that she hadn't heard of (then again, Naminé's diet before Landels consisted of Sea salt ice cream and Kentucky Fried Nomura, so most things were new to her), and Naminé actually had a little fun making her own burrito. Er, taco.

Naminé wondered where the recipies for these meals came from. Were they native to this world, or were they also taken from other worlds? Some of the patients recognized or requested foods she never heard of, but Naminé knew she was largely ignorant of the cuisine of the universe. Still, it was something she could ponder about.

The witch sat down at a nearby table that was deserted for the moment, seeing no one else she could sit with. It was alright, she hoped that someone she knew (or maybe even someone she didn't know) would come sit with her.

[twelveapathy.livejournal.com]

She was in a good mood, partly because of the shower, but there was also another reason for it.

Larxene hurried to the cafeteria, and once there, took a couple of minutes to look around. As expected, Luxord was absent, and so were the rest of the Nobodies. Sora hadn't arrived either, the same went for the traitor, and the witch’s “other”. Good, she'd finally have the opportunity to speak to her.

Ignoring the food entirely, she made a beeline for Naminé's table, and sat across from her shortly after arriving.

“You and I have some things to talk about, witch.”

[afraidnot.livejournal.com]

Being able to meditate had managed to set her at ease, if only slightly. Now all she needed to do was find a way to block out the Head Doctor's increassingly annoying announcements, and she'd be set.

Though she didn't particularly hate mexican food, Raven's appetite wasn't enough to make her want to take part in "Make-your-own-burrito-or-taco" time. Instead, she ended up taking some chips with sour cream, a churro, and some orange juice. It would be enough to tide her over until dinner, really. With no nurses to pick a table for her, she then made her way to an empty one and sat down.

Sighing a bit, she took a chip, dipped it in the cream and ate half-heartedly ate it.

[championofright.livejournal.com]

While Darkwing was eager to have that interview with Eddie Brock, by the time he made it to the cafeteria Stefan had already approached the reporter. He could have joined them, but he doubted the man could interview two people at once.

Another time, then. He wasn't the patient sort, but Stefan had beaten him to it, fair and square. Which meant...

Well, first he was going to get food. Darkwing didn't really have a preference when it came to this sort of cuisine, so he got a little bit of everything. Once that was taken care of, he had to figure out where he wanted to sit.

He had only met a few people so far, and he didn't see any of them around. When his eyes fell on a younger girl sitting on her own, however, he felt compelled to sit with her. It was because he missed Gosalyn, and while there was obviously no resemblance and a good chance this girl would act nothing like his daughter (Gosalyn was not a normal girl by any means), it was as good a place as any to sit.

Setting his tray down, he managed a small smile. "Hey."

[no-side-effects.livejournal.com]

It was good to have his sunglasses back on, so no one could see his eyes. The meeting with captain Jack had been.. unsettling. The man clearly knew too much to merely be a pilot, he HAD to be higher up in the HCF... not that anyone would guess from his personality.

Still, it was better to find out quickly about anyone else arriving from his world.

The shower had been nice, refreshing. Also very informative. Wesker put plenty of tacos on his plate before going to sit down by himself, adjusting his sunglasses before taking a bite out of his taco.

[claire-ity.livejournal.com]

Tacos? Well, it was something normal. And Claire liked spicy food every once in a while (and churros were really good, too). She scanned the cafeteria for a familiar face and stopped on Wesker. Hadn't she just been talking with Kairi about being adopted? She always wondered what her birth parents would be like...if they had the same ability as her.

Feeling a little nervous, she took the seat across from him. "Hi. How've you been?"

Would you happen to be my true father? Okay, not yet. But she had to know...

[offduty.livejournal.com]

Great. Now he probably looked like he'd just been given a giant hickey or something. Reno hadn't taken a look at the damage, but he could sure as hell feel it.

His hair hadn't dried yet, but he swept it back in its usual ponytail, anyway. He didn't really care that it exposed the ring of bruises. As long as Rufus didn’t come over and notice - though the man would find out sooner or later. He doubted the President would be happy to discover that Reno had somehow tangled with Sephiroth within less than an hour.

It still hurt to swallow, and so the only thing he bothered taking was a glass of water. He sat down at an empty table, mind turning over what Sephiroth had said. His eyes occasionally skimmed for Elena, but again – no luck.

Damn.

[beforehertime.livejournal.com]

Reno didn't have to wait for long. Elena stared dubiously at her food on the way to the table, but it smelled all right, and she distinctly remembered something very similar to whatever this "churro" was from a childhood trip to Costa del Sol. Plus the rice didn't look TOO bad. The goopy green stuff was a little unsettling, though. The cafeteria worker had been given instructions to put that in a separate container, well away from the rest of the food.

Plunking her stuff down, the girl eyed her friend's neck with obvious amusement.

"Looks like somebody had fun in the showers."

[clockworkblond.livejournal.com]

Ah... lunch time. Alfons wasn't feeling too hungry after his nap in the Sun Room, but he knew it would be important to keep his strength up as best as he could. He'd also need to arrange something with Vergil and with Fox as well, and perhaps with Miku... but for now, food.

In all honesty, Alfons felt like he was starting to get into the swing of the Landel's experience. The first night had been rough, he was told, but he was starting to make himself useful, or at least as useful as possible. Perhaps that was why his blue eyes were sparkling and he smiled as he ate the strange food set before him; he was feeling useful. That made him feel ten times better than he had been.

[nero-yamato.livejournal.com]

The sudden contrast between the nice warm shower Vergil had been enjoying versus the shit food Vergil had now had placed before him was an interesting one, to say the least. He never had enjoyed Mexican to any extent back home. Though, upon holding a careful council with is stomach, Vergil decided he'd just have to plug his nose and force it down. He had skipped breakfast, and with what went on in this place, he couldn't be sure when he'd need the nutrients.


He looked about the tables for a nice, empty place to sit, when he saw Alfons sitting alone, and decided to set himself up across the table from him.

"Good afternoon." Vergil said courteously as he set his tray up and started eating. He wasn't good with stuff like table talk, so he decided to try and start with a simple "How're things?"

[theheirshinra.livejournal.com]

Reno got lucky in that Rufus didn't come over, not yet anyways. He saw the Turk with Elena and merely nodded to the pair of them, figuring they needed time to catch up. A loner by nature, Rufus wasn't about to go interrupt the two of them.

Settling down in a seat off to himself with his own tray, Rufus picked idly at the food versus ate much of it. Breakfast hadn't been terrible, but the showering had left him without much of a desire to eat anything. That had been utterly embarrassing. Just the idea made his skin crawl.

At least it couldn't be worse than that, right? At least not until Nightshift.

[141point12.livejournal.com]

With the surprisingly painless ordeal of the showers over, Otacon found himself rather chipper as he headed in for lunch. Coffee still wasn't on the menu, but the shower had been enough for refreshment, and he had to acknowledge that the food could be much, much worse in this place.

The conversation at breakfast, while strange and intense in several ways, cheered him now. Whatever this place and time was — his nightmares come to life, the cruel second chance for E.E. — he was confident that they'd all find their way past it.

"That looks inconvenient," remarked Otacon, nodding at Rufus' injuries as he took a seat at the table. He'd learned not to raise eyebrows at all the bandaged patients here, not that bruises and burns and gunshot wounds phased him much anymore. Still, the blond man looked like he'd seen more than his fair share of action at Landel's.

[deathinvitation.livejournal.com]

Post-showering, Sephiroth didn't seek out the remnants of himself, feeling them around instead of needing to find them. He had other things on his mind. Taking a seat, he examined the large bruise on his leg that was roughly the size of Dean's foot. This was something new, something Sephiroth wasn't pleased with in the least. These humans had hurt him.

Kadaj had said that this place made them all weaker, hadn't he? Perhaps that was true. It was an unsettling idea at best. This put things in a new perspective. It meant that going into things knowing he was superior might not always be true. He was, of course, but this place might affect him and even that out.

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

Gin felt a little better at least, now that he was clean. He'd left the bandages off, the only glaring wound the bite Abarai had taken out of his neck the other day and even that was turning from a scab into pink scar tissue.

He was hurried through the lunch line, confused by the offerings. Were they all to be mixed together? It seemed kind of odd. He set a variety on his plate, determined to at least stave off the hunger for a while. He wasn't sure what to make of the sugary fried sticks they offered him, but took one anyway. Ran would probably want it, if nothing else.

He scanned the area for a tablemate. Rangiku was talking to the one person he'd been 'banned' from speaking to. Jack was off talking to Aidou, of all people, though he seemed to be doing an excellent job of irritating the young boy. Someone had to, afterall. Which, of the people he'd met, left Abarai, who was engaged in conversation with a middle aged gentleman in glasses. Clean cut type, likely someone who shared Abarai's impeccable moral standards. He hadn't received a glare yet, so it that table did have potential, but after his earlier conversation, he wanted a little more time to clear his head before talking to the vice-captain again.

Which left him with a few options. Go find a group or go find a single. The seats were filling up and rather than let someone come to him, he might as well start getting a better feel for the place. A man near him caught his attention, with the same silver hair he had. He'd almost have mistaken the man for Captain Ukitake, were it not for his... much healthier glow. He wasn't coughing up blood or looking like he was about to pass out either.

Gin set his tray down across from the man, sitting kiddy-corner so he wasn't too close just yet. It was still completely possible that some of the people here were in fact, insane. He gave a little wave as he sat.

"Aft'noon. Mind if I keep y'company?" He picked up his fork, "Ara, how rude of me. Forgot t'introduce m'self. Ichimaru Gin."