damned_institute | Day 23: Lunch

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Day 23: Lunch

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.

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Lyta glanced up, her mouth full of meat and beans. She looked over the guy who was sitting across from her, and nodded. He wasn't hitting on her, that was a plus. And she wasn't picking anything particularly warning or alarm triggering off of him.

She swallowed her bite and washed it down with some juice before answering.

"Hi," she said. "As long as you don't try and cheesy pick up lines on me, we'll be fine. I've had more than enough of that already today."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about get any cheesy pick up lines from me," Fox was in a good mood, so his sense of humor was a bit more active than usual, "I use only the very best pick up lines, so, would you prefer 'You must be an excellent thief, because you've already stolen my heart' or 'Do you believe in love at first sight? Or do I need to walk by again'." His tone of voice was perfectly serious, but he was grinning broadly as he spoke, unable to keep from the slight, friendly teasing.

"Well, pick up lines aside, I'm Gray Fox." He started on one of his tacos after he finished speaking. It really wasn't such bad food, even if it wasn't stuff he would go out of his way to eat normally.

"Oh, you're funny." Lyta shook her head and chuckled some. He wasn't annoying, and as long as he wasn't serious, she didn't care. "But if those are your best pick-up lines, you need to work on some new ones. I've heard better pick up lines from fourteen year olds." Her own voice and expression were light and teasing, as well.

She picked up her taco and took another bite, eyes rolling back as she savored having actual, real food. That, she could get used to.

"I'm Lyta," she said, wiping at her mouth with her napkin. "Lyta Alexander."

"Fourteen year olds," That was mildly insulting, not that Fox ever used pick-up lines, anyway, "Maybe I should quit while I'm ahead, then."

At least he'd made her laugh though, so he did feel slightly accomplished in that respect.

He brought a hand up to scratch at the bandage on his face, it was itching, and then adjust the bandanna. The showers had been nice, but he hadn't had time to get his hair entirely dry before the shift change, and the bandanna was getting soaked.

"Nice to meet you, Lyta." When in doubt on what to say, resort to manners.

"You're definitely ahead, I'll give you that." Lyta grinned. "You're the first guy I've talked to that hasn't tried picking me up. Why that would be a concern here, I don't know. We're all trapped in some psycho-hospital fearing for our lives, but I guess there's always time to try and get into a girl's panties." She rolled her eyes.

More and more people were filing into the dining room. The background noise was getting louder, and Lyta had to shake her head to try and clear it. She could only keep it out for so long.

"Sorry," she muttered, blinking her eyes as though she had a headache. "It's getting noisy in here."

"Love can blossom, even on a battlefield." This was far from a battlefield, though, but the sentiment remained the same.

Something seemed to be bothering Lyta, but he didn't want to ask, and when she volunteered that the noise was bothering her, he just nodded slightly.

"Yeah... I don't like crowds much either." It wasn't that he didn't like all the people around, though that was part of it...

'A single man with a machine gun can turn a friendly gathering into a massacre,'

He knew what could be done to large groups of people, the panic and destruction and death. Fox shook his head slightly, as if to help clear those thoughts away. It was bad enough that he was stuck in a facility that experimented on people, he didn't need to go borrowing nightmares.

"Well, I'm not looking for love," Lyta said. "Or even to get laid, at least not with some random guy from some other dimension." No, she had her standards. And the guys she'd met? Not exactly her types. Alright, so maybe they were, since she seemed to have some weird draw for dorky, womanizing guys who thought they were cute, but still. Even if it could help her boost her powers, she wasn't that desperate.

Yet.

"It's..." She waved her hand, getting the noise under control. "Uh, it's noise inside my head, actually," she explained, knowing how insane that sounded. "And no, I'm not crazy, I'm a telepath."

Fox grinned slightly when she said that she wasn't crazy, "I met a telepath before coming here, but he really was crazy. Called himself Psycho Mantis. So you have a high standard to meet before I'm willing to call you insane."

But on to serious business... there probably weren't too many telepaths around Landels.

"Were you putting stuff up on the bulletin board earlier? In response to what River said? I was talking with a telepath there about getting some of my memories back..." Hopefully this was the telepath he'd been speaking with.

"I like to think I'm pretty sane." Lyta knew there were plenty who'd disagree with her. She'd been called man before, ever since she scanned Kosh. But she wasn't, she just... wasn't exactly normal. But that didn't mean she was cray.

"That was you?" Lyta's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah, you were talking to me. So you're the missing memories guy..." She eyed him over more critically this time. She didn't touch his mind - they were working out a deal, she wouldn't do that without permission - but she still wanted to take stock of him.

"I think we can work something out."

Fox noticed the increased study, and didn't particularly mind. He was quite accustomed to being sized up, and often did the same to others.

"What would you be interested in receiving in return for helping me? I don't have any sort of items to trade..." He considered everything for a moment, there was the possibility of a two-way radio, but he wasn't sure if that was going to even work yet.

Or he could offer his services as a mercenary. "I plan on making a trip upstairs to get some supplies tonight, hopefully, after I meet up with a friend. I know where the pharmacy is, and there were some potentially useful items in the janitors closet," But how to touch on that subject of offering his services as a fighter.

"Or you could have my services as a body-guard, if that seems like a better deal."

"I hit the pharmacy last night," Lyta said, nodding. "Not the closet though. But I really don't care much about supplies." It wasn't like she could use them. The last offer...

"A bodyguard, I need. I fight with this." She tapped her temple. "Not my hands. And I'm too weak to use my powers the way I should. I know I'm not some stick thin little twit, but I don't have any training with fighting. I can shoot a gun, that's it. You lend me your muscle, I'll go rooting around in your brain for you."

So she needed a body-guard, good. He could actually protect people, despite the fact that he was a much more effective fighter when he didn't need to worry about that.

Now that he had a sword, it would be easier to defend himself and someone else without getting hurt.

"Alright... tonight, I need to repay someone for the sword that I got last night. Then I plan on meeting up with a friend to give him something I got last night that he can put to better use, he's going to make two-way radios so we can keep in touch. You can either meet up with us along the way or I'll head over to the F-hall after, and then I'm all yours." Fox grinned slightly, before a thought occurred to him.

"Oh... I don't mean to insult your skill or anything, but please try to be careful while you're looking for my memories. My mind is," he didn't want to admit it, but he had to, "Somewhat damaged."

"I'm used to damaged minds." Kosh, the Shadows, the telepaths that had been linked to the Shadows, Garibaldi... when was the last time she had been in a mind that was whole? Zack, probably. And she'd never really been in his mind, she'd just... touched it a little. He'd drawn her in, with his feelings. How could she not?

No, damaged minds weren't a problem.

"Uh... yeah, I guess you could just come to my room after you're done. If you're not going to the Courtyard, I don't care. That's where I want to get to. I'll just deal drugs out of my room until you show up."

That sounded good to her. She had plenty of pills, and people wanted pills.

"Alright. I'll go out to the courtyard with you after I'm finished with everyone else, we should have plenty of time... what do you want to get done out in the courtyard?" It would be a good thing to know so he could think about that.

"And also... when's a good time to go poking around my mind?" He wanted to remember how he'd met Big Boss, those early years. Fox had met Roy during that time too, he was sure. People that he remembered knowing and he couldn't remember how he'd met them, and probably people who had died in that time that he didn't remember at all.

[From] (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/90002.html?thread=5410962#t5410962)

Envy didn't care much for the way the nurse had stared at him as if he was completely dumb in addition to being insane when he looked rather puzzled at the food offered. He was able to pick up enough from the other patients to realize how they were meant to be eaten, and he braved through picking up a few little piles of whatever he could for sampling, with some spare flat bread pieces for backup.
He found the redhead from the night before, the one he'd talked with on the bulletin, talking with a man and looking more pleasant than she had previously.
He didn't interrupt their conversation; merely made his presence known by inviting himself to sit and waited to be acknowledged.

"There's a pond out there," Lyta said, between bites of food. "They need to keep it filled, that usually means pipes or tubes or something. I want to go down and see how big they are and if they're locked or not." One of the perks of those gills the Vorlons had given her.

As to when...

"Whenever you want. We can do it next shift, that'll give me time to recover before we head out. While I'm in there, do you want me to see if I can fix whatever's broken in there?" She didn't know if she'd be able to, and if she could, it would take her a while, but she figured she could make the offer.

When Envy sat down she glanced up, and gave him a small smile.

"You're looking better today. Nice hair."

"If you can fix it... yeah, that'd be great." He wasn't sure what she was going to do if the pipes were unlocked and if they were large enough to swim through. She'd probably drown before she got anywhere... unless she could breathe water, that was always a possibility, right?

"Next shift will be fine, and if you can't fix the damage..." Fox just shrugged. "I've made enough progress from how I use to be that I don't mind if it doesn't get completely fixed."

He might change that opinion if he ended up attacking someone who couldn't defend themselves during one of those fits where he lost himself, but he didn't expect a miracle. Remembering himself was an excellent recovery, as was being out of the exoskeleton, though he found himself missing it's enhanced abilities.

The wiring and computer parts attached to his spine and other body parts, wired into his nerves, those he didn't miss at all.

Envy poked at the foods before him, smirking amusedly at her comment about his hair.

"Thanks," He said simply, more in response to the compliment than to the debt of gratitude he had a feeling he was probably suppose to express for her having more or less saved his life, or at least spared him a load of pain. That was usually how these things worked, wasn't it? Exchange of pleasantries and returned guestures for favors done. It was unfamiliar and far too civil for him to be comfortable practicing in earnest.

"It is partly your doing, after all." he opted to say, and decided that was satisfactory. He noted the conversation with the man at the table and commented, "So you're in the habit of offering rescue and healing services?"

Granted, that idea didn't seem too appealing, but she didn't seem like the kind of woman who would just be altruistic with no expectation in return, so the idea was palatable, considering she might have made it more of a business trade. If she'd come to his rescue, she'd probably seen some use in his skills in his mind before coming to him. It made sense.

While not entirely fond of the established rules of alchemy, he wasn't entirely against upholding some principle of equivalent exchange in this place. When at such a disadvantage, that was probably all he really had.

"I'll see what I can do." Lyta shrugged. "My abilities aren't what they used to be, but I'll see what I can do."

It was all she could promise, in the end. Fixing a broken mind took time and power and a patience Lyta had never exactly been able to grasp. But she hadn't needed patience with her Vorlon enhanced powers. Now? Now she needed it. At least she had her Corps training to fall back on. How pathetic, that that was what she needed.

She just gave another shrug when Envy questioned her.

"I've got services people need, people have services I need. It works." It was just the free trade exchange, really. It was how Lyta had survived for a good while, offering her services for whatever she needed.

"And I've got an offer to make you, while we're chatting about it."

There was something about the new man that made Fox uneasy, perhaps it was the nature of the conversation he'd been in with Lyta when he arrived. It could have been his own dislike for dealing with people, but that didn't quite explain it either. Fox put aside his uneasiness and returned his attention to the conversation at hand.

"I can give you two some privacy, if you want," if they wanted to make the offer without him around, that was fine.

"I'll find you next shift... where do you plan on going?"

It was clear that Envy's presence made the other guy uneasy, and while that wasn't intended, he didn't really care much, unless that were to subsequently upset his 'host', which wouldn't bode well for him.
He offered a friendly smile, subtle enough to not come off as fake and let them finish up as he poked at his food inconspicuously. It probably would be best to be in seclusion, were anything particularly relevant to be revealed in their conversation. But with his experience in being secretive, sometimes right out in the open was the best place to keep things hidden.

He raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly and leaning on his propped up fist when she mentioned making an offer.

"Oh? I'm listening."

"I don't need any privacy." Lyta shrugged. She didn't care much about that, and it wasn't like she was making a sort of deal that was singular to Envy. "And I can find you, wherever you are. It's one of my little talents." She gave Fox a small smile.

She then turned to Envy, her smile widening. "I just figured we both have skills that could be useful to each other. When you're not getting pummeled by angry boyfriends, you seem to be pretty strong. So I figured you can be my brawn, and I can be your brains, so to speak. I know you like knowing things."

And she could help him know them. Look into people's minds for him, dig out their secrets. She'd done it before.

Fox nodded slightly when she mentioned that she would find him, wherever he was. It was slightly disconcerting, but he was careful not to let any of his emotions show on his face... not that having a good poker face would help if she could just take a peek into his mind and know.

It was natural to gain as many allies as possible, but Fox had always found that to be a tricky proposition. If there was no large reason to work together, people would bicker and fight with one another. Even if there was a reason to work together...

Well, Fox would never be a real team player. He worked best alone, and that wouldn't change.

The implication of what Lyta was saying, about helping Envy know things... it would be worth staying on good terms with her to figure out what she knew, but he wasn't sure how to work out a continuing deal with her. It might be difficult to advance his own plans as well as hers.

He didn't care much for how she put that part about Scar... but that did seem to show evidence for her clairvoyance. It didn't seem likely that she'd interpret Scar and Lust's relationship as such by watching them or by hearsay. It was one of those things that you had to interpret from knowing them in all their denial and frustrating human emotional hangups.

Still, she only had to present the suggestion of information trade to pique his interest in striking a deal. True, she couldn't read the staff, but she could get around otherwise, and that was just enough for him in the immediate present. He had no heed for a bigger picture that was too much for him to chew at the moment; there were certain people he had to hunt. Keeping a sharp sight on immediate revenge was ideal distraction from the immense and unswallowable sense of weakness that accompanied the fact that he truly knew nothing about this place.

Of course, he consciously realized none of this, and only fancied himself to be very astute and well accomplished for a genuine psychopath, and as such, took great pride in the idea of this beneficial transaction. He'd done 'bodyguard' work before, which he hadn't enjoyed at all, but providing physical protection for a fairly capable and above average human was quite different from his tasks of practically babysitting Dante's host bodies.

On that note... she wasn't quite classifiable as human with her special talents, was she? Even if she wasn't a homunculus, she was certainly in the realm of far more worthwhile creatures. And, noting that she hadn't seemed disturbed by what she found in his mind, that made her an even more excellent associate.

"That sounds like a fair arrangement. We may work well together," He said, wondering if he really even needed to say it out loud if she could hear it anyhow, "But for that matter, I don't think I've even caught your name."

"I'm Lyta." She hadn't realized that she hadn't offered her name before. But last night she'd been more concerned with getting her hands on anything worthwhile than making friends.

"I think we'll work together just fine," she said, picking up her juice. And she did. From what she'd seen of Envy, he and her thought a lot alike. That was good.

"Just tell me what you want to know. I'll need to know who I'm going to go scanning." And who knew, she could probably find stuff she could use. Blackmail was nothing new to Lyta.

"I could do the same for you," she said, nodding to Fox. "If you wanted."

Day 23: Lunch

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