damned_institute | 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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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?"

Ah, there was nothing better than sharing a meal with a friend!

Amatarasu beamed at the newcomer, recognizing that vibrant hair from the previous night, and assented to his question. "It's really good," she beamed after wolfing down a taco, her manners having suffered terribly from centuries of being in a wolf's body. Table manners were not required when she never ate on a table, or so her reasoning had been.

Then she looked at him again, still intrigued by that lovely shade of his hair. In Nippon such things were unheard of; it truly was fascinating to see. "Are you doing well?"

"I'm doing better now that I've seen your face," Zelos responded. Biting into his own taco, he chewed thoughtfully and grinned. "Not bad, but I've had better. It's a shame I can't treat you to a royal banquet!"

He'd noticed the way she was looking at his hair, and just to tease a bit, flipped a portion of his (long, luxurious) locks over his shoulder.

To be honest, Amaterasu truly was the victim of an overly soft heart.

As soon as she heard his offer, her eyes widened and an expression of mixed shock and wonder appeared on her face. "You'd really treat me to a royal banquet?" It was quite exciting to the goddess; she'd never gone to one of those before, and never for no good reason! It was always a reward for doing something- often obtaining the ingredients herself, to her frustration- and rarely did she get the chance to enjoy the experience. No, there was always too much to do, too many demons to dispel, too many wrongs to make right.

But now it was offered, and despite herself, the goddess felt a bit invigorated. (And flattered, but only because she'd never really been complimented by a human before.) A moment's pause made her realize something, and her smile changed to a little bit of a pout. "You never did answer my question last night," she gently reminded him, still curious and acting as though being knocked out and everything that had happened was nothing worth talking about.

"Of course!" Zelos answered brightly. "It would be my pleasure to escort such a lovely woman as yourself." He did have connections, after all, and had been to more royal banquets than he could count. They got pretty boring after a while, but for someone who'd never gone, it'd certainly be an experience.

Her question? Oh, his hair. "It's all natural, hunny, I assure you!" He gave her a charming grin. "You can play around with it, if you want. Just no pigtails."

Was it praise, or more flattery, which was endearing Zelos to the goddess?

Amaterasu wiped her hands on her napkin- immeasurably pleased with herself at remembering that small bit of mortal etiquette- before running a delicate hand through Zelos's hair. The softness, the texture, was all surprising to her; men in Nippon tended to wear their hair short, and yet Zelos was far from being effeminate. ~~A distinct lack of pink clothing helped with this assessment.~~

After a long moment to content herself that it was, in fact, real, Amaterasu softly stated once more, "No one in Nippon has hair like that... where do you come from, and is that vibrant a shade common?" She would have been shocked if such had been the case, but at the same time, such things didn't just appear out of nowhere for no good reason.

At the offer of a banquet, however, Amaterasu felt a faint blush appearing on her cheeks, marring the crimson marks which traced along her face. "I would really like to go to one, someday. For years and years I've never been given the opportunity. What would it be like?"

Nippon? Zelos never heard of such a place, but he answered her anyway. "Tethe'alla! Ever heard of it?" If she had, that meant there were probably more members of his team he hadn't seen yet.

And, aw, she was blushing. "You're even more beautiful when you blush!" Zelos complimented. Hey, he loved giving women attention, especially when they responded so nicely. "Well, the banquet would take place in a huge hall - much larger than this room, and a thousand times more fancy. Crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling and it feels like a palace. There's more kinds of food than you can imagine, all made by the finest chefs in the kingdom! Everyone who's anyone shows up there, dressed in silk gowns and the finest suits." He grinned at her. "Of course, if I took you, I'd make sure you'd have the most beautiful dress out of them all!"

Even though they were from different worlds entirely, Zelos was now speaking Amaterasu's language exactly.

While the goddess shook her head when the mortal inquired about Tethe'alla- so far as she knew, it might have been one of the celestial realms she had not yet visited- what else he was saying worked wonders. The goddess demurely returned her hands to her lap, finding it a bit hard to speak with that soft hair between her fingers, and that smile returned to her lips. "Thank you for your kind words," she said at last, looking at him with a gentle expression, "I can't remember the last time someone said anything like that to me; you are far too generous."

For the goddess had not been in a shape conducive to being called 'beautiful', or at least not as Zelos intended it. A great white wolf could be called such only in the sense of it being dashing, being ethereal; something beyond the bounds of Nippon. And from the conversation before, too much had needed to be said for her to ask Waka what he thought of her appearance now. She swore to do so in the future.

However, her attention was devoted to Zelos once more as he described the banquet; more specifically, at the large question marks that filled the goddess's mind at certain topics. While she could imagine a palace and all of the people- and she made sure to wolf down a taco at the mention of food, suddenly feeling a pang of hunger- the rest of it was baffling. "Pardon me for asking, but what are 'gowns' or 'suits'? I've never heard of them before." Kimonos, yukatas, things of that nature, all of those were worn to formal occasions in Nippon. What Zelos was describing seemed different, and yet fascinating at the same time.

Day 23: Lunch

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