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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Aidou had immediately become wary at Jack's words, but at the jest he stiffened, eyes flashing. "I left because I would have killed him otherwise," he hissed, not at all pleased by the insinuation. It disgusted him beyond words. He quickly turned his face away and anchored his gaze to the wall until he could speak without snarling. "If you want to talk, don't talk about him." After a moment, he looked back at Jack. He hesitated, then: "I... I would appreciate it. Got it?"

With luck that would be enough to keep Jack silenced on the matter. There were always other ways to go about it, but didn't want to resort to them.

Jack filed Aidou's reaction away under moments of interest, as well as his claim that he could kill Alucard. He seemed pretty sure of himself.

Well, time to see what reaction this got.

He ticked off points on his fingers. "So, lethargic during the daytime. I'd guess mildly photosensitive too. You are eating solid food, which narrows the field. And you have some beef with Mr. 'I'm part of a secret organization that hunts vampires.' Off the top of my head, I can think of about five different species that meet those criteria and lay claim to the moniker, so I'm just kind of wondering which you are."

Jack was very quick and decisive when it came to his conclusions, and inwardly it caught Aidou unprepared. He hadn't thought Jack had been watching him. Not closely enough to be stringing these verdicts together without knowing that Aidou was a -

He bit the inside of his cheek. Unless Jack had known the entire time. Could he have really overlooked something like that? Aidou was intelligent, but young. Inexperienced to a degree. It wasn't implausible he had screwed up something without noticing - he'd slipped up with some facts, he knew. But things weren't fitting. Jack had hit two facts on the mark, but was still asking as if he wasn't sure. Someone who understood the truth behind vampire myth would have understood why Aidou was at odds with Alucard, only making it seem more like Jack knew. But solid food? 'Five species'? A 'secret' hunters' organization that Alucard was part of? What the hell did that mean?

And despite it all, the man was calm. Like he really didn't what end of the spectrum the truth landed on, so long as he found out. It wasn't fear he felt, but an unease. Either Jack was - and had been - playing him for a complete fool the entire time, or Aidou was missing something crucial.

Argh! What a pain.

"I don't understand what you're getting at," he said. And that was the truth. In fact, he was pretty confused.

Jack watched Aidou curiously, more interested in his reaction than to anything else. Still, he wasn't certain if the boy's apparent confusion was feigned or not.

"Vampire." Jack said. "You're a vampire of some sort. Which particular kind?"

Aidou was the type who hated dancing around a subject. He preferred having it out in the open, or not at all. It really pissed his father off sometimes.

Well, it was out now. It was a bit of tedium off his shoulders. But although he somehow knew of vampires, Jack wasn't particularly keen on the subject. Aidou had to wonder if this was more of Alucard's ham-handed work.

Nonetheless, his expression smoothed out into something more smooth and open. He smiled winningly. "You caught me. But why ask what kind?" The line between nobility and the average classes was self-evident, even for dilettantes.

Jack wondered how many times he'd have to repeat himself. Just because he couldn't die didn't mean his patience was endless. "Because I've encountered five species," he said. "All of which are pretty similar, but I'm a detail-oriented kind of guy."

Jack's mild annoyance only led to Aidou's annoyance. "You mean classes. And there's only four." Ex-humans didn't count. And they most certainly weren't similar, but Aidou wasn't about to go off on a tangent about rankings when it would probably fly over Jack's head.

He continued to dig into his pile of food, more at ease. "But tell me more of what that imbecile Alucard said."

"No," Jack said, smiling, "I mean species. Subdivisions within species... we can get in to that once we've narrowed it down." He took a thoughtful bite of his taco. "Oh, wait. I get it. You didn't know there were other species, did you. Well, it's a big, wide universe out there, Aidou." He rubbed his chin, giving Aidou a thoughtful look. "We could do this the easy. What's your planet of origin and the relative time your from? That's all I really need to know."

Aidou could have moaned. In fact, he did moan, and pressed a hand to his head. Not this alternative universe stuff. It was just so implausible. He liked reading manga too, but to be sitting in a roomful of noisy humans wearing a yellow smiley face and discussing the width and depth of the universe? He was hungry, damn it. Hungry for blood.

He didn't want to know what drugs did to a human. Because if this was anything like it, he wasn't interested.

"Fine, fine. Earth. Twenty first century. Happy?" Then he cut a glance at Jack. "But I want to know. And for that matter, how long did you suspect I wasn't human?"

"Since I first saw you," Jack said. "It's the eyes. And no one has skin that nice unless they've replaced it synthetically." He smirked.

Twenty-first century? He found that odd to believe. He was familiar with most of what had happened then, at least superficially, and he was of course living through it year by year now. He didn't recall having run across anything like Aidou so far. He finished off his taco thoughtfully. "Well, assuming you're post '05... what'd you think about the Battle of Canary Wharf?"

Aidou smirked back. That was true. He did have great skin.

"That's not a battle from my history, sorry." Leaning forward, he laced his fingers beneath his chin. He felt a lot more engaged now that he was speaking as a vampire, not a vampire acting human. "You're awfully calm. You carried on with me even knowing I was a vampire." He snickered. "That's amusing. But you're not a hunter, so why?"

"I didn't think so," Jack said. "Oh well. And I thought I was about to discover something new and interesting to go home with."

There was really no telling what sense he meant that in.

"Couple of reasons," he said, leaning one elbow on the table, chin in his hand. "I head one arm of an organization that monitors extra-terrestrial activity and makes sure the Earth stays happy for us Earthlings. After a while, you just stop getting scared, or you completely lose your marbles." He smiled. "And I'm originally from the 51st century. I get around. I've gotten blowjobs from things far scarrier and a hell of a lot uglier than you."

And there was that whole not being able to die thing. But that he wasn't sharing.

Aidou's eyebrow inched ever higher the longer Jack talked. "I knew it. You talk big, but you understand little about vampires, no matter what place in time you come from." It was a little irritating to have had Jack lead him on all this time, but in the end, ferreting out a vampire from a group of humans was only superficial knowledge. It was bound to have happened, by less competent people. Only a vampire would know anymore than that. "How boring."

Despite it all, it was kind of like being in a bizarre sci-fi game. Jack had seemed like a fun state of affairs, but he was obviously only dead set on categorizing Aidou for the sake of knowledge. How dumb.

"No offence, Sparrow, but I'll by the end of my stay here I'll have to remove your memory of me. Too bad."

If Jack noticed the abuse of his name, he didn't react.

"You're not too good at this," Jack observed. "But it's cute." He smirked. "Feel free to erase as much of my memory as you like. Better beings than you have failed."

He stood, grabbing his tray. "See you later."

Aidou's foot was already hooking around Jack's chair leg from beneath the table, bringing it back in until it bumped softly against Jack. "And where do you think you're going? A paramour of your calibre should know it's terribly rude to leave a partner unsatisfied right in the middle." Then Aidou stopped kidding, and his expression turned pensive. This one's loyalties were as hard to pin down as his own - nevertheless there were always other things to deal with. Always. "But sit. Jokes and word games aside, there's something else I'd like to discuss before the sun sets."

With Jack, there came a whole new set of issues too.

Now that was more like it. Jack sat back down, setting his tray to the side. "Always leave them wanting more," he said. He cocked one eyebrow at Aidou. "Really. I'm listening."

Whatever the case, Aidou wasn't seriously interested in banter or friendship. It was either practical allies or nothing at all. The only things that mattered were returning his strength, and bringing down this facility.

"I need to know where our things are stored. Barring that, what areas have you investigated, and what have you found?"

Jack laughed. "Slow down there, Aidou. I don't go all the way on the first date, not unless you buy me dinner, first."

Situations like these were annoying when people from all different walks thought they were on even footing with one another - or perhaps thought they weren't on even footing was more apt of an observation. Just because Aidou wanted something from someone else, it didn't mean he had the patience to play along with Jack.

He sighed, forestalled. Slow down? Please. This guy was too confident in how he approached things, not solely vampires. "What's the problem? You might be content flirting your way through the masses, but I'm not happy taking the passive route. I want something, and so do you, or you wouldn't be wasting your time talking to anyone. So just spill it, would you?"

"I already got what I wanted," Jack said, cheerfully. "My curiousity has been satisfied. Considering what you're asking me, you're behind me in this little game we're in. So tell me, Aidou, and spare no detail... what do you have to offer that's of interest to me?"

"What's of interest to you is that I refrain from turning you into the first date's dinner." Aidou tilted his head. "But why do I get the distinct impression you'd enjoy that too much?"

From across the room, he spied Zelos sitting with the dark-haired girl from the Sun Room. That reminded him, he'd planned on talking with her, hadn't he?

"Perhaps I should say it in a different way: You wouldn't still be here if you thought I had nothing to put forward. The game wouldn't be a game if we had written each other off." Sitting back, Aidou just observed. "In return for information I could easily get from another source, what do you think I should be offering you? That's the question."

"You're easy on the eyes and kind of funny," Jack said. Which was pretty much his opinion. "Really, Aidou, I have a skillet and a couple of knives. The only thing more I could ask for at this point is my gun back, which you can't provide. You're not from my dimension, which means information about your species, while interesting, isn't that important to me as anything but a curiousity. And I'm assuming you're smart enough that we'll stay cordial, because I'm a naturally friendly guy, and you already have your hands pretty full with tall, dark, and loomy, not to mention the plethora of your fellow inmates you've been flagrantly pissing off because it's more fun than doing needlepoint in the crafts room."

He smiled. "So I think it's safe to say that if I'm still here, it's because I don't have anywhere better to be. Since I don't necessarily know the details of your specific species, I can't really hazard a guess as to what you could give me, other than a wicked hickey and possibly an orgasm to go with it."

How very carefree. And he certainly did assume a lot, although Aidou couldn't dismiss all the posturing - it had to come from somewhere, and if wasn't from Aidou's end, then from somewhere else. It was a lot different then how humans aware of their existence approached them.

Miming the weapon in question with his forefinger and thumb, Aidou intentionally spoke out loud. "Didn't find it, huh? That's a shame. You should've come and stolen one." If the man was truly interested in finding a gun, then he would mostly like have been drawn to the gunshots. That meant he'd probably been on another floor. "And it's not my job to coddle non-vampires. Being in this place and being at the same level of power are two different things. It's not conceited to say I have the option of choosing who I'll help."

He obstinately chose to wipe Jack's final words from his memory. No small mercy for both of them. Kaname-sama would have been oh so very proud.

"Alucard. Does he fit into your classifications?"

"Everyone's got that option," Jack said. "At this time, I don't need your help. Do you need mine?"

He shrugged. "I don't kiss and tell."

Aidou speared a churro on his fork, and examined the inside after biting off the end. He hadn't actually had one before; it wasn't too bad. When he got back - and there was no question about that - he was going to have to demand some for the dorm. They probably came in chocolate too.

He considered Jack for a moment. Information was a commodity. If he thought about it, if Aidou were in the same position, he wouldn't tell either - and would probably find a way to the screw the other over just for kicks. That was something to take into account. He didn't care about vampires, didn't care about their powers, and especially didn't care if he pissed Aidou off. Not afraid of death, or not afraid of Aidou. Or both.

In a very small sense, he could almost appreciate that. It was a firm stance for a human.

But at the talk of help, Aidou couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah right, like you'd help me. You're not an idiot."

Day 23: Lunch

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