damned_institute | Day 50: Cafeteria (Brunch)

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Day 50: Cafeteria (Brunch)

Somehow, after their talk in the chapel, Elaine felt simultaneously more accepting of and more irritated by her future husband. On the one hand, seven years had clearly been good to him. He seemed more sincere and thoughtful than he had been before his disappearance, and he had a more mature (dare she say, handsome?) look to him. On the other hand, there were clearly some things that made even time throw up its hands in vain and say, "To hell with this!" Guybrush was still inexorably prone to disastrous accidents if the story about the Pox of LeChuck was anything to go by, and he was so obviously keeping something important from her that any passing dolt in the Institute would have been able to tell. In the end, that eternal underlying sweetness of his that won out, keeping her from punching him again, at least. That was only by a hairs width, though. Her snugglecakes was going to have to stay on his best behaviour if he knew what was good for him.

She left the Mighty Pirate™ alone for the time being when the announcement of the next shift went off. He would want some time to catch up with Morgan next, presumably. As much as the woman's attitude bothered her, she was a friend of Guybrush's, as she had claimed. Elaine could be strict, but she wasn't the kind of shrewish future wife/past fiancé who would keep her man from seeing his friends. Besides, she needed some more time to catch up on the goings-on of the Institute. Patients filled the building to the brim, now, it seemed; there would be a lot to investigate.

After a few quick trips back and forth to the bulletin and a few new leads to follow up on, the governor gave in to her nurse's persistent nagging and headed to the cafeteria for brunch. After the relatively light fare of the day before, Elaine took advantage of the Institute's admittedly scrumptious offerings and loaded up a full, balanced brunchfast of eggs, sausage links, waffles, and vegetable soup. As expected, the selection of drinks did not offer either root beer or grog. Grog she could live without, at least, she thought while making a face. Eugh. For now, she settled for a tall glass of water.

Elaine settled into a seat in the cafeteria and tucked into her meal. Her eyes didn't stay on her food, though, instead gazing around restlessly; she hadn't seen LeChuck so far this morning, and god forbid he wanted to invite himself to brunch with her if he chose now to show up. A certain horribly unpleasant dinner on Mêlée Island came to mind. She was prepared to either move at the first sign of the dread pirate or signal a random stranger to sit with her before he could.

[For Dean]

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Harvey was starting to get the feeling that talking to Leonard was going to feel like listening to a broken record after a while. It made sense, seeing how he couldn't know what he had or hadn't said to any given person, but it still had the potential to get old after the third or fourth conversation.

"I guess you'd drive yourself crazy if you were always wondering if your notes were legitimate or not," he conceded. The question was whether or not Leonard had already passed that step. He seemed so fixated and so sure of himself that it was almost like he was reading lines off of an index card, but that wasn't something he was going to mention out loud, even if the man would most likely just forget.

"So, what are you going to do now?" he asked, wondering how much of a goal the man could have in mind when he could barely keep track of what was going on.

It wasn't a shock to hear that Kairi had thought Neku was him, and Sora didn't take it personally. "I know," he said with a smile, "it is kind of weird. Did he tell you about Shiki?" It was strange enough that he had a lookalike, but the fact that Neku was also friends with someone who had hair that was almost exactly the same color as Kairi's was pretty weird. Then there was Joshua, but Sora didn't want to think about that right now...

But it sounded like Neku had told Kairi about his home, too. When she asked the question, he nodded. "Yeah, it was this huge city, but there wasn't anyone around except for us. We did run into some monsters, though." It was just their luck that they only found trouble, though maybe that had been the point. On the other hand, it wasn't like his wound had stayed when he'd woken up this morning. Which still didn't make much sense, but Sora wasn't going to complain.

It was good to hear that Naminé was doing well, but it also reminded Sora that he needed to get a hold of her. "I've got to talk to her about getting some maps," he spoke up, somewhat sheepish. He knew he should have gotten his hands on them by now, but he'd always been able to muddle through without them. "Maybe I can go see her about that tonight..."

"Interesting" was putting it lightly. Letting out a short laugh, a majority of the air coming out of his nostrils, Ranulf smiled enough to show his teeth. Minato's return indicated the boy had a good sense of humor, which caused him to feel more relaxed.

Normally a week wouldn't indicate much but, in this place, a week might as well have been a century. Perhaps he had information on the head doctor, or the entire operation of the Institute. Averting his gaze toward his plate, he chuckled a bit before answering, picking up his fork and using it to pick at his uneaten food.

"If by "interesting" you mean "hellish" then you'd most certainly be correct. How do you usually spend your "evenings" Minato?" Violet and green eyes flashing, he glanced upward in knowing curiosity.

Haseo knew right away that something was off from the way Claude reacted, and there was a sinking feeling in his stomach as he looked down and then up again in time to see the older teen gingerly touch the bandages over his eyes. A few beats later it was more or less confirmed, and the Adept Rogue felt a little more anxious. If not a monster... then what?

"Another patient... or a doctor?" he asked, voice clearly tense around its low tone. Even if there was also the possibility of something in the environment causing it, if that was the case Claude probably wouldn't have phrased his answer like he had. It was clearly something upsetting to the guy.

However, shortly afterward Haseo realized he probably shouldn't expect an answer anyway, and he leaned a little more over the table until his hair mostly obscured his face. "-- Nevermind," he said, "Er, you don't have to answer that." After all, it wasn't like he told random people about the monsters he'd fought at night, much less something that had managed to actually harm him. There still remained very few people who knew of the night he'd been taken for experiments, for example, and even the zombie attack that so many others had also experienced had gone mostly without discussion during the week since it had happened.

"The rest?" he said, narrowing his eyes as he watched Sakura look down at her tray. He wasn't sure how to interpret that. He grunted once, tone evening out some. "Mostly. Tsunade's unconscious and Konoha's leveled after what that Pain-bastard did. His resurrection jutsu (or whatever kind of jutsu it was--hell if I know) didn't fix that part of Konoha. Good news is that he dead. Snuffed himself out, and good riddance."

He wasn't sorry that he was gone either, even if Pain had apparently tried to make up for what he he had done to Konoha. The guy had just about killed Hinata, the son of a bitch. There was no forgiving him for that. He would've liked to have beat the crap out of the guy himself, had he been able to.

"You also remember Danzo, right? That creepy bastard that Sai reports to?" And that was another reason why he didn't trust Sai. He seemed to follow the orders of a certified nutcase. "He's hokage now. Still is, as far as I know."

"Information about places that are hard to get to is always good," Anise suggested, tapping her chin with her index finger. "Like the areas outside, or locked rooms, or places with interesting secrets or useful stuff to find. Anything about the radio and the people who talk on it is good, too." Those were plenty of examples, and she was sure a guy who'd been around as long as Aidou must have learned something interesting in his time at the institute.

But, since she was being generous, Anise was giving him an alternative. "And if you don't know anything or don't want to share anything like that, you could always tell me a secret about yourself! Like, say... you could tell me where you were really going that night we met up in the hallway."

That night when she bumped into him, Aidou claimed he was going outside, through the field, but he had just moved south from the patient blocks - the opposite direction. Then, after she ran into him, he tried to brush away her questions and get rid of her at every opportunity. It definitely seemed like Aidou was hiding something.

Despite the accusation in her words, the girl continued to wear a bright smile on her face. At the moment, she was less bothered about having been lied to, and more happy about getting to put someone on the spot like this. For her, this was just her usual nosiness.

“Mmm…” he breathed, letting a moment pass between her answer and his response. His expression was neutral.

Underneath it, however, the vampire was more alert than he had been moments before. Where he’d been really going? So Anise had been wondering what he’d been doing? That was dangerous, not only because he couldn’t classify the human as totally harmless, but because people thinking on him was no longer always a good thing.

Just because she couldn’t possibly know anything didn’t mean she wasn’t still invading his privacy by accusing him. Not asking, but accusing. Where had that worry of hers gone in so short a time? It seemed his presence alone wasn’t enough to keep her satisfied, and now she was starting to rib him with a remarkably lack of conscience. Her “deal” didn’t sit pleasantly with him, and he let her see some of it in the way he stared at her.

“I can tell you what I know about a variety of things, if that’s what you want. I won’t even lie to you like I'm sure some would. But it sounds like what you really want is to accuse me of something.” He hadn’t lost his agreeable demeanor, not yet, but he did wonder how far she was willing to take her teasing with people. He was starting to feel like he was on trial. And he didn‘t like it. “That night I considered meeting someone,” he started, not giving her a chance to reply. “I changed my mind once I realized there was a monster I’ve met before in the same hall. I decided to do something else rather than bring risk to myself. And then you ran into me.” He crossed his arms on the table. “It’s not a secret. Though,” he purred, leaning forward slightly, “if it was bothering you, you could have asked and… gotten it off your chest.” Would having her own words thrown back at her be enough to pass her test? "Or do you distrust me after all?"

If this kept up, getting her story about the ruins would almost be too much trouble. So much for his sympathetic little fan. It looked like they were both missing the other’s play-acting.

Edited 2010-06-25 00:14 (UTC)

"It's worse to not remember," Ritsuka said under his breath before trying to regain his composure. Muraki had forgotten him and while it hurt, it wasn't like it was the doctor's fault. It was Landel's fault for making him forget and Ritsuka's fault for not taking a picture with him when he had the chance. If he had a picture, he'd be able to show Muraki their relationship rather than just explain it inadequately with words. Running a hand through his hair, Ritsuka sighed and leaned back in his chair, slouching in defeat. It wasn't Muraki's fault, but that didn't make Ritsuka feel any better.

"Ritsuka. Aoyagi Ritsuka. I used to be a patient of yours here when you were a doctor working for the Institute." A patient who had trusted Muraki with a lot, even if he'd been brainwashed to work for this place. "You promised to help me print out my memories - my photographs - so I'd have them to keep, but then you disappeared." And that witch Kisugi took his place. Ritsuka's fingers twitched involuntarily at the memory of their last meeting and he finally raised his eyes to look at Muraki. If there was any recognition at all, there would be hope, but Ritsuka didn't expect to see any. "As for what's going on here..."

That would take some time. Ritsuka took his napkin and his pen and drew a crude map of the Institute in miniature. It was times like these that he wished he had more artistic ability. As it was, he could do straight lines and horribly done proportions. "Uh...so the Institute looks kind of like this, only less crappy. I can't draw. Anyway." He pointed to the patient blocks. "This is where we are. At night the doors open and you can go anywhere you want, but make sure not to go alone and don't go unarmed if you can help it. There are things out in the halls, monsters some people call them, and they'll attack you and kill you if they get a chance. This is the Sun Room - at night it's one of the more dangerous places to be. Every other night some patients are taken and brainwashed into working for the Institute, given back their powers or whatever, and one of them will usually pop up in here. The second floor..."

Ritsuka turned the napkin over and did his best to reconstruct what he could remember from the maps he'd seen before. It wasn't much, but it gave a rough outline. "There's a lot of locked rooms up here that'll open with force, but some of them won't. You'll have to test which is which. A lot of the rooms are kind of boring, but they might have supplies you can use. This is the pharmacy, the supply closet and janitor's closet." He picked the pen up and moved it to the opposite side, frowning slightly. "And these are the torture rooms. If there isn't a brainwashed patient, there's people being taken up here to be experimented on. I try to get up here to help them when they get out, but so far I haven't been able to figure out a way to break in and save them."

And it was getting more and more frustrating by the day. Ritsuka put his pen away and then slid the napkin over to Muraki, his mouth set into a grim line. "During the day the nurses and doctors all think they're really here to help us. They really think we're just mental patients. But at night, they turn into monsters, too. Martin Landel, the Head Doctor is in charge of it all and we don't know why, but he pulls people from different worlds and times and everything else and throws them in here in his stupid house of horrors to survive night after night."

Further questions made Claude grow silent. Not only was what happened unpleasant to talk about, but he highly doubted anyone, much less someone he didn't know, really wanted to hear all the details. The only purpose it would serve would be to make other people feel down about their bad situation, and they already got enough of that just from being stuck here. Maybe it'd be different if his situation was unusual and he needed to warn someone. But Claude suspected there were a lot more victims of "sleep studies" than he realized. As difficult as it was to consider, he probably wasn't the only one going through this same situation right then.

It sounded like Haseo understood that it was awkward for him to answer. Claude rubbed the back of his neck, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "Sorry," he said after a moment. "I'd rather not talk about it, if you don't mind..."

That probably put his brunch companion in an weird spot, though, which made Claude feel bad. After carefully reaching for his medicine, he popped the two pills into his mouth and took a sip of his water. Once he swallowed, he felt it settle uncomfortably at the bottom of his stomach. Even so, that didn't stop Claude from offering the other patient a small smile.

"Do you have any friends here, Haseo?" The change in subject probably sounded as forced as it felt, but it was something to slice through the tense air between them, at least.

Mihai let out a low sigh, not needing the boy's curious (and painfully obvious) gaze to remind him of the eyes locked on his back. No, he could feel the stare boring between his shoulders, just like a frustrating itch that couldn't be reached. "Me, I'm afraid. I nearly wandered into the women's showers the other day." Mihai chewed a bite of his food, not rude enough to continue while he had his mouth full. "On accident." An important note to make. "Unfortunately, the nurse doesn't seem to care about the circumstances. I've been tried and condemned to her special brand of hell."

Should he be talking like that in front of a child though? Mihai had never known any normal children. He looked at the boy again for a moment, then decided he looked nothing like Ian before forcing the memory away. He didn't need to risk getting tears in his meal. "Since we'll be eating together, we should at least exchange names." He smiled pleasantly, then extended his arm across the table--the right, in consideration of the boy's condition. "Mihai Mihaeroff."

Whatever Russia's reasons for not responding to America's remark, the fact that he'd had the last word meant that America had won, plain and simple. And since he was always in a mood to keep score, America added a point to the tally board in his head, even if his victory really was obvious. The fact that America had ultimately won the Cold War gave Russia no chance of catching up, ever, and he liked it that way. Widening the gap between them only made things sweeter.

He didn't say anything about missing his nation, either to confirm or deny, but America kept up his bluster. Certainly he wasn't going to be openly bothered by it if Russia wasn't. The era may have been long gone in America's time, but that didn't mean he was going to give Russia an advantage now. America's competitive spirit never faded, no matter what the circumstances, and now was no different. He wouldn't lose.

"Hell no!" Which, in this case, would have meant sputtering and getting angry at Russia's attempt to provoke him. But America was better than that, thank you very much Mr. Communist bastard. "Having you as my backup would mean I trusted you not to stab me in the back. Just because the last time I kicked your ass was almost twenty years ago doesn't mean I've forgotten what you can be like." Things like the Cuban Missile Crisis would forever stick out in America's memory. He had to keep Russia where he could see him, especially if he really was vulnerable like a human, and the other nation realized it. It just wouldn't do if he achieved the crowning moment of heroic victory, only to be taken down by his old rival seconds afterward.

"I'm just saying that we shouldn't be trying to kill each other at the very least, because it's not going to fix anything." And really, America had bigger villains to defeat than one he'd already beaten. "Not just you and me, either. Germany and Prussia are here too, and the geezer. This is a crisis we need to attack as Nations United!" With America as the leader, but he'd leave that part out just so Russia wouldn't complain. At least until he agreed to come to the meeting. "We'll find someplace neutral to hold a World Meeting tonight, and figure out a plan. Just show up, okay?"

"No kiddin'?" Raphael laughed, smile lighting up his face easily. "I'm a martial artist too. Ninjutsu. Learned it from my father, along with my brothers. All four of us grew up with it."

He took a bite out of another slice of pizza, in part to hide the pensive look that was stealing over him. "Yeah, I get it," he said around a mouthful of food. "If my bros where here as well, I'd know 'bout it by now. We're good at findin' each other. No matter what else happens. Always been good at that."

It seemed Edgar shared more similarities with Raphael than he'd initially expected. He flashed the younger man a wide smile. "Wow, four brothers? And I thought the one could be a hassle at times." He wasn't sure he could handle having three other siblings- then again, his situation was a tricky one. It had been easy enough to convince Sabin to pursue a life of freedom from the world of politics- all it took was the flip of a coin. A simple coin toss would have never worked with four heirs to the same throne.

"All in all, it's probably best our siblings are not here," he said thoughtfully. "As great of an aid as Sabin would be in escaping this wretched place, I wouldn't wish it on him. He'd likely get himself in a lot of trouble as it is, trying to save everyone all at once. His heart is in the right place, even if his head isn't sometimes."

Remy relaxed a little in his seat, munching on a bit of seasoned potato; he paused to give the remaining potatos a surprised, thoughtful look. They actually weren't half bad. Not too oily, just enough salt, a nice blend of herbs. He took another bite, looking pleased.

"I'd say it's more like rats have to avoid being noticed, wouldn't you? Where I come from, th-- we kill them. But I don't know, I don't think the little guys are so bad. They just have a bad reputation."

So Meche didn't mind rats much after all? Remy felt a little twist, and he recognized it as hope. If he decided to confide in anyone about his situation, someday, Meche might not be a bad choice... Scarecrow didn't seem repulsed, either, and had the advantage of being someone who claimed he hadn't been human before he was at the Institute. Remy would have to keep both of them in mind, if a day came when he couldn't hide his secret anymore. Some days, he wanted to tell everyone he talked to; it was weird that nobody recognized him for what he was. He didn't think that he could deal with the possible consequences, though.

"Almost done with the letters, Meche?" He could hear the mild excitement in his own voice.

From the corner of his eye, the Scarecrow couldn't help but notice Remy's unusual delight stemming from what he was eating. How strange! Maybe he'd been in the same situation as the former strawman: not human, and incapable of human sensations like taste. The Scarecrow had yet to meet anyone quite like himself; the robotfolk came close, but even they seemed baffled by his existence as a construct. It was more likely that the food Remy was nibbling was something he'd never had before. Experiencing it for the first time was a true joy.

The conversation pulled his interest. "They kill the rats? But why?" the Scarecrow asked, his curiosity marked with genuine concern. He couldn't help but feel sorry for them- he'd had a few living in him at one point in time. He wouldn't want them in there now, but it wasn't much of a problem to just ask them to leave.

"Dude, I know that," Wally answered, dragging his plate closer out of Badou's reach. "I meant that since I don't smoke, I don't have anything like that around and I don't know where to get it. Sorry, but no can do."

He rapidly finished off the last of the fries, just in case Badou got any more ideas about sharing that were a little more immediate, and set about licking the sauce off his fingers. "Nah, I think I'm good for hugs right now," he laughed. "I mean, I can't let it get me that down, right?"

How? How was she here? She still wasn't sure herself.

Going through the Spirit Gate had brought her to this unusual place. Every step she had previously taken in her journey had led her along the correct path, but now it seemed as though she had taken a wrong turn. Was she meant to be here? Surely there must be some sort of divine purpose for her being in this place.

It was all so . . . frustrating.

Amaterasu shook her head, her eyes falling solemnly to her lap. Her long, layered black hair fell over her shoulders and briefly curtained her face before she managed to brush it aside.

"No," she said softly. "I d-do . . . do not k-know. Lost."

Makeup. Right. Trust a guy who you looked for in a nail salon to not show up because it might ruin his makeup. Sylar didn't even have the energy to be irritated at this point; he just smirked testily at Grell's naughty insinuation, on edge and not in the mood to reciprocate on the flirting. In fact, he wasn't in the mood for any of this; normally, he'd relish the challenge even as he resented it, but right now... Dammit, he'd just have to push through this, put on the mask, pretend his confidence.

He realized, suddenly, that he hadn't felt like this when he'd been in the chapel. When he'd been Gabriel.

His throat went dry.

Then, a distraction. He frowned as his hand tensed subtly around his cup. Kazuchi? Where the hell had all this come from? Not that he'd ever figured himself the only object of Grell's bloodlust (or maybe just lust), but he wasn't about to let himself get dragged into some kind of murderous love triangle or whatever the hell this was. His eyes carefully followed Grell's gesture, settling on a guy sitting at the other table. Huh. Grell actually wasn't exaggerating too bad: this Kazuchi guy looked like he'd walked out of some book of prettyboy models, and Sylar was inclined to believe Grell about his "bloody streak," given how passionately he was describing him. Then again, Grell could've just been trying to manipulate Sylar into some kind of protective jealousy, and – shit, it was kind of working. Not that Grell had anything Sylar was keen on tapping, but their type of alliance was a rare one, and after last night, Sylar needed to keep a stranglehold on all the resources he could.

Speaking of last night. Sylar's eyes slid back toward Grell, appraising him for a second before his expression spread into a cold grin.

"You could say that." He took a slow sip of his water, keeping his eyes on Grell's; firm, resolute. "Something almost cut my head open. Blades for fingers, slime for spit – you know the deal. Held me up from... whatever it was that happened last night."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Want to clue me in, or do would you rather do more boy-talk?"

Nanaki had been suspicious that Zack was searching for answers about him and the question was further evidence towards it. Really, he should just ask straight out, Nanaki wasn't going to deny what he was, but he was happy to dodge careful questions.

"I don't mind direct questions. It was captivity mostly," he grumbled. There'd been some prodding and poking, but he was mostly being saved for Aerith. "I would ask you the same.... but I suppose I know." So did Zack know he was dead? It wasn't that long after the Mansion that he was killed. Or perhaps he was unhappy long before that ordeal?

Aidou's gaze and the rising tension in the air made Anise's heart beat faster, but she did her best to keep any nervousness from showing on her face. "Of course I trust you!" Anise practically sang in reply, her smile never wavering. "And I did ask! Just now. You didn't seem like you were in a chatty mood then, so I waited." Hmph. Would Aidou really have answered if she'd asked him that night? He was being cold and dismissive the entire time.

"Hmm... but is that really all it was? That's kind of boring." She tilted her head a little as she mused to herself. "I thought it might be something exciting, like a secret mission or a secret lover... but I guess I'm glad it wasn't the latter." The answer had still been pretty vague (who was he going to meet?) and there was no way to know if it was the truth or not, but if Anise wanted to convince Aidou that she trusted him, she'd have to accept it.

"Well, anyway!" The girl clapped her hands together as she dismissed the topic. "You did answer my question, so I guess I'll have to tell you what I found. It's a pretty ugly mental image, though, so don't say I didn't warn you." Anise wasn't sure how well Aidou could handle gruesome details, but if he was bad with them, this was his cue to push his food tray away. Anise made sure to do so with her own, which was nearly empty at this point anyway. There was no way she'd be able to continue eating after remembering that excursion.

"I'm glad," Kairi whispered in response to her Nobody's well being. Honestly, she missed the girl ... she hadn't seen her in a while. She'd have to rectify that.

At the mention of Shiki, she turned towards Sora with a nod. "He did ... pretty strange, but somehow interesting, you know? To think that there's someone else out there who looks like me wandering around that's not Naminé!" Doppelganger ... times two? She longed to meet Shiki, just to see how similar they appeared. Apparently she even acted like her as well.

"Will we be meeting up tonight?" she asked the two boys, unsure if they wanted to travel around together or spend the night apart again. Honestly, Kairi had no preference - she'd do whatever the two decided.

The mention of Neku and his world was interesting to Riku, but as he didn't know the guy, it wasn't like he had much to say on it. He filed away the information as important: Neku was someone important to them, and there was a girl who looked like Kairi. If she ever showed up here, Riku imagined he'd notice her. It was hard not to notice someone who looked like Kairi. He'd been looking at her for the important years of his life, and she was always important to him.

He simply nodded to Kairi's response—a slight angling of his head forward—but added nothing else as she went on. It was weird that there could be someone who looked like them, and he wondered if there was one for him. A part of Riku just hoped whoever it was didn't make mistakes like him, too.

"It depends on what you wanna do, I guess." A part of Riku itched for action, but he realized it was because he had been so unsuccessful otherwise. Maybe the others would have a better plan.

Captivity, huh? Well, that seemed to be the name of the game, especially when it came to Hojo. Zack sighed and gave Nanaki an apologetic look. Even if the kid was kind of weird, it was clear that he didn't deserve to be put through something like that. No one should have to be put at Hojo's mercy, as far as Zack was concerned. It didn't matter what they'd done.

It sounded like Cloud had shared enough details of what they'd been put through that his friends didn't even need to ask. Zack felt a little bit uncomfortable about it, but it wasn't the sort of thing that could be kept secret for long. "Yeah," he responded as he shook a hand through his hair, "four years of being cooped up with some experimentation on the side."

Not to mention the mako. Lots and lots of mako. It was no surprise that seeing the Lifestream had made him feel a little queasy.

At that moment, the intercom went off and the nurses started to hustle around the room claiming patients. The time never seemed long enough, but Zack also knew that he was playing catch-up with everything that had taken place after his death. It was going to take a while. "Well, it was nice to meet you," he said with a small smile. "I'll see you around, all right? I wouldn't be surprised if we end up working together sometime."

"They can carry disease," Meche explained off-handedly, still finishing off the last of the letters. "And bite, get into your food...but you know, they're not bad animals, really. Some people actually keep them as pets these days."

She drew straight, careful lines for Zz and slid the journal back across the table to Remy. "There! Do you know about capital and lower-case letters? I made one of each. I can tell you the names out loud, or do some explaining if there's anything you don't understand." She knew Remy was literate, so she wasn't positive where the gaps in his knowledge were.

Having finished that, she went back to her brunch and ate quickly to catch up.

Kairi had an interesting point. Sora wasn't sure if the whole issue with Neku, Shiki, and Joshua was just a weird coincidence, but it was really strange either way. On the other hand, the math guy who was one of Neku's enemies didn't bear a close resemblance to any of the Organization members. He had silver hair, but he didn't look very much like Xemnas, so that was where the pattern seemed to stop.

It was a shame that Shiki wasn't around anymore, since Sora would have been curious to see Kairi interact with her. Still, it looked like they were making Riku feel left out by talking about people who he didn't know, and so Sora moved on to focus on their plans for the coming night.

Once again, it looked like his two friends were leaving it up to him. Sora wasn't sure why that was, but it probably had to do with the fact that he'd been stuck in this place for so much longer. "Well, we could try to head down to the basement again, but..." He glanced over to Riku. "I don't know if you wanted to keep an eye on Naminé instead?"

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Day 50: Cafeteria (Brunch)

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