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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Kratos had crashed almost as soon as they had reached the institute. This wasn't exactly a new and unfamiliar experience; he'd had episodes of fatigue before, and so far had chalked them up to his body trying to regain all of the lost hours of sleep it had sustained over four thousand years. At least, that was hopefully the cause.

It was difficult to decipher what exactly had gone on during the time where he'd been out cold, though, and in the end, Kratos hadn't bothered with the bulletin board at all and let his nurse prod him toward the cafeteria where a meal would presumably shake the last of the tiredness from his system.

Kratos took more food than usual and wandered through the cafe in search of an open seat. Knowing that he couldn't be too picky, he slid into the nearest one, which unfortunately happened to be next to a rather angry-looking young man. But then, everyone was young in Kratos's eyes.

"Good morning," he said tentatively. It was still morning, wasn't it?

Despite the fact that food had never failed to be available at the scheduled times it was supposed to here, 622 was finding it harder than usual to shake the feeling that he should be stocking up, in case they didn't give him anymore. It felt admittedly pointless by now, especially given how he had been thinking this morning, but...

Regardless of his paranoia (which he hoped was all it was), his metabolism was still fast, and he needed enough food to support it. He piled his food onto a tray and sat down at the nearest available table, digging in.

[For Taura!]

[For Kaito~]

Having that little bit of a buffer between the night and his inevitable scolding to come was nice. Zack was a kind man even if Okita hadn't been able to get a lot of information out of him. That people had been able to go home at all was something of a shock, and it made Okita's blood run cold. Martin Landel was toying with them all like rats in a maze, like the politicians sometimes did with the lower samurai and the ronin. It was annoying, but it wasn't anything Okita was unaccustomed to dealing with. His family may have been samurai, but they were weak in the order and had been poor forever. He knew how the higher ups could be, and he'd learned to deal with them by simply ignoring them. He could ignore Martin's little attempts at cracking him, too.

Or he could try to.

Thankfully, brunch brought an easy distraction from his thoughts and Okita piled his plate with pancakes and sweet syrup, fruit and anything else that looked sweet. For a brief and painful moment, he entertained the thought of what Ayumu would say when she saw his plate, but he was interrupted by his nurse sighing at him.

"Julian, really. That can't be good for you," she said, shaking her head. "Take some--"

"Tofu," Okita interrupted, holding up a small bowl filled with white cubes. He set it down on his tray and then indicated the other bowl of edamame that sat next to it. He also had a little muffin that was apparently filled with "banana nuts" whatever banana nuts were. "Tofu is good for me."

In more ways than one, but the nurse still refused to believe him. She picked up a bowl and filled it with something called 'granola' and gave it to him, along with a glass of milk. "Eat it, Julian. I'll be watching to make sure you don't go dumping it on someone else."

He gave his nurse a long-suffering look, but she was immune and lead him to an open table, seating him so she could watch him from afar. Okita didn't like having his back to the door, but he had little choice in the matter because as soon as he tried to move, his nurse was coming over to reseat him. Eventually, the swordsman gave up and plopped into his seat, picking at the granola for a moment before he went right into the pancakes. They were soaked through and through with syrup and butter and oooooh did they smell good. They tasted even better and Okita ignored his healthy options for once in favor of the Western foods.

Yukari blinked; if there was one thing she hadn't expected to start coming out of this guy's mouth, it was a fairly blatant Kansai accent. Well, she thought, at least she wouldn't have to start guessing what potentially strange, freaky place he came from. It was definitely Japan, and she could even assume what region, too. That made things much simpler.

"Yeah," she agreed immediately after, and if that were the case she really couldn't blame him for looking so annoyed. Day after day it was the same routine and the same old crap to deal with-- who wouldn't be pissed?

But then he mentioned Kaito, and Yukari looked up at him with a blank stare. For a beat, she didn't respond; mostly, she was surprised she not only ran into someone else the teenaged magician knew, but that he recognized her, too. Maybe the institute wasn't as large as it seemed.

"Uh-huh," Yukari continued with the same joking manner, accompanied with a playfully slight eyeroll. "He's just lucky he doesn't misbehave. Much." Though the worst he'd ever done was flirt with her, and come to think of it, Kaito hadn't tried to do that in a while. Probably because he knew better now.

Minamimoto glanced up when the tray came down. Upon identifying who it was intruding on his ⁴/₃πr³ of influence, the Reaper was unsure whether to be more or less wary. Well, Hanekoma wasn't likely to actually start something himself, so he could be that much at ease. Likely the guy was just updating his data on him.

"Tch. Below average - the only data I collected was from a previously known variable and a couple of trash factors," he grumbled through a hot dog. There was some more mumbling, but it was pretty much unintelligible until he swallowed. "I mean really... the Harriers are easy enough to spot, but the wall-men? With the change in uniform functions here and no scan, I could probably have run one of 'em over and not even noticed. Landel really puts a whole damper on this thing."

...When had he agreed to play? Regardless of that answer, it seemed Senna was set on participation. Nigredo found the enthusiasm a little off, but again, a distraction. It might do well to indulge her.

Maybe. He eyed the sharp change in the older girl's expression with suspicion. There were a number of questions one can ask that would cross a line; however, he didn't think she would do so. At least, the boy hoped that was the case. "Red." An eyebrow quirked. "Yours?"

Heiji laughed--actually laughed. It was so awesome she was playing along, so many people might've totally missed that he was joking. Kaito seemed to be as straight-laced as they came: wouldn't even kill cats. The idea of him running around being a womanizer was kind of laughable. Well, maybe some chicks would get a kick out of him pulling a flower out of their nose or something, but past that all Heiji could see was Kaito doing the normal, awkward Go To A Movie With Me? Dance.

"Righ'?" Heiji grinned. "Got a feelin' if he was, he'd have a heck'f a lot more t'deal wi' than jus' you. Nurses f'r one thing. Though he doesn' seem th' type f'r nurses... maybe maids?"

When this had become Bag on Kaito Hour, he wasn't sure. Though given he was currently the only topic they had in common...

"'M Hattori Heiji, by the way," he smiled, dropping the teasing expression for a moment. "Kuroba 'n I 'r from th'same place. S' sorta how I know 'im."

And what was this? Now two people, complete strangers, starting off with this question and giving the same answer. For a beat she stared, then grinned brightly, tilting her head to the side. Her hand went up to touch her ribbon for emphasis. "Red. Naturally. Good choice."

She slid her elbow on the table, leaning her chin in her hand. "But you get another question. I'll give you my answers to my questions for free." It kept a balance, after all. No one would want to ask a question that they didn't want to answer themselves. Took away some results, sure, but. It was supposed to be fun. Not destructive. There was well enough of that around here.

Talking with England in the Chapel hadn't exactly been the boost of encouragement America had been hoping, but he couldn't think about that now. He had to put on his best and brightest smile for the meeting he had next, because it hadn't been so long ago that he'd dealt with the USSR that he'd forgotten how those meetings went. America had to make sure he didn't show any outward weakness for Russia to pick up on, because damn it, he refused to approach this as if he needed Russia more than Russia needed him. They may have taken his land and his people, and maybe even his inhuman invulnerability, but America was still America, and damn proud of it!

And when it came to being in good spirits, a pile of cheeseburgers definitely went a long way toward that effort.

Ignoring the nurse's disapproval of his stack of food, and any stray thoughts about how American the whole set-up and selection were, America headed over toward the nation that had once been (and thought he still was) his greatest foe. Finding Russia in a crowd was never hard: isolated and grinning at the weaker ones around him like a cat. America couldn't stand things like that, and he clenched his tray harder, walked across the room with a quicker step. But he refused to let it show, and by the time he'd claimed the spot across from Russia, hopefully blocking his view, America was smiling just as brightly as he had as a colony.

"Hey there, Russia. Is now a bad time?" Obviously America didn't care so much, since he'd already sat down and started munching away on his first cheeseburger. Oh man, evil or not, this place could cook! "I wanted to go over the potential truce, and even nations like us can have a peaceful meal together, right?" So long as America watched out for incoming silverware, anyway. He wasn't going to loose an eye to a plastic spoon.

How curious. Nigredo had expected another color from this one. He supposed there still existed things he could wonder at.

Like a question. Senna had presented a situation where the child had to offer something in return. Honestly, he hadn't really done so before, at least in the form of a game. To give and to expect a return were not normal features of what one would think as "fun". So this was entirely new territory.

The plate before him fortunately gave way to an idea. "Okay, then what do you like to eat?"

Oh? This question, huh? "Everything. Mostly," she answered with a straight-face. "I can't really choose. I like everything that you can eat." Truth in all its entirety. Just...not lately. Ah, well.

A question. Well. She smiled slightly. "Do you have friends here?"

Catching up with Renamon had been nice, but Mihai's empty stomach also approved of the idea of brunch. The food was plentiful as always, though with a much greater variety than normally offered to the patients at large. Did the tradition of treating Sundays as something special extend even to a place like this, then? No priest had shown up in the temple, however. Still, Mihai might have held out a tiny bit of hope that both day and night would allow the patients a true rest, if he were twenty-five years younger. But his long term of employment in a position that knew no holidays or weekends left him sour to the idea.

Still, his nurse at least seemed happy to leave him to choose his own seat. Was she tired of monitoring his every step, or confident that he wouldn't wander into the wrong showers? Her glare provided no answers, and rather than search out anyone in particular, Mihai opted for the first open position he came across. Certainly the woman had other things to do besides stare at his back. How could she expect him to eat his meal in peace otherwise?

"Ah, hello." Now Mihai took the opportunity to see who he'd actually sat across from. A young boy, far too young to be here. Mihai felt a pang of sympathy on seeing the sling, having been confined to one himself not so long ago. This kid, however, seemed perfectly capable of functioning even with one hand, and Mihai couldn't quite deny being envious of the youth. Only a little, though. "You weren't expecting anyone, were you?" Mihai hoped not. He wanted to eat, not play musical chairs.

Speaking of faces he would love to see all twisted up and screaming in pain, Alfred was already on his way over. Unfortunately, unlike Italy or the Baltic countries or even Germany, America wasn't a pushover. If he tried negotiating the same way he might speak with the others, he knew America would be right there to jabber away at him, whether or not it was full of cheeseburger at the time. But as far as he was concerned, the fact that America was the one asking for peace talks showed weakness on his part. Not Russia's. A slightly new or different situation wasn't going to change anything. And he wasn't going to start asking for help because of it.

"America," he smiled, looking the part at least, of a harmless and pleasant man. Though now America had known him long enough to know better. "I guess I have some time to listen. But maybe you should talk fast, da? It's really hard to hold back when I have to look at your face for too long. Eheh~"

Yukari excelled at many things. Waking up was not one of them. In fact, one could say she excelled at the art of not waking up. And today? Today she was in top form.

When the doctor's first announcement came up, Yukari hadn't even stirred. When the subsequent nurse came in, gently shaking her awake, the youkai's response had been to snore loudly. When bodily hauled from her bed, Yukari remained limp and her eyes didn't even open. There had been hope in the nurses eyes after they sat her up and the blonde's eyelids stirred... only to immediately fall shut again as her head fell limply back. Unsure of how to handle such extreme disobedience when sedation obviously would be more counterproductive than anything, the nurse went to seek advice from a more senior member, leaving Yukari sitting there.

When she came back, the woman was sprawled on the bed in a position that in no way looked comfortable but she nonetheless seemed to be sleeping in. That was concerning enough, but when it became apparent the position of her arm was cutting off her airway? That had both nurses rushing over, shaking her awake urgently. Finally, finally Yukari's eyes opened.

"...what time is it?" she asked. When informed it was before noon, she immediately let them close again.

After that, it was an uphill battle to keep "Ms. Cloud" upright and awake, to put her slippers on and walking down the hall. Twice, the youkai simply slumped against a wall and fell asleep. Once, she even fell asleep in the middle of walking, one of the orderlies barely managing to catch her before she simply landed face first on the tile. Eventually, she made it out to the Sun Room... by which point, it was already time for brunch.

She was herded along with the other patients, not even particularly awake as she walked through the line. However, the smell of food at least did a little to perk her up, if not focus her, and by the end of it, Yukari actually looked awake, if not conscious. Satisfied that she wasn't going to fall over any time soon, a naive impression on the poor woman's part, the nurse left Yukari to find her own seat.

As appetizing as breakfast smelled, the youkai really had no interest in eating. She really just wanted to curl up and fall asleep, preferably on a ninja-shaped pillow. She couldn't see her target in the growing crowd, but there was an easy solution to this - just tap into her newly awakened Sheena-sense and...

Get absolutely nothing.

Blinking dumbly, Yukari tried again but found she just had no idea where the ninja was. Which, if she thought about it, was a little concerning. There was a rising modicum of panic under that blanket of weariness, a fear that she couldn't sense her summoner because there was no summoner to sense. After a few seconds though, she noticed she could still feel that connection to Sheena, she just couldn't sense where it connected. Breathing a little sigh of relief, the youkai resolved to find her the old fashioned way. Or give up after a few seconds and settle for napping without a warm ninja pillow.

Lucky for her, a wonderful compromise presented itself in all its pink-haired glory.

Tottering on over, Yukari let her tray hit the table with a clatter before slumping in her seat next to Yuyuko and leaning heavily on the ghost, clinging pitifully to her sleeve.

"Yu~yu~ko~" she whined, her cry turning into a yawn halfway through. "I can't find my pillow~"

There was something behind his laugh that sounded like he really needed it, and not only because he was in a bad mood when she first sat down. Yukari wondered if there had been something more than 'just another day at Landel's', although it wasn't her place to ask; they had only just met, after all, and she didn't want to ruin the casual mood the atmosphere was slowly turning to.

She laughed herself, because although Yukari hated accusations of hooking up with a guy, she could tell he hadn't been serious about the remark. He wasn't the only one who could use for some more of this kind of conversation.

"Takeba Yukari," she responded with her own name. "Nice to meet you." She paused for only a moment, thinking. "The same place, huh?" During her thoughts, Yukari rested her chin into the palm of her hand. "Are you a transfer student or somethin'? There's no other way you two are from the same city-- your accent's way too thick."

Everything? That bordered on gluttonous for the variant--never mind it wasn't Senna's intention to give the impression. As a lifelong picky eater, he never considered the prospect of devouring just anything to be very admirable. "I'm kind of the opposite," he admitted. "I don't like many things. Mashed potatoes are tolerable, though." By which he meant he enjoyed them well enough.

"Friends?" In this place? Despite a brother close by and one trusted individual, he didn't know if either counted. If any counted. Friends were something like Sakura to Rubedo: someone important on both sides. Though he would extend the offer to perhaps Klavier, he would not know if the sentiment would be returned. And rejection was so...

The question had obviously taken the child aback, and without conscious thought, his eyes found their way to his plate. "I don't know." Maybe he didn't.

If he had asked? He would have been right. Senna bordered gluttonous on her best day--she won a food eating contest with a tray overflowing with hot dogs after all. That counted in some places, people would think.

But for Nigredo's answer... It was too sad. Too sad for a girl who wasn't supposed to exist. Children... No, not even. Everyone should have someone that they could call friend. Someone that they could count on. She watched him. "Then I'll be your friend." It wasn't a joke, or something that light. "I'm a pretty good one. I won't walk away so easy."

Nigredo glanced up, the wonder now locked on Senna's offer. Which hardly made sense. Why even extend a hand of friendship to him? She didn't even-- "But you don't know me," he muttered.

And she didn't. The teenager had yet to be informed of Nigredo's origins and misdeeds, and the child did not know how she would react to them. If Klavier's reactions were of any indication, perhaps she would feel the same. Or worse. You simply did not become friends with a weapon and expect normalcy such as bonds. Sakura was an exception, and she had not lasted very long.

Edited 2010-06-18 08:41 (UTC)

"It doesn't matter," she replied without hesitation. She, of all people, couldn't be asked to judge someone on who they were. What they were. "I'll still be your friend. I'll stand by you."

She knew the words were just that. People didn't expect them, and doubted them. She knew that. But Senna would still hold to them. That was her way of life. She might mix fact and fiction, withhold details, and flit around the truth, but she kept her word. "And you seem like you need a friend. You know?"

He hadn't thought to need a friend. Granted, Nigredo had always existed with niggling bouts of isolation, but he had never once entertained friendship as the solution. Either Senna or he was skewed in their thinking, and at this moment, the U.R.T.V. held no clue as to which was correct. Do you stay with what was familiar or step out to the unknown?

The train of logic reached a dead end. Nigredo fingered the wrappings on his left hand, as if to recall the broken trust associated with the injury. He could say many things to her words, but none seemed right. "I didn't know," he finally confessed. "I didn't think I needed a friend."

Because he was the type to be alone. To handle life and its waves alone. Not even his own family was a part of that so what made this any different?

Senna smiled at that. "Everybody needs someone." The girl shrugged. "In some way. Life's a lot better when you're not all by yourself." Maybe she was wrong. Wouldn't be the first time. But the way he had answered her. Echoing the word, and then claiming to be unsure. And now his words. I didn't think I needed a friend. Had Nigredo ever had anyone like that?

She glanced at him. "Have you had friends before here?"

The nurse wheeled Nanaki into the queue, despite the fact that he'd been telling her he was perfectly capable of walking now. He'd even demonstrated, but a small mishap later and he was back in the chair with a bruised knee and a scowl. Things got worse when he asked for sausage links and some hot dogs without the bread. She piled his plate with salad as well. It was a waste, he didn't even want to try green things today.

And so, he gave the attempt to request something of his nurse one last little try in the form of asking to be sat next to a young man who looked familiar. He didn't saying anything more than 'there please'. For the first time that day, she obeyed and he congratulated her listening skills.

As per Zack's instructions (well, besides the walking bit) he said 'Hi' and stared intently at him. Just like the picture he'd seen. Interesting.

"Are you still affiliated with Shin-Ra?"

The words were so simple, so straightforward in their logic, and in them, Nigredo found the flaw. Everyone might have needed someone, but that sentiment did not guarantee fulfillment. Existence might be better with another, but what if there was none to begin with?

When had this game gotten so far off its intended path?

Her question was mulled over, then denied. "We weren't allowed to have friends." Sakura was, in the end, the research subject. Their responsibility. She did not count in that respect. As for others... "I only had siblings."

She could ask the same question. Wasn't this supposed to create something light? And here was the opposite, a heavy subject to weigh them down. If not for the words used, she might have changed subjects. "...Not allowed?" The girl looked surprised, and then it shifted fluidly to anger.

"Who would tell you that? That's horrible!" What was Nigredo? Ten, eleven? What kind of person would tell a child that? Not that they couldn't, or shouldn't, but weren't allowed. How cruel. How completely cruel.

~A darkened closet under the stairs, locked and fastened tight. There was yelling, the sounds of flesh hitting flesh, and then nothing but silence. She might have slept. She might have just stared in the darkness. But she didn't cry. She knew better. The last time, when they found her with tears when they opened the door--~

Senna let out a gasp, sitting back in her chair and pressing her hand to her eyes. Her chest heaved for breath. Nice. Very nice. Hard to drive a point home when you're acting like a crazy person. "Sorry. I..." And like last night, there was no explanation suitable. "Just. No one can tell you... not to have friends."

Worried as he was about Claude, Guy knew that his friend wouldn't much appreciate it if he tried to stick around and hover over his shoulder all day. The nurses seemed to be very attentive when it came to helping him get around, even if they weren't admitting to what had actually caused it. Guy just hoped that Claude kept his temper in check around them, since the last thing he needed at this point was a sedative.

As he headed down the stairs from the chapel and then toward the cafeteria, Guy couldn't help wondering if this meant he would eventually be booked for some time on the examination table. He'd now had two very close friends go through the process, even if Luke didn't remember it (and it seemed that the effects were gone, too -- or so he hoped).

Part of him wanted to think that he was off the hook after coming back from the dead, but he knew better than to expect that much. He did have to admit that he'd become somewhat complacent, in that he'd just assumed he'd been passed over. Now that Claude, who had been around here for a similar amount of time, had suddenly been seized for experiments, the possibility of the same thing happening to him seemed far more likely.

That was enough of worrying about himself, though. Mainly, he just wanted to do what he could to make sure that Claude was okay. Unfortunately, checking in on him over the bulletin was more or less out of the question for the moment. He could try to find a healer for his friend if it came to that, though. Still, there was no reason to jump the gun, and so he'd have to just wait it out for now.

Guy went on auto-pilot for long enough to grab himself a plate of food (he decided to go with the healthier choices) and then find himself an empty place to sit. He figured he was too distracted to seek someone out right at that moment.

[Free!]

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Day 50: Cafeteria (Brunch)

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