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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Even though his conversation with Guy had been cut short, Claude found that his thoughts were a little more grounded than when he'd first woken up. Maybe it was the way Guy managed to stay so level-headed about everything, or the feeling of normalcy he found in conversations with him. Well, whatever the case, it made it a little easier to keep his mind from racing as much, even if a thick knot of anxiety still lingered in the pit of his stomach.

As much as Claude couldn't stomach the thought of eating anything, the nurse was insistent that he get something. "You've got to start the day off right, Thomas," she told him as she led him into the cafeteria. Her tone almost had a motherly quality to it, which made it hard to get angry at her. Still, he'd just as soon be left alone when he had a sick stomach. The swell of different conversations that filled the room didn't exactly do much to help in that department. Neither did all the sweet breakfast smells that lingered near the line, for that matter.

Ignoring his hoarse protests, she put together a plate for him that he could only imagine contained an assortment of food for him to nibble on. Though he felt bad that he'd probably just wind up wasting it, he finally relented and accepted the tray with a tight, polite smile. At least she'd set down a small cup of medication for him to take along with the food, so it wasn't all bad, he guessed. Any relief for his eyes was more than welcome by this point.

"Now, let's find somewhere for you to sit," she said as she gently guided him through the cafeteria. After a few moments she seemed to spot someone and suddenly turned him into a different direction. "Why don't you sit with this gentleman here? He looks like he could use some company." Claude could hear the smile in her voice as she sat him down in a chair, presumably across from someone. "Enjoy your meal, you two!"

And with that, her footsteps faded away and were soon obscured by the voices that came from neighboring tables. Being plopped down next to someone whose face he couldn't even see was awkward, to say the least. As much as Claude didn't feel like chatting with random people, though, he couldn't stand for uncomfortable silences to go on too long. "Uh, hi," he greeted after a moment, uncertain of where, exactly, his brunch companion was sitting.

The peace of solitude was, naturally, something that was impossible to retain when it came to meal times. Haseo laid his hands down on the table, facial expression rapidly darkening the moment that fact once more became apparent. Being accosted by whoever the staff decided to throw at him? No thanks, he'd had enough annoyances in the form of other 'patients' who often seemed hand-picked by the nurses specifically to clash with his personality.

A beat later, all that irritation melted away as Haseo finally pulled his stare up from the table and looked at the guy who'd been seated across from him. He looked vaguely familiar, in that sort of seen-him-around kind of way, but so far there had never been anything noteworthy about him. Now, the teen couldn't help but stare at the bandages over the young man's eyes, wondering what could have possibly happened to him and why.

"Uh... hi," he echoed, not sure what else there was to say that wouldn't sound tacky or otherwise inappropriate.

It was really weird, not being able to see who he was speaking to. The least the nurse could have done was tell him this person's name -- of course, little good that would do, considering the staff didn't even do that right. As soon as his brunch companion returned his greeting, though, Claude slightly jerked his head toward the source of the exact source, surprised.

Hey, he recognized that voice! After a stunned moment, he thought he managed to place it: Luke. Though he wasn't as certain as he had been when he first heard Guy speak to him, this voice was distinct enough in its own right. It also helped that he'd just talked to the redhead the other day, so the way he sounded was still fresh on his mind.

"Oh, whew, it's you," Claude said hoarsely, relief coloring his tone as he relaxed against the back of his chair a little. "For a second there I thought the nurse was going to put me with someone I didn't know."

Even if the bandages were to be dismissed, Haseo knew the blindness had to be a new thing; he wasn't an expert in body language or anything, but the way the other moved and acted seemed to give away enough uncertainty to prove he wasn't yet used to it. Unfortunately, the Adept Rogue was clueless over the source. Once the lights were out, there were so many varied dangers within the institute that he could probably spend the rest of the day guessing without coming anywhere closer to the truth.

And yet, before he had the chance to dwell on the problem at all, there came a response Haseo definitely wasn't expecting. 'It's you?' The teen sat up a little straighter, at first confused and then thrown into doubt- did he already know him?

"What? No, you've got it all wrong," he answered, perplexed frown evident in his own voice. He shifted in discomfort, knowing that if he was wrong about this being a new encounter, then that would be really embarrassing. In addition, when confronted by someone else his own age and gender, he usually tended to feel a slight edge of competitiveness... especially online as 'Haseo.' Since this guy didn't really seem to present a challenge at all, that already threw Haseo off. The act like they knew each other only compounded the problem.

"I'm Haseo... I don't think we've met," he said anyway, studying the blonde very closely for reaction.

The more the other patient talked, the more convinced Claude was that he was definitely talking to Luke. There was no mistaking it. But his confidence was thrown off kilter a little when he heard the patient across from him deny that they'd ever met. In fact, he sounded genuinely confused by Claude's assumption that they were friends.

For a split moment, Claude felt a brief surge of fear run though him. Oh no, he thought. Maybe Luke had lost his memories again, and they were back to square one in getting reacquainted. Wouldn't that have been a bad case of rotten luck for them both! Under normal circumstances, the thought would have been pretty out-there, but Claude had been in Landel's long enough to see it happen to several people, including Luke...twice.

Of course, those fears were immediately replaced by confusion when he heard the name Haseo. It sounded vaguely familiar in a way that he couldn't quite put his finger on right then. But that didn't matter when it was painfully obvious that this was Luke's voice he was hearing. Confusion gave way to frustration as Claude furrowed his eyebrows at the patient across from him.

"Luke, if this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny," he said, his tone growing indignant at what was starting to sound like a pretty tasteless trick.

"Haseo," the Rogue corrected immediately, "It's not a trick!" His first thought was... why in the world some random dude would be convinced he was named "Luke." Was the goofy moniker the nurses called at him every five minutes not enough? He wasn't inside 'The World'... so he already felt odd about insisting on his online handle all the time over his real-life name!

His second major thought went along the lines of just how fantastic it was that he'd been lead into thinking he might get out of this meal without his already-frayed nerves being rubbed at so mercilessly. He was used to some pretty wacky people - the trait came standard when interacting in such a diversely-populated online game, after all - but all the outrageous claims and accusations and various other annoying conversation topics were... really old meme.

"Look, I don't know this... Luke guy," he said, still irritable and stopping just short of running a potentially still-greasy hand through his hair. "Sorry I apparently sound like him though, geez."

And just then he finally remembered how closely his own voice had seemed to resemble Suzaku's. That one time had been enough that even he had eventually noticed, but surely something silly like that couldn't be happening again, right?

Claude fell silent when this guy kept insisting he wasn't really Luke after all. Part of him was irritated this was an issue at all, since they likely wouldn't be having this conversation if he'd just been able to see. If it was a joke, he was going to be pretty angry. But it sounded like this "Haseo" was genuinely put-off to be confused for someone else, which made Claude slow down and take pause for a moment.

"But that's..." he said at length, quiet and a little bit uncertain. Finally, he shook his head and leaned against the edge of the table with one of his elbows. "It's just...you sound a lot like him, that's all. Sorry for jumping on you like that."

Two people sharing an eerily similar voice wasn't the strangest thing Claude had encountered, in all honesty. It was just unsettling when he couldn't see enough to tell the difference. Talk about embarrassing...

"I'm Claude, by the way," he added with a faint, apologetic smile. "And you're...Haseo, then."

Haseo was silent as the blonde seemed to work through what he'd said before finally getting around to apologizing. This was definitely an unusual circumstance for the Rogue, having to make a first impression by voice alone rather than visual presentation. In a way it was ironic, considering his current appearance- many people used the Network and more specifically, 'The World' and their created characters inside it, to meet and talk to people outside the expectations of real life... and yet here Haseo had to do that outside of when he'd actually chosen to.

In 'The World', the teen usually found little issue with his reputation as a fighter, aside from the accusations of cheating and blame for things he hadn't done, of course. However, there were times when it was weird or even got in the way... such as when one had been kidnapped for use in an apparent experiment, stuck in a body that definitely didn't exist in reality. He was an unusual sight already inside the game, but here he seemed to really stick out, even when dressed exactly the same as everyone else.

"Hn, yeah," he answered, snapping out of the state of thought. He blinked, then aimed his remaining irritation at his meal instead, staring at the tray for several long moments before adding on more- "Don't worry about it." For a second or two he tried to recall if he'd heard of 'Claude' elsewhere, but came up entirely empty. He wasn't sure where it would have come from, anyway.

"Uh, sorry but... did that happen last night?" he asked then, curiosity finally getting the best of him. Normally he might have gestured to accompany the question too, but he kept his hands down, feeling slightly awkward. He hadn't heard of anything blinding someone before, and he'd tried to pay a decent amount of attention when they could still talk about that kind of stuff on the bulletin. If there was a monster or something capable of that, he wanted to know about it.

Going by first impression alone, Haseo didn't strike Claude as the friendliest person, though that didn't necessarily mean he was bad. Given how Claude had greeted him, he guessed he hadn't given the other patient much reason to be terribly chatty with him, either. But it wasn't like he could help it. Running into folks who had the same voice as his friends usually didn't happen, so it wasn't so strange that he wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on if he couldn't see, right?

Upon hearing Haseo asked after his wounds, Claude self-consciously brought his uninjured hand to the bandages, his fingers brushing over the smooth surface of the tape holding the eye pads in place. He probably should have expected someone to ask about all this -- not like it was hard to miss, after all. But that didn't change the fact he hadn't really considered what to say in response to those kinds of questions. Just sharing what little details he had with Guy had been hard enough, but he didn't have the energy to lie about it, either.

"Yeah," he quietly answered. "It..." The blond paused, considering his words for a moment. Even if Haseo's voice was familiar, he couldn't bring himself to just come out and say what happened to someone he didn't even know. Claude let out a small breath. "It wasn't from the monsters, though."

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.

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.

Haseo blinked, watching silently as Claude... actually seemed to take some medication. After everything that had happened to him, the sight was a little disturbing to the Rogue. But what was he going to do about it? Hit the guy until he coughed them back up? For all he knew, it was entirely possible that the nurses actually offered legitimate relief from pain, even if he'd never once been offered any sort of meds himself. Voluntarily, at least.

He was already highly uncomfortable, but managed to hold his tongue for the sake of not making the situation any worse. Claude said he didn't want to talk about it, so he'd have to respect that, right? For that matter though, Haseo couldn't help but wonder how many of the people trapped in the institute had had something awful happen to them, but just kept it to themselves. It was clear there was little trust spared in everyone's normal interactions, and what might have gone up under the guise of anonymity went unsaid, due to a lack of means. There was no 'rumors' board at Landel's, and it was hard to understand the scope of something when talking about it was expressly disallowed or concealed under code everyone else might now understand. That was frustrating and familiar, and Haseo frowned at the thought.

Needless to say, he was glad for the shift in conversation, even if its unexpected nature caught him off-guard for a moment. "Uh... yeah," he answered, trying his best to go along with it, "There's a few of us from the same place here. I guess I've met a few people who aren't all that bad, too." He paused a beat, taking a breath and trying not to think about how he would have preferred none of those people having to deal with the place. "... You?"

Claude had been here long enough to know there weren't any side effects from the medicine they gave during the day. By all accounts, they really went above and beyond to come across as a regular hospital when the sun was out. It was just when the lights got shut down that they really needed to worry. Besides, as high as his tolerance for pain was, the feeling of sand in his eyes was enough to drive most people a little batty. If the institute was wiling to provide a little relief during the day, he was willing to quietly take it.

Either way, it looked like his change in topic worked well enough, at least for now. It was always a mixed blessing to hear other people had friends they knew from before in this place. On one hand, no one deserved to face the nightly challenges here alone. But on the other, it meant that there were more victims being added to their numbers everyday. That was why Claude liked hearing stories of patients who met within the institute's walls and decided to band together in the fact of what Landel threw at them.

"I've got a few friends from home, too," Claude answered. "But I've also met some really great people since coming here." Not to mention some horrible people, but there was no reason to go into that.

"Where are you from, anyway?" he asked. Normally it was a topic Claude avoided with strangers, choosing to focus on more lighthearted discussion that was less likely to evoke feelings of homesickness, but he didn't have the energy to come up with anything creative right then.

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Day 50: Cafeteria (Brunch)

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