Day 51: Breakfast

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

Yuffie Kisaragi, indomitable bouncing ball of sunshine and unfathomable ebullience, was tired. It'd been a long night full of gibberish and getting nowhere fast.

"Can't I—"

Plucky, who had been busily loading a plate full of French toast and bacon, tittered. "I'm afraid not, Hanna, darling. A chat over a nice, hearty breakfast would do you a world of good, don't you think?"

"Aaaaactually—"

"Come on, let's find you a seat. Plenty to choose from this morning!"

For a long moment, Yuffie seriously considered doing something—anything—to act out. Punch her nurse, rub jam in an orderly's face, climb a wall and hang off the ceiling, jump on a table and parody Loveless… A ruckus like that would definitely jolt her back into gear, right? Sedation aside. And it'd turn Plucky's good day right on its head, which was always a bonus worth shooting for.

But, by the time she'd reached a decision—and it was an epic decision, a really awesome one; everybody'd appreciate the genius, she was sure—she was already alone. Her breakfast tray had been set down neatly by the nurse, who had left with an infuriatingly winsome smile.

"Wow," Yuffie muttered. Shaking her head, she picked a chair at random and threw herself into it. She kicked back, one arm slung across her eyes, to wait. For what, she wasn't totally sure. Some moron to decide that she looked like good company? That was how it usually went.

Comments

[timedork]

Aside from Donna and Brainiac 5 bickering across him, the Doctor had enjoyed last night. It had been... relaxing. Maybe he hadn't found the TARDIS again, and maybe Donna would say he hadn't gotten anything done, but he and Brainiac 5 sharing the technology they'd gotten the previous night had been more than worth it. Of all the people he'd met here, Brainiac 5 was the only one who had shown both that he had a working knowledge of more sophisticated technologies and that he understood them.

In some respects, showing Brainiac 5 the sonic screwdriver had been a test.... One that the Coluan boy had passed.

Morning itself had been unwelcome, but he was in a good mood when he followed his nurse into the cafeteria. He helped himself to a few pieces of toast with a side of sausage, and then took a seat nearby.

[For Mr. H!]

[catstreetblues.livejournal.com]

Seeing how he'd actually slept an entire night for once, it didn't surprise Sanae that he would get to the cafeteria before everyone else did. It was a nice change: usually he showed up when breakfast was in full swing.

The hard part, though, was finding some place to sit. He liked sitting with someone else; Sanae was a social creature and needed his human interaction almost constantly. However, with most of the seats empty, there were few choices for him to make. He spotted Neku sitting off by himself, but figured that it would still be best to keep interaction to a minimum - after all, it had only been a few days since Joshua had died, hadn't it?

In the end, Sanae dropped into the nearest seat option he could find: next to a Western-looking man who looked pretty pleased with himself. "Hey, morning." He gave a little wave before he set his tray down. "Ya don't mind, do ya?"

[hat_einen_vogel]

When he woke up, Prussia wanted to claim that last night (and maybe even yesterday in its entirety) hadn't happened, except he was pretty sure it had. He was pretty damn certain that it had.

All vestiges of the sedation had long since worn off by the time he woke up, and his recollection of last night wasn't the least bit hazy. Last night hadn't been some drug-induced hallucination, nor had it been a dream; and besides, he had proof.

He had still been contemplating what had happened when the nurse came into the room and found him standing at the door of his closet.

"I'm so pleased to see you're already up!" she said cheerily, taking his arm and leading him out of the room as if he'd been a child. Prussia grimaced, but decided not to pull away; he didn't exactly want those orderlies coming at him again so soon if she took it the wrong way... or the right way.

It wasn't long before they reached the cafeteria, where the woman abandoned him as soon as he finished filling a tray with toast, sausages, and something that looked like it might have been an American version of a potato pancake. Not many other people were here yet (and those who were Prussia didn't recognize) so he took a seat, keeping an eye out for familiar faces and trying not to think about last night.

It was a futile effort, but at least the food helped to distract him.

[For his bro]

[neuepolitik.livejournal.com]

It was a universal law of the universe. No matter how pressing the circumstances, or how difficult the challenges facing them were, or even how important it was that they work together... world meetings never accomplished anything. There was no point to it, in the end. Even this time, where they were practically human and had no reason to antagonize, it fell apart. Russia bullied the weaker ones among them, America did his usual grandstanding, Japan remained utterly inscrutable... and that was all before that odd confusion that had twisted their languages.

In short... it had been a disaster. A complete, unmitigated disaster. Sadly, Ludwig was already used to the abject failures of the world meetings. No, the only thing that aggravated Ludwig was the fact that he hadn't been able to call the meeting back to order before the night had ended. In essence, a completely wasted night, save only for the fact that he now had an idea for who was there with him. America, England, Russia, and Japan... at least they had a strong group here, if only they could be united. A difficult challenge, but not insurmountable.

But it still left the German with a nagging question. Why had they been chosen and not the others? Why was this Institute not filled with the embodiments of every nation? It made no sense for why they alone were here, and he was relatively certain that they had no common denominator for when they had been taken. They were of different strengths, different points in their respective histories, certainly, so... why? Why were they here?

It was with these thoughts that Ludwig worried himself as he went through the cafeteria. Shredded potatoes, sausage, toast, and orange juice sounded good. He took some milk as well, in case he truly was human now and had to worry about calcium deficiency. Where to sit, though? He didn't want to be bothered by humans when he was trying to figure out this problem of nations... ah hah. He saw his brother's shock of white hair, and sat down opposite of him. Disapproving Stare was go. "You didn't attend the world meeting last night. Where were you?"

[scalyfishman.livejournal.com]

Another day, another set of bandages to show off. If there was a record for ‘most injuries sustained during stay’ here, Depth Charge figured he was going about beating it in just the right way. Broken ribs, a bruise here, a gash there… he was gonna look like a patchwork by the end of it all if he wasn’t more careful. The chest wound he’d gotten from that freak show last night hadn’t been as deep as it could have been (he hadn’t seen organs, and that was all that mattered to him) but that didn’t mean he wasn’t bitter about it- bitter enough that he made sure to be just that little bit more uncooperative and sour to his actual nurse when she showed up. ‘You fell down the stairs’ his skidplate. Knowing his luck, it had probably been her who’d tried to rip him up personally.

It had looked as though Hime had gotten out of things okay and last he knew the woman they’d tried to save had been on her feet. That was something. Anyway, knowing they’d tried to do something, albeit with limited success, was a little comforting in an odd sort of way. Made him feel like he’d managed to do something useful with his time, even when Landel’d thrown a culture shock or two in his path- not to mention a Pitload less guilty about running out on Search and Rescue for so long.

Speaking of culture shocks, Depth Charge had almost let himself be grateful when the Head Doctor started to speak Cybertronix again—until he reminded himself that he’d taken it away in the first place, and that he was the reason any of them were here at all. What was there to be ‘grateful’ about? Slag all.

Dropping his table with just a little more force than was really necessary (“Mr. Price, really! I don’t know what’s gotten into you today!”), he found himself a seat and began to pick at his breakfast- mostly fruit, along with some juice. He wasn't really in the mood for a hunger strike, but...

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

Target! A... slightly folded, mangled, or spindled one. After a whole night of dealing with one Cybertronian and not being able to bother him, HK needed to pester another. Therefore, as soon as he had been forced into accepting a tray of food, he immediately made for the slightly shredded fishbot.

"Observation: You look like you had an interesting night," HK noted, dropping his tray of food on the table with great deliberateness and then immediately shoving it out of the way, "Or something had an interesting night at you. Query: Should I be making cutting and innuendo-related remarks at you in return for last time we spoke? It's not my specialty, but I might be able to manage."

Now that everybody was somehow speaking perfect Basic as per Landel's specifications, he could share his great witticisms with this captive audience again. Jubilation and exultance.

[windstwilight.livejournal.com]

It was that she understood. When she went back to her room the night before. When she glanced around at the bare basics and understood that Falis wasn't in solitary. That she wasn't coming back. That was a chance, you know. That she was wrong, and Falis had just been moved. Despite the sword left and now hidden in Senna's closet. But she had asked. And they hadn't even tried to deny it.

It hurt. In a way of old aches, and for a second, when they told her, her eyes had flashed and for one minute she thought to take them down. And then she remembered Reid. Telling her the good that did, you just made friends with needles, and it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. The girl's head dropped, and she allowed herself to be herded to the cafeteria. The tray in front of her sat untouched.

[Hokuto]

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

Either Hokuto was still in worse shape than she could admit, or more depressed; either way, it meant another night wasted. Maybe I just needed the rest... but breaktime's over, she told herself firmly as she got up. If I don't remember why I'm here, then I shouldn't be here at all. And there was one quick way out--if she was okay with her friends knowing she had abandoned them by choice.

And as long as I have friends here, then I'm not there yet.

Nutrition wasn't as important as morale right now, so she got a plateful of French toast before looking around for someone to eat with. Senna looked even worse off than she felt, so Hokuto went right for her. "Good morning," she said, giving the girl a small smile. If nothing else, it was good to see her.

[composers-proxy.livejournal.com]

It was always a little weird to wake up after being certain he'd just been in the middle of doing something else, but sure enough, he was back in bed. Not like he'd been doing anything eventful, except maybe keeping that Abe guy from getting himself killed in horrible ways, but it was still annoying to be going in circles like this.

He tucked his mp3 player away, keeping it out of sight, and stuck the pins in nearest drawer. Not like the nurses were likely to think his arts and crafts project was a lethal weapon.

The nurse showed up and took him the usual route. He followed, grabbing a tray and plunking down in his seat. French toast wasn't quite the same as pancakes, but at least the food was decent.

[Minakoooo]

[ai-no-minako.livejournal.com]

Maybe the whole thing with blacking out in one place and waking up in another would start to feel normal in time. Minako, however, was pretty sure that she didn't want to stick around long enough for it to become so, and not just because she was a little suspicious of just how they got everyone back in place by morning. And what they did in the meantime, too. It was just weird if you thought about it for too long, so she tried not to even if suspicions kept creeping in.

This time she was expecting the nurse who arrived, glad to at least get some breakfast. With how long the night lasted, the dinner she'd only picked at felt like it had been a long time ago and frankly, she was starving. She paused long enough to leave a note on the bulletin, since she hadn't seen the sometimes-blue kid around on the way in, and then made a beeline for the food. Cafeteria meals were infinitely preferable to the dinners she'd been given, if only because here she had an option. Like fruit instead of cake, even if cake was... nice. Occasionally.

Minako paused for a moment to frown at the selection, then sighed and gathered a relatively healthy breakfast on her tray before turning to find somewhere to sit. Was everyone sleeping in or something? It was still pretty empty. After a moment's thought she shrugged a little and went to join a boy who looked about her age -- though unlike anyone else here, he was wearing a pair of large headphones. "How'd you get those past the babysitters?" she asked curiously, setting her tray across from him without bothering to ask and gesturing vaguely toward her own ears. "I didn't think they'd let people take stuff out of the music room."

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

_{[Tweedledee and Tweedle--wait. For Kurogane and Fai!]}

Landel’s "spell" had come soon after she’d left Professor Stein’s office. She hadn’t gotten very far after that point. English seemed to be the major language for people involved with the Institute, and whether due to her… immunity… or the fact that she could speak it herself, Tsubaki hadn’t experienced any difficulties as she‘d continued on. And then the Head Doctor had been taunting them once again, first in English, then in what she heard was Japanese, explaining some kind of blood magic with the rings…

After that, a bed below her and a white-washed ceiling above her. Morning.

And with morning came all of the untouched concerns that had been set aside from yesterday, washing down her spine like a cold bath. Tsubaki had sprung out of her bed, hurrying to change and be done with the morning routine so that she could get down to breakfast. She hadn’t managed to talk to Kurogane or Fai the day after everything had happened, but today… today she just had to.

Scribbling out a note for the bulletin in case that was where they’d look first, Tsubaki then moved on to the cafeteria. "I need to talk to someone right now. I-I’ll get something to eat after," she explained to her nurse, and though the nurse didn’t look fully convinced, she hung back nonetheless, taking up a stand beside the doors so that there would be no chance she could miss them.

Tsubaki wasn’t sure she had the stomach for food, anyway. It’d mean sitting on her haunches, and she couldn’t bear doing that.

[contentincloset.livejournal.com]

Kurogane hadn't expected to get far last night, but he'd hoped to be at least a bit further than heading out of the Hardware store before morning came. Far enough at least to have taken out some frustration on some zombies that had started milling about for the mess he'd made in the store.

In the end he'd only gotten all of one head bashed in before being back in his room. Dammit! How the hell were they supposed to get anything done (and this time on the "orders" of the psycho in charge) when this kept on happening?!

The ninja stormed into the cafeteria, looking specifically for the man he'd split from last night. He didn't expect much, but he at least wanted to know that the idiot was still alive and had gotten somewhere. He ended up stopping short of getting into the door though, finding another concern of his just standing there as if she was looking for someone. If she'd gotten the same message as them the night before, or had been in trouble because of it as he'd thought, then odds were he was one of those "someones".

"Hey," he growled as his one and only way greeting before attempting to glare his nurse away, "I'll sit in a minute." She'd be back soon enough with whatever food she always got for him, but they could discuss things in the meantime. "You ok?" he asked immediately once the nurse had gone off.

[hasnomeaning]

Too many questions remained unanswered. Least of all, how her neck had been cleaned and bandaged in transition. Ayanami's hand raised to trace the edges, plastic and cloth crinkling under pressure. Least of all, how. Perhaps most, why. But she was not that simple. That selfish. To believe that that was possibly a pointed attack. She could have been in the right place for someone, someone who would use that to bled her out, take her blood for a purpose unknown. She wondered quietly, as she seldom allowed herself, if it was at all different from others.

Little time was given to that. She was accompanied to the cafeteria and given a tray. Like before, Rei sat sedately and ate quietly by herself.

[open]

[inherited]

Strange, waking up and feeling like he accomplished something. It almost felt like the air was still there, wrapped around him, and he could see the area around him. It was freedom from the institute. Turned out that he made the right choice, even if they hadn't gotten very far. He wondered how far they could go if they used his ring to get there; there were parts of Doyleton that were worth exploring.

Sure, it meant that he would have to go with his friends again, but they belonged together. They were meant to do this. They could handle talking to people in the daytime. And at night, they could act on it.

Not that that solved any of the problems. Kairi still had Darkness lingering inside of her and Sora had been here for a while, without noticeable progress. It possibly meant that things might not be able to improve as easily as he would prefer. But nothing was easy. Riku knew that. Being trapped somewhere just meant he could face it that much more easily.

Now that it was morning, he just had to hold it together. He rolled out of bed and started for the door, greeting his nurse with nothing but a nod. He didn't want to deal with her. But she seemed more than willing to follow closely after him. Riku found himself irritated with how she was almost right behind him, as if the moment he stopped his steps, she would run into him. Overly eager. Just like always.

"I'll meet someone new," he told the nurse, stepping to the side. She seemed appeased, because she let him go get his food, but he could feel her eyes on him. It was a good thing they weren't around at night. That would be a problem.

Of course, it wasn't like it was hard to meet someone new. The whole place was swimming with unfamiliar faces, so he simply dropped across from the closest one. Let her say hi, if she wanted to talk. He started eating.

[diamondstorm]

Time again had passed strangely. It didn't seem like much had happened once she had ran into Beelzemon, and the two had made it outside. Not much had changed there, she thought. She could have still pictured the pair of birds swooped, and the heat of flames licking her side. As well as a call: "I'm blind!" Renamon could almost laugh now. She had been so blind herself, hadn't she? But Toph was so capable by herself. Renamon would never have guessed the fact given the night.

That was so long ago now, wasn't it? It bordered on three weeks, and the Digimon sobered. What must Rika think of her, still in here after all this time? What could her Tamer think? It had been... far too long. And taken more than Renamon would have realized.

She moved to a table, still lost in thought, idly picking the bland food out to consume. There were moves she could take still. She was not yet powerless.

[free]

[runner-up-robot.livejournal.com]

Considering everything that had happened the night before, Forte woke surprisingly restful. He was in pain, of course - especially his right shoulder, where he'd constantly thrown himself to the ground. Aside from his back, where his burns felt oddly warm but definitely painful, it was almost a good hurt. He was almost starting to feel an attachment to this body - he'd finally put it to good use, and it was sore but grateful. As he rolled over he felt the two scalpels under his pillow, and decided... to just leave them there. He wasn't tired, but he felt like just laying in bed.

Of course, he wasn't sure why he felt so relaxed. Nothing had changed. He still didn't know what to do about Sheena, or even how he felt.

Well... that wasn't true, was it? In the heat of the battle, tried to protect Sheena. He didn't think about it, he never made that decision, he just assumed it was what he was going to do. Wasn't that enough? The situation wasn't as dire, but he also rushed to help Sechs when he collapsed. His friend.

His friends. Wouldn't he do the same for Teisel or Depth Charge?

He had friends. And he cared about them.

Unfortunately, as much as he would have like to lay in his bed and contemplate that epiphany, a nurse appeared to insist he not just lay about all day. Pushing himself up, his muscles and joints were complaining again, and after she checked the bandages on his back, he slowly put on a shirt and stood. The woman's disapproving clucking fell on deaf ears, and he yawned as she led him out to the cafeteria.

Of course, Sheena and Sechs... he probably still had that... thing in him, and Sheena looked worse after he saved her than she had before. His friends had problems. And they were his problems. It was definitely giving his mood a backdrop of unease, but he was still dealing with this shift in his world view, and his body was telling him to just relax and bask in the aftermath of a battle well fought. Right now it was hard to focus, let alone Still, he stopped by the bulletin to post two notes before moving on.

Finally, as his meandering thoughts evaporated again, he was handed a tray of food and set loose. He saw a girl with tatoos and injuries, and his mind vaguely recalled that he tried to talk to people like that. Mostly out of habit, he sat across from her and yawned again.

"...hi."

[noifsandsorbubs.livejournal.com]

It would have been an exaggeration to call yesterday the worst day/night combination ever, but Logan was prepared to do it anyway. If you shortened 'ever' to mean 'in the past week or so,' it was true. Part of it was Jean - the fact that they'd dug into his head and pulled out a near-perfect copy of her as some kind of psychological warfare nuke was bad enough, but having his own suspicious confirmed was worse. He'd been out on the field, attacking kids for reasons he didn't have, totally out of control of his own actions. And it hadn't even been his fault, that was most terrible part. He knew what he was like when he was out of control, and that hadn't been it. That had been some invisible puppetmaster pulling his strings, or something. He had fucking strings to pull. And he couldn't even remember what had led him to that point; someone had screwed around with his memories, big surprise.

The kicker was that he knew he'd had claws last night, but when he tried to pop them (right in front of his nurse - he didn't care), nothing had happened. They weren't for him to use, apparently. Just other people. Story of his life.

By the time he'd gotten his breakfast he felt like he could burn holes in anything he stared at for too long. He plunked his tray down in a corner and faced the wall. He wasn't up for talking to anybody except maybe Kurt, and Kurt, of course, wasn't around.

[fuzzy-diablo.livejournal.com]

One minute he was staring at Minako, wondering why her English sounded so off and broken suddenly, and the next he was jolted awake by what felt like he'd been yanked in the direction of the fight. Except he was in bed now.

Stumbling out of bed (he still wasn't used to the sensation of not having a tail to balance himself), he bounced at the door, waiting impatiently for his nurse. The moment she opened the door, Kurt slipped out and ran down the hall. It was all he could do to keep upright--what if something had happened to Logan while he'd been standing around with his mouth open?

He scanned the bulletin, looking for a sign of Logan's handwriting. Fortunately, he was able to find it--the explanation that he'd been held up. He wrote a note back, posted it, then stared at the board. He was relieved. He'd lost Kon, Terry, and Kitty. Logan once before--he couldn't let it happen again.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Kurt followed his nurse to breakfast. She must have sensed he was out of sorts, because she gave him a pile of toast slices. Kurt couldn't deny he was hungry, but his heart wasn't in it to be excited about toast.

He looked into the crowd, not sure who or what he was looking for--until he spotted Logan. No need to wait for a response now. Kurt wove in between patients, holding his tray up to avoid the crowd and get to Logan. It was just like navigating the cafeteria at high school.

"Logan!" Kurt called, sliding into a small space between two talking patients. The plate slid on the tray, though Kurt righted it before disaster occurred. He set the tray down across from Logan, eyebrows knit. "Are you okay? I saw you on the ground last night, who were those guys?"

Probably redundant to ask Wolverine if he was okay, but Kurt also meant it in the general sense.

[gargantuanlaugh.livejournal.com]

Last night. Yeah. Gant just wanted to forget last night. Creepy forest, altar and all. He wanted to go home, have a normal life, even death row was sounding more comforting with ever passing minute. Breakfast didn't even sound like something to look forward to. But he didn't complain when Millie came in to fetch him. And she actually commended him for being so calm this morning. Calm he was not. Worn out, more like.

Well, he supposed last night wasn't a total loss. If he needed a bodyguard, maybe Lucy would be inclined to help out. And Showy had been a nice kid... until they had started in on the murder talk. It was also good to know he would no doubt wake up back in the same place every morning, no matter where he was. Good to know, but not comforting. Would he ever be able to escape this place?

But now was not the time for mulling over the bad. He needed to perk back up, get back to his general, jolly self. Hopefully breakfast would help. He sat down at an empty table, taking his time before digging in. He didn't have much of an appetite, but he needed to eat. To keep his strength up if nothing else.

[stellarregions]

Waking up had hurt. It wasn't just that he'd overworked his injured arm over the course of the night, it was that by trekking all over the area surrounding the institute with Edgar, he'd clearly pushed himself past his limitations. Everything ached, and the nurse had been too swift in showing up to escort him to breakfast. He hadn't had a chance to see if any of the stuff he'd picked up last night had made it back with him. He was also trying not to think about how they'd managed to wind up back in the institute despite having traveled so far. It was going to be difficult to escape if that kept happening.

By the time he got to the cafeteria, he was being forcefully reminded by his stomach that he'd decided to skip dinner the night before. Not the best of ideas, in hindsight, but he hadn't been expecting their impromptu hike at the time. And maybe it wasn't such a terrible thing, if it meant he actually had an appetite, for once. He made a quick trip to pile some French toast on his plate and then looked around the room for somewhere to sit. He spotted the police chief he'd met the day he arrived, looking less... enthusiastic than the last time he'd seen him. Gren walked over, deciding to see what was up. Maybe he'd had some bad luck during the night.

"Hey, mind if I sit down?"

[purgatio]

Blood to blood. His legs ached.

It was an interesting sensation, and half of him reveled in the fact of a lingering pain. A constant was nothing new to him--his chest ached daily, the absence as painful as what was. And what had been, after all? Could he really believe that--

Mind stilled to a quiet that tread dangerous. He bit down absently on the finger that that wandered near his mouth, the other hand reaching obsessively to trace bandages through cloth. The wounds were probably already healed. Already gone. And part of him crowed with superiority while the other rejected with tears. There was a quiet part of him, that wished those things success.

He moved to the cafeteria, the soreness remaining a bother and a gift, and shuffled into a seat to curl, knees to his chest as he stared at the tray in front of him. Nigredo wasn't here yet. And... Albedo couldn't bring himself to care. Not yet. He couldn't bring himself to care at all.

[Ritsuka]

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

"Jordan, honey, you need to eat." The nurse kept trying to put a tray into Ritsuka's hands and he barely had the energy to hold it, let alone protest the name she used. The nurse seemed bewildered as to why he'd be acting this way, but after confirming things with her this morning in a final attempt at maintaining hope, Ritsuka had simply given up on trying to act normal. There was nothing normal about this place.

Ritsuka hadn't been able to stop a single person from leaving, not even Soubi - and not even Kio. He was alone again, as he'd been in the beginning. But this time, he felt lost. He felt alone.

The nurse stroked his hair and led him over to the only other person she'd seen him interacting with on a regular basis who hadn't recovered yet. Taking his tray, she set it on the table and then guided him to the chair, smiling at Albedo. "Maybe you two can cheer each other up, hm?"

A moment later and she was gone. Ritsuka's gaze never lifted from the table.

[mistressmadgirl.livejournal.com]

The first thing Agatha knew on waking was that she hurt all over. It was a very familiar ache- exertion combined with a thorough bruising- which led her to wonder idly for a moment what she'd been fighting. Recollection hit a moment later, and Agatha screamed in frustration. The Other had done more than enough malicious tampering with her brain for one lifetime. She wasn't going to take it from these people too, who couldn't even come up with a coherent experiment on any kind of scale.

"I am going to kill them," Agatha growled. "They will die screaming. I am going to make them eat their damned devices, and then I will tear them into pieces with my bare hands with maybe a rusty scalpel to get it started for me, and then I will stitch them up with mimmoths inside and zap them back to life so that I can stick them in the bell jars and watch them COOK in their own sweat. The constructs I make from their remains will be used for target practice and their brains will be kept alive in jars just in case I think of something else!"


[...please help, Ema, before she tries to do this!]

[scientist-skye.livejournal.com]

Ema woke up to Agatha ranting and raving, which was simultaneously terrifying and a relief. The threats were horrific and, worse, Ema was roughly 90% positive that Agatha wasn't kidding; something in her tone was visceral and not to be reckoned with. On the flip side, however, the rage also meant that Agatha was back to herself. That fact, at least, was good to learn.

While Ema understood why Agatha was so upset, she was also aware of the reality that surrounded them. Agatha needed to calm down before one of the nurses came, since attacking the staff would only end badly for her. They had no power, especially during the day when they were so closely monitored.

"Agatha?" Ema kicked off her covers and scrambled out of her bed, crossing the room to her roommate. "Please calm down, please!"

[lawful_perfect]

...

A suspended sentence in the confines of a mental asylum. In effect, that was what von Karma was now serving, at least for the duration of his false imprisonment at Landel's Snake Pit. Furthermore, as far as his daughter was concerned, he had been stripped of his distinction of bearing "perfect von Karma blood." While he was proud of her on one level that she had proved herself worthy as a prosecutor... the results of last night's hearing would forever sunder their relationship.

Thus, it was unsurprising that von Karma held little appetite for the unusually tolerable breakfast this morning.

For all his usual irritation, he barely felt up to contradicting the blasted nurse who chattered on about how "ghostly pale" he looked this morning and how "some nice French toast and fruit will put some color back into those cheeks!" Instead, without a word of protest, he followed her into the cafeteria and placed a few food items onto his tray. Of course, his demand for regular tea to be offered had gone unheeded, he discovered to his dismay.

von Karma then performed a cursory scan of the few patients who had already congregated into the cafeteria. He cocked an eyebrow as he noticed that a certain over-aged clown was already there, making a point to sit as far away from him as possible. No, he was hardly in the mood to listen to Gant's cheery nonsense. He chose a corner seat at a table on the opposite side of the room from the buffoon and started picking at the toast and fruit he had selected, while reviewing his journal notes.

[For Naraku and eventually Utena~]

[unfleeing.livejournal.com]

Just as Naraku opened his mouth to say something about the female's however delectable lack of dress, he closed his eyes - only to be struck with a severe dizzying sensation when he opened them again to find himself laying down in bed, one very similar to the one he had awakened in just a while before. The obnoxiously white room was sunlit now, brightly so, and he sneered at the realization that he was still adorned in the drab "uniform" with the large yellow smiling face on the front of the strangely fashioned juban. As he stood, his eyes narrowed at the similarly dressed nurse who approached, all silly smiles and cheerful disposition.

"Ned! It's so good to see you already up and about! Well, let's get your slippers on - it's time for breakfast!"

As Naraku slid his feet into the "slippers" she gestured to, he puzzled over her statement; she spoke as though breakfast was the object of his desire. Remaining silent as he followed her out the door and down a series of equally bright hallways, he decided that fuel was just what he needed after so frustrating a night.

Watching the female closely as she decorated a surprisingly brightly colored tray with several plates of very strange-looking food, he finally followed her to a table, setting it down across from a man who was already seated there, rather comfortably from the look of things. "Well look here, Ned! Karl seems a bit lonesome on his own! Maybe you two can cheer each other up!" And with that, the obnoxious woman was off, leaving Naraku to stare at the other male.

He blinked twice, rapidly. So far, it appeared that Hayes had been truthful. The place was thick with trickery. "I wonder," he commented in an offhanded way, picking at the food on the tray, "if stupidity is a requirement for the staff here, or if it would be that one has an abundance of it." He was more than annoyed.

[bodhiandspirit.livejournal.com]

Day three.

That was the first thought to run through Rita's head when she opened her eyes. This was her third day in this ridiculous prison. How pathetic was she, to escape the institute not once, but twice, and still find herself in the same empty room for the third morning in a row!?

And how were they bringing her back? The first time, Rita thought Howl might have done it, but that didn't seem plausible now. Not only did he have no reason to do it, but she had now seen enough of that mountainous region to know it would take much too long to drag a person through the woods (and only heaven knew what else) and have them back in bed by morning. Could one man do it? Probably not. Could Martin Landel and his goons? ... Perhaps, but there had to be some trick to how they did it.

Regardless, Rita couldn't afford to let any more days go to waste. She had to get back to her world, to the Adephagos, to Estelle, and to everyone else. She had to get back before it was too late.

The mage was silent as she was escorted to the Cafeteria, giving little attention to the food she took, and seated herself without bothering to look at what other patients were in the room. She set her journal down on the table in front of her, adding to her notes. While it was still fresh in her mind, she wanted to record as much as she could about the strange ring and the area she had explored last night.

[per-ardua.livejournal.com]

Another uneventful night; in theory, a good thing, but Raine always wondered who she could have helped and didn't because their paths didn't cross. Maybe she should just give up on the stationary clinic idea and move onto establishing a mobile unit.

When she saw Rita, her expression softened into an almost-smile. This place could use more academics, and it was good to see someone else who was quickly filling up her journal. And she was sure they had a lot to talk about.

"So how was your night?" she asked, going to sit next to her.

[idontregret.livejournal.com]

How anticlimactic. It might have been interesting to go a bit further with the group if only for the sake of learning more about them. As Heat blinked blearily up at the ceiling, he actually found himself disappointed, and not just because the meal he'd gotten hadn't been as large as he'd hoped for.

The morning announcement was taken note of with the demon's usual disinterest, as in not at all, and his nurse's morning greeting was met with a yawn. Considering he hadn't been taken against his will for anything, nor had to deal with anything particularly irritating the night before, he was feeling just a little bit better about the day in general. Or at least he didn't feel like breaking every piece of furniture he came across.

He wrinkled his nose upon entering the cafeteria, finding the too-sweet scent of syrup and sugar wholly unappetizing. What made french toast different from regular toast, anyway?

[for Aigis]

[no-dont-go.livejournal.com]

Aigis woke with a start, still clutching her candlestick and flashlight. Rei, the Janitor’s closet, Athena… Could it really be that Athena was gone? No! She could still feel her. Just barely. Muted and hidden under a thin layer of… what?

Aigis followed Cathy, dazed, answering the nurse’s inane conversation with just a polite nod now and then. She stared blankly, allowing her nurse to select her breakfast, and she hardly noticed the growing din in the cafeteria around her. What could have stopped her from reaching Athena last night? Was it this place? Or this body?

So distracted was she by her thoughts she barely registered anything even an inch past her nose. As a result, she bumped against another patient, despite the brilliant color of his familiar, messy hair. The jarring sensation finally broke her from the spell of her thoughts. Heat. She reached out and touched his arm tentatively.

“Excuse me,” she said, almost too softly to be heard over the others talk around them. She gave him a nod of greeting, but her gaze drew past him, her thoughts a jumbled mess. Her voice still obviously distracted, she asked, “Would you mind if I join you for now?” She suddenly did not want to be alone with only her thoughts as companions.

[knives-throw-u.livejournal.com]

Ugh.

Knives wrinkled her nose as she looked at the food being set onto her tray. She supposed it looked tasty enough, but an asylum was like a hospital, wasn't it? That meant the food would stink. Not that she had an appetite; the whole revelations of the morning kind of sapped it away. But she had to keep positive, stay positive. Otherwise she would sit down and cry and wasn't sure she'd be able to stop.

Slowly walking out into the cafeteria, Knives looked around. So many people... It was like being a new kid on the first day of school all over again. She slowly moved to the closest empty table, setting her tray down. She sniffed, nose still a bit runny from when she cried earlier as she looked around.

Maybe - just maybe - she'd see a familiar face.

[This is for Scott Pilgrim!]

[vstheworld]

[OOC: Sorry for the hold-up! D:]

In stunning unison with Peter over in the other patient block, Scott's hands went straight for his crotch upon waking up.

A little grab. A little squeeze. His eyes widened.

Oh. Oh thank sweet Zombie Christ. It's there.

An indescribable sigh of relief followed as he quickly moved on to some other key places. Thankfully, his chest had shrunk from C cup back to A-- cup, and his hips were significantly less curvaceous than the night before. It was official: Scott was 100% male again. Well, unless the Landel had forgotten to clean up a fallopian tube or two and not told him, but for now, the exterior seemed all good, at least.

Slowly, Scott sat up in bed, rubbing his forehead as the events of the night rumbled through his mind for his consideration. One conclusion became pretty darn clear the longer he thought: that had so not been worth their time, and they needed to find a better way into the kitchen. Even with gunshots and horrifically unwanted body modification already on the table, Scott could only see the consequences of going through the Sun Room getting worse, so that route was just not going to be an option anymore. Was there a way around back? Maybe he could check for extra doors at breakfast, he thought. He was sure there had to be some way. Even if he had to punch a hole in the wall of the building himself to avoid going through that room again, he would do it.

So, it was with some urgency that Scott went into the cafeteria after getting out of the food line. He hadn't really paid a lot of attention to the specific layout of this area, despite spending a good amount of time in it every day for about a week at this point. Sure enough, when he actually looked, there were some doors on the side walls, probably leading outside. Could they just go outside, then double around back, then?

God I hope so, Scott thought, unconsciously making squeezing motions in front of his chest again as he gravitated toward a seat. Without really thinking, he was going for one across from a head of short-ish black hair and a small, skinny frame. Maybe it was out of a sudden sharp desire to be back at home in his own bed where the worst things he had to deal with were the evil exes, but the fact that the girl kind of looked like someone he knew was enough to draw him over. He was sure it was just a resemblance, but whatever.

Scott slid into the seat. Yawned. Glanced up briefly at his new seatmate. Grabbed some cutlery and started in on his first bite of french toast. Glanced back up again. Then took an immediate spit-take right back onto his plate.

"OH MY GOD, KNIVES CHAU?!"

[zack-fair.livejournal.com]

In this case, the sudden switch from night to morning had definitely worked in his favor. Zack had been about to suffer the business end of an electrified weapon of imminent pain when everything had suddenly shifted and he'd woken up in his bed once more. His first thought as he sat up was that he hoped Cloud was all right, but night had probably ended at the same time for both of them. Honestly, that whole fight could have gone a lot worse. He hoped that the brainwashed girl had also come out of it okay, even if she'd been trying to kill or maim them.

While he'd been a little distracted by making sure he didn't get zapped to death, Zack did recall the intercom coming on and the head doctor jabbering on in a language he'd no longer been able to understand. It had switched back to Gaian at the end, but Zack hadn't really been in the position to pay much attention. He knew there had been something about blood and rings and whatnot, but in the end he'd just have to hope that Yuffie had gotten all the useful information, seeing as she was the one who'd probably ended up with the item.

Landel didn't have much useful information for him now that it was morning and he could actually listen to what he had to say, but that was no surprise. The guy never said much of interest during the day, though his description of breakfast certainly kicked Zack's appetite into overdrive. He was out of his bed by the time the nurse showed up to collect him.

On their way toward the cafeteria, Zack remembered his decision to ask a nurse about Aerith, and so after taking a moment to muster up the courage, he sighed and spoke up. "I was wondering if a friend of mine was still here. I, uhh, don't know her actual name, since she never told me." He hated having to phrase it like that, but he knew that was probably the only way he'd get a response out of the woman. "I knew her as Aerith, but I haven't seen her around for a while..."

The nurse frowned at him in concern and then sighed. "I would have to go check our records, Lance, but if you find me after breakfast I should have an answer for you."

Zack didn't like being kept in suspense, but he realized that it would be pretty harsh of him to expect every nurse to know the status (and both names) of every patient. "That sounds good," he said, though he was already dreading what the nurse would end up telling him.

After a quick stop by the bulletin board, Zack then headed into the mess hall to get a healthy serving of breakfast. Mouth watering, he quickly searched out a place to sit and happened upon a certain ninja who was currently alone. Well, he did have a few things to ask her, so he steeled himself and then went to take the seat across from the teenager.

He set his tray down and grinned. "Have a nice night?" Things weren't really all that great on his end, but he wasn't the type to start dumping bad news on someone from the get-go.

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

"Depends how we wanna look at it," Yuffie said to the ceiling. "I mean, on the one hand, I did a totally good deed. Two, maybe! 'Cept that second one, that might be a matter of opinion… Anyway. On the other hand, I didn't get what I went out for." Story of her life. "I also didn't get eaten. That's always a plus, right? Yeah."

She dropped her arm, raised her head, and peered across at the SOLDIER. Ex-SOLDIER, whatever. Yuffie hadn't figured that he'd come gatecrash her table... No way would this be a plain ol' social call. What did they have to be social about? If it wasn't for Cloud—and Aerith, she reminded herself—they probably wouldn't have gone anywhere near each other in the first place. Not with the intent of being entirely civil, anyway.

"So, uh." She scratched her cheek, nails catching lightly on the thin scar she'd gained from Faker Blake-slash-Yuri. "What's up? Need something? Got news? Both?"

[full-score.livejournal.com]

Though it was jarring not to have Guy near him anymore, Claude woke up feeling much more refreshed than yesterday. The extra shut-eye combined with putting a full day between himself and that horrible experiment probably helped a lot in that regard. Unfortunately, however, he felt the weight of the compresses, still firmly taped in place. Not only that, but the pain medicine from last night had worn off, which meant the return of that sandy feeling in his eyes.

Will I wake up like this every morning? he wondered to himself, and an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. Claude didn't like to think that this might be permanent, but he had to be prepared for that possibility. It was clear the light they'd used on him was far from ordinary. There was no telling what sort of damage it had ultimately done to his vision.

But now wasn't the time to fret over that. He heard the click of the door unlocking and the nurse's footsteps as she entered the room. Claude automatically greeted her in the same polite tone he normally used with the daytime staff. His voice sounded and felt stronger than before. That was good, at least, and was probably related to how much rest he'd gotten before.

Since he couldn't see, though, that meant the nurse had to help him along to the cafeteria once again. As soon as Claude entered the room, he was met with the sickeningly sweet aroma of French toast. Normally it would have smelled appetizing, but his stomach hadn't been the same since that night. Claude hoped that would clear up soon, too. It was bad enough having to waste a perfectly good steak. He didn't want to lose his strength on top of everything else.

Once the nurse had assembled a tray for him, she led Claude over to a table and sat him down, her movements gentle and careful, as though he were made of glass. Claude recalled the way Anise acted as his guide through the sun room and out into the courtyard yesterday. She'd been good at doing it in a way that made him feel like they were simply taking a walk together. Whenever a staff member helped him, though, their pity only made him feel all the more anxious and embarrassed about the whole situation.

"Just sit tight, Thomas, and I'll make sure someone finds another patient to come sit with you," the nurse kindly told him. Dread knotted up in Claude's chest, but he only gave her a tight smile in response before he heard her abruptly walk away. He knew she just wanted to make things easier on him. After his awkward breakfast with Haseo yesterday, though, he couldn't help but think he'd be better of just staying by himself for now.

In the meantime, there was little he could do except grin and bear it. Sighing, Claude found his fork and idly pushed some of the food around on his plate. He wondered what all of his friends were up to. At least that weird translation glitch from last night had apparently let up, if all the English he heard around him was any indication. Speaking of which, it sounded like the Head Doctor had decided to spill the beans about the rings last night after all. What was all that about? Maybe he ought to think about giving his own ring a try, though at this point it was difficult to think about charging through uncharted territory when his eyes weren't working right.

[For Natalia.]

[nobleobliged.livejournal.com]

Though the cake had not turned out as hoped, though the "club" had been victimized by language barriers, Natalia viewed the night as a success. When she woke with the familiar disorientation of having been in the middle of one thing, then stirring, rested and prone, Natalia woke with lingering contentment. It faded as she listened to that man, as she considered the now familiar ceiling, as she plucked at her sleeve and rose from the bed. She disliked the idea of allowing a routine to form, of once again putting on slippers and waiting for the nurse. Natalia went through the motions, and after a moment's deliberation, took the journal and a pen.

"Good morning," Natalia answered once the woman opened the door with a sunny greeting. She forced a polite if frosty smile, and near lead the way to the cafeteria (after, of course, a stop at the bathroom to scrub and toy with her hair), her impatient strides quickening the nurse's pace. The air inside was heavy with a syrupy smell, underscored with meat. Filing into the line, Natalia began to fill her tray, increasingly aware that another nurse had approached hers and, following their brief conversation, hers stood pointedly at the end of the line, looking directly at her. Fruit salad, juice, french toast, and sausage. The meal quality here did, she had thusfar noticed, exceed that of certain inns on Auldrant -- but could not hope to compare to those in Baticul (of course).

She had hardly stepped off the queue when her nurse approached, her expression simpering. "Sarah, dear, you're friends with Dana, correct? Mm, well, he's gotten close to Thomas, and I'm sure you'll get on well together. Thomas had a bit of an accident, and he could use the--oh, come on!"

Bewildered (Dana? Thomas?), Natalia watched the woman spin on her feet and walk, stopping at a table in which a young man sat alone, his eyes bandaged. "Here we are, Thomas," she heard her say, "Sarah will be joining you!"

Her heart immediately twinged with both sympathy and indignation. An accident indeed; she knew better than that. Lifting her chin, she cleared the distance and paused at the table, giving the nurse a pointed look, one she had begun to develop in particular for some of the more trying of the undesired suitors. Apparently impervious, the nurse chalked it off as a success, and moved away.

"Pardon me," Natalia began, once they were alone - or, as alone as they could be. "I won't lie and tell you that I wasn't asked to sit here, but I must ask all the same. May I? It isn't Sarah, of course. My name is Natalia, Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear."

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

When Haku snapped back to wakefulness, there was a brief moment of confusion. Which of course made him tense. Which in turn pissed him off.

Of course, this meant that he was all smiles and warmth when a staff member finally arrived to take him to breakfast. Truthfully he wasn't hungry, he was tired. Not physically, but emotionally and mentally exhausted. He hadn't done anything last night and that was shaping up to be the normal way of things. He had to break out of this rut. The nights he finally managed to get some headway, it seemed that another night would come along and he'd be right back to where he started.

The ninja absently picked out food for breakfast, automatically picking only the healthy options, and sat down to eat mechanically and think.

[OPEN PLEASE!!! Anybody and everybody is welcome, old and new. He needs to get out of this stagnation.]

[rischiarare.livejournal.com]

Twilight Town had never been so quiet. There had always been a sort of silence at the top of the clock tower, but it was a silence still graced with chirping and the sound of the wind curling around the golden structure, not to mention the clock itself, ticking away behind them and vibrating under their fingers.

"You know, she's changed," Axel said out of the blue, cutting through the utter silence. He dropped his blue popsicle between his knees, his feet still next to Roxas' swinging legs. He smiled after the words, but Roxas thought it didn't seem like he was happy. Not that Axel could be happy, but... sometimes they came close. When they relaxed, when they did something like eating ice cream on the top of a clock tower together... they came close to happiness.

Roxas didn't answer immediately, instead taking a bite of the cold treat, savoring the bitter and sweet taste. "Who?"

The blond swore the sound of waves accompanied his best friend's voice when he said, "Well..." Axel trailed off, never picking up the thought.

"You okay?"

The redhead turned to him at the question. "Roxas, we should go - just the two of us!"

"Huh?" Now Roxas knew something was wrong - running was not something Axel did. He'd never run away from his problems. He might have hid them, but he never ran. Anyway, Axel wasn't the one who had gone... it'd just been him. Number XIII.

Maybe recognizing the weirdness had been enough to wake him up, because that's what he did - woke up from his dream. He was still surrounded by white, lit up in electric light, still on a bed that was uncomfortable as the one he'd had at HQ. He felt well-rested instead of fatigued, and he got out of the bed with renewed vigor. Had he slept the whole day away? The whole night? Axel hadn't come to his room, unless... it had been night and he'd gone into the same kind of coma Axel had been in that one time. He'd never hear the end of that. Zombie this and bedhead that...

"Rise and shine!" his nurse announced with her entrance into his room, rushing him into getting dressed for breakfast. "I hope you had a nice rest last night. You look much better today, Keanu!"

"I feel better, actually." He squished his toes into the fuzz of his slippers, rubbing his eyes against the light as he followed her into the hallway. The cafeteria smelled as good as ever, sweet smells soaking into the air of the room. The woman who led him everywhere seemed to be nice enough, so he took her recommendations of french toast and syrup with him on a tray. Maybe he could find Axel and tell him about that dream? Because that was what the Nobody was sure it'd been - not a memory of Sora's, because the brunet hadn't been in it, and it certainly had never happened.

Could Nobodies dream things that weren't memories?

She'd left him with his food tray alone, so he took a seat across from a girl who didn't look much shorter than him. Okay, what had Jim said? Accept that he was going to screw up. Easy.

... maybe if he didn't ask any questions, he wouldn't screw up that bad. But he probably would anyway, since women were incomprehensible.

"Um." Good start. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here."

[lookitmemama.livejournal.com]

"Miss Lorelei, is everything alright? You seem... tired..." She had rolled out of bed without complaint and made no threatening remarks or death glares at the woman. It was surely making her nurse skeptical, if her comment had been any indication.

"Fan-bloody-tastic..." Her voice was as dead as she looked. Asuka walked beside her nurse sedately, too far within herself this morning to even put on a haughty air for the rest of the patients. Breakfast was the last thing on her mind, but the pilot's stomach was practically eating itself, so she sucked it up for the betterment of her body. How could she be a useful soldier in this war if she let her emotions completely overtake her health? Unacceptable!

But she didn't want to deal with the mass of dregs shuffling through the line like cattle to feed. Asuka was certain she would slap a bitch if they bumped into her, so she left it up to the nurse to grab her a plate while she found a seat alone.

[For Limpy McStubbs Toji~]

[sangouki.livejournal.com]

Toji and his nurse walked to the end of the mess line. Yawning, Toji tilted his head back and hobbled forth as the line grew shorter, in a blunt effort to see what they had available.

From what he could see, there was the usual-- and it seemed to cover most of the food pyramid, dessert not included. Past the miscellaneous figures in front of him, he could see a load of greens on one end, something white, something brown. Vegetable-y and bread-y colors, he assured himself.

Supporting his weight against the ends of one crutch, Toji scratched his stomach nonchalantly and watched as the line grew progressively shorter. He hobbled forward when he needed to, at the call of his nurse, then turned his attention away from the mess line. Everyone was wearing the same strange set of clothing, to say the least, and the hospital heads had a weird-ass sense of fashion. He noticed on his way down from his room what he was wearing, and it wasn't the same as what he was wearing before he went to sleep: Gray sweatpants to match a gray top, which had a yellow goddamn smiley face on it.

Let it all soak in, Toji thought, your stupid hospital wear has a smiley face on it.

Damn, Nerv, is this some kind of prank?

"Hey, nurse-lady, why's everyone wearing these dumb-as-hell lookin' shits-for-wear anyway?" He glanced back at the woman next to him as he swung a tile's length forward in the line.

"It isn't polite to swear, Mr. Tanaka," the nurse whispered. "And these are just how our patient outfits look."

"Never knew Nerv had a sense of humor-- a shitty one." Scoffing, Toji looked away from the nurse and back to the patients at their cafeteria tables. There was young, there was old, there was... tall and short, most of them were skinny, but there were a few fat people. Weird-color-haired people, brunettes, blondes, black-haired people, and...

A ginger. With blue eyes. And a dumb hairstyle, and a bitchy frown...

Wait, double take. Brows raised, Toji stared in disbelief at the ginger not far away-- what the hell was Asuka doing here?

"Nerv? Mr. Tanaka, this isn't Nerv anymore, you were transferred here sometime last night, and you were as dead as rock until this morning." The nurse paused, seeing as though her patient was staring intently at the crowd, not her. Tilting her head, the nurse stared at Toji with a worried frown. "Mr. Tanaka?"

Blinking, Toji turned his attention back to the nurse, hobbling intently toward the food in front of him. He grabbed a plate in one hand, though it was a stupid idea trying to hop while grabbing food, and he dropped a pair of food clamps on the way. Sighing, the nurse took his plate, grabbed the clamps from off of the ground, and with a shake of her head, ushered Toji away with the wave of her hand.

"Go on, I'll get your food for you."

"But--"

The nurse beamed at him, brows furrowed. Shivering, he turned his back to the mess line and turned his full attention to the crowd before him. Ah, shit, who wanted to see her first thing in the morning after all of this...

[nobleman]

Last night's intercom announcement had been a complete mystery to Guy until the very end, when he'd been assaulted by another painful screeching noise and -- well, then Landel had told them the answer to the question about the ring just like that. That alone made him suspicious, but as he got up from his bed (for a split second he'd been disoriented and thought he was still in Claude's room, but a sleeping Okita let him know that wasn't the case) he still found himself considering the possibilities.

Being able to "save" locations like that would be really helpful, he had to admit. He was sure that Luke would be excited by the prospect as well, but he just hoped that his friend didn't start spilling his blood too early. This sounded like something they needed to discuss as a group, seeing how there were now four of them present. They'd lost Jade but gained Natalia, which kept their number at roughly the same. It'd been so long since they had any more than four here.

He hoped that his friend had caught that explanation at the end, but either way Guy had heard it and would be able to transfer that knowledge to his friends if needed. He ended up deciding to take the initiative and leave a bulletin message about it.

With that taken care of, the servant waited patiently in line for his plate of food, deciding to grab a bagel and some sausage instead of the french toast. He just wasn't much in the mood for something sweet. With tray in hand, Guy found himself an empty seat and started to eat. He didn't seen any of his friends from Auldrant around just yet, but maybe one of them would show up and say hello soon. He needed to catch up with Claude, too, now that they would be back to speaking the same language. He was glad that had only lasted for part of the night.

[For Edgar.]

[girlsandgadgets]

Edgar pulled the covers over his head as he feigned ignorance of the knocking on the door a second time. As expected, morning had arrived as suddenly as ever, but this day was accompanied by exhaustion, his muscles still worn from the night, his shoulder throbbing painfully as he shifted in the bed. His hand met the wound, inspecting it through touch alone- his stitches had been sewn again, the skin stretched and torn where his previous set had been pulled from the strain of climbing the courtyard wall. He and Gren had made progress in their exploration, but they had paid for it.

Another knock came, the nurse outside calling his assigned name. With a sigh, Edgar rose stiffly, making his way to his desk. The drawer held not only both radios, the dagger, and his journal, but also his new finds. The shovel was in his closet, noted as he fished out a set of slippers for the day. He took his journal and adjusted the sling around his arm, pain shooting through him as he turned his shoulder. Yes, this day was going to be a long one, even longer if spoken languages were still an issue.

Despite the nauseating pain from his shoulder, Edgar stubbornly insisted on picking his own food for the morning, unwilling to give the nurses any chance to poison it with the medications they insisted he take for his injury. The paranoia was unfortunate, but their lovely appearances could be deceiving: ultimately, they worked for Landel, and trust in anyone on the side of a madman only went so far.

Edgar scanned the room for an empty seat, finding one near a familiar face: Guy. His presence was a good sign- not all of the king's allies had disappeared yet. Taking the seat across from him, Edgar tested the waters of communication: "Please, tell me you can understand what I'm saying, Guy."

[anemptydecapo]

There were hands on his neck, fingers digging into the front of his throat as they held him from behind. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move, but somehow... Somehow he didn't care anymore. This was always going to happen. He couldn't change this. Why be afraid?

It was the same scenery it always was. The waves of the sea ahead stayed red, the sand underneath them littered with rust, broken wood, and broken bones. The hands shook their hold, yanking his head back to face to the sky - so he did. As always, the buildings that couldn't possibly be floating there stayed suspended, crumbling more and more with each gust of wind and lit by that unnaturally orange sky.

It stayed that way for a while, his head resting against the other man's shoulder as he continued to choke him. The assassin had opened his mouth to say something, eyes focused on strands of yellow, before those pale fingers tore through his skin and warmth began to stream out of the wound--

Really, he was starting to get used to be shaken awake by now. "Vincent, it's morning."

On instinct, his hands went to push away the woman's own (she backed away at that. What was that look she was giving him?) before pushing himself out of the bed-- and immediately regretting it. Hurt shot through his side, the burning warmth of it being enough to curl his hands into fists as he tried not to double over and let that hiss of pain just under his breath be anything more than that. Kch. It hadn't been that bad the night before...

Nurse continued to watch him with that unidentifiable expression on her face as he slowly and stubbornly forced himself to his feet. She never moved any closer to him to stop him, even when she did speak up, as if she were alright resigned to the response she was going to hear. "You've hurt yourself badly, Mr. Lant. You shouldn't be--"

"I'm fine." It was clockwork. With one hand pressed against his injured side, the Guild Head went for the door. "It's nothing to concern yourself with."

That seemed to have shut her up enough. The woman wandered off as soon as they stepped into the cafeteria, weaseling away from her thick-headed patient as Venom moved toward an empty seat. She returned a few moments later with a tray, sighed to herself when he pushed it away, then left once making sure he took the pain medication she brought with her.

Sigh...

He wasn't entirely sure when his head had met the table, but he didn't bother questioning it. "Why is it morning...?"

[BRING SOME CHEER, SORA :<]

[lighthearted]

Once more, morning had come too soon. They had only just made it over the wall this time around, though Sora knew that was way better than any previous attempts. Still, they needed to be faster, or the night just needed to not end so quickly! He wasn't sure if this was their fault or Landel making life hard for them, but he was getting kind of tired of it.

Still, Riku had gotten some idea of what was over the wall, which was definitely a good thing. His friend functioned better when he had something to aim for, and even though Sora was unsure of whether or not the answers to all of the institute's puzzles laid outside of the building itself, it was worth looking into.

Besides, their race had been weirdly nostalgic, even if the circumstances were so different now. He still wasn't entirely sure how Kairi had beaten them so soundly. Not that he minded or anything! It was just shocking -- beginner's luck, maybe?

But now he had to focus on the coming day, and as Sora moved through the halls with his nurse, he reminded himself of his first priority: posting to the bulletin about the Arts and Crafts club. He'd told that Lelouch person that he'd do so, and he wasn't the sort to break a promise. Besides, he wanted to figure out what was going on with all of that himself. After scribbling up a quick announcement, he then let his nurse take him into the cafeteria.

Once he'd gathered a sizable amount of food onto his tray, the Keyblade Master started searching the room for any familiar faces. When he saw someone slumped over a table, he almost passed them over without a second thought -- but then he noticed the hair; white with bits of blue here and there. The marking was disrupted by the way the man's hair was falling around him, but it was still unmistakable.

"Venom?" the boy called out as he moved closer, trying to keep his voice down unless the man had a headache or something. "Are you okay?" Clearly not, but he didn't know how else to ask.

[mind-the-sukima.livejournal.com]

For once Yukari did no drift on the border between waking and sleeping - no, she dove, desperately, trying to submerge herself in blissful unawareness once more. Of course, that kind of force only helped to wake her more and soon she could only let sleep slip away from her as she regained consciousness in this bleak, white world.

Last night had been fun. She'd admit that. It had been fun... except for one little part of it. What she'd done to Sheena... wasn't it supposed to be a game? They each played their roles, she of the desperate trapped patient, she of the adversary who stood in her way. But then she'd stepped beyond just mere play, perhaps because that boy had interfered, or perhaps because the brainwashing made her. Or perhaps because she was just that cruel. Yukari wondered if things could have ended differently.

So it was in a daze that Yukari was led out to the cafeteria, not even really paying attention to what was put on her tray before being shuffled off to sit at a table by herself. Not that it was unusual for the youkai to not be all there this early in the morning, but this stupor was distinctly different from her usual lethargy.

[For Teresa]

[number1smiley.livejournal.com]

Teresa's eyes opened, silver once again as the night ended before she shut her youki down, and stared at the ceiling. White and sterile. She was once again reminded of the starkness of the barracks when she was but a whelp. The way her left arm ached easily brought the memories to the fore of her mind.

It had been over a decade since reattaching a limb had been anything like that. The lingering pain, the weakness as she could barely lift it... She closed her eyes and counted to one hundred before sitting up. Slowly curling and uncurling her fingers, Teresa pulled the sleeve of her shirt up to look over the limb and a barely noticeable line visible that slowly faded away.

She hide her sword before the handler came in and allowed herself to be lead to the cafeteria. Her ribs ached, a lot of her ached, but nothing ached more than that arm. It hung down at her side, almost as if it was dead, as she scanned the room looking for Lelouch.

It was when she was on her way to the food line, passing by a blonde facing away from her, that she felt it. Youma. A familiar one, too. Stopping, silver eyes flickered over to see the youma from the Sun Room. It didn't matter to Teresa that she'd been brainwashed, but that she'd hit her with a large, screeching, metal beast which made her loose the arm.

Turning smoothly, she roughly grabbed the back of the youma's head and slammed it as hard as she could with her reduced, but still impressive, strength into the table and tray before her.

[faceslam approved by mun]

[gamingsostfu.livejournal.com]

Matt's first reaction upon waking back in his bed was to beat the mess out of his own pillow. At least it seemed that Claude had already migrated away from their cell, so he was free to be angry in peace? It was already a major annoyance, whatever mojo it was Landel worked on them to knock them out so they could be moved right back to the starting point; the brunet had never been a fan of hitting reset when the game was actually going well.

He and Mello would need to finish their discussion as soon as possible, but he still wasn't too sure how to find the jerk during the day. Their nurses were probably in cahoots to keep them separated; that might have been paranoia, but he was past caring. Place had fucked him over too much already, and he wasn't hesitating anymore to make everything else their fault to boot.

He held back a groan somehow when his usual nurse crept slowly into the room. "How are we feeling today, Marcus?" she wanted to know as he stood up and put on the stupid slippers. "Still frustrated?"

That received a scoff. "You know it," he mumbled in reply, meeting her gaze evenly. She smiled brightly at his tempered response, leading him out of the room and down the hallway, to the cafeteria. Brushing her aside, he made up his own tray, mostly stacking it with french toast and as much syrup as the bread could handle. Glancing over his shoulder at the nurse as she took up her post close to the door to keep watch on him, Matt snagged a seat at a table that was still empty. He grinned as he took a bite of his massive french toast mountain, taking pride in his small victory.

[repelling.livejournal.com]

A man's voice; first speaking English, then what sounded like Japanese. Uryuu had been standing with Kida-san and Maito-san, listening to yet another announcement about a ring he did not have -- then, his eyes opened (though, again, they had already been open), morning was the broadcast, and he laid again in bed. First, operating on instinct, his hand retrieved and placed his glasses. Then, he sat up, noted the empty adjacent bed, and got to his feet. With care he made the bed and took stock of the room. His pillow had no case; his makeshift sack had relocated to his closet.

Uryuu stared at down at it, looked up, and stared at the clothing hanging. His fingers rose, pushing needlessly at his glasses. Alert and in danger of being consumed by frustrated confusion, Uryuu exerted a massive effort to keep calm, to keep his movements controlled, his breathing even, his thoughts in steady, logic-directed pathways. Not that logic helped. With what Maito-san had said, questionable though he seemed as a source of information (and as difficult it had been to understand everything), he understood a little.

He had little time for fruitless mind-wracking: the door opened and a woman, clearly a nurse by her uniform, entered.

"Good morning, Gerard!" she chirped, "I trust you slept well? We sure are happy to have you here, but I said enough about that yesterday! I hope you're hungry; we'll be going to the Cafeteria first thing."

More effort: to not stare at her as if she'd turned inside out and begun to walk on her hands (of which there were five). Clearly, he was meant to be Gerard. It was plain that protesting would yield nothing. This was no error; nothing that would be corrected by talk, polite or otherwise. The most reasonable thing to do seemed to be, irritatingly enough, to keep his mouth shut and play along.

Not entirely shut. After donning the slippers and following her into the hallway (even with the copied maps, his eyes darted to memorize every detail; it was a different room number than last night), Uryuu spoke, cursory and cool. "I'd rather you not call me by my first name. It's far too informal."

She looked at him, quizzical but amused. "Is that so, Ger--sorry, Mr. Way? I guess it's better than--well, it's better!"

Than what? he wondered. His actual name? His lips thinned as he mentally sounded this one out. Gerard Way. Uryuu shook his head, but focused on the path to the Cafeteria, on what questions to ask. What country is this? did not seem promising. The man had spoken English before Japanese, but given the stars, the mystery of this place was unlikely to be solved by an insipid nurse. Undoubtedly such a question would be avoided by virtue of its answer being "common knowledge".

"How long has this institute been in operation?" he tried, eyes darkening at her answer, "Oh, you know, it has such a history! Here we are, off you go, eat a lot!"

The Cafeteria was filled with hundreds of gray shirts, all emblazoned with the smiley face. Most likely one of the other patients would have proper answers, assuming not everyone had come at the same time -- and Maito Gai had clearly not. To avoid the trouble of being singled out for not eating, he obediently collected food. Very American, he thought, certainly Western. Water and orange juice (no tea, to his irritation), the fruit salad, and toast.

Looking over the room again, he sought someone who looked relatively sane (unwilling to dismiss the possibility that some legitimately insane individuals had been planted), and if not comfortable, unsurprised. Pinpointing an older guy whose grin almost turned his attention elsewhere, Uryuu advanced.

"Hello," he started stiffly. Clutching his tray in front of him, he tried not to think of it or treat it as a shield. Business, this was business, and not at all like the sort of awkward situation he had avoided through isolation at school, that of asking someone to sit with him. With a determined indifference, he set down his tray, but did not yet sit -- there would be no point if this guy was mad, or as recent an arrival. "How long have you been a patient here? Apparently I arrived last night."

[highvoltagegirl.livejournal.com]

As Elle's eyes snapped open, she wanted to believe that all of yesterday was a dream, some weird nonsequitur her mind had created to escape the pain. But here she was. Again. Her gaze drifted over to the other side of the room. So was... she never learned her name, did she? Her roommate, the crazy bitch. The less conversation she shared with her, the better. She wanted to explore the room-- find her own damn flashlight and see if the baseball bat she acquired with Claire was somewhere in the room, but it wasn't worth the risk of waking her roommate up. Making her best effort to be noiseless, she tried to sneak out of her room and down the hallway. The door was locked. God damn it.

But in a matter of seconds she caught the attention of a nurse passing by and ushered to breakfast, but that was okay. She was getting kind of hungry. She could get used to this kind of life, maybe. It wasn't that bad, minus the thing with the monsters.

She pondered this while picking at her bacon and french toast, sitting at a table by herself. Absentmindedly, she raked her fingers across the tabletop, trying to cause sparks. There were none, just like before.

Hmmm. She started intently at the space, as if it wasn't too late for it to be marred.

[For Peter.]

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

Peter woke up with a plethora of things that he had to stash away in a very limited time. He ignored the head doctor's words for the moment (the morning announcements were never very enlightening) as he sprang out of bed, tossing his shovel and pillowcase full of medicals supplies into his closet while he crammed Sam's gun and the ring into his desk drawer. He'd only just gotten it closed when the door opened and a nurse stepped inside.

"Oh, Mr. Campbell, you look energized this morning," the woman commented. Peter was glad that she had a way to explain away his hurried look to herself. The last thing he needed was the staff getting suspicious and deciding to search his room or something.

With everything safely tucked away, Peter was taken out of the room and down the hall. He took that time to think over what the head doctor had said right before night's end. He had personally been able to understand everything the man had had to say; it was times like this where being an English-speaker came in handy, apparently. Ethnocentrism aside.

Getting some information about the rings was helpful, but Peter didn't know how much he could trust what Landel had to say. Unfortunately, the man put them in a situation where there was really no other choice. Spilling a drop of blood wasn't the hugest deal, but he did have to wonder if there was some sort of consequence for it. If he tested it while with Claire, then they could at least avoid losing that much blood; absorbing her power would be pretty handy. He'd just have to impress on her that he was the one who'd be doing it. That would be harder if she had a ring of her own. He also didn't know if he might have to share his with Sam. He wouldn't mind, but it was something they'd have to coordinate.

Peter ended up making a stop by the bulletin to leave a note for his niece and also try to get the attention of the paramedic team. He wasn't sure if Hanatarou had it in him to play leader every day, so he figured that taking the initiative and jump-starting a discussion would be in their best interest.

Next was getting himself some breakfast. He took a couple slices of french toast and some fruit from the food line before glancing around the area for a place to sit. The place wasn't packed yet, which meant he had some options...

When he passed over a girl around his age with blond hair, he paused for a moment, figuring that he was just seeing things. But the more he stared at her, the more he realized that he wasn't making it up. It was Elle, or... someone who looked exactly like her, anyway. After meeting Spock, he knew that was possible, but he didn't see anything about this girl that distinguished her from the girl he knew. No pointy ears, no angled eyebrows, nothing like that. Did that mean...?

He had just spoken to Depth Charge the day before about patients who had died in the institute being brought back to life. He knew it was possible, even if he still didn't know the how of it. But Elle had been gone for what felt like two weeks now. How could she just show up here again as if that had never happened?