damned_institute | Day 51: Breakfast

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!]

Edited 2010-08-06 15:50 (UTC)

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]

Edited 2010-08-06 17:43 (UTC)

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...

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]

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]

_{[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.

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]

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]

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.

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.

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]

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!]

...

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~]

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.

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]

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!]

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.

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.]

Edited 2010-08-09 05:06 (UTC)

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.]

"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~]

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.]

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 :<]

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]

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.

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.]

Edited 2010-08-07 00:10 (UTC)

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