DAY 52: BREAKFAST

[nobleobliged.livejournal.com]

How one's body could maintain a waking schedule when sleep came unnaturally and in a room without windows, must surely be a mystery. Yet, as if working on cue, Natalia stirred well before her nurse arrived. That was normal. Less so, the weight that sought to press her eyelids closed again, the heaviness of her limbs that made lifting her hands to her face an effort. She put her wrist to her forehead with a frown, then attempted a jolt of energy – to swiftly dig her hands into the mattress and shove herself into a seated position, and from there, to her feet.

Not to overexert herself once again, but to refuse that it could be possible after sleeping. Happily, though all still felt leaden, her head did not swim. Encouraged, Natalia put on her slippers, rearranged the bedding, and waited. There came the announcement (reminding her, suddenly, of what she had last heard, and the guilt that had twisted in her gut, Jill--), and her face wrinkled with disgust at the hacking sound. Therapy and breakfast. Food would surely help.

Natalia did not wait long before her nurse opened the door, and after exchanging cursory “Good Morning”s (with rather more enthusiasm on the other woman's part), they began the walk to the Cafeteria. With, of course, the essential rest room stop, where water was splashed and scrubbed over her face, and her hair toyed with to no great satisfaction. At least the shower had renewed its body.

Separating in the Cafeteria, Natalia took her place in line and loaded her plate: eggs, fruit salad, fried “tater tots” (potatoes?), and curious meat wrapped in cooked dough. Some of everything, with juice and water. She thanked her servers, collected utensils and napkins, and found a seat at an empty table. It was early yet.

Sparing a brief look around to be sure no one she recognized had arrived – though she remained eager to greet every patient, at the moment she chose to focus on the possible strength gained from the meal – Natalia began to cut up the items and eat with a refined gusto. Entirely possible!

[Claude!]

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[heraldric.livejournal.com]

That had barely lasted past the time it had taken him to make the weapon, which he supposed made him lucky that he'd even managed to complete it. Thankfully, it hadn't been too complicated a weapon and he felt slightly better than morning than he had mornings prior when the task had been more difficult. That didn't stop him from curling into a ball under the covers when his nurse came to get him, however, and he muttered faint protests as she near bodily dragged him out from under them to lead him off to breakfast.

After checking in at the bulletin (and goodness, people were far too worried about the well-being of someone who barely left his room at night these days) the young mage went through the breakfast line as slowly as his nurse would allow. For his troubles, he ended up with plenty of food and a couple glasses of orange juice.

A familiar head of silver hair had him making a beeline for that table despite his nurse's opinion that he should be meeting with new people. He took a seat and smiled tiredly despite the fact that Haseo didn't look all that cheerful himself. "Morning."

[feartehreaper.livejournal.com]

Haseo knew who was sitting down near him before he even looked up- by now, it was hard not to. Leon was undoubtedly one of the few people the Rogue was closest to inside Landel's, but still it was only slowly that the teen straightened and made eye contact. "Hey," he answered, a bit more cautious than he normally might have been.

After all, the last time Haseo had talked to Leon, he'd practically gotten yelled at for his lazy description of how the young mage's friend, Claude. was doing. Not that Haseo blamed the younger boy for becoming upset at the news he'd likely been taken for experimentation, and it wasn't like Leon hadn't eventually thanked him for it, but it still made him feel awkward. He wasn't used to being abashed where the easiest answer to cover it up, acting irritated, wouldn't work.

He glanced down at their trays after a moment, trying to think of something. "Do you actually like any of this stuff?" he asked tensely, expression growing tiredly disgusted.

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

Reading that Claude had gotten his sight back again meant that Leon had all but forgotten about how upset he'd been with Haseo last time they'd spoken and completely missed any awkwardness with him now. Though tired, he was in a fairly good mood. His friends seemed to be well, even if he still hadn't heard from Ashton and Dias in a while.

He blinked as Haseo asked about the food. "What, this? I guess. I mean, it's not my favorite and they never carry any carrot juice, but I'm so hungry in the morning sometimes that anything edible is fine." As if to prove this, he sliced one of the 'pigs' in two with his fork and stuck the whole half in his mouth. The food here was pretty good, no matter what it was, though he still believed he could do better with the ingredients given the opportunity.

[feartehreaper.livejournal.com]

Even though the question technically hadn't been reflected back at him, Haseo continued to show his distaste, shaking his head slightly towards the food on the table. This particular serving reminded him of 'restaurants' he'd never liked, as well as that time a week previous he didn't particularly want to dwell on. True, he knew he probably should have been eating more, but that was easier said than done by far.

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Leon's comment about what wasn't served, however. "Carrot juice?" he repeated, looking from the table to the young mage's face carefully. He wasn't sure if he was being kidded or not, but if nothing else it was something that wasn't about Claude. Not that Haseo didn't care at all about what happened to the other young man, but... well, no reason to break what little good mood Leon seemed to be in, right?

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

"Carrot juice!" Leon nodded sagely. Who hadn't heard of the wonders of carrot juice? It was a crime, plain and simple - almost as much of a crime as the fact that the cafeteria here didn't even serve it. All this time here without it! It was terrible! "You know... juice made from carrots." He had to know what a carrot was, right? They'd definitely been served in their meals.

"It's my favorite drink." His voice took on a bit of a whine as he prodded at the food on his plate. He'd still eat it, since he was hungry enough, but it was far from what he would have preferred. "I've been here almost a month and they haven't even served it once. Not once!" Orange juice was good too, but it just wasn't the same. The tang wasn't right!

[feartehreaper.livejournal.com]

"Right. Yeah," Haseo said, then paused, caught halfway between laughing, continuing to act incredulous, or both. "I just... don't think I've ever tried that before." He liked carrots about as much as anyone else did, but couldn't imagine actually wanting to drink their juice... at least by itself. They weren't exactly like a fruit, after all. Did they cook them before squeezing them or what?

Any amusement quickly faded, however, as soon he realized that extra little detail Leon had just thoughtlessly thrown in. The Adept Rogue had known Leon had been at the institute for longer than he had, but had never found good enough reason to ask outright about it. Now he just frowned. 'Almost a month' was over twice as long as the time Haseo had been there. Of course it bothered him to hear that about the young mage, when he himself had barely survived his own time there.

"A month, huh...?" he asked quietly, but then chose not to say any more on it. Leon might have been young, but he wasn't stupid. Making weapons probably made him more successful than what Haseo had been trying to do, and despite it all he even managed to keep a fairly cheerful outlook at least part of the time. Then again, it was hard to forget the night they'd been trapped in Doyleton, and Haseo truly hadn't known whether or not he was going to prove capable of keeping not only himself alive, but the mostly-panicking Leon and Kibitoshin safe as well.

He could try, though. "Well... did you put in a request to the comment box the other day?" he asked, tone and expression making it clear he didn't really take the idea very seriously.

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

While Haseo might not have taken the subject seriously, Leon took it very seriously, and he nodded his head with a somber look. What did his friend take him for? "Of course I put in a request! But I don't know if they'll make any changes to the menu just for one person." Alas. The head nurse had even mentioned some changes being implemented, but he still hadn't seen a single bit of carrot juice served with breakfast. It was so very disappointing.

He didn't even notice that Haseo might have been bothered by the length of time he'd mentioned being in the Institute. He was so used to having been there longer than most other patients by now that he didn't even think of what others might think of it. Really, the young mage had forgotten who all he'd told in the first place, not realizing Haseo hadn't heard it before now.

"But anyway, I'll have to get a hold of some carrots so I can make some myself. Maybe once I've gone through my current list..." He looked thoughtful, tapping his fork on the edge of his plate. His friends would need to try it at least once!

[feartehreaper.livejournal.com]

"Well, they usually serve everything mass-produced here," Haseo said blandly, also tapping his fingers on the surface of the table thoughtfully. He paused, then gave what turned into a gesturing shrug with one arm. "If nobody else wants that stuff, then they probably don't want to waste any money on just one 'patient,' right?"

At least, they probably wouldn't have if this had been a real hospital of any sort. The teenager's voice still held a note of sarcasm in recognition of that little fantasy, regardless of whether or not Leon caught it. He knew all too well that if whoever was in charge was actually spending money on this whole thing, then it wasn't really much of a problem. The alarmingly specific torture on individuals was proof aplenty of that.

At that point, he noticed he still had his arm in the air and quickly set his elbow on the table again, leaning his chin in his hand after a moment. "So wait," he said, genuinely curious, "Can you... use your alchemy thing with stuff that isn't metal?"

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

"Well, no..." Leon looked a little saddened by the question, and had it been after dark his ears would have been clearly drooping. "I can't. Not here, anyway." If they ever got out of this place, one of the first things he was going to do was test out his new alchemy skills on various items to see what he could work with. The Institute was just so limiting.

But he could try and be a little positive. "I meant if I ever got to a kitchen or had the appropriate supplies brought to me. I'll have you know I can do lots of things besides making swords! You should try my strawberry shortcake!" That one was Rena's favorite, after all. ...Another depressing thought. Perhaps he shouldn't have mentioned it.

"It's their loss anyway," he shrugged, quickly changing the topic back to the original one. "Carrot juice is incredibly healthy. If they're going to try and pretend to be nice to us during the day, they might as well make the extra effort."