Day 54: Breakfast

[arc_wrench]

For once, HK was working very hard to hide a giddy facial expression as he met his nurse at the door. He'd already hidden his scalpels in his clothing. The wonderful, sharp implements of doom would be needed today. “Statement: Despite my reticence towards all processed meat and plant products, I am experiencing intolerable levels of hunger,” he

Comments

[scalyfishman]

Why was it that the harder he tried to stay away, the harder it was for Depth Charge to do anything but conk out straight after dinner?

Rubbing agitatedly at his head, the Maximal let himself be hustled out of bed with only a cursory complaint- frankly his processor was overloading too much on its own for him to need to make it worse by putting up a fight, as much as he'd have liked to just out of spite. What better way to make Landel's very own special visitor feel right at home than to give 'em slag and generally be a pain in the tailpipe? Then again, that also sounded exactly like just the kind of thing that Rattrap would do, and if he was really starting to act like Rattrap maybe it was a good thing he'd slept the night through.

Or maybe he was turning into Primal instead, because the one thing he did fight for was the chance to stop at the bulletin board and leave yet another note for a couple of people. Stupid, really, given that there was no guarantee that they’d see it but knowing he’d thrown it out there anyway showed

[moral_liberty]

Morning came, even though Kaworu resisted it. The effort had no lasting impact. He wasn't any more tired for it, and it had not slowed down the heavy approach of consciousness. It had only left behind the impression of fruitlessness. Actions in vain. Struggling towards that which was unobtainable. They had only found Shinji because it had been allowed. They had not saved him or reclaimed him, but had been given him back freely. Whatever this place had desired to do to him, Kaworu had been unable to change it. His choices were his own, but they meant little. Still, there were some that still mattered. Kaworu couldn't judge their merit, but he did not regret them

[scalyfishman]

One klik Depth Charge had been debating between finding a whole new level of self-pity to wallow in for the day and raising Pit, the next there was another nurse in front of him. Different to the one that had dropped him off, but between the uniforms and the silicon smiles they were all about as discrete as an army of battle drones. Which, really, was a pretty depressing comparison to make; take one down, another one springs up in its place. It was Whack-a-Molebot with syringes.

This particular nurse one had brought a friend with her, and that was where Depth Charge started to suspect a some kind of vendetta at work: he was now babysitting, of all people, a scruffy-haired kid with red eyes. The kicker was he couldn't have been much older than Forte. Nice shot, Landel. Way below the conveyor-belt, but since when did either of us expect you to play fair, huh?At least there were more differences than similarities going on here. For one thing, Newbie had an expression like he'd jacked in to his own personal mainframe at some point and

[moral_liberty]

"Kaworu. Kaworu Nagisa." He didn't flinch when the adult leaned in. Almost imperceptibly, Kaworu mimicked the gesture, shifting his weight forward with interest. He met the man's eyes, and tried to construct what thoughts might be behind them. Even the act of asking for a name was met with hostility, although it was subdued. It lacked hate, but reflected distrust and the frustration that Kaworu had seen when the nurse first led him here

dsdahj reposted /o\

[scalyfishman]

Definitely not a 'con or a Pred, with a name like that, so no surprises there. To be honest, he'd have had to hunt Lugnut down personally if it turned out the Decepticon army had been recruiting sparklings. Still, while Kaworu hadn’t set off any major alarms, the fact that the very next thing out of the kid's mouth managed to throw him off wasn't a good sign

Re: dsdahj reposted /o\

[moral_liberty]

Kaworu's smile broadened, just barely. A faint increase in the angle of his mouth. It was, perhaps, the closest thing to a confession that the man believed he could give to Kaworu. This was someone who was entirely outside of himself. It was natural to hide one's own depths from those who weren't trusted. To those who were unknown. To trust was to open oneself up to pain, rejection, frustration, shame, but also companionship and love. It couldn't bother Kaworu that he wasn't trusted, because it was understandable. Depth Charge didn't need to know anything about Kaworu to want to protect himself. He didn't need to know what Kaworu was, or what he had done

[scalyfishman]

The smile had just skirted under the creepiness radar the first time but it was amazing how much difference one little twitch could make when it came to stage two, and that just about pushed it into Unsettling territory. Not exactly take-to-the-hills stuff- and he knew that, far better than he'd have liked to admit- but not exactly someone he'd want to be stuck in a two-man shuttle with on a long journey

[moral_liberty]

The smile faded, but not entirely. He had noticed before, the way Lilim were at times reluctant with him in ways they were not with one another. Even now, he could hear them, laughing together, speaking, smiling so easily. They didn't show that side of themselves to him. There was wariness, or sometimes hostility and disgust. Some leaned in kindly and used soft words, and laughed in a strange way when he spoke. It was not cruel, but it was not comfortable

[scalyfishman]

That stopped him. The smile flickered almost straight away and the answer was almost wistful. And there it was again, that honesty from before; Depth Charge got the feeling Kaworu was the type who didn't lie a lot, or, if he did, made it pretty obvious for anyone involved.

Which was probably why he couldn't help but feel a little twinge of guilt for that one. Really, what he'd done was take a cheap shot at a kid half his age and that just didn't sit entirely right with him- couldn't take any pride in putting someone in their place when they were probably two heads shorter than him and their biggest crime was being weird. Kind of hypocritical to boot. It wasn't like he was Cheetor or anyone who really deserved to get kicked around every now and then.

Or maybe he was just going soft. Depth Charge's expression froze for a moment, but when he spoke it lapsed into a faint, tired blank. "Not gonna argue with you there." He clicked his tongue, leaning back in his chair. "Been called crazy a couple of times, too."

Then he heard HK's

[moral_liberty]

They were all accused of having a break from reality here, but Kaworu felt that there was something more Depth Charge was referring to. The specifics were not clear, but there were some nuances. The defensiveness in his voice had been abandoned, and in its place there was an emotion that was harder to read. It was elusive, and Kaworu could not label what he didn't understand. His thoughts edged towards the answer, which was not regret, but perhaps similar

[scalyfishman]

"Right." So that was definitely a bread roll. Depth Charge frowned slightly. "Right."

Rather more definitively, he picked the roll up from where it had landed next to his tray and stood up. Then he wound back and pitched it straight back in the direction it had come from, so hard that when it finally made contact with its target- not HK, as it turned out, but a nurse hurrying towards her patients with a look of unmitigated horror- it knocked the glasses off of her face completely. Not what he'd had in mind, given that he'd been aiming to knock some sense into HK's stupid, bolts-for-brains head for starting this whole thing off, but he wasn't going to complain. Now that was fate.

That done, he glanced back to Kaworu, neatly knocking away an indeterminate wad of food with his hand as he did so. He looked bewildered, which wasn't too odd given how quickly this place had erupted, but the question was what threw Depth Charge a little. "Dancing. What does it look like they're doing?" Then again, Kaworu had struck him as being more space

[moral_liberty]

"No, I don't." Kaworu looked over at Depth Charge for a moment. Leaving might have been the most reasonable choice, and yet it wasn't what Kaworu wanted. Not yet. Finally, he listened to Depth Charge's suggestion and slid under the table, but even from there he could watch the Lilim as the 'fight' expanded and intensified. The nurses tried to intervene. The Lilim in military uniforms joined their efforts and shared their goal, but operated separately from the others. They sought peace and order, but through control

[scalyfishman]

Fair play to him, if Kaworu wanted to stay put under the table. There were people sneaking out here and there, but every time Depth Charge looked up there seemed to be yet another soldier in the way, wrestling with some patient or another. And, well, they wouldn't exactly be inconspicuous- a tall, blue-haired man with a creepy white-haired kid