Night 56: Cafeteria

[scarletspeedstr]

[from here]So far so good. They'd made it to the cafeteria without either of them getting attacked or horribly maimed (again) or anything. Now if they could just get as far as the kitchen without anything else happening? Wally would count this night a win

Comments

[sanguinario]

Though he was unsure what this whole specter business had been about even with what he had seen in Wally's memories, he was glad that the same phenomenon didn't seem to occur as they passed through the sun room without relative difficulty. Actually, that was the least amount of difficulty he could have imagined considering the usual violent occupants of the room. Perhaps they had been lucky, which was certainly a welcome change at this point in time.

Edward had meant to challenge Wally's objection further once they had reached the relative safety of the cafeteria, but decided against it. Any normal human would probably want to be protected, especially by someone who was apparently a hero and willing to do so. Continually trying to press the issue might make him seem suspicious, and having one secret known was already dangerous enough as it was. As long as he could avoid the revelation, he would. It was good he had fed earlier, then. His thirst would be at a minimum tonight -

Damon? He caught the tail-end of the thought, too caught

[anemptydecapo]

[From here]The cafeteria looked empty--an easy observation to make as the doors fluttered shut behind them. Halfway there, then. If he wanted to be hasty, he could have ignored the need for a weapon and charged out into the Courtyard, but he wasn't that much of an idiot. Even something as simple as a steak knife would have to do; as much as he avoided sharp instruments and the blood that came with using them, he wasn't going to allow himself to put the entire burden on Sora. If he had his way, none of the burden would be on him

[scintillatingly]

Sora couldn't believe it. They'd been able to pass through the Sun Room without any trouble? Why was it that he never seemed to manage that when he was traveling with the club?

It was frustrating, but he wondered if it was because he usually moved around in groups of three. He didn't know why one more person would make that much of a difference, but he couldn't think of any other explanation. Then again, Venom moved pretty quietly, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Either way, they were almost at the courtyard by this point, though Sora knew that they couldn't expect the rest of the way there to be as simple as going through the Sun Room had been. "We can go through either of those doors," he explained when he saw Venom looking, pointing right and then left. "Gonna have to break the lock, though." Sora had done it enough times that he wouldn't mind giving it a shot again, but he already got the feeling that Venom was going to want to take the lead with that.

[anemptydecapo]

He isn't going to be there again. What would you even do if he was?--

"Hn?" Sora's voice brought him out of his memories easily enough, replacing visions of bloodied blond hair with his previous thoughts of revenge. "Yes," he mindlessly responded, making a show of listening (he hadn't been, not really) instead of offering anything of substance to the conversation. Once the boy decided on a plan of action, the Guild Head nodded, one hand rubbing against his own neck while the other pointed a thumb toward door in the far north corner.

"I'm going into the kitchen for a moment," he reminded the boy. He had mentioned he was going there, hadn't he? "You can break the locks if you wish, but try to make as little noise as possible." If he heard anything, he'd come back.

[To here]

[scintillatingly]

The kitchen...? Sora wasn't sure what Venom needed in there, but maybe he was looking for a knife or something. It wasn't a bad idea if they were planning to go all the way into the forest. The boy was pretty sure they'd end up getting attacked there if they weren't ambushed on the way

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

As soon as she cleared the doors, Taura turned around. Rita, no matter how fast she moved, would be at least a few paces behind. She held up the throwing star and let it sneak past the doors, fishing for shots, and using its polished surface as a reflector. She couldn't see faces in it, but she could certainly see another blast of ki in time to duck further back.

[bodhiandspirit]

Rita was quick to follow, but her pace slowed soon after entering the room. It was embarrassing, but that one fireball really did take a lot out of her. So long as they didn't run into another obstacle too soon, she would probably recover soon, though.

Looking back once more to confirm that they weren't being followed, Rita closed the door. "That was ridiculous," she grumbled with another heavy sigh. She took a few steps forward, shining her flashlight around the room to check for danger, before speaking again. "... Well, whatever. The kitchen's just past the food counter, right?" Having only spent a short time at the institute, Rita wasn't intimately familiar with the building's layout, but this much was common sense.

[ninelivesonce]

"In a way, isn't fighting always ridiculous?." They were all human, after all. They should be working together. That was about as philosophical as she could afford to get when they were now deeper behind enemy lines, and still in an easy place for an ambush.

She jogged around the counter. "Looks clear!" No more ambushes, and so far, nothing unusual at all, beyond that first broadcast.

[to here]

[gargantuanlaugh]

[from here]

Gant took a moment to catch his breath once he made it inside. His knees cracked a bit, and he winced at the crunching sounds. Nothing more he could do about that, though. God, he was just too old for this and that was worrying. He needed a more reliable weapon. If he got caught by one of the Special Counseling patients and his scalpels or candlestick couldn't reach, then he would be gone. Too bad guns weren't likely to be just lying around anywhere.

Finally straightening up, Gant glanced about the room. Empty, though it was obvious someone had been here before. Shaking his head, he began moving forward.

"Oh, uh, good work keeping up there, Mike," he muttered over his shoulder, realizing he should give his companion at least some form of praise. Meekins had been quieter than Gant ever imagined possible as they went through that last room, perhaps because the running had taken his breath away. Lucky he had made it through, too. Gant wasn't willing to relinquish a good meatshield that easily.

[dork_at_duty]

Thank goodness they had made it past the creepy room with the creepy kid and were now in another room that looked vaguely like a mess hall. Just like the one where his friends invited him to sit at their table, only to say they were already finished with lunch and got up and left. Meekins had at first thought he saw one of them moments later at another table on the other end of the cafeteria, but then realized it couldn't have been and that patrolman was just someone else who looked like his friend, since friends don't lie

[gargantuanlaugh]

Kind words? Pfft. This kid had always been a huge kiss-up, but even Gant had to shake his head a bit at the blind loyalty. Of all the people to still act all subservient towards... and he had a feeling Meekins wasn't just motivated by Gant's previous criminal record either. Something odd about this kid. Like he just needed someone, anyone, to hang around.

Well, Gant wasn't a psychoanalyst. He wasn't going to tell Meekins he needed to tone it down at all, or anything like that. It was easier this way, even if it was a bit awkward when Gant really thought about it. So, best thing to do was not think about it, and take it as it was. Having pushed those disgusting emotions out of the way, Gant was once again able to continue on objectively