Day 57: Cafeteria

[gald_digger]

Edgar's charming company had raised Anise's spirits enough that not even the Head Doctor's voice could bring them back down. Besides, she was feeling pretty sure that Landel wasn't actually around. To begin with, it wouldn't make sense, and secondly, his announcements sounded suspiciously like ones she'd already heard before. While Anise wasn't

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[unpriest]

It wasn't long before the cafeteria began filling up with people wearing the same grey uniform, but among the many faces there wasn't a single one Seishin recognized. Considering the circumstances, he wasn't certain whether to be relieved or not. Perhaps receiving answers from a familiar person would have been easier, though it remained to be seen how many from Sotoba were willing to tell him anything -- he was the one that had forsaken them, after all. Had they been here, then Sunako's last moment would have been of a stake that was rammed through her chest; the very thing he had tried to prevent from happening.

But there was no way to confirm this with certainty. All he could do for now was speculate.

Another man eventually claimed the seat across him, but he had seemingly not taken notice of the former priest at all, too engrossed with the gruel. Still, it had been enough to pull Seishin away from his thoughts -- he had blinked in surprise before his features assumed a more neutral expression. It would make sense for someone to join him, would it not? This red-haired man wore the same uniform; perhaps he would be more receptive to questions than the nurse had been.

"Excuse me," he began, hoping to get the man's attention, "this may seem like a strange question, but do you know where this is?" It may have been rude to ask such a question out of the blue like this -- after all, he had no intention of disturbing the other man's... lunch -- but he had little choice if he wanted at least know about his whereabouts.

[train_tracer]

"Hm?" Claire looked up finally at the quiet voice. The man in front of him was someone he hadn't met before and he looked some kind of Asian. They were still a minority back where he came from, but it seemed like he'd seen a lot more here in the Institute. A lot more. Claire didn't have anything against them though -- it was just something he happened to notice. It was his fifth day here, after all.

Anyway, the man before him was polite, which was perfectly okay with Claire. He liked polite people. They tended to be good people. Randomly, he wondered how old this man was. He looked young but that hair color...

"Sorry!" Claire said, "But I have no clue either! I'm pretty sure most of us haven't a clue, actually. It seems most of us were just brought in from some place else suddenly. So I hear, anyway! I only arrived here myself about four days ago."

Claire frowned at his pink gruel, then took a spoonful. Food was food, even if it looked terrible and tasted like nothing. While he ate, he looked curiously at his lunch companion. Okay, he really had to ask...

"Is that your natural hair color?" he asked suddenly, throwing manners to the wind like he usually ended up doing, despite his initial attempts at trying to be polite. "Because you look young-ish, right? And I've met a couple other people with strange hair colors who say it's natural, so I'm just curious!"

With something to distract him, Claire's mood was bouncing back (it was nearly impossible for him to feel depressed for long) and it wasn't so hard to eat the tasteless slop. Talking and eating (possibly at the same time) became his priority now and any dejection he had felt before vanished without a trace.

"You're new here, right? My instinct tells me so and I'm never wrong, see?"

[unpriest]

Brought in from some place? People were gathered here, then, but what sort of reason could anyone have to do something like this? It seemed even stranger that he was the only one taken from the middle of the chaos that Sotoba had become -- after all, it was a remote village isolated from the rest of the world. He frowned as he looked down at his own pink gruel.

It did not make any sense at all.

When Seishin threatened to retreat in his own speculations, a sudden question caught him off guard completely. He looked up, blinking in surprise. His... hair color was strange? He had never heard anyone speak of it before. In fact, he had always thought himself to look ordinary. "...it is natural, yes," he answered after a slight delay, needing a moment to regain his composure. He offered a small, polite smile. "My apologies, no one has asked me about it before."

The other man had began eating the pink gruel, seemingly more cheerful than he had been earlier as he continued speaking. At the very least, the stranger did not seem to mind the conversation.

The question that followed wasn't as sudden at least; it must have been obvious that he was indeed 'new' by his previous question alone. The young novelist didn't like the sound of it, however. In what sort of place had he awoken? "I suppose so," Seishin answered, "I have only just awoken here."