Day 24: Lunch

[jei]

Not wanting to be dragged along on whatever Mission of Annoyance Schuldig had planned for himself at lunch, Farfarello instead headed straight into the cafeteria, alone

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[stray_shinigami]

Renji was working out possible teams for the night in his head as the nurses herded him to the cafeteria. While nothing could be final until they'd talked to Roy, it wouldn't hurt to have the broad shape of the plan laid out in advance.

He took his time and lingered; rather than sitting, he'd much prefer to just catch Hitsugaya - and possibly Roy - as they came in. So he loitered near the entrance as best he could and kept letting people get in front of him in line.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Almost as soon as Rukia had sat down with Captain Hitsugaya and Omi, the nurses and orderlies had shuffled everyone back to the cafeteria. Spotting Renji waiting near the door, Rukia veered off toward him. She knew he was meeting with the Captain and Colonel Mustang, but it wouldn't hurt to say hello.

"Hey," she said, smiling somewhat shyly. "Good luck with introductions." Then she chuckled impishly, adding, "I'm sure you can smooth out any disagreements with your boyish charm." Turning, Rukia headed for the lunch line.

[Going here.]

[whiteychan]

By the time lunch came around, Hitsugaya was admittedly hungry. This time there was no nurse to fetch his food for him, which meant that he could actually choose what he picked up. Hopefully there was actual food here this time. When the doctor mentioned a salad bar with plenty of fruits, he secretly hoped for watermelon. If these "sloppy joes" weren't pre-made, he could probably steal some of the buns as well.

Hitsugaya quietly entered, noting Renji waiting at the door. "Abarai-fukutaicho," Hitsugaya said in greetings. "I will get us a table." He didn't bother to ask how things had gone with his and Rukia's conversation. If Renji wanted to speak on it, he would, and it wouldn't be polite to pry.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji grinned at Rukia as she passed by. "No one with more fuckin' charm than me," he commented before she was out of earshot.

He nodded to Hitsugaya. "Understood, sir," he said. "I'll join you shortly. Colonel Mustang said that he'd find me."

He headed into the lunch line, then; he'd mostly just wanted to hang long enough to find Hitsugaya. Renji was well aware that, even in a crowded cafeteria, he was hard to miss. He still wasn't in a big rush to get his food, though.

Those sloppy joe things sounded kind of scary.

[whiteychan]

Hitsugaya nodded politely to Renji and walked off to grab food and a table for the three of them.

(going here)

[broken_exorcist]

Allen followed the nurse, his head still fogged with a thousand questions. But, he remembered, she'd said there was food. He could smell it before they entered the cafeteria. He knew the drill. Allen picked up a tray and started through the line, picking up several of everything that looked good. He reached for a second helping of chips when he felt it

[stray_shinigami]

Renji watched the entire process with the bemused expression of someone that had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen. He had no clue what this kid's problem was - maybe he was a Quincy? - but he'd never heard of anything called Innocence in connection with those. He set his tray, now half full, down somewhere convenient, and then grabbed the back of the kid's shirt, using that to "help him to his feet."

In reality, he kept the kid dangling a couple inches off the ground, similar to the way one would scruff a kitten. In his own weakened state, he wasn't strong enough to do that indefinitely, but it'd work for now.

"That was kinda rude," he commented. "You could at least get to know me before you start tryin' to destroy me. The fuck's your problem?"

[broken_exorcist]

Allen expected a number of responses. Gunfire, stab wounds, killer butterflies, but not getting picked up by the back of his shirt. This Akuma's human form was huge, at least a foot taller than him, and held aloft like he was, he couldn't even reach him to do any real damage.

Not that it stopped him from trying.

"I know enough," Allen coughed. The pitiful soul, trapped inside an Akuma, he had to save it. Had to destroy the false body so the soul could be set free. "I know what you are."

[stray_shinigami]

Renji stared at Allen curiously. "Really?" he asked. So maybe this was a Quincy, after all. But he decided to play dumb, for now. "So what am I, then?"

He yawned for good measure.

[broken_exorcist]

Allen's helplessness was infuriating. Why hadn't anyone gone for help yet? Surely he couldn't be the only exorcist here! He couldn't tell what level this one was yet, but he didn't enjoy playing these games. Was this one really so slow, so uninformed that he didn't know what Allen was? He was missing the usual cross on the left side of his chest that signified his rank, but...

"Akuma," he said simply. He struggled in the puppet's grasp, then tried again to invoke the weapon. Even if it was only a basic invocation, anything! But again, he came up with nothing but a sharp and biting pain that ran up and down his arm. This was pathetic! Was all his training for nothing?

"What are you doing here?" he managed. Maybe... maybe if he could just keep it talking until another could get here and stop this madness.

[muted_flame]

Roy had not forgotten his promise to meet up with the man named Renji who had written to him on the bulletin board. He figured it had something to do with weapon forging, seeing as that was all anyone wanted him for these days. He remembered how it had been a few weeks ago, when there weren't nearly as many patients and he could spend most of his dayshift speaking with the people he knew from Amestris rather than being hassled all the time.

Red hair and tattoos... That certainly wouldn't be difficult to locate. And the alchemist caught sight of the man almost right upon entering the cafeteria, mainly because he was holding another patient up by the back of his shirt.

A younger patient, at that. Roy frowned, moving over to the two quickly. He drew up next to Renji. "I didn't know you were in the habit of tormenting children," he said dryly.

[stray_shinigami]

Okay, definitely not a Quincy. Which meant that this bad blood could be cleared up, eventually. If this guy was willing to listen, which he doubted.

"Shinigami," he corrected, sounding bored. "Don't make me hit you so hard that your soul falls out of your goddamn body."

Renji shrugged. "Same as you, gettin' lunch. Before I was so rudely interrupted. You're not in your own world any more. The rules're different."

Before he could continue on, he was interrupted by someone he hadn't met before. He looked over at the man, still holding Allen up. "Only when they're tryin' to..."

He looked at Allen. "You were tryin' to attack me, right? I'm guessin', since you're callin' me a demon. Even if you did fall on my feet." He raised an eyebrow. "If I set you down, are you steady enough, and will you not try to do...whatever it is you did?"

[broken_exorcist]

Shinigami? Allen had a feeling he should remember what that meant. Then again, maybe it was just a name the Akuma had given itself. It hadn't killed him yet, so maybe, like the other Akuma, it's job was only to bring him back and... that meant he'd get to Rinali and the others sooner.

But if what the Akuma said was right and he really wasn't in his own world anymore, then... maybe this was a part of the ark. But... regardless of what world they were in, an Akuma was an Akuma.

"It doesn't matter what world," Allen replied. He'd never actually... had to reason with an Akuma. Well, there was Eliade, but she'd been different. Different circumstances. "I'll still save your soul." His existence... was meaningless if he couldn't do that much. If an exorcist couldn't fight, they might as well be dead.

Allen tried to reach behind his neck to pry the fingers that held him loose. It didn't seem to be doing him much good. And after trying to invoke his weapon twice already, he didn't know if he would be able to stand if the Akuma actually did

[muted_flame]

This was one of the stranger situations he had happened upon, mainly because Roy couldn't reason out what was actually going on. The teenager was more or less talking nonsense, but it seemed like the basic concept was that he had tried to attack Renji... For some reason.

"I believe you're overreacting," he told the silver-haired boy. "If you're new here, that's understandable. But what do you have against this man?" He glanced at Renji - while he was tense and looked more than a little irked, he wasn't carrying himself as if he was ready to fight.

"Did you do anything to provoke him?" he asked the redhead. While Roy wasn't the best at mediating, he and Renji were supposed to have some sort of talk, and that couldn't happen until this was figured out. It was irritating, but there was no point in complaining about it.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji looked at Roy, his expression actually relaxing a little, since apparently Roy might have a better chance talking some sense into this kid. "Not a damn thing," he said, his tone reasonable in spite of his rather informal language, "unless this one's offended by people like me eating. Which could be a problem, since I got no intention of starving."

He looked back at Allen, his expression becoming firm. "My soul doesn't need to be saved," Renji said, doing his best to still sound reasonable. He continued, in the tone he normally reserved for dogs and retards, "I am a Shinigami. A... hm... death god. So this is a really stupid idea you're havin', here. I'm most likely not from the same place as you, and whatever way you're talkin' about savin', I don't need it. It's my goddamn duty to watch over the livin'." He smirked slightly. "Even if some of you are squirmy little bastards."

His arm was getting a little tired, but he kept Allen suspended for now. He didn't feel like having the kid gnawing on his ankles.

[broken_exorcist]

Something was wrong. Something was really, really wrong. Had the other man not heard him correctly? Was he the only sane person here? He supposed it was possible... that this wasn't the Dark Order at all, that this was some other place, but that didn't change the fact that the man in front of him was an Akuma.

This one was even so presumptuous as to refer to himself as a type of God! The Noahs at least were only claiming to be his apostles, but wasn't that going too far?

He looked to the dark-haired man, what other hope did he have? "I know he might look like your friend, but this man is dead! He's no longer the person you knew! He works for the Millennium Earl and he's terribly dangerous! There are others here too, several!" His eyes were pleading, almost on the verge of tears, "You have to believe me! I'm an exorcist, so I can-" He paused, trying to make himself believe the words as well, "I can handle this