Day 25: Breakfast

[uncage]

Kuja was, in fact, quite surprised to suddenly find himself in bed. An odd turn of events, as he previously remembered investigating the contents of a closet. If the genome hadn't known any better, he would have thought he hadn't even left the room. However, the items he was still holding obviously proved such thoughts untrue; he had left his room

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[runed]

Nel had awakened this morning with bandages - and her runes had healed enough to make sturdy scabs, she discovered upon further inspection. It had been apparent that they'd put some pretty special salve on the wounds, as they'd mostly healed. Touch proved irritating, but Nel suspected that it would be fully healed by tomorrow. Unless, of course, she aggravated it more. If anything, she'd discovered that her different runological spells irritated different parts of her body.

The shards of the mirror that she had collected were quickly hidden under her bed as the nurse came to collect her. Nel was polite as she had been the day before. Collecting a little bit of fresh fruit and a breakfast sandwich (which she'd take apart later and eat layer by layer) she looked around for where to sit.

Until she saw him.

Yes, her hunch, unlike most of Cliff's, had been correct. The man stationed in the sun room the previous night had indeed been a brainwashed patient of the Institute. Would he remember the previous night's actions? ...The look on his face said yes. He could well stand to be reassured that he was, in fact, not a terrible person. Who could say what sort of man he was when he wasn't fighting ruthlessly?

So she set her tray beside him and sat down, looking at him through the corner of her eye. Her expression was more calm than anything. "Hey, are you all right after last night?" she asked.

[damned_ivy]

Hakkai had been convinced that he was a terrible person since long before he'd come to Landel's, but she could try.

He glanced up quickly, face clouding over in a moment of recognition before smoothing into a not-quite-smile. Typical Hakkai for you. He was almost surprised she'd recognize him, considering the differences between that form and this one, and he was certainly surprised she'd approach him for anything, except perhaps to tell him what a monster he was. He would completely understand that. This calm sympathy, however...

He looked her over carefully, though subtly. He didn't remember doing much to this one, but that didn't necessarily mean she hadn't been injured. "I believe I should be the one asking you that."

[runed]

Nel was, luckily, an expert at recognizing people - a spy who couldn't remember subtle details in faces wasn't much of a spy. It was true, he did look different, but the facial structure was still very much the same, as was the haircut. And likewise, she gave him a once-over, then shook her head. "You needn't worry. Any damage done to me last night was done by my own hand."

"And I assume you remember all of your actions last night." If he did, he'd probably been dealing with the ramifications of what he'd done. "I'm curious as to what they did exactly, if you remember that."

The soldier seemed all business, but she was not above politesse - too long of a conversation without an introduction could easily become awkward. "But let me introduce myself first - I'm Nel Zelpher."

[damned_ivy]

The smile became a bit kinder. Completely fake, of course, but few people could tell with Hakkai. "Cho Hakkai. I would say it was a pleasure, but then you would agree, and I'm fairly sure we'd both be lying."

What they did.. He could only assume she meant beyond letting him loose on unsuspecting patients. "Most of it is cloudy at best, I'm afraid."

And what wasn't cloudy... well, it wasn't exactly the sort of thing to be discussed in polite company.

[runed]

Nel didn't chuckle - didn't even smile. Jokes weren't lost on her, but she rarely found it necessary to laugh or carry on. Clair had always said she was too interested in her missions, and those who met her were inclined to agree. "We would, I'm afraid. But even so, you're not my enemy, far from it.. and I doubt the women I was with would count you as such. I'm not so sure about the boys."

The two redheads who had charged in to 'save' the women - what had come of them? Amaterasu had never elaborated. She was sure they were around here somewhere, and planned to approach them if she could at some point during the day, but they probably wouldn't want to hear her scolding. "They were reckless beyond all reason. But you could easily have killed us if you'd wanted to - why didn't you?"

[damned_ivy]

He still couldn't stomach even the thought of food, so he was denied even such an obvious stalling technique. Ah well. "Do you always name enemies so casually? That may prove dangerous some day."

Why hadn't he killed them? He'd been like a dog on a short leash, unable to do as he pleased beyond a certain point. He'd wanted nothing so much as to kill a good many of them, but he hadn't been able to. Not that he was about to admit that to a stranger, no matter how forgiving she seemed to be. "Boys will be boys, of course. This is hardly appropriate conversation for breakfast, though, don't you agree?"

[runed]

"I do not, as a rule. But it's a matter of sharing the same lot.. we're both trapped in this Institute, and I imagine you want to find your way back to your world as much as I do. It would be foolish not to count those also trapped here as allies to some extent." It wasn't as simple as 'the enemy of your enemy is your friend' - there were always more things to take into account. But all rationalization had shown Nel that anyone with sufficient reason in their head could only want to leave this place by some means, and working together was generally the way to go about escape.

Though she could tell that he was intentionally escaping her line of questioning. So she was direct about it. "Mm - I can tell you don't want to talk about it. If you ever do, I'll remain interested. I know you were brainwashed, Cho Hakkai, and I'm going to get to the bottom of this situation."

She slipped up from her chair then, about to leave.

[damned_ivy]

He smiled blandly as she stood. If she tried to leave, he wouldn't stop her, nor did he have anything else to say to her should she stay. He was somewhat glad she bore him no ill will, if only because enemies were most bothersome though well-deserved. At the moment, however, he wished to be alone, and was mostly relieved to see her go.

[runed]

Without another word but instead a clipped nod, Nel slipped up from the table and made her way across the slowly-filling-up cafeteria, looking for a familiar face.

[Aaaand to here!]