Day 26: Breakfast

[tsunagari]

Sai awoke rather groggily, which wasn't a good sign for a ninja. It meant he was probably ill. He'd need to get checked up with a medic-nin before he did very much more that day. Eyes blinked open slowly to stare at the ceiling and then narrowed in confusion. Not his ceiling. Was he already at the hospital

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[canieathim]

Gluttony woke up in his bed. He wasn't in the hallways anymore. He was in his bed instead. He didn't remember going to sleep. He didn't remember waking up in this room again. He did remember one thing.

M50 or M60.

But he couldn't find it.

"Robert," a nurse said, a little cautiously as he opened the door. Gluttony wondered who Robert was, and what he tasted like. He ate a Robert once, he had a lot of fat on him. This nurse had a lot of fat on him, too. He wondered if this nurse had the same taste as Robert had.

Robert was also a very mean man. He tried to hurt his Lust, but Lust was too clever for that. She was smart and knew that letting Gluttony eat him was the best course of action. It didn't take him too long to eat Robert. He wanted to savor the fat man, but he was so hungry he couldn't help himself.

He was really hungry.

"Welcome to Landel's, Robert. It's time for breakfast."

He was calling Gluttony Robert. Robert wasn't his name...was it? Maybe it was? Maybe Lust had wanted him to go by the name of Robert in order to blend in at this place. Lust was already here, maybe she had set things up already. She was good and smart and knew what was best. "Where's my Lust?" he whined.

"I'm sorry?" the nurse said, still looking a little concerned.

"Lust," Gluttony said, a little more assertively. "Where's my Lust?"

Maybe Lust was at breakfast. Maybe he could eat the nurse when he got to breakfast. Maybe Lust was at breakfast and had someone who wasn't as fat as Robert had been for him to eat. He was really hungry, and Lust would know what he could eat.

"Is my Lust at breakfast?" he asked with a hopeful yet vacant smile.

"Umm...maybe?" the nurse who was probably as tasty as a Robert he once ate answered. "Why don't we go to the cafeteria and see if you can find it?"

It? Lust wasn't an it. That was very rude. He should eat his tongue so he couldn't say such rude things about his Lust. Wait...didn't Lust say that he should be on a diet? Were tongues on his diet? He'd have to ask Lust when he saw her. She'd know what to do. After all, she was so wonderful to him. He loved how she always let him eat people. People were much better tasting than rocks or metal. People had flavor, and they screamed when he bit into them. That was nice.

"Ok," he said, looking up at the nurse with hungry eyes. The nurse definitely looked like a Robert.

He was led to the cafeteria, and there was a lot of food. Regular food wasn't as good as people, though. Waffles didn't scream when you bit into them. Still, the nurse that looked like a Robert made him take some food and sat him down at a table by himself, leaving him there. Lust wasn't here yet. That wasn't good and made him sad. If she had been here, maybe she would have let him eat the mean nurse who called Lust an it. He wanted to eat that nurse really badly.

But for now he ate his belgian waffle, devouring it quickly.

He was still hungry. He gnawed on the table but did not bite into it. He was so hungry, and Lust wasn't here. Where was Lust?

[intoindra]

Roland felt like his right arm had been punched by every single member of the Embryon, one right after another, and some had forgotten to get out of their demon forms before doing it. Transforming was definitely a last-resort option here. Still, at least he could manage it, unlike Heat. He'd never be unarmed at night, that was a pronounced advantage.

Still, at the moment he was starting to feel a little hungry again, especially after using up all of that energy. His tray was piled high with waffles and syrup and as many things that could be consumed as possible, and while he wanted to touch base with Soma and Heat... a very strange sight caught his eyes.

Someone was gnawing on his table. Normally that would have weirded Roland out, but now he knew how real hunger- inhuman hunger- could feel. So he sat himself across from the very large, very bald man and grinned as he slid his tray over to him. "That's tastier, if you're still hungry. I'm Roland, by the way."

Who knew? Maybe this was another one like himself. At this point, beggars couldn't be choosers.

[canieathim]

A tray filled with food? It still wasn't as good as eating people, but Lust wasn't here and she knew best if it would be okay to eat these people or not. She was so smart, she always knew who was safe to eat, and who would be the yummiest snacks. But a tray filled with waffles was good, too.

He grabbed a waffle in each hand and shoved both into his mouth, swallowing them quickly. This man was good. He didn't pick on him like other people did. He didn't look afraid, either. Just like Lust had been when she first met him. She wasn't afraid, she was just good and smart and warm. Maybe this new good-person knew where Lust was? Maybe he was a friend of Lust's who had come to take him to her!

"Have you seen my Lust?" he asked, not introducing himself. If he knew Lust, he would already know who he was. After all, Lust would have told him. She was smart and intelligent and clever and would think of that.

[intoindra]

That... was not a question that Roland had been anticipating, at all. 'More?' or 'Who are you?' had been what he'd expected, not a reference to a carnal sin. And said sin being referenced to as a proper noun, no less. Wait... didn't that remind him of something? He could have sworn it. On the bulletin board? Yes! There had been talk of a Lust, a female who was apparently quite 'developed' and who was utterly fearless.

Reminded Roland of some of the women he'd dated back in college, really.

"I haven't seen her, but I've heard some people talking about a 'Lust'." A pause, as something clicked. It was dramatically appropriate to go with the whole collection, and another name had been flung around with reckless abandon. Perhaps taking a gamble would work? "There was also a 'Greed' being mention, does that ring any bells?"

He couldn't help it, Roland had a soft spot for the child-like, no matter what the real age. This man was kind of reminding Roland of Heat, at least in a very general sense. It had to be the way he was shoving food into his mouth. And who knew? Maybe reuniting this guy with 'his Lust' would earn some good karma for Roland as well.

[lustful_thing]

If there was one thing Lust was looking forward to, it was the fact that at least this nightshift she'd have something to do. A clear goal with organized - supposedly - allies. No more of this running about and wasting time. Though the man from last night had been amusing at least....

Musing to herself - and adjusting the damned bandages that still swathed her torso - Lust followed her nurse to breakfast. She piled her plate high with fruit and bread and juice, and scanned the mess hall for a familiar face.

While she was searching specifically for Scar or perhaps Mustang, it wasn't either of them that her attention was siezed by. It was another all too familiar face, one she had believed she'd never seen again.

Slowly, as though suspicious, Lust took her tray and approached the table where the rotund Sin was stuffing his face and presumably making conversation with some man Lust didn't recognize.

She was close enough to hear the conversation. She swallowed hard, remembering what Alphonse had told her. About what had happened to Gluttony, what that bitch had done to him. But those things didn't matter in this place. She was living proof of that. Standing behind the man that Gluttony had chosen to share his breakfast with, Lust spoke.

"I'm here, Gluttony."

[canieathim]

Gluttony was about to answer the other good man who called himself Roland, when he saw her.

Lust! It was his Lust! Envy had lied to him, the big mean person, him! "Lust!" he exclaimed, his face showing nothing but childish delight at seeing her. She was okay! She wasn't dead at all!

He stood up quickly, ignoring the other man for the time being, and ran over to her, grabbing her in a big hug and lifting her off the ground. "Lust! My Lust! Envy lied!" It had to be that the nice man called Roland had helped him find her. He was good, although if Lust told the other Sin to eat his new friend, he would happily have done so as well. He was very hungry, and now he had his Lust back! She could tell him what to eat!

[intoindra]

So that was 'Lust', huh? She really was a knock-out, visually; long dark hair, nice curves, strong eyes... shame that she was in the shapeless gray of Landel's. He imagined that she'd have taken better with darker clothes, something to play off of her hair and pale skin. Hopefully something to show off her assets; she seemed like enough of a man-eater to pull that off. Long slits, maybe, up the leg? That'd fit her well. He had to wonder if she chose jewelry as well; he didn't see any obvious piercings, but then again, he didn't see as much as he'd like much of her body anyway.

Regardless, he just chuckled softly to himself and stood up to get some more waffles for himself. He'd be back in a bit, naturally, but for the moment it was obviously an emotional reunion. He could come back after they'd said what they needed to say. Still, 'Envy' as well? Were there more sin-themed people running around in this Institute?

[lustful_thing]

"What did Envy tell you?"

There was a sudden harsh note to Lust's voice, assuming that Envy had already found Gluttony. She returned the embrace, however, sickened by the flood of emotions that swept over her. But she had missed her constant companion, feared she'd never see him again. And she ignored the pain from her wounds, struggling to get herself under control.

And here he was. Seemingly unaffected by what their Master had done to him - or what she'd been told their Master had done to him, at least.

"Envy is a very, very bad man, Gluttony." She needed to drive that into his mind. Envy was an enemy. Envy was not to be trusted. "Now, now, enough of this. Let go of me, I need to eat my breakfast. And you've chased off your new friend before I was even able to say 'hello'."

[canieathim]

"You died," Gluttony answered simply, setting her down and smiling brightly. She was right. Envy was a very, very bad man. She used two very's, that meant it was even more true than he thought. There was only a single answer available response to Lust's very true and accurate claim.

"Can I eat him, then?"

[intoindra]

Roland was gone for both more and less time than he'd thought. More, because he had decided to go check on the Bulletin Board while he was out, and less, because even though he'd transcribed an entire fairy tale from memory, he was quite the fast writer. Shame that the quality sucked...

But now his already-sore right arm was really feeling it, which meant that he'd need to take a break from writing for a little while if he wanted to keep any sort of use in that hand of his. So, balancing a tray in his left arm, he went back to the two friends, seeing that they were at least not quite as clingy as before... and caught that simple question from the rotund one.

Yep. Just like Heat. More amused than threatened, Roland eased himself down into his chair. "'Eat him'? I hope that I'm not on the menu."

[lustful_thing]

"We'll see," Lust said. "He might prove useful. But you're welcome to eat Envy, if you see him." She patted Gluttony on his bald head and took a seat, crossing her legs and fixing the man who's name she didn't know with a curious expression. There was always a chance he was useful.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name but I've yet to hear yours."

[canieathim]

Lust was so good and kind and smart! He grinned wide at the thought of eating Envy and lumbered back to his seat and the pancakes. He had never eaten a homunculus before!

Lust was now talking to the other man. He was a good man. Gluttony liked him. He grinned to the new man, then went back to eating what had been left in front of him. He could eat Envy! Eating envy would be fun!

[intoindra]

"I'm never one to take advantage of a lady; I'm Roland." He chuckled softly as he inclined his head politely towards Lust, returning the smile Gluttony offered- and now Roland realized just how many teeth the larger man had- before turning his attention back to the apparent brains of the outfit.

He unconsciously ran his fingers along the back of his left hand, wondering how to see if these people were like himself. He remembered what had been said, after all; more allies would be very useful. Potentially life-saving. Yet, if his secret was spilled to the wrong people... well, he'd just have to take a risk. After all, anyone who talked about eating people in broad daylight had absolutely nothing to fear.

"I'd rather him not eat me, by the way. I've already gone through that once, it's not a very pleasant experience." Yet he shrugged, the entire thing worthwhile in the end. "And it's quite brave of you, to speak of such things openly when there's so many people here who might take you at your word."

[lustful_thing]

"I would hope, Roland, that everyone who knows me in this place knows to take me at my word," Lust said, picking delicately at her food. What fear did she have? Or Gluttony? Despite the fact she was weaker here, and unable to defend herself against other sins, she had more than enough allies who would leap to her aide should she need it.

And Gluttony would need to eat. Could he live on human food and furntiture alone? Lust doubted it.

"Gluttony, we're going to have to have a long talk about who you can't eat. Do you understand?"

[canieathim]

Gluttony looked up from his meal, pouting slightly. He didn't like it when Lust told him he couldn't eat people. Like the person who smelled like flowers and candy at the store when they were on their way to central to find Marco's book. He wanted to eat her, but Lust said he had to go on a diet. That didn't make him happy at all.

"I can eat some people, yes Lust?" he asked hopefully. Lust was good and kind and smart and was bound to let him eat someone.

[intoindra]

"Ah, but I don't know you yet. Even if I hope to rectify that shortly. You seem a formidable woman." Rather, a woman without any fear whatsoever. That was what Roland read into Lust now; a woman who could casually discuss eating others and not be afraid of the potential repercussions. Especially in this environment, that was a very strong benefit.

Well... nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Roland's gaze was on Gluttony, and when the large man asked that question, Roland finally noticed there was something on the other's tongue. Was that... a serpent? The pale man suddenly leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. "Gluttony, was it? What is that on your tongue?"