Day 28: The Twin Pine Restaurant

[ham_fisted]

[ from here ]

The detective almost crushed the slip of paper in his hand with excitement. He hadn't eaten the miserable breakfast that'd been issued to every patient, too miserable himself to actually realise he was starving. Not that he had the slightest idea why; wasn't like he'd done anything strenuous last night, unless gathering enough

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[broken_exorcist]

Allen nodded politely. He'd been ready almost since the moment he'd sat down. Where was the waitress? Allen tried not to look too distressed that she hadn't arrived yet. At least they were at the restaurant, that meant food was on the way, or would be, in the very near future. He could wait that long at least.

As nice as it'd been today, compared to the other days he supposed, they still hadn't made any plans for the evening. The usual way of contacting them was the bulletin board, but they didn't have one here, did they? Maybe that was their goal, separating everyone for the evening. Maybe once he'd gotten some food in him, he could find some way for them to escape. They were in such an open area, surely if they bolted, they could make it? Rinali was fast even without her Innocence. Then... then if they got some help, they could go back for the others, Ravi and... yeah, maybe even Kanda too. "We should probably decide what to do for the night," he said, dropping his voice a few levels. "Have you heard anything from Ravi or Kanda about last night?" He didn't want to think that anything had gotten to them, especially not that tattooed woman.

"Do you think... maybe we should try getting away while we're out here?" he said it with little conviction. There were many modern things here he still wished to see, though maybe it wasn't worth the price of returning to the institute. Maybe if he could distract the nurses long enough with his claw or some kind of interruption, then Rinali would be able to escape? Maybe that would never work... Maybe... maybe he was just too afraid to try.

Do you think I'm a coward? he wanted to add, but left that part unsaid. That boy on the bus, his verbal barbs had stung more deeply than he'd imagined.

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali tried not to laugh as Allen nervously looked for the waitress. They were busy here, so it was unsurprising that the waitress hadn't arrived yet, but poor Allen looked like he was afraid of starving to death across the table from her.

When he started talking about the night, though, the pleasant atmosphere seemed to fade away. She knew what was coming now, having seen one nightshift and dealt with the rats and...and that hooded creature. She didn't look forward to what happened when the lights went out.

"I haven't heard nor seen either of them," Rinali admitted. "I imagine-" I hope... "-they were on another bus. Should we go look for them after we've finished eating?" It was starting to get a little late, so hopefully they could run into at least one of them before the day was over.

His second thought caught her completely by surprise. Try to escape? With all of the nurses watching their every move? Was it...was it even possible? "Do you think we can?" Rinali said, leaning in close to Allen and lowering her voice as well. "I mean...there are a lot of nurses here, and they seem to be watching us all very carefully. Did you see an opening?" Maybe he had. She had to admit she wasn't keeping a look out for possible avenues for escape, and for that she felt a little guilty. Maybe they could escape...but wouldn't that mean leaving Ravi and Kanda behind?

Could she live with herself if she ran while they were caught behind?

[broken_exorcist]

"Hmm," Allen's gaze fell to the table in front of him. What Rinali said did make sense. And both Ravi and Kanda were strong, they wouldn't let something get to them, right? "That's probably a good idea. It just seems like our forces are split so much right now... I don't want to lose track of anyone. We should really be working together, don't you think?" It was something of an alien concept to him as well. Most of his work before the Order had been by himself. Relying on the others was something he had to get used to.

"Maybe," he said in regards to the escape. "I... I really don't know. We could try. But even if we could, what would we do from there? Does the Order even still exist here?"

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali nodded to Allen. He was worried about their team, and so was she. She was glad enough Allen was so easy to track down, but what about Kanda and Ravi? They were a team. They needed to work together as a team. "I agree," she said. "We work best as a team, not going off in our own directions."

The thought of escape was sounding like a better idea, the more she thought about it. If they could...well...SOMEONE on this world had to be against the institute, didn't they?

"Even if the order doesn't exist," Rinali said, glancing briefly at the nurses with suspicion. "We can't be alone out here. The entire world can't be against us, can they? There's got to be someone who can help..."

[broken_exorcist]

"What do we do?" Allen said a little more helplessly than he'd intended. "Before we could communicate on that message board even if we were spread around, but I don't think there's anything like that here. And we don't have time to check shop by shop."

Really, what could they do? They had to find out how to get sent back to their own time, right? Jack said there was probably a way to do that. Make it seem as if they'd never left. But to get anything done, they had to find a way to fight back. "Yeah, you're right. There's houses here, so maybe if we could get that far, maybe someone would help us." They were fairly easy to spot, a few streets away, but definitely some kind of homes squished close together like in a city. "I guess we just have to decide what to try first. Finding the others or trying to get out." He picked up his napkin and folded it in his lap. What was taking so long?

[boot_i_licious]

It was a hard decision, mainly because she felt so selfish for thinking it, but her friends came first. She couldn't leave them behind, even if the world depended on their escape. "I...I don't like the idea of leaving them behind," she said, feeling guilty just for saying it. "Is that wrong of me? We should find them as soon as we can and try to plan something...."

Even if escaping meant saving them later, she knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she did so. She would be leaving her world behind, and that was something she simply did not want to do.

[broken_exorcist]

"N-no, of course not!" Allen was quick to reply. Maybe he really was being cowardly, just trying to think of a means to escape, though he knew he couldn't leave Rinali behind if anything happened, so it wasn't fair to ask that of her, but... she didn't really have her Innocence with her and unlike him, she could actually pass for normal on a first glance.

He hadn't heard anything from Renji or Rukia or Bridget or Emily today either. And he knew Rinali wasn't the only one he ought to apologize to. Were they doing alright? Did they need help tonight? He didn't even know that much.

"Sorry," he said after a moment, scratching his head as he puzzled, "it was a dumb idea."

[boot_i_licious]

"Stop apologizing!" Rinali said with a slightly stern look. He was wrapping inwards into himself again, like he did last night. She didn't like seeing her friend like this. "It was a good idea, I just don't think we have the time to find them and then escape..."

She reached out to take his hands into hers and stared him directly in the eyes. She wasn't going to abandon him any more than he would abandon her. "Something else is bothering you, isn't it?" she asked.

[broken_exorcist]

Allen flinched as Rinali chided him once again. It was a difficult habit to break and he had to stop himself from apologizing again for... apologizing. "I..." was all he could manage for a moment. Was he really that transparent?

It took some effort to meet her eyes as she held his hands, but he did it anyway, because he knew it was important for her to know he understood. "I was just-" he'd never been particularly skilled with words, so it was probably best just to say it. "I got into an argument with someone... on the large... automotive bus this morning. He said some things and..." Allen shook his head, "I can't help thinking that maybe he was right."

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali was about to reply to Allen when the waitress finally arrived to take their order. "I'm sorry, we're just so busy today!" she apologized. "What can I get you?"

Rinali pulled her hands away from Allen as she approached and looked back in the menu. One item seemed decent enough. "I'll have a...B.L.T. please."

"And to drink?"

"Water is fine."

The waitress turned to take Allen's order, and Rinali sat back to watch Allen with concern. Whatever the other person had said to him struck home for her friend.

[broken_exorcist]

Allen was startled as the waitress arrived, but he recited his order all the same. The waitress seemed to think he was joking, but said she'd bring him the steak and potatoes at least, since he looked like he needed some meat on his bones. She added some milk too, since it was supposed to help him grow and he seemed to need it.

Allen bit his tongue to keep from saying anything in regards to that, since they were getting free food out of the deal. Once she was gone though, he was left to the awkward conversation they'd been having before. He wasn't really sure what to say, so for the moment, he said nothing.

[boot_i_licious]

After the waitress left, Rinali turned her attention back to Allen. Whatever the person on the bus had said couldn't be true. Not if it made Allen feel this bad. "What...what did they say?" she asked tentatively. She hated to pry, but she hated more to know that he felt this way. There had to be something she could say!

[broken_exorcist]

Allen shrugged his small shoulders, "I didn't even know him, but I guess... he um... he had those strange tattoo marks too. He... demanded I tell him about it and... when I refused, he said I was a... a selfish coward." The words were difficult to say and would probably give rise to many other questions and he already felt bad for not telling Rinali about things last night.

He sighed, "I shouldn't have snapped at him, but... I just... I don't know."

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali frowned slightly. Allen was a private person at times, sometimes because he was afraid of what people would think, but more often because he didn't want to hurt people. He was a good man like that.

"You're not selfish or a coward," Rinali said firmly. "Sometimes you're too selfless if anything. I know that you try to hide things from us to protect us, not because you're ashamed of them. You don't want us to worry...but we worry anyways."

The waitress came with their drinks at that point. She thanked the waitress politely and took a sip of her water before adding. "And you're not a coward. A coward wouldn't have done what he did after Suman...well..." even thinking about it was painful. "You were so brave and selfless then. And I think you are now, too."

She wasn't going to cry. As painful as the memory of Suman and what had happened to him was, she refused to cry.

[broken_exorcist]

Selfless? No, no, that wasn't right. He couldn't keep himself from slowly shaking his head in disagreement, even if he didn't give voice to the opinion. His throat had tightened and his words were too thick to come out right anyway.

His gaze fell to the table. He didn't want to think about that day. He'd been so weak and couldn't even save the man. He hadn't done anything worthy of anyone's praise. He'd failed that day, his Innocence had been ground to dust, and left for dead. He'd been able to recover it, yes, but even so, that didn't make him any kind of hero.

"I'm nothing so special as that," he said with a sad half-smile. "Though I do thank you for being so kind to say such things." Even if he didn't take them as deeply to heart as he ought to have, they might've had no impact at all if not from her. He couldn't quite explain why, but he hated the thought of disappointing her. He shook his head once again, "I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. I hope I haven't soured our meal."

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali sighed. "Stop apologizing!" she said. "I want you to tell me these things. I'm here for you, no matter what."

She smiled brightly. "You couldn't sour our meal even if you tried."