Day 29: Cafeteria
Ginji was shocked, stunned, overjoyed. Here they had just provided an entire "All-You-Can-Eat" meal and yet... and yet.... there was still more food. He knew there were people who could eat and eat and eat and eat because they had the money, but he had never, ever been one of those people. And now he was able to eat and eat and eat. Real meals.
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He hadn't wanted to get out of bed, period, but his nurse had only been willing to allow so much. Seeing how he wasn't physically sick (though he had gotten pretty beat up last night, and was still harboring a cough from the damage all of that gas had done to his lungs), the nurse didn't deem it healthy for him to sleep the entire day.
Waking up meant facing what happened, and he didn't even have a moment of reprieve - the first thing he thought of when he opened his eyes was Snake, and he wished that he could have had a second or two of ignorance before remembering.
He felt hollowed out, like he had to feel too much over the past few days and just couldn't do it anymore. He knew it was a defense mechanism, the most basic way to survive that kind of loss, and part of him was thankful for it.
Raiden was in a daze, but he still had the presence of mind to check the bulletin board. That had been Snake's last request, after all, but Fox had beaten him to the job. With that already taken care of, Raiden realized he didn't know what to do. Considering he had slept through meal time (but the cafeteria is still open!, his nurse informed him), he figured eating would be a good place to start. It wasn't that he was particularly hungry, but he knew that he needed it.
So he entered the room quietly and moved to where the snacks were, starting to collecting some cheese and crackers onto a plate.
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The hallway sounded pretty quiet by the time he meandered out of his room, but then he remembered that it was Sunday. Weren't there usually visitors that came around that time? It didn't really matter to him, seeing as that everyone he remotely cared about was already here with him.
Or at least, everyone but Roxas.
Axel groaned quietly to himself, moving his hands about as if trying to physically swat the thought away. The nurse, as usual, paid no mind to his antics as she escorted him to the Cafeteria upon his request.
The place itself was almost empty save for a few people, and it didn't take long for the redhead to spot that familiar shade of bleach blond hair bobbing about near the snacks. Without so much as a wave goodbye to his nurse, Axel bounded over in a less than graceful notion and pulled on the breaks just before he could collide into the mass.
"Hey you, it feels like it's been forever." The Nobody greeted Raiden as he reached forward to nab a piece of cheese.
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The voice that sounded behind him was definitely familiar, and for quite a few reasons. Raiden placed down his last set of cheese and crackers before turning to face the other patient, holding the plate of snacks carefully.
He wasn't really up to talking, especially with someone who had known Snake. He could just allow the redhead to figure out what happened via the bulletin board, but acting like it hadn't happened couldn't be good for his mental health. He actually felt like it would be easier to talk to Axel about it than Fox. Even if Fox had known Snake better, he didn't seem like someone Raiden could communicate with easily.
All in all, he looked haggard and pulled thin, and he didn't have it in him to hide it. He could never hide his emotions very well in the first place, and he didn't think Axel would mind.
"We saw each other last night, didn't we?" he offered lamely. That had been before the fight, which meant it felt like ages ago. Still, it shouldn't have felt that way to Axel, and Raiden simply didn't know what else to say.
It was probably a good idea that he sit down as soon as possible, so he started moving toward one of the tables, figuring Axel would follow.
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Already, Axel was starting to pick up those little hints that Raiden was dropping, frowning slightly when something pulled at his chest but immediately wiped it away with a lazy smile.
Just as the blond predicted, the Nobody was quick to fill his plate with random tidbits of food, shoving a celery stick or two in his mouth when there was no space left, in an attempt to keep up with him as he wandered away from the food and towards an empty table.
"Yeah! That was one crazy night, wasn't it? Not like the other nights aren't, but getting ambushed on the bus was the last thing I was expecting." Axel rambled as they walked, accidentally dropping said celery stick since they were still inserted in his mouth, but it was a loss he'd learn to get over.
"Sorry I had to ditch you guys like that, but I had others to get to, you know? I was really rooting for you too."
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He knew that dying with honor was really just a myth, too, but Snake shouldn't gone yet, and not like that.
As he sat down, he glanced up at Axel, still not knowing what to say. There was no easy way to deliver the news, but he knew better than to stall with it, either. He just had to get it out, get it over with.
"Something... happened," he explained, glancing down at his food before picking up a cracker and taking a bite. "Last night," he clarified, voice stilted.
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But of course, there was always the likelihood that this really was something serious, so the Nobody decided to give him his undivided attention.
"How far have you guys managed to go?" He asked for the sake of continuation, assuming that their escape must've triggered these events.
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"Not that far. We got attacked... Two orderlies and two nurses, and we weren't prepared for it. There was this gas that one of the nurses let out, and--" He cut off and coughed, as if to prove his point. It was a hoarse, ugly sound, and he had to take a moment to recover from the exertion. Once he did, he grabbed another cracker to eat so he could stall further.
"We all got hurt, but Snake's lung was punctured." He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he was looking to the side. "He didn't make it."
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For a moment he just sat there in disbelief, registering Raiden's words in the same sluggish manner as the latter was saying them. He was pretty confused, and rightfully so considering that this was Snake that they were talking about. True that he'd never actually seen the man fight before, but he had a kind of air about him that made Axel almost certain that he'd make it out alive.
And now...
"... Damn." Appetite having waned considerably, the redhead set his plate aside and sucked in as much air as he was able before letting it out in a long sigh. Besides Roxas he'd never actually lost someone he remotely cared about in this Institute, so this was an entirely new feeling all on its own with Raiden's own sullen mood adding onto the affect.
"Maybe they'll bring him back." Axel remarked in a hopeful tone, though frowned at the consequences. "But it's unlikely that he'll remember anything from here. And I guess it's not exactly the brightest thing to want him back here in the first place."
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It sounded like just the sort of thing the man in charge might enjoy doing, really. That didn't mean Raiden had to like it, and he found he was glowering down at his food instead of eating it now.
Though anger was easier to deal with than the other emotions that came with losing someone, and he was open to it. "Part of me wants to agree with you, but he had faith... that I could keep going on my own." He didn't want to - not really - but he felt like it was his duty. A final order.
"I have to try," he said, though he didn't sound as determined as he would have liked.
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