Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

[7_to_midnight]

Sylar's gears were still turning as the nurse and a burly orderly escorted him down long halls and through a strange, sunlit room. He'd been forced to drop his pen when the orderly had seen it, and since then, he'd realized that this place had better security than he'd originally anticipated, as well as a large population of patients. It looked

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[blacksustenance]

For the first time in a while, Eddie Brock woke up like a normal human being

[ellectriclights]

Elle allowed herself to be steered into the cafeteria, which was full of people dressed in the same icky grey clothes she was.

"God, this is pathetic," she grumbled to herself, shrugging her nurse off and wandering over to the waffles. This was all just organized chaos! Daddy would never let things deteriorate like this in the Hartsdale facility. Patients didn't even get to leave their rooms there. They were so much more fun when they were trapped.

Having taken a a couple of waffles and piled them up with fruit and whipped cream, Elle began looking around for somewhere to sit. She spotted a cute guy - all by himself, poor thing - and bounced over to him.

"Hey there," she greeted him cheerily, running a hand through his hair before installing herself in the seat next to him and taking a bite of waffle. It was actually pretty good.

[blacksustenance]

Brock looked up, still chewing on a mouthful of waffle laced with syrup.

A young woman was sitting right next to him, taking a bite of her own breakfast and looking more chipper than anyone had any right being in the morning. She almost reminded him of Gwen in that she was young, blonde, and almost ridiculously pretty. He swallowed before returning a cautious smile back.

"Hey," he said. He didn't hold out his hand, but he tried to give out a "I'm a nice guy" vibe. "Eddie Brock. You new here?"

It was hard to tell with the number of patients here. But he figured that there weren't that many hot girls here, especially considering the whole steeped male to female ratio, that there was a good chance she was new. Although the fact she was apparently taking arriving at Landels in a stride was a bit worrying...

[ellectriclights]

"I'm Elle," Elle introduced herself cheerily. This boy was just so cute. A tiny dollop of whipped cream had gotten on her finger, and she licked it off in a manner that wasn't intentionally sensual but still elegant.

"Yeah, I just woke up here this morning," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "But I'm sure it's some kind of mix-up. My Daddy runs a place like this; someone probably stuck me here by accident. But he'll get me out."

It could hardly hurt to ask a couple questions. If Eddie was an evolved human, and this was a Company facility, it wasn't like she'd be telling him he didn't already know. And if he was just a regular guy, he wouldn't understand what she was talking about. Still, she should probably be subtle.

She edged her chair closer to him, and reached out to wind a few strands of his short hair around her finger. "So why'd they put you in here, Eddie?" Elle bit her lip and gave him her widest blue-eyed stare.

[blacksustenance]

They might be destined to be with Peter Parker one way or another, but Brock wasn't so far gone that he couldn't appreciate the opposite sex: his eyes followed Elle's gesture of licking the dot of whipped cream from her finger. Man, she was cute, even if he couldn't tell if she was intentionally stringing him on or was just that casually flirty

[ellectriclights]

"You are so cute!" Elle told told him, still biting her lip but grinning now, too.

Daddy had probably put Eddie in here for a reason - maybe his powers were dangerous or he was dangerous. Normally the harmless ones got released back into the wild, so unless there had been a mix-up like Eddie said... Oh well. She could make a promise and not keep it, right? And who knows? Maybe it was just a big misunderstanding.

"Of course I'll get you out, Eddie," she assured him sincerely. This guy was too adorable to resist! She'd held back a little with Peter and Mohinder, because Daddy had a special interest in them, but Eddie was all hers. She slid off her chair and onto his lap, keeping her fingers wound through his hair and resting the other hand open-palmed on his chest. "As soon as I figure out how to get in touch with my dad, I'll make sure he has you released, too."

"So just out of curiosity," she asked casually, playing with his hair, "have you got any... superpowers, anything like that?"

[blacksustenance]

And then she actually climbed into his lap.

Brock's eyebrows raised in sheer surprise. Not that he was complaining - his hands were already resting on her hips with a mind of their own, apparently - but he hadn't met someone so flirty since the last time he'd been to a strip club. Which, to be frank, was a long damn time ago and he was all too aware of the heat of Elle up close when she was perched on his lap like this, far too close to have it just be her being friendly.

"Thanks," he said.

And then she had to go and run her fingers through his hair, practically glued to him now with one hand pressed up against his chest. If the symbiote could eye roll, it would - it could feel its Host's heart beating a little faster on its own, reacting in response to the close proximity of the human female. Humans. Its exasperation coiled in Brock's head. Brock figured that so what if he was just an animal to his Other; couldn't fault a guy for wanting to get some every now and then and he was still human enough to be attracted to girls like

[ellectriclights]

"Nope?" Elle repeated, pouting a little. He was probably lying, but what the hell. Maybe if she promised to keep Eddie on the pills, Daddy would let her keep him as a pet.

"I've just got a little one," she admitted coyly. She wriggled a little on Eddie's lap, enjoying the feel of his hands on her hips and aware that he was enjoying himself, too. "You'd like it." Gently, she tapped the tip of his nose. If only she could spark him, just a little! "But they've got me on the fu- damn meds that take your powers away."

Letting her hand slip back down to his chest, Elle leaned closer to him and whispered playfully in his ear. "When we get out of here, I'll be sure to show it to you. It is pretty nifty, as far as superpowers go."

[blacksustenance]

So she was a mutant like all the others. Somehow he wasn't surprised.

What did surprise him was how in his face she was; she was probably about as ballsy as Luffy but that was where the resemblance ended.

"Oh really," Brock said, voice a little husky. He wasn't used to women wiggling around on his lap, much less them being so damn flirty, but he had to say he wasn't at all against it if Elle wanted to be a tease. "So tell me about these meds; love to know more about something that's keeping you from being all work and no play

[ellectriclights]

"Just power-dampening meds," Elle said vaguely, convinced that Eddie knew all about the Haitian pills. "But who wants to talk about boring old pills. I wanna know about you, Eddie." She put on her sweetest expression for him - wide eyes and just a hint of a smile.

Sliding one hand up across Eddie's shoulder and letting the other one fall from his hair, Elle draped her arms lightly around his shoulders, edging herself even closer to him so their noses almost touched. "What's your story? How'd you get here? What is 'here,' exactly? Tell me everything!" she demanded enthusiastically.

[blacksustenance]

But how were they given them? Were they ground up and put in their food? Eddie wanted his powers back as soon as possible - it wasn't just missing the strength, the wall-crawling, the agility, but feeling naked and exposed and incomplete being this close to normal. The one thing he hated more than Parker and his rejection of them was the fact that he was being denied that close connection with his Other, its "voice" only a far away whisper instead of being everywhere and everything.

But he wouldn't get his answers just shoving Elle off his lap and making her get to the point. In fact, it was far too early to be trusting everything she said just because it was stuff he might want to hear. So instead he just smiled again, kept his fangs to himself, and played nice because even if Elle was making crap up, she was still hot enough to be a good distraction

[ellectriclights]

"Mutant? That's a funny word for it." Eddie just wasn't being helpful! What a shame.

Elle leaned back, knitting her fingers together behind Eddie's neck. "What's on your mind, Eddie?" she asked brightly, smiling encouragingly at him. Yes, his hands seemed to be having fun, but his brain was clearly not all focused on her. Why did boys get like that?

Letting go of his neck, she ran one finger through his hair and down the side of his face. Almost reflexively, she tried to give him a few gentle jolts, but of course nothing happened.

"What's ticking away in that pretty head of yours?" Her voice was almost sing-song as she allowed her eyes to drift down towards his jaw, following her finger. But her smile was still bright. She couldn't help but smile; she liked Eddie.

[damned_nurses]

"Miss Cardinal," spoke a disapproving voice from behind the pair as a nurse weaved her way through the breakfasting patients to pause with her hands on her hips and frown down at the young couple.

"This is hardly appropriate behavior. Return to your seat right this instant and finish your breakfast, there's a good girl. Let Mr. Lancaster finish his own meal."

[blacksustenance]

Brock would've swiveled around at the voice if he could. Having Elle seated snugly in his lap and practically straddling him didn't exactly do wonders for his mobility and he could instead only half-turn awkwardly to watch as one of the ever-present nurses came at them. She was frowning now.

Looks like fun's over, Brock thought. If Elle was this forward in a crowded cafeteria, he was definitely curious to see how she'd be with more privacy. She'd probably be downright insane where it counted.

"She's not bothering me," Brock chimed up. He reluctantly lifted his hands away from Elle though rather than resist the nurse's orders. While he was happy to cop some feels, he wasn't really wanting to trade that for a sedative to calm him down, no matter how hot Elle was.

[ellectriclights]

"Aw, we're just playing," Elle assured the nurse, not budging from Eddie's lap. She didn't even take her eyes off Eddie's face.

Gosh, his eyes were big and blue. Reminded her of Adam a little. That thought made a flicker of annoyance cross her face. Oh, but Eddie was so much sweeter than Adam!

She turned her head towards the nurse, spinning quickly and making her long blonde hair fan out behind her before it settled back down. "Can't I keep him?" she asked the nurse, a wheedling note creeping into her voice. She kept one possessive hand firmly on Eddie's neck.

[damned_nurses]

"Mr. Lancaster is not a pet, young lady," the nurse chided her, reaching out to place a hand on Elle's shoulder to nudge her off the young man's lap. "There will be time for games later, but this is not at all acceptable for the breakfast table. Return to your seat and finish your meal or we'll have to find you a more private place to sit to finish your breakfast, if you can't behave yourself."