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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[i_promised]

Having been excitedly called by name, the tall, flailing man hardly went unnoticed as he hurried over. Zoro stared, open about his suspicion even when the other began speaking to him as if they were supposed to know each other.

Though he strained to remember, Zoro couldn't recall ever meeting anyone with the same face or voice as the one in front of him had. At least most of what he was saying seemed familiar. This was the first time a stranger had independently mentioned the Grand Line, though that alone was reason enough for Zoro to pay closer attention to what was being said. Someone from the Grand Line... that meant he was probably a pirate. The talk of skin could have been rambling, but a Devil Fruit having something to do with that was a strong possibility. Lion-chan... Lion... Lion... the Thousand Sunny? Even though it really did look more like a sunflower...

Alert for any sign of danger, Zoro changed his hold on his fork as if he could actually cause real harm with the utensil. But it was his aura that mattered, a quiet air that wasn't threatening but which certainly made clear that if he asked any questions he wanted nothing but the truth in return. He calmly waited for the odd man to finish speaking before bluntly speaking: "Hold on. Who are you?"

[promisedawhale]

Zoro was here. That meant the rest of the Straw Hats couldn't be too far behind. Granted that the swordsman hadn't ended up lost again. He'd already been warned, specifically by Nami, that Zoro could get himself quite lost if he tried. And even if he didn't try! Brook was better with directions himself so if he was there as well, then they couldn't be too terribly lost at least.

He didn't think.

But then Zoro's manner wasn't at all as welcoming as it should have been. Brook stopped his rambling the moment he felt the air around his friend turn tense. And then came the kicker. Who are you? "Eh?! What?! You don't know?!" his mouth fell a little, face showing his bewilderment. Zoro didn't know who he was? How cruel! Before Brook went off into what would have been a tearful rant about how friends could never forget each other, he remembered that he did look a tad different than he should have, what with the skin and all. Maybe he should clear that up before trying to get his own answers. He didn't want Zoro glaring at him or looking like he was about to attack him with the fork!

"Oh, right how careless of me! I guess it would be a surprise since it surprised me as well. Yohohoho!" he pointed at himself, grinning brightly, "It's me! Just Dead Bones Brook, only not so dead, or bones, or even just anymore! Shocking isn't it!? I'm not sure how it happened, or if I'm merely hallucinating or... Oh! Do you think Luffy-san will still like me this way?" The rambling resumed along with a little more problems keeping to one subject. He'd been accepted as a member of the crew partially because Luffy liked him as a skeleton, but now that he had skin, he had to wonder if the young captain would still want him! "I promise I can still play music without fail!"

[misterprince]

Well, that wasn't any good. Sanji knew Light and Misa would have wanted to accomplish more than that before the night ended. Couldn't the nightshift just decide on a length of time and stay that way for once?

He rubbed at his chest a bit as he went through the breakfast line. Thankfully, he was feeling much better this morning than he had the one previous. The fever was gone, even if some of the aches from his injuries remained. Turning back towards the crowd of tables, he couldn't help but spot a familiar green head next to an also familiar afro.

An afro? When the doctor mentioned new patients arriving, did that mean...? But how was anyone not going to notice a skeleton? He quickened his pace, approaching the two from behind. "Oi! Brook! Is that you?"

[i_promised]

"I don't kno-- hey! Oi!" The guy just kept rambling and Zoro couldn't be sure if the other was doing it purposely to annoy him. Zoro's hand clenched around his fork and he opened his mouth to try and get the conversation back to who the hell Just Dead Bones Brook was.

He would have already started yelling if Luffy hadn't suddenly been mentioned. And music... the man could play music without fail, huh?

Zoro had an inkling of who Brook could be, but he remained wary either way. Just as he was about to try interrupting the babble again, someone else did it for him.

Sanji. Zoro frowned up at him, fork still awkwardly clenched in his hand. "You know this guy stupid love-cook?"

[promisedawhale]

"Ah!" Brook pulled back from the table a little, tensing over Zoro's increase in anger. The swordsman never had enjoyed Brook's ramblings, but he didn't have to shout! "How mean! I'm only explaining, Zoro-san!" He might have been a little more dramatic over it except that someone else was calling his name now, and from behind.

"Oh? Oh!" He first recognized the voice, then turned his head back to recognize the blonde hair and the always-curly eyebrow. "Sanji-san!" He raised a hand high in greeting. At least Sanji knew who he was! "You're here too?! That's so much better! I still think I'm either dreaming or going crazy, but it's better if more than one of my friends is here! Yohohoho!" he exclaimed, then suddenly lost the smile and went unbelievably serious, "And Zoro-san's not being very nice."

And it really was far better with the two of them there regardless of how strange Zoro was acting. This at least was making the possibility of a dream far more plausible. His dreams always had his Nakama in them! Usually those Nakama didn't seem to forget him, but he supposed it really was the fault of him having skin that Zoro hadn't recognized him. And Sanji would have only seen him from behind as well, so he hadn't had the opportunity to become confused! Yes, this could still be a dream!

A very, very strange one...

[misterprince]

That was right. If Zoro had come to Landel's from a time just after leaving Water 7, then he not only wouldn't know anything about Thriller Bark, but he wouldn't have met Brook either. In that case, Sanji was the only one who would even recognize the skeleton man. That could be troublesome.

"Yeah, I know hi-WHOA." And then Brook turned around. Sanji was thrown by the difference in appearance. He definitely sounded and acted like Brook, but someone had gone and reattached all of his skin and organs. If he thought about what the man might have looked like before he'd died and been brought back by the Devil's Fruit, this could have been what he looked like...

So that was how Landel's solved instances with anyone who'd stand out, huh?

"You've got skin," he still pointed out obviously. Without waiting for a response, he went on to Zoro. "This is Brook. Usually he's a skeleton."

[i_promised]

... okay. That wasn't exactly the weirdest introduction he'd ever heard but Zoro still wasn't sure what to say. There was definitely some kind of devil fruit involved in that story, of that Zoro was almost a hundred percent sure.

At least Sanji seemed to know what he was talking about. Zoro wasn't sure if he liked the chef being more well-informed than he was but he put that aside to mull over later. He remembered something about being taken from different times and how neither Luffy nor Nami knew about Franky.

That thought decided his next question for him. He looked at Sanji, eyes carefully guarded before they moved on to Brook's face. Zoro trusted the chef's word, all insults aside. "Did Luffy ask him to join the crew?"

[promisedawhale]

Brook laughed at Sanji's response to him, but he should have expected it. It would be quite shocking seeing someone they'd met as a skeleton wondering around in the flesh. This was the first time they'd gotten to see what he'd looked like too! How wonderful! "Usually, yes, so I'm at a loss for what's going on here..." Brook put a hand up to his nose again. Still a little warm from sliding down the wall earlier, though it no longer stung as much. Even so, there was a little tingle of pain there, pain that wasn't supposed to come with a dream.

All right, so supposing this wasn't a dream: how was he back to having skin? Unless some kind of magic fairy had come and changed him over night... that was stretching it a little. Oh! Perhaps the Devil's Fruit had done something? He'd never been too clear about the thing's abilities before he'd come back, so maybe this was another part of it! After a while it'll return the body back to normal or something. It wasn't so much of a stretch, but the idea was a tad optimistic.

His thinking was cut short when Zoro asked a ridiculous question. "Of course he asked me!" Brook's mouth dropped again at Zoro. Really, even if this wasn't a dream, Zoro didn't have to be so cruel! He'd been there when he'd been asked too! Both times! Sure, he hadn't been one of the ones who'd come on his ship the first time, and yes, he had been quite unconscious the second time at the party, but still! "And I accepted!" he added after his burst of surprise. Just in case Zoro tried to ask that too. Brook could only handle so much of a Nakama saying he didn't know who he was!

He quickly turned his head back to Sanji, pointing at Zoro. "Tell him to stop it, Sanji-san! It's not nice pretending not to know who a friend is!" he demanded as though Sanji could get Zoro to stop.

[misterprince]

"It..." Sanji scratched his head a bit, still very confused by the situation. Luffy had asked Brook to join the crew, but didn't Brook have to get his shadow back before... The pirate's eyes automatically went to the floor. There, of course, was Brook's shadow. He'd gotten his shadow back, so why not Brook? Was it possible that he came from a point in time even further ahead than his own? This thought bothered him. He'd liked being the one that knew that most. "Yeah... He did ask him, but..."

Frowning, he took a seat at the table with the other two, ignoring Brook's last demand. "What's the last thing you remember, Brook?" He asked the musician, preparing himself for the inevitable.

[i_promised]

"Haa, I see..." Zoro ran a hand through his hair, the clear expression on his face a sign that he'd put most of the pieces of the puzzle together now. Brook was less suspicious, but not by much. Sanji's verification was still important (as was that lingering "but...") though how the new pirate answered would also weigh heavily on Zoro's judgment.

He settled in for the conversation, finally putting the fork he'd been clutching back down on the plate of partially eaten waffles. Not feeling the need to add anything to Sanji's question, Zoro patiently remained silent.

[promisedawhale]

Sanji hadn't stopped Zoro, or gotten him to admit that he was only teasing (however cruel that teasing was), but since he hadn't continued acting like he didn't know, Brook let it go. Zoro had to be joking, after all. He couldn't really not know who the musician of the Straw Hat Pirates was!

"But?" Brook cocked his head towards Sanji again, watching as he took a seat beside him.

Why was there a "but" in that sentence? Luffy had asked and Brook had accepted; there were no "buts" about it! Well, there was that one about "but it took getting shadows back, beating Oz and Moria, getting Kuma to leave, and learning that Laboon was alive" before it could happen. All right, there was one "but" to speak of, and it was there for a lot of reasons, but it shouldn't have anything to do with him having become a member of the crew! They'd been together for a while now, sailing the Grand Line like a proper crew! How could Sanji be unsure of that?

He wasn't able to protest or ask just what Sanji meant by that before the Cook presented him with a question. The last thing he remembered? The conversation just kept getting stranger and stranger! "Before waking up here you mean?" he asked to clarify, then after a quick moment of thought lifted his index finger and answered simply, "Going to bed."

Probably not the answer the Cook wanted, but it was what he last remembered before coming to.

[misterprince]

Sanji said something inarticulate and fell out of his chair.

He was back up in an instant, though, and glaring. "That's not what I meant!" He should have learned to be more specific after Zoro's very similar answer to the same question. "What were the most recent events before you got here? Things that had been going on over the past couple days? No. Not even that. I might not want to know that." He held out a hand in a warding-off gesture.

"Just answer this- Were we still on the Thriller Bark?"

[i_promised]

Zoro only snorted, showing a lot of amusement for someone who'd made the exact same error.

He glanced at Sanji though, brow furrowing slightly. The chef was asking odd questions. "What's Thriller Bark?"

[promisedawhale]

"Oya?! But you said...!" he tried to defend himself, putting his hands up between himself and Sanji. Brook thought he'd presented the appropriate response, so when Sanji fell out of his chair and then glared and shouted at him, he could only appear offended for it! Or, at the very least, he feigned offense. It truly took a lot more than being yelled at before Brook could be honestly offended by a person.

The conversation was still progressively getting stranger and stranger, though Brook had to admit getting yelled at by the cook was nothing new. Usually it happened after meals though. "Thriller Bark?" he repeated when Sanji mentioned it. That horrid place! "Of course not! It's been... hm, about a week since we left there!" he said, confusion showing on his face. Things just were not adding up. "Why ask something like that, Sanji-san?"

[misterprince]

A week. A week since they'd left. It couldn't have taken them that long to defeat those they needed to defeat on Thriller Bark, at least he didn't want to believe it could have. So he willed himself to believe that Brook wasn't from that far a time ahead of him. Just a far enough time ahead that the skeleton was now a member of their crew. Their musician, no doubt.

He sighed, slumping a bit in his seat. "All right, Brook. Here's the short of it." He tapped the table with a finger. "This place is crazy weird and shit. Magic, like how you're flesh and blood again. The people here? They're all plucked from their worlds and dropped here without a clue - and from different times, but no one understands how that works. Clueless, over here..." a thumb jerk towards Zoro, "his memories end before we met you. Mine from when I had my shadow stolen. Luffy, Nami, and Usopp are here too, and they recall even less."

Shrugging, Sanji took a few bites of his food before it started getting cold. "There aren't any good explanations." And of course that wasn't even the half of it, but he'd let that set in before he even got started on what went on at night.

[i_promised]

"Oi..." Growled Zoro, a vein throbbing on his temple in irritaton. He looked between Brook and Sanji, narrowed gaze landing first on the chef, then the musician, then on the chef again.

"What's Thriller Bark?" Zoro repeated with a little twitch. He really didn't like the thought of not being in the loop especially since Sanji seemed to know what it was. A whole week... the difference of which was a new nakama and some kind of adventure.

The others would have to be introduced to Brook later though. Hopefully the three of them could sort things out before the presence of more questions complicated the story.

Now if only someone would tell him what the hell Thriller Bark was.