day 49: early afternoon - The Twin Pines Restaurant

[angels_inflight]

Unlike the nurses, some of the other patients, and the residents of Doyleton, Naminé actually was enjoying the light drizzle. It was a little cold, but the damp feeling in the air was one she was not used to, and that was probably why the Nobody spent the better part of the morning lounging around town, enjoying the light rain. Rain, real rain! It

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[gald_digger]

Hoping that the rain would let up, Anise had stuck around in the toy store for an extra hour or so, looking over the various toys inside. Unfortunately, the rain only seemed to come down harder, and eventually the girl found that she was getting hungry. Now was probably a good time to go find something to eat.

To protect her pigtails, Anise pulled the hood of her jacket over her head. Protecting Tokunaga was a little trickier, and to keep the doll from getting soaked, Anise held it close to her chest, leaning with her chin over its head. She left the store like that, and kept close to the other buildings as she walked down the street. The food at Twin Pines had been good last time she had it, so Anise made her way over to that restaurant. As soon as she reached the doors, she ducked inside where it was dry. Some water had gotten on Tokunaga's head, but at least it wasn't soaked. Nothing had gotten on its back, at least, which meant Anise's maps were safe.

The girl had been hoping to eat with a friend, or at least a handsome stranger, but there wasn't anyone inside who seemed to fit that bill, and the staff didn't seem to want her to loiter around in the entryway, so she wound up getting a booth near the entrance. Maybe she'd be able to catch someone as they entered. In the meantime, the girl slipped the wet raincoat off and hung it next to her table. Tokunaga was set down next to her on her side of the booth.

There was a tasty-looking steak sandwich on the menu, so Anise placed an order for that. A waitress brought her a glass of water, and the girl sipped on that as she let her eyes wander around the room. Dining alone was kind of boring. With any luck, there would be more people coming in soon to take cover from the rain.

[ready for her date with sync ♥]

[ran_on_empty]

Having left Guy at that moment was done mainly to spite the swordsman, though he didn't really have a destination in mind as soon as he turned the corner. Unlike most the rain meant very little to him, but every nurse he passed seemed to urge him to take shelter elsewhere. With that Sync spent most of his time meandering from store to store, not paying much mind to what was provided as opposed to just keeping to himself. It looked as if the rain poured harder each time he stepped back outside, and by the time he decided to grab some lunch it was practically pouring.

Sync pulled back his hood as soon as he stepped inside the restaurant, idly running his hands through his matted hair as he tried to squeeze out as much water as possible. Of course, given where she was sitting, it only took a moment for the replica to catch Anise nearby. The God-General made no attempt to hide his presence, casually smiling as he made his way over to the booth and slid into the seat across from her.

"Looks like no one else wants to sit with you," He began with a laugh as he took the menu offered to him.

[gald_digger]

When Anise noticed who it was who just walked through the door, the girl sank in her seat a bit, hoping he would overlook her and go somewhere else. She wound up having no such luck, as the God-General recognized her immediately and soon made his approach.

Ugh. Why Sync? Why couldn't it be anyone else?

Anise straightened in her seat, giving the boy an unwelcoming stare as he sat down without waiting for an invitation. She had to bite her lip to keep from responding to the insult he casually flung at her, as though in greeting. It was hard to find friends around town today, with everyone trying to take shelter from the rain, but Anise knew better than to make excuses in front of Sync. He'd probably just laugh more.

"Hmph. Looks like you're back to normal," she said instead, glowering at the boy. The last time she had seen Sync was when he had been brainwashed. She wasn't sure whether to think of it as a good or bad thing that he was back to his usual, twisted self again. The thought of Sync being able to escape the crimes he'd committed infuriated Anise, but she didn't want him to be in a position to hurt more people, either...

Furthermore, having Sync back to normal meant that Anise could no longer afford to sympathize with him. He killed Guy, and he'd kill her or any of her other friends if he had the chance. She couldn't forget that.

[ran_on_empty]

If Anise honestly expected that anything she did could actually turn Sync away then she was setting herself up for a good bit of disappointment. That unwelcoming stare was met with a wide smile as Sync scanned the menu, giving the impression that the faded print was far more interesting than whatever Anise was trying to do.

"You don't sound too happy about that," He pointed out, though his attention eventually diverted to the waitress when she arrived at the table. Sync quickly ordered the country-fried steak, offering the menu to the woman when he was finished before gracing the other teen with a condescending stare.

That whole fiasco was a sore spot for him, and while he'd been able to ridicule it when he spoke to Guy, it was an entirely different when it came to confronting someone who witnessed it. However, he had no intention of letting the conversation sway in that direction, instead folding his arms and leaning forward when he spoke up once more.

"So how long has it been since Ion was here? Two, maybe three, weeks?" Sync began offhandedly. "I wonder what they did to him after they dressed him up for us last week."

[gald_digger]

Anise had a feeling that she had hit one of the few sore spots she could reach with Sync. She saw how angry he got when Ion called him by a false name, so having his entire identity compromised had to be infuriating for him. She didn't feel too repentant about bringing it up, though. That was just the sort of thing he did to her all the time.

Speaking of which, it didn't take long for him to bring up Ion, which caused Anise to tense up. Not knowing where Ion was or whether he was okay constantly worried Anise, and the God-General had to know that. Since getting upset would only encourage him, Anise tried to keep her cool, but it was hard for her to do. Sync's cold stare was returned with a cold look of her own, though there were still hints of anxiety in her body language. With Sync leaning forward, Anise leaned away, pressing her back against the back of her seat. At some point, she had picked up Tokunaga, and was clutching it in her lap.

"Don't talk to me about Ion," the girl snapped at him. Sync tried to kill Ion that day, right before her eyes. Anise didn't want to hear anything this bastard had to say about him. Even if Ion would forgive him, Anise couldn't. There was still a part of her that wished she could, but that would be too naïve. Sync was too dangerous.

Damn it. Anise had been having such a good day, too. Now she couldn't even enjoy her free meal, with company like this.

[ran_on_empty]

"I can talk about him whenever I want," He coolly replied, obviously feeling no remorse for what he said. If anything, he felt like it was actually a valid point he brought up, and if Anise cared at all about the useless replica then she wouldn't have been avoiding the subject just because of how he approached it. It was instances like this that only solidified the fact that the brunette was just spineless. The God-General was sure that if Ion had even the tiniest bit more sense then he would've gotten rid of her long ago.

Granted, if Ion had more sense then he would've done his job instead of trying to act against their plans.

"Maybe they keep him in a lab until they find some use for him, but I don't know why. He'd just be a waste of space."

However, what was first an attempt to grate at Anise's words eventually became an interesting approach. If his theory was true in any way then there was a chance that the other God-Generals could be in the same state within the boundaries of Landel's sphere of influence. But if that were the case, then why had he only seen half of them during his stay? And out of their group, why had it been the ones he had next to no interest in? Was it too much to ask for someone that was actually useful?

Sync finally leaned back into his seat once the waitress returned with a glass of water, idly sliding it off to the side in the end.

"Why are you alone, anyway?"

[gald_digger]

Telling Sync to stop wasn't going to help. Anise knew that, but she didn't know what would help. Maybe ignoring him would make him give up on harassing her?

Ignoring him was the hardest thing she could do, though. Especially listening to him go on and paint the disturbing mental image of Ion being used like some kind of lab rat... Even though he seemed okay when she saw him, there was still no guarantee that Ion was living somewhere safe. Anise's grip around Tokunaga's body tightened as she tried to force that thought away. Ion could be anywhere. Assuming the worst would just make it harder to focus on finding him.

Fortunately, the waitress' return gave Anise a chance to calm herself. The girl sat quietly, staring at the glass in front of her as she tried to calm herself down. To her surprise, Sync was the one to change the topic. Anise looked up at him, taking a few seconds to decide whether or not she wanted to answer. In the end, she decided this subject couldn't possibly be as bad as discussing Ion with him, so she answered.

"It's hard to find people I know when everyone's hiding from the rain," she replied simply, frowning as she did. Everyone was either indoors or had hoods pulled over their heads. It didn't look like Sync had any trouble finding her, though. Did he follow her in, or was this just an unlucky coincidence?

[ran_on_empty]

Sync stared back when Anise mentally wavered between answering or not, not really caring for either route the latter went down. Of course, having her actually cooperate for once would at least make things easier, even if it meant having to listen to her grating voice the entire time. In the end her answer was simple and straight to the point, something the God-General found himself shrugging at.

"It hasn't rained this hard in a while, if at all." Certainly not on a day they went to Doyleton anyway. Sync had to wonder if it was a precursor for what was to come, or if they'd just been struck with bad luck this time around. The replica didn't mind getting drenched as much as being confined inside for the rest of the day; they already got enough of that during the rest of the week.

"It's still your fault anyway. It's not like you don't know we're coming here. You should've planned something in advance." What Anise did with her time was actually something Sync cared very little about aside from during the night, but it wasn't like he'd pass up the opportunity to chide her every time they crossed paths.

[gald_digger]

Even though Sync was just stating facts, Anise didn't want to show any sign of agreeing, so she just continued to sit quietly, her eyes following the waitresses as they went about their work.

However, the God-General's next comment earned him a sharp look from the girl. "It's none of your business what I do in my day! Just butt out." Anise had already accomplished what she needed to today, anyway. But Sync was the last person she would share anything like that with.

There was an awkward pause as the waitress returned with their food, placing the dishes in front of both teens, asking if there was anything else they needed, and then leaving them.

The steak sandwich - which didn't look very sandwich-like, as the bread was separate from the meat - smelled delicious, though the sight of Sync's face across the table lessened her appetite. Trying to ignore it, the girl picked up her utensils, cut off some small pieces of meat, and began to eat. She didn't look up from her food.

It was uncomfortable, to say the least. Here she was, trying to eat lunch with someone who might have killed her last week, if things had gone just a little differently. Someone who Anise claimed she was going to kill. If this day went like the last field trip, the peaceful little restaurant they were sitting in could turn into a battlefield at any moment. If that happened... would Anise have to follow through with what she said back then?

Thinking about it made it harder to keep eating.