Day 19 - Breakfast

[repolarization]

As Ginji was ushered through the halls towards the cafeteria he felt a little dizzy. He felt like something was very, very wrong but he wasn't sure what. It wasn't just the fact that he had woken up in the middle of some strange place, or the fact that Ban was no where to be found. Something else was wrong. Something important. Something that he

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[ifandmaybe]

It was a wonder that Inara managed to maintain her composure on the short trip to the cafeteria, considering the humiliating name that the nurses called her coupled with the bright halls that stood out in contrast against the darkness that had enveloped everything she'd seen in the dead of night. It was a shock, but she had been trained to keep her chin high in circumstances like this. Breaking down would serve no purpose other than to give them more fuel to play this little game of theirs.

She was indeed relieved when the nurse ushered her into the large, busy room and left her side at long last. It gave her time to scan the room in search of her allies from the other night. Hopefully, that fiasco hadn't been the result of some drug-induced dream. No doubt, the Companion was relieved when her eyes fell upon Lust seated with two, other people.

As one of her companions turned to stand and look directly at her, however, that relief swiftly faded.

Without even bothering to get in the line for breakfast, Inara made a beeline for the table. Out of all the familiar faces to see her, she'd prayed that River Tam wouldn't be one of them. Considering the girl's mental state, she doubted that her time spent at Landels had been pleasant. As she approached the table, manners and introductions were forgotten as she reached down to brush a few, stray strands of messy, brown hair out of the younger girl's eyes.

"River. Mei-mei, how long have you been here?" she finally asked, her eyes the same mixture of relief and worry that River's were. "I can't say it's good to see you considering the circumstances, but I'm glad you're alright." Inara wrapped her arms around the girl, who fell into the hug, resting her head on the woman's shoulder as she whispered something in her ear. Over River's head, Inara turned her attention to Lust and the other man seated at the table.

"You've been taking care of her, I see." She offered them both a grateful smile. "You have my thanks, and I apologize for being so rude. River is a companion of mine; we traveled aboard the same ship for some time." And if they'd known River for very long, they most likely had questions.

Eyes shifted to the man... He seemed injured but in good enough shape to stand, obviously. Apparently her little team hadn't been the only one to see action the night before. She wondered briefly if any of them had seen River's... talent and quickly dismissed the thought. Even if they, she supposed the younger girl would be considered useful if nothing else in a place like this.

"My name is Inara. Lust helped to show me the ropes, if you will, last night," the Companion offered. A suitable introduction considering the girl she still held.

[right_handed]

It was after he sat down that Scar blinked as River not only pointed out his own wounds but made a claim that she had been the one who should have been protecting the others.

"You--it--"

But before the Ishbalan could get a full sentence, Lust was already speaking in the same kind of tone as the girl, and Scar couldn't help but frown not only at the low-blow comments, but at the blatant attacks on his social character (or lack thereof).

It wasn't like he much cared for appearances, but it... hurt a little, to hear things put so blunt--

Hurt?

The Ishbalan paused in thought and then shook his head. He'd lost more blood than he'd thought.

"Yes, we did, in fact." He instead grumbled into his food as he ate. He shot River a glare, then Lust, as if in retribution for their comments and the confusion he'd gotten himself into because of them. "Some lunatic woman was trying to kill River."

He paused, frowning this time in thought over what the admittedly intuitive girl had said the night before. Only for tonight... what was the full meaning of that? He clearly remembered that patient with the clawed hands tearing him to shreds on his first night here, but it hadn't happened since then, so he'd pushed the incident and it's possibility to come up again to the back of his mind.

Scar's thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of a strange woman at their table, and, even more surprisingly, her sudden moves towards River. Scar stood up, body tense on account of fear from the night before: How the hell many women we're out to kill---?

Oh.

The Ishbalan blinked, and although he slowly sat down again, he found that the tension wasn't leaving his body. This was someone from River's world, and more than that, someone who the girl knew. It was... unsettling, in a way, and it was with profound numbness that Scar realized this place skewed your idea of connections with other people, made you think and feel as if you knew someone when you really, truly didn't.

He wondered if he'd feel the same sort of foolish emptiness if one of Dias' old comrades appeared in front of him. He wondered if his revelations about Lust were truly founded on fact.

The tension was causing his arm to break out in new pain. He grit his teeth gingerly rubbing his bandages as he watched the newcomer with suspicious eyes. Lust had met this woman too, then? He always seemed to be behind everyone when it came to introductions, though he had a feeling he knew why.

"Apparently," Scar grumbled, almost under his breath, "she's been taking care of me."

He went back to his food, trying to look very interested in it as he ate it.