Day 18 - Breakfast

[red_dragon_mode]

Junior had woken up when he heard the crackling of the intercom. He'd had every intention of hiding out in his room that night, and had eventually fallen asleep; and seeing as how no monsters had come to attack him in the night, that had been a good call in the first place

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[rubbermancan]

When Luffy awoke to find sunlight spilling into his room, he couldn't help but feel a little disoriented. Last he remembered, he'd been stung by an over-sized shrimp (well, he wished it had been a shrimp), and he and Zoro had been wandering in the M halls or somewhere like that and had wound up in his room. But where was Zoro? The pirate could have sworn that the swordsman had been by his side

[red_dragon_mode]

He'd been lost in thoughts of the Foundation and the Durandal and home when Luffy had sat down next to him. Junior was a bit surprised to find a stranger sitting down near him when there were so many other empty seats, and doubly so to see how he attacked the meal. Junior would've rather held a funeral for it than eat it.

Then again...it was just a bit humorous to watch the poor, defenseless food disappear. Regardless of the way he'd felt when he'd been unceremoniously dropped off, Junior couldn't help but chuckle, even managing to smile a bit.

"At least someone can enjoy this slop," he said to the other boy after a moment. "Was it really that long of a night?"

[rubbermancan]

Luffy barely took a moment to swallow the food that was already in his mouth. "I don't think it's that bad," he replied. "I mean, food is food, right?" In all honesty, he probably just ate it so fast that he couldn't even tell what it tasted like.

He laughed a little, clapping his feet together from beneath the table. "Last night was crazy, though. Me an' my friend Zoro tried to get into the kitchens, but the door was locked!" His lower lip slightly jutted out with disappointment. "Then we got into this fight with a huge shrimp-scorpion thing. It was right over there." The pirate excitedly gestured to a nearby table, though he was surprised to find that the creature's dead body had been cleaned up from the floor somehow. "My powers don't work so good here, so I had to beat it up with a chair

[red_dragon_mode]

Junior made a sour face towards his food. "Some food is better than others. I guess it all just has to do with taste." He shrugged and took another bite before shoving his plate over towards Luffy, deciding that he was done. "Want it? I don't know if I can eat any more."

He was a bit more interested in the story, though. "Really, a scorpion?" the redhead's gaze followed the pirate's gesture, and Junior was a bit surprised to find nothing there. There weren't even any bug guts. "They sure cleaned up fast. I'm sure it got really messy when you whacked at it with a chair. Was it fun? And why were you trying to get into the kitchens, anyway?"

At the mention of powers not working, Junior was just a bit confused, although that would explain why he'd had a bit of trouble getting his own to work. And he'd just attributed the fact that Red Dragon seemed to be non-existent to the lack of U-DO. No one had told him about powers not working. "Mine always gave me a headache, anyway, but here it's been worse. What sort of powers do you have?"

[rubbermancan]

As soon as he saw the offering of more food, Luffy jumped at the chance and snatched the tray from the redhead. Free food? He really liked this guy! "Mm, thanks! You're awesome!" he cheered, and he promptly shoved a spoonful of slop into his mouth, happily chewing away before responding to Junior's other questions.

"Yeah!" Luffy gave an enthusiastic nod. "It was a giant scorpion. The size of a big dog!" He spanned his arms out, indicating how large the creature had been. When he was satisfied that he'd conveyed the enormity of the thing, he took another bite of his food. "It wasn't fun getting stung, but I was sure glad to kick that thing's ass! It totally deserved it for trying to go after Zoro even though he doesn't have his swords."

He slurped at his drink for a moment before his expression suddenly grew annoyed. "We were trying to get into the kitchens so me and Zoro could steal some knives." The pirate excitedly pointed toward Roy's table. "That guy over there can do really awesome things. He said he could make us

[red_dragon_mode]

Junior nodded, smiling at the other's infectious enthusiasm. "You're welcome." The description of the scorpion worried him a bit, but what Luffy was saying sounded like something Junior would say. "At least you seem to have come out of it okay. Wish I could have been there to see that thing get its ass kicked, though! That had to have been sweet." In the eye of the beholder, of course, but Junior had always thought that it'd be interesting to see, especially since it would really just seem like fighting Gnosis

[rubbermancan]

Luffy gave a hearty laugh that rang out despite the food in his mouth. It seemed like this guy could appreciate a good fight, which only gained the other boy more approval in Luffy's eyes. Upon hearing the optimism in Junior's voice when he spoke about the knives, Luffy gave an enthusiastic nod

[red_dragon_mode]

Junior was really liking Luffy. Besides the fact that the dark-haired boy seemed to be the only one he'd come upon in this place that didn't have a dampened attitude, they seemed to be a lot alike.

"I guess I'll just have to ask, then." The redhead shrugged. Getting the items would be the hard part, but he could worry about that after he asked what he'd need. "And yeah...doing stuff with your mind. I can only really talk to any of my siblings, though. Still, it comes in pretty handy sometimes," he said, chuckling. It was really a lot more complicated than that, but the only powers Junior ever used on a semi-regular basis were the ones he'd mentioned.

"Nice to meet you, too, Luffy!" he responded, grinning.

[rubbermancan]

Luffy nodded as he listened to Junior speak. "Hey, that's cool! I wish I could talk to my brother with my head!" he laughed, banging his fork against the table with approval. As annoying as being locked up in this place was, Luffy was at least pleased to find that there were truly interesting people in the same predicament as he was. After a few moments, the pirate fell silent, though the smile remained on his face.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, genuinely curious. "I just got here a couple of days ago. The people running this place are so weird, you know that?" Then, he leaned forward, placing his hand into his own dark hair. "And have you seen my hat? It's made out of straw, and it's really important to me, so I gotta find it before I can get out of here."

[red_dragon_mode]

"Well...you gotta be careful what you're thinking, otherwise you'll send thoughts you don't want to send, but I suppose it can be good and convenient on occasion," Junior continued, smiling.

"I got here yesterday. But yeah, they're weird. They keep on trying to carry me everywhere, as if I can't walk," Junior said, crossing his arms and glaring in the general direction of the cafeteria's entrance. Of course, he had failed to mention that this was because he'd been very uncooperative upon arriving. "Oh well...and no, I haven't seen a straw hat anywhere. If I see any, though, I'll be sure to tell you as soon as I can." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Have you seen a pair of pistols around here? They're antiques and I try to keep them polished, and they'd probably look really, really expensive. Kinda like you, I'm not leaving without them; they were a gift from one of my brothers."