Day 54: Lunch

[full_score]

All things considered, last shift had been pretty low key. After this morning's disaster, though, that was perfectly fine by Claude. Some fresh air and a chance to make sure Guy and Okita were all right weren't things to take for granted. It was also good to have a fairly normal, conversation with Guy that didn't slip off into awkward territory

Comments

[laguz_decoy]

This morning had been interesting, to say the least. First Soren and then Byrne, both so new to the Institute. What a day... and it wasn't even lunch yet. Nurse Flo had retrieved him from the Sun Room, still looking very unkempt and disturbed. He couldn't blame her... even the Head Doctor had seemed on edge. There was one thing about the announcement that had put a grin on his face though: FISH!

He could smell it as they made their way to the cafeteria, and upon arriving (and with a disapproving scowl from Flo), he loaded his tray with as much of the fish as he could carry. It wasn't often that they served it, and he wasn't going to allow this chance to pass him by. He hurried quickly away from Flo to find himself a seat.

After not spotting anyone he knew, Ranulf sat down on an empty bench and began digging in.

[For Tsubaki~<3]

[thecamellia]

Despite there being little choice otherwise (and it being the only way she might catch some of other friends), Tsubaki was undecided over how she felt about returning to the cafeteria again. The events of the morning still felt so recent. Just because the prisoners had been beaten down once didn’t mean tempers would be any more calm this time; she could just hope no one took more big risks. It didn’t help that the room felt especially like a pen, now that they were surrounded by the staff and the soldiers, all watching them. A shift hadn’t done much to improve her nurse’s condition much, either, and after she had whipped Tsubaki out of the Sun Room--without a chance to stop by the bulletin board--she put her through the food line with mechanical haste. The woman was clearly distracted, and in Tsubaki’s reasons, there were too many reasons why to choose from

[laguz_decoy]

Ranulf was halfway through his pile of fish-cakes, when he heard people approaching. His head perked up, a smile quickly forming on his face as Tsubaki greeted him.

"Of course you can eat with me." He said, gesturing to the chair across from him. "I've been hoping that I'd see you again too!" It had been a long three days since they'd seen each other. Ranulf had begun to worry something might have happened to her, so it was a relief to actually see her.

"How have the night raids been going?" He asked, his fork hovering over the uneaten food, an inquisitive look on his face.

[thecamellia]

Each time she saw Ranulf, his amiable nature eclipsed the night they’d first met more and more. And each time, it was good to see. She probably didn’t have to worry about her assorted acquaintances like she did (maybe it was more like she wished she didn’t have to), yet there was no denying that there was an abundance of danger each day they were here, and if today was any indication, it seemed like it was escalating.

Smiling, Tsubaki sat down. How were her nights going? Well…

She glanced sidelong at the ring of people encircling the ‘patients’ and maintained her voice at its soft volume. “It’s slow,” she admitted. And now she had secrets she couldn’t share with just anyone. Secrets that could easily slip into lies. “It’s not easy figuring this place out. Like what’s going on now, with these soldiers around. Were you okay this morning? I didn’t see you in all the confusion.”

[emotionl4arobot]

It was difficult not to flinch at the disapproval in the Head Doctor's voice, which annoyed Brainiac 5 more than anything else. He didn't care what the man thought of him, but so many years of being expected to follow certain rules and responsibilities meant that feeling like he'd failed in that capacity with anyone hurt, even when he knew it shouldn't. And it didn't help much that they hadn't even managed to achieve much of anything during breakfast beyond avoiding the worst of the fighting

[herr_inspektor]

[Is this okay?]When the intercom came back on and the Head Doctor started to speak again Lunge was ready to note down every word and every inflection. The tension in the room the message was broadcasting from was almost tangible even over a simple audio broadcast; the careful yet faltering tone of voice was even more tellingly practised and pressured than it had been that morning, which said to the inspector that Landel was likely being stood over while he spoke. Like a schoolboy in detention. So who was watching him? A student? No, Landel's arrogance wouldn't have allowed him to be cowed by a grunt. There was an official in that room, and almost certainly the Eagle

[emotionl4arobot]

[Of course!]

Brainiac 5 looked up suspiciously as a nurse stopped by him, directing another patient to join him. Not that he really objected to any company in general, but in the past the nurses had proven less than helpful with their choices, often seating him with people he'd rather avoid, such as Luxord or that irritating redhead who'd ensured he spend part of the second shift in the bathrooms washing milk out of his hair before it started to smell.

But fortunately this time it wasn't anyone he recognised as someone he should avoid, even after they introduced themselves, and while that didn't mean it would necessarily be a decent or worthwhile distraction from the other topics he'd been thinking of, it at least didn't automatically make him start planning an escape.

"Brainiac 5," he answered, assessing the older man. He seemed shrewd, almost calculating. It was the type of expression he was more used to seeing on other Coluans. "I gather that if you're an inspector, then you must have worked for the Science Police?"

[herr_inspektor]

[♥]A name like Braniac 5 caught Lunge’s attention right from the get-go, but before he could process it he was hit with yet another curious phrasing. ‘Science police’? What precisely did that mean? A search, carried out with a quickfire tap of fingertips on his knee, failed to turn up any reasonable possibilities; if the organisation existed (and he as yet had little reason to believe it didn’t) it wasn’t part of his own country, time or perhaps even ‘world’. That possibility certainly cohered with the strangeness of the young patient’s name

[vitale]

Bella didn't want to admit it, but she had enjoyed speaking with Leela in the Greenhouse. She had been pleasant enough company, and thankfully she appeared to not know anything about the supposed book she was from. (Then again, she didn't give her last name. She never gave her last name, though; call it "my father is a cop" paranoia.)

No time to think about that now. The moment Bella walked into the Cafeteria, the tear gas ambushing was instantly forgotten, and she moved into the food line to grab a plate of food so she could pile it up with whatever she damn well pleased.

Finally, she thought to herself as she plopped herself down in a chair and began stuffing her face. It felt like she hadn't eaten in months, when she knew she had eaten ... yesterday.

Honestly, the reason she wasn't eating as often as she should ... was because she wanted to feel what Edward felt. Of course, she didn't have blood lust. Instead, she had chocolate lust. (however, there was no chocolate in sight. Sad.) If Edward found out, she could only imagine how

[broodings]

When the nurse arrived to shuttle them back inside, she brought with her an orderly to help anyone still unsteady on their feet, i.e. Stefan. His first impulse had been to decline - he could piece sentences together without slurring now, although actually finding the words still took a moment - but he thought better of it after a moment. Edward and Damon were with him, both of whom were sober enough to lead him out of the Rec Field, but Stefan didn't want either of them around right now. It wasn't pride. They'd already seen him at his worst, and Stefan had learned his lesson about pretending to be better than he was just to save face.

But he did feel better. Part of that was the sedatives talking, sure, but he had enough discipline left to be sure he wasn't about to take a bite out of an orderly during the short trip to the cafeteria. Edward was a good man, maybe the first truly compassionate vampire he'd met since Lexi, but he had other people besides Stefan to worry about. And so did Stefan

[vitale]

What in the world

[broodings]

There was nothing feigned about the girl's expression when Stefan stared up at her, just as startled to realize he was now on the ground. He'd landed hard, most of the impact absorbed by his hip bone, and his shin stung from hitting one of the metal legs of the table, but Stefan welcomed it. It was more the shock than the pain which he felt, but that shock was just enough to shake him out of the blood-induced daze - because that was what it was, that smell. It didn't make sense - he couldn't see anything on the girl which could account for it - but whatever it was, it had an effect on him as immediate and overwhelming as a gushing wound.

Which was why Stefan practically recoiled when the girl came nearer to him. He had no idea what he might do if she actually touched him - he remembered that brief contact with Claire yesterday morning, the way his pulse had leapt as if anticipating hers, strong and alive - and could have wept in relief when someone else chose that moment to appear

[corvus_veritas]

Second shift had given Byrne nothing but more things to mull over. Ranulf had presented a story similar to the one Renamon had told him at breakfast, further proving the 'this place is crazy insane and you are screwed' theory about this place. Speaking of Renamon, she hadn't responded to the note he'd posted earlier. Did she not notice it or had something happened to her? It was better to assume the former but he couldn't help thinking it might be the latter.

Her situation was troubling. The sudden intercom announcement was also the least bit reassuring about anything that had happened today. But it was the situation around the mysterious people using the Yatagarasu symbol that bothered the prosecutor most of all. Just who were these guys? Both styles of handwriting were unrecognizable to Byrne - save the first set, the one belonging to the original poster that had so rudely told him off. That handwriting was vaguely familiar, and that frightened Byrne. The last thing he needed were people he knew here

[gargantuanlaugh]

Gant entered the cafeteria and the first thing he did was scope out the room for Showy. And there he was, already sitting down. Good. He probably wouldn't be allowed to move anywhere near Gant if those damned nurses would do their jobs properly! Certainly the same restrictions applied to the chief as well, but he wasn't planning on moving anywhere near that crazy if he had a choice.

Grabbing a tray, the chief focused on looking for another table in the exact opposite direction of Niikura's. He found one that seemed suitable enough. Already had someone sitting there, but he didn't care. It wasn't Showy, so it would be fine. The man seemed pretty somber, which wasn't very fun, but maybe Gant could turn his frown upside-down! At least it would get his mind off of murderous vigilantes.

"Hey, fella!" He really looked at the man across from him then and paused. Not for the usual reason did he sit and stare. This man... there was something about him. "Anyone ever say you remind them of someone?"

[corvus_veritas]

Byrne was so immersed in his own world that he failed to notice someone had sat down across from him until they spoke up, startling the prosecutor from his thoughts. Oh, great. Company. Perhaps he should screw being polite this time and just tell the guy to leave him alone. He was really not in the mood for casual conversation right now.

But on second thought, he needed another testimony about this place. And who knows? Maybe this guy knew something about the mysterious person posting the Yatagarasu symbol on the bulletin board. It was better to be nice than to be a jerk, anyway. The more allies he made in this place, the better. Heaving a sigh, Byrne glanced up at the man, forcing himself to get over his sour mood for a few minutes of questioning.

...Wait a minute.

Hold it! It couldn't be!? Byrne gawked at the man, hoping he was just imagining things. No, it was him alright. He seemed to have aged quite a bit since the last time Byrne saw him, but there was no mistaking it. "D-Detective Gant?" His voice had become weaker than

[gargantuanlaugh]

He almost thought he was going to be ignored and then... Wow. It had been years since someone had called him Detective, and now here was the second person to use that title on him here. The first had been Lana, on his first night here, but now she knew the truth. This man, he recognized Gant yet knew nothing. What was going on here now

[bodhiandspirit]

That was an unexpected encounter. It looked like several people at Landel's were practitioners of some kind of magic, which left no shortage of fields for Rita to pursue. Hopefully some would involve techniques that she could use for herself. She still didn't know where heraldry fell as far as usability went, but that was one of the things she planned to ask about at her lunch meeting.

Trying not to roll her eyes too hard at the Head Doctor's attempt at chiding the populace, Rita made her way to the cafeteria counter, taking a small portion of fish, filling her plate mostly with side dishes. She didn't mind eating certain kinds of cooked fish, but if it tasted too fishy, it was going straight in the garbage. With that done, she set out to find the stranger she'd spoken to on the bulletin yesterday

[full_score]

Claude did his best to patiently wait as he watched other patients filter into the room. Guy was one of them, and he returned the other blond's nod from across the room. He wondered if he had any plans for lunch. Not that it mattered, of course, seeing how Claude had an appointment of his own, but...

Well, he just hoped this shift went a lot smoother than breakfast. Claude had a feeling it would. The soldiers were probably on high alert, and the more troublesome patients were either sedated or in solitary. Anyone would be stupid to try anything nowThankfully, he didn't have to wait long for Mordio. A young girl he'd seen in passing here and there approached his table, taking the seat in front of him. When she addressed him by name, he realized that she'd been looking for him. Claude almost asked if she was, in fact, Mordio, but his lunch companion quickly introduced herself

[bodhiandspirit]

"I don't really care which," Rita answered almost automatically, but then added as an afterthought, "... Rita is fine." Miss Mordio just sounded unnatural, after all.

Since her breakfast that morning had been ruined, Rita took an experimental bite of the fish, feeling hungry enough to give it a try. She chewed it with a slight frown, then deemed it passable. Not really good, but edible. That, at least, was fortunate, because Rita was starving.

"I've been doing research on the magic systems of other planets," she explained between bites, supposing Claude might want to know why a complete stranger had tracked him down. "I talked to Leon last night, and he lent me his notes so I could study many of the technical aspects of heraldry. I'm hoping you can help fill in the leftover gaps." Rita studied Claude for a moment, as if trying to determine how knowledgeable he was just from his face, then returned to eating her lunch for the moment.

[full_score]

Rita it was, then. She sure didn't seem like the most sociable person, but maybe she was just the sort who got down to business. Claude couldn't exactly blame her, especially with how strict the staff was about where they went, and for how long. When you had so little control over your time, it made sense not to want to waste it with small talk if there was something you really wanted to talk about