Day 24: Lunch

[jei]

Not wanting to be dragged along on whatever Mission of Annoyance Schuldig had planned for himself at lunch, Farfarello instead headed straight into the cafeteria, alone

Comments

[stray_shinigami]

Renji was working out possible teams for the night in his head as the nurses herded him to the cafeteria. While nothing could be final until they'd talked to Roy, it wouldn't hurt to have the broad shape of the plan laid out in advance.

He took his time and lingered; rather than sitting, he'd much prefer to just catch Hitsugaya - and possibly Roy - as they came in. So he loitered near the entrance as best he could and kept letting people get in front of him in line.

[muted_flame]

While Roy had no idea what a Shinigami was, he knew that Renji wasn't dangerous - at least, not toward other patients. While he had never met the man personally, he had heard only good things, so it seemed that this was all a misunderstanding on the teenager's part.

To be quite honest, he was getting sick of his protestations, especially when it was obvious that Renji wasn't trying to hurt him or anyone else. He drew toward the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it firmly.

"You've just woken up here, correct? I'd advise that you calm down, take a few deep breaths, and listen to us before one of the nurses comes over and pumps you so full of drugs you can't see straight. You're bringing a lot of attention to yourself, and you'll soon learn how bad of an idea that is." The colonel happened to be good at verbally smacking unreasonable teenage boys - he only hoped that this one started to come to his senses already.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji sincerely hoped that Allen would listen to Roy; if they attracted too much attention, he might get sedated too, since he already had a bad reputation with the nurses. And that would be very unhelpful.

"I've been dead for quite some time, longer than this gentleman here could possibly have known me," Renji said, calmly. "This is nothing new. Really. I'm Vice Captain of the Sixth Division of the Gotei 13, which is something I figure makes no sense to you. Just like your babbling makes no fucking sense to me, or to this guy here. So chill the fuck out, would you kid?" He sighed. "I'd really like to put you down before you get both of us up shit creek."

[broken_exorcist]

It wasn't the first time someone hadn't believed him about an Akuma. Most people didn't know much about them in the first place. He often wondered why the Vatican didn't publicize that sort of information.

"But..."

And if this wasn't the Order, where was it? There were so many things that didn't make sense. He could only hang in the air and stare after Mustang for a few moments, his mouth hanging slightly ajar. Why would he be afraid of the nurses in the first place? None of them could possibly be worse than Komui. And they never drugged him unless there was work to be done on his anti-akuma weapon.

And there was more. Vice Captain? Gotei? The words were completely unfamiliar, but... but... why hadn't the Akuma attacked yet? Or even transformed?! The behavior was so strange. And if this wasn't the Order... how was he going to get back to Rinali and Ravi and Miranda and the others? The last Akuma had said they were in danger, that the Earl might kill them at any moment! He didn't have time to waste in this... this

[muted_flame]

Renji was dead? Had been for a long time...? That was a little abnormal, and made him think of the homunculi, but it obviously wasn't the same thing. Here, it wasn't that much of a concern, anyway. Technically, Hughes also dead, wasn't he?

The terms the shinigami was spitting out didn't really matter, as he was just trying to make a point to the boy. It seemed that with their combined efforts, they were finally getting through to him.

But then the tears started flowing. Roy sighed.

He nodded to Renji, an indication that he should put the boy down now, and he backed away slightly to regard the new patient carefully. "Calm down," he said, trying to make his tone softer than normal. "Now, are you willing to let us explain? You'll feel much better once you have a better idea of what's going on."

[stray_shinigami]

Renji agreed with Roy on this one. And seeing the tears on the kids cheeks... well, it just made him feel like the biggest asshole that had ever walked the world. He carefully set the kid back down on his feet, though he kept one hand on him long enough to make sure he was steady

[broken_exorcist]

What was he doing? He was facing one of the greatest threats of his life and he was sitting here in front of two people he didn't know, one of them an Akuma, and... and... he noticed with shame that he'd started to cry and rubbed fiercely at the tell-tale tears with the back of his hands. The right side was easy enough to wipe away, but the tears from his cursed eye came out black as well, leaving dark smudges on his cheek.

At least he could breathe a little easier, having been set down, but he almost fell over once he had his feet back under him. Then the Akuma had to go and do something like that. Muss his hair just like... just like...

He sniffled, trying to rid himself of the last bit of his emotional outburst. They didn't realize how hard it was, what they were asking. The blood was pumping through his veins so quickly, it craved the Akuma. It was almost like fighting instinct itself. Could it really be true? They were on the same side? His duty was protecting people, yes, but also saving the Akuma! How could he do one and not

[muted_flame]

Roy relaxed somewhat when the boy didn't attempt another attack the moment he was put down. It seemed he had come to his senses, at least slightly. Either that, or he was too busy crying to have the energy for anything else. At this point, that was in their favor

[stray_shinigami]

Renji nodded in agreement with what Roy had to say, though for now he decided to keep his commentary to a minimum. He didn't want to set Allen off again, and they needed to get to actually eating lunch at some time.

It really made him wish there were a booklet or something they could just hand new people, but it would probably seem like too much of a joke if done like that. He could be patient. He had all the time in the world.

"Abarai Renji," he added, just to get his full name out there if they were sort of doing introductions. "We must fight together," was about all he could say, just to add emphasis. He glanced at Roy, since that was, in fact, just the thing he wanted to talk to the guy about.

[broken_exorcist]

It sounded like madness, but Roy explained it so neatly; he seemed so certain. How was any of this possible? Why would someone put him in a mental hospital? More to the point, why would he be in a mental hospital that really wasn't a mental hospital at all? He could believe there were Akuma about, he could see it clearly, but monsters? Monsters weren't real. For a while he'd considered that vampires might exist, but they'd proven that wrong as well

[muted_flame]

Well, wasn't that morbid. Roy couldn't help but be reminded of the homunculi - these Akuma were more or less the same thing, weren't they? An abomination that resulted as a failed attempt to bring someone back to life? And they followed the orders of one single person, though he knew now that the homunculi hadn't been completely mindless when it came to that. Some had rebelled

[stray_shinigami]

"Exactly," Renji said. "If it makes you feel any better, Allen, I certainly don't want to be here, and I certainly don't want to be in this gigai they've bound me in to. I have a job back home, and I'd like to return to it - like pretty much everyone else here." He decided to continue emphasizing the main point, just to make sure it stuck. "But I'm not an Akuma thingy, and I'm certainly not under anyone's control. There are other Shinigami here, and they're not akuma thingies either. I'd suggest you ask before you leap, next time, because while most of us are pretty laid back, I doubt the Captain would put up with that kind of shit."

Renji chuckled softly. "That Innocence thing sounds an awful lot like a zanpakuto. Funny how that stuff works out."

He looked at Roy. "Dunno how much time's left for lunch, and me'n the Captain'd still like a chance to talk with you if you're so inclined."

[broken_exorcist]

Neither one of them understood. Even if he was able to escape this building, he'd still have to locate the Ark. Or at least find the fastest way to Japan. What was wrong with him, why couldn't he activate even to level one? With even that little bit, he might be able to knock down enough walls that he could escape, but... this whole thing was ludicrous. Different worlds?

And the idea of asking someone if they were an Akuma before attacking was completely ridiculous! More often than not, they would attack him first! He never asked back home. If he had, they'd have shot him full of holes before he could get out "I beg your pardon, but..." They tried everything. They posed as children often to invoke sympathy. He was lucky, he'd told himself. He was lucky because he was the only one who could see through that. The other exorcists could only remain constantly paranoid of anyone who approached them

[muted_flame]

While they had at least assured that Allen wasn't going to continue trying to attack Renji, the boy still didn't look particularly convinced. That wasn't exactly his problem, though. The boy would just have to find out the hard way if he didn't want to listen to them. He did feel a little bit bad, since he knew how hard it was to swallow all of what Landel's was at first, but this kid was not his responsibility.

"There's nothing to apologize about," he said firmly. Now was not the time for self-pity, so the way Allen backed down irritated him. "I'll give you one more warning. Everyone's powers are weakened by this place. That's most likely why your attack didn't work nearly as well as you expected it to."

He turned to Renji and nodded. "Lead the way."

[stray_shinigami]

Renji nodded, sparing Allen one last glance. "Everything is different here," he said. "You'd be best off listening to those who've been here a while."

With that, he lead Roy over to Hitsugaya.