Day 59: Sun Room (noon)

[gald_digger]

[from the Cafeteria]There was relief once she was outside of the Cafeteria, but Anise still felt ill. As more people piled into the Cafeteria, she dragged herself around the blanket forts to a chair at the far end of the room. It was quiet there, and she couldn't smell the rotten meat from there. Anise settled into the chair, but she was light-

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[full_score]

((From here.))

Thankfully, it looked like Anise hadn't gone far. One look at her, though, and Claude instantly knew something was wrong. With the way she had her head between her knees, she almost looked like she was trying to keep herself from fainting. What happened?

Concern etched on his face, he immediately approached where she was sitting. "Anise?" he called, though not too loud in case he accidentally startled her. "Are you okay?" While he wanted to place a hand on her shoulder, or sit by her, or something, Claude thought he should give her some space for a few moments. Consequently, he stood near her, but tried to give her enough breathing room.

Was she getting sick? Or had she been a victim of some of the recent drug testing, and it was taking its toll? Either way, he didn't like it.

[gald_digger]

The nausea was slowly fading as Anise remained in that position, but she soon heard a familiar voice calling her name. She'd heard it enough times by now to recognize who was speaking. "Claude...?" Another deep breath, and then she lifted her head just enough to see.

"Yeah..." she murmured in response, but quickly seemed to realize the reply that came out of her mouth automatically was too obviously not true. Slowly, she raised her body so she was sitting all the way up. A small, sheepish grin formed on her pale face. "I mean... well, I guess I feel kind of sick."

She didn't really want Claude to see her like that, but it was too late for that, and he'd already seen her at some of her other lowest moments, so it wasn't worth fretting over. For the time being, it was probably best to elaborate before he started thinking she was seriously ill or anything. "Um, not that I am sick! Just..." She sank a little in her seat, trying to relax her body a little as she tried to think of a way to explain to Claude. He'd already eaten breakfast,

[full_score]

He listened to her explanation, relieved to see that she was able to talk with him, at least. It was also good that she wasn't trying to brush off her symptoms. The last thing a sick person needed to worry about was trying to put up a strong front.

Still, Claude couldn't help but notice the way the color had drained from her face. Whatever it was that made her feel sick must have been pretty bad. Frowning to himself, he eased down onto the sofa next to Anise and continued to carefully watch her. The last thing he expected to hear was something about the food, though, especially with her rank. Didn't she eat the same things as him?

"What do you mean?" he asked. "What was wrong with it?" Although he felt like he should have already been able to figure things out by now, he was honestly at a loss. It had tasted just fine this morning.

[gald_digger]

It sounded like Claude really didn't know. There had to be others who saw what Anise did, but it didn't sound like anyone was saying anything publicly... Maybe it was like she thought, and they were all quietly wondering if they were the only ones. Maybe she should be the one to say something...

Anyway, Claude was asking what was wrong, and... it was probably best to just say it. "It's rotten," she replied, turning her head to face him. It was difficult, when it brought back the images of Claude and her other friends eating at breakfast, but she was fortunately feeling well enough to handle the thought without feeling too ill.

"It's mouldy and rancid and it's full of bugs. It smells horrible," she went on to describe, in case Claude might have thought her first answer was simple hyperbole. Anise shook her head, trying to clear away the mental image she'd just re-painted by describing it. "I don't think other people see it, but... I can't even look at it."