Day 28: The Twin Pine Restaurant

[ham_fisted]

[ from here ]

The detective almost crushed the slip of paper in his hand with excitement. He hadn't eaten the miserable breakfast that'd been issued to every patient, too miserable himself to actually realise he was starving. Not that he had the slightest idea why; wasn't like he'd done anything strenuous last night, unless gathering enough

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[usoppsenchou]

[From here]

This place looked pretty fancy by pirate standards. But Usopp had plenty of experience with eating in fancy restaurants... well, at least he'd eaten lots of meals at Baratie, and that counted, right?

He glanced around. Judging from the fashion styles, all the other customers were fellow patients. Usopp paused awkwardly at the doorway for a moment, then decided to go ahead and pick out a seat for himself by a window. The restaurant wasn't that crowded, it should be fine. Though he did feel a little awkward, since it seemed like nobody else was eating alone...

[usoppsenchou]

The fried fish basket was tolerable, but it wasn't easy to taste the fish under all that batter. Eating Sanji's cooking had spoiled Usopp for seafood... well, for any food, but he'd been really craving seafood and it hadn't occurred to him until after he'd eaten that what he craved was, specifically, seafood prepared by Sanji. Usopp knew he didn't have a cultured background like Sanji, Robin or even Nami to appreciate fine cooking, but he knew what tasted good, and what tasted just 'okay.'

This place was a step above a tavern that just happened to sell food too, which was more along the lines of his usual dining experiences in towns. And he'd finished his plate. But it wasn't satisfying, aside from the fact that his stomach had been nearing empty and now it was full. Usopp headed back out into town, remembering the path to the spa he'd been thinking of entering earlier.

[back out here]

[jurisfictional]

[from here]

Thursday couldn't help but smile slightly as she and Dairine stepped inside. There was something disarming about the place - something that reminded her of home - and while she knew she had to be on her guard, surely she could relax a little for the briefest of moments.

"Where do you want to sit?" she asked Dairine.

[wiz_kid_redfive]

Dairine shrugged. It looked like almost any family-owed restaurant in any part of the country. Some of the patrons looked up at them for a second, registered them as visiting patients, and half-smiled before turning back to their food. Dairine hated that, she hated being patronized. She'd rather be a prisoner outright than thought of as mentally deficient in any way.

"Window seat?"

[jurisfictional]

"Window seat it is," said Thursday, heading to one that wasn't so close to the other patrons.

She seated herself and looked at Dairine thoughtfully, but didn't say anything. It seemed every time she opened her mouth today her foot ended up getting stuck in it, so it was probably best if the girl started things off now.

[wiz_kid_redfive]

Dairine looked out the window at the autumn day. "Do you have any idea why they've brought us here?" she asked quietly. "I'm supposed to be in Hempstead right now. New York. I wonder what Dad is thinking. I wonder if Nita's trying to track me." She had the dreadful feeling that, if sought, Nita's manual would only reply with 'Subject is out of ambit'.

And Ponch couldn't find her, because he was gone.

Or was he? Kit had mentioned something when she'd seen him the day before she woke up here, how Ponch was in every dog now by virtue of his godhood.

"Dogs," she murmured quietly. If she could find a dog, maybe, just maybe, Ponch could recognize her and somehow get word to Kit and Nita - that is, if he didn't have other, more important doggy-god things to do...

[notmyfather]

(From here)

Even just looking through the door of the tavern, Valyn was struck with how different it seemed. It looked cluttered and...well, he didn't want to say worn, but it certainly wasn't up to the opulence he was used to. And he'd never been in any of the common public houses, so had nothing else to compare it to.

But it smelled like food, and even with breakfast, Valyn found himself hungry.

"It's...quaint," he said, holding open the door for the other two men.

[valyns_shadow]

"Forget quaint, how difficult do you think it will be to get ourselves a table and some food within the next few minutes?" Shadow asked, stepping inside the restaurant. His stomach growled and he walked over to one of the women waiting tables.

"Excuse me," he started, giving her a charming smile. But the look she gave him was a bit short as she pointed to a sign next to him.

"Ah, Seat Yourselves. Well, they could have made the sign bigger."

[notmyfather]

"I don't know." Valyn frowned. The sun was changing position outside and he glanced from his two companions back to the street. He was hungry, and he wanted very much to curl up in a booth besides his cousin, but....

"Ancestors, I hate to run out, but I told Shana I'd meet her by the caravans or whatever they're called. And the last thing I want to do is anger her further by being late. There aren't enough hours in the day, I'm afraid." He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Shadow's mouth, in apology, not quite caring what anyone thought of it.

"Perhaps while I'm dealing with that, Robin can tell you more about his knack for finding things."

heading back out here)

[robin_fox]

Oh the smell of food. Strange food, wonderful food, familiar food. Food. Robin looked ready to explode with glee. He barely noticed the kiss or the fact that Valyn was leaving...until his name was mentioned. He turned his attention to the two men and grinned.
Knack for finding things.
"Spot on," he winked to valyn. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "You need help getting a hold of something? Let's find a table first!"
He grabbed Shadow's sleeve and worked his way around the Twin Pines. He went round twice before an old couple moved. He was in there quick, helping the old lady out of her seat, and giving her his most charming of smiles and a friendly nod to her husband. He waited patiently until they were a good distance before diving down into their seats.

"So. Shadow. You're a human servant? What's that like?" He picked some half eaten pie from a plate as he looked at his new friend. "Want not, waste not, right?" A servant ought to understand that.

[broken_exorcist]

[[from here]]

Allen was relieved when they entered to see that unlike the other place, this was a real restaurant, not some... giant unmoving food cart. He could smell the varied scents of things cooking in the kitchen and sighed happily to himself. He just hoped they could catch the attention of the waiters or waitresses and get served quickly. He was starving!

It seemed they were to seat themselves, so he found an empty booth and sat, picked up a menu and flipped through the items. The coupon said free lunch, but did that mean there was a limit to how much he could order? In that case, he should probably get something with a bit of weight to it, see if there was something that came with a lot of food.

Once he'd decided, he looked around anxiously for the server. "Do you know what you want?" he asked Rinali.

[boot_i_licious]

It was obvious that Allen was starving. She had almost forgotten the kind of appetite her friend carried with him, thanks to the symbiotic relationship he carried with his innocence. How selfish of her not to even think of that! She picked up a menu as well and quickly spotted something that looked appetizing. It didn't take long...she wasn't all that picky of an eater. She nodded once. "I'm ready. Are you?"

A stupid question. Allen was probably going to order half of the items on the menu and still be ravenous. This wasn't a buffet like the institute offered. Still, it was quaint and pleasant, and had a nice interior compared to the mess hall of the institute yesterday, or even the cold walls of the Black Order.

[broken_exorcist]

Allen nodded politely. He'd been ready almost since the moment he'd sat down. Where was the waitress? Allen tried not to look too distressed that she hadn't arrived yet. At least they were at the restaurant, that meant food was on the way, or would be, in the very near future. He could wait that long at least

[boot_i_licious]

Rinali tried not to laugh as Allen nervously looked for the waitress. They were busy here, so it was unsurprising that the waitress hadn't arrived yet, but poor Allen looked like he was afraid of starving to death across the table from her.

When he started talking about the night, though, the pleasant atmosphere seemed to fade away. She knew what was coming now, having seen one nightshift and dealt with the rats and...and that hooded creature. She didn't look forward to what happened when the lights went out.

"I haven't heard nor seen either of them," Rinali admitted. "I imagine-" I hope... "-they were on another bus. Should we go look for them after we've finished eating?" It was starting to get a little late, so hopefully they could run into at least one of them before the day was over

[to_a_boy]

[ From here.]

Eventually L.A.'s stomach led him to the Twin Pine restaurant, and he reluctantly decided to abandon his plan to escape. For the time being, anyway.

The country fried steak seemed to be their specialty. L.A. thought he might as well order it. It was certainly a change of pace from tacos....