DAY 20: LUNCH

[prisonerofdeath]

While Arts and Crafts wasn't all that bad, Gray Fox was greatly relieved when an intercom announced Lunch. He had almost reached the point where he was going to start eating more of the building materials

Comments

[not_a_savior]

Nowe was confused when he reached the cafeteria. His session with Professor Oak had been interrupted by his damn nurse again, and she'd led him back to the eating hall. He sighed. The doctor had seemed nice, if a bit confusing, but he was starting to notice a pattern with his conversations with friendly people getting interrupted suddenly. He sighed

[stray_shinigami]

Renji decided that, rather than go sit with Ichigo, he'd find a new person to talk to. In grim situations where you were in a weak position, the best way to fight against it was to band together with people you could trust. Not that he didn't trust Ichigo - he barely knew the guy, but at least they had similar goals and similar feelings about the important stuff - but the more people, the better.

It was, frankly, the only way to guarantee that at least someone got out alive.

With that unnecessariy grim thought, Renji took his salad and glass of water over to another table. There was a kid there that looked pretty genial, and that way he wouldn't be interrupting anything again.

"Hope you don't mind if I sit there," he said, for courtesy's sake, though he did actually sit before the kid answered. Politeness was one thing, but hunger was another, and he needed a chance to pick at his damn salad before they got shuffled off somewhere else.

[not_a_savior]

Nowe looked up as someone sat down in front of him. The red hair was the first thing he noticed, and he eyed it for a moment. He hadn't ever seen someone with hair that color. Not to mention the tattoo all over his forehead...

"Oh, I don't mind," he said, realizing he hadn't said anything for several seconds and hurriedly turning back to his food. Awkward. He really needed to learn not to stare so openly, but with so many interesting people around it was often difficult not to. He wondered if this guy would be as generally friendly as everyone else he'd met so far, with the exception of maybe Kadaj and Caim. Caim was just... Caim, but even Kadaj had managed to give him some decent advice, even if his personality left some things to be desired. He finally settled on a question that wouldn't seem terribly interrupting.

"My name's Nowe. What's yours?" He asked, as he picked up his burger and inspected it before taking a bite. It, like all the other food Nowe had come across here, was surprisingly delicious.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji stirred his salad around with his fork. It didn't look very good. He took a bite. Whatever this "ranch dressing" stuff was, he didn't like it. What was a ranch, anyway, and why would you want to make something taste like one?

"Abarai Renji," he said. He gave the kid a smile. Yeah, he'd caught the staring, but he was kind of used to it at this point. Some people didn't get tattoos. "The given name's Renji, so feel free to call me that." Everyone seemed to be on a first name basis, so he'd follow that behavior. "Where are you from?" he asked.

[never_learns]

Burgers? Yohji sighed and stared down at the frankly unappetising food on offer. He'd never really liked burgers. Western food was fine and all, but he tended to prefer something a little more refined. Maybe this wasn't Japan after all, although he had no idea where it could be otherwise.

He took a bite of it, trying to ignore the grease that seemed inherent in this kind of food. At least the salas looked okay, albeit a bit floppy. He'd kill for some rice or something, really.

And not being engrossed in his food unfortunately meant he ended up thinking about stuff. It had never been a favourite pass-time. They'd left him here without a word. He was still kind of waiting for someone to pull him aside and tell him something, explain what Kritiker wanted from him, what had happened to the rest of Weiss. Had they escaped from the building? Had they escaped the other Rosenkreuz agents okay

[explosives_r_us]

From the arts and crafts room, Karasu strode at a leisurely pace into the cafeteria after the nurse had released him to go. Building houses of ginger bread had only been amusing for the first five minutes before it quickly dulled into boredom; and he surprised himself by wanting more than anything to switch shifts

[never_learns]

Yohji looked up sharply when the man approached, giving him a critical look. Kinda odd looking, really. Somehow. Yohji wasn't quite sure. Maybe it was the overly concerned tone of his voice. All of Yohji's instincts were screaming. Not that he was always right. He'd been wrong about Neu. And... and Tsuji...

He pushed down that thought as hard and as fast as he could. He would not get into that here and now.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax at least a little and then forced the easy lazy playboy mask to the surface, letting it slip over him like a familiar comfortably worn coat. He smirked. "I didn't think this was really the kind of place where it's all Shiny Happy People."

[explosives_r_us]

Karasu didn’t even try to suppress the chuckle that escaped his lips, shaking his head slowly, “But of course not… Would that not make things worse…?” he stated rhetorically, edging slowly over toward an empty chair across from the other man.

“Do you mind…?” he inquired.

[ifandmaybe]

Inara had to admit that the meeting with her doctor had left her faintly dazed. She'd thought herself to be completely in the dark, at least compared to the overly chipper staff working at the institution, but that doctor seemed to have no idea as to what he was supposed to be counseling her for. She wondered grimly if whoever was behind this place preferred it that, if more of the workers her were in a similar state, blissfully unaware of what was going on around them

[still_free]

Mal was still more than a little rattled about Kaylee's lack of knowledge, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Hopefully Zoe wouldn't attack the poor mechanic - though he knew she had more self control than that. She had also known Kaylee too long to think she meant any harm.

It didn't make any sort of sense, but Mal had given up on that ever happening. Just like how things never went smooth.

As he entered the cafeteria, the captain finally decided to grab some food. He had been avoiding it since he woke up, but it appeared that everyone - even some of his crew - seemed safe after eating it. It had been a good long while since he'd had a proper meal, anyway. He'd been too busy trying to get the truth out.

After getting together a tray of food, Mal considered his options. He wanted to check in on River, but there was a good chance her brother would be along soon. So there was Inara. He had barely spoken to her earlier and figured they had some stuff they needed to talk about. He sat down quietly (for once).

[ifandmaybe]

Amazing that Malcolm Reynolds still seemed to be the only man capable of both flustering her and putting her at ease, Inara mused as the captain sat down at the table she'd chosen. She was prepared, though, and smiled to him as encouragingly as she could without seeming patronizing. It was difficult to grow accustomed the procedures at Landels; Inara herself wasn't used to everything yet, though she covered such ignorance well enough.

"Did you have to see a doctor as well? Or are you in the second group?" she asked, starting up a conversation as casually as she could. She worried a lot for his sake, not because she thought him incapable of dealing with what Landels put them through, but because she knew the sort of effect that it would have on him. Worrying day and night about his crew would take its toll over time, she was sure.

[still_free]

Mal was busy munching on an onion ring when Inara started in on the questioning. Normally, he would have spoken with food in his mouth. But Inara would give him that slightly disgusted, slightly condescending stare - and he didn't want to deal with that at the moment.

He chewed and swallowed before leveling his gaze on her. "Second," he responded. "Zoe went, though. She said she just kept quiet and the doc let her go." It fit. That was her school of thought. Silence, stealth.

Mal was the opposite. He wanted people knowing who he was and that he meant business. Maybe it was stupid, but it had worked for a little over thirty years. He wasn't going to change now, even if he was in this unknown environment where all the odds were against him.

"How about you? Did you use your wiles on the doctor until he let you leave?"

[theycutitout]

The session with Doctor Crane had not lasted long. Indeed, the girl had been quite terrified to learn that he was working with the hive, a busy little bee assimilated into the whole, only aware of his duty and not the greater cause. Had they played around in his brain? Seen that he could be useful to them as more than a pawn in their game? She would need to tell Eddie later. When he wasn't busy

[the_clown_king]

If there was one thing Tamaki could always find, it was a woman who needed cheering up. Still happily entertaining his comparison of himself and his friends to King Arthur and his Knights, Tamaki swept into lunch looking far more like himself than he had all morning. He did get food this time - he'd gotten lucky, eating half of Haruhi's at breakfast. This time he'd eat. Besides, it was good food! And then he looked for someone to share lunch with. The twins and Azel-kun weren't there yet, and neither was Haruhi. But there was a waifish looking girl about his age looking less-than-happy. Tamaki set his tray down near her and got down on one knee, his usual Host Club flourish.

"Fair maiden!" he exclaimed, reaching for her hand. "Don't be frightened or sad! Tell me, my princess, what is your name?"

[theycutitout]

River could only blink as the young man approached. Her everything had been plummeting so very quickly. There simply hadn't been time to salvage at all. Even if you were quick, some would slip through and the balance would be lost.

And yet, only a single tear found it's way down her cheek as he knelt down before her and took her hand, the hopeless quickly replaced with confusion and the faintest traces of amusement.

He didn't make logical sense, didn't even know her, and yet... People here could just be so strange, but that was the logic of humanity. Illogical logic.

"River," she managed curiously, the faintest of smiles twitching at the corners of her lips. She would indulge to illogical for a moment."Are you a prince?"

[the_clown_king]

"My dear princess, don't cry! It pains my heart to see a lovely maiden shed even a single tear!" Tamaki reached up and wiped away the single tear from her face with his knuckle. "River! A beautiful name for a most beautiful creature! Such elegance, such mystery...." Tamaki paused and then began to quote, blue eyes shining as he adopted his full Host King Routine.

"'Her long dark hair elegantly flows without restraint, the river courses without concern, almost silent, by way of elegance. My thirst she quenches, akin to a lake converging into that river, then mystically, the river plots its course into the sea'." He bent over River's hand and kissed the back, before addressing her question.

"I am Lord, Prince and King," he assured her, still on one knee. "Suou Tamaki. Please, call me Tamaki."

[forgot_my_life]

Hamburgers. More Western food. Crap. Takaya glanced at the nurse who had led him back here and scowled. The fact that he hadn't seen even one fucking bowl of rice cemented it. He definitely wasn't in Japan anymore.

He wondered if anyone back home had noticed or even cared that he'd disappeared. His sister, definitely. Anyone else? Probably not. The thought left him even more pissed off.

With a tray of food (hamburger, fries, and lemonade) Takaya chose a fairly empty spot to sit and eat. Still irritated, he tore into his food, glaring at the table and wishing he could just haul off and beat the shit out of somebody to get an answer he could use. All he'd gotten so far was crap and a tale of monsters after dark. Fuck. Wasn't looking forward to that at all.

[in_your_defense]

Urk.The hamburger sitting on his plate looked appetizing, yet not...he reminded himself never to eat as much sugar as he just had. His stomach didn't feel the greatest after that

[forgot_my_life]

Takaya glanced up from where he's started to pick apart his fries. He nodded his head at the other seats. "Whatever." He wondered if this man would be of any help to him, or if he'd just get more bullshit and get more pissed off.

He wasn't sure which he'd rather have at this point.

[in_your_defense]

...was that a yes or a no?

Deciding that it was a yes, since it hadn't been an overwhelming no, Phoenix slid into a seat and set his plate down. Picking up his cup, he nursed some of his water into his mouth, feeling his stomach settle down just a tad as a result.

The awkward silence that followed made him fidget, and he put his cup down. "So...are you new here, too?" The question was asked tentatively.