Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

[7_to_midnight]

Sylar's gears were still turning as the nurse and a burly orderly escorted him down long halls and through a strange, sunlit room. He'd been forced to drop his pen when the orderly had seen it, and since then, he'd realized that this place had better security than he'd originally anticipated, as well as a large population of patients. It looked

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[officer_leon]

Leon woke up, feeling rather dizzy. The sudden change from the basement to his room was more disconcerting than normal. He sat up and shook his head. A sphinx. He'd have to visit the library today and try to figure out more about the creature. If they returned to the basement tonight, he wanted to be ready to answer it's riddles... and get some answers out of it, as well.

While he was busy plotting, one of the nurses showed up to escort him to the cafeteria. He followed along in brooding silence. This was his fourth day here. Four days, and still all he had to show for his efforts was a baseball bat. And he hadn't even acquired that on his own.

Leon piled up a plate with food and found an empty table. The Head Doctor had said there were new patients arriving today, and already he thought he saw a couple people he didn't recognize. How was Landel able to get them all here? He munched contemplatively on a piece of bacon, watching the doors as the patients arrived.

[free for bothering]

[roses_bleues]

The morning brought a change in Diva. It wasn’t so much the fact that she was battered, cut, and covered in human bite marks, all mostly hidden behind swathes and swathes of bandages, or the fact that her fight with Heat had been cut off against her will, or the fact that she was once again considering if she could drink someone’s blood, a quick snack, before dinner. (Whether or not Yukari was alive, if another human got penned in with her then it was all the same…)

No, it wasn’t really because of any of those things, though they might have played a part. Mostly, Diva suddenly woke in the same hospital bed, in the same hospital room, with the same human nurses cooing at her like she were stupid, and reluctantly accepted the thought that she was going to have to try new things to get her way. And in Diva’s language, ‘new things’ meant being craftier. Thinking ahead. After all, the longer she went without any clue as to the whereabouts of her children, the more she realized that the stakes were so much higher than she kept thinking

[officer_leon]

Leon glanced up at the young woman standing beside him. He didn't know her, but he thought he might have seen her around before. So probably not a new patient. She was young, younger than Kagura by the looks of her, and heavily bandaged. He frowned slightly, immediately concerned for her.

"Hello," he replied. He nodded at the chair across from him. "Want to sit down?"

[roses_bleues]

An easy invitation. Diva looked to the chair, then gave her assent by walking around to sit in it. There.

"I want to know more about the ‘visitors’," the Chiropteran continued, in her best curious girl role. She was pretty, sweet, and innocent, and people should generally be kind to her, because she was a fragile human youth. "The ones that get called fakes. Do you know about that? It's really important."

[lost_turkey]

After being dropped off by his less then helpful nurse, John walked into the cafeteria and grabbed a tray, figuring that he would eat. There weren't many people in the room which suited him just fine. He wasn't in the mood to talk just yet. He needed to think things through. There had to be a reason why he couldn't remember how he arrived here.

He took a plate of waffles and a glass of juice before sitting down at an empty table. John didn't start eating right way. He stared at his food, his mind racing as he tried to remember the events that led up to the gap in his memory. He'd been in his room. His Mom had walked in and they had talked. She had mentioned his birthday and that they were going to celebrate with cake. Cameron was going out to get it and then there was an explosion. After that, John couldn't remember. It was frustrating and strange. He never had a point in his life where he just couldn't remember what had happened to him. The only moment he felt as though he'd lost time was the one moment when he literally skipped ten

[theycutitout]

"You fell asleep, and you woke up in a strange place. You don't know how, and you'll never know why."

She didn't say anything in the way of introductions, figuring that she wouldn't have to in a roundabout way. She had a face like one he knew, maybe, and she could be without saying a thing or whispering a word. He was young. He was like her even when he was sitting in a different room pretending he was a potted plant. River took the seat across from him without a word, only limping a little bit on the way with her tray balanced carefully in hand. There were things to think over and things to wonder and things to deal with, but for now there was a boy. And for now she was a girl. A few bites of food were taken before she looked up to acknowledge him again, this time smiling like they were old friends.

"Happy Birthday."

[lost_turkey]

The girl's voice startled him and he looked up, his eyes wide. He hadn't expected to see Cameron here. Out of all of them he assumed that she would have been able to avoid capture, using whatever advanced, futuristic logic algorithms she had in her chip to find the best way out of the situation. Still, seeing her sit in front of him made him feel much better. At least he wasn't alone.

"Happy Birthday?" he snorted, giving her an exasperated look as he inched close to her, leaning across the table. "That's all you have to say? I wake up in a mental hospital and all you can say is 'Oh, you fell asleep and Happy Birthday'? Where's Mom? And Derek? What the hell happened? Did we time skip? Can it happen spontaneously like that?"

John was babbling, he knew, but Cameron had to know something about this. Perhaps he told her this would happen, his future self that is. Maybe this was all part of his plan.

[theycutitout]

"Not a hospital," River replied simply, apparently unconcerned with the fact that she wasn't who he thought she was. She waited in between the drop and the pick up, riding the maddeningly long path for the 15.6 seconds it took to help herself to another portion of scrambled eggs. He was lost again, and this time no one would be coming. Not yet.

"Spontaneous time travel isn't logical by all laws of physics and reality," she finally continued. "Should be more concerned with the theories of multiverse and cosmic inflation. More statistically relevant." River leaned forward, mimicking his posture even though she sported a somewhat vacant expression.

"We don't sleep here."

[longlivetehking]

[free to bother]

Not long after he had fled the room (of which its purpose still remained unclear to him) with Mozenrath, Scar awoke in his bed.

The result of last night's exploring-trip had been rather disappointing to put it lightly, as he had only been able to explore a single area. But at least it had been entertaining. With the exclusion of the woman with the poker, of course.

After climbing out of bed and hiding his steel pipe, his nurse arrived to escort the feline to the cafeteria. He followed quietly, more occupied with trying to walk decently than trying to uphold some sort of conversation with the woman. The nurse didn't leave him alone until his breakfast had safely arrived on the table.

The cafeteria was rather empty still, an opportunity Scar intended to use to try and eat without any audience to watch his clumsiness. As he chewed on his first bite, he couldn't help but to find the taste of these 'waffles' odd. It somehow reminded him of the food he had on his first day in the Institute, but not entirely the same.

[light_wicca]

The very first thing Willow did when her eyes blinked open was, strangely enough, to check and see if her map and scalpel were still in the room. They were. She slowly slid them under her mattress, noting that she wasn't nearly as exhausted as she had been the night before

[longlivetehking]

As always the audience, willing or not, came sooner or later. Thankfully for Scar, he had managed to eat a fair amount of his breakfast before a girl was pushed into his direction. It saved him another embarrassing moment.

"These nurses can be rather pushy indeed." He answered to the girl's statement, a polite smile appearing on his face. The King was rather proper, after all. Especially to people he had just met and had yet to make a fool out of themselves.

Speaking of manners...

"My name is Scar." he introduced. "Considering the habit to give us fake names, I take it your name isn't Leslie?"

[light_wicca]

Willow smiled weakly in response to his question. "No. It's Willow." Well, he wasn't looking at her strangely, so she guessed it was safe to assume her eyes were no longer black.

Something nagged at the back of her mind, though. Scar's voice sounded incredibly familiar. She couldn't quite remember from where, and she certainly didn't recognize him. Or at least she thought she didn't. To her knowledge, she didn't know anyone with a goatee like that or a scar over his eye and....

Scar.

Oh.No. He couldn't possibly be. He was human. But the voice fit perfectly, and... just... wow

[haiiro_no_chou]

[ I can has pester creepy Caterpillar Eyebrow Man? ]When Rukia blinked, and was in her room again, she wondered if the nights were getting shorter. The last two, in particular, seemed to have gone by in less than an hour. It was definitely something she'd have to think about. And she would ask Renji about it whenever she saw him today

[7_to_midnight]

[ In Soviet Landel's, creepy Caterpillar Eyebrow Man has YOU. >D ]

Sylar watched as a girl with crutches was escorted to his table by another nurse. In fact, it seemed as if many patients in this cafeteria were injured, another mystery to add to the already frustrating dilemma. He noted what she was doing as he ate his food; it looked like a series of maps.

He was pleased when the girl started a conversation for him. It was always better to let someone think they'd made the first move.

"Yes, I am," he said with a smile, looking at her, observing her. Her demeanor was reserved, though not cold. She was nicer than she wanted to appear.

"I'm a little confused, though." He furrowed his brow in a show of concern. "I don't seem to remember how I got here."

[haiiro_no_chou]

[ Renji won't like that. XD ]

The man had a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, but Rukia couldn't fault him on that; she remembered how frightening it had been waking up in the Institute, and imagined he was only putting on a show of being cheerful for her sake.

When he asked her a question in the form of a statement, Rukia stopped writing and set her pen down. "None of us do," she said calmly. "I'm very sorry for you that you've come here, but I'm happy to provide what information I can. It's not always... easy to believe, though."

Rukia looked down, pursing her lips in thought. It was awkward, telling new patients what they didn't want to hear. So far, Rukia had been lucky in that no one had gotten angry with her, but she had always met with some degree of disbelief when explaining the bizarre circumstances they now found themselves in. Best to start with something simple, then.

"But first, my name's Rukia. What's yours?"

[7_to_midnight]

"Zachary," Sylar immediately replied. He wasn't about to introduce himself by either of his other names given the fact that there was an article out on Gabriel Gray and the Company was looking for Sylar.

Still, what this 'Rukia' girl had said sounded interestingly cryptic. It seemed like she had some answers about what was going on, and her claim about the facts being unbelievable made Sylar wonder if evolved humans weren't involved after all. He frowned in half-feigned confusion, leaning forward on one elbow.

"And what do you mean by that?" he asked, searching her face. "What's going on here?"

[stray_shinigami]

Renji's first thought upon arriving in the cafeteria was to sit by Rukia, but she was already talking to someone. He decided to let her alone for now, unless the kind of weird looking guy she was talking to started flirting with her or something. Then he might have to deal with that. Or laugh his ass off, depending on how it was going.

It was probably a bad thing that his initial thought had been to go to Rukia, instead of trying to find Hitsugaya to tell him what they'd found out the previous night. Hitsugaya wasn't even there yet - almost no one was - so it wasn't like he could go sit with the guy anyway.

Renji grabbed a tray and put a couple waffles together. They reminded him a little of taiyaki, but would have been much better with red bean paste in them. He sat down at an empty table and kept an eye on the door. There would be new people today. Maybe he should just dust off the old bulletin board post with basic information on it.

[hajike_tobiume]

Momo entered the cafeteria and, after retrieving some waffles and fruit, looked around the cafeteria. Her eyes fell upon Renji and she smiled. it'd been a while since she just sat and talked to her fellow vice-captain, so she headed over and sat her tray down next to him.

"Heya, Renji," she greeted with, for the first time in a long while, her normal smile. "I'm sorry about the punch the other night, but..." Momo's attention was distracted when she caught sight of Rukia.

"Who's that guy sitting with Rukia? He's kinda creepy looking..."

[stray_shinigami]

Renji shrugged. "Don't worry about it," he said. He was used to chicks punching him for no real reason. He'd grown up with Rukia after all. Really, if the women in his life stopped randomly punching him, he'd have to assume they were either dead or no longer liked him any more.

"No idea," he said. And the guy was really creepy looking. Still, he expected Rukia to be able to handle creepy with the best of them, as long as it was a different brand of creepy from Ichimaru. "Haven't seen him around, so I guess he's new."

[hajike_tobiume]

"...I suppose it's better that Rukia talk to the creepy new guy than someone like... say... Ichimaru," Momo replied.

She took a few bites of her waffle after poking it for a moment. "Last night was weird. I was heading rescue, but... there weren't any monsters guarding it. Not even another spider - just locked doors and a lot of waiting."