Day 32: Lunch

[damnrudecock]

Sanosuke hadn't quite been ready to part ways from Kenshin, but his nurse was insistent, and she was offering food. That second thing was what really got Sano off the couch and headed to the cafeteria. And at the very least, the thing about Okita had been settled, which meant the fighter could focus on his meal

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[whohitreset]

Sonuvabitch. The cafeteria was crowded with people as Matt's nurse lead him in by the arm. He could see the faces of those about ten feet away at most. After that everything started to become a blur of colors and shapes. He knew it was futile, but he squinted anyway to no effect. Bugger allFinally, and with a much amused glance from his nurse that he tried his best to ignore, the young man pulled out the hideous glasses from where he'd tucked them on his waistband. Everything came into focus immediately, but damn the irritating pressure on his ears! "You sure there's not a better pair?" he grumbled

[cnflctofintrst]

Despite the strong tea he'd drank at breakfast, Mello had spent the last few hours asleep on the sofa. Fortunately, the sharpest edge had left his headache, and although he wasn't happy about the fact that he wouldn't be able to keep up with his body's desire for caffeine, he could tolerate the challenge. After all, it wasn't like caffeine was what drove him. His abilities were his and his entirely

[whohitreset]

Matt gave a start, looking over just long enough to ascertain that it was Mello speaking to him. He was immediately conflicted. On the one hand, his friend was alive. On the other... had his plan succeeded? And then of course there was the matter of this hospital and the fact that if Mello was in it himself, there wasn't much to look for in the way of outside help. "Well," he muttered lowly, "so much for the Mello-will-get-me-out-of-this theory." Granted, he hadn't been banking on it too hard, but he wasn't going to tell the blond that.

A couple slices of cheese pizza found his plate, and they looked surprisingly edible enough that he added a couple bread sticks too.

"The nurse wouldn't tell me how long I'd been here," he continued in the same tone. "You'll have to enlighten me. I'm not even scarred." Either he'd been here a while, or this was some state of the art hospital. Though he was willing to guess this anyway, simply because he was still alive to begin with.

[cnflctofintrst]

"This is the first time I've seen you, and I've been here for a couple days," he said. Matt expected to be scarred, so what he'd seen on the news report must have already happened. A thoughtful frown crossed Mello's face. Even Matt might be reluctant to do favors for someone who'd ordered him to his death. It would have been easier if he didn't remember that, even though he didn't sound resentful. "I don't know why you're not scarred," he continued. "Obviously, I missed that bonus." Mello looked towards Matt with a smirk, then picked up his abandoned tray as they moved past it.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked. His voice was quiet. He hadn't recognized anyone in the cafeteria yet, but just because he didn't recognize people didn't mean they didn't recognize him. There was no reason to risk an eavesdropper.

[yin_yang_fox]

The woman pushing her seemed like she was in a hurry. She wheeled Renamon into a large cafeteria and set her at a table, apologizing for not introducing her to anyone, but there are a lot of patients so you understand, don't you, Reiko?

Reiko? Patients? Huh.

The woman disappeared only to come back with a small plate of pizza and a glass of water. She smiled, apologetic, then left to supposedly assist someone else.

Renamon stared at the food in front of her. She was getting more confused with no answers in sight. More people were coming in and sitting themselves down, and she started to feel a little defensive. Where was she? She needed to know what was going on, right now.

And this food didn't really look all that good. She plucked at the sweatshirt she wore, trying to control her anxiety.

[Free fox to a good home?]

[secret_orchard]

[Hope you don't mind a little Frenchman]

Armand frowned in irritation as the nurse herded him into the cafeteria--he was getting tired of the nurses thinking he was incapable of moving from one room to the next without their over-cheery assistance. It was one thing to find your way to a new part of the hospital, but this was ridiculous. The choice of foods wasn't much to his liking either, but he'd more or less missed breakfast. He requested lots of vegetables and perhaps some sausage. He thought he could smell the meaty spice of something like that in the air.

She left him with a full plate and some juice in a seat beside a young blonde in a wheelchair. Someone new? He tuned out so much of what the nurses said automatically he didn't quite catch what she told him. So as not be rude, he poked at the food first with his frown still in place, then looked over at the young woman. "I think she said that you were new. Is that true? I'm Armand."

[yin_yang_fox]

[As long as you can handle her slight mood swings. ^^;]

Renamon's eyes, which had started to dull, snapped up to focus on the man another woman had left next to her. Her mind, focused by years of training, started to assess his threat level, when she realized it didn't matter. She didn't have any of her powers to fight with and she wasn't sure she had the same capabilities in this form. She took a breath (how many times did she have to remember to breathe today?) and brought one of her new hands up to push bright hair from her eyes. Focus.

Her eyes still locked on the man, she spoke soft and low. "One would have to know where they are to know if they're new." She restrained herself from asking what world they were in. She really needed to calm down. "And I am Renamon."

She could possibly get her questions answered, as long as she kept a hold on herself.

[secret_orchard]

"I'd like to say it was a pleasure to meet you, and for yourself, I am sure it would be, miss, but our location makes it a sad place to make new acquaintances." Armand brushed at his hair with one hand nervously, as if it were in his face. He'd become accustomed to that feeling, though it was tied neatly back now. "This little parcel of Hell on Earth is called Landel's Institute. Here, they will try to tell you that your life is not your own and that you are some mad person with another name."

He glanced down at his plate then and tried to cut up the pizza with his fork. He didn't want to handle food with his bandaged hands.

[screwthegods]

The last shift had been a mixture of success and failure for Homura, which seemed to be the normal state of his existance. With a single question, Junior had become more invaluable than Homura had thought. And at the same time, two of those who expressed an interest had failed to show up at all. With any luck, they'd both been pulled into one of the therapy sessions; since the nurses left their "patients" with little choice in the matter, it would be a satisfactory explanation for their absences. Otherwise, it didn't bode well for their welcome inclusion into the History Club

[opposingheaven]

Kenren had taken the last shift in his room, not feeling up to socialising for once, rare a situation as that was. The questioning by that kid had affected him more than he'd thought it would, bringing memories and not-memories to the surface until he'd needed some quiet time to himself to sort through everything and decide which were his and which were Gojyo's. No-one should ever be on first name terms with their future reincarnation.

He felt a bit more together now at least. He entered the cafeteria when the nurse came for him and let the nurse choose whatever she wanted for his plate and then looked around for a seat. He spotted Homura and noted the bruise across the other god's face. Oh, this he had to hear. He was too intrigued not to. Besides, someone who knew him as him would help maybe.

He approached that table and sat down opposite Homura, setting his tray down and then sitting there. "Hey. You look like you had a rought night."

[screwthegods]

The familiar face across from him wasn't at all unwelcome, and Homura chuckled at Kenren's observation. "I'm assuming you mean these." The demi-god motioned to the left side of his face, still bruised, though greatly healed thanks to whatever it was that worked its magic on injuries in this place. "This is actually from yesterday morning."

Yes, between Sanzo and Okita, Homura's poor face hadn't stood a chance of coming away unscathed from that particular breakfast.

"Konzen--Sanzo," Homura corrected himself, knowing Kenren's preference. And really, Homura mostly called Sanzo that name just to annoy the monk more, though he was very aware of the difference. "was rather unsatisfied by how I treated him the night before last. He ambushed me in the hall. He has a gun now, by the way. You should be careful, in case he decides to be mad at you as well. We aren't immune to regular bullets any longer."

One of the demi-god's powers that he would greatly miss, and probably soon if Sanzo had his way about it.

[opposingheaven]

"Well yeah. They kinda' stand out," Kenren replied with some amusement. War gods were used to bruises though so he didn't doubt that Homura could mostly ignore them. It just amused him that anything had managed to get Homura in such a sensitive place. "Huh, I guess I just haven't been paying enough attention then if you've had them so long." He hadn't been ignoring Homura, he just hadn't been looking.

He raised an eyebrow when he heard about who exactly had done that to him. So, Sanzo had got close enough to deck Homura? That must have taken something from the monk. Or Homura must have been seriously off guard, even for an ambush. "Well, if you do insist on picking on mortals..." Kenren replied, a faint smile on his lips. "He's pretty volatile and has the skills to back it up this time." He laughed at the comment about bullets. "Yeah, I'll bear that in mind. Haven't had much cause to talk to him the last couple of days though. Not since Hakkai."

[seiran314]

[Desperate to meet Omi? XD]When the nurse came to escort Aya to the cafeteria, he felt a surge of interest, unexpected and weak, but at least it was something. Food had not been on his 'to do-list' for the last week or so. Now he felt like eating anything they put on his plate

[daddyslilkiller]

[Wow, desperate? Guess we'd better not keep him waiting. ^_^]

Holding a tray with one arm in a sling was a less than easy task, so Omi once again found himself at the mercy of his nurse's 'kindness' as she led him to a seat, plate holding far too many slices of pizza for his liking, but she'd insisted that all boys loved pizza, and since he was a boy, therefore he must love pizza. Of course, that fabulous logic led him to consider the two people he'd met this morning. Odd logic there, too.

Unfortunately for Omi, he was paying more attention to his thoughts than his surroundings, so his nurse had already set his tray down and retreated before he noticed exactly who would be sitting across from him. Not that he could exactly turn around and walk away without making things even worse, much as he might feel like it at the moment.

He dropped into the chair with a tiny sigh. Maybe if he was lucky, Aya would just stick with being Aya-ish, and they could ignore each other.

[seiran314]

[*snort* Heh.]

Aya glanced up as someone was seated across from him and blinked few times. Maybe Omi had something to say? He wouldn't have expected the boy to drop into his company just like that, at least not after last night but maybe he had been wrong about that.

"...hello."

Oh, yeah, that's the way to start a completely unawkward conversation.

No, in truth, Aya was glad to know that Omi was not avoiding him.

[daddyslilkiller]

Oh, if only Aya knew. Omi wanted nothing more than to avoid them all like the plague. He just had the horrible luck to be completely unable to actually do so.

He slid down in his chair at Aya's less than enthusiastic greeting. Just because he didn't feel like spending time with Weiss didn't mean he wanted them to feel the same way. "...Hi."

[tender_cruelty]

[Waiting for River]

More food? Allelujah had been surprised when he'd been pulled away by the nurse, although a little grateful too. Hallelujah was getting restless and that never boded well. But he'd always been used to eating when he was hungry. There was enough crew on the Ptolemaios that there weren't any set mealtimes. People went when they felt like it. It was difficult to keep to proper day/night cycles in space after all.

Pizza. Lockon had introduced him to it on one of his earliest trips to Earth, back when he was still getting used to the fact that he was allowed to eat what he wanted. The thought made him sigh softly. He wasn't sure what they'd do now. Lockon had been the one who'd kept them together, even if he'd been as damaged as the rest of them. Still, he let the nurse fill his plate with far more than was necessary and then took a seat where he could see the door out of habit. Paranoia.

[theycutitout]

Pizza was an interesting subject. Traditionally hand-tossed, but they probably didn't go such lengths here. It was expected that they would import frozen, flat bread and complete the half-started process with tomato-based sauce and coagulated, cow milk

[tender_cruelty]

Allelujah could feel eyes on him as he ate, but paid it no mind at first. There were a lot of people here, and if a lot of people were knew then they'd be staring. He couldn't help it himself. But it was when the girl sat down across from him that he really took notice, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as she looked at him intently. Like she was looking right through him. It was an uncomfortable feeling to say the least and made him shift awkwardly in his seat. She wasn't even paying attention to her food, just... looking at him. Not a good thing when he'd made a habit of trying not to be noticed. It was safer that way.

He smiled at her, trying to break the tension and make himself feel a little better. "Hello," he said, a little hesitantly in the face of her focus. "I'm Allelujah." Maybe that would make make her less intent on him. She gave him an odd feeling though.

[theycutitout]

"You are," she agreed, offering no introduction just yet herself. "Sometimes." Idle fingers picked a bit of cheese off of the piece of pizza laying on her plate. Finally breaking eye contact, River looked down at her plate almost apologetically as nibbled on the cheese. When she looked back up, she understood.

"It's hard for you. I'm sorry," the girl offered finally, reaching out perhaps in the only way someone like her could.