Day 47: Lunch

[idontregret]

Heat was able to ignore the still faintly throbbing spot on his head as he was led back into the cafeteria for another meal he had no intention of eating. He kept himself from rubbing at what he knew would be a small bump because dammit it didn't hurt that much. It was embarrassing, was what it was

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[winged_moon]

It seemed like he'd barely left the cafeteria when the intercom clicked on to announce the beginning of lunch, but Yukito was hardly about to complain. Even if he'd only eaten a full meal (and for him, a full meal was very full indeed) he was always quite happy to go back for seconds

[guardiancomplex]

"Why so glum?" Touya asked, sliding his tray into the spot next to Yuki and leaning down to plant a small peck on Yuki's cheek. As usual, Yuki had gotten to the Cafeteria before him, but he wasn't wolfing down his food. He was just... staring at it. Maybe he was having a talk with Yue, but Touya also wanted to make sure Yukito wasn't upset about something.

"You weren't bothered by anybody, were you?" Touya asked, setting in beside Yuki. He hoped that his decision to go to the Recreational Field hadn't been the wrong decision--because if someone had bothered Yukito, Touya should have been there to wipe the floor with the creep's face.

[winged_moon]

The absent look faded into a bright, welcoming smile (with just a hint of a blush) as Yukito glanced up at Touya again, startled out of his thoughts by the greeting. "Oh! No, I was just...Yue-san is being so quiet today, and I was trying to get his attention."

A lot of his worries seemed to somehow suddenly evaporate now that Touya was there, combined with the possibility of hope from what Sakura had said, leaving his expression more genuinely cheerful that it had been for a couple of days. "Sorry I didn't make it out onto the field earlier. I was looking forward to a game of soccer." It was true enough, even if Ken wasn't there. Was he?

"But, ah, I ran into Sakura-chan in the Sun Room and stopped to talk," he continued, with only a slight pause as he considered the issue of his roommate. "And I was trying to talk to Yue-san about what she'd said."

[guardiancomplex]

"Monster finally came out of her room," Touya said, a hint of teasing surprise in his voice. He was definitely happy to hear that Sakura was emerging, though--hopefully it would be more regular as time wore on. Maybe she still wasn't used to being in a different place and sleeping in a different bed. Touya knew he wasn't, but too many crazy and wonderful things had happened for him to care where he was.

"What'd she say?" More importantly: what'd she say that Yuki had to talk to Yue about it? And why was he being difficult? ...honestly since when did Yue need an excuse to be distant and morose? Touya had thought he'd been getting through last night, in some small capacity. But he couldn't push Yue to respond the way Touya wanted him to. "Anything interesting?"

[tostepforward]

It certainly felt odd to be in the cafeteria again without her previous assignment, but Okita's orders had been clear enough. She'd also noticed Homura's overture to Lelouch on the bulletin and mentally filed it away: they must have decided that the young man's information gathering was a potential benefit rather than an obstacle, and she had no reason to argue with it. He could be prickly, certainly, but then so could most of the members of the History Club; their only problem would likely be in averting a clash of egos.

Ayumu obtained her food with a faint, inward sigh, wishing for probably the thousandth time so far that they'd allow her to make her own food, or at least hire a cook with some more imagination. She settled down in a different spot than usual, this time selecting a table that allowed her a good view of the door and not so good of the rest of the room, curious more to see who would come and go this time rather than Lelouch and his cronies

[tostepforward]

Ah. Almost. Someone that Ayumu knew, but from the wrong side.

She was momentarily surprised that he would approach her, after his talk with "Yuuko" and their...encounter, several nights previous, but then sometimes she had to admit that the way his mind worked was a puzzle to her. Did he want something in particular? It seemed likely, or perhaps he was simply counting on the fact that she couldn't move openly in daylight.

"Oh? Of course you may, Himura-han," she replied, shifting in her seat slightly as she gestured toward the empty seat, feeling the few weapons she carried during the day press against her skin as she did. Her expression remained the same polite smile, showing none of her very mixed feelings at his presence. "Is your shoulder feeling better? I do apologize for that."

[scarletspeedstr]

As much as Wally hated the Institute sometimes - well, all the time lately - he had to admit that the meals were at least good. Both in quality and quantity, which was an added bonus. His superspeed wasn't exactly forgiving on the metabolism, so eating a lot was a habit he'd gotten into a long time ago, since it didn't tend to end well if he didn't. Unfortunately that meant that there'd been a few times when he'd had to put up with stuff that wasn't exactly all that great to eat. So while the Institute was still a prison, and he still hated what was done to everyone here, he could appreciate that at least he wasn't having to spend most of his spare time scrounging for food.

And considering who he was hopefully meeting for lunch, he probably wasn't the only one thankful for that.

Collecting a tray from his nurse, Wally didn't waste any time in grabbing a few pieces of fish, an extra large serving of chips, a salad, and some pieces of fruit, piling on as much as he could get away with while the nurses were keeping an eye on things. He

[justanimpulse]

For the second time that day, Bart found himself gently shaken awake by one of the nurses. Startled, he sat up and looked around -- he was in the Sun Room, and the nurse was telling him it was time for lunch. He'd missed the entire second shift.

Why did this keep happening?

The nurse tried to pet his hair, murmuring something about him still being sick; Bart ducked away, and all but ran for the cafeteria. He didn't slow down until he spotted Wally, sitting close to the buffet, though he did grab a tray and filled it with as much fish and chips as he could carry before joining the older speedster. Yes, and he grabbed some fruit and salad too, for variety. He wasn't completely ignorant when it came to nutrition, thanks to Max.

"Hey," he said, sounding somewhere between freaked out and pissed off as he put his tray down close to Wally's. "I blacked out again. Just lost second shift this time, but..." He clutched his hair for a moment, shaking his head in frustration. What was wrong with him? Why was this happening?

[scarletspeedstr]

"Whoa! Wait, what?"

Okay, that wasn't exactly how he'd expected to start the conversation, but Wally hadn't figured on a 'hi, I blacked out again' as a greeting either. He stopped industriously working his way through his plate of chips and fish and fixed Bart with a concerned look.

"What do you mean, you blacked out again? When did you start blacking out in the first place?" Sure the kid had been acting weird since, well, that night (and honestly who could blame him there), but Wally was sure he didn't remember anything to do with black outs.

[justanimpulse]

"What else am I supposed to call it?" Bart asked, Wally's confusion doing nothing to help him calm down. "I apparently slept through nearly all of yesterday and last night, and I don't know about you, but usually it's falling asleep I have a problem with, not waking up!"

And that was just assuming that all he'd done was sleep. It wasn't like he could remember where he'd been, and with nearly everybody he'd talked to today opening the conversation with "I thought you'd disappeared", it didn't look like he had anyone's word to go on but the nurses.

Right, like he was totally going to trust them.

[emotionl4arobot]

Talking with Kio had been interesting, and in a way Brainiac 5 wouldn't have objected to extending the conversation into lunch as well, but he had another, more important meeting scheduled for then, so he bid the older man goodbye and quickly made his way into the cafeteria. Since he'd given Lelouch information on how to find him - something he wasn't entire pleased about, but since Grell already knew his appearance, name, and room number, there currently wasn't much point in keeping hidden - he'd logically have to be there relatively early to avoid keeping the other patient waiting

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5 glanced up and took a good look at the older patient as he got close enough that it became apparent his goal was this table as well, but wasn't sure if the newcomer was Lelouch or not. And the fact that the new arrival seemed intent on just staring at him rather than saying anything wasn't helping to make him any less uneasy. For a moment he even wondered if it was someone who had reason to recognise the Brainiac insignia and what it meant, which made his stomach twist nervously.

Theoretically he supposed it was entirely possible that someone would recognise him or his ancestor's mark, bringing to light far too many questions he'd rather not have to deal with here of all places. But it would be so much easier if he could just... pretend as though his past immediately before awakening in the Institute hadn't happened

[notthistrain]

The conversation with Yuffie's friend had been... interesting, but Cloud supposed that was the sort of thing he should expect from someone who could befriend the ninja so easily. It was a good thing, he reminded himself. Everyone needed more friends and allies in this place.

There weren't many people in the cafeteria when he arrived, meaning he didn't have much of a chance to approach (or avoid) any of the others from his world before he was being urged to find a place to sit down with his tray. It did smell appetizing, even if it all looked fried. The fruit evened some of that out, right?

He dug in not soon after sitting down, hungry now after barely touching his breakfast. Maybe he'd be able to get enough down before something else came along to send him into shock again.

[Free!]

[host_club_honey]

[tiny cute thing ok?]

Despite the scuffle last shift, Honey was feeling pretty good. Not as happy as this morning, but at least he'd managed to stop his friend from being bullied. There were only a few people he recognized when he walked in, though he did make sure to wave to Sen and Sai before he got his tray. Fish and chips. Honey's face clearly displayed just how thrilled he was about that. After the pancakes this morning, it was disappointing, but much as he might wish for it, he knew that here they couldn't have cake with every meal like they did back home.

As he picked up his tray and scanned the room, he did see a lot of newer faces, or at least, ones he didn't recognize. And it never hurt to try to make new friends. Well... almost never.

He bounced over to the first one he found sitting alone and set his tray on the table before climbing into the seat and tucking Usa-chan into his lap.

"Hi!" he greeted the other cheerfully, smiling up at him from across the table. "I'm Honey! What's your name?"

[notthistrain]

Cloud was startled by the new arrival, who appeared to be no more than a child. What was this place, that it was willing to bring children into its nightmarish setting? At least this kid still appeared cheerful, which either meant that he'd remained unaffected by the monsters and psychological trauma, or he was new. Somehow, he was hoping for the first.

"Cloud Strife." The man held out his hand with a smile, trying not to show how much he was bothered by his current train of thought. This kid didn't need any of that, and if he'd been here a while he was sure to have others watching his back anyway. At least he hoped so. "It's nice to meet you, Honey. Have you been here long?"

There. Expressing concern in a general fashion might work.

[host_club_honey]

"Cloud!" Honey repeated brightly, a gentle giggle in his voice, "I like that. Like a big fluffy cloud in the sky." The good thing about a name that was already cute was that he didn't really have to shorten it. Hopefully he wouldn't mind if Honey didn't use any honorifics, since Cloud hadn't used any either, maybe it was okay