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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[tsunagari]

The fish would be fine if they didn't have to prepare it the way they did. After noticing his displeasure, as he rarely showed much, his nurse helped him get a slightly larger salad than normal with extra fruit on the side. After all, not everyone was going to find everything appealing! Sai was just surprised (and a little concerned) that he'd been so easy to read. Perhaps that sort of thing was simply in her job description.

He sat down at an empty table without trying to find anyone. It had only taken a glance the moment he'd walked in to tell that none of the others had arrived yet. There was no task he had to perform at the moment, anyway, and no one he needed to speak to about anything. For now, he'd just leave himself available in case anyone needed to find him for any reason. It was easy enough to occupy himself with his meal.

[free]

[usoppsenchou]

[Hope you don't mind?]

There still wasn't any answer on the bulletin board, aside from someone else who hadn't seen Luffy, and that really was a bad sign. Worse was the fact that Usopp was still carrying the stupid hat on his back and no one had come for it. It should have been like fishing in an over-crowded pond, considering the way Luffy usually acted about the thing. At the very least, he thought he should have seen or heard some kind of disruption about the hat being missing. Was it a fake after all? At least he'd left a note, Luffy should know Usopp was here again

[tsunagari]

[Of course not!]

The familiar voice caused Sai to smile even before he'd looked up from his salad. He found it promising that Usopp had approached him on his own. It had to be strange for someone to appear in a place like this and tell you they're your friend when you have no memory of them. So he didn't weird the pirate out too much, he'd avoided outright stalking him since his arrival. Even Sai knew that was no way to make someone like you.

The ninja shook his head. "I'm not busy. And you're free to approach me at any time, Usopp. You don't have to ask."

So that might not make the pirate comfortable either, but at least he was being honest. He didn't want Usopp feeling as if he was always intruding whenever he wanted to get a hold of him.

[usoppsenchou]

"Okay, great!" Usopp decided the best way to deal with that open invitation was to take it on face value, and sat down smiling next to Sai. Even if he didn't know Sai that well, at least Sai was a friend, and knew a lot about how the 'hospital' worked.

"I guess you won't be surprised, but almost everything you've said has come true so far... I met a lot of my crewmates already." There were exceptions, but only one was really glaring. "I've been trying to avoid going out past the patient areas at night, and I traveled with one of my crewmates last night, but I thought eventually I'll have to go further. I got a map from a really friendly girl this morning, so after I find someone to team up with I might look around more tonight."

Sai hadn't given Usopp a brief summary of what he'd been doing, and Usopp wasn't sure why he felt an urge to. It just seemed like a good idea. Or a reassurance that, as stupid as Usopp knew he could be, he was keeping his promise and wasn't in any hurry to get eaten either

[heraldric]

It had been nice to be able to speak with both Haseo and Endrance today, and Leon was feeling less exhausted by the time lunch came around. He intended to eat it, of course, as he needed as much energy as he could get before he performed alchemy again. His nurse was always glad to help him through the line, even if he wasn't so short that he couldn't reach everything on his own. (You'd think he was sometimes, from the way she acted.)

The cafeteria was still pretty empty, so he sat down at an empty table to dig in. He usually preferred looking for someone to sit with so he didn't end up on his own, but today he didn't feel like standing around with a tray until then.

[free]

[cannotlogout]

[Well, you did say I was required to have plans with you always :P]

He'd practically fallen asleep on the couch during last shift, the cat still curled happily on top of him. It had seemed rather reluctant to move when the nurse had come to get him. She'd still insisted that he get up though, even when he'd protested that he wasn't really hungry yet, and the cat had heard the noise and gone off in a huff. They were very picky creatures when they wanted to be.

He grumpily allowed the nurse to guide him into the cafeteria, filling a plate with this fish and chips. Tsukasa took one look at it and grimaced. This... really wasn't how fish was supposed to be served. The room was mostly empty still; they were probably shepherding people in from the rec field and greenhouse, so Tsukasa had the pick of the seats. He did spot a familiar head of blue hair though and went over to see Leon. "Hey, you mind if I sit here, Leon?" he asked the other mage, smiling hopefully at him.

[heraldric]

[Damn straight!]

The voice caught Leon by surprise. Was this like a reunion of everyone from 'The World' or something? Well, he supposed it didn't exactly count as a reunion since they weren't meeting up all at once. Still, first Endrance (though he'd admittedly approached the man on his own), then Haseo, and now Tsukasa? Had something gone on that they were all honing in on him for, or was Tsukasa just going to ask about Endrance too?

"No, I don't mind!" The mage smiled at the wavemaster before taking another bite of fish. It was pretty good, all things considered, though the meals could always use more carrot juice. (Especially given that they never had any.) "How have you been?"

[cannotlogout]

Tsukasa smiled back when Leon welcomed him, and set his tray down carefully next to Leon's perching himself in the seat. It was kind of nice to have someone to talk to who he knew but who wasn't from some remote time in the future of the World, with things that Tsukasa had no idea about. "I've been fine, I guess," Tsukasa replied with a shrug. "Not managed to get anything done, but I think that happens here a lot more than most people would like anyway." He kept hearing about nights wasted, slept right through. At least he hadn't done that yet. At least he was still here and so were Haseo and Endrance. "How about you?"

[she_is_ruin]

[free, no limits]Yomi sat at an empty table, quietly eating from a bowl of fruit slices

[chainsaw_royal]

This time, Hime actually managed to convince her nurse not to put that fried piece of meat on her plate and got away with a bowl of fruit slices instead. She did, however, take a small plate of fries as well. It wasn't like anyone here would fault her for enjoying some commoner foods.

Sitting down at a random table, Hime looked over at the other girl sitting there, a faraway look on her face.

"Something on your mind?" she asked, offering an empty smile. It really wasn't her problem, but she might as well ask rather than eat in silence and boredom.

[she_is_ruin]

It was hard to say how long she would’ve sat like that, immersed in the kinds of thoughts hardly suited to her calm exterior. The days were more like a limbo where there was nothing to do but wait for the next trial… unless she actively sought out company to start a discussion or something along those lines. Peaceful companionship, of course. Her newfound susceptibility to sedatives was just one of the changes her body had undergone--that she knew of.

But there was the chance others would come up to her, and Yomi found herself looking up into the face of something less than human.

She smiled, too. Hers was more cryptic.

Returning the spoon to her bowl, she said, “You could say that.” The question, if taken literally, was a bit half-baked, but it was more interesting than if it had come from a regular human.

[chainsaw_royal]

If Hime had known what was thought of her, she would have pointed out it was more accurate to consider her more than human, but fortunately mind-reading had never been one of her many talents. Besides, she found peeking into the minds of others to be a tasteless hobby.

"Well, I suppose it's not odd to become troubled in such a troubling place," the Royal admitted with a shrug, taking a moment to nibble on a fry. She had been given a vague answer, but then, her question had been fairly vague as well. "Anything in particular, or just the usual woes of being imprisoned within these walls?"

[whichwayagain]

Renamon had given him some rather interesting explanations, and on the whole, Mihai found himself wishing he could just credit them to a youthful imagination. Yet she'd seemed so calmly convinced of her ideas that it was hard to immediately discount them, if only because she absolutely believed they were true. It simply remained to be seen if what she'd said meshed with reality

[cigarettes_plz]

[Is he lost again?]

Badou still tasted bitter acid at the back of his throat. He'd spent the first ten minutes of the shift with his head in a toilet and, if he'd had his way, he would have spent the rest of it in the shower trying to scrape Makiko out of his skin. His eye still burned. If he had to guess he'd probably think it was red.

It was a sort of blasphemy in his mind to waste food even when it was so readily available, but the nurse forced him to take a tray and he carried it for all of two steps before dumping the contents into a garbage bin. He wasn't in the mood to be co-operative right now. He wasn't in the mood for much of anything except a cigarette. He could really, really use a smoke right now.

He dropped himself into an empty seat and put his head down on his arms.

[whichwayagain]

[Think about who you're talking about.]Mihai had no complaints when it came to the food, so it was all the more concerning to watch Badou dump a perfectly good lunch into the trash. While Mihai been told more than once that he sacrificed quality for a good deal too often, Badou often took it to an extreme. Mihai never would forget the pitiful amount he'd offered for Mihai's efforts as a bodyguard. So such blatant waste now couldn't mean anything good

[cigarettes_plz]

[He made it all the way across the cafeteria ok. :<]

Badou's shoulder twitched as he was addressed. "Fuck off."

It took him a moment to recognize the voice, but when he did he looked up, eye widening just slightly. He didn't know why, but he felt just a little bit relieved. He wondered vaguely if Mihai had managed to get so lost he ended up here all by himself. "Old man? Sorry." Generally, he didn't mouth off to Mihai. He scrubbed his eye with the heel of his palm. "Hey, when'd you get... Did you just ask me to lift up my shirt?" To his credit, he only looked mildly scandalized.

[lostonlifesroad]

On the whole, Kakashi felt better after his talk with Sasuke. Not that he was looking forward to the conversation, or the warped version of tempura that ended up on his plate. But being reminded that telling Obito about the future was his not only his duty, but almost a privilege in an odd way put the jounin more at peace with the idea. The truth would be a terrible thing for Obito to face, true. But Kakashi could at least be there this time, to help him endure it. And by telling him the truth, Kakashi would also be fulfilling Obito's final request in a way he never thought possible

[itsdustdammit]

Having discovered the wonder of the storage shed, Obito had indeed gotten a little busy, but the conversation Kakashi had promised him hadn't escaped his mind. At this point, it almost fully occupied his thoughts: why hadn't Kakashi told him right away? They were supposed to be friends now...the presence of another Uchiha should have been the first thing he mentioned, when talking about the Leaf-nin here. He heaped food on his plate (always better to have too much than too little!) but hesitated at the end of the line, second-guessing his agreement to meet the jounin. Kakashi hadn't told him. Kakashi hadn't told him. If he was really as wise and great as all of his students said, he wouldn't have hidden that without a reason

[lostonlifesroad]

Kakashi schooled his face into a stern expression as Obito rambled on, the habit of bad excuses still alive and well. And why shouldn't it be? It'd only been sixteen years on Kakashi's end, not Obito's. Strange that the detail should be so easily forgotten, especially with Obito standing just before him. "You really think I'm going to believe that?" Kakashi could still do a perfect imitation of the brat he used to be, but he only made Obito worry for a moment. Soon he was smiling again, even chuckling as Obito poked at his food

[itsdustdammit]

"It's greasy, though, and..." his voice trailed off, as he knew whatever he was going to hear was going to be far worse than the soggy food in front of him. He sliced it into pieces with his fork, then pushed around the pieces so they looked as though they'd been eaten. Obito didn't expect to fool Kakashi, but he didn't like this silence. Couldn't they joke about the new kids anymore, or talk about old times? Why would Kakashi hide something about his clan? Even if someone had done something stupid or embarrassing, well...he'd heard enough complaining from Kakashi about all the stupid embarrassing things he did on his own, so it couldn't be that...

When Kakashi's smile faded, though, Obito knew that something terrible was about to happen. Had it been some twist of phrasing? Maybe they'd saved Rin, but then she died from something else a week later. Maybe...well, Kakashi was alive, so it couldn't be that. How was Sensei? Unconsciously, he leaned forward as much as his conscious mind wanted him to lean back. It was a