Day 23: Lunch

[part1of3]

The second the intercom sounded, while the man on the intercom was still talking, Ashton pulled himself off the couch in the Music Room and slowly made his way to the door. He walked, glided even, as if he were a ghost in a dream. The nurses had already filed up to escort the patients to the lunchroom, and one bustled over to walk Ashton those few

Comments

[shiki_master]

Tsuzuki was feeling marginally better when he was lead back to the cafeteria for lunch. Crying and talking with Amaterasu had gotten most of the emotional stress out of him, and the shower had given him a chance to calm down and think. Especially since he'd hidden himself away in the corner, unwilling to talk to anyone else. Not entirely like him, but he needed a little time to sort things out

[somber_secret]

The last thing Hisoka needed at this point was a shift change. He was exhausted, emotionally unstable-- though he was adamantly determined not to admit that out loud-- and he was actually getting the opportunity to get some sleep.

Not that the nurse really cared about that, it was time to eat! The shinigami was suddenly glad he was so tired, beheading an obnoxious woman would probably be more than enough motivation for the drug-happy staff to pounce. Then again, being drugged would lead to sleep...

The boy sighed, sending one last glance at Ritsuka, who looked as if he was to meet his own doom in the form of a nurse. He might as well go along for now, but if she touched him one more time... The walk to the cafeteria was a quiet one which Hisoka was thankful for, the music had eased his headache but it still lurked like a bad cough and he needed nothing to draw it out again

[shiki_master]

Tsuzuki looked up when he noticed someone sit down beside him. He was fully prepared to greet the person with a cheerful smile. What he wasn't prepared for was seeing Hisoka sitting next to him. He wasn't prepared to see him looking so fidgety, either. Was he nervous?...

It dawned on Tsuzuki that this was probably the best form of apology that Hisoka could give. He'd always been so stubborn... But he was raised like that, right? And just coming to willingly sit by him was enough of an indication that Hisoka wasn't angry with him.

Tsuzuki didn't mention any of this, though. If Hisoka wanted to keep it silent, he could do that. Instead he smiled warmly, and noticing that the boy didn't have a tray of his own, offered one of the pastries to him. "You want a churro? They're really good."

[somber_secret]

Hisoka was almost tempted to let out a sigh of relief, instead merely relaxing as he glanced up. Tsuzuki understood what he was trying to say and wasn't mad at him-- not that he had been worried... much...

Looking at the proffered stick of cinnamon sugar Hisoka made a disgusted face in attempt to hide his earlier relief.

"Keep your heart failure, I'm fine."

Almost as if on cue, his nurse arrived, placing a tray with a bit of everything the cafeteria was serving in front of the boy. The heart-failures on a stick were there too. With that the nurse chided the boy to "not skip anymore meals" before disappearing.

Annoying woman.

Hisoka pushed his tray towards Tsuzuki.

"Enjoy."

[theycutitout]

After leaving Kadaj to his own devices post therapy session, River had happily allowed herself to be escorted to the cafeteria for lunch. Tacos, from what the intercom had described, sounded like something she might enjoy. There was also the surprisingly interesting task of piecing together a satisfactory concoction based upon pre-prepared ingredients to think of, even if she hadn't much time to master the science of cooking

[clone_boy]

Darman had no idea what a taco was or why one would waste time making it nice and neat and wrap it up in these little Earthian bread things

[theycutitout]

"It's not entirely practical. Nourishment value is the same if ingested separately or all at once. Flavor combinations make it more palatable. Capable of eating if engaging in an activity which requires on of two limbs when it's wrapped up. Time spent eating everything alone or at once after assembly is estimated to essentially equal." River recited to the man who had come to share her table. Apparently, she'd been inspecting her own taco as well and comparing methods of ingestion.

For no reason at all, she smiled to herself. He wouldn't take kindly to it. None of them did, but this one especially. A game. A game of chance or maybe a lesson in self-preservation.

"You always have to keep your eyes open," River finally offered after skipping a beat. Though perhaps he would find the advice obvious enough. "It isn't poisoned, but nothing has been so far. Except the water."

[clone_boy]

Darman raised an eyebrow: was he that obvious? The girl seemed to be able to read him and his mindset just as well as a fellow clone, which was surprising. Probably was used to looking at the minute changes in one's body language, but he had to wonder where that skill came from - most people didn't bother unless they had a good reason or necessity required it of them.

All in all, he only understood the part about these tacos not being very practical. That and something about the water being poisoned. That got his attention.

Darman froze for a second, taking her literally. "The water's poisoned? How do you know?"

Funny, he didn't feel very dead, but he supposed that it was possible to poison a prisoner over time. The clone didn't really see the point of that - if you were going to terminate someone, why take the slow way when a shot to the skull would finish the job nice and quick? - but then again, he didn't understand a lot of things these Earthians did. They seemed both backward and yet...somehow capable, always at odds with

[voiceless_rage]

The shower had been brief. That was really all Caim needed. His right arm was still marked with bruises and pocks where he'd slammed into the courtyard's shed door the previous night and gotten slivers, and his ribs still felt unusually soft, but that meant nothing to him. He'd cleaned, and he'd been done, and then he'd stood under the hot water with his eyes cloesd for the rest of the time.

It had been almost a reminder of better times ...

And then they took him to lunch. He spent five seconds staring at the food presented to him, thinking What the hell is this?One of the people nearby refreshing the food tried to explain it to him - something about putting the meat and vegetables in the thin, circular breads and rolling them up, or just putting it in harder breads and eating it that way. It was ridiculous. Caim took his share of the food and found a table, still somewhat unsure of what lay before him

[faithful_frost]

Haku was about to introduce himself when the intercom went off. With a sigh, he allowed himself to be collected and listened with half an ear to the nurse telling him that he was 'thin' and 'needed to eat'. After all, he was a growing boy. He tried not to sigh and look as though he agreed with her.

Until he got a look at the food. He didn't know what the man on the intercom had been talking about but had at least expected the food to look remotely familiar. He was disappointed.

Still, he allowed the people serving him to choose food for him and took a glass of water. That, at least, was familiar.... he hoped.

Looking around, he spotted a large, unhappy looking man. Maybe he had a fetish death-wish when it came to making friends, but he walked over anyway and sat down with a warm, slightly tired smile. He didn't like this being hustled from place to place much.

"I hope you don't mind if I sit here?"

[voiceless_rage]

Just as Caim was finishing the first part of his meal, someone sat down near him with a smile that seemed to have been through better days. He gave the person a scrutinizing look, trying to determine first the gender and then the intent. Definitely feminine, but from the way the clothes fell (although they seemed to fall the same way on everyone) the figure was clearly male.

Caim gave a half-shrug. He didn't care either way if he was joined in a ridiculous meal like this. From the look of the boy, he didn't have any idea what this food was, either. This place was ridiculous - did they honestly expect them to know what any of this was?

Yes, he suddenly thought, they did. They thought everyone here was from their world, and therefore knew everything about it and were just pretending. Damn them all, but they wouldn't keep him here much longer. With his newfound weapon, he'd have them bleeding on the floor in a matter of days

[faithful_frost]

Haku observed the way some of the people were eating their food, then decided to to the safe thing and just use a utensil. While he ate (with a bit more decorum than the man before him) he was observing. This man was violent, dangerous, and seemed to have a short temper. Nothing new there.

He didn't even bat an eye when metal scraped plate. Instead, after allowing the man to observe him, he turned a warm smile up at him.

"My name is Haku," he offered, then took a sip of water. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He bowed his head then looked back up, friendly look not dampened in the slightest by the bandages covering the left side of his face.

[blood_and_pocky]

He despised intercoms. Simply for the fact they were loud and annoying, but only more so since it allowed the "Head Doctor" to hide behind his updates. Stupid little man. Aidou was weak, but human staff members wouldn't be a challenge to bypass, even if they managed to sedate him with everything they had in this stupid place. Unless things were specifically created to affect vampires, they rarely had any effect. Vampire physiology was vampire physiology, after all. It was what came after that that made Aidou hesitate. The man and his companions had power, power enough to bring him here, power enough to keep him. It was the only thing that tamed his impulsiveness.

The words 'new patients' caught his attention during his slow return to wakefulness, however. More "patients"? How often were these people bringing in new numbers? It was astonishing no one had gotten out yet, or at least done something more productive

[killing_suzie]

Jack was more than happy to let the nurse guide him through the lunch line. He even flirted with her as he was getting his tacos together.

Then he had to decide where to sit. It was tempting to bother Lyta some more, just because he wanted to know what her big problem was. He was curious. But then he spotted the young man from the showers, which brought up other questions...

He sat himself down across from him. "Your stalker is certainly an odd fellow," he said, conversationally.

[blood_and_pocky]

Despite spending most of his life living in Japan, Aidou had never had trouble stomaching (or mastering the art) of foreign food. The Mexican cuisine here wasn't terribly well-prepared, but it was better than the servants back home could have done.

Aidou had been multitasking between covering a yawn with one hand and folding one of his many tacos more tightly with the other, as someone sat down across him from him. He realized who it was with a stark jolt when he glanced up through his bangs. He didn't quite flush, but it was a near thing.

"Do you mean yourself, or the ugly seven foot brute?"

[killing_suzie]

Jack took a bite of his taco and gave Aidou a pleasant smile. "Well, let's see if my mere presence makes you flee," he said. "Then we'll both have an answer, eh?"

[seiran314]

As expected, the shower had been eventful experience; luckily Aya had been able to avoid the entire ruckus. He had gotten in and out as fast as he could and without any unwanted attention. Damp hair brushed and neatly tucked behind his ears, fresh pair of gray uniform on, he was ready for yet another stroll around the madhouse

[seiran314]

The day could still turn out worse, Aya was rather sure of that. His luck never failed to rise up to the occasion to fuck things up even worse than he was capable of on his own. The young man over the table did not seem too eager to communicate. Aya was as antisocial as they come and trapped in this madhouse where he just had to deal or accept the fact that nothing came for free. Just wonderful.

Pulling on his best impression of a smile, pale and as far from sincere as possible but still a curve on his lips, he pulled a chair for himself and sat down. "I'm Aya. So you'll know who to blame for interrupting your lonely pastime." His words could have implied the busy staring or something else completely.

He couldn't really blame Yohji for this foul mood, but it didn't stop him from wanting and cursing the blond for being such a stubborn asshole as if Aya had been any better. As Kadaj stared away, he started slowly shoving his lunch together, stuffing the burrito with as much vegetables as possible.