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

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[forgot_it_all]

The intercom alerted him to the coming shift change and he quickly brushed away any signs of his depression just as Hisoka was whisked away and his own nurse approached. Suddenly remembering his journal, he ran over to get it from where he'd left it on the chair just as the nurse reached him. She beamed at him as he put the CD player away and, noticing the choice of music, began chattering on about how he should have been listening to pop music instead of boring old classical. "Pop is so much better for little boys! You can talk to all your friends about it, wouldn't that be fun

[rope_victim]

Miku had left the showers in better spirits than when she'd entered them. Matsumoto-san was certainly nice, and the fact that she was now very clean made her exceedingly chipper.

The lunch announcement wasn't so bad either - she hadn't made a taco or a burrito for Rei in some time, so, when she was handed a plate and and a tortilla she carefully chose some beef, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, rice and a little bit of the refried beans (Mexican food was sometimes a little much for her Japanese stomach) and went to find a place to sit down. There was a little dark-haired boy battling the forces of Mexican food! minding his own business at a nearby table. Miku figured that as confused as he looked, he might use a little quiet example.

She sat down across from him and smiled. "Is it alright if I sit here?"

[forgot_it_all]

Ritsuka had been trying to figure out just how these stupid things were supposed to go together when the brunette sat down across from him. Great, now there was someone to watch his failure.

"Um, sure... go ahead." He tried his best to look like he had some idea of what to do and turned back to the frustration on his plate. He assumed that the meat and things were supposed to go inside the tortillas, but he'd never seen it done before. The taco shells were pushed to the side of the tray like some diseased thing needing quarantine once he realized how crisp they were and as the girl sat down, he was busily pushing the chips that way, too.

[rope_victim]

Miku quietly layered her food - first lettuce and tomatoes, then the rice, beans and salsa on the tortilla. She rolled it up and cut it in half, so she could eat it without much of a mess.

"You seem to be having a bit of trouble, I can show you, if you'd like." Miku offered, pointedly not using the word 'help', nothing made a person feel more useless than that word.

Especially versus food.

[1imited_edition]

Unfortunately for Ashton, running into Amaterasu in the showers had put comforting the disheartened at the forefront of Rein's mind. As soon as her burritos were constructed (this guacamole had an intriguing look to it!) she made a beeline for the collapsed young man, taking a seat next to him.

But how to proceed? Amaterasu just always seemed to know what to say. That kind of intuition wasn't hers yet...

"Having a hard day?" She peered at the buried face. She'd just ask what she thought to be true; neither assume to much nor step too lightly. He'd seemed fine where her memory stopped last night...

[part1of3]

Ashton looked up, eyes swollen from tears, gaze alighting on the woman in front of him. He'd seen her before. He'd passed his flashlight over her face in the dark of the kitchen.. he'd heard that strange voice speak to the woman who might have healed Dias if she had just had the time.

If only he could heal Dias. He was no healer, though - emotionally or physically. All he knew how to do was fight, in any sense of the word he could think of. Right now, though, he didn't feel like fighting.. he just felt like laying there.

He nodded slightly to Reinforce, speaking hoarsely, congestedly. "I guess you could say that." What else could he say?

[1imited_edition]

Ah, what a pitiful sight. Seeing such an expression left no doubt- her compassion was needed here. Hayate would have had it no other way. She would have it no other way.

"Would you like to tell me about it?" It was as comforting a tone as she could muster, but still unsuited to the role. Her voice was soft only in the sense that it was quiet- it was the voice of an oracle, filled with certainty, one fit for the pronouncement of unyielding truths. Appropriate for the all-knowing Will of the Night Sky, but less so her new purpose.

Still, she could manage some warmth.

[part1of3]

Something was strange in the way this odd woman was offering her ear. Maybe it was the tone that was a little off, a little alien.. Who knew who this person had been before she had been taken away here.

"I.. I don't know. It's ...kind of private," Ashton replied, averting his gaze just slightly. "I'm sorry." If he wasn't going to bring it up to Dias, the person who mattered the most, the person he couldn't imagine not being without, not on the battlefield, not here.. he wouldn't bring it up to anybody.

"I, um.. I.. could use a distraction, though." He sniffled a little bit and wiped the tears from his eyes again.

[tartaros_avatar]

The head doctor was growing increasingly annoying. The bit about 'a slew of new patients' was supposed to be noticed, of course. Smug bastard.

The nurse really wasn't helping his mood any. He responded to her empty questions with equally empty answers, trying his best to stay polite. He would rather let the staff think he was cooperative until he had a good excuse to appear otherwise.

He didn't care for the taco idea, really. He just let the nurse ('that blasted thing', his brain now labeled her) select whatever food she thought was nutritious for him and escaped the cheerful menace situated himself at an empty table. The reporter wasn't there yet. Recluse watched the door, waiting.

[ontheabyss]

That shower had been bliss. And she'd been left completely alone. Finally she was able to just have some time to herself. And her shields had worked well enough to keep background noise to a minimum. Real hot water and mental privacy. What could have been better

[prisonerofdeath]

Fox had yet to have any real interaction with any of the female patients, he'd spoken with Claire, but she had been strange...

He found himself wandering over t a red-headed, pleasant looking woman after loading his tray up with tacos that had more than their fair share of meat on them.

Fox offered the woman a polite nod as he sat down close to her, but not so much that he violated personal space. He had considered for a moment going over to see River, the talk on the bulletin board had him concerned, but she appeared to be chatting with one of the other male patients, the one with the strange letter-number combination for his name.

"Hello." He was in a much better mood than he had been the past couple days, and while he was never particularly expressive concerning his mood, he did seem to be more open than usual.

[ontheabyss]

Lyta glanced up, her mouth full of meat and beans. She looked over the guy who was sitting across from her, and nodded. He wasn't hitting on her, that was a plus. And she wasn't picking anything particularly warning or alarm triggering off of him.

She swallowed her bite and washed it down with some juice before answering.

"Hi," she said. "As long as you don't try and cheesy pick up lines on me, we'll be fine. I've had more than enough of that already today."

[prisonerofdeath]

"Oh, you don't need to worry about get any cheesy pick up lines from me," Fox was in a good mood, so his sense of humor was a bit more active than usual, "I use only the very best pick up lines, so, would you prefer 'You must be an excellent thief, because you've already stolen my heart' or 'Do you believe in love at first sight? Or do I need to walk by again'." His tone of voice was perfectly serious, but he was grinning broadly as he spoke, unable to keep from the slight, friendly teasing.

"Well, pick up lines aside, I'm Gray Fox." He started on one of his tacos after he finished speaking. It really wasn't such bad food, even if it wasn't stuff he would go out of his way to eat normally.

[bigshotbarret]

The shower was a little awkward, and he didn't make it much better with the random conversation he had with the random patient within the showers. The point was to receive information, not give a pep talk. Yet he did, while at the same time trying to convince himself of the words he was saying to ease the mans' anxiety. It seemed to merely annoy him.

Barret constructed his tacos mostly of meat, craving the protein it provided. His expression was set fierce and firm as he concentrated silently on his future endeavor. He planned to leave this place--he planned to leave it tonight no matter what it took, or how many bodies he planned to climb over to reach the outdoors.

He took a seat alone and began to munch on his food. He seemed somewhat distant and not too intent on focusing on his surroundings.

[somekinda_lady]

Tifa felt a bit better with the support of Inara and Kaylee, but just couldn't shake the numb feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. Making her taco so there was just about an equal protion of everything she wanted, Tifa took a seat next to her friend. She recognized the expression on his face.

"Want to let me in on whatever you're cooking up?"

[bigshotbarret]

Barret glanced up from his plate to look at Tifa with a slightly upturned lips. If anyone knew him and his thoughts, she would. He debated for moment telling her about his experience with his visitors from the day before, but for the moment kept that information to himself.

He looked back down to his tray and gave a small shrug, "I ain't got nothin' yet, but I ain't stayin' in this shithole any longer. Not after what I've seen...or heard...

"How you doin' so far?"

[somekinda_lady]

Tifa lowered her eyes to her plate. Her greater instinct wanted to bury her feelings down where no one else would see them, but she had to say something before she exploded. Besides, even if she didn't say anything, she knew Barret would pick up on her mood.

"Barret...I heard. About Cloud. I heard what happened to him."

So far, she didn't know how many members of Avalanche, save Vincent and herself, knew about the details of what happened.