Day 51: Lunch

[sanguinario]

Edward was glad to wake up to a period of respite. While he had been conscious during breakfast, he'd requested to remain in his room for extra "sleep", which had consisted waiting until the room was vacated to ingest the vial of Venom's blood. The vampire had lost his chance last night, but that might have been for the better; this way he wasn't

Comments

[autophoenix]

Surprisingly, Claire had enjoyed arts and crafts. Enough to keep one of those marker-colored paper fortune tellers in the pocket of her sweatpants to tape up in her room later. Which … sure, was a little bit of a blow to her ego, but it was partially thanks to Elena, at least. She was nice, probably not crazy, and overall, Claire could imagine worse people to spend arts and crafts time getting to know. More than that, she seemed to have enough in common with Claire to make it a little less painful. It was surprisingly difficult to transition out of the comfort of the activity back into the mood where she'd be ready to deal with the institute again

[human_sponge]

Seeing Elle again had taken such a toll (emotionally, he hadn't been ready to see her again; even if he was glad that her death hadn't lasted, the implications of what Landel had done and the reliving of those memories had not been easy to bear) that Peter had decided to keep to himself for the second shift

[autophoenix]

Well, that was either a really good sign, or a really bad sign. Peter had practically beelined for her, which meant either something bad had happened, or she was just lucky that he wanted to hear how things had gone as much as she'd predicted he would. Her fingers were crossed for the latter -- even if it meant inadvertently encouraging his overprotective behavior. Given last night, she was pretty confident that she could take care of herself -- and Elle, even -- so allowing him to take care of her was more in her control. It was her giving him permission to be protective, it wasn't a necessity

[human_sponge]

It was small things, like the way Claire still glanced around to make sure none of the nurses were listening, that made it clear that she was still new to all of this. In all of his time here, Peter had never had a nurse take note of what he was discussing with someone. Granted, when it came to really important things, he still kept his tone down due to some weird instinct, but if they were just sharing the events of their nights with each other, then it wasn't the biggest deal

[quarter_english]

By the time L's conversation with his new acquaintance had reached its natural conclusion, it was too late for him to return to his room to retrieve his journal--and Javert's notes--from the locked desk drawer. The nurse insisted that, as lunch was about to begin, his focus would be elsewhere, and that the journal could therefore wait until after he'd eaten--"You're so thin, Daniel! We need to get some meat on these bones!" Putting up a mild protest got him nowhere, and he had to admit to himself that, in spite of his deteriorating mood, remaining calm and biding his time was preferable to losing an indeterminate amount of time and focus to sedation

[swornandbroken]

The latest announcement rated a token eye-roll from Mello at how the Head Arsehole persisted in talking to the prisoners as if they were toddlers. 'Yum,' really? In the cafeteria, he got a few chips, and a hamburger he knew he'd probably only eat half of, if that. He looked around for an empty table and spotted L by himself. L, who would know, and probably faster than Matt had, that something was off about Mello, but they needed to have the sort of conversation impossible to conduct over the bulletin board. Their last encounter hadn't gone well. Mello wasn't optimistic about this one. L had had a knack for making him feel disapproved of even before they'd messed with his brain.

You have to do this, and it's ridiculous to feel reluctant, he told himself. If anyone had managed to find the answers he needed, it would be L. Mello had utter faith in that much

[quarter_english]

L's eyebrows were obscured by his thatch of dark hair, and when he raised them, it had the disconcerting effect of making his eyes appear even larger than they already were. This owlish look could communicate, with variations in the tilt of his head and the set of his jaw and mouth, a gamut of emotions from surprise to disdain. At the moment, his expression was one of cool tolerance: an invitation for the person on the receiving end to state their business.

Mello might have scheduled this meeting. Why hadn't he bothered? A snap decision? The lack of communication from him over the previous few days had led L to believe that Mello hadn't made any strides in the investigation--nothing worth discussing, at any rate. What was the impetus now?

--If he wants to talk about visitors, he must have had one yesterday, L thought, and wondered if the visitor in question had been a parody of someone he knew. Not Watari. Maybe Roger?He sighed, then extended his hand, relaxed and empty, palm up: an elegant gesture indicating the chair across from

[swornandbroken]

Mello set his tray down, then sat, completely forgetting to sprawl this time, mouth slightly downturned in dissatisfaction, though not set in the scowl he'd allow himself with anyone other than L. I don't do anything out of idle anything, he thought.

"Near," he said, and stabbed a chip with the plastic fork. "The imitation was close to perfect, but it wasn't him." It had been so close that Mello still wasn't a hundred percent convinced it hadn't been the little twit, but he wasn't about to give that away if he could help it. The idea was patently absurd, and he was certain that the main aim of visitors at all was psychological torture: the emotional response they'd evoke. Mello had fallen for it, enough that he inwardly simmered with embarrassment and rage, thinking about it. You can see how they're toying with your emotions, and it still fucking works. That's always been your weak point. L's known it all along. That's probably why he never picked you.With a conscious effort to keep from hunching his shoulders, he popped the chip in

[poorexample]

There was a certain irony in the fact that Sam and Dean refused to believe that he was an angel when at least one of them had trusted the word of a demon at one point or another. It wasn't that Castiel could necessarily hold a grudge, however. This whole situation was too odd and disorienting for anyone to believe more than they had to. As an angel, he was used to accepting things on faith, but even he had lately learned to tread more carefully. Caution was required when you no longer had the powers of the divine on your side

[affictitious]

Though Gabriel had only been alive less than twenty-four hours (for the second time), he'd learned some things.

1. He was not enjoying this whole pseudo-human thing.
2. Sam Winchester was still a dick.
3. He had no idea, time-wise, where he was.
4. The probability of him finding out who the hell had brought him back to life was quickly dropping to zero.

And that was about it. Despite being an absolute master at hiding masking his deep, inner torment, it was getting harder to keep a smile on a face and a wordless holy hymn singing in his heart. The last thing an archangel liked was being controlled - simply because, since Lucifer's Fall, they hadn't been. It was just an absent Father, two sides, and no authority figure to shake a very large and prominent finger at them as He sent down some good ol' fashioned vengence. Now it was crazy guy versus a random collection of humans (and, apparently, demi-gods), that same crazy guy being the proverbial authority figure, and

[poorexample]

The taste of the hamburger wasn't something that he tired of, even after a few bites had already been taken. Castiel knew that it was all due to his vessel; even though Jimmy was no longer present, his physical cravings were clearly still intact, and now he was victim to them. Considering that he now needed to feed, however, this seemed to work in his favor. At least he had been provided with something that this body enjoyed.

In fact, he was so taken in by his meal that he did not notice someone approaching until a jarring voice struck him like a smack in the face. However, it was a voice that he knew, and it was a voice that was speaking his name. Castiel allowed the hamburger to slip from his hands as he stared up at none other than the messenger of God

[affictitious]

Oh goody, it was him. And to think the situation could have been so awkward if he'd been talking to the poor schmuck that was Castiel's meatsuit. It was hard to tell who was who anymore.

Another annoyance. Well. They were just piling up on him.

Clapping his hands together once, he laughed in the face of Castiel's anger. Either he was still stuck in the past - an interesting concept, considering angels shouldn't be so easily misplaced in time - or... well, there wasn't any chance that the news hadn't traveled the globe and above it. Archangel deaths? Pretty big goddamn deal. Even to an angel in the middle of rebelling. "I was waiting for that - just the sort of accusations I deserve! I'm just surprised Sam wasn't as adamant about them as you are, bro

[scientist_skye]

All things considered, Ema was glad that her interview with Mr. Javert was over. Her M-U was an uncomfortable topic all around, and having to talk about it calmly and clinicly was both painful and exhausting. Now that she had accomplished her duty to the greater good by passing the information along to the prosecutor man who was building a case, all she really wanted to do was let the issue and its corresponding feelings and memories go for awhile.

However, even while feeling miserable and tired, Ema couldn't help but feel a little proud of herself and more than a little vindicated. She had learned to fight through and push forward, and those were skills that seemed to serve her well here.

Regardless, it was now time for lunch and a reunion with someone she hadn't even met yet. As promised, Ema stood near the entrance and waited for this Kay person, hoping that the new-old friend would be able to take her mind off everything for at least one shift today.

[KAAAAAAAY! ♥ ]

[stealthetruth]

The talk with Kinda Cute Kaito had been fun; it was nice to hang out with him and make herself a new pin (sure, just out of cardboard and glitter and a fuzzy pipecleaner to keep it attached to her collar, but pin!), and know that she didn't have to worry about figuring things out until lunch, when she would get to meet up with--

"Ema!" she squealed, catching sight of the other girl (looking kinda a little younger-- man, time travel? They would have to talk about that!) and waving wildly. "Oh man, it is totally good to see a familiar face," she chirped, grinning, as she got closer to the girl. "You doin' okay here?"

[scientist_skye]

Ema could only assume that the teenager calling out her name and bounding over was Kay. One didn't even need to be a scientific investigator to puzzle that one out, it was so obvious.

It was almost disconcerting, at least to a certain degree, how familiar Kay was with her. Not that it was unwarranted--they were friends in the future, apparently--but the fact remained that to Ema, Kay was still a total stranger. Strangeness aside, however, it was also difficult not to get swept up in Kay's enthusiasm. Despite the holdover gloom from last shift, Ema couldn't help be smile back. "As well as can be expected, scientifically speaking." That was a safe, non-committal answer. She didn't have the heart to start off with the the truth and puncture Kays good spirits right off the bat, but she also didn't want to lie to her.

"I'm sorry I don't actually remember you. So I guess... nice to meet you? Again."

[stealthetruth]

"Oh, don't worry about it! It is totally cool, seriously. As long as you explain what the heck's going on, at least." Kay grinned, sticking one hand out and introducing, "I'm Kay Faraday and it's a pleasure to meet you again."

[zack_fair]

So Zack hadn't picked the best shower buddy. Then again, he wasn't the one who had decided to stand by the scarred guy, so it wasn't really his fault to start with. It was hard for him to understand how some people could go through their lives being annoyed by everything. Talk about ulcer-inducing! Sure, he'd been through some pretty terrible things, and he could have spent his life (or... second life, whatever this was) being bitter and angry, but where would that get him

[blood_and_pocky]

It spoke of how absolutely degrading the place was, but in truth, Aidou had had more important things on his mind than the fact that he had to be undressed around a bunch of other naked males. Normally such a humiliation would’ve been at the top of the list. Aidou just couldn’t stretch his patience to include it on top of everything else he was juggling--it wasn’t like he could stick his nose up at cleanliness

[zack_fair]

Aidou didn't keep him waiting for too long, and Zack glanced up with a smile as the teenager took a seat and started in on a conversation without a moment's hesitation. That was for the best, probably. While Zack was pretty fond of shooting the breeze and talking about this or that, he was just as used to giving a status report or getting briefed. Both felt comfortable to him, though Aidou was clearly more interested in the latter.

"So do you," he returned as he took a large bite of his hot dog and chewed it thoroughly. He didn't need to inhale his food and end up with a stomach ache, especially seeing how they gave them a decent amount of time to eat.

The question was kind of tough to answer, though, and Zack leaned back in his seat, his body language slightly defeated as he wiped some excess moisture off of his ear. "Yes and no," was his response. "I was searching for a friend, and while we did about as much as we could, we didn't find anything." He doubted it would concern Aidou that much, but he had asked

[blood_and_pocky]

His ego appreciated the compliment he turned Zack’s words into--a vampire could hardly look unwell, given their unnaturally handsome features, something Landel wouldn’t be able to take away--even though the man undoubtedly meant Aidou was merely in one piece