DAY 52: BREAKFAST

[nobleobliged]

How one's body could maintain a waking schedule when sleep came unnaturally and in a room without windows, must surely be a mystery. Yet, as if working on cue, Natalia stirred well before her nurse arrived. That was normal. Less so, the weight that sought to press her eyelids closed again, the heaviness of her limbs that made lifting her hands to

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[for_a_song]

Compared to the two previous evenings, last night had been fairly uneventful. He hadn't learned as much as he would have liked to, but Gren figured that was a fair trade for feeling less exhausted this morning. Even his arm hurt less than it had the previous day.

The mention of 'therapy' on the announcement, however, didn't bode well. While he was fairly sure they were too committed to the day-time appearance of normality to do anything outright harmful, he had no doubt that whatever it was would probably be geared towards convincing the patients that they were all delusional. Still, maybe if he payed attention, he could learn something.

He went through the line and fixed a breakfast plate at the nurse's insistence. He still didn't have much of an appetite, but he knew he couldn't really blame that on the institute. He'd gotten there early that morning, so there was plenty of empty seats. Picking one, he sat down and began poking at his breakfast.

[Open]

[bitpartgod]

[♥?]Well, that was a huge relief

[for_a_song]

Gren had been busy mulling over less-than-pleasant thoughts, and was thus a little startled when a voice interrupted his steady abuse of the scrambled eggs on his plate. He looked up, eying the newcomer. Wow. He hadn't seen anyone quite that pale since...

Well. Someone he didn't particularly want to be thinking about at the moment. The last thing he needed was something else to brood over. Thinking about the past again certainly wasn't going to help him survive the present, after all.

Shoving the thoughts away for the time being, he smiled and shook his head a little. "Not at all," he replied. "Feel free." A little company might help him shake off the gloomy mood he'd managed to work himself into, in fact.

[bitpartgod]

The man's expression might have flickered for a second there, but it was the smile that came afterwards that really mattered. Maybe he was just a little bit unusual looking here? The way he looked now wouldn't have turned many heads back in his own universe, but Kibitoshin figured that there were so many different worlds jumbled up here in the Institute that those sort of rules didn't really apply anymore.

"Thank you!" With a nod he put his tray down opposite and took a seat, smiling back gratefully- and a tad apologetically. Goodness, maybe Michaelangelo had been right about his apologising. Quickly, he stuck out a hand so that the lasting impression was of general friendliness rather than embarrassed awkwardness like it always seemed to be. "I'm Kibitoshin, by the way. I hope I didn't interrupt your thinking or anything like that."

[emperesse]

[ from here]

To say the smell of the cafeteria assaulted her senses would be an understatement. The smell was unusual; not that hot dogs were a rarity in Japan, but they were an unusual attribute for her. She followed her nurse with her head straight and her nose wrinkling at the smell she couldn't place. In the distance, she could see the food. The small pieces of pork wrapped in bread reminded her of some of the things she had with Minato. Those afternoons where she tried new things always warmed her heart, but the unfavorable lighting and the similarly dressed individuals displeased her. She didn't like it.

But she suspected she had no choice but to deal. Mitsuru knew it was unwise to look down upon food, and she couldn't help but admit to the bit of curiosity within her. The food in the distance looked so strange. Was it some unusual American delicacy? What would its taste reveal to her? However unusual her experience was, she couldn't help but give in to that urge.

"I can handle the rest. Merci," she told her nurse as they

[rischiarare]

What they had taken wasn't really of any use to the Nobody, but he figured it couldn't work. He hadn't even know what it was at first, and even now, waking up with the cold metal in his hand, he still wasn't sure what to do with the weapon. He couldn't use it himself; why would he want to? The Keyblade was obstinate sometimes, but it was his. It was what he knew, what he'd been born to use, and what was comfortable. This gun thing... it was heavy and cold and didn't have any light with it. Maybe someone else could use it

[emperesse]

Had it not been for her experience with Iori, Roxas' words would have gone completely misunderstood. Mitsuru still had to parse it out in her mind for a moment all the same. The words, mumbled around food, sounded as if they were nothing, but she knew they were something. The various sounds-oh, yes, now it made sense.

She noted that he seemed earnest about his food. The look in the eyes, his smile-he had decided to enjoy it, even if she hadn't yet. After all, she could still feel the grease lingering on her fingers. Many others in the room were eating without their utensils, and she decided that it was what she was meant to do. Learning in the process, as it were. But she did wish she had someone familiar to explain this to her. Not that she needed someone to help her decide, but discussing this simple food could be interesting, couldn't it

[rischiarare]

Roxas considered her calm answer a success on his part; since he hadn't screwed up his conversation with that last girl, maybe he could go through another one without making any mistakes. He'd have to tell Jim his advice was working out pretty well, though maybe Roxas was getting a little more confident about himself without worrying about that whole "assume you're wrong from the beginning" thing.

He couldn't be wrong if he helped her out on things he actually knew, right?

"Oh, you're new?" he inquired with interest once his mouth was clear and uninhibited by food. He didn't know what acclimated was, but it was good to know she wasn't falling for Landel's normalcy act - oh. Except that wasn't the weird he'd been expecting her to bring up. That was kind of weird. No "there are monsters here?" Just... asking about food

[moral_liberty]

Morning had come to Kaworu slowly. It was the routine that made the world seem less real than the night he had left. Even as he was moved, it didn't seem as though he had woken at all. It was the memory of the night, looking into Ayanami's mirrored eyes, that seemed to be the truth. It was during the day that he was expected to be Addison, a person that did not exist, except in his own memory and the memories of others. Was that enough to bring him to life? Was there anyone who loved Addison, and saw instead Kaworu as the infection? Was he the unwelcome entity occupying the one they loved and missed

[sdatislife]

Shinji, surprisingly enough, felt better this morning. His head felt a bit clearer. Maybe it had something to do with getting actual sleep last night - he'd passed out entirely, falling into sweet, dreamless sleep. No nightmares. No memories of blood. No watching as his friends died or left or were hurt. Although the memory of his encounter with Toji yesterday still stung him, he felt a bit stabler. He had retrieved the usual tray and today he actually had something of an appetite. He was looking for somewhere to sit, somewhere out of the way, when he spotted a familiar pair of crimson eyes, pale skin, pale hair.

He hesitated - Kaworu had promised him he would live. He wouldn't die. He wouldn't keep trying to end the world. He liked Kaworu. He was a friend - but it still hurt. The nurse accompanying him gave him a look and Shinji hastily found a seat across from Kaworu. He picked at his food for a moment before murmuring, "H-hey, Kaworu..."

[moral_liberty]

He noted the slight resistance in Shinji to sit there with him. Only a brief moment of indecision, as his mind ran over all that their relationship carried now. The pain, the confusion, the betrayal. No bond was simple, and they both must understand that. The complexity of life alongside others prevented true understanding. The sort of companionship that was demanded of life was impossible, for no soul could truly understand another. There were depths to Shinji that Kaworu would never know. There were currents inside of him that he could not explain to Shinji

[sdatislife]

For the first few moments, he wasn't sure what to say. It seemed like a long time since he'd last seen the other boy, even if it had really only been a day or so. He fidgeted and in order to fill the silence he began eating, an excuse not to speak. He chewed slowly, trying to think of something - anything - to say. At least until Kaworu spoke up. He swallowed and blinked. Of course he had. Kaworu wanted to see him. He wouldn't lie like that.

Would he?

He offered a small, hesitant smile. "I... yeah. I... I wanted to see you too."

Which was the truth, but didn't even begin to give voice to all of Shinji's doubts and fears.

[heroesdontshave]

Okay. Getting knocked out once was kind of ridiculous, but since he'd been distracted his first night, maybe it made some sense. But twice? He had even been on the lookout this time! How was it possible they'd managed to sneak up on him, knock him out, and drag him back to the room again?! What made it worse was he never remembered being attacked in any way either time. Just, BAM. Back in the room again. It was really starting to piss him off

[scavengerbird]

His second morning. Zevran had become accustomed to waking up alone more often than not in his new line of work, but it didn't stop the room from feeling cold and empty. He held the while walls and sparse furniture accountable. Still, it was nicer than the night, as the oppressive feeling of being stalked had dissipated. It was normal to feel vulnerable to the changing fates, to the fickle life of a Crow, to the tides of Darkspawn, so on and so forth, all while protected only by one mad mage's friendship. But that was a different sort of stress. It was intellectual, he supposed. Worrisome things he was aware of and would like to avoid dying by. By comparison, the last two shadowy nights made him feel like prey. He didn't know what was wrong, only that it most definitely was. It was not as fun being on the receiving end

[heroesdontshave]

Snow's interest had been pulled from his food as soon as one of those nurse-guards stopped near him, ready in case she was planning to start some trouble with him. Instead, it looked like she was dropping off the one she was escorting off here... though it seemed like this one went and got his name all wrong, too. He wasn't exactly gonna correct her, though. They probably didn't even care to begin with, and it might be better if they didn't have his real name anyway. But within moments, his attention shifted from the guard to the refugee himself

[scavengerbird]

At first, Zevran stared back, taking in the man's obviously confused gaze. Eventually, that same stare grew into a bitterly amused smile, as he realized that the most likely offender was his ears, or perhaps the tattoo. Wherever this young giant came from, elves and tattoos were apparently uncommon. Still, elves were almost everywhere humans were now. Unless he was an exceptionally sheltered noble who spared no thoughts on the alienage, or was from a very isolated village, it was bizarre that he would look at Zevran as though he were, well, bizarre. However, it was certainly less strange than the boy who had been shaking in his boots at the sight of Zevran, and then called him 'lord'. Maybe this truly was a house for the mad after all

[scintillatingly]

If there was one thing Sora had never expected to do, it was wake up with a gun in his hand. That unsettling weight in his palm was enough to push the boy out of bed. While he knew that the weapon could be used for good, he still didn't feel comfortable handling it himself. It would end up in good hands one way or another (he would make sure of it), but at the moment it had to be hidden

[beyondinfinity]

Just stay focused, Space Ranger, Buzz thought to himself as his eyes darted back and forth across the hall. He was apparently being escorted to a mess hall of some kind, but that definitely wasn't his highest priority right now. He could barely even glance down at himself without reeling from shock, and 'himself' wasn't even his biggest concern - what about everyone else? Somehow, he'd been separated from them and had ended up here, like this... It didn't make any sense! How could any of this have possibly happened?

And maybe that was the key to all this. Lotso, the factory settings switch... Buzz remembered waking up suddenly in that dump truck with no idea how he'd gotten there, and now he'd appeared in this strange facility just as suddenly and with just as little explanation. Something here stunk beyond the whole human thing - maybe... it was all some kind of strange hallucination. Maybe his friends had never been at the dump after all!

Buzz frowned. It had felt so real, so... terrifying.. But if it had never happened, then his

[beyondinfinity]

"And here we are!" The nurse threw open a new set of doors, revealing a giant cafeteria. Buzz stood in shock for a second - so many people able to see him in plain view! He tried to shake the instinctual discomfort in the pit of his gut by instead focusing on the room itself. There were windows on the right and left, looking out into some kind of yard. So far, the whole facility seemed pretty civilian, a lot like Andy's elementary school, where Buzz had once gone as a part of show-and-tell.

Somehow, though, Buzz didn't remember Andy's cafeteria smelling so... good. He felt a weird sensation in his mouth, like water was building up, and he found it didn't take much urging from the nurse to end up in the food line. He remembered seeing food like this on the Davis' kitchen table, but the idea of actually eating it

[scintillatingly]

Up until hearing his fake name, Sora had been totally engrossed in his food. He made it a habit of trying to get as much of it eaten as possible before he started talking to someone, since a conversation could easily distract him from his meal. It had happened before, anyway. But ever since that day when he'd truly thought he was Matthew, he couldn't not hear the name if it was spoken near him