Day 58: Lunch

[full_score]

Although it had been good to see his mom again, Claude entered the cafeteria with a dark expression on his face. He was glad she felt comfortable enough with him to share her experiences from last night, but that didn't make him any less angry at the military for using her to do their dirty work. Why couldn't those bastards clean up their own

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[poorexample]

It figured that dealing with Noah was just as frustrating as it had always been. Michael barely knew how to feel about the whole thing. He hadn't seen his brother in over a year until now, but all they'd done was argue. It was hard not to when his brother always seemed to make a joke out of everything. Michael knew that he should have been kinder, should have given Noah the benefit of the doubt because of his illness, and yet for the most part he'd acted the same way he always had. The sickness didn't have anything to do with Noah's tendency to push everything serious off to the side -- and to tease him

[yin_yang_fox]

The conversation with Nigredo hadn't made things any simpler--the opposite in fact. It raised valid points, both productive and detrimental, and half of the Digimon wondered if she had been out of line. It was vaguely human to think, a step past learned decorum, and she was slightly dissuaded; not enough to disturb but enough to shift to a different mindset. More considering. There was talk of the drug trials on the board, and Renamon wondered if she should put effort into exploring that after tonight. A goal to consider, by any rate, even if the payout for it seemed lax

[poorexample]

At this point? Michael was getting really sick of that name

[yin_yang_fox]

Renamon was quiet as Castiel spoke. Words came as something to be believed at first--he would not be the first who had given her a name that was untrue. That was the only believable aspect, as he went on. He reintroduced himself as a human, even as he still felt anything but. Her expression remained neutral as he finished, and she considered the implications

[poorexample]

Thus far, this was the calmest reaction he'd gotten in response to his whole speech. Maybe Rena -- Reiko was just reserved by nature. Or maybe it had something to do with her illness. Maybe "digital monsters" (what the heck was that?) weren't supposed to be expressive or reactionary. Angels weren't supposed to either, if his persona as Castiel was anything to judge by

[yin_yang_fox]

The small smile held as discomforting. It didn't quite fit with what she knew. However, she maintained her neutrality, and only nodded politely to his words. He hadn't questioned that, at least. Switching names and such as easily as clothes. There was more to it, of course, but if there was nothing she learned from her interactions with the Devas is that most want you to play the parts, paranoia nonwithstanding.

And he had given her an opening to continue on.

The Digimon took the avenue without missing a beat. She sighed, eyes half-closing in mild irritation. "Too long," she gave as an admittance. "And I'm not looking for any trouble. I'd prefer to regain myself and go back to my family as quickly as possible."

Family was a stretch, possibly. Though the devotion claimed was closer than blood or data could be. And what was said held as true. She needed to get to Rika as soon as she could.

[poorexample]

In the end, Michael hadn't had any reason to be nervous. He'd thought that the change he'd gone through would make things weird between him and Ren -- Reiko, but it seemed like she was just as easy to talk to sane or not. Here was one small relief in what had been a very hard day

[yin_yang_fox]

The words came more easily to this version, it seemed. If not for the overriding feel of something else, the Digimon would believe this was just a normal human before her. Even the manner of speech had shifted. She angled her head to the side in a give. "No. Some are not. They've lost touch entirely with what's reality

[poorexample]

A sister. It wasn't something he'd been ready for, even though he'd asked. Michael leaned back in his chair slightly, staring down at his food for a moment -- and yet he still didn't have it in him to keep eating. Not when a much better alternative was sitting right across the table from him and he wasn't allowed to have it. Not that that was Reiko's fault, of course

[yin_yang_fox]

Her mind shifted partially. Had Castiel spoken of a sibling? Did angels even have siblings? What would be the equivalent to that-- Ah, it was a question that she could not answer herself. And for that, would have to ask him when he--

...Was she being ignorant, assuming the angel would return to himself? When she knew there were many who hadn't. Renamon was taken aback by her shortsightedness, staring at Castiel. If anything else, she needed to at least stay on task. A part of her was shaking suddenly, somewhere inside, and she didn't know if it was from the realization, or the mention of Rika. Lost time. She didn't want to contemplate what the connections could be to that. She loses a night, and finds Castiel like this. What else had changed, while her awareness had laxed? She blinked with some effort, and hoped he would take the odd shift of expression as some kind of emotion turmoil

[poorexample]

It seemed that something he'd said had affected her, but maybe it was just the thought of her own sibling being stuck in this place. It didn't seem like that was the case, at least, but he could see how even imagining it would be disturbing. Michael himself hadn't been ready to see Noah here, but he'd been forced to deal with it. And his brother was no more endearing without his mind than he was with it, as it turned out.

Her question was one that pulled a sigh out of him and eventually he forced himself to take another bite of his unpalatable food. "Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be improving much yet." He didn't even want to make it clear how bad it was. That would just turn out to be embarrassing for him, since Noah was very deep into his delusions, which were very tied into his own.

"I'm going to try and help him get back to himself, but with Noah it's an uphill battle." He was stubborn, but in a completely different way from what Michael had imagined Dean Winchester to be like. In this case, it was just annoying.

[yin_yang_fox]

And it was almost perfect, how the conversation flowed towards the question she had wanted to ask. There was a twitch inside of her, an old dance she hadn't had to use for a long time. "It's all you can do, in the end. Support them, and help as much as you are able to."

Truth in all matters. There existed no lie in her words. No lie in the subtle curiosity she showed either, when she tilted her head to look at him. "How did you get back to yourself?" she wondered. "The last time I saw you we were discussing a demon. And that was only...." She trailed off, the only thing feigned. It had been three days ago exactly. And somehow, within that time, something had changed.

[poorexample]

Reiko's words were certainly meant to be a consolation, which meant that Michael nodded in response to them out of reflex. In the end, though, they weren't of much comfort to him. Noah was the sort of person who would fight to remain crazy just to be difficult, and Michael wasn't sure he had enough faith left to assume that it would all work itself out eventually. Still, abandoning his brother wasn't an option either. It never should have been

[yin_yang_fox]

[sorry for the delay.]

It wasn't an answer that gave any details, but it remained as an answer. And much like the ones heard from that day. There likely wasn't much to gain from this, then. Losing consciousness as one person and waking up as another gave little in the way of explanation. She could push and prod for things further, but she lacked the heart to do it. Despite herself, this was affecting her more than she would have liked.

She wondered if Castiel would return. And if he would remember any of this at all. The Digimon looked up, expression bordering troubled. "I hope that you find yourself fully," she finally said, leaving the meaning to be found by itself. "There's nothing like being lost. If you need anything." She stopped, checked herself and leveled her expression. Her head tipped forward in acknowledgment. "Let me know. I'll do my best to assist you."

[poorexample]

Suffice to say that Reiko stood out from the rest, if only because she was actually trying to encourage him to get healthy rather than arguing. Michael was strangely touched by it, that someone so young and so confused about herself could still find it in her to offer support. He already realized that there wasn't much she could do -- this was something that he had to sort out for himself -- but it was heartwarming nonetheless