Nutritious Poison

[Oren]

Shoutoku opened the door and held it for a second so that it wouldn't close on Gunner. She hadn't been paying much attention to where they were ever since they had left the garden. Odds were she was still aggrivated over losing. It couldn't really be helped, though. Shoutoku was skilled, but he couldn't turn back time.

They reached the lunch line and he grabbed a tray, sighing as he realized that Gunner was a vegatarian. Although she had a different personality than most unicorns, odds were she still didn't like watching the consumption of woodland animals. He sighed, exasperated. He hadn't thought of that when he decided to come here...

"Now, what to get..." he let his voice trail off, hopefully not giving away his dilema.

What do normal people eat...? he asked himself, thinking through the books he had read. Most creatures didn't eat cooked meat and quite a few had salad as a regular instalment... didn't they? He had never paid much attention to diet...

"Okay..." he looked at the lady behind the counter. She wasn't human, of course, and she knew he wasn't either. Her eyes told him that much. He smiled at her and said, "I'll have a PB&J, a Ceasar salad, and some root beer, please."

It was an odd combination, he knew, but he didn't think he could stomach anything different. The only thing that made him more sick than plants was cooked meat! He wanted to puke just thinking about eating that disgusting concotion humans thought up. Stiffling a shiver, he smiled at the lady at the cash register, relieved that she couldn't tell he was a griffin. That was one less suspicous look glaring into the back of his head as he went to his seat. Although he couldn't care what people thought, glares were never ever appreciated.

Now... where to sit...

He looked around at the twenty or so people sitting sparadically across the room. His usual spot was taken, so he tapped his finger on the bottom of his tray. Sighing, he picked a random table closest to them. What would be the harm in trying a new place? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

[Anzeh]

Once the uniorn walked into the dining hall she placed her chocolate into her pocket and reached out for a tray. Being a horse, she was incapable of eating anything that had the ability to see its own shadow. To be perfectly specific, she was an ovovegetarian, meaning that she ate veggies and eggs. Once she saw him get his food, Gunner walked up to the counter and said, as though it was the most normal thing in the world:

"Can I have eggs, linseed, oats and carrots and apples?"

She turned away for a bit and gave her a bowl of what she wanted plus little vegetable oil on what she ordered plus a shiny red apple not in the bowl. A smile and a thanks as she walked away with Soga to find a table. Although the oats made up most of her food, most of what she smelled was linseed and egg. This was an ideal meal for the unicorn.

Gunner had never cared what other animals ate, especially not if they were her friends. After all, to each their own and whatnot. Even though this was her diet, and even though there was a bit of variety in what she could eat, she usually tired of carrots and chaff, along with maize rather quickly. She hated all the restrictions on her diet.

Upon sitting down she stared at her plate and began to eat it. To anyone else it might've tasted positively revolting, but she didn't mind the taste anymore. Aeon was more curious as to why Soga was eating what he was. He was a hawk and a lion (of this she wasn't completely sure; she was never sure with those animal combos) neither of which ate anything besides meat.

She wondered why then, he didn't just get meat.

Perhaps he doesn't like cooked food?

[Oren]

The first thing he ate was the peanut butter and jelly. It was the easiest for him to stomach. This had to be the thing he hated the most about interaction with other people. For the sake of curtesy he would put himself through so much. For example, he was eating food that he couldn't digest. The only drawback was he didn't know how long he could keep the food down before throwing up.

Halfway through the sandwich, he set it down and picked up a leaf of lettus, slowly munching on it and taking small tastes of the dressing. That was the only reason he had gotten the salad: the dressing. It wasn't a taste he neccessarily enjoyed, but it was interesting. He liked interesting things.

He smiled to himself. The salad dressing was much like Gunner. She was a unicorn who loved to fight, was addicted to sweets, didn't run with a herd, and didn't seem to like what she was eating. Her tone when asking for the food had seemed more reluctant than he would have expected. Was it possible that she didn't like lettus and such? It wasn't likely. Not to mention that it really wasn't his business.

He nodded toward her food. "Is it good?" He was sure that it was, to her, but it was the only thing he could think of to say. It wasn't like he knew her all that well and he definitely wasn't good at small talk or full blown conversations. Discussion he could handle, but this wasn't the time or place for a heated debate. Hopefully she could come up with a better topic.

[Anzeh]

The unicorn sat and chewed on uncooked oats and raw carrots along with cooked linseed for a while before picking up the apple, which was definitelt her favorite. She knew it was stereotypical of a horse to like apples, but she didn't care at all. She loved apples almost as much--perhaps even more--than she loved sweets. Both gave her insatiable amounts of energy, so that was what she ate before a big match. Then again, oats also did the same thing, but she didn't really like the taste of oats that much.

But Aeon was curious about Soga, and that she wasn't going to hide, while she chewed she looked at him,and although there wasn't too much of a reaction at he ate, there was a little emotion that crossed his eyes everytime he chewed or swallowed. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was 100% sure it was there.

He asked her if it was good.

"I guess so," she replied softly, staring at the large red apple between her hands. "But... why are you eating that? You can't digest it."

Ah, crap. She hadn't meant to say it aloud. She was only supposed to be thinking it, silently wondering. the unicorn didn't really want an answer! Well, she did, but she wanted to be smoother than that! Have a little tact, you know!

[Oren]

Shoutoku nodded as she answered and choked on his root beer as she asked a question of her own. Forcing himself to swallow the liquid, he looked at her with his eyebrows knit together. "Hm?" he asked, making sure he had heard her right. He hadn't quite thought she'd ask him about it, much less that bluntly.

"Um... well... I can't say I don't like the salad dressing... and peanut butter has an interesting texture... and... the root beer... its... fizzy..."

He knew he wasn't really answering her and, even worse, his reasons were definitely weak. Not preparing an explanation was definitely not the smartest thing he'd ever done. It wasn't the stupidest, either, but it was still pretty dumb. Gunner was smart and seemed to notice the little details. He should have expected as much from her... Maybe she would accept what he had already said...?

One look told him that she wasn't.

He nodded while taking a small sip of his drink. "See? No harm done!" Smiling, he set the soft drink back down and took another bite out of his sandwich. He chewed it at a regular pace and swallowed it, making a gesture that furthered his point.

An idea came to him and he smiled, furthering his argument. "Besides, I'm a man of many experiments. Is it so unusual for one to try new thing?"

That was a little more solid and completely true. It wouldn't be unusual for him if it was. He often messed around and exploded things and performed tests on himself. This incident, though, wasn't one of those times...

[Anzeh]

Gunner looked at him and frowned at his explination. He was obviously lying. But she decided to be patient and give him a chance to tell her the real reason he was eating food he quite obviously couldn't digest. She watched drink a bit more soda and take another bite of his sandwhich and assure her that he was fine and he was a man of experiments.

She wasn't convinced. Even a man of experiments wouldn't be so hellbent as to mess with their own digestive tract. She doubted that he would be one of those fools who did. She wanted to press the issue and tell him that he was going to make himself sick, which he probably knew already, and shoo him to the bathroom to go throw up and get something he could actually eat. However, since she had already brought up the subject tactlessly, she should at least be more savvy about this one.

"Whatever you say..." she muttered, biting into her apple again before returning to her oats and whatnot. It continued to bug her while she ate her horse food.

[Oren]

Soga smiled at her. She didn't believe him, that much was obvious. But! she was allowing him to keep it to himself. She was leaving room for him to explain on his own time and not at all if he didn't want to. It was nice of her, really. Many people that caught on to his eating habbits would make him give a better reason. One would have thought he'd have a better excuse by now.

Then again, wasn't she being just as polite as he was? That was kind of... insulting, in a way. For one, he wasn' exactly being polite, but considerate. She was just trying to lure him out under the guise of being apathetic towards it. It was very effective, typically. Too bad he was who he was, though, for that type of treatment too them nowhere.

Also, it didn't fit her, being meek and the go-with-the-flow attitide she was taking. He didn't like it. He wouldn't show it or comment about it, but he still didn't like it. She seemed to be the type that would take ahold of a situation and find out what was happening before letting up. Maybe he was wrong...?

Downing the rest of his root beer and ginishing the last of the sandwich, he looked up at her. Swallowing, he said, "So, how old are you exactly? I don't pay attention to age when looking through the school databases. It's too bothersome to memorize numbers to go with names, faces, and random facts."

It was true. Gunner was obviously young, somewhere between fourteen and sixteen, he presumed. Of course, assumptions could always be wrong. Appearances could be and often were misleading. Now, to see if his guess was correct...

[Anzeh]

It was true: acting like this and just letting sleeping dogs lie was not something Gunner typically did. In truth she was still quite sore about being beaten even though she’d assured herself that the win was fair. No matter what it just would always nag at her when she talked to him. It annoyed her really. Therefore, she’d rather not talk to him more than she had to while they were eating together. So she let it go. For now.

Silence pressed between them until not-so-good thoughts began to cloud her mind. She was sure she could kill everyone in the Dining Hall right now and not a single person (aside from Soga, but she planned to do this when he wasn’t around) would be able to stop her. It would be fun... the unicorn always thought blood red would look nice on the walls. just as she was thinking about ways to make sure the walls always stayed wet with blood, Soga brought something up—something about age.

Now Gunner always went by the statement that she was 14 years old soon to be turning 15. So she finished the rest of her oats and linseed and answered, “Fourteen. I’ll be fifteen soon enough.” she replied, nibbling on a carrot. Despite them being good for the skin’s eyes, she didn’t like them all that much.

At least they gave her something to chew on while she talked, making sure she didn’t get too annoyed with talking.

“What about you? Do you attend the college or something?”

[Oren]

So she was fourteen! He smiled to himself again, amused that he had guessed right. Wait... she was only fourteen... she was turning fifteen soon, but still! He was ten years older than her! That was a huge difference!

"Oh, me?" He smiled at her. "I'm twenty four. I've received my bachelors and I'm working on my doctorate... and then I'll probably major in a few more subjects and get my doctorate in those as well. That tends to be the path a griffin like myself. We love to learn so we do nothing but."

What he wasn't saying was that he was only planning to earn his doctorate in two subjects: English and History. Both were amazing subjects and he enjoyed them thoroughly, and they weren't the only ones he enjoyed, but they were the only ones he cared to spend years studying. It was one of those things that he would look at, consider for a moment, and then decide that he had better things to do.

Just then, he started to feel incredibly sick. It was the food. He was happy that he had been able to endure the growing sickness, but now it hit him strong, making him pause and place a hand on his stomach. "I do believe that my decisions are catching up to me..." His voice trailed off and he pushed away the queasiness. He could last just a bit longer, right? It wasn't that hard to keep one's self from throwing up... sometimes. As long as he sat still, that was. If he started walking, he wouldn't be able to control when his stomach emptied itself.

"Where were we?" he said, an attempt to continue conversation and distract himself. He would do his best to last out the meal, but he wasn't sure if he could. This was taking longer than he had expected.

[Anzeh]

Gunner stared at him in silence for a few moments before standing, taking his hand and pulling in an attempt to get Soga to stand on his feet.

"Go throw up." It was said as an order, but there was indeed a hint of worry behind her demand. Even if he was trying valiantly to hide it, the unicorn could tell that was what he needed more than anything else. "Go throw up and get something you can actually eat."

Really. Twenty four, ten whole years older than her and she had to tell him to go throw up because he was being stupid. Geez, smart creatures sure did stupid things a lot. After all, she had smelled the chunks of meat from when he ate them during the fight. However the girl hadn't paid it any mind because that was how he survived, that was how he continued to live. If that's what it took then fine.

Her hands sunk into her pockets and frowned at him, waiting for him to comply to her request. A few people that had heard her turned to see what could have possibly prompted her to say something like that, but hey.

Once he was gone she sat down and finished her food, resting her head on her arms as she awaited his return.

[Oren]

Wait... what did she just say? Had she just told him to go throw up? Really? That was... new. Most people assumed he knew what he was doing. Actually, he rarely ate food like this. He rarely had anyone else's feelings and views to consider. It was odd, really, being considerate and the other person being considerate back. Most took politeness for granted and accepted the other person's actions with no thought as to how they should be treating them too. Gunner was obviously not one of those people. She... cared, to a degree. Not about him, of course, but the fact that he was in pain. She didn't seem to like that...

As she pulled on his hand, he stood. So she really was serious about this... He sighed and rolled his eyes, making it seem bothersome. He headed off towards the bathroom, effectively ignoring the eyes that watched him. Silly people, not minding their own business. Why should he pay them any attention?

After he finished in the bathroom, he came back to the lunch room and headed straight for the window on the other side of the lunch room. It was opposite the regular lunch line and was a single window in which a lunch lady sat. He looked at her and said, "One griffin." She smiled at him before shouting over her shoulder for a griffin platter. He handed her some money as she said, "Decided to eat something you can digest? Don't think I didn't see you over there with that unicorn! Tryin' to impress her?"

Shoutoku smiled at her, taking the tray of food from her. "No, definitely not. She's too young."

He reached the table and sat back down, plopping a few pieces into his mouth, swallowing them whole. "You don't mind?"

[Anzeh]

The unicorn let her head rest on her arms and reached into her jacket pocket to find her mp3 played again, putting on the headphones and letting the device randomized until it began to play the song Points of Authority By Linkin Park. She loved their music, their beats, their voices... it was so amazing, so energetic... Gunner found herself nodding her head to the music filling her head and mouthing the words.

"Forfeit the game
Before somebody else takes you out of the frame
And puts your name to shame
Cover up your face
You can't run the race
The pace is too fast
You Just won't last

You love the way,I look at you
While taking pleasure in the awful things you put me through
You take away, if I give in
My life,my pride is broken

You like to think you're never wrong
(You live what you’ve learned)
You have to act like you're someone
(You live what you’ve learned)
You want someone to hurt like you
(You live what you’ve learned)
You want to share what you've been through
(You live what you’ve learned)"

[/i][/center]

The song struck her insides in a way it never had. Nothing that had happened so far made her think that it should be any differently interpretted than any other time. It was more like the song was warning her about something... something about to happen that'll inspire all of this within herself... but she couldn't begin to fathom what it could be.

A shadow fell over her and she pulled her headphones down, looking upwards at the griffin now standing over her with a tray of food. She thought it was food anyway... she really wasn't sure. A few chunks went into his mouth and she watched curiusly as he didn't chew them. Hearing his question she shook her head.

"Not at all."[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]