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Cafeteria; Really bad food, suprisingly good coffee
Topic Started: Jun 30 2007, 01:50 AM (5,869 Views)
Kelly Daniels
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"It was what you were deliberately doing to not help that was the problem." Kelly told her, closing her eyes for a few minutes. She had to get out of there. She had to leave.

So she was a control freak when it came to her job, yes. So what? She didn't want anyone to get hurt, and she wanted to make everyone happy. Or, at least as happy as they could be, given the situation. Common criminals tended to bend when they were promised protection and a smaller sentences. Just as long as everyone was okay, she was fine. The situation was over. So she was off duty, and still doing it.

All was fine.

It was the talking herself down afterward that was the hard part.

So she just turned away from Kylie, watched the poor girl rush out, and then turned to Declan, "Thanks. Not exactly how I would have ended it, but thanks."

Obviously these people needed to get along with their lives, and the psych ward patients weren't really dangerous. Her job wasn't that hard. Respect and cooperation. You just had to learn to give the pretense on what people wanted.

When he said he was impressed, Kelly came a slight smile, but her eyebrows furrowed and she asked, "Distract me with some nonsense ramble please?"
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Declan Clemens
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Declan shrugged. "Well, not exactly how I would've liked it to end either," he replied. "But sometimes there's not exactly a choice." He didn't really feel bad for the guy; he needed the help. Hopefully one day he could be released under terms that worked for both him and the hospital. Just... not that day.

"And sure. One distraction, coming right up," he replied with a smile. "I'm not really that great at the 'rambling on about nothing' bit, but I'll certainly give it a shot." Hm, what to talk about? Declan wasn't exactly a chatty person, per say, but he was willing to try it out, at least.

"So, have you seen the latest issue of the Prophet? More of those posters against Minister Severio," he commented. Politics interested him because of who he served. He hadn't gotten word of any recent Death Eater activity in awhile, and the Dark Lord certainly hadn't called, so he was wondering what exactly the strategy was: go into hiding and let the Auror Department be under attack from the public for not making any progress?

"I don't really know what to make of them," he lied. In truth, he thought they were brilliant. "But if I had to guess, I'd say a new Minister will be elected soon."
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Kelly Daniels
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"No, and for a situation that ended with 'not exactly a choice', that was pretty damn good. No one got hurt."

Right, moving on.

Kelly took a few moments to listen to whatever he was talking about, which..naturally had to be about the Minister and the Ministry which lead back to her job, and she gave a little laugh.

"You're totally right, you do suck with the rambling thing." Of course, she didn't mean it meanly, she was just teasing. "And yes, I've seen the posters."

She wasn't sure what to make of them. Each of them had some kind of truth in it; yes, the aurors didn't have Azkaban. Yes, Skyris had a nice house. But each time it stretched the truth about how the Minister was wrong and did wrong things. She didn't really know. Oh well.

"But, that was starting a conversation." Here, this gave Kel something to do. "A ramble is more like...Uhm, okay, hey, did you know that each person has a unique tongue print? People talk about fingerprints all the time because skin holds a little better against usual detrimental forces, but a tongue print is different as well. Of course it's not like we can stick our tongues in ink for the police and all that jazz, and they certainly don't make flavored ink. People would spend more time sucking on their pens and quills and such than actually writing homework, or reports, or whatever it is people use quills for. There is flavoured paper you can eat though. It's not exactly real paper, but it has paper qualities, and it's cut real thin. Makes me think of that muggle cherry cough syrup though. Baby medicine. It kind of tastes nasty. Something else that's nasty? Most lipsticks contain fish scales. Yeah. Hun, I just haveta put more blender-ed fish scales on my mouth before we go out. Speaking of fish, did you know killer whales kill sharks by torpedoing into a shark's stomach, causing them to explode? The blood attracks more sharks and then bam, big dinner. Oh god, that's disgusting."

Kelly made a face and then said, "I'm done now."
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Declan Clemens
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Declan couldn't help it; he started laughing as she rambled to him about random facts and subjects.

"Wow. You're right. I do suck at that," he admitted when she had declared herself finished. "I'm just not in the habit of talking that much. Actually? I pretty much only talk when I need to. Just not a chatty guy." Oh well.

"But, I have to hand it to you: I now know way more useless facts about things that I didn't already know. So in case anyone ever asks what one of the ingredients for lipstick is? I know that." He grinned.

For a moment, he had forgotten why he had even met Kelly in the first place, but upon remembering, he said, "Oh, so do you want me to take you to Chris' office now?" That was why she was there, wasn't it?

On a whim, he followed that with, "And if he's not there, I'm getting off my shift now, so we could grab a cup of coffee if you're interested? I feel like I at least owe you that much, seeing as I'm the slow eater who wound up making you work overtime."
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Kelly Daniels
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Kelly was honestly feeling a hell of a lot better, especially at his laughter. She was feeling the situation release a little bit, the tension in the air disappearing along with the much lighter distraction.

When he said he wasn't a chatty person, Kelly just tilted her head curiously, "Everyone can ramble about something if they wanted to, it's just the want to that usually is lacking. So you don't talk much? You've done a pretty good job for me this past...hour?" She smiled, as clearly she'd not meant to be there so long. Strange. The time had passed quickly, and most of it was just talking with him in general as he ate.

"Hey, you never know, some girl might come in with her lips all blown up and no one can figure out why - she could be allergic to fish oil and/or scales. So it's not completely useless, right?" Kelly never wore lipstick after she found that out. It was just...gross.

He asked if she wanted to go to Chris' office, and Kelly blinked for a minute. Truthfully? She had forgotten all about that. It seems like such a long time ago that she'd gotten off work and went to visit him. She'd just completely forgotten. Oops. Laughing a little bit, she nodded her head, "Yeah, that would be great, thanks."

Of course, at his next suggestion, the smile just stayed on her face and she considered the offer. That would be...fun. There was nothing wrong with that, right? It let her know he didn't mind her company, and going out would be much better than sitting there and waiting for Chris to come - which, who knew, he could probably be off shift too.

Kelly teased, "Do you drink as slow as you eat?"

Still, she nodded and said, "I would like that."

Secretly? She hoped Chris wasn't there.
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Declan Clemens
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"Well, I made an effort," Declan replied. "And no, not completely useless facts. I'll let you know if I ever wind up using them," he said.

He noticed a small pause when he brought up Chris. Truthfully, it did feel like quite some time ago that she had come up there, what with everything that happened with the patients escaping.

Smiling, he replied, "Only sometimes. I like taking my time with things." It was true; he really didn't mind being patient and waiting for things to get done.

"So shall we go?" She nodded and they headed downstairs [permission to GM].
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Declan Clemens
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Declan wheeled Kel into the cafeteria, bringing her to a table closer to the door. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

He looked around, trying to decide what would be a good, light meal for her to try eating. Maybe some soup. Soup was always good. It was actually one of the quintessential 'comfort' foods when one was sick. "Do you want to try something light like soup or toast?" he suggested. "Maybe some tea?"
Edited by Declan Clemens, Mar 20 2009, 10:38 PM.
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Kelly Daniels
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So, moving wheels? Not exactly the funnest thing in the world. She ended up just gripping the edges and closing her eyes, especially in the elevator, so that she wouldn't get too dizzy to function. It was...really odd not to walk. Deja vu, except for the fact she was a patient, not a lost visitor, and he wasn't eating already.

Kelly scooted to the edge of the wheelchair so she could lay her head down on the table he'd brought her to, and watched him before he started speaking. Tea? Tea sounded really good, and she nodded.

"Tea sounds really good." And soup and toast? So much better than that...oatmeal, or jello, or whatever it was she had been trying to eat for the past two weeks.

"But. I don't like chicken noodle soup." Kelly then declared. "And I don't eat meat."

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy a cheeseburger or whatever, but it always made her sick. There was something in the processing that just didn't digest.

Hence the weird gooey 'thing' they called dinner.
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Declan Clemens
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Well, at least something he suggested sounded good to her. That was a relief. "All right. How about I get you some peppermint tea, because that will soothe your stomach," Declan said. "And some tomato soup. That should be nice and easy to digest, but you have to take it easy with the food because you haven't been able to keep down solids for awhile."

He really hoped she would be able to eat, because she was currently refusing the IV, so that would make getting her nutrients a bit difficult.

"I'll be right back." Getting up, Declan headed over to the other side of the room, quickly procuring exactly what he said he was going to. He wasn't sure how well the taste of the mint tea and the tomato soup would blend, but individually they seemed like good ideas. He would have brought water over, but he knew from experience that giving water to patients experiencing nausea was a great way to get them to throw up. So instead he settled for ginger ale in case she wanted something cooler.

Bringing over the tray he put it all on, he sat it down in front of Kelly, making sure she was close enough to the table to be able to eat. "Just remember not to eat too quickly," he said, sitting down beside her. "Your body isn't used to having solid foods, and you still are sick." Given how weak she was, he wasn't sure if she was going to be able to manage eating on her own, but he figured that if she was sitting up, she at least had a shot at doing so.
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Kelly Daniels
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Kelly smiled at him when he suggested peppermint tea, thinking that he was trying to get the closest to what she had gotten with their little coffee break, while still being logical about it. He remembered, obviously, because a lot of different teas could soothe her stomach. She just liked the peppermint stuff better.

As for the tomato soup, that would be a strange combination, that for sure. Kelly just slowly sat back up again and nodded to what he was saying.

"You know, normal people don't wonder what food can do for them when they eat." She said, smothering a yawn with her hand. Apparently it took a lot of energy just to...sit up.

Merlin, that fact made her want to cry. Something as easy as walking and sitting and keeping her head up, and now it was hard and exhausting? They were things she didn't even think about, took for granted, and now that she was struggling with it...it was frustrating. Frustrating beyond belief.

Kelly watched him as he walked away, trying to quash her suspicions, but unable to stop herself from trying to see exactly what he was doing. Problem was, he was far away, and his back was to her.

So it was with that same paranoia that she just sat staring at the bounty he put in front of her, her hands just staying in her lap. Distractedly, she said, "This isn't exactly solid food."

Well, it was all liquids. But the tea was open, and obviously the soup was open, so he could have done something to them. But the ginger ale, that was a closed can. So that should be safe. She reached for that first, and slid her finger under the tab to make it open.

Not that easy. It took her at least four tries to get it open just enough to allow maybe one drop at a time, and she set it back down, annoyed. All this reaching and sitting was making her even more worn out than she had been just a few moments ago, wiped out because of her little walking stunt. And it was ridiculous. Absolutely bloody ridiculous.

Kel would have crossed her arms if that didn't take energy as well.
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Declan Clemens
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"Well, I'm just special I guess," Declan replied with a laugh.

He waited, watching as she went for the ginger ale first and had a good deal of trouble getting the can open. "Want some help?" he offered, taking it from her and opening it fully before pressing it back into her hands. "Think you can get it from here?" He honestly wasn't sure if she could, but he didn't want to baby her or make her feel inadequate. Clearly she was pretty stubborn and determined to do things her own way.

"I know it's not exactly solid food, but it's the best I can probably do for now," he said apologetically. It was a weird combination, but at least she had a shot at stomaching it. Or, at least they would see if she did.
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Kelly Daniels
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Kelly tilted her head up for a second - and then looked back down, as that made her dizzy. But she was trying to find some way to...forget about how she was feeling and just 'do'. If that was even possible. Probably not.

So instead she looked around, looking for those tell-tale white hospital outfits, to see how other people were managing. It was...really awkward, for her to be sitting here, seemingly having issues with just...opening a soda. After a moment she saw someone eating through a straw, and she flinched. No. She'd have to be completely unresponsive and unable to be eating through a straw. No way.

The ginger ale he had gotten her was back in her hands when she looked back down, and she sighed, "Thanks."

She just stared blankly at it for a moment, running through things in her mind. Mike Thompson. Stephenie Andrews. William Griffin. Lisa Dessen. Stanly Denko. Walter Shapiro. Lurlene Haddix. Marion Bradly. Peter Cabot. Liz Collins.

Kelly remembered every single person she'd been in contact with through her job, and they were many. Naming them in order helped keep her from completely losing her mind, usually kept her from panicking, getting angry, or making mistakes. Her success.

So when Declan asked if she could handle it, she was resigned as she answered quietly, "No, probably not."

She knew when to give in, right? Right.Really, she was just too tired to keep trying.

"Soup's fine."
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Declan Clemens
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Well, she was admitting she needed help, and that was definitely a good sign. Declan liked that, although sometimes people could be stubborn, they could also admit that they did need help. For people who were as independent as Kelly was, he honestly admired it more.

"All right. I'll help you out."

Considering she had gone for the ginger ale first, Declan picked that up and lifted the can gently to her lips, helping her take a sip, making sure she didn't get too much. He was reluctant to give her too much of anything, seeing as it had been so long since she had consumed solid food. But a sip of ginger ale shouldn't hurt too badly.

"All right, how about some soup?" he suggested, putting the can down and taking a spoonful of it, waiting a moment before lifting the spoon for Kelly.
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Kelly Daniels
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Despite the paranoia that was still threatening to take over her mind and make her see red, Kelly realized that she was just too tired to give into it, as clearly being paranoid made her need to move and run and do things that she just couldn't do. She was already over-stressing her body because of the last time she walked down the hall, and then when she tried to get out of bed, and if the wheelchair didn't have a back, she'd probably be falling out of it.

So even though she felt that tell-tale shortening of breath, and the minor tunnel vision, she still took a drink when he took the can from her. And actually? She didn't really want the ginger ale. She had just been thinking that it was the least likely thing to be poisoned. And this time she stopped when he pulled it away; she'd learned her lesson with the water.

It really amused her, though, that he was feeding her. And it was soup, of all things. Not...not strawberries, or whatever it was. Kelly was still herself, despite the intruding emotion. In the movies, it was strawberries, right? Covered in chocolate or something. Who knew...she couldn't concentrate on that right then.

But she looked at the soup, looked at that tiny little spoonful, and swallowed, "I think you should try it first. Just to like, make sure it's good tomato soup, you know."

She wasn't a magician, she couldn't hide the slight nervousness that underlined that suggestion.
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Declan Clemens
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In all honestly, Declan hadn't expected the paranoia to just go away. That would have been too good to be true. His negotiation skills weren't that good, after all, and he was pretty sure the patients hadn't moved out of that part of the virus yet. Otherwise they would have had some other crazy symptom and started acting completely differently.

So the paranoia was still there, and she was nervous. All Declan knew was that he wanted to do anything possible to ensure that she was comfortable. "Of course. That's a good idea," he said before moving the spoon to his own lips and eating it. It wasn't bad, and it was actually at a pretty good temperature.

"It's actually pretty good," he remarked. "Do you want to try some now?"
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Kelly Daniels
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Kelly watched Declan take a bite of the soup, fidgeting. There was a part of her that wanted to totally knock the spoon away and warn him that it was poisoned, another part that told her he deserved it if he was trying to feed her it, and a very, very small voice of reason that said everything was fine.

And, she just didn't move, because it was too late. She had spent too much time thinking about it. So Kelly just looked over his face, and then his hands, to see if he was in pain, or his hands shaking, or something, her eyebrows furrowed in worry. Because she didn't really want him hurt, even if he was doing this to her. Which, she didn't honestly think he was. She just thought he got caught up in it. Or something.

When he said it was good though, and looked absolutely fine, when he asked if she wanted it now she nodded and obediently opened her mouth.

Of course, in typical Kelly fashion, she then rambled, "Do you do this a lot? Randomly feed your patients, I mean? Not that I'm complaining or anything, because I can't do it and I'm kinda hungry and I really really appreciate being out of the room, I'm just curious." She would have gotten annoyed already. She had relatively good patience when she wanted to, but being sick and stuck and paranoid, she didn't have any. So the idea that he was taking his time and stuff just confused her. And her question came out wrong, because she was curious of this was considered 'crossing boundaries'. Which, she definitely remembered, had really annoyed her just a couple days ago. Stupid boundaries. Those weren't cool.
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Declan Clemens
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"Well, not normally," Declan admitted. "Normally stuff like that is an Acolyte's job, but considering we're so short-staffed..." He shrugged. He figured that was the most appropriate way to explain it. Of course, he hadn't exactly taken other patients to the cafeteria to feed them. But... that was all right.

"So no. I don't do this a lot. You're just special," he teased lightly.

He was just glad she was agreeing to eat. It was only one bite, but maybe that one bite was a good sign. He put the spoon down, asking, "Tea? Or more soup?"
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Kelly Daniels
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"Acolytes. Fun fun." Kelly said sarcastically, slumping down into the wheelchair further, so it was supporting more of her, and she had to do less to keep sitting. Well, it wasn't like she could do anything but sit right now anyways. It wasn't a bed on wheels, it was a chair with wheels. Therefore, she needed to sit. And if just sitting still wasn't so hard, she wouldn't have minded.

As for her being special? Kelly mumbled, "Good. I like being special. Maybe it'll give me a fighting chance."

That was more for her own benefit, and she just nodded for his. One short, slow nods. But when he asked about the food, she looked at it quizzically. She'd almost forgotten it was there, her mind was just so all over the place. Yes, she was in the loud, noisy cafeteria. Declan was feeding her. She was sitting in a wheelchair.

Reality check, done.

"Mmmm. Maybe I should try and finish the soup before I try to mix tomato and peppermint." That...would be a disgusting mix. But after the soup she could take a drink of that soda and then drink the tea? Or something like that. Alternating mint and tomato would probably make her sick. Just the combination in words sounded awful.
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Declan Clemens
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"Of course you have a fighting chance,' Declan assured Kelly. "You would even if you weren't special. But since you are? Sure, that might improve your luck." Honestly? Declan was a bit tired after spending the majority of his time in the hospital, and he was trying not to let it show, but sometimes sentences just came out making a little less sense than they might have if he was fully awake.

"All right. Soup first." He lifted the spoon to feed her another bite, making sure to take it slow. He didn't want her to eat too quickly, after all. It made sense to leave the tea for afterwards. At least then they could see if she could keep down food without making her stay up too long. They could always take the tea back down to the room if they needed.

'How does your stomach feel?"
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Kelly Daniels
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Kelly just glanced away from him when he was talking about her having a fighting chance anyways and all that. As much as she wanted to? She just couldn't trust him. Besides, false assurances weren't something she liked to hear anyways. Even in a normal day. So basically, she just hated hearing it now, because it cost her more fear.

But she did trust, for the moment, that he wasn't going to hurt her. He ate the soup, he let her come down here, and she could tell he was trying. Association by circumstance, not by choice, she'd decided.

So, because she was starting to seriously hurt from sitting, and he was sitting right next to her to feed her, obviously, she just took the bite he gave her, and then scooted to the side and laid her head against his shoulder. Just to keep her up, naturally.

"Tired." She answered, lowering her eyes, not her head, to look down towards her stomach. Not that she could see it, and could stomachs even be tired? She was just completely exhausted, that was the problem. Her eyes were tired. Her muscles were tired. Hell, her hair was tired. So why couldn't her stomach be tired too?

She'd only had two bites, and yet, she could already feel herself betting full. Or maybe she was just so tired that she was imagining it, but seeing as she hadn't eaten, her stomach wasn't used to being full. So who knew?
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