[center][h1][color=gold]Kailani[/color][/h1][/center]
It was really no surprise that howling her grief to the ceiling did little for Kailani, it never worked for any of those locked up here, at least in the positive sense. Honestly, all the fruits of her labor provided was one of the guards snapping at her to quiet down and, more importantly, breakfast was [i]soon[/i].

What a strange word, breakfast. Humans were so quaint when they weren’t holding her against her will.

The promise of a meal had the intended effect of muffling the girl’s cries though, and she ended up picking herself up to drag to the bars of her cell. The metal muzzle clanked as Kailani pressed her face to the door, a low whine ripping from her throat in tandem. 

[color=gold]”...But I’m hungry [i]now[/i],”[/color] The Devourer muttered sullenly, but the guard that had warned her was already pacing away. At least the thick metal wasn’t electrified - that was only when she tried to escape, or eat them, and sometimes eat her clothes. As evidenced by the large chunk missing out of her uniform’s right cuff. 

The others in this place were also rousing. The screaming and low murmur of voices, the faint sobbing that always seemed to permeate the air was growing louder as the building awoke. Even the inmate across from Kailani was awake, not that she knew anything about them. Just that sometimes there were little flickers of light, and once in a while big roaring flickers of light, but mostly the former. Right now? Little ones. [i]Flick, flick, flick[/i] went the ground, barely able to be seen in a peak of the door around the solid concrete. Honey eyes followed the flashes of light, [i]anything[/i] to focus on other than the time ticking away with the rumble of her stomach.

Then the light stopped, and Kailani dragged her gaze up, meeting the human’s blazing ones across from her. Despite her lack of energy, a tired grin curved the small girl’s lips behind the bars of the black muzzle.

[color=gold][i]’Food?’[/i][/color] The word was silently mouthed to the woman, despite the loudness of Kailani’s earlier protests. A secret request between two, as though the very thought of being overheard would bring trouble. Of course, she then emphasized it by opening her mouth and pointing to it.

“Don’t eat your fingers.” A sharper crack of metal against metal made the small girl jump, and that grin quickly focused on the guards that had appeared at the end of her cell. The one that spoke glared at her darkly before moving across the hall, but the second was familiar, a lanky woman that was more often than not assigned to escort the alien. Something about a ‘rapport’? That word was foreign, but Kailani could only assume it meant [i]‘they haven’t tried to eat each other yet’.[/i]

[color=gold]”Breakfast?”[/color] Was the simple question even as Kailani stuck her hands through the gap in the bars, already trained in this routine with the shocks of their metal sticks. The guard hummed in confirmation, snugly fitting cuffs around her wrists before she was allowed to withdraw them. And despite the routine, despite knowing it might give only a brief moment of satisfaction, it was [i]hard[/i] for Kailani to watch. The way the guard’s fingers moved around her transformation’s smaller ones, seeing how small and slim they were and if she could just grab her escort’s hand in one moment, a finger could slip right through her muzzle into her waiting jaws-

Then she gestured her back, and she obediently followed the silent command before the door was open and Kailani began the path towards her favorite place.

“...Did you eat your shoes again?”

[color=gold]”Yep! And the enrichment cube.”[/color]

“Rubik’s cube. We’ll have to find you something else to keep you occupied.”

[color=gold]”Foo-”[/color]

“Not more food.”

By the time they reached the cafeteria and Kailani was allowed in line, she was practically vibrating at a frequency that could shatter glass. The cuffs remained on, but with enough slack she could pick up the tray and be provided with her nutrient slop. With an excited ‘Thanks!’ that was bright and out of place here, Kailani retreated at practically a sprint. She wasn’t allowed to eat unless at a table, so she moved to the closest one with an opening and slapped the tray down, jumping up to crouch on the bench.

Watching Kailani eat was a bit like watching a shark attack, she was told once. The muzzle prevented her from going at the food with the ferocity she was used to, but using the spoon - and being careful not to bite it in two quite yet - the gruel disappeared at an alarming rate into her mouth. Any company around her was disregarded as long as they didn’t get between her and her meal, and it took a whole half minute for her to finish, including scraping the spoon around the bowl obnoxiously to make sure she got as much as possible. Then the spoon disappeared in her mouth too.

Of course, the problem with eating quickly was that then the food was gone quickly too. Far too quickly, and far too little. The small girl picked up her bowl, trying to nudge it against the muzzle to see if she could get even the edge close enough to bite-

Her head tilted to the side as her tablemates spoke, and for a moment Kailani could only focus on the food still on the table. It was mesmerizing, and she bet she could get a good couple mouthfuls before a fight broke out…

Of course, she didn’t want to be shot again if she did that.

With herculean effort Kailani looked up, away from the delicious muck, to the two speaking at her right. Her head tilted, and the curiosity helped dull the ache of ever-present hunger.

[color=gold]”What’s a clown?”[/color]