Nightshift 25: M21-M30 Hallway

[itneverwas]

As soon as the doors had unlocked, Xemnas already headed outside. His amber eyes scanned the dark hallway, but there were patients nor monsters lurking within the darkness. Keeping his flashlight off as to avoid any unwanted attention, the Superior quickly proceeded

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[stray_shinigami]

Renji maintained his semblance of calm as Ed talked, and even through most of Artemis' words. It wasn't until the boy's final point, when it hit on the quandary that Renji couldn't resolve, that he lost it.

If I don't warn people, it'll happen to them. But I can't say. But they'll know if I tell them. And it doesn't matter anyway because

we

are

helpless.

He exploded. There was no other word for it. One moment he was outwardly calm; the next, he drove his fist into the wall, hard enough that he put a dent in it, hard enough that he felt something in his hand crunch and break.

It was that pain that gave him enough control back that he didn't yell. "Enough." He lowered his hand down to his side. "Both of you. Enough. I've had enough bullshit questions. I told you what happened. Believe me or not, but get the fuck off my back. I'm not in the mood. And if I'm that goddamn untrustworthy..." He wiggled his fingers; it hurt, but it was good. It was a distraction. He clenched his aching hand into a fist. "I'm gonna go look for Suou." He pointed at Artemis. "You stay here."

He walked out the door, shoulders tense, back straight, and headed down the hall.

[lost_metal]

Ed listened quietly to Artermis' words. He wasn't entirely sure what the other boy was getting at, but it was clear that Renji was hiding something. He knew you didn't get marks like that in such places from a normal fight. Had someone managed to get Renji restrained in order to beat him up or something?

But before he could even voice that thought, Renji punched the wall, levaing a fist shaped dent in the plaster. Ed's eyes widened, hearing the crunch in the man's hand. Broken bone, had to be. Maybe a fracture.

He stared at Renji as the man spoke, his voice harsh and obviously angry which only made Ed angrier. Couldn't he see they were just worried?

He stood up quickly when Renji started to walk off, going to the door. His fists were clenched in absolute white rage as he stared down the hallway after the man. "I guess adults all lie then, when they say talking about stuff helps you. Last time I bother listening." It was cruel and petty, he knew that, but he was just so infuriated!

[byname_bynature]

Artemis winced when Renji exploded, nearly raising his hands to shield his face. He was certain that his little speech would have earned him a punch or an answer--which one was unclear. But he got neither. And he had been reasonable this time!

He sighed and turned to Ed after Renji had left, "I'm sorry. I fear that I'm responsible," Artemis shook his head. "I was just trying to find out what happened to him. I know you probably don't approve of my methods, but I doubt very much that a man like Abarai-san will give up information to those who appear to care for him."

The boy watched Renji walk down the hall, brow furrowed, "But he's endangering us all. Information can save or doom us--and I don't approve of anyone withholding anything."

But putting that aside, Ed was still in front of him. Artemis smiled weakly at Ed, "Adults are interesting creatures, aren't they? So unwilling to share their secrets, on the false pretense that we are merely 'children'." He gave a small laugh and shook his head again, "I'm almost embarrassed for them."

[stray_shinigami]

[Renji goes here]

[lost_metal]

Ed turned away from the door, taking a deep breath and then clenching and unclenching his fist a few times until he felt calm enough to speak. No sense taking it out on Artermis when it was Renji he was pissed off at. He rubbed his forehead with the automail and then sat heavily down on his bed. "Not your fault he's being an arsehole," he grumbled.

He glanced back over the door. "He's pretty tough," he said musingly. "Must've taken a lot to mess him up like that. Or take him down enough to get him tied up." It was a worrying thought, especially if they were starting to drop the facade during the day.

He smiled back, a shadow of his normal manic grin and nodded. "They're pretty dumb at times. And they think they're protecting us when we don't need it, or when they cause more damage doing it." He shook his head, chuckling wearily.

[byname_bynature]

"It must have..." Artemis trailed off in thought. If only he had the missing pieces of information he needed. Then, solving this mystery would be simple, and he could do the talking Renji couldn't.

"I'd be willing to bet that you and I could take any sort of horrific news with a calm countenance," the boy continued, "Age is not necessarily a measure of maturi--"

The boy perked his head up, his face a mix of curiosity and fear. He heard noises--chattering, screaming noises--coming from down the hall.

"I'm shutting the door, Ed," he said quietly. Moving quickly towards the door. "There is something out there."

[lost_metal]

Ed nodded, a wry smile on his lips at that. Yeah, he'd taken terrible news without flinching. It hurt, but he kept going. He hadn't even cried at her funeral, hadn't cried or screamed when the automail had been fitted. "Yeah. I've been through lots of stuff that most adults couldn't handle."

He glanced over to the door, hearin the noises now that he was listening to them. "Probably cats or something. They come out at night." A frown crossed his face. "They normally don't come so close to the rooms this early though."

He went to the door, listening until the noises died down,screams of pain showing that whatever the creatures had been were defeated. He turned back to Artermis and pushed the door open again. "I have to go fetch Adel, but I'll drag him back here since the metal's here. I'll be back soon."

He felt a little guilty leaving Artermis to Renji's tender mercies (and oh hell, wasn't Tamaki with Renji tonight?), but he'd promised Adel he'd help him again.

[lost_metal]

[To Here]

[byname_bynature]

"And then there was one," Artemis said with a sigh. He sat down in the desk chair, massaging his forehead. All of this discussion and waiting around was making him agitated. He wanted to do something tonight. Something that didn't involve metal or bathrooms.

I haven't even seen the second floor yet, which is of the most interest to me.

But once I have proper training, I should be able to be put on map-making duty.

But collecting materials is so much safer...

He growled in frustration, "This is getting me nowhere..."

[stray_shinigami]

[from here]

Renji made sure the kids stuck with him the whole way. He paused long enough to tap on the door before just walking in. Ed wasn't there. Which was fine with Renji, mostly; he didn't want to get in another damn argument.

He walked into the room, and perched on one of the desks. He twisted to look at the annoying wound on his arm. He couldn't see it all that well; after poking experimentally at it with his fingers, he looked at Artemis. "C'mere and help me with this," he said. "Did Ed say where he was goin'? Might need to rip the sheet off one of these beds. I don't want to leave a fuckin' blood trail."

[byname_bynature]

Artemis' eyes nearly popped out of his head when Renji came in the room, followed by two boys Artemis hadn't seen before. "My..." The boy looked down at Renji's arm, his face going white. The one time he'd personally had an injury this bad, he'd promptly passed out. Not at the sight of blood, but simply because his broken rib had punched through his skin. He furrowed his brow and covered his mouth with his sleeve. "I-I suppose one of you is Suou?" Artemis swallowed, "Forgive me, I'm suddenly not feeling very well."

He nodded to Renji, moving towards the bed he hadn't been sitting on and pulling the sheet off. "I-I, I mean uh, Ed said he was going to get someone named Adel. Apparently he's just down the hall, so he said he'd be back soon.

"Here," Artemis sat down across from Renji, inspecting the arm. He coughed to cover a noise of utter revulsion--were those teeth sticking out of his arm? The boy slowly picked the impurites out of Renji's arm, picking faster the longer he worked. "...I heard the monsters out there. I'm sorry I didn't come to assist you. I figured the last person you wanted to see was me," He confessed. Artemis lifted the sheet to tear it, but found that he was, as he thought, too weak. He sighed in defeated frustration.

"...I can try to heal you, but I'm not sure how successful that will be." He looked to the other two boys, "Or can one of you help me with this?"

[the_clown_king]

"I'm Suou Tamaki," Tamaki said, inclining his head to the younger boy. He had been very pointedly ignoring the blood on Renji, not wanting another incident last night. Blood still made him feel quite light headed and woozy. He looked at the wall until the other boy - what had his name been? It had been on the bulletin! - asked for help.

"Ah.... what do you need?" he asked, still looking at the wall. He did want to help Renji, but....

Oh really, he just needed to suck it up.

[bored_narrator]

As Kyon was led into the room down the hall, he stopped barely a step in and leaned against the door frame. The scene he was looking at reminded him oddly of some kind of resistance secret meeting before the group attacked and maimed the evil king, or something like that.

Not really being a apart of the group, Kyon didn't have much to say, so he decided to just listen to what was going on.

When the other boy asked for help, and his new aquantance looked less than enthused, Kyon shrugged and said, "Sure." He'd seen worse blood in the past.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji smiled slightly, strangely amused at the way both Artemis and Tamaki were acting. Both of them must have had it easy growing up, that was for sure. He grunted when Artemis mentioned helping him; if the boy picking splintered teeth from his arm bothered him or hurt in the least, he showed no sign. "Don't worry about it. There were only three. Easy stuff." He was nice enough - and gods alone knew why he still felt like being at all nice to Artemis - not to point out that Artemis would have just been dead weight. He shrugged one shoulder - not one the side Artemis was working on. "What's done is done."

And then the offer to heal. Renji shook his head, his smile a bit bigger. "Save your energy for someone that actually needs it," he said. "A few little scratches aren't worth the bother."

He craned his neck to look at his arm again, then pulled one of the pens out of his hair. He set it next to him on the desk and used the butt of his flashlight to flatten it, then the knife to cut off a sliver. He set the little piece of plastic in front of Artemis, and the knife. "Get some thread out of the sheet. You can poke some little holes in me with the knife point and then sew with that." He pointed at the bit of plastic. "It's annoying, but the stupid thing'll keep bleeding if it doesn't get a couple stitches in it. Once you get done I can wrap everything else myself."

He laughed, glancing at Suou. "Sorry for the delay. We'll head out soon as this is done." Finally, he looked at Kyon again. "You coming too?"

[byname_bynature]

Artemis stared, gaunt-faced at the shard of plastic. He entertained the thought of healing Renji without his consent, but didn't know how well that would go over. After all, he had no idea if a healing target had to be willing or not. "I-I'm afraid I haven't studied wound suture, but I'll do the best I can." Quickly, Artemis undid the wrapping on his left hand--he would need full mobility for this. He selected a thread from the sheet-strip bandage that looked clean enough, then pulled it out. Artemis carefully tied the thread to the plastic shard as tightly as he could without snapping it.

"While I'm, uh, doing this," Artemis said over his shoulder to the other two boys, "Could you rip the sheet on the ground into strips for a bandage? I'm not strong enough to tear it."

He turned his attention back to Renji's arm. The wound was gaping up at him--almost daring him to try. Once more he wished to whatever powers existed in the universe that he could just heal Renji--but that wasn't an option.

"Pull yourself together, Arty," He muttered under his breath. With as much purpose as he could muster, he picked up the knife and wiped it on his shirt nervously. He'd never held such an uncivilized object before in his life. His right hand shook as he searched for his first entry point. "Luckily for you Abarai-san, I'm ambidextrous. I won't take as long as a normal right-handed surgeon would."

Ha ha... Artemis thought, Am I trying to boost his confidence or mine? I'm not sure anymore. He'd better start, otherwise he was sure Renji would yell at him for stalling. Swallowing the last doubt he had left, he gently poked the knife point through Renji's skin until he could see the blade on the other side. Suddenly he couldn't take it anymore.

Artemis dropped to his knees jerkily, both hands on either side of the wastepaper bin, and he wretched. His face burned in sheer humiliation. Here he was, suturing a wound in a place he didn't even belong in. This was some kind of sick nightmare, it had to be. Artemis could practically feel the eyes on his back judging him. At least, he imagined they were there.

What do you think you're doing Artemis Fowl? He said to himself, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and giving a final cough. If you aren't willing to risk everything to leave this place, you should have never set foot outside your room. NOW STAND UP AND HELP THIS MAN.

If anyone had said anything, he didn't catch it. "'m fine," Artemis muttered, turning back to the arm without looking at anyone. He'd never be able to look these people in the face again. Jaw set, eyes cast downwards, he slid the plastic needle into the hole in Renji's arm and secured the thread.

It became something like a rhythm--almost like the teeth. Make a hole, slide in the needle, tighten the thread. Make a hole, slide in the needle, tighten the thread. His left hand worked the needle and knife, while his right held the sides of Renji's wound together.

After what seemed like ages, Artemis tied the final knot and stepped back, his face even whiter than before and his hands covered in Renji's blood. "Th-there. You should wrap it tightly now." Still not looking at anyone, he wove over to the bed. "I think I need to sit for a moment... don't mind me..."

[lost_metal]

[From here]

Ed's fury was near palpable when he reached the door to his room. He stormed inside, barely acknowledging that there might be anyone else in there, so he was a bit startled to find the room a little crowded. The smell of vomit assaulted his nose. He nodded to Tamaki and Artermis, glowered at Renji and gave the other guy a quick once over before reaching for his journal.

He'd have to make do with a katana. He didn't have the patience to draw out another array, and with his mind in such a state, he couldn't trust that he'd get all the symbols correct first try. He grabbed some of the metal and set it down on the floor on top of the array and began the reaction without any warning.

It was more difficult to concentrate now that his mind was so focussed on something else, but he managed it with a little effort. It left him half collapses on the bedroom floor, panting heavily and squeezing his eyes closed. He'd regret this come morning, he was sure.