Day 30: Men's Showers (Third Shift)

[notachick]

The lockdown had been interesting. The fact that the staff had enough power to put down a rebellion that quickly and then lock people into their rooms just as fast was something of a feat to be admired. Their efficiency would have been much more impressive if Okita had been on the other side of it, however. As it stood, he had to keep his

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[braidless]

It seemed all of breakfast's violence had been sorted through by the time the lockdown had ended. The institute had dealt with things quickly and efficiently. Obi-Wan had expected no less from their captors.

What he hadn't expected was the new voice over the Earthian intercom. Was she some sort of second-in-command? Martin Landel didn't seem like the type to share any sort of authority, but then, it seemed impossible to have so much control without any sort of help. It made the Jedi wonder about what other kinds of people were in the chain of command, and if they'd ever reveal themselves.

When his nurse led him to the showers, Obi-Wan didn't waste time in getting undressed and finding a free shower head. Unlike a lot of the shower's occupants, Obi-Wan wasn't particularly bothered by nudity. Even so, he was careful to be as modest as he could manage, as seen by the way he placed the wash cloth over his lap once he'd grabbed a stool.

Noticing a blond man nearby, Obi-Wan politely nodded his head in greeting. Although they'd never met, he was fairly sure he'd seen the man around the institute before. (It was difficult to forget such a distinct eyebrow shape, after all.) "Seems like several people got sedated," he casually remarked, an attempt at small talk if the other man was up to it, but nothing too forward or strange in case he was one of those picky types.

[misterprince]

Sanji had finally caught sight of Zoro, and oddly enough it appeared that the swordsman hadn't been sedated either. That was unexpected. Though admittedly, the way the whole shitty riot had come about he wouldn't be surprised if the former pirate hunter had just as little chance as he had to react to everything. (He knew it definitely wasn't because he'd wanted to help the nurses.)

Interestingly enough, the man who joined him in the showers seemed to be thinking along similar lines if his question was anything to judge by. In response, the chef just muttered a bit to the affirmative. He was enjoying the warm water far too much to be easily distracted from it, head tilted back to meet the current face on.

At last he pulled out of it a bit, skin slightly pink from the temperature of the water, and actually glanced over at the man who wanted to make conversation. "Should've been one of them, by all rights."

[braidless]

Obi-Wan wasn't put off by the delayed response. As the blond stranger enjoyed the water, he was busy lathering soap up in his short hair. It'd been several days since he'd lost his Padawan braid (no, he reminded himself, since he'd been knighted), and it was times like these that the absence of its familiar weight was very noticeable.

When the man finally spoke, Obi-Wan glanced over at him. "Oh, I don't know. I can understand the need to do something productive, but I don't think getting sedated would have brought about that kind of satisfaction. Do you?"

It was then he caught sight of Qui-Gon, talking to a blond young man. He didn't appear to be injured or drugged in anyway, but, of course, that came as no surprise. Despite how much it pained him to see Qui-Gon trapped in a place like this, he was certainly grateful his friend had enough wisdom and restraint not to go looking for unnecessary trouble.

Well, most of the time, anyway.

[misterprince]

"Depends," Sanji answered, sounding a bit grumpy. The shower was helping with his mood, but he was still put off by the past two shifts. First he'd neither seen any action as far as fighting the orderlies was concerned nor helped rescue any endangered nurses, and then his roommate had gone and banned him from smoking in his own room. It was all unfair.

And clearly this man here didn't have much idea on what the chef took satisfaction in. Though he was right about not being sedated. Sanji kept having to remind himself of the pros of this.

"Day's been pretty shitty overall. At least we're getting cleaned up now." An idle thought followed this, him being the chef he was - what if they were cleaning them all up to boil later? He immediately felt absurd for thinking this and was unable to hold in a short chuckle.

[braidless]

Obi-Wan didn't say anything right away, only raised his eyebrow at the other man. He seemed unhappy about what had happened, and the Jedi couldn't exactly blame him. Perhaps he'd wanted to jump into the fight for the sake of jumping in, to give himself the feeling he was doing something useful, taking up a cause greater than himself. He wouldn't have been the first, Obi-Wan reflected with an inner sigh.

Of course, it was just as possible that he was put off by something else entirely, or a combination of things. It probably wasn't right to go assuming things about people, at any rate.

"I'd much rather be bathing more often, but I suppose we're lucky they let us clean ourselves in the first place," Obi-Wan said after a moment. "The food, the beds, the clothes, the warm water...they don't have to give us any of it, seeing that we're at their mercy, and yet they choose to do so. It's very strange."