NIGHTSHIFT 30: M41-M50 HALLWAY

[byname_bynature]

[In M47]Artemis was particularly pleased at how the day had ended. Showering with his fellow underage males had been embarrassing and uncomfortable, but he'd ended on a good note--a wonderful, wonderful argument in which the opponent couldn't hit him. Perhaps the orderlies weren't so bad after all

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M49

[never_learns]

He'd pulled out the bottle of scotch as soon as he'd heard the doors lock. No dinner in their rooms tonight, so the nurses wouldn't come back until morning. The pack of cigarettes followed, and he lit one up quickly, savouring the taste of the smoke and letting the familiar taste and scent and gesture calm his nerves a little. Shame they couldn't do anything about how he was feeling

M43 to hallway outside M49 en route to the room

[k4t4str0ph4l]

Schuldig had been planning to spend a few minutes with Crawford or Yohji; he'd have been fine with whichever man showed up at his room first, actually while they waited for the third member of their group to show up. Knowing that Yohji was drowing himself in good scotch hadn't changed his mind, simply because he hadn't seen Crawford in a few nights and wasn't going to pass up the opportunity, but he'd also hoped Yohji would eventually remember on his own that he'd meant to do something more important with his night than brooding and drinking.

However, by the time he and Crawford had finished and the afterglow had worn off, Yohji still hadn't budged, hadn't even remembered he was holding anyone up, and had emptied most of a whole damned bottle of scotch. If they didn't go fetch him soon, he'd be in no shape to accompany them at all

Re: M43 to hallway outside M49 en route to the room

[at_patera]

Crawford had been out of his room and at Schuldig's door the instant the locks had come undone. He had no intentions of wasting this nightshift alone in his room, clutching at his skull because of the pain (something he'd found himself doing more and more here, when he hadn't had to for nearly ten years). While their amusement with each other while waiting for Yohji was a blissful reprieve, the waiting eventually became irritating, and the two of them were down the hall shortly.

He learned in the doorway to Yohji's room, watching with no small sense of satisfaction as Schuldig snatched away the bottle and backhanded him. (The only way it could have been better was if Schuldig had actually struck him with the bottle.) Weiss had always had a problem with brooding among their members, and now it was dragging Schwarz (or at least part of it) down. In a place like this, that was unacceptable

Re: M43 to hallway outside M49 en route to the room

[never_learns]

He didn't even have time to react before Schuldig backhanded him roughly, sending him sprawling on the bed, half of the open bottle of pills spilling onto the cover as he dropped it. He looked up, blinking blearly and touched his cheek, seeming not quite able to connect to what had happened.

Had... had he been meant to find Schuldig? He had, hadn't he? In the shower. It just seemed so foggy now. Since... since...

He glanced at the pills and shuddered, shaking his head as he looked at Schuldig. "Sorry. I... I forgot." How many had he taken? Not enough to kill him at least. Probably not enough to make him really ill, but still enough to make him terrified about what he'd nearly done.

Re: M43 to hallway outside M49 en route to the room

[k4t4str0ph4l]

"Yes, you're an idiot," Schuldig confirmed angrily. "One who takes pills and scotch together on an empty stomach while he blows off meetings with former enemies he has very tentative alliances with. Now that we've got that out of the way, cowboy up so we can get moving. I don't have time to piece your shattered psyche back together, not if we want to get anything done tonight. And frankly, I'm getting tired of pulling you out of your misery when you seem to just wait for the chance to wallow in it."

Studying Yohji contemptuously - damn, he was a mess - he added, "It's just the three of us tonight. Farfarello's still healing up some injuries so he's not risking the basement. Are you coming or not?"

Re: M43 to hallway outside M49 en route to the room

[at_patera]

"If you have intentions of suicide," Crawford cut in before Yohji could respond, his opinion of the man dropping by the minute, "then it would be much easier and more effective if you came with us and served as a meat shield. I'm sure the monsters here would be more than happy to tear you apart if you gave them the chance."

He stood up straight in the doorframe now, arms crossed, watching the two men with a steely gaze. There was more to it than just the general irritation that came with dealing with a suicidal idiot (Weiss always did have the tendency to act like every loss, whether person or fight, was the end of the world); Schuldig had and would try to fix someone's broken psyche if he thought it would get them somewhere. The idea that his telepath would distract himself further after already being tugged in a thousand different directions mentally just for one moron of a human drove him to a riling anger that simmered just below the surface. They could go on without Yohji, as far as he was concerned. The man could go ahead and

Re: M43 to hallway outside M49 en route to the room

[never_learns]

Yohji shot Crawford a flat, vicious glare for that comment. "I'm not suicidal." If he wanted to kill himself, he had a perfectly good knife beneath the mattress which would be a hell of a lot quicker. He just hadn't been thinking straight.

He looked at Schuldig and nodded. "I'm coming." He'd taken on missions in worse conditions before. He slid off the bed and pulled the knife out from underneath the mattress before turning back to them.

Re: M43 to hallway outside M49 en route to the room

[k4t4str0ph4l]

Schuldig raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I know that because I'm telepathic, but you do realize you've got a mostly-empty bottle of scotch in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other, right? And that you stood up a team of sadistic psychics? You may not want to kill yourself but that sure as hell isn't what it looks like."

Damn it, but this was getting old. Schuldig resolved that tomorrow, he was going to track down Aya and - after making him intensely uncomfortable for old time's sake - get him on board for a Kudoh watch. He was sick of being the only one keeping Yohji together when Yohji's ability to hold himself together was slightly more compromised than a soggy tissue being dragged over a cheese grater.

"Come on, then," he said as he folded his arms over his chest, less than graciously. "We need to get to the cafeteria, and your private pity party's already wasted enough of our time."

Re: M43 to hallway outside M49 en route to the room

[at_patera]

Crawford gave Yohji a flat look (if you're not suicidal, then think clearly; losing focus was a critical error no matter where you were in their line of work) and turned away from the pair, passing back out into the hallway through the open door.

"Follow me," he said curtly, waiting for both Schuldig and Yohji to at least start to follow him before heading out into the darkness.

((Going here.))