Night 37: Main Hall, 2-East

[yin_yang_fox]

[from here]

Something felt familiar close by, like something she knew, but changed... She didn't allow herself to be distracted and continued into the next hall.

[to here]

Comments

[sir_savien]

[ from here]

Kvothe looked around as he followed Clark out of the stairwell, shining his flashlight to see what was up there. A large hallway like the one below them, a cross hallway lined with doors, another up ahead. He couldn't really tell beyond that, the beam of the light didn't reach any farther. Even if there wasn't a working phone, they were bound to find something useful up here. "Well, where should we try first?"

[son_ofkrypton]

Clark paused, looking around. He kept his voice down, feeling antsy and exposed. "I think that way overlooks the sun room," he replied, keeping his voice to a whisper. "And around the balcony is the Chapel..." Clark trailed off, remembering the last time he'd been in there. "Anyway, other than that, I haven't really been up here too much."

[Waiting for Brainy, I think?]

[emotionl4arobot]

[staggering in from here]Brainiac 5 leaned heavily against the wall, relying on it more and more to keep him upright as well as guide him in the darkness. He barely felt the pain from his injuries any more, only the thin smear of blood on the wall from his shoulder reminding him of how damaged his body had to be. It was ironic really. He was one of the greatest minds of his time, had helped save planets and even the whole galaxy once, and he was going to die trapped in a body not his own in a Earth facility in the past. All because Grell was insane enough to attempt murder to support his delusions

[sir_savien]

Kvothe's head whipped around at the scream, his flashlight searching for a moment before it landed on the figure on the floor. He shot a startled look at Clark before running over to the fallen man, it didn't take long to see why he was in such bad shape, he winced at the scalpel deep in the shoulder and held up the pillowcase he was using as a bag so Clark could see it. "Clark, tear me off some of this, quick." He knew that removing the blade could cause the wound to bleed more freely, but from the looks of things leaving it in would only cause more damage.

[son_ofkrypton]

Clark dropped down on his knees next to Kvothe. It wasn't until he got that close that he recognize Brainy underneath the blood. Clark didn't quite go green, but he did stiffen, even as he numbly took the pillowcase. Without even paying attention to it, he easily tore it into strips as if it was tissue paper, handing it back to the other patient, too distracted by the boy on the floor to try to make up an excuse

[emotionl4arobot]

He must have blacked out briefly from the pain, because next thing he knew the two people he'd almost run into were standing over him, looking concerned. Automatically he tried to move, but his body was too tired and drained to respond much to his frantic, instinctive attempts to get away; his right hand only pushing weakly at the red-haired man's arm and leaving bloody marks there. "N-no..." he managed. While the stranger seemed concerned, like he had Brainiac 5's best interests in mind, Grell had also seemed harmless and non-threatening and right now he couldn't afford to be taken by surprise like that again

[sir_savien]

He knew Clark, Kvothe winced a little as he realized. He took the fabric strips from Clark and gathered them into thick pads, one he pressed over the wound on the shoulder that didn't still have a blade stuck in it. "Just relax," he said soothingly to the man on the floor. "I need you to hold as still as you can so that we can take the scalpel out of your back before it causes any more damage.

Then he looked back up at Clark. "Yeah, it needs to come out, and the wounds need cleaned and stitched before he loses much more blood. I can do it if we can find the tools."

[son_ofkrypton]

Why was Brainy apologizing? Clark wondered if this was a Coluan thing or if Brainy seriously thought this was his fault

[emotionl4arobot]

The sudden pressure on his shoulder hurt, as much as he knew it was necessary. Brainiac 5 couldn't help but flinch away from it gasping as the inadvertent movement caused the scalpel lodged in his other shoulder to scrape up against bone again. An itching wetness made him realise his eyes were tearing up again despite his efforts to control himself, but there wasn't much he could do about it with the red-haired stranger holding his right arm still. Instead he just directed his gaze away from Clark, clearly not wanting the other to see how upset he was.

"I should have... been more careful," he insisted despite the pain. "I shouldn't have been so... naive to trust him." Of course ideally he wouldn't have trusted this other stranger either but Clark seemed to know him, and he did seem to be trying to help more than anything else. Not to mention Clark was close by in case anything did go wrong, which was also reassuring

[sir_savien]

"There is a clinic," he said to Clark, "in M35 I think, my roommate's there helping out. But I don't think we should try to move him that far. We can try the Chapel, but I'd rather get him at least bandaged first."

Then he turned back to the injured man. "That's good, we can make do long enough to get you to see if the chapel helps. I'm sure there will be something useful, if you can tell us where they are. I'm going to take this out now, so stay as still as you can. I'll pull it on three," he says, taking a firm grip on the scalpel. "One, two, three." He pulls it straight out with one strong pull, then presses another pad of fabric over the wound to staunch the blood.

[son_ofkrypton]

Clark sighed. It wasn't wrong to trust people, was it? Sure, he shouldn't be one to talk, considering his family secrets, but the point was that it wasn't wrong to trust someone when you met them. You just had to be careful what to trust them with; not everyone you met was going to stab you with scalpels and Clark thought it was terribly unfair of Brainy to think he could have anticipated that. He still wasn't sure what to do, except keep Brainy company for now: Kvothe seemed to know what to do, taking charge of the situation. Clark tried not to stare too much at Brainy's injury, at all that blood, and tried instead to force himself to pay attention to what Kvothe was doing

[emotionl4arobot]

Clark and the stranger were talking something about a clinic, which he supposed he should have been more interested in but it was becoming more and more difficult to concentrate on what was going on around him. Now that he'd stopped forcing himself to keep moving, had stopped being afraid of talking to others because of how Grell had scared him, all he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep - really sleep, rather than the powered down but still constantly working rest of his species. His eyes drifted closed almost of their own accord and he slumped back against the wall despite the pain from his wounds. He was most likely succumbing to the blood loss, he realised distantly. He needed to make an effort to stay awake but it was just... too much right now

[sir_savien]

Kvothe doesn't really react to the scream but he bit his lower lip worriedly, the man looked like he was fading fast. Not knowing where the supplies were he wasn't sure how quickly he could find them, and with so much about this place being unfamiliar to him... He knew that if he had the right supplies he could treat and stitch the wounds properly, but he couldn't do much about the blood loss. He definitely needed more help than Kvothe could give him alone. It's not a hard decision to make. He looked up at Clark very seriously before turning his attention to using the remaining fabric strips to wrap bandage him as best he can. He's not entirely convinced that the Chapel will help, but if Clark's had experience with it, it's worth a try. "How quickly can you get him to the Chapel?"

[son_ofkrypton]

"A minute, maybe two minutes," Clark said truthfully. He would've said right now normally, if he had his powers, but his speed was as unreliable as anything else. He did know he could probably carry Brainy and that the Chapel was pretty much around the bend. "It's close, around the corner from here if I follow the balcony."

Clark turned to Brainy, glancing down in worry at the hand clutching his shirt. Right now he thought Brainy looked like a scared kid, normal, and not at all like some amazing alien. He hesitated for a second and then laid a hand over Brainy's, trying to comfort him, before he bent down to try to pick him up.

"This'll probably hurt," Clark tried to warn him. He tried to be gentle picking him up: maybe some of his strength was back, because Brainy seemed to weigh nothing to him in the same way that bench-pressing his Dad's tractors used to feel like.

[emotionl4arobot]

Much of the conversation between Clark and the stranger passed over his head, though the word 'chapel' drew his attention. They seemed intent on getting him there, and it took Brainiac 5 some moments of dredging through his knowledge of Earth in the 21st century to place what the word meant exactly. A small place of worship for various religions, not a place for caring for injuries at all. But why would they take him there unless

[sir_savien]

"You're going to be fine," Kvothe assured him, though he wasn't sure he felt it. The poor guy looked terrified. He turned away to gather up the last bits of fabric scraps from the pillowcase and the small odds and ends he'd had inside it, then picked up the scalpel as well. If they ran into anything unfriendly he'd probably need it. Then he looked back up at Clark. "Go, then, quickly. Don't worry about me keeping up, I'll manage."