Day 51: Men's Showers [Second Shift]

[perfectrecord]

Bah. So much for yet another suggestion of von Karma's. Such priorities this Institute had. They would implement a foolish suggestion to introduce origami lessons and to offer sewing supplies to select patients, yet refused to allow them to cleanse themselves more often than twice a week -- and, of course, without any additional privacy? How

Comments

[zack_fair]

Well then. Okay, maybe he should have expected a bad attitude when the guy had been so disgruntled from the start, but the stranger was the one who'd decided to come stand next to him. He should have expected him to strike up a conversation in that case. Or maybe Zack was just too friendly and talkative for his own good.

It was possible the older man was just awkward about the whole showering thing. Zack didn't really know why, but some people could just never really get over their shyness, and he wasn't about to make the man feel uncomfortable if he was already that annoyed.

He was about to turn back to his own shower and keep washing himself, but that was when the stranger let out an undignified yelp as if the shower drain had just tried to open up and eat him. Zack glanced over sharply, but there was no sign of danger...

"What happened?" he asked, because in the end he really couldn't mind his own business. "Is it not working?" The water looked clean enough, so what was the problem? Temperature issues? That was probably the most likely reason, but how could the man not know how to work a shower?

[longlivetehking]

He was definitely not going to tell what had happened. If anything, it was a small blessing the human hadn't seen his utter failure in handling this silly contraption. Perhaps, for the former lion, being swallowed and eaten by the shower drain was a more merciful fate.

"Oh, I can assure you it actually works quite well," A soaked and shivering Scar grumbled, attempting to regain some composure after the rather undignified display he had unwillingly provided. So he had happened to take a spot that was next to an ignorant fool. Lovely... He was no expert, but did the infuriating contraption look like it didn't work?! The only problem was that the water was cold and cold water didn't prove to be all that pleasant on human skin.

He supposed he should try to make it warmer then. He began fumbling with the knobs some more, but in favor of not having any more surprises raining down on him, he began to do so slowly. At least, this foresight would save him from getting burned next...

[zack_fair]

So the guy was getting smart with him for no real reason. Zack couldn't say that this was the first time that this had happened to him, though. Some people just lived with sticks shoved up their rear end, either because they thought they were better than everyone else or because they were just like that by nature. Zack didn't really know what caused it, but it wasn't a trait he was that fond of. Nonetheless, he was more tolerant than most.

"I wouldn't call it working well if it's making you freeze," he commented offhandedly as he continued with his own shower, getting some shampoo to run through his long hair. It was practically a mane of spikes by now, but he had to admit he was pretty happy with it. It suited him a lot more than his old style had, even if it was a lot harder to maintain when it came to things like this.

"So," he said, continuing to chat with the man simply by way of not being the sort of person who knew the meaning of giving up, "is there a reason that you hate showers, or are you just having a bad day?" Venting always helped, didn't it? Some people didn't like being bothered, but in Zack's experience they only thought they didn't want to be bothered. Once they started talking, it was like the floodgates had opened. Maybe this stranger was like that.

[longlivetehking]

Oh, it was so fortunate this man turned out to be quite the chatterbox.

"Well, I'm so sorry for not being an expert at these ridiculous contraptions," Scar grumbled in response, though at least he finally managed to find a decent water temperature that wasn't going to either burn or freeze him. Next there was the...smelly goo.

There was no real reason to answer the question that followed, truly. But the former lion couldn't quite stop himself from doing it, likely for pride- and ego-related reasons. "Perhaps I simply dislike water. Unfortunately, your random species happens to use it for personal hygiene and all that. I'm sure you are now capable of somewhat understanding my 'vendetta'?"

[zack_fair]

So that explained it.

This guy was probably like ZEX, in that he just wasn't originally human. That definitely made sense, seeing how he was acting like a shower head was a foreign object. (Showers didn't count as ridiculous contraptions, the last time he'd checked.) But if he was from a species that washed itself in a different way (or didn't wash at all, gross), then no wonder he was making such a stink now.

At least it wasn't a literal stink. In this case, Zack had to be grateful that the nurses forced the patients to take showers. If not, there could have been a few out there who reeked, and no one needed that.

"Sorry," he said, lifting up his hands in surrender or something like it. "I didn't know you weren't originally human." It wasn't like he could tell just by looking, so why did the guy have to be such a sourpuss about it? "What are you supposed to be?" he asked as he dunked his hair under the water to rinse the shampoo out.

[longlivetehking]

Washed in a different way, thank you very much. Thankfully Zack had never voiced that thought, or it would've given birth to a whole different discussion.

At the very least, admitting he wasn't originally human had earned him an apology (for what it was worth). And a rather predictable question regarding his original species. Luckily Scar had never seen a reason to hide that specific piece of information. Compared to being human, it wasn't anything to be embarrassed about.

"Are you familiar with lions, by any chance?" he responded in a decidedly less cynical way. This chatterbox wouldn't be the first one to be unfamiliar with his original species, after all.

[zack_fair]

Zack was just about done with his rinsing process (it took a while when his hair was this long, all right?) when he heard the foreign word. There clearly wasn't an equivalent in his language, since he just heard something completely new to him.

Lion. It didn't ring a bell, and he jerked his head out from under the shower's spray as he shrugged his shoulders. "Nope, I can't say that I am!" There weren't all that many sentient species on Gaia other than humans and the Cosmo Canyon dwellers, but Zack was only vaguely aware of them anyway. He'd heard rumors and talk, but hadn't seen them with his own eyes.

"So, what are lions like?" he asked. The VUX had been interesting to learn about, so Zack imagined it would be the same in this case. It was a shame that he was just about done with his shower.

[longlivetehking]

So he did not know. He supposed he was now obligated to tell this human of his species. Well, why not?

"A lion is a feline species, which I suppose would be defined as an animal, which is considered different by you humans I've noticed here," Scar responded. Many of them seemed to think they - and other animals - were not even sentient. Truly, where had they concluded such things? They were utterly ridiculous themselves.

"Where I am from, we are at the top of the food chain," he continued. Though he had to wonder, would he ever find a way back to his original form?

[zack_fair]

It looked like he had actually been on the right track when he'd started thinking about the Cosmo Canyon dwellers. Zack had only heard descriptions, but he knew that they were somewhere between a canine and a feline, with red coats and sharp claws and teeth. Despite their fearsome appearances, though, they were long-lived and intelligent creatures who held some of the most important secrets about the planet.

That being said, Zack still wasn't sure what to make of this guy. He didn't have the attitude of someone who was wise and at peace with the earth, for one thing.

"Actually, there is something like that on my world. Animals that walk on four legs, but are sentient... maybe even smarter than humans," he remarked as he reached forward to turn off his shower. He was pretty much done, which meant it was about time for him to head back and change. But then he realized something...

"Hey, we haven't even introduced ourselves! I'm Zack," he said with a small nod of his head, knowing better than to try a handshake in this situation.

[longlivetehking]

"I see," Scar responded, at least less condescending than how he had started the rather random conversation out with. "Well, I suppose the species are different in every world. There are no humans where I am from, for instance."

While the other man appeared to be finished with his shower, Scar was still struggling with his. He had no idea which type of goo went on your skin and which type of goo went on your mane. This experience was not only utterly ridiculous, but also unnecessarily complicated. Leave it to these plucked monkeys to come up with such silly things.

Ah, yes. It would seem they had indeed skipped the introductions. The former lion wasn't going to lose any sleep over such a thing, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt to return the favor.

"Scar."

[zack_fair]

It was pretty weird for Zack to imagine a world without humans. Even ZEX had known a good deal about them, and he was some sort of weird alien thing. In fact, he'd seemed overly familiar with humans, come to think of it, but this guy must have had quite the shock to his system when he'd woken up here. He couldn't imagine how weird it had to be to learn how to walk on two legs after walking on four for your whole life, much less being shoved into a body you didn't even recognize.

No wonder the guy was so moody. See, there was always a reason. "This has to be pretty bizarre, then," he commented as he reached for a towel and started to dry off. He had probably already overstayed his welcome, and while he did want to maybe discuss this further, it looked like it would have to wait for another time.

The guy had a very straightforward name, which made Zack wonder if it was just an alias. Then again, he'd known someone named Genesis, so...

"It was nice talking, Scar," he remarked with a half-smile. Maybe not all that nice, but he'd managed to make the most of it anyway. "I'll see you around." And with a towel wrapped neatly around his waist, the soldier wandered off to go get dressed.