Day 19 - Male Showers

[class_one]

It was in complete silence that Zack was moved from the cafeteria to the showers. Usually one would have expected him to be chatting with the nurse despite the fact that she happened to think he was a certain Parker Johnson, but... No, not today

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[beloved_lives]

Seimei undressed carefully, neatly placing his clothes in the space provided. It would be nice to be clean, and he approached an available shower head next to some other guy -- not that he cared much or noticed. He was the type of person who was very much aware and assured of his own physical beauty, and thus carried no shame about revealing it to others. However, he was not an exhibitionist, either, in that regard. No doubt, anyone here would find his cat-like ears and tail quite unremarkable, in a place where every second person had some additional appendage.

But the hot water felt so good, it was the best thing he'd felt since coming here, and he was going to make the most of it.

An idle glance around and -- he recognized one of the other patients. It was Roy. Or at least, he thought so. They'd only had a brief acquaintance, a pleasant walk in the courtyard, a light conversation.

Later, he would have to renew that familiarity. One would need... friends, after all. Closing his eyes, Seimei tipped his head back into the spray, the

[repolarization]

Ginji entered the showers with the smile still on his face. He was pleased to have eaten an entire meal and to have made a friend. That and he had promised to meet someone else and there were a lot of other reasons that he felt pretty cheerful. He should have been in a worse mood.

After all he had woken up in the strange place that had turned out to be a hospital. His powers were very diminished and he had no idea what was going on. But that stuff was too confusing to think about right now. Much better to smile and feel cheerful

[beloved_lives]

Okay, so -- someone was staring at him. But it wasn't offensive. It was more amusing to him to be examined so. He smiled -- he could be charming when he wished. He could be -anything-.

He flicked his tail, sending droplets of water over the blond. But it was a friendly gesture, rather than being a movement to warn the man away. It might even be called playful.

After all, he wasn't shy.

[repolarization]

Ginji jumped slightly from surprise when the tail moved. So it was real.

That was so cool!

"Wow! How did you do that?" he asked, grinning again. This was a bit more detailed than Shido's Beast Semblance technique. Ginji might have been eighteen and therefore considered an 'adult' by the hospital staff but that didn?t mean that he had to act like it.

"I'm Ginji!" he added, just to introduce himself and be polite. If this kitty-person was playful like this all the time maybe they could end up being friends! Ginji seemed distracted enough to forget he was supposed to be showering and that he was, in fact, naked in front of people. It wasn't any different than a bath house anyway... right?

[beloved_lives]

"Seimei." He introduced himself in turn. "If you wish to continue talking, you should at least make it look like you are attempting to shower. The nurses are keeping an eye on us."

He stepped briefly back under the spray, pushing his hair back with both hands, letting his fingers curl over his own shoulders. "Mmm. I do that as you would move your arm or leg. It's not artificial, if that's what you meant."

[repolarization]

Ginji felt a little embarrassed. "Oh," he said to both the suggestion that he shower and the fact that the tail was just a tail. He stepped closer to the water and started showering, though his movements were slower than he had originally intended. "I didn't think it was fake, I just didn't..." He paused, thinking how to best describe what he thought. "I'm just not used to seeing stuff like that when there's not a fight around or anything. I just woke up here this morning. Are there a lot of people with kitty ears?" he asked, still very curious about them. He had a desire to reach out and touch the ears, but that would be too forward even for him.

[beloved_lives]

"Saa." Seimei shrugged slightly, gaze shifting to regard Ginji with an open interest. He would let the boy see that much, just enough to keep him on the line, dangling, wanting more. "In a place like this, who can tell?"

"I'm sure you'll find out soon." He smiled, his tone and manner remaining soft and warm, welcoming. "I only woke up about an hour ago, so I cannot tell you for certain one way or the other."

The ears swiveled, as various sounds occurred within the room, even though his focus stayed on the blond man.

[repolarization]

Ginji's eyes remained on the kitty ears, but then he realized he was staring. He smiled and focused on washing his body. "Ah," he said. "If you just woke up here then you're like me. Have you met anyone who has been here for a while?" Ginji wondered if Seimei was as confused as he had was. One hour wasn't a lot of time to get to know many people so he wasn't really expecting Seimei to be able to really tell him anything. Besides they were still in the showers and it was weird to have an entire conversation while showering. He mostly spoke because he forgot to think before he let the words escape his lips.

He looked back at Seimei, once again really wanting to touch the kitty ears. It wasn't as if he wanted to do anything else with Seimei, his mind just didn't think about that stuff. He just wondered if the ears felt like other kitty ears or if they were different. He also wondered what he could do to get some. They were kinda cute!

[beloved_lives]

"You're the first person I've spoken to." Seimei said, finishing with his shower and padding over to fetch a towel. "Besides the nurse."

He was still becoming accustomed to others looking at people with ears and a tail as abnormal. He just took it for granted, a sign of virginity and -- some said -- purity. But he was far from pure and only occasionally innocent -- when it served his purposes to be so.

But he understood the desire to explore with contact, to feel, beyond the shadow of a doubt, what was real and what wasn't. To have that memory cemented with a physical sensation that could be recalled, years on, with perfect clarity. Ginji wanted to pet him -- he could always tell when people wished to do so, it was just something in their faces. The blond seemed to have a bit of a childish nature about him, harmless, perhaps -- but also someone he could easily manipulate and command their loyalty.

"Are you going to take me under your wing, then?" He asked, tilting his head just-so, putting on his cat-in-the-cream expression.

[repolarization]

Ginji blinked twice, a slightly confused expression on his face. "Uh... is that what you want?" he asked. It felt like it had been a while since someone had asked for something like that of him and it had never been with those exact words. He always liked protecting people, sure, but something was a little strange about that question.

He turned towards the water and finished off rinsing off his body before grabbing his towel to dry off his body. He looked back at Seimei, this time looking at his face instead of the ears. Whatever those words did, it broke the spell those kitty ears had over Ginji. He still wanted to touch them, but it wasn't an overwhelming desire anymore. He wondered if Seimei was just playing with him, acting like a kitty, or if he really needed help. It made Ginji very curious about the him.

[beloved_lives]

"Of course." Seimei said, for all outward appearances, completely sincere. His ears folded down as he finished drying and began to dress. "... unless it's too troublesome... I would not want to cause you undue burden." He said quietly, adding just a hint of hurt to his tone.

He looked down at the floor, as if he did not dare to meet the blond's eyes. "Forgive me, Ginji... I have been too forward in my request, after all -- you do not know me, it is understandable that you would be hesitant... especially if I am..." A hand brushed over an ear. "... somewhat abnormal."

[repolarization]

Ginji shook his head. "Oh no!" he said. "That's not what I was thinking. I would be happy to help you any way I can!" He was completely serious about this. He went to his bundle of clothes and started getting back into the happy faced uniform. "I was just a little concerned because you don't know me that much. But I'm always happy to help people if I can!"

He finished dressing and rubbed his hair with his hand. He felt very bad that he had given Seimei a bad impression. He would never want to make someone think that he thought they were strange. He didn't want to hurt people like that at all. "We can figure out what's going on together and be friends, okay?"

[beloved_lives]

"None of us knows each other." Seimei pointed out. "Not really. We only know who we are in the context of this place. If any of us had met outside of it, I'm sure we would be very different people, indeed... don't you think?" A soft smile, a reward for Ginji's proper response.

"I am glad." He said simply, seeing the nurses approach them. "Seems we're about to be escorted elsewhere."

[repolarization]

Ginji looked at the nurses as well, frowning slightly. Not because he was annoyed at the women yet, but just because he didn't like that his coversation was going to be cut short. "I'm going to be meeting other people at lunch, maybe you can sit with us too," he said. "If you want to. Then we might be able to learn more about what's going on." After all maybe Kurama had talked to someone who knew what was happening and then there was that guy that Ginji had promised to meet. He looked back at Seimei and grinned. "It was nice meeting you."

[beloved_lives]

Seimei was certain that no one here, apart from the administrators, knew exactly what was going on. Even if the patients did all within their ken, they wouldn't come close to unravelling the mysteries of this place.

That much, he knew.

"Of course." A nod, appearing somewhat deflated as Ginji left him. It was all for show, of course, but he put on a damn fine one. A soft smile, but one that didn't reach his eyes, as if he were upset to be left on his own.

[repolarization]

Ginji watched Seimei go a little curiously. Hopefully Seimei would be okay, until then he had to make sure that he was. So far he had met two people who didn't know anything about what was going on. They should be able to find something who could tell them something before the day was through though, maybe at lunch.

Ginji smiled at his nurse when she was close enough, still too cheerful to be impolite.