Event: Zombie Outbreak

[leekspin]

It was safe to say that a mob of zombies was the last thing Orihime expected to see at an island resort, particularly one that was run by the hotel. It was hard to wrap her mind around it all -- seeing zombies in the sunlight, particularly, smelling of rotten meat and coconut suntan oil -- so she didn't try. The fact of the matter was that there

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[devouring_snake]

"Comes with the job~ You wouldn't believe how much running around I've had to do, it's almost ridiculous. Good help is so hard to find these days, you know?" He ducked under the branch and flattened his hat atop his head as an afterthought. It wouldn't do to lose it here, especially when he'd become so fond of it over the years. Sure, he could always get a replacement, but it was the principle of the thing, really.

Once he'd passed through the boundary -- which he could tell by the wave of tingling heat washing over his senses, a bit more powerful to his senses because of what he was -- within the cleared section of the forest he felt a ... calm. An almost unnatural magic, tinged with the otherworldly. It made a shiver run down his spine in the most delightful way, and for a moment he was tempted to doff his hat to the pre-residents of this location, if only because their magic seemed to be the only thing that wasn't behind the times with the rest of the world.

"Is this the only safe house in the area? It's almost like they expected something like this to happen, hahaha!"

[leekspin]

"Not sure..." Orihime shook her head, her long hair swinging before she took one last deep breath, and straightened. Her leg stung slightly, but she could clean and bandage it later. It was hardly serious. "There might be others out there, but I don't really know. This one isn't on the map, so I don't think the others...if there are any...are mapped out either. But there's clean water, blankets, and a huge food supply."

In fact, if Orihime didn't know any better, she'd say that the supply was self-replenishing. It was possible; crazier things had happened, zombies foremost amongst them.

"Come on inside," she offered, stepping up the short porch and opening the heavy door. "Most people sleep during the day, since the zombies are more active at night. You can get something to eat in the kitchen, I'm going to go clean up a bit."

[devouring_snake]

"Hmm~" He hummed, but didn't say anything more after that. Instead he trailed along behind Orihime, stepping carefully onto the porch and heading past her through the door and into the entryway. "They do think of everything here, don't they?" Just a perfect little zombie-infested paradise, he thought, and the idea makes him chuckle a bit to himself. "Good thing you're here to save the day, you selfless little lady, you.

Kitchen is... where?" He half-turned toward her, hands slipped leisurely in his pockets, and his gaze dropped down. "Ouch, that looks like a nasty cut. Why don't we get that taken care of before we eat, hmm? I'd hate for it to get infected. Who knows what's crawling around in here."

[leekspin]

He was going to embarrass her to death at this rate. She rubbed the back of her neck, smiling awkwardly, and started to speak with her other hand half-raised in the direction of the kitchen when he took notice of her cut. Orihime's hand fell back to her side as she blinked down at her leg. How had he known that was what she'd meant by 'clean up a bit'? He was awfully astute!

"Oh, well...all right. Thank you very much, Hazama-san." Her head inclined faintly in thanks. If he had experience in first aid, then it was probably better to allow him to do it. Orihime disliked using her powers on herself; it was incredibly taxing, much like trying to clean and bandage a wound squarely in the center of her own back. While it was possible, it took a lot more effort than it was usually worth.

She led the way toward one of the various supply cabinets, opening it and checking inside before lifting a first aid kit from an upper shelf.

"It's not bad," she reassured him with a lopsided smile. "I just got nicked a bit by one of the splintered ends in that log."

[devouring_snake]

"Not at all! It's the least I could do in exchange for your hospitality." His knowledge in medical treatment was limited, but it would be enough. It was rare that he was injured as often as most other people, and even if he did get a few nicks or two or three he had a fairly decent turnaround time. Running through the forest dressed like that, it was only natural she would have harmed herself in some way or another.

That and he could smell the instant the branch had pierced through skin.

He set the kit on a rickety old table a bit away and gestured for her to have a seat. The fedora was removed and set down carefully, and then he shrugged out of his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his impeccably clean dress shirt. A bit of rummaging on his part produced a wad of cotton balls and a bottle of antiseptic, along with some gauze bandages he set aside for later. It probably would have been easier for him to remove the gloves, but as Orihime would soon find out when he tapped her injured ankle, his fingers were cold as ice.

"Removing the, ah, dress---" He made an abstract gesture with his hand. "--would be helpful, if you could."

[leekspin]

"Hm? --Oh, right, ha ha! Sorry about that." The fabric of the sarong probably wouldn't have gotten in the way much, but it was pretty dirty, so she figured that was why he wanted it gone.

She untied the knot at her hip, unwrapping the folds of dirt-smudged and muck-stained fabric from around her waist and thighs. Shifting forward, she slid it out from underneath her, and let it drop to the floor with a sigh. Orihime probably wouldn't be able to wear it again. The one supply this place lacked was clothing, and she'd had to shed more and more of it as time went on. It almost made her suspicious that it was being done on purpose. But it was too filthy, and considering what was on it, it probably wasn't safe to wash it anywhere that might contaminate the water supply.

The rest of her legs were relatively clean and smooth, thanks to the protection the sarong had previously given her. She sat calm and still, holding to the edge of the chair as she watched him work.

[devouring_snake]

He watched as she removed the skirt, neither helping nor hindering her in the process. It was almost as though he were studying her from behind a glass, so detached and impersonal was his stare. But that faded soon enough, replaced with a polite smile so swiftly its genuineness could be called into question.

"So you say that most of the people here tend to sleep, since zombies come out only at night?" He hummed pleasantly as he soaked a copious amount of the rubbing alcohol with a cotton ball swab. Once it was wet enough, he pressed it without warning to the cut on Orihime's leg, perhaps a little rougher than was necessary.

"Whoops, hope that doesn't sting too badly." Immediately he curled long fingers around the spot right above the cut, holding her still as he swiped and dabbed at the drying blood smeared around the wound. "And how long, exactly, have you been battling them?"

[leekspin]

Orihime bit back a squeaky cry, one eye winced shut as the alcohol seemed to sear her wound. It was strange how curing an injury sometimes hurt worse than getting injured in the first place. She was tense, but gradually eased her tightened muscles as the sting began to fade into a dull throb.

"A little more than two days, I think?" she replied, her winced eye opening once more. "And the zombies are out all the time, they're just worse at night. There's more of them, and they're a lot faster too. I'm not really sure why." They were like the opposite of lizards -- sluggish in the sun, quick and deadly when it was cold.

"There aren't many people here, so right now there's enough space that everyone can have their own room. The rooms aren't too big, but at least you can have your privacy. The walls are thick and insulated, too, so you can't really hear anything inside or outside. A good thing, since zombies are pretty noisy, hee hee...!"

so sorry for the delay. i'm up for backtagging if you are?

[devouring_snake]

"Ah, of course, of course... It sounds like a perfect little paradise, doesn't it?" He chuckled quietly and began to bandage up the cut. "Beautiful beach, a private getaway in the jungle, insulated rooms... could do without the exotic locales, but aside from that it'd make a pretty little postcard, don't you think?" Fingers made quick work of binding her leg to ensure that it didn't get infected with any outside substances (because in a situation like this, who knew what was floating around in the air?) and with a satisfied nod he sat back to admire his handiwork. His gaze lingered a bit longer than necessary on the smooth skin of her leg, and though his expression was pleasant his eyes conveyed something more ... malevolent.

"Orihime-chan," and here he's going to just lay his hand on her ankle, a friendly gesture if not for how cold his fingers were. "Since you're the big boss lady around here, do you mind showing me to my room?" He didn't doubt that he could find it, but all the same... "Pretty please?"

Absolutely! <3

[leekspin]

Orihime looked down at the bandage once he'd finished, flexing her foot, then beaming. It still stung a little, but he'd done a nice job, and she felt a little safer because of it. Her smile almost fell right off when she saw the look in his eyes. For a moment she tensed, before her mind dismissed the notion. She already knew he was dangerous if he'd survived the zombies so efficiently, but in a situation like this, everyone was in the same pot. Or was it boat? ...Boat would be best, she didn't like to think of it as a cookpot. That was just creepy.

"...Oh, er, sure! I'm not really the boss, though, ha ha!" It was still recent enough that no one had stepped up to assume the mantle of leadership. She just preferred going out to look for survivors instead of huddling in a corner waiting for it to be over.

She rose from her chair, finding no difficulty in putting any weight on her leg, and stepped toward the hallway. "This way, Hazama-san." She led him down a long corridor, with multiple thick, reinforced doors of steel. There were small square windows in each, much as a hospital room might have, some of which she checked before moving on. Finally she stopped upon finding an unoccupied room, and with a smile she pushed the door open and held it. "Here you go! It's not as nice as the hotel, but it's safe."

[devouring_snake]

"Rounding up all these survivors and providing them a means of escape certainly sounds like a something a leader would do. But then, I suppose you have to have a certain character in order to fit the role." It only took him a second to retrieve his coat and slip it on along with his hat, and in no time at all he was following along behind her and taking in their surroundings with muted interest. It was structually sound, he noted, with the windows pretty high up and the walls devoid of cracks. Obviously this place had been kept in decent care despite being abandoned, or at the very least had been slightly used before the outbreak.

The click of his heels echoing in the corridor made him realize just how quiet this place was, despite the chaos going on outside. He couldn't even hear any mention of the other guests that supposedly occupied the area -- ah, but he did see a few pairs of curious eyes peeking out at him, so he supposed she hadn't been completely lying to him, albeit she had no reason to.

But that didn't matter. What he was really interested in was that pesky little barrier keeping them locked up nice and snug...

Upon reaching the room he spent more time standing outside of it than inside, just peering in and glancing around from corner to corner. It was small, with a simple bed and a window set in the wall.

"Hmm. Looks safe to me. What about your room? Safe? No little ghosties creeping around, is there?" When he smiles, it's all teeth. "Want me to check?"

[leekspin]

"Ha ha!" Thinking it a joke, Orihime grinned and shook her head. "If there were ghosts, I'd definitely be able to detect those! But no, there aren't any ghosts here. Thanks, though!"

She waited for him to head in and get settled, but he seemed like he was hesitating for some reason. She glanced from the room to Hazama, then back again, and raised her eyebrows inquisitively. He had said he was tired, right? If he was, he was hiding it very well.

"Well...feel free to get some rest. I think I'm going to head out and see if I can find anyone else." Or something that could help them. If there were a way to replicate the wards, that would be handy, but she didn't have the first clue as to where she should start looking. Perhaps someone else on the island knew more about it.

[devouring_snake]

"Clever girl, it's a good thing you checked." The irony of it made him chuckle a little, but he dismissed the matter with a shake of his head and stepped into his room. "Ah, but I don't think I can sleep... everything's happened just so fast, you know?

"I'd feel terrible letting you run around out there by yourself. I mean, I know you can handle it and all, and more power to you for negating all those damsel-in-distress stereotypes." Turning, he gave her a small smile and cocked his head to the side. "But then again, I don't want to impose... and I'm sure by now you've become quite tired of hearing me talk, ne?"

[leekspin]

Oh, so he was Japanese too! She hadn't been sure, given his unusual hair and eye color, but it was kind of nice to hear someone else use the word 'ne' in a casual sense. Orihime grinned, waving her hand.

"No no, you're not imposing! And I don't blame you. I still have a hard time sleeping too, when the sun is up. So it'll be nice when this is over and we can go back to the hotel." ...She never thought she'd say returning to the hotel would be a good thing. But there it was!

"But are you sure you want to come with me? You had to fight really hard just to get here, after all." At least she didn't have to worry about his nerves. There had never been anyone else who'd handled themselves as well as he had, at least that she'd seen!