Day 55: Male Showers [4th Shift]

[zack_fair]

Having to be around food that he couldn't eat hadn't been nearly as bad as it could have been considering what that food was, and so Zack felt fairly decent as he left the cafeteria and headed through the Sun Room into the showers. Actually, it was his feet that were bothering him more than his stomach. He hadn't been allowed to sit down all day (

Comments

[poorexample]

Despite the day's first shift where he had almost gotten himself into trouble with their new military captors due to Ruby's foolishness, the following two shifts had been surprisingly calm. Speaking with Renamon had given Castiel something to focus his thoughts on, whereas the lunch conversation had been both engaging and distracting. Neither of those options changed the fact that he still needed to speak to Dean as soon as possible, but it did take the edge off of his need to act

[spandexorgtfo]

Lunch had passed without incident, and for that, Kratos was thankful - happy, even. Somehow, he had already been drawn into two conversations on a day where he needed to move and speak as little as possible, so he had definitely welcomed the chance to spend some time alone, even if it wasn't necessarily in peace and quiet.

The showers, however, swiftly became another matter. He had thought it awkward enough the last time to have to stand by and let a nurse unclasp the massive brace he'd lugged around for almost a week, but in truth, it was far, far worse to stand by as one of the soldiers helped him get his boots off. Soldiers. The thoughtfulness (if it could be called that) was humiliating; he had dealt with bruised ribs and the persistent agony that accompanied them before, and yet now he'd fallen low enough to require a grunt to...make his life easier

[poorexample]

Before long, someone familiar took a spot at the shower next to his. Kratos, the one with the strange name that somehow had the same meaning in a different language on a different world. Their conversation the day before had certainly been interesting, but Castiel was still insistent on finding and talking to Dean, even if it had to happen while they were both unclothed

[spandexorgtfo]

Was his discomfort so obvious that it merited observation? He really had hit a new low, if that was the case.

But if it had already been recognized, that meant that there was no need for excuses or dancing around the subject. "I am." Kratos paused and ducked his head back under the water, rinsing off the suds before repeating the process a second time: he wanted to be extra thorough given the gap between showers. "I sustained several bruised ribs last night, so...I have been hindered appropriately."

He spared Castiel another glance and noticed that the other man still seemed to be standing dumbly underneath the shower head. Kratos was by no means an expert on all the ways to take a shower, but he was quite sure that just the act of standing underneath one was not exactly conducive to cleanliness. Then again, he was a foreigner in these parts; customs could vary wildly.

Or perhaps Castiel simply had more pressing things on his mind. "It seems you were luckier."

[poorexample]

Bruised ribs? While Castiel had never experienced such an injury himself, the term had definitely come up around Sam and Dean and he'd heard enough to know that that was no small matter. A bruise didn't sound like something too serious, but the fact that the ribcage was involved made it considerably more severe. And if Kratos was having a difficult time with even basic movements, then the answer was already obvious

[spandexorgtfo]

"That's always something to be thankful for," Kratos commented mildly. He was starting to deeply appreciate each day where he didn't wake up with additional bandages or need some sort of special assistance; those days had somehow become far rarer than he'd ever expected.

His hair properly cleaned (He had no idea what conditioner was; therefore, it was irrelevant...), Kratos reached for the bar of soap. It would be relatively easy to clean his extremities, but as for his chest...maybe if he kept his touch as light as possible, that would be for the best.

"The cause was a monster," he explained as he gingerly washed off his left arm, trying not to grimace from the sting of the soap on the still-healing scratches. "It was an enormous serpent with the head and torso of a woman" - He paused as he had been doing throughout the day to collect his breath and allow the pain to subside - "and clawed hands. I am familiar with such creatures from my own world, but here" - another pause - "I'm too limited to deal with them efficiently."

[poorexample]

Kratos' first statement was something that Castiel had to agree with. Before coming to this place, he'd not fully understand the burden of physical injuries, what Sam and Dean had dealt with after almost every hunt. He'd seen it with his own eyes, the bandaging and the misplaced bones. He'd watched them grimace with pain and yet push on nonetheless. In fact, he'd always understood pain himself, but the way that a wound lingered in humans had been something entirely new to him. A night where he avoided such a thing was something to be appreciated

[spandexorgtfo]

As soon as Castiel named the monster, Kratos couldn't help but give him a strange look for a second. "Yes," he said slowly, "it was indeed one of those." He ought to have expected such a thing if his own name already had a correspondence, but these similarities were still so startling. "I've never heard them described as 'mythical', though." Both were too common to fade into myth, even though the places where a lamia or echidna might be found were not usually traveled to by the average citizen.

Now for his ribs...he could do this. He would do this. Kratos' expression tightened momentarily as he soaped down his entire midsection and accidentally grazed his ribs a little harder than he'd intended

[poorexample]

The look that he was suddenly given caused Castiel to pause for a moment. Not that there was much to do at that second; the shampoo was successfully in his hair, so he needed to wait for the appropriate time to rinse it out, and then he'd put the conditioner in after. But he had to wait for a lull in the conversation first and foremost. Either way, he didn't see why his recognition of the monster's name was so odd. It might seem strange to a human who knew nothing of the supernatural, but Kratos had clearly been here long enough to have met a few, not to mention the fact that he had already explained that they existed on his world as well

[spandexorgtfo]

Too absorbed in considering Castiel's response, Kratos didn't seem to have noticed the redness in the other man's eyes or his previous failure with the shampoo - or at least, he masterfully hid any of sign of doing so. Turning a convenient blind eye to allow others to save face was something he was definitely experienced in, no thanks to Yuan

[poorexample]

Castiel was not surprised to hear that fire was the best method for killing such a thing. It was the most likely way to be rid of a creature, provided it didn't require something more out of the ordinary like a stake or dead man's blood or a silver blade. He was not as much of an expert as Sam or Dean, but he at least knew that when in doubt, fire was useful. Still, he took in the information with a nod. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Though how did you have access to it in the first place

[spandexorgtfo]

If Castiel was seeking information on supplies, he would be sorely disappointed.

"I have some magical abilities left here; summoning fire is one of them," Kratos explained. He had only run into one or two skeptics here, and even so, he was comfortable admitting to his powers - and their origins, even, so long as he didn't need to discuss the other, physiological effects of the Cruxis Crystal. "The spell itself is relatively weak, but it worked."

Glancing the other man's way again, he noticed a shift in Castiel's demeanor, as if the other man had been suddenly let down. Had he been expecting something - or someone, for that matter? If this was about his answer, it seemed a rather extreme response. Either way, it probably...was none of his business.

[poorexample]

So it seemed that Kratos had kept more power than Castiel had been allotted. Granted, angels didn't possess that specific ability, but when it came to anything offensive he was limited to his host's physical capabilities. Thus far it hadn't served him all that well, as he'd lost all of his strength and resilience.

"That must be useful considering the things that stalk us at night. I expect a lot of them are weak to fire," he commented with a nod, trying to draw his attention away from Dean; it was clear that he wouldn't be given the chance to speak with him, so it was best to put it from his mind. The conditioner was soon all in place, leaving his dark hair in clumps and almost entirely covered in white.

There wasn't much more to say, and more than that, his shower was almost over with as far as he could gather. What, then, to say? The part of the conversation that Castiel was worst at was ending it, and so he killed some time by rinsing out the conditioner.

[spandexorgtfo]

[ack! sorry for the delay ;A; guess I'll wrap things up...]

Kratos nodded. "So it seems." There were plenty of drawbacks to using his powers, though, namely the gross amounts of energy that casting consumed. He could barely manage two spells even when he was fully rested, and his fighting ability dropped drastically once he was drained. It always seemed the better choice to save his magic as a last resort even though it made fights that much harder; in the end, he just wanted to be able to keep going.

And as nice as their conversation was, Kratos wasn't given to lingering in a room for long. By now, he had finished rinsing off, so he was ready to head back and attempt to get dressed on his own. Turning the water off, he grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his waist.

"Best of luck." He nodded curtly to Castiel by way of farewell before turning away and making his way out of the showers. It was not the best way to end a conversation, but it worked - and he did sincerely mean it.