Day 30: Men's Showers (Third Shift)

[notachick]

The lockdown had been interesting. The fact that the staff had enough power to put down a rebellion that quickly and then lock people into their rooms just as fast was something of a feat to be admired. Their efficiency would have been much more impressive if Okita had been on the other side of it, however. As it stood, he had to keep his

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[intoindra]

Shower time. Just great. Roland had managed to get through the lock-down with Farfarello without eating his room mate, this shift promised to be its own exquisite sort of mental torture. Even though Roland knew that most of these men wouldn't offer any sustenance whatsoever, the demon within was demanding to be fed. In part, Roland was jealous of Heat; the man had gotten to feast the night before, and Indra had been left starving when he'd been out.

But then he actually saw Heat. And shook his head as he strolled over to his fellow cannibal. Should be safer, now that Heat was fed... and all wounds aside, Heat could handle Roland if the pale man snapped and went on a feeding frenzy. Hopefully. Though those wounds looked quite nasty...

Turning on the water next to Heat's to a comfortable (for a human) temperature, Roland quietly asked, "How did last night go?"

[intoindra]

Was there ever going to be a day when Heat didn't snarl and snap? Roland highly doubted it, himself; it just wasn't in Heat's nature to be 'patient' or 'kind.' And knowing him, he wouldn't be satisfied with getting to tear chunks out of people: Roland knew that, because he himself knew that one of the great satisfactions of a demon was to consume one's meal entirely, to rip every last particle of data apart and absorb it into one's own being. To feel the last struggles of life fade away...

The man really had to stop thinking like that. It might make him even more hungry than usual. Especially with the smell of demon blood close by. So Roland stuck his head beneath the spray, holding his breath for a long moment before speaking again. "Not for a little while. Argilla and I are planning on joining up tonight and fixing that situation; I was hoping you wouldn't mind coming along."

[secret_orchard]

Armand listened anxiously to the announcement for once, trying to drink in the information instead of worrying about where the strange voices came from. So he was to be escorted by orderlies with the true punishment still to come. He understood that, even if he couldn't make himself think about it for very long without sliding into a near panic. Armand wasn't a big man, and the two men who entered the room shortly after the announcement easily dwarfed him. He wouldn't be defying them

[loyal_soldier]

TK was utterly at home with the idea of communal showers. Water showers were weird, though. Still, it was a chance to get clean, and he certainly saw no reason why this wasn't a good idea. He stripped, neatly folding up his uniform and heading for the showers.

He spotted Armand, taking a shower next to the smaller man. He'd seen Armand getting involved in one of the fights earlier, and he wanted to make sure the man wasn't hurt.

"You okay?" The question was quickly followed by a Huttese swear as the water came on cold, before he figured out how to work the bizarre temperature control on the thing.

[unmocked_lawr]

Javert welcomed the idea of a shower; last night's fiasco with the undead cats had left him more than a little grimy. It would be good to feel clean again.

He stripped quickly and headed into the showers, more concerned with finding an empty spot than seeking out anyone he knew. It was by mere coincidence that the closest one happened to be next to St. Just.

Javert had seen him at breakfast, of course; it would be terribly difficult to miss the man standing on a table (trying, perhaps, he thought sardonically, to emulate his cousin's friends?). No doubt he'd been sedated as well. It was abominably stupid of St. Just to have gotten involved, but Javert still felt vaguely responsible for possibly the only other Frenchman in the place.

Thankfully, he was spared from having to say anything at the moment; it seemed the well-built man on the other side of St. Just was already speaking to him. Javert busied himself with the shower, feeling ridiculously proud of himself when the water came on pleasantly warm. He was learning already.

[secret_orchard]

Armand wiped water out of his face, and nodded to TK. "I'm fine, Mor'son. I wasn't hurt." His words were still slurred enough he didn't want to say much more. He noticed Javert's arrival and gave the man an embarrassed nod.

"Did I miss anyting importan'?" he asked them both.

Why were both of them so non-chalant with the nudity? He didn't dare ask for fear of further embarrassment. Next to both of them, he felt like a child.

[zeus_incarnate]

When it became obvious that the two large male nurses were not going to give Marcus any privacy while he showered he just shrugged and went about it. They were an irritating presence, but there was nothing he could really do about the situation.

It wasn't like he was shy, either, they were all men here, and Marcus had been in the army long enough to be rid of any problem showering around other men.

The most irritating part was that he wouldn't be able to speak freely with whoever he ended up talking to, if anyone was willing to brave the two orderlies that, while not more muscular than Marcus, were fairly close. They were also a couple inches taller than he was.

[tartaros_avatar]

Recluse had managed to completely avoid all of the fighting in the cafeteria, keeping to a quiet corner and calmly finishing his breakfast while all hell broke loose.

He took a shower next to Marcus, hiding a smirk behind a faked irritated look. "You should have realized that it wasn't going to work." He completely ignored the orderlies, who were both smaller than he was. He wasn't going to be starting any fights, so he wasn't worried about sedation.

[zeus_incarnate]

"I knew that it wasn't going to work," He just hadn't realized how badly they were going to be beaten. And he knew more about their defenses and had a better estimate of the number of staff they had here.

Marcus glanced up at Stefan, too drugged to be irritated at being scolded. He found the entire situation to be funny, and at the same time far too nostalgic for his tastes.

That was something Stefan would have said, not Recluse. Recluse would have been amused and smirking at him. This isn't the Stefan that I knew, though.

[tartaros_avatar]

Recluse gave him an incredulous look. "Then why'd you do it? You could have just stayed out of the fight." He had to bite back the urge to say something sarcastic or belittling. It was just too easy. It was always too easy to find something unkind to say about Marcus.

[part1of3]

It seemed as if Ashton would never, ever become used to showering communally. The mirrors on the walls made it really seem like there was twice the number of naked, muscular, frankly a little scary-looking men in here, which didn't help. Why did fighting men have to look so - so odd? Though he supposed he wasn't quite one to talk.

The swordsman spotted Axel's bright red shock of hair and contemplated joining him, even though he'd just been locked in a room together with his roommate. Axel was a comparatively safe choice, and he wasn't an odd stranger, but Ashton had just embarrassed himself thoroughly in front of his roommate. How could he have even imagined-His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pang of pain in his head. Just like last night. Again. Why did this have to happen all the time? It felt like - it felt like they'd put something in it, and it wanted to crawl its way out. Or.. or something

[not_rly_fai]

The showers were getting full by the time he arrived, but there was no sign of Kurogane. Odd, he thought, wondering if perhaps it hadn't been a figment of his imagination. Chatting with Saix hadn't gotten very far, as usual, but it had brightened his spirits a little to pester his roommate.

The group showers were certainly new to him, but after all the places he'd traveled with the others, it wasn't too surprising. He was reluctant to remove his clothing, if only because he'd rather half the patients didn't see the seal on his back, but it seemed there was no helping it.

He found a free shower next to another unfamiliar patient. He turned the knob on his shower, only to be sprayed with the cold. After a yelp and a giggle, he got the hang of it, setting the temperature to something a little warmer.

Once that was settled, he sent a friendly wave to his neighbor, "hello~!" he almost sang the greeting. "That was a fun show earlier, don't you think? I've never seen the staff move so quickly!"

[part1of3]

Ohhh, it was just Ashton's terrible luck, wasn't it? A headache that seemed to be threatening to split open his skull, and now a cheerful stranger was talking to him in the shower. At any other time, any other time, Ashton would have been just as cheerful and greeted him as he might any friend, but... but this was the shower! And his head hurt.. like it did.

Ashton drew his gaze up to look at Fai's face for a moment, his eyes very slightly hollow with the pain. The water wasn't doing much to mollify it. Maybe conversation might. Maybe. Maybe.

"Ah.. I'm sorry. I heard about that, but.." He shrugged apologetically, and returned to staring at his lap. "I was sleeping at the time." No go - even talking hurt. He could only hope and pray to Tria that it went away.

He bit his lip. Maybe he could learn a little bit more of what had gone on? Ashton wasn't one to let something like this debilitate him! No! "Did you happen to see who started it, by any chance?"

[not_rly_fai]

The other boy looked like he was in pain. Times like these made him wish he was actually capable of healing others, but he was really useless with that kind of thing. As it was, he lowered the volume just a little, as though it might help.

"Hyuu..." he breathed, "Rough night?"

He actually hadn't seen what caused the fight, but it was hard to miss the girl behind it. "Hnnn," he mused, "not someone I know. She was young though, with long dark hair and pale skin. Quite a fighter for someone so small! I was really surprised!"

[31st_of_china]

The priest had managed to finish the cigarette, and have it stubbed out in time and the remains destroyed before the staff came for them. It was strange that Landel hadn't made the announcement, stranger still was that woman he seemed to trust to do the job.

His second-in-command maybe

It was possible. Sanzo had figured that Landel was so arrogant and confident in himself that he wouldn't even bother to have one, but there you had it.

The monk took one of the open showers furthest from the door, scanning the room.

Kenren was there, but so far, no Homura, which was perfectly fine with Sanzo.

But there wasn't any Hakkai either. No Goku.

Frowning, the Monk turned to the showerhead, and turned it on.