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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[31st_of_china]

Showering wasn't something that Sanzo was particularly enjoying at the moment. What he wanted was a hot spring, steam, and to be completely alone.

That wasn't going to happen. Because after this, he had to look forward to the nurse from the cafeteria and some more bitching. Sanzo never thought he'd come down to this, but he wanted to be back in that cramped jeep and heading west again. He wanted the sutra, he wanted Goku where he could see him, and he was beginning to rethink his stance regarding the nurses.

The monk wasn't desperate enough to want Gojyo around yet. If he ever got that desperate, he'd probably just put a gun to his own head.

In any other circumstances, Sanzo might have found showering something more of a luxury. After days - sometimes weeks- on the road, dust and sweat started to build up. Sometimes blood. Streams and lakes didn't quite do the job, so Sanzo took care to enjoy what showers and bathes they had in the inns.

The monk stepped under an open showerhead, and began to quickly wash.

[bond_off_lame]

Shower... again?Now the redhead couldn't really complain about all of this, but he didn't know if he should be offended about what the orderlies thought of 'male hygiene'. Still, the somewhat pleasant conversation he got with Sora at Breakfast was enough to give a temporary high where even luxurious hot showers couldn't dampen his mood

[31st_of_china]

Sanzo didn't even notice the other man until he'd cleared the shampoo from his eyes. When the monk finally did open them, however, it was to find that some jackass had taken the showerhead next to him, - and even better - was blatantly staring at him. All of him. It was just the last thing Sanzo needed.

The priest nearly did a double-take though. It was the blazing red hair - coupled with what could only be a ghost of a leer - that nearly tricked him. For the briefest moment, Sanzo had that sinking feeling that the kappa had appeared at this place. As if a certain hermaphroditic boddhisatva had decided to thrown some more onto the pile of shit he already had to deal with. Goddess of Mercy? Whoever had given her the title had a poor sense of humor.

A longer look showed that other than the superficial details (hair, the invasive look), this inmate and Gojyo looked nothing alike.

A taboo offspring? The monk already had his share of half-breeds. Gojyo was enough to last a life-time. The thought that this other prisoner could be even

[bond_off_lame]

"Isn't it obvious?" Axel replied to obviously spite the other man, eyebrow quirked at the latter's harsh tone of voice. If decency was what he wanted he should have kept himself at a corner, because it wasn't like the redhead would've actually apologized for his lack of personal space. It was just that he didn't do anything wrong in his opinion, so he shrugged in the end and went back to washing himself off.

Soon enough it was time for them to shift back into the Cafeteria, and the redhead's stomach growled at the thought of real sandwiches being served. This lifted his mood so much that he couldn't help but smile brightly at the brooding man next to him despite his first impression.

"I guess I'll talk to you later." And with that Axel walked out to get dressed, unaware of the humiliation that was bound to ensue on his part.

[dead_draven]

Eric followed his nurse to the showers with a small twinge of regret that he would have to break discussing his plans with Adelheid until later-the poor boy had been sent to the Game Room despite the fact that he was nearly eighteen

[not_a_savior]

Before Nowe knew it, his nurse had come over to the breakfast table, explained to him that it was time to head for the showers, and was leading him toward where all the other 18 and over males were headed. He looked around him, and as his nurse ordered him to strip down and take a shower, he found himself hesitating. The rest of the men in there seemed to be rather... large, to say the least. They were all huge and muscular, and Nowe, while not exactly scrawny, felt a bit nervous entering a shower full of guys that were, for the most part, seemed at least twice his size

[class_one]

Unfortunately, through a combination of too hot water and consuming thoughts, that attempt to not startle him failed. Zack jerked, tensing out of soldier's instinct as he swiveled to face the stranger.

Right. He was in this place, Landel's, and this was just another patient making sure he wasn't about to have a breakdown.

The problem was that he wasn't sure how to answer that question.

Zack paused, attempting to collect himself. It wasn't hard to realize that if he were in the other's shoes, he'd be doing the same exact thing.

"Hey, it's all right. Um..." He sighed and ran a hand through his long, black hair, which had lost some of its spikiness under the weight of the water. "I'm not doing so good, but... Well, I've got to keep going, right?" The intensity of the water's temperature was starting to become obvious to him, especially when he glanced down and saw how flushed his skin was. Frowning, he leaned forward to turn it down to a more reasonable temperature.

[not_a_savior]

Nowe tried not to flinch himself when he realized he'd managed to surprise the other man despite his efforts, and upon the man's response he stood awkwardly for a few seconds. It was difficult to find something to say, and somehow standing there completely naked wasn't helping either. Nowe wasn't really used to communal showers. Hell, he'd been raised by a dragon for the first few years of his life, he wasn't used to showers.

"Again, it's probably none of my business, so I don't blame you if you don't want to say anything about it, but... did something happen? I mean, it's depressing that we're stuck in this place to begin with, but it seems like something more happened to you than just that." Nowe paused awkwardly again. He was sort of just rambling, trying to make some kind of conversation. He'd noticed how hot the water was, the empty look in the man's eyes... he recognized it, that look of numbness. It was how he himself had looked in the mirror after Oror had been killed.

"You've lost something... someone... important

[class_one]

The awkwardness went completely over Zack's head. Once again, he'd been doing this sort of thing since he was sixteen, and he was technically twenty-three now, though dying made him feel a good deal older than that. Normally, if he wasn't so distracted by everything that had gone wrong, he would have noticed how nervous the other man was and would have tried to accommodate somehow, but at the moment he wasn't focused enough for it

[_sixth]

Oh, no. No, no, no. Zexion was all for showering and excessive good personal hygiene, but this place was really pushing his buttons. Communal showers? That was something Number VI did not approve of.

Communal or not, a shower did seem very appealing at the present point in time. What with all the running around at night and the overload of stress, his skin was beginning to take on that disgusting creepy-crawly feeling. A good scrub would not only make him feel physically better, but possibly calm him down enough to think more clearly.

Nevertheless, Zexion still put up a struggle when it came time to disrobe. Of course, he was somehow polite about all of it, all while trying to slyly worm his way out of the whole affair. He even went so far as attempting to 'reschedule' a private shower, but, alas. Even he had to face failure now and then.

After grudgingly admitting temporary defeat, the Nobody swiftly undressed, only to replace his drab uniform with a tightly-wrapped towel. Eyes forward, the young man crept out into the showering

[brilliant_azel]

Azel was pretty blasé about the whole affair. He just didn't want to run into Darman here, while he was vulnerable. But he'd long accepted that it was better just to choose one's battles instead of arguing over every little thing

[clone_boy]

Azel was right to be afraid - the room wasn't as crowded as the cafeteria and Darman had headed into the showers with the single-minded intent of finding him, thoughts of actually showering shoved to the side

[brilliant_azel]

"Hey!-- ow -- stop it." A slight hint of anger as he was dragged off unceremoniously, but it was buried under layers of fearful anticipation. "Let go--" He couldn't believe that no one seemed to notice or care, yet.

When they stopped, Azel looked up sharply to meet the clone's eyes. "What, are you going to torture me, here, now, if I don't tell you everything?" Boldly said, but with a faint tremble in his voice.

He tugged at the grip on his arm, sighing softly. "Let go of me. I'm not some enemy you can just... do as you like with. I'm your friend. Okay? You want to hurt me, fine... but remember that, at least."

[reduxvalentine]

The orderlies that had escorted him strayed only momentarily, their scrutinizing eyes sweeping the room before turning to leave. Vincent sank down in a corner of the small locker area, staring darkly at the wall.

Cid wasn't here yet.

With a shaky breath he buried his face in his arms again, attempting desperately to quell the fury that had followed him to the showers. The numbness from before had been better.

It was ironic. Before Landel's, he'd been doing very well.

Vincent only then realized that his claw was a gold hand again.

[dawning_dreams]

Cid didn't show up too long after, however, towel around his middle and tied to the side. As much as he was used to communal showers, he wasn't sure if he liked the idea in the context of fucking orderlies rushing him around as if he'd been wrong in insulting that asshole sadist.

The pilot knew he'd realized the night before that making new allies would be a damn good theory of thought to subscribe to, but seeing Vincent still practically comatose in the showers...

Cid felt something like irrational anger rise up in him, not about Cloud, not about Hojo, hell, not even about Landel's.

He stormed over to Vincent, grabbing him by his fleshy arm and pulling him up so the other man was facing him.

"You think that's gonna do Cloud any good?" Cid growled, blue eyes narrowed. He shoved Vincent back. "All that mopin' and weepin' and blaming yourself for something they fucking did to you?"

The pilot shook his head, bringing up a finger even as he stepped back under the head of one of the active showers.

'Now. Right now, you're gonna

[reduxvalentine]

"I'm clean," Vincent snarled, his eyes murderous and his fist clenched as he stepped back from the heat and steam of the showers. "They washed me because I was covered in lung."

He inhaled slowly, backing against the locker as his angry glare softened into an enervated gaze, and he shrugged heavily.

"Cid," Vincent started, the rancor gone from his voice, "An hour ago I woke up and realized I'd murdered my friend---our friend---and I almost killed everyone else." He paused, this vulnerability unsettling. "Killing people used to be part of my job," he said resignedly. "I'm still good at it, apparently."

That Hojo's words were getting to him was infuriating.

[dawning_dreams]

"Yeah, well," Cid growled, taking a step back from the shower to grab Vincent's arm and pull him back towards the water, "you obviously don't feel clean, so why don't you scrub your damn self down until you can talk without blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fucking fault?"

Cid might have shared his own thoughts on who was the truly culpable party would it not have made him a hypocrite.

He squirted some shampoo out of the nearby dispenser that was attached to the wall, running it and scrubbing it through his hair as he pointedly ignored whatever mopey response Vincent might decide to throw at him.

The pilot was still swimming in the grief, using rationality as the life raft it was. He'd be a robot if he wasn't.

That didn't mean, however, that he'd let his friend fucking sink in it.