Day 58: Men's Showers (Second Shift)

[freewill]

By the time that breakfast had ended, Michael didn't really know what to think.

The good part of him -- the part that went to church every Sunday and prayed that he could find justice for his clients -- wanted to feel for those two boys. They were going through Hell (and not the literal kind that they were thinking of) and he really did hold out hope that they would get their acts together. But the rest of him wanted to forget all about them and focus on himself. They weren't his responsibility anymore, now that the case had been dropped. The very idea of a killer had been a fantasy, after all. It wasn't his job to worry about them.

He certainly wasn't some guardian angel, either. He had never signed up for that and he had no idea why his mind had decided that was the case. Figuring that out was probably his key to getting healthy again, but it seemed like an uphill journey at this point.

Either way, it was good to get away from Matt and Eric. He needed some breathing room, some time to just let his mind clear out all of that crazy angel and demon stuff. Being religious was one thing; this was another, and he knew it wasn't right. He tried not to think about what his parents probably thought of him, but for all he knew they weren't even aware that he was here. In fact, Michael couldn't even remember who had admitted him. It was possible he'd just brought himself here.

A shower sounded like a real blessing, though, and he didn't hesitate to strip out of the uniform and find shelter under the hot spray of one of the shower heads. It was definitely more than just washing off; it felt like a cleansing experience, like he was scrubbing the very idea of Castiel out of his skin. He knew it wasn't that easy, that he could relapse at any point, and yet he tried anyway.

However, once he'd washed his body and shampooed his hair, he realized that he needed to give up the shower space for someone else who might need it. As much as he would have liked to spend the entire shift there, he did the right thing and went back to get dressed once he was finished, heading out into the Sun Room on a soldier's heels.

[To here.]

Comments

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

Right. Right. Kibitoshin almost had this one cracked. The shiny white porcelain and tiles were just the physical symptoms of the barriers confining him to his own humiliation. The true barriers were metaphysical, inside his own mind, and it was there that the battle for his own dignity would take place. He was in control. He could fight the shame. No amount of bored-looking soldiers standing by or other patients undressing or forgetting to take off his boots would defeat him. He was like water, without fear or hesitation and constantly changing with the situation and shape of the world. He was a god.

He also had no idea what any of that really meant, but it sounded good.

Kibitoshin struggled out of his uniform, curled in on himself like a damp leaf; leaning forward like this his hair fell forward and almost acted as a shield, blocking his view. Right. Better idea. Less complex.

If you can't see me, I can't see you. I really don't want to see you.

Keeping his head down, he shuffled awkwardly towards the stalls- making eye-contact would be the real killer here. The last thing he wanted was to end up talking to someone scary like Tenzen again. No, it was better to focus on, um- the floor. Yes. The floor was damp and warm under his bare feet. It was white. Um. It was kind of smooth, maybe, though it could also be rough.

... oh, galaxies, he needed to get into a cubicle! With a sudden spurt of bravery, Kibitoshin made a dash for the stall-- and promptly slipped, feet giving way so suddenly he didn't even have time to flail out for the sides in some vague hope they'd keep him vertical. Who knew tiles hurt so much, anyway?

As if to add insult to injury, the shower switched on barely a second later. Cold water, of course. And this time he couldn't keep himself from yelping like a startled puppy. Just his luck!

[dork-at-duty.livejournal.com]

Yet another thing reminiscent of the Academy: group showers. Not one of Meekins' fondest memories about the Academy, either, though he'd grown to expect and even tolerate the towel snapping and other pranks that his peers enjoyed pulling on him in the showers. But at least the showers here weren't imposed every single day as they were at the Academy.

Thus, Meekins didn't feel as awkward he otherwise might have when he noted several men who were already in here. While he didn't know any of them, one of them looked a little familiar, like he'd seen him here the other day -- or actually, it had been the other night. It was that pale, white-haired young man who had been attacked by a little kid in the Sun Room. At least Meekins knew he was okay!

He was about to approach the man to introduce himself and ask him more about what had happened, when he suddenly spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Remembering incident in the cafeteria in front of the soldier and the blue-haired girl, Meekins decided to try ignoring it for now. After all, he was on edge and just seeing things.

But then the motion persisted, and Meekins now heard a deep growl. Shivering, he turned towards its direction, finding himself face-to-face with what appeared to be a rabid dog baring its teeth at him. Startled, Meekins leaped away from it... and promptly collided into something else.

As Meekins fell to the ground, he was at first unable to stifle his shriek. But once he realized who he had literally run into, he forced himself to calm down and addressed the young man, while he stood back up. "My-- my apologies, Sir! I should have watched where I was going, Sir! Are you all right, Sir?"

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

Okay, so that hadn't been the most graceful possibly entrance he could have made- especially not when he'd ended up darting straight back out of the stall as though it'd already been occupied by a killer dog or something*. Clearly Kibitoshin just needed to take a deep breath, put his head back together and brave the cold just long enough to change the water to 'hot'.

Unfortunately for him, he only had time to do the breathing in part before something else barrelled into him and sent him sprawling under the streaming shower head- and right on the side he'd fallen onto in the first place, too!

Maybe there wasn't any point in getting back up this time. He was probably just going to fall over again anyway.

At least the person responsible seemed to be pretty embarrassed about it too, apologising and calling him 'sir' like he was someone important**. With a sheaf of newly-wet hair plastered down across his face it was kind of hard to see if it was someone he knew, but there was something strangely familiar about the way the man was talking. "I-it's okay," Kibitoshin managed through chattering teeth, clambering back up onto his feet. "I think I'm almost used to the cold by now."

Pushing a little hair out of his eyes, he just caught sight of a tall, dark-haired man before remembering his cardinal rule and dropping his eyes again. No one he recognised, though. How did he know him...?