Day 62: Women's Showers (second shift)

[thecamellia]

_[free]

The call for minors to head to the showers saw Tsubaki carefully folding up her clothing in front of an empty locker before putting the pile inside. If what the Head Doctor and the staff were saying was true, it was probably good it was a shower day--washing off would help keep the bug at bay, whatever it was.

Tsubaki hoped that what they were talking about was just the flu, but she couldn’t help thinking that was wishful thinking.

It was practically empty in the showers, so Tsubaki had her pick of shower heads. She chose one a little to the left of the door and stood for a moment with her arms wrapped around her chest as she waited for the water to turn warm. Many of the underage girls’ faces were familiar to her after so long in the Institute, but she wasn’t sure how old some of her new friends were. If they were in the same age bracket as her, she hoped she could say hi while she had the chance, but least she knew Rapunzel was okay--the girl’s long hair had been an unmistakable landmark at breakfast. Tsubaki had had to leave their room before Rapunzel had woken up that morning, but being that they were roommates there was always dinner time to catch up.

Taking some shampoo in her hand, she started washing her heavy curtain of hair. With luck the day would remain as peaceful as this.

With all the threats Landel was making, though, who knew what was going to happen.

Comments

[no_dont_go]

Aigis lightly shuddered as she stepped onto the cold, tiled flooring of the shower. It seemed like the last bathing period had been years away. While she had never been all that concerned with her own cleanliness the thought of the warm water appealed to her today.

She shivered again as she reached for the faucet, setting the temperature a little higher than normal. She felt usually cold today, though that was likely due to the Head Doctor's obvious threats. The man was planning something. He was always planning something nefarious and cruel, even when his voice carried a smile.

Ignoring the slight tremors, Aigis plunged herself under the water and began the cleansing ritual. She remembered the lessons Rei had given her on hair and body care and followed them to the letter. She still found the process to be unnecessarily complicated, but she wasn't one to judge anyone for being overly meticulous. It was clearly just another facet of just how different she was from other humans. But now was not the time to dwell on that.

As nice as her shower had been, she didn't wish to waste time unnecessarily. Aigis gave herself an acceptable amount of drying off, then speedily donned her outfit. The cheap fabric felt warm on her body, but something was still wrong. Perplexed, Aigis headed out of the shower and asked her nurse to escort her to the Sun Room.

[to here]

[gald_digger]

Anise was slow to crawl out of bed that morning, feeling more worn out than usual. It took a while for her mind to wrap around the events of the previous night, and for her to remember that she ought to be glad to be feeling anything at all. Chances were that she might have strained or hurt herself while running around that forest with no sense of touch.

When she rose to her feet, however, Anise realized she needed to look for Ilia's message. She scrambled to get ready, and hurried to the Sun Room.

No message.

Anise's heart was pounding as she checked a second time. It was second shift, and there was still no word from Ilia. Claude had apparently been watching too, and left a message of his own. Anise was going to keep an eye on that.

With nothing else to do in the meantime, Anise went ahead into the showers. When she undressed, she found a few light bruises along her legs; the predictable result of her loss of feeling last night. A neat bandage had been affixed to her hand, replacing the crude dressings Anise had used on herself.

Unlike her usual routine, Anise took her time with her shower, trying to make herself feel more awake and refreshed. When she finished, she was more or less successful in that, though a few minor aches persisted. Once she was dressed, a nurse replaced the bandage on her hand, and she was led back into the Sun Room.

[gald_digger]

[to here]

[rainboompow]

It was with much grumbling that Rainbow found herself walking into the showers today. She had fallen asleep in the middle of the previous day, and she was peeved about it. It wasn't that she was against taking a well-deserved nap or anything; oh no, Rainbow was the queen of the impromptu daytime nap. Usually, though, she liked being the one who decided when those naps were going to happen. With this "nap", not only did she not really remember when it had started, but it had lasted the whole night and even a little into the next day. That never happened! Not for Rainbow Dash!

It was especially not supposed to happen when the trail between her and the others got colder with every minute she spent here. She still had no clue whatsoever about where her friends were, or where Discord was, or if Discord was "Landel" or not. When that much was still at stake, the last thing Rainbow wanted to do was stand under an artificial rain cloud and get sopping wet. It was enough to make her teeth grind.

So you can imagine Rainbow's frustration when she began having difficulties with the shower knobs on top of everything else. "Oh come on! Turn!" Rainbow dashed her towel to the floor after her hand slipped off the wet knob. No matter how long she spent in a human body, using hands after a lifetime of hooves was still tricky, especially when grabbing and maneuvering objects. She gripped the knob again, this time with two hands, and then yelped as the water came on too cold, the knob twisted over too far. A hiss and growl came next when a twist too far the other way made the water too hot. Then a similar chain of frustrated noises followed, Rainbow's rising anger making her control even worse. "Son of a finch—! Agh cold! C'mon! Stupid— Rrrrgggh!"

[Free for some help?]

[stylebythemile]

Sonia was dreaming the same way she always did. Everything was just like it was before she arrived at Landel's Institute. An alarm, getting separated from Sonic and Manic, SWATbots closing in--the usual. But this nightmare went a little differently. Now she was seeing dead bodies around her! S-She tried to put her hands over her face, but they weren't there anymore!!

The princess jolted awake, immediately noticing that she was curled up in a ball, then sat up and looked around the room. Ignoring her racing heart was simple. Let's just say it was something she'd got in the habit of doing. Grounding herself in reality was a little harder to do now that she wasn't in her world (or her own body), but she did that too; though it took her longer than usual to do it. This was the first time she hadn't flinched at seeing her new body.

"Sophie?"

Sonia chided herself for taking a longer time to get out of bed. "What?" she snapped on impulse, getting to her feet.

"I came by to see how you were doing, but it looks like that big rest helped. You seem to be feeling much better today."

"And what was wrong with me yesterday?" she asked defensively. Of course she hadn't been feeling good yesterday. It had been the day after her powers had got taken away!

"You were sick. Don't you remember? I let you sleep it off. It looks like I made the right call after all."

Wait a minute. 'Big rest'? What exactly had she meant by that? "How long have I been asleep?"

"Don't worry about it, dear. Your friends only missed out on seeing you for a day."

"A day!?" she repeated incredulously. The next minute, she hurried out the door, the 'nurse' trailing behind her.

"Is there something wrong, Sophie--?"

"--Why didn't you wake me up?" Sonia demanded, marching down the hallway.

"I did try, but I couldn't rouse you."

It wasn't like she'd expected to hear a real answer. Instead of arguing, she scowled and continued to make her way to--

Oh, great! Showers again. At least those soldiers weren't standing guard this time. Stepping up to one of the shower heads, she twisted the knobs and let the water drench her from head to foot, her hand keeping a hold of the towel she'd tied around her chest. As soon as she was done, she'd go to the message board and tell people she was okay. But what if they weren't okay? Something terrible might have happened to them while she had been sleeping!

Now that she was sure her towel wouldn't fall off, she grabbed the lousy hair products and massaged them through her hair, unable to bring herself to care about what they were doing to her scalp. She had to be quick so she could check to see if Sora and the others were alright!

[free; may be slow]