Night 64: Men's Bathrooms (M1-M40)

[maverickhunterx]

With a loud creak of the door, X stumbled into the room. 

It was dark, but spacious; his eyes could only see bare shapes, the glint of glass and other surfaces as they reflected in the dim light. Wherever it was, it was at least a good place to search. 

"Harpuia, can you turn on the flashlight? I can't see." 


[From here!]

Comments

[lovesthepain]

"It's not necessary to apologize to me, Master X." Harpuia had spoken up when he'd found the course of action objectionable, yes, but ultimately, he was aware that his master's will was, in the end, his master's will. He hadn't expected an apology to begin with -- the differences between the false X he'd once followed and the genuine article were readily apparent, even in circumstances as outside the norm as these.

He couldn't quite claim to understand the thought process that had driven X; things like instinct weren't very familiar to a rational, self-restrained machine like Harpuia. Nevertheless, what was done was done. He had no further intentions of lecturing: there were more important things to worry about now.

"I... may have been out of line, but I'm speaking out of concern. To be able to meet you face-to-face... this isn't something I could have done anywhere else. Standing by your side is something precious to me, Master X; I'm not prepared to see you hurt." His gaze was drawn back down to X's arms. If it were a reploid... excessive loss of coolant fluid could make them overheat. An emergency shutdown might happen, but it was easy enough to replace the lost fluid, patch the leaks, and reboot them as normal. But a human... Harpuia was beginning to wish he'd spent a little more time understanding just how fragile they were.

"...How bad is it? Can you still function?" The fact still remained: Harpuia definitely didn't know where any sort of repair facility was located, let alone if this place even had any. The idea of X collapsing before they could find any help was not a comfortable one in the least.

[maverickhunterx]

“Don't say that.” X shook his head, even attempting a real smile. “It's never out of line to say what you think. I don't know about this 'Neo-Arcadia', nor do I know what I was like where you're from...but I'm sure that no version of me would ever object to you stating your concern, regardless of the circumstances.”

Besides, it wasn't as though X wasn't being unreasonable, either. This entire situation was made of all kinds of insane.

“Really, I should be thanking you. It jolted me out of...whatever that was.”

Whatever it was that X couldn't explain. His body was still feeling a little jumpy; whatever high that was, it was wearing on him fast, but not fully out of his system. How could humans handle such strange, unpredictable things happening to their bodies all the time? It was a mysterious, fascinating thing.

That, and if he wasn't here...I could have done something even more reckless.

He shivered at the thought.

X checked his hand. The bleeding was slowing up, and his pain was slowed to a dull thrum in his hand and knuckles. The pained area was even pulsing, as though the muscles were expanding and contracting.

Amazing!

“Yeah, I'm okay.” X said, “It doesn't hurt as much as it did, and I think the bleeding is slowing down.”

Thankfully, though that didn't put him in the clear yet. Was there a facility to help with injuries? Or a...”First Aid Kit” nearby? It was doubtful, but it would be wise to keep the lookout for one, considering the situation.

Absentmindedly, X played with the long shard of glass in his good hand.

“Though I think we should keep on the lookout for health supplies, just in case.”

Just in case something like this happened again.

[lovesthepain]

Harpuia nodded, though the concern still lingered in his eyes. It didn't bode well in the slightest if the very first thing that happened, upon being given the chance to meet the legendary machine who was indirectly responsible for Harpuia's birth, was that he carelessly allowed his master to get hurt. This, he decided firmly, was not an incident that would ever be repeated.

"I agree. We have no more reason to stay here; our immediate priority is finding a facility to tend to you."

His grip on the flashlight tightened. While it wasn't the least bit appropriate for him to be the one giving orders, he felt safer being the one in the lead; if X was right and there was something threatening here, then he preferred to be between it and any injured party, let alone one he was duty-bound to protect. "Stay close to me, Master X." Sparing a quick glance to ensure X would follow him, he pushed open the door to the washroom.

[To here]