Day 65: Men's Showers

[complicatedliar]

Well, it was about time they got to bathe, that was all Loki really had to say about it. He'd been wondering just how barbaric his captors were. The fact that it was showers only, and no baths for soaking spoke volumes, as far as he was concerned.

But at least there were showers, which was certainly better than nothing. Loki felt something approaching cheerful as he allowed the nurse to lead him on. At the showers he shucked off the ridiculous uniform without so much as a pause and claimed a shower head from those available.

He was used to bathing around others. And as a god among mortals, he definitely had nothing to be ashamed of. Though the warm spray of the shower did let him know that he had some definite bruising on his back from where Kratos had managed to hurl him into that wall, and one of his ribs still twinged occasionally. His jaw still hurt a bit as well, but any bruising there had taken care of itself during the night.

[For the ambiguously gay duo!]

Comments

[complicatedliar]

"As you like, Kobayashi," Loki said calmly. His eyes narrowed slightly at the emphasis on the word actually, the implication that he might be faking it.

It was insulting. If he had his magic back, he certainly would have had better things to do with it than tussle with a bunch of morons in a hallway. "How good of you." He kept his tone quiet and restrained.

He turned his attention to Bun-bun, who was the more likeable of the two to be certain. Though that meant Kitten would probably be the most fun to torment when opportunities with plausible deniability presented themselves. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance under better circumstances."

Loki tilted his head slightly at the odd classification system Barnaby spoke of, but he supposed it was really as good as the next for mortals trying to understand things beyond themselves. "I see. Interesting." After a short pause he offered, "I'm most often called a magician."

[oyaji]

"Oh..." Thankfully, the connection between his mind and his mouth short-circuited and "So that means you have your own bunny too!" never saw the light of day. Man, it had been such a great joke. It was fantastically punny on so many distinct levels, but something told him Barnaby would take it about as well as a slap in the face, which he knew intimately well never evoked a positive emotion from the blond. Jokes were supposed to be funny and the older man had no interest in rubbing his partner wrong just for the sake of a quick snicker.

Ah well, he knew he was hilarious and that was all that mattered for now. Instead, he tried to actually be constructive in this conversation. Barnaby was injured after all, his partner shouldn't be made to carry on without support!

"So is that your job? Entertaining people with your powers?" Kotetsu thought that would actually be a wonderful job. He enjoyed making people laugh as much as he loved saving them.

[baniichan]

After listening to that strange "Viking" talk, Barnaby doubted Lingormr was claiming to be that kind of magician. On the other hand, it could have all just been part of the character he was trying to project. As someone who did a lot of work for the entertainment industry himself, Barnaby had a much easier time understanding that than assuming he honestly believed he came from the past.

Instead of chiming in with his own commentary, though, Barnaby continued to silently wash, dipping his head underneath the water spray. With Kotetsu here to ask at least a few of the questions, he was content with observing so he could try to get a better grasp of this Lingormr.

After all, with NEXT powers like those, they couldn't exactly ignore him in case he was forced to turn on the patients again later. Perhaps he could even be of help, but Barnaby wasn't going to hold his breath in case things did indeed go sour later.

[complicatedliar]

Loki stared at Kotetsu. This was the second time he'd gotten that sort of reaction, so he had a feeling magician was a word he ought to give up on using, even if he liked it far better than the alternatives. "No... no I don't." He sighed. "Perhaps a better word to use would be sorcerer. Or perhaps enchanter. My job..."

He paused again, considering how best to put it, since obviously these men were from a very different sort of time. "I was until recently part of a noble house. I suppose you could say that was my job. My calling was scholarship." He smiled. "And altering reality by the strength of my will. That is what I mean by magician. It's not a terribly common thing. Perhaps you don't have them any more."

[oyaji]

"Oh..." Well, now it was Kotetsu's turn to be confused. It was pretty obvious when he scratched the back of his head with his good arm. The other he kept close to his chest so he didn't accidentally pull at the newly knit skin. Associating himself with nobility helped to ground Lingormr in a reality Kotetsu could better understand... Sort of. The older man didn't think monarchies still existed really, but he also hadn't paid attention in geography or world history classes as a kid, so that pretty much branded him ignorant in the ways of the world.

"Well... I guess not--I mean, I bet we have more again, you know, now since the start of NEXT mutation, but... I'm sure a lot of NEXT with such strong powers like yours don't speak out about them. People are still pretty prejudice against us..." His power had been rather transparent and limited and Kotetsu's childhood had still been full of abuse for something he couldn't change. He couldn't imagine how isolating it must be for those with more potentially dangerous powers. Jake had certainly scared the hell out of the general public.

[complicatedliar]

"Well, some things certainly don't change," Loki said dryly. "Sorcerers weren't particularly liked in my day. Especially male ones that weren't interested in being shaman. Spiritual nonsense."

He assessed Kobayashi's confusion, then realized the man hadn't been present when he'd related his cover story to Barnaby. "As I mentioned previously, I'm from Svealand, during Emund the Old's reign. I believe my people are more commonly known as vikings. And yes, there's not just a spacial anomaly that's occurred here, but a temporal one as well. My friend Soma is from what she says is the future relative to what current time seems to be."

[baniichan]

Vikings. Time travel. Sorcery. Barnaby closed his eyes as he washed the last of the soap suds out of his hair, silently listening to the exchange all the while. He hoped Kotetsu wouldn't say or do anything too tactless. It was obvious something was very wrong here. Either the patients' stories were true, or the institute had done something to them to skew their perception of reality. No one had heard of them, after all, and he doubted they were all in some giant conspiracy to throw them off guard. It wouldn't make any sense.

Once he finished, he sensed his nurse approaching from the opposite direction to collect him. That was probably just as well. As much as he wanted to continue with the conversation, the shift didn't last forever, either. Barnaby had an image to maintain, which meant he needed to properly comb and dry his hair.

Keeping his posture straight and chin slightly raised, he did his best to give off the very picture of dignity as he transferred over to his wheelchair. From there, he would no doubt be escorted to the changing area so he could dry off and receive a fresh set of clothing.

"If you'll excuse me," Barnaby said with a slight nod, and he allowed his nurse to escort him from the area.