Grencia Mars Elijah Guo Eckener (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stellarregions) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
damned_institute2012-08-16 09:57 pm
stellarregions) wrote in damned_institute2012-08-16 09:57 pm
Night 65: M11-M20 Hallway
[M16]
As wretched as he was already feeling, the taunting intercom messages did nothing to improve Gren's mood. What it did do was inspire enough anger to rouse him from the corner he'd huddled in and force him to collect his things and get moving.
He was really in no shape to be out and about. He felt shaky and lightheaded, hardly able to keep himself moving, let alone fight. But he also knew that it was his own fault, and that absolutely nothing good would come of hiding in his room waiting for his own thoughts to consume him whole. Going out wasn't going to do a damned thing for his physical condition, but it just might be enough to distract him from the chaos in his head for a little while longer. And maybe if he could find Hakkai, he might have a chance of working out just how much of this was really the fault of whatever that thing was they'd encountered the night before.
Maybe it wasn't his fault. Maybe it was just the drugs and the ghost and this place. Maybe he really wasn't losing his mind all over again.
It was the only thing he had to cling to. That, and the thought that maybe, somewhere, there was a way out of this hell. He had to try.
It took too long to get his things sorted, too long to get out the door and stop there, leaning against the wall while he tried to keep focused. No one was around, now. There was nothing but darkness and silence to welcome him.
As wretched as he was already feeling, the taunting intercom messages did nothing to improve Gren's mood. What it did do was inspire enough anger to rouse him from the corner he'd huddled in and force him to collect his things and get moving.
He was really in no shape to be out and about. He felt shaky and lightheaded, hardly able to keep himself moving, let alone fight. But he also knew that it was his own fault, and that absolutely nothing good would come of hiding in his room waiting for his own thoughts to consume him whole. Going out wasn't going to do a damned thing for his physical condition, but it just might be enough to distract him from the chaos in his head for a little while longer. And maybe if he could find Hakkai, he might have a chance of working out just how much of this was really the fault of whatever that thing was they'd encountered the night before.
Maybe it wasn't his fault. Maybe it was just the drugs and the ghost and this place. Maybe he really wasn't losing his mind all over again.
It was the only thing he had to cling to. That, and the thought that maybe, somewhere, there was a way out of this hell. He had to try.
It took too long to get his things sorted, too long to get out the door and stop there, leaning against the wall while he tried to keep focused. No one was around, now. There was nothing but darkness and silence to welcome him.
Re: M12
Honestly, who barged through the door like that?
Before he could properly scold the man, though, Kotetsu launched into some story about the bulletin board and healing. Then, like a cat distracted by a few stray leaves, Kotetsu zeroed in on Barnaby's unfinished meal.
"I don't feel like eating," he admitted before steering the conversation back onto the matter at hand. "Anyway, don't tell me this has something to do with those marbles you were asking about." Barnaby had seen the note about it. It wasn't hard to put two and two together, even if he thought they were going to feel foolish if the story turned out to be a product of a patient's imagination.
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When his partner immediately picked up on what exactly Wild Tiger had been alluding to, he had enough sense to act sheepish. "Uh, yeah--I know what you're thinking! I'm thinking the same thing too! But... You know, what if it actually works?" They would just be a couple of private fools, and hey, that was fine with him! When wasn't he the butt of a joke, right? The blond could blame it all on him, he didn't care.
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"All right, what did you learn about the marbles, then?" he asked as he folded his arms over his chest. Barnaby hoped it didn't involve any stupid rituals or some kind of sacrifice. Ideally, the method behind using them would be as straightforward as those teleporation rings seemed to be.
The sooner they could figure out if this was a hoax, the sooner they could start making more solid plans.
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"Uhh, you just think about healing and these puppies are supposed to do the rest..." Now that he had said it out loud, it sounded so stupid. But it was too late to back down now! They were going to try it and then hopefully be on their way for the night, sans one wheelchair.
"So... Should we--? Or what if you laid on the bed?" Wild Tiger wasn't sure what the most appropriate way to test this idea out was.
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After bringing his hands onto the wheels, Barnaby began to move his chair away from the desk and closer to the side of the bed. "That would probably be best," he agreed with a nod.
Once he locked the wheelchair into place, Barnaby gripped onto the arm rests and tried to push himself up enough to shift onto the bed. Pain lanced through the wounds in his thighs, and his face tightened with the effort.
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"Okay, one, two, three!" Normally, he would be able to lift someone with ease. Wild Tiger had forgotten for a moment how injured he had been as well. The strain of his partner's weight ripped at his wound and he struggled to deposit him back on his bed quickly or efficiently. He was really glad how dark it was in here so the blond couldn't see that he had broken out in a sweat just from that negligible exertion.
"I guess you can roll up your sweatpants or take them off, yeah?" His words were a little breathless, but it was too late to be scolded now.
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It wasn't an ideal situation, but none of this was. Thankfully, Barnaby wasn't particularly shy about his body if the need to shed clothing arose, and he worked to remove his pants.
Of course, that was easier said than done. Any weight he put on his feet exacted a terrible price on the gashes in his thighs. The pants didn't make it much further beyond his hips before Barnaby was forced to pause. He didn't quite meet his partner's gaze. "I'll need your help," he finally confessed in a subdued tone.
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"Okay," he said confidently. "Get ready to be healed!" Of course, he waited for the man to turn over on his stomach, or a least try. If his partner needed help, he would be more than happy to oblige, but he figured he would at least want the opportunity to do it himself first. Wild Tiger certainly would.
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"I doubt it'll be that easy," Barnaby remarked, but he shifted further back onto the bed anyway. Easy or not, though, he hoped it wouldn't take long for them to figure out whether they'd been had. Actually, now that he thought about it, he didn't want to be used as a guinea pig.
Pursing his lips, Barnaby refrained from rolling over onto his stomach just yet.
"You should at least test it on something else before you use it on me," he suddenly told him.
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His amber eyes fell onto the piece of chicken left on his partner's plate. "Alright, we'll try it on that." At least the chicken had been alive at some point in time. He took one of the balls out of his pocket and held it tight in his fist. His informant told him to simply think about it and it should do what its told.
Clearing his throat, Wild Tiger began to command it to do what it was meant to do. Heal this piece of dead chicken somehow, or give them some kind of sign that they weren't just being played for fools.
In an instant, the hair on his body stood on end like they were electrically charged. The air around him began to grow turbulent, tossing his hair and clothes like he was caught in a turbine. Soon, the ground grew bright blue as something began to manifest out of him. It felt peculiar and uncomfortable, but it was gone when a spark of plasma shot down from the ceiling and into the chicken. The force of it actually tossed the plate across the table with a loud clack and the older man immediately jumped back in surprise.
He had somehow, magically, electrocuted a piece of chicken.
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Well, as long as they weren't testing it on him, Barnaby supposed he couldn't complain. Folding his arms over his chest again, he watched with a blank expression as Kotetsu tried to issue orders to the marble. It was a sad spectacle, but there wasn't any reason to call attention to that. His partner's actions spoke for themselves, honestly.
When the air began to blow, though, Barnaby straightened with raised eyebrows. Perhaps Kotetsu had stumbled across something useful after all. Barnaby opened his mouth to speak, but he practically choked on his words the moment a bolt of electricity zapped his leftovers. Some bits of food flew across the desk, and Barnaby unconsciously pressed closer to the wall.
There was a beat of silence as they both stared, wide-eyed, at what his partner had just done. Then, as if pulled from his trance, Barnaby shot Kotetsu a thorny stare from behind his glasses.
"And you wanted to use that to heal me!" he bluntly pointed out. Thank goodness he had enough sense to make him test it out beforehand.
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He was about to toss it across the room when he remembered the other. "Wait! Maybe... Maybe the other one'll work right! Okay second time's the charm!" he lectured confidently. Again, the older man asked for the thing to heal (maybe he just hadn't been specific enough before). The marble began to grow frigidly cold and so did he as the wind and light twisted around him. Then, from a puff of condensation, the plate was frozen solid.
At least they were prepared for the worse this time. His amber eyes simply widened and his mouth drew into an indignant frown at the sight. "Dammit, I was gonna eat that..." Why couldn't thing just work in their favor for once?!
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He'd been finished with his food, at least, but he hated to think what would have happened if his partner had tried to use those on him. Now he felt like an idiot for taking off his pants. If he'd been in his right mind, he might have pushed for testing it a few minutes earlier. Now that they were off, though, he may as well ask Kotetsu to assess his injuries to the best of his ability.
"Do they look properly wrapped, at least?" Barnaby asked with a small sigh as he rolled over just enough to expose his wounds to his partner. "I could only rely on the nurse's word earlier."
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So, actually, he knew what he should say. "Sorry..." he admitted softly, sheepishly. He moved closer and leaned over his partner, doing his best to at least fulfill this request to the best of his ability. "Uhmm, y-yeah... I guess?" He didn't know anything about this! "There's some drainage, but none of it's blood, so that's good, right?"
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"It's fine," he said after a moment. "You were only trying to help." At least his injuries didn't look worse, according to Kotetsu, but who knew how long it would take for them to heal? Barnaby wished he hadn't been so careless last night. Still, there was little for him to do except focus on what he could change.
"I wonder what those things even are, though," he remarked as he reached for his trousers and carefully pushed himself to a sit. "It's almost like they grant you a second NEXT ability while you're using them."
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Maybe it was a secret tool made by Ouroboros. Okay, maybe he was being overly dramatic, but it was the only thing that made any kind of sense--Well, except for the fact that he had them. Not to brag, but Wild Tiger considered himself a thorn in their side after upending both Jake Martinez and Maverick.
"D'ah! This is too complicated! I don't understand any of it..." Kotetsu didn't like complicated. He liked simple plots that ended well for everyone. This was not one of them and that soured his mood.
Realizing his partner was trying to get his pants back on, the former Hero moved forward and helped him get his pants back on, still fuming over the possibility that a crime organization had such powerful, and no doubt illegal, weapons as their disposal.
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Well, that and the answer to every question he had about this awful place and his own memories. Barnaby could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on, but he did his best to ignore it.
When Kotetsu silently helped him get dressed again, Barnaby offered a small nod in thanks. It was nice that he didn't even have to ask for assistance, that they had this kind of understanding between them. It was a connection they had spent a long time developing as partners, and Barnaby didn't take it for granted.
"At any rate," he said as he gestured toward the wheelchair, "we should keep those on hand. They might be useful in combat."
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This way, the blond was up and back in his chair in a matter of seconds. Wild Tiger very slowly eased him back into his chair, ignoring the pain in his shoulder and the sweat forming on his brow.
"You know what will cheer you up?" and distract the young man from his partner's own injuries at the same time... He walked to Barnaby's closet and bent down to grab something. When he turned around, he presented them to the blond with a cheerful grin. "Red boots! How can you say no to those? You can't!" Obviously. Plus, Wild Tiger didn't like the idea of Barnaby running--Err, well wheeling and potentially running in case of an emergency--in slippers. There could be glass or something equally gross on the floor!
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They didn't exchange any words as Kotetsu got him situated in the wheelchair. There wasn't any shame in receiving help from his partner, he knew. Barnaby still hoped that this wouldn't become the norm in the coming days and weeks, though. It was going to be difficult for him to pull his weight if he was confined to a wheelchair or had to rely on crutches.
When the other man pulled his boots from the closet, Barnaby reached for them with a remarkably straight face. "I'm surprised my outfit seems to be in one piece after last night," he admitted. As someone who hated credit cards and frivolous spending, he only purchased something after a lot of thought. It was good to know that their captors had either somehow replaced or restored his clothes, even if Barnaby didn't entirely understand or trust their motives.
"Could you hand me my shirt and jacket, too?" he asked as he reached down to pull his boots on and lace them.
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"Oh, whoops. Almost forgot!" Unlatching the necklace from behind, the older man held the gold necklace in his hands. "I uh took it off when you were under the X-Ray machine. You know, in case it messed up the X-Ray.... Guess I forgot to give it back." With his hands pre-occupied with more clothing, Wild Tiger simply leaned over him and placed the jewelry back on his neck.
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There was still a lot he needed to ask the man. Unfortunately, that would all have to wait.
Barnaby made quick work of shedding his frumpy grey shirt and replaced it with his own clothes. Even if the pants were still wrong, just having something familiar on his body put him more at ease. It gave him a sense of control that he sorely lacked during the day -- even if the more rational part of him understood that such comforts provided a false sense of security at best, and were only here because their captors had decided he was somehow worthy of their "benevolence".
Regardless, his own clothes were much more practical than the Landel's-issued pajamas, and Barnaby intended to make use of them. When he was finished changing, he readjusted his glasses. Then, looking up at Kotetsu, he grew quiet for a moment -- the only outward sign of his hesitation.
"I'm assuming you're going to the X-Ray room," he said. There was the unasked question of whether Kotetsu intended for them to go together. Barnaby realized he may have been counting on using those strange marbles to heal him. That plan had been a spectacular failure, which meant he was still largely confined to a wheelchair unless he activated his Hundred Power. In this state, he could be more of a liability than a help to his partner.
Part of Barnaby wondered if Kotetsu would be better off if he left him here, and yet the thought made him feel as though someone had reached into his chest and started squeezing his heart until it was hard to take a deep breath. He knew he needed to try to remain objective about this, though, which meant preparing himself for the possibility of staying behind after all.
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"Yeah, I figured. Seems like the best place to start looking for a cure or... something..." Frankly, Wild Tiger really didn't have anything planned outside of helping his partner. If he got any further than that, he was going to celebrate it as an overchievement. With his partner's mood, though, the older man kind of wanted to stay in tonight and just sit by Barnaby, but they both knew that wasn't going to help anything. The more time they wasted, the more likely one of them would turn and then the other would be lost.
"Here--" Wild Tiger beckoned, placing his hand on top of his partner's. Together they were a stark contrast, but the horrible red of their rashes made them similar. "You're going to be navigator extraordinaire of this mission since I can't even make it to work without getting lost." Which wasn't exactly true, but it sure did seem like that most days when he made detours to help citizens along the way. Taking his folded up maps, the former Hero turned his pale hand over and placed them in his partner's palm.
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But more importantly, the two of them were going into this together. Although Barnaby would never admit as much out loud, he was not only relieved to get some confirmation that Kotetsu didn't intend to leave him behind, but also quite pleased to learn that he was still counting on him despite his injuries. He didn't want to think about how he would have felt if Kotetsu had decided to move on without him.
Instead, Barnaby fought to keep his mouth from pulling into a smile. He busied himself with glancing over the maps. "That is true," he remarked. "I suppose it can't be helped, then." Of course, if they were headed for the x-ray room, Barnaby didn't exactly need his maps. He remembered the way from last night well enough. As he tucked the papers inside of his jacket, he glanced toward his partner. "If you'd get my flashlight, please."
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Unfortunately, their departure wasn't as dramatic and powerful as his award-winning speech. He had to move behind his partner to push him, but the thing was stuck! After a moment of squabbling, the blond unlatched the wheels and they were once again in motion! ... Until he almost threw Barnaby into his roommate's bed. And then he had to pull him back, open the door, and then hold it open for him so the young man could wheel himself out.
But of course, there wasn't hardly enough room for a wheelchair and a very loyal partner to hold the door open with his person, so his foot took the brunt of a wheel as thanks. It was the worst Hero departure ever. He was so thankful for once there were no cameras on either of them.
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