damned_institute | Hallway Outside Sun Room

A god of death? Peter wasn't sure if this kid had let his imagination get away with him or what, but he was even more surprised when he turned out to have a complete attitude and then even throw out a curse word.

All he could really do was catch the shirt when it was tossed at him and then watch as the kid went to join Clark and the others. He wasn't sure what the kid was going to do about his injuries, but it was obvious he didn't want his help, so that was that.

Brock was another story. The fact that he hadn't tried to get up yet probably meant that he couldn't, and Peter didn't want to think about what that meant. With a heavy sigh, he drew closer to the other man and knelt down next to him, examining what he could see of his body to get a better idea of his wounds.

It was hard to see much when his torn, bloody shirt was in the way, though, and it would be easier to bandage him up if he got rid of it. He almost reached forward to try and remove it himself, but realized that Eddie wouldn't take to that very well. "Get your shirt off," he said, trying to make it sound as little like a demand as possible. He was just wanted to help, after all. Even if Eddie considered him an enemy, he didn't really return the sentiment, and even if Logan may have told him to keep his distance, he couldn't ignore something like this.

He started ripping up his shirt into strips, as neat as he could manage when he only had his hands to work with. He could have asked questions or made some sort of comment, but chances were that would just anger Eddie further. It was probably best if he got the wounds taken care of and then worried about everything else afterward.

And finally Parker could be bothered to turn those eyes on them.

Brock would've been tickled if he'd heard get your shirt off under other circumstances, but right now he was hardly in the mood for it. What they really wanted to do was lie here comatose until they revived, fit and ready to fight. On the other hand, he knew by now that one of the wacko patients was still on the other side of that door and much as they'd like some payback, they were in no shape for it. There was no choice but to accept Parker's help (much as the idea made them squirm), and try to be practical about it.

That was the symbiote's way of thinking. Brock, however, was just a mere human and he wanted nothing more than to cater to his pettiness and refuse the help. Refuse that look in Parker's eyes like they were another one of the victims he saved.

Brock struggled to remove the shirt, all the while glaring daggers at Parker through a mask of his and Kasady's blood. Each breath hurt. They hated Parker for making them move, for being there, for seeing them like this.

There was no reason for Eddie to make a face like that, but Peter wasn't about to get into a fight with him about it now. He couldn't help but notice the blood that was coming out of his mouth, though. It was possible he'd just cut his lip or bit his tongue, but blood coming out of the mouth could also indicate internal bleeding.

Peter's brow furrowed and he leaned forward to wipe it off. "Do you think you have any internal injuries?" he asked seriously as he finished ripping up his shirt. Now that Eddie was shirtless, it was easier to get a look at the claw marks. The deepest one was on the chest, and while there was a good amount of bruising on top of that, he was more concerned with the gashes.

Bandaging him up wasn't going to work very well when Eddie was lying flat on the floor, though. He moved away slightly to give the other man more space. "Is there any chance you'll be able to sit up?" He could always help Eddie to lean his back up against the wall, but he wasn't sure if the aid would be accepted.

Brock wanted nothing more than to hiss that no, he didn't know if he was internally injured and no, he didn't think he could sit up, but present circumstances made him try anyway. There was no way in hell he was going to get coddled like some baby just because he fell a story into someone else's fight. And he certainly wasn't going to let Parker help him sit up. Hissing under his breath, biting back a groan, Brock forced himself to sit up.

The effort made stars swim before his eyes, but he managed to get himself somewhat upright. Being so close to Parker was giving them both conflicted messages here and leaving him confused. On one hand, they'd like to just slug that heroic I'm-going-to-help-you look right off his face. On the other, it was dangerously easy to get lost in stupid little things like the exact color of Parker's eyes (a watery blue that turned into steel whenever Parker stood his ground) and how he was built just right.

Brock was fairly sure that was all the symbiote's thinking, but when you were attached to the hip to his Other, it was sometimes hard to tell who was where and if what you felt really was you.

"What're you doing here, Parker?" Brock grunted, scowling. He reached up a hand - thank God he kept it from trembling - to brush away some of Kasady's still-wet blood from his mouth.

((From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/189165.html?thread=13106925#t13106925)))

"Brock!"

Luffy arrived on the scene within a split second, his eyebrows furrowing when he got a better look at his friend. Brock's face was glistening with what was unmistakably blood, his shirt was missing, and he thought he could see a huge, nasty bruise forming on his chest.

In short, he looked awful, like he'd just gotten the bad end of a big fight. Luffy knew how strong and capable Brock was when it came to that sort of thing, so it was a little shocking to see him in this kind of shape. Did this have anything to do with what was going on in the Sun Room?

He was so fixed on the man that he barely even noticed the other prisoner tending his wounds. Even so, Luffy made sure to give Brock some space. He didn't seem like the type who wanted to be coddled or anything when he was injured, and he could respect that.

"What happened to you?!" the pirate asked, speaking quickly. "Who did this?"

"Brock?" Confused, but frankly happy to be moving away from that particular Doorway to Destruction, Usopp chased after Luffy. He didn't know either of the men crouched on the floor, although it was obvious that one of them was pretty injured. A friend of Luffy's? That was dangerous. He hoped Luffy wouldn't be inspired to go running into that room for revenge on Brock's behalf or anything--mostly because Usopp'd probably wind up chasing after. Those injuries looked nasty, though... Usopp winced in sympathy, and wondered if it were the sort of situation Tylenol could help.

He didn't introduce himself or crowd too forward, though, only looking over Luffy's shoulder for now. After all, even if Luffy knew the guy, he was a complete stranger to Usopp.

And then suddenly his two companions were no longer at his side, but moving off to see to one of the injured patients. Blinking and pausing only a moment, Sai soon followed after.

Though the injuries the man had sustained made him more difficult to recognize, Sai nevertheless picked him out as the other patient aside from "John Trick" who had shared that interesting therapy session with him. Mark, wasn't it?

"Ah!" He said simply and with a smile, as though Brock wasn't laying there gravely wounded. "I remember you."

If Eddie was giving him a weird look, Peter didn't seem to notice. He was more concerned with the bandages, which weren't really bandages yet. He had a few separate strips, but luckily, joining them together wasn't an issue for Spider-man.

Once he made sure that no one was around, he arranged two of the strips next to each other, flipped his wrist around and pulled two fingers in, then angled his hand forward to shoot a bit of web out. It attached the two pieces of cloth well enough that they wouldn't pull apart too easily. Eddie would just have to be careful.

It was also good to know he could still shoot some web, though he got the feeling he wouldn't be able to use it as much as he was used to. He attached the other two strips so that he ended up with one thin, long bandage.

Eddie had managed to get himself up, though it obviously hadn't been easy for him. He glanced over at him at the question, finding it a bit out of place. "I just happened to be looking around here and then I saw you with that kid." What was the issue? At least Eddie wasn't completely refusing his help... Not that he had much of a choice in the matter.

Right as he was getting ready to get in position so he could start wrapping up Eddie's chest, three other patients moved over to join them. It was a good thing he had finished shooting off his web by then. It looked like two of them knew Eddie, though, so for the moment he stopped what he was doing and stayed quiet so he could assess the situation.

Parker's little trick didn't escape Brock, seeing as his eyes were on his every movement like a hawk. That's fucking disgusting, Brock thought, knowing that he'd probably have to touch Parker's bizarre bodily fluids and still finding himself somehow interested, incredibly enough. Seriously, the symbiote needed to find a way to put a cap on its hormones - or whatever it had in place of hormones - and let him decide for himself if he was disgusted or aroused, dammit, because it was really unfair not knowing how to approach his enemy/not-quite-enemy.

The Spider's story appeared sound, but it seemed like a retardedly unlikely coincidence all the same. Brock was about to shoot off something withering to test that nice guy act (it had to do with his dear, elderly Aunt May) when he suddenly found themselves crowded in by three other patients.

Mortified, Brock was too stunned for a moment to stay anything even remotely clever. What the fuck! This was quickly turning into a circus and while he certainly didn't mind Luffy, he didn't like how everyone was crowding around like he was the latest freak to be poked and prodded. Okay, so they weren't that close, but it felt like it to him. He had absolutely no idea who Pinnochio was and he only recognized the third guy as the fairy from the group therapy. If he wasn't already covered in Kasady's and his own blood, he probably would be turning furiously red, ready to make a good, snail's crawl to that hole he'd thinking about earlier and die.

"Yeah, small world," Brock gritted out. He managed a tight, humorless smile for Luffy's sake. "Long story. Not really ready to go into it right now though."

No way in hell was he going to explain that he'd tried to kick Kasady's ass and he'd been the one to get his ass kicked instead. Not in front of their Spider. He might not have a lot of pride left, but Brock was determined to hang onto what he did have with a death grip.

Luffy could tell Brock wasn't exactly happy to have all the extra company. The pirate was often dense about a lot of things, but he knew when a man felt like his pride was being threatened.

"Ah, okay," he replied, nodding shortly. "You can tell me about it later, then." He turned towards Usopp when he realized his friend didn't know who they were talking to. "This guy is Brock. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have my hat back!" Deciding that was a good enough explanation, he then turned his attented to the man who was next to Brock.

"Who's this guy?" Luffy asked, jerking a thumb in the stranger's direction. He hadn't seen him around or anything. Then again, he wasn't the greatest with faces. Still, he was pretty sure he didn't know him, at least, so he figured he'd might as well ask.

"Oh!" Usopp's face lit up at Luffy's explanation. He still didn't really know this Brock guy, but he must be a decent person if he helped Luffy get his hat back. Although... Luffy said he had to do something bad to get his hat back, didn't he? Well, maybe Brock helped him through it--it was obvious Luffy thought the guy was okay, at least. Usopp glanced back at Sai's comment, realizing he was the only person who hadn't met the man sometime before.

Since Luffy had turned away from Brock to address his companion, Usopp found himself looking at the man awkwardly. "So... uh, you want a Tylenol?"

Had this been any other situation, Sai might have attempted to take over the bandaging from "Mark's" unknown friend (and do it properly), but he was still a new arrival to the scene and he hadn't been asked.

Tylenol... Sai glanced over at Usopp. Was that the name of the painkiller the pirate had mentioned earlier? It would have to be something rather powerful to ease the pains of the wounds the injured man was currently suffering from. He was also still iffy on trusting anything offered as medication by the staff here.

Without a word, he stepped back a couple steps from the scene to allow the others more room. He knew a crowd when he saw one, at least. A hand laid on Usopp's shoulder would inform the pirate to follow suit.

Peter had figured that he would be asked about, so he didn't hesitate to speak up, even if Eddie was the one who had been asked. He was allowed to introduce himself, wasn't he?

"I'm Peter. Me and Eddie know each other." It was probably better if he didn't go into any further details when it came to that. Eddie would add more if he wanted to.

What had him interested, though, was the mention of Tylenol. Did the guy with the weird nose (he hated thinking it, since he knew what it was like to be teased, but there was no denying the truth) really have some? He was curious about how he had gotten his hands on something like that (maybe the nurses gave them out?), but that didn't really matter now.

"That would be a huge help," he assured the boy, glancing over at Eddie and hoping he wouldn't let his pride keep him from accepting.

Tylenol? Was Pinnochio kidding? They couldn't even get drunk, not when his symbiote rejected that kind of poison, so why would a foreign substance like Tylenol be any different? As tempted as Brock was to snap at his "visitors", he played good boy and managed (barely) to keep his mouth shut before he started swearing and alienating the people trying to make themselves useful. What the hell, he might as well say yes. It was the thought that counted and he supposed he could at least pretend it'd have any effect on him.

It'd make him feel a tiny bit better.

That didn't really make sense to the symbiote - seeing as they'd still be where they started - but Brock was of the firm, foolishly human belief that if he only believed hard enough and clicked his imaginary ruby slippers three times, his body would do the rest.

The symbiote gave a puff of annoyance inside him, but didn't bother arguing, leaving Brock to start working hard on fooling his body into full health.

"Yeah, I think Tylenol would be good. Fill 'er up," Brock grunted just as Parker chimed up with something along the same lines. The blond flicked a glance at their Spider. He was suspicious as to why Parker was being so helpful and...and pretending to be actually concerned! That baffled them. Parker knew how they felt (sorta), and he really had no obligations to them even if it was technically his fault that Brock ended up "infected" in the first place.

Actually, it was all his fault, but Brock would rather be lying here on the floor, ass-kicked and humilated, than back to being a perfectly normal human, living a disgustingly perfectly normal life.

They remained silent on the Parker issue for now, hard as it was. They could always pester Parker on his moral high ground once they were on their feet and not feeling like they ran into a freight train and then jumped off the Empire State for seconds. The blond changed the subject, his eyes switching to Pinnochio and the fairy from group therapy.

"So who're you two?" he asked hoarsely. "And how'd you meet Luffy here?"

So Brock and this Peter guy knew each other? Luffy guessed that made sense, even though he hadn't seen the latter around Landel's or anything. It didn't really occur to him to ask whether they'd been acquainted before winding up here. Besides, Luffy didn't like prying into people's backgrounds for a lot of reasons, though it was mostly because, in his mind, it didn't do much good to focus on stuff that happened a long time ago.

Besides, he didn't like sitting through long stories like that. Luffy had a tendency to doze off, so it wasn't like he got to really hear them anyway.

The pirate hadn't heard of Tai-lah-nahl before. Maybe it was some sort of cool medicine. But if there was anything special beyond that, Luffy had no idea. (That was mostly Chopper's thing.) Still, something to help Brock feel better had to be good, and he smiled brightly when Brock and Peter agreed to let Usopp give him some.

"This is Usopp, and that's Sai," Luffy replied to Brock's question, pointing to each boy in turn and ignoring the fact the man had addressed his companions directly. "Usopp's from my ship, and we met Sai last night when he helped us get some treasure!" He turned to the ninja with a pleased expression, as if he were taking pride in the fact that they'd managed to find something cool together. A guy had to have pretty great friends to wade through a bunch of leeches like they had!

"Ah, I'm the great Captain Usopp!" Usopp managed to get out, although he was too occupied with digging in his coat for the Tylenol to really put the proper passion behind the phrase. "Nice to meet you. Here--"

He handed the whole bottle over to Peter. A friend of Luffy's friend was probably okay, though Usopp knew he really shouldn't wave around the small amount of medicine he had. The bottle itself had dose instructions written on the label, but somehow Usopp didn't think injuries like Brock had would feel much better from two of the weak pills. So, he left it up to Brock's friend to decide how much to dose out.

Then he stepped back to stand with Sai, although his eyes were on the pill bottle. At this rate, those pills wouldn't last long. Their group would just have to try hard not to be injured tonight.

Sai apparently seemed to be the only one from their group who was worried about the fact that the medication had come from a not entirely trustworthy source. Maybe they all knew something he didn't? Who could be sure. Usopp hadn't taken his warning as he'd hoped, but perhaps he'd been too subtle.

The injured mad was obviously in a lot of pain. The questionable source of the painkillers might not mean a thing to him. He kept his mouth shut. If there were any negative effects he could offer an explanation later.

Continuing with the introductions, though his name had already been given, Sai gave a slight bow. "We met at therapy," he offered, though he was sure it was unnecessary.

Ship? Captain? Peter had no clue what these kids were talking about, but it seemed that somehow Eddie had gotten close to the chipper one. That was a little hard to believe, but Peter also knew that Eddie had some good qualities under all that hostility. He just didn't ever get to be the recipient of them, which was understandable, considering what he had put the blond through.

He wasn't quite sure why the pills were handed to him, but he didn't hesitate to give them to Brock. He wasn't going to do anything for the other man - besides, he had no idea how much pain he was in and how many he would need to pop to take the edge off.

"You came at a good time," he informed the group of three with a small smile. But he had been clutching at the bandages he'd made for a while now, and Eddie wasn't going to stop bleeding at this rate. Once Brock took the Tylenol and returned it, Peter would have to start wrapping him up.

While it was tempting to do something supremely dickish, and swallow the whole bottle, he only popped a pills and handed the bottle back, albeit with a few bloody fingerprints as souvenirs. There wasn't really anything to help swallow the pills down aside from swallowing them dry, but it wasn't like they'd even work in the first place, so it didn't make much of a difference in the first place. At least he had names - real names - for Pinnochio and the fairy.

Usopp seemed to cut from the same mold as Luffy, sorta. At least with all this talk of Captains and whatever, which was either some mutant talk of something else or just play-acting. Considering he was with Luffy's crew, it was a bit hard to tell the difference. As for Sai, he seemed surprisingly unfazed by all of this; he was a cool cat, Parker's voice supplied for him out of nowhere. That was so ridiculously cheesy and yet so true to life that Brock had to glance over at their Spider to make sure he really hadn't said anything.

Brock settled back a little, trying to tell his body that dammit, you feel better 'cause I say so, and tried to pretend outwardly that hey, the Tylenol was already working.

Luffy watched intently as Brock swallowed the medicine. Was it just him, or did he seem to feel better as soon as he took it? Wow, those must be some pretty amazing pills! Tai-lah-nahl, or whatever it was. Maybe he could steal some to bring back to Chopper once they figured out how to get home.

"I'm glad we came!" he said brightly, smiling at Peter. "It looks like Brock is gonna be okay, and that's what matters. But I'm not surprised! Brock's a pretty strong guy, you know?" The pirate said the last bit with confidence, as if he'd know from experience. Then, he turned to his traveling companions, his expression a little more mischievous now. "So, I guess it looks like we should be going to the kitchen now, am I right?"

They needed food, after all. And Luffy had been looking forward to this midnight treat all day, and it was wrong to keep putting it off like this. It'd all be raided by the time they got there if they weren't careful!

Oh yeah, and the supplies were kind of important too, right? Well, that was even more incentive to get going!

Usopp raised his eyebrows as Brock appeared to be trying to put on a pleasant, or at least eased, face. He'd taken the Tylenol himself; it wasn't that powerful. But the man probably didn't want to seem weak in front of other people, especially strangers. So Usopp didn't say anything. It wasn't his job to call other people out on their lies.

He did, however, shift around Luffy a little to reach for the bottle again. Even if he lied like the world-champion fibber he was, he didn't know how long his 'therapist' would be willing to supply mild painkillers for mysterious injuries that kept reappearing. Maybe Tylenol was addictive and the therapist would think he was hurting himself on purpose to get it, or something. It wasn't a supply source he could count on, or lean on too often. Not to mention, he didn't know how long it'd be until he'd see that guy again.

"I hope that helps!" He did turn back to grin at Luffy, though, feeling a bit more enthused. "Sure, we'll need to head up that way," he pointed down the hall to the north, "and jump some walls, but we should be able to get to the kitchen and clean it right out without even stepping in the Scary--I mean Sun Room!"

Sai looked off in the direction Usopp had pointed. Back the way they'd come? Not that it mattered. An entry from the other side would be far preferable to this one. They knew there was danger beyond this door. If the ninja had been with those he considered more capable fighters, he might have risked it. As it stood, he saw himself having to cover their way through... if he could.

"That's good," he said, smiling at the pirate. "We should get going, if that's the case." One could never tell when the shift would just abruptly come to an end, after all.

When Brock's friend (it was kind of weird that he had friends in the first place, and such young ones at that) mentioned the kitchen, he almost jumped in to tell them that there was no way they could head into the Sun Room. But it looked like they already knew that, and were going to find another way in. He couldn't exactly argue with that - even if they were young, they knew what they were doing.

"All right, good luck." He almost thanked them again, but that was more something that Eddie should be doing. He was the one who had been helped, after all.

Once they left, he would get the blond all bandaged up, and after that - well, he would cross that bridge when he came to it. Eddie probably wasn't too happy with him, but he couldn't just ignore when someone was injured, even if it was a potential enemy.

Brock was almost sorry to see Luffy off, but, on the other hand, he'd be with a smaller audience and that suited him just fine. Under other, better circumstances, he'd probably be more interested in finding out about Pinno - Ussop and this Sai, but he instead nodded, and gave a good-luck-you're-going-to-need-it wave.

"Thanks," he remembered to say, just at the last minute. It almost didn't occur to him to thank any of these patients for anything, but he remembered his manners. He wasn't really looking forward to getting left with Parker of all people, but at least he could point him in the opposite direction of Kasady. The fact that the other symbiote got to their Spider, their property, first still rankled and being bannged up and ass-kicked didn't exactly take that away.

Luffy grinned at Peter, giving a thumbs up at the man's well-wishes. "Thanks!" he said brightly, though he liked to think their group was just a tad too awesome for something like luck. Then again, a bit of luck never hurt anybody, and it had probably gotten him out of more than a few bad scrapes.

"And no problem!" he added, shifting his attention to Brock for a moment. "You'd better feel better, okay?"

And without another word, he turned and started walking off in a different direction.

(( To here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/189165.html?thread=13180653) ))

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