damned_institute | Night 28: Men's Bathrooms (M1-M40)

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Night 28: Men's Bathrooms (M1-M40)

[From here]

Homura's steps grew progressively faster, though perhaps the demi-god himself wasn't aware of it. The trip was made in silence, Homura falling into familiar thoughts as they walked. Plans for the next day, contacts that needed to be made, goals that needed to be set. Kenshin and Kenren needed their weapons, and then they could do more significant work than gathering metal and blood, find more significant prey to satisfy the growing desire for revenge.

He wouldn't let himself think otherwise.

The distance was short, and soon Homura moved into the bathroom. He held his pillowcase in his teeth long enough to make a holder for his sword with his belt, then nodded to Kenren. "The easiest way I've found is to pull one of the pipes from under the sink, then use that to pry the others free. If we work quickly, we might have time to knock free the other fixtures as well."

The demi-god moved to one side of the room, taking hold of the first pipe to start his own work. "Himura. Be watchful for anything that might come. Kill it quickly if you are able, but do not strain yourself. We've got no way to heal serious wounds right now."

"And both of you." Homura grimmaced as he started to pull. "Be wary of the mess."

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[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/253623.html?thread=19634871#t19634871)]

Seishirou was admittedly relieved when he found the bathroom. Patterns rarely failed, but there had been such cases. This fortunately wasn't one of those.

He wasn't exactly surprised to see someone else in the bathroom as well, but hardly pleased either. He was wounded and already feeling himself weaker than he had been since dying. Not the perfect time for socializing for sure.

Steps falling softer, he pulled Subaru to opposite direction towards another tab.

Subaru wasn't exactly thrilled that they had company, either, but at least it was no one he knew or would feel compelled to talk to. They looked to be in reasonably good health, at least compared to him and Seishirou, so there was no need to be concerned for them.

As for Seishirou... Subaru sighed internally and decided to just temporarily say 'to hell with it all' and give up struggling with himself. He was wounded and needed help, Seishirou was wounded and needed help. A state of detente was just practical, at this point.

"Do you think you can still manage that light? I need to get a look at your wound." He certainly couldn't do anything about his own, so, they might as well help each other. Just practical. Nothing wrong in it. Really.

"Sure," Seishirou murmured and moved forward slowly until his hip bumped against a counter. He let the staff clonk against the ground as he released it and Subaru's hand in order to travel his hand across the counter, palm flat against the cold surface. He smiled as he felt the texture under his fingertips.

Fingers dipping into his open wound to draw blood, he sucked in a quick breath as he could feel his own cold touch within his broken flesh. The pentagram was clear in his mind as he started drawing it, every movement measured and calm even if his breathing was getting ragged and quick.

It was a simple spell. Simpler than any of the others he had done yet. But it would serve its purpose. His eyes were still closed as the bloody pentagram started glowing, the light intensifying with every passing moment.

Luckily, Kenshin didn't need to take Homura's advice. The bathroom seemed to be uncharacteristically devoid of the creatures that haunted Landel's by night, and the rurouni just stood and watched as Homura and Kenren began to pull at the pipes. The stench that came from them was...

Well, it was quite something. Even for someone from a time where proper sanitation and indoor plumbing were still several decades in the future (like Kenshin was), it was...unpleasant.

Footsteps in the hall. Kenshin tensed, scalpels at the ready, but the figures that entered the bathroom were human-shaped. A quick glance confirmed that they were fellow patients, and badly hurt ones, at that.

His eyes widened as the older of the two reached into his wound and started to...draw some sort of sigil with his own blood. Which then began to glow.

More magic, then. Interesting.

Kenshin walked over to them, turning on his little torch thing as he went. "You're both hurt," he said. "Let this one tend your wounds."

Toilet paper to soak up some of the still-wet blood, get a better look at the wounds... it would be something, at least. Maybe some clean parts of their shirts could be salvaged for bandages. Shame about the water, but Subaru could smell it from where they were, even over the blood and despite the distraction of seeing that pentagram again... ah, that was a painful sight. Subaru sighed, then started at the approach of one of the other men.

That was some seriously polite speech. Even Subaru wasn't that bad! Sessha..? When was that last time that was even in common usage? "Uhm. Thank you for the offer, but..." Subaru wasn't at all sure he wanted some innocent touching Seishirou when the older man was so wounded--what if Seishirou's self-control was shot? Would he lash out if this man innocently inflicted pain while tending to the wound? "I think we'll be okay."

"Now, Subaru-kun, don't be rude," Seishirou murmured smilingly. He didn't stop drawing when someone approached them, the pattern which he created changing slightly, though. Slowly, he dipped his fingers into his wound again and drew another circle around the first one, accompanied by a short series of silent incantations.

When that was finished, he opened his eyes to glance at the stranger, mismatched gaze warm in the glowing light of his spell. "Help would be appreciated. Thank you."

It would be pure stupidity to refuse help in this condition. Seishirou, however, wasn't as kind as Subaru. Where the younger onmyouji saw a person to protect, Seishirou saw resources, in several meanings of the word.

"This one really must insist," Kenshin said, voice kind but firm. "In a place such as this, it's important that we work together towards a common goal." And he would have to remember that himself. Okita was as maddening as Saitou had been, and he was losing control.

Then the other man--the one that was still adding to the bizarre blood symbols--spoke up, and the rurouni smiled. Was the older man blind in one eye? That would explain why they were different colors. Though...Seishirou wasn't the only one here with mismatched eyes. Kenshin returned Homura's look with a small smile and nodded. He would do his best, but he wouldn't risk the potential safety of others in the name of speed.

"Now...which hurts are the most severe?" he asked, sword-calloused fingers tearing the shirt he had "borrowed" from Homura into neat bandages.

Subaru frowned at Seishirou, but arguing would just waste valuable time, and spill more of their blood. "... His is. But... be careful. He's not..." Subaru scowled again and looked away in frustration. What could he possibly say about Seishirou that would express how capricious and dangerous he was?

"Don't believe his smile. The more he smiles, the more he's lying." Subaru gave Seishirou another hard look, his jaw tensing slightly. A year's worth of false smiles... not worth even a fraction of what the man had taken from him.

So why couldn't he just let him die? Because he got hurt helping me, no matter what his intentions were. This once, I have to help him in return.

Seishirou laughed softly at Subaru's words, his demeanor still friendly and warm. "What else than a lie could a smile be in a situation like this, Subaru-kun? What do they say about smile being the best way of dealing with difficult situations?"

He withdrew his fingers from the bloody pentagram a bit hesitantly. But it didn't seem like there was any immediate danger here; two extra seconds to casting time wouldn't probably make much difference. He unbuttoned his shirt, which wasn't yet completely soaked with blood. It'd serve as bandages just the same.

"I can handle myself. Please look at his wounds. He has had more time to bleed and was about to pass out in the hallway already." And Seishirou would rather not have anyone touching his blood any time soon.

In any other case, Kenshin would've thought the boy was joking. Playful banter, perhaps. But he was being dead serious, and there was nothing funny about the look of sheer contempt he gave the older man. There was obviously some history between them, but Kenshin knew it wasn't his place to pry.

At any rate, it looked like the man was refusing treatment. Considering the bad feeling he was getting from him, the rurouni figured that it was probably for the best. Still...

"Are you sure?" he asked softly. "Night is nearly over, but your wounds are quite serious. If you wish, this one will tend the boy first, but please think carefully."

The stranger referring to him as 'the boy' made Subaru realise that he had, indeed, been rude. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't introduce myself! My name is Sumeragi Subaru." Only the pain in his back stopped him from bowing in apology.

"And your wound is worse, Seishirou-san. It's deeper, and in a more dangerous location." They could argue about this all night, though, so Subaru finally gave up with a sigh. "But if you insist, fine."

Reluctantly, he peeled off his bloody shirt, hissing as it stuck to the wounds on his back. A fresh flow of blood slid down his skin as the fabric pulled at the wound. Under the shirt, Subaru was very skinny--it was fairly obvious he hadn't been eating well.

Only Subaru would find it necessary to introduce himself in a situation like this. The fact didn't amuse Seishirou as much as it should have, and his smile paled into a thin smirk, which was all he offered for the redhead for his inquiry. It was hardly the first injury he had dealt with on his own. He worked alone and if there had been someone to ask help from, his work would have been still undone.

"It warms my heart that you worry for me so much," he murmured playfully, the tone just as unreal as his smile.

Without wasting any time he undressed both his shirts and pressed the thinner one against his side while starting to wrap the other around his middle tightly. The night was soon over and the main thing was to stop the bleeding for now.

"Himura Kenshin," he said, bowing slightly. "A pleasure to meet you, Sumeragi-dono."

He was rather pointedly ignoring the other man at this point, finding him and his disparaging remarks to be thoroughly unpleasant. If he wanted to tend to himself, fine. Kenshin's efforts would be directed elsewhere.

The boy--Subaru--was skinny, and not in the lean, muscular way Kenshin was. He needed a few good meals if he wanted to heal properly. Frowning, he inspected the wounds on the boy's back.

"This one's just going to get you patched up," he said, reaching towards the little pile of shirt-bandages. "Morning isn't far off, and in spite of everything else, the people here do know how to take care of wounds. Is that all right?"

"Yes, thank you. I just want to keep it from getting any worse, in the time left." It was good to hear, though, that at least the 'doctors' and 'nurses' could actually do some small amount of good, even if it was just taking care of the wounds they themselves caused, in their monster forms.

Subaru sighed, and shot a vaguely worried look at Seishirou. The older man's wound really was worse than Subaru's own, and this would be a very stupid and pointless way for their... whatever it was they had... to end, with Seishirou bleeding to death in a filthy bathroom.

So, this was where they got their metal from. If Homura had done this before, then Kenren assumed the damage didn't remain once day arrived which was a damn shame, but at least it gave them a limitless supply of good metal. That would definitely be a help.

He nodded at Homura and knelt down next to one of the sinks, examining the pipe beneath it before grasping it firmly. "Sounds like a good idea. He tugged it firmly, testing how strong it was, before starting to pull it, bracing himself against the wall to give himself a better grip on it.

He glanced up when the other two men arrived, raising an eyebrow as the man created a light out of nothing. Interesting, but not really enough to tear his attention away from more important things.

Homura really should have known that Kenshin would end up playing the friendly helper given the chance. In a way it was frustrating. He had a task, and that task did not involve helping random strangers. They'd been fortunate to not encounter any sort of creatures in the bathrooms thus far, but the demi-god doubted it was anything more than a matter of time before they did. And given the labor involved in their task, it was all the more important to have someone keeping an eye out for them, instead of on people who apparently had yet to realize the water at night was as likely to kill them as anything else.

Really, it was hard to decide which was more frustrating to work with sometimes.

But that was likely the logic of his temper, the unresolved anger over their recent losses. And while the method wasn't as nice as fighting, it did help to focus on the strain of his body as he pulled at the pipe, hands tight around the metal, working it free with every bit of his strength. He was ready for when the first end gave, having learned his lesson the night before, and kept his balance instead of falling into the mess that oozed out of the broken end of the pipe. Still, it wasn't perfect, the demi-god having to step hard on his injured leg to keep from falling. The blood lost so much of its effects after time, and Homura's knee was far from completely healed.

But that was a minor issue, pain that could be pushed past. For now, Homura focused on his task, pushing past the foul odor that filled the air to keep working at the pipe, freeing it completely from the wall. There was one benefit to Kenshin's offer, and that was the greater chance that the strangers would be gone by the time he and Kenren got to that side of the room.

So long as they were, Homura would hold his tongue.

Well, at least if Kenshin was dealing with them, then Kenren didn't have to. Not that he would have bothered anyway. He wasn't in a particularly altruistic mood at the moment.

The pipe came away in his hands finally, some of the black gunk oozing out over his hands and spraying his chest along with the blood from earlier. It stank. At least he wasn't wearing any clothes that couldn't be easily replaced.

He got better as he went along, taking out more pipes and piling them nearby where they'd be easy to reach if he needed a weapon in a hurry. A pipe on its own would work better than what he'd been using beforehand.

Finally, he glanced up at Homura, wanting to see how many of the things were left and what they could move onto next.

Kenren and Homura worked well together. The bathroom only had eight sinks, and even with their strength so reduced, the pair managed to clear the first six with relative quickness. The final two, however, were impossible to get to thanks to the intruders, and Homura briefly met Kenshin's gaze before he moved to rejoin Kenren, the look a silent order to get them out as soon as possible.

Getting swords was hard enough. Homura didn't intend to run out of metal on top of the other difficulties.

"Keep your stock close to you." He spoke quietly, leading by example as he put his pipes into the pillowcase. "Grab them the second you hear the start of the announcement to end night. You'll wake up only with what you're holding."

Great, annoying that they were in the way. And it wasn't as though they were exactly being secretive about what they were doing. It should have been obvious that they kinda' needed to get in there. Ugh, morons. Normally he wouldn't have cared, but every small thing was annoying him now. It wouldn't get any better, he didn't think.

He nodded in response to Homura, flipping the other god a mocking salute. "Thanks for the warning. I'd hate to go to all this trouble to end up with nothing." He glanced around the bathroom speculatively. "Taps and stuff next?"

Homura shared Kenren's frustrations, but despite the dwindling time still paused as he overheard snippets of the other conversation. Did the man intend to cause Kenshin harm? To do so would be foolish; no matter what powers he had at his disposal, he faced two healthy gods, and a human whose combative skills certainly weren't lacking.

He truly hoped that the pair didn't intend to waste any more of their time.

"Yes. But let's not stray too far from here." Doubtless Kenren had heard the same thing, and would easily grasp Homura's meaning. Still, he tried to make light of the situation as he moved back to a sink, ignoring the mess spilled out underneath to work on removing the remaining metal, and teased Kenren with a smirk. "It's good to see your reputation for mocking your superiors is still lived up to, Taisho."

A slight distraction, neither enough to take focus away from their problems, or their pains. But better than nothing.

Kenren's expression darkened as he half listened to the conversation from the two newcomers, not happy with the implications of it. Ah well, if it came to it, he was sure that they could prove a match. He could use a fight to work out his frustration anyway.

"Yeah. I think we can find enough stuff in here to keep us busy," he replied, nodding at Homura.

He smirked slightly over the other god's comment. "No-one's ever given me a good enough reason to change. There's only one superior from there who ever got my full respect and even he easn't immune," he said, his smirk widening into a grin.

Kenren's consent, then the only thing left was to set about prying the remaining pieces from their holding places. It was a slow process, sometimes involving twisting, sometimes pulling, and sometimes beating the hell out of the parts with the pipe. Each went into the pillowcase when it was free, and Homura could only hope that it was enough for his purposes in the end.

At least the conversation helped.

"So the rumors say." And rumors there were, plenty abounding about the events that happened on their way to the lower world. Supposedly, there was an accurate account floating around somewhere, but Homura himself had never been fortunate enough to get his hands on it.

Though that wasn't to say he hadn't tried.

Yet now when it came to a source he could indeed ask, the demi-god found himself hesitant to do so. Strange, yet he supposed it made sense in his own way. Better to not pry hard at the memories, especially when Kenren was no doubt still reeling from his loss.

"You had quite a reputation in the army, you know." Of course Homura heard more than most gods realized; many simply wished to ignore the existence of the heretic entirely. "You might have been surprised to hear how many were sure they could have beaten you, had they been given the chance."

More of that vile brown crap from the taps this time, and these were a real bitch to remove. Shame the fittings hadn't loosened like the locks on the doors did at night. At least the bag was filling up pretty decently. No clue if it was enough for whatever process made a sword in this place though.

He snorted disparigingly at the mention of rumours. "There's always rumours in Heaven. Not like there's much else to do. We were just good subjects for it." Both their public and personal lives had been subject to it enough times and it had served as a decent enough smokescreen for him and Tenpou for a long time.

Kenren looked up at Homura, his smile never faltering. "I'm sure there were, and maybe they could've." He shrugged dismissively. "Point is, they never tried. If they were so sure, they should've come at me. I've got no time for people who won't back up their claims."

"Better than you realize, perhaps." After all, Homura had been there for a part Kenren hadn't been: the aftermath. Even the orders of the Jade Emperor hadn't been enough to silence wagging tongues, happy to distract themselves from the boredom. Grinning to Kenren, he decided to tease the Taisho a bit. "If I asked, would you tell me which ones were true?"

It felt strange to be talking to the man like this. Homura had always watched from a far, certainly while they were in Heaven, and then on Earth, until the time to act on his plans came. But in both instances, Kenren had been far off, intouchable in the past, and a regretable secondary in the future. To speak with him directly lingered in Homura's mind almost in disbelief.

He'd admired the man for quite a long time, after all.

As Kenren made his bold statements, Homura laughed. Just as he was said to be. "Well said, Kenren."

Kenren chuckled softly, his smile widening to match Homura's teasing. It was a question he could actually consider now that there wasn't the need to play court games. "Maybe I would," he said consideringly. Might be nice to have someone else know the whole of it, since they ended up not remembering. "Depends which rumours you ask about."

He was certain that those rumours would come up sooner or later. It was kind of inevitable.

"It's nice, not having to guard my words here," Kenen admitted. "I played at politics for too long."

Homura was tempted to ask then, but the continued sounds of conversation from the other group was enough to dissuade them; he wanted to listen to the story when there was neither a great chance of being overheard nor interrupted. "Perhaps sometime when we're more focused on talking, then." He paused for a moment, considering. "You're free to ask anything you'd like about what happened afterwards. If there are any issues left unresolved in your mind."

The admission, however, made Homura chuckle, and give a skeptical look to his fellow god. Even he had heard and seen just how well Kenren 'played at politics.' "Is that what you were doing at the Jade Emperor's celebration, then? An interesting way of going about it."

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Night 28: Men's Bathrooms (M1-M40)

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