damned_institute | Dayshift 34: Men's Showers

Albel had wasted an entire night, but he couldn't quite figure out how he had actually wasted it. He had left his room early, didn't stand around doing nothing and no pathetic worm had dragged him down. Finding Fayt's room and smack the foolish maggot against the nearest wall shouldn't have taken a full night, but yet he found himself back in his bed before he even had so much as located the right door.

What the hell?!

But he didn't have much time to think about it, as one of the wenches instantly stepped into his room as soon he sat up. Had she had been waiting behind the door or something? He ignored her useless babble along the way to the showers. Apparently, he had slept through most of the day. Perhaps the lack of sleep was taking it's toll, though the warrior wouldn't even think about admitting that thought. And who cared about it anyway? The days were useless!

By the looks of things, Albel was the first one to arrive. Not that he cared. After stripping himself of his clothing he stepped inside the shower area and picked a stall by random. It took some fiddling with the knobs before the water temperature was good enough, but he eventually let the water wash over his body.

[Free!]

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It was a luxury to sleep through lunch.

Back home, there was always someone telling Peony what to do and when to do it, announcing that it was time to go to the grand dining room and eat with.. what. Nordheim and Sesemann and whichever noble had been arranged for the evening? Sometimes he was allowed respite from it, but there was always, always a disapproving look from one of the cute maids, and he just couldn't say no to them. Of course, then he could spend lunch with his rappigs, which made up for it, but he never wanted to disappoint any lovely ladies.

But here he was free to skip breakfast and lunch if he wanted to. So today he napped in the Sun Room the entire time with great pleasure. He hadn't been particularly hungry, and he'd just felt dirty and sleepy and sore on his mutilated shoulder and ready for a nice nap.

So when the intercom announced shift change ("No funny stuff!") the emperor sprung up, feeling bright and ready to face the showers. The tan man stripped down, proudly prancing into the shower and turning on the showerhead right next to some guy who also had a tortured-looking shoulder. And he was humming!

"Hey, check it out! We totally match. Latest accessories, right?" Peony looked over at his shoulder as he amiably greeted the other guy, who seemed (marvelously) about his own age. Yeah, not that many old guys here in Landel's. Of course, that might mean that he was boring like most other men his age. But boring people didn't usually hum, did they?

"That's fashion; soon everyone will want one." Roland said that with a grin and an amused tone, his gray eyes flickering over to the guy who'd pranced- yes, as an author, he was certain that 'pranced' was the proper verb- into the shower and started talking to him. Strange to see someone about his own age in the showers; most of the men seemed a bit younger than himself. But at this point, anyone who'd be an upbeat companion was to be welcomed.

"...granted, I never expected a monster to give me my first piercing..." The wound was, after all, almost a perfect circular puncture from where a scorpion tail had ripped into his shoulder. But again, it was a lot less bad than some of the other things that Roland had lived through, so it was kind of a relief to meet someone else who didn't see a little blood as the end of the world.

Happy to have good shower conversation, Peony reached out to the shampoo dispenser and pumped a little bit into his hand. The mechanism was easy enough to understand, even though there wasn't really anything like that at home. That he'd seen personally, anyway.

Rubbing the shampoo into his hair quite vigorously, the emperor looked over at the other guy's puncture wound, inspecting it a little closer. "Guess we're both ahead of the curve here. But don't get carried away. There's a fine line between style and gaudiness," he laughed, still going to town on his own hair. Vigorous shampoo action was good for the scalp!

"So I'm Peony. What about you? And don't tell me you don't have a story of daring and bravado to go along with that odd little spot of yours." He winked over at the guy.

As for Roland, he was rather more focused on cleaning himself off; after getting so grimy, his hair was the last thing on his mind. Besides, he didn't have the intimidating mane that Peony had. Thankfully for both of them, Roland wasn't usually given to hair-envy.

He did have to laugh at the first comment. Peony was quite the interesting individual, and at least there wasn't the understated threat of someone getting eaten. That bit of relief was enough that he let Peony take that closer look, not minding it nearly as much as he otherwise might have. "Don't worry about me; I believe in tasteful restraint."

"As for me... I'm Roland. And of course I have a story." It had been so long since he'd gotten to even write, let alone talk, that the author in him was only too happy to jump at the chance. ...even if he overwrought it just a little bit for comedic effect. "Positively Arthurian; a fair damsel fighting against a monster, how could I not interpose myself between the two?" Of course, that was ignoring a fellow monster that had been involved, as well as the fact that the 'fair damsel' was capable of ripping most men's arms off, but that would rather ruin the narrative flow.

"Ah, restraints. I have no problem with those either," the emperor said matter-of-factly as he stepped back under the hot water, washing all the suds from his quite intimidating mane. Roland could take that however he wanted to. He didn't mind at all.

Interesting choice of words when it came to the tale, though. This guy.. did he fashion himself an artist? Well, he had no problem with that, as long as Roland didn't use his power for evil.

"Hahahah, that's not bad at all. And so now the fair lady owes you her life, but you, being a knight, will refuse her favor on the grounds of chivalry, right? Ahhh, such poetry..." He sighed happily. He wished something like that would happen to him. Haseo had pushed him out of harm's way. Did that mean the kid was his white knight? Or maybe his dark knight, what with those cute tattoos..

He snorted at that, though he still had to shake his head. Really not quite what he'd had in mind, and he sure hoped that the guy wasn't propositioning him. This was hardly the ideal place or time... then he reminded himself that Peony could be referencing to something else entirely, which said a lot more about Roland than he cared to admit.

So then, on to the other kind of topic. A happy sigh was definitely worth the overwrought rendition, and the paler man chuckled as Peony thought about it. Well, he obviously had a poetic bent... hopefully that wouldn't come back to bite him. "Actually, and I hate to ruin the story, the fair lady saved my life previous to us being here, so I owe her anyway. And I very much doubt that if she wanted to favor me, that I would have much say in the matter..."

Well, at least Roland didn't seem to be uptight. Perhaps he would have to meet him at some other point. He was always told he needed more friends who shared his species. But rappigs always listened to his stories! And they never complained, even if cute little Jade was always trying to get out and roam free, just like the non-cute Jade. Always. Oh, he hoped they weren't suffering under the cruel hand of .. of.. whoever was taking care of them right now, if they were even being taken care of at all--!

The emperor was rather amused when he heard that the damsel had saved the knight at some point. "It almost sounds like you already liiike her," he teased. "Though who wouldn't enjoy the favor of a battle maiden. I'm all over that kind of girl. Yow," he marveled.

"Maybe I do," he amicably answered, a slight grin on his face as he said that. Argilla... their relationship was rather complicated, especially considering who and what they were. But it was obvious that she liked him, and he wouldn't say no to that kind of 'favor'. The problem was that she didn't know how any of it worked, and Roland didn't want to press her into something she didn't want. All because of how God's curse worked out, they were kind of stuck for the moment.

Ah well. He did have to admit that Peony was a surprisingly upbeat person, all things considered. It was almost strange to meet someone his own age who still had a glimmer of hope and a smile on his face; he'd gone for years without seeing anything like that. "I can understand that, though you'll have to hope that there's another one like her floating around. ...preferably not that one I hear likes shocking men with literal electricity, either. Be careful." Yes, Roland understood the appeal, but Argilla would've killed him had another demon not intervened, and Peony seemed like the kind of guy who'd get 'lucky' in the most unlucky sort of way. Considering how the conversation had gone, Roland didn't want to see that happen.

Dayshift 34: Men's Showers

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