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damned_institute2009-07-19 10:44 pm
stiffserpent.livejournal.com) wrote in damned_institute2009-07-19 10:44 pm
NIGHTSHIFT 42: BLACK ROCK HOTEL
Snake jerked his head away from Fox's hand and shot to his feet, disorientated slightly by the sudden shift. The grout in the tiles was black with what looked like old blood, and the stench of rot heaved in his throat. Something was badly wrong. He sensed threats - left, faint shapes in the dark outside the large windows - Fox - something creaking in the ceiling - a long groaning voice off to the right, past the walls - and something moving in the back of the room -
It staggered towards him, and before he fully knew what he was doing he ripped the match from the book and struck it with his left hand alone, popped the cap off the hairspray, and blasted a tongue of flame at the aggressor, aiming for its face. He saw, in the flickering light, long hair and long nails and the skin on its rotten face peeling and cracking and bubbling in the heat. It gave a long, screaming cry, and toppled to the floor. Its arms and legs writhed and kicked furiously, an automatic, animal gesture, before it finally lay still.
"Here?" he snapped at Fox, wrapping his fingers around the can of hairspray. "This place gets better and better. It's like a theme park." His voice quaked with anger. The place now stunk of something far worse than rotten meat, and for a fraction of a second he thought he could hear Big Boss's voice saying something he couldn't make out before he realised that it had come from inside his own head.
"At least I don't have to be the only thing here back from the dead," he growled. The woman zombie was leaking something he didn't want to think about. He guessed that the decomposition must have trapped methane and other flammable gasses inside the body, hence why it went up like a candle.
That said, he didn't really think he could burn anything else again. For a while.
It staggered towards him, and before he fully knew what he was doing he ripped the match from the book and struck it with his left hand alone, popped the cap off the hairspray, and blasted a tongue of flame at the aggressor, aiming for its face. He saw, in the flickering light, long hair and long nails and the skin on its rotten face peeling and cracking and bubbling in the heat. It gave a long, screaming cry, and toppled to the floor. Its arms and legs writhed and kicked furiously, an automatic, animal gesture, before it finally lay still.
"Here?" he snapped at Fox, wrapping his fingers around the can of hairspray. "This place gets better and better. It's like a theme park." His voice quaked with anger. The place now stunk of something far worse than rotten meat, and for a fraction of a second he thought he could hear Big Boss's voice saying something he couldn't make out before he realised that it had come from inside his own head.
"At least I don't have to be the only thing here back from the dead," he growled. The woman zombie was leaking something he didn't want to think about. He guessed that the decomposition must have trapped methane and other flammable gasses inside the body, hence why it went up like a candle.
That said, he didn't really think he could burn anything else again. For a while.
[Second Floor - Random Room - Bathroom]
He didn't immediately say anything else, though, letting the more awkward silence return for several long moments as he watched the bandaging process on his leg. As little as he liked the necessity of it, at least Touya was moving quickly enough, and not making any more comments about the injury.
"I'm not sure how long I can hold the light." The admission was abrupt, and Yue glanced away again as he spoke, toward the change of clothing. The faster this was over with, the better.
Or so he thought. He was ignoring Yukito's opinions on the matter.
[Second Floor - Random Room - Bathroom]
He picked up the clean shirt off the sink and held it up for Yue to get into. He didn't have a full-range of movement after all.
"Is this the end of the world?" Touya asked.
[Second Floor - Random Room - Bathroom]
He blinked away the faint afterimages after the light disappeared, leaving them in darkness once more, and quickly pulled the shirt on. Touya now couldn't see how awkward the movements were, at the least.
At the question, though, the guardian paused again, then finally shook his head despite the darkness. "I...don't know," he admitted, almost absently pulling his hair free of its braid. "I've never seen anything like this. But..." Another pause. "I hope not."
[Second Floor - Random Room - Bathroom]
"Yeah," Touya agreed, sitting on the sink. "There's... a lot of stuff I want to do before the end of the world." Like go on a normal date with Yukito, say goodbye to his father, go to college, get a job that didn't last only three weeks...
"Guess that's kind of hard to understand, since you've lived so long," Touya said with an uncomfortable laugh. "You probably have seen and done so much, after all..." He paused, looking down at the dark floor. "But, if the world ended, would you have any regrets?"
[Second Floor - Random Room - Bathroom]
Finally he stepped closer, reaching out toward where he thought Touya was. "Not anymore," Yukito replied, sounding a little bashful. "Now there isn't anything left unsaid."