Day 44: Women's Showers (2nd Shift)

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

The sting of the water on Momo's wounds reminded her exactly where each and every burn was. Between that and the clear plastic wrapping the nurse placed around the long cut up her arm to her shoulder, she decided as little time in the actual spray would be wise. Sitting on a stool out of the direct stream, she went about scrubbing the grit and grime.

It almost felt weird to be alive with her throat intact, but Momo was not about to wish it was otherwise. In the past, maybe, but she remembered who she was and could not allow herself to become what she had been prior to her encounter with the undead knight. Wincing a bit with the pain of washing, she turned her thoughts to her upcoming meeting with Shikamaru. Or rather, she tried to. She still had to see Hitsugaya once she finished her shower.

[closed]

Comments

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

"I'm going to turn myself into a radish," Yuffie told her nurse.

"With the water, dear?"

"No, with the gum in your pocket."

"Hanna, I don't have any gum in my pocket."

"You totally do."

And so the conversation went on. Really, it was the way it had to be; if Plucky suspected that something was wrong, she'd get edgy. An edgy Plucky meant an extra vigilant Plucky, and that meant even tighter surveillance than normal. Stupid closed environment making it impossible to do anything… It made Yuffie itch to act out, when all she really wanted for once was a bit of peace.

Once she'd shucked her clothes and collected her wash towel, she found herself a good looking nozzle and turned the water as high as she dared. Stepping into it with a soft hiss between her teeth, the little ninja tipped her head back under the spray. Biting her tongue, she ran light, calloused fingers across her skin; her abdomen was smooth, without a trace of… last night… to mar it. No doubt her back was the same way.

Good. Yuffie was a fighter and a daredevil, but disfigurement, permanent or otherwise, just wasn't her thing. It was a matter of principle; you let your enemy close enough to mark you, and then what? She shook her head, moving her hands up to her shoulders to rub at them. The water was almost hot enough to hurt, but it was doing wonders to sooth the screaming tension in her muscles and sear away strange thoughts.

[For Cissnei]

[tofindherwings.livejournal.com]

The shift from night to day had been rather jarring to Cissnei, despite the warnings that she'd received. It had left her disoriented for a good few moments, wondering where she was and where Tseng was and why she wasn't out searching for Zack before the clinical white of the room had brought it flooding back. Right. Insane asylum, other worlds, Reno and Rude being very surprised to see her.

It made no more sense to her now than it had done the previous day.

She'd managed to sleep through breakfast apparently, but the nurse was adamant that a nice warm shower would be just lovely wouldn't it? Cissnei tuned her out, focussed instead on thinking of how many ways she knew to kill the woman in under ten seconds without being armed.

She'd lost any kind of shyness about her body years and years ago so she stripped off without any hesitation and went to stand underneath one of the shower heads, letting the hot water fall onto her skin and hair. She looked sideways at the girl she was next to. About her age, toned. She looked tough.

"I hope you don't mind me standing here," she said, not actually caring if the other woman minded and with no intention of moving, but it was as good a way to start a conversation as anything.

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

Gonna take this slow, Yuffie decided, basking in the warmth. She closed her eyes. Evildoers, be warned! Amidst the slew of terror and the rain of blood, something bright still shines! It is I--

Somebody was coming over. Sloshing footsteps against wet tile, sure and confident. Hmm… The ninja tilted her head just slightly, cracking one eye open. Nope, not somebody she recognized; her height, her age, seemed capable and not immediately crazy. Note keywords. Yuffie opened her other eye, blinked the water off her lashes, and nonchalantly returned most of her attention to massaging the ache out of her shoulders.

"If I did, you'd know about it," she responded lazily. "Hi. Mind the soap, I think they replaced it with superglue when nobody was looking."

[kagurazuki.livejournal.com]

Kagura was honestly relieved when breakfast was over and her nurse led her to the showers. She felt sorry for Haine, since he was new, but aside from that, she honestly wasn't sure what to think about him. He was kind of abrasive and a little scary, but that seemed to be true of a lot of the patients here.

Sighing to herself, she headed into the showers, glancing around for an open spot. It didn't take long to locate one, especially with how empty the place was. At least it seemed like her wounds had all more or less healed up. There were scars left, sure, but they got fainter each day. Maybe they wouldn't be as bad as she thought. Maybe.

[free, no limits]

[mind-the-sukima.livejournal.com]

Ah, shower time. It was a little gross to only get this twice a week, but considering that no one walked into breakfast smelling like blood, Yukari had to assume that some form of cleaning happened while they were unconscious. While this may not have been satisfactory for most people, as a youkai who often simply twisted reality into a state of cleanliness rather than take an actual bath, this sort of logic was good enough for her. Still, it was nice to get a chance to soak.

There were other benefits to the shower, such as the clearly naked ninja over there. Unfortunately, the girl had found relative safety in the form of Raine, though that seemed to be backfiring from the looks of it. As it was, Yukari wasn't about to barge in on them. She'd just subtly harass the ninja.

Walking over to a nearby shower head, the youkai turned on the water, shivering a bit at the initial cold and sighing as it warmed up. Yukari pulled mass of long, blonde hair over her shoulder, ostensibly to wash it, making visible both the bite mark on her neck and the long, red scratches on her back, which she promptly turned to face Sheena.

This action also brought her to facing the cute young girl that she could only think the nurses had made a mistake by placing her in the eighteen and older showers. Yukari gave her a pleasant smile.

"Hello," she greeted as she started working at her hair. So much work to do herself. "Make it through the night okay?"

[kagurazuki.livejournal.com]

Kagura had set about washing up, but it wasn't long before the showers started to fill up. A woman with long blonde hair stood next to her, but she tried to be polite and only look straight ahead and kept to herself. Still, it was rude not to talk when addressed, and she did seem pretty nice.

"Good morning," she said shyly, her soft voice barely carrying over the sound of the water. "I... ah... y-yes. We didn't leave our room, we were u-um... taking a night off. It was kind of... nice."

[diamondstorm]

The water felt cold.

She could objectify that now. This was the fourth time she had been under the spray--the fourth time lower emotions rose up to overwhelm. But she was better than that now. Her control was tighter, her self more secure, and there were no new injuries to creep sensation along her skin. Renamon wondered offhand, how Beelzemon was doing in this new setting.

A shiver of air caught her, and Renamon froze, then turned off the water and walked towards the door.

[to here]

[madeinthehrl]

Speaking with Edgar had been a--distraction, if not an entirely welcome one. It wasn't that Soma had disliked him; it was simply that she was completely unused to interacting with people like him, and she had had too much on her mind as it was to focus on the conversation. It had probably showed.

She stepped into the showers without complaint, undressing and ducking under the closest available showerhead. Ignoring the sting of hot water on her recent injuries, she began to wash quickly. She didn't relish the upcoming meeting, but she'd had to face a few facts last night and she supposed she might as well make the first move.

[closed]

[madeinthehrl]

[to here]

[ninelivesonce]

The shower would have been the perfect place for Taura to show off the results of last night's healing session, except that they'd herded all the women into a different room than the men.

Then again, there had been all that talk of virgin-eating monsters on the board; animal fodder was not the usual industry for virgin consumption, but it would explain the segregated showers. Or maybe it went along with their notions of therapy -- sex either explained everything or nothing at all, she'd gathered, which hadn't done anything to improve her impressions of experimental psychologists or their pet theories. Sex was sex, and showers were usually too cramped to make very good places to have it. And tile was cold.

Oh well. There still wasn't much to see even when she was naked -- a faint yellow bruise-halo could be from anything, and Mister von Karma hadn't seen it when it was fresh. She poked at it -- no pain left at all. Then she got to work unbraiding her hair, tugging it where frizz had turned into tangles while letting the hot water hit her mid-back. She only needed to dip her head back just a little to get it all the way under the spray -- that and the unlimited hot water were a luxury she didn't get very often. She'd rank it just below gourmet dinners and above beds large enough for her to sprawl in. Both were far below free will, but as gilded cages went, this place cleaned up all right.

[free, limit=any]

[mugenreppa.livejournal.com]

So she had missed yesterday, Mele thought as the Scarecrow was led away by a nurse. Mele remained at the table, unmoving until the very last second until a nurse came to get her.

As they entered the showers, Mele told the nurse she could do this by herself, and stood up to prove it. The nurse consented to leaving her alone, though Mele had the inkling the nurse didn't care if she fell. Which suited Mele fine; damned if she was going to repeat her last showers experience.

Mele managed to hobble over to the nearest free spot (which, as it happened, was next to someone who made her feel really short), and let the water run over her body while she reached up to free her hair from its usual loops.

"Is the woman on the intercom familiar to you?" she asked conversationally, without preamble. "'Head Nurse Lydia'?" What an odd title to name herself by.

[per-ardua.livejournal.com]

Let's see if I can handle standing in running water this time... Raine sighed to herself as she got undressed. She should be able to, but then again, she hadn't thought it would be too much for her last time either.

She barely even got near the showerhead she'd picked until the water was running hot, but when she did, after a few moments her nerves calmed. She didn't plan on keeping her head under the spray longer than she had to, but the hot water still felt nice instead of nerve-wracking.

[[For Sheena.]]

[mizuhomaiden.livejournal.com]

Sheena almost considered an attempt to talk her nurse into letting her skip showers if only because she just knew Yukari would find her. And while she wasn't against seeing the youkai naked (and let her thoughts wander to things she'd felt last night), she was against being molested in the shower. She was afraid that Yukari would assume that since last night had happened, she'd have permission to be clingish and touchy and all that even more than normal in public. The ninja was not comfortable enough for anything close to that. Even if Sheena was supposedly Yukari's ninja. Or whatever the youkai had really meant by that.

Still, Sheena wanted to be clean. Not only would it clean her body, but maybe the ritual of bathing would help wash the feel of the youkai's touch off her skin so she could maybe think normal and stay focused on the here and now instead of the previous night. But how to keep the youkai from pouncing her...

Raine. Oh, thank Martel she's here and doesn't look like she's going to be bolting from the water anytime soon.

With a quick look around to find the showers currently vacant of youkai (which disappointed Sheena more than she was willing to admit), the ninja stripped and headed into the showers after the nurse removed her bandages. Any warnings the woman gave her about being gentle with the stitches still there went unnoticed as the ninja started up the shower next to Raine.

"Hey," she said to the half-elf.

[quickdrawbkiddo.livejournal.com]

There were few things in the world that relieved tension better than a really hot shower.

Standing under the spray, so hot it would eventually turn her skin a bit pink, Beatrix closed her eyes. Silently, she imagined all the tension in her back sloughing off her skin to run down her body and into the drain on the floor. She needed to have a clear mind for her upcoming meeting.

She loved showers.

[for Celes]

[tostepforward.livejournal.com]

The chance to finally clean up was welcome, naturally, but Ayumu had far too much to do and to watch today to spend a lot of time in this room. There was also the fact that, as much as it would have been nice to enjoy the hot water -- water that she didn't have to heat herself for bathing -- she'd already indulged herself far too much lately. If she only did things that she wanted to, then there'd be more repeats of the night before, and that simply couldn't be allowed to happen.

She washed as quickly as she could, avoiding the eyes of anyone else in the room as though simply shy (and most especially avoiding her roommate in the process) and then redressed. Best to spend as much time as possible in the Sun Room, especially with the goings-on today. She didn't want to miss anything.

[off to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/722951.html?thread=59260679#t59260679)]

[demon-beast.livejournal.com]

Showers again. Argilla stepped into the water with some distaste, closing her eyes so that she at least couldn't see it, letting it clean away the grime of the nights even if she seemed to be cleaned every morning. there was never any sign of blood beneath her nails even after she'd been feeding. She cleaned herself quickly, efficiently and then went to get dried before slipping on her clothing and walking out of the showers.

[Closed]

[demon-beast.livejournal.com]

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/722951.html?view=59274503#t59274503)]

[she-is-ruin.livejournal.com]

Yomi had no choice to be on her feet, behaving for the staff. No choice…

She was like a leaf being blown about in a storm, caught by too many competing forces to be able to slow herself, or decide in what direction she would be taken. The sesshouseki, the hospital, Kagura… Kagura, the hospital, the sesshouseki… Her bloodstained hands, her loss of future, her hate…

But she had thrown herself headlong into this storm before Landel’s Institute had ever gotten its hands on her, and being susceptible to its sudden and inexplicable night time blackouts was no great difference from being at the mercy of the sesshouseki’s ponderous influence. The real question was, how long could she hold on to her consciousness? How long would she be aware she was trying to fight the storm, and wasn’t a part of it by nature?

How long until this standstill ended, and she shed blood? Kagura’s blood?

Late for the day, she went straight into the showers as directed, stripping down and beginning to scrub the grime from her body with ruthless efficiency. The water streamed down her face like rivulets of tears.

I will make this time last as long as I can.

She left quickly, with the sole intention to avoid the one person she wanted to be with the most.

[she-is-ruin.livejournal.com]

_{[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/723243.html?thread=59284011#t59284011)]}

[shallweplay.livejournal.com]

Ophelia had spent the entirety of first shift under large doses of sedative; after having her "scars" bandaged up by the nurses, she entered the shower seeming heavy and quiet. In her eyes, however, it was clear to see that she was still seething. Needless to say, she had not taken the previous night's sudden turn very well.

Before she and Daphne had even made it up the stairs, the building had started playing tricks on her. What began as flashes of a familiar silhouette here or there rapidly turned into frantic voices over the intercom - hers and Brother's. She heard him telling her to run and hide as clear as it had been on the day he had died. She heard herself running barefoot across hot, cracked earth away from him. She heard her own blood pumping over the intercom as loudly as she had heard it that day when her hands had covered her ears. It had been a feeble attempt to block out the sound of a boy being ripped apart further up the road. The attempt hadn't done well at all. In the hallway, she had abandoned Daphne and leapt for the speakers, shouting for them to stop even as they kept playing the sounds of carnage and gut consummation louder and louder. She had clawed at the walls until her fingertips were bloody, and yet the wretched memory still played.

Then, suddenly, she had woken up in her bed. Still in a fit, she had taken out her aggression on the staff yet again, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Seeing her black card tacked on the bulletin board did not help matters much. It had been a strain to respond to Arlene's taunting notes through the drugs, but in her current mood, she didn't care. She had to vent some way, even if it was through her unpracticed writing rather than violence.

Whether she simply did not see Arlene in the shower or was purposefully ignoring her was unclear to outside observers. Ophelia preferred to keep it that way. Either way, if she was going to go after that arrogant bitch again, she was not going to be doing it in her current state. She "conveniently" chose a showerhead at the far opposite end of the room as Arlene, and focused on washing her hair for the time being. She hoped that the sound of the spray would drown out the memories from the night and help her to focus on the tasks ahead of her. Somehow, though, she doubted that would help much.

[Locked to Teresa]

[number1smiley.livejournal.com]

Teresa was in a good mood when she was lead by her handler to the showers. She liked Homura and was looking forward to working with him. Her good mood shifted into amusement as her handler made it a point to wrap up the youma's mark on Teresa, claiming they didn't want to make things uncomfortable for the other women given the hybrid's unfortunate birth defect. Birth defect. That was a surprisingly apt description for the hideously deformed flesh on her abdomen. It was a shame; she'd been looking forward to seeing how long one of the women could stand to interact with her knowing her flesh was like that. Maybe her choice of company while she cleaned herself would ask about the wrapping.

Any possible choice of showermate was changed the moment Teresa saw Ophelia. She'd just been talking about the half-awakened child to Homura. Now she almost wished she'd bothered to pay attention to whatever the fallout of Ophelia's black card had been, but she'd gotten distracted by other things after the card had disappeared from the board.

It only took her a moment to figure the showering device out before the former Number One was wetting her hair at the spot next to her fellow warrior. While she thoroughly let the water soak into her hair, Teresa half-closed her eyes. There was that matter of the youma nest Ophelia had let exist. Though she was no longer of the Organization, it did not mean Teresa was keen to letting youma, especially nests, continue to exist. Ophelia still belonged to the men in black, as far as she can tell, so she should have killed them by now. Pathetic. Perhaps introducing her face to the tiled wall and breaking it - her face that was - would remind her... Okay, maybe it would only serve to entertain Teresa, but that was good enough for her.

Now that enough steam had formed and Teresa's hair was wet, she looked over at Ophelia then drew a circle with a vertical line through it in the condensation on the wall. "Is that you?"

[cursed-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Public showers were nothing new to Kagura, so she eagerly stepped under the shower head. The warm water against her skin felt nice, cleansing away all her weariness. Since she hadn't been that dirty to begin with, the process was relatively quick. As soon as she was done, Kagura dried herself off and exited the showers.

[cursed-exorcist.livejournal.com]

[dahliahasthorns.livejournal.com]

Well, the was fun. Kibby was such a fun tool to use and she'd have to work him into something later, loyal and innocent as he was. Yes, it was perfect. She yank him and a couple of his just as easily misled buddies and they'd escape together. She'd sell the little toy Sync had been so sweet as to let her keep and then she'd feed them to the wolves. Who knows, though? It was so hard to get good company. Maybe she'd keep Kibitoshin around.

Maybe.

But it was shower time now! After five years in prison, she couldn't say bathing in public phased her any more than a dead body would, but she was smart enough to blush and rush her way to cleanliness for the sake of appearances. Once she was so fresh and clean, Shelby, being the kind and adorable nurse she was, gave her some new clothes, let her get dressed, and they were off to the Sun Room.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/722951.html?thread=59333383#t59333383)]

[jokers-wildcard.livejournal.com]

Ohh! Shower time! A nice hot shower was probably just the thing she needed to relax a little. Like a lot of things, Harley found she liked the showers more than those back at Arkham. You didn't have to crank the knobs to get the water going and it was a whole lot less gloomy-feeling. Though she couldn't say the same for the people in there. After she'd thrown her clothes off and gotten under a shower head, she looked around to see most of the girls there looking kind of mopey. What was with everyone today? It was like someone died or something.

It was pretty obvious she wasn't going to be getting any fun or interesting conversations in here; everyone was too busy keeping to themselves or muttering to each other. Or to themselves, whichever. As nice as a hot shower sounded, the last thing she wanted was to be bored. So she cleaned up all nice and fresh, redressed herself, and headed back out under the usual stupid nurse escort.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/722951.html?thread=59535111#t59535111)]