Day 51: Men's Showers [Second Shift]

[lawful_perfect]

Bah. So much for yet another suggestion of von Karma's. Such priorities this Institute had. They would implement a foolish suggestion to introduce origami lessons and to offer sewing supplies to select patients, yet refused to allow them to cleanse themselves more often than twice a week -- and, of course, without any additional privacy? How many more of his reasonable suggestions would the Head Lunatic make a point of ignoring?

von Karma scoffed, shaking his head as he entered the shower facility. Fortunately, it appeared that he was the first one in here. As soon as the announcement over the intercom had blared out signaling the shift change, von Karma had been quick to excuse himself from his conversation with Naraku to promptly head for the showers. It had been bad enough last time that there were already three men in the showers by the time he arrived. This time, he would make certain that he would be the first one there.

Without wasting a single second, he disrobed, meticulously washed off the grime from the past several days, dried himself, then got dressed. All within a perfect three minutes, zero seconds, before anyone else had a chance to enter. He would have preferred a much longer time to devote to hygiene, but he didn't want to risk any needless immodesty in front of anyone.

Now finished, he exited the restroom and entered the Sun Room.

[To here]

Comments

[gargantuanlaugh.livejournal.com]

"Lana's certainly something else." Gant wasn't sure if he liked where this conversation was going. If anything, Harvey sounded snippier than ever. Maybe it would be a good idea to start heading into the changing room and finish up their talk there?

"She's usually very capable and cool-headed about most things, but she wasn't at her best the night the doors went all wonky." Gant looked over his shoulder to see if Dent had moved with him, then started pulling on his clothing. "Seems her dear little sister had been taken in for a sleep study. At the time I wasn't knowledgeable of all that entailed, so I'm afraid I may have been a bit insensitive that night."

There wasn't much remorse in his voice, but he could still sound worried when it suited him. "Just want you to keep in mind, she can push herself too hard sometimes. Not that it isn't admirable, but I worry about her health."

He wondered if he was helping or hurting his case by trying to show some concern. Dent could think whatever he wanted, but Gant would rather the man left with at least a half-way decent opinion of him. But it certainly was harder to show off his capabilities here than it had been back in L.A. And few people could vouch for his abilities without simultaneously revealing a little of the questionable side of nature.

He could only hope Lana wouldn't suddenly decide to remember the outcome of the Goodman case if Dent ever pried. He seemed reluctant enough to give Gant a break as it was, and they barely knew one another.

[dualistic]

It looked like they were starting to move back toward the changing room, which Harvey was more than happy to do. He quickly wrapped his towel around his middle and crossed the room as he took in Gant's words about Lana. So it sounded like there were certain things that would break even through her calm exterior. That wasn't something he took much joy out of learning. He honestly wouldn't have had a clue that the woman had a younger sister here, which showed just how good she was at keeping her personal issues to herself.

But in Landel's, that sort of thing always caught up with you in the end. They had taken Rachael's death and shoved it in his face more than a few times, and he didn't keep his composure that well in those instances either. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said with a shake of his head. Chances were that Lana's sister hadn't deserved whatever she'd been put through. Harvey could get behind the idea of making people pay for crimes they'd committed, to the point of their punishment being a bullet in the head, but the torture of someone innocent just got under his skin.

Reaching the changing room, he grabbed for a fresh towel and then dried himself off more thoroughly. He nodded when the man expressed some concern about Lana overdoing it. He could only imagine: she would try to bottle up her anxiety about her sister and keep going, and it would catch up with her. He knew what that was like.

"Sounds like you might have good reason to. I'll keep it in mind if I run into her again." Not that he was very good at the comforting thing, but he wouldn't add any undue stress onto her. At the same time, distractions could be good. It was just a matter of finding the right balance.

[gargantuanlaugh.livejournal.com]

God, why did the uniform here have to be gray? It was bland bordering on ridiculous! If it had been a suit maybe it would have been different, but these were more like pajamas than anything else. Gant hated people seeing him dressed so casually, but if that's all the institute would offer he had to take it. If another comment box went up on the bulletin in the future, this would be the one thing he would insist on changing. And perhaps the addition of a pool out back.

"She's had it rough, that girl," Gant said, a bit distracted as he combed his fingers through his hair, glancing into a nearby mirror on occasion. He actually hadn't heard anything about Ema's condition but he was sure it wasn't pleasant. Even Manny hadn't looked completely disinterested in the subject, which was as close to sympathy as it got as far as the perfectionist prosecutor was concerned.

"Glad to hear she has your support!" Gant turned away from his reflection completely and back to Harvey. "If she would just take a vacation now and then, I wouldn't be so upset, but..." He shook his head, as if to say 'what can you do?' Then, giving the other man a not too hardy clap on the back (even Gant wasn't so insensitive as to hit an injured man too hard) he grinned and said, "Anywho! It was a pleasure meeting you, Dent! Hope we get along in the future. But for now, lunch is calling my name." And with that, the chief took his leave. Hopefully it looked less like a retreat than it felt.