towerofanimus | you need a bloody shower [post-event mingle]

you need a bloody shower [post-event mingle]

Characters: Any and all!
Setting: Floor 77, sauna
Format: Action-mingle - start your own threads!
Summary: The event is over and everyone who was stuck in the dorms needs a serious bath.
Warnings: Post-event shenanigans? Also baths so p much everyone is at least partially naked.

And so now that you've made your way free of the hell that is the dorm rooms -

This floor mimics a sauna--there are three entrances: one for men, one for women, and one for mixed. Inside each room is the wooden interior one would expect. Outside each area is a small changing room with lockers--if you look, you'll find one with your name on it. The locker will only open up for you. It might be a good place to store things, actually...

- it's time for everyone to take a bath! There's both hot, steamy stalls and large hot spring pools - but you'd better hurry! It's gonna get crowded in here kind of fast.

And hey, keep that towel closed, there's children in here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Diarmuid shakes his head, his expression falling. When he speaks again, his voice is strangely quiet so that those around them cannot hear.]

I can't say it was all my fault, but part of it was. I got it stuck in my head it might be a good idea to hold back some of the back up collar fluid they sent to us. Since it had side effects, it's obvious it must have been different from what we normally get. Who knows what we might have found, but I pushed too hard and wasn't worrying enough about my own safety.

[He smiles self-consciously.]

They finally got it through my head what I was doing, but I still feel bad I argued about it so hard.

[Rick offers a reassuring smile in return, perhaps a pat on the shoulder if Diarmuid will let him.]

--Y-You w-were just th--thinking ahead, is all. N-Nothing w-wrong with that.

[He doesn't actually think about what Diarmuid did--and his reasoning remains similarly veiled, at least for a few seconds. When it finally comes to his attention: ]

...S-Side e-e-effects?

[Diarmuid won't stop the pat. He's someone who often touches others to offer them comfort, so he knows exactly what Rick is doing and appreciates it.]

Yes. They started almost immediately after taking the shot. Extreme dizziness, headaches, and power loss were the most noticeable ones. The first two passed fairly quickly. The power loss varied, lasting between one and two days.

[He nods and pensively scratches his chin, even though he's not entirely sure what to do with this information. Parsing the meaning of these symptoms is clearly meant for a much greater mind than his.]

I-I'm sorry they m-made you s-so m-miserable.

[A beat.]

...D-Did you...e-end up s-saving any?

[Diarmuid shakes his head.]

No, even though both my brother and I were willing to risk taking a smaller dose or none at all, the others were very against us doing it. In the end, I realized I was being foolish especially with us not knowing how bad things were going to get. Yes, there was probably something we could have learned, but sometimes you have to let a chance go in the interest of safety.

[He smiles sheepishly.]

And in the interest of giving those who care about you peace of mind.

[Rick smiles back and adds a casual shrug.]

...Ah well. I'm s-sure there's n-nothing we c-could l-l-learn from that s-stuff th--that we c-can't f-f-figure out from the s-stuff we a-already have.

...A-And y-you're right. I'm g-glad e-everyone's safe.

You are probably right. I think the stress of the situation was causing me to be more reckless than usual. I don't like being locked in a room and unable to do anything to help people.

[Diarmuid shakes his head for a moment and then looks back at Rick again.]

You said you were outside the rooms, right? So what went on outside while we were all seeing strange things up in the rooms?

[Rick gives his chin a thoughtful scratch.]

...M-More e-explosions the f-f-first two d-days. All of the, a-ah, t-top two f-floors c-caved in...e-everyone who c-could w-w-worked to c-clear a path b-back to the d-dorms. It was...really s-stressful, not k-knowing...

[He squints at the floor.]

...S-Some w-weird stuff h-happened when w-we got to the t-top floor, th--though.

Weird stuff?

[Diarmuid files away the information Rick gives him. That certainly does explain why he thought he had heard more explosions and things falling while they were locked in the rooms.]

What do you mean weird stuff?

[He flushes pink and transfers his hand to the back of his head. Yeah, that...wasn't very specific, was it? Then again, Rick isn't sure he could do the proper explanation justice. He attempts: ]

Ah...w-well R-Riki s-s-said s-something about..."psychoradiation?" I th--think...uh...I'm s-sure I've h-heard it m-mentioned before...

[He shrugs.]

--A-Anyway, there was s-some kind of l-leak.

Psychoradiation? That does not sound like a good thing.

[Though the word isn't familiar to Diarmuid, it gives him a bad feeling.]

Radiation is bad no matter what kind. I wonder...was that what was causing the hallucinations?

...S-Seems like it, y-yeah. [Rick frowns.] I know I-I...w-wasn't f-feeling too g-great after w-working in it for a f-few hours.

Are you all right now?

[A concerned look crosses Diarmuid's face. Rick looks okay, but looks can be deceiving sometimes.]

Has the sick feeling passed?

[Rick looks confused, initially.]

S-Sick f-f-feeling...?

[Oh, right. Specifics. Rick scratches the back of his head, rather embarrassed.]

--Oh, uh--y-yeah. I'm f-fine now. Still h-have a bit of a h-headache, but...not as b-bad as it w-was.

[He pauses.]

...I'm, ah...n-not e-even sure if I w-was s-sick or...I guess I c-could have b-been h-h-hallucinating. I d-didn't get the ch--chance to a-ask a-anyone else who s-stayed out...

[Diarmuid seems puzzled by Rick's confusion, but that puzzlement passes as the man keeps talking.]

More hallucinations? Well, I suppose if you were exposed to the same stuff we were, it would make sense you started seeing things too. What kind of things did you see?

[Hopefully, whatever he saw wasn't nearly as bad as what they had been seeing up in the rooms.]

[Transition hand from back of head to chin: complete.]

...W-Well that's the thing...I d-didn't see a-anything. I, ah...well there was th--this...b-beeping, or...b-buzzing, something. Kept g-getting l-louder until it was...a-almost like it was i-in my h-head. C-Couldn't think of a-anything else.

[Diarmuid winces.]

That sounds terrible. So it was sounds you heard, then? You didn't see anything?

[Granted, having a constant sound like that in your head would be terrible, but seeing the hospital and the children especially after hearing about what Rick, his brother, and their group had seen down below...]

[Rick nods methodically.]

...I-I, ah...th--thought it was j-just s-s-someone's a-alarm c-clock or s-something... [He sniffs and flushes bashful pink.] ...My o-own f-fault, really. W-Wouldn't have b-been so bad if I'd b-been s-smart enough to l-leave.

[Diarmuid shakes his head and reaches out to give Rick's shoulder a comforting squeeze.]

It's not good to recklessly endanger yourself for others, but I probably would have done the same thing, so I am the last person who will say what you did is stupid.

[He winks playfully at Rick.]

Don't tell my brother or Waver I said that, okay? I will probably get into trouble.

[Rick smiles knowingly back--of course he won't say a word--but he still seems very embarrassed with himself.]

W-Well I--I'd h-hardly call it, uh..."r-r-reckless e-e-endangerment." I d-didn't know I was in d-d-danger to b-begin with.

[Diarmuid laughs.]

It doesn't matter. Those who care about you will be angry anyway. "You should have known, you know."

[Rick audibly groans, too mortified by his silly mistake to adopt Diarmuid's lighthearted tone.]

--B-But--I sh--should have, r-really. Riki a-a-announced it over the s-speakers and e-e-everything. [He throws his hands in the air.] I j-just...d-d-didn't f-feel bad, so I th--thought I was s-safe. It w-was r-really dumb of me. They'd be r-right.

Easy, Rick. It was a joke.

[Diarmuid reaches out and gives the man's shoulder a comforting squeeze.]

It's easy in hindsight to say, "I should have listened," but at that time you were worried about everyone else. It only made sense for you to keep working if you felt okay. Especially since we don't know how much we can trust the Administrators. Riki might have been telling the truth or he might not have been and your friends were in danger. I would have made the choice to keep working as well.

[If nothing else, he would have justified it by thinking it was okay for him to work longer because he was a servant and more resistant than most.]

[Rick is about to be exceptionally embarrassed (his face has already gone the prerequisite shade of deep red) when Diarmuid mentions Riki. This appears to resonate with him oddly.]

...Y-You d-d-don't trust him?

I don't know that I trust any of them...not even Zo.

[Diarmuid looks down. For some reason, he seems ashamed of this.]

Some people say Riki is better than the others, but just because he's better doesn't mean he can be trusted. He was also the Administrator in charge when I arrived here and the experiment that month...it almost destroyed me. The others have done terrible things, but that month's emotional agony on top of what had just happened to me...

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