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

[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...

[He thinks to argue but very quickly decides against it--at least, for the immediate moments after hearing about Diarmuid's ordeal. Rick doesn't ask what happened, exactly, mostly because he doesn't want to know.]

[He bows his head and knits his eyebrows with the appropriate level of concern.]

...I'm so s-s-sorry that h-happened. I...I w-wish there was s-something I c-could do to h-help.

[Diarmuid looks up and then shakes his head.]

It's all right, Rick. There isn't a lot anyone can do. My issues with trust stretch beyond the Tower. Perhaps someday I will be able to trust again as easily as I once did, but for now I just have to try my hardest to be fair. Unfortunately, it is hard to be fair to the Administrators after all they have done to us.

[Rick sighs and slowly nods.]

...I-I d-don't blame you f-for that. And I d-d-definitely don't t-trust J-Jason...or Ruana.

[That name leaves a sour taste in his mouth--enough that it almost curls into a sneer.]

But I don't know i-if I c-can b-b-blame Zo or R-Riki for a-anything that's h-happened so f-far...I mean, Riki was h-helping us c-clear the top f-floor. Maybe...m-maybe they need us to h-help them as m-much as we n-need to help e-each other.

Maybe...

[Diarmuid doesn't sound very convinced, though. After all, Ruana is so very strong and, he isn't sure if Rick has seen what Ruana did to the last Administrator to turn against her.

The others would be fools to risk her wrath after what happened to Dax.]

I put my faith in none of them. They care more about themselves than they do us and will fight to save themselves not us when it comes down to it. If we trust anyone, it should be ourselves.

[...Wow, Diarmuid really wasn't kidding about those trust issues. Rick frowns with concern.]

...E-Even Zo? I m-mean, he's...j-just a kid. I d-d-dunno if he h-has a ch--choice.

[Twice Diarmuid has devoted every fiber of his being to a master, and twice he has lost everything to those masters when they betrayed him. Trust...is definitely an issue for him at the moment. It is something he is ashamed of, but it is there.]

Zo...is hard. I want to trust him, but he told me himself he likes Ruana. How can I trust someone who likes her?

[He blinks in confusion.]

--H-He does?

[That is...almost unjustifiable. But Rick can't bring himself to dislike the kid, so he scrounges for reasons otherwise, stammering his way into an excuse.]

...W-W-Well I...uh...M-Maybe he s-sees s-s-something in her that w-we d-don't. He ah--w-works with s-souls, right? So I g-guess he could s-see into her s-soul or...

[He shrugs helplessly.]

[Diarmuid reaches out and gives Rick's shoulder a squeeze to try and calm him.]

Rick...stop. There is really no way of knowing why. He didn't answer me when I asked. If you want to like him, like him. I would like to like him as well. He seems like a sweet child...

[After all, when Zo had sent back his attempts at making the folded paper animals Diarmuid had sent him instructions for, Diarmuid had kept them. They are still in his trunk even now.]

I just can't trust any of them completely. Not as much as I trust the rest of us who are fighting.

[Rick ceases talking on command, silently flushing red with stifled protests and embarrassment. This is probably for the best--by the end of Diarmuid's explanation, he's realized that arguing with the servant is both unnecessary and very silly. Rick bows his head.]

...I...yes. I s-see w-w-what you m-mean.

[He looks up with wide, hopeful eyes.]

...I-If it h-helps, I w-would choose--ah-- [Wide gesture, as if drawing in the entire sauna.] --u-us over th--them. I m-mean, I--I h-hope it n-never has to...well...

I am sure you would. You have a gentle and optimistic heart. There is nothing wrong with being that way. I...was once like that.

[His eyes sadden and suddenly seem quite distant.]

Don't ever lose that. It is hard to get back and much needed in this place.

[Rick pauses for a good while, regarding Diarmuid pensively. So there's more at work here than just Tower-induced paranoia...]

[..."a gentle and optimistic heart." Rick remembers Diarmuid's heart--it had an unpleasant scar over it, and he hadn't asked why. This only assures him that he doesn't want to know--rather, he doesn't need to know, save how it affects the servant's outlook currently.]

[Without warning or explanation, Rick leans in to give him another hug.]

[Diarmuid seems grateful for the hug. He smiles slightly, though the smile is sad and brief. Deep down, he is glad that Rick doesn't ask for an explanation. While he would have given it, the past is the past and it is better for him not to dwell on it as much as possible. Especially during times like this.]

Thank you.

...Y-You h-haven't lost a-anything.

[Apart from the typical stuttering, Rick's voice does not waver; he seems to believe this.]

Y-Y-You're one of the k-kindest p-people I know here...w-whatever it is you th--think you're d-doing...keep d-doing that. Okay?

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