[log] So, do you feel satisfied? [closed]

[fiftheclipse]

Characters: Junpei, Steph, and Squalo. ... Not at the same time.
Location: Zone Three
Date: Days 349 and 350
Summary: Potential for both the best day Junpei's had here, and the worst.
Warnings: Day 350 will get nasty. Torture, death, etc.

Comments

Day 349 - Building 317 [Locked to Steph]

[fiftheclipse]

[Judging from the outside, this was definitely a house, but going inside, it seems to have been converted into something like an infirmary. There are a lot of metal tables neatly arranged in the living room and kitchen, and the bedroom has a mattress lightly-stained with blood: it seems like someone at least tried to clean the thing up as best they could, and even flipped it over so the cleaner side is on top. The toilet and shower still work: the shower even has hot water. Makeshift shelves have been attached to one of the walls. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX, FOR ANY ASSISTANCE PLEASE CONTACT @LELRIC." is written on the wall.]

[spoileralert]

Steph used her first day here to clean all of her extra layers and towels. Her Spoiler getup is on the cool side, and Al still has her cape, but it will all be worth it when she takes a real, serious shower on day 349 and washes all the rest of her clothes. Clean underwear. The one advantage to being on her own.

By the time someone starts opening the door Steph has her legs buried in her bedsheet-and-pillows pile on the couch, one blue towel wrapped around her waist, a scarf keeping her wet hair off her standard issue jacket. She glances up from her tablet and shivers as the icy breeze reaches her.

"Close that door! My hair is still wet."

[fiftheclipse]

... There's someone here?

Not expecting to meet another person after how long he's been on his own, Junpei's response is more to freeze for a moment than to follow that order. Because it's not just anyone else-- it's a woman, and judging by that complaint about her hair she might not be totally dressed yet under the towel and sheets, and--

No, that can wait.

"R-right--" He does want to stay warm just as well, and upon snapping out of it, nearly slams the door shut as if attempting to make up for the lost time. Then, once it seems safe to bring his attention back to her...

"... Wait. Steph? Hey."

... Ah. He's not sure if he can approach her. Is it okay? Should he even be looking at her in the first place? This is too much.

He'll just.. look around the room, instead, trying to figure out where he wants to set his things down.

"So, there really is hot water?"

[spoileralert]

She waves. There's a nightshirt on under that jacket, but nothing under that... so after the wave she buttons the jacket. No sense showing that off.

"Yeah, welcome to the party. My clothes are drying on the curtain rod, though, I should... probably move that if you want to use the shower." She'd let him move them, but she's not really looking to have someone else handle her underwear.

"Bedroom's that way, if you have blankets or stuff to add to the pile." She points at the door, which is ajar, with her thumb. "I don't mind sharing, I just need the pillows for insulation while my socks dry." And her pants. But again, information he doesn't need right now.

[fiftheclipse]

To be fair, he didn't mind it being open... But even though her words are drawing his attention back, she's giving a pretty clear sign that she doesn't want him looking her over too much. Right, then. He'll keep his eyes up.

"Party, huh? Too bad it looks like I missed the entertainment. I brought snacks, though."

It's not a lie. Once he settles on one of the tables to start unpacking, the rations he ends up having to move aside are definitely all junk food. Continuing to dig through that backpack, he soon gets back on task by pulling out a blanket and throw pillow of his own.

"You think these'll help?"

And of course there's still the sleeping bag he has strapped on to the outside of the pack. He'll gather all of that up, then.

"Only thing is, if we're gonna share blankets, we've gotta share the bed, too..."

[spoileralert]

"The entertainment?" She raises her eyebrows at him. Does he think if he'd been here an hour early he would have been allowed in the shower with her?

The blanket earns an excited "oooh!" Not bad contributions, all told. Half the time it seems like Steph is the only person around who cares about collecting pillows as well as blankets. There aren't nearly enough mattresses in Norfinbury.

She snorts a laugh as he trails off.

"That was kind of a given. Nothing beats body heat. Except a hot shower, of course."

[fiftheclipse]

Body heat? So, they wouldn't just share the bed, but they'd even.. maybe.. hold each other...

"Yeah, that's true." It's best to play it off like no big deal, right? The shower's of a more immediate interest, anyway.

"You think you could go move your stuff while I get these in the bedroom?" Look-- he's even offering her a chance to not reveal the lack of pants. "There's no way I'm passing on the chance to clean up somewhere warm."

[spoileralert]

"Yeah, sure!" It's a perfect opening. And then if her pants are a little dryer she can even put them on. That would really be ideal. Her legs are pretty cold, but would they be colder if her pants were just slightly wet?

[fiftheclipse]

Alright. Good. Then they can both manage to avoid this awkwardness they've started out with. Probably. When he heads into the bedroom, he'll take a little more time than he needs to, just in case. Because why just dump everything on the bed, anyway? Those blood stains on the mattress are pretty awful-- it's absolutely worth it to sort through their small collection of blankets for something thin enough to cover up the sight without sacrificing too much warmth.

But then it's back out to the main room for Junpei as he checks through his bags once more. May as well get started on gathering spare clothes.

[spoileralert]

Steph does end up putting on the slightly damp pants, leaving her shirt draped over the coffee table to dry some more. She keeps the towel around her, though, to hopefully speed up the drying process as well as keep her just a little warmer.

"It's all ready for you," she tells him as they pass. She's picked up her pillows and blankets and is taking them into the bedroom to build a proper nest.

[fiftheclipse]

It's not as though wet clothes are anything unusual with all the snow outside, so he won't judge Steph's choice to wear them now as long as they're dry or removed by the time they go to sleep. Which is sort of a ways off.

Giving a nod and a quick "thanks", he's soon heading into the now free bathroom, their trade of locations complete.

Once again Junpei's taking a while to return, but can he really be blamed? When this hot water's actually real and not a rumor? When it's the first warm place he's found in a regular building since arriving here? This shower's easily going to become one of his favourite things.

It's clear when he comes back out that not too much of that time was spent on clothing, the only items he's laying out to dry being a shirt, socks, underwear, and.. something that seems like a pile of bandages? A few are bloody despite the effort to wash them. ... All that isn't to say he's back in to what he started with. Lacking a towel of his own, he's left wearing a cultist robe until he's dried off. It's enough to keep himself fully covered, but...

"Y-you really notice how cold the air is after that, huh?"

... There's no question at all that it's not enough to stay warm.

[spoileralert]

With no time limit on the hot water Steph couldn't blame him if he stayed in the shower all day. It gives her plenty of time to try to forcibly towel dry her clothes. She's contemplating cutting her hair when he returns, but ultimately decides that she'll prefer it long once it finishes drying.

"Yeah, no kidding. I'd say we should turn the bathroom into a steam room, but I'm pretty sure that'll only keep us wet longer." She picks up her own discarded towel and decides it's dry enough at least to speed up the process. She offers it to him.

"Here. It's a little damp, but it's clean."

[fiftheclipse]

... Then if the towel's clean, shouldn't he try to keep it that way? He'll accept it, for sure, but all he'll bother with is drying his hair.

"If you don't want it as wet, there's always the power plant. Too bad dragging a mattress over there's out of the question..."

Day 350 - Building 320 [Locked to Squalo]

[fiftheclipse]

[A normal-looking house with a living room, two bedrooms, kitchen, and bathroom. The attic is covered in nails hammered violently and haphazardly, making traversing it difficult. Step back, and it's clear the nails are hammered into symbols of the prophet. There are faint scuff marks like the nails were pulled out at some point, but the nails are undoubtedly still hammered in. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY EIGHT, FOR ANY ASSISTANCE PLEASE CONTACT @LELRIC ANY TIME." is written on one of the walls.]

lemme know if that doesn't work

[sharktrash]

[ It's almost lockdown when Squalo makes his way to the building, not in a particular rush. The weather's shit, and he fully intends to visit the hot shower house a couple more times before ditching the area, looking stuff up here and there on the way. ]

[ There's still traces of a trail leading to the door, however. Someone's already there, but there's no time to look for another place to spend the night, and hey. It could be good company. ]

[ He walks in, closes the door and sets his backpack down, looking around and listening for any signs of somebody else, but not calling out just yet. You never knew when you'd happen upon a knife-wielding, metal-armed maniac around here after all and he'd rather not announce his immediate location if that were the case. ]

We're good~ \o/

[fiftheclipse]

[Junpei is.. less wary, to say the least. The tablet's reminder to find shelter had already gone off quite a while ago. He knows changing his mind about where to spend the night isn't an option at this point.

So the sound of the door doesn't bother him. Doesn't pull his attention too far away from the puzzle book he'd thought might help to pass some time as he rests in one of the bedrooms. At least, not at first. It's when it's followed by silence that it begins to feel wrong, and he needs to check things out for himself.]

Hey. Someone there?

[His voice seems pretty relaxed, as he heads out into the hallway. Why be careful when he can just be friendly?]

[sharktrash]

[ Who could have thought, a guy who doesn't murder people for a living does not display signs of continuous paranoia. ]

[ He relaxes just a little when whoever is in the house speaks up -- that's generally a sign they're not planning to immediately kill you -- but he thinks he recognizes the voice. He walks toward it, casually slow, almost nonchalant, though part of it is him still being careful. However it's not until he finally sets eyes on Jumpei that everything clicks in place. ]

[ For a moment, Squalo just stands there in the doorway, staring in a particularly unimpressed manner, then a skew grin spreads on his face. ]

Don't you look familiar. Have I killed you before?

[ Yeah. ]

[fiftheclipse]

[Oh.

Junpei freezes, at first. That's.. not who he was hoping to see. Now right now. Or ever, really.

It can't be helped, though, can it? He's not about to try shoving someone back outside with this little time left, no matter who they are. So instead, he simply gives a half-hearted wave.]

I dunno. Last I checked, I wasn't a ghost or anything.

[But he certainly was knocked into that pit, and keeps his hand up to tap at the side of his face, pointing out the lack of red covering his eyes.]

Guess I gotta thank you for the ticket out of all that crazy, last week, huh?

[sharktrash]

[ His first mistake of the evening. ]

[ Or not, because no doubt that would make Squalo attack him sooner. Like every proper villain, he's apparently interested in talking first, and you can't do that if someone screams and runs or charges you. Even if that sort of makes killing them easier, but he's never needed an easy way out. ]

[ He does take a look, unflinching at the eye contact, though doesn't focus on it particularly long. That's interesting; it's definitely not the same kind of red spread that the pit divers experienced, but you don't often see somebody with red irises. There can only be one ]

You could, but I think you've done enough.

[ HE MEANS THE INTERNET CRUSADE, JUNPEI. HOW WAS THAT A THANKS. YOU INSULTED THE LOVING MEMORY OF SHARKY #1 TO #56. ]

[fiftheclipse]

[Hey, it's not his fault they keep dying. Try harder with #57.]

Got it, then. I take it back. I mean, who just goes around punching people for no reason, anyway?

[... That's probably enough of that.]

So. Look. There's only one rule if you're gonna stay here, so don't complain about it: No matter how cold it gets, you're sleeping in the other bedroom.

[sharktrash]

[ Them dying is fine. You calling them lame, however... ]

[ Squalo's only dismissing that question because he obviously only punches people for a reason, but it'll still get a momentary narrowing of his eyes. Precision strike's just too good for this guy, isn't it? ]

Cold. And after all this effort I went through to tell you how I feel.

[ Yeah he's coming closer. ]

[fiftheclipse]

[Closer doesn't seem like all that much of an issue. That new expression, though...

Right, maybe caution wouldn't be the worst thing. While it only shows as feigned interest for the moment, he's more than ready to keep some distance between them once he has to.

He's not, however, ready to quit talking... ]

How you feel? Oh man, I thought we were already clear on all that. Our clothes better be staying on.

[sharktrash]

If that's what you're into.

[ You know how some people say that sharks grin and others insist their mouths just look that way? That's kind of what's going on here, and it definitely doesn't look friendly. Or even properly dirty, despite the conversation implying otherwise. It's something a lot more sinister. ]

[ Squalo tries to close the gap with a few quick steps, reaching to grab the other by the clothes with his free hand. ]

[fiftheclipse]

Maybe it is. Would it make a difference either way?

[But. Oh. Well, if they're going there...

Not really a choice that could help him avoid capture, Junpei grabs at Squalo just the same, his more or less kind expression so far being quickly replaced with a heated glare. ... It's kind of intense, considering he's not sure what he's even mad about beyond the contact.]

[sharktrash]

Sure. I can respect a preference.

[ For the manner of someone's death, that is. It's a Varia thing, but he's making an exception here, just in case this guy tried to pick something way too painless. ]

[ Once he's got a grip he sort of tugs him closer, uncaring of the other's hold on him, though he does drop his bag now that it looks like he won't need to use it as an impromptu boomerang to stop the other from escaping. ]

So, all that harassment... kinda hard to believe you're that stupid. Must've been working under some kind of delusion, right? Like "Oh, I'm just getting back at this guy", or "I'm gonna show him!", or "I'm totally safe because we will never see each other again", is that it?