Room 324, Sunday Evening

[vanillajello]

Kate felt weird. As if she... was supposed to feel kind of dizzy, but everything was completely clear instead. With a vague buzzing, somewhere in the background. It was probably shock.

She was just going to run with it, for as long as it lasted. Then collapse. Maybe cry. She wasn't thinking about any of that right now. Someone else was her priority.

And that someone was Bod, who'd been using her as a walking aid on their way up from the lobby.

"So, what do you need?" she asked when they'd made it to her room.

[ooc: For the poor, poor boyfriend.]

Comments

[therewaslife]

"I think..." He trailed off, trying to think past the haze in his head. "I think I should shower, maybe? I know I have to look like I've been rolling around in dirt."

Bod was forcing himself to try and think clearly, to not request to just curl up on her bed and cry too. He didn't want to do that yet.

[vanillajello]

Kate just nodded. Yes, he did look like he could use a shower. And really, she'd probably wash his hair for him and scrub him clean if he'd let her.

Had to keep herself busy.

"What about your bandages?"

[therewaslife]

Bod glanced down at his knee and pulled at the dirty bandages, making a face at them. "I can keep them on and change them after. Or cover them with a towel. It's a -- it's a burn underneath, a fairly bad one, so I should keep something on it."

Too bad he'd only just wrapped it a few hours before. He didn't want to take the bandages off because he was certain it probably looked bad.

[vanillajello]

Kate tried not to wince, at that. "Okay," she said, nodding. "Sounds... Smart."

She dropped her bag on the floor by the desk, finally, and the knife got set down on the desk itself. It looked more than a little wrong and grotesque, just lying there next to her plushies and the pictures of her family, but.... Whatever. She'd deal with it later.

"So, I should probably go grab you some clean clothes." She glanced down at herself. "And, yeah. I need a shower and new clothes too."

[therewaslife]

"I'll wait," he promised like he could really go anywhere. He stopped short of promising he'd be there when she got back considering how he'd disappeared.

"And then we can shower," he added, nodding and rubbing his red eyes again, still feeling the effects of the ash.

[vanillajello]

That got a fleeting smile from her. It was faint and it was gone way too soon, but it was the first in many days, and at least it was there for as long as it was.

"I'll be quick," she said, then slipped out into the hallway again.

[therewaslife]

Bod nodded, staying exactly where he was. That other place hadn't done anything to his memory so he found himself looking at her pictures, her bed and anything else he could to occupy his mind while he waited.

[vanillajello]

Kate was quick, like she'd said, even if going up the stairs made her already slightly aching legs protest. She could ignore them until everything else was taken care of. It wasn't that bad.

She was back soon enough, with a bundle of clothes for him (shirt, shorts, actual pants) and a half empty box of pudding snacks from the fridge on his floor. She knew she still had some food items in her bag, but felt like grabbing something else, too.

"I'm back," she announced, quietly, as she was pushing the door closed behind her. Just to say something.

[therewaslife]

"Hullo," he said, turning back around to see her. "You were quick. Thank you. I've been wearing these clothes for four days now."

His pajamas were pretty much ruined. They were not meant for a world like Silent Hill.

[vanillajello]

"I've been wearing mine for three," she shared, kind of blankly, as she set the clothes and the box down on her bed. Her shirt had no blood on it, but she'd been wearing it ever since she changed into it after arriving at the manor.

"I grabbed some pudding too."

[therewaslife]

"It was difficult here?" he asked, limping closer to her and looking concerned. "Are you sure you're all right, Kate?"

[vanillajello]

There was no fight in her voice, no anger, no bite. Her face was near emotionless, though. It had to be.

"Well, would you consider people and buildings disappearing and monsters taking their place while the whole island seems to be on the verge of collapsing difficult?"

[therewaslife]

"Yes," he said, stopping his movements and looking down. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

[vanillajello]

Normally, she would've chided him for apologizing for something like that. Now, she didn't feel like doing that. Couldn't muster up the energy to explain anything and still keep from crying.

So she moved closer to him instead, getting close enough to hold onto him again, lean against him, and just generally know he was really there.

She wasn't going to ask where he'd been, or what had burned him, or why he smelled like ashes. Not right now, anyway. But she wasn't going to blame him for asking her.

[therewaslife]

Bod wasn't going to object to getting held, not after everything. It seemed to calm him down, temporarily bat away the images in his head. He held onto that and his breath hitched a little.

"I'm probably getting you dirty," he said just because he wanted to say something.

[vanillajello]

"I don't care," she replied, her face half pressed against his neck. "We're taking a shower in a moment anyway."

[therewaslife]

"All right," he said and stopped protesting or talking about things that didn't really matter. He leaned against her, keeping his weight off his leg and just stayed like that.

[vanillajello]

One of her hands traced slow circles against his back, like he'd done to her many times before, while the other curled into his shirt.

"I missed you."

She'd said it before, but she didn't care. She was going to keep saying it for as many times as she felt like saying it.

[therewaslife]

"I missed you too," he said thickly, keeping a shaky hold on his emotions now. "I'm really glad you're all right. I really am."

If he'd come back to her injured, he might still be in the lobby, crying like a child.

[vanillajello]

Her arms tightened around him for a moment, and she didn't say anything. Couldn't say anything. She could hear how his voice sounded, and had to fight to keep hers from sounding the same.

So she was silent for a minute, just clinging. And changed the subject once she did talk.

"Now how about that shower, huh?"

[therewaslife]

He nodded quickly, trying to get a better control of his emotions while she was talking to him. "Yes, please. I need one. Badly."

[vanillajello]

"I know," Kate breathed, letting go of him and stepping back. She went over to her desk and rummaged around one of the drawers before she found a crumpled up plastic bag.

"Pretty sure all our clothes are going straight to trash."

[therewaslife]

"That's probably for the best," he agreed, reaching for the hem of his ruined shirt and trying to pull it over his head. He'd gotten cut up and bruised pretty much all over so this wasn't as easy a thing as usual.

He didn't want to see these clothes again.

[vanillajello]

Kate would probably be tempted to burn all of them, actually. A violent end to some violent mementos.

But right now she set the bag all opened up on the desk, and pulled off her own shirt. There was a bruise on the back of one of her shoulders, and some minor, almost healed cuts along her arms, but nothing big.

"Need help?" she asked after she'd stuffed the shirt in the bag, but she was already moving closer.

[therewaslife]

"Yes," he said, not even bothering to deny it. He really didn't have the energy to hide things right now. "Please."