capitalh | [Closed] hit the showers!

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[Closed] hit the showers!

Who: Araña and Nomad, and later Tommy
Where: The Trailblazers dorms
When: Backdated to just after all the rescuing. Like, literally just after. Same day.
What: Aña was promised showers. She is also a) a vigilante and b) not sure if she can safely get her new arm wet. And then Nomad walked in. And after showering? Sneaking her roommate in for his own shower bliss. Only fair, right? ...Right?
Warnings: Awkward teenagers and body horror trauma?

So everyone's alive, at least, and more or less in one piece as far as Araña can tell. She's texted Tommy back to let him know she's alive and will be home soon, and she's wondering if she wants to stick around to see if the Trailblazers order pizza or something because she is famished.

But first, that shower Jon promised her. And she's hit a bit of a snag.

"Podría dejar de funcionar," she mutters to herself, still in her grimy, blood-stained clothes and looking from her new metal arm to the shower and back. "Podría oxidarse. O me electrocute."

She did not think of this and now she is staring at a shower that she is kind of scared to step into and everything is awful oh god somebody do something.

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"If you'll... Oh!" It took a second for her to connect why that was a concern. Leave her alone, it's been a long exhausting night. "Iiii would maybe talk to a tech guy about that. I'd offer you mine, but he's in New York."

But she does, clearly, need to shower. And maybe see a doctor, with all that blood... Rikki's a little annoyed at Jon now for leaving her unsupervised, even to shower, because honestly, what if she passed out in here? She doubts telling the girl she should go to a doctor, or call one from CONDOR, would go over well, though, considering how their last conversation went.

"If you can just... keep it from getting wet... I can go get some garbage bags if you want?"

"Mine is, too," she says mournfully. Granted, he's more "computers and electronics" than wide and varied "tech", but he could probably tell if she was in danger of DEATH or not.

"Ugh, I hate this. Yes." She only pauses a second before shouting, "Wait, no! I mean. I can't shower with a garbage bag over my arm forever. Okay. I just."

She stops, and takes a couple of deep breaths.

Look, they're out now? It's very hard to keep her thoughts coherent. She'd really like to curl up on top of Tommy and sob hysterically before sleeping for the next five years. But first she desperately needs that shower.

Rikki knows that nearly-hysterical tone. She wants to give her a hug, but she's not sure how well she'd take it - or how sore she is, around her new arm, and she would prefer to not hurt her. She does step forward, one hand held out, to catch her opposite shoulder gently and look her in the eye. It's the same kind of calm, quiet reassurance Cap would give her when she was freaking out, and maybe she's not quite as good at it, but she can try.

"Hey. You can figure that out later, okay? One time I spent a month showering with my hands wrapped in plastic because I broke my thumbs, so I think it's a valid strategy, at least for a while. And I promise you'll feel a lot better when you're clean."

The breathy almost-giggles that had been slipping out fade away at that contact. It might've been kind of cheesy, the hand on the shoulder with the earnest tone thing, except for how it actually, strangely, unbelievably works.

Not as well as if it were Captain Victory, maybe, but no one else could do it like Captain Victory, right?

Aña sniffles a little - she wasn't crying exactly, but she felt like she might and now her nose doesn't know what it's doing - and nods. "Why did you break both your thumbs?

Rikki smiles a little, relieved that she seems to be a little less freaking out now. Apparently that worked, somewhat. She's kind of surprised, to be completely honest.

"I had to get out of handcuffs. I wouldn't recommend it if you can help it, but..."

"I usually just break the handcuffs," Araña says. She also has superpowers, so y'know. Not a comparison or critique, just an observation.

"Do you think we can get a bag to stay all the way up over my shoulder?"

"Pfffft. Cheating."

She steps back a little, eyeing her arm, and shrugs slightly. "Duct tape? We've definitely got that, we use it for everything that breaks around here."

Aña slumps a little in a mixture of "thank god someone knows what to do" relief and weariness. "Yeah. Yes. If you don't mind, thanks."

Not having to worry about figuring it out on her own is a huge weight off.

"Okay. Hang on here for one minute and I will be right back." She steps back, holds up her hand with one finger raised for a moment, like she's afraid Araña might disappear if she leaves her alone, and then turns and bolts back for the door. She really doesn't want to keep the sad panicky girl waiting - and not just because the sooner Araña showers, the sooner Rikki will be able to.

Araña has, in the meantime, realized that she's gonna have to take her shirt and bra off for this to work, and doesn't particularly relish stripping in front of a Trailblazer, even if she'll see her mostly naked anyway.

So, when Rikki gets back, Araña's standing in the middle of the bathroom in her panties, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Um. Sorry, I figured this was easier. Than trying to do it after."

It affords Rikki with a view of the new seam between the metal and her skin, still vivid and puckered, and all the various bruises, cuts, and scrapes she's sustained, not to mention the dried blood that's lightly crusted all over her back and right side.

"Does it look too bad, Doc?" Araña adds, trying to make light and not quite getting there.

"...oh." Rikki stops for a moment inside the doorway, mostly... startled. She's been around other girls when they change. She and the female members of Cap's team often shared a locker room. She just... wasn't expecting that. And she can't help but wince at the fresh wound connecting metal to flesh.

She manages a soft laugh as she steps forward, setting duct tape down for a moment while she shakes out a garbage bag.

"Well... I've seen worse. You're still standing. It doesn't look infected or anything." She steps forward, holding out the bag. "So if you wanna just... stick it in here... and I'll tape it up... Promise I'll be gentle."

Gentle as she can be, anyway... She's probably going to catch the edge of some wound no matter what she tries, but she can avoid the worst of it.

"And I won't peek." She flushes as she says it, a red almost as bright as her hair, and silently curses herself for it. God, Rikki, why would you even say that?

"I think they put something on it to speed up the healing and keep it from hurting too badly," she says with a shrug. "Figure if it was gonna get pussy and infected, it would've been a couple days ago."

Wow. Wow. Araña thought she was the only one who failed so hard at flirting. Apparently not.

That's a weirdly comforting thought.

"I wouldn't mind," is her immediate response, which is followed by her face, neck, and chest all going red as she quickly clarifies, "I mean, it doesn't bother me! It's no bits you haven't seen before, right? Just like showers after gymnastics!"

Oh god kill her now. She all but shoves the arm into the garbage back, blushing furiously and not looking directly at Nomad.

Rikki only blushes brighter at Araña's response, even with her clarification. She places a hand against the top of the bag to keep it in place, gentle as she can, and all but lunges for the duct tape just so she can have something to look at other than Araña.

"Yeah. Been there, seen that. You... did gymnastics, then? I used to be a dancer, before I got into this business. Didn't get into Julliard, so... somehow fighting evil was the obvious next choice..."

She's rambling a little, but at least it's something to fill the silence, keep Araña distracted. She wrestles with the duct tape for a moment, one-handed, and then sighs. "I'm sorry, can you... hold the bag up for a second? I'm either gonna drop it or the tape and neither one is helpful..."

"Yeah, since we moved to the States until the whole superpowers thing." Which should've been ages but was really only like 5 years or something.

Araña laughs a little, softly, and grabs the bag to hold it in place so Rikki can tape. She's grateful for the distraction, and the company.

"I bet you were a great dancer," she says. "Even if you didn't get into Julliard. It's a small school, I bet loads of awesome people don't get in."

"Heh. Thanks." She smiles softly as she tears off a piece of tape and tries to figure out the best way to attach it to Araña. "I don't get to do it much anymore... but sparring's almost as good. Not the same, but what're you going to do? Bad guys don't exactly find ballet threatening, for some reason."

"I had dancer friends," Araña says, nodding sagely. "If they knew what dancers do every day, they'd be scared as shit."

"If they had any sense, yeah," Rikki laughs, securing the bag far up her shoulder, close to her neck. It's a little overcautious, but probably the best both in regards to avoiding electrocution and not touching the healing wounds.

"You know... if you wanted... I could grab you some antibiotics or something. I don't know what the state of your first aid supplies is like over in vigilante town, but ours are insane. No one will even miss it, especially after tonight."

"Yeah, I... that probably couldn't hurt. We've mostly just got the basics." Vigilante Town has a box of bandaids, a half-empty bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and an almost-empty bottle of extra strength Tylenol.

Araña flexes her bagged arm a bit, and smiles faintly. "Thanks. Didn't mean to cut in on your shower time, I'm pretty sure everyone feels grody after all that."

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[Closed] hit the showers!

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sorry this is so short, but you're the one pouring the vodka, sooooo...

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