[OPEN] Sandstorm Event + September Introduction Log

[soul_mods]

Given that the last time there was a sandstorm BREW had just...unceremoniously dumped the new arrivals outside to face the elements, Shibusen decided it would be prudent to send some people out to make sure the poor souls aren't left to flounder.

Outfitting their volunteers with the proper gear, they're allowed back into Death City not only to search for new arrivals but also to check for stragglers.

However, as the volunteers go through the city, they find more than just the expected stragglers and new arrivals. For some reason, there is the occasional Kishin Egg wandering around...

To make things worse, the sandstorm continues to rage, causing poor visibility and covering the streets with a thick layer of sand, making it hard to keep footing. A problem these Kishin Eggs don't seem to have when most of them are capable of diving under the sand to move like sharks.

Comments

[morecowbell]

For one not used to such a dry climate she had done well before now to keep herself hydrated but the sand storm was making it much worse than usual. Having regained her vision she caught sight of him in time to see the towel coming at her and she plucked it out of the air.

"Red..sn—?" She touched the towel lightly just above her mouth to check. Sure enough on that bright white linen there were a few drops of blood. "Oh very attractive Nanami," she thought to herself while turning away from Bakura and covering her nose to stop the bleeding.

The dizziness was still there but it was from standing up too quickly that caused the short blackout. She'd be fine while she searched around literally single-handedly for where the cafe stashed their extra water bottles.

[feelsgoodinyou]

Bakura watched her for a moment longer to make sure she wouldn't suddenly keel over or do something equally stupid before he directed his attention once more to his injured leg. Nanami had done nice work with it so far, so it didn't take him long to finish the makeshift bandage that surely nobody would want to have close to their dinner once they were finished with this.

He also had a big bottle of water for himself inside his coat and for a moment he played with the thought of offering to share it with her for additional trust points, but then he decided against it until it would be sure that there was no other water around that could be used. Water was precious during a sandstorm, even if they were in a city.

"Find anything?"

[morecowbell]

They could both agree that their respective cloths were going in the trash once they had outlived their usefulness. Nanami kept hers in place because she knew it could take a while to stop bleeding, she had learned from experience. She moved about the room slowly checking the cupboards and racks lined up on one wall. Bingo. A half a 24 pack of water bottles was at the bottom of one.

"We ducked into the right building for sure," she answered somehow managing to pull out two for each of them with one hand. She made her way back to Bakura and sort of held the one she had in her hand out to him, the other three were pinned against her body with the same arm.

[feelsgoodinyou]

Bakura snorted in response to her remark, as if to ask what else she had expected from him. A thief who lost their head that much that they didn't check where they fled to during a pinch ran good risk to lose the same head quite literally in the immediate future.

When she offered him one of the bottles he drew up an eyebrow. "For me?"

[morecowbell]

She hadn't really been paying attention to the place they entered, she had been so turned around she didn't really know where in the city she was at that point.

"No, I grabbed four for myself and now I'm just standing here holding this one out as far as I can for my health," she nudged it over in his direction. "Take two, there's more over there."

[feelsgoodinyou]

A brief amused look flickered over his features before he reached out and calmly took the offered bottles. "You know, if you were clever and only out for yourself that'd be the only intelligent thing to do."

Then, feeling that this wasn't quite enough, he added, "That's the thing I'd have done if I were still me." He didn't seek her eyes. Instead the floor and the white of the bandages against the pale shade of his skin suddenly seemed very interesting. ".... is that guy still staying with you?" It wasn't like he didn't know the answer to that already.

[morecowbell]

"If I didn't like you I wouldn't have offered you any," it wasn't really a confession. "Besides," she blotted her nose one final time making sure the bleeding had stopped before tucking the cloth partially into her pocket, "there's nothing to keep you from going over and grabbing one yourself, or even if I did try to horde them, stop you from taking what I already claimed."

His words were strange and she didn't really understand what he was implying about himself. Maybe she'd circle back to that discussion later. She sat down on a nearby chair and opened one of her bottles of water watching him for a moment before glancing elsewhere. "He is," she stated only pausing a moment before she took a sip of water. No, scratch that, she was so dry she began downing the bottle disregarding the drops that missed.

[feelsgoodinyou]

He pretended that he hadn't heard her unintentional confession, but one of his hair-blades perked up just a tiny bit, like the ear of a cat that had just heard the traitorous scuttling of a mouse.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Bakura allowed a cross look to ghost over his face before he commented with a low. "Hmph!" Then he took his time removing his own bottle from his coat and taking a few swings of it. "Is he going to stay?"

[morecowbell]

Her water bottle was already finished and she turned her attention to the second one, this time sipping it slowly. She eyed the bottle that had appeared while she was drinking that didn't match one of the ones she found. "He is," she repeated, "why, did you want to move in?" She glanced back at that dang bottle.

[feelsgoodinyou]

There was no hint of shame as Bakura stopped not long after he had begun drinking and put it back to the same mysterious place it had come from. Then he pocketed the bottle she had given him as well.

In his mind he was cursing. That damn pharaoh and his impeccable timing to get into Bakura's ways! "Not really." His voice and expression were schooled into a study of boredom. "I was just wondering, especially since I'm not staying with Ryou anymore." It had been a while since he had last called that person his host. Intentionally so. "It's just that I hate him for what he has done. ...unlike you."

[morecowbell]

"I would have offered if I had known you were having problems," she set aside the second bottle still a third of the way full before picking up her stuff from the floor and pulling out the brush. Nanami began pulling out the bobby pins that were holding her braid in place. "Yes, I gathered that from the last encounter but being roommates with him doesn't change the relationship we have now, whatever that might be," she added because let's face it, she had no idea what it was. "Did you... want to talk about it?" She's not sure if she wants to hear it.

[feelsgoodinyou]

"What's there to talk about?" He watched her with an odd expression that somehow managed to be both adverted and tired. There were no words that could change anything between him and the Pharaoh. No 'sorry's because neither of them felt remorse for their actions and no 'I forgive you's because neither of them ever would.

[morecowbell]

She glanced away from him uncomfortably. "What happened?" It wasn't really a question to his own but an opportunity for him to explain his side of the bad blood between the two of them. She regretted it the moment she asked however, she should have simply taken it as a "No". She set her bobby pins aside and undid her braid revealing wavy bangs, it gave her something to do besides fidget.

[feelsgoodinyou]

Bakura shrugged his shoulders and looked away for a moment. The open hair suited her better than the braid, in his opinion, but this wasn't the right time for saying something like that now.

He licked his lips. " ...Is that a question of a friend?"

[morecowbell]

Nanami hesitated but she did manage to finally look at him again. "I don't know to be perfectly honest. Are we friends? This is all sort of new territory for me. I mean, were you even planning on offering me some of your water if I hadn't found some here?" Yes, she had already circled back to that part of the conversation.

[feelsgoodinyou]

"If you hadn't." He left the sentence like that, chopped off before it became something binding. If there hadn't been any other way. If it were necessary. Then yes, maybe. He'd have only known what he would have done when that situation would have come to pass. But it hadn't, had it? He hadn't asked her for her water either. "But you did."

[morecowbell]

He may have answered the last question somewhat satisfactorily but she did not miss the fact that he didn't answer the first one or simply decided to disregard it. The blond sighed and leaned back in her chair looking rather tired as she began brushing sand out of her hair.

"I see." She was getting mixed messages but was it fair to ask him such questions when she herself couldn't answer them? He had once told her that she was his weapon of choice which was in itself ambiguous but he had also implied that he wouldn't give her special treatment which mean that she wasn't special to him. She wasn't special to anyone here and that just killed her.

She shook her head and sighed collecting herself. It was best to back up a little and think of him as a business associate. The less personal it was the better.

"I have granola bars if you're hungry but only if you can't find something else to eat first." Hmph, two could play this game. Well she had meant it to be meaner than it actually was seeing as how it wasn't mean at all but that was beside the point. She was making a point, dang it.

[feelsgoodinyou]

It had been both intentional and without meaning to that he had forfeited his chance to reply to her first question. Bakura had simply assumed that it hadn't been the type of question one expected or wanted an answer to.

"Hmn." Did she? Bakura gave her a weary glance as he pulled his injured leg up to pull his pants' fabric back into place. Resting his head against it, he ran a hand through his bangs, idly noting that the sand had invaded them as well. "I'm not hungry right now."

He still had a habit of forgetting about his renewed need for the intake of food unless his body reminded him of it. In this case he had eaten earlier before he had decided to brave the sandstorm once more, though. "I'm a bit tired, but that's about it. I've never needed much."

[morecowbell]

Nanami both wanted and didn't want an answer. The latter was in case the answer was something she didn't want to hear, like she was only a means to an end. In a way she expected everyone to treat her as such after all wasn't she normally a use or be used type of person?

Foiled. She briefly frowned at him through her bangs before going for another drink from her water bottle. "How much longer do you think it will last?" She asked going back to her unruly mane.

[feelsgoodinyou]

"What? The storm or the monster infestation?" He asked, looking warily at the ceiling. Now that the adrenaline had had time to leave his body he was rapidly beginning to feel its toll. "Nobody can predict what a storm like that will do for sure."

He sighed and closed his eyes, concentrating on the sound of the steadily howling wind outside and the way the sand kept hitting the house in waves. It felt strangely calming and nostalgic in a way. Opening his eyes again, he added "But if I were you I'd prepare for a long night. This one's here to stay."

"As for the monsters...", he regarded her with a calm look, "they'll stay around as well until somebody kills them."

[morecowbell]

Quite a while had passed and Nanami had cleaned herself up a bit with her moist towelettes, antibacterial soap and small amount of water in order to conserve their stash. What she really wanted was a soak in the bath and clean change of clothing though. The remaining light, not that there was a whole ton to begin with, was quickly fading and Nanami was cursing the fact that she had left her flashlight at the shelter, maybe Bakura had one.

"You didn't happen to bring a flashlight, did you?" She could only make out his outline at this point. There was a lot of stuff around as this place was used as storage which would make it difficult to move around without tripping or stubbing a toe.