Logs:Heal Up

Heal Up
CNs: reference to gender/queer based violence to minors; description of violent injuries to minors; anti-gay slurs
Dramatis Personae Harm, Naomi	2023-05-25 I'm not imagining it. (discovery after mad science, followed by a very important hookup.)
Location <PRO> Cafeteria E 16 & Commissary E 17, Lassiter Research Facility - Ohio
The cafeteria is single the largest room in this wing, tiled with the same multi-gray linoleum throughout, its walls clean but bare of any decoration or relief for the eyes. The floor space is mostly taken up by rectangular tables with attached if often creaky bench seating, with a long stainless steel counter at one end serving up bland, often overcooked, but reasonably nutritious food day in and day out. It's noisy and crowded here at mealtimes, but no so much that it's impossible to have a table to yourself. Or be exiled to your own table. Adjoining the cafeteria but still accessible from its own entrance in the hallway is the much smaller commissary. It's an awkward room divided by an L-shaped counter, behind which are rows and rows of shelves holding labelled bins. Basic hygiene items can be requisitioned here for free, but everything else, from personal care products to snacks and beverages, must be purchased. Given the limited options in paying work details, purchased commissary items are coveted luxuries. It's early in lunch hour: some folks have managed to acquire and consume a meal and disappear, already, to parts unknown (if 'parts unknown' are in Lassiter, anyway), but those people are outnumbered by those trickling in, still. Those latecomers, if they wanted to catch dinner and a show, are about to be sorely disappointed. The fight started and ended quickly -- even if Naomi hadn't gone down, probably things wouldn't have progressed much further. The absence of Gina Slater is palpable in the heated argument between various white people happening around Rainy Ogden ( "-- faggots are rubbing our noses in it --" "-- a dyke yeah but that's a monster dyke --" "-- you want to start a war with Queen Bee you do that yourself --" ) as his gang -- well, it's not a retreat, just more of a, slow saunter away from the Naomi-shaped problem he's created. She's struggling to sit up from the ground next to a now mostly empty table, her scrubs dirty with floor gunk, some pieces of food, and her own blood. The scales on Naomi's right cheek are lifting away from the skin, ugly bruising forming there and where her nose has been broken. She's wrapped one arm around her torso (probably bruising under there, too) and is trying, without much success, to check the other for scrapes. Despite having been the one to draw Rainy's ire to begin with, Harm has come out of this largely unharmed. If they're still hurting from the shove that knocked them into a table and brought Naomi to their defense, they aren't much worried about it now where they've crouched down next to her. "Oh no, oh no I'm so sorry!" Their voice is thin and high with panic, their hands shaking as they gingerly help to right Naomi. "Do you think you can walk? We should go get you cleaned up." They start to reach for Naomi's arm, then pulls back. "You'll have to tell me what hurts, though, I don't want to make it worse..." "Ain't you who should be sorry, sugar." Probably this would sound more badass if Naomi's nose was less broken -- it comes out kind of wet flemmy, kind of nasally unclear. "You good? They getting bold tryna cause you problems at lunch." Not that any of the guards on duty had seen fit to intervene. Naomi uncurls her arm from around her torso, pulling the sleeve of her scrubs down to wipe ineffectually at her face. "Mostly -- everything? My face, this arm." She dips her head towards the one she lifted, gingerly holding it against her chest. "Legs working okay, I reckon. Shit, good thing Gae's mom sent all them goodies, bet you gonna have me all fixed up in a minute." Naomi gives her joyfriend a smile -- lopsided, bloody, fiercely fond. She holds out her good arm to Harm. "Who's room we leave the kit in last? I'on remember." "I'm fine, thanks to you." Harm's blush is easier to see than usual, as little sunlight as they've gotten recently and as pale as they'd just been of fright. "My hero. The kit's in my room, though not all the um. Disinfectant." They carefully pull Naomi to her feet by the arm she offers, but gasps and nearly collapses themselves halfway through this operation when their hands touch. All the blood has drained for their face again, but they manage to remain standing and support Naomi once she's on her feet again. They're still squeezing her hand, though, tight. "Sorry. Sorry I'm fine, really. Let's...go. Yeah." And then they're ushering Naomi out at a faster clip than seems really necessary given Rainy has moved on to bickering with his gang. They only slow down when they've sat Naomi on their bed and fumbled some gauze from the first aid kit to clean her wounds. Their expression is strangely intent as they dab away the blood on their girlfriend's face, cupping her chin carefully in the other hand. Perhaps it's just endorphins, or the beneficial psychological effects of attention and care, but Naomi's nose seems to be hurting a little less already. Naomi pulls her hand back like she's touched a hot stove with a whispered "Shit," only offering it out again after staring at Harm for a too-long moment. Does not squeeze back into Harm's grip. She holds her injured arm close to her chest the whole fast walk to Harm and Echo's cell, sits down without fuss. Lets Harm tend to her without fuss for a bit, too, looking at the older teen with wide green eyes, sucking on her lip. "You oughta stop, Harm," she says quietly, touching one finger cautiously to the bridge of her nose. She's not batting Harm's hand away, though. "Reckon you done fixed plenty already." Harm blinks, their eyes refocusing. "I'm not imagining it," they say, their voice softly awed as they caress Naomi's cheek. "It's better, right?" And even more hushed, barely more than a whisper, "I think my power is working again. But, wouldn't other people have noticed if the suppression grid is down? A lot of people have more obvious...stuff." "Yeah, which is why you gotta stop." Naomi presses her hand against Harm's, eyes squeezing shut for a moment before she pulls their hand away from her cheek. "Folks gonna notice if I'm walking too easy after a Rainy hit. Folks gonna notice that..." There's a faint wince as the ridges of her brow try to heighten, as scales lift higher off her skin. "How are you doing that cuz it can't be the grid, one of Rainy's guys has fire for hair out of suppression we woulda noticed that for sure." When Naomi opens her eyes, there's a faint glow of emerald green fading away. "Like, what kind of super-healing they got you doing in testing to make you suppression-proof?" Harm relents, frowning their own confusion. "You're right, that doesn't make any sense, but they haven't changed anything, at least not that they told me." They gasp again. "Wait, your eyes!" Dropping their voice again, "Try your thing on me! "What do you mean my eyes my eyes ain't on 'look at 'em -- oh no. '" Despite the sinking horror in Naomi's voice, the command comes with all the strange hissing echoing in Harm's head that they've experienced before, and a sense that this is how Naomi is supposed to sound. "'No no no look away --'" Naomi slaps a hand over her mouth, breathing deeply through her nose until the glow fades from her eyes again. Muffled through her hand -- "Oh, shit. I think --" Naomi stands, suddenly, "-- we need more data. And I gotta talk to Gae like right now."