[center][h3][color=cyan]『𝕊𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣』[/color] [color=8493ca]『ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕞𝕒𝕤』[/color] [color=662d91]『𝕂𝕦𝕤𝕒𝕣𝕚』[/color][/h3][/center]
[center][img]http://i65.tinypic.com/28hztyw.png[/img][img]http://i63.tinypic.com/2h84geb.jpg[/img][img]http://i68.tinypic.com/33p7a8k.png[/img][/center]
[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img][/center]
[hr][center][color=silver]ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕠𝕤𝕥   / /   [@RedDusk][@January][@Piercing Light][/color][/center][hr][hr][center][color=silver]𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟞, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘   / /   𝕌𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕃ℕ 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥   / /   𝔻𝕠𝕣𝕞 𝔹𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔸: 𝕊𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝟛𝟙𝟟   / /   ~𝟚𝟚𝟘𝟘[/color][/center][hr]
    
The walk back to the dorm room had been quick and, thankfully, peaceful despite the general foreboding atmosphere of the place. Christmas was ready to shed his clothes and shower when he opened the door to see his other roommate there, awake despite the late hours.

Standing in the doorway, he looked like a mess with jacket and shorts smeared in dirt and leaves, a split lower lip, and a bleeding right hand bundled awkwardly in a shirt that was clearly too big for him.
    
[color=8493ca]"Um..."[/color] he glanced at the pale, spindly girl, noting the pizza shirt and flinching at the sight of her monstrous leg, but not touching on the subject when she seemed completely at ease with it. Instead, Christmas curled and uncurled his toes inside his sneakers, waiting for her to turn away or be busy before he scurried to the bathroom.

Kusari blinked at Christmas, her expression showing she was far less than amused. She was woken up for this?
[color=662d91]"You don't honestly believe you're going anywhere without telling me what happened to you, do you?"[/color] She stood up, her voice was stern yet mixed with a bit of impatience. As one would expect she wasn't someone that could be chipper as soon as they got up. She walked over to him and eyed him down, waiting for an answer.

He stepped back under her scrutiny, looking at some spot to the right of neck instead of at her face. Before long, his eyes drifted back down to the ground.

[color=8493ca]"Uh..."[/color]

Christmas had never been adept at explaining events. He either panicked and blurted it all out at once without shuffling the chronology correctly or he "um"d and "ah"d his way through a century-long stutter of an explanation when he truly needed to organize it. This, sadly enough, wouldn't be either of those things. Either of those things meant he was comfortable enough or panicked enough around the interrogator to speak.

Kusari was more like a terrifying Dreamcatcher cosplayer staring him down, standing on a clawed leg that vaguely resembled a reptile's. Wearing a pizza shirt for added confusion on top of natural fear.

[color=8493ca]"I...uh, cut myself and..."[/color] he had no idea how to explain the last parts and finished in a faint voice [color=8493ca]"...more things?"[/color]

Kusari didn't respond straightaway, she simply crossed her arms and continued glaring at Christmas. [color=662d91]"Try again. My roommate, my ally, comes walking in looking like he just got the crap kicked out of him. Tell me everything. Is it some bully? Don't be pathetic and cover for them."[/color] She wasn't moving until he told her the truth.

Christmas shook his head, trying to piece together an explanation that didn't sound completely absurd.

[color=8493ca][i]Sander drank my blood, but it was okay because I let him.[/i]

[i]I followed Sander into the woods and let him drink my blood because he looked really bad.[/i]

[i]A lot of things happened, but it's not Sander's fault.[/i]

[i]Sander stabbed himself and we fell over so it's okay.[/i][/color]

He was having a really hard time not staring at her leg while figuring his thoughts out.

[color=8493ca]"Um...I--Sander was with me so it was okay,"[/color] he tried cobbling some of the better explanations together.

Kusari was having a hard time comprehending what she was hearing. [color=662d91]"I was an idiot for worrying about you."[/color] She said, un crossing her arms as she took a closer look at his wounds. [color=662d91]"Sander's already nearly killed you twice, and you decided it would be a good idea to go into the woods alone with him to give him blood?"[/color] Kusari placed her right hand on top of Christmas's head, her grip firm enough to let him know it'd only get tighter if he tried to run. She moved her face parallel with his. [color=662d91]"Are you retarded? No, honestly I'm seriously asking this. Are you mentally challenged? Do you have a fucking death wish!?"[/color] She could feel her voice trying to steadily rise, she was struggling not to outright scream.

After a quick detour to the hospital to get what he needed, Sander promptly made his way back to his dorm, arms loaded with a first aid kid and several extra rolls of bandages. The night shift nurses did give him strange looks, but he expected them, given the fact that he was walking around in a cold September night wearing nothing but a pair of faded jeans and crusty blood stains on his torso. It was already a miracle none of the guards wanted to pull him over for questioning. USARILN East really didn’t care about what its students did in their free time, after all. Not that he was complaining. He didn’t want to stay out in the cold for longer than necessary. 
 
As he neared the door to their dorm, the scent of coffee told him that Christmas was already here. However, he caught something. Fresh seafood. Oh. [i]She was back[/i]. 
 
He had been avoiding Kusari these past few days. Or she could have been avoiding him, he wasn’t sure, and didn’t dare to ask. Either way, he couldn’t hide from her now. He might as well go face the music. Grasping the door knob, Sander exhaled, then strolled in, steps almost nonchalant. 
 
He wasn’t wrong, though he wished he were. 
 
Christmas and Kusari was standing in the middle of their shared suite, the former still covered in dried blood and dirt, while the latter loomed over him, one hand atop of the blond boy head.
 
Sander also noticed the malformed leg. It made him quirk an eyebrow, but he knew better than to bring that up. 
 
Wordlessly, he dropped the bundle he was carrying, letting the noise heralded his arrival. Then he approached his roommates, posture relaxed, but his eyes were intense. Though with fear or rage, it was hard to tell. 
 
“[color=cyan]Something’s wrong?[/color]”- He stopped, just standing arm-length away from both of them. 

Christmas wasn't sure if he was relieved that Sander had shown up when he did or if he was too scared now to notice any increase in fear and anxiety. Right now the tension was palpable and he really didn't want it to be. The mention of nearly being killed twice was also horrifying--when had the second time happened? In some roundabout way, he might have asked, but this was probably not the time for a topic change.

He opened his mouth to say something, but his words were failing him in the onslaught of fury directed his way. The firm grip on his head was definitely not intended to alleviate any of that. After a few strange squeaks and half-sounds, he finally stammered out a (somewhat) comprehensible response.

[color=8493ca]"I wanted to--"[/color] he looked around the room, trying to gather his thoughts into a complete sentence, [color=8493ca]"I was helping...? Sander looked...really bad,"[/color] he grabbed the bloody shirt wrapped around his right hand as he finished with a whimpering [color=8493ca]"...It was really bad. And he didn't kill me, so...y-yeah."[/color]

Kusari glared at Sander as he walked in, he was acting too nonchalant, as if he'd done nothing wrong. Before she could get to him, Christmas finally managed to speak some form of English. She released the grip on his head, and facepalmed. [color=662d91]"So because you didn't die, that makes it okay? I see."[/color] She let out a mocking chuckle. [color=662d91]"You're not stupid, you're just a coward, aren't you? Or what, you think hurting yourself is fine as long as it 'helps?'"[/color] She turned her crimson eyes to Sander. [color=662d91]"And you, stop trying to hide behind your stigma. I bet you look at Christmas and see someone you can easily take advantage of, don't you?"[/color]

[color=8493ca]"W-wait, that's..."[/color] [i]the wrong way around[/i][color=8493ca] "...wrong,"[/color] he finished quietly.

[color=662d91]"Because you offered it to him? Tell me, did you really feel as though you had a choice?"[/color] She tugged on his bloodied shirt before snapping it back. [color=662d91]"You can't keep doing this, you are going to get yourself killed."[/color]

Christmas glanced down at the carpeted floor when Kusari brought up the obvious consequences of his actions.

Sander remained silent for the longest time in the face of Kusari’s accusation. Eventually, he spoke, his expression unnaturally blank. 
 
“[color=cyan]I didn’t force him to do anything he didn’t want to.[/color]”
 
[i]Lies.[/i] 
 
“[color=cyan]Christmas had a choice.[/color]”
 
[i]But he didn’t.[/i]

The blond boy looked up at Sander's affirmation of "choice." He wasn't sure if it was true in the clearest sense, but Sander wasn't wrong. [i]Before he had realized it, his hand had already wrapped itself around the knife's edge.[/i] No. Sander wasn't wrong.

[color=8493ca]"Y-yeah,"[/color] he mumbled into the space between his roommates, afraid to look directly at either of them, afraid to direct the agreement towards just one of their statements.

Kusari let out a tired breath. [color=662d91]"You two are toxic for each other, and I'm not going to keep trying to deal with it. What the hell were they thinking putting the both of you in the same room any-..."[/color] She stopped, and looked off to the side in contemplation. [color=662d91]"She wouldn't... Would she?"[/color] The director had already put them in a dangerous combat situation knowing some of them could die, on top of that it turned out to be completely unnecessary in the end. She looked back to her two roommates. [color=662d91]"Regardless, both of you share some of the responsibility here."[/color] 

Sander’s gaze remained steady, but he was no longer looking at Kusari; blue eyes focusing on some point behind her. One way of avoiding eye contact. 
 
“[color=cyan]I had to do it.[/color]”
 
[i]No he didn’t.[/i]
 
“[color=cyan]I appreciate your concern, Kusari.[/color]”- Sander let out a quiet sigh, eyes almost apologetic for a brief moment –“[color=cyan]But I don’t see how any of this is your business.[/color]”  
 
There were definitely better ways to get out of this. He just couldn’t think of anything.  

Normally, Christmas would have been content to let things end here. Normally, he would have just let the air stagnate with assumptions that he had no business trying to clarify. But normal had been flipped onto its head when he had woken up a subnatural and the word meant practically nothing now.

What else was he good for, if not this?

He stared at the dirt on Sander's shoes, shivering just enough from the dull ache in his hand and the tension of the conversation. The flecks of dark brown were somehow more prominent than the vivid red of Kusari's talons in that moment.

[color=8493ca]"I'd offer again,"[/color] he said to the floor, voice hushed.

"[color=cyan]You won't have to.[/color]"- The words couldn't come out of Sander's mouth fast enough.

[i]More lies.[/i]

[color=8493ca]"...I never had to."[/color]

Sander's jaws clenched shut at that. 

[color=662d91]"Fuck it."[/color] Kusari shrugged her shoulders and laid back in her bed. [color=662d91]"My roommates are coming home cut up and covered in shit and it's none of my business."[/color] She was speaking more to herself at this point, laughing at the absurdity. [color=662d91]"Well I met someone nice today, was in a good mood, not gonna let this get to me nope no siree fucking bob."[/color] She turned and faced the wall, covering her head with her covers.

[color=662d91]"Goodnight, assholes."[/color]

[color=8493ca]"Oh...g-goodnight,"[/color] Christmas automatically responded before he blinked and realized it probably hadn't been a cordial end. After several more seconds of awkward standing, he peeked at Sander's face. [color=8493ca]"I'll, uh, use the bathroom first--if that's okay?"[/color]

[color=662d91]"Oh NOW he wants to take initiative!"[/color] Kusari chimed in one last time, mumbling to herself as she dozed off.

Sander grimaced at Kusari’s turned back, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Having roommates were not easy. Christmas’ question called for his attention though, so he turned to the blond boy. 
 
“[color=cyan]Uh, sure.[/color]”- He walked over to the medical supplies and grabbed the first aid kit, then came back to offer it to Christmas –“[color=cyan]You should bandage it up.[/color]” 
 
“[color=cyan]I would help, but I don’t know how. And it’s hard to…focus.[/color]”

Christmas didn't know how, either, but he took the gauze and tape from the box gratefully. With a murmur of [color=8493ca]"Thank you,"[/color] he retreated to the bathroom.

When he emerged about half an hour later, his right hand was clumsily wrapped in medical tape and bandages while Sander's soaking wet shirt hung from the towel rack inside the bathroom, scrubbed as clean as it would get with just soap and water. Sander himself was sitting at his desk, staring at an uneven patch of plaster on the wall. He was running his fingers along the blade of the steak knife, surprisingly clean after all that took place.

[color=8493ca]"Sander?"[/color] Christmas whispered, careful to avoid waking Kusari. [color=8493ca]"Your--um--your shirt is inside,"[/color] he leaned his head lightly at the bathroom door, [color=8493ca]"...but, um, I couldn't really get the stains out. I'm sorry."[/color]

“[color=cyan]Don’t worry.[/color]”- Sander said, vacant eyes didn’t even spare the blond boy a glance. –“[color=cyan]Good night.[/color]” 

Returning the formality, Christmas crawled into bed, falling asleep far more easily than he expected.