Santa Sangre

[Laurels]

((Alba Reyes and Brendan Harte continued from The Scarlet Garden))

((All GMing in this thread approved))

"Okay, put your hands on my shoulders," Alba said to Brendan. "Keep a tight grip."

She slowly inhaled and exhaled as Brendan put his arms in place. Alba had only seen something like this in a movie before, so she prayed it was applicable to this situation. Either way, they didn't have much options. They didn't have many medical supplies with them, and the arrow in Brendan's shoulder had to come out somehow.

"Okay," Alba said, putting her left hand on Brendan's shoulder and her right on the arrow. "I'll count to three, then pull. Just...let me know if it's too much."

Alba closed her eyes and exhaled again. She could feel Brendan's grip tightening on her shoulders. She clutched the arrow harder.

"Right. Here we go," Alba said, bouncing a bit in her seat. "1..."

She closed her eyes briefly.

"2..."

She opened them up and stared at Brendan directly.

"3!"

Alba pulled as hard as she could, keeping a tight grip on both the arrow and Brendan's shoulder. It took a lot more force than she expected, but she somehow managed to get the arrow out. She let out a loud gasp when it did, wincing as she heard Brendan cry out. She could see blood pouring out of the wound and down his shirt. Alba let out a few more heavy breaths, then looked at the arrow in her hand.

"Okay! That's out. Get your shirt off so we can stop the bleeding."

Alba threw the arrow to the floor beside her and reached for the first aid kit. She began to rifle through the items to find what would probably help Brendan the most. Her first aid knowledge was limited to animals, so in theory, plugging an arrow wound would be the same as that.

They had run to the Staff Lounge after escaping the gardens. They merely ran inside the asylum and looked for the first open room where they could sit and work. Alba was at least glad they weren't pursued. She still had no idea how to use the rifle, and she wasn't sure if Brendan was in any condition to fight if needed. Fortunately, they hadn't found anyone else and were able to get inside the lounge without any trouble.

Alba found the alcohol pads and bandages and looked to the now shirtless Brendan.

"Kay," she began. "This might hurt like hell, so just let me know if it's too much."

Alba prepared a pad and pressed it to Brendan's wound. From the sounds he made, it was definitely too much.

[Primrosette]

It was really excruciatingly painful as Alba pressed the alcohol pad against his bleeding wound. He was let out some pathetic whimpers and he was trying to stop himself from bawling like a big baby. He really did feel so worthless. He was grateful about Alba helping him out. He really did owe her so much for being there for him and for protecting him from Jae. He had been scared that if he had tried to leave her, then she could have ended up dead. But she was here. Alive and well. But for how long would they been able to survive this? He had no idea. But they had to try. They had to try and find their friends again. And just attempt to continue on living.

"Aaaaah.... F-Fu.... I-It's too much, Alba...."

He felt a tear roll down his cheek. He felt like things would get worse for the both of them as they could carry on for however long they would. He sniffed a little and he avoided looking into Alba's eyes. He just peered down at the ground, still breathing very sluggishly.

"W-Why did he...?"

Because he despises you, Brendan.

"...."

[Laurels]

"Okay, okay, okay," Alba said as Brendan reacted to the alcohol pad. "That should hopefully disinfect it. I'll wrap it now."

Alba took the roll of bandages and began to wrap them around Brendan's injury. She had to hope this was also being done correctly. This wasn't like the band aids she had to put on herself or her siblings. This had to actually keep Brendan from bleeding to death. Alba continued to wrap the bandages around the wound.

"Alright, so that was a bust, and we lost the church as a hideout," Alba said. "But hey, that could have been so much worse."

Alba sighed a bit.

"Brendan, I'm sorry you got hurt. I should have prevented it."

[Riki]

[[Fiyori Senay, continued from Love Is A Fridge]]

It had - when she heard it - come as a shock. Bernadette died. She... just stopped living. She was somewhere, on this island. She was somewhere, and then she just wasn't anymore. So close to Fiyori. And yet what had Fiyori done? What could she have done?

What stung more, perhaps, was to know who it was who killed her. Brendan had already been mentioned in the announcements before, quite prominently in fact. But Fiyori's vision was clouded, and so was her mind. She put it to the back of it, and only the newest announcement had brought it back to the front.

That, and perhaps the little fact that she was about to stand before the boy himself.

It wasn't Fiyori's decision to sneak up on them, or something. It wasn't as such at all. She was careful to tread, of course, as careful as she could be. She opened the door to the lounge and kept to the wall. Fiyori got a good look at Brendan - who was engrossed in his pain - and Alba - who was engrossed in the very same. As far as Fiyori could tell, in any case. Had she decided to reveal herself or not, Fiyori guessed, the two would have noticed her.

Politeness, however, required Fiyori to make note of her self first.

She gave the wall four knocks. Each one softer than the one before.

"...hey."

[Primrosette]

Brendan glanced back up again to watch Alba bandage up his wound. He was trying to breath through his nose slowly. He didn't want to continue letting out a few more whimpers and choked back sobs. He didn't want to look like he needed more protection from Alba at that moment. He wanted to more brave. More calm. More rational about things before he did them.

"We.... We could use this place as a hideout instead, I guess. We just need to be more careful this time. Make sure that we don't run into the wrong people again. That will be hard to do but we have to try. Right?" He suggested to her quietly and his expression softened when Alba sounded like she was blaming herself for him getting hurt. "H-Hey, what happened to me was not your fault, Alba. It was Jae's. He made that choice to shoot at me."

Brendan flinched when he heard someone knocking. Then he recognized the voice that spoke to them. Brendan turned his head towards the direction of the voice. His heart almost jumped out of his skin. He never thought that he would see her.

Fiyori....

"F....Fiyori...?"

[Laurels]

Alba smiled a bit when Brendan said he didn't blame her for being attacked. That really made her feel better. It was her who approached Jae back there and forced Brendan to come over as well, so she was worried it would cloud their relationship going forward. At the very least, it showed he was in the right mindset to keep going. They could seal themselves in the lounge for the day so he could recover, then continue with whatever they should do next afterwards.

That is, until Alba heard a knocking. She turned and saw a girl standing there. Alba figured the girl was a senior since she wasn't sure who she was. She was already upset they didn't think to block the door, but considering how hurt Brendan was, it was understandable.

"Um, hey," she said to the new girl. "What's up?"

[Riki]

They greeted her. Fiyori wasn't sure how to continue. There weren't a lot of options that would be fitting in any way to carry on this conversation. Something she should have thought about beforehand, perhaps. Briefly, Fiyori thought about making a joke. About making the - turning the mood a bit lighter. Brendan was shirtless - clearly wounded by the look of the fresh bandages - but still shirtless with a girl. Fiyori thought about making a flirty comment.

She resigned that thought, though. She wasn't in the mood for such jest. Not anymore.

"I am... not dead."

She paused another moment. It might have been the polite thing to wait now. To wait for them to properly invite her into the room, but Fiyori didn't hesitate and simply strut towards the pair.

"And I guess that's good enough for now."

Fiyori tried to catch Brendan's eyes. See what they spoke, see what those eyes could tell her. If it was a message like 'I am sorry' or message like 'I hate you'. Or maybe like a message of 'I was right'.

[Primrosette]

Brendan needed a moment to think. He actually felt really relieved to see that Fiyori was alive and well. Was she okay mentally though? After all this.... He just wanted to rest and not have any more drama for the day. He wanted peace and quiet. Even if that was a thought of selfishness.

He was staring up at Fiyori with a sincere expression. He wasn't sure what to really say to her. What could he even say to her? He then slowly lowered his head to gaze at the floor again. He wondered what she was thinking. Did she loathe him with every fiber of her being? He was afraid to open his mouth and ask.

"....I'm sorry for not finding you, Fiyori...."

[Laurels]

The girl was named Fiyori. Alba hadn't heard a name like that before. Well, maybe she heard it around Cochise, but not that she could recall. Regardless, the girl seemed to be in slightly good spirits, although Brendan seemed upset. Alba figured she should try to get things on the right track.

"Well, it's good you're not dead," Alba said. "I mean, we should all be glad for that as long as we can."

Alba cleared her throat. It was nice to have someone Brendan was familiar with here, but she needed to get back to what she was doing before.

"So, um, Brendan. I think we're good on bandages. How do you feel?"

[Primrosette]

Heh. Sorry for not finding her.

Fiyori stepped closer, gazing on the damage on his body. "Trust me..." she said, softly placing her hand on the good shoulder Brendan had left.

"That's my line." she said then, and wrapped herself around Brendan. It was a gentle hug, her eyes still lingering on the bandaged wound, her hands careful not to touch it. And for that one moment, things were actually pretty okay. Brendan, who - somehow - killed two people, became Brendan, her very own friend. She didn't want to let go, not of that fleeting moment, and not of Brendan.

And yet...

Something clouded her minds again. A different, but related thought, but Fiyori hesitated to name it yet.

She let go, after all.

[Primrosette]

Alba was asking him how he was feeling. He still felt like he wasn't feeling that great. He was feeling sore, numb, panicky on the inside, exhausted and slightly woozy. He felt like he was about to pass out. He hadn't been able to sleep, drink and eat properly. He had to tell Alba that he was not okay. Right?

"Alba, thank you for taking care of me. I-"

He got distracted by Fiyori suddenly hugged him. It took him by surprise. He never thought that she would have done that. He wanted to do the same. Hug her back with his good arm. But she pulled away before he even had a chance to react. He felt a little sad when she did. But it was okay. She was here. And he needed to ask her how she was doing.

"S-So...." He paused for a while and he cleared his throat, biting his lower lip lightly. "Are you okay, Fiyori? No one hurt you, did they?"

He wondered if she would ask him about Jerry or Bernadette. If she wanted to talk about them, then he would try to explain himself about the both of them.

[Laurels]

Alba was going to reply when Fiyori suddenly came from behind and hugged Brendan. Alba was slightly surprised by that display of affection. Granted, a few hours ago she had kissed Brendan without his permission, but it was suddenly weird to see. Alba turned away, then stood up.

"Okay, you guys have your moment, then Brendan can get dressed. I'll take stock of everything."

Alba grabbed her bag and walked to a small table with a chessboard on it. She began to rifle through it, absentmindedly counting how many bottles of water were in there. She figured it'd be best to give Brendan and Fiyori their time.

[Riki]

Fiyori flashed him a smile when he asked. Technically true, someone did hurt her. However, lamenting her hurt feelings would be cruel to those who lost more. Especially standing before Brendan, who did lose something important of his body.

"I'm good. No one got to me yet."

It would have been - maybe or maybe not - a good moment for Fiyori to tell her story. It wasn't much, in hindsight, that has really happened. Fiyori could describe the last five days in less than five sentences. Regardless, Fiyori decided that it was her turn to ask a question. She looked over to Alba. She had wanted the girl to answer too, for the sake of clarity. But Fiyori figured that she'd listen anyway.

With her hands motioning at Brendan's shoulder, she asked, "So, what happened?" and she hoped he'd realize, that it was more than his injury that she meant.

[Primrosette]

He raised his hand towards his hurt shoulder, however, he didn't touch it. His hand was just lingering about an inch or two away from it. He wondered if it would give him more problems for how long he knew that he would have left. He was thinking that he would not survive to the end. He didn't have that much faith that he would because of.... Ty. If he saw him again.... Brendan knew that things would turn into something much more worse.

Alba had moved away so that he and Fiyori could talk to each other. He guessed that it was good that she was doing that. Although, he had honestly wanted her to stay by his side. At least he could see where she was and that she was not in danger. He just hoped that no one would walk in and start to threat them or try to attack them. He didn't want to deal with someone like that right now.

"I took an arrow to the shoulder." He joked badly.

He was trying to lighten up the mood for Fiyori. He wanted to make the atmosphere more positive and light-hearted. He just honestly want to hear Fiyori laugh. It would feel like a normal day like they were back at school. If though they weren't....

"Joking asides, Jae did this to me. I was trying to telling him how sorry I was about Asha. But.... he didn't respond that well to me." He said in a quiet voice and then he thought of Bernadette and Jerry. ".....I killed.... I.... I did some things that I shouldn't have. I made mistakes, some really bad ones at that. I can't take back what I did to Jerry and.... and.... B-Bernadette."

He paused to take a shaky breath.

"I hate what I've become, Fiyori...."

[Laurels]

Alba listened quietly as Brendan and Fiyori spoke. She eventually stopped fiddling with the contents of her bag to listen. He tried to start with a joke, but soon fell back into self-loathing. Alba bit her lower lip and turned her head slightly down. It really bothered her that Brendan still felt this way. She thought they had gotten past this in the church, but maybe the scars were deeper than she thought.

"Brendan, please don't hate yourself," Alba said, turning back to Brendan. "I don't hate you, and I think plenty of people will be willing to give you a chance."

Alba sighed quietly. She wanted to believe that would be the case. Fiyori was at least nice enough to hear Brendan out. Maybe Fiyori could help Alba get Brendan back in the right mood.

Alba walked over to the couch where she set the rifle down. She picked up the gun and held it facing a wall away from the others.

"I mean, I hate that I couldn't use this thing when I had to. Well, almost had to."

Alba looked over the gun, turning it slightly in her hands.

"Like, how sad is it to be unable to fire a gun to protect someone? I could have let you die back there if we didn't get the chance to run."