Tara Luketic
Junior Member
Witch Hunter and Pack Rat
Posts: 71
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Post by Tara Luketic on Feb 11, 2010 22:10:08 GMT -5
"Yes. Keith did the bandages," Tara repeated through a sigh, though she was smiling. She waited patiently as Keith got Mason his alcohol, pulling her water bottle out of a side pocket on her messenger bag and setting it near the construction worker. When the Southern man returned and began to help her up, she winced and closed her eyes so that she could focus. Tara tried to ignore the pain crawling about her skull and how her legs didn't want to work, sensing it was her turn when she stopped rising. Grunting slightly with the effort, she forced herself to get into a limp, slumped standing position, leaning heavily on Keith for support.
"O-okay... hang on..." she stammered. Tara took a few deep breaths, waiting until some of the pain subsided in her head and her legs got used to working again. She then opened her eyes and nodded to Keith, tightening her grip around him. "All right, let's go." With his help (along with a few tables and the wall), she managed to make her way over to the bathrooms in the corner. Finally pushing away from Keith, Tara leaned heavily on the wall and opened the door.
"I... I should be able to handle it from here. Thanks again, Keith... oh. And take care of Mason, all right? He doesn't look too good," she said quietly. She then entered the bathroom, surprised and blinded as the automatic lights turned on. Tara briefly wondered why they still worked, but shrugged it off and stumbled over to the row of sinks. She managed to pull off her bag and purse, letting them fall to the ground before she worked to catch her breath again.
"All right, time to get this crap off of me before I lose it again."
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Post by Kameko Hoshi on Feb 11, 2010 22:35:30 GMT -5
“Oh, everyone’s fine.” Kameko reported as she moved away some of Moro’s shirt to work on her broken rib. “I treated Mason and Keith took care of Tara.” She looked up at the woman with round eyes. “I agree. We should stay here tonight. None of us are in the condition to head back to the mall.”
She poked carefully at the spot where Moro’s ribs were located, feeling the woman wince. A knowing ‘Ah.’ escaped her lips as she took out some bandages. She looked back up at Moro.
“Well, you were right when you said I can’t really do anything, but bandaging up should help some.” Kameko told her as she started fixing the woman up with said medical supplies.
As she stood there she suddenly felt arms drape around her neck and feel something nestling against her. She instantly recognized Roy and smiled lightly. She grabbed his hand and led him to a nearby room, saying good night to Moro as she passed by.
“Before you can go to bed, I have to look after you.” Kameko said to Roy as she started inspected him for any wounds. Whenever she found one she would take care of it quickly. The process continued on until Kameko was sure the boy had been treated before finished her work.
“There, you may now go to sleep. Call me if you need anything.” The black-haired girl said as she headed for the door.
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Roy Bivenmeijer
Junior Member
"Because I'm used to killing animals"
Posts: 76
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Post by Roy Bivenmeijer on Feb 11, 2010 23:23:14 GMT -5
For someone tripping out of his freakin head, Roy was quick. In front of the door like a cat on a baby rabbit. "Where you goin'? Baby you're stressin' out, calm down, relax..." Grabbing her paw (what could he say, he was still trippin, if slightly less, as his hands had returned to normal), he sat her down on the bed and removed the white Aero sweater from her shoulders.
"You've had enough for today, huh? Just relax..." Sitting down behind her, he began to massage her shoulders, his fingers quickly finding the knots in her back and practically decimating them... until the center of her back. "Damn... someone's a bit tense..." This would require no resistence. 'Up the shirt I go then' His hands on her bare skin was... stimulating, to say the least.
The physical contact quickly became a kiss. With one foot, Roy made sure to kick the door closed, somehow managing not to break the kiss. At a momentary break, he somehow managed one "You look like you need some rest" Before moving back in.
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Post by Moro Ashford on Feb 12, 2010 19:09:23 GMT -5
"Yeah- night. Thanks a lot, Kami," Moro said as the asian carefully led Roy back into one of the nearby bedrooms. The mechanic watched them leave, a faint smirk tugging at her lips, turning away as the door was closed behind them. She was suddenly feeling very lonely.
Kameko was right in saying that the bandages would help; the constriction made her entire left side ache, but prevented the crippling stabs of pain. It was with careful, eased movements that Moro made it downstairs, relying heavily on the banister and sinking down to sit on the third lowest step, arriving in time to see Tara stumble into the bathroom with Keith's aid and close the door behind her. Mason's face was ashen and drawn with pain. A sudden flare of guilt rose in her chest.
She dropped her head to gaze at her hands. "Sorry," she mumbled to the pair of them, rubbing absently on patches of crimson stain on her hands . "I didn't mean...you all weren't exactly supposed to follow me here."
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Post by Keith the Great on Feb 12, 2010 19:55:09 GMT -5
Keith happily helped Tara to the bathrooms, releasing her when she seemed to be standing well enough on her own. Taking a moment to stretch after the weight of another person was off his shoulders, he sighed in relief. He gave her a cheery grin and a short wave before strolling back over towards the rest of the bar and leaving her to...whatever girls considered cleanup. Hell if he knew her make-up schedule.
He got back in time for Moro’s apology. Keith wasn’t a quick thinker, so the first thing that flew out of his mouth was exactly what had popped into his head: “Wait, I wasn't?” he inquired, confused. “Goddamn, you shoulda said somethin’ ‘stead a’ walkin’ out in the dead of night and scarin’ the piss outta me, then!”
Then he actually paused to notice the sullen look on her face. The way she stared at her hands guiltily (combined with the fact that Mason didn’t particularly look the picture of good health) finally flipped on the dim light-bulb in Keith’s head, and the gears started to crank, rolling out every thing he knew about comforting the guilty.
“Oh, um, well, it ain’t your fault!” Keith said, trying to recover and failing. Already sensing that this probably wouldn’t do much, Keith strolled over and took a seat on a barstool between both Moro and Mason, giving him an equal view of each teammate. Then he did exactly what he’d always done to comfort Ellis: change the subject.
“Aw, man, this is just like that one time...” He hesitated, having about five memories pop into his head at once. “Okay, so it’s like a lot of times. But this one time, El’ an’ I were tryin t’ catch two ‘gators so we could get ‘em into a fight an’ charge people ta see, but I ain’t a good ‘gator-fighter so I ended up in the hospital, an’ for some reason, El’ thought it was his fault, an’ he wouldn’t stop whinin’ an’ ‘pologizin’ ‘till I promised t’ take ‘im to Whisperin’ Oaks an’ get ‘im one a’ those Lil’ Peanut plushes.” Having completed his story, Keith turned his head to the ceiling contemplatively. “Ain’t got no stuffed cartoon peanuts up in Ohio, though. Damn, you people must’ve been deprived as kids.”
Now feeling much better about himself, Keith turned to Mason with an optimistic grin. “So how’re the both ‘a you doin’?” he asked, moments later realizing that he could have switched to a thousand better topics than that one. “I...I mean...Ehm...” He glanced furtively to each of his teammates, mind scrabbling for a comeback. “I’ll shut up ‘bout Georgia for a bit if y’all’ll tell me ‘bout what you Ohio people do for fun ‘round here. Good deal?”
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Post by Mason Breaker on Feb 14, 2010 16:58:24 GMT -5
The Irishman quietly watched Moro make her way down the stairs and onto one of the still availiable seats. He listened as Keith terrificly screwed up trying to talk to them, his attempts to change the subject now falling onto Mason's shoulders. And if he wasn't so exhasted right now, he may have been able to do it.
But as it was, he was both exhasted with the recent fighting and from Moro's....... Unusual behavior. Sighing, followed by several pained coughs, he took another drink, looking at Keith.
"Keith, boyo...... Is now really the....*grunt*.....Time?" He asked, pausing to catch some breath. Everything seemed to be a chore, although it was getting better. But still.....
"I mean..... I appreciate what you're trying to do, but...... I think we have something else to worry about." He looked around the room. "How we're going to last for the...... night. Should we head back to the mall safe room...... Or stay here?" He then pointed to Moro. "Second...... You...... Will explain what the hell you were thinking. You sneak out in the middle of the night, then ask me to....." He stopped, deciding to not bring up what had been asked of him. It wasn't something everyone needed to know. But he did want answers.
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Post by Kameko Hoshi on Feb 14, 2010 19:48:53 GMT -5
Initially Kameko was going to go downstairs and talk to the others, but that all changed when Roy grabbed her hand. She then found herself seated on the bed and feeling her favorite white Aeropostale jacket being taken off. At first she thought Roy was trying to remove her shirt from the state he was in at the moment and instinctively wanted to slap him, but instead she felt him messaging her back.
“You should be one of those professional massagers at the spa!” Kameko told him as her body relaxed and she closed her eyes happily.
She was so busy enjoying the feeling of her free message that she failed to notice Roy’s hands going up her shirt until she felt his calloused fingers against her skin. Goose bumps appeared at the touch and she barely had time to react when Roy ended up kissing her. To say the least she didn’t care one bit. His lips were warm against hers and she couldn’t help but let out a little giggle at the thought of kissing another person when it’s a zombie apocalypse.
Her black-and-white polka-dotted shirt suddenly felt wet. Kameko broke the kiss with a shuddering gasp and quickly lifted up her shirt to find the scratches done by the hunter earlier bleeding heavily. The sight of her blood oozing out like a stream and staining her pants and the ground made her feel light-headed. Maybe she should have taken care off her wounds before helping the others.
“Well,” The Japanese girl said as she slowly lifted herself off the bed. “That’s not super special awesome…” And then passed out, landing on the ground with a hard thump.
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Tara Luketic
Junior Member
Witch Hunter and Pack Rat
Posts: 71
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Post by Tara Luketic on Feb 15, 2010 12:37:40 GMT -5
"I wish we could have gotten holed up in a clothing store..." Tara muttered as she scrubbed at her clothes with the bar of soap, shivering under the thin blanket she'd wrapped herself in. The hoody, jacket, T-shirt, jeans, and hat were all she had on her, but they were all too crusty, filthy, and disgusting to wear. Had she been asked what the three most important things to have in a zombie apocalypse were before the infection, clean clothing probably wouldn't have been one of them. Tara sighed as she let the sinks drain, refilling them so that the clothes could soak.
"I hope this works. I've never tried washing clothes with handsoap before..." she muttered. "Now to take care of what's above my shoulders." She carefully unwrapped the bandages, which were only slightly bloody, and set them to the side for re-use. Tara then scrubbed her face as gently as she could, being careful with her still-healing nose. Once she was certain all of the blood and vomit was washed away, she pulled her hair out of its ponytail and got to work on it as well.
"Soap's not the best shampoo, but it gets out the blood and puke. That's all I care about..." she muttered through a sigh.
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Post by Moro Ashford on Feb 15, 2010 13:46:04 GMT -5
Moro rubbed at the back of her neck, feeling bludgeoned by Keith's attempts at consoling her. In silence she listened to the remainder of his rant, grateful for once that the man could so effortlessly be sidetracked. Her eyes were now hovering around what was visible of her right shoe, caked with mud and gore from days of barely making it, and she could not bring herself to look at either of her companions until Mason very nearly let slip something important.
In a swift motion that stemmed pain down her sore side Moro lifted her head and fixed the Irishman with a cold, but almost pleading, look. Her confidant had been chosen carefully, if hastily; while she trusted every member of the party with her life, it wasn't her life that was in jeopardy. Keith was a sweetheart but, admittedly, a bit of a talker who would undoubtedly let slip her request without a second thought; Moro suspected Tara, out of worry, would intentionally foil her plan in an effort to keep her safe, staging an intervention-like situation that involved everyone; likewise, Kameko would likely involve Roy, whom Moro suspected would not take her threat of leaving seriously, in a desperate measure to protect her. This left Mason who, Moro had gathered, was a keep-to-himself sort of person who could recognize a dangerous situation and possible solution. As it were, however, he was still in the dark as to why this request had been made at all.
Moro flexed the fingers of her free hand, grey eyes flickering away from the man's face and finding the bar table. With a stiff, pained movement, the mechanic grasped the railing, half torn from the broken wall, and pulled herself to her feet. Selecting the least destroyed glass she could find, she rinsed it out carefully, filling the cup with tap water with acute attention.
"I think we should stay here," she said softly, keeping her eyes fixed on the glass of water as she moved to where Mason lay. "Keith, will you help me barricade the doors in a minute? And, Mason," she knelt, ignoring a spasm of pain up her side. "Last thing you want is a hangover, I suggest drinking this."
Her eyes were finally lifted to his, and, though her tone was casual and friendly, the depths of which she fixed him were hard, calculating.
"I'm sick," she breathed, quiet enough so that Keith could not hear what she was saying. With the air of having made a firm decision, Moro set the glass down beside the other and rose, picking her way among the debris, selecting the decapitated table top and hefting it painfully upright. She turned and flashed a nonchalant smile at Keith, beckoning him to join her, but it didn't touch her eyes.
He knew now; her statement had been black-and-white and lacked evidence, but it would get him thinking. He would understand and, whether or not he decided to wait it out and look for symptoms or help her slip away like she asked, Moro trusted he would keep this a secret from the rest.
She was not a monster. Not yet.
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Post by Keith the Great on Feb 15, 2010 17:28:10 GMT -5
Keith merely shrugged at Mason’s refusal to chat. The Southern boy had heard phrases like “Is now the best time?”, “Do you really have to tell me this now?”, and “Keith, shut the hell up before I make you” enough times over his twenty-six years to have become desensitized to that reaction.
The team chatterbox shut up for a moment when Mason took over the Q&A. The first question was one Keith would have been more than happy to answer, had the conversation not taken a sudden turn towards mystery.
Keith didn’t even notice that he’d leaned forward a bit as Mason’s question was cut short. In fact, he would have leaned right off of his chair had he not noticed in time. Unfortunately, wherever that train of thought had been going, it was cut short by Moro, who looked pretty damn desperate to keep this under wraps.
Keith had already opened his mouth and begun the phrase “What are y’all talkin’ about?” when a flashback popped in to save the day.
Back in Georgia, no one had ever told Keith any secrets. One day, after his girlfriend (now an ex) had confided in Dave rather than Keith, he’d asked why the hell all the world kept everything from him. And Dave had, quite insultingly, put it down to the fact that, “Keith, you’ve got the biggest damn mouth in Savannah. An’ everyone knows you’ve got a big mouth ‘cause you talk so goddamn much!”
Mason was old, wise, and knew what to talk about and when. Though Keith wasn’t the quickest bullet of the bunch, even he could tell that Mason was more than ten times as trustworthy as Keith (the ‘more than’ being necessary because ten times zero didn’t do much).
“Alright then,” Keith chirped, bouncing off his chair and taking over the barricade duty, rolling the table right out of Moro’s grip while waving her away. “You ain’t in the best shape, girl. You go an’ sit with Mase. Catch up with yer important secret.” His eyes twinkled optimistically, showing that he completely got her reasons for keeping it from him. “I won’t bother ya ‘less it’s import’nt.”
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Roy Bivenmeijer
Junior Member
"Because I'm used to killing animals"
Posts: 76
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Post by Roy Bivenmeijer on Feb 15, 2010 20:40:42 GMT -5
Aw shit... 'I'm not that good, am I?' Of course as he'd moved back in she'd fakllen backwards, directly past him. 'I mean c'mon... never made a girl do that before...' It was at this point in his thought process that Roy looked at her to check her breathing, and thereby passed over her now blood soaked shirt. "Shitwhore..."- unsteadily making his was to the door, he leaned out and, with as much breath as he had left, yelled "Could somebody a little less drunk come up here with first aid?! Kami's bleedin out over here!"
He stumbled back to the bed and attempted to quell the ongoing stream of blood, oblivious to his proximity to Kami's chest. "Fuck... you can't cut off fuckin' chest bleeding..." He focused more on keeping her alive, concious, and out of shock. "C'mon Kameko, stay with me, right?" A light slap to the face was administered, but only light enough to feel it. "Goddamn..."
Of course this was the perfect day yto get wasted. Why the hell did Moro have to go out for a drink tonight? "Hey, someone! Let's go! Keith, Moro, someone! She's bleedin out for shits sake!" Roy was at a loss for action, still drunk, messed up, and without first aid. Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit! Why couldn't he have dome something PRACTICAL for a living? Why not a doctor or a mechanic or... SOMETHING helpful. Sure he could fight, but that was... useless now..
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Post by Mason Breaker on Feb 15, 2010 21:51:02 GMT -5
If Mason was surprised/shocked, he wasn't showing it. He merely sighed and took a drink from the water provided by Moro, then remembering that Tara had supplied him with a water bottle. Not wanting to appear ungrateful, he took a quick swig of that too, then stored it in his pocket for later.
While he was glad that Moro trusted him like this, he was truely at a loss of what to do right now. I'm sick. That was what she had told him. That meant.... She had no idea if she was immune or not. Now it all made sense. Why she had snuck out so late, why she had asked him to feign her death, all this.....
However, he was not about to give up on her. If he had to stay up all night, watching her, keeping her at gunpoint, then he would. To prove this, he muttered "My guns watching you then." Loud enough for her to hear, but other than her, no one else. Unless they had hearing like a dog.
He was brought out of his grim situation when Roy suddenly yelled for help. Kameko was bleeding, and the damn psycho didn't......
Cursing loudly, he suddenly began trying to make his way upstairs, grabbing one of the med kits. He began literally pulling himself along, despite the pain that flared through him. He was not losing anyone. Not while he still breathed, no matter how much it pained him to do so. Grunting, panting, and gasping, he started pulling himself up the stairs. Deciding that Kameko would bleed out by the time he got there, he shouted back "Roy, gimmie a hand her! Either help me get......*Cough cough*........*Grunt*...... To you, or bring *grunt* her to me!"
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Post by Moro Ashford on Feb 16, 2010 0:11:46 GMT -5
My guns watching you then.
Mason's words were foremost in her mind, echoing hollowly through her head even as she watched Keith approach, her soft smile still shadowing her lips. The man carefully took the table from her grasp.
“You ain’t in the best shape, girl. You go an’ sit with Mase. Catch up with yer important secret.” The edges of her fingers still trailing along the edge of the wooden table, the mechanic could only look up at him with a mingled expression of surprise and even a hint of guilt; she knew Keith was no idiot, but she had hoped she hadn't made her withholding a secret quite so blatant. The understanding look in his eyes, however, sparked a sudden swell of affection for the man. “I won’t bother ya ‘less it’s import’nt.”
A softer look passed over the mechanic's face; lifting a hand, she gently squeezed the man's forearm, holding his gaze in a silent grateful gesture. She gave the faintest of nods, then turned and moved to the bar, intent on getting herself something to drink before joining Mason, as well. She was ducking awkwardly under the bar table, moving slowly to avoid further agony, when there was a sudden scream from upstairs.
"Could somebody a little less drunk come up here with first aid?! Kami's bleedin out over here!"
Were this in any other context, Moro would have possibly laughed at Roy's blatant admittance to his condition. As it were, the mechanic froze, now half crouched, half sitting on the floor, her exhausted mind processing what she had heard. The infected were gone, weren't they...she'd just seen Kami, she was fine a minute ago....
She was stirred from her reverie as Roy called out again and, grunting with the pain, forced herself back under the bar table. Mason was shouting something now from upstairs; clenching her jaw and concentrating on anything but the pain, Moro attempted to take the steps two at a time and buckled to the ground at the first leap, her vision flaring a spotty crimson. With a groan, she pulled herself back to her feet and forced herself up the rest of the way, bypassing Mason as he made a similar battle. Pausing long enough to reason that the asian would be easier to move than the irishman, Moro continued down the hall and stumbled into the room.
The sight of her sent ice down the length of her spine. "Help me move her," she breathed to Roy, crouching and looping one of the girl's arms around her shoulder.
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Tara Luketic
Junior Member
Witch Hunter and Pack Rat
Posts: 71
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Post by Tara Luketic on Feb 16, 2010 17:41:24 GMT -5
"I'm gonna look like a moron, but it's better than going out there in nothing but my undergarments," Tara muttered through a sigh. She had squeezed as much excess water out of her hair as possible, also using a few of the remaining paper towels in the bathroom. She had then run her bare-bones brush through it and pulled it into a loose bun, re-applying Keith's bandages to her nose. "That should hold the weakened cartilage in place and absorb any remaining blood..." Tara had dried her soaked, stained clothes as best as she could with what was at hand, forced to make a decision on what to make herself decent with.
She had chosen to wear her still-damp jean jacket, buttoned up, and had tied the blanket around her waist like a sarong. Chilled and nervous, but refreshed, she grabbed her bags and her remaining clothes and made her way out of the restroom. "Urgh, okay, so what'd I miss? And don't even ask about the way I lo-" The sound of Roy shouting about a bleeding Kameko stopped Tara in her tracks, her eyes wide as she abruptly dropped her stuff on a table. "Shit, shit, shit, this is why you always check yourself out first!" she cursed under her breath.
Tara saw Mason head up with a medkit and Moro follow after him, pausing only to dig through her purse. Grabbing half a chocolate bar, she shoved the candy into the pocket of her jacket and then made her way over to the bar with her still-damp T-shirt in hand. It only took her a few moments to find half a bottle of vodka under the counter, and having it safely in hand she finally traversed the stairs. Tara was running on the pure adrenaline of an emergency; even if the clean-up had refreshed her, she knew she'd be feeling this once it wore off. Coming across Mason near the top of the stairs, she quickly took the medkit from him.
"You stay put, at least a sec, and catch your breath. Got it? You're in no condition to rush. Roy! Moro! Get her on the bed!!" she called, heading down the hallway. Tara was already feeling the tingle of wear and tear in her legs, but she ignored it and pushed her weakened body into the room. She dropped her supplies on the endtable and gripped her wet shirt, ready to clean the bloo- "Ooooh, God. This looked so much easier in my head... with non-real blood... crap..." she whimpered, a wave of fresh nausea washing over her.
"O-one of you guys... wipe up the blood with this... it's clean... I-I should be able to handle things from there... hopefully..." Tara muttered, turning away with her eyes closed and a hand covering her mouth as she held out the soaked garment.
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Roy Bivenmeijer
Junior Member
"Because I'm used to killing animals"
Posts: 76
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Post by Roy Bivenmeijer on Feb 16, 2010 20:49:09 GMT -5
"Help me move her,"
As soon as the words were out of Moro's mouth, Roy had a shoulder under Kameko's arm, lifting her gently up. "Why'd she have to bleed from the damn chest. The one place it's almost impossable to stop bloodflow..." Roy groaned, abhoring himself for not checking her for wounds before anything else. "I'm never drinkin' Johnnie Walker again... 'till we're safe that is..." The attempt at a straight face did nothing to hide his laughter.
He ignored Mason, though cast him a look of apology before disappearing back inside the room and, after hearing Tara's frantic yell up the stairs, laid Kameko back on the bed. The alchohol was abviously still with him, because the first thing that sprang into his mind before grabbing Tara's sopping wet shirt was 'Well this wasn't precisely how I pictured it...'
He immediatly set to work cleaning the blood flowing from Kami's chest. He rolled her shirt up below the chest (so as not to expose anything 'inapropriate') and sopped up the blood with Tara's still sopping t shirt. "Damn, I hope this water's sterile." Managing to get the last of the blood, through kami's own shirt, from her chest, he opened up the floor to Tara or moro. "That's the best I've got."
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