Oh, I'm too sexy for my sight, too sexy for numerical values and complex mathematics, too sexy for my coat. So sexy, it-- BZTTT!!! HURTS!

It was hard going, walking through a power growth and stumbling through camp, when the very thought of simple addition, or any math harder than the concept of 'zero', made him hurt... even harder when a guard stole his coat. He traded him a stick, though! Okay, hit him with it, then threw it at him, but now he at least had a walking stick! So he could hobble... and hum to himself to keep the Mad Math at bay. He found humming helped... which was odd, considering how mathematical music was, with its rising notes, falling beats, and pauses. It brought his mind off math, though, and made him think of images. Like right now, he was pondering 'rock lobsters', and why everyone would have matching towels. It helped. In the end, that was what mattered.

And so, Shin shuffled, and imagined 'rock lobsters', and 'paper tigers', and being too sexy for math. He was cold, and it hurt. Maybe he'd find someone in the camps to ease his worries, or take his mind off the catwalk? But first, he'd have to do his little stumbling turn as the walking stick stubbed someone's toe...

"OW!"

"SORRY!!" Really, he was...

The clock was the enemy. She learned that pretty fast working in the infirmary. The more she glanced at it, the less the hands moved. The less the hands moved, the longer and more miserable her days were.

At least they discovered she was no good with a pick axe. After half a day of being shouted at in a foreign language until she cried, Ghost had been transferred. She didn't think it was her tears that moved them. It was probably her severe lack of results.

In the Infirmary, she did much better. Folding clean towels, changing sheets, sorting... cotton balls. There were several "accidents" that rolled in a day. Mutants bloodied beyond recognition, burned at their collar or wrist restraint, broken bones. How did Sebastian do it?

It wasn't just mutants that visited the infirmary, either. It didn't bother Ghost to help pull out a splinter or soothe a blister, it did bother her that the only mutants she saw often didn't make it out and every single human that walked in, did. She tried not to let the wedge wriggle into her heart. These were misguided people. They would learn through the infirmary staff's continued kindness that what they were doing was--"Ow!"

A human doctor had come across a stick as he entered the hallway. No. A stick had come across a human doctor. Why did she see them as humans and mutants now? She didn't used to separate the two in her mind... Ghost leaned around to peek behind the doctor to see the unfortunate owner of said stick.

There was a backhand aimed for Shin's sincere "SORRY", but Ghost rushed to catch it at the wrist and gave the doctor sad eyes. He didn't exactly look ashamed, but then he hadn't been able to save today's mangled mutant.

Ghost could still smell meat in the air.

Doctor grouchy pants shrugged Ghost off of him and went down the hall in a huff. "Shin!" It came out as an excited whisper. Despite the fact that discretion was the better part of valor (or something), her voice was perpetually hoarse. Ghost's fingers flared cold and her neck tensed as she took hold of her friend. Her hand closed around his and the stick and she pulled him inside the open door so they could have a moment to talk. After that she had to let him go if she wanted to talk at all.

"Do you know if the best seller's shipment came in? It was supposed to before I left..."

It was stupid. But she'd been over the details of her European travels a hundred times over. Now she'd been going back further to other menial things that she could dissect in her thoughts. "What's with the stick?"

And if he didn't mind giving her a hand, she could use some help moving the body too... Ghost tugged at her collar. She had learned a thing or two about what the cold in her fingers meant now.

It would have been nice to say that, after 2 or so days in the camps, Shin's senses had elevated to the level of the 'blind swordsman', capable of deflecting doctor karate chops with as much ease as falling water... it wasn't so. He missed the 'get super senses' meeting. It came down to friendly phantoms to still the hand. Shin paused. He tapped the walking stick around blindly for a moment, taking his other senses in. A silent huff. Nonverbal tension. Someone was feeling hotheaded. Was that meat he smelled...? Had somebody overcooked a burrito, or...--

>>"Shin!"

A familiar voice. Familiar hands. She was leading him... the last time he'd been led by her similar to this, he'd been sightless and intangible. Now he was just blind.

"Ghost...?" They'd got her too, huh... "Best seller's shipment, whuh...? I, uh... think I heard Aurum helped with those... why...?" was she bringing this up now? She'd set all these things up with the employees and the 'fill-in' manager before her honeymoon, hadn't she? "How was the honeymoon, anyway?" Any topic was better than answering her last question. God, he hoped she'd help him to a chair...

Frown.

Shin had his eyes closed. He had a stick in his hand. There was really only one other time that Ghost had seen this combination. Luke. But... Luke was blind.

Frownier.

The honeymoon. "It was... nice." If he couldn't see... that was best for her face was flashing between pleased and confused and worried and embarrassed before finally settling down.

Frowniest.

"Europe is full of futures unfulfilled... Ten years is a long time." And here she was frowning while her friend was suffering in silence. Ghost put a hand to Shin's cheek and the cold flared in her fingers. Her neck and shoulders twitched with sudden strain as her collar flicked from sort-of trickling on to fully engaged.

"Your... eyes." Through clenched teeth that was as good as talking was going to get. She'd gotten better at standing when it happened, but it was always a tenuous thing.

Nice.

Nice is a good describer word for cars... or maybe new haircuts. Not honeymoons, or babies. Or some variation. He frowned. The honeymoon memories must've been overpowered by 'camp musk'. Damn that camp musk... for being... musky...

Shin shook his head. "Sounds... nice.."

Guess he'd leave that topic alone. He was too sexy for prying into other peoples' honeymoon details, anyways. A single toe tapped.

>>"Europe is full of futures unfulfilled... Ten years is a long time."

The grip on his makeshift cane tightened. "Huh." He didn't have time to ask what she'd meant. Her hand suddenly moved up to his cheek. Shin's thoughts stopped as an unfamiliar feeling made him want to shy away. "What're you--"

>>"Your... eyes."

Ghost forced a reply out. It sounded like her collar had just hit her with a whammy. But why was... His forehead formed little pouty lines as he tried to understand everything that was confusing him right here, right now. Slowly, the aches from the guard's beating eased... why was she healing him? How...

"I, uh..." He bowed his head. Even if he couldn't make eye contact with her, he felt ashamed enough to break the contact of eye-lines... "Power growth..." Shin offered weakly, as if that would explain it all.

Power growth? In his eyes? She couldn't fix that, though her fingers were just tingling away. It seemed that they flared up when she touched anyone these days.

Ghost retracted back her hand and rocked back on her heels.

The door which had been abandoned mostly ajar now banged fully open. On instinct Ghost whapped Shin's stick out of his hand. Never let them think you have a weapon. That was a pretty strict rule.

The man barked something and Ghost was skirting around Shin to oblige in what she thought that particular arf might mean despite the fact that her vision was swimming with black splotches. Bandages? No. He motioned to the body that was... not a happy thing to look at.

She tugged at her collar. He motioned some more to Shin. Something about... something. She really wasn't getting this. Usually the pantomime game was enough. But she did nod. And looked at her. She nodded again.

Please. Just go away.

She would take the body to the incinerator as she did the others. She would be a good girl. Hopefully that would be enough to show them that she wasn't trying to be obstinate. That she was trying. That she did not want to end up on one of these tables.

On instinct, Ghost whapped the walking stick straight out of his hands, and on instinct, Shin stumbled. He hadn't been expecting his cane to be there one moment, and gone the next. He took a step forward, swung his arms, and caught something. Someone, somewhere, was shouting. Thanks to the effects of the active dragonspeak gem, he could understand it. Thanks to the active effects of the shock collar (Read: Idiot Stick), all Shin could do was stand dumbly. And grip... whatever it was he was holding.

What was he holding. One little peek wouldn't hurt, would it (aside from his head). One little looooook....

"Oh, good heaven." A serious shock ran through him as his eyes landed point blank on the dead body.

The dead body he was touching... his watering eyes lowered to the lifeless hand.

Colonel Mustard?

He took a step back as his eyes snapped shut, and nearly tumbled into Ghost. The collar was really hurting him now. First, went legs, and then--

More shouted drifted to Shin as he sat cross-legged on the floor.

"We'll do it," Shin muttered in Romanian. The shock collar hit him again, and Shin gritted his teeth. Whatever it was, they'd do it.

Go away.

Shin said something… not English and not Japanese. Whatever he'd said made the man pause too. The man nodded stiffly, said something that sounded less frustrated, and… left.

Sigh. Turn to look at Shin who was… sitting… and bloodied. His relative position was much closer to the body. She cringed. Had she glanced back and seen him grasping it earlier? And… what had he said?

"Shin you speak," country check, "Romanian?"

Her first priority was to pick up his stick and lay it next to him. The second… to look at the body. Only a half cringe this time. She wasn't exactly use to them, but in the daylight swaddled in a cherry red soaked sheet it wasn't that bad.

She could touch it and not hurt. She could close its eyes and hope that it was in a better place or being reborn with an easier lot in life. In the cold it didn't stink. There were some okay things about the dead.

"Uhm. Would you help me take this to the incinerator?" Usually she dragged it until someone took pity on her. Sometimes, no one did.

>>"Shin you speak," country check, "Romanian?"

"¿Qué?"

Had he just... done something interesting? Why?

Shin's hand found the stick as Ghost set it down. He shoved off the ground, and got unsteadily to his feet. His head felt cloudy. Shin put a hand to his forehead... and noticed the copper smell. He paused.

"I didn't... see... what I think I saw... right? The corpse?" The darkness behind his eyelids made the thought of the dead body nearby even worse. It was time for compartmentalizing, and judging by her next comment, time for mental blockage...

>>"Uhm. Would you help me take this to the incinerator?"

Shin grimaced. "I can try... but you'll have to lead, and give me directions. I can't open my eyes without being shocked..." And even mental maps risked neural meltdown. If he tried to do mental math...

"I didn't... see... what I think I saw... right? The corpse?"

"Nope." Not unless he had opened his eyes... which it sounded like he had, but no was a better answer. Ghost took a moment to get her feet under her, her balance sorted out, her sleeves pushed up, and the body wrapped properly so that no part would jump out at them on the walk.

Shin didn't really protest helping. And opening his eyes engaged his mutation now. That actually sort of explained his earlier statement. Power growth. Was he shooting triangles out of his eyes now? It was a silly enough thought that she didn't shudder to twist up the end of the gurney sheet and tie it off. Her hands and wrists were pretty wet with blood that had cooled long ago, but wasn't old enough to have turned tacky.

"I am sorry. They're not usually this messy." This one had come into surgery in pieces. She was by no means a doctor, but from her place holding the pan -Ghost seemed to be used as a utility: lamp stand, extra hand, pan holder, body disposal- she could tell the poor body was only going to become a corpse.

The medical capabilities were meager. This camp was meant for killing.

Ghost took the messier end. With the sheet wrapped around and things as they were it was hard to tell if it was the head or feet. "Walk backwards and I'll talk? You wouldn't be able to see that way anyway."

>>"Nope."

"Good." Well then, he'd just help this fine young woman hoist this non-corpse of a water buffalo over to the incinerator. Yes. This very non-messy... water buffalo... that was blue...

in fields of daisies.

>>"I am sorry. They're not usually this messy."

Shin stumbled over to hold the end of the body Ghost wasn't, and lifted. The corners of his lips sagged exponentially. "I'd hope not... water buffaloes, and all that..." His voice dropped as he trailed. Shin fell into line, as the lead.

With Ghost's not-so-expert direction, he stumbled the way towards the incinerator. A few backwards-walking, stickless-stalking minutes later, they were there. Ghost and Shin 'heave-ho'd the body into the incinerator. Shin took a step away from the incinerator, suddenly feeling weary.

How could they do this to anyone...? Water buffaloes and flames... "You'll have to help me back to the place we were just at, now... I left the stick safe and sounds by the table..."

Water buffaloes? Everyone seemed to have their thing. The other healers, the actual healers, they never seemed to be around when it was time to take out the bodies. Ghost tried not to grudge them. They were probably out actually saving people while she was a mildly helpful sponge stand. Oh and a corpse hauler.

Ghost was just glad that they only incinerated at night when she was usually back safe in her cell. Her hands were a bit mucky after this one, though. She tried not to be bothered too much by that fact.

"You'll have to help me back to the place we were just at, now... I left the stick safe and sounds by the table..."

"I'd be happy to escort you. If you don't have a job you can come mop up... water buffalo... stuff. But, you certainly wouldn't have to. Once the bleach comes out, it doesn't even make my stomach do backflips any more." Ghost guided Shin's hand to her arm, she the gentleman, he the lady... or the blind by power growth.

They walked a bit in silence. Funny that no one seemed to worry about the blood on their hands. Probably because they were still in the infirmary area.

"Sorry. About your stick." As much as she loved Shin and hated that he was here... she was still glad to have someone familiar to talk to. Even if the talking was slim.

"Job? ... Not quite sure how good a mopper I could be. I also can't do math without getting shocked... and... the only way I can see a blind man mopping by the darkness of their mind without helper sticks would be to mentally map out the grid of the area, and... painful." Shin gritted his teeth, expecting a shock, but none came. Perhaps, math terms weren't quite the same as numbers? If that were true, it'd bode positive for the magical map quests of Shin. "I can certainly give it a try..."

Together, they plodded along, back to the infirmary area. Ghost, the leader, Shin, being led.

After a while, she interrupted the silence.

>>"Sorry. About your stick."

Shin sighed. "It's okay... it was probably a stupid stick, anyways... thrown by a stupid guard..."

"I didn't really mean mopping..." There were certainly things to mop up, but there was always so much trash that came with medical proceedings. Sterile things were wrapped in other sterile things. Not a lot of that mattered since sometimes they used healers, but in theory it was all good. And trashful.

"Uhm... Shin..." Since she had him here and since things were pretty slow... Ghost guided him into the still open operating room door. It still smelled gross. And it was still bloody. It was so... messy. Whatever she had been meaning to say died in her throat.

She had been keeping it together so well for so long. She swallowed a lump in her throat. "Talk about home. What's..." new wasn't the right word. It was old news by now but, "what's happened since the wedding? Since I left?"

That would probably help. Again, Ghost fetched Shin's stick. This time she also fetched him a chair before she broke out the kitchen gloves and bleach. Did someone love the person they'd carted out of the room like so much water buffalo?

>>"I didn't really mean mopping..."

Oh.

And just when he'd decided to give moppin' a go, too. What did she mean?

>>"Uhm... Shin..."

Dramatic uhm? That wasn't a good sign. It meant he wouldn't find out...

"Hmm?" Well, here he went, asking the obvious with a noncommittal 'hmm'. Better than focusing on the scents of the room they were in, or the weariness associated with the job.

>>"Talk about home. What's..." "what's happened since the wedding? Since I left?"

The sound of scraping was likely the noise made by the legs of a moved chair. He was lucky whatever his eyes were doing with distances hadn't moved to his ears.

Shin sat down, and slumped forward with a sigh. "Not much... I'm thinking about leaving Kasumi." His voice fell on that last part.