InsaneJournal

[Action/Voice | Closed!] Later evening

[Action - Closed to Spike]
[The day had been a good one. Not perfect, but these days Lacus is hard-pressed to define what that would be. A day with Kira could have been only that, and her grief from their last parting is still sharp. Perhaps best that she saw old friends and met some new ones and left the loves out of it.]

[It is tragic enough that Sougo will lose his sister come tomorrow. Lacus recognized Mitsuba from afar, but resisted the temptation to say hello. It is wisest, she thinks, to be happy for them from a distance, and to provide the comfort Sougo will surely need in the morning. For tonight, she stayed out late lounging at the hot springs, not knowing if Sougo would bring his sister home for the evening and not wishing to be an interruption should they do so. She even considered finding a spare apartment to sleep in, but no. She too needs a measure of comfort and she plans to wear one of Kira's old shirts to bed. That will be enough.]

[Fresh from the hot springs, she's wearing a thin terrycloth robe over a swimsuit, her clothing a neat bundle in the crook of an arm. She proceeds toward Sector 4 and their apartment, quietly singing to herself. Making plans for tomorrow, and the day after that.]

***

[Voice/Action - Closed to Data]
[Lacus' first thoughts after Spike leaves her bleeding and drained are strangely analytical. Calculating the blood volume lost, checking off symptoms of hypovolemic shock, counting pulse and respiration rates. Pounds per square inch of pressure applied to the wound to stop the bleeding. Her Coordinator's mind is like the ocean in storm, violent and aggressive in its quest for survival. One slow, forceful step at a time, she seeks a safe harbor before she can let herself rest.]

[Who to call for help. Now there's a quandary. Lacus focuses the whole of her mind on it and ignores the slow plop of blood on the pavement and the wetness seeping from between her fingers as she presses her hand firmly to the wound.]

[There is no simple solution. All too vividly Lacus recalls the tension between vampires and hunters (Slayers, Spike had called them), how Suzaku fretted over it. She can't let that happen. News of a vampire attack could raise an uproar, and even in her current state Lacus knows she can't allow that. The information must be presented in a controlled manner, not in blind panic. All this comes to her in a split second, her mind outracing even her galloping pulse.]

[No hospital, they would announce it. No clinic, too many would know. No Defense Force, for now -- she feels guilty for that, but it's too risky. Only one person comes to mind that would view the situation logically enough, and trust her enough, to do as she needs. Her shaking, clammy hand reaches up to her communicator, smearing it with fresh blood.]

Data? [By that word alone, the weakness of her voice between quick, shallow breaths, he'll know something is very wrong.] I need... your help.

***

[Action - Closed to Tyki]
[Only after she is secure that Data is coming for her does Lacus let herself relax. It is a mistake, her crashing adrenaline closing off everything that kept her functional and forcing her to her knees, vision swimming with dark spots. Her blood-slick hand slips and for a second the flow from her neck becomes a gush, further staining her white robe and matting her hair.]

[With one great burst of strength, Lacus hefts herself into a doorway and leans pitifully against the wall. She closes her eyes, tries to slow her breathing, puts all her remaining strength into the hand that's holding her wound and keeping what's left of her blood inside. There, she waits.]

[It wouldn't be difficult for someone to follow the blood trail and find her here. There's little she can do about it.]


((OOC: The thread with Spike contains violence of the vampy persuasion and all the threads contain bloody gory horribleness and assorted triggery things.))