It’s not every day I get my ribs broken and my heart ripped out of my chest. But you know what they say about variety: it’s the spice of life.

My blood is pouring down my naked body and pooling underneath me, cherry red and rude against the slick white surface of my bathtub. I drag my fingertip along the rim of the tub, drawing nonsensical curlicues and shapes. There’s really not that much white space left for me to draw with; even though I knew it would hurt, I couldn’t resist my body’s instinct to struggle and fight. My throat feels raw from the screaming. The space all around me is splattered with my blood and covered in my frantic hand prints. I wonder if we should’ve put up a sign like they do at Sea World: the first five rows will get wet!

The disgruntled look on Juno’s face as she wipes my blood out of her eyes only makes me laugh harder. She only rolls her eyes at me. “Was that really necessary?”

“Probably not. But you look good in red.” I lean my head back against the tile and drop my hands back into my quickly cooling blood. The problem with bodily fluids is that it gets cold so fast. Not to mention it’s a bitch to clean up.

Juno follows my gaze to the ceiling where the spray patterns would probably send crime scene investigators into an arguably justified frenzy. “You’re cleaning that up, by the way,” she says pleasantly as she stands and begins to peel her soaked t-shirt off. “This was your idea.”

I sit up awkwardly. It’s hard to move when your ribs are splayed open, plus I’m starting to feel a little tacky; it’s not a good sensation. I watch her unclip her bra, dropping the garment into the plastic tub we keep just for bloody clothing. Her nipples are dark brown and hard in the chilly air. Her skin looks almost translucent in the light. My blood makes her seem even paler than normal. But I’m right; she looks good in red.

Or more accurately, she looks good in my blood.

“You liked it.” I run my hands up her bare legs, following the curve of her calves to the dip behind her knees and then to her wide hips. I thread my fingers through her pubic hair, combing them so they stand up stiffly. I love the way she is made. Her configuration of skin, flesh, and blood pleases me.

Her jeans and underwear join the other clothing with a wet slap. She lifts one leg, then the other, as she joins me in the tub. Juno nudges me with her foot until I’m lying flush against the tub again. I can’t resist catching her ankle and pressing a kiss to her tippy toes. She settles on my lap facing me, her knees on either side of my thighs; it’s a little cramped for two people in this position, but it’s okay. We’re okay like this.

Reaching to the floor, Juno grabs the little china bowl that we’ve taken from the kitchen to hold my heart. I watch as Juno cradles my beating heart in the palm of her hand. She traces her fingers along my gasping arteries, sending a strange tickling sensation up and down my spine. She lifts my heart to her lips and presses a chaste kiss to the pulsating flesh, her lips coming away stained by my blood.

I slide my hand into her hair and pull Juno in for a kiss as she pushes my heart back into my chest, smoothing over the arteries, veins, and aortas until they’re connected and my blood is thrumming through my body again. Sitting back, she closes my rib cage, apologizing quietly at my slight grunt of discomfort. I can feel my flesh and bones begin to knit, but she runs her thumbs along the cuts, urging my body to heal faster.

When I am whole, she reaches behind herself and toggles the faucet until a spray of cold then gradually hot water hits us and we become

Clean

Once more.

"Aaron" (Sun 2/17/2013, 3:46 AM):
My first reaction: W. T. F. This is WAY different from the late-night piece *I* wrote!

My second: Am I just missing something, or is the gender of the character whose point of view this is from...completely ambiguous? I find that really interesting...

I feel like I ought to step up my game, now...!

"brightsuzaku" (Sun 2/17/2013, 10:01 AM):
WTF?! This... this is totally bizarre, strange, and veery cool. I can't even really articulate a response, woooah.

"Amy" (Sun 2/17/2013, 10:03 PM):
I didn't make my protagonist's gender ambiguous on purpose, but once I realized what had happened (about midway through), I liked it and kept it that way. Juno's gender is definitely on purpose, I did consider making her a boy, but somehow she seemed fit better as a girl. My protagonist wanted to touch a girl.

When you read it, does it seem like I am the one speaking (ie female) or do you insert your own gender into my protagonist?

I'm glad you liked it, Brightsuzaku! It's probably not surprising the idea came to me during my shower. ^^

"Brightsuzaku " (Mon 2/18/2013, 12:23 AM):
Shower ideas are the best ideas! MOST of my hour-long showers are deep thoughts and philosophical derping.

"Amy" (Mon 2/18/2013, 12:49 AM):
The tiles act as an amplifier and strengthens your brain waves! That's my theory.

"Aaron" (Mon 2/18/2013, 7:14 PM):
I don't have tiles in my shower. What do I do?

"Amy" (Mon 2/18/2013, 9:33 PM):
Tinfoil hat