Day 63: Main Street (Morning)

[oyaji]

Once the buses had rolled to a stop and the engines cut, Kotetsu waited impatiently with a sore neck for his turn to get off this clunker. He stood up from his row, stretching back and forth with a loud, tired heave. He didn't remember falling asleep and he felt a little embarrassed since he was the one who had volunteered to watch the scenery.

Ah well, his partner probably would have had to help him anyway. His attention span would make a gnat laugh. Once the row in front of them stood up to leave, Kotetsu shimmied out of his seat and into the main aisle ahead of Barnaby. The cold, crisp air of an early morning hit him in the face as he staggered down the bus stairs, but he didn't get any further than that.

"Kotetsu T. Kaburagi!" A sharp female voice cut through the peaceful murmurings of the passing patients. He turned around to see an irate looking nurse staring him down by the driver's seat. "You come back on this bus and pick up your trash! We are not your mothers, picking up after your messes!"

For once, Kotetsu had nothing to say, constructive or otherwise. Maybe it was the early morning or the fact he had just waken up, but that woman completely shook him off his guard. Slack-jawed and more than a little put out for being called out like a kid, the former Hero stomped back onto the bus with a terribly immature pout frozen on his dark face. After about ten rows, Kotetsu found his discarded muffin wrapper tossed on the floor and picked it back up with a quick and spiteful swipe before coming back to the screeching harpy.

"Thank you, Kotetsu. Hoenstly... How old are you? You should be setting a better example for the other patients."

Kotetsu grumbled something under his breath before finally getting off the bus and meeting up with his partner that had that look on his face. Sighing, he waited for the inevitable lecture as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and kept walking.

[Bunny and then Niikura~!]

Comments

[baniichan]

When Kotetsu stepped off the bus, Barnaby was there to meet him, his arms folded over his chest. Reading the man's body language with ease, he wordlessly turned to to walk alongside his partner as they ventured onto the street leading out of the park.

Once they were relatively out of earshot from the surrounding staff, Barnaby gave Kotetsu a stern look from behind his glasses. "You really need to stop doing that, you know," he told him. "Litter is an eyesore for the people who have to look at it, and an inconvenience for the ones who have to clean up after you."

He'd quietly overlooked it in the past, particularly when he hadn't felt inclined to scold Kotetsu in front of other people. But right then it was just the two of them, and Barnaby felt it was in the older man's better interests to hear this from someone.

"Besides," he added, raising a finger to emphasize his point, "it makes me look bad, too. If you draw too much negative attention to the both of us, the nurses might use that as the perfect opportunity to split us apart."

[oyaji]

"They're gonna split us apart because I dropped a muffin wrapper? Bu-nny...!" Kotetsu whined, more exasperated than usual. It was too early to be scolded. He hated even being up this early, let alone made to do things against his will, like get on a bus and clean up one piece of litter. Honestly, he couldn't have been the only one to have done that, but he had been the only one called out for it. How unfair!

"Okay, I'd agree with you if I had just dumped a mountain of crap in a forest, but it was a muffin wrapper. Besides, people get paid to clean up trash. Some poor man would be out of a job if we all cleaned up after ourselves you know... I'm just helping the underdog out!" Yeah, score one for Kotetsu!

[baniichan]

Barnaby was unimpressed with Kotetsu's logic, and the flat look he gave him said as much. "The point is, we're the ones at a disadvantage right now," he reminded him. "They can do whatever they want to us, for whatever reason they want. With as many people as they've brought here, we're probably dispensable to them, too. Don't test them."

But there was something else that bothered him, and it wasn't necessarily something Kotetsu had done. Barnaby's expression grew softer as he thought over what he'd heard a few moments ago.

"That name the nurse used, though," he murmured, his voice dropping in volume. "Is this the first time they've called you that?"

[nobleman]

It was a good thing that Guy had been able to meet up with Luke first thing. It meant that he would actually be able to enjoy the rest of his trip rather than spending the whole time worrying about his friend and whether or not he'd been whisked away somewhere again.

Doyleton was, for the most part, a safe place. There had been that one time, but at this point it could probably be written off as a singular event. So Guy was willing to let Luke take off on his own to explore the town, seeing how this was his first time in Doyleton. It probably wasn't going to stand out that much to Luke when he'd already seen most of Auldrant, but it was better than being stuck in the institute all the time, at least.

Being in town again just reminded Guy of what he bought the last time he was here, which was the material he needed to make a sheath for his sword. He really needed to get working on that, didn't he? It just seemed like they never had enough time.

Still, maybe he could find something else that was useful during this trip. As he held the spending card they'd been given in one hand he started to stroll down the main street, looking over the shops for any ideas.

[For Edgar.]

[girlsandgadgets]

Though the conversation with Tolten and the events of the night prior had left him far more optimistic than he'd been in days— the fact the inspector had not shown up for their meeting should have given him more alarm, but it was hard to be disappointed with a night spent in a store practically screaming his name— Edgar still had to stifle mild concern as he stepped off the bus, watching his fellow patients exit the other vehicles.

He spotted neither Terra nor Locke from his cursory scan of the crowd, and Lunge was apparently still missing; however, as he started down the street, he spotted one he recognized. He quickened his pace to catch up, jacket hung across his shoulders acting more as a cape in the passing air.

"Good morning, Guy," he greeted, a smile on his face.

[nobleman]

Before Guy had made any final decision on what store he wanted to visit first, he heard someone greet him from behind and turned to see none other than Edgar standing there. Just seeing the man's face again brought a smile to Guy's face, and he nodded in return. "Nice to see you, Edgar. I hope you've been staying out of trouble?"

Not that that was really in anyone's best interest. The more trouble you got in here, the closer you were to something important. That was the theory that he'd been working on, anyway. The idea that he and his friends were putting themselves in danger for no reason was a lot harder to accept.

"Did you enjoy the ride over?" he asked next, thinking back to the buses that they'd just left. He knew he wouldn't mind getting a look at the inside of one of them, and he got the feeling that Edgar felt the same way.

[ippo]

After leaving his lunch with Snow for safe keeping, Ippo quietly waited for his turn to get off the bus and into Doyleton for the second time. It would really be his only chance to exercise and work out a lot of kinks that had built up in his body. Since the operation, the boxer hadn't exerted himself for fear of popping a stitch or irreparably damaging something vitally important.

He would start out slow. Nice and slow to warm everything up and determine what his limits were. Yeah, that sounded just fine. Okay, easy does it. Taking a lungful of cold morning air, Ippo checked to make sure his shoes were properly tied so he didn't trip and knock a few teeth out on the pavement. That wouldn't be a good end to this day at all.

Coming to the first light, he began rotating his shoulders, shaking himself loose and pulling a few squats to warm up his legs. When the light turned green, he set a slow pace across the intersection and down the street. Soon, his thighs began to burn from ill-use and mending tissue, but it only prompted Ippo to push a little harder.

As strange as it may have sounded, the boxer enjoyed the burn and the pain that filled his cold lungs and tore at his muscle tissue. It was a form of comfort, something that he understood full well. It came from a love that left him bloody and crawling back for more. Soon the the burn began to bubble up and pop like carbonation in his brain, releasing endorphins. After a moment, he realized he was sprinting down the street much harder than he had meant to.

He came to an abrupt halt to catch his breath. Doubled over, he panted for air as the good feeling spread through him and eventually faded away with time. Cold fists rested on his warm thighs that had been scarred from torture.

This time, he firmly stuck to a steady pace, nothing that chilled his chest or hurt his legs. It was kind of hard to see around tears, but that really couldn't be helped.

[Izaya]

[propheteer]

Beyond finding a good spot where he could watch people—both townsfolk and patients alike—Izaya didn't really have any plans for how to spend his day. They'd all been given money again (an inquiry to a nurse as he got off the bus had revealed it was a fair deal more than the paltry $5 he'd been given last week), so he would need to tend to that matter before the day was out (spend it or lose it, it seemed)... But for now, he'd decided to simply stretch his legs with a walk around the block.

He'd started up Germaine Street at a brisk pace, and then headed down Wicker. Disappointed by the overall lack of pedestrian traffic in the area, he'd turned again to go back over to Main—surely there would be more people he could watch there.

As it turned out, there were... and he'd no sooner spotted other person than he'd had to backpedal away.

There had been barely a moment to move after spotting something moving—but it was more of a warning that he sometimes got. He'd started clearing out of the way from an ingrained instinct before he'd even fully realized it was a person rather than whatever object had been closest at hand; between that and the fact that the man who was running wasn't moving quite as fast as Shizuo's projectiles (or Snow's, for that matter), what might have been a collision ended up only a near-miss instead.

He almost called out an immediate warning to be careful—but it would be more interesting not to, wouldn't it? He didn't mind if the runner collided with someone, just as long as he wasn't the one being collided with.

[ippo]

Predictably, a public street was going to be busy, but Ippo had been too wrapped up in his own problems that he hadn't anticipated anyone rounding the corner before he made it past the intersection. Something dark blurred his teary vision until they both seemed to realize a head-on collision was nigh.

The stranger pulled back and the boxer pivoted his weight on his outside leg to quickly spin himself around before he could take anyone out. Between panting breaths, he began apologizing profusely. "I--I'm sorry, that was my fault! Are you--?" Once he finally lifted his head to see if the person was alright, he noticed it was someone he knew. "Ah, Izaya-san! Sorry!"

It was probably fortunate that it was another patient. Not that he wanted to dislocate a friend's shoulder, but Ippo was pretty sure he would get in really big trouble for harming a resident. He wanted to no reason to have to meet the crew that made up the institute's disciplinary board.

"You're... You're pretty quick!"

[dividedby]

So this was Doyleton, huh... Quite the quaint little town, wasn't it. Zero stepped off the bus and took a good, long look around, almost surprised that everything was so old fashioned. Not that the Institute looked any more advanced than this place, but...this town was just so different from it. The architecture, the atmosphere, even the way some of the townsfolk walking around were dressed... If he was as familiar with history as he was years ago, he might have recognized what era this was all from; with as much as he knew now, however, he could only make assumptions. Or else...

...Hmn. Hadn't Albedo told him a few days ago that it was the year 2006 here? Assuming that time in this world matched up with his own, that would certainly explain why things looked the way they did. Outdated by about four centuries. Of course, even that might be an assumption...wonder what might be different here...

It was tempting to start exploring the town now, but there was business he had to attend to first. Meeting with a person he'd promised he would speak to (and hopefully assist in some way) as soon as the prisoners came off the buses... Lana Skye. Ema's older sister.

Thus, despite his curiosity about the town, Zero would wander a short distance from the buses in order to separate himself from the crowd and then stop, scanning the area for any sign of brown hair and a familiar face.

[Lana!]

[fourstonewalls]

Lana paused at the top of the bus' stairs, looking for Zero. Ah. He had separated himself from the group a bit, and was watching for her. She waved a gloved hand at him, and stepped down into the crowd.

Moments later, she emerged from it, and walked over to him. "Zero." She wasn't sure what to say next; he'd been close to Ema, and she barely knew him. That had happened a lot, these past few years; she'd lost track of what mattered to Ema, and, in turn, what mattered to Lana.

None of which would be worth squat if they were all stuck here. "Thank you for this," she added. Meeting with her, finding ways to keep her focused on things they could do something about, or some of both -- he could take his pick.

[dividedby]

It wasn't long before Zero caught sight of Lana waving at him, and he nodded his head in greeting as she approached. "Lana." Somehow, the resemblance to Ema in her face was...more noticeable now. Had it always been that obvious? He should have been more observant before...

But the thought was instantly dropped as Lana expressed thanks, to which he said nothing, only staring at her with no change in expression. Gratitude was not something he knew how to respond to very well; the whole thing tended to be more awkward and unnecessary than anything else. So, like usual, he would choose to not comment on it and move on to more a more important topic to discuss. "The offer still stands," he said, "If there's anything I can do for you, just ask." After all, it was the least he could do now...

[corvus_veritas]

Well, that had certainly been a nice way to spend a bus ride. Somehow Byrne kept forgetting how much a little social interaction really helped to improve his mood. Now if only it would cure headaches and fatigue...

He stepped off the bus and was immediately hit with a dramatic drop in temperature that caused him to shiver and dig his hands into his coat pockets. Okay, then. Already it was clear that standing out here for long periods of time wasn't on the agenda today. But what else was he supposed to do? Sure, it was nice to be away from the Institute for once, but having some clue about what to do in this town would be much, much better. Because right now, he had no clue.

Sighing, Byrne walked some ways down the street before pausing and gazing at the many little shops lining the road. (He also caught sight of the Sheriff's Office, the place he'd been only four nights ago looting weapons and snacks with Renamon. Whoops.) Ah, well. Guess he could always lazily window shop or look for more friendly faces, he supposed.

[Badd!]

[tasteoftruth]

And here we go. Badd had given Byrne the bus ride to calm down, and also because if he was going to talk to his partner he wanted to have an escape route handy. He hadn't been looking forward to this.

After grabbing Lunge's notes from the bulletin board (and checking the usual litany of the dead to see if it was anyone he knew), Badd trailed his partner down the street, away from the dispersing crowd. He waited until anyone besides those little Doyleton drones were out of earshot before coming up to catch his partner's attention.

"Morning, sir." Back to formalities. Those were comfortable, might give Byrne a little ego boost. Badd at least had the delicacy to look a little submissive and apologetic.

[corvus_veritas]

Ack. Byrne froze in place and winced, feeling his heart take a dive-bomb into his stomach. Oh...right. Memories of yesterday's little incident instantly came flooding back. Damn, he'd managed to forget that for a little while, but now here it was rearing its ugly head at him again. Unfortunately.

He almost didn't want to turn around and acknowledge the existence of the man he knew was standing right next to him. Dealing with the aftermath of that episode after what had happened last night? Especially when he was currently considering the fact that he might be one of the quote unquote infected? Count him out. Maybe if he ignored Badd and kept walking, he'd leave him alone.

Oh, who was he kidding. This was Tyrell Badd here. There was no way that'd ever happen.

Byrne let out a sigh and turned his attention to his dear partner. (Thank god his hands were in his pockets already. No need to let Badd see that completely obvious rash on his hand.) "Detective," he responded, his tone mostly flat. It wasn't the most mature way to start this conversation off, no. But just. Did they have to talk about this now?

At least Badd looked sorry - that took any edge off of the prosecutor's response.

[complicatedliar]

Loki found his conversations with Castiel oddly enjoyable, if a bit frustrating. The man had a poker face that could make a seasoned gambler weep, which was what made him so interesting. Well, that, and the fact that he wasn't human, and was probably the person in the institute (though he hopefully had not yet figured it out) closest to Loki's normal level of existence.

He allowed himself to be herded from the bus, wondering how many books he'd be able to purchase with the money on the card - and if he'd be able to convince anyone to give him their money if it came to that.

But where to start? Only he and Soma had made plans of a sort for coming in to town, when last they'd spoken. Hopefully she would still regard him kindly, since things had gotten a bit strained before. Loki lingered near the buses, keeping an eye out for his friend.

[Soma!]

[madeinthehrl]

She wasn't feeling any better when the buses finally rolled to a stop in Doyleton. If anything, she was feeling even more tired, and the revelation that Rei had the same mark on her hand as she did only made things worse.

But it didn't mean anything. It didn't have to mean anything. It could all be a trick on Landel's part, something to pit the patients against each other for no good reason at all. If she felt anything changing--anything beyond what seemed like a slight head cold...well, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

Soma tugged her mitten back on after one last glance at the rash, still angry and red across her wrist. Then she stepped off the bus, trying to keep her shoulders straight and her head held high. Lingormr was standing near the buses, and she made her way over, offering a smile.

"Good morning," she said. "Do you have any plans for today?"

[ham_fisted]

Well, here they were again.

He didn't want to think about how last week went. But oddly enough, he sort of felt worse now than he did then. You couldn't blame him! First Mr. Edgeworth and Wright had shown up, only to disappear in a matter of days... Then Ms. von Karma had been "released", followed by Ema Skye... That was two promises he'd managed to break. Somewhere between then and now, he'd started to doubt whether they'd ever escape this place. Some nights they made progress of one kind or another... other nights, not so much. This week had taken its toll.

Now there was a new challenge on the horizon. Speaking as someone who'd been here for well over a month, there wasn't much that could mentally prepare anyone for the chaos that might be coming in the next few days. ...Well, they were off to a good start, he guessed. Knowing that monsters existed and all.

For everyone else's sake, he had to keep fighting. If ever there was a right time for giving up (there wasn't), now certainly wasn't it.

Gumshoe turned away from the people filing off the buses and back toward the town again, looking like he was lost in thought. He jammed his fists into his coat pockets. It was still pretty cold, but he didn't really...

They could be in the middle of a hurricane for all he cared! He was just glad to be outside. To think he used to take fresh air for granted.

[free; might be a bit slow, but up for backthreading!]

[unpriest]

[OOC: Do you mind? :O I'll be a bit slow myself, so...]

Seishin hadn't been entirely certain what to expect of this 'Doyleton', nor had he been certain what exactly he was supposed to be doing here once the bus stopped in the middle of a park. It was a rather nice-looking park, with a pond bordered by weeping willows and benches. But as nice-looking was, he guessed the best thing to do would be seeing what this 'Doyleton' was like.

Doyleton proved to be small, though not as small as Sotoba had been. It seemed like one of those typical American towns you'd see in American films. There were various business, some of which holding names Seishin recognized from the coupons. He wasn't very interested in most of them, however. Perhaps he could give his coupon to someone who would be happy with a manicure.

But as he walked through the main streets, the nurses that watched them served to remind them that the freedom they enjoyed was but a false one. The former priest had to wonder why they even bothered with such an excursion to begin with, considering the nurses were watching their every move. Perhaps it was merely for the sake of granting them this false sense of freedom -- the chains may have slackened, but they were nonetheless still tying them down.

He guessed the 'illness' would be enough to spoil any sense of 'fun' people could have had in a place like this anyway. A sense of dread would accompany them like a shadow, would it not? Seishin himself didn't feel particularly different. Would it have mattered if he did, however?

Lost in thought as he was, Seishin just managed to stop himself from walking into another man. He inwardly reprimanded himself for it -- he wasn't usually this unperceptive.

"Ah-- My apologies," he uttered in a quiet voice, bowing his head. "I did not mean to disturb you."

[rainboompow]

She was never talking to any humans with white or white-grey manes again, she swore to Celestia.

Much as she hated to admit it, Freakin' Fuckin's words had given Rainbow Dash a serious dip in confidence. There was no guarantee that even if she did get away from the town, they wouldn't just pull her back using whatever magic had pulled her in here in the first place. She kept trying to tell herself that she would never know until she tried, and that Freakin' didn't know what he was talking about. But still...

"Maaaaybe I should look around a bit first," she told herself, chewing on the inside of her pink human lips. "Y'know, get a lay of the land before I bust out." The conviction in her words was so weak in that moment a straw seemed sturdier.

[Luke]

[dispersive]

And in that moment, the sounds of squealing tires and irate horns called out from behind her. Luke was halfway in an intersection, mere inches away from a car that had been going through the light when he had began walking across.

The driver kept saying something about the lights, but that meant nothing to Luke who tried to argue, apologize, and get out of the way all at the same time. He had to get across, so he assumed this place would stop for him just as the carts and carriages in Aldruant had to. This place, though, was full of impatient people that'd sooner run you over with their iron carriages.

Eventually, the replica had enough sense of survival to stop yelling at the driver when more cars began to back up and honk as well. If things got out of hand, Luke couldn't exactly take all these people out on his own. He didn't even have his sword with him. Outclassed, he finally moved back to the sidewalk and pointed at the man who sped past him.

[age_of_kings]

Once in town, Tolten found himself a touch overwhelmed. It wasn't that this place was any bigger or stranger than anything he'd ever seen before, but it was all so different. In that strange way where everything was perfectly identifiable and recognizable, but not quite what he was used to.

It was just a small village, really, about the same size as most he'd visited on his journeys. But...goodness, it just wasn't the same. It in turns delighted and distressed him, the newness and un-familiarness of it all.

But standing about was pointless! He had his 'credits' or whatever money was used here and his vouchers, and if nothing else he could have a nice manicure. And...well...he did want to find Locke in town. And he needed to speak with Claude, as well! And he wanted to actually explore the town...was there enough time for everything?

Not if he simply stood about, of course not! Tucking his gloved hands into his coat pockets, Tolten took a few steps down the street, eyes open for a familiar face.

[For Claude!]

[earthling]

Claude didn't know whether his bus-ride companion would adjust to his new surroundings, but he wished him the best regardless. He looked like a tough guy, though, so hopefully he would be okay. Although he wouldn't have minded sticking with him for a little longer, it didn't take long for the two of them to become separated as the nurses escorted them out into the park.

He thought he could see the breath in front of his face, but a little cold weather never hurt anyone. After adjusting his coat, Claude ventured out onto Main Street, his eyes combing the area for someone he recognized.

A moment later, he caught sight of Tolten, and his expression brightened. Great! One of the people he needed to see.

"Hey!" he called as he waved from a distance. Once he'd got the other man's attention, Claude jogged over, closing the gap between them.

[vinesofregret]

The bus ride over had been a strange mix of the unfamiliar and the nostalgic - though he was fairly certain Jeep's suspension was far better than that. He missed the tiny dragon, though, and his friends, which alone was enough to somewhat temper his nervousness at the rash that had showed up on the back of his hand that morning. It could be nothing - or it could be a sign of some other change within him, and either way, he didn't like it.

He filed off the bus with the others, and found himself standing in the daylight of what looked to be a nice, ordinary street, in a nice, ordinary little town. Compared to the institute, the normalacy was almost disorienting - though he remembered what Gren had said, about the people here believing the same lies the doctors did. No help to be had from them, then - but with the resources here, perhaps he could make his own help.

[for Gren!]

[stellarregions]

The bus ride in had left him feeling a little frustrated and depressed, but Gren did his best to shake it off as he got off the bus and started into town. The last time he'd been here, he'd been far too sick to really appreciate the little bit of freedom they were being given. Today, however, he was going to try and take advantage of it.

It wasn't too long before he spotted a familiar figure, and after a moment of contemplation he headed over to catch up with Hakkai. Maybe they'd be able to brainstorm a little more over what it was they'd uncovered the night before.

"Hey," he commented as he came up beside the other man. "Not a bad day for a field-trip, huh?"

Granted, his own idea of what good weather was had been pretty thoroughly warped over the last few years.