Definitely chillier than last time, Phoenix affirmed with a brief shiver, re-wrapping his scarf as he stepped off the bus and onto the street. All of the patients looked to be drifting their separate ways, down towards parks and side-streets, and as he took off he wondered what the point of this exercise was. 'Test' seemed like the popular theory for everything the institute did, but Doyleton especially reeked of some bad reality show setup. Four coupons, a bag of food, and a full day in a town full of everything but some meaningful connection to the outside world. He mentally cataloged the most glaring missing pieces. No banks, no churches, no post offices, no newspapers or ads. He made a note to look for televisions - maybe the bar would have one - though he doubted already any one would be turned to a channel with current events, or even so much as a news ticker. And there wasn't even a police station, at least not one he'd seen during the full lap of the place last time - just a building that he'd really wanted to believe he'd misread the fist time his eyes darted past the words 'sheriff's office'.

An entire town with no infrastructure. Phoenix felt almost embarrassed by how awful a sham it was. He knew that most of the patients would probably assume it was a fake anyway, but whoever had made the place could have at least tried.

Walking down the street, Phoenix took stock of his resources and did his best to formulate a plan of action. Since he didn't imagine that whoever ran the hair salon would be falling all over her- or himself to trade for a muffin and some fruit, what he was left with was coupons. What was more, it looked like basically the same coupon book as last time. He cursed at himself for having gotten rid of last week's extras. That would be two massages and two manicures to bargain with (along with maybe today's lunch, if he got especially desperate). Two of both the luxury goods he could probably do something with, but only one of each? That was trickier.

He stopped outside the door to the salon, ruffling through the booklet one last time, distractedly sipping at his juice.

[reserved for Apollo]

Sora had been glad enough to get further into the quarry, but that had all changed when the shack he had Allen had been searching suddenly got clogged with fog and covered in blood. He'd woken up disoriented and shaky, but relieved rather than frustrated. They hadn't gotten a chance to search the whole area, but they had seen a lot more of it.

Had things suddenly turned strange like that because of them getting too curious, though? He wasn't sure if that had been some kind of warning and if it would be dangerous to head back there...

Whether or not he actually got to report to Momo about it remained to be seen, though. Today marked another trip into Doyleton, and Sora was outfitted with warm clothes and dumped on the bus. He was distracted on the way down, staring out the window, and so before he knew it they had arrived and he hadn't even gotten the chance to talk to anyone.

Well, all he knew was that today he was going to explore some more. His wounds weren't as bad as they had been yesterday - he wasn't feeling great by any means, but he could manage - which meant that he had the freedom to wander around as he pleased. He exited the bus with coupons in hand and then deliberately turned away from the park. He'd spent far too many of his trips in that place.

As he started down the main road, he quickly spotted the toy shop that Allen had mentioned the night before. Figuring he might as well check it out (even though it might not be particularly helpful), he stepped inside. It looked like he was the first customer of the day - the store was empty except for the clerk - but Sora didn't mind. There was a lot to look over, and so he started browsing the shelves with a certain nostalgia for Santa's factory.

The Scarecrow was amazed and overwhelmed as he stepped off the bus- something about this place reminded him deeply of the Emerald City, but somehow less... inviting. Streets, storefronts, people out and about- he felt closer to home than he'd felt in a while, even more so than in the Recreational Field and the Courtyard at the Institute. Still, something did seem very off about the whole situation.

Oh, there was that homesick feeling again. It was strangely comforting for him to feel homesick. He really didn't want to grow to like this place, even in the smallest way. Well, the friends had been wonderful, and he'd had an excellent, though-provoking conversation with a robot on the bus (oh, if only he had is brains!), and the wonders of the human body were proving to be mostly an enjoyable experience, but this wasn't home.

He wandered the main street, looking into the colorful storefronts and people-watching as he walked. The freedom was nice, even if the nurses seemed to appear around every corner. He spotted a few of the other patients turning down various alleyways and entering the establishments that lined the road, but he kept on the street, enjoying the weather. He smiled politely at those who caught his eyes. It really was a little reminiscent of home.

His mind was drawn out of his thoughts when his body twitched a little strangely. That bare-foot-on-the-floor feeling seemed to have enveloped his arms and legs- he figured that probably wasn't a good thing, and maybe it was time he entered one of these stores and saw what was actually inside. One in particular caught his eye: Mystic Healing Spa and Acupuncture. That was a long name, but he wasn't sure what purpose the store served- all the more reason to go inside.

The inside of the building was very different from the outside- frankly, it made him think even more of home. The flower motif on the wall caught his attention second to the strong smell in the air- he couldn't quite describe it.

[from here]

There were people in white all over the place, and it was one of them that stopped Kurogane before he got any further than what looked like another park at the end of the main street. He only snorted at the person, but didn't try anything and just turned around back into the park. It looked worse than the other one by a mile, but Kurogane didn't much care for atmosphere. There was no real danger that he could sense by staying, and at least a place like this would be one anybody who liked him would keep away from.

He found a bench that was still standing and banged at it to see if it was safe enough to sit on. When he decided it would do, he plopped down. So long as certain people didn't bother him, he would take what time he could to just sit and think about this situation for a change.

[Free and broody; No limit]

[From here]

The first store to really catch his attention was one that appeared to carry various items used for repair. Some Takasugi was familiar with while others he'd never seen before. From the window, he could already spot a few that could prove to be of use to him, provided he could figure out how to acquire them without any cash. The institution had only given him a few coupons, none of which had the store's name on it nor seemed to name any destinations he had actually wanted to visit at some point in the day.

After a quick glance to make sure he wasn't being followed by the nurses (or by a certain Vice Commander he had spotted on his way to here who had been unmistakable in a shade of orange blinding enough that even someone with poor depth perception couldn't miss), Takasugi stepped inside to get a better look. A few stares were cast his way at the bandages, but no one approached him with inane questions or vapid attempts at conversation, something he was grateful for as he casually strolled down the aisles, inspecting the nails first.

They weren't optimal, especially to a samurai whose sword had been like an arm to him for over a decade, but he could snatch enough of them to do considerable damage to the flesh. Even if they were blunt, he would be able to put enough strength and momentum into his swing to draw blood. The hammers were another option but more difficult to conceal anywhere on his body.

He continued to browse, fingers running along each new tool to test the sharpness, his smile increasing as he quickly came upon a set of saws. Now, that was more like what he had in mind.

[Reserved for Mami's little girl Kagura]

_{[from here]}

The sheriff’s place was closer, and that decided it for him.

Outside, the doll stood looking up at the building, scrutinizing it. The slight skepticism he felt thankfully didn’t bleed into his expression. Well, he’d known there was a sheriff, and he knew what a sheriff was--in fact, he’d even played a sheriff one or two times, complete with the star badge and cowboy hat--but ultimately, seeing the office of one with his own eyes was almost comical.

Japan didn’t have sheriffs, but it had the internet and Western movies.

After a moment, the doll stepped up to the door and knocked politely, because he was only willing to play into the ‘I’m a patient, so I don’t always have to follow proper etiquette’ role he’d had foisted on him. But all the same… He waited the minimum amount of time for someone inside to recognize there was someone at the door before reaching out and opening it himself, enough to poke his head in.

There was no point in not taking advantage of his outsider status sometimes. It wasn’t like he could even confirm this town wasn’t anything more than a prop conjured up by Landel like his blood and fog effects, anyway.

[from here]

The smell of old paper, leather and cardboard was oddly comforting. It had been too long since Ritsuka had been able to visit the patient library and since he was only able to check out one book, he usually had way too much time on his hand. Ritsuka was used to reading at least one or two books a day, so having just one for an entire week was almost painful.

As soon as he entered the store, however, he was keenly aware of the clerks at the back - the ones who likely would be guarding this shop. Even if he was just a kid by all appearances, he knew they'd likely keep an eye on him. He was still a patient, so how could they trust him, right?

Moving through the aisles, Ritsuka let his gaze wander the different titles lined up, or rather stacked and wedged into every single available place. The cramped quarters made it hard to get comfortable, but the presence of books alone was enough to put Ritsuka at ease. Reaching out, he traced a finger along the spines of the books, trying to figure out what sort of order they were in. So far it seemed they were divided into the normal sections, but the books were just piled everywhere.

Finally coming to rest on the non-fiction section, Ritsuka pulled out a book on the science of flight. He sat down and opened the book carefully so as not to break the spine, then started reading.

[for Rude]

Taking a walk. Sure.

Dean didn't really like the idea of Sam wandering off by himself, but short of stalking his brother and hiding in bushes, he didn't have a lot of options aside from doing just that or giving him some space. Dean adjusted his heavy jacket as he glanced down at the coupons the nurses handed him, popping his collar against the cold air. "Free food" caught his eye and while free food was always worth the stop, a coupon didn't beat out cold hard cash; something he had none of and really, really wanted some. He supposed he didn't have it as hard as some people - he'd rarely held down an honest job in his life, and while he couldn't fall back on the old Winchester favorite of credit card fraud, there were other ways of getting money. Sticky fingers, maybe some hustling down the road. Money right now wasn't gonna do a whole lot of good against the Institute's monsters...it would be useful once they got outta here, though.

The coupon was for Tasty Burger which, in small town talk, equaled to Doyleton's version of a McDonalds. Dean stepped inside, didn't miss a beat when he saw they even had a kiddie ball pit and headed right for the counter, putting on his best casual grin as he spotted the cute chick behind the register.

Grell was drawn by the smell first and foremost. While he didn't have an extraordinary sense of smell, he could discern that there was something in the air as he wandered down the main street. It was something heavenly, as thick and sweet as the perfumeries had been in England and France. The places he used to visit to see the latest fashions and learn the tips and secrets of anointing oneself like the truly beautiful women did.

Of course, after a time, he'd realized their beauty only ran skin deep and he'd reaped most of their souls as their time came, but for a little while, they had been such lovely flowers for the world to see.

The chance to see just what sort of things this world had to offer was too alluring for Grell not to make a beeline to this new place. After accepting a red scarf to go with his outfit, the death god snapped up the papers the nurse handed him and set off through the town. Winter was always so beautiful, and also one of the death god's busiest seasons. In London, when temperatures dropped low, so did people's health. And when the cold mixed with illness, the List filled up and Grell had a little extra spring in his step.

The shop door was readily open and Grell peered inside tentatively, as if it might dissipate like a mirage. The pink walls and the quaint decorations combined with the overwhelming scents that seemed to envelope him like a hug...

Oh, but he was in Heaven.

Stepping inside, the former butler peered at the various bottles and soaps lined up on the shelves, holding his hands to his chest. This place was Paradise.

[Free, I think? Unless Celes is coming for him.]