damned_institute | Day 28: Bus 1

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Day 28: Bus 1

Zelgadis was not happy, at all. Not that this was any change, but the events of the past few hours had given him more to angst about than usual. Nightshift had been dreadful: first he was attacked by a small green man and then covered in leeches, neither of which lead to warm fuzzy feelings.

And now this.

When the nurse had come into his room with new clothes he had a small glimmer of hope-- some thief had taken his normal Landel's wear in the night, so perhaps this was a change in luck. However, it was not the godsend he had hoped for. Minus the threat of sedation, there was nothing in the universe that could make Zelgadis wear a bright lemon-yellow shirt. There was a jacket of a slightly more tasteful variety, so Zelgadis made good us of it-- he put all his coupons in a pocket and pulled up the hood. It was almost as good as his cloak. Well, no it wasn't, but it would have to do.

With mild protesting, Zelgadis was lead to a large yellow vehicle. He climbed the stairs, took a seat towards the back, and readied himself for another frustrating day of being attacked and threatened with spoons.

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Anise was perhaps one of the few who awoke in the same room she last recalled being in. She sat up in bed, wondering how she had fallen asleep in the first place. The last time she had found herself in this position, she could have plausibly fainted, but this time she had been in perfectly passable health. Was this how the nights always ended here? She couldn't quite get used to it. And this night had ended way too soon!

The nurse entered the room, as always, but this time with a paper bag and a change of clothes. "Today is the big field trip! Aren't you excited, Dolores?" Anise had nearly forgotten the announcements she heard the day before. They were really going to leave? It sounded too good to be true. The woman set some things on the girl's bed and from them, held up a bright yellow sun dress--the kind that only little kids would wear on a normal day, but thankfully for this woman Anise wasn't that familiar with modern Earth fashion. "You're always wearing those pretty yellow ribbons, so I thought you might like to wear something yellow!" Wrong. Anise's favorite color, the color that was present in nearly every outfit she owned, was what she liked to call Lovely Pink. Still, the dress was kind of cute, and it was a million times better than the institution's bland uniforms, so she accepted it without arguing. The nurse helped her change into the garment, which did lead to some arguing, but Anise wound up having to give in, as she still wasn't supposed to be moving her left arm. But... for an injury that should have been taking weeks to heal, it sure was feeling a lot better after merely a day and a half.

She was then put into a blue denim jacket, had her sling replaced over her arm, and was ushered out of the room and out of the building. They had really taken her outside! But not to freedom, she noted, as there were orderlies in every direction, and nurses herding patients into some vehicles that looked like some kind of miniature landships. Tacky-looking ones, at that. Running wasn't an option, so she boarded the nearest landship without making a fuss.

It seemed she was one of the last to board, as the bus was looking pretty full. But that was no problem for a social butterfly like Anise! She skipped over to the first empty seat she spotted, and sat down without asking the permission of the stranger who was already seated next to it. Why bother? It wasn't like any good man would refuse the company of a cute girl like her. Looking up at him with a bright smile, apparently ignoring the mood that he appeared to be in, she chirped a "Good morning!" at him.

"...good morning," Mousse said back politely, but solemnly. He was not adverse to the company, though his injuries and lack of action when he should have acted last night still plagued him. No wonder Shampoo didn't want anything to do with him; he was a no good coward.

No, no, no. That wasn't right. He had been caught off guard and it could have happened to anyone. He was still every bit a man and he would prove it by rising to whatever challenge he faced in the upcoming days. Amazons did not back down from a fight.

He wasn't wearing his glasses, but the voice of his seatmate implied she was a woman. He wondered idly if she was dressed as ridiculously as he was.

Boooo. He'd barely looked at her.

So he seemed a little gloomy. That hardly excused ignoring a pretty girl that was practically right in front of him! Anise noted his sling; the guy had probably gotten into a nasty fight, possibly not too unlike her own two nights ago. Maybe he just needed some cheering up!

Whatever the case, a silent trip was out of the question for Anise. Recovering her smile, and hoping the stranger hadn't noticed it fade into a frown just moments ago, she tried to start up a conversation. "Wow! I can't believe they're really letting us outside like this. I wonder if they'll have trouble keeping track of everyone in town! Hee hee." Frankly, she hoped they would.

"Is this rare?" Mousse blinked. True, he hadn't seen the outside world the previous day, but that had been his first morning at the institute. He had been under the impression that these weekend trips were routine. Anise had also placed a thought into the myopic Amazon's mind that had previously been overshadowed by his bewilderment and self loathing from the last night- the possibility, once again, to escape.

"Oh! A town would be far less confined, it's true!" He exclaimed, stating the obvious as though it had just dawned on him. This WAS a golden opportunity for escape! He could fight his way through the orderlies and return to his DARLING Shampoo. "And there is no way they could stop all of us!"

"Aiya, Mousse!" She would greet him, tears of joy in her eyes. "Where you been? Shampoo been so worried!"

"It's alright, my love. I'm back."

"Mousse! You hurt!"

"It's a scratch, dear. Nothing your love won't fix..." And he would hold her in his arms and they would lean in and then...

"Eh heh heh heh heh..." That Mousse was aware his expression was that of drunken, lustful happiness as he lost himself in his fantasies was dubious.

"Rare? Well... I haven't heard of it happening before," came the modest reply. It's obviously a trap, she thought to herself, and she might have voiced that thought had it not appeared that hope had already lifted the boy's spirits. If there was one thing she knew for sure about the people running the institution, it was that they weren't stupid. They wouldn't let all their patients run wild unless they were absolutely positive they could handle it.

But going to town meant that even if they didn't escape, they could make contact with the outside world, right? Surely the institution couldn't have enough control to prevent that... could they? They sure thought they did, it seemed, and it was kind of scary.

Anise returned from her thoughts to find her new acquaintance lost in his own... which, from the look on his face and that weird cackle, seemed to be of a more dubious nature. She sighed and shook her head, deciding that she really didn't want to know about whatever weird stuff he was thinking about.

Curiosity got the better of her after several seconds, however, and she lifted her head to look around at her surroundings. There were windows all around, so it was clear that there were no other rooms in the vehicle. It may have been the smallest landship she'd ever seen, but it was still big enough that it needed something to move it. Didn't it? "Can this thing really move?" she wondered out loud. "It doesn't even look like there's an engine room..."

Mousse blinked away his daydreams and considered the question. "Engine room? This isn't a train."

He pursed his lips and thought a bit more. What if that time machine thing Byakko had talked about was in effect? If there was some part of this place that was capable of time travel, wouldn't it be possible that people from the past could be here as well? Perhaps this woman was from somewhere before the bus was invented! Simply dismissing it as not being a train wasn't being very clear or polite. He continued.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Miss! I mean, it's a bus, so it has a self contained engine..."

Mousse understood, basically, how a gasoline engine worked, but he hoped he didn't have to explain in detail because he had never really spent much time around automobiles.

The girl gave him a puzzled look. The only "train" she knew of was a verb, and she had a feeling that wasn't at all what he was talking about.

"A bus? I've never seen one before." Anise cast a few more glances around. "The only landships I've been on were a lot bigger than this." A self-contained engine...? But where would that even be, when she could see out every side of the vehicle? Maybe it was a really small engine, she decided. It was a smaller vehicle, after all. Since she didn't know much about fontech, that logic was enough to satisfy her curiosity.

It didn't seem like anything could explain its tacky exterior, though.

Mousse didn't know what to say to that. 'Landship'? That didn't mean much to him. This girl was either from another time or a bit odd (though Mousse was one to talk). Instead, he changed the topic. "I don't think I got your name, Miss. I am Mousse."

It didn't seem right to not introduce himself. Afterall, they were going to be chatting for the ride into town, so he might as well ask.

So he was more interested in the cute girl than in the weird vehicle? That was a good sign, she thought dryly to herself. "I'm Anise!" was her cheerful reply. She offered him the adorable smile she used when she wanted to make a good first impression. "Mousse, is it? It's a pleasure to meet you!" Her tone was bubbly and sweet enough to rot a man's teeth.

Without prompt, she moved on to talk more, making sure to fully emphasize her cuteness in every syllable. "I've been here for three days now. It's been so scary, hehe." Wouldn't any man be overcome with pity for a frail maiden forced to endure such horrors? ...Even though the added giggle had made it sound as though she were talking about a scary novel and not about actual life-threatening circumstances.

"Three days?" The Amazon blinked. "So you've not been here that much longer than me."

As for scary, Mousse chalked it off to her apparent young age and gender. All the women outside his village seemed to be frightened by the littlest things. While he hadn't actually been able to SEE the monsters that attacked him and severed his nerves the previous night (they looked just like a little girl as far as he was concerned), he hadn't ever been FRIGHTENED of them. Then again, he had been more concerned with whether or not he was going to bleed out humiliatingly on the bathroom floor. He still needed to redeem himself for that moment of cowardice.

He sighed and turned his gaze back out the window, even though the shapes outside weren't as clear as they might have been with his glasses on.

He hadn't even been there three days? Rats. That meant he wouldn't have much information to share with her. And now he was acting all melancholy again! Back to Gloomsville already!? We haven't even left the building yet! Anise shot him a look of growing contempt from behind his back. What was with this guy's moods?

But her souring thoughts were soon interrupted by the jolts and vibrations of the engine starting. "Huh? We're moving?" The view from the window began to shift, but she couldn't see it very well from where she was sitting. Far more interested in the view outside than in the concept of personal space, she leaned over Mousse with her right hand on his leg for balance, and brought her face over to the window. "Wow! We're really leaving!"

Mousse wasn't thinking about their movement; he had other things to worry about, such as Anise's close invasion of his personal space. Face turning slightly red, he put his hand on her shoulder and sat her back into her original position, making certain to move the hand as well. "Please don't lean over me like that. It's a bit close."

Now he turned to look out the window. "I wonder how far we're going..."

Anise pouted at being shoved away. "But I want to see outside, too! Boooo." Was he shy or something? She hadn't thought of it as being too close--not at all! After all, Anise was the sort of girl who was never at all adverse to clinging to men she had only just met. All she did was lean a little! If that was enough to bother him, Mousse clearly needed to get more used to female contact.

At least his reaction wasn't half as bad as the ones she sometimes got from Guy...

She sighed lightly, glancing inside of the paper bag the nurse had handed her earlier. A muffin, some coupons, and... a box? "It's the nearest town, right? It can't be far," she offered, eyes still on the most unfamiliar of the objects.

"I can switch seats with you, if you would prefer." It wasn't as if Mousse could see as well as she could anyhow. It didn't matter where he sat for the moment and she was free to have the window seat if she was going to use it better.

"Towns can be miles from anything," Mousse mused in response to her question. "And I would think mental institutions would be removed as well."

He was so far away from Shampoo...how he needed to hurry back to her!

Her face lit up at the offer. "Would you? Yay!" Scrunching the bag shut, she stood up in the aisle to allow Mousse to move over. The movement attracted the gazes of some of the Landel's staff, who appeared to be wondering if they needed to walk over and make her sit down. Anise ignored their looks.

It was true that towns could be miles from anything--in fact, it was something Anise knew all too well from experience. Traveling by foot, it had taken days, sometimes weeks to get from one place to another. "Maybe so, but they wouldn't send us on a long trip with just a muffin," she replied. "We'll probably be there before lunchtime! Not far at all."

Anise made a good point-- since they had only provided a muffin, it couldn't be THAT far.

"Hm. I wonder when we'll arrive." Before lunch, yes, but WHEN before lunch?

Somewhat hurriedly, she scooted past Mousse and claimed the window seat. As much as Anise usually loved attention, she had the feeling that she really didn't want that much of it from the orderlies.

When she was settled in her new seat, she turned to answer Mousse. "Who cares? Hehe, I'm just happy we're finally getting a change of scenery." Not to mention a chance to send out a request for help! No matter how many traps the institution was going to set, she just couldn't let this opportunity go to waste!

Anise leaned on the window a bit as she looked outside. "Wow! We're moving pretty fast." She hadn't been sure what to expect from the weird fontech vehicle, but it sure seemed to work well.

Mousse smiled slightly. "I guess I'm lucky I haven't been here long. I guess the institute is going to get boring after awhile." It wasn't 'boring' to the Amazon, per se-- however, the incarceration and his abduction is what made it loathsome. He wondered if he would be thre long enough to feel it was...routine and tediously familiar.

NO! THAT WOULD NOT HAPPEN. HE WAS GOING TO LEAVE AND RETURN TO SHAMPOO LONG BEFORE THAT HAPPENED! Narrowing his eyes, he glanced over at the orderlies on the bus. As risky as it seemed, wouldn't the bus ride be an ideal time to try and get away? There was only so much space on each bus and the staff was split up. What if he attacked now and made a break for it...?

"Boring? That's putting it lightly. I can't believe I'm spending such precious days of my youth in a dump like this...!" she whined, sinking into her seat.

That Mousse sure seemed to change his moods at the drop of a hat. Right now, Anise couldn't even begin to imagine what the heck was going on inside his head.

Mousse continued to glare at the staff that surrounded him and produced his glasses from up a sleeve. He wasn't going to make the same mistake he had last night again-- he needed to be certain of his opponents if he chose to attack.

He still had that pipe and the pens...

But would an attack now really be the best course of action? It limited the mobility of the staff and the speed of reinforcements, but at the same time, it limited where he could do as well and he was handicapped.

Damn it all.

But he had to get back to Shampoo! Even if time was stopped, even if she wasn't really about to get married to Ranma, even if she was happier with him gone, he had to! He clenched his left hand into a fist.

"I must get back to Shampoo. I can't stay here either."

Anise raised an eyebrow. "Shampoo...?" Was that supposed to be the name of a person, place or thing? She couldn't tell, but at the very least, Mousse looked serious.

Besides that...

Hey! Since when did this guy wear glasses?

They looked kind of goofy, so they couldn't be a mere fashion accessory, she thought. Why put them on now?

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Day 28: Bus 1

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