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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Of all the ridiculous things Duo had been forced to endure in his life, this was the worst. Not so much the clothes, which some of the patients seemed to be resenting. His own were just fine by his standards: dark blue turtleneck, blue jeans, and a gray hoodie. It was better than the normal attire.

But still, why? In the name of all that was good and whole and sane, why would they stick them on these god-awful buses?! Weren't the smilies and the inane daytime activities enough? This wasn't a hospital to help the insane... This was a hospital to make people insane.

Due to a bit of extra snoozing, the gundam pilot was being hurried towards his impending yellow doom by a nurse. It was only with a few seconds to spare that Duo scrambled up the steps and onto the horrific thing. The doors swished shut behind him.

"Great..." he muttered, clutching the bagged breakfast in one hand as he scanned the bus for a seat. The nurse was still watching him from her own 'chaperone' seat, so he quickly chose one next to some sleeping guy. Unceremoniously, he dropped himself into the seat and slouched down until his head was hidden from view, pulling up his knees to rest against the back of the seat.

"Hey." Duo jabbed the other boy lightly in the side, giving him a curious glance. "You drugged already?"

Naoto cracked his dark gray eyes open again, and glared at the long-haired kid who'd sat next to him. He didn't appreciate the contact.

"No," he said tersely. He was just tired. Of course, it was none of this boy's business, and Naoto could care less what he thought. He wasn't here to make friends. (The fact that he didn't know why he was here notwithstanding.)

"Oh, get up on the wrong side of the bed, huh?" Duo wasn't exactly sunshines and puppies this morning, either. He dropped the bagged breakfast onto his lap and opened it, fishing out the meager contents.

"Well, I'm so sorry for interrupting your beauty sleep, 'cause you certainly need it. If you want to be a grouch and brush off my concern, then whatever, that's fine by me. Just don't come crawling back later when everyone hates you for you sour attitude, ok?"

Naoto snorted and rested his head against the window again. People already did hate him, fear him. He was used to it, and the threat of more of the same from this long-haired idiot was nothing to concern himself with. He was annoyed at having to share his seat--really, weren't there other places where the kid could've sat?--but maybe if Naoto just ignored him, Duo would go away. Or just get the hint that Naoto didn't want to be friendly.

Duo waited for a moment to see if the other would respond, only to realize that the other boy was simply going to ignore him. Well, the God of Death wasn't going to have that. He gave him another jab in the ribs.

"Hey, this is the part where you're supposed to apologize for your misguided ways, you know. Say 'Oh, I'm sorry. I was being rude. My name is such-and-such. How are you?". Then we chat and be friends and that nurse up front will stop giving me the evil eye about being social. Ok, buddy?"

"...don't touch me." Naoto glared again, wanting nothing more than to get up and walk away. Why was he on this stupid damn field trip in the first place?

"If you want the nurse to stop glaring at you, pretend I'm interested in what you're saying." Naoto didn't care if Duo's nurse was firing killer eye beams to put Libra's to shame at him. It wasn't his problem.

"Oh, touchy." Naoto's glare could have been puppies and sunshine for all Duo seemed to care. He'd gotten worse from Heero before, and no one could perfect a death glare like that boy could. After checking to make sure said person wasn't sitting nearby, Duo continued.

"You know, you remind me of someone. And they had a stick up their ass, too, if I do recall. Any particular reason for that, or did you just get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? I mean, a decent person would at least give me their name."

Truthfully though, this guy kinda did remind him of someone. Or at least his voice did. He sounded kinda like that guy he'd met with Quatre, but that was absurd. This guy here looked Japanese, and Quatre's friend certainly wasn't.

Naoto sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. This kid was obnoxious, annoying, and he really didn't want to deal with anyone at the moment. He just wanted to get to the damn town, find his brother, and try to get away.

"My name is Kirihara. Kirihara Naoto." Naoto hoped that giving his name would get the boy to get off his back. As for everything else...he didn't know what Duo was talking about, 'reminding him of someone.' He ignored that part.

Duo raised a brow at the name. He hadn't actually expected to get it so easily. "There, see? Now we're getting somewhere. I'm Duo Maxwell." So, this guy actually was Japanese. At least with a name like that, he was. It was pretty long, though. It wouldn't hurt to take it upon himself to shorten it, right?

"So, Kiri, when did you end up here? Do you know anyone yet? Have any friends?"

Naoto just stared at Duo incredulously, the nickname and the absurdity of it grating on his nerves. It was horribly insulting.

"I got here yesterday, Makusuwaru." He intentionally let his accent thicken to the point of absurdity when saying Duo's name, a small bit of revenge. "And if you only have the brain capacity for two syllables, feel free to use my given name."

Duo grinned at the name, but there was a slight tension beneath it. "First name basis already? Well, I'm honored. I wouldn't be a gentlemen if I didn't offer you the same, now would I? You can call me Duo. Ok, Naoto?"

He paused a moment after the name. "Well, would you look at that. Three syllables. I must be on a roll today."

"Now you won't have to strain yourself telling between me and my brother." Naoto snorted. "And 'nao' is one syllable."

Naoto thought about making some comment about his math skills being pathetic as well, but held off. He'd never be rid of the obnoxious American if he pushed too far.

Like Duo knew anything about how to pronounce Japanese names. "So you put the 'a' and 'o' together in one syllable? Man, you Japanese are weird. No wonder you talk funny." And it didn't seem he was above making fun of Naoto's speech or grammar, either.

"Anyway, you have a brother? What's his name?" The braided boy was more than happy to let the harassment die down a little in favor of having a real conversation. But he could keep being an ass, too, if that's what the other wanted.

"And Americans are rude and obnoxious," Naoto returned blandly, more by reflex than anything, looking out the window in hopes of seeing the town ahead so he could get away from this guy.

"His name is Naoya."

Rude and obnoxious, indeed. Duo gave Naoto an indignant look, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hey, it's called being 'honest'. I'm not gonna sugar-coat my words just because I think you can't handle a little criticism. You should consider it a compliment." In a round-about sense of logic.

But whatever, Naoto could think what he wanted to. "Naoya, huh? I hope he's a little more friendly than you are. At least if you two want to get out of here. Where are you from, anyway?"

Very round about.

"We escaped a place like this before. We'll do it again, and my attitude will have nothing to do with it."

"Anywhere." They didn't have a home, they didn't stay in one place any longer than a week. There was no reason for them to, and it would only make it easier for them to be found and dragged off to some other research facility.

"A place exactly like this? Monsters, death-traps and all? If so, then I kinda pity you. I wouldn't want to be in place like this twice. Or even once, if I had a say about it."

Duo couldn't help but sympathize a little, even if he was passing it off as something else. "So, who's chasing you? And don't try to lie to me. It's not often that you find another person coming from 'Anywhere'." One fugitive could always tell another.

"A research facility." The place hadn't needed monsters--Naoto himself had been enough. "Where we were trapped and studied." Naoto looked out the window, at the scenery flowing by. "We were there for fifteen years. I hope for everyone's sake we can get out of this place faster than that."

He didn't care who knew he was telekinetic, but he wouldn't volunteer the information unless Duo asked. He'd told others before. It was just another way to get people to leave them alone.

Naoto snorted. "A long list." Ark was the main one at the moment, but there were sure to be others.

Fifteen years? Ouch. And a research facility, at that. It made Duo sick to think that there was some place out there experimenting on people. "Seems like every time I turn around, people are figuring out new ways to hurt each other," he muttered, though the remark itself was casually made.

"What were they researching? Weapons? Drugs?"

"Parapsychology." Really, the only bad thing about it had been the fact that their parents had been the ones that sent them there, and there had been no way to get away at all until the Elder died. They had been treated well, and helped when they finally did leave. But Naoto still couldn't get past the fact that they had been held against their will for most of their lives.

Ok, that earned a skeptical look from Duo. "Parapsychology," he repeated in a dry tone, as if asking if that's really what he meant to say. Sure, the human research and whatnot was all sane and believable, but wasn't that going a little too far with it? Duo had always been a skeptic of anything he couldn't see for himself from an early age. Psychics fell somewhere in that category, didn't they?

"Yes. You know, psychokinesis, precognition, telepathy?" Naoto prodded, sounding either bored or unimpressed or both. He gave Duo a sideways look--to all appearances, he wasn't lying in the least.

"Uh-huh." Right. Did this guy think he was born yesterday or something? "Sorry, but I'm not exactly buying it. But hey, if you wanna prove me wrong, feel free. It's your deal, not mine." Either way, Duo wasn't going to buy this story until he'd seen a little proof.

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Day 28: Bus 1

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