damned_institute | Day 28; Bus 3

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Day 28; Bus 3

There was, Naomi decided, some sort of cosmic irony in all of this. Not that she was trapped in a deranged and possibly other-worldly asylum with a man she'd idolized for years and a boy who was being investigated for - among other things - the murder of her fiance. No, at this point, those were perfectly normal occurrences. Rather it was the soft, pretty, feminine pink sweater dress she'd been stuffed into in the morning. A chance to wear normal clothes, and she looked like a soccer mom. The white blazer and white boots only made her look like a soccer mom who maybe hadn't given up gogo boots.

It was humiliating. Why couldn't she have jeans and a sweater? And sneakers? Something she would conceivably wear? Not this damned pink monstrosity. And her nurse kept saying how pretty she was.

She didn't care if she looked pretty.

Grumbling to herself, and taking it out on her muffin, Naomi was shoved onto an empty bus and told to 'sit tight'. Oh, she'd sit tight alright....

At least she was relatively certain L was alright. She'd spent the whole night with him, and other than falling on his ass, nothing had happened to him. And hopefully nothing would happen to him in town, either....

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Tamaki frowned for a moment, then broke into a wide smile.

"Ah, all we have where I come from is humans!" he said. "So of course!" Oh, she was from somewhere very interesting! He loved meeting people from other worlds!

"What are allowed to be lords where you're from?"

"Only the elves, really," Shana answered in surprise. "They wouldn't let anyone else threaten their power. You only have humans where you're from? Really? That's amazing!"

She wondered what her world would have been like without the other races. Then again, she wouldn't have existed, if that were the case, nor would just about anyone she knew.

"Elves?" Tamaki blinked. "You mean....those little people who make shoes?" The idea of elves as lords was one the boy had trouble wrapping his mind around.

"But elves are nice and sweet and helpful... oh, and if you leave out bread and milk for them, they'll do you favors and find lost things for you!" He nodded, pleased at remembering the folklore from when he was little. "And if you don't, they'll wee in your shoes."

Shana stared at him in complete and utter bewilderment. "Elves aren't little, they're the same size as everyone else. And I don't think they make shoes, not unless they're trying to impress or flatter someone with their magical abilities, and in that case, I think they'd try for something more impressive than shoes. And the ones from my world... well, nice and sweet and helpful are the last descriptions anyone would pick, not unless they were trying to manipulate you into giving them what they want."

She eyed him dubiously. "You have very strange elves in your world."

"Oh, I don't even know if elves are real where I come from." Tamaki waved his hand. "But the stories say they're only a few inches tall. And they dress in flowers and leaves. And wear little hats. And they have some strange fascination with shoes. And they're supposed to be very, very beautiful." He remembered that.

"Oh! But the ones from Ireland aren't nice," he added, wracking his brain. "They're people sized, and beautiful, and they steal children and men away to their magical fairy realm under hills. Or something. What are they like in your world?"

Shana burst into giggles at the thought of any of the elves in her world ever participating in any of that.

...well, except for maybe the stealing people away part. That she'd believe.

The elves are powerful where I come from," she answered. "They're not nice. They're cruel and arrogant and think themselves above everyone else. When they arrived in our world, they enslaved all the humans and now they rule undisputed. Well, mostly undisputed. The humans are pretty much animals to them. I don't think you'd like it there very much, being one yourself."

"That sounds horrible!" Tamaki said, frowning. "That isn't fair at all! I wouldn't like it all, no of course not. It must be awful to live in that sort of world!" Tamaki sometimes looked down on commoners, but not on purpose! And he certainly couldn't imagine treating someone like an animal just because they were different!

"My world got rid of slavery a long time ago." For the most part. It wasn't legal, certainly!

"There were people that tried, in mine," Shana admitted at his frowned outburst. "We're still trying. Granted, this has interrupted us a bit, but maybe someday..."

"The elves won't like it, but we'll keep trying anyway," she finished, a crooked smile flitting across her lips. "What about your world? What is it like where you come from?"

"My world's a lot like this one," Tamaki admitted. "The same technology and everything. I'm from a place called Japan - have you heard of it? There's lots of people from Japan here." A whole lot. Maybe Shana had met one!

"I've never heard of it," Shana replied with a sheepish smile, shaking her head. "Sorry. Technology... You mean like this big iron wagon thing? Do you know how it works? Is it magic or something else? I've never seen anything like it!"

"You mean the bus?" Oh, how strange! She didn't even know what a bus was!
"It runs on gasoline that powers the engine. The engine makes the wheels turn. It's not magic - I don't think this world has magic. At least, not outside of the building." Everything he'd seen led him to believe it was all done by normal technology.

"Gasoline comes from oil, and oil comes from the ground."

Shana wrinkled her nose in thought, tapping her fingers against the metal wall. "I still don't understand," she admitted reluctantly, shaking her head and sending scarlet curls tumbling down around her face. "We don't have anything like this where I come from. Oh, we have oil, of course, we have lamps that burn oil and such. But I don't know what an engine is. We have wagons that can be pulled by animals, but nothing like this."

"Oh no, not that sort of oil!" Tamaki shook his head. "Not...um...animal oil. Black oil. You know, it's slick and smells horrible? It's very valuable in my world, we use it for so much! But there's only so much of it." Or something like that. Global issues weren't exactly Tamaki's strong suit.

"We haven't had wagons pulled by animals in centuries!" he exclaimed. "And we use electricity for light. Like in the hospital." He pointed back to the building. "And engine's a...it's a big block of metal with things in it that makes things go."

Elena's foot was rather swollen and wrapped in bandages and she had to walk with crutches, which sucked, but she was still in a very good mood. She was out of those awful, awful clothes and actually looked kind of cute, if she did say so herself.

The nurses had given her a long, green sweater, a gray pleated skirt that looked like it had come out of someone's school uniform, gray knee socks, and a barrette for her hair that matched her sweater. The outfit made her look about twelve, but it was better than what some of the other girls had to wear. Plus, it was nice to be in a skirt again.

And today was she had her first date.

Tamaki was sitting next to an extremely pretty girl about their age, but she did her best to beat back the jealousy. He was just Hosting her. That's what he did.

Elena hobbled over to the pair, choosing the seat behind them.

"That's...very informative, Tamaki," she teased. Looking over to the girl, Elena held out her hand. "I'm Elena. Nice to meet you."

Shana glanced up with a shy smile, although she looked at the girl's outstretched hand curiously, not knowing what she wanted.

"I'm Shana. Tamaki's been very informative. Did you... did you want something?" she asked, still staring in bewildered confusion at Elena's outstretched hand.

"How am I supposed to know how engines work?" Tamaki asked, shrugging and smiling. He had a car, and he knew how to drive, but he had his own driver and didn't worry himself with how cars ran that much.

"You look very cute, Elena," he added, continuing to smile at the blond girl. They were going on a date today! He hoped it went well. He hadn't really ever been on a real date before.

Elena grinned to hide her blush and withdrew her hand. "Sorry about that. Nice to meet you, Shana. Where I'm from...when you meet someone, you...shake hands." She laughed nervously. "Never mind."

Maybe it was to reassure herself that she actually did have a boyfriend, and that they actually were going on a date, or maybe it was out of an unconscious desire to show the prettier girl who Tamaki belonged to. Either way, Elena answered Tamaki's compliment with a quick peck on the lips. "Thanks," she said brightly. "I think I look like a twelve-year-old on her first day at prep school, but it's better than what they could've forced me into."

She turned to Shana. "Oh, and I think I know a bit about how engines work, if you're still curious."

Feeling rather awkward, Shana gave the pair a slightly crooked smile and shook her head. "No, I, uh... thank you. If it's not magic, I'm not sure I'd understand it anyway. I can go find another seat if you two would like to sit together," she offered, getting to her feet and hoping to squeeze past them.

Tamaki blushed vividly when Elena kissed him, even though it was hardly a kiss. But it was still the first time her lips had touched his. He cleared his throat some, not wanting to look like a complete fool.

"Oh no, that's alright!" He shook his head at Shana. "We're going to have plenty of time together once we get into town. There's no need for you to give up your seat! And Elena can probably explain how buses move far better than I can!"

Elena grinned at the way Tamaki was blushing, but she was having a hard time not blushing herself. This was so awkward!

Then Shana started to get up, and her face fell. She hadn't meant to chase the other girl off! (Had she?)

"No, it's okay! Please, stay! The more the merrier, and all that. Plus, I do know a bit about magic...so..."

"I don't want to be in the way," Shana replied awkwardly, still hovering on her feet. It was clear the two were very close, and she knew she'd want privacy with a special someone if she had the chance.

Before she could slip past, however, the contraption they'd been herded into gave an abrupt lurch. Not expecting the bus to move that suddenly, Shana gasped, reaching out for something to steady herself even as she lost her balance.

Buses were not the easiest places to stand when they started moving, after all.

"Oh! Lady Shana!" Tamaki rose smoothly to his feet, offering the girl a hand to steady her. "You really should sit down, it's not safe to stand up in a moving vehicle!" That would only lead to accidents.

"It would be horrible if you fell and hurt yourself! I didn't bring any of my medical supplies with me...."

"No, you really wouldn't be in the way," Elena said quickly, half standing up herself. "It's fine. Really. You should sit down before--"

The sound of a key in the ignition and the bus roared to life. Shana had, obviously, never been on a bus before (or on any motor-powered vehicle, apparently--fascinating!), and was freaking out.

"Hey, hey! It's okay. You'll fall and hurt yourself if you keep standing. Sit down, and...tell us about your home, or something. Please?"

Shana sat - more because she couldn't keep her balance standing than any real desire to sit. She plopped down on the seat with a rather startled expression as the bus started moving down the road.

"Is that normal?" she demanded in fascinated skepticism, turning to press her face against the glass to see how the 'bus' was moving.

"The bus...moving?" Tamaki blinked. "Well, yes... oh, it's been ages since I was on a bus like this, but they do move. And it's a bit of a jolt, of course, but it isn't so bad...."

He glanced over at Elena, shrugging. People from other places was perfectly normal, but he'd never seen anyone so fascinated with a bus before. Buses were just common things!

When Elena asked Shana to tell her something about her world, Tamaki just leaned over to speak directly in the blond girl's ear.

"It's not a very nice world," he explained, remembering what Shana had said.

Day 28; Bus 3

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