damned_institute | Day 28: Germaine Street

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Day 28: Germaine Street

Rhode didn't want to have to let go of Allen, not ever. It could be forever before she was able to be with him again! But the nurses were persistent in moving her off the big yellow thing, as was Allen for getting away from her. Even outside of the building, people were just determined to keep her from being with him! It wasn't fair!

Once off the bus and shivering just slightly from the crisp fall air, Rhode was handed a small booklet of what the nurse called "coupons". It took some explaining, but Rhode was eventually able to understand that the thin pieces of paper in the book were supposed to be used like money here. She wasn't at all accustomed to buying things for herself; that was supposed to be the Earl's job. When Rhode expressed this problem, the nurse only gave her a sad smile and patter her in the direction of the buildings.

"Why don't you go find something fun to do? There's a toy store just around the corner there. Don't worry about being alone though, we're all here to keep an eye on you. If anything happens, just come get one of us," the nurse explained, nodding to the staff members that were set to parole the town for any problems their more unruly patents could cause.

So, they were all going to be watched even though they could roam about freely? Rhode took a look back towards the yellow things but was unable to pick out Allen from the mess of patients. In a few moments, she probably wouldn't be able to find him at all or for the rest of the day. Should she just resign herself to that for now and use the small bit of freedom to her advantage? Being with Allen was important, and a lot of fun but...

She glanced down at the coupons again, smiled up at the nurse as best she could, and gave a quick, "Okay!" before running off as suggested.

A small bit of freedom was bound to make her feel better. Maybe she could use it to remind herself of how she was supposed to handle Allen Walker, an exorcist. This town did have a similar air to that of the Rewinding Town, after all.

[went here]

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Allen was relieved that the nurses had seen fit to pry Rhode away from him and let her leave first. The thought of exploring the new town seemed to be enough to keep her occupied because she was off like a shot. Allen, on the other hand, waited until a few more people left, namely Rinali, before tailing her out of the bus.

He hadn't gotten a chance to properly talk to her since she'd arrived and now... already he'd upset her somehow. Unless she really hadn't seen him, but that... that wasn't possible, was it?

"Rinali? H-hey, wait a moment, R..Rinali!" he stumbled down the steps and called after her.

Rinali turned at the sound of a familiar voice calling her name. "Yes?" she asked, hesitantly. She was still angry at Allen for hiding secrets from her and yet spilling them to the red haired man, but she wasn't about to leave him behind if he had something important he wanted to say to her. Who knew? Maybe he wanted to apologize.

The tone of her voice as she turned was enough to tell him volumes. Yes, she was most definitely still upset and this time she made no secret of it. Last time it had been difficult to tell, outside the train station as they'd gone shopping it had been a little awkward, but he'd chalked that up to his own failed social skills. This time, however, he knew what to be on the lookout for.

"Please just... just listen to me for a moment?" Things like this were never easy, but why was it so much harder to say to Rinali? His eyes were cast toward the ground and he tried not to fidget. "Look, we... we really have to stick together, you know? Here more than ever, we have to be a good team."

He shook his head. That wasn't coming out right at all! "Wh-what I mean is... I really... haven't done a good job of that." He gave a small sigh, hoping that maybe these were the right words. "I don't have a proper excuse, just that... this place has thrown me for a loop. Every night it's things like last night. Every night feeling hopeless or scared or reminded of... terrible things."

Allen finally chanced a glance up at her, his blue eyes sheepish and hoping for a small measure of forgiveness. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "As... as a team mate I should have done a better job... making you aware of things. But... but more to the point, as a friend."

It was impossible to stay mad at Allen when he got like this. He was so sweet and self-conscious at times, that she almost felt bad for making him feel that way. Almost. She playfully whacked him on the head with her coupon book. "Just remember that you're not alone, Allen," she said with a smile, finding it very easy to forgive him. It always worked out that way. He knew when he hurt her, and he knew why.

"We're friends," she continued. "You shouldn't have to shoulder your burdens alone. I won't let you shoulder your burdens alone. So stop trying to hide from me when something's bothering you. It hurts me more than knowing, I promise."

She smiled brightly. With that out of the way, all that was left was figuring out where to go. Suddenly this field trip seemed a lot more exciting. "So where shall we go first? Have they done a field trip like this before?"

He was quiet for a moment, still feeling slightly guilty, but also excited to take in the sight of this modern town. He nodded to Rinali, glad for the change in subject. If she asked later, he'd probably tell her, but for now he was just relieved that the feelings that ghost woman had left him with were beginning to fade.

"Um... I don't really know." He let his eyes wander down the main street. "Not that I've heard of." There were a number of shops to look at and they'd been given a number of coupons, half of which he didn't even know what they were. Facial or massage? He knew his Master often paid for such services, but he had a feeling he didn't want anything to do with something like that. The coupons for free food though, those were valuable.

"I guess we can just walk around and see what there is? Maybe see if there's a way out. If there's a town, certainly there would be residents who might listen, wouldn't there?" He wasn't sure he believed it himself, but it never hurt to try.

She would ask if it came up again, but it wasn't a need to know so much as a need to be their for her friend that had caused the initial annoyance. For the moment, it was just good to spend some time with him.

The idea of a massage sounded like it could be fun, but she figured they'd get to it eventually. "We could do that," she agreed. While escape should be the first focus on all of their minds, it wasn't on hers. She wanted to escape, yes, but as long as she had her friends here, she knew it would eventually happen. Maybe that made her a bad person, but she didn't mind it.

"I don't know if they'll listen, though," she added after some brief thought. "Why would they take us to this town if the residents weren't on their side? They seem to be very careful about everything else, why be lax now?" Besides that, the army of nurses made looking for an escape seem impossible.

"We should try to use up these coupons while we're here as well," she added. Who knew how long the coupons would last for, or even if they would get to come back to this town again? Undoubtedly some patient or another would cause trouble for the rest of them, and they'd be banned from coming here. The logical course would be to play nice so that the nurses would let their guard down, making escape more likely in subsequent visits. But many of the patients here weren't particularly logical.

"I guess so," Allen sighed. Rinali was right. The people here had no reason to believe any of them were really anything more than simple mental patients. But... there wasn't any reason that they couldn't enjoy looking around just a little bit. Small towns like this were the perfect targets for Akuma attacks, so they should probably investigate anyway.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't hungry, but it was kind of early to be getting their food tickets redeemed. "Um... I guess. Maybe the villagers will let us trade them for something useful. What's a... a manicure anyway?"

Rinali wasn't particularly hungry. Unlike Allen, she didn't have to stuff her face every meal. The muffin and juice had been plenty.

"Maybe," she agreed. "We could always ask with the coupons we don't need or want."

Manicure. That was a word she wasn't familiar with. "I'm not entirely sure," she admitted. "Why don't we find out!" If it was something modern, it had to be exciting or at the very least interesting. And since many of the other coupons were for "pleasure foods", there was a good chance that manicures were something pleasant as well.

Allen was curious as well, and if Rinali didn't know what it was, then... maybe it would be interesting! "Okay. Um... It says it's at a... beauty salon?"

He scratched his head. Why would they give him a coupon for a place for girls? Maybe he'd gotten it by mistake. "That doesn't seem right..." he trailed off.

A coupon place for girls did seem a little peculiar, especially if Allen received one, but then again it was important to note that they were in the future. "Maybe 'beauty salon' means something different in this time?" she suggested. Of course, if it were meant for girls, it would be very cute and funny to watch Allen be embarassed. "So...how do we find this salon, though?" She didn't see a map readily available.

Maybe they could ask a nurse...

Rinali did know better than he about these sorts of things, he reminded himself, as a puzzled expression settled onto his boyish face. He feared, however, anything that might make him pretty as the name seemed to imply. He'd been teased enough for being small and thin and he'd just want to roll over and die if he was ever as girly as Kanda. Honestly, if it upset Kanda so much, he didn't understand why he didn't just cut his hair or something. Seemed the sensible solution.

"Hm... is there an address listed on the coupon maybe?" He flipped the paper around a couple of times, trying to read the fine print. How did they get the writing so small?! He could only imagine was the characters would look like in a printing press that tiny. Must be terrible work.

Rinali squinted at the fine print on the coupon. It was amazing how they were able to get such fine printing on this coupon, but there it was. "Here we are," she said, pointing to the address written on the back. "It looks like it's on Main street." She glanced at the nearby streets, and noticed a sign for the street in question.

"This way!" she said excitedly, walking down main street. It was exciting to be in a new place for the first time.

[going here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245151.html)]

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Day 28: Germaine Street

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