DAY 28: BUS 1

[sugarsweetblood.livejournal.com]

[[Same busses/different busses from first ride? Does it matter?]]

Candy, blood, ice cream, burgers (not as good as the Earl's) and finally a chocolate chip cookie! Even with the psychotic girl attacking her, Rhode had found this trip an all around pleasant experience! Now she was on a sugar rush and well prepared for her Noah side to kick in for the evening. The day had, for once, proven fun, so she was expecting the night to be even better this time.

Maybe she could finally go find that fun playground below. It had been two days and she still hadn't even managed to figure out just how to get down there. It sounded so fun too! Well, not so fun as last night had been. Oh, but maybe the showers would be spewing blood again! That had been so much fun! She hoped for something as entertaining as that, otherwise she'd wind up sorely disappointed. Daytime wasn't supposed to be more fun that nighttime, not at all!

She hopped into a seat close to the front and nibbled away on the cookie she'd been given, thoughts of the evening swimming about her mind as she watched who was getting on. Allen Walker had been on the same one as her last time, so her logic had him ending up with her again. This time she was determined not to either miss him or mistake him for someone else!

Honestly, she should know her Allen Walker by now! He wasn't some tall freak who smiled constantly, or someone shorter than her that had a viscous attack human! And she'd kissed one of the not-Allen's too! It was almost as though she'd been unfaithful to Allen. He didn't have to know about that though; he really didn't.

Comments

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

Momo entered the bus, bag with her dinner in hand, and she scanned the bus. Oh, that insolent little girl was on but that was it. She walked right past the girl, giving her a cold glare as she passed, and found herself a seat again in the back of the bus.

She sat closer to ward the aisle so people coming on could see her and started on her dinner. Since she hadn't gotten to eat lunch, the shinigami delved into the sandwich. It was acceptable.

[whiteychan.livejournal.com]

Noting the boxes slowly filling with confiscated goods, Hitsugaya silently cursed himself for not thinking to sneak something back himself. Maybe Ichimaru was right and he did need to think more like a snake, but he couldn't help but shudder at the thought of being anywhere similar to Gin. It wasn't in his nature to be that way.

Stepping on the bus, he first noticed Rhode, the girl who had kissed him. Thankfully it seemed that Xelloss had seen fit to distract her. He still had no idea why Rhode had decided to plant lips with him, but it still made him feel incredibly uncomfortable. Thankfully he didn't need to think about it for long. Silently he passed by her without so much as a smirk from the crazy woman.

Of course, towards the back of the bus was Momo. Wheras Rhode left him feeling awkward and uncomfortable, Momo only left him confused. Why did she react like that? Still, now was probably not the best time to try to force a coherent answer out of her.

Instead he quietly approached her and nudged her foot slightly with his own. "Move over," he grumbled.

[i-promised.livejournal.com]

He and Mousse hadn’t gotten to the restaurant but Zoro’s stomach allowed itself to be momentarily appeased by the sandwiches offered to him. Taking his food (juice over milk; it was probably the closest thing he’d get to alcohol at the moment) to the seats at the very end of the bus, the swordsman tucked himself into an unoccupied corner and set about devouring his first meal in a day and a half.

He’d passed that odd little girl they’d been with last night but Zoro didn’t feel inclined to go up to her just yet. While most people (Sanji, Chopper) would have eagerly hopped to the task of making sure she was alright, Zoro had seen something that gave him reason to do nothing but continue his passive observation. Similarly, he silently kept track of people as they trickled into the bus.

All his food (sans cookie) finished, Zoro closed his eyes and crossed his arms, getting ready to feign sleep again. One often heard the most useful things when the people around you thought you weren’t listening.

[i-promised.livejournal.com]

[waiting for Luffy~]

[to-a-boy.livejournal.com]

The country-fried steak had been delicious, and not just because L.A. had been hungry. The beef had been melt-in-your-mouth soft, and the fried batter around it seasoned to perfection. It had been filling, too, so L.A. didn't really feel like having cold sandwiches on top of it. He did, however, eat the cookie and drink the milk.

Today had been... confusing. L.A. barely knew what to make of it all. The shock may not have been instant, but now, sitting in the bus and looking out the window... he didn't even know what to think.

[notmyfather.livejournal.com]

It was amazing, Valyn thought, that even here and now, he still could manage an entire conversation without accomplishing much of anything. Which, really, had been the point.

Tired and sore, his healing injuries protesting at all the activity, he was herded onto the 'bus'. He caught sight of Keman, who was already engaged in conversation, and decided to ignore him for now. He'd apologize tonight.

He found an empty seat next to someone he didn't know and sat, offering a polite smile.

"I hope you don't mind me taking this seat?"

[enigmaticmedium.livejournal.com]

Xelloss hadn't taken too much interest in the town itself, considering that it was probably only a construct like the Institute, but the decorations had been interesting. Like all the daytime amusements in this odd pocket of a world, however, the time for an end had come. He took being patted down patiently, then accepted his dinner and sat down near the front of the bus, for the moment ignoring the seat's other occupant.

Tonight should be entertaining, if the previous evening's show had been any sign. People falling out of doorways screaming and covered in blood, magic being hidden very poorly by its practitioners, and then the small army of burly men to the rescue... Of course, tonight he'd be partnered with new people who might be less likely to stand around malevolent mirrors and poke at them. At least the exploration itself should be beneficial to him.

Taking out his sandwich, he took a careful bite. How funny, the way a cold meal changed the entire eating experience when compared to a hot meal! Xelloss continued to ignore the little girl beside him for the moment, focused on his sandwich.

[sugarsweetblood.livejournal.com]

Rhode had given the psychotic girl a return glare, turning around in the seat and getting on her knees to also stuck out her tongue as well. She still had no idea just what her problem was, but she clearly would not let it go. It was just as well; Rhode was accustomed to people hating her. She could just consider this new girl a much more aggressive version of Allen's sweet little Rinali friend. She would be dealt with eventually.

Her attention came away from watching another person trek back - oh, it was that guy with the green hair! - when she felt the seat give way. She turned her head down to find it level with the amazingly purple hair of a person she did not know. Purple was one of her favorite colors, but it wasn't the color hair she had hoped would wind up sitting next to her. She more preferred the lack of color.

"Your hair's pretty," she purred into his ear, hoping for a bit of a start since he really didn't seem to have noticed he was not alone. Sitting with her had made him an instant plaything, so she was going to play from start to finish as best she was able.

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

It wasn't long before it was back inside the busses and back to the hospital place. He gave Momo a wave as he passed her, though she seemed upset. He followed her gaze to another scuffed up little girl and wondered if that was perhaps the earlier fight Momo had talked about. She did seem a little better at least, as a boy with pale hair came and sat by her. It was kind of cute really.

He headed for the back of the bus and took a seat. Momo had given him plenty of food for thought with her talk about the shinigami people. Was the little boy one too? Yuuhi took the food that was offered him and started on the cookie first. It went well with the milk, even if a little bit of liquor would have been better.

[adorkabledragon.livejournal.com]

Keman had tried to push the depression away while he had been with Ururu, but as they returned to the buses, it came back with a vengeance. Valyn hated him. And it was all his fault.

He grudgingly accepted his dinner and another juice box and went to look for somewhere to sit.

Deciding that he didn't want to chance sitting next to another female again (that had been weird), he chose a rather pleasant-looking young man with really long legs.

"...Is this seat taken?"

[blazing-general.livejournal.com]

Signum caught sight of Momo as the patients boarded the buses but found her already seated with Hitsugaya when she boarded. That wasn't a meeting she felt she should impinge on, right now, so she sat down some distance from the two and stared out the window.

Doyleton... was this what they'd all be escaping to, if escape meant living in this world? Or was it just part of a larger prison? A day in the place, especially one as... diversionary... as hers had ended up being, did nothing to answer the question.

Well, she had bigger things to worry about. There was the immediate prison, for one, and her allies within...

[longlivetheking]

To his own displeasure, Scar's conversation with Ashe had been cut off as he was ushered back to the large, yellow objects. Though he knew by now that these things served the purpose of moving its passengers to places, the former lion still didn't feel comfortable sitting in one.

He took the strange food his nurse offered him before he picked a seat somewhere in the front. He briefly attempted to identify his dinner, but quickly gave up and took a bite. Its taste was as strange as his food looked like, but considering he had skipped lunch he was hungry enough to not mind the alien taste in his mouth.

His feline eyes stared out of the window. The sun sank deeper below the horizon, indicating the end of what could have easily been one of the strangest days in his entire life -- only second to his awakening in this world yesterday.

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

(From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245656.html?thread=18462616#t18462616))

Artemis was all but dragged back to the bus, away from his pleasant game with Ken. It had been nice to just sit there, because now, the nurses were gasping and asking him what had happened to his face. The choruses of "poor little Sean!" were grating on him. He briefly considered just not leaving his room at all that night--he wasn't in the mood to work with Hitsugaya and Omi (again), and much less in any shape to learn to fight.

But, as adults, there were things that one had to do whether they liked it or not. If he refused to learn to fight, Farfarello would no doubt lose patience with him and... well bad things would happen. Maybe accusations would be thrown, as well as articles of furniture. That was precisely what Artemis was trying to avoid. Reconciling the people he associated with was a very tiring job, apparently. Hitsugaya's 'people' didn't like Farfarello, Weiss didn't like him, Schuldig hated him, Ken liked him but hated Farfarello... it was too much work.

So he contented himself with staring miserably into his bag of food.

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

[[Any objections to company?]]

Hokuto tried not to hold her breath when the nurses searched her; the bottle of nail polish she'd taken was harmless enough, but she'd still stolen it. Luckily they only searched her pockets; relieved, she took her dinner and went to sit down. She spotted Signum, but before she could get to her a nurse announced they all needed to sit down now. Determined to be the picture of obedience until she had taken the bottle out of her bra, she quickly found a seat.

She didn't recognize the boy she ended up next to, but they looked about the same age. He didn't look happy, either; she'd heard another nurse fussing over him and guessed that was at least part of why. "If they insist on thinking we're like preschoolers, I wish they'd at least give us a naptime," she commented. If he didn't want to talk, that was fine, but she thought she'd give him an opening.

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

TK sat down on the transport and immediately started in on the food he had been given by a nurse. He was disappointed at how little he'd gotten done today, but when the Captain had made him stay with that kid, it meant being stuck inside 'Tasty Burger' most of the day.

At least this town hadn't been like most he'd seen. Those had always included many more explosions.

[entropy-effect.livejournal.com]

[]

The change in shift, as always, seemed to come too soon.It felt as if Naoya had gotten nothing done, but he knew that wasn't true--he had been talking to Arietta all day, after all. Though whether his words had comforted the girl was still questionable, she was just so frightened and... It hurt Naoya to see that. Hopefully he managed to have some effect though... The young man munched on the food given to him as he looked around the bus, he and Arietta had been separated when the nurses took them back to the bus and he hadn't seen her yet. He hoped she was alright, she wasn't fond of buses at all.

To be honest though, Naoya was worried. Arietta would resist going on the buses a second time and the nurses might sedate her or... Something equally bad. Not only that, but he didn't see his brother at all that day and he was just as bad. He was so short tempered...! Naoya sighed and rested his head against the window as he fought back the mounting worry.

[thecoming-storm.livejournal.com]

Naoto had been nothing but frustrated all day. He hadn't been able to find Naoya, had been pestered by an obnoxious boy, and the last human contact he'd had for the day hadn't been stellar either. He was ready to find his brother and, if not get them both out of here, at least...be alone with him for a while. He wasn't used to being away from Naoya so long, or being unable to contact him.

He very nearly smiled in relief when he spotted Naoya on the bus he'd been ushered onto. Without any second thought or hesitation, he moved to the seat his brother had claimed and sat down next to him. There wouldn't be any issue with them sharing seats...so he thought, anyway. Naoya might've been waiting for someone else, he supposed.

[icy-pole.livejournal.com]

The nurse had shown up as Pearl was finishing Ami's pedicure. Unnatural timing, Ami thought as she pulled her shoes back on, smiling and thanking Pearl. She was ushered on to the foremost bus, another paper bag shoved unceremoniously into her hands after a quick pat down. Ami frowned slightly at the nurse's lack of thoroughness. Anyone could have easily snuck something on to the bus if they knew they were just going to get a pat down. I'll remember that the next time we come into town...if there is a next time.

Shrugging to herself, she wandered down the aisle, noticing a couple familiar faces. Still not seeing Usagi and growing increasingly worried, Ami took a spare seat about halfway down the bus.

[ol-canucklehead.livejournal.com]

Logan was still waiting for a response from the Sherriff when a rather large male orderly approched him, telling him in no uncertain terms that it was time to return to the bus. Convenien' Logan mused just when tha conversation started ta get interestin'. It made sense to him that he was being ordered to return by this hulk of a man rather than his regular nurse; Landel probably had one each (maybe more) for the adult male patients. He didn't argue, and allowed himself to be led away, but not without a final parting word to the lawman. He fixed him with a determined, steely gaze.

"You think 'bout what I jus' said, bub. Think 'bout it long n' hard." With that, he followed the orderly straight back to the bus he'd come in on, and was handed another bag of food after a cursory, almost derogatory pat down. They wouldn't find anything. All he'd done was have a few short conversations and a meal, there'd been no chance to swipe anything.

Spying a certain blue-haired Japanese girl sitting in the middle of the bus, Logan made his way slowly towards her. He spotted Xelloss and Fowl from the night before, as well as that Maori-looking kid Statesman had chased earlier (who he'd have to speak to at some point, he was sure), but he had information for Ami that might prove useful to her, or at least, potentially make use of her skills.

"Evenin', darlin'" he drawled as he dropped into a seat beside her. "How was yer day? Productive? I got some information tha' might be o' use to ya." He opened the bag he'd been handed. More food. It felt like all he'd done today was eat. Still, it wasn't like he couldn't make good use of it. He grabbed the sandwich and promptly began to chew.

[ham_fisted]

NO!

This couldn't be happening. The waitress had smiled and scribbled his order when out of nowhere his nurse had appeared beside him, yanking at his sleeve and urging him away from the table. He couldn't even focus, seeming more worn than his trenchcoat as she had then searched him like he were a common criminal! The detective had to bite back the thousand of irate and baffled objections that threatened to tumble forth.

He gave a profound sigh; pulling the deepest frown he had pulled all day as he was steered to a particular vehicle. His steak lunch oh he had so been looking forward to it. Some field trip this was. The devastation of recent events caused him to bump his head against the roof of the bus, out of absent-mindedness. Or rather, out of having too many unanswered questions undulating within. Sitting down heavily, he rubbed the steadily forming lump and sulked at the sandwich that had been shoved into his hand.

[beforehertime.livejournal.com]

The day had gone far too quickly.

Elena wanted to shoot whoever had first said that 'time flies when you're having fun.' They had no business being right. She and Tamaki had eaten lunch in the Tasty Burger and walked around town and enjoyed each other's company and generally had a really nice time, and now it was over. The nurses had found them and separated them and she'd barely even had time to wave to him and give him a half-hearted "see you when we get back" before the awful women had whisked her back to the buses.

Elena didn't care where she sat, or who she sat with (as long as it wasn't Kadaj. Or Sephiroth. Or Highwind.), so she just picked the first available seat. It just so happened to be occupied by an older guy who looked just about as miserable as she felt.

"...Hi."

[for-marian.livejournal.com]

Leon was not at all happy to be ushered back to the buses, and somehow lost track of Kratos in the crush of patients. Oh, well, he could always find him again later, back at the Institute, if he wanted to. He seemed decent enough, a warrior himself and not too chatty, but also not young enough to be a rival. It might be nice to look him up again, which was a very weird sort of feeling--Leon suspected he almost liked the man. That could be dangerous, though, and he would have to watch himself to make sure that 'almost liking' didn't progress to 'trusting'. He should check in with Gremio at some point, as well, though the scarred man was much less agreeable to spend time with than Kratos was.

His hand was aching fiercely since he had slipped the knife in between the bandages, the handle resting where his missing fingers had been, but at least he had a weapon of some kind now, however pathetic it was. Just as well, too, that he had already told his group for the night that he would be taking a few minutes to see the healers, as now he really needed his bandages changed.

Grateful to find an empty seat so he could sit near the window, Leon settled down, being very careful not to jar his hand more than necessary.

[ontheabyss.livejournal.com]

It could have been worse, Lyta supposed.

They could have actually yelled 'polar bear'.

As it was, her and Mason's little escape attempt had been quickly thwarted. At least she hadn't been sedated, thanks to not struggling or protesting when they were hauled back. She just went, knowing it was stupid to try and fight.

They were going to have to work a bit on this 'planning' thing. But without her telepathic abilities, Lyta was finding herself at a loss.

She was tossed onto the bus with another stern reprimand, handed a wrapped dinner, and shoved gently down into a seat next to.... well, next to someone who looked like they belonged on one of Earth's fashion runways.

"I hope you weren't expecting someone," Lyta said, unwrapping her sandwich.

[theycutitout.livejournal.com]

River withstood the pokings and the proddings, having had a pleasant enough day with a side of pudding to make the air sweeter, even if the sour taste still lingered in the very corner of her mouth. She pondered this, lingering for a second long enough to urge the nurses to usher her along, to find an empty seat. With the faintest smile on her face, the girl, taking both sword and teacup into the wings for the scene to come, closed her eyes and picked her way slowly down the aisle to find an empty seat.

It was only half empty. Enough room for, and enough room for the one who was already to be seated there. His presence was staking it's claim, but she wasn't about the let anyone else have the window seat.

[heavens-too-far.livejournal.com]

Dias had been extremely unsettled on the strange 'bus' that had taken them to Doyleton; he'd never seen anything like it before, and the sound it had made when it had started up had caused him to grip the seat in front of him so tightly he'd probably left his fingerprints in the strange leathery substance that covered the seats. But as the ride had passed without any real incident besides his own silent alarm, he was feeling somewhat less nervous about this second incidence and got on the bus with a minimum of complaint(especially since the nurse inspecting them all for contraband had, after finding the candies Dias had stowed away in his pockets for Ashton, chosen - for whatever reason - to let him keep them; best not to look a gift horse in the mouth).

He'd been hoping to talk to someone who could explain what the hell a bus was, but when he noticed River sitting by herself, he opted to make his way over to her instead, easing wordlessly into the seat beside her. It meant a lack of explanations - actually, River probably could explain it, but she'd likely do it in such a way that he'd understand things even less; even when her words were straightforward they were sometimes so technical as to be utterly incomprehensible - but some things were more important than explanations in any case. Besides, he hadn't had the chance to see her in awhile, although she seemed to have been holding up well enough in his absence.

Dias was alternately relieved and somewhat selfishly disappointed by how well she seemed to have been doing without him.

[son-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Lunch had been...well, okay. The food was better than expected, but he kept thinking back to the coming nightshift and the mission. Well, Claire hadn't gone so far as to call it a mission in her own words, but that's what it almost felt like to Clark. While he might not be human, apparently he wasn't immune to being nervous - or getting butterflies in his stomach. Maybe it was universal.

He wasn't too happy about being led back to the buses again though. While it was kinda nice that he actually saw the inside of the bus instead of the tail-end of it (he'd always had a habit of being perpetually late and missing the school buses back home), the downside was that he wasn't going back to school, but back to Landels. As this point, he'd have been happy even if he ended up with a load of homework on his lap.

At least he would've been home.

Clark had to duck a little to enter the bus, hunching over to keep from hitting his head on the roof as he walked down the aisle. It was getting crowded as other "patients" filed in, but it was a lot more orderly and quiet compared to what he'd been used to on the rare chance he actually did catch the bus to school. Finding a seat, Clark sat down heavily, scooting over to sit near the window.

[claire-ity.livejournal.com]

Claire managed to stick by Clark to the buses while TK was dragged off to another. She felt bad about being separated, but they'd see each other tonight. Settling down next to Clark, she twisted her hands a bit in her lap. It was hard not to be nervous about what was planned, but she had to be strong. There'd be no more late night break downs if she could help it.

Relaxing her hands, she turned to Clark. "It feels like we're on the bus to school," she commented, unknowingly mirroring his own thoughts.

[never-learns.livejournal.com]

[Waiting for Ken!]

Yohji was still slightly bemused by the fact that he'd just spent most of the day with two members of Schwartz without getting into some kind of fight. It was... odd, to say the least. But it hadn't been bad exactly. Quite enjoyable at least. That was a little worrying in itself, especially after what Aya had said that morning. But then again, Schuldig had made some good points. His life wasn't his own until he'd repaid his debt to Weiss. He shouldn't just give up.

He chose a seat near the back of the bus, easier to see a good number of people that way. The bagged lunch looked... well, entirely unappetising, but he took a bite of the sandwich anyway. He'd been skipping too many meals recently. He had to eat something.

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

Ken left his crutches at the front of the bus with one of the smiley nurses, and got in return a patdown and a bag lunch. Fair enough trade. Yohji was easy enough to see from the front, and Ken hadn't spoken with his friend for a while, so while it was awkward getting to the back of the bus, he managed it.

"Hey, Yotan. Mind if I sit here, or are you saving a seat for a pretty woman?"