Day 28: Bus 2

[misterprince.livejournal.com]

The group hadn't made it to the Twin Pines before the nurses started ushering them back to the buses. Sanji didn't believe the small sack dinner he was handed would make up for the meal they would have had at the restaurant, and aside from that he'd still wanted to check the place out. Now he had no way of comparing it to what they served at the asylum and he couldn't help but wonder if the staff had planned it that way.

Somehow in the large crowd of patients and nurses he lost track of his crewmates, something that seemed to be occurring just as often as Usopp warned it would. He had their room numbers now, though. He would find them tonight if not before.

His dinner was eaten quickly and he found it lacking, but he wouldn't complain. What he really needed was a cigarette. Bringing it up on the walk down Main Street earlier had only made him think about it more, and now he was just irritable. He tapped a light broken rhythm on the plastic pane of his window, staring out at the other patients as they were loaded into the buses also.

Comments

[small-fortune.livejournal.com]

[Waiting for Javert]That had not exactly been profitable. At least they were getting more than a muffin for dinner...

Well, an exploration of a strange city could go worse, he knew from personal experience. In all, he hadn't learned much... it seemed to be an Earthlike world, or a very well terraformed one, but with the potential of alternate dimensions that gave him no real sense of direction or location. The choice of historical settings was another peculiarity. The smell of exhaust from the buses that had been waiting for him was a bit nauseating, after the busy day. Or, that might just be stress mixing with hunger.

Sitting towards the back of the bus, he set into his sandwich immediately.

[unmocked-lawr.livejournal.com]

The townspeople had been frustratingly evasive when it came to giving answers about Doyleton's location, but that was only to be expected; no doubt they'd been instructed to do so. After several fruitless attempts at interrogation, Javert had been forced to give up. Still, the trip had allowed him both fresh air and a chance to stretch his legs. For that he was grudgingly thankful, and he was in a somewhat better mood than usual as he neared Magus Park.

Of course, that good mood quickly dissipated when the buses came into view again. Good Lord, did they really expect him to get on one of those things again, now that he had a general idea of how they worked?

He accepted his dinner with poor grace and boarded the nearest bus. It was, he noted with some irritation, practically empty, save for a boy and a short, rather rotund man. The idea of sitting alone on the trip back to the asylum didn't particularly appeal to him, and a conversation would probably take his mind off of the ride itself. With this thought in mind, he dropped into the seat in front of the short man, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Get much done today?" he asked without preamble. The traditional "So how long have you been here?" had never really appealed to him.

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Allen was hesitant to return to the bus after the trip. He knew just where it was going to take him and even if the bus was really, really neat, he didn't want to go back to the institute.

On the other hand though, there was food. And he couldn't very well leave the others and try to run off on his own, he reasoned as he sat in his seat, munching happily on the food he'd been given. Besides, Rukia and the others probably had a plan for the night and-

Allen nearly choked on the half of his sandwich he'd stuffed in his mouth. What were they going to do for the night?! He hadn't talked to Rinali about a meeting place or anything! What if she got hurt?! What if they took her and he'd never even know until it was too late! What if Renji and the others needed their help!

Without the message board around to drop notes, he was lost. Had there been anything in town? It was far too late now. He sunk a little lower in his seat and the pace at which he ate slowed, but didn't stop. Maybe he would get lucky and one of the others would wind up on the bus too. Then again, he had such terrible luck...

[canieathim.livejournal.com]

Terrible luck, indeed! A very large, still somewhat sedated fat man lumbered down the rows, choosing at random to sit next to the tasty looking boy with the white hair. White hair was so rare where he came from, he wondered if it tasted better than normal hair. Normal hair was so grainy and rough and icky and didn't taste as good as the nice and soft and juicy flesh that was underneath it, but sometimes the hair was good because it garnished the tasty flesh and made his meal look more appetizing, although any meal was appetizing so long as they were tasty and yummy and he was oh so very hungry.

He couldn't help it as he sat down. His stomach growled quite loudly and vocally. Still, it didn't matter. He would get to eat sometime soon. Lust would have to let him eat! She had to! He gnawed lightly on the back of the seat in front of him. He could have eaten through it, but it wouldn't be as tasty as warm soft tasty flesh. It didn't have a soul. It couldn't cry.

He was really, really hungry.

[i-slay-giants.livejournal.com]

Jack took his food and took the nearest seat, nodding to the occupant and acknowleding his existence. What very odd eyebrows he had, Jack mused. No sense staring, though. He'd probably get plenty of opportunities to try and decipher the reasoning behind their appearence if his seatmate was talkative. If not, well, he'd get to eat in peace.

"Sandwiches, huh?" He said sarcastically and smirked at Sanji. "They're really feedin' us well today, aren't they?

[misterprince.livejournal.com]

The first thought on the chef's mind as Jack sat beside him was that there were plenty of open seats, and no reason for the other blond to sit there. He tried to make this thought known by giving the man a glare through the one eye not obscured by hair. It was Jack's misfortune that he wasn't a woman, in which case Sanji wouldn't have minded the intrusion in the slightest - would have been especially polite, even.

Still, there was no point in going out of his way to make enemies. "I wanted to check out some of the restaurants in town, but I didn't get a chance." He tried to keep his tone casual. "Did you?"

[1imited-edition.livejournal.com]

Rein climbed onto the bus fairly miffed that she hadn't been able to see the bookstore. Hadn't done much of anything, really, besides meet that immoral woman. And Logan, of course. But still.

At least, though, she'd been able to watch over Raine. She took a seat and waited for the half-elf to join her.

[per-ardua.livejournal.com]

On the one hand, not getting to see the bookstore was not helping her mood. On the other, Raine could guess that reading something wouldn't have helped her headache at all...

She was cheered very slightly by dinner, though--when she got a box of orange juice. "Perfect," she murmured, giving Reinforce a slight smile. If nothing else, the trip had been a change of pace, a chance to look around a new place... and now she had the ingredients for two kinds of Gels.

All in all, the day hadn't been too horrible... but her injuries had really sapped her energy, and she was definitely not hungry again yet. Holding her dinner in her lap, she leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes, hoping she could sleep at least until they got back.

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

[waiting for Okita. :D]

After a pleasant meal in the restaurant (even though the food had been rather...strange), the nurses came to round up their patients and Kenshin had been forced to bid farewell to Dave Barret, the bizarre writer. Since he needed to speak with Okita, he requested that he be brought to the bus that "Ikeda-san" had been sent to. The nurse had given him an odd look for that, and protested that he wasn't going to have much luck talking to someone who'd been sedated, but eventually relented.

Once he was on the bus, it wasn't hard to find Okita. His flamboyantly very purple hair was difficult to miss.

"Hattori Hanzo's descendant, hmm?" he asked, by way of greeting. It was almost frightening how...informal they had become. "Is he very skilled?"

[notachick.livejournal.com]

Okita was entirely too pleased with himself to care that he was back on the devil machine. He'd ended up getting bruised up by the orderly, but he'd also managed to "accidentally" step on his insole seven times on the way back from his sparring match. The orderly was so pissed by the time they'd reached the buses, he'd just thrown Okita on the closest one and hoped someone else had to deal with him. The swordsman was absolutely ecstatic that the nurses hadn't found his candy stash, and the elation was only amplified when he was given something called a cookie. He had no idea what a cookie was, but it looked tasty and filled with more of that chocolate stuff.

Chocolate was amazing.

He'd just managed to figure out that the bread and meat thing he'd been given was also edible when he heard someone familiar approach him. Grinning like a two year old handed pudding, Okita looked up at Kenshin and patted the seat next to him. Not wanting to sound like a complete fool, he took his time in getting his words out - careful to enunciate and think before speaking. He probably sounded more ridiculous, but at least he didn't say anything too strange. "Yes, a very good fighter. Needs more training, but good. How was your day?"

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

And back to the Earthian buses it was.

Qui-Gon hadn't had a chance to fill Obi-Wan in completely on what he planned, but he would the next chance that was presented to him. While he wasn't sure yet if it was possible to construct a commlink with the Earthian's level of technology, he certainly intended to try. It occurred to him that without the proper tools, they would be most certainly fighting an uphill battle. But not only was keeping in contact over distances critical, it would also give him more time to learn about this civilization. If they could make a working commlink, then they could make more for the other patients - but no, he was getting ahead of himself. One did not get anywhere with if's.

He'd told Obi-Wan that plenty of times, told him that he had to be mindful of the present and not get lost in the future. It was time for him to take his own advice.

Herded to one of the bus lines by the staff, Qui-Gon took a quiet breath to center himself. There was a light, evening chill in the air, an honest breeze that he knew he would miss once he was back at Landels. The sky itself was shot through with streaks of pink and red, darkening into purple as evening set in. There was a whole alien world out there beyond Landels, beyond Doyleton, an end of the galaxy that no Jedi - as far as he could tell - had ever stepped set foot in.

And yet he could feel the Force present here, in the life around him. He'd felt it in Fancy the Horse and in Prucell.

The Force is my ally. It was the mantra of a Jedi, something that every Jedi, from initiate to Master, had grown up repeating. Only perhaps it had lost its meaning over the years...and now Qui-Gon was finding out that he was not as attuned to it as he thought. It was one thing to sense the thrums and vibrations of life in the Force even here on Earth. It was another to harness it.

Stepping onto the bus, Qui-Gon picked out a seat, gripping the headrests as he made his way down the aisle. He supposed that his train of thought would've been discouraging, but he instead found strength in it. Qui-Gon was sure now that he was supposed to be dead - but he was not, and this was another chance. He would do things different, both as a friend. And as a Jedi. Perhaps this time, on this last mission, he would learn what it really meant to be an ally with the Force.

[demon-beast.livejournal.com]

[Hope its okay to interrupt!]

Argilla was, to put it simply, rather perplexed. The place with the manicures had been an interesting distraction, full of things that she'd never seen before, enver even heard of. But the woman who had settled down to 'do' her nails (whatever they did to them, she wasn't entirely sure) had looked bemused and asked why she needed them doing when they were already perfect?

It didn't make sense. She and Roland had been seperated, for which she was a little sad. She'd enjoyed the afternoon with him.

The bus was aready fairly crowded when she entered and she approached another of the patients with a smile. "Is this seat taken?"

[roses-bleues.livejournal.com]

This time, the sociopath Chiropteran stepped onto the school bus without complaint. To say this was not something Diva would normally do was an understatement; the morning's sedation had long worn off, and she was a Queen among humans, but...

Deftly folding the skirt underneath her as she sat, an absent skill, she perched on the edge of an empty seat by the window. The things pushed at her by a passing nurse - human food, it looked like - either were left forgotten on the seat, or slipped to the floor with the bus's movement. She didn't know the way back, so she had to accept this return ride, that was the initial problem. Because the only way to see more, find out why and how, was to go back. Without her Chevaliers - and the fact that her song, however short-lived, had failed to draw them was no small barb - something had to be done on her behalf. And she'd just have to do it herself, wouldn't she?

Diva pressed her palm to the window, fingers spread wide. This was not something the girl was used to, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Something had to change, didn't it?

Yes, Amshel had told her that. That was problem solving. Wasn't it?

[transgenix.livejournal.com]

There was a girl sitting by herself and staring out the window, and while something struck Max as slightly odd about the girl's stillness, she paused by her seat, eyeing her for a moment.

"Is this seat taken?" she spoke up, arching an eyebrow in inquiry to see if the girl would mind company.

[norainu]

Renji went quietly as he was herded back to the bus, though he was less than pleased that it looked like he and Rukia were going to be separated. He'd barely had a chance to shove the second book into his shoe before the nurses had shown up, but it seemed to have worked; they didn't do that thorough of a job at patting everyone down. Having just eaten, he had no interest in the dinner they were handing out, but he took it anyway in case someone got hungry during the night.

He headed to the back of the bus, and surreptitiously pull the rather abused little book back out of his shoe, tucking it under his shirt. He didn't think Hisoka would like getting a book if it smelled like feet.

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window, sinking lower in the seat.

[due to be molest0red by Byakuya. D: ]

[byakushi.livejournal.com]

It was odd. He'd expected to feel... invigorated, after the massage. Or, at least, replenished, in some way. The day up until that point had been trying, to say the least... afterwards, he'd hoped to have the energy to, well, put some of it right. Or, if not put it right, at least defuse irritants. There were more than enough of them, already, without his inadvertently abrasive actions creating more. Rather than re-energization, though... he experienced a catharsis. He no longer felt irritated, angry, saddened... nor even the small (added) bit of pride from Captain Harkness' comments on Rukia. Nothing. He felt like nothing more than a slate wiped clean. In this state, perhaps, he would be able to undo some of his folly.

The bus he was herded towards, at least, held one moderately-pleasant surprise: Renji. Excellent. He'd been hoping to meet with the boy all day... and, now, despite the subpar conditions for privacy, he intended to do exactly that.

He strode over to the seat his Lieutenant had chosen, and sank into the aisle side. Now seated, he looked over at said Lieutenant, waiting for some sort of reaction.

[OOC: Molest molest moleeeest~<3]

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

He'd escaped the threat of (more) public humiliation! For once, just once, HK was happy that humans were so inefficient. The people at the front desk of the spa had taken so long to get anything done that he hadn't gotten dragged along for a massage!

Unfortunately, he had also been inefficient today, and hadn't stolen anything or really done much to make meatbags feel inferior. What a waste.

[haiiro-no-chou.livejournal.com]

[OOC: Hope you don't mind the intrusion!]

Rukia got separated from Renji in all the commotion, but she at least managed to get onto the bus without anyone noticing the small book tucked against her chest. Its presence alone made her happy in a simple, 'no one can take this from me' sort of way. Even though they were all, for the time being, trapped at Landel's Institute, weakened, and in terrible danger, she had that comfort.

She had Renji's promise.

A small, secret smile on her lips, she made her way down the aisle of the bus. She quickly spotted Renji... and her brother. Hm. Well, that could either be really good or really bad. Before either of them could spot her, she plopped down into the nearest open seat.

Looking at its other occupant, she smiled a little nervously. "Oh, hello. I'm sorry, do you mind if I sit here?"

[jei.livejournal.com]

Even for someone who could not feel pain, sitting down with a bottle of nailpolish down one's pants was not particularly comfortable. Nonetheless, Farfarello was pleased with his petty little theft, and so there was a smile on his face as he slumped into a seat on the bus, sitting so that a little more weight was on one hip.

Granted, he hadn't done anything particularly useful with his day. But between the claws, the filleting blade from Lecter's office and the box cutter, he was fairly well set for small weapons, and nothing big would have been possible to smuggle back. So he had a little fun, instead, messing with Hakkai and the Egyptian kid. Not a bad day, all told.

[k4t4str0ph4l.livejournal.com]

"Glad you've got something to be pleased about," Schuldig remarked as he dropped onto the seat next to Farfarello heavily enough to possibly make the Irishman bounce a bit. "Because the world seems to have it out for you today, you know. As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news..."

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Soubi lost Ritsuka in the crowd outside the bus. He'd tried to hold back but had been shoved inside by impatient nurses. With an unimpressed scowled, he skulked along, looking for a decent seat. When he found one, he sat on the outside, saving the window seat for Ritsuka. He was on the edge of his own, keeping an eye out for his little Master. He wanted more time together. If he could, he'd spend every waking and sleeping moment with the boy.

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

In the push and shove, Ritsuka had lost his grip on Soubi's hand. Being short among a sea of freakishly tall people hadn't helped him at all, and he had quickly lost sight of the Fighter. He hadn't been able to spot Miku or Alfons all day either! He really wanted to talk with them, maybe tell them how to find him that night, but it was useless. His nurse weeded him out of the bunch, sat the earmuffs back on his head, and gave him dinner before shoving him onto a random bus. As soon as she let him go, he ripped the earmuffs off again.

"Just tell me where my friends are already!" he shouted at her as she pushed him onto the number two bus.

"I'm sure you'll see them soon enough, Jordan. Now stop shouting or I'll have to give you a time out," his nurse replied, thoroughly annoyed as she set the muffs back on. "And stop taking those off, you'll catch cold."

"How the hell do I catch a co--" The nurse pushing him down the aisle stopped him from saying anything else. He turned to finish his thought, but she was already leaving to find other people to harrass. Once she was gone, he pulled the earmuffs off again. He normally liked colors, but the kitten shaped monstrosities needed to burn. He wondered if Soubi would offer up a match for such a noble cause if Ritsuka asked him. Knowing Soubi, the guy would offer up a lung if Ritsuka asked him.

Making his way down the aisle, Ritsuka wondered if Miku or Alfons were on this bus. He glanced around, but couldn't find them and sighed. He'd promised to make memories with them and Ritsuka hated breaking promises. If only he could find them, maybe he could get them to come by later so they could make some tonight. Running a hand through his hair in exasperation, Ritsuka spotted Soubi saving a seat for him and stopped next to the blonde. "Sorry, my nurse is a pain sometimes."

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

Other than a few possible hints here and there, Seishirou still proved to be as much a mystery to monk as he had before this trip.

Sanzo took a seat near the back, closest to the window. It grated that he had freedom so close, but he still couldn't leave. Not yet, at least. As long as he knew the sutra was within Landels, it was his responsibility to track it down, shoot the fucker that had it, and then bust out.

This would be bordering on insulting, if he hadn't gotten two boxes and the matches out of it.

[screwthegods]

Far be it from Homura to leave Sanzo's situation from merely bordering. He had hoped to spend some time with the monk before he ventured out for the night, but that was simply not to be. Between Kenshin arranging an earlier time for his talk with Okita, and Hitsugaya's determination to have half the prisoner population meet at M23, it was simpler to steal moments with the priest now.

Besides, it would keep him occupied, unfocused on his curiosity and concern for the fellow members of the history club.

"Good evening, Konzen." Without waiting for the invitation that would never come, Homura sat down beside the man, effectively trapping him. A smirk graced his lips, and mentally he wondered how long it would take the monk to become violent this time. "Did you have a good trip?"

[raptscarecrow.livejournal.com]

Another bit of unwarranted touching -- Kakashi hadn't been searched since he was, what, fourteen? When he had been sent as a messenger to an ally general and had had to forfeit all of his weapons before he could speak to him -- and then he was let onto the bus, again taking a seat near the middle-front. He saw no one he recognized, at least other than his roommate, but again, it was something of a relief to have some more time to himself. At least he knew the others were fine -- sedated, at the worst -- and he was convinced by now that the daytime hours were safe enough to relax; or at least not be constantly tensed, anyway.

Still, it bugged him that this day had been so unproductive. Aside from tight security, there had been nothing worth attempting to steal that he could see. From what he knew from being here for only a day, the name of the game was simply staying alive, and he preferred his hands over any small tool he could have snatched.

No, Kakashi would just improvise as he went. He always did.

[kingofknights.livejournal.com]

What a strange, little town. It seemed even humbler than some of the peasant's quarters where Shirou had lived. Perhaps it was the eerie air and a stubborn refusal to take part in childish trips that prevented Saber from taking part in any of the activities Doyleton had to offer. Perhaps it was simply the humiliation of being seen in such a garrish mockery of clothing. For whatever reason, Saber had kept to herself, exploring only for the sake of better learning the layout of the strange village.

When she was patted down and handed dinner for the evening, the Servant nearly snapped at the disrespect. To be touched by such hands was an insult, but she had seen their ways here around the town. Retribution at this point would lead only to sedation with the small needles, and the king of knights could not afford to be in anything less than her best condition here.

Finding a seat that remained unoccupied at the moment, Saber claimed it, silently nibbling on the portions handed out for the sake of keeping up her strength.

[myopic-mousse.livejournal.com]

"Please take a seat, Mr. Stipe."

The nurses had appeared from nowhere, as far as Mousse was concerned, as soon as he and Zoro had found their way to the Twin Pines. Despite his protesting, the Amazon had found himself separated from the pirate and forced onto an unfamiliar with unfamiliar faces.

How very unfair! He had a good mind to say as much, except that the nurse telling him to sit down didn't seem in the mood for much in the way of back talk. While Mousse was more than confident that he could take her in combat, he still found himself cowering in fear of getting on her bad side and slinking to a seat. He'd blame Cologne and her conditioning.

Sitting down with his dinner, he realized that he wasn't alone and bowed slightly. "Oh, hello, Miss."

[opposingheaven.livejournal.com]

There was something about that man, the writer, that bothered him. He couldn't figure out quite what it was, maybe he was just feeling off because of someone talking about Heaven like that, like it was some perfect place. Ah well, nothing to do about it now. At least he'd had a pretty damn good meal and Kenshin seemed like a decent guy.

He picked a free seat on the bus and leaned back in it, closing his eyes tiredly. Skipping so much sleep wasn't brilliant, even for a god and he couldn't afford to not do anything again tonight. He thought that he'd go and find Hakkai. That would probably make him feel better.

[byakushi.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/251147.html?thread=18701579#t18701579)]

Byakuya headed away from his lieutenant, towards the back of the bus; for the moment, he wished to be alone. His thoughts had turned... soft, towards the end of their discussion...

Love was not weakness. Mourning was not weakness. To dwell on the past for this long, though... that very well might have been weakness. And he could not abide weakness.

He took a seat gracefully, as always, and stared idly out the window. At that moment, he wished for nothing more than sleep... or, no, not sleep. Sleep had dreams, and dreams were treacherous. No, perhaps meditation...

[Feel free to pester him~<3]

[killing-suzie.livejournal.com]

Captain Jack had resigned himself to a lonely, but meditative ride back to the institute when he spotted the hotty from earlier, moving off to sit by himself. They hadn't really gotten a chance to have a decent conversation, with all the interruptions, so he decided to give it a whirl and see how it went. He slipped out of his seat, down a few, and then in to Byakuya's, smiling his same cheerful smile.

"Captain," he said. "Did you enjoy your massage? I think you must've left the place before me."