Day 35: Bus 1

[misterprince.livejournal.com]

Sanji woke up groggily to find his nurse already in his room. He gave a sleepy and half-hearted "Buh?" before realizing that nurse meant dayshift, and he'd fallen asleep after dinner.

"Shit!" He sat up abruptly, which gave his nurse a start. "Nami-swan!" How had he allowed himself to sleep through an entire night? What if she'd tried to return to the basement? What if she'd been waiting for him to appear and protect her? He'd let her down!

"There, there. Calm down." His nurse set a familiar flannel shirt down on the bed and Sanji eyed it with confusion. The last time he'd worn that had been... "Sorry I didn't knock or anything, but I was so excited~!" A pair of jeans followed the shirt. "Today is the field trip into town! Aren't you looking forward to it?"

The chef had to admit, the town had been an interesting enough place the last time he'd been. If he could find Nami early on he might even be able to lead her around... So he didn't complain too much as he changed into the other outfit (which he really wished they'd let him keep - anything was better than the regular gray) and was led out to the first of the buses.

He took a seat near the front, hopefully easily visible to any of his crew - especially to a certain member of his crew.

[for Usopp!]

Comments

[braidless.livejournal.com]

To say the least, it was downright jarring to wake up and not have any idea of how much time had passed since he'd last seen the light of day. Once he realized today was the "exciting" trip to Doyleton, that feeling of being out of balance only increased, and Obi-Wan changed into his clothes with furrowed eyebrows. They were strange clothes by his standards, but they looked like they'd keep him warm for the day, at least.

Still, as he was led to one of the buses and given a sack of food, several questions were running through the Jedi's mind. How long had he been asleep? Had he fallen ill? Or had the doctors done something to him?

Granted, he knew his situation wasn't necessarily unusual, but that didn't make it any less off-putting.

Once he'd found a seat, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to regain his focus before he ventured out into the town. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the should have's and could have's of what had happened.

((Free.))

[got-the-bronze.livejournal.com]

Rose was confused to say the least when she woke up in the same bed she'd woken up in yesterday. She thought she'd been walking through the halls with the Doctor, but... How'd she gotten from there to here? One more mystery to add to a quickly growing list.

At least one good thing happened: the nurse/evil robot brought a change of clothes. Real, proper clothes. They looked a bit worn, but to Rose that just meant comfy. So it was with great relief that she donned the torn-at-the-hems jeans and old pink sweater. The nurse/robot led her outside, Rose pestering her with questions the whole while. Apparently they were going to a town called Doyleton, just for the day, and they'd return before nightfall.

Rose climbed onto the first bus in line and sat in an empty seat next to a young man who looked vaguely familiar. She decided not to ask if they knew each other, in case she broke the space-time continuum. Instead, she smiled at him and said, "Hi, I'm Rose."

[ol-canucklehead.livejournal.com]

Blackness. Silence. Nothing. A stirring of the beast. A reluctance to acknowledge it. A will. Fighting. Losing. Losing against the beast. As it always did. The beast always won, sooner or later. All these years, all the training, all the meditation, medication, and outright screaming against the beast. All futile. He was not a man, no matter how hard he wished he could be. Could have been. Logan's eyes snapped open.

Where? Wha'? He should have felt tired, drained, but instead he was more awake than he'd ever been. Broken memories of the night before flashed through his brain, a brain that was on fire. He couldn't recall it all immediately, but a sickening voice in the back of his mind reassured him that he would. It took all of the mutant's will not to just scream out his rage with all of his heart. What had they done? What had he done?!?

Without thinking, he turned and punched the wall with all the strength he could muster. The plaster cracked, the brick crumbled slightly, and blood trickled from his hand. Logan began to hyperventilate as he spun his head in the direction of the other bed. Parker was there. Still asleep, as if nothing had happened. The mutant's breathing slowed slowly as he realised his friend at least looked unharmed. More memories were starting to come back. The kid he'd gutted...the guy with the gun...Rogers...he stared despondently at his hands, not even noticing the blood slowly, slowly clotting. Too slowly.

The door swung open, and his regular nurse entered. "Mr. Howlett!" She exclaimed cheerily. "I do hope your counselling last night was as beneficial as intended?" He scowled at her in response, suddenly wanting nothing more than to snap her pretty little neck. He softened quickly however, as he realised just how little good that would do him. She was just a lackey, after all. He wanted the Big Guns. So bad that it hurt.

If she noticed the crack in the wall, or the fresh wound on his hand, she gave no indication. "Please come along now, James, we have a field trip scheduled for today." Moving into the room, she laid a set of clothes on the desk at the end of his bed. "Get dressed, and I'll meet you in the hall to escort you to the bus." She left, but he could smell that she hadn't gone far. Not even caring what he'd been given to wear, he dressed thoughtlessly before striding over to the door, casting another glance at his roommate on the way. He knocked once, to signify that he was ready. The mutant's mind was suddenly very blank.

The door opened again, and he followed the nurse sullenly out towards the bus loading area. His movement was uncharacteristically slow as he shuffled up the steps of the first bus, taking a seat near the front. Logan dropped his head into his hands. Wha' tha hell'm I gonna tell Parker? Or Steve?!? Oh Jesus. Steve. Steve was here, and the first thing he did was attack him. It wasn't easy for a man of such resolve to feel sick, but he felt several seconds away from emptying his stomach entirely.

[Mr. Parker, I presume?]

[a-spider-can.livejournal.com]

Peter wasn't quite sure what had happened, but right as he and Harry had made their way over the wall for that second try, blackness had faded in and morning had come. He woke up suddenly, heart pounding with that sense that something was wrong. That transfer from night to day was way too disorienting at times.

But then he saw the empty bed and his panic grew as he stood up, running a hand through his hair and trying not to jump to any conclusions. The other bed had displaced sheets, so Logan had to be all right, at least to an extent. He knew the man couldn't be doing all that well, which meant that he needed to find him as soon as possible.

Spotting the same set of clothing that he had been given for the last Doyleton trip, Peter changed into the shirt, jacket, and jeans before a nurse came to find him. As they started to make their way down the hall toward the buses (and the nurse gave him his bagged lunch), he decided to bite the bullet and take some initiative.

"Excuse me, miss?"

She smiled over her shoulder at him. "Yes, Peter?"

"I wanted to talk to James, so would it be all right if we were put on the same bus?" He didn't see what was so terrible about that request, and all he could do was cross his fingers.

"Of course! It's good to see that the two of you get along."

Peter let out a sigh of relief as he was escorted onto the first bus, shoving his hands in his pockets as he once again had to push back those high school memories. He started down the aisle until he spotted Logan on his own and then quickly moved over to take the seat next to him. He couldn't help but put a hand on the other man's shoulder comfortingly, though he wasn't quite sure what to say yet.

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

Since he'd only been in Morrison's room, the morning wasn't as jarring. Armand sat up, noting that his shoulder had been freshly bandaged and there didn't seem to be any need for a sling today. He hoped. He didn't want to hurt himself further.

He was rubbing sleep from his eyes with one hand when the nurse entered, carrying a pile of clothing. He thought back to the announcements that he so seldom consciously noticed. Field trip. Right. He tucked his loose hair behind his ears and gave the woman a smile.

She laid out some clothes for him. Not anything he cared about. He fingered the heavy denim of the pants as he slipped into them. They were just a shade too loose. The shirt was the same thin flimsy material as the uniform shirts and an improbable shade of purple. The collar did little to hide his bandages.

The nurse led him out to the buses where he received a sack of food. Armand took a seat as close to the door as he could. He remembered the last trip to town.

[for Takaya]

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Takaya's eyes snapped open and he was treated to the sight of an unknown woman leaning over him, far too close for comfort.

Of course, jerking away was a stupid move, but that didn't stop him. "Alan," she chided. "You need to take it easy. You're alright." Panting, Takaya took a moment to look around. Oh. Right. Morning. Wrist in a bright white cast. Reaching up he could feel a compress where he'd been hit by that other guy.

And there was the fact that it was trip day. A pair of ratty jeans, black and white tennis shoes, and a t-shirt with the words 'Time to Shop' printed on them was forced onto him along with a paper bag.

Wonderful, he grumbled to himself. And to top the whole fucked up mess off, he could feel him rolling in anger way to close to the surface of their mind. He was caught up in his own irritation that he missed seeing the man that had beaten him last night, and paid no attention to where he sat, opting for sitting in the first open seat he came across.

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

Usopp woke up in a nervous sweat and jumped out of bed before he was fully sure he was awake. He'd gone to sleep in the middle of the very manly, very nerve-wracking conversation with Captain Zelnick and Tanaka, and...

The nurse came in to find Usopp sliding the drawer with the knife in it shut, already sweaty from packing away what he'd planned to take an hour or so on in minutes in his closet. He gave her his absolute best confident grin in the situation, which made her smile back a bit hesitantly, and then Usopp ruined it all by nervous giggling.

At least he'd had the chemicals put away first, so he'd just had to organize the rest of the hardware that had been out. 'Organize' was a polite word for it, 'frantically stuff' was more accurate. Oh, god, if anything isn't balanced right and gets knocked over and falls on the chemicals...

Well... the absolute worst case scenario was some kind of massive chemical explosion that'd destroy the hospital, or maybe poison gas filling it, or something, but he didn't think he had enough stuff for that. So it would probably just eat a giant hole in his floor, maybe blow up his and Sousuke's room.

What Sousuke thought of waking to the great Captain Usopp shoving things frantically in his closet, Usopp couldn't imagine, but the nurse's expression as Usopp tried to look innocent made it clear she thought he was nuts. But miracle of miracles, instead of demanding he open the drawer and show her what he was hiding, she handed over a pile of clothes instead.

Oh, right, today is another trip to Doyleton. Maybe I'll get eaten by giant birds before I come back to find my room destroyed. That was a relief.

The outfit wasn't exactly his usual coveralls, but it wasn't so bad. Once the sweatpants and baggy flannel shirt were on, he grabbed his notebook and a spare pen before the nurse placed his bag lunch in his other spare hand and gently pushed him along towards the buses.

Last night had started out great and turned into an absolute, unquestionable disaster. Usopp's paranoias about working with so many strangers, already being forcefully ignored in the name of progress and the hope that everyone's love of gunpowder would make keeping him alive seem like an optimal situation, were back full swing. And when had he last seen any of his crew? Were they all still around? They didn't all report on the boards. Had some of them vanished again? Zoro, or...

Seeing a familiar blond head on the bus, Usopp annoyed his nurse by waving wildly (bag lunch still in hand) and rushing over to take his seat. Now here was someone he trusted, someone he was sure wouldn't turn on him, or betray him, or attack him. Well, wouldn't turn on him or betray him, and sometimes he did kinda have a kick coming, to be really fair. "Sanji-kun!" The over-enthused and fake-shrill greeting aside, he added happily, "You're still not dead too!"

[misterprince.livejournal.com]

Not the right crew member, and not the voice he wanted to hear calling his name in that fashion, but crew was crew and the chef hadn't spoken with Usopp since the "meety" or whatever that had been. He grumbled in the other pirate's general direction, but scooted over to make room for him. "Of course I'm still not dead," he replied. "You think I'd let the bastards that run this place get the best of me?" Even if they apparently had before. He was simply going to ignore that supposed incident.

"More importantly, have you seen Nami? Do you know what she intended to do last night?" He didn't add the because I seem to have slept through it part. No reason to admit a weakness unless he had to.

[ditched-again.livejournal.com]

No sooner had he attempted to look around the quarry did he find himself back in his bed with that blasted nurse shaking him awake. Snapping in irritation at the woman, the Star Dragon Sword snatched the offered clothing from the useless woman and got changed. Ignoring his nurse, he took the offered paper bag without a word before storming out of his room and down through the halls.

This was another one of those blasted town trips. He remembered the last one, and he doubted this one would be productive either.

Making his way outside, he didn't even bother to assess which bus to go on this time. Making his way to the closest one, the Star Dragon Sword stomped his way onto the large contraption. Sitting in the first available seat, the sword dropped his bagged breakfast down in his lap as he folded his arms across his chest.

[Waiting for Frey]

[dawn-rune.livejournal.com]

Frey was glad to find that his sansetsukon was still clutched in his hand when he woke. He hurriedly hid it under the mattress, as usual, and was up and waiting when the nurse arrived. Frey had never been to the town before, and was oddly looking forward to the trip--at least it was some time outside these walls, which were beginning to feel terribly close.

The clothing (http://images.lip-service.com/style_photos/master/photo_2/49-167-G.jpg) the nurse insisted he wear, though, was completely beyond Frey's understanding. Though he'd often worn loose robes or shorter pants at home, Frey was accustomed to wearing something else underneath, which was not at all the case with this odd article of clothing. The boots were terribly heavy, as well, and felt very confining to someone who had worn sandals most of his life. And all black... it reminded him of Zerase, somewhat, though Frey knew she'd never tolerate such an outfit. But if he wanted to go to town, apparently, he was stuck with what was provided.

Feeling very silly, Frey followed the nurse out of the building and to... some strange sort of land-ship. Though how something so large and heavy would move on land, and without sails, Frey was not sure. There were wheels on it, but what would make them turn? Very curious.

Many of the seats on the "bus" were already full, but Frey at length found one with a space still free--and it was shared by someone he knew! Sighging in relief at the sight of a familiar--if not precisely friendly--face, Frey approached and asked politely, "Sir Sword, may I join you?"

[no-barbarian.livejournal.com]

Someone was nudging his shoulder. Teisel grumbled and raised a hand to bat the offending person away. He rolled over to go back to sleep and just how the hell had he ended up in bed again?

Teisel sat up with a yelp, nearly cracking heads with the woman who'd been trying to wake him. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Wolfe. I didn't mean to startle you." The matronly woman in white (must be some kind of...nurse?) gave him a pat on the head and laid a pair of jeans and a dark green shirt on his lap.

"I'd have let you sleep in longer, but then you might miss the bus." She stepped back and smiled, waiting for him to get changed. Teisel stared at her as though she had two heads.

"Bus?" he repeated.

She nodded. "Yes, Todd, we're going on a bus ride into town today," she explained, as though Teisel were an exceptionally slow child. "Won't that be fun? I'll give you some privacy, and then we can find you a seat on the bus, okay? Okay!"

She left, and Teisel could almost feel his brain turn to scrambled eggs. "...Okay?"

Bewildered, he dressed and followed the nurse to the buses. He climbed into the first bus they came to, the nurse giving him a reassuring pat on the back as he did so.

Sitting in an empty seat, Teisel stared around dumbly. He'd passed confusion several minutes ago. He didn't know where to even begin freaking out. So he didn't, yet.

[jokers-wildcard.livejournal.com]

Harley still wasn't completely used the the idea of randomly waking up in her bed in the morning. How she got back there was always a mystery, and a creepy one at that. But none of the nurses ever said anything to her about it, and she didn't plan to bring it up with any of them.

She had woken up with a start, blinking a bit confused and still shaken by the random attack from the night before. But no, just like all the other times, she had woken up in her room... Before she could start thinking about the ridiculousness of the whole thing, the door of her room opened to reveal that same nurse who woke her up every morning.

"Oh, good. You're up already," the nurse said with a polite smile. "We don't have too much time to get ready before we start loading the buses. Try to change quickly so we can leave soon. You're going to have an exciting day!" It sounded more like the nurse was trying to convince Harley to be enthusiastic for this little bus trip.

Before she could ask more about this 'trip,' the nurse had left the room, leaving behind a neatly folded set of denim overall shorts with cartoon strawberries etched onto the chest and a white t-shirt. There was also a scrunchy for her hair and a pair of raggedy, red converses that looked like they had been worn a few times too many. She could have done without the dumb sneakers but the rest she supposed wasn't all that bad... It was kind of cute in a way.

The nurse was back twenty minutes later, shoving Harley toward the buses like they were in some kind of massive hurry. What was the big rush, anyway? These nurses sure had a big stick up their behinds. Then again, what nurse didn't?

She climbed onto the bus, looking around at the others sitting there already. It was maybe a third full. There were plenty of empty seats. But sitting by yourself got boring real quick. Besides, it would be nice to know what was going on.

Without bothering to ask for permission, Harley plopped down next to one of the first people she noticed as soon as she walked in: a big guy sitting alone. If he was one of those big grumps who'd rather sit alone, well, she'd know soon enough wouldn't she?

"Well, don't this look like fun," she said, half sarcastically, half sincerely. "Didn't know we got to go on field trips. We goin' to an amusement park or somethin'?"

[kagurazuki.livejournal.com]

She'd been so close! There was a truck and they could've escaped, but now she was stuck back in her room, staring at the ceiling. How did they keep doing that? Even when they'd gotten free of the institute, they brought everyone right back again! How? Kagura threw her pillow across the room in a brief, angry fit as she got out of bed.

It wasn't long, however, before her nurse arrived with a smile and a change of clothing. Hope rose within her. Had Hatori finally remembered? Was she going to go home?

But no. These weren't her clothes. And the nurse assured her it was a field trip, she wasn't going home. At least the clothing was kind of cute. There was a pair of stretch denim jeans that were a little loose, but came with a cute pink belt. The top was one of those new baby doll t-shirts she'd seen in fashion magazines. The color was nice and it had a cute little heart on the chest, but it was really small! Was this how they were supposed to be worn? It didn't even cover all of her tummy! At least it came with a jacket, but that was short too. Did they really get the right size?

The nurse didn't seem to think much of it though, and ushered her out the door and out the front of the building. There were three big buses waiting for them and she was handed a paper bag and pushed toward the first bus. Where were they going?

[free]

[light-wicca.livejournal.com]

[mind a scholarly witch? :D]

Before Willow had enough of a chance to examine what they were finding in the mine, she was staring up at that familiar ceiling once again with the intercom crackling to life above her. It had happened enough times now that she was able to skip the confusion part, but it didn't make the transition any less disorienting. She sat up, blinking her eyes to clear her vision, as one of the nurses came into the room carrying clothes that weren't white and didn't have smiley faces on them.

"Good morning, Leslie! Did you sleep well?" she asked cheerfully, laying the clothes out on the bed. "We're going on a field trip today, so you need to get up and get dressed."

"Field trip...?" Willow asked, frowning. It took her a few moments to remember the trip to Doyleton, and then she was almost immediately alert and focused. Especially after finding the mine, she couldn't miss a chance like this, a chance to gather some more pieces of the puzzle and hopefully get closer to the answers. "Right. Doyleton. Um..." She looked over at the clothes as she got out of the bed. "Are those what I'm wearing?"

The nurse beamed. "That's right! Get dressed quickly so you don't miss the buses, okay?"

The clothes consisted of a long, olive-green skirt and a top that looked like a dress shirt, with fluffed frills along the edges of the sleeves and down the middle of the shirt. They weren't that bad, considering. Willow dressed quickly into them and followed the nurse out to the buses. She was handed a brown paper bag and ushered just as quickly towards the first bus. Once on it, she scanned quickly for Angel or Anya, but couldn't find either of them. She tried to hide her disappointment and looked instead down to a girl who also wasn't wearing the regular Institute clothing.

"Hi," she greeted a little tentatively, giving the girl a friendly smile. "Is it okay if I sit here?"

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

(FAIL!)

Haku was awake and tense, ready for an attack even before he was fully aware. Sighing softly, he settled back into the bed. This whole now you're consious now you're not bit had to go.

Glancing over at the other bed, he noticed, with no small amount relief that his friend was whole and still in the other bed.

Then he recalled it was 'field trip' day and his spirits took a sharp turn down. That meant clothing that was uncomfortable and a walk around and a town that thought he was insane.

(Artemis? Because we SO don't spend enough time together! ^^;; )

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

Artemis was also glad that he hadn't been injured at all. The prospect, considering he was crawling around a hole in the ground at night, didn't seem plausible. Yet here he was, unharmed. Thank goodness for small favors.

However, he distinctly remembered a strange dream, in passing from night to day. He and Haku were in an office, and older, and...

Ohgod.

Best not to think about that right now.

He sat up in his bed and looked over immediately at Haku. Unharmed, and awake. Thank goodness. But still embarrassing, as Haku had been the subject of the strange dream. He wouldn't mention it. For now, Artemis got out of bed moved directly over to Haku's bed and hugged his friend.

"It was so dark."

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

The lightsabers were gone.

Qui-Gon knew it would be futile to dwell on it. But the lightsabers he'd taken from the training room - a room constructed to be uncomfortably close to a Jedi's training chambers - were gone. He searched his room urgently; not panicking, but moving quickly, aware he might have limited time before the nurse would arrive. The Jedi checked thoroughly. The blue lightsaber from the training droid wasn't here. Neither was that mysterious, blood-stained red one with the electrum hilt. Having searched the room, Qui-Gon sighed. He would have to accept the loss and move on.

So he did.

Today was another Doyleton trip. Qui-Gon was given an Earthian set of clothes to wear; he changed into what the nurse called "jeans" and a loose black tunic with long sleeves (if the nurse noticed the braided bracelet on his hand, she didn't comment). Qui-Gon still felt a bit shaky after running himself into the ground last night, but he could walk, for the most part, limping a little on his injured knee. It still throbbed, both from when he'd misjudged his backflip fighting the training droid and when that other droid had hit him in the knee with an electrostaff. His head, as well, felt somewhat fuzzy; he was aware of the Force, but his senses to it were even more muted than usual. He'd over-extended himself.

He hoped Sanzo and Callisto made it back. They should have, but with Landels, sometimes you never knew.

Entering the bus, Qui-Gon was heartened to see Obi-Wan there. He looked mildly perturbed. As he watched, a young blonde woman sat down next to the other Jedi, smiling as she introduced himself. Qui-Gon nodded a silent greeting to his former student and moved down the aisle, limping between the seats until he got to a seat of his own and sat down. His senses might not be at their peak, but he could still do the Jedi technique of seeing without looking - observing without it being obvious he was scoping the place out. To all appearances, he was simply settling down for the field trip.

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

Frustrating as it might be to know he hadn't accomplished much more than frightening a group of young girls and getting his wounds healed, it was more than the others had managed, as far as he could tell. That alone was enough to please him. He was still a little put out that they'd had no trouble using his skills and abilities to find one of the keys, only to leave him out of the party that went after what was behind the door. The had their reasons, of course, not that he cared much for them.

He put his things carefully away in their places and waited patiently for the nurse to show up, as she always did. This time she came with a change of clothing, which, while it wasn't as comfortable as his hakama and robes, it wasn't bad either. Just a loose-fitting pair of khaki pants and a white button up shirt.

Once he was dressed, the nurse escorted him outside to the buses and handed him a bag which he assumed contained some kind of breakfast, just like last time. At least he'd managed to figure out how the puzzling juice boxes worked.

When he stepped on board the bus, he scanned for possible playmates, finally deciding to go with one of the men he'd first met here, Jinn. He was a kind, if somewhat naive fellow and for the time being, he preferred to keep his conversations light.

"Ah, mornin' Jinn-san," he smiled, leaning on the seat in front of the man. "Mind if I share a bench with ya? Y'look like you could use some comp'ny."

[udo-retrovirus.livejournal.com]

Last night hadn't been too bad. They hadn't run into any monsters, at least, and Junior had managed to swipe a few things, but he'd wanted to get some more done. Well, he'd have to talk to Usopp later and see just how much he could use.

He shoved the pillowcase under his own pillow when he woke up, trying to get them hidden before his nurse came in. It looked like they were heading out early this morning, so he needed to be ready. When the nurse did come in, she was carrying a different set of clothes. Oh thank god. Whatever out there that might be laughing at him, at least they were being nice here. Anything was better than that stupid uniform.

"Good morning, George!" she said, giving him that stupid fake smile, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "Are you ready for a day in town? I've brought you a change of clothes."

"Thanks," he replied, sliding off of the bed and taking the clothes from her, changing as fast as he could. When he finished, he was wearing a mesh shirt, a purple vest, and black bike shorts. Might not be the best clothes in the world, and was maybe even a bit tacky, but it was still better than those uniforms. After being cooped up in this place for so long, Junior was really itching to walk around a town and talk to some normal people who hadn't gone through the same thing that everyone else here did. Not to mention he'd planned on meeting with that alchemist this morning, hadn't he? Couldn't keep him waiting.

The redhead grabbed his journal and a pen on the way out, hoping to try and make some sketches of what he wanted either on the bus or sometime during the day. He just hoped it'd be possible. The nurse led him around to where the buses were parked and handed him his sack breakfast before gesturing him to get on. Junior obliged her, glancing around to see who else was on (hey, looked like Usopp was there!) before taking a seat near the middle of the bus and digging into his breakfast for the muffin.

[muted-flame.livejournal.com]

The extra sleep had definitely done wonders for Roy, and he woke up feeling a little more refreshed than usual. The first thing he did after sitting up in bed was check on his wound, wondering if that potion Ashton had been kind enough to give him had done any good.

The gash was still there, but it had definitely healed more than it would have on its own. He could only hope that he would be that much closer to one-hundred percent by the time night rolled around. It was frustrating to know that he couldn't make any real plans for tonight, seeing how the bulletin wouldn't be available to him, but at least he had informed the Cooking Club about that beforehand.

Unfortunately, it looked like he was stuck with the same clothes as last time for the Doyleton trip, and Roy couldn't help grumbling to himself as he pulled on the argyle sweater. The rest of the outfit (black slacks and boots) was decent enough, but it didn't really make up for the atrocious pullover.

As he walked with his nurse down toward the buses, he recalled the person he had spoken to over the bulletin yesterday and wondered if the stranger would have remembered their appointment. It was hard to know what bus the other patient would have chosen, but the first one was probably a safe bet. Roy pulled himself up into the bus and started walking down it, looking over all the other patients in their varying outfits and then settling on someone who fit the description he'd gotten.

"Can I assume you're Junior?" he asked as he sat down.

[cnflctofintrst.livejournal.com]

[for Ritsuka! and, uh, a million eavesdropping people]

Well, that had been a fantastically productive night. So productive, in fact, that they'd very nearly made it to the main hallway.

The only night in which Mello had accomplished less was the evening he spent on the radio with L. He wondered if the connection was significant: did overly observant people interfere with the flow of time by analyzing every goddamn irrelevant detail? But Matt and his History club crew had accomplished plenty the night before, and Matt wasn't one to overlook anything--as long as there wasn't a game boy in his hand. There must be a variable that Mello hadn't considered.

When the nurse handed Mello a neatly folded pile of clothing, he looked at her warily. Shouldn't the institute want to keep its patients recognizable, the way prisoners on work detail always wore colored vests? Civilian clothing would make it easier for one of them to slip away unnoticed, but Landel must have considered that. A test of some sort...as if there hadn't been enough of those yet.

Mello quickly buttoned up his cotton shirt before following the nurse to the buses. If his clothes were supposed to help him blend in with the general population, it seemed like Doylestown was having a twenty-four hour pajama party.

He accepted his bag breakfast and sat down on the first available bench, watching for the person whose description he'd read on the bulletin yesterday evening. For the first time in his life, Mello wasn't completely certain that he wanted the answers to his questions...but he sure as hell wasn't going to let Near get them first.

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

Ritsuka woke with a start and nearly fell out of bed. Even after almost two weeks of this, he wasn't used to it. He'd just been talking to Soubi, almost confessing the truth to him, when bam - intercom, end of night, morning. He really, really hated that.

Rolling over and going back to sleep was interrupted when his nurse burst in, talking about how excited he should be and how cute his outfit was. Ritsuka just wanted to bury himself under the sheets until she went away, but after minimal internal griping, he eventually found himself on the way to the bus with a sack breakfast and a mostly normal outfit. At least the kitten sweater was gone, but it had been replaced with jeans, a brightly colored long-sleeved t-shirt that Ritsuka could have sworn was probably made for a girl, and a baseball cap.

Shoved onto the first bus, he made his way down. Average height and blond didn't exactly tell him much, but there seemed to be at least one person who fit that description so Ritsuka stopped next to him, looking at him curiously. "Uh, I'm Aoyagi Ritsuka. Are you the one who wanted to talk to me?"

[mitase.livejournal.com]

Hanatarou had been rather startled to wake up and see the white walls of "his" room, especially when the last thing he remembered was being in the dark mine shaft and he didn't recall even returning to the building, much less going to sleep. Before he'd had too much time to be puzzled, though, the nurse had bustled in with even more strange clothing for him to wear (heavy blue pants, a dingy-looking shirt, and an odd green jacket (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/ragamuffinzx/Hoodies/P1010113.jpg)) and shooed him outside to where three buses were waiting.

Though he'd seen things like this in the human world before, he'd never actually ridden on one, and Hanatarou hesitantly clambered on board the bus to which he'd been led, tightly clutching the paper bag he'd been given against his chest. There were already several people on board, but the shinigami avoided them all and slid onto an empty seat, squeezing as far against the side of the bus as he could. Maybe nobody would notice him there.

[for Keman]

[adorkabledragon.livejournal.com]

It was probably a good thing that Keman's knowledge of human fashion was limited almost entirely to what the slaves wore back home. He equated "women's wear" with dresses and skirts, not slim jeans that were cuffed slightly to hide the fact that they were a little too short for his long legs. He was also given ankle boots, two shirts (apparently he was supposed to layer them?), and a very long scarf. All in all, he felt a little ridiculous, but let his nurse dress him anyway. Apparently the nephew she was so fond of dressed like this all the time, so it had to be normal, right?

The boots were a little uncomfortable, and he hobbled up the steps with great difficulty. Even though the ideas behind this kind of unassisted movement were interesting, he had absolutely hated riding this thing last time. This time probably wouldn't be any better.

He sank into the first available seat, next to a much shorter boy who was...dressed like a dragon?

"Ah...nice clothes."

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

Zabuza was confused when he was presented with his clothes to go downtown. Overalls and a plain blue T-shirt. He thought they would only be doing that once a week and it had only been a couple of days since their last visit. He had no idea that he had actually been missing for days and that it had been a week since their last visit. When he pointed it out the nurse that it was too soon to go back, she only laughed as if he had told some kind of joke.

Angry, uncomfortable, and, worse of all, confused, he got to the first bus and climbed on. He glanced around, blinking before he saw Haku and his roommate. Well, if they weren't going to kick him off the bus because Haku was on it, then the least he could do is sit and eavesdrop on the conversation.

He sat on an empty seat and looked out the window, arms folded across his chest. What a stupid idea that they had to go downtown.

[violent-varmint.livejournal.com]

[ not waiting for anyone, I hope? ]
Tanaka awoke with a start, unsure for a moment of where he was. He had been on Usopp's bed, and then the Head Doctor had said something, and...

...and now he was here, back in the room that had been assigned to him, struggling to put the pieces back together. Had it all been a dream? His talk with Zelnick, and his encounter with Usopp, and his failure in his duty? No, it couldn't be... not with the Captain's flashlight sitting next to the bed. It was thus that the nurse who finally arrived at Tanaka's room to escort him to the buses found him in a particularly foul mood, if a somewhat less energetic one than usual.

"Good morning, Takeshi!" she exclaimed, coming through the door and quickly trotting over to Tanaka's bed. "Today's a field trip! Excited?" The Shofixti's response to this cheery greeting - a glare that could melt rocks - only served to make the nurse more insistent. "Now come now, Mr. Soto. I thought all you wanted to do was have some time away from the Institute! Really, you should be ashamed..."

This was too much for Tanaka to take. Hatred in his eyes, he snapped back at the nurse, "Yes. I should. But that has nothing to do with your bipolar Head Doctor and his inane 'field trips'. I have my own problems to deal with right now. Leave me alone."

Of course, the nurse would have nothing of the kind, and after a sighed "I had hoped it wouldn't come to this..." she went back to the door and beckoned in one of the orderlies, syringe in hand. Tanaka growled, ready for a fight, until something stopped him: the Captain's orders again, in the back of his head. "I'd rather have you alive and fleeing than dead and victorious, as odd as the concept may seem." Giving a sigh of his own, he drew back, and raised one hand to stop the nurse and her gorilla. "All right. It doesn't matter. I'll go." Wherever that pond-scum intended to send him probbly wasn't any worse than here, anyway, and more sedatives in his veins were the last thing he needed once night fell.

Ignoring the woman's bubbly blather as best he could, Tanaka took the proffered outfit - a pair of khaki pants and a red polo - and began to change, the nurse having left the room to give him at least a bit of privacy. This process took a while, given that Tanaka was trying as hard as he could to not look at himself without his clothes, while still trying to put on the new ones. Eventually, though, he got them together, and was led out of the institute to the buses, his nurse leaving him with a paper bag and a cheerful "now have fun!" Tanaka merely shook his head, and went up the stairs of the closest bus, hoping to get this over with as quickly as possible. Finding no empty seats readily available, he compromised by sitting down next to a man who looked likely to keep to himself. Hopefully, the guy would leave him free to sulk in peace.

[jugezmoipas.livejournal.com]

Saying she was surprised that it was morning would've been an understatement. Fleur had intended on going out and hopefully finding something useful last night, but it seemed she had instead fallen asleep after dinner.

The witch frowned and was murmuring quietly to herself when the nurse arrived. Fleur had expected this to be like the other days in this place, but that thought was pushed aside once she noticed the clothes the older woman was carrying.

"Good morning, Jaime dear," she greeted cheerily, ignoring the irritated noise Fleur made at the name. "I'm sure you're excited about the field trip today, so I'll just leave these here and step outside so you can change." The woman gave her patient another cheery smile before laying the clothes on the bed and leaving so she could change in peace.

Fleur might've normally objected to something like that, but she couldn't ignore the idea of finally getting to leave this horrible place. Even if it was for a 'field trip', being outside and away from the building brought an opportunity that she couldn't afford to overlook. And the clothes, she had to grudgingly admit, weren't too bad either; the blue skirt and white blouse were certainly preferred over the usual outfit, at any rate.

Once changed, Fleur allowed the nurse to fix her hair back into a braid before she was lead out to the... well, she wasn't sure what they were, but the nurse called them buses. Fleur was wary of the large, strange-looking things but she hesitantly climbed into one, after witnessing others do the same.

Sitting in the first empty seat she found, the witch couldn't help bur wrinkle her nose slightly. This wasn't anywhere near as nice as the Beauxbatons carriage had been.

[undesirableone.livejournal.com]

Harry still felt pretty shaky from being sick for so long, but he didn't want to miss out on the chance to get away from the hospital. The nurse brought him his town clothes, clothes that, Harry noticed, still were made up of Slytherin colours (green t-shirt, black jeans, green and black shoes). He grumbled but figured the nurse just picked them out because they matched his eyes.

Coughing into his hand, Harry climbed onto the bus and looked around. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a familar face.

"Fleur!" he called, too surprised not to keep his voice down. He still sounded a little horse, but was otherwise healthy. He went to her. "Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked, lowering his voice now.

He was torn between the total and complete relief at seeing someone he knew, someone who was practically family now, and the horror at the thought that Fleur was now trapped here at Landel's.

[vladville.livejournal.com]

[Free!]

Vlad hadn't argued too much with the nurse's choice of clothing for him--not exactly the right shade, but still an acceptable green. It did need some gold, but beggars couldn't be choosers, after all, and it was a vast improvement over the Institute's horrible little smiling faces everywhere. After he'd put on the sweater and the khaki pants, he'd been led outside, and found the sight of other patients also dressed differently an ease on the eyes. True, nighttime had a bit more variation, but seeing people by daylight dressed like normal human beings was a pleasant change of pace.

Well. Mostly like normal human beings. His own outfit was nothing he'd pick out for himself, and even a bit scratchy, but he'd be fine with it for an afternoon. Looking around, not everyone seemed to be as lucky, and a few combinations might have even been improved by replacing a top or a bottom with the Landel's standard. The nurse politely interrupted Vlad's mental fashion critique to direct him onto one of the buses, where he noticed his roommate already sitting and gave a polite nod in that direction, but picked a still-empty seat for himself. A bagged meal, too. How cute, like high school. It ought to be downright nostalgic for Daniel.

[wantsyourzex.livejournal.com]

While his last trip into town had been merely a confusing diversion, now ZEX found that he felt a bit apprehensive about the entire thing. It wasn't even the threat of being trapped on a bus at night with strange creatures again... it was the fact that he couldn't remember anything that happened during his last trip. What had happened to him? Would it happen again?

Well, this time he'd have his Captain by his side, and surely he'd remember what was going on... and having someone to help if something unpleasant DID happen was comforting in a way, although it still niggled unpleasantly at his pride. He shouldn't need help, and yet...

At least his human clothes were warm enough, although he couldn't exactly find much to say about their fashion sense. Like so many things between their species, it was just very... different.

Unfortunately, it seemed that his Captain wasn't on this bus... a bad guess, unfortunately. He would have to try and find him later on. ZEX sat down after stumbling a little, this time beside a new human with an interesting hair color... hmmm. Kind of silverish...

ZEX tried a friendly smile (human faces were so difficult to maneuver!), completely unaware that his fun with Xigbar the night before had left some telling marks along his neck. "Greetings. I don't believe we've met before... a shame."

[remedying.livejournal.com]

[reserved for the phantom thief~]

Yukari felt like she would never get used to suddenly waking up in a bed. It was annoying, to say the least.

Well, she got what she needed from the previous night and more. Some much needed supplies, and... a box. One that was supposedly hers, although it didn't seem like time was on her side that night long enough to find out what was inside of it. If the nurses hadn't done their daily routine of barging in on cue of the announcement, she definitely would have taken a moment to peek. Unfortunately, she'd have to wait until later that evening to find out.

With her things properly hidden before the nurses came in (it was always a challenge trying to do that with haste when you had only just awoken), Yukari was ready to be dragged out where ever when they finally did. There was a surprise when the woman handed her some folded up clothing-- soon to be a pleasant one when she found out she was allowed to wear them during their trip to the town. Oh, they weren't the nice designer clothing Yukari would often dress herself up in, but... hm, they'll do much better for now. Sporting a sleeveless, pink top (heh heh, they even knew her favorite color!), and a nice black skirt to match, the girl found herself eager to go. Well... the shoes could be a lot better, but at least they weren't those slippers they normally had.

Finally on the bus, Yukari plopped down at an empty seat at random, looking around quickly before peeking in her brown paper bag that was given to her. It didn't look like Renamon was around, nor Ken, or... anyone she was familiar with. So far, she had the feeling this was going to be an awfully boring ride.

[flashyaudacity]

Oh hell no.

That was the sum of Kaito's thoughts when the nurse dropped off a pile of clothes for him to wear on the bed. He would have stared incredulously at the t-shirt in the pile if he could have brought himself to even look at it.

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.

It had taken most of his courage to touch the shirt in order to fling it across the room, and his nurse had been very displeased when she returned to see that he'd changed into the worn jeans and sneakers she'd brought, but not the t-shirt. It took the rest of his courage not to resist (too much) when she forced the shirt over his head. He was just glad he was able to cover the horrible, horrible shirt by asking if he could get another shirt, or a jacket--anything, because he was cold. Or so he said. In truth, he just couldn't stand to see the shirt; just knowing he was wearing it gave him chills.

The nurse bustled away, returning a moment later to give him a thick black hoodie with a white skull and crossbones on the back. He pulled it on gratefully before following her over to the buses without fuss, glad that the shirt and its infernal message was now out of sight. If he could forget he was wearing it, or ditch it as soon as he had a moment... all the better.

The nurse dropped him off on a bus, leaving him with a brown paper bag with breakfast in it. He looked around quickly, looking for a seat. There was no sign of Hattori, but... was that Yukari?

Kaito headed for the girl and slid into the seat next to her. "Morning," he said, smiling at her. "You look good in pink!"

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

Oh for... how ridiculous!

Rangiku was not happy to wake up when she did. They'd done nothing! Nice as it was to speak with Renji, it was also frustrating beyond belief to get nothing done for an entire nightshift! And it would be difficult to organise for tonight, although possibly a better time.

She narrowed her eyes at the nurse who came for her but didn't sturggle. If she was going to be going into town, she didn't want to spend the whole time sedated when she could be finding useful things and stealing them. Or possibly getting herself a drink.

At least the clothes were better. A strappy little top and tight cut jeans and heeled shoes that were rather fetching really.

She let herself be led to the bus and found herself a double seat where she could sit with her legs sprawled out, at least for a while, and began to eat her food.

[For Donna]<\small>

[mateswithnobody.livejournal.com]

"Someone just kill me..." Donna was wishing for lightning to strike her dead as she was forced into public wearing an even worse fashion disaster than the gray nightmare from the day before.

Karma must have been getting back at her for wanting color, because she'd certainly gotten some this time. Some orange and blue and green and red... nice colors on their own and in certain pairs, but when you had tangerine orange, lime green, burgundy red, and baby blue, all on one stupid dress? That was torture of the cruelest kind. The designs showing off the colors weren't even subtle (which might have worked somehow), but left big polka dots of orange, thick trim of red, and a middle section of blue plain as day on the blinding Lime dress. And as if that wasn't enough, they'd slapped her in worn tennis shoes. Worn tennis shoes! Donna Noble hadn't worn used clothing in all her thirty-two years!

Needless to say, Donna was not in the happiest of moods as she boarded the bus. That anger kept her from really looking where she was going, and she plopped down into the first seat she would, right onto some poor woman's legs.

"Oh! Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Donna was up the moment after though, anger shoved aside to turn and apologize. "I really didn't mean that!"

[forthewinry.livejournal.com]

She could have sworn she'd gotten much more time to get around on the other nights before passing out and waking up, and being as it was that she did not make any progress in the area of finding her parents, she woke up far more disheartened than was typical for her.

She found herself surprised when the nurse who woke her up presented her with a pile of folded clothes and told her it was time to go out for their day trip. She dressed without a fuss, tying back her hair and following her nurse out curiously, expecting a short accompanied morning walk. What she didn't expect was the sight of sheer beauty that graced her vision upon going out in to the parking area.

"Wha- They're HUGE!" She exclaimed, citing the obvious sight of the three school buses lined up, "These are really internal combustion vehicles, not just train cars? How many people can they fit?" The nurse informed her that the reccomended capacity was 75 last time she checked.

"Seventy five!" She exclaimed, approaching the first bus with a gaze of admiration, "Wow, how much fuel would it take to even carry that kind of load on an automobile's engine? It must be such a powerful engine... I just- wow! Let me look inside the hood! Please!" She clapped her hands before her in a prayer motion. It didn't matter that this nurse was technically a captor. She just wanted to uncover the secrets of the huge vehicles. The exchange ensuing proceeded as something like-
"Please?"
"No."
"pretty please?"
"No."
"I promise I won't take it ap- I promise I'll put it back together when I take it apart!"
"Out of the question, Katie. Please go have a seat."
Winry frowned and took a breath, as she stepped towards the bus, yelling over her shoulder,
"My name is Winry, you jerk!"

She sat down in an empty seat scowling and looking out the window.

[jei.livejournal.com]

[not quite the companion she might be hoping for, but here ya go anyway!]

Farfarello figured that the nurses either had a weird sense of humour, or they were trying to make him look more acceptable for the little trip out to town. But really, they could dress him in any preppy shit (http://z.about.com/d/mensfashion/1/0/O/6/00080m.jpg) they wanted to, and he'd still have a face full of scars, an eyepatch, and that cra~zy look in his remaining eye. Whatever.

"Breakfast" was even grimmer than usual, with not a hope of sausage or bacon, and Farfarello scowled at the stupid brown paper bag like he could make some real meat appear if he just tried hard enough. So he wasn't paying any attention to where he sat, except that it was an empty seat.

[intoindra.livejournal.com]

((Reserved))

That hadn't worked at all. While exploring was all well and good, they hadn't managed to encounter any monsters... again. Roland wasn't as hungry as he could have been, but not having any food at all was starting to get a bit tiring. Gorging once every few nights was as unhealthy for demons as it was for normal people; he wanted a steadier stream of meat, something to keep the pangs away as much as possible.

But that wasn't in the cards, much to his chagrin. So instead he quietly accepted the clothes- camouflage pants and a black shirt, refreshingly similar to what he'd had to wear back in his own world- and his breakfast bag before choosing a seat near the middle and sitting down. He had his journal with him, but at the moment, he couldn't really think of what to write. Instead, his thoughts drifted to Argilla, and that she'd accepted his offer for what was, in normal society, a 'date' of sorts...

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

When the attacks Peter and Sylar had sent at each other had collided, it had lit up the courtyard for a split second, bright enough to blind him.

But when his vision returned, Peter was back in his bed, breathing hard and with a killer headache. He coughed and turned over in the bed, staring down at the ground for a moment as he tried to remind himself of where he was. Suddenly, the night seemed like a distant memory, almost unreal, and Peter fought to recall it.

He couldn't justify why he'd acted the way he had, except that those nurses and large men had come for him after dinner. It was all pretty blurry after that, and then the next thing he knew he had been on that field, wanting to get his fellow patients back inside; being ready to attack them, if necessary.

And then, Sylar. Those memories were a bit clearer, though it didn't exactly make him feel any better. Peter knew now that there was a cure for death, and obviously Sylar had been revived after Hiro had stabbed him. And Sylar was here now, with him and Claire and that Elle girl. Nathan was definitely gone, and it was seeming more and more likely that Mr. Bennet was, as well.

A quick test made it obvious that his powers were gone again. Peter could only breathe a sigh of relief to know that he hadn't hurt anyone too badly while he had been in that state, but that was all outweighed by the fact that Sylar was stuck in this place with the rest of them. At least he knew that the other man had to be weakened, unless he was here just to terrorize people at night. But that made no sense - this wasn't a Company facility, and even if it was, Peter doubted that Sylar would work for them.

He was jarred from his thoughts when a nurse came into the room and told him to get dressed for the trip into Doyleton. Peter recalled what Xelloss had told him about this, and silently stood to grab the change of clothes the nurse had brought: a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.

Once he was dressed, the nurse started leading him down the hallway, and Peter couldn't help getting caught up in reflecting on the night before again. At least he had managed to make sure Claire had stayed safe in the end - he had promised Mr. Bennet he would watch over her, and he had delivered on that. He could only hope that Sylar wouldn't be as much of a threat now, but he knew better than to underestimate him.

Before he knew it, the nurse was shoving a paper bag into his hands and urging him onto one of the idling buses. It was strange to see the institute from this side, but he was too distracted to focus much on that. As he made his way down the bus, though, he was struck by a few familiar faces, and he realized they must have been people he had dealt with or at least seen last night. He spotted one man who was sitting on his own, and after a moment of awkward contemplation, moved toward him. Peter remained standing, knowing that the stranger might not want his company.

"Hey," he started, wanting to check and see if he was recognized.

[high-prosecutor.livejournal.com]

Edgeworth sat bolt-upright in bed. It wasn't the fact that he had been in the file room one minute and in bed the next. It wasn't even the fact that he'd found the files he'd pulled under his pillow. All those things were fine - at least for some values of fine, but he was used to those values.

What was new and surprising was the fact that from one minute to the next, he had dreamed, and dreamed of...well, he knew he wouldn't be able to look at Wright without blushing for a while.

Before he could think too much about that, his nurse walked in, carrying a pile of clothing with her. "Right, then, you're awake. I'll let you change, Mr. Pierce."

He looked them over - a dress shirt the color of his suit, chinos, black dress shoes. They would do. He changed quickly, and stepped outside. "Are you ready? Let's go."

She walked him out to the first bus, and handed him breakfast. As usual, he ignored her, taking the bag and taking a seat near the front. The bus was already pretty full, which was surprising.

[strange-unlife.livejournal.com]

Another utterly pointless night. Shito was beginning to wonder if he should even bother leaving his room anymore, when he never managed to get anywhere. He rolled out of bed, disgusted with this place and himself and everything else--this was all so stupid!

The nurse came in, as usual, but this time she had a bundle of bright fabric in her arms, and Shito regarded her with suspicion. Well-founded, apparently, as she tried to convince him to wear some absolutely hideous striped shirt (http://z.about.com/d/mensfashion/1/0/g/5/lacosteman15.jpg) and pants that clashed. And the hat, oh, it had to be Touhou's doing. He just loved messing with Shito in petty little ways. Eventually, the nurse threatened to have Shito sedated and he reluctantly agreed to wear the tacky things.

Scowling, wanting to punch something but not knowing who or what, Shito slumped into one of the few empty seats, beside someone who had clearly had much better luck in whatever stupid clothing lottery this place was running. He grunted a miserable hello, and poked around the bag for something edible.

[runner-up-robot.livejournal.com]

The nurse woke Forte forcefully, "Come now, Mr. Wilhelm, we've got to get you ready for the field trip today." And placed a set of clothes at the foot of his bed.

He sat up, groggily, "But... Sheena... center of weight..." The last thing he remembered was the girl walking up and shifting his stature, and now... this woman, in a brightly lit room? It was like he had been switched off and on again, and moved in the interim - was that how humans slept? "Where am I? What happened?"

She shook her head, "Poor boy... you're in Landel's Institute, now, so you can just rest and get better. Today is our field trip to the nearby town, so you won't be able to tour our facilities until tomorrow. We do have some clothes for you to wear for the trip, so I suggest you get ready." As she left the room, she muttered under her breath, "Honestly, I don't know why they would bring in new patients today, let alone in the middle of the night. It's so disorienting."

Forte watched her, confused, and then looked down at the folded clothes. There was a black jacket and a purple shirt with a skull on it (it seemed like the sort of thing Wily would have picked), with denim jeans. Well, at least it's better than this ridiculous smiley face, he thought, and tried to change so that he could ask the strange woman about where Sheena was, and whether she was a prisoner too (it didn't seem like a prison at the moment, with no darkly lit halls or monsters, and free clothes and talk of a trip). Unfortunately, after struggling with his current clothes, a ripping sound and the *thump* of him hitting the floor alerted the nurse to his inability to change himself. She came in, scoffing, and told him to hold still while she undressed and redressed him with surprising speed.

"Oh... okay, thanks, I've never had to wear clothes before I was human. So now can you tell me how I got to this room, and if there are any monsters nearby?"

The nurse sighed again, and pushed him out of the room. "Come on, quickly now Frank, there's no time for lallygagging in your dreams. You don't want to miss the bus on your first day."

As he was forced out several doors, every demand for answers was dismissed until he realized he was outside, and it was light out - maybe things really did work differently during the day? Before he knew what was happening, he was pushed onto a vehicle with many other people, with a paper bag in his hand, and led to an empty seat. "Whuh- no, I need answers! Come back here!" But the nurse was already hurrying off to find some other hapless patient. "Are all human facilities like this? This is no way to treat a superior robot!" he shouted as she left the bus. This was even more confusing than the night before.

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

HK was fairly livid by the morning. SubZero seemed to have dumped him, though he wasn't actually thinking through the implications of that term properly. Well, fine. If the meatbag thinks he can survive without me, let him try. HK was concentrating too much on being irritated to be really puzzled by the clothes he was given--some sort of black canvas-like pants with holes worn through at the knees, and a black shirt with an orange picture of a fork and the indecipherable slogan "Mein Teil" (http://www.rammsteinshop.de/catalog/images/2005.07.05_11.06.38_f340.jpg) on it. He simply fought his way into the slightly too small clothing and walked in the direction he was steered by the so maddeningly over-cheerful nurse. Oh, what I wouldn't do for a few grams of detonite!

The nurse gave him one final push onto the transport, leaving him faced with the unhappy prospect of having to sit down next to one of the meatbags swarming all over the place. Separated from even his meager arsenal in this place, he was contemplating breaking someone's neck. Just a little. Enough to make that entertaining crunching noise. It's hardly like it would make a meatbag less useful, after all.

Fortunately for the necks of all meatbags within striking distance, HK's internal grumblings were derailed by his processors finally catching up with his auditory sensors. Another fellow inorganic! And nearly as loud as the last one from yesterday. This trend of inorganics announcing their arrival with high noise output was a useful, if slightly bizarre trend.

HK made his way over to the self-proclaimed robot, speaking with considerably less volume. "Statement: I am in total agreement on this subject. I tried giving them a list of suggested improvements for a more fitting environment for droids within their own set system, but I doubt I will ever receive an answer. Commentary: The meatbags seem to follow distinctly odious protocols when dealing with droids. Specifically, they treat inorganics like members of their own feeble kind." His face as blank as ever, any emotion fully carried through his orange eyes and voice, giving him a fairly cheerful, if mostly insane air.

[tender-cruelty.livejournal.com]

Allelujah woke and felt pain flare through his body as soon as he moved. He gritted his teeth and pushed himself up into a sitting position so he could take stock of his injuries. His hands were bandaged and cleaned of the acid and the cut across his palm had been stitched. His chest was wrapped and he could tell that he'd probably at least cracked a rib when that table had fallen on him, if not broken a couple altogether.

The nurse gave him a sympathetic look when he flinched away from her, completely misunderstanding his desire to not be touched by someone who worked for this place. He did give her a surprised look when she brought in some different clothing to what he normally wore. Just tight jeans and a t-shirt, nothing too different to what he wore on Earth when he was there really, and the nurse took it as an excuse to start talking about the trip.

A town, huh? That was interesting and should give him a chance to gain his bearings.

She gave him a bag which she claimed contained breakfast and ushered him onto a large bus. He found an empty seat next to the window and started to pick at his food.

[Free!]

[jurisfictional.livejournal.com]

A cardigan. Again. Thursday forced a painfully sunny smile at her nurse before scowling down at the offending article of clothing once said nurse was out of sight. Just because she looked a bit older than most of the patients here didn't mean they had to treat her like a bloody senior citizen.

At least the soft blue sleeves concealed the burn marks on the backs of her arms, carefully treated and bandaged by GSD-knew-whom. She winced a bit as she picked up her breakfast, but the pain was bearable. It probably wouldn't prove much of a hindrance today.

She stepped onto the bus, glancing around for an empty seat, and spotted one next to a quiet-looking young man who looked to be about Friday's age, perhaps a bit older. She smiled slightly - this one considerably more genuine than the one she had given the nurse.

"Excuse me - is this seat taken?"

[manhattan-red.livejournal.com]

Well, this wasn't so bad, was it?

Brooklyn fingered the edge of the, admittedly worn, jacket he was given for the day. It was kinda biker-ish. He could get used to it. The jeans weren't bad either. He'd always found the material used for jeans rather interesting. After the last time he'd spent the afternoon outside, his nurse had been kind enough to get him a pair of sunglasses. This meant that overall he looked like he'd just walked out of an early nineties afternoon special, but in his mind he came across pretty cool.

Breakfast was lacking in quantity, but he could always go for fresh fruit. So, all things considered, he was fairly content for the moment. He could almost forget that he was being held in a crazy, monster-filled insane asylum against his will. Almost.

[toadally4boobs.livejournal.com]

Jiraiya woke up in his bed, staring at the ceiling, and wondered what the hell had just happened. One second he was dropping Sasuke (quite deservingly) and the next second... Jiraiya sat up quickly, pulling up his shirt to reveal that his injury had been bandaged. The hell...?

And the next thing he knew, his nurse came, and he was sent out in.. In a raggy red trench coat and gray sweatpants. And then he was led up onto this mechanical thing, and he found himself sitting next to another white-haired man.

Then, they started moving. Jiraiya actually let out a shout, staring out various windows as he turned his head to watch the scenery start going by. This wasn't anything he had ever experienced in his travels of the world. It took him a long moment to realize that they might be on something he had only heard about, briefly. An automobile. He thought it was just rumors, to have a thing with an engine that wasn't on tracks, or that wasn't construction equipment. Something made to move people. It made sense, considering this thing was on wheels, was metal, and was now moving.

And then, he schooled his expression, and turned quite calmly to his new companion. "... Excuse me, but are we on an 'automobile'?"

((XD; Kishimoto said that he might include aircraft and automobiles in his story, but since we haven't actually SEEN any yet, I'm going to assume that they're only starting to get used in a foreign country. I know they have 8-bit computers, though.

Sorry for the edits! Forgot that they have construction equipment in Naruto...))

[longlivetheking]

[Maybe taken :/]

Another night of...very well, not a complete waste of time. That woman didn't appear to be so much of a drag-down compared to several other patients in here (which will not be named).

Scar dragged himself out of bed right before a nurse came in and handed him some pieces of cloths.

The first thing that crossed his mind was 'not again'.

He remembered having to wear something similar last week, during the trip to a human...town? He couldn't quite say what a 'town' was as he had remained near those yellow objects back then. He supposed now would be a good time to see what was so special about these human 'towns', but...that wasn't quite the real problem.

The trip meant those large, yellow and especially loud and scary objects he had to sit in. Though the King had figured out by now they were meant for transportation, he still wasn't quite leaping for joy. Far from it. So after he had somehow 'changed' into his 'clothing', he reluctanly allowed the woman to take him to the 'objects'. The King didn't knew how he had manged, but he climbed inside and went for the first empty seat he could find.

Now all he had to do was wait for the blasted roaring to start. Couldn't they walk? Like any normal creature with legs?

[sixth-scents.livejournal.com]

[Very, very late]

Zexion awoke suddenly in his own bed. The abrupt change of location and time was disorienting, to say the least, although he'd have to get used to it.

Slipping out of bed, he mulled over the night. It hadn't been productive in the least; the Nobody really needed to work on that. His thoughts were interrupted when a nurse came in, carrying some new clothes.

"New uniform?" Zexion muttered, eying the clothes distastefully.

"Not at all! Today is the trip to Doyleton, so I've brought you clothes to wear in the town," the nurse responded cheerily. Zexion took the offered clothing and held the shirt up. He stared at it for a good thirty seconds before turning to the nurse.

"What," he began, "in the name of all that might be held holy is My Chemical Romance?"

"I believe it's a musical band that is popular with your age group. I think it suits you very nicely, Milo, with your hair sty-"

"I'm not wearing it."

The nurse placed her hands on her hips. "Now, now, you can't actually think that it would be best to wear the institutes clothing out in public." Zexion opened his mouth to argue that it would in fact be better, seeing as until now he hadn't even heard of such a band, but the nurse cut him off.

"Milo, if you don't get changed quickly, you'll miss the trip," she said firmly.

Several minutes later, Zexion boarded the first bus, arms folded tightly over his chest. He sat down in a random seat, not caring who was next to him. The black pants he'd been given were nearly as bad as the shirt; they were tight enough to just be uncomfortable, leaving the shoes as the only new clothes with any improvement over the institute attire and Zexion himself with very little dignity intact.

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

Meche woke to a mild headache and the sight of the same mental-hospital room she’d been assigned the night before. Sometime last night, it had occurred to her that this was what would happen--just like on her first night in the Land of the Dead, she’d open her eyes (well, eye sockets, there) hoping it would all be a bad dream.

It wasn’t. Not then, not now. The real question was how she’d ended up here this morning when she didn’t remember having made it back to her room last night.

As her head cleared, she realized it probably wasn’t the best idea to have the evening’s gear sitting around when the nurse came in--Meche had a feeling that not all bad guys were as permissive of escape attempts as Domino. She’d just gotten it all stashed when the door opened.

“Good morning, Maria!” the nurse greeted her. “I see you’re already up and about.”

Meche looked at the woman through newly suspicious eyes. So she definitely wasn’t an angel--but would she be in on Landel’s plan? Being polite still couldn’t hurt either way. “Yes,” Meche replied. “I’m looking forward to seeing the town.”

The nurse smiled, handing her a small pile of clothing and a paper bag that must be breakfast. “You’re going to have a lovely time. Go ahead and get changed, and then we’ll head out to the buses.” Stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind her, she left her patient alone to change.

Meche unfolded the clothes--a dark green A-line skirt (felt like some kind of wool blend) and a simple white button-up. They didn’t look all that fashionable (either by 1997 or 2008 standards, she guessed), but at least they weren’t desperately far off from her usual style. Maybe somebody’d gotten the memo about her fashion sense. Now, if she could just find the stockings, she could get dressed...

It took her a good two minutes of sticking her hands through sleeves and turning pockets inside out to realize that the bastards really hadn’t given her stockings.

You can get them in a deserted factory island on the edge of the world in the Land of the Dead, and not in a mental health facility in 2008, Meche thought bitterly. Ninth Underworld, here I come.

It was a silly thing to get into a snit about, but Landel had, after all, robbed her of her hard-earned and rightful eternal destiny. Was a damn pair of stockings too much to ask in return? She would’ve even worn nylons.

Feeling like a martyr, she dressed and let the nurse lead her to a bus. Manny would either find her or he wouldn’t, and in a mood like this, she might be better off if he didn’t.

[Waiting for Manny, but feel free to jump in if you like!]