damned_institute | Day 35: Bus 1

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Day 35: Bus 1

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!]

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"Well, I-I guess...?" Hanatarou smiled again, a little less hesitantly this time. It was very nice of Keman-san to try to be reassuring and all, though the shinigami wasn't terribly concerned about the fact that he was smaller and weaker. It might be nice to be special and powerful, but he wasn't and that was just how things were.

Hanatarou carefully removed the wrapper from the granola bar like he'd seen Keman do earlier, glad that this couldn't make a mess all over. "I'm just 4th Division. Um. A healer. N-nothing special."

The sight of the stranger's hands gripping the paper bag like that sent alarms ringing through Ritsuka's mind. Something that he said had set the stranger off. Maybe Soubi was right and he shouldn't have come to talk to him. It didn't matter now though because Soubi wasn't on this bus to save him if things went wrong.

No, no - there was no reason to think that this guy was going to go nutso on him. Especially not here, in the middle of a crowded bus with nurses everywhere. He was probably just thinking or had an unconscious nervous tic or something.

Raising his eyes, Ritsuka looked at the nameless boy next to him and tried to sound as calm as possible. He was probably failing, but the last time someone had tensed up at something he said, he ended up with a cut over his eye and a fork in his hand. "Yeah, Japan. The manga ran until 2006, I think. I saw a few volumes here and there, but never bought any. Um, can't remember his real name, but it was written in kanji and read in English or something. Kind of nondescript looking, but the manga-ka was really good at drawing expressions." Ritsuka paused and shuffled his bag in his lap nervously. Was he saying the wrong things again? "Um...the other characters didn't really have names. They went by letters all the time. Can't remember what letters though."

Well, he did have a lovely voice, but that was beside the matter. Didn't quite give up easily, did he...? "I don't know if the library at the Institute would have a book on these things, although I suppose if there's a bookstore in the town you could check there." True, they had no money, but ZEX could at least browse and get the basics. Perhaps it was a hole waiting to be filled for all of these people who had been put in new bodies, in fact, a literary gap. 'Our New Bodies, Ourselves.' Vlad wasn't going to be the volunteer to write it, even if he did have experience in changing to and from human form.

He had brushed off the comment about 'eating' as ZEX having picked up some vulgar slang along his explorations, and instead focused on the topic of tact. "I can understand that your past experiences may have made you a bit aggressive in response, that's perfectly understandable. Why, I've even been unfairly called" a fruitloop "a bit fixated on my own interests, when I was pursuing someone. But if you seem too eager, it can backfire. Others might be intimidated or simply upset by the fact that you are so quick."

That had been his mistake, springing the question so quickly. He'd been patient since then, waiting for a better time, possibly Jack's funeral. "It's not that I consider your interests perverted, per se, but I have different interests myself. And I'm sure we can be friends and even have very interesting experiences while respecting each others' different tastes, hm? Yes?"

Keman clapped the other boy on the shoulder. "Being a healer is special, especially here. People get hurt all the time, and you'll be able to to help them. What do you mean by '4th Division,' though? And...ah..." He blushed slightly. "Do you know Orihime Inoue, by chance? Since you're from the same place and you're both healers, and...yes."

Hanatarou looked momentarily startled at the gesture. "Ah, th-the 4th Division is the medical and supply division of the Gotei 13. Um. I, I don't know how much help I would be, b-but if I can help, I'd like to." He gave an embarrassed little half-shrug and shook his head once. "When I was out last night I just got in the way."

He perked up a little at mention of Orihime's name, though, blinking up at Keman curiously. "Orihime-san? Um, yes, I...I've met her. She and her friends were in Soul Society for a while, a-and before I came here I was supposed to be with a group going to find her."

It was good to hear that she'd not been left to fend for herself during the night at least. She knew a lot of people wouldn't believe what they heard and would attempt to escape on their own and make easy targets for anything hungry. Especially fi they couldn't fight. "There are people who make weapons here, but there's a waiting list and you'd need to collect the metal. You might be as well seeing if you can get a decent supply of scalpels or one of the bats from the shed in the field," she suggested.

Rangiku smiled. "He's adult enough when it counts for his work." Often more mature than a lot of the older captains for that matter.

Lucivar didn't really know what to expect when he was suddenly ushered out of the building and onto a large metal carriage. He was not in the best temper, having spent most of last night waiting around doing nothing. It was frustrating but at least he could try again tonight. And this strange trip out of the hospital left him too puzzled to be completely enraged.

He saw Daemon on the carriage and walked over to him, sitting down with a bit of a flop. "Morning," he said, slouching against the back of the chair, looking deceptively lazy as he scanned the area. "How was your evening?"

Daemon shifted over to make room for his brother on the seat beside him, his gaze narrowed and studying his brother intently for a moment. Deciding that his brother seemed well enough, though slightly irritable, he casually shrugged one shoulder.

"Eventful, if not in the way I planned."

Lucivar raised an eyebrow, curious of Daemon's tone. "Trouble?" he asked, his muscles tensing as though he was preparing for a fight.

"Not... exactly," Daemon replied carefully, not meeting his brother's gaze as he stared out the window. He looked for the right words to phrase this, uncertain of them himself. Everything had gotten... twisted last night.

"River came to my room last night."

A cold shiver ran down Lucivar's back as he gaped at his brother, doing his best not to jump to conclusions. It was difficult with Daemon being what he was to not let his brain drift to unpleasant things. "How is the Lady?" he asked, figuring this simple question was safer then asking if the Sadist was out last night. He didn't know the girl well enough to know if she would provoke Daemon or not.

"Confusing," Daemon answered, hips lips twitching faintly in remembrance. "But that is nothing unusual."

His expression turned solemn once more, however, and he raked fingers through his hair in mild agitation. "Something happened last night that... probably shouldn't have," he admitted quietly.

Nodding his head to Gin, Cloud felt odd wearing a ball cap. It was again much like military boot cap and the old days of actually having to wear protective helmets for ShinRa. This was different, since it was just a regular cap and not something with sensors to pinpoint enemies and maps of current location.

He pulled out his apple and took a bite of it. He swallowed and glanced out the window before shrugging his shoulders. "So-so. I went over the institute walls, but only found something of interest once. I still have not made it to the basement... I guess I like the outdoors more. How about you?"

"You're making me anxious," Lucivar said, turning to face his brother. "What exactly happened last night? I'm going to assume that the Sadist did not come out or else you wouldn't be as calm as you are right now. If it wasn't the Sadist then, what?"

Sanji backed up against the window as Usopp's arm's went flailing, holding his own up in a surrendering gesture. "Oi, oi! Monsters. Got it." He didn't remember any giant birds somehow... It had just been himself and Allen and a bunch of people running about and the damn kid had ripped the side off the bus...

He did remember the exploring the Institute part, for however brief that had been, though the details of how it ended were sketchy at best. Either night had come to a close the way it tended to do there, or something had run into him or both. But still, you'd think if all the things Usopp had said were going on he would have noticed some of it - drugged or not.

Brooklyn was used to the gargoyle method of greeting - grabbing the other's wrist. There was less shaking involved, and he'd forgotten how humans only grasped the hand. He went with it, smiling back at the man.

"I've only been here a few days," he sighed. That was more than enough for anyone in this place, but he knew others had been around for much longer. "I suppose I can share what I know, but I'm not sure you haven't already heard anything I'd have to say." He'd been successful in some areas, but unsuccessful in others. Not to mention he hadn't even tried any viable escape plans.

Daemon opened his mouth, then paused and shook his head, still looking for the right words, unsure whether he should be ashamed or angry with himself, or if he... His thoughts were all jumbled and he didn't like it. He didn't like the mental struggle he'd been having since he first awoke.

"No, not the Sadist. Lucivar, I... River... She kissed me."

Qui-Gon wasn't sure exactly what a tantra was. He assumed it was possibly some kind of monk exercise. But, like the Jedi, these young would-be monks exhibited their abilities at an early age, possibly being able to do seemingly unnatural things. He was curious as to why the other Earthians hadn't mentioned seeing any of this and then the answer came to him: the monks could be secretive, far more than what the Jedi Order was, and their existence was not known by many. Or it could be that Earthians as a whole were uncomfortable with the strange and unexplained. They didn't ask. They didn't want to see.

The Jedi Master was about to ask what kind of issues one would have to be turned down as a disciple when he noticed the buses were pulling into Doyleton. The flashes of the trees and the winding road he'd been subconsciously keeping track of even during the conversation gave way to signs of civilization. This discussion would have to be assumed another time. Qui-Gon was glad to say while Sanzo looked weak, he looked like he would recover.

The buses pulled to a stop in Magnus Park, one after another, and Qui-Gon turned to Sanzo. A polite smile crossed his face as he stood up.

"I'll contact you when we're ready to make our move," he said. The basement was deadly in ways the upstairs was not. He would need to talk to the other artifact holder, Callisto, and Obi-Wan as well. Obi-Wan had insisted on staying with his former Master for his final mission and Qui-Gon knew he was his equal. He would be in on this.

"May the Force be with you."

Donna waved a hand. "No need to sign me up. I'll make do." A sword wasn't her style anyway. Or the Doctor's. He had a problem with guns so a sword was probably out of the question!

"Well, that's what matters," Donna shrugged. She definitely hadn't been thinking about work when she was thirteen.

"I see." For the thousandth time, Edgeworth cursed the stroke of bad luck that had led him to fall ill. There was another loud rumble and a shock from the voice. He looked around, but didn't see anything that would have caused it. Definitely paranoid.

He looked out the window - it appeared they were getting close. He cursed under his breath, having been hoping for the town to be decently-sized enough to have an internet cafe, or at least a decent tea shop. It didn't look big enough to have either.

"Well, that's a surprise. Small town? Really? Though it makes sense, if you think about it from the staff's point of view, as distasteful as I find it. The smaller the town, the easier it is to keep tabs on us." He rolled his eyes at the thought.

Zabuza watched Tanaka for a moment and shrugged. What did he care? It wasn't as if he could smash the guy's face in for annoying him with the nurses around. He turned his head and looked out of the window, repressing the urge to argue.

Maybe this place was domesticating him. Or maybe he was finally starting to listen to Haku's advise to calm down during the Day.

Lucivar was quiet for a moment, judging his own feelings for the moment. For some reason he wasn't as shocked as he expected to feel. He knew Daemon, knew his devotion to Cat. Hell, he remembered being told of the secret wedding and all that surrounded it. But this was different somehow. He'd have to delve deeper to find out exactly how different it was.

"She kissed you," he repeated. "Was it a welcomed kiss? Or did she steal one from you?"

"Ah, in town, yes..." Concern flickered across his features for a second, although it vanished quickly enough. Nothing was going to happen this time, he was sure. "I'll make sure to look."

ZEX, as usual, tended to focus on the wrong part of the discussion. "So you've been persecuted unfairly as well! It is unfair, isn't it? Simply because one goes about things a little differently, suddenly you can't have them 'poisoning' the minds of youth, and other such nonsense. Hmmph!" No wonder he felt a kinship with his new human friend! They had so much in common already...

"Different interests, really...?" ZEX tried to recall the word. "Ah, you mean, you aren't a homosexualist then?" It was obvious with how he struggled somewhat with the word that it was a foreign concept to him. "And of course, friends are always invaluable... we can, perhaps, teach each other to appreciate new things, or experiences." After all, it must have been so boring to limit one's potential sexual partners...

"Yes, I have," Vlad agreed firmly with the suggestion of persecution, "quite unfairly, I'm afraid. So while I may not face the same challenges you do, please don't think I'm unsympathetic to them. Not at all. But I would hate for you to become ill or, uh, be unable to pursue your interests because of cultural or physiological misunderstandings."

Now, the situations were different, because of course Vlad was unfairly tormented, first by the universe for reasons he still had yet to divine via the stupidity of Jack Fenton, and secondly by Daniel because the boy was an absolute brat and too immature to appreciate the significance of Vlad's offers of support and training when it would be just as easy to kill him and be done with it. And Maddie, of course, Maddie had been perhaps slightly mishandled, but he'd been unable to help himself after waiting for so long. Not at all like ZEX, who lacked the proper manners and didn't seem to know social cues, not like that at all.

"And no, I am not a homo.... a homosexual is the usual phrase, for those who practice homosexuality." Vlad raised his eyebrows a little. Maddie was all the proof he needed of that. "Are you strictly attracted to the males of humanity? If you like both males and females, then you would be a bisexual, at least in this body."

The buses were coming to a stop, and Vlad couldn't help feeling a bit grateful, although the conversation could have been worse. For example, ZEX might have tried to bridge the small gap remaining between them, taking advantage of the fact that Vlad was pinned against the window. An uncomfortable conversation with leering at least spoke to the VUX's self-control to some degree. Although Vlad didn't think he'd want to be alone in a dark bedroom with him for very long.

"Well, it seems as though it's time to depart... pleasure meeting you, Admiral, perhaps we'll speak again some other time, about more of a variety of topics even?" Vlad stood up, ready to depart. Quite ready.

"She... surprised me," Daemon admitted, not meeting his brother's gaze. "But I can't say it was entirely unwelcome once she'd started."

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Day 35: Bus 1

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