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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"... and the entire fortune fit into a single barrel by the time I was done with my expert packing." Thwarted, Usopp muttered the end of his own heroic exploit under his breath, before opening his sack to start looking over breakfast. "They could at least let us stay in the Institute long enough to get a real breakfast. Do you think we'll get free coupons this time, too?"

Usopp still had a spare from last time, traded for art of the love of someone's life. He wondered if it would work, and if so, he really ought to take advantage of it. After all, they were probably all going to get killed by crazed nurses or by giant birds on the way home, he should enjoy his day of relaxation.

Against his will, he paused to glance around the bus again. Maybe their crewmates were just all on different buses. Wait, hadn't he had a nervous fit wondering where everyone was last time in Doyleton...? "My 'I can't worry about this right now' disease isn't acting up properly," he complained under his breath.

Sanji wasn't sure he could call the food they served in the cafeteria "real" anything half the time, but it was preferable to the snack they packed them in these paper bags. What were the wrappings these items were in anyway? And what was this bar? You couldn't just squeeze nutrition into bar form and call it food...

He realized that Usopp was talking again, and his expression softened just so as he listened to him. The chef reached over and patted the sniper on the shoulder a couple times before returning that arm to his lap. He just had to keep from getting into an argument on the way home that evening. Then perhaps he'd be able to help the rest of his crew instead of needing it himself.

Sanji patted him in a manly sort of fashion and, understanding, Usopp didn't say anything about it. Men didn't need words to express feelings. They were all together in the same boat--so to speak--and they understood it.

"Oh, Sanji, I was thinking the other night about some projects, too." Usopp lifted the muffin out of his bag, and took a little bite. It was dry, and sitting next to Sanji only reminded him of what breakfast could and should be like. Even if a meal was prepackaged for travel, Sanji made it into an art form, combinations of shapes and colors and textures chosen carefully, aesthetics Usopp always appreciated for the five or six seconds before he scarfed it down to make sure Luffy didn't grab it and eat it instead. "Well, first, do you think my boots'll fit you? They're kind of wasted on me if I stay indoors most of the time, and if you don't have any hard shoes yet... but the main thing I had been thinking about was a portable stovetop. All we really need is flat metal or stone and something to heat it evenly, right? If we could have something like that, you could have a little kitchen in your room, and if you did, that'd mean you could make us all real food if we snuck ingredients from the pantry for you."

Usopp grinned at the thought, and took another bite of muffin. It didn't really matter what it was he cooked, from fine rare fish to seagulls, Sanji had an unstoppable talent, and even though Usopp thought the meals at the Institute were pretty decent, nothing replaced ~~home~~ Sanji's cooking. Maybe it was a little frivolous, compared to the other projects he was working on, but it was also incredibly simple and the rewards could be great in return for the effort. Besides... Sanji not cooking was like Zoro without swords, or Luffy without his hat, or Usopp without blatant lying. They had half of those lacks fixed already, it was just time to work on the other half. "I brought my notebook, you know more about cooking equipment than I do, maybe I could do some sketches of ideas of how it could be laid out? Even if it's just simple, the whole crew'll be stronger if we've got our chef making us proper pirate-style cuisine!"

Usopp's shoes? Sanji's brow quirked again. While it was a very kind gesture, the sniper's shoes were about the least flattering pair he'd ever seen. It was a matter of whether or not he'd be able to put up with the look for the sake of a stronger attack. It also wouldn't do him any good if the shoe went flying off mid-kick because if they were too large. "I don't know. I suppose I could give them a try."

The next subject threw him off. There were far, far better things to be worried about while they were stuck in this place than whether or not Sanji had a proper place to cook. They were provided with meals, and searching for ingredients at night would only waste time that they could be using for other things (never mind that just reaching the kitchen was difficult). There was no point in getting injured just to grab a few vegetables.

All this ran through Sanji's head as Usopp began laying out plans, yet when the sniper had finished the chef was leaning forward with a somewhat intrigued expression despite himself. "You really think you could make a grill?" Sure it wouldn't take much, but finding something that could get them the right temperature... It wasn't as if they could really start a fire in the middle of a building like that, so a cooking device would definitely be more preferable.

What was he thinking?

The blond appeared a bit flustered. "I-I mean... Surely any materials you would use for that could be put to better use as weaponry, or..."

"It was just an idea! I mean, if it's going to be more painful to wear shoes that fit really badly, there's no sense in that." Usopp shrugged off the shoe idea. "But if they would fit it makes sense for you to wear them, 'cause I won't be getting very far if I try to go around kicking people, no matter how heavy my boots are!"

He didn't mind admitting that weakness, since it was obvious to both of them. As Sanji seemed to warm up to the idea of the grill, Usopp managed to stuff the rest of his dry muffin in his mouth hurriedly, and while he was chewing and swallowing that pulled out his trusty pad and pen. The truth was, he knew it was frivolous, silly even. But Brook had gotten a piano! Since when did their group stop just because an idea was silly? Even better if he could work out something to keep things that weren't immediately perishable cool so Sanji could at least have vegetables, flour, eggs, that sort of thing. And Usopp's mind just didn't work in logical ways sometimes. Flame thrower, ClimaTact Jr., gunpowder, stovetops... it all swirled together, to a degree.

"I can't promise that it'll turn out, but if we can find the materials, once we put it together even if we can only use it on occasions, it'd be pretty great, right?" Besides, he could use a smaller version of this for his own purposes, chemically. He started sketching. "So we'll need a base to keep the heat from the floor, and then something under it to hold what we use to heat it. We have some chemicals that we can mix that'll release heat, but that might be less reliable or harder to control than just using something flammable and setting it on fire, I'm not sure about that. If we have this base here, put some pipes or something else solid here, and then balance the heating element in between, we just need a wide flat space that won't melt and will conduct heat to go on top, right? Like a griddle? Since we're always having someone going towards the kitchen for something, maybe sometime we can pick that up. Ingredients too, at least anything that doesn't have to be refrigerated. It might be all done in one run, except." Usopp paused, then whispered. "I don't guess you know where we can get, uh, a lighter. Or matches."

"Maybe you just need more training in the art of 'kicking people,'" Sanji smirked. "I'll try them on."

Usopp had hit a weak point, and as the sniper began drawing out plans for the grill, the chef found himself moving closer to get a better look (practically leaning over the other pirate's shoulder). He chewed absently on the edge of his breakfast bar, still in its wrapper. "... I suppose if it was small, and we were already headed in that direction anyway..." It would be for the good of everyone, wouldn't it? Luffy needed a lot of energy, and the meals here couldn't be providing that.

At the mention of matches, Sanji frowned. He had matches, but not many. They went with his limited pack of cigarettes (of which he hadn't gotten to use last night, having slept through it). A lighter wouldn't work well for a grill, though. If he could get his hands on one of those, he could give up the matches in favor of cooking. Even then, however, he still had precious few. "There isn't a way you could design the grill with some sort of lighting mechanism? Matches and such are hard to come by."

"Okay, come by my room tonight? M33, remember?" Usopp answered back, distractedly, still finishing the drawing's last touches. Making something... "Well, it shouldn't be impossible to build a lighter too. It's just, the resources around here are a little thin, and building something like that'll take more time than just setting up a portable grill would. But I think you might be right."

He had to admit, lighting things on fire was a future hurdle that'd have to be addressed, and waiting for convenient matches or a lighter was a nice thought, but it was too idealistic. Usopp knew he'd need more than that, he'd have to design an improvised trigger system for his own machines. "Yeah... yeah, let's say we'll make a starter lighting system for this as a trial run. I'm going to need something like that for weapons too, and we can practice with the grill, since it'll be safer than setting stuff on fire for a weapon, right? It's just making it automatic enough that it isn't a pain to use. I mean, even I can start a fire if I have sticks and enough patience, I'm sure you can too, but nobody wants to spend an hour of nightshift starting fires like that."

With some of the things they'd gathered already, it shouldn't be too difficult. Just drag the right things along each other until you got a spark. But that would have to be controlled, too, especially the chemicals that were already partially processed the way Usopp got them. Even a version of the gunpowder mix might work, with a little something flammable, like a tiny 'firestar'.

"Sanji, if you leave juice out long enough, it turns alcoholic, right? I don't mean for drinking, I mean, for burning." It was maybe dangerous to ask about this when technically he was discussing Calories being Wasted, but this was all theoretical still, right? And... was Sanji chewing on the wrapper of that bar-thing?

"M33. Got it." He'd been down that hall a couple times now, after all, and, unlike some other members of their crew who would for now go unmentioned, Sanji could actually remember this number for later. "Just don't stress yourself working on this if there are more important things to do." Which there always would be, and technically the chef didn't mind putting off some of them if it meant he'd get a proper grill, but he was at least going to attempt to sound responsible.

The wrapper ripped open some time during Sanji's chewing process and only then did he notice what he'd been doing. He glanced briefly to Usopp to see if the action had been noticed before taking a bite from the actual bar as though this had been his intent in the first place.

"Barely." Sanji looked thoughtful at the question about alcohol. "It would take a couple months under the proper conditions and even then it would be incredibly weak fuel at best."

Edited 2008-09-06 00:16 (UTC)

"Great." The fact that keeping a perpetual flow of visitors to his room each night meant he didn't go out and fight monsters on a regular basis had no impact on Usopp's urges to invite people to come see him there, of course. Not that it really kept him safe anyway... in fact, more and more, he was starting to wonder if maybe he wouldn't be safer with the monsters than sitting alone on a treasure trove all night. Even if Zelnick was an honest guy, and Mello thought it was more practical to work alongside Usopp, and even if Yuber or Sai would watch his back...

Maybe that was another appeal to the portable oven project. It wasn't something he'd have to worry about other people stealing and he wouldn't even keep it in his room, just in Sanji's closet. Sanji could be responsible for all of that. That would be great. And when would Chopper come by and get the medical supplies Yuber had found..? Hadn't he told everyone his room? Maybe it had been forgotten or lost in the giant crowd of the meety. He'd seen his crewmates here and there since then, but Sanji's paranoia about Nami was resparking old insecurities again.

The answer to the alcohol from juice question wasn't a surprise, but Usopp still sighed a bit. "We'll probably wind up being best off with diluted medical alcohol as a starting fuel, I think." It was what he'd planned on for the flamethrower, too. "How does that sound to you? If I'm right about something, and at this stage I really better be right, there should be a place where we can get gasoline, but I think that'll be harder to get to than the medical alcohol in the long run. And don't worry! I'll stress myself out over, I mean, I don't stress over anything! The mighty Captain Usopp always has all projects firmly in hand, and anyway, at least if this doesn't work out it probably won't explode and kill me or something." Usopp paused to consider. "... probably."

That didn't sound entirely promising. "Right." Sanji wasn't going to say much else about it, however. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely familiar with how to put together a grill - just how to make use of it. "Whatever you need my help for, just give me a heads up."

This bar of food was just shaped grains. Not a bad idea, he supposed, for someone who was going to be traveling. And there was a good many patients to feed, so this was probably inexpensive. Still, it didn't seem necessary - especially with some of the breakfasts they'd been given before. He finished it off anyway, grumpily turning to the apple slices as a means of following up with something softer.

Breakfast wasn't helping him in turning down Usopp's idea at all.

Usopp folded the notebook back and tucked it away at his side again, to get a better chance at his breakfast. The apple slices Sanji was eating now didn't look so bad, although what had that been in the foil wrapper, anyway? A brick? Even when Sanji had cooked up things that might not ordinarily be eaten or that took weird methods, he'd never, ever serve them bricks for breakfast.

Well, maybe Luffy, but Luffy'd probably like it if they soaked it in beef stock or something.

Either way, Usopp needed to go on another shopping trip. Two, really. But could he leave his room alone now? Well, Sanji was coming by earlier in the night, although that was assuming they all got off the buses and into the buildings in one piece. He could wait at least until he'd talked to Mello about moving the growing chemistry collection and until he'd had time to talk to the others, both his crew and the people interested in his projects, on the board. Junior had wanted in on the raid for the gardening shed...

"Thanks, Sanji." He nibbled on an apple, and looked around the bus one last time. No sign of anyone still. Well, there were three buses, and seven Strawhats, so the odds were... was that Tanaka? Usopp sank down further in his seat, not hiding, just not ready to deal with all of that mess again so early in the morning. "Um... what... what'd the brick taste like?"

Sanji noticed Usopp sinking in his seat, but said nothing. He'd obviously seen another patient that worried him, but if the sniper needed help he'd ask for it. Or start making frantic gestures. He'd know in either case.

As for the 'food'... "Tastes like wood," the chef mumbled. "But it's edible." Somehow. It was food and yet not. He wouldn't feed it to his crew regularly, that was for sure. It was probably a good thing that there was only so much breakfast in the bag he'd have to stomach.

Now Usopp was actually curious, because he'd never had edible wood, so far as he knew. But Sanji had downed it all fast enough, so it couldn't be that horrible, although he had to wonder if even Sanji could take edible wood and make it tasty somehow.

"Hey, Sanji, have you been in the gardening shed? The shed that's in the middle yard?" Usopp clarified, although really, he figured a shed where people went and came back with gardening equipment spoke for itself. But if Sanji hadn't ever been, direction might help make it clearer what Usopp meant. "I'm going to need to go there. Not tonight, I don't think. Tonight's gonna be too much of a mess anyway. Remember last time?" He let out a little shudder, and finished eating his apple slice.

Well, Sanji sort of remembered last time. Not fully. But he understood what Usopp was getting at. He'd been incredibly lucky to find the help that he had in getting back into the building. He hadn't spoken to Allen for a while now that he thought about it. Hopefully the kid was doing better than he'd been the last time they spoke.

"I can't say I have." Sanji frowned as Usopp mentioned the shed. "If tonight isn't a shitty mess, though it's bound to be, perhaps we can give it a shot?" The middle yard the other pirate spoke of was on the way Nami usually took trying to get to the basement, wasn't it?

It was too bad Sanji hadn't been, because Usopp was really hoping that he could get some visual confirmation from somebody who came from his own world and his own level of technology that what he thought was in there, was in there. Or at least something very like it. Those blades had to have been powered by something stronger than just human muscle to be effective, right? That meant an engine. Or something he'd just never encountered before but that someone like Zelnick would consider commonplace. Or something else entirely, something he couldn't even imagine, like the Dials on Skypiea. Alternate universes were a big pain in the butt when it came to planning.

"Well, maybe. Luffy's room is on the same hall as mine, maybe we can meet up with the others sometime tonight, if we don't all get eaten, and talk about plans?" Usopp suggested, the idea of being eaten thrown out pretty casually as a worst-case scenario. "There was a guy who wanted to come with me to raid the shed, but I'll probably want to try for it more than once if this works out, and if the way isn't too messy, maybe we could have a first run at it and at least know if it's worth the time." It wasn't a very clear plan, but at least the shed wasn't too out of the way, and didn't involve going anywhere near the Sun Room. "If nothing else, you can drop by and try on my shoes."

"Sounds like a plan." Okay, maybe not so much a plan as a series of possibilities, but when it all came down to it, there was a basic underlying get to this location that he could work with.

He frowned again, thinking about the previous incident with the buses. "Did you guys have it pretty bad last time?" He basically just recalled a lot of noise, not what monsters or otherwise might have been causing it. But Usopp talked about that night as though it had been an incredibly dangerous affair.

"Did we have it bad?!" Usopp paused to stare, as though Sanji had just said he didn't want cigarettes or Luffy was refusing food or... something. He knew Sanji had been in the Institute by then, so why--oh. Hadn't he been acting strange that night? A little out of it?

"There were monsters on the buses, patients scrambling all over each other to get out, and outside, giant birds trying to eat people, Sanji!" He gestured widely, flapping his arms to demonstrate and nearly hitting Sanji in the process. "It was only a good thing I managed to distract the birds with my expert imitation-calls and voice projection, making them think there was a flock of lady birds in the woods off to the side, or we'd have all been eaten. Then everyone cheered how great it was to have the amazingly talented Captain Usopp on your crew, and after that..." We all went to the kitchen and my best Institute friend beat us up. "We went inside and explored a while."

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.

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Day 35: Bus 1

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