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

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

"I think you're insane," Armand said. He forced himself to appear as outwardly calm as he could. His heart was beating far too rapidly in his chest. He sat back and reached down to get his sack of breakfast. He took out the muffin and bit it.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"So I've been told." Getting a rise out of Armand was entertaining, but if he wasn't going to play along... well, there really wasn't much he could do at the moment, so he slid from the front of their mind and pushed Takaya back.

Shuddering, he was quick to scoot away from Armand, a confused and horrified look on his face. "Shit."

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

"So now you are afraid of a muffin?" Armand asked.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Blinking, confused, Takaya scowled. "What? What the fuck does that mean?" What did a muffin have to do with anything?"

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

"Why are you backing away? I'm not the one making threats." He ate a bit more of the tasteless, stale, sweet bread product.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Teeth clenching, Takaya tried not to snap. "I'm ...sorry." He looked around, but didn't see any other place he could sit. "Fuck. Look, I'll just sit here and not say anything else, okay?"

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

At the curse word, Armand looked very close. "Oh, it's Takaya. Welcome back, I suppose. Can you explain what just happened?"

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Crossing his arms, Takaya looked down. "It's ... complicated. If I just tell you I'm a fucking head-case, will that work?"

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

"Well, it will explain it, but that answer hardly satisfies. Are you aware of what happens when... Kagetora is talking?" He still held himself distant and wary, but Armand's tone gentled.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Only if he isn't keeping me out on purpose like the asshole he is." He sighed and his voice lowered. "Do you know anything about ... shit, uh, possession?"

Yeah, because that sounded so much better than 'crazy'.

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

"Not by experience, no. Can't a priest cast him out?"

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"No, it's not that kind of thing." Arms tightening around him, Takaya glanced over at Armand. "He, uh, he's part of a group of ...people that possess other people and fight this old fucking war.

"And ... and he's fucked up in the head so it didn't work right with me. This place made it worse. For both of us."

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

"So you cannot get rid of him? That sounds terrible."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Shrugging, Takaya snorted. "It wasn't before. It wasn't this bad before." With a sigh, he sat up a bit straighter and looked at Armand again.

"Sorry he's a dick, and I get it if you don't want to deal with me anymore, so, if you want, I can just sit here and I won't say anything." He smirked, and the expression was far more friendly than anything Kagetora had done. "You can even keep that muffin between us."

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

"I won't take it out on you. Are you certain he won't be back before we get into town?" He asked that instead of the question that was eating him: will he try to kill me at night?

Armand chewed a bit more dry muffin. "I don't understand such things. Why does he want me to give into hatred?"

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Thanks." Relaxing very slightly, Takaya shook his head. "No. He's done with you for now. He likes to fuck with people that I spend more than two minutes with, but he probably won't screw with you for a while."

He shrugged. "He's a pissed off asshole and hates everything and everyone. He-" His arm jerked out of his control for a moment and slammed his cast into the side of the seat. "Damnit!" He clutched the offending arm to his chest.

[secret-orchard.livejournal.com]

Armand reacted quickly by reaching for the arm, but then he drew back, embarrassed, when Takaya seemed to get it over control. "You need assistance," he said with concern.