Day 35: Bus 2

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

Wally woke as the intercom crackled to life and was surprised to find himself back in his room. The last thing he'd remembered was feeling relieved at finally beating off those dragonfly-lizard things. There'd been that weird intercom message, then... he wasn't quite sure what had happened after that, but he was certain it hadn't involved falling asleep. He'd be half-wondering if he'd dreamed the whole thing if it hadn't been for the nagging ache on his back and ankle from where he'd been bitten. A quick check revealed they'd been bandaged, apparently while he'd slept. He wondered if he had Kal to thank for that. Maybe he'd get the chance to ask later.

He jumped as the door swung open to admit the familiar face of the nurse who'd woken him yesterday. "Up already, are we?" she said cheerfully as she busied herself pulling out clothes. A blue shirt and a pair of jeans were passed to him. Wally blinked, he hadn't been here long, but he'd gotten the impression that the grey-and-smiley-face combo was standard.

"Does this mean I'm being released?" he asked, hope creeping into his voice.

The nurse turned back to him, pity etched on her features. "I'm afraid not, dear." She smiled brightly as she continued, "but today's when all the patients get a special field trip into town! Won't that be a treat!"

Wally stared at the clothes, his mind working away. He'd been trying to get into town and to a phone last night before he'd been attacked. But if they were going in today, this might be the perfect chance for him to contact the Justice League. He smiled warmly and thanked the nurse as she left to allow him to change, then happily allowed himself to be led to one of the buses, picking a seat about halfway down and sliding in to look out the window. It seemed like today was going to be brighter than yesterday, at least in the area of possible phone calls and rescues. About the only dark patch he could see was that the contents of his paper-bag breakfast were going to be nowhere near enough to fill the yawning pit that had taken the place of his stomach, and even that was tolerable when he was positive he wasn't going to be here much longer.

"And you say that time goes rushing by, but it seems so slow to me, and you see a blur around you fly, but it takes too long, it seems so slow to me..." he sung absently.

[Oh Captain, my Captain~]

Comments

[rubbermancan.livejournal.com]

Nightshift ended as abruptly as it always had, so Luffy couldn't say he was surprised. He was kind of annoyed, though, since he'd wanted to do other things besides waste his breath on Crane. But what was done, was done, and he'd had it coming to him for awhile now anyway.

Once the Cat Lady woke him up, he found out it was time to go to Doyleton again. "It'll be wonderful, Timothy," she told him. "Fresh air, lots of interesting places to see, and even townspeople to talk to. Doesn't that sound nice?"

But for him, the trip to Doyleton had one important drawback. "I can get two sacks for breakfast this time, right?" he asked in a dead serious tone, and he held up two fingers to emphasize his point.

"No, no," she gently laughed as she led him to one of the buses. "That wouldn't be fair to all the others, now, would it?" Then she handed him his (one) sack and sent him off into his own seat.

The pirate's lips protruded into a small pout as he glared at the sack, but before he even realized it, he'd opened it up and started chowing down on his muffin. Man, nightshift always left him feeling hungry.

He gazed around the bus, and for a moment, Luffy seriously considered sharing a seat with someone so he get some of their food. The Cat Lady had said he couldn't have two sack lunches, but there were ways, dammit.

((For Zoro.))

[i-promised.livejournal.com]

He'd been asleep for more than a few hours if the rested state of his body was an indication of anything. Still, as he pulled on the clothes his nurse laid out for him, Zoro couldn't find it in himself to feel bothered by this. In his opinion, more sleep was a good thing. As far as he could tell, all the important things were in order anyway.

Groggily rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Zoro climbed one of the buses at random. Luffy's straw hat was pretty easy to find in the cramp space and, clutching his bag of food in one hand, the swordsman slowly and unwittingly dragged it to an almost certain doom.

Plopping down next to his captain, Zoro grunted out something that could have been a very gruff-sounding "Hey". It felt like he'd just been with the other man the night before but Zoro, despite what he sometimes insisted on, would never seriously admit to being tired of his nakama or their company.

Of course, that particular sentiment came to him before he looked up and saw the hungry look in Luffy's eyes. He subtly shifted his hold on the paper bag, placing it in the hand farthest from his captain's sticky fingers in the hopes that it would help him better defend against whatever might or might not be coming. Not that there ever was a good defense against Luffy when it came to food. Sanji's refrigerator knew that lesson well.

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

_{[For the twins? Or twin? Or something!]}

"B-but where are we going?" Tsubaki wanted to know, her voice weak.

The nurse's hands were firm on her bare shoulders, pushing her ever forward. Tsubaki had never worn a dress that stopped above her knees before, and not one that also dipped low around her collar with such thin little straps. It wasn't entirely immodest... but not modest enough to soothe the girl's dignity.

Or anxiety.

The last thing she remembered were the rats, the large, unnatural rats. Without Black☆Star, without a weapon, she'd thought a flashlight might not be enough to defend against both. There had been the crackle of the intercom, where an unfriendly voice had started talking about things she didn’t understand and only partially heard… And then she'd woken up. Again. In the same hospital bed with a roommate who was in a deep sleep. That's when the nurse came in, complete with nurse's uniform and clipboard, and greeted her warmly.

Tsubaki's expression betrayed her uneasiness as she tried to see as much as she could, despite how briskly she was being led down the halls. Where or what was Doyleton? Where or what was this place? The intercom had come on while she’d been getting dressed (after a few refusals and the subtle threat that the woman wasn’t taking no for an answer), and all thoughts as to why she was being called ‘Miyu’ were pushed aside. Patients? Even excluding everything that had happened during the night, this didn’t seem like a hospital for curing injuries.

The nurse patted her shoulder. "It’s all right, honey, it’s normal to be a little scared. You were so upset coming in, after all. But you arrived just in time; I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself today. There’s plenty to do in town, even a game of tag some of the patients are going to set up this afternoon. Okay?"

There was no end to the questions the girl wanted to ask. "I don’t think--Aah!" A soft cry escaped the girl as she stumbled onto the first step of the bus. The woman really wasn’t giving her much of a chance to talk.

"Take your seat now, Miyu. Your breakfast and everything you’ll need is in that bag I gave you. Try to have fun!"

She disappeared without waiting for Tsubaki’s answer, leaving the girl to stare after her. After a pause, Tsubaki turned and climbed all the way into the bus. It didn’t seem like anyone was going to let her off. There were only two people, one who was singing, and the other who was eating his breakfast. Tsubaki sighed and took her own seat, folding her hands tight in her lap. She didn’t want to clog up the aisle. Maybe someone could tell her what was going on when they got…. wherever they were going.

[totallytheseme.livejournal.com]

Somehow, Hikaru just knew that the nurses had dressed him identically with Kaoru again. Why wouldn't they? It was "cute," right? Middle aged women were usually all about the twinning. Still, he figured, at least he looked reasonably okay. It was hard to screw up jeans and a t-shirt (even if the orange shirt did clash rather horribly with his hair), no matter how hard you tried.

It didn't look like other people had fared quite as well. There was a girl towards the front of the bus who looked like a magical girl cosplay had vomited all over her, cat ears and all. He thought about going over to express his condolences, but figured it wasn't worth the effort. Instead, he walked past her with a barely contained snicker and looked for someone else to bother.

Oh, this girl was kind of cute. The last cute girl they'd spoken to had been really receptive to Hosting. Maybe she would be too.

"Hey, this seat taken?"

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

Waking up hadn't been as jarring, this time. Instead, it had only been a whole lot more annoying to make up for it.

They'd barely gotten anything done at all! They had absolutely nothing to show for the night. Nothing, zip, zilch. Not even a little prize or present, or the satisfaction of having kicked that Horse Dude's ass. Hell, they hadn't even managed to get far enough to even find the Horse Dude.

The result?

Yuffie pouted all the way to the buses.

It didn't exactly help that she'd been wrestled into some kind of... dress (http://www.bodyline.co.jp/bodyline/showProduct.asp?id=959&pageNumber=4&pageStop=stop_30&noSubType=Y). Thing. Yeah! It was a thing. And as things went, Yuffie didn't rank it very highly. The only redeeming factor, aside from a small number of concealed pockets, was that it wasn't some gawdawful colour like pink; it was a shade of blue-violet, a shade that the nurse had cooed over, saying that it 'matched her eyes'. And it came with a hat. A hat that had kitty ears.

She was in two minds about the hat.

Still, the hat remained on her head as she was manhandled onto the bus, breakfast sack in hand. Ugh. No amount of protesting or flailing about her motion sickness had worked to get her out of having to go on the infernal contraption. She was stuck.

On a bus. Stomach rolling already, Yuffie slunk into a window seat.

((For Sano and Kenshin!))

[damnrudecock.livejournal.com]

Today was going to be one lousy, no good, terrible, horrible, really fucked up day.

It'd started when Sanosuke woke up, the fighter groaning due to the sheer lack of accomplishment despite all the effort they'd put into last night. They'd even made it over the wall, but hell if there'd been anything to show for it. All he'd be able to tell Kenren and them was that it was foggy as hell.

Oh well. There was aways tonight.

But just as that good thought came into Sano's head, the nurse arrived with some sort of pants she called jeans, and a ball of thread that Sano still hadn't decided wasn't going to eat him. With horizontal stripes of browns, oranges, and whites, he was pretty sure it was the ugliest thing he had seen, despite Pinky calling it festive.

And then, then came the damn kicker. It'd taken a good bit of prodding from a bulky man looking to get his ass kicked for Sano to enter the bus. What the hell a bus was, he had no fucking clue. But it looked like some ugly, jumbo sized horseless carriage, and that shit just didn't make sense.

At least he wouldn't have to suffer alone on the bus thing though.

"Hey." Sanosuke at least tried to smile to Yuffie, despite wearing something that might eat him while being inside something that might just be powered by demons or some shit. "You don't look so hot."

[mizuhomaiden.livejournal.com]

[free!]

"We're going where?"

"To Doyleton, Sara."

"That's not my name."

"Od course it is, dear."

"Whatever..."

Sheena grumbled a few minutes later as she clambored onto the bus, peering around curiously despite the annoyance of being called a name that wasn't hers. It'd been a bit of a surprise to suddenly be back in her room, laying in bed, as if she'd hadn't just been showing Forte the proper fighting stance. Apparently, Raine had neglected to warn her of this phenomonon. Raine had also not told her about this town either. She wondered what else the half-elf had neglected to say. Her clothes were weird, too. She was in a pair of blue pants with an odd, durable fabric and a white buttondown shirt. Unfortunately, it was a little too tight and so the ninja undid the top few buttons, esposing a bit more of her cleavage than her nurse was particularly comfortable, but it wasn't like she was showing off more than she did in her yayoi anyways.

Slinking to the very back of the bus, Sheena plopped down in a seat and peered into her paper bag. "Oh... apples?" Now why were they already cut up and in the clear bag thing? An apple should be whole that you bite into. The summoner gave her food a look before tearing into it with her teeth.

Operation: Free Apple was complete.

[spirit-forge.livejournal.com]

They were going on a trip? That was new. Luckily, Archer had just tucked away his new treasure before the orderlies had awoken him this morning.

"Now Eric, how many times have I told you to be careful? Look at what happened to you. How many accidents has it been now? You need to be more careful."

"Sure," Archer curtly replied. He didn't feel like entertaining the nurse's misconception about the source of his wounds. It was all very tiring, and frankly, he didn't care whether she thought his were self-inflicted or from fighting monsters in the basement.

"Why don't you sit next to Sara? She looks like she could use a friend."

He was about disobey her and take one of the free, empty seats, but his nurse wouldn't let him. Since it was more trouble than it was worth, Archer didn't protest, sitting down next to "Sara."

"Excuse me," he said to his fellow patient, slightly apologetic. He didn't want to sit where he was unwelcome, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. His eyes appreciated the nice view available to him but didn't linger very long. Well, at least he tried not to stare. In his past life, Rin had taught, more like physically punished, him the consequences for ogling. He had a little more control than when he was a teenager. Just a little.

[kanpekinasenshi.livejournal.com]

[For Danny Phantom]

Last night's trip, for all its tensions and its little reward, hadn't been so bad. She had gone uninjured for another night, gotten a new weapon, and was ready for the upcoming evening. Ready in body, but what was she going to do? Seiya could only carry so many weapons at a time, practically speaking. Maybe it was time to sign up with one of the groups, or something. That one guy on the bulletin board hadn't responded to her after all, and she needed to speak with Ami and at least find out what was going on with Usagi before...

All of those complicated and somewhat angsty thoughts were cut off as the nurse cheerfully opened the door, carrying a set of clothes and a bagged breakfast. The jeans weren't all that bad, not exactly her style cut at mid-calf but cute in their own way. The blue polyester top with the word 'fluffy' in sequins and a stylized kitten underneath was another question. A wide-cut neckline actually dove enough to show some cleavage, giving a mixed message somewhere between 'teenage flirt' and 'grandmother' in Seiya's opinion. Then again, she wasn't a fashion expert. After putting on the thing, and staring down at it for a few more moments of consternation, Seiya was herded gently by her nurse out towards the buses, to pick out a seat and enjoy her bagged meal. 'Doyleton,' huh..?

[notaghostreally.livejournal.com]

When the nurse entered Danny's room and he woke up, his first reaction was to pull the covers over himself with both hands. He couldn't help it, it was a reflex--he always slept in on the weekends, especially since his idea of a good Friday night was catching every ghost he ran into.

But the nurse threw off the sheets anyway. "Come on now, Daniel! You've got to get up. It's the weekly trip to Doyleton! Aren't you excited?" Not particularly, but he couldn't say it was a bad thing, this weekly trip outside of the stupid building.

And his mood only improved when he saw that his arm had its cast removed! But...just a few minutes ago, he had been with Chopper, trying to hold all his items with his injured arm! He could barely believe it, but if this place could take away most of his powers, then healing an arm probably wasn't too far of a stretch!

His nurse handed him an outfit--a pair of jeans, red sneakers, and a red shirt with a white oval on the front. It was extremely reminiscent of his trademark outfit back home, and it felt both strange and comforting to wear it. It was the same, but at the same time, it wasn't...

Danny still wasn't fully awake, so when a bagged breakfast was shoved into his hands and he was pushed into a bus, he barely stumbled into a nearby seat. At least he didn't trip. Giving himself a moment to gather himself, he turned to the girl sitting next to him.

"Uh...hi."

Way to go, Fenton.

[mazoku-king.livejournal.com]

The last thing Yuuri remembered was lying in bed with Wolfram waiting to sneak away. That was why the young Maou had woken up so confused when it appeared he'd somehow been returned to his own room.

How had that happened?

The nurse hadn't been helpful at all, and had just handed him some of his clothing from home and brown paper bag with his breakfast. He'd barely had enough time to change and peek into the bag before being hearded out of his room and through the institute. He tried to ask what was going on, but it seemed that his nurse was more intent to just smile and reminding him of the 'daytrip' that was planned for the patients.

Wolfram mentioned something like that, didn't he?

Yuuri's eyes widened in amazement as he stepped outside and caught sight of the mass of patients mulling around the three buses. He hadn't realised there was that many people here. Walking towards the large throng of patients with an air of curiosity, Yuuri was reminded of just about every trip he'd taken with his school. Granted, some of these 'patients' looked rather intimidating and definitely like they wanted to take your money - if you were lucky.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Yuuri mentally berated himself for getting distracted. He needed to find Wolfram.

[Waiting for Wolfram]

[arrogantflame.livejournal.com]

Waking up that morning was more than a little hard.

Apparently Wolfram had completely crashed the night before, and crashed hard, because he didn't remember much beyond getting back to his room. He knew he'd desperately needed the sleep, so it was probably a good thing. But then... where was Yuuri?

Abruptly he was awake and sat up, the nurse who had been shaking him backing off to give him some room. He got dressed in the strange looking clothes he was offered, and then took the bag he was given without complaint, allowing himself to be led outside. What if it had all been a dream and Yuuri hadn't been there at all? He hadn't had time to check his drawers for the hidden sword.

His eyes scanned the crowd quickly, and luckily it didn't take too long before he spotted who he was looking for. Wolfram's heart thumped loudly in his chest as he approached. Relief and fear battled for dominance in the fact that he hadn't imagined Yuuri last night.

Without a word of greeting, he grabbed onto Yuuri's arm and dragged him into the closest bus.

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

[Naruto]

Allen couldn't say he was happy to suddenly wake up in his room. He still didn't know if Rinali was okay or not and things just seemed like a real mess. Not that he got much time to think about it. It wasn't long before a nurse bustled in, carrying an armful of clothing.

Once again, it felt far too informal, but at least this clothing fit him better than last time. He didn't understand why so many people seemed to wear jeans, he'd thought they were mostly for miners or cowboys, but he supposed that trend had changed over the years. The nurse was nice enough to let him change in relative privacy, and the clothes were comfortable, even if they weren't something he'd usually wear.

In spite of his worry, the prospect of going to town and seeing new things and all the fascinating modern inventions was really exciting. He picked up a bag of breakfast as he boarded and seated himself near a window. It wasn't much, but last time they'd gotten coupons for all kinds of things, so maybe the same would hold true today.

[whirlingwinds.livejournal.com]

Naruto hadn't woken up in the best of moods. Last he'd known, he'd been yelling something at Sasuke. The details were a little fuzzy, somehow, and he wasn't sure if it was due to...whatever it was the Institute did the patients for them to just wake up in their room like that, or because it had been a lot of things at once last night.

Either way, his frustration with Sasuke was still there, and he was even angrier that they'd been interrupted. The bastard had hurt Jiraiya, too, and he hoped the man would be okay.

He didn't say anything as his nurse came in, shoving some proper clothes at him that he put on quietly and quickly. He didn't even pay attention to whether or not she'd turned around or left the room; he was too busy seething at whoever had brought them here, and did this to all of them.

He was taken to a bus, he figured for the visit as the intercom had told him. He got onto it, trying not glower at everyone but finding it a little difficult. He didn't even know where Sasuke was now or if he was even safe.

He slumped next to a boy, the first seat he'd spotted as empty, and decided to still, at least, be polite. "Hey," he said, turning to him. "I'm Naruto."

[tyki-pon.livejournal.com]

[For Dante!]

Tyki woke up in his bed with a start, a little disorientated before realizing nightshift had ended and he was back in his room. With his wounds taken care of, too. Well, okay. That saved him all the trouble. He removed his hair-tie and placed his thick bottle-glasses on his nose instead. As if on cue his nurse walked into his room, carrying some clothing.

"Good morning, João." She greeted cheerfully as she handled him some clothing. "Here are some things to wear in town today. Go on, change. I will be waiting outside."

The clothing wasn't all that different from what he usually wore while in his white side; a white, loose-fitting shirt and faded blue jeans, which were a little tighter than the jeans he was used to. With his broken arm in a sling and a brown lunch bag pushed into another, he slid into a seat next to window.

Doyleton, huh? A town meant shops. Maybe he could snag some useful stuff while he was there. A lighter and extra cigarettes wouldn't be very hard to find for a typical 'sticky-fingered vagabond', now would it?

[adevilmaycry.livejournal.com]

A silver-haired man twitched as Tyki bumped his arm, sliding into the same seat next to him. "Hey," Dante said irritably, "Watch it."

He gave the man a once over and dismissed him. He looked like a worthless bum. He scratched at the bandaids on his face. Laying beneath them were mild clawmarks-- tokens of parting from those giant fucking mutant cats he and Lust had barely subdued last night. His hands and arms were wrapped in bandages he'd demanded. He preferred it this way. If nothing else, having them made him look cooler. Made up for the ugly greys. He'd actually been a little pleased they were giving him real clothes instead of ugly SMILEY rags-- but then again, he wasn't a fan of white. Or blue. Black and red, black and But whatever. Wherever the Hell Doyleton was (christ what a boring damn name for anywhere), it was at least OUT of the institute. Had it really only been a day? It felt like much longer.

The guy next to him had a smile that just pissed Dante off. If anything, it was this edgey feeling that the guy wanted to kill him. It was a familiar vibe. Dante tried to recall what it reminded him of. Yeah, it reminded him of Vergil.

[offduty.livejournal.com]

Killing time outside in the town, no matter how completely freaking dull said town was, seemed a hell of a lot better than killing time in a walled up institute, so Reno didn't mind too much when his nurse shoved a bunch of stuff in his hands and herded him off to the bus.

He flopped down in an empty seat and leaned his head back. They hadn't gotten very far last night and he was starting to wonder if it was worth it at all.

What the hell. And where was Rude? He needed to drag Rude to the bar in town.

[for Momo, I believe?]

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

Momo felt a little better after having actually made it outside the walls, but the shock of waking up back in her bed when she'd just been traversing the rocky ground at the base of the western mountains was not appreciate. It was all pointless. They were rats in Landel's cage and nothing they did was going to matter.

Dressed in a casual pair of khaki pants and a light pink shirt, the shinigami let herself be herded onto the bus, choosing to keep silent. She had no desire to talk to the nurse. She hated this place. At least she had Hitsugaya. At least she had Signum and Hokuto. At least she had...

...a distraction.

Momo spied the lanky form of a red-haired man in the bus she'd been ushered into afte rrecieving a paper bag. He had it pulled back into a ponytail and, as she got closer, she noticed the marks on his face. This must be her mystery man from the bulletin board. It seemed like ages ago that she'd had that pleasant conversation. Something similar would be a breath of fresh air. She just needed to make sure it was him; she was pretty sure, but it'd be just her luck to start flirting with someone she didn't mean to.

Stopping at the back of the seat in front of him, Momo rest an arm on its back (silently wishing the shirt had sleeves long enough to hide most of the white cast on her left wrist), and smiled down at the man.

"I wonder what mysteries await in Doyleton this time," she opened with, hoping he'd pick up on her subtle emphasis. "May I join you?"

[wishescankill.livejournal.com]

Once again, Anya found herself waking up in bed while in the middle of talking to the Scoobies. This was getting increasingly obnoxious. She had half a mind to take her irritation out on the nurse who had just walked in, until she saw exactly what the nurse was holding.

It was a shirt, a pair of jeans, a hoodie, and a pair of sneakers. But on the shirt was a picture of a bunny. It was leering at her, arms outstretched like it was reaching for her, and underneath it was written: Me Want Hurt You.

The hideous grammar did not change the fact that it was clearly evil. More evil even than the smiley face on all the rest of Anya's shirts.

"Get it away!" she shrieked, knocking the pile of clothes onto the floor. The nurse shook her head and calmly picked the clothes up, handing them to Anya one by one.

"Now now, Miss Underwood, put these on or you won't be able to go to town today."

Anya paused. Town. A big, wide open area that they couldn't possibly control in its entirety. A chance to escape! Anya suddenly smelled freedom, and if having the spawn of Beelzebub on her shirt would accomplish her all-important goal of getting out, so be it.

Grudgingly, Anya changed clothes, making sure to pull the hoodie tightly across her chest to hide the bunny.

One walk and the giving of a sack lunch later, Anya was on a bus. She sat by herself, hoping no one would bother her, and began to plot her inevitable escape.

[for Tony Castaway, I think? XD;]

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

Even Tia would have been surprised to wake up one morning with no memory of how she'd gotten to bed. Tony had experienced something a bit like it the day before, but it still felt creepy. He sat up, vaguely wishing for a window so he could at least see outside.

Across the room, he thought he saw a lump that was likely Kvothe still asleep. Seems he was the early bird today. He yawned again and stretched. Suddenly, he remembered the recorder and panicked. Where was it? He felt around the back of his waistband and found the plastic cylinder.

Hurriedly, he hid it in his desk, taking instead the notebook and a pen. The Doctor who made the announcements had said they were going on a field trip today. It wouldn't be anywhere near as interesting as Heron Lake, especially since Tia wasn't here. He was wondering where he could brush his teeth when the nurse came in with a pile of clothes. Almost familiar clothes. Jeans, sneakers and a short-sleeved knit shirt with a little alligator on the breast. The shirt was faded a bit, unless it was supposed to be that pale a shade of pink.

Pink?

"Are you sure that's clothes for a boy?" he asked, scratching his head.

"Just put it on."

There wasn't any arguing with a tone like that.

"Yes, ma'am."

Tony put on the jeans and shirt and picked up his notebook and pen, wishing he could think of a way to sneak the recorder with him. Normally something like that would have been easy, but he was unsure of himself and reluctant to try and fail. She'd take it away if she saw it.

So he followed her to the bus and accepted his bagged breakfast. On the bus, he found an empty seat next to a thin young woman wearing a hoodie. She almost looked like she would have fit in at Haskell House.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked, standing in the aisle and conscious that he'd be blocking the way in if he stood too long.

[haiiro-no-chou.livejournal.com]

[Waiting for Senna!]

The last tendrils of a headache were receding as Rukia awoke. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to remember if she had actually healed Rinali or not. Maybe she had passed out doing so, or maybe the night had just ended? More importantly, she needed to make sure that her katana was still around. Allen had been kind enough to find it the previous night, but Rukia had to check before leaving the room. Feeling around under the mattress, she discovered it in its usual location, and sat up just in time to hear the door opening.

As with the previous excursion to Doyleton, the nurse handed Rukia some modern clothes and a paper bag of food. Setting the bag aside, Rukia changed into the red and white striped shirt and tan slacks. They were a bit too tight for her liking (how was one supposed to climb a tree without tearing them?) but they weren't uncomfortable.

Following the flow of staff and patients outside, Rukia boarded one of the buses and sat at an empty seat. Maybe Renji would spot her.

[windstwilight.livejournal.com]

Senna woke up refreshed. The sun was streaming in, showing what a beautiful day it was going to be. She sat up and stretched, content.

Again the nurse came to Senna while she was still in bed. She burst into the room carrying a bundle of clothes. "You have a special treat today! We're going into town." Without pause, she thrust the clothes at Senna. "Put these on, and we'll get going." The woman backed out of the room, allowing Senna to change.

She paused for a second in the wake of the nurse's whirlwind, then hopped out of bed and slid the clothes on. The pants were those trendy lounge pants, hot pink in color and covered in hearts. The shirt was just as bad, loose-fitting and bright yellow, with the words 'c'mon get happy' on it. And sandals. Useless, Western, strappy sandals. The nurse came back in as Senna was looking down at the outfit in distaste. She gave the nurse a look. "You and I are going to have to have a serious talk. These are totally not my colors."

The nurse just laughed in response. "These are just like your old clothes, Sarah."

That weird feeling came again. "Sen-na," she repeated, frowning. The memories of Shion's fear from the previous day came back in force. Were they really trying to make you believe you were a different person? Maybe she was a different person; she -had- died, she was pretty sure of that. This still might be her next life, if it was allowed to someone like her.

That didn't seem as plausible as it had yesterday.

At the buses she frowned, still thinking about it. Senna accepted the food the nurse offered, fishing out the granola bar to munch on as she got on a bus. She wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings until she felt something very familiar. "Rukia!" She basically jumped into the seat next to the girl. Her weird thoughts and the Bulletin Board commentary were forgotten as she smiled widely at someone familiar... even if it was only a little.

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

One moment they'd been making their way towards the outside, the next he was back in his bed again. Leon hated how that worked.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" The mage's head was soon covered in a large sweatshirt as his nurse flopped it on top of him. "You're not going to want to sleep through this field trip like you did the last one, are you?"

Field trip? Leon pulled the shirt off his face, leaving his hair a static-y mess in the process. It was dark blue with a red stripe across the middle and the image of a cat curled up on the front. Was he being mocked? "What field trip?"

The nurse tsked at him and began pulling off his usual gray without asking permission first. He could only blush and stutter as she dressed him up in the sweatshirt and pants. "The trip into town! You weren't feeling well and missed out on it last week."

Now that he thought about it, Claude had mentioned something about a trip before, and he did unfortunately remember sleeping through an entire dayshift about a week ago. At least now he'd be able to see this place himself.

He didn't as any more questions as he was handed a sack breakfast and led out to one of three large (ugly) yellow vehicles. There was already several other patients on board, so he took a seat off to himself.

[nobleman]

When Guy went from the coldness of that refrigerator to the warmness of his bed, he found the change in temperature to be frustrating rather than relieving. He didn't know if they had just gotten a late start or if the way time worked in this place was really that skewed, but they shouldn't have been cut off so early.

He drew a hand through his blond hair, trying to put it in place after waking up from a sleep he didn't remember falling into. He wasn't one to let things get to him all that easily, but the fact that they had been prevented from getting to see much of the basement twice in a row was enough to even get him into a bad mood.

He did his best not to let it linger, though he shot the nurse who entered his room a glare. He knew she was the last person to be taking it out on, but it wasn't like there was any other option. As she explained that they would be going on their weekly field trip, he looked over the outfit they had prepared for him. There was a pair of strange pants that seemed to be too large for him (the nurse called them "cargo pants," and said they were supposed to be baggy), and a short-sleeved, red shirt with a random patten on it.

It wasn't what he was used to, but it was better than the uniform. Guy quickly changed and then retrieved his bagged breakfast from the nurse as she led him down the halls and then outside where the strange buses were waiting. She pointed out which one he should board and then he went ahead and got on, wondering who he could spend the ride over with.

Maybe it was just him, but there seemed to be a lot of females on this particular bus, and he wished he had gotten on a different one. He fought off the shaky feeling and the queasiness that came with the realization as he looked for someone who was unoccupied and wasn't a girl. Luckily, blue hair did stand out, and he remembered when he had run into Leon one of his first nights here, along with Claude's description of the boy from the other day. Well, this worked out nicely!

Guy quickly moved to take a seat next to the kid, sending him a smile and hoping his unease was undetectable. "Hey! Remember me?"

[flawed-sight.livejournal.com]

For the second morning in a row, Alice fought off the disorienting experience of waking up. She had no idea how she'd gotten from outside back to her bed, and it felt as if only an instant had passed, but at the same time, she had vague recollections of dreams and half-thoughts as she slowly woke and pushed herself upright, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

She still hadn't decided whether or not she liked this whole sleeping process. And it looked as if it would be a reoccurring ritual. That didn't make it any easier to grow accustomed to, especially when technically, she wasn't meant to.

Her nurse was a chatterer and clearly a morning person, but Alice didn't mind, and managed to ask a few questions about the day's events while the woman helped her into lavender pullover and a small denim skirt. Alice wrinkled her nose at it, but didn't vocally protest. It was still quite an improvement from the smiley-faced pajamas.

When she was dressed, Alice was hustled out of her room and down the hall and out the front door, retracing the steps that it felt she'd walked only a few moments before. This morning there were three yellow school buses lined up out front and Alice inwardly groaned. She missed her car.

Shuffled onto the one in the center, Alice took the bag of breakfast without protest and moved down the aisle to find an empty seat. She didn't see Edward and Bella yet, but she guessed that they would be easy enough to find upon disembarking. Even without the aid of her sight, which was still disturbingly absent.

[Waiting for Aidou]

[idolism]

Aidou hate hate hated the human plebeian persona they stuck him with on occasions like this, when they gave him worn, ill-fitting, and ugly clothes and expected them to wear them. Jeans again, dark ones, faded at the knees and slung too low on his hips even with a belt notched as far as possible. A long-sleeved, striped shirt with holes near the cuffs. So sloppy and in such poor taste. Not much better than the Landel's uniform

Of course, the noble still looked ridiculously gorgeous, but that was only natural. Like Shiki or Rima doing a themed photo shoot for one famous magazine or another.

Before the nurse had entered M52 to present him with the heinous outfit and bag full of food, however, he managed to apply the sunblock he'd gotten last night before he was ushered outside. At least there would be some protection against the sun as he explored.

No protection against the dark emotions churning deep in his stomach, though. That day a week ago, it'd been the last time he'd seen Akatsuki. There was a good chance there would be another twilight ambush.

The fresh air was hardly anything to smile about in comparison.

And it didn't stop there. The vampire had something more to do before any potential exploration. He single-mindedly ignored every other body on the bus, sauntering towards Alice. The gashes along his forearm had been worse than the ones on his lower leg, but sets of injuries were inconsequential after having gotten blood into his system--he walked without pain.

"Excuse me," said the noble as he sat down next to her. Ah, there was nothing quite like two alluring predators making wary circles around the other. It was something aristocrats tried to avoid, and yet sometimes it was unavoidable. Hadn't Kaname-sama shown that?

[demon-beast.livejournal.com]

Heat was going to be in a foul mood.

Argilla sighed when she woke up in bed once again. No food. She didn't mind so much, although hunger was starting to creep back in, but Heat would be livid most likely and it was a long time until the next nightshift.

She frowned when the nurse dropped something onto her bed when she arrived, encouraging her to get up because wouldn't the trip be wonderful?

Oh, the trip. She'd forgotten about that. She pushed herself out of bed, changing with no respect to modesty, pulling the dress (http://www.catwalkqueen.tv/gwtif_dress.JPG) on over her heard and then having to let the nurse fasten the belt. It seemed like an utterly impractical belt, no use at all for carrying weaponry or even holding the garment up. Odd.

She eagerly chose a window seat on the bus so that she could watch the scenery as it pass, still entranced by the sight of trees and mountains and the like.

[For Yue]

[winged_moon]

Yukito had barely had a chance to register that he'd traded places with his other self before he hit the ground hard enough to drive the air from his lungs and leave him momentarily stunned. He could hear yelling, for a second thought he heard his name, but then - it was gone again.

Waking up in his room had been no less confusing, though Yukito wondered just how long he'd been gone this time. The cut on his back seemed to be fully healed, and there was another cut he didn't even recall getting, but it was still almost completely gone. It was very unusual for Yue to take over for such a long period of time, but then, it was odd for Yue to leave him in the middle of danger.

When the nurse arrived he tried to ask her about how he'd been injured, but she only tut-tutted at him about how they had to hurry and get ready for the "field trip." He'd finally given up and just dressed in the odd-looking brown suit he had been given, even more baffled than before.

But still, they gave him food. Not a lot of food, though, much to his disappointment; Yukito managed to devour most of it before even boarding the bus to which he'd been led. He perked up at the sight of a familiar face and paused to motion at the empty seat beside Argilla. "Good morning, Argilla-san!" he offered, cheerfully enough. "Mind if I sit here?"

[opposingheaven.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, well, hadn't that been a night worth remembering. It was irritating not to wake in the same place, pressed against Homura because that had been very very pleasant, but at least he had the memories, right? Once he'd gotten over his trepidation, it had been a very nice night, although he was still a little bemused by the protectiveness he was feeling towards this version of Homura. It was kind of odd.

He dressed without comment in the black sweater and black jeans handed to him and went out to the bus without comment. He couldn't help but wish that he could bring his katana though, especially after what had happened last time.

[For Adel]

[grosse-sklaven.livejournal.com]

Jeans. They had tried to shove him into jeans. Thankfully, Adelheid had managed to shoot that one down before the nurses had shoved him into it, but that still left him wearing a dark blue t-shirt and khaki pants- a combination he'd never thought he'd have to endure. Blue clashed with his hair and his eyes, and while khakis went with most things, they just didn't work for his build. At all. The sneakers were an added bit of aggravation, yet Adelheid took his indignation as a good sign. Rose's drilled-in fashion sense would be with him until the day he died, it seemed.

Then it was off to the bus, and Adelheid soon found himself heading towards a rather familiar-looking individual. Which reminded him that Kenren had ignored their little meaning. On that thought, he sat down next to Kenren, and quietly murmured, "You didn't show for the lunch meeting. What happened?"

[mind-caster.livejournal.com]

Once again, the jolt and eerie sensation of talking to someone one moment, then being in a bed the next with a completely different set of tastes and thoughts settling in her mind. Melissa was not happy about this, but she'd come to accept it as a fact of life that couldn't be changed until she finally escaped. Which was going to happen soon, if she had anything to say about it.

Any hope of a possible good mood for the day completely vanished as she remembered that stupid Doyleton trip was supposed to be today, and that chance dropped firmly below zero when a nurse appeared in the room carrying a frilly, purple dress.

"I am not wearing that," she said firmly and pointedly before the nurse had a chance to say anything. Melissa would rather go in the smiley face clothes any day.

The nurse smiled sympathetically. "Kaylie, don't you want to come visit the town? You need to wear something more appropriate if you're going to come."

Melissa wanted to point out that she didn't want to go in the first place. A trip to an open place with still no possibility of escape? There was definitely a catch, and it would probably be a dangerous and painful one. She wanted to point out that a dress was hardly more appropriate than pajamas. She wanted to drill the fact that her name wasn't Kaylie through the nurse's thick skull with an electric chainsaw. But she didn't have a chance to do any of that because before she knew it, she was standing outside a bus, in the dress, carrying a brown paper bag that smelled like it had food in it.

Needless to say, Melissa was not in the best of moods as she sat down in the back of the bus and slowly crushed the paper of the bag she was holding in her left hand, shoving all thoughts and tastes and emotions as far out of her head as was possible. The close proximity to other people was giving her a headache, her bandaged right arm was still hurting, and she was on her way to a place she knew already she wasn't going to like. And it was still only morning.

[free!]

[gald_digger]

Last week, Anise had been given a denim jacket and a yellow dress to match her yellow ribbons. Even though there was obviously no color that suited her better than pink! But it happened again that morning: the nurse who entered Anise's room presented to the girl a white blouse and yellow skirt.

"With your ribbons and that doll you're always carrying... you must really like yellow, Dolores," the woman cheerfully commented as she laid the outfit out on the bed. "So I picked something that looks like it'll suit you very well." Damn it. The outfit wasn't terrible, but it still frustrated Anise to think that she wouldn't get to wear her real favorite colors until she escaped from the institute, at this rate. She considered complaining to the nurse, but decided it wasn't worth it. Hey, maybe she could escape before next field trip, and would never have to worry about this again!

After dressing herself, Anise set her Tokunaga doll on her back and was soon escorted to the bus loading area. It was still a little weird to be walking in and out the front door like this, but Anise knew better than to think of it as any kind of real freedom. At least it was a chance for some sun and fresh air, though. Those were things she wasn't getting nearly enough of around here.

Paper bag in hand, Anise hopped on one of the buses, looking around for any familiar faces. Guy was around, though he already had a buddy for the bus ride... not that he would have been that comfortable sitting next to a girl for the whole ride, Anise had to remind herself. Even though doing something like that was sure to help him overcome his fear! Maybe.

Anise shot a quick smile at her friend before looking around for a seat for herself. While glancing about, she spotted a girl, maybe a little older than herself, wearing a purple dress. Lucky! Purple would have been a nice color too, Anise thought to herself, feeling almost a little jealous. She spent an extra moment or two studying the dress, trying to determine whether it was cuter than what Anise had been given this trip and the last. Before reaching a conclusion, however, she realized it must have looked a little weird to just stare at somebody like that. The best way to prevent it from getting awkward was, of course, to make some friendly conversation.

Giving the stranger a sweet smile that she was sure would be hard to refuse, Anise greeted her. "Hello! Is this seat taken?"

[justice-to-a-t.livejournal.com]

Once again, Mikami found himself having to drag himself out of sleep without the help of an alarm clock. He fought down a wave of disorientation... as far as he could squeeze out of his recent memories, he didn't remember going to bed.

He did, however, remember stepping in on a fight with a clawed psycho, and subsequently getting cut up to pieces. He thought maybe it was a dream, but it was awfully vivid and... the wounds he'd sustained chose that moment to switch from an easily-ignored ache to sharp and burning-- as if they actually wanted to remind him of the grave mistake he had made. He once again found himself jumping straight from half-conscious to fully awake with a jolt.

He was in the process of sitting up when the nurse ever-present during the day practically skipped in, holding some clothes that were notably different than the patient's uniform. "Mr. Takanaga! Are you ready for your field trip?" she asked, setting them down on the end of the bed.

Ah. Right. Although still confused about how he had ended up back in his room, he forced himself to comply with her administrations.

As always, she was quite over-helpful and mildly condescending in her pity, helping him pull off the grey uniform shirt before turning away to fetch the new clothing she had brought in. He took the moment shirtless to inspect himself, although there wasn't much to see-- he was basically bandaged from sternum to waist, elbow to mid-forearm, with white crisp bandages. Very efficient. After a moment, he also noticed the distinct signs of needle marks on the inside of his right arm, and the thought of it sickened him slightly.

But what the nurse presented for him to wear only made him more nauseous. She had to be touched in the head far more than any of the "patients" here, because surely nobody would try dressing a grown man in a green t-shirt with a faded but still glittering bunny rabbit on it. What really got to Mikami Teru though? The text below the cartoon, reading (http://i34.tinypic.com/10ykzmq.jpg): "Let's keep notes on who pisses us off."

Mikami would never even consider wearing that kind of nonsense to the gym- it was something far more suited to a girl of twelve or so... and he found it rather surprising they had it in his size at all. To add to the humiliation, the nurse also provided nothing more than a pair of cut-off jean shorts and brown sandals, as well as taking advantage of his struggle with getting the shirt on over his bandages to pull his hair into a pony-tail "for convenience."

And so he was herded off, painful and morbidly embarrassed, to the buses, clutching his paper bag and journal, hoping desperately that god-Kira wouldn't think less of him if he could see him then. He took an empty seat, and with a twinge, once again lamented his complete lack of plans. He'd already seen this on the schedule... had he suddenly become so inept at his own life that he was incapable of making some sort of plans?

[ienvyroaches.livejournal.com]

Luckily for Johnny's nurse, he woke up about ten minutes before she arrived, which provided Nny ample time to calm himself. He'd woken up, he'd actually woken up. Unfortunately, he woke up in the same bed he'd "woken up in" the previous day. That didn't make sense. He'd already established that Landel's probably only existed in his mind, so that he was actually waking up in the place a second time...it was disconcerting, to say the least. Not to mention he loathed sleep to begin with. How the hell did he get back to his bed anyway?

He couldn't remember. GLaDOS had been talking, he'd responded, then...fuck. With a groan, he sat up and looked around the room. It appeared exactly the same as he remembered, which annoyed him. Dreams were supposed to have more inconsistencies. That's how you were able to tell if you were dreaming or not. When things weren't completely fucked, when the laws of reality weren't obviously twisted, that was when things were the most frightening.

A nurse came in, and Nny couldn't remember if he recognized her or not. "Good morning, Mr. Ramirez! Rise and shine, it's time for a field trip!" she seemed oddly happy, much like the other nurses he'd met. Funny how they seemed to blur together.

"Field trip?" he replied, looking back at her with tired eyes.

"Yes! You and the rest of the patients will be going to the town of Doyleton. Won't that be fun?" she replied as she sat down some clothing in front of Nny. He looked down at them for a few moments before picking up the shirt. There was a blue bunny on it. In a straight jacket. Cute.

Well, at least he'd found something off. Maybe the nurse would turn into a bunny or something if he attacked her, like a twisted version of those old horror movies. The thought was tempting... but he just got dressed instead. Soon after, he was herded like some kind of cattle onto the bus. Most of the seats were taken by the time he got on, so he sat beside the first person who caught his eye, someone else with a bunny shirt. It was fate, obviously.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked belatedly, already having sat down. He was still groggy from his unexpected night of sleep, so didn't appear quite as threatening as normal. Besides his hair, he looked quite normal. Black boots, black pants, the only thing particularly odd about his clothing was the bunny shirt that said, "cute but psycho, things even out", and frankly, the man beside him couldn't talk.

[notachick.livejournal.com]

[free!]

The night had ended before it ever really got started, but Okita woke up feeling rested if not still in a bit of pain. No matter how quickly wounds healed here, getting stabbed through the gut still took awhile. The swordsman got up and hid his weapon, and just started threading his fingers through his hair to detangle it when the nurse came in. The wheelchair was apparently going to be his companion again today and he smiled at her as she also presented him with new clothes to wear. This time he was apparently dressing up - a pair of tan slacks and a white button-up shirt with a somewhat baggy sweater over it all. It was about as nondescript as he could get, he supposed.

Taking the bag breakfast, he eased himself into the chair and let the nurse babble at him as they went toward the buses. Rather than listen to her, he was preparing himself for the hell-ride over to Doyleton on the giant metal demon carts. The nurse bundled him into the second bus and sat him as close to the front as possible, then left him to his own devices. Not feeling particularly hungry yet, Okita set the bag in his lap and stared out the window, leaving the seat next to him open for anyone who wished to take it.

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

That... hadn't been the best of ways to end the night. Sasuke was still going to be furious with them if he should meet with them in town, and that wasn't the best of places to be having an argument. Hopefully they'd all avoid each other for now.

His nurse brought him the same outfit he'd worn the trip before, this time with a white turtleneck under his t-shirt (black with the word "retro" written across it in worn letters) due to the cooler weather. The pants were green corduroy, and he'd once again managed to wear the gray headband Usopp had made. (His nurse apparently thought it was a cute arts & crafts project.)

The bus was already starting to become crowded as he got aboard, and he chose a seat next to another patient at random, glancing through his bagged meal. "Hello," he greeted almost absently.

((And I'd like to get to know you~ but you're talking much too slowly))

[captain-hunam.livejournal.com]

Zelnick... wasn't very happy when he first woke up. Last night had started off well, turned awkward, and ended poorly, and today... seeing the town might be informative, or even useful, but the warnings about nighttime falling and the nurses changing before them... well.

When his nurse arrived and pulled him out of bed, though, he was a little heartened to see that he was getting clothing besides the uniform. And, okay, the shirt was a little short through the sleeves, and the trousers got caught under his heels, but it felt like real clothing, and the shoes were nicely sturdy. The apple slices in bagged breakfast cheered him a little, too, and by the time he reached the bus, he had worked himself into an almost okay mood.

Glancing down the aisle as he boarded, he spotted a free seat next to some red-headed guy he'd never talked to before, but who looked friendly and about his same age... and, okay, he kinda didn't want to have to deal with his allies this morning. Not until he had figure out how to make amends.

So he went and sat next to the guy. "Hi, I'm Zelnick," he greeted, investigating the contents of his paper bag (besides the bits that were apple and thus, obviously, delicious.)

((And I know you'd really like me~ but I never stick around now))

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

Wally was shaken out of his daydream by a newcomer sliding in next to him and introducing himself as Zelnick. For some reason he got the feeling he should know that name, but he couldn't quite place where from.

He pushed the feeling aside and smiled broadly. "Wally West," he said, offering a hand. "I only got here yesterday. Have you been here long?" It seemed a safe enough point to start with, and maybe Zelnick could help fill him in on some other details.

The scrunching of the paper bag reminded him that he had his own breakfast to work on, and his stomach contributed by groaning loudly. Smiling a little sheepishly, Wally plunged a hand into his own bag and fished out the muffin. "'Scuse me, I'm starved," he said, already tearing into the treat.

[pleading-ngri.livejournal.com]

Phoenix blinked at the ceiling, listening for a stunned, disoriented few seconds to the cheerful babble of the intercom as it wished him good morning and ever-so-nicely informed him as to the day's plans. The seamlesness with which the noise met his last memory was the most offputting thing about it, he decided after another few disquieted seconds, pushing himself upright and wincing as the nearly-forgotten file folder poked into his side. The last thing he remembered was darkness, static-crackling and that voice, dark with anger. Then he'd blinked, and it was all white linens and smiles again. He shivered, looking down at the plain manila file, sliding a thumb under its edge to open it. Just how were they doing this?

He jumped at the knock at the door, shoving the file under his blanket. "Yes?" He tried not to tense, though it was hard, thinking of the broken filing cabinets that were probably covered with his fingerprints.

The nurse swept in, smiling and arms full of neatly-folded clothes, putting the outfit and a paper bag down on his desk. "Are you ready for a day in Doyleton, Mr. Appleby?"

"I- yes?" he ventured, cocking a curious eyebrow at what she'd put on the desk.

She followed his gaze, then laughed, holding up the topmost article as if in demonstration. "Field trip means new clothes."

It was a hooded sweatshirt in a dingy gray kind of color, with a pair of dark blue stripes running down each shoulder and arm. Phoenix momentarily dreaded that the institute was going to put him in a tracksuit, but glimpsed what looked like a pair of black slacks at the bottom of the stack, just below a dingy white t-shirt. There was a little mercy here, after all. "Well . . . thank you." He stood slowly, careful not to reveal the file, and reached for the sweatshirt as she offered it. He turned to peel off his shirt, paused with the hem in both hands, and looked over his shoulder to see the nurse still waiting, watching, and smiling in that pleasantly expectant way of hers.

". . . um. Can I have a minute to change?" he requested, after seeing her nod but not move adding a slightly more firm, "Alone?"

"Oh, of course." She nodded without the faintest hint of chagrin, which was itself probably creepier than the staring, letting herself out again. "I'll be right outside."

Phoenix released a deep breath, shaking his head and getting dressed. The clothes fit well, though the pants sagged at the ankles more than he was used to, and the entire shapeless weight of the sweatshirt was a vast departure from the well-balanced closeness of a suit. But he'd been given a pair of old leather sandals that were comfortable, even if they did nothing to discourage the homeless panhandler look. He grabbed his file and, at a loss for what else to do, stuck in in the rear waistband of his pants. He didn't want to risk one of the nurses taking it -- not before he'd even had a chance to read it. The only other thing he could think of possibly needing was his journal, which found replaced neatly in his desk drawer.

At least I have pockets, he reflected, stuffing the journal and a few pens into the wide front muffler-pocket of the sweatshirt and looking down curiously as they encountered something lumpy, soft, and vaguely woolly.

It was . . . a hat. He turned it over in his hands, smirking to himself. It was a pretty ugly hat, too. Knit cap, thick band. Cyan. He couldn't imagine himself in cyan. Still, he pulled it onto his head on nothing but a perverse whim. His hair had to look horrible by now -- he hadn't really combed it in more than a day, and there was nothing in it to keep the normally-orderly spikes from skewing here and there.

Besides. In a perfectly juvenile way, he really wanted to see the look on Edgeworth's face when he saw this thing. It was the perfect capstone to one great big fiasco of an outfit.

He grabbed his breakfast and met his nurse outside the door, following her to the second bus and loading without comment. By the time he'd settled into an empty seat, he'd begun to think that maybe the hat wasn't so bad after all. It might have been ugly as sin, but it was awfully comfortable.

[dasgift.livejournal.com]

[LAST EDIT I SWEAR.]

Before any assessment could be made on Stark and the other fellow's sense of direction, Kristoph awoke in his room, in bed and alone. The voice of the intercom chirped cheerfully away overhead, and when the man reached forward to pull off the covers, his glasses drooped dangerously away from the bridge of his nose. So very normal, almost as if he'd never left the room at all, instead drifted off to sleep like an old man. It might have led him to dismiss last night as a mere dream, if not for the fact his hallucinations happened to be a bit more dramatic. Yesterday had been, for lack of a better word, dull.

He shifted his feet over the bedside and began the tedious task of braiding his hair. Kristoph also attempted to recall the name Doyleton and its proximity to the city of Los Angeles, hoping to gauge existing loopholes. Nothing came to mind; though, that had more to do with suddenly being overtaken by a woman in medical garb than any failing memory. How she entered the room undetected, Kristoph would never know.

"Good morning, Mr. Godfrey! Are you ready for our trip today?" The nurse smiled as she pushed a bundle of fabric into his hands. "These clothes happen to be a bit high on the quality scale than our usual. I hope you're okay with them."

Except he wasn't. What were these drabs? Kristoph sorted through the clothes, finding a mixture of cheap polyester, tweed, and very little in between. And the color scheme... Navy, perhaps a darker shade of jade might have sufficed, but maroon? Giving a fair-haired, blue-eyed adult male of Angelo-Germanic origins red-- This was a travesty best described in French.

"Quelle horreur," Kristoph muttered darkly.

"Excuse me?" The woman paused on her way out the door and gazed up at the man in confusion.

"Wearing them will be quite an honor."

He dressed grudgingly in the privacy of the hospital room, before following his escort out onto the bus loading area. She had the brilliant notion of reiterating today's plans along the way, forcing the former attorney to place actual effort into his smiles and nods. When the woman finally pointed out his ride for the day and handed him his breakfast, Kristoph was all too glad to be rid of her.

Not before the feeling plummeted at the sight of something blue-and-drab upon entering the bus.

A part of him supposed he should have expected Wright's appearance. The rest simply couldn't fathom why the man would pull out of his environment and land himself in a nut house. Maybe this was a ploy; he'd held out for that forger, after all. Or maybe one too many lost causes finally broke his usual wits in half.

It would very nice if it was the latter.

Moving casually through the aisle--as if he could be nervous for this encounter--Kristoph paused directly in Phoenix's line of sight, the lunch bag swinging dangerously from the tips of his fingers. "If I did not know any better, Wright," he started pleasantly, as if in midst of conversation, "I would say you were stalking me."

[spandexorgtfo.livejournal.com]

[for Leon]

Kratos woke up feeling reasonably better; he hadn't used any of his magic last night, allowing him to retain considerably more energy for the next day. His nurse had been pleasantly surprised to come in and find him already up ("Wonderful, Kurtis!"); she had been forced to almost drag him out of bed the previous morning.

Thanks to the Doyleton trip, she came bearing an entirely new ensemble too: faded dark blue pants, black short-sleeved shirt, and a tan-colored jacket. He would never mention it, but having the jacket made things palatable: he was unused to leaving so much of his arms exposed; usually they had been covered by the long sleeves of his Cruxis uniform or his gloves.

Walking onto the bus, he sat down by himself in one of the seats near the back and opened the bag for examination. If there was another juice box, he would be prepared this time, but there was none. Instead, Kratos pulled out the muffin and took a bite out of it, not caring about the flavor. To tell the truth, Lise's were much better...

[for-marian.livejournal.com]

Leon had thought the clothes they'd put him into last time had been bad, but really, this (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415UC-8PZeL._SS500_.jpg) was so much worse. The stupid sweater had snaps up the side, where they dug at the underside of his arm, and then they swerved around to the front for no apparent reason. What was the point? And one good tug would probably leave him half-naked. But maybe he could find a way to keep the belt, which might be useful for holding the knife he and Seiya had found. Sighing in annoyance, both at his clothing for the day and the pitiful contents of the breakfast bag, Leon allowed himself to shuffled onto the bus.

It was something of a pleasant surprise to find a familiar face, and to see that he was unaccompanied for the time being. Hadn't this been how they first met, for that matter? Almost smiling, Leon paused by Kratos' seat and asked softly, "Do you mind if I join you once again?"

[blurred-divide.livejournal.com]

They hadn't exactly found nothing last night, but it wasn't much of something. It was doubtful the town would turn up a lot, either. They really were getting nowhere, weren't they?

Angel gave the paper bag a quick, curious glance when the nurse handed it to him. At least he'd gotten out of the institute's clothes. Anything was better than that face.

He slid into an empty seat, casting an automatic eye over the patients inside the bus.

[for Tokito]

[wild-right-hand.livejournal.com]

Tokito did not like this place. Last night had been a whole lot of nothing, which was frustrating. Safe, but frustrating. And now he was being dragged out to some town full of more strangers. Also, what the fuck was up with the clothes (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41fL3rBg63L._SS500_.jpg) they gave him? Some kinda weird pseudo-army thing? Nice to have a hat, though, so he could pull it down over his eyes. If he didn't make eye contact, maybe people would leave him alone. He missed Tokyo, weirdly enough.

And the bus was full. Tokito could have sworn he didn't take very long getting dressed, but the bus was already so full he'd have to sit next to somebody, instead of by a window. Nervously, but trying not to show it, Tokito picked the most normal looking guy he could find to sit next to.

[outtokillhim.livejournal.com]

That plan had gone perfectly. Just peachy. Worse than a spectacular failure; he'd simply waited on pins and needles with his adrenaline coursing as he waited for... for...

nothing.


The result was a physically fatigued Envy in the morning, too sore from the tension of waiting and the mental weight of realizing there had been no result. He was almost too exhausted to argue with his nurse over the subject of his clothing, but he simply refused to wear those cumbersome messes they called jeans. Argued as they did about the weather and social conventions, his nurse on that day seemed particularly lenient, and finally went to exchange his baggy jeans for a well worn knee length plaid skirt. Better than nothing, he supposed, as he pulled up his black socks that weren't likely supposed to be knee socks, but he liked covering more of his ankle all the same. He shoved his hands into the pockets of the plain hooded sweatshirt and rightfully moped like the pissed off adolescent he was as he was lead into the bus for an 'outing'.


[Hoho!]

[only-logic.livejournal.com]

The wait in the library had been worth it, even if nothing had actually happened. He had stood around in the darkness allowing his mind to wander all over the place. It was one of those nights where he could just lose himself and still feel pleasant in the morning about his endeavours. Ah, he could certainly use a few more nights like that.

Waking up fresh, Hohenheim was pleasantly surprised to know that they would be going on an outing into a city. It appeared that it was customary for them to wear different clothes in order to appear in a public setting, and he had no problem doning the baggy plaid trousers with one of three buttons missing. There were rainbow coloured suspenders to go with it, but those were thankfully covered up by the well-worn argyle wool sweater. He wasn't even resistant to the french style wool beret, since this was clearly dress-up day.

He walked to the bus in question lead along by his cheerful nurse, investigating his bagged breakfast. It was quite wholesome, and he was looking forward to getting out of the institute for the day. Maybe there would be a nice park for him to sit down in?

Climbing aboard the bus, his helpful nurse pointed to a particular seat... with a particular person. He tipped his beret to the side and slowly made his way to the seat that seemed requested by his nurse. "It's okay. It's a short trip, Phillip. Conversation will do you both some good," she cheerfully added as he sat awkwardly next to his eldest son. "No fighting now!"

He looked at his son's interesting outfit - a skirt was it? - and smiled. "Good morning."

[contentincloset.livejournal.com]

Kurogane slouched into a seat, uninterested in speaking with anyone and simply resting during this "trip to Doyleton" or whatever they were being forced to do now. He didn't even care for the stupid pink shirt the nurse had quickly forced over his head to forgo any protests, though he might have had he realized what was on the back of it: some strange, cartooned blue bear with a raincloud on his stomach with the words "Does someone need a hug?" printed in blue beside it.

The little food bag he sat in his lap and then after folding his arms he closed his eyes and ignored what he would of the goings on around him. If it didn't need to be dealt with, he wasn't going to pay it any mind.

[showtime-matsu.livejournal.com]

The last thing Matsuda knew, he'd been walking down the hall with Demyx, and then he was suddenly back in his bed. It was kinda strange, since he didn't remember L saying anything about that, but he supposed that if they could grab him from home, they could send him back to bed when morning came. At least he wasn't feeling so sluggish and nauseous. Looked like the night had run the sedatives through his system, so he was back to normal, for better or worse.

The night hadn't been that bad, but Matsuda and Demyx hadn't really gotten anywhere. They had at least found someone to travel with, so maybe another night would give them better results. And they were going to start a band. That was going to be fun!

His nurse came in awfully cheery and carrying a bundle of clothes, telling him something about a field trip to town, which got him out of bed quickly, but the clothes that he got stuck in made him look like someone stuck in the 80s (http://itsnotpossible.typepad.com/trashfan/astley1.jpg). Not that that was a bad thing. He was stuck in a black and white striped polo shirt, white slacks, and a black blazer. All he needed was some cheesy music track in the background to dance to, but they could worry about that after he and Demyx made their band.

He followed his nurse out to the buses, taking the bag of food from her gratefully and getting on the middle bus. He looked around for a free seat and spotted a guy slouching in the seat, and thought that his shirt fit his mood pretty well. If the guy needed a hug, or at least cheering up, then Matsuda was happy to give it a shot. "Hi there," he greeted, smiling down at the guy. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

[zeus-incarnate.livejournal.com]

For once, Marcus was relieved to wake up back in his bed. Though he hadn't accomplished much last night, at least now Logan wouldn't be brainwashed. Unfortunately, Marcus apparently ended up on a different bus.

Well, as soon as they arrived in Doyleton, Marcus would have to track him down. That, and he needed to give Manticore a better explanation about what was going on here. Of all the people to have stranded here with him, Marcus could do quite a lot worse than Manticore.

At least he knew that Manticore would always be on his side, even if the archer disagreed with him on almost everything, he always came through when he was needed. Even if his methods were very questionable, even on a good day.

[Wanted, one Crimson Archer]

[lone-arrow.livejournal.com]

Manticore was very confused as he found himself waking up instead of dropping over the edge of the recreational field wall. The prompt appearance of a nurse didn't help matters, as she bubbled excitedly about giving her new patient a little holiday spirit. She'd managed to grab a bright red ruffled shirt, a pair of black jeans, and worn black combat boots. She kept saying it was the perfect pirate's costume, and she so loved Halloween and wasn't Mr. Sinclair ever so lucky to get to dress up early? Justin wasn't honestly sure which was worse, the typical patient garb or this outfit. It screamed flaming in ways that weren't limited to the bright color of the shirt.

He supposed it could be worse (the shirt could have been pink), and stoically donned the outfit while the nurse was off no doubt spreading more holiday insanity. Once he was escorted to the buses, he asked for and was directed to the proper bus holding a certain Marcus Cole. It was odd asking for his leader by his real name.

Manticore slid into the seat beside Statesman, the first of too many questions already on his lips. "Did I miss something, or was last night incredibly short?"