damned_institute | Day 35: Bus 2

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Day 35: Bus 2

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~]

Threaded | Flat

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.))

_{[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.

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!))

Edited 2008-09-04 16:00 (UTC)

[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.

[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..?

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]

[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.

[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?

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?]

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;]

[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.

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.

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]

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]

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]

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!]

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?

Edited 2008-09-06 01:06 (UTC)

[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.

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.)

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.

Edited 2008-09-05 03:07 (UTC)

[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...

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]

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!]

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.

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]

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