Day 56: Main Street

[mustbethesuit]

After extricating himself from Harvey's company, Peter found himself at an utter loss for what to do. He drifted away from the park (too cold for that), munching on his breakfast muffin and searching out some place where $15 might be useful. The coupon pack was about as helpful as it had ever been. He wandered past Pearl's Prettification Parlour,

Comments

[human_sponge]

Nice as it had been to see Ritsuka and confirm that the boy was all right, Peter had to assume that the kid had his own plans for the town. He likely had a number of friends his own age that he wanted to meet, and they didn't have much reason to stick together now that they had checked in on each other. For that reason, he let the boy go after telling him to take care of himself (not that there was much to be scared of in this town unless it got dark) and then slowly moved off of the bus.

The only thing about this that reminded him of New York was the temperature; the rest of it was far too small and pastoral and homey to fit that huge city that Peter called home. At this point, he had really gotten to a point where he honestly missed tall buildings, crowded streets, and the familiar sight of taxi cabs

[immortale]

Firo wasn't sure what he'd been expecting from a trip into town, but this surely hadn't been it. Looking around after stepping off the bus, he felt a bit disappointed; it was nice to be outside of the prison for a while, but this... For someone born and raised in New York City, the country town almost look barren: the streets were too empty, the buildings were too short and spaced too far apart, and it looked like the only people around were the ones who'd just come off the buses

[human_sponge]

At first, when Peter heard his name called out, it was an instinct to simply turn around. He was only halfway through the motion when he realized that that voice might not be calling for him. Peter was a common name, so he had gotten used to that through school and even at work. He was fully aware that there was another Peter here in the institute, even

[immortale]

Once he had caught up, Firo fell into a walk once more, matching Peter's pace. He gave a nervous-looking smile when the other man asked how he was adapting, feeling embarrassed about the reminder of how he'd reacted yesterday. Objectively, there was no way he could have known at the time what the situation he'd landed in was really like, but looking back now... Someone smarter would have probably gotten it right away.

"I'm doing alright," he answered. "I, uh... I was under the wrong impression yesterday. Even though some of what you said made a lot of sense, I doubted most of it. I had a chance to see for myself last night, and... Well, I believe you now."

The embarrassment grew with every word, but if his cheeks had become flushed, it was just from the chill in the air. He wasn't sure now why he'd tried to explain himself, anyway; he could have just answered Peter's question and not bring up their talk yesterday at all... But Peter had been a lot of help in explaining the situation, so somehow it felt wrong to pretend

[zack_fair]

Getting to see another side to the mysterious man he'd only just met yesterday had certainly been an interesting experience for Zack. He hadn't judged the man too much in the first place, but he'd proved to him how people could change their minds about things and eventually come around to ideas that were all in all pretty insane. Zack realized that the fact that he was supposed to be dead wasn't going to go over well with most people, but it was possible that Lightning might come to understand it at some point, for instance.

That wasn't something he could get too hung up on, though, especially when he had a snowy town to explore and some unknown amount of money to spend. He left the other patient on good terms and then hopped off the bus with more energy than he should have had considering he really had no clue as to when he sleptThe question was where to go first. Breakfast was already taken care of, so at this point he had a lot of options open to him. He was most curious to check out the stores he hadn't gotten around to during

[bigdamnzero]

Cloud had attempted and failed to catch a glimpse of Zack amid the people milling around outside after he'd gotten off the bus -- he'd lost sight of Lightning soon after, too -- but that only added to his determination to find him even if he spent the entire trip doing so. Taking into consideration his still weaker-than-usual eyesight, it would probably take him a while anyway

[zack_fair]

When someone started to walk in stride with him, Zack knew almost immediately who it was. Maybe it was from the missions they'd spent together, or maybe he just had a sixth sense for when Cloud was around. But as he turned to take in the blond's presence beside him, a grin lit up his face. He'd been wrong to even start worrying, hadn't he? Then again, he was allowed to be paranoid when his friend had already disappeared on him once, not to mention Aerith

[bigdamnzero]

Without looking up, without knowing how, he could tell that Zack was grinning at him, could hear it in his voice; as though in answer, the corners of Cloud's lips tugged up some until he found himself smiling a quiet, lopsided smile into the fraying collar of his jacket.

"Sorry about that," he replied, letting himself lean into the arm around his shoulder, just a little, just enough so that he could let the reality of it all -- walking down the street with Zack in a place that wasn't the Lifestream, wasn't the past, wasn't a nightmare, was in the here and now -- settle in properly. "I should've given you my room number."

The bus ride. His motion sickness. Of course Zack would worry about that, would worry about him, but hearing it out loud after... after so long made Cloud's chest tighten in sudden nostalgia and reminded him of exactly how much he'd missed it. Missed him. "Yeah, I was all right. Well, kind of. It's gotten better, these days." Though not by a lot, if he was honest, but the last thing he wanted Zack to think of him

[poorexample]

The bus ride had turned out to be more about giving information than receiving it, but Castiel thought that he had handled Orihara's questions well and he continued to tell himself that it would be worth the time put into it if he was eventually taught how to pick a lock. He realized that wouldn't solve all of his problems by a long shot, but it was one step forward, which was far better than one step back

[affictitious]

So Gabriel was surprisingly okay with this whole... not getting anything done ever schtick, mostly because "not getting anything done ever" was synonymous with not dying (again). That was kind of the whole fate (oh, hah hah) he was trying to avoid. Man, it really brought an angel down to actually have to put effort into being wary. He figured this second chance had to be for something above getting eaten by a monster. Thing. Like maybe stopping the Apocalypse.

Riiiight. He should really get on that, except he did his part and no one remembered.

His awakening was totally uninteresting, even if it involved a new change of clothes (ratty, in his opinion, and not exactly the kind of thing he'd pick out of a Goodwill given half the chance, anyway. A scarf. A scarf. What was he, the Sassy Gay Friend? If anything, the Winchesters needed a friend who killed them a hell of a lot more often. Maybe frequency would instill some kind of respect or something. Frequency that was above the low hundreds

[poorexample]

Just as Castiel had finished his inspection of the Tasty Burger, he was interrupted -- once again, by Gabriel. As much as Castiel had once entered Dean's space unannounced, Gabriel seemed to do the same to him now. Seeing how he had just seen his brother the night before, he had little idea of what they could talk about, and yet it was possible that Gabriel could give him some idea of how to approach this day in town.

Then again, if he asked he might just get unhelpful remarks in response.

Still, the first statement out of the archangel's mouth was enough to confuse Castiel. For a few seconds he only gave Gabriel a blank stare. Snow angels? He knew of every variety of angel, from cherub to archangel and all that stood between. A snow angel made no sense; they were not trained for certain climates.

Then again, there were angels of love that existed. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so surprised. No, it was more his own lack of knowledge that bothered him, especially since Gabriel had said that they could make these angels. Maybe it

[affictitious]

While Gabriel would've normally attributed that silence to Castiel being... Castiel-y, the question made him realize that the buzzing sound he'd heard had been the slow turn of gears in Castiel's mind. How could someone who hung around with the Winchesters so much not understand a damn thing about humanity? Those two were walking You Don't Know Jacks.

... maybe that explained it.

"Imprudent? Really, Castiel? Is there anything about me that doesn't scream imprudent?" If you looked in the dictionary for the word imprudent... well, you'd see the definition of imprudent, but Gabriel's picture was implied there. Somewhere. He was totally in mind when the definition had been written.

"Look, you having fun is a logistic possibility, like dividing by zero. Me, on the other hand..." he shrugged with his usual smug smile. "Maybe one day you'll meet a snow angel, kid. You just gotta fall face-first and wiggle a bit."

[sdatislife]

The bus ride had been like any other bus ride. He still had that numb, detached feeling that had been following him for weeks. He still felt like nothing he did - here or at home - really mattered. But his friends were here. That was something. Kaworu cared about him. He cared about Asuka. He cared about Rei. Even if that wasn't always returned. So what was he to do?

The same thing he always did. He kept moving, because others wanted him to. And strangely enough, part of him wanted to keep on going. A few weeks ago, he would rather have let himself die, to just fade away and leave the pain of the world behind. Now? He wasn't so sure.

So he shoved his hands a bit deeper into his pockets, tucked his face into his scarf and stared out at the snow-covered street. At least it was pretty.

But what was he supposed to spend his money on?

[For Kaworu.]

[moral_liberty]

It was more difficult to find Shinji when they were all dressed similarly. They always were, he supposed, but the uniforms were only backdrops. They made it simple for Kaworu to identify all of the things that made Shinji unique. Wrapped up in so many layers, it was easier than ever to lose himself in the crowd of random colors, all against an unfailing white backdrop. He had searched the crowd even as he was moved off the bus, and it was only by chance that he saw Shinji in profile. His features were highlighted by the snow. The cold and the scarf made him look smaller

[sdatislife]

Shinji hadn't been paying all that much attention to his surroundings. He'd mostly been staring at the street, lost in his own thoughts and idle fancies (well, he wouldn't call them fancies). About life, the world, what he was supposed to do, whether it would've been better for him to die back in his own world then end up here. If Tokyo-3 had been real. If it hadn't all been an odd invention of his mean and he wasn't really Sean Inoue. Maybe he was. But when he thought of Asuka and Rei and Misato and Kaworu, he knew them all by those names. Not whatever names they were given here. They couldn't all be suffering from the same delusion. Could they?

He was jolted by the sound of a woman's voice very close by and he looked up in surprise, just in time to catch sight of the "nurse" adjusting Kaworu's clothing. He flushed underneath his scarf, the pink-red in his cheeks standing out against his pale, cold skin as he listened to her and Kaworu speak - even more when he detected that little note in her voice as she told them to behave. He

[moral_liberty]

Kaworu's smile increased when he heard those words. There was a light behind his expression now. He believed Shinji effortlessly. The scarf hid the other boy's face to an extent, but Kaworu's memory filled in what was missing. The curve of Shinji's smile was something he had no trouble recalling. Above that, Shinji's cheeks were flushed, likely from the cold, but that wasn't the deciding factor. It wasn't the element that interested Kaworu. He took two more steps towards Shinji, until they were close. It would be expected that Shinji might withdraw, and disallow another from coming in so near. Still, he had never pulled away from Kaworu, and it was that fact that encouraged bolder action. Kaworu wondered if this was security. Safety. The possession of faith that he would not be refused, even by one who was so eager to hide

[moarnomsplz]

If Ax had doubted that his sense of time had become seriously screwy, as Marco might have said, all uncertainty was gone when he woke up. He did not have any idea at all how long had passed between the previous evening and now, and had to make a guess, just like a human would, from how light it had become. His guess that it was, in fact, morning, was proved correct when a human entered the room, dropped what appeared to be some clothings on the bed, and told Ax to get dressed.

Ax did not have much experience differentiating one sort of artificial skins from another, but he definitely saw a difference in the ones the human had ordered him to put on today and the ones he had been made to wear yesterday. These leg coverings were blue, and rougher, like the ones his friends at home wore, and the torso covering was much too large, made of some brown, woven material, with what appeared to be Earth animals on it. It was very strange, and he did not think Rachel would call it a classic look, but it was all easier to put on than the other

[moarnomsplz]

Now that all the foods were gone, he looked at the other things he had received, frowning curiously at the card that was supposed to represent this 'allowance.' It did not look like the human money he had seen. Instead, it was a small piece of plastic, with a picture of him in his human form on it. When had that picture been taken? It was troubling. Ax shook the card, but it did not do anything. He would have to ask someone more familiar with human money how it could be used. The 'coupons' were more self-explanatory, and Ax's human mouth began to produce water at the very idea that a piece of paper would enable him to obtain a tasty burger. Despite the cold and the snow, the upsetting lack of the food he would most have preferred, and the humans still keeping watch on them, he was pleased with this trip so far.

[free!]

[mirthfulness]

The large vehicle spat them out in a park before Gamzee had completely finished his meal and he was led away from the nice human he'd been speaking with. Though he was told to find someone to go off and check out the town with (apparently his card had a little money on it) he had no idea who to go about bothering

[moarnomsplz]

Ax stopped walking when he heard someone speaking. It still took all of his concentration to turn his human head in the direction of the mouth sounds he'd heard. He carefully repositioned his feet in their artificial hooves, so that he could get a better look at the young human male who had approached him. All his concerns about having only two legs had returned, and he did not see how humans managed to navigate snow without falling over. It was slippery.

"I am not called 'Bro,' brr-oh," he said, in some confusion. It was true that a stranger would have no way of knowing his name, but assigning a form of address to someone with whom you were unfamiliar seemed odd. "Have you mistaken, miss-tay-ken me for someone else?"

There was, however, another question, a more pressing one, and Ax indicated the bag the boy was carrying with a nod (he was getting quite good at these human gestures). "Are you going-ing to eat that?" He was sure he had not begun to approach the capacity of his human stomach.