Day 56: Bus 2

[razing_phoenix]

It was hard for Guy to believe that a farfetched idea of his might actually work out in the end, seeing how rare that was in this place. Still, he had found the leather and had been allowed to buy it, which meant that the toughest part at this point would be finding tools to work with and also blocking out enough time to work on making the sheath.

Comments

hi guy.... /breathes

[witchdetective]

It didn't surprise Erika that they would be searched and have their possessions taken before boarding the bus, especially since they were given the liberty to freely purchase things in the first place. The combination of having respectable eating utensils, food, and her precious secret weapon finally obtained was enough to have Erika comply with the search without too many complaints, and then she practically skipped to her seat when all was said and done

[razing_phoenix]

Hearing his voice called out from behind him caused Guy to pause merely out of manners, but it didn't take long for him to realize who it was, even though it had been a week since he'd seen or heard this girl

[ran_on_empty]

Unfortunately for Guy, whatever good day he might've had was about to go sour any moment.

Sync had been sitting nearby Erika when he caught sight of the swordsman stepping onto the bus. That'd been his cue to duck out of sight, and while this originally had been a solo operation he was almost pleasantly surprised to find the other teen going for the exact same target. Well, if that was how it was going to be, then why couldn't he take advantage of their good luck?

That meant making his move while Guy was distracted by his other company. Without so much as a warning Sync moved to shove the blond into the seat where Erika was sitting, immediately following that by sitting on the other side so that Guy was sandwiched between them. And it was only then did he pull back until he was sitting comfortably, offering a grin to the two occupants before him.

"Mind if I sit next to you two?"

[witchdetective]

Erika couldn't say that she planned for this. She only wanted to tease Guy a little, but the next thing she knew, the blond ended up being shoved into the seat (and consequently, against her) while a very familiar voice piped up for permission that was already taken to sit. Really, if it had been anything else, Erika might have started complaining. Instead, she just shrugged. Did Sync have something to tell her, or... She quirked an eyebrow, entertaining the possibility that Guy was also a favorite bullying victim of Sync's. If only she knew the whole truth behind those two, she might have been besides herself with glee

[poorexample]

The day had been long, and Castiel was still attempting to decide on how productive it had turned out to be. He had spoken to his brother and cleared some things up with him; he had found someone else who believed in the Apocalypse; he had at least started to get through to Dean. But the visit to the sheriff's office had been a complete failure. The people there were either trained to reveal nothing or they were truly as clueless as they had acted. Either way, Castiel had not acquired much in the way of information and his five dollars had remained unspent

[quarter_english]

There was no way out of the search, and even if there had been, L had nothing to hide.

He resented the physical intrusion on principle, more than for any other reason. His inclination, which had become habit through years of being indulged, was to be touched by others as little as possible. Searches and the other trappings of security theater were profoundly annoying in the context of frequent travel, but that travel was a choice, a necessary part of his work; on that basis, he could grudgingly tolerate those encroachments. The major difference now was that hadn't chosen this imprisonment and restriction at all, and the pat-downs seemed excessive in relation to a brief bus trip, although entirely in character for what he had seen of Aguilar so far. A show of cooperation was the best way to handle it. Still....

He indulged his irritation by fixing the soldier with an intent, aggressively patient stare through the brief ordeal, as if to say, I'm bored with this. This behavior was impertinent enough to provide some private amusement,

[poorexample]

Being joined by someone was inevitable in such a cramped space, and so Castiel accepted the approach of this patient who he had spoken to two days back. They had not discussed much in their first conversation, which also meant it hadn't classified as useful for him, but perhaps this time would be better. And if not, then at least the man was soft-spoken enough that it would be a simple ride back

[quarter_english]

L felt a flicker of annoyance. He was reminded of Edgar's behavior at lunch: neglecting to elaborate in a way that was close to deflecting the question, then changing the topic, so that the focus shifted to L's productivity. Because most people liked to talk about themselves, if given the opportunity, it was the kind of tactic that would have a good chance of success under most circumstances. However, L was an exception to that particular rule. His response would be almost the same now as it had been a few hours earlier: noncommittal

[purpletaint]

This was a game he didn't desire to play.

They were given funds, told to use them. Albedo bought something, and now it was taken away. This was something you did with animals or small children, which eventually ended with the child sobbing or the animal attacking you. Albedo only remembered the annoying gas, and the happy bright sunshiney room of solitude and sedation, and instead thinned his lips into a line, allowed the object to be tugged from his hands without much pressure on his end. Obnoxious.

Turning to go, however, was deemed faulty, and to add more to that, it was insisted for him to be checked. A glance would tell this was being done to all others, yet still it was entirely unwanted. Speak nothing of his distaste for strangers' hands on him. Say not a thing of his desires to simply be done with all of this--playing by the rules set and determined and doing the due process of movement and check--and just attack the person in front of him. Ignore all of that and Albedo was still far too close to snapping; the events of the

[tasteoftruth]

Badd was down to the last bare slivers of his lollipop by the time the buses began to load up. It was tempting to try and smuggle the others in, rather than wait for them to be returned later, but that pat down looked pretty thorough and he wasn't about to get written up over candy. Besides, it looked like a woman and a man were already putting up enough of a fuss to get the guards angry--no, a man and a woman, why couldn't the younger generations stick to their own gender roles

[purpletaint]

From next to him, there was a sound of a body slumping into the seat. Albedo sighed quietly, hoping for anything other than Klavier again. Despite what he had said to Nigredo, if the man started again, as he had this morning, Albedo would kill him. Despite any punishment offered. Albedo could kill him before they got to them, and then it would be finished. He glanced from the window.

...And immediately remembered this one. This one was a fool. And not very amusing at all. This is why Albedo despised most adults--they were so set in their ways that they refused to see any other reality or circumstance than the one they deemed correct.

He would have ignored him, given the chance, but that was hardly fitting, after all, and in the end, Albedo was more and less himself, and as always, that led to interaction. He wondered, then, idly. Where his brother was.

The boy sat back in his seat, hands folded lightly in his lap. "So?~" he wondered, as if they were gossiping schoolgirls. "How have your days been? Find out anything interesting?"

[tasteoftruth]

"A couple of things," Badd said, restraining his annoyance and feigning boredom as the bus continued to load. The really irritating part was that he'd been right about the monsters and the other ugly things at night, and to an institute veteran he must have seemed like a smug fool.

(He had been a smug fool. Probably best that he ran into Byrne when he did, or he'd have spent the entire week acting like a saner-than-thou idiot and eventually been eaten by zombies he didn't believe in

[exterrabang]

Elfangor watched the proceedings in curious dismay. If he'd still been in his Andalite form, this would be so unnecessary--but then, it would also likely be avoidable if he still had his tail blade. He may have been more accustomed to a human body than... others might be in his position, and with the extent to which humans used touch far more casually than Andalites, but that certainly did nothing to stave off the distinct discomfort and sense of violation he felt as the guard patted him down, searching for weapons and other contraband hidden among clothing. Fortunately, the only purchases he had made during the day were edible and had already been consumed.

Once that thoroughly mortifying experience came to a close, Elfangor hurried onto the bus and hunkered down into a seat, staring miserably out the window. Did they perform such checks at the facility regularly, or was it just when they were allowed outside? He hoped fervently for the latter, as he was not certain that he would not do something unfortunate if this was a daily

[sixth_attack]

[Hi! Let me know if this is ok or not!]

Just when the end of the day couldn't be anymore gloomier or discouraging to the Replica, the soldiers had another unpleasant surprise waiting for him and his fellow prisoners at the bus loading station:

Waaaay too touchy-feeling pat downs.

"H-hey! I don't have anything on me, ok?!" Sechs yelped in the midst of a soldier's far-too-personal inspection of him, "Watch where you put your-- HEY!!"

"Keep still Sasaki, or this will get even more uncomfortable...!" the offending soldier replied curtly, not looking all that sympathetic to Sechs' plight.

Despite the officer's commands, Sechs continued to squirm, complain and curse, but he knew it would have been foolish to start a fight. There were far too many soldiers surrounding him, and the freezing evening air was growing increasingly intolerable; he wanted to get this whole awful thing done and over with as soon as possible, he couldn't risk agitating the lecherous poison in his back again...

At last, the torturous pat down ended, and Sechs

[exterrabang]

[Hi there! :D It's cool~]

Elfangor could not help but find some amusement in this person's muttered oaths, and he gave a wry smirk.

"The town itself did not seem so bad, apart from the citizens' utter lack of observational skills. You would think someone would have noticed the apparent normalcy in so-called mental hospice patients. Or perhaps they simply choose not to see. But apart from that..." He considered.

"The food was good. Granted, I have not eaten in some time, so I may not be the best judge of that."

Yes, a decade having passed since his foray into the sense of taste would certainly qualify as a biasing factor.

But his mood fell once again at the reminder of the mortifying security procedures. "Do they do that every day? The checks?"

[sixth_attack]

A gruff snort came out of Sechs' nostrils with an audible huff, blowing away the sharpened strands of hair away from his face

[tsunagari]

Sai sincerely hope they actually would get the items they'd purchased returned to them, as it seemed silly to give them money to spend and then take back what they'd spent it on. He wouldn't put it past the staff completely, but then they did return their other items to them at night, so this very well might be the same deal

[sasuke_of_sound]

The shopkeeper's stubborn refusal to sell Sasuke any of the wire had left him wishing he'd simply stolen it after all, but two boxes of paperclips and a roll of dcut tape was better than nothing in the end. The slow walk and catalogue of the locations of the other buildings he'd ended up taking towards the evening had been something he'd meant to do (and should have done) considerably earlier. Fresh air and physical activity had somewhat dampened the irritation he'd felt at the shopkeep despite his efforts -- was he losing his edge to the simplicity of walking, of all things? -- and by the time the soldiers had confiscated his purchases, Sasuke had simply shrugged them off

[tsunagari]

There was one familiar face at least. Sai was beginning to wonder if Sasuke actually did plan encounters like this and then played them off as if they were an accident. On purpose or not, he'd wanted to speak to the Uchiha about their plans for that night anyway. He waited calmly until the other was settled, making sure that he wasn't going to be addressed first.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun." And then there was the customary smile, though smaller than usual. The blind ninja wouldn't be able to see it, but that was no excuse not to be polite. "Did you want to discuss what we had planned for later?" Though he was wary of discussing anything where the staff might be able to overhear, a noisy bus was probably a better option than posting on the bulletin where everyone could read it.

Not that the military didn't already seem aware of their efforts, but it was the principle of the matter.

[sasuke_of_sound]

And there was the voice of someone he'd been hoping to run into today. If not for the conspicuous lack of cheery, far-too-bright chipperness in his vicinity, Sasuke might have suspected his former nurse's hand in bringing him this conveniently to someone he knew; as it was, he would likely have to chalk it up to unexpected chance.

"Sai," he acknowledged briefly, and then gave a short nod to agree with the Konoha-nin's proposition. Though Sai had been ... emotionally volatile at times in the past, there were certainly times to be grateful for his more typically understandable efficiency.

"I spoke with Sakura earlier today. We'll be meeting where the patient block hallways adjoin the main hall," he explained. "Travel should be quicker that way."