Day 28: Bus 1

[accursed_rock]

Zelgadis was not happy, at all. Not that this was any change, but the events of the past few hours had given him more to angst about than usual. Nightshift had been dreadful: first he was attacked by a small green man and then covered in leeches, neither of which lead to warm fuzzy feelings

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[myopic_mousse]

Mousse didn't quite remember the events of the previous night after he had decided to stop moping and be a man. His head was pounding (had he taking a beating?) and his right hand, though wrapped in bandages and in a sling, was still without any signs of feeling, short of throbbing pain. To make matters worse, a nurse had forced him to wear such strange clothing! Brown cargo pants and a black shirt with some writing on it about enlightenment or something (What the hell did "Nirvana" have to do with the three western looking men?) were not his idea of fashion.

Still, he went along with it, not really in the mood to deal with much of anything. Where were the people from last night? It didn't really matter. He boarded the first bus he saw and slumped against the window.

So. They were going somewhere...

[gald_digger]

Anise was perhaps one of the few who awoke in the same room she last recalled being in. She sat up in bed, wondering how she had fallen asleep in the first place. The last time she had found herself in this position, she could have plausibly fainted, but this time she had been in perfectly passable health. Was this how the nights always ended here? She couldn't quite get used to it. And this night had ended way too soon

[myopic_mousse]

"...good morning," Mousse said back politely, but solemnly. He was not adverse to the company, though his injuries and lack of action when he should have acted last night still plagued him. No wonder Shampoo didn't want anything to do with him; he was a no good coward.

No, no, no. That wasn't right. He had been caught off guard and it could have happened to anyone. He was still every bit a man and he would prove it by rising to whatever challenge he faced in the upcoming days. Amazons did not back down from a fight.

He wasn't wearing his glasses, but the voice of his seatmate implied she was a woman. He wondered idly if she was dressed as ridiculously as he was.

[gald_digger]

Boooo. He'd barely looked at her.

So he seemed a little gloomy. That hardly excused ignoring a pretty girl that was practically right in front of him! Anise noted his sling; the guy had probably gotten into a nasty fight, possibly not too unlike her own two nights ago. Maybe he just needed some cheering up!

Whatever the case, a silent trip was out of the question for Anise. Recovering her smile, and hoping the stranger hadn't noticed it fade into a frown just moments ago, she tried to start up a conversation. "Wow! I can't believe they're really letting us outside like this. I wonder if they'll have trouble keeping track of everyone in town! Hee hee." Frankly, she hoped they would.

[myopic_mousse]

"Is this rare?" Mousse blinked. True, he hadn't seen the outside world the previous day, but that had been his first morning at the institute. He had been under the impression that these weekend trips were routine. Anise had also placed a thought into the myopic Amazon's mind that had previously been overshadowed by his bewilderment and self loathing from the last night- the possibility, once again, to escape.

"Oh! A town would be far less confined, it's true!" He exclaimed, stating the obvious as though it had just dawned on him. This WAS a golden opportunity for escape! He could fight his way through the orderlies and return to his DARLING Shampoo. "And there is no way they could stop all of us!"

"Aiya, Mousse!" She would greet him, tears of joy in her eyes. "Where you been? Shampoo been so worried!"

"It's alright, my love. I'm back."

"Mousse! You hurt!"

"It's a scratch, dear. Nothing your love won't fix..." And he would hold her in his arms and they would lean in and then... "Eh heh heh heh heh..." That Mousse was aware his

[gald_digger]

"Rare? Well... I haven't heard of it happening before," came the modest reply. It's obviously a trap, she thought to herself, and she might have voiced that thought had it not appeared that hope had already lifted the boy's spirits. If there was one thing she knew for sure about the people running the institution, it was that they weren't stupid. They wouldn't let all their patients run wild unless they were absolutely positive they could handle it.

But going to town meant that even if they didn't escape, they could make contact with the outside world, right? Surely the institution couldn't have enough control to prevent that... could they? They sure thought they did, it seemed, and it was kind of scary

[myopic_mousse]

Mousse blinked away his daydreams and considered the question. "Engine room? This isn't a train."

He pursed his lips and thought a bit more. What if that time machine thing Byakko had talked about was in effect? If there was some part of this place that was capable of time travel, wouldn't it be possible that people from the past could be here as well? Perhaps this woman was from somewhere before the bus was invented! Simply dismissing it as not being a train wasn't being very clear or polite. He continued.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Miss! I mean, it's a bus, so it has a self contained engine..."

Mousse understood, basically, how a gasoline engine worked, but he hoped he didn't have to explain in detail because he had never really spent much time around automobiles.

[gald_digger]

The girl gave him a puzzled look. The only "train" she knew of was a verb, and she had a feeling that wasn't at all what he was talking about.

"A bus? I've never seen one before." Anise cast a few more glances around. "The only landships I've been on were a lot bigger than this." A self-contained engine...? But where would that even be, when she could see out every side of the vehicle? Maybe it was a really small engine, she decided. It was a smaller vehicle, after all. Since she didn't know much about fontech, that logic was enough to satisfy her curiosity.

It didn't seem like anything could explain its tacky exterior, though.

[myopic_mousse]

Mousse didn't know what to say to that. 'Landship'? That didn't mean much to him. This girl was either from another time or a bit odd (though Mousse was one to talk). Instead, he changed the topic. "I don't think I got your name, Miss. I am Mousse."

It didn't seem right to not introduce himself. Afterall, they were going to be chatting for the ride into town, so he might as well ask.

[gald_digger]

So he was more interested in the cute girl than in the weird vehicle? That was a good sign, she thought dryly to herself. "I'm Anise!" was her cheerful reply. She offered him the adorable smile she used when she wanted to make a good first impression. "Mousse, is it? It's a pleasure to meet you!" Her tone was bubbly and sweet enough to rot a man's teeth.

Without prompt, she moved on to talk more, making sure to fully emphasize her cuteness in every syllable. "I've been here for three days now. It's been so scary, hehe." Wouldn't any man be overcome with pity for a frail maiden forced to endure such horrors? ...Even though the added giggle had made it sound as though she were talking about a scary novel and not about actual life-threatening circumstances.

[myopic_mousse]

"Three days?" The Amazon blinked. "So you've not been here that much longer than me."

As for scary, Mousse chalked it off to her apparent young age and gender. All the women outside his village seemed to be frightened by the littlest things. While he hadn't actually been able to SEE the monsters that attacked him and severed his nerves the previous night (they looked just like a little girl as far as he was concerned), he hadn't ever been FRIGHTENED of them. Then again, he had been more concerned with whether or not he was going to bleed out humiliatingly on the bathroom floor. He still needed to redeem himself for that moment of cowardice.

He sighed and turned his gaze back out the window, even though the shapes outside weren't as clear as they might have been with his glasses on.

[gald_digger]

He hadn't even been there three days? Rats. That meant he wouldn't have much information to share with her. And now he was acting all melancholy again! Back to Gloomsville already!? We haven't even left the building yet! Anise shot him a look of growing contempt from behind his back. What was with this guy's moods?

But her souring thoughts were soon interrupted by the jolts and vibrations of the engine starting. "Huh? We're moving?" The view from the window began to shift, but she couldn't see it very well from where she was sitting. Far more interested in the view outside than in the concept of personal space, she leaned over Mousse with her right hand on his leg for balance, and brought her face over to the window. "Wow! We're really leaving!"

[myopic_mousse]

Mousse wasn't thinking about their movement; he had other things to worry about, such as Anise's close invasion of his personal space. Face turning slightly red, he put his hand on her shoulder and sat her back into her original position, making certain to move the hand as well. "Please don't lean over me like that. It's a bit close."

Now he turned to look out the window. "I wonder how far we're going..."

[gald_digger]

Anise pouted at being shoved away. "But I want to see outside, too! Boooo." Was he shy or something? She hadn't thought of it as being too close--not at all! After all, Anise was the sort of girl who was never at all adverse to clinging to men she had only just met. All she did was lean a little! If that was enough to bother him, Mousse clearly needed to get more used to female contact.

At least his reaction wasn't half as bad as the ones she sometimes got from Guy...

She sighed lightly, glancing inside of the paper bag the nurse had handed her earlier. A muffin, some coupons, and... a box? "It's the nearest town, right? It can't be far," she offered, eyes still on the most unfamiliar of the objects.

[myopic_mousse]

"I can switch seats with you, if you would prefer." It wasn't as if Mousse could see as well as she could anyhow. It didn't matter where he sat for the moment and she was free to have the window seat if she was going to use it better.

"Towns can be miles from anything," Mousse mused in response to her question. "And I would think mental institutions would be removed as well."

He was so far away from Shampoo...how he needed to hurry back to her!

[gald_digger]

Her face lit up at the offer. "Would you? Yay!" Scrunching the bag shut, she stood up in the aisle to allow Mousse to move over. The movement attracted the gazes of some of the Landel's staff, who appeared to be wondering if they needed to walk over and make her sit down. Anise ignored their looks.

It was true that towns could be miles from anything--in fact, it was something Anise knew all too well from experience. Traveling by foot, it had taken days, sometimes weeks to get from one place to another. "Maybe so, but they wouldn't send us on a long trip with just a muffin," she replied. "We'll probably be there before lunchtime! Not far at all."