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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[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.

Anise returned from her thoughts to find her new acquaintance lost in his own... which, from the look on his face and that weird cackle, seemed to be of a more dubious nature. She sighed and shook her head, deciding that she really didn't want to know about whatever weird stuff he was thinking about.

Curiosity got the better of her after several seconds, however, and she lifted her head to look around at her surroundings. There were windows all around, so it was clear that there were no other rooms in the vehicle. It may have been the smallest landship she'd ever seen, but it was still big enough that it needed something to move it. Didn't it? "Can this thing really move?" she wondered out loud. "It doesn't even look like there's an engine room..."

[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."

[myopic_mousse]

Anise made a good point-- since they had only provided a muffin, it couldn't be THAT far.

"Hm. I wonder when we'll arrive." Before lunch, yes, but WHEN before lunch?

[gald_digger]

Somewhat hurriedly, she scooted past Mousse and claimed the window seat. As much as Anise usually loved attention, she had the feeling that she really didn't want that much of it from the orderlies.

When she was settled in her new seat, she turned to answer Mousse. "Who cares? Hehe, I'm just happy we're finally getting a change of scenery." Not to mention a chance to send out a request for help! No matter how many traps the institution was going to set, she just couldn't let this opportunity go to waste!

Anise leaned on the window a bit as she looked outside. "Wow! We're moving pretty fast." She hadn't been sure what to expect from the weird fontech vehicle, but it sure seemed to work well.

[myopic_mousse]

Mousse smiled slightly. "I guess I'm lucky I haven't been here long. I guess the institute is going to get boring after awhile." It wasn't 'boring' to the Amazon, per se-- however, the incarceration and his abduction is what made it loathsome. He wondered if he would be thre long enough to feel it was...routine and tediously familiar.

NO! THAT WOULD NOT HAPPEN. HE WAS GOING TO LEAVE AND RETURN TO SHAMPOO LONG BEFORE THAT HAPPENED! Narrowing his eyes, he glanced over at the orderlies on the bus. As risky as it seemed, wouldn't the bus ride be an ideal time to try and get away? There was only so much space on each bus and the staff was split up. What if he attacked now and made a break for it...?

[gald_digger]

"Boring? That's putting it lightly. I can't believe I'm spending such precious days of my youth in a dump like this...!" she whined, sinking into her seat.

That Mousse sure seemed to change his moods at the drop of a hat. Right now, Anise couldn't even begin to imagine what the heck was going on inside his head.

[myopic_mousse]

Mousse continued to glare at the staff that surrounded him and produced his glasses from up a sleeve. He wasn't going to make the same mistake he had last night again-- he needed to be certain of his opponents if he chose to attack.

He still had that pipe and the pens...

But would an attack now really be the best course of action? It limited the mobility of the staff and the speed of reinforcements, but at the same time, it limited where he could do as well and he was handicapped.

Damn it all.

But he had to get back to Shampoo! Even if time was stopped, even if she wasn't really about to get married to Ranma, even if she was happier with him gone, he had to! He clenched his left hand into a fist.

"I must get back to Shampoo. I can't stay here either."