Day 28; Bus 3

[fyeonly]

There was, Naomi decided, some sort of cosmic irony in all of this. Not that she was trapped in a deranged and possibly other-worldly asylum with a man she'd idolized for years and a boy who was being investigated for - among other things - the murder of her fiance. No, at this point, those were perfectly normal occurrences. Rather it was the

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[hamenleai]

A skirt. They'd put her in a skirt.

Granted, it was a nice skirt, but that was entirely not the point!

Shana uncomfortably followed her nurse through the hallways as she tried to get adjusted to the feel of fabric swishing about her bare legs. She felt... indecent. There were other girls wearing pants, why had she been put into a dress? And not even a whole dress, just the bottom half of one! She would have much preferred her normal clothing from back home to this. She was going to be paranoid all day!

At least it was pretty, she was forced to admit as she stepped outside into the sunshine. The skirt was a deep, earthy brown with embroidered pleats and floral stitching in bright lavender that matched the sweater she wore overtop. Her books were a comfortable worn sort of leather that was soft to the touch. At least that was normal, although she'd never seen an elven lady wear boots with a dress. Was fashion so very different here

[the_clown_king]

Oh goodness, what a night! Despite the blood and vomit and everything else, he was feeling productive. The clinic was success. and he was doing what he'd set out to do! He was helping people!

And today he had his dates! And real clothes! This was a wonderful day!

Bursting onto the bus rather happily - and happy in his blue V-neck sweater and black jeans - Tamaki grinned widely and bowed to a red haired teenage girl.

"My pardons, fair maiden! May I take this seat beside you?" Even if he had dates to go on, he still wasn't going to shirk his Hosting duties! And the poor girl looked rather confused. It was his duty to offer her company!

[hamenleai]

Shana jerked in surprise at the voice behind her, and straightened with wide green eyes as her gaze fell on the blond young man before her. A quick glance at his ears told her he was human, and her startled expression slipped into a slightly awkward smile.

"You can, I don't mind," she answered, her tone friendly as she reached up and tucked a stray curl of red hair behind a slightly-pointed ear. She felt self-conscious, being out of her element and among strangers. Not to mention everything here was so strange and she didn't even know where to start to take it all in.

"I'm Shana," she added, introducing herself with a nod of her head in greeting. "I just got here yesterday."

[the_clown_king]

"Oh!" Tamaki took a seat, lounging elegantly even on the bus. He couldn't help it. He was feeling more himself than he had in days!

"I'm very sorry about that. But it's a pleasure to be in the presence of such beauty. I'm Lord Suou Tamaki - please, beautiful maiden, simply called me 'Tamaki'." Well, it was certainly his duty to make her feel better! It was horrible to be new in this place.

[hamenleai]

The beautiful maiden compliment was stretching things a bit, but she gave a flustered laugh anyway, intently studying the stranger who'd joined her. "Hello, Tamaki," she greeted him. "You're a lord? Are humans allowed to be lords where you come from?"

She'd certainly never met one, of course, but the concept was fascinating. If humans could be lords in other realms, then what were the elves? And halfbloods?

[the_clown_king]

Tamaki frowned for a moment, then broke into a wide smile.

"Ah, all we have where I come from is humans!" he said. "So of course!" Oh, she was from somewhere very interesting! He loved meeting people from other worlds!

"What are allowed to be lords where you're from?"

[hamenleai]

"Only the elves, really," Shana answered in surprise. "They wouldn't let anyone else threaten their power. You only have humans where you're from? Really? That's amazing!"

She wondered what her world would have been like without the other races. Then again, she wouldn't have existed, if that were the case, nor would just about anyone she knew.

[the_clown_king]

"Elves?" Tamaki blinked. "You mean....those little people who make shoes?" The idea of elves as lords was one the boy had trouble wrapping his mind around.

"But elves are nice and sweet and helpful... oh, and if you leave out bread and milk for them, they'll do you favors and find lost things for you!" He nodded, pleased at remembering the folklore from when he was little. "And if you don't, they'll wee in your shoes."

[hamenleai]

Shana stared at him in complete and utter bewilderment. "Elves aren't little, they're the same size as everyone else. And I don't think they make shoes, not unless they're trying to impress or flatter someone with their magical abilities, and in that case, I think they'd try for something more impressive than shoes. And the ones from my world... well, nice and sweet and helpful are the last descriptions anyone would pick, not unless they were trying to manipulate you into giving them what they want."

She eyed him dubiously. "You have very strange elves in your world."

[the_clown_king]

"Oh, I don't even know if elves are real where I come from." Tamaki waved his hand. "But the stories say they're only a few inches tall. And they dress in flowers and leaves. And wear little hats. And they have some strange fascination with shoes. And they're supposed to be very, very beautiful." He remembered that.

"Oh! But the ones from Ireland aren't nice," he added, wracking his brain. "They're people sized, and beautiful, and they steal children and men away to their magical fairy realm under hills. Or something. What are they like in your world?"

[hamenleai]

Shana burst into giggles at the thought of any of the elves in her world ever participating in any of that.

...well, except for maybe the stealing people away part. That she'd believe.

The elves are powerful where I come from," she answered. "They're not nice. They're cruel and arrogant and think themselves above everyone else. When they arrived in our world, they enslaved all the humans and now they rule undisputed. Well, mostly undisputed. The humans are pretty much animals to them. I don't think you'd like it there very much, being one yourself."

[the_clown_king]

"That sounds horrible!" Tamaki said, frowning. "That isn't fair at all! I wouldn't like it all, no of course not. It must be awful to live in that sort of world!" Tamaki sometimes looked down on commoners, but not on purpose! And he certainly couldn't imagine treating someone like an animal just because they were different!

"My world got rid of slavery a long time ago." For the most part. It wasn't legal, certainly!

[hamenleai]

"There were people that tried, in mine," Shana admitted at his frowned outburst. "We're still trying. Granted, this has interrupted us a bit, but maybe someday..."

"The elves won't like it, but we'll keep trying anyway," she finished, a crooked smile flitting across her lips. "What about your world? What is it like where you come from?"

[the_clown_king]

"My world's a lot like this one," Tamaki admitted. "The same technology and everything. I'm from a place called Japan - have you heard of it? There's lots of people from Japan here." A whole lot. Maybe Shana had met one!

[hamenleai]

"I've never heard of it," Shana replied with a sheepish smile, shaking her head. "Sorry. Technology... You mean like this big iron wagon thing? Do you know how it works? Is it magic or something else? I've never seen anything like it!"

[the_clown_king]

"You mean the bus?" Oh, how strange! She didn't even know what a bus was!
"It runs on gasoline that powers the engine. The engine makes the wheels turn. It's not magic - I don't think this world has magic. At least, not outside of the building." Everything he'd seen led him to believe it was all done by normal technology.

"Gasoline comes from oil, and oil comes from the ground."