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

[hamenleai]

Shana wrinkled her nose in thought, tapping her fingers against the metal wall. "I still don't understand," she admitted reluctantly, shaking her head and sending scarlet curls tumbling down around her face. "We don't have anything like this where I come from. Oh, we have oil, of course, we have lamps that burn oil and such. But I don't know what an engine is. We have wagons that can be pulled by animals, but nothing like this."

[the_clown_king]

"Oh no, not that sort of oil!" Tamaki shook his head. "Not...um...animal oil. Black oil. You know, it's slick and smells horrible? It's very valuable in my world, we use it for so much! But there's only so much of it." Or something like that. Global issues weren't exactly Tamaki's strong suit.

"We haven't had wagons pulled by animals in centuries!" he exclaimed. "And we use electricity for light. Like in the hospital." He pointed back to the building. "And engine's a...it's a big block of metal with things in it that makes things go."

[hamenleai]

Shana glanced up with a shy smile, although she looked at the girl's outstretched hand curiously, not knowing what she wanted.

"I'm Shana. Tamaki's been very informative. Did you... did you want something?" she asked, still staring in bewildered confusion at Elena's outstretched hand.

[the_clown_king]

"How am I supposed to know how engines work?" Tamaki asked, shrugging and smiling. He had a car, and he knew how to drive, but he had his own driver and didn't worry himself with how cars ran that much.

"You look very cute, Elena," he added, continuing to smile at the blond girl. They were going on a date today! He hoped it went well. He hadn't really ever been on a real date before.

[hamenleai]

Feeling rather awkward, Shana gave the pair a slightly crooked smile and shook her head. "No, I, uh... thank you. If it's not magic, I'm not sure I'd understand it anyway. I can go find another seat if you two would like to sit together," she offered, getting to her feet and hoping to squeeze past them.

[the_clown_king]

Tamaki blushed vividly when Elena kissed him, even though it was hardly a kiss. But it was still the first time her lips had touched his. He cleared his throat some, not wanting to look like a complete fool.

"Oh no, that's alright!" He shook his head at Shana. "We're going to have plenty of time together once we get into town. There's no need for you to give up your seat! And Elena can probably explain how buses move far better than I can!"

[hamenleai]

"I don't want to be in the way," Shana replied awkwardly, still hovering on her feet. It was clear the two were very close, and she knew she'd want privacy with a special someone if she had the chance.

Before she could slip past, however, the contraption they'd been herded into gave an abrupt lurch. Not expecting the bus to move that suddenly, Shana gasped, reaching out for something to steady herself even as she lost her balance.

Buses were not the easiest places to stand when they started moving, after all.

[the_clown_king]

"Oh! Lady Shana!" Tamaki rose smoothly to his feet, offering the girl a hand to steady her. "You really should sit down, it's not safe to stand up in a moving vehicle!" That would only lead to accidents.

"It would be horrible if you fell and hurt yourself! I didn't bring any of my medical supplies with me...."

[hamenleai]

Shana sat - more because she couldn't keep her balance standing than any real desire to sit. She plopped down on the seat with a rather startled expression as the bus started moving down the road.

"Is that normal?" she demanded in fascinated skepticism, turning to press her face against the glass to see how the 'bus' was moving.

[the_clown_king]

"The bus...moving?" Tamaki blinked. "Well, yes... oh, it's been ages since I was on a bus like this, but they do move. And it's a bit of a jolt, of course, but it isn't so bad...."

He glanced over at Elena, shrugging. People from other places was perfectly normal, but he'd never seen anyone so fascinated with a bus before. Buses were just common things!

When Elena asked Shana to tell her something about her world, Tamaki just leaned over to speak directly in the blond girl's ear.

"It's not a very nice world," he explained, remembering what Shana had said.