Day 42: Bus 1

[rope_victim]

After the way night had ended (Miku wasn't sure if they'd ever get the smell of charnel out of her clothes), and morning had returned with its clockwork weirdness. She was hurried onto the bus in her dark red long coat and the dark, knee-length, slightly full dress beneath it. It was surprisingly warm, Miku noted, but that could've just been her

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[dahliahasthorns]

Dahlia wasn't laughing.

She hadn't been dreaming last night--she wasn't foolish enough to chalk it up to that. Right as she'd been playing those two losers for the gullible trash they were, the fog rolled in. Literally. It blinded her, startling her in the first time for years. Then, in an instant, it was all gone.

She. Was not. LAUGHING.

Morning came with its new little promise to get her out of this insane prison and she took it gracefully. She could care less about what they handed to her to wear (it wasn't a uniform again. It wasn't a uniform), just so long as she was outside and free. Maybe not technically, but if she wasn't stuck inside a building anymore or surrounded by fog or blood or they believed she was too innocent and couldn't con someone into taking her away and getting her out of here for real, then...

She took a seat in the back of the bus, quietly braiding her hair and staring out the window. She would think of something, someone she could turn to her side and get her out. She always did.

[Sync. Prepare for

[ran_on_empty]

[And make it double. lasdfj I lost my post and had to rewrite this.]As expected, last night's shift came and went without much trouble, though this may have been because Sync spent the entirety his night in his room. It was because of this that he'd been blissfully unaware of what had befallen upon the institute near the end, but he surely would've cursed himself for missing something like that once he found out

[dahliahasthorns]

[fffff, that blows. You should download Lazarus to keep that shit from happening. D: It is my savior.]

It had been so long since she last wore tights that it felt like they were constricting her legs of all their blood. Warm, yes. But also annoying. Hair all nice and braided like normal, Dahlia occasionally kicked her legs back and forth in her seat, trying to get used to it. Never mind that she looked like a skateboard reject as it was. So long as it wasn't a prison uniform...

And aww, look. Company. Just what she needed.

"Of course not!" He looked like a little girl. If she didn't hear his voice first, she would have called him "ma'am" just to spite him. From the looks of that sweet face of his, he might get huffy if she dared implied him to be old. "Please, feel free." She tilted her head and shot him a bright smile. "I'm Dahlia Hawthorne."

[ran_on_empty]

[Yeah, fgt linked me that when I told her and I was like 'why didn't you tell me sooner.' 8(((]

To Sync, everyone looked like some kind of reject, though this was to be expected given that none of these outfits tied to the usual attire on Auldrant. Still, the teen forced down a grin when he noticed how ridiculous the redhead looked, smiling brightly when he was offered a seat.

Once more, he debated on whether or not to share his real name, but at this point it didn't seem like it was worth the trouble. After all, he'd seen first hand how useless Guy and the others where, so the threat of being exposed couldn't have been any farther from his mind.

"It's nice to meet you Dahlia. I'm Sync. Just Sync though," The teen greeted back sheepishly, all the while pulling out a muffin and crumbling a small piece into his hand.

"Have you ever been to Doyleton before?"

[whos_da_man]

[Mitsuru-senpai, this stupid place must be female and last night was its 'time of the month'. Do buildings get PMS?]

Junpei wanted to be unhappy. He really did. Not only had he NOT gotten the most amazing set of shower head chucks EVER, but he wasn't even sure what to make of the walls starting to bleed in the bathroom. Sewage, that made sense in a bathroom. BLOOD, not so much. Then again, it was a GIRL'S bathroom. Blood was much more common there, he supposed. So, he wanted to be in a bad mood, except he couldn't.

He had a hat on. That was why he couldn't be unhappy. Sure, it wasn't his hat, but he was more than willing to wear a hat for some American baseball team called the Tigers. Maybe Detroit was a place worth visiting. The important thing was, HE HAD A HAT ON AND IT WAS BLUE

[marin_karin]

[Apparently so. Although I really don't want to know what that fog was, if that's the case.]

Odd transitions and blood on the surroundings wasn't anything Mitsuru was terribly unused to, after the Dark Hour and Tartarus, but the way last night had ended was nothing less than jarring. It was mostly the fog, and being suddenly unable to see anything around her, but she'd certainly been able to smell the blood. It was frightening, to a point, smelling so much blood and not being able to see anything. It hadn't sounded as though anyone was screaming in pain, but there could have been monsters capable of silent kills hiding in the fog.

In the end, they'd also never gotten to have Amada summon his Persona. They were so close, but Landel had interfered, so they still had no idea how safe Amada (or anyone nearby) would be if he used the Evoker. Then again, she also didn't know if they were still safe at all. There was no telling what might have happened during that time while they were unconscious

[whos_da_man]

Junpei looked up as Mitsuru's shadow fell across him, and he looked her over in the dress she'd been given as she sat down. Not too shabby. It wasn't a pair of britches and boots, but it did look good on her.

"The walls in the bathroom started bleeding," Junpei replied. "You all told me the building was evil. You didn't tell me it was evil AND female."

[marin_karin]

"The walls did?" Evil and female? Why would he even make that sort of comparison? Although if she thought about it like that, it had a certain amount of insane sense to it, but she wasn't going to continue following Iori's logic.

Mitsuru coughed once, then changed the subject. "Anyway, you wanted to speak to me about something else in particular, didn't you?"

[lady_general]

Celes was becoming increasingly incensed with the choices in clothing her nurse was giving her. The jean skirt was stopped above her knee, the stockings (which she supposed were to keep her warm) were speckled with tiny diamonds and clubs. This was ridiculous. The sweater she wore was red, and clearly the most normal thing of all, knitted in a herringbone pattern and high-necked. Her boots were black and low-heeled, perhaps to keep the young woman from going over six feet like she nearly did in her usual heeled boots.
All of this was covered by a long, black, men's coat.

"Don't you look nice?" her nurse chirped as Celes snatched her breakfast from her and stomped up onto the bus. She threw herself into a seat by the window and crossed her legs.

Nice? Celes thought acidly. I look like I fell into Kefka's wardrobe. She was relieved that she didn't feel as tired and kitten-weak as she had after the spells.

And if anyone dare bring up her condition the night previous, she was going to smother them with the damned muffin.

[clockmongler]

Every part of the Nobody's body was in pain. Healing, yes, but Keyblade wounds...

X was not pleased. Getting dressed in what was really just jeans and a pale-beige sweater put more strain on him than he would have ever wished (and at least the hat and scarf didn't cause intense agony to put on). Not even the prospect of lemon muffins alleviated that in the slightest, and he liked lemon muffins. Yes, Landel was not trying to murder him with snacks once more, however...

Every time there was a trip, fate turned her back to him. He was cursed. Why keep trying? It would only get worse.

Then there was Celes, sitting all alone and appearing decidedly stunning, as always. Despite the radiating pain coursing through him, they still had a date to uphold. He would need to speak with her about that.

Being the gentleman he was, he at least gave a short bow before her before taking a seat next to her, making sure to kindly keep enough distance. "Ms. Chere, you look lovely. If I could speak with you, please?"

[lady_general]

"Certainly," Celes smiled, not-quite warmly, but not her usually chilly smile, either. He was clearly being kind by not noting to Celes that it looked like a gambling hall had thrown up on her. A point in his favor. "Is there something amiss, dear Luxord?"

There was certainly that mysterious note from the end of the day yesterday. That person had never revealed a name, but they'd certainly planted a seed of doubt in her mind.

[clockmongler]

...Let us ponder that for a second. A Nobody obsessed with gambling not mentioning that an attractive woman covered in blacks, reds, diamonds, and clubs. Obviously something was wrong with Celes' hearing, as he had. He said she looked lovely, didn't he?

At least she was kind enough not to note how worse for wear he appeared. It would be a long story.

"Yes," he nodded. "I fear I will not see you for the beginning of this day. I've business to attend to, you see."

[himetsuru]

[for the girlfriend!]Falis had gotten into an argument with her personal vulture. To be precise, the hunter had tried to pick a fight with the woman. She was pissed off that she'd been stood up by what's-his-ass and had such a boring night. The fog that rolled in and blood that she hadn't shed appearing was just icing on the cake. The moment she had come in bearing some kind of cat-eared, striped monstrosity, Falis had decided she'd rather spend the day sedated and drooling on herself in her room than wear that thing. Fortunate, or unfortunate depending on perspective, her nurse was well accustomed to the hunter's moods and realized the girl's issues before it had escalated into something physical. Taking the horrific thing away, the nurse returned with something Falis would tolerate

[akarusa]

Hokuto woke up, dazed, confused, and in a lot of pain; what had happened to her? She remembered a big fight, and slamming into something, but had she been bitten or...? The upper part of her left arm was heavily bandaged, and moving it made her hurt even more

[himetsuru]

And injured girlfriend at that.

Falis' keen eyes zeroed in on Hokuto's arm instantly. She felt a rush of anger, partially at this place and partially at Senna. Hadn't she told Senna to make sure that Hokuto was kept safe? Or something like that?

"Come here," she ordered, holding her arms open and shifting so her back was against the window. "Let me hold you."

[akarusa]

Hokuto smiled more genuinely, and snuggled up to her (carefully). "Not Senna's fault," she murmured. "My shield failed."

...oh, crap, why had she mentioned that? Ugh... her head didn't hurt as badly as the last time she'd had a concussion, but that might not mean much. Either way, she was probably drugged.

Which should make the ride to town SO much fun.

[jokers_wildcard]

Harley followed her nurse and her little pair of orderlies outside to the buses. She'd been given 'normal' clothes (that is, civilian clothes) to wear during this little field trip, like everyone else. She honestly couldn't care less what piece of scrap they gave her to wear. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be her real normal clothes. It was no less confining and oppressive than the smiley face uniform. Though they made an effort, she guessed: Long jean overalls, rainbow striped shirt, and pink and orange scrunchies for her hair.

She already knew about these trips. Well, she'd been on one before. It was kind of fun to go out and get some fresh air, but... it just reminded her that she was stuck out here in the boonies, nowhere near Gotham. She sighed a little to herself and took a random empty seat. She slouched in her seat so her legs stretched into the aisle and she anxiously kicked her heels on the floor, left-right-left-right, as she dug through her baggy to see what kinds of goodies she got.

[Free. No limits.]

[longlivetehking]

The night had ended in a strange manner. After the strangers had arrived in the file room, blood and fog had appeared out of nowhere. Scar couldn't be certain where it had come from

[jokers_wildcard]

Harley was staring down the contents of the bag with an utterly unimpressed expression. You couldn't get more boring than one muffin, some fruit, and a cup of yogurt. They could at least try for something a bit more animated.

Thankfully, her attention was pulled from her boring breakfast by the guy who decided to sit next to her. And not just any guy. "Oh! Scar!!" she exclaimed with a happy squeak. Aww~ He must have missed her if he was coming over to keep her company. She could understand the sentiment. When you were in a gang, you were used to having people around you like one big happy family. The people around here sometimes just didn't understand. So maybe he felt some kind of comradery with another gang person.

She enthusiastically waved a hand at him with a huge grin spread across her face. "I haven't seen you in forever! How've you been? What've you been up to? You been checking out the upstairs lots? Find any goodies?! Huh? Huh?"

[longlivetehking]

Scar couldn't so much as return a greeting with the wave of questions he received from Harley. My, wasn't she curious? Or interested.

"I've been fine considering the circumstances," he answered after she had finally finished her string of questions. "As for what I had been up to, the usual I suppose." The only somewhat useful thing he had accomplished as of late had been acquiring his file. Which he didn't even read just yet.

In the mean time he glanced at the contents of his own bag before pulling out a cup, reading the symbols upon it with a frown. Yoghurt? What in the world was that?