Day 49: Morning - Magus Park

[allroadslead]

Lingering around where the buses were parked made him feel too much like a lost tourist-especially with that woman looking at him like that-so Sam headed off to the park instead. Not too far since he knew Dean would want to see him. Not for anything specific, obviously. It'd just always been automatic to find each other after whatever crazy stuff

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[full_score]

The bus ride had been spent in a mild daze. Sleeping through the entirety of last night was the last thing Claude anticipated, yet that was exactly what had happened. He'd been here for, what...over a few weeks now? And this was the first time he'd missed an entire nightshift. That was why having the nurse rouse him out of bed to get him dressed had been so disorienting. It was almost like experiencing a regular night's sleep had become strange to him. But that wasn't the only reason why he felt unsettled. He'd seen the symptoms some of his roommates had experienced before disappearing altogether, after all -- one of which was falling asleep for long periods of time.

Was this place starting to finally wear him down?

No, last night was just a fluke, he firmly told himself as he got off his bus and stepped outside. Claude wasn't going to let it happen to him again, no way

[replicatedorder]

After leaving Anise, Luke realized that he had no idea where to go. He didn't know Doyleton too well, and the different sights before him were unfamiliar. It wasn't "sheltered in Baticul" unfamiliar, because Luke couldn't say that was something that was his experience anymore. Becoming an actual ambassador and traveling the world changed that. No, being in this town unsettled him because it didn't feel like anything back home in Auldrant. Some part of him would have liked that

[full_score]

He hadn't expected to hear someone call his name, and Claude instantly looked over toward the source of the voice. When he saw Luke coming toward him, though, he instantly perked up and smiled for him. "Oh, hey, Luke!" he responded. "It's good to see you!" Adjusting his jacket one more time, he quickly made his way over to the other young man.

Their last conversation had been a little on the awkward side, especially with some of the communication gaps they experienced, but he was betting things would be smoother this time around. Introductions could be kind of weird, after all, so it was only natural for a reintroduction to feel a little off, right? But today was a new day, and Claude was truly grateful for the company.

"How have you been lately?" he asked once he'd approached him. A quick glance revealed no injuries, though it was also true that the warm clothes could hide wounds that weren't so apparent. But chances were that he'd been with Guy last night, which meant he probably hadn't been wandering around alone, at

[replicatedorder]

"Not bad," Luke told him. He admitted he had to look on the bright side of things right now. Though many things were loomed just beyond the horizon, some of it was old news, and other parts of it were just wrong to dwell on. He couldn't be the selfish person he was before, though he figured it would be hard just to have a change of pace. Still, he figured he had to try. Things wouldn't be easy here, but he couldn't let Martin Landel win.

Easier said than done, but damnit, he'd try. And Claude smiled easily enough to make Luke believe that was possible, too.

"Considering, anyway," he added, tempering his words. He didn't go on, but it didn't take much to figure out what he meant. Determined not to linger on the thought, he pressed on. "Has it been the same for you?"

[perfectrecord]

As soon as the bus parked and the patients were free to deboard, von Karma wasted no time in getting up from his seat and away from that strange man claiming to be a pirate. Though he would file Mr. Threepwood in the back of his mind as potentially useful in the future (provided that the man did indeed possess actual sword skills), one long bus ride sitting next to the gullible fool was more than von Karma could tolerate for now

[fourstonewalls]

The town was, as promised, cold, gray, and entirely unremarkable. None of which stopped her from taking a few minutes to do a careful sweep of her surroundings, checking the view against the small map she'd been provided. Nothing was out of the ordinary, as patients streamed out across the park and moved off in search of...what? Surely the draw of a manicure or yet another greasy institutional meal wasn't so great? Perhaps it was just the change in scenery. She watched them go, scanning to see if she could spot Ema

A head of gray hair moving with a familiar carriage and stern grace caught Lana's eye as she disembarked. So there was someone else she knew here, hmm? It was strange that no-one had mentioned him to her the day before. Perhaps he expected her already to know; ascribing overcompetence to anyone wasn't something she'd normally associate with Manfred von Karma, but the occasional egocentric view was.

Or he knows exactly what you've done and feels no need to discuss the matter with convicted murderer. She had to

A few spoilery bits from Ace Attorney 1-4

[perfectrecord]

No sooner than had von Karma whipped out his journal to document his observations, he heard someone call out to him. That-- that voice! That familiar woman's voice! Instantly, memories of a recent case file review flooded his mind, the acrid smell of fresh coffee pervading the office as he and his superior went over the particulars of the very trial he had made a special request to handle.

And now that very same superior was addressing him.

Prosecutor von Karma.

Prosecutor. The same title as prior to the fateful incident that demoted him to "Mister" von Karma thereafter. And not a single drop of irony in the tone that was collected and professional -- given, of course, that her voice was raised to catch his attention in the increasing din from the crowd of patients. He slowly turned around to confirm that it was, indeed, Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye.

Thanks to the bulletin board, von Karma had already known since yesterday that she was now a patient at the Institute. However, since she hadn't specified a date in 2016, he

[fourstonewalls]

The expression that graced her face would not, by the standards of anyone who had known Lana as a young woman, be called a smile. It was, however, pleasant, professional, and without any hint of deception. "Indeed." She left it at that. The acknowledgment was in itself redundant; Von Karma didn't make statements like that without being certain of their accuracy, and the look that met his gaze was a knowing one.

The moment stretched out. Von Karma's gaze turned piercing; she had seen it in interrogations and cross-examinations, but never directed at herself. A committed thrust, but the blade had missed its mark; how could she confess to a crime she hadn't yet committed? Was it possible he didn't know? He had called her Chief Prosecutor without hesitation, and dissembling was not in what she'd seen of his nature

[winged_moon]

A faint, misty drizzle greeted Yue as he stepped off the bus and into the open air, and he lifted his face to frown briefly at the dark overcast above. What a lovely day for a field trip this was, wasn't it. Though he'd rather water falling from the sky than rotting corpses rising from the ground, given the option, so for the moment he wouldn't complain. Much.

Still, though, he'd made no plans for the day with anyone, as he likely should have. Perhaps Sakura had an idea, perhaps not, but no matter what his duty was to keep an eye on her. Alas that he didn't know where she was; in a crowd like this and with his powers altered and dampened the best he could hope for at the moment was tell if she was there at all. He moved over toward the edge of the growing crowd to wait, watching those climbing off the buses without bothering to lift the hood of his jacket against the damp.

[guardiancomplex]

Touya stepped off the bus and looked up at the cold, gray sky. He wrinkled his nose, and decided that the chances of getting an umbrella from the nurses was probably unlikely. They were probably afraid the patients would start beating townspeople with them, instead of actually using them for their intended purpose.

Shoving his hands discontentedly into his pockets, he looked around for Yuki. It didn't take him long: that long braid couldn't be missed even if he tried. The young man smiled to himself and strode up to them, hands still in his pockets.

"You're going to catch a cold like that," Touya said, the undertone of a laugh in his voice. He reached out to push the braid forward and the hood up.

[winged_moon]

For a moment surprise flickered across Yue's expression, though he made no move to avoid having his hair manhandled. He didn't catch colds -- normally. Here, though, he hadn't stopped to consider the idea that with so much changed that could be a possibility as well. The guardian blinked once, then silently drew back and allowed his other self to move to the fore.

"What about you?" Yukito asked, self-consciously lifting a hand to tug the hood forward a little farther. "Looks like they found something a little nicer for you to wear, but couldn't manage a hat?" From what he'd seen the choices of clothing for the Doyleton trip could be either nice or...unfortunate, and he had to admit that Touya looked rather nice today.

[guardiancomplex]

"Are you kidding? A hat would have ruined the whole look," Touya said with a small smirk. "She would've given me something... I don't know, huge and knitted. Though she did mention that she picked this out for your benefit."

He took a moment to take in what Yuki was wearing. Honestly it lo oked just as good from the front as it did from the back. They were a little mismatched (Touya looking like some businessman and Yuki looking like a punk kid in college), but he wasn't complaining. Yuki looked adorable in skinny jeans...

"You look good, too," he said. "You aren't too cold, right?"

[dreadofthegrave]

After talking to Naminé for a little while, Battler eventually fell into a comfortable silence, staring out the window at the town they were to visit. It seemed normal enough; rustic, a bit on the secluded side--just what you'd except of a village near a mountain. It seemed like it might be a refreshing place to walk around in despite the weather, but the sight of boarded windows and distrustful looks from the locals made him quickly reconsider. Was it one of those places, where strangers were treated like outsiders and never fully welcomed? No, maybe that was a little harsh. Most people wouldn't normally be very open to busloads of mental patients--some might even think them 'unclean.' It was the sort of unfortunate stigma one wouldn't normally expect to encounter, but that didn't mean it didn't exist. ... This was probably going to be a long day

[repeatingfate]

To say that Rika was uneasy was an understatement. It was less about the town itself - she had seen worse during all the talk about the dam back in Hinamizawa - and much, much more about one Furudo Erika.

She was hiding her nerves, but not well enough. Her nurse called her aside for a quick chat, but at least she didn't pay any further attention to it when Rika said that her stomach was just a little queasy from the bus ride.

She glanced around, looking for a friendly familiar face, and found one a few moments later. One she wanted to talk to, actually. "Good morning, Battler," she said, bowing her head a little.

[dreadofthegrave]

"Oh, Rika-chan! Good morning," Battler returned cheerfully. The sight of a familiar person was a nice contrast to the strange stares received on the bus. She looked a little better than the last time he'd seen her, too, which was definitely a good thing.

Or at least, that was true in physical sense. While Battler could be a little dense, he wasn't oblivious, either. That downcast look was a little worrying, and while he wasn't exactly the best person for that sort of thing, that didn't mean he could ignore it, either.

"... Something the matter?" He asked carefully. It was probably the best he could do--either listen, or provide some kind of distraction if she didn't want to talk about about it. If there was one thing he didn't enjoy, it was seeing a girl upset.

[repeatingfate]

Rika tried smiling a little, but she couldn't shake off that conversation. As much as she didn't want to drag up the subject of what happened back home, there was really no way around it. She nodded in reply, taking a moment to gather her thoughts.

"I guess all I really need to say is that my nurse decided it was 'cute' for Erika-san and I to sit next to each other on the bus. It didn't go so well...I think it's safe to say that if we weren't enemies before, we are now."

Rika shook her head a little. "Is it just me, or does she always seem like she knows too much?"

[runner_up_robot]

Despite his annoyance with Depth Charge, there was something very exciting about stepping off the bus. Sure, it was largely just being able to run around again, but he'd also been trapped in the institute for two weeks without getting out beyond the courtyard or the soccer field. The first time he'd been too preoccupied with his new body and the whole thing, and ended up confined to the bus. Then he missed the second trip, on account of death. He knew there was no way he could really be free, or other patients would have run off long ago, but the prison was now open enough that, with his mood, he could at least pretend. He walked down to the park he saw a few patients heading, and greedily finished his breakfast. He'd been planning to practice fighting once he got out, but he'd been raring to explore the institute and now he had a whole new town to explore.

He turned back and started marching energetically back down the street.
[free and just going to be thread-hopping, feel free to grab him wherever he is!]

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