Day 57: Arts & Crafts Room (Fourth Shift)

[gald_digger]

When she left the lobby, Anise still didn't know what to think about her visitor. All this time, she thought the one person the institute would never truly get to was the Colonel, and that if he was gone, then maybe he was hiding somewhere, plotting a way to rescue the rest of them. Now that she thought about it... maybe that was naïve of her. She

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[full_score]

As much as Claude wanted to spend the next shift with Guy, things hadn't worked out that way. But it had been nice to sit with his friend at all, even if the movie had been a lot more depressing than Claude expected. Maybe he should have been more careful about his vote. Then again, considering they'd only had war movies to choose from, the outcome might have been the same regardless of what they'd seen.

Still, as he left the Sun Room, there was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was probably better if he didn't think so hard on it right now. With nightshift right around the corner, Claude knew he needed to steel himself for a potentially difficult evening.

He didn't get left alone with his thoughts for long, though. As he wandered into the Arts and Crafts Room, one of the staff approached him and thrust an envelope into his hands. "Appleby, Thomas," he said, as if the name had come from a list. Claude glanced at the front, eyebrows furrowed. Was that...Leon's handwriting?!

Before he could stop himself, he hastily tore the envelope open and glanced over the letter tucked inside. No matter how many times his eyes raked over its contents, though, the words didn't sink in. All he saw was Leon's distinct penmanship, the names Tom and Danny, and plain proof of the very thing he'd been afraid to admit over the past several days.

It was suddenly difficult to take a deep breath.

Dazed, he looked up and immediately saw Anise sitting alone, a similar letter clutched in her fingers. Oh no...her too? Although he briefly considered leaving her alone, Claude decided to approach her in case she needed someone to talk to.

"Hey," he gently greeted, though this time it was without his usual smile. Instead, Claude gazed at her with a mixture of concern and understanding.

[gald_digger]

In the end, Anise had to read the letter twice. The first time, her mind was buzzing with so many worries and questions that she couldn't even focus on the words. The second time, she carefully read every sentence.

It was her mother's writing, all right. In the letter, she wrote about how much she and Papa missed her, what they'd been doing over the weeks, how Papa was having car trouble and that's why they hadn't visited recently... She said again and again that they loved her and missed her and couldn't wait for her to come home... all while using that fake name Anise had been given. It was touching, but at the same time... it hurt.

When Anise reached the end of the letter, she felt a lump forming in her throat, but when she looked up, she saw Claude. There was a brief look of surprise, but she managed to return his greeting. "... Hey."

Slowly, she set the letter down on the table. "It's... from Mama and Papa," she explained in a quiet voice, as if answering an unspoken question. She soon noticed the paper in his own hands, though, and followed up with, "Did you get one too?"

[full_score]

Claude could sympathize with how jarring it would be to receive that kind of letter from family -- by now he'd seen his mom and dad both as patients and visitors. No doubt it was just as unnerving for Anise to contemplate the idea that both of her parents were trapped somewhere in this world. The thought made his heart ache. No one needed that stress on top of the daily perils in Landel's.

Sighing, Claude pulled out a chair and settled down beside Anise. He idly pressed his thumb against the corner of the envelope. "Yeah," he softly answered. "It's from Leon." Anise had met him once, so he was sure she'd know who he was talking about.

He went by "Danny" now, apparently, but it was still the same boy from Expel. He just believed Claude was ill now, and that his true life was a delusion. If his other friends were really out there, they probably thought Claude was being stubborn by holding on this long. But what else could he do? If he gave in, then he'd lose every chance he had to set things right again.

"My parents have visited me here before, though," he added after a moment. That was the first time he'd admitted that out loud to anyone, including Guy. "Knowing they don't see you for your real self is pretty difficult to deal with, huh." There was no self pity behind his words, but rather a solid sense of what Anise was probably going through. "You must be worried about them."

[gald_digger]

Leon... That meant that Claude had lost some friends from home, too. Anise offered him a sympathetic look to show that she understood. When he went on to mention that his parents had visited him, she realized they both had to have a good understanding of what the other was feeling. When it came to their friends and families, they were in really similar situations.

"Yeah," she confirmed with a nod. There really wasn't any hiding it. "Actually... my parents visited me too, a few weeks ago." Anise had never told her friends about that, not wanting to add to the pile of problems that Guy and the others already had to deal with. Right now, though, she had someone who was going through the same thing, so rather than adding to their burdens, it felt a little more like she could finally get one off her chest.

"... It really is tough," she admitted as she folded the letter up and placed it back in the opened envelope. "Mama and Papa are always doing things that make me worry, but never like this." Setting the envelope aside, she gave Claude a small, pained smile. "I guess I should be glad I got this, though. This means they're still okay, right?"

[full_score]

So he hadn't been the only one to get an unexpected visit from family. Claude frowned, wondering how long Anise had kept that to herself. She didn't seem like the type to freely share her problems, no matter how heavy or burdensome they were for her. At the very least, he was glad Anise trusted him enough to confide in him about what had happened. No one deserved to wrestle with those kinds of anxieties alone. Since they were both in a similar boat, that was all the more reason to stick together, right?

It looked like she was trying to look on the bright side of things, though, despite how difficult their situation became. That was always important to do during tough times.

"That's right," he said with a nod. "They're still okay, and it sounds like they think of you often because they love you. I'll bet they're trying their best to stay in contact." That couldn't be a bad thing, even if it meant they thought Anise was ill. They'd likely keep in touch as long as she was at the Institute. Maybe that would even help her locate them someday.

Claude placed what he hoped was a reassuring hand on Anise's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll keep hearing from them until we're able to figure out where they are."

[gald_digger]

"Yeah... you're right." Anise's expression softened, and she was able to smile a little more easily. It seemed like Claude was reassuring her a lot lately, and while it was kind of embarrassing, it was also kind of nice to know she'd made a friend she could really count on. "I know they love me, and I know they'll keep trying to reach me."

Anise also knew her parents weren't all that reliable, but it wasn't for a lack of effort on their parts. They always tried to give her the best, and even though they always made things worse, Anise could never bring herself to hate them for it. Once again, it looked like Anise was going to have to step up and try to fix everything... but she was still glad her parents were trying hard for her sake.

"I'll have to do my best, too," she declared after a long pause, looking up to Claude with a determined smile. "The sooner we get out of here, the sooner I can go find them."

She didn't feel nearly as optimistic as she sounded right then, but that was okay. For the time being, she had to keep her chin up and try not to let things get to her. If she let herself get caught up in sulking about all the things that made her scared or anxious, it'd be like she was giving up. So the first step to escaping had to be to keep a positive attitude!

Once that was decided, Anise reached for the materials she'd set out for herself, and started cutting a piece of fabric - one with white flowers on a blue background - into a large rectangle. "Hey, are you going to make something too?" she asked Claude.

[full_score]

He didn't blame Anise for worrying about her parents. It was natural for children to want their mom and dad to be happy and safe, after all. But with a daughter as skilled and tough as Anise, Claude thought her parents were very lucky to have someone like her looking out for them.

"That's the spirit," he said with a firm nod. "Let's do our best...together." Not only did he need to locate his family outside of the Institute, but he had to work hard for the woman trapped in the Institute along with him. Claude realized he had yet to explain to Anise about his connection to "Ilia", but now wasn't the time to trouble her with that sort of talk. The most important thing was that Anise knew Claude had her back, no matter what.

Besides, it was about then that Anise asked if he intended to make anything. Claude admitted he'd initially wandered this way to check for any familiar faces, but it had been awhile since he'd crafted anything. Maybe he ought to fix that.

"Hmm..." Claude rubbed his chin and looked at the supplies around them. While he admitted he wanted to try making another one of those paper cranes, another idea suddenly occurred to him. His expression brightened. "Hey, I know! Why don't I draw a picture of you?"

[gald_digger]

Anise was measuring the thick string she'd brought over while Claude seemed to consider his options. She finally decided on a length and cut it, then started tying the ends into loops. When it was done, she laid it against her fabric rectangle, the looped ends sticking out.

When Claude voiced his idea, her head shot up from her work. "Huh? You can do that!?" Come to think of it, he did say something about drawing for a hobby before. Her look of surprise shifted into a bright, playful grin as she thought about getting her own portrait done. That was something only nobles tended to get, so it was a pretty rare opportunity for someone like Anise. Of course, if it ended up looking bad, she'd never let Claude live it down.

"It'll be pretty hard to capture all my cuteness on paper! Are you sure you're up for the challenge?" she teased.

[full_score]

Claude rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I wouldn't call myself a professional or anything, but I like to draw, yeah," he said. He'd always had a pretty good sense of design and enjoyed doing creative things in his spare time. Occasionally he made things that turned out terrible, but more often than not Claude thought he did a pretty good job.

Laughing a little, he reached for a sheet of paper and some pencils. "I'll get rusty if I don't practice, so may as well start with something a little challenging, right?" he replied.

It looked like Anise had her own project, too, though. Claude glanced at the string and fabric. "What's that you're making, by the way?"

[gald_digger]

It sounded like Claude was confident that he could do a good enough job that he wouldn't insult Anise, so she didn't have any reason to object. "Well, okay! Give it your best shot!" she replied, encouraging him. In truth, Anise really wanted to see how a picture of herself would end up looking like.

"I'm making gift bags!" she proudly answered when asked about her own project, then leaned in closer and lowered her voice to a whisper as she went on to explain. This was something that could get in her trouble with the military if she was too vocal about it, after all. "I bought some snacks at Doyleton yesterday, and I'm planning on giving them to some friends who're stuck eating gross food. I'll just drop them off before we meet up tonight."

That was the only part Anise really needed to keep secret from the staff, so once she said that, she straightened in her seat and resumed her work. She folded a small part of the fabric over the string, enclosing all of it but the loops, then pinned it where it was so it would stay straight while she threaded a needle. "I think if I sew it here, I can make a little bag that'll scrunch closed if you pull the strings."

It was a pretty simple craft, so maybe Claude could picture it, though for the moment it still just looked like a rectangle with a string on it.

[full_score]

Anise seemed agreeable to the idea of having her picture drawn, so that was good. He knew some people could feel uncomfortable about the idea of falling under that much attention, but the girl didn't shy away from it in this case.

When she leaned in to give more details about her creations, Claude scooted closer so she could softly speak with ease. He had to admit he was really impressed with her for going out of her way to buy other people something tasty to eat. "Wow, that's really great, Anise," he whispered, suddenly feeling cheered by the thought. "I'm sure your friends will love that."

Shifting in his seat, he gave the incomplete bags his attention. "Yeah, that makes sense," he said. "If you can shut it, I'll bet you could use it to store other things, too. Like batteries, maybe."

While he would have offered to help, he already promised her a picture. After setting the paper down onto the table's surface, Claude lifted a pencil into his hands and began a preliminary sketch of what he wanted to draw.

[gald_digger]

It was encouraging that Claude approved of Anise's idea, and that gave her a little extra motivation to go ahead and try it out. "Right! They can reuse the bags for whatever they want afterward," she agreed with a nod. Because of that, she made sure to make the string long enough that it could hook or tie around lots of things.

Once her needle was threaded, Anise sewed down her fold, enclosing the string in fabric. With that done, she folded the entire rectangle in half, and once she had that pinned in place, she started sewing the bottom and side.

Her task was a little repetitive, so she'd occasionally sneak a glance at Claude's paper, even if there was just a sketch-in-progress so far. "Eheh. You don't need me to hold still or pose or anything, do you?" she asked him. That was usually how portraits were done, but maybe Claude's technique was different.

[full_score]

Honestly, it sounded like a great idea. With how rough things were lately, spreading a little bit of cheer in any way possible was an admirable thing to do. Heck, Anise could even offer to make them in exchange for supplies, but he liked the thought of making something nice for friends simply for the sake of giving. Claude was certain they'd appreciate Anise's efforts.

When she asked about his sketch, Claude paused and glanced down at what he'd done so far. "Well, it'll probably be more accurate if you hold still, but I don't want to stop you from working. Fourth shift won't last forever, you know?"

After all, she probably wanted to get those presents delivered as soon as possible. Claude at least liked to think there would be other opportunities to draw Anise if she wanted him to do so.

[gald_digger]

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Anise wouldn't have minded posing for a picture, but she wanted to get her crafts done first. They didn't have a whole lot of time to spare. Fortunately, she was making good time so far, and she wasn't running into any problems.

Once she finished sewing the sides, Anise turned the bag inside out and tested the drawstring to make sure it worked properly. When it did, she flashed Claude a big grin. "All done! That's one down."

Setting that aside, she looked through the other patterns she brought over, selecting a pink and brown floral design next. She picked up the scissors again and repeated the process she used on the first craft. "I think two more should do it." That would make three, which was the number of friends Anise recently learned were sick or had been sick in the past couple days.

[full_score]

Claude paused in what he was doing to take a look at Anise's completed bag. "Hey, that's great!" he brightly said. "I'll bet whoever you give that to will love it."

After that, he returned his attention to the drawing. By now he'd finished a rough sketch of Anise's hair, face, and shoulders. While he would have liked to have her pose for it, Claude was more or less satisfied with the basic outline he had. With that done, he began to darken the lines and give her face more definition.

"By the way," he lightly added after a moment, "how was your trip to Doyleton yesterday? Do anything interesting?"

[gald_digger]

Anise sure hoped the recipient would like it. That newly completed blue-and-white bag was going to go to Edgar, that totally handsome and charming guy she talked to earlier that day. The blue kinda matched his eyes, she thought.

Since she already completed the craft once, the second one proceeded more quickly and easily than before. It wasn't long before she was at the sewing stage again.

When Claude asked about her field trip, Anise was happy to answer. "It was pretty good! I found some cool stuff, like that flashlight I was using last night. I got binoculars, too! Oh, and I saw some neat things at the antique shop." It was lucky that Ilia showed up when she did, so Anise had something of a guide to help her figure out what things were.

Glancing up from her work, she reciprocated the question. "What about you?"