Day 57: Arts & Crafts Room (Fourth Shift)
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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"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?"
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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."
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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.
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"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?"
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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.
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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?"
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"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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?"
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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?"
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As for himself, his day didn't sound nearly as productive as Anise or Guy's. He'd spent most of it worrying over Leon, so he hadn't purchased much. "I got some extra batteries to use," Claude explained. "I also chatted with Tear, and spent a little bit of time with a friend who wanted to use a coupon." Of course, there was no reason to explain he'd gotten a manicure, even if it was largely because Tifa hadn't wanted to go by herself. "All in all, it was pretty uneventful, but that's not such a bad thing."
Claude had been here long enough to know that some trips to Doyleton ended in disaster, so he was honestly grateful he'd had a quiet day.
As he continued to work on the picture of Anise, Claude paid attention to getting the shape and texture of her pigtails as accurate as he could. They were shaping out to look pretty decent, if he said so himself.
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Well, they all had to make sacrifices, she supposed.
"Hee hee. Uneventful is usually a good thing around here," Anise agreed. It was kind of nice to hear that her friends were getting along with each other, too. Both Tear and Claude were good friends and could probably benefit from each other's company, she figured.
It was a little funny that he mentioned Tear at that time, though. Anise had just finished her second bag, and once she tested to make sure it would hold up, she announced, "That's two! This one's going to Tear."
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As soon as she finished the second bag, Claude looked up from his paper to see the final product. "Oh, really?" He wondered what Tear would think of small crafts like that. She seemed like one of those serious soldier-types, but Claude figured there was a softer side to her as well. He still hadn't forgotten the sensitive way she'd approached him about accidentally experiencing his memories, and her resolve to help him prevent another death from happening among their group of friends.
He could certainly understand why Luke spoke of her with such high regard, at any rate.
"I'm sure she'll be happy you thought of her enough to make something," Claude added with a smile. "She'll probably find it pretty useful, too."
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