Day 58: Arts & Crafts (Fourth shift)

[immortale]

Firo was glad to see the end of lunch, if only for the fact that in a few more hours, the day would be over. Night was the only time he had any real freedom of movement, and it was the only time he could do something worth doing, instead of just sitting around

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[age_of_kings]

Despite feeling as though he was being juvenile, Tolten was somewhat eager about the idea of an Art Room. While the supplies were indeed juvenile, he didn't care. It was something stimulating, and he could perhaps add a touch of personality to his wall. And he could make little decorative notes of thanks for those people who had been so kind and gone out of their way for him.

Perhaps he was stuck in a strange world and imprisoned in some ridiculous farce of a...whatever this place was, but he was going to maintain normalcy where he could.

Or at least try.

Arms full of crafting supplies, Tolten took a seat and spread the bits of thick paper and paste and glitter and little decorative bits before him. He had to smile at the packet of little gold suns. Perfect. He selected a red disposable plate and began cutting off the edges. He really ought to do cards of thanks, first. It was only proper.

This one would be for Anise. He could give it to her tonight. It was hardly a way to repay her, but in the meantime he could at least show her he meant his thanks. While there were plenty of insincere people running about, he wasn't one of them.

Picking up a cylinder of paste, Tolten began humming some popular song from back home and set to work.

[free!]

[full_score]

While Guy had been pretty gracious about the questions during lunch, Claude couldn't help but wonder if maybe he'd gone a little far. After seeing that note Anise had placed on the board this morning, though, he just hadn't been able to contain his curiosity about how those sorts of things worked on Auldrant. Since he'd never visited the place, his only knowledge about his friends' culture came from his own observations and whatever they took the time to explain to him. That sort of interest was only natural.

Right?

Well, he doubted Guy would hold it against him. Besides, he was certainly free to ask Claude whatever he wanted about Earth culture and customs.

In the meantime, they had one more shift before dinner, and then they'd have night on their hands soon enough. After leaving a note for Anise on the bulletin, Claude made his way over to the arts and crafts. Although he'd just stopped in here yesterday, most of the patients were scattered between here, the sun room and the showers. Since he'd spent second shift in the sun room, Claude figured it'd be nice to hang out in here for the remainder of the day.

Too bad he couldn't fiddle with any origami supplies, he noted with a glum glance toward his bandaged hand. Maybe he'd read over Rita's notes again and doodle some pictures while he pondered over their meaning.

Either way, it didn't take Claude long to select and empty seat and settle down. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice someone close by was humming an unfamiliar song. Looking up from the journal clutched in his uninjured hand, he saw a young man around his age. Claude realized he hadn't really seen him around much.

Was he new? And what was he doing with that red paper plate? Interested, Claude silently watched him for the time being, not wanting to disturb his work.

[age_of_kings]

Tolten could hardly believe that that ridiculous song was still stuck in his head. He could barely even remember the words, but the tune... and the fact that he had heard it day in and day out when stuck in the merchant town. And he supposed it wasn't ridiculous, it was just annoying. There was a distinct lack of music about. He wondered what the music of this world was like. Would it be at all familiar? The instruments sounded the same enough...

As he puzzled over audial matters, Tolten was busy clipping a neat square of cardboard to fit within the circle. A bit of creativity and he imagined he could make something just as pretty as the gilt and be-spelled missives he had crafted back home. Or close enough, anyway.

It was as he was choosing over the soft colored pens that he was aware of eyes on him. He paused and tensed for a moment, then lifted his eyes slowly to spot the source of the scrutiny. His humming tapered off and he wet his lips nervously. It was so silly, really, but he hated being observed when he was doing anything. And what if it was one of the guards? What if he'd somehow done something wrong....

But it was only another young man, fair like Tolten and simply looking at him with no hint of hostility or suspicion. It wasn't anyone Tolten could recall seeing him closely before, but he hadn't seen that many people. Not enough for their faces to be recognizable in a moment.

"Er...?" Tolten offered, wondering what he'd done to garner attention. "Hello?"

[full_score]

When the stranger slowly turned his attention on him, Claude froze in his seat. "O-oh, I didn't mean to stare like that," he sheepishly said in way of apology. "Sorry. Your humming just grabbed my attention, is all, and then I was wondering what you were making..."

Maybe it would have been better to just ask, but Claude hadn't wanted to interrupt him. It looked like he'd managed to wordlessly do just that, though. Hopefully the man wouldn't hold it against him, but sometimes it was hard to know in a place like this.

"I'm Claude, by the way," he added, hoping an introduction would help smooth the awkward air between them. "Have you been here long? I don't think I've seen you around much."

[age_of_kings]

Ah, just a curious fellow prisoner. Tolten relaxed some and did his best to summon up a small smile. "No need to apologize," he said. "I'm...a bit sensitive to being watched, that's all." He knew no harm had been meant. It rarely was, especially here.

At least in his experience. And it looked like his luck was holding. He knew he wasn't the best judge of characters, but Claude seemed perfectly friendly.

"Tolten. Going on three days now." For the first time, introductions were gotten out of the way up front. "And I'm making thank you notes. Of a sort. Well, I suppose they're more notes of appreciation, but..."

[full_score]

That was understandable. Who wouldn't be sensitive about that when this whole place was crawling with soldiers? Claude felt bad that he'd made the other captive uncomfortable, especially when things were rough enough, but at least no real harm had been done.

"Nice to meet you, Tolten," Claude replied with an easy smile. Three days, though...so his hunch that this man was relatively new had been right. Then again, when a week could feel like a year, and people disappeared as quickly as they came, three days could sometimes seem like an eternity.

When Tolten tried to clarify what he was making, Claude blinked in surprise. That was sort of an odd way to word it. "What's the difference between a note of appreciation and a thank you note, though?" he asked. Realizing that his question could be interpreted as a bit cheeky, he quickly added, "I always figured they were the same thing."

[age_of_kings]

"And you as well."

It was, Tolten admitted, a fair question. He returned to his work as he spoke, however, since there was no sense in wasting time. They were only given so much in any given room, after all. He began writing in his elegant, cursive script in black on the white square of paper.

"Well...I suppose I like to call them notes of appreciation because in most cases I'm not actually thanking anyone for anything." Not anything specific, anyway, like Anise. "Just...I've been very blessed so far, in meeting people who have been quite kind and helpful to me. And I have always been taught that words are like mist - pretty and undeniable, but ultimately without weight or form. So I wish to offer concrete tokens of my appreciation." He offered another somewhat shaky smile.

"Except for Miss Tatlin, I'd like to thank her for the pipe. As well as for her kindness."

Such as the kindness of giving him a length of heavy metal.

[full_score]

Listening to Tolten explain his reasons like that, Claude was struck by the way he wanted to take the time to give people tangible tokens of his gratitude. Not only that, but the very fact he thought to do something like this despite the horrible circumstances said a lot about him, too.

"Oh, I get it," he brightly said with a nod. "Actions speak louder than words, right?" Tolten had essentially said the same thing, but in a much more sophisticated, poetic way. Claude wondered if he liked to write in his spare time. "So that's why you want to make your friends something..."

When he mentioned someone named 'Miss Tatlin', though, Claude couldn't hide the surprise on his face. "Are you talking about Anise?"

[age_of_kings]

"Yes, yes that's exactly it." Tolten nodded, his smile growing more solid. "It's probably silly, all things considered, but..." But he didn't exactly care. There was no reason to abandon his ways simply because he found himself in another world amongst strangers. If anything, it was all the more reason to find calmness and rational in the day time?

He knew it woudl help him maintain his sanity, at least.

At Claude's surprise, Tolten blinked. "Ah, yes. She and I met yesterday, and we spent breakfast together this morning. I owe her a great deal. You're a friend?"

[full_score]

"I don't think it's silly at all," Claude assured him. "With how rough things can get here, it's important to let other people know we appreciate them."

There had been some days where it felt like putting one foot in front of the other was just too much, but his friends helped him keep going. Claude imagined it was likely the same for others here. The bonds formed between comrades wasn't something that ought to be underestimated or overlooked. All they really had was each other, right?

Either way, Tolten confirmed Claude's guess that he'd been referring to Anise earlier. He grinned. "Oh, that's great," he cheerily said. Anise was a dependable friend, and Tolten seemed like a nice guy. It was good to know they were getting along so well. "Yeah, she's a friend of mine. We don't come from the same world, but we've worked together a lot here in Landel's."

[age_of_kings]

"Different worlds is hardly a boundary to friendship." Tolten spoke with a warm tone and lowered his eyes, thinking of home. How odd to think that his life had been most shaped by people who hadn't even come from Plank. Technically, he supposed, they weren't even human. Technically. And while he hadn't understood everything all of the time, and Sarah didn't make a word of sense to him at all, the Immortals were among his dearest of friends.

And considering he hardly saw them, that said a great deal about the state of his friendships.

"Though sometimes it can cause confusion!" he went on, smiling easily now as he wrote a simple thank you note and pasted the note in the center of the circle of red. "I have friends back home who hail from...well, not back home, let's simply say."

Attempting to explain something he barely understood would be fruitless. He'd most likely only confuse Claude and himself. And he certainly didn't want to misstep with this young man! "Miss Tatlin...ah...Anise indicated that she'd been here for some time. Ah...have you?"

[full_score]

"You're absolutely right," Claude agreed, enthusiasm coloring his words. "All of my closest friends are from different worlds, too." While some people were uncomfortable around anyone or anything foreign, Claude came from an era when interplanetary relations were an important fact of life.

"Even if there's confusion at first," he added, "in the end you generally learn something new." That in of itself was important when it came to better understanding one's own home (and heart).

His smile dipped a moment when Tolten asked how long he'd been in Landel's, mostly because he didn't want to spoil the mood of their light-hearted chat with an assertion of just how difficult it was to escape this place. Still, Claude did his best to keep a positive expression on his face for the sake of the other captive. "I guess over a month now," Claude answered after a brief pause. "The soldiers say I'm an S-Class patient. I think that's the highest you can go."

He wasn't sure of all the implications. Before now, Claude might have wondered if it meant they were running out of uses for him. But, considering all he extra perks he got, maybe it meant they wanted to use him for other things. His mother's words during 2nd shift still stuck with him: I think they may be grooming us for war...

[age_of_kings]

"I have learned no small number of new things from other worlds," Tolten agreed eagerly. "I don't quite understand it all, of course, but that's alright. There's a great deal of things from my own world I don't understand." But he supposed he knew most of what he needed to, in order to be a good king. Good enough, anyway.

Hopefully.

When Claude mentioned how long he'd been there, it really didn't seem that long to Tolten. He had spent nearly a year (or more? Less? He really wasn't sure...) in exile. And that didn't take into consideration the lifetime as a prisoner in his own home, more or less. But the class system was something he was very curious about...

"The higher the rank, the better the privileges, I assume?" It made sense. The same thing was often done with soldiers and prisoners. Defining classes made it easier to keep control.

[full_score]

Upon hearing Tolten's comment about learning a lot from other worlds, Claude slightly tilted his head, unable to hide his curiosity. He wondered if this man had space travel where he was from, or if he was referring to the different captives found here in Landel's.

Before he could ask about it, though, they'd fully turned the conversation toward ranks and how they functioned in the institute. Claude paused, averting his gaze a little.

"Yeah," he admitted. "The soldiers speak to you with more respect, and the menu is different." It was sort of embarrassing, getting better treatment while others weren't so lucky. Maybe it was his own experiences in the military, and the fact he fell under a lot of scrutiny as the son of one of the Federation's brightest officers, that made him particularly self-conscious about it. Either way, he felt weird when he talked about the perks of his seniority, but he could understand Tolten's interest.

"I apparently have access to just about anywhere in the building during the day, too," Claude added, "but that might be tied to these...um, pins I've got here." He gestured to the round, glinting pieces of metal pinned to his beret.

[age_of_kings]

"Do the pins come with rank or...something else?" Tolten didn't want to simply come out and say 'these rumors I've heard about doing things for the institute or something', since he wasn't certain if there was truth to that. Or if it was perfectly innocent. Or anything, really.

"I must say, it's rather disconcerting, the way the soldiers mostly ignore me." Except to stare, which was even more disconcerting. "I don't think I'd mind having one about all the time if they were more personable." But as far as Tolten could tell, he wasn't as terribly bothered by being stuck here as a number of others were.

Oh, he still worried about Uhra and the fact that by now there was bound do be someone else on his throne, but at least he had a roof over his head and three meals a day. Sort of. But really, the gruel was comparable to ration bars and dirt. And there was no chance of drowning or being swallowed by a giant beast. Chewed on by a critter sized beast, but there weren't any dragons running around or anything.

But he could tell he'd upset Claude by asking about his rank and privileges. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry or to make you uncomfortable. I'm just...curious, you could say. I've experience with military facilities and operations and I'm trying very hard to understand what's happened to me!" He paused, his hand hovering over a glitter packet. "Come to think of it, I suppose that's why I haven't gotten too upset over this. I don't understand it enough to be upset by it!"

It was a sad attempt at a joke, but he did feel terrible for bringing up what was obviously unpleasant for Claude. "Ah...so what world do you hail from, Claude?"

[full_score]

"I don't think it matters how long you've been here," Claude answered. His mother hadn't been around as long, after all, and she had more than one pin on her beret, too. "Actually, I'm pretty sure they come from stuff you do at night. Or, well..." His face darkened a moment. "Sometimes, it's a matter of what they decide to do to you." People who experienced "sleep studies" or "special counseling" wound up with pins, after all.

But Claude didn't like to focus on the fact they didn't have that much control over their situation. Sure, they got to climb rank and move freely at night, but the moment someone decided to turn them into guinea pigs, they had no say in the matter. But that was the biggest reason why it was important to stick close to good friends. In the end, they could help each other see things through if they pulled together enough.

When Tolten apologized, Claude suddenly sat up straighter in his seat. "Oh, no no no, there's no reason to apologize," he assured him. "You've gotta learn this stuff from somewhere, and I'm happy to help in any way I can." Tolten was definitely taking all of this in stride, which either meant he had nerves or steel, or his home life had been...well, interesting, to say the least.

The question about his own world was slightly unexpected, but Claude could also recognize that Tolten was trying to bring up lighter topics of conversation. Claude rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, well, technically I'm from this one, but I come from hundreds of years into the future."

He realized how weird that must have sounded the moment he said it, but Claude didn't see any point in hiding it now. Most people were pretty accepting of that, especially with how weird Landel's could get. Sometimes it was hard to tell how people were going to react, though.

"What about you?" he asked.