Day 58: Arts & Crafts (Fourth shift)
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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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?"
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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."
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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..."
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"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."
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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.
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"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?"
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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?"
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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."
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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?"
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"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...
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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.
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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.
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"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?"
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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.
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But fretting over it wasn't going to do a lick of good.
And the unpleasant bit of the conversation was over. The young king listened with apparent interest when Claude explained he came from not another world, but another time. Carter had mentioned time, as well. It was an amazing concept! And why couldn't it be possible? If there were societies and worlds capable of travel from world to world, why not time to time? He understood it all had something to with energy. And possibly water.
Of course, attempting to think about it any deeper was sure to bring on a headache. But he supposed it gave Claude an advantage over most people Tolten had met, and Tolten himself. He was at least familiar with this world! And presumably had studied history....
"Oh, me? I'm from Plank. It's...not like this world. It's not entirely different, but...oh, it's terribly hard to explain! Things are similar, but not quite the same." And sometimes those just-different-enough differences were enough to make his eyes hurt. "And I think we may be more advanced...at least in some ways."
But it was really so hard to tell, when all he had to go on was what he'd seen and what little he'd gleaned from the library.
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When he mentioned that Plank had things Earth didn't, though, Claude couldn't help but ask for more details. "Advanced?" he echoed curiously. "You mean technologically? Like how?"
Claude wondered if they had something similar to heraldry, and had managed to make a science out of it. On the other hand, the people of Plank may have other sources of energy that made their lives more efficient. Either way, he was curious to know more about it.
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