Day 43: Arts & Crafts Room, Third Shift

[euphemise]

The princess felt a little better after her talk with Soma. It cheered her up to have made a friend - from what she was quickly learning about this place, the more friends you had, the better off you were. It gave her a little more hope, after what had been said about the Head Doctor. And if there was anything in this world she was good at doing,

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[gentiana_clusii]

[*pokes at Euphie* hope you don't mind!]

Ken glared at his nurse as she herded him into the arts and crafts room--she'd insisted that he couldn't go outside and play soccer with his leg injured, no matter how much he wanted to. He'd spent the morning in the chapel, gotten some food, and was now getting herded off to play with glitter and crayons instead of being let outside to run--dear God this was turning out just like those seven-year-old afternoons at the church. Complete with sulking, which Ken was more than old enough to recognize but not quite inclined to stop.

And then he was sat down at a table with a girl who looked like she'd walked straight out of a cosplay party, handed a coloring book and some crayons, and told to amuse himself. This was ridiculous. Crazy as the staff thought he was, he was still a grown fucking man, God damn it. Arranging flowers was one thing, this was something else entirely.

Now all he needed was for the nurse to tell him to straighten up and quit glowering, and he'd really feel like he was seven

[euphemise]

[not at all! ♥]

Euphemia noticed that the room was getting a little more full - one girl enthusiastically fingerpainting, and a few others drawing and such. It seemed like this was just one of those places people gravitated to when they didn't really know what to do with themselves. A moment later, someone sat down across from her. She noticed the bandages before anything else, and frowned just a little. It would be rude to comment on that right away, though.

"One of those days?", she asked, her tone a little less formal than she might have used otherwise.

[gentiana_clusii]

"When is it not?" Ken grumbled, then sighed. The heavy conversation this morning with Aya had done absolutely nothing to improve his mood, but he could at least try to pretend.

He'd be damned if he was going to color in a coloring book though. He still had at least that much pride left. But the only other thing nearby was some macaroni and string.

...dear Christ this place was bent on embarrassing him. "Sorry. My name's Ken Hidaka," he said, managing an attempt at a friendly smile, mindful that he hadn't met this girl before.

[euphemise]

"That's a good point," she said, agreeably. "I haven't been here long, but...it seems a little like they're bent on making everyone depressed." That was something she was personally going to put up a really good fight against. You couldn't just go around making people miserable for no reason, after all! That was almost worse than the creatures that came around at night, in her opinion. As much as she didn't like fighting...well, you had to when something was attacking you and it couldn't talk. She didn't like it, but she knew that it took some spirit.

"It's nice to meet you, Ken," she said, bowing her head. "I'm Euphemia." She intentionally left off the 'li Britannia' part of her name. If he asked, she could bring it up.

[gentiana_clusii]

"Nice to meet you too, Euphemia." That was a long name, and a bit strange. He'd stumbled over it a little, if she hadn't noticed the embarrassed look on his face would surely give it away. He bowed his head back, as much to hide his embarrassment as anything.

Damn, she was perky.

[euphemise]

"If it's easier, people call me Euphie most of the time," she said, trying to be gentle. "At least back home, and it's probably easier to go by the nickname here too." She laughed when she said that, trying to inject a little lightness into the situation.

"Where are you from?" She didn't think anyone else from home was here, not after everything she'd seen and heard so far, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

[gentiana_clusii]

"Euphie then," Ken responded, smiling. At least she didn't seem annoyed that he'd mangled her name, even slightly. He pulled over the small container of macaroni and spool of string and started idly stringing the dry pasta together, mostly to give his hands something to do.

"Tokyo, Japan." That was close enough, even if it could refer to a rather large area. And even if he'd left, never intending to return again. Hell, he didn't even intend to return to Japan again.

[euphemise]

"Is that so? I actually just moved there not too long ago," she replied, with a nod and a smile. "It's a lot different from back home, but I really like it there. I've made some good friends..." Euphie's voice trailed off as a moment's worry crossed her face - she hadn't heard back from one of them. That wasn't good.

"Ah, I'm going on about myself," she replied, with a nod. "How long have you been there?"

[gentiana_clusii]

"About seven years in Tokyo proper," Ken replied, after a moment of thought. "I lived in Yokohama before that." A friendly smile found his face, then. "And believe me, I don't mind you going on about yourself. I'm not all that interesting."