Day 44: Arts and Crafts Room, Second Shift

[gothamsfuture]

Astor hadn't talked much after introducing himself, which hadn't bothered Terry. With all the crap their little hospital of horrors piled on the patients, he couldn't blame a guy for not wanting to open up to some stranger. Plus, not talking meant he could get a decent meal in, and then check out the bulletin for the latest in Landel's news and

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[cryingweapon]

Chise's cheeks showed evidence of crying, but at least she wasn't bawling her eyes out. The nurse that escorted her to the Arts and Crafts Room gave her a small speech about choosing her friends wisely, and that she wasn't going to recover properly if she was sad all the time.

"Honestly, you should start hanging out with kids around your age. Grumpy old men aren't a suitable companion for a girl your age; they're hardly the ones who have fun!" The nurse added, then left her at an empty table.

Looking at the random pieces of colored-paper, crayons, glue, and scissors brought back memories of her childhood. Of course, she managed to pass that class in highschool...barely. At least she got an 'E' for 'effort'.

She picked up pink crayon and started to draw the same old bear from her dairy, or something that was a cross between a bear and a hamster.

[free~ as a bird]

[himetsuru]

Stepping into the Arts & Crafts room, Falis stopped just inside the door. She wasn't sure what she was going to do there, but she didn't feel like being circled by the vultures overhead. She'd reached a point where the Sun Room wasn't as unsettling as before, but she still didn't fucking like it

[cryingweapon]

Chise wasn't expecting to see anyone this shift, and was terribly surprised when somebody called out; she literally jumped in her seat. Whipping her head around she caught sight of the speaker.

"Huh? O-oh, I'm sorry I didn't notice you there." Her mysterious speaker apparently was a mature girl with blond hair and crimson eyes, sporting several injuries(they weren't as visibly severe as hers). "Um...this is suppose to be a bear," Chise replied, and gestured to her pink bear, which now had a jaggedly line running through it when she jumped. "Er...it was a bear, eheh. I'm sorry, I'm not good at drawing."

Absolutely no artistic skills at all, but enough to barely pass a class.

[himetsuru]

Jumpy little thing, wasn't she?

"Aa. Don't look like any bear I've ever seen," Falis replied, sitting down without invite. "It kind of looks... cute." Like a child would draw. Granted this girl didn't look that old.

[cryingweapon]

Picking up another sheet of paper, Chise started to draw a new bear. Might as well draw it as Mr. Kuro while he's not around.

"It's actually a super-deformed bear that was designed to look cute." The basic bear template was finished. It was time to add in the physical characteristics of Mr. Kuro. Angry eyebrows first~

Oh, she forgot to introduce herself again. Pausing in the middle of her drawing, she bowed in greeting. "I'm Chise by the way. Um, nice to meet you."

[himetsuru]

What the fuck did super-deformed mean? It sounded like it might be an insult. Calling something cute or anything like that was pretty fucking offensive to some people. It made Falis wonder what the bear had done to become... super-deformed.

"Oh good. I don't have to make up a name for you," Falis replied, sounding almost disappointed. It'd been a while since she'd done that. She was going to have to fix that. Tomorrow.

"I'm Princess Alita Forland. What nasty beastie chewed on you last night?" Those wounds looked pretty interesting. Whatever caused them might be worth hunting.

[cryingweapon]

And voila! The Kuro-bear now has black hair and a sword.

Chise lifted her head up when Falis mentioned making up a name for her, and was instantly reminded of the horrible nickname Badou gave her. But that memory was washed away when Falis introduced herself as a princess. She was actually a real princess!

"Y-you're a princess? O-oh, I'm sorry I didn't know that, and, and...it's an honor to meet you Princess Alita!" Chise's eyes were literally sparkling in awe. Then it came to the topic of 'what happened last night', and those sparkles disappeared. "I...wasn't attacked last night. I just had a few...complications at the time. It's nothing serious."

[himetsuru]

Oh, great. Another one that thought being a princess was all sunshine and daisies. Seriously, why do these girls all think it's such a grand thing to be one? They didn't understand the hassles, the stupid rules and the torture devices disguised as clothes not to mention the weird eating rituals. It was enough to make someone not enjoy the finer things of life. Like sleeping naked. Since princesses weren't allowed to do that, according to old decrepit butlers with nothing better to do than irritate a princess.

"Eh. It's not like this is my kingdom and everyone knows me on sight. Don't fucking worry about it," Falis replied. She then raised an eyebrow. "And I believe that fucking load of horseshit.... why?"

[cryingweapon]

Drats! The girl didn't buy her lie, and such a harsh language! But Chise was used to it.

"Um...because I don't want you to worry about me?"

[himetsuru]

Falis let out a snort and then laughed. "What made you think I was worrying about you? I just like to know what nasty beasties are about to see if any of them are worth my time."

Which was mostly truth. Though Chise was young, Falis didn't know her, so she had no cause to be worried about anything concerning the girl at the moment.

[cryingweapon]

Because half of the people she's met were always worried about small girls like her. Technically, it was the older guys that worried about her. Maybe she should make friends with other females from now on.

"In that case, I am absolutely positively sure that I wasn't attacked last night," she replied with confidence. It was the truth.

But why would a princess want to hunt down monsters here? Didn't she want to escape and return to her kingdom?

[himetsuru]

"Uh-huh. And you just got those wounds because you sat in your room all night playing with glitter."

And Falis was a fucking witch in disguise. Riiiight. She barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

[cryingweapon]

"But--but it's the truth! I get injuries like these all the time whenever I work and it doesn't hurt at all! And I wasn't in my room last night, the nurses took me into a different one."

Satisfied with her explanation, she continued to finish her pink Kuro-bear.

[himetsuru]

Now that was certainly a revelation. Falis leaned forward like a hound that had caught first scent of its prey. She set her hands on the table, her lips curling up into a knowing smirk. There were only two reasons the vultures dragged people to rooms that weren't their own at night.

"A different room, eh?"

[cryingweapon]

Chise fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat when the girl leaned towards her. What was the princess thinking about? Chise didn't like where this was going.

"Y-Yes, but I don't remember much of it. It was really scary..."

And now the Kuro-bear was finished, complete with a sword and an angry 'GRRRR!'

[himetsuru]

"If you don't remember, how do you know it was scary?" Falis' smirk grew, the white of her teeth becoming visible.

"Did you just let them do what they did to you, or did you fight back?"