The couch bounced a little from another patient falling into place beside him. Whoever it was, it didn't feel like they weighed very much. Maybe it was a kid? Claude didn't immediately look over at them, thinking that whoever it was probably just wanted to enjoy the movie in peace. When he heard a sudden, girlish squeak, though, he visibly jumped and sharply turned his face toward the source.
"A-Anise?" he hoarsely asked. The girl's voice was distinct enough for him to figure it was her. Normally he would have just launched into the conversation assuming so, but brunch with Haseo had taught him a valuable lesson about the dangers of identifying people by voice alone. "That's you, isn't it?"
He'd had a feeling that he was going to get a lot of questions about what happened to him, especially with the shape his eyes were in right now. It didn't make dealing with it any less pleasant, but he couldn't really fault other people for being concerned. If he were in their shoes, Claude imagined he'd be asking the same things. Frowning a little, he shook his head.
"My eyes got a little messed up last night," he answered after a brief pause before trying to give her a smile. "You shouldn't worry about any of that, though. I'll be fine." Even though Claude didn't know that for certain, he felt bad dumping all the details on Anise when it would probably just add to the stress she was already dealing with in this place.
He recognized her just from her voice? That made Anise kind of happy, though this wasn't really the time to be thinking about that.
"Boooo! How can I not worry when I see you looking like this?" Anise protested with a pout. Eye damage was really serious! Was he going to recover? She was about to ask, but quickly realized it was a bad idea. Few things were certain at Landel's, and if Claude didn't know if he'd have his full sight back, it was probably best not to push that subject.
Sighing heavily, Anise sank against the back of the couch. It sounded like Claude didn't want to go into what happened. Maybe it was for her sake, and maybe it was for his own, but either way, pushing and prying would probably just make things worse. It didn't help that her recent conversation with Aidou left her feeling somewhat useless. He refused to let her help him, or even cheer him up! So what was Anise supposed to do when her friends were suffering?
As discouraged as she felt, Anise still knew that the answer couldn't be 'nothing.'
"... You're always helping me out, so like... if there's anything you need, you should be able to count on me too." Her voice was quiet and serious for a moment, but it quickly shifted into a stronger, more animated tone. "So don't even think about hesitating to ask!"
It might have been silly, but he was relieved that she didn't contradict him when he called her by name. Now that he couldn't rely on seeing those he came into contact with, it made conversations like these filled with much more uncertainty.
As much as he'd wanted to reassure Anise, Claude supposed the cold compresses covering his eyes weren't all that comforting to look at. Face injuries always seemed to look worse than they were. (That broken nose he'd sported awhile back wasn't something so easily forgotten.) And in the case of eye injuries, it was scary to think that maybe he wouldn't be able to see right even after some time had passed, especially in a place that required you to be on your toes at night.
Even though he felt guilty that the girl was worried over him, though, knowing she was willing to help him out in a pinch was actually pretty comforting. Having gone through the basement stuff on top of dealing with Sync's presence in the institute was bound to be rough on Anise, and yet she was always so resilient and energetic. That was such an admirable trait, and something he doubted many other people would be able to keep up in this kind of situation.
Claude wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve such great friends here in the institute, but he was extremely grateful to know them.
"Thank you, Anise." His smile became a little more genuine now. "I really appreciate that." He didn't want to cut into her movie time, but there was something he wanted to ask her. "Do you know if Guy wrote any messages on the board today? I'd check myself, but..." Well, that probably went without saying.
Claude's response brought a small smile to Anise's face. He wasn't asking for much, but Anise figured she would do what she could. After all, she hated feeling indebted to people. The closer they could get to being even, the better.
...And it was kind of nice knowing there was something she could do to help, besides.
"Oh, that?" Anise nodded, though she quickly realized how ineffective the automatic gesture was. "Yeah, I saw his message just a minute ago when I checked the board." She turned to look at the bulletin board, wondering if the nurse would scold her again if she just walked over there and back again. Not that she cared too much about what that old hag said.
"You want me to see if anyone replied?" she offered. Since it was basically a check-up note, she could see Claude wanting to know who he could count as being 'definitely safe.'
So he'd gone ahead and posted up a note after all. Not that Claude was surprised, considering how reliable Guy was, but it was still nice to know regardless. Hopefully everyone it was addressed to would have no problems seeing it despite the movie that was playing. But if Anise had at least managed to catch sight of it, then maybe that was a good sign.
With his question answered, Claude would have been fine to leave it at that. Not that he wasn't anxious to know how his friends were faring after last night's weirdness, but it seemed like it'd be kind of a hassle to ask Anise to get up from her seat just to check a message that didn't really concern her much. After a brief pause, though, the girl offered to do so on her own. Though it might have been difficult to see between the bandages and the dimmed lights, Claude's face brightened a little at the suggestion.
"Actually, that would be really great," Claude answered. Then, he quickly added: "If it's not too much trouble, anyway."
"No trouble at all! Wait here." Anise hopped out of her seat and, ducking her head so that she didn't block anyone's view, made her way over to the bulletin board. She had to squint to read everything in the dim light, but fortunately she remembered where the note had been. Once she committed a few details to memory, she hurried back over and rejoined Claude on the couch.
"Well... two people replied, asking after you. There was someone named Okita, and someone who didn't sign their name. Guy told them both not to worry, though." She paused, trying to think of what else might be report-worthy. "Oh, and that Leon kid posted a message earlier today, so he's around."
Anise realized her news might not have been too encouraging, since that was only one out of four people accounted for, so she quickly added, "Um, but it's pretty dark in here right now, so I bet people are waiting until the movie's over to read the bulletin." The last thing Claude needed right now was to have to worry about all his friends. They were probably doing better than he was, anyway.
It sounded like Anise was eager to help, which in of itself was a kind gesture. Claude heard her get up from her seat and quickly make her away from the couch, presumably toward the bulletin board. As he waited for her to come back, the blond allowed his hands to rest in his lap. Sometimes he'd subconsciously tighten his uninjured one into a fist when he was left to his thoughts for too long, but thankfully the sounds from the movie were enough to keep him distracted long enough for Anise to check the note and come back.
He listened as she explained what she'd found. When he heard that Okita had asked about him, it made Claude wonder what he'd been up to lately. No doubt Guy saw him often since they were roommates. If he didn't see Okita sometime soon, he'd have to ask Guy how he was doing. Claude really did appreciate him taking the time to ask after him.
As for who the other person could be, it was difficult to know, especially since they hadn't signed their name. He was pretty sure Dad or Dias would have said who they were. The thought of Ashton accidentally leaving it off wasn't such a stretch, but he usually signed his messages, too. Maybe it had been Leon? At the very least, the fact he'd left a note on the board earlier meant he was still around and had probably seen Guy's note.
That meant most of the people Claude wanted to check on hadn't responded, though. Though his heart sank a little at that realization, he could tell Anise was trying to be optimistic about it, probably for his own sake.
"You're probably right," he said after a moment, trying not to sound as anxious as he felt. "Thanks for checking on that for me, Anise." Claude held back a sigh as he heard some of the dialogue from the movie. With no pictures to put the words into context, it was hard to figure out what was going on unless he was giving the show his undivided attention, which was probably asking too much from him at this point.
"Do they have things like this on Auldrant?" he quietly asked, figuring it was probably better not to dwell too much on the heavy stuff for now.
It would be unreasonable to expect that Claude wouldn't worry about his friends, but it looked like he wasn't going to mope about it or anything. Good. They didn't have to pretend they didn't know what awful stuff could happen here, but they couldn't get worked up over the what-ifs, either.
"Nope! This is my first time seeing anything like this. Earth has some pretty cool stuff!" Anise replied cheerfully, her eyes wandering back to the screen. She had to wonder what Guy thought of all this. It probably took some kind of weird advanced technology to make and show these movies.
After a minute or so, when the movie reached another quiet part, she went on to add, "But I'm kinda disappointed, too... I voted for this one because it had 'king' in the title, but it turns out there aren't any kings in it. It's totally misleading! Boooo." Going by the title, Anise had hoped it might be a king's biography, or a royal love story, or something interesting like that! But instead, it was some story about a giant monkey.
She looked over at Claude for a few moments, and found herself frowning. That couldn't be much fun, watching something he couldn't even see. And with the noise from the movie, it couldn't be that relaxing, either. Maybe he was too polite to complain, but if Anise were in his shoes, she'd be trying to go somewhere else.
"Hey... do you want to maybe go outside and chat there, or something?" Anise suggested. She was starting to feel a little restless, herself. The initial awe at seeing a movie for the first time was starting to wear off as she realized she wasn't all that interested in the story. Maybe there was a better way they could spend their free shift. "This has to be pretty boring for you, right? And it's actually nice out today! ...Well, nicer."
As horrible as Landel's was, Claude was glad that it at least had some interesting things that other people might find pretty cool. Though it sounded like Anise was less than thrilled with the movie that had ultimately been selected by the patients. Someone expecting something else would probably be kind of put-off by a story about a massive ape. While such fantastical story ideas weren't uncommon in Earth fiction, some people were bound to find the story downright absurd.
"It's considered one of the great classics on Earth," he explained. "Guess it's sort of hard to judge a movie by it's title, though..."
Normally he might have been interested in getting a chance to watch something so old, but there was no way he could watch anything like this today. Still, he hadn't intended on saying anything, especially since it wasn't like Anise got to see movies everyday. When the girl brought up the idea of going outside, though, Claude figured he probably shouldn't have been surprised. Neither of them were exactly having much fun with this, after all.
"It's nice out?" he asked, suddenly sounding a little hopeful. Truth be told, he could have used some fresh air right then. "I'd like that, but you think the nurses would give us a hard time for moving?" Not only that, but Anise was probably going to have to help him out, though he didn't want to voice that aloud right then.
A great classic? This? Anise gave the screen a dubious look, but she supposed she was from a whole different world. Maybe people on Earth had weird tastes.
It looked like Claude was on board with her suggestion, though, so Anise jumped up to her feet, then stepped over and took Claude's uninjured hand. "It's fine, it's fine! Here, I'll help you." She gave it a light tug, making it clear she intended to guide him out of the room like that. "You aren't hurt anywhere that I can't see, right?" she asked, just to make sure. She didn't want to pull him around carelessly if it turned out he had a leg injury or something.
Looking over, she could see the nurse who had scolded her earlier, giving her a displeased look. Oh well! If they slipped by without lingering too long in front of the couches, she probably wasn't going to give them a hard time.
Anise made it sound like she had things under control. Since Claude had no way of knowing how the nurses were reacting, he was just going to have to trust that she knew what she was doing. In fact, he didn't even have to mention that he wouldn't be able to get through the sun room on his own. Anise's smaller hand grasped his own, and he slowly stood up once she began gently tugging on him.
"N-no, I don't have any other injuries," he answered, though he could feel the tips of his ears burning a little bit as she held his hand. "Walking to the door together shouldn't be a problem."
Since all the rearranged furniture skewed his sense of direction, it was hard to imagine the layout of the room. But since they were heading toward the courtyard doors, then they probably just needed to go the way they came earlier. Just as long as they didn't mess around too long, anyway, since he figured the nurses would be watching them like hawks the whole time.
"Just be careful so I don't accidentally trip over someone's feet or something," Claude quietly cautioned.
"Leave it to me!" Anise assured him. She stepped backwards through the aisle, watching Claude's movements carefully as she guided his hand. Whenever it looked like he might veer off to the side, she lightly placed her other hand against his arm, trying to straighten him out.
It was a slow and awkward process, but they eventually made their way out of the aisle without stumbling over anything - or anyone. "Okay, we've got more space now," she informed him. When she started moving again, she was facing forward and walking at a more normal pace. It wasn't long until they reached the door to the Cafeteria. Anise slowed down again there, making sure Claude knew where the door frame was as she led him through.
The process was repeated as they walked around the perimeter of the Cafeteria, eventually reaching the door on the west side of the room. A nurse who had been keeping an eye on them for the past few minutes stepped ahead and held the door for them, smiling amicably as they entered the Courtyard.
"A-Anise?" he hoarsely asked. The girl's voice was distinct enough for him to figure it was her. Normally he would have just launched into the conversation assuming so, but brunch with Haseo had taught him a valuable lesson about the dangers of identifying people by voice alone. "That's you, isn't it?"
He'd had a feeling that he was going to get a lot of questions about what happened to him, especially with the shape his eyes were in right now. It didn't make dealing with it any less pleasant, but he couldn't really fault other people for being concerned. If he were in their shoes, Claude imagined he'd be asking the same things. Frowning a little, he shook his head.
"My eyes got a little messed up last night," he answered after a brief pause before trying to give her a smile. "You shouldn't worry about any of that, though. I'll be fine." Even though Claude didn't know that for certain, he felt bad dumping all the details on Anise when it would probably just add to the stress she was already dealing with in this place.
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"Boooo! How can I not worry when I see you looking like this?" Anise protested with a pout. Eye damage was really serious! Was he going to recover? She was about to ask, but quickly realized it was a bad idea. Few things were certain at Landel's, and if Claude didn't know if he'd have his full sight back, it was probably best not to push that subject.
Sighing heavily, Anise sank against the back of the couch. It sounded like Claude didn't want to go into what happened. Maybe it was for her sake, and maybe it was for his own, but either way, pushing and prying would probably just make things worse. It didn't help that her recent conversation with Aidou left her feeling somewhat useless. He refused to let her help him, or even cheer him up! So what was Anise supposed to do when her friends were suffering?
As discouraged as she felt, Anise still knew that the answer couldn't be 'nothing.'
"... You're always helping me out, so like... if there's anything you need, you should be able to count on me too." Her voice was quiet and serious for a moment, but it quickly shifted into a stronger, more animated tone. "So don't even think about hesitating to ask!"
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As much as he'd wanted to reassure Anise, Claude supposed the cold compresses covering his eyes weren't all that comforting to look at. Face injuries always seemed to look worse than they were. (That broken nose he'd sported awhile back wasn't something so easily forgotten.) And in the case of eye injuries, it was scary to think that maybe he wouldn't be able to see right even after some time had passed, especially in a place that required you to be on your toes at night.
Even though he felt guilty that the girl was worried over him, though, knowing she was willing to help him out in a pinch was actually pretty comforting. Having gone through the basement stuff on top of dealing with Sync's presence in the institute was bound to be rough on Anise, and yet she was always so resilient and energetic. That was such an admirable trait, and something he doubted many other people would be able to keep up in this kind of situation.
Claude wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve such great friends here in the institute, but he was extremely grateful to know them.
"Thank you, Anise." His smile became a little more genuine now. "I really appreciate that." He didn't want to cut into her movie time, but there was something he wanted to ask her. "Do you know if Guy wrote any messages on the board today? I'd check myself, but..." Well, that probably went without saying.
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...And it was kind of nice knowing there was something she could do to help, besides.
"Oh, that?" Anise nodded, though she quickly realized how ineffective the automatic gesture was. "Yeah, I saw his message just a minute ago when I checked the board." She turned to look at the bulletin board, wondering if the nurse would scold her again if she just walked over there and back again. Not that she cared too much about what that old hag said.
"You want me to see if anyone replied?" she offered. Since it was basically a check-up note, she could see Claude wanting to know who he could count as being 'definitely safe.'
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With his question answered, Claude would have been fine to leave it at that. Not that he wasn't anxious to know how his friends were faring after last night's weirdness, but it seemed like it'd be kind of a hassle to ask Anise to get up from her seat just to check a message that didn't really concern her much. After a brief pause, though, the girl offered to do so on her own. Though it might have been difficult to see between the bandages and the dimmed lights, Claude's face brightened a little at the suggestion.
"Actually, that would be really great," Claude answered. Then, he quickly added: "If it's not too much trouble, anyway."
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"Well... two people replied, asking after you. There was someone named Okita, and someone who didn't sign their name. Guy told them both not to worry, though." She paused, trying to think of what else might be report-worthy. "Oh, and that Leon kid posted a message earlier today, so he's around."
Anise realized her news might not have been too encouraging, since that was only one out of four people accounted for, so she quickly added, "Um, but it's pretty dark in here right now, so I bet people are waiting until the movie's over to read the bulletin." The last thing Claude needed right now was to have to worry about all his friends. They were probably doing better than he was, anyway.
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He listened as she explained what she'd found. When he heard that Okita had asked about him, it made Claude wonder what he'd been up to lately. No doubt Guy saw him often since they were roommates. If he didn't see Okita sometime soon, he'd have to ask Guy how he was doing. Claude really did appreciate him taking the time to ask after him.
As for who the other person could be, it was difficult to know, especially since they hadn't signed their name. He was pretty sure Dad or Dias would have said who they were. The thought of Ashton accidentally leaving it off wasn't such a stretch, but he usually signed his messages, too. Maybe it had been Leon? At the very least, the fact he'd left a note on the board earlier meant he was still around and had probably seen Guy's note.
That meant most of the people Claude wanted to check on hadn't responded, though. Though his heart sank a little at that realization, he could tell Anise was trying to be optimistic about it, probably for his own sake.
"You're probably right," he said after a moment, trying not to sound as anxious as he felt. "Thanks for checking on that for me, Anise." Claude held back a sigh as he heard some of the dialogue from the movie. With no pictures to put the words into context, it was hard to figure out what was going on unless he was giving the show his undivided attention, which was probably asking too much from him at this point.
"Do they have things like this on Auldrant?" he quietly asked, figuring it was probably better not to dwell too much on the heavy stuff for now.
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"Nope! This is my first time seeing anything like this. Earth has some pretty cool stuff!" Anise replied cheerfully, her eyes wandering back to the screen. She had to wonder what Guy thought of all this. It probably took some kind of weird advanced technology to make and show these movies.
After a minute or so, when the movie reached another quiet part, she went on to add, "But I'm kinda disappointed, too... I voted for this one because it had 'king' in the title, but it turns out there aren't any kings in it. It's totally misleading! Boooo." Going by the title, Anise had hoped it might be a king's biography, or a royal love story, or something interesting like that! But instead, it was some story about a giant monkey.
She looked over at Claude for a few moments, and found herself frowning. That couldn't be much fun, watching something he couldn't even see. And with the noise from the movie, it couldn't be that relaxing, either. Maybe he was too polite to complain, but if Anise were in his shoes, she'd be trying to go somewhere else.
"Hey... do you want to maybe go outside and chat there, or something?" Anise suggested. She was starting to feel a little restless, herself. The initial awe at seeing a movie for the first time was starting to wear off as she realized she wasn't all that interested in the story. Maybe there was a better way they could spend their free shift. "This has to be pretty boring for you, right? And it's actually nice out today! ...Well, nicer."
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"It's considered one of the great classics on Earth," he explained. "Guess it's sort of hard to judge a movie by it's title, though..."
Normally he might have been interested in getting a chance to watch something so old, but there was no way he could watch anything like this today. Still, he hadn't intended on saying anything, especially since it wasn't like Anise got to see movies everyday. When the girl brought up the idea of going outside, though, Claude figured he probably shouldn't have been surprised. Neither of them were exactly having much fun with this, after all.
"It's nice out?" he asked, suddenly sounding a little hopeful. Truth be told, he could have used some fresh air right then. "I'd like that, but you think the nurses would give us a hard time for moving?" Not only that, but Anise was probably going to have to help him out, though he didn't want to voice that aloud right then.
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It looked like Claude was on board with her suggestion, though, so Anise jumped up to her feet, then stepped over and took Claude's uninjured hand. "It's fine, it's fine! Here, I'll help you." She gave it a light tug, making it clear she intended to guide him out of the room like that. "You aren't hurt anywhere that I can't see, right?" she asked, just to make sure. She didn't want to pull him around carelessly if it turned out he had a leg injury or something.
Looking over, she could see the nurse who had scolded her earlier, giving her a displeased look. Oh well! If they slipped by without lingering too long in front of the couches, she probably wasn't going to give them a hard time.
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"N-no, I don't have any other injuries," he answered, though he could feel the tips of his ears burning a little bit as she held his hand. "Walking to the door together shouldn't be a problem."
Since all the rearranged furniture skewed his sense of direction, it was hard to imagine the layout of the room. But since they were heading toward the courtyard doors, then they probably just needed to go the way they came earlier. Just as long as they didn't mess around too long, anyway, since he figured the nurses would be watching them like hawks the whole time.
"Just be careful so I don't accidentally trip over someone's feet or something," Claude quietly cautioned.
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It was a slow and awkward process, but they eventually made their way out of the aisle without stumbling over anything - or anyone. "Okay, we've got more space now," she informed him. When she started moving again, she was facing forward and walking at a more normal pace. It wasn't long until they reached the door to the Cafeteria. Anise slowed down again there, making sure Claude knew where the door frame was as she led him through.
The process was repeated as they walked around the perimeter of the Cafeteria, eventually reaching the door on the west side of the room. A nurse who had been keeping an eye on them for the past few minutes stepped ahead and held the door for them, smiling amicably as they entered the Courtyard.
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