Day 51: Arts and Crafts [Second Shift]

[gald_digger]

They actually listened to some of the suggestions people put in that box? Anise thought the Head Doctor had to be joking when he said that, but she soon heard him mention something that she herself had suggested: sewing supplies. They were really going to get some? Anise could finally get a real needle, so she could make repairs to Tokunaga

Comments

[jouer_sans_voir]

The routine of the intercom announcements prompting the supposed patients on to their next activity was starting to become a familiar one, and Nunnally usually found little of interest in what Dr. Landel had to say. The nurses would insist upon whatever activity had been chosen, and she would go, and in the meantime wish that she had more choice in the matter or, even better, could return home. She made no protest, of course, and often was praised by the staff for how cooperative she was, but... the fact that she was patient and disliked confrontation hardly meant that she enjoyed the routine.

Today, however, at this announcement she visibly brightened and almost even outpaced her nurse on the way to the Arts and Crafts room. Today's activity was origami? And with instruction on how to create figures that she didn't know? Now that she could see the various origami figures with her eyes rather than her fingers she especially wished to try it for herself, and see what she could make other than a simple crane

[herr_inspektor]

[aaand from here]

"Really, Mr. Jung. You can't just sit in here all day like you always do. Why don't you try and get the most out of the activities on offer, hmm?"

Lunge's expression remained glassy. There was, admittedly, little point in waiting around while so many people were in the showers (possible implication: the patients involved in the 'meeting' are possibly adults/ >18?), and the chance of his presence putting anyone off answering was still there. Besides. He had other objectives he needed to chase up. But even if he couldn't think of a way to justify moving, he was in no position to argue. It wasn't long before he found himself whisked off to the arts and crafts room

[jouer_sans_voir]

Though the book had diagrams and pictures of what each step was supposed to look like, Nunnally found it wasn't nearly as easy to follow them as it had been to learn from Sayoko's patient guidance. She could see the paper now, certainly, and make the folds with more confidence that they were straight, but the instructions she was to follow seemed oddly cryptic. Or perhaps she was supposed to know what squash folds and petal folds were before opening this book

[herr_inspektor]

There. "Thank you." Lunge nodded and gave an appreciative smile before taking a seat on the other side of the table- a nice, non-threatening distance, but directly opposite her nonetheless. He wanted to be able to watch her face. The question was now one of how to broach the subject of her brother, if at all- he didn't want to push his luck, but he wasn't entirely convinced that his interest in Lelouch ran so deeply that he would be willing to spend more than a shift pursuing leads on him. He had to prioritise, after all

[jouer_sans_voir]

The "patients" here seemed to tend more toward the younger ages, more likely to be in their teens or twenties than beyond. Because of that Nunnally was always interested in those who were outside of that range; the only one she'd actually spoken to so far was Mihai, but this man seemed entirely unlike him in personality. He seemed polite enough, though, and perhaps he could offer some advice

[herr_inspektor]

Modest, wasn't she? Willing to admit her mistakes, even before she knew that she'd made them, and even more willing to ask for help. While Lunge wasn't particularly interested in whatever it was she was doing in here (judging by the amount of paper it looked like the Head Doctor's promised origami session), he recognised that it provided a useful opening for him to exploit and use to gain her trust- something she seemed to have a healthy (or perhaps 'unhealthy') amount of anyway. Of course you can talk to me. I'm the authority: older, polite, helpful, with an impressive title of some sort. That he felt a twinge of guilt at the 'exploitation' as he ran his finger down the page to find the start of the instructions was something he could very neatly ignore for the meantime; it barely qualified, after all

[jouer_sans_voir]

"Yes, that looks right." The problem was that when Sayoko had taught her before, she'd explained the folds but hadn't used the names that this book used for them. Nunnally could sometimes tell from the diagrams how to match the words with the movements she remembered, but other times it was more difficult. This was one of the former -- the folded square was familiar, the base of the crane pattern she knew as well. "Now you... lift this, here, and press it down

[herr_inspektor]

Younger sister? Click. It had rung a little oddly with Lunge that Lelouch would take the time out of his schedule, organised to a T, to attend to someone for so long- but having a familial relation involved cleared matters up considerably. This time he didn’t attempt to hide his surprise, a blink and a slight widening of the eyes, deciding that it provided a far more natural reaction than anything he could have manipulated in. “You’re related? I should have guessed. It’s an obvious conclusion to draw in hindsight

[jouer_sans_voir]

He hadn't realized that? It was a mild surprise for Nunnally as well, and she scolded herself for automatically assuming that everyone would know just because everyone had known at home. She was neither in the safe, simple setting of Ashford nor amidst the Britannian nobility. This place was far more dangerous than Britannia, though for different reasons, and she ought to be more aware of that. Still, her smile remained unchanged as she gave the man a small nod in response. "Yes, though he favors our mother more than I

[herr_inspektor]

The reference to their mother was a curious one that gave Lunge pause, but ultimately it wasn’t anything he had any use for at the moment. Better to store it away and examine it in a more specific light when the time called for it, if it called for it at all. He wasn't, after all, interested in profiling Lelouch- just checking up on. More immediately interesting, though, was that she didn't seem to be involved in any of those 'tasks'. It would have made sense for Lelouch to want to divide Nunnally from his work- for protection? Or something else?

"There are a few, or so I've seen. I myself have been recording the radio and intercom announcements over the last few nights. One is missing due to unforeseen circumstances-" L would have picked up on that flicker if he were here. Watch that, Inspector- "but otherwise the database is complete so far." The fact that it was performed as such strictly on his own terms and more for his own benefit than Lelouch's wasn't something, he decided, that he was in any rush to admit. Perhaps it was just

[jouer_sans_voir]

Keeping a transcript of the various radio and intercom announcements could certainly be a useful task; patterns could be seen that way, and those who hadn't been here as long would have more to refer to in order to build those patterns. But... unforeseen circumstances? What sort of unexpected event could keep someone from hearing the nightly announcements?

Perhaps she'd imagined it, but there seemed to be something about the way he said the words that made her wonder -- the same sort of circumstances that had made her miss them that night? Perhaps she was simply oversensitive due to her own experiences, but she knew of two things here that could be quite unexpected, and could easily prevent someone from doing what they wished. They would also have unforeseen consequences as well, but... if she disliked having to explain what had happened to her, and if her suspicion was correct, he certainly wouldn't wish to speak of his experience. Nunnally glanced up at him with her gaze slightly more intent than before and nodded. "I'm sure they

[herr_inspektor]

There was a brief moment in which the Nunnally said nothing at all. It was only when Lunge looked up to read her expression (a pause: what is she thinking?) that he caught the tail end of her gaze and realised, suddenly, that there was something in it that should not have been there. An intensity he hadn't seen in her eyes before. Could it be that she'd picked up on...? But that would have been something only someone like L would have recognised, and he'd been careful enough- and yet that one moment of weakness had betrayed him

[jouer_sans_voir]

Though she wasn't looking directly at him there were still tiny cues to indicate emotion, a silent language Nunnally had learned to read well over the years. Soft sounds of movement or the lack thereof, the speed of one's breathing, all small things that most never bothered to pay attention to -- unless they had little else with which to populate the world around them. What it told her was that she had surprised him, made him think, which in turn made her wonder just what he was thinking.

Still, it likely wasn't important, nor was it her business to pester the man with questions. She merely smiled, the expression warm and genuinely friendly, and nodded to the audible question. "Yes, I think that's right." Another couple of careful folds on her own paper brought it to something that looked far more like the illustration in the book, and her smile brightened even more. "I only really know how to fold cranes," she admitted, sounding pleased at her success. "This is a little more complicated than that."

[herr_inspektor]

It hit Lunge then that he'd hit a snag. Maybe it was the smile that had caught him off guard: it was in its warmth so entirely guileless that, for a moment there, he'd been thoroughly wrong-footed by it. Disarmed in an almost literal sense, for what was his mind if not a finely-tuned weapon? Metaphor aside, the fact was that the idea of continuing left a bad taste in his mouth, and that worried him. It wasn't at all like him- or rather, the 'him' he was comfortable with being. That he needed to be here