Day 58: Arts & Crafts (Fourth shift)

[immortale]

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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[spandexorgtfo]

Normally, Kratos would return to the Sun Room rather than set foot in the Arts and Crafts room: making things out of colored paper and...whatever else they had here was just so...juvenile. Not even in his barely-remembered youth had he ever done such a thing (and he would have remembered because it would have been one of the precious few moments in his life that had nothing to do with the military), and four thousand or so years later, he was not about to have an abrupt, uncharacteristic change of heart.

Unfortunately, going back to the Sun Room meant thinking about that...incident--and maybe, he realized, that woman would be waiting there for him to return, eager to resume where they'd left off. Above all, he hated verbal confrontations...It was a completely illogical train of thought, but Kratos was not particularly given to logical thoughts when he was in a mood or brooding relentlessly

[osoreirimasu]

Just what was it about him that seemed to drag misfortune in like iron to a magnet? It couldn't be his height because there were several people here that were the same size. His status as a nation didn't seem to matter either since he was a low rank AND the other nations hadn't been so thoroughly ruined over the past few days. So what? Was it his...age

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos was in the midst of detailing a maneuver when he heard someone comment on his work. Setting down the crayon, he turned his head enough so that he could make out whoever it was standing nearby in the corner of his eye. Black hair, similar appearance to the Mizuho...it had to be Honda Kiku. They seemed to be running into each other with some regular frequency, although that had to be coincidence- or, he hoped it was coincidence. He had run through his fair share of admirers, male and female alike, and frankly, Kratos had never enjoyed having excessive amounts of attention lavished upon him

[osoreirimasu]

"Ah." Kratos looked up and Japan instantly felt guilty at having disturbed him. Taking him away from his plans had never been Japan's intention and to prove that, he took a step back and bowed his head. It was rude of him to speak out on someone else's military plans anyway and he shifted as if to leave when Kratos unexpectedly spoke up

[spandexorgtfo]

"Hm." Kratos sat back and took a second look at the scheme he had sketched out. Honda did have a point, he realized. There were still some parts that would be undermanned, but those could be adjusted quite readily...

The statistical improbability was still managing to get all of the patients to the level of the average Tethe'allan infantryman--no, actually, it was getting them all to cooperate. There were enough personal grudges and spats floating around that all it would take on Aguilar's part were a few key words to certain people for the whole thing to go up in flames, or so he was cynically assuming; it could very well be that their common hatred would turn out to be their uniting factor

[osoreirimasu]

"Yes, the cooperation of the other patients and the lack of reconnaissance from the outer areas are indeed troubling issues," Japan agreed, nodding his head slightly. It seemed almost natural to discuss such things with Kratos. It did make sense, considering who he was, but for Japan it had been a long time since he last had any dreams of military strategy. His defense force was not meant to be a military after all. They were forbidden from overseas troop movements unless it was in a support role and even with all the money the government put into it, no one really thought of it as a real army

[spandexorgtfo]

"Functional" was frankly all Kratos was interested in; the effort required to make his sketch actually resemble the motley assortment of trees outside would be better served elsewhere, after all. Art was for artists, and artists were typically not soldiers.

Even so, if Honda had asked, he might have actually allowed him to help if only because he would not have been able to sense the intent behind the request.

"That much seems evident," Kratos replied with a thin smile. It was not too difficult to envision the other man as a member of the military; he seemed to have that same seriousness and sense of practicality. "And I don't mind at all. This is nothing particularly urgent." In fact, he had technically finished his own "artistic" endeavor. Well...he could always fashion another plan, perhaps one that was more realistic.

[osoreirimasu]

"Yes..." Japan turned his face away with a soft sigh and then took his seat. Formality was a trait of the Japanese that he could never abandon. Whether it came from a long line of aristocratic rule or the harsh structure of a military hand for so long, he wasn't really certain. After hundreds of years, it had simply become as ingrained as ambiguity within his culture and thus into him. Bowing his head slightly, Japan placed the papers he'd gathered from the shelves onto the table, looking them over

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos watched with mild interest as Honda sat down and began sifting through the various papers that he had brought with him. "Papercrafts", he had said? He had never devoted much time to Mizuho's culture, but was fairly sure that at some point or another such things had been brought up or mentioned. It was honestly both frightening and intriguing, these strange parallels.

Honda's question led him to smile faintly and look down at the sketch sitting on the table. "Not often. My military days are long behind me, so the need to maintain my skills is not great. I do it when the mood strikes me, which is rarely." His smile changed to a frown. "My expertise in war greatly dwarfs my love for the thing." A small shrug--"However, in this atmosphere, it seemed the most appropriate activity to partake in, seeing as most of my talents do not lie in the arts."

His eyes once again strayed to whatever Honda was doing with his paper. "What are you making?"

[osoreirimasu]

"Ah..." The same sound, but this time with a hint of understanding. Japan also had no love of war, even if he had spent centuries waging it at home and abroad. He knew Kratos' past as well. His country had developed it and yet...it seemed like cheating. How many others here did he know everything about while they knew nothing at all? How many of them would be hurt if they knew their lives, their tragedies, were nothing but entertainment in his world? Best to stay silent. Japan lowered his head, careful to keep his thoughts from appearing on his face

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos stared down at the little slip of paper being offered. "I...see." It was a little difficult to keep the skepticism out of his voice, but he thought he'd done an admirable enough job suppressing most of it.

Granted, said skepticism was, in his mind, merited. This slip of paper? A military strategy? It seemed shoddy at best, although some of the best tactics were the mind-numbingly simple ones. Surely he could offer Honda the benefit of the doubt, if only out of respect for his old ally, whoever that had been...

He accepted the paper, holding it loosely between his hands. "I would be honored to learn." It wasn't as if he had anything better to do at the moment, anyway.

[osoreirimasu]

Kratos took the paper with some understandable hesitation and Japan nodded. He had known the strategy Romano had devised would not work when he'd heard of it, but it was a glimpse of Italy's whimsy in the more serious twin and so he liked to think of it often. Romano was always so bristled and angry that hearing of such episodes served to remind Japan that he was indeed Italy's brother. And thinking of Italy always made Japan smile and now that he was passing the strange strategy on to Kratos, Japan allowed himself the faintest traces of nostalgia to color his expression

[spandexorgtfo]

"Mm." Honda began to fold the paper, and Kratos mimed him, taking slightly longer to complete the motions: he wanted to ensure the same level of precision and crispness, but his fingers were unfortunately not as experienced. Finally, though, he had a paper before him with the same creases as the other's. So far, it seemed manageable.

"May I ask what we are making, exactly?" At this point, it was impossible to tell, but if it was "silly"...He wasn't too sure how he felt about it possibly seeming that way. Silliness was something that he both performed and liked poorly--but, he reminded himself, this is a military strategy. So there had to be some sort of...method to the madness, so to speak.

[osoreirimasu]

"Ah...you will see soon enough."

Japan didn't mind being a little mysterious here since he feared Kratos would refuse to complete the project if he realized the answer. And if this were going to work, he had to make sure Kratos completed his side of the strategy. Romano would be mortified to know that Japan was still spreading rumors of the failure about, but Japan couldn't help himself. It was just too cute.

With a smile, Japan continued to fold and carefully rip and tear where necessary. He paused occasionally to wait for Kratos to catch up, refraining from commenting unless absolutely necessary. "Once you've finished the first folds, please let me know."

[spandexorgtfo]

Ah...you will see soon enough. That wasn't quite the answer that Kratos was seeking, and it didn't help that the smile on Honda's face was rather disconcerting.

"Ah."

His instincts told him that something was afoot, but he couldn't just drop everything and leave as he was prone to do. He had told Honda that he would be honored to learn, and to rescind such a statement now out of embarrassment would be an insult to the man and to his unnamed ally: a higher price to pay than a mere blow to his dignity. Besides, the latter occurred often enough now that he almost had no need to think about his pride or honor...

Thus, Kratos had no other option save to swallow his doubts and continue on, copying Honda's movements and folds until his paper resembled the other's. "What is the next step?"

[osoreirimasu]

It would be rude to correct any of Kratos' movements and besides, he seemed to be doing well enough. To Japan's trained eye, it was obvious his companion had not indulged himself much in the fine art of papercrafts, but Kratos was a brilliant man and he was learning quickly. Once he was caught up, Japan moved on to the next folds creating the lower two 'legs' and then the beginnings of the upper bumps.

"The rest is simply a matter of getting the right angles. The most important is to fold enough to get the gentle slope of the upper area like this." And as if to illustrate his point, Japan continued to fold the paper until two round peaks formed in the paper.