Day 57: Arts & Crafts Room (Fourth Shift)

[gald_digger]

When she left the lobby, Anise still didn't know what to think about her visitor. All this time, she thought the one person the institute would never truly get to was the Colonel, and that if he was gone, then maybe he was hiding somewhere, plotting a way to rescue the rest of them. Now that she thought about it... maybe that was naïve of her. She

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[full_score]

As much as Claude wanted to spend the next shift with Guy, things hadn't worked out that way. But it had been nice to sit with his friend at all, even if the movie had been a lot more depressing than Claude expected. Maybe he should have been more careful about his vote. Then again, considering they'd only had war movies to choose from, the outcome might have been the same regardless of what they'd seen.

Still, as he left the Sun Room, there was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was probably better if he didn't think so hard on it right now. With nightshift right around the corner, Claude knew he needed to steel himself for a potentially difficult evening.

He didn't get left alone with his thoughts for long, though. As he wandered into the Arts and Crafts Room, one of the staff approached him and thrust an envelope into his hands. "Appleby, Thomas," he said, as if the name had come from a list. Claude glanced at the front, eyebrows furrowed. Was that...Leon's handwriting

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In the end, Anise had to read the letter twice. The first time, her mind was buzzing with so many worries and questions that she couldn't even focus on the words. The second time, she carefully read every sentence

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Claude could sympathize with how jarring it would be to receive that kind of letter from family -- by now he'd seen his mom and dad both as patients and visitors. No doubt it was just as unnerving for Anise to contemplate the idea that both of her parents were trapped somewhere in this world. The thought made his heart ache. No one needed that stress on top of the daily perils in Landel's

[gald_digger]

Leon... That meant that Claude had lost some friends from home, too. Anise offered him a sympathetic look to show that she understood. When he went on to mention that his parents had visited him, she realized they both had to have a good understanding of what the other was feeling. When it came to their friends and families, they were in really similar situations

[full_score]

So he hadn't been the only one to get an unexpected visit from family. Claude frowned, wondering how long Anise had kept that to herself. She didn't seem like the type to freely share her problems, no matter how heavy or burdensome they were for her. At the very least, he was glad Anise trusted him enough to confide in him about what had happened. No one deserved to wrestle with those kinds of anxieties alone. Since they were both in a similar boat, that was all the more reason to stick together, right

[gald_digger]

"Yeah... you're right." Anise's expression softened, and she was able to smile a little more easily. It seemed like Claude was reassuring her a lot lately, and while it was kind of embarrassing, it was also kind of nice to know she'd made a friend she could really count on. "I know they love me, and I know they'll keep trying to reach me

[full_score]

He didn't blame Anise for worrying about her parents. It was natural for children to want their mom and dad to be happy and safe, after all. But with a daughter as skilled and tough as Anise, Claude thought her parents were very lucky to have someone like her looking out for them

[gald_digger]

Anise was measuring the thick string she'd brought over while Claude seemed to consider his options. She finally decided on a length and cut it, then started tying the ends into loops. When it was done, she laid it against her fabric rectangle, the looped ends sticking out.

When Claude voiced his idea, her head shot up from her work. "Huh? You can do that!?" Come to think of it, he did say something about drawing for a hobby before. Her look of surprise shifted into a bright, playful grin as she thought about getting her own portrait done. That was something only nobles tended to get, so it was a pretty rare opportunity for someone like Anise. Of course, if it ended up looking bad, she'd never let Claude live it down.

"It'll be pretty hard to capture all my cuteness on paper! Are you sure you're up for the challenge?" she teased.

[full_score]

Claude rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I wouldn't call myself a professional or anything, but I like to draw, yeah," he said. He'd always had a pretty good sense of design and enjoyed doing creative things in his spare time. Occasionally he made things that turned out terrible, but more often than not Claude thought he did a pretty good job.

Laughing a little, he reached for a sheet of paper and some pencils. "I'll get rusty if I don't practice, so may as well start with something a little challenging, right?" he replied.

It looked like Anise had her own project, too, though. Claude glanced at the string and fabric. "What's that you're making, by the way?"

[gald_digger]

It sounded like Claude was confident that he could do a good enough job that he wouldn't insult Anise, so she didn't have any reason to object. "Well, okay! Give it your best shot!" she replied, encouraging him. In truth, Anise really wanted to see how a picture of herself would end up looking like

[full_score]

Anise seemed agreeable to the idea of having her picture drawn, so that was good. He knew some people could feel uncomfortable about the idea of falling under that much attention, but the girl didn't shy away from it in this case.

When she leaned in to give more details about her creations, Claude scooted closer so she could softly speak with ease. He had to admit he was really impressed with her for going out of her way to buy other people something tasty to eat. "Wow, that's really great, Anise," he whispered, suddenly feeling cheered by the thought. "I'm sure your friends will love that."

Shifting in his seat, he gave the incomplete bags his attention. "Yeah, that makes sense," he said. "If you can shut it, I'll bet you could use it to store other things, too. Like batteries, maybe."

While he would have offered to help, he already promised her a picture. After setting the paper down onto the table's surface, Claude lifted a pencil into his hands and began a preliminary sketch of what he wanted to draw.

[gald_digger]

It was encouraging that Claude approved of Anise's idea, and that gave her a little extra motivation to go ahead and try it out. "Right! They can reuse the bags for whatever they want afterward," she agreed with a nod. Because of that, she made sure to make the string long enough that it could hook or tie around lots of things.

Once her needle was threaded, Anise sewed down her fold, enclosing the string in fabric. With that done, she folded the entire rectangle in half, and once she had that pinned in place, she started sewing the bottom and side.

Her task was a little repetitive, so she'd occasionally sneak a glance at Claude's paper, even if there was just a sketch-in-progress so far. "Eheh. You don't need me to hold still or pose or anything, do you?" she asked him. That was usually how portraits were done, but maybe Claude's technique was different.

[full_score]

Honestly, it sounded like a great idea. With how rough things were lately, spreading a little bit of cheer in any way possible was an admirable thing to do. Heck, Anise could even offer to make them in exchange for supplies, but he liked the thought of making something nice for friends simply for the sake of giving. Claude was certain they'd appreciate Anise's efforts.

When she asked about his sketch, Claude paused and glanced down at what he'd done so far. "Well, it'll probably be more accurate if you hold still, but I don't want to stop you from working. Fourth shift won't last forever, you know?"

After all, she probably wanted to get those presents delivered as soon as possible. Claude at least liked to think there would be other opportunities to draw Anise if she wanted him to do so.

[gald_digger]

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Anise wouldn't have minded posing for a picture, but she wanted to get her crafts done first. They didn't have a whole lot of time to spare. Fortunately, she was making good time so far, and she wasn't running into any problems.

Once she finished sewing the sides, Anise turned the bag inside out and tested the drawstring to make sure it worked properly. When it did, she flashed Claude a big grin. "All done! That's one down."

Setting that aside, she looked through the other patterns she brought over, selecting a pink and brown floral design next. She picked up the scissors again and repeated the process she used on the first craft. "I think two more should do it." That would make three, which was the number of friends Anise recently learned were sick or had been sick in the past couple days.

[full_score]

Claude paused in what he was doing to take a look at Anise's completed bag. "Hey, that's great!" he brightly said. "I'll bet whoever you give that to will love it."

After that, he returned his attention to the drawing. By now he'd finished a rough sketch of Anise's hair, face, and shoulders. While he would have liked to have her pose for it, Claude was more or less satisfied with the basic outline he had. With that done, he began to darken the lines and give her face more definition.

"By the way," he lightly added after a moment, "how was your trip to Doyleton yesterday? Do anything interesting?"

[gald_digger]

Anise sure hoped the recipient would like it. That newly completed blue-and-white bag was going to go to Edgar, that totally handsome and charming guy she talked to earlier that day. The blue kinda matched his eyes, she thought.

Since she already completed the craft once, the second one proceeded more quickly and easily than before. It wasn't long before she was at the sewing stage again.

When Claude asked about her field trip, Anise was happy to answer. "It was pretty good! I found some cool stuff, like that flashlight I was using last night. I got binoculars, too! Oh, and I saw some neat things at the antique shop." It was lucky that Ilia showed up when she did, so Anise had something of a guide to help her figure out what things were.

Glancing up from her work, she reciprocated the question. "What about you?"