damned_institute | Day 57: Arts & Crafts Room (Fourth Shift)

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Day 57: Arts & Crafts Room (Fourth Shift)

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 only thought those things because she didn't want to believe that the institute had that much power...

Thinking about it too hard made her feel so anxious it made her stomach churn, though, so Anise decided it would be best to distract herself in the meantime, and then think about it when her head was clearer. She'd probably have to tell Guy and the others what happened, too.

While she really wanted to see the movie she helped select, she also really wanted to see if the Arts & Crafts Room had those new sewing supplies the Head Doctor talked about a while ago. When she arrived, she asked her "nurse" about it, who cheerfully replied that yes, they had them, and that Anise was among the ones fortunate enough to have the privilege of using them. Was that a good behavior thing, or a military rank thing...? Well, in either case, it meant Anise got to check out the new materials they brought in, so she wasn't going to complain.

There were some pretty floral patterns among the pieces of fabric, so Anise selected those. Anything that she made had to have a few cute elements, after all. She brought the pieces to her table along with some needles, thread, scissors, and a roll of a thick cord-like material.

Before she could begin, however, that "nurse" returned, dropping an envelope on the table in front of her. "This is for you," was all she said before walking away again. When Anise picked the item up, her eyes widened in shock. There, on the envelope, was the name Dolores... written in her Mama's handwriting. Much of the other information on the outside had been blacked out, but... was this from her parents!? Without a moment's delay, she tore open the envelope and began reading the letter within, her hands trembling as she did.

[For Claude!]

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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.

"Yeah," she confirmed with a nod. There really wasn't any hiding it. "Actually... my parents visited me too, a few weeks ago." Anise had never told her friends about that, not wanting to add to the pile of problems that Guy and the others already had to deal with. Right now, though, she had someone who was going through the same thing, so rather than adding to their burdens, it felt a little more like she could finally get one off her chest.

"... It really is tough," she admitted as she folded the letter up and placed it back in the opened envelope. "Mama and Papa are always doing things that make me worry, but never like this." Setting the envelope aside, she gave Claude a small, pained smile. "I guess I should be glad I got this, though. This means they're still okay, right?"

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?

It looked like she was trying to look on the bright side of things, though, despite how difficult their situation became. That was always important to do during tough times.

"That's right," he said with a nod. "They're still okay, and it sounds like they think of you often because they love you. I'll bet they're trying their best to stay in contact." That couldn't be a bad thing, even if it meant they thought Anise was ill. They'd likely keep in touch as long as she was at the Institute. Maybe that would even help her locate them someday.

Claude placed what he hoped was a reassuring hand on Anise's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll keep hearing from them until we're able to figure out where they are."

"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."

Anise also knew her parents weren't all that reliable, but it wasn't for a lack of effort on their parts. They always tried to give her the best, and even though they always made things worse, Anise could never bring herself to hate them for it. Once again, it looked like Anise was going to have to step up and try to fix everything... but she was still glad her parents were trying hard for her sake.

"I'll have to do my best, too," she declared after a long pause, looking up to Claude with a determined smile. "The sooner we get out of here, the sooner I can go find them."

She didn't feel nearly as optimistic as she sounded right then, but that was okay. For the time being, she had to keep her chin up and try not to let things get to her. If she let herself get caught up in sulking about all the things that made her scared or anxious, it'd be like she was giving up. So the first step to escaping had to be to keep a positive attitude!

Once that was decided, Anise reached for the materials she'd set out for herself, and started cutting a piece of fabric - one with white flowers on a blue background - into a large rectangle. "Hey, are you going to make something too?" she asked Claude.

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.

"That's the spirit," he said with a firm nod. "Let's do our best...together." Not only did he need to locate his family outside of the Institute, but he had to work hard for the woman trapped in the Institute along with him. Claude realized he had yet to explain to Anise about his connection to "Ilia", but now wasn't the time to trouble her with that sort of talk. The most important thing was that Anise knew Claude had her back, no matter what.

Besides, it was about then that Anise asked if he intended to make anything. Claude admitted he'd initially wandered this way to check for any familiar faces, but it had been awhile since he'd crafted anything. Maybe he ought to fix that.

"Hmm..." Claude rubbed his chin and looked at the supplies around them. While he admitted he wanted to try making another one of those paper cranes, another idea suddenly occurred to him. His expression brightened. "Hey, I know! Why don't I draw a picture of you?"

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.

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?"

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.

"I'm making gift bags!" she proudly answered when asked about her own project, then leaned in closer and lowered her voice to a whisper as she went on to explain. This was something that could get in her trouble with the military if she was too vocal about it, after all. "I bought some snacks at Doyleton yesterday, and I'm planning on giving them to some friends who're stuck eating gross food. I'll just drop them off before we meet up tonight."

That was the only part Anise really needed to keep secret from the staff, so once she said that, she straightened in her seat and resumed her work. She folded a small part of the fabric over the string, enclosing all of it but the loops, then pinned it where it was so it would stay straight while she threaded a needle. "I think if I sew it here, I can make a little bag that'll scrunch closed if you pull the strings."

It was a pretty simple craft, so maybe Claude could picture it, though for the moment it still just looked like a rectangle with a string on it.

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.

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.

Edited 2011-07-07 06:39 (UTC)

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.

"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.

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?"

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?"

Edited 2011-07-08 06:08 (UTC)

"Oh, hey, it sounds like you had a pretty good day, then," Claude said with a smile. "Any particular reason you bought binoculars, or did you just feel like having them around?"

As for himself, his day didn't sound nearly as productive as Anise or Guy's. He'd spent most of it worrying over Leon, so he hadn't purchased much. "I got some extra batteries to use," Claude explained. "I also chatted with Tear, and spent a little bit of time with a friend who wanted to use a coupon." Of course, there was no reason to explain he'd gotten a manicure, even if it was largely because Tifa hadn't wanted to go by herself. "All in all, it was pretty uneventful, but that's not such a bad thing."

Claude had been here long enough to know that some trips to Doyleton ended in disaster, so he was honestly grateful he'd had a quiet day.

As he continued to work on the picture of Anise, Claude paid attention to getting the shape and texture of her pigtails as accurate as he could. They were shaping out to look pretty decent, if he said so himself.

"Well, we'd been exploring outside a lot lately, so I thought they might come in handy sometime," Anise replied as she continued her sewing. "If I can, I'll try to keep them around at night, just in case." They didn't know what was going to be behind those doors, after all. She also didn't know if that leather jacket would still be in her room when she got there, but she hoped it would be. On top of being more stylish than her usual uniform, it had a little extra pocket space, which was really nice. If only the color was cuter...

Well, they all had to make sacrifices, she supposed.

"Hee hee. Uneventful is usually a good thing around here," Anise agreed. It was kind of nice to hear that her friends were getting along with each other, too. Both Tear and Claude were good friends and could probably benefit from each other's company, she figured.

It was a little funny that he mentioned Tear at that time, though. Anise had just finished her second bag, and once she tested to make sure it would hold up, she announced, "That's two! This one's going to Tear."

He hadn't considered grabbing a set of binoculars to use at night, but when Anise explained her reasons, Claude was glad she'd thought of it. "That's a pretty smart idea," he said. "Better to have it on hand in case something comes up." Sort of like that money they'd gathered at the ruins a couple of nights ago. He was starting to wonder if he should start building some kind of emergency stockpile in case something happened to the Institute, but he'd have to wait awhile before he could gather a bunch of food to add to his supplies.

As soon as she finished the second bag, Claude looked up from his paper to see the final product. "Oh, really?" He wondered what Tear would think of small crafts like that. She seemed like one of those serious soldier-types, but Claude figured there was a softer side to her as well. He still hadn't forgotten the sensitive way she'd approached him about accidentally experiencing his memories, and her resolve to help him prevent another death from happening among their group of friends.

He could certainly understand why Luke spoke of her with such high regard, at any rate.

"I'm sure she'll be happy you thought of her enough to make something," Claude added with a smile. "She'll probably find it pretty useful, too."

It was really sweet how Claude was showering her with praise and encouragement, and for a moment she had to wonder if he was being sincere or not. After all, it wasn't weird for friends to say nice things just to make their friends happy. But then again, she had a feeling that if Claude had doubts about her actions or her work, his face would probably give it away.

"I hope so! She's pretty resourceful, so you're probably right about that." Chances were that Claude already knew that, since it was one of Tear's more obvious qualities.

She picked up the last piece of fabric, one with a bright and cheerful-looking orange and yellow pattern. "Last one! If I finish fast enough, maybe I'll get to add some finishing touches." She didn't have anything extravagant in mind, but just some little things. In the meantime, though, it had been a while since she last peeked at Claude's work, so while she cut the fabric, she leaned over to get a good look. "How's the picture going?"

Claude was curious to see how else she'd decorate the bag. The simple design didn't look bad, but maybe Anise had something in mind. To be honest, before now he hadn't realized that the staff had followed through with their promise to let some patients grab sewing kits. It was nice to see a friend making use of it.

When Anise asked after the picture, Claude tilted the paper enough to show her. Although it wasn't as complete as he would have liked, he thought Anise's hair and facial features were recognizable enough. He'd even embellished her pigtails with a pair of ribbons. Her eyes looked bright, and she wore a cheerful smile. Of course, he'd seen her during really rough times, but Claude thought this was an expression that suited her best.

"I don't think I'll have time to color it, but...what do you think?" he asked, genuinely curious and maybe a little nervous.

"Hmm..." Anise cupped her chin with her hand as she studied the picture with the most serious, analytical look she could muster. Actually, she really liked it; she just wanted to see if she could make Claude more nervous by not reacting right away. She couldn't hold the stony expression for long, though, and soon she broke into a smile.

"It's great! It looks just like me." Most of all, she was glad to see he drew her smiling. That was the kind of impression Anise wanted to leave on people who met her. She had a lot of sides to her, and Claude had seen a lot of them during their time together - but when people thought of Anise, she wanted them to think of cuteness, youth, and cheer. It looked like that was just what Claude saw in her, to her delight.

"You should put it on the wall in your room! If anyone asks, you can tell them it's your cute girlfriend," she teased him with a wink.

He watched her scrutinize his work, wondering what she would say. The last thing he wanted was to annoy her with something he'd drawn. Soon enough, though, she saw a smile light up her face, and he offered a grin of his own in turn.

"I'm glad you like it!" he said with a laugh. It made him happy to see she was pleased with what he'd come up with. With how dark and gloomy life could be here, Claude wanted to do whatever he could to lighten someone's day. Besides, after receiving those kinds of letters, Claude thought they could both do with something fun.

When she made that suggestion, however, he couldn't help but rub the back of his neck. While Anise was certainly cute, he couldn't exactly tell people that. "A-actually, I meant for you to hold onto it. If that's okay with you, anyway."

"I can take it? Really?" Anise hadn't expected that, but she supposed it didn't need to be so surprising. It was just like Claude to make a nice gesture like that, and the only thing she could do was accept.

"Well, okay! But you better sign it first. That way, if you get famous, it'll be worth a fortune someday!" She giggled at her little joke, though she was half-serious. It was in Anise's nature to look for a profit in everything.

In the meantime, she was just about done her own little project. She just needed to finish sewing one more line into the third bag. Fortunately, she was able to multitask well enough that she could talk to Claude while finishing her work.

"Of course you can have it," he said, and he meant it. It seemed silly to hold onto every drawing he did, after all. Claude hoped Anise would think fondly of him whenever she looked at it, even if it wasn't a finished product.

When she suggested he sign it, he chucked and rubbed the back of his neck again. "I don't know about 'famous', but..." Well, it couldn't hurt to sign his name, right? Turning his pencil toward the bottom of the page, he left his signature.

It was starting to look like Anise was about to finish up her own presents. That was probably for the best, since he had a feeling the shift would be ending soon. But before they went back to their rooms, Claude figured there was something he ought to bring up.

"By the way," he added as he slid the drawing over to her, "can I ask you something?"

The last bit of sewing was finished, and to finish, Anise turned the bag inside-out and tested the drawstring. Perfect! That was three done.

Her grin widened when she saw Claude sign the picture. Sure, there was no guarantee that he'd end up famous for anything, but if his family was already well-known for their talents, he had a better chance than most people! Maybe a book he authored would turn out to be a big hit. Anything could happen!

When Claude suddenly said he wanted to ask her something, though, she gave him a curious look. It was hard to guess at what he might ask, but Anise didn't have anything she really intended to hide from him, so she supposed it couldn't hurt to answer. "Hmm? Sure! You can ask me anything, so long as it's not my weight."

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Day 57: Arts & Crafts Room (Fourth Shift)

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