Day 60: Arts and Crafts (Third Shift)

[lighthearted]

Sora wasn't quite sure what to make of his talk with Doctor Facilier. The man hadn't revealed much about himself even as he'd asked all those questions, so it was hard to form an opinion. Sora could only hope that he had proved himself to be more than just a kid over the course of their conversation, though if not, then that was the doctor's loss, right? Sora figured that he was a pretty good resource in this place after having been stuck here for so long.

As for the note that he'd put up for the club, it had gotten a lot of responses already, which he was glad about. It meant that his friends were all safe and sound, and more than that, they wanted to keep working with him. He'd even gotten a few new people to sign up, counting Renji and the other person who had apparently been recruited by Soma. So while they had missed an important opening last night, Sora wasn't going to let that get him down.

Oddly enough, there was a slight change for today, which was that they weren't going to be eating lunch in the cafeteria. Sora stared down at the bagged lunch that was put into his hands. They were usually only given something like this when they went out to Doyleton, but...

If it meant that they would get to go somewhere else for the shift, then Sora wasn't about to complain. The problem was that he'd already been to these rooms so many times that nothing really struck him as exciting. They'd gone to the Game Room just yesterday, though, so in the end he picked out Arts and Crafts.

Figuring that he should get his meal out of the way first, Sora took a seat at a table and started to dig through his lunch. "Hey, grilled cheese!" Nothing to complain about there. Sora unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. It felt weird to be eating in here, but he wasn't going to let that stop him.

[For Woody.]

Comments

[avengingfists.livejournal.com]

"You mean you literally cannot talk about it?" That was surprising but not completely unreasonable given the power this place held over them. If whatever power that reigned over this place could swipe them up from anywhere in the institute and deposit them in their beds as soon as dawn hit, then keeping them quite about specific topics would be as acceptable as rain in spring. And now Ilia felt a little bad about pushing Anise that morning. The girl might have wanted to explain more about the situation but with the block in place it just wasn't possible for her.

"I understand it's dangerous and you're worried, Claude, but..." Ilia bit her bottom lip. Now she felt stupid and reckless, like some beginning trainee at boot camp. And what was worse, she had gotten children involved.

"I kind of... actually, I kind of led a few kids along with me." Ilia ground out the words through her teeth. They were pretty painful to say, but she wasn't going to lie about it to Claude. "And when I say 'kids,' I mean they're like thirteen or something. I though that since the basement was the only clue people had to escaping this place that it wouldn't be a problem having them tag along. I mean, that would mean they would escape quicker, right?"

"If I leave their group now, I can't guarantee they won't try to go further on their own and I can't just abandon them." Dammit. What was she going to do now?

[full-score.livejournal.com]

"Kids?" Claude echoed, his fist clenched against his knee. Come to think of it, one of the reasons his mother had gone through with the assassination mission had been to protect a young girl, right? He couldn't exactly blame her for sticking with two children who wanted to explore the basement. And judging by how capable they must have been to help his mom win both the sword and shield without getting left in the dust, it was very well possible they'd decide to go on their own if she backed out now.

It also meant that, if a coliseum battle did take place, his mother would likely be the one to sacrifice herself for the sake of the young civilians with her.

The thought made his eyes sting with unshed tears. Damn, he couldn't just stand back and let her do this, could he?

But what else could he do short of physically blocking their path every night? She had a point about the basement being their only clue so far, and Claude couldn't exactly say it was a dead end as long as he had the caverns to explore. If, by some miracle, they did discover an escape, he couldn't keep it to himself, either.

"And, no, I...really can't talk about it," he clarified, his voice a little tighter than normal.

In the end, he was at a loss for what else to say. Gaze drifting toward the table, Claude lapsed into a heavy silence.

[avengingfists.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," she admitted, knowing that wouldn't make it any easier on Claude to accept. She forced a smile and a laugh. "Well, running head-first into danger is kinda what I do. Captain, that is, Captain Kenny, always had this policy of nothing ventured, nothing gained."

She didn't expect her ambitious endeavor to wind up nearly as dangerous as she thought. Rose and Gamzee were capable and strong. They were just progressing to the next level, working to find a way out of this place.

"I'm sorry, Claude. I just can't..." She sighed again, shaking her head. "Backing out isn't an option at this point."

She reached over and attempted to pat the back of his hand. She wanted to give him at least a little comfort if she could. "Tell you what. I promised Anise already that I would post a message on the bulletin before I go to breakfast tomorrow. You'll see. I'll be fine."

[full-score.livejournal.com]

Even though his mother was only trying to help him feel better, the reminder of Dad only made Claude's chest ache all the more. She had no idea that he'd already come and gone through this place, having met an unknown fate like so many others who'd disappeared before him. What was he supposed to say to that? How was he supposed to keep her from going away too?

In light of all the uncertainty, her assurances felt hollow to Claude. She had no way of knowing whether she'd be able to post a message tomorrow if she made it to the coliseum. But Claude couldn't outright tell her that, either.

Instead, he sighed and gave a small nod. "I'll...be keeping an eye out for it, then."

[avengingfists.livejournal.com]

He didn't seem fully convinced yet, but Ilia couldn't blame him. He understood this place better than she did. He knew the real dangers even if he couldn't talk about them. It must really hurt.

She gave his hand a small squeeze then pulled back. She took a bite of her sandwich and forced it down, though it had lost its flavor a bit due to drop in the mood. Claude also wasn't eating, but that just wouldn't do.

"Eat, Claude. You need your strength," she said encouragingly. It felt natural to encourage him in the smallest of ways. She didn't want to come across as pushy, just logical, though there was definitely something... deeper than that. Ilia couldn't quite place it, but something different was definitely there.