Watching Keera approach her, Scarlet had to suppress a smile, instead focusing on the food in front of her. She had seen the signs Keera was showing before, the signs of a beaten human, trying to muster a last resistance. The signs, right before they rolled over and simply gave up. A look of defiance, coupled with weariness and hopelessness, the shoulders slightly slumped, as if the whole world was pressing down on them, while they tried to keep their posture upright and erect. Scarlet could make an educated guess that the days Keera had spent in Albertina had not been pleasant, that the best case scenario, at least for Scarlet, had occurred. The world had ground Keera up and spit her out, so if Scarlet could spin it the right way, she would have her. That knowledge sent a small thrill through her, something she hid deep down within her. She had to show kindness and compassion, mixed with a little disbelief that Keera actually wanted to join her, making sure that Keera blamed herself for any unpleasantness she had suffered during the last few days.
Scarlet tried timing it in such a way that Keera was a few steps away, when she looked up. She got it a little wrong, Keera was closer than planned, but her plan could still work.
Looking right at Keera, she made herself smile her most sincere and friendly smile, as if she was genuinely happy to see Keera. She actually was, but for other reasons than the other hopefully thought.
“Keera, Hi. It’s so good to see you again. How are you?” she asked, her tone not sugary sweet but decidedly friendly. Keera stopped for a moment, just a split-second, in which Scarlet could see her back straighten a little more and a glimmer of hope appear in her eyes.
“Hello Scarlet. I’ve been…” there was another moment of hesitation and her eyes flickered to the others at the table, who focused far too hard on their vegetable mush to not be listening but she continued, “good.”
“That’s great. Why don’t you get your food and join us? These are my bunk-roommates, I’ll introduce you.” Scarlet suggested, adding a tiny bit of enthusiasm to the first part of her suggestion.
She looked at the others, without giving Keera a chance to reply. “You don’t mind, do you?” she asked, her voice still friendly but with an undertone that told them all that if they did in fact mind, she would break their mind. Just for fun.
Bea was the one answering, her voice just as friendly as Scarlet’s had been. “No, of course not. Your friend is another newcomer here on Verdun, right?”
Scarlet had to marvel at Bea’s skill, she could hear no falsehood in her voice, truly a gifted actress. Part of her was tempted to crack open the other’s mind, just to see what was lurking within, even stretching her mind in that direction, peeping at her surface thoughts, but even those were friendly and harmless. There was just a tiny bit of rippling, something she had never felt before but one of her instructors had talked about, it was a sign of a normal human, using mental discipline techniques to control their thoughts.
“Yes, she is, we did our orientation together.” Scarlet confirmed, playing her part of the friendly acquaintance who really wanted to be Keera’s friend.
“Sure, I will sit with you.” Keera agreed, before trotting off to get herself food.
As soon as Keera’s back was turned, Scarlet gave Bea a hard look, not quite glare but making clear that if Bea disturbed her play, there would be hell to pay. Bea managed to keep her composure, only a tiny widening in her eyes showing fear, and gave an almost imperceptible small nod.
When Keera returned, Scarlet was all smiles again, introducing the roommates whose names she could remember and making a show of it, adding some humor to take the sting out of the names she had forgotten. Bea helped out a little, playing into it, by introducing the three whose names Scarlet hadn’t bothered to remember, as Grace, Leyla and Nora. Everyone took their cues from Bea, either consciously or subconsciously, and they made a bit of an effort to make Keera welcome.
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Scarlet didn’t want Keera to have a breakdown right there in the mess, as it would only humiliate her. No, it would be better if the breakdown she assumed would soon happen, occured in private, with only her there to see and console Keera. That way, Keera would associate Scarlet with hope and the lifting of her bad feelings, instead of possibly blaming her for the breakdown.
To prevent Keera from thinking too much, Scarlet consciously made smalltalk, talking about the weather of all things. Not just because it was about as safe a topic as she could think of, but also because it was one she needed more information on. What she learned, mainly from Bea, who seemed to have picked up on what she was doing, was that the cloudy weather they had the last few days was atypical, that it was late spring and that the weather would generally stay pleasant for the next few months before, during late fall, there would be a lot more rain. Bea confirmed a few of Scarlet’s thoughts about the local climate, that there was only a short winter, often even without any snow, thanks to the shielding mountains, but that during the spring-thaw the various brooks, streams and rivers in the area would swell up a great deal. In addition to that there was the rainy time, during late fall, with a few weeks of almost constant rain, causing a similar effect, that then, everything would be soaked.
Summer would be the time during which most work could be done, long days, not too hot, not cold and mostly good weather. Bea told about the multiple harvests that they could bring in and that she had heard that the fields were rotated every couple of years, that the worked area to the south would go back to wild meadow and the area north of town would be cultivated, so that the land wouldn’t be overworked. It reminded Scarlet of ancient history class, talking about rotating crops.
Part of her wondered about the way the quota system would work in the winter, would they either have to harvest enough during the summer to pay their way in the winter or would the quota be reduced? While she had managed to harvest a month’s quota in ten days, it would be harder with two people. Not impossible, but difficult. There was a sneaking suspicion in the back of her mind that the quota-system was at least partially used by the Doctor to control people, with him the benevolent agent of an unjust system above.
That conversation allowed Keera to simply sit and eat, without getting drawn into a conversation about her situation and soon, she was finished eating and Scarlet noticed a strange look in Keera’s eyes. Bea must have noticed something as well and spoke up.
“Don’t worry about your dishes, we’ll take them away.” she said to Scarlet, who smiled, thanked them all and asked Keera to walk with her a bit, for digestion. Not that it was really needed but she wanted to get the other out and away from people.
They walked for a bit, away from the people, towards the walls. When Scarlet judged that they were alone and Keera would start speaking any moment, she went first, making her voice as compassionate as possible.
“Are you alright? You said you are, but, you seem, I don’t know… down.” Scarlet asked, trying to sound as young and worried as possible.
Keera almost stumbled and Scarlet noticed that she was shaking, so she turned, to stand in front of her, looking into her eyes and waited for a moment. The shaking intensified and then, as if a dam was breaking, tears started streaming down Keera’s face and sobs started to escape her throat.
Internally rolling her eyes, Scarlet pulled the other into a hug as best as she could, their disparate sizes making it a little awkward but the moment she did, Keera’s knees buckled, bringing her down to a more manageable level. With Keera’s face buried in an embrace, Scarlet could, for just a moment, let her facial expression go, she had been almost started to cramp up from schooling it the whole time. Only the laughter that wanted to escape had to be suppressed, but she was smiling, a smile that spoke of plans working, even better than hoped. A smile that would have fitted better onto the face of someone who had just bought a particular rare treasure, triumphant and possessive.
Scarlet stood there, holding Keera who thoroughly soaked her shirt with tears, gently stroking her back. She even considered making soothing noises but decided against it, thinking it would be too much, instead, she simply kept silent, letting Keera cry herself out as much as needed. She knew that every bit of compassion she was showing now, would be worth it in the end, cementing her position in Keera’s mind as the lifeline she would clutch, the one, shining light of hope in a dreary existence. If she managed to pull off what she was planning, Keera would be hers, even tighter bound to her than she could be bound using mental domination.
After all, she would be bound, by a chain of her own making.