S a l e t é I I

XVI - Griffes - Un

One thing that Cassia became thankful for very quickly was Zisel being free from her work, given that nothing currently needed mended. As such, she was now able to spend all of her time out on the ground floor by the fire, where she could join in with the antics of the other girls, something that she had little choice in considering the girls she would be sat with.

Every now and then she would play along with Uliana or Klavdiya as they sought to irritate each other, whilst at other times she attempted to keep the peace, though she wasn't safe from their teasing herself.

"Zisel's really good at fixing clothes, but she's too good, if you ask me." Uliana was saying as she leant a little closer to Cassia, the four of them taking up what had become their new usual spots around the old drum, which they continued to top up with scrappy bits of wood.

Polina even had a chair of her own.

Zisel looked unimpressed already, as if she could practically sense a joke at her expense coming, such an expression quietly amusing Cassia in advance.

"Once, she patched up all the holes in a pair of jeans for Chief. She did great and all, but there was only one problem."

"What was it?"

"He couldn't get his legs in."

Uliana looked thoroughly entertained by her own joke, the sight of her so proud of the remarks coming out of her own mouth soon getting Cassia giggling, whilst the sound that came from Klavdiya was less of a laugh and more of a snort. Zisel, naturally, continued to appear displeased.

"That's nothing, listen to this one." Klavdiya began, smiling now as Uliana appeared eager to hear her own attempt at being witty.

"Zisel, you're a tailor, aren't you?"

"Hmm." Was all she got in response from the girl in question.

"And what's the best thing to say to get a tailor's attention?"

She paused for a moment before delivering the answer, a similar look to the one that had struck Uliana coming to her too.

"A hem."

"That's not even funny." Zisel replied, her annoyance persisting when Uliana found the punchline remarkable, her laughter only rising.

The terrible exchanges were one thing, but the reactions from all three of the girls were what entertained Cassia the most. Being able to sit with them as they bickered might have been an amicable replacement for television, and she found herself smiling more often than not.

Smiling...? Yeah, she was smiling. She had things to smile about.

"You're just jealous because you can't come up with anything better." Uliana taunted playfully, giving Zisel a glance that was almost challenging, the young tailor blatantly sensing it.

"The only thing funny about all of this is that you actually think it's funny." Zisel protested, which didn't do her much good, the other two girls continuing their snickering.

By the light of the fire, everything seemed that little bit more tolerable, and the darkness that wasn't breached by it didn't matter. The risks beyond the warehouse walls didn't matter either, not right now. They were out of sight and out of mind.

If only a few other things could have been out of mind too. Maybe then she could have really appreciated her company?

Taya remained nearby, appearing and disappearing from behind the various leftover storage units and containers at intervals that only she understood, her new crayons in hand. There were a few occasions where she would pause for a moment, observing the group as they continued to talk and laugh around the fire, and Cassia wondered if she wanted to come over.