Chapter 48: 48 Merge All, Part Two

Two months after impact

There wasn't a lot of space in the gymnasium shower rooms for washing clothes by hand, but Ibrahim and Yong Jie had finally set up a system that worked and could make do with it. They only had one bucket, to slowly fill with soapy water, but they could rinse the clothes under the showers and let them drip dry. And it was better than letting Rod Spark try to ruin the kitchen sink again.

While Yong Jie tackled people's laundry and mending, Milo cleaned the floors outside as he did every night.

Yong Jie patched one of Ibrahim's threadbare shirts, carefully pressing the needle through the material, and heard the faint sound of Ibrahim's voice outside. Ibrahim was mumbling, trying to keep his voice low. Yong Jie knew he shouldn't let himself overhear.

Instead he paused in his sewing and walked closer to the door.

Ibrahim and Milo stood close to each other, Milo's tall form casting a dramatic shadow over Ibrahim as he looked down and curled his hands away.

"My hands are dirty, Milo. Please don't touch them," Ibrahim said, in a voice Yong Jie had to strain to hear.

"What do I care if your hands are dirty? So are mine. It's not a big deal," Milo said.

Ibrahim looked up at Milo and cast his face in red. "I'm working, Milo. The kitchen is still not..."

From behind Yong Jie, Freya said, "There you are! We have to start dinner," loud enough that he jumped.

Yong Jie looked at his feet and turned in her direction, before offering the half-finished mending as proof he wasn't ready for that.

"I'd rather not," Yong Jie said.

Behind him, Ibrahim cleared his throat. "Oh, I can take over with that, Yong Jie. They are my shirts after all. It's not good for a growing young man to starve himself over nothing."

"See!" Freya said, and grabbed the shirt from Yong Jie's hand. "You don't have to wait."

*

Four months after impact

"Did you know they have washing machines on this side?" Gael asked. "That's so cool. We won't have to have camp-wide chore rosters anymore."

"Oh, no, you will still have to sweep everything," Freya said, and winked. She seemed to find Gael fun to tease, but then, she seemed to find everyone fun to tease.

"What are your impressions of this side of the camp so far?" Yong Jie asked.

"You've noticed me meeting all those new people, huh? Well, so far I've mostly met Jin's friends. Josephine seems okay and Angharad is delightful, but then I already knew she was because we communicated through the barrier. She's so cute!" Freya said.

"Are all of his friends girls?" Gael asked.

"Why, hoping he'll set you up with one?" Freya asked. "I don't know. I think there just weren't that many boys his own age on his side of the barrier and Jin isn't really good with authority."

"But you're both in a military. It makes no sense for someone who struggles with authority to join a military structure," Yong Jie said.

Freya flapped a hand through the air like she could swat away his protestations. "There were special circumstances. I don't know that I trust his opinions on anyone he doesn't like, though. He gets grumpy about things and can't see as clearly as he'd like. That just means I'll have to investigate more."

"I'm going to find all the hot girls," Gael said, and walked away.

How tiresome. Gael's perpetual skirt-chasing was vulgar and immature.

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"I've noticed you talking to that woman," Yong Jie said.

"That... Oh, your mother. I know you don't like her and I'm sure your reasons are valid but she does seem sincere in her desire to make sure everyone here remains physically healthy," Freya said.

"I'm sure it seems that way to people who don't know her better."

"Either way, I'm not finished with calibrating my expectations. There's a lot more for me to learn and I'm looking to share my information with Jin."

"Are you sure your colleague is trustworthy?"

Freya nodded. "I would trust him with my life. I've already trusted him with my life. Jin and I have known each other for years. At the very least, we know each other well enough to know how to compensate for each other's flaws."

"If you're satisfied with that, I suppose I can't argue."

"Argue all you want. I just won't listen!" she said in a sing-song voice, then swivelled and walked away.

*

The laundry was quiet, and even though Angharad was the sick one, Sophie wasn't up to doing much, so she'd put all their dirty clothes into a bag and trudged there. It didn't take long to realise she wouldn't be alone in there, though. There was a quiet man folding clothes with gentle fingers. He had a faint smile on his face as he made a pile of shirts fold really neat, which Angharad didn't really see the appeal of. But he was quiet, and given the increased noise in Zapville, that was kind of appealing.

She tried to be quiet, also, as she shoved clothes into a machine but when he looked up, one eye flashing red, she knew she hadn't managed.

"Smithton's Medical?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"I beg your pardon?" There was something gentle and rounded about his voice, too.

"The eye, is it a Smithton's Medical brand prosthetic? I saw their stuff at a trade fair once. It looked cool. I mean, it's totally not my business."

"Ah, yes it is. You have a good eye."

She couldn't help but laugh. "And so do you!"

"I should let you know my name," he said. He stood up properly and let the rest of the shirts remain unfolded. "I am Ibrahim, Miss...?"

"Oh, I'm Angharad. Now I get why the doctor said I should meet you."

"Do you have an interest in medical prosthetics?"

"I mean, occasionally, but I mostly have an interest in interesting people and cool stuff."

"Then let me assure you, that while it restores my depth perception at the expense of most of my colour perception, this allows me to do my work, and that is, indeed, very cool."

"Then the sacrifice is definitely worth it!"

Ibrahim gave her a way useful tip for stain removal, which was nice, and kind of like a present for Sophie who probably wouldn't notice that Angharad had finally managed to remove that coffee stain from her favourite pink scarf. Angharad would know the stain was gone, though, which was way more important. It made her feel good to think about it, as she removed the damp scarf from a tub just as the washing machine started to ping, like she was doing a bunch of good deeds and not even trying to get credit for them. And all she was doing was laundry!

He seemed really surprised when she told him he was so nice, and super helpful! She did like meeting someone so humble, but it was also kind of weird. Honestly, if she knew all the secrets to stain removal she'd be totally egotistical about it.

It was, okay, maybe not enough to make her forget about the weirdness earlier, but a good distraction nonetheless.

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