Chapter 5: Shared Property
Where the hell is she?! Caterina wondered impatiently as she reassembled her Tuma MTE .224 VA machine pistol for the sixth time. She and her sister were waiting for Triela's arrival in their assigned dorm room, which was still stark, unfurnished, and uncolored. The only furniture in the room was a circular table at its center (at which the twins were currently sitting) a dresser and wardrobe containing only a fraction of their total collection of clothing, and a pair of standard beds with goose-feather sheets and uncomfortable spring mattresses placed close together, side-by-side.
"You do know I'm sitting right next to you, don't you?" Celestina responded to her sister's mental outburst whilst absentmindedly skimming through the operator's manual for her Zastava CZ 05, "Won't you just, you know, talk to me?"
"It's a habit, Cel. You know I like to keep everything in my head."
"Well," Caterina stated quietly, distantly, "It's not just your head where you're keeping these things, remember?"
"I know, I know. I'll keep that in mind from now on, though it's not like I can do anything about it." After this, neither twin spoke, as both were absorbed in their actions. The only sounds in the room were the flipping of pages and the clicking together of firearm parts. Caterina put down her gun after putting it back together twice more, but Celestina kept up her reading.
"How many times are you going to look through that?" Caterina asked, seeking to break the silence.
"It's the only reading material we have right now, and reading is the only thing I can do in this room to save myself from boredom."
"Why don't you actually try putting your weapon in your hands so you can study it closer? Once you take a more careful look at it, it's actually a lot more interesting than the pictures."
"It's easier for me to learn this way. I'm not a 'hands-on' person like you. I prefer to keep things… impersonal."
Caterina shrugged. "I may not understand why you feel that way," she said, smiling at their differing opinions, "But then again, I know you don't understand either."
Suddenly, both twins perked up at the distant sound of footsteps in the hall, a sound which would be inaudible for normal, unenhanced ears. It's her, isn't it? Celestina asked without really looking for an answer.
Caterina, however, was happy to provide the redundant response, How would I know? Whoever it is, though, it sounds like they're wearing pretty heavy boots, so it's probably her.
At that moment the door opened and Triela walked in, beaming pleasantly. "Buongiorno, girls," she greeted them warmly, "Studying hard, I see. That's good."
Caterina and Celestina glanced at one another, suspicious of Triela's sweetness, especially after her horrid experience with them yesterday. What's she trying to pull? Caterina asked.
Celestina replied slowly and cautiously, I don't know. I can't read her.
What do you mean you 'can't read her'?! Caterina protested.
We've only known Triela for a few hours, what do you expect?
Fine, Caterina huffed and then asked aloud, "Are you… feeling okay, Princess?"
Triela stood in front of the doorway in her black leather jacket and typical formal men's clothing, still smiling with her hands on her hips. "Me?" she said sounding like a bit of an airhead, "I'm fine. If you're wondering why I'm being so nice, though, it's because I've been reading through your files and I've decided to be a fair, reasonable handler."
Looks like she's got us figured out, Cel, Caterina commented.
That can be changed, Cat, Celestina responded slyly. She questioned Triela in a tone that made it obvious that she was ignoring her previous comment, "So, where are we going today?"
"Well," Triela answered, inwardly thankful that the Twins didn't want to investigate her behavior any further, "Today is my handler's day off, and he's out and about doing God knows what, so I figured instead of training and working we could do something fun and get to know each other a little more. How does that sound?"
"It sounds to me like you're just being lazy," Caterina answered arrogantly, "Either that, or you still haven't figured out a training regiment."
"I'll admit, I don't know yet how your training will go," Triela said slightly embarrassed, "But what I have planned for today will be good for us as well, so… come on." She smiled once more and motioned for the twins to follow her as she turned to leave.
Celestina sighed and said acquiescently to her sister, "We might as well, right sorella?"
"After you, dear sister," Caterina responded politely as they both rose and Celestina took the lead.
"So," Triela said excitedly with the Alvise Twins in tow, slightly hunched and looking extremely bored, "The Agency's recently installed a game room, but we could also set up some makeshift goals and play calcio with some of the other girls who have nothing to do. I think Jose's also on his day off, meaning Henrietta should be free today. She may not look like it, but she has quite a kick."
"We don't know if you saw, but yesterday when the Agency brought us our clothes, we ended up having to unload over a dozen boxes of dresses," Caterina said.
"Apparently," her sister added, "We weren't very athletic in our past lives."
"Don't worry about it," Triela reassured them, "I'm sure we could find someone here who wears your sizes; Beatrice, maybe, or Rico. Probably even Angeli-" She stopped suddenly.
The Twins' eyebrows rose curiously as their handler's sentence was cut short with a choke. "What?" they both questioned vaguely.
"N-nothing," Triela replied unconvincingly, unable to shake the look of pensive concern on her face, "I was just saying we could probably find some… leftover clothes for you to wear."
The Twins shared a glance. What do you think? Caterina wondered, seeing a possible opportunity to pester their superior.
Leave it, Celestina responded, Whatever that was just now is none of our concern, so we shouldn't poke into it any further.
At this point the trio crossed paths with Henrietta, who seemed to be on her way back from doing her laundry. Triela's mood changed instantly as she stopped her friend with a friendly greeting and began rifling through her hamper. "H-hey!" Henrietta protested, blushing as her friend turned over undergarments and pajamas in search of something.
"Hmm…" Triela said absentmindedly, taking no heed of her friend's discomfort, "Here it is!" She pulled out two track pants near the bottom of the pile and held them at arms length, sizing them up. "They look perfect!" she exclaimed after a while. She handed the pants to the Twins, who took them up doubtfully and observed them warily.
"What are you doing?!" Henrietta asked Triela indignantly without bothering to take back her stolen clothes.
Triela answered, seeming not to notice Henrietta's embarrassment, "We're going to play 'soccer' as the Americans call it. Care to join us, champion striker?"
Henrietta was still pouting slightly, but at the thought of playing a game (any game, really) with friends was something she just couldn't resist. Still, she tried to play reluctant, "I don't really have a choice now since you have my clothes. I'll play one game, okay?"
"Great! Let's all go get changed and meet up in the courtyard."
Half an hour later, both Alvise twins were making their ways to the designated meeting place wearing identical navy blue track suits to shield themselves from the cold, damp autumn courtyard. "Are you any good at this game?" Celestina asked her sister.
"I don't know," Caterina answered doubtfully, "Why, are you?"
Celestina shrugged and said, "I don't know if either of us has ever played."
"It can't be that hard, right? All you have to do is kick the ball into the net."
"I think you're oversimplifying… things…" Celestina trailed off as the courtyard came into sight where two old, rickety goals had been set up a good thirty meters or so apart. However, it wasn't the distance, or the poor condition of the goals that caused their jaws to drop. What stunned them was watching Triela and Henrietta warming up. Their handler, who had traded in her formal ensemble for a pair of black shorts and a shirt with matching gloves, was positioned in front of the goal post, squatting slightly in absolute concentration and preparation. Henrietta, on the other hand, had one foot on the ball, and both hands on her hips, looking serene as she planned her attack on Triela's mark.
Suddenly, without warning, Henrietta's leg flashed back, then forward within a fragment of a moment. The ball flew just as quickly in a slanted arc, and looked as if it would elude Triela; however, she jumped up high, twirling gracefully in the air and swinging her leg with perfect accuracy so that it struck the spherical projectile, sending it flying far across the makeshift field and into the opposing goal. Triela landed skillfully, laughed and called out to the Twins, "Which one of you wants to be on my team?"
The Twins looked at each other and thought on the idea. Finally, Celestina said, "Alright, you get Princess and I'll keep the goal for Henrietta."
"Don't worry," Triela said confidently to her teammate (though she refrained from naming her, as she still had trouble differentiating between the twins), "We'll beat them, no problem."
"Let's just play to five," Henrietta said as she retrieved the ball, "Lunch is coming up soon and I still have to fold my laundry."
Celestina took her place in front of the goal opposite Triela's. She nodded when she felt ready and Henrietta placed the ball in the center of the playing field. She and Caterina stepped back to stand next to their partners. Everyone was tense and ready to play.
Suddenly, both Caterina and Henrietta surged forward as fast as they could toward the ball. The former proved to be quicker, reaching the ball and maneuvering clumsily around the latter, only managing to do so because dew caused Henrietta's leather boots to slip. Caterina's balanced was just barely maintained as well, but she rushed to the goal that her sister was guarding.
"Go, go, go!" Triela cheered excitedly for her partner.
Caterina closed the distance between her and Celestina, until finally she kicked the ball rather weakly because of the wet grass. However, Thanks to the momentum of her sprint, it flew well and accurately enough.
However, Celestina dashed sideways and swatted the ball away. "That was weak!" she taunted her sister playfully.
"Really?" Caterina retorted after catching the ball again, "Then how about this?!" she punted the ball once more, and once more her sister stopped it, sending it back to her.
This process repeated itself, speeding up as it went on. Caterina would kick and Celestina would block and return the ball. Both were truly absorbed in the game now. Whatever reservations they had with playing were gone. As a result, though, Henrietta and Triela were left to stand back and watch. Soon, the ball was no longer touching the ground at all as it was passed fluidly and rapidly from one twin to another.
"It's like both know what the other's going to do before they even do it," Henrietta commented in amazement.
"I actually think that that's exactly what's going on," Triela said, "Making this a game of endurance, rather than skill."
After a full ten minutes of nonstop kicking and returning at full strength, both Alvise twins were dead tired, flushed, sweating, and panting. Caterina had the ball, but she held it, trying to regain her energy.
"Aren't we… wasting our… time?" Celestina huffed tiredly as she wiped her forehead with her sleeve. "We can't score… against each other…"
"Yeah…" Caterina answered, nodding, "…I know. But that's not… going to stop me!" She took what little energy she had left and concentrated all of it into one final, furious kick which sent the ball toward Celestina like a blurry white cannonball.
Celestina lined herself up with the ball's path, lifted her leg, and brought it down ferociously as she swung her fist as hard as she could. There was a brief feeling of contact, and then an explosion as the ball burst from the accumulated force of the blows inflicted upon it. The flat, deflated bag that remained wrapped itself around Celestina's fist and stuck to it like a large, misshapen glove.
Both twins stared dully, their minds too tired to comprehend what had just happened. Finally, due to exhaustion both fell simultaneously onto their backs in the grass, thankful for the cool dew. "We're done," they mumbled simultaneously.
Henrietta watched with her mouth slightly open. "Are they okay?" she asked, concernedly.
Triela, however, could not provide an answer. She could hardly even breathe as she fell over, laughing.