I followed Head Nurse Maurina and the Captain into one of the many parlors. This one was small, with only an armchair and a two-person sofa standing opposite each other.

Maurina motioned for the former. "Please, sit."

So I sat. On the edge of the armchair, but I sat. Maurina took the sofa, and the Captain preferred to stand.

"How are you feeling, Kailyn?" Maurina asked, eying me closely.

I gave her the honest answer: "Like an insect under a magnifying glass."

An amused smile tugged at Maurina's lips. Or maybe she was just being polite. "Is there something we can do to help you relax? Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No, thank you. I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible. And I'm sorry about eavesdropping, I was just... What am I getting myself into, exactly?"

Maurina took off her glasses. There was no tension in the movement, and I calmed a little. "Tell me what you know about the boy."

I shrugged. "Not much. What do you want to hear?"

"Anything will do."

"Okaaay..." I filed through the information I gathered from my visits and the various reactions people had to the idea of me working with Raccoon Boy. "Well... He has an interesting hair color, so there may be magic involved. Apart from that, he's locked away with the dangerous people, though he doesn't strike me as particularly so."

"Are you afraid of him?" Maurina asked, making me blink at her. What kind of question was that?

"No. I could take him on if it came down to it. And he likes animals; I'm sure that counts for something." I directed my gaze at the Captain. "I've also heard that the princess herself is very concerned for him. He can't be a bad person."

The Captain sighed and dropped into the sofa after all. "It's a very difficult situation. I know little about the young man. He used to be friends with my daughter, but he's changed. And now..." The Captain's face darkened. "I'm glad to hear you are not afraid, but I must advise you to exercise caution. He may not be a fighter, but his intellect is without parallel. And it's his intellect that makes him a capable opponent."

I cupped my chin, taking in all the new info. "So, you're basically saying he's super smart, and that's a weapon nothing short of drugging the stuffing out of him can strip him of." I jolted at my own words. "So... Are you drugging him?"

"We hope to avoid such drastic measures," Maurina cut in, her finger pushing at glasses that weren't there. "But we will, should it become necessary."

I nodded, silently vowing to protect Raccoon Boy from that fate. I'd seen it before – the dim eyes, the drooping shoulders, the shuffling feet of those too woozy to stand upright. It was necessary at times, and I accepted that ages ago. But that didn't mean I liked it. I'd taken that hostile glint in those icy eyes over no glint at all any day.

"I still have a question, Kailyn," Maurina interrupted my musings. "I've been told you visited the boy once. But you said you went twice."

My face heated up again. Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut for a change?! This was going to be painful. "I had an episode outside his cell, and before anyone asks: No, still no change. I don't remember a thing. Anyway, I forgot the key in the lock because of it. So I went back and figured that, since I was there anyway, I might as well go in and try to talk to him another time."

"You forgot the key?!"

That was just about what I expected. The Captain jumped to his feet and paced the small room.

However, Maurina seemed to remain unfazed. "How did it go?"

"Surprisingly well. He's quite the talker once you convince him to open his mouth." I rolled my eyes at the memory. "Got all hung up on some grammar oddity. I didn't even know that was possible. I guess I need to broaden my word pool a bit before I can follow what he's babbling about."

"That sounds like him alright," the Captain muttered. "You may want to start with using 'vocabulary' instead of 'word pool'. But!" He eyed me with a grave expression. "You will not go anywhere near his cell block without a guard. And you will turn in your keys."

I suspected as much. "Of course. I wouldn't trust myself with them, either." I bowed my head. "But thank you for not taking me off the task. I really want to help him, whoever he is."

The Captain's expression softened. "I wish the best for you, Kailyn."

"And Raccoon Boy!"

"And Raccoon Boy. Is that what you call him?"

I shrugged. "I need to call him something. And seeing how everyone refuses to tell me his actual name, that's what I'm going with. He doesn't seem to mind. Or care."

The Captain shared a look with Maurina, and she nodded. "Raccoon Boy it is. Listen up, Kailyn!"

She went on telling me some stuff that wasn't exactly new. She told me to observe Raccoon Boy closely, down to the slightest twitch of a toe. (Like that was even possible, considering the lighting conditions.) She also wanted a detailed account of every visit, starting with my first two. I pleaded confidentiality because that obviously wasn't intrusive at all. One of the perks of growing up around nurses was that I knew my rights and, by extension, Raccoon Boy's. Both Maurina and the Captain looked a little sour about it, but I told them I couldn't help Raccoon Boy if I couldn't have so much as a natural conversation with him. It's hard to do anything natural knowing you need to repeat it to someone else.

Of course, the real reason was that I didn't want to get Austin into trouble for smuggling sweets. Or Raccoon Boy for... well, having a raccoon. I could tell he needed Rudiger with him. I broke a bunch of ward rules, and I would probably break some more along the way. All for the greater good, naturally, but I was afraid that explanation wouldn't fly.

"I promise to tell you the important things. Oh, and I'm going to need help, since I've obviously never done this before and will alone will only get me so far."

"A wise decision." Maurina finally put her glasses back on. "If you have any questions, please ask."

There was that unspoken addition of unless they're related to his identity, but there was no point in complaining. I thought back on my two visits, and how unprepared I felt. But now that it came down to it, I couldn't find the words to convey my insecurities.

I licked my dry lips. "It's just... I don't know if this even counts as a question... I mean, it's probably really stupid..."

"There are no stupid questions," Maurina said, and I pulled a face at my lap.

"Why me? Why him? I mean, I get it, same age and same position and stuff, but... You want me to go in without prejudice? Too late. I can't forget Austin's reaction. Plus, now that I think about it, he didn't give me a reason to like him so far. Talking to him is awkward and... dreadful, and now you've basically told me that I can't trust a single word he says because he might end up using me one way or another." I gritted my teeth and my fingers curled into fists. I was already questioning the whole raisin business, and it was not pleasant.

"It's work, Kailyn."

"Huh?" I raised my head to stare at Maurina. I had some trouble processing her words.

"It's work, my dear. It takes effort to help those who don't want it. Results will not be quick. And it is not your task to like him. It's your task to understand. Do you believe you can fulfill it?"

A part of me was tempted to say no. My gaze dropped to my lap again. I must have been the picture of hesitation, and Maurina noticed.

"You can call off the mission if you're uncomfortable."

A snicker escaped me, spiting the tension. Mission. "I can call it off anytime, right?"

"Of course."

I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and looked straight into Maurina's eyes. "Then that time is not now."

Maurina smiled. "Thank you, Kailyn. Any other questions?"

I wasn't surprised when Austin walked up to me later that day. I was in the yard, lying on the grass with my eyes closed and soaking up what little sun reached the small, walled square while trying to soothe my worries and make plans. It was hard, considering I knew next to nothing about... everything.

Austin was a welcome change of pace. I heard him sit down next to me and shortly after, something round and relatively heavy was placed on my stomach. I cracked open an eye and lifted my head to check – it was Austin's helmet.

A smile broke out on my face and I relaxed back into the grass. If he was in the right state to be fooling around again, he must have gotten over his worry.

"I take it you're feeling better now?"

Austin hummed. "The Captain assigned me as your guard while you take care of... the boy."

My eyes snapped open and I sat bolt upright, helmet tumbling into my lap. I was beaming so hard, the sun had nothing on me! "Really?!"

"Yes." Austin returned the smile, but I could detect a hint of concern in it. He wasn't completely fine with the idea of me and Raccoon Boy yet, and it dampened my mood quite a bit.

"You really think he'll hurt me, right?"

Austin turned away. He didn't answer for a while, but eventually, he caved. "I don't know, Kai. I never met him in person, but I... hear things. I know you're not afraid and I want to trust your judgment. Even the princess, but I just... I don't know. I wish I could tell you what he's done."

I grabbed the helmet and put it into the grass next to me. Free to move, I scooched closer and turned a little to lean against Austin's side, silently asking him to wrap his arm around me. He complied.

I sighed. "I get that, believe me. Nurse Maurina said I should try to understand Raccoon Boy, but I've been thinking about it and I have no idea how I'm supposed to understand anything if people refuse to tell me where he went off the deep end."

"Raccoon...?"

"Oh yeah, that raccoon we chased was actually the boy's pet. His name's Rudiger. Quite a sweet little guy when he doesn't have his teeth inside you."

Austin made a weird rumbling noise. "That explains why it was tearing up the infirmary," he muttered, and I tilted my head back to try and look at him.

"What do you mean?"

Austin shook his head. "Never mind. We were talking about understanding that boy, right?"

I grumbled. I could see the distraction, but I let it go. "Yeah..."

"Well, perhaps Nurse Maurina wants you to... actually..."

"Make friends with him?"

Austin kept silent. I wasn't sure if I should find it funny or concerning that the idea was so offensive to him he couldn't even say it out loud.

Probably both.

"You know, I thought about that, too. But she said I didn't need to like him. Besides, don't you think it would be a strange end goal? Befriending a criminal?"

"That does sound weird..." Austin let go of me and I turned around to meet his gaze. It was pretty bleak. "You really thought this through, didn't you?"

I shrugged. "Of course. It's a huge change. There's so much to take in and puzzle over, like how my impression of Raccoon Boy fits into how everyone seems to be shaking in their boots at the mere mention of him. That's super unsettling. Besides, I don't really have better things to do."

Austin's lips curled into a thoughtful frown as he mulled it over, then his face lit up. "Are you up for a game of chess?"

For a moment, I just stared dumbly. I'd been completely blindsided by the suggestion, but it didn't take long for me to find my bearings and pick up Austin's helmet, grinning. He knew me too well. "How could I ever say no to that?"

I was glad to get my mind off of Raccoon Boy for a while. The game room was brimming with people as usual, with nurses and patients killing time between therapy sessions, nurses and patients during therapy sessions, guards on duty who watched out for signs of fighting (like flying cards, though the craziest thing I'd seen so far was someone getting stab-happy with a rook) and guards off duty who shouldn't be there but came in anyway to play dice somewhere they wouldn't be caught.

I grabbed the last of three chess boards and a box of chess pieces. I didn't exactly have tournament skills, but I enjoyed chess very much and knew some good moves with the two bishops. I found that people tended to underestimate these, though Austin had seen through me long ago and always went for them. At the moment, I was trying to shift my focus to the knights, which were Austin's favorites.

I don't know how long we played. I only know that the dinner bell rang and cut short a match when I was winning, dammit!

A moan escaped me as I prepared to gather the pieces and put them back into the box, but Austin stopped me with a hand on mine.

"I'm sure there's time to finish this game." He grinned. "Besides, we'll avoid the queues!"

I smirked. I liked the suggestion very much. "You sure you want to get stomped by me?"

Austin teasingly wagged a finger. "Uh-uh, don't count your chickens before they're hatched! I still have my knights!"

"Not for long, you don't!" I teased right back, and I made good on that promise while the people around us slowly folded their cards, shut their books and shelved their boards. When I finally said the most glorious of words ("Checkmate!"), we were alone with two guards and a nurse.

I leaned back in the chair and stretched with a sigh of bliss. "Ah, that was fun! We should do this more often." I looked around. "I don't think I've ever seen this place so quiet. I could actually concentrate for once!"

"True!" Austin twisted in his chair to get up (they were all fixed to the floor) and put on his helmet. "Mind if I go ahead and grab a table?"

"Please do! And grab some plates while you're at it; I'm not sure how long there'll be any."

"Will do!" He saluted and went off, leaving me with a chess board to put away. It was a foldable one, with hinges to save space, and as I swiped at the chess pieces, an idea popped into my head.

I looked around again. The nurse was an elderly woman named Juliet. She was busy tidying up the books and her ears weren't the best anymore. The two guards were talking to each other and paying me no heed. I was part of the landscape to them; I never caused a stir after all.

I could get into so much trouble for this. Then again, I already let a raccoon into the ward and fed it with nuts I wasn't supposed to have. Besides, I'd never get a chance like this ever again.

Before I could change my mind, I unclasped my now empty snack bag from the waistband of my breeches and sweeped the chess pieces into it, then folded the chess board and dropped it down the back of my tunic. I shivered as the cool wood touched my back, but I tightened my belt to make sure it wouldn't fall out. I shoved the empty box as far back onto the highest shelf as I could reach and quietly slipped out of the room.

Austin was so going to kill me.

"You again."

I curled my lips at the snub. I was nowhere near as nervous as I'd been for the two prior visits, so I could respond in kind. "Yup, me again."

I'd caught Raccoon Boy looking out the window, elbows on what passed for a window ledge around here and cupping his face. But at least the sun shone in a better angle this time, so when he turned around, I could actually see him glower at me. I felt a flash of sympathy. I'd walked in on him in a vulnerable moment.

I decided not to press the issue and showed him the chess board I'd been holding at my side. "I thought you're probably bored out of your skull in here, so I snuck this from the game room. Do you play?"

Raccoon Boy eyed me suspiciously, then the board, then me again. "Chess or checkers?"

"Uh, chess." I dropped my arms to my sides, board still in hand. "I didn't think of bringing checker pieces. Maybe next time?"

Raccoon Boy's eyes narrowed. "Don't think I didn't hear that."

"Hmm?" I tilted my head. "What?"

"You're going to make a habit out of this." He crossed his arms. "Don't you have better things to do?"

"Not really. I've been stuck in this ward for years. I mean, they try, but I'm bored out of my skull, too." It wasn't completely true, but it wasn't much of a lie, either. "You've probably noticed. We can't write or read anything without a guard nearby, because books are heavy and quills don't make for good eye decoration. We can't do needlework, no painting, no music, and we're always out of chalk. Anything that can be weaponized is forbidden, and everything can be weaponized. Including this board, so you better appreciate my effort."

Hopefully the door was thick enough to block the sound. Austin was positioned outside, waiting for an excuse to jump in here and strangle Raccoon Boy. Or something like that.

He was going to be incredibly bored. But at least he got paid for it, unlike certain other people.

I dropped to the floor and spread out the chess board. Rudiger shot from a corner to check it out, and I pushed him off before he hit on the marvelous idea to gnaw at it or some such nonsense. "No, Rudiger! This is humans only!"

Raccoon Boy muttered something, making me look up. "What?"

"Nothing," he brushed me off and sat on the opposite side of the board. He looked at me expectantly, so I shrugged and grabbed my pouch to turn it inside out. The wooden chess pieces clattered to the floor. A black rook developed a mind of its own and rolled away, but Raccoon Boy caught it before it could disappear into oblivion and set it up on his side. I was tempted to check if that was even correct, but I didn't want to look like a know-it-all and it honestly didn't matter.

"Well, that settles the color question."

I got no answer, but at least Raccoon Boy didn't need any further encouragement to gather the black pieces. It was probably a good thing that the game happened to be chess of all things, since it didn't require any verbal communication besides the occasional check announcement.

The silence was unnerving, though. Especially as it was permeated by the rattling of chains, which got increasingly hard to ignore. At some point, one of the slack parts swinging from Raccoon Boy's wrists hit a few of the chess pieces, scattering half of our formations and toppling the other half. He hissed when he pulled back, but it was the kind of hiss that came from sucking in breath, not from forcing it out.

It didn't help that Rudiger saw the chaos, apparently wanted in on it, and pounced. In a matter of seconds, the chess pieces were all over the place except for one, which was in the paws of a perfectly satisfied raccoon chilling on the newly emptied board.

Raccoon Boy's hand was glued to his face. "I'm sorry about that."

If I hadn't been so baffled at Rudiger, I might have done something weird. An apology was just about the last thing I ever thought I'd get. As it was though, it sounded so natural that my brain didn't even register it as unusual. "Never mind."

Rudiger tilted his head. He actually looked kind of smug, the way he stared at me with that blob of white between... "Hey! Isn't that my queen?"

I tried to pry the chess piece from Rudiger's paws, but only succeeded in lifting him up together with it.

I couldn't keep myself from snickering. A raccoon dangling from a chess piece and chittering his heartfelt indignation was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. "Alright. You win, you little queennapper!" Still chuckling, I dropped queen and critter and Rudiger zipped under the cot. Not out of reach, but apparently delusional enough to think so.

I directed my grin at Raccoon Boy, who... wasn't sharing in my joy at all. I wouldn't have blamed him for being all doom and gloom – this place wasn't exactly a funfair after all. But the way he sat there, shoulders tense, hands curled into fists and scowling, it was resentment I picked up from him. Hatred and anger... and pain.

My stomach turned. I caught myself hunching into my shoulders and forced them to relax. It was a bit tricky, but I twisted in my spot until I could stretch out my legs parallel to the chessboard and lean back on my hands without losing sight of Raccoon Boy. Looking nonchalant in a situation like this could be really tough.

"Say, do you always glare at people like they just stabbed your grandma, or is it just me? I'm not trying to steal your pet, y'know?"

"Who are you?"

I didn't expect an actual reply, so I wasn't surprised when he answered my question with a question. But it still confused me for a bit, and I drew up a knee to lean on while I bounced some words around my mind. Maybe I took this a little too seriously, but I wanted to be sincere in my answer without giving up too much info. Austin's panic and the Captain's warnings still haunted me. I trusted this boy about as far as I could throw him, however, if I wanted to get anywhere, building trust was absolutely vital.

I puffed up my cheeks. This was work indeed. "I'm not entirely sure where you're going with that question, but I guess I haven't actually introduced myself yet, so... yeah." I turned around and tucked in my legs so I could sit face-to-face with Raccoon Boy again, donning a smile in the process. "I'm Kailyn, but I prefer Kai. I'm currently the ward baby, or maybe that's you now, dunno. My best friend is six years older than me, so I'm glad to finally meet someone my age. I hope we can be friends!"

Raccoon Boy huffed and turned away. "I don't do friends."

I tilted my head. "Why not?"

I must have been really annoying, because that was the point where Raccoon Boy snapped. A jolt ran through him and he sat bold upright. Even from the side I could see his eyes widen briefly before he closed them and started yelling, "What do you care, anyway?!"

There was a note of despair in his voice, and I realized with a start that he was turned away not because he didn't deign to face me, but because he couldn't. He scrambled to his feet and made a dash for the window, which was about the farthest he could get from me in this cell. "Shouldn't you be running away from me like everybody else?!"

I didn't answer right away. I wanted to give him (and me) some time to breathe, but the silence hung heavy and eventually, I deemed myself calm enough to keep my voice level.

"I don't know. Should I?"

Alright, before my brain goes all scattery on me again, I need to say thanks for the guest reviews. If I had to guess, I'd say they're both from the same person, but I could be wrong. Either way, thank you, no matter how many of you there are!