Once they had all cut along the marked lines, Frederica spoke
"I think we're done with the cutting. It looks like we all did a pretty good job, didn't we?"
Beatrice nodded enthusiastically in agreement, her chest puffed out in pride. "Of course we did, I told you I could do it just as good as you!"
Ram chuckled at Beatrice's reaction, clearly amused by her competitiveness. "You certainly did a great job, Beatrice. Almost as good as me," she teased, earning another glare from the girl.
Frederica smiled at the two of them, pleased with their work. "We all did a good job. Now, let's start the stitching."
Ram picked up one of the leather pieces, examining it closely.
"Right, this is the part where we need to pay attention. The stitches need to be tight and even all around. Otherwise, the ball might not hold the air correctly."
She carefully threaded her needle, passing it to Frederica
"Do you want to do the honours?"
Frederica nodded, taking the needle and thread. She held the leather piece in place, her nimble fingers already at work.
"Of course. I wouldn't want to leave all the fun to you, Ram."
Ram smirked, letting Frederica take the lead. She watched as Frederica expertly stitched the leather pieces together, her stitches precise and careful.
"Show-off," she teased lightly.
As they continued to stitch together pentagonal flowers with hexagonal petals, Ram's mind drifted to the other groups again.
They worked in silence for a few minutes, the repetitive motion of stitching together the pieces, and the sequential zipping sounds of the threads, soothing in their own ways. Ram's thoughts drifted to the other groups, wondering how they were doing with their tasks. Her mind lingered particularly on Subaru and Rem, imagining how they were faring with making the uniforms. The thought brought a hint of a smile to her face, hoping Subaru wasn't driving Rem crazy with his antics, or with his...
Finishing her last stitch, she set the leather down and let out a small sigh, satisfied with their progress so far. Beatrice had been watching the two girls work for the last few minutes, silently observing their technique. As Ram set her last piece down, Beatrice couldn't help but break the silence with a hint of curiosity, born of tedium.
"How much more is there to do? Surely we're almost done, I suppose…"
Frederica looked up from her work, assessing the progress they had made. She picked up a few leather pieces, examining them for any imperfections.
"We've made good progress so far, but we still have a bit more to go. We need to fix in the bladder, fill it with air and then seal it properly, and we'll be done."
Beatrice let out a small pout, crossing her arms in frustration.
"Hmph. We still have more to do, I suppose..."
She looked deflated for a moment, but her determination quickly returned.
"But that just means we have to work harder!" Beatrice declared with a renewed spirit, causing Ram to chuckle quietly. For someone who was currently doing so little, to hype and cheerlead so loudly…Perhaps a little bit of Subaru had rubbed off on her after all. Frederica smiled at Beatrice's determination, again amused by the young spirit's enthusiasm.
"That's the spirit, Beatrice-sama. Keep that energy going, and we'll be finished in no time."
Ram couldn't help but smirk at Beatrice's determination, even though she was doing very little of the actual work. It seemed Subaru's positivity had indeed rubbed off on the little spirit.
"Right, we have to work harder," Ram teased, mimicking Beatrice's tone. "And by 'we', I mean... well, not you, obviously."
Beatrice scowled, her cheeks puffing out in annoyance. Her eyes narrowed as she shot a glare at Ram, her foot was tapping rapidly on the floor in irritation. Frederica, on task as always, pulled out a vial of superglue, made from tree sap and other things
"Ta da!" She winked, clearly enjoying herself, "I've got just what we need, to stick the bladder to the outer edges." She lightly pierced the centre of an already sewn in leather pentagon strip, with her partial transformation, before aligning the starting point of the urethra with the small piercing, trying not to imagine what it was previously used for…
"Ram? Ram?"
Ram had been lost in her thoughts again, wondering about the other groups, particularly, Petra and Emilia, hoping that Petra's uncanny maturity may neutralise Emilia's sometimes perceived lack thereof. The sound of Frederica's voice snapped her back to reality.
"Huh? Sorry, what?"
She looked over at Frederica, noticing the vial of glue and the pierced leather piece in her hand. Frederica chuckled slightly at Ram's lost-in-thought expression. She shook the vial of glue in her hand, under Ram's nose, its strong scent drawing Ram's attention back to the task at hand.
"Daydreaming again? This glue might keep you grounded in reality. Anyway, I need your help. Can you hold the bladder in place for me please? Carefully, of course."
Ram nodded, taking the bladder from Frederica and holding it carefully in place. Her focus flicked back on, her thoughts replaced with the task at hand.
"Alright, I've got it. If You could do the honours, start attaching it now please."
She held the bladder with steady hands, admiring the precision of Frederica's previous work. They were almost at the finishing line.
Frederica nodded in response, quickly and carefully applying just a small amount of the superglue to the edges of the bladder, where it met the leather pieces. She worked with practised precision, her mind entirely on the task at hand. Once satisfied, she spoke her thoughts aloud.
"Almost there. Just a little more... and... done."
She held up the ball, which currently looked like the Turkish Flag, not like she'd know what that was anyways, showing off their almost completed work. Beatrice looked at the almost complete ball, her small hands itching to help in some way. Her determination was growing with each passing moment, as she tried to think of something that she could contribute
