While relaxing, I noticed someone come up to me.
"Hey."
I turned. A girl stood a few feet away, holding one of the tent poles under her arm like she wasn't sure what to do with it. She had light blue eyes and brown hair. I was a few inches taller than her.
"You know how these go together?" she asked.
I looked at the pieces. "Not really."
She nodded. "Yeah. Me neither."
We stood there for a moment.
"You pass the maze?" she asked.
"Obviously," I said.
She smiled, small and tired. "Right. Stupid question."
I handed the pole back. "You'll figure it out."
"Probably," she said. Then, after a pause, "If you want, we could try setting them up near each other. Just so it's less annoying."
I considered it.
"Doesn't really matter," I said. "I don't plan on staying near anyone."
She nodded again, like she'd expected that. "Okay."
She walked off without another word.
I watched her go, then turned back to my tent.
It hadn't been a request for help. Or information.
I didn't see what she'd wanted. Perhaps I wasn't smart enough to realize it.
Having fully given up on making allies, I wandered throughout the courtyard for a while until I found a good place to set up my tent.
I wanted to avoid large groups, but also completely empty spaces.
Eventually, I found a place that felt like a reasonable compromise.
I laid out the instructions and got to building my tent. After around 20 minutes, I managed to figure it. Longer than it should have taken me.
At some point, the suited men came by distributing food.
Long tables were set up along the edge of the courtyard. Trays passed down the line.
I took one and moved on.
It wasn't bad. It wasn't good either. Just warm enough to eat, bland enough not to complain about.
People gathered where they'd already gathered. Groups from earlier sat together, talking in low voices. I avoided them without thinking about it and found an empty stretch of stone near the wall.
I ate quickly. There wasn't much else to do.
When I was finished, I returned the tray and went back to my tent.
Night settled in fully after that.