It was reassuring that he didn't need to stick to the kitchens. It was doubly reassuring that two of the Spades he'd met so far had offered him outs to escape into clerical work almost right off the bat. Clearly survival here wouldn't be as completely desperate as everyone had made it out to be.

It certainly had something almost like a smile cracking at the corners of Aleksei's lips as he shrugged. "Maybe I'll be just as bad at the accounts as at picking out the right cinnamon."