"I won't laugh," Alek promised, his expression serious. He always took literature seriously, being quite a large fan of books and having read some embarrassing titles himself, Alek knew what it was like to be nervous about what he was reading. Especially since some of the books had been deemed illegal and were supposed to be burned, but his parents had hidden them away, wanting Alek to have some piece of his family's legacy from the ground. "Really?" Alek asked when Sage confessed his favorite story. "I would have never pegged you for a Poe fan." Conversation came easy now that there was a real topic. "I've always enjoyed his collection of poems, although they can be rather morbid. I guess that's to be expected after the sort of life he lived though."
Then Sage said something unexpected, that he did not like how Reyna was labeled irrational simply because of her opinion. "It's a bit more complicated then that," Alek confessed quietly. "If one were simply deemed irrational for conversing about the ground then we'd all be wearing tags." Alek scratched the back of his neck, balancing his lunch tray as they walked outside. "She's a jumper, she climbed the fence and tried to throw herself over the edge." It was unusual for children to scale the fence and attempt to jump. Normally it was adults who were unsatisfied with their life in the sky. "And it's the King's fault." Too late Alek realized what he had let slip. It wasn't his secret to tell and instantly he regretted it, which caused his hair to turn white. "You can't tell anyone I told you that though," he spoke quietly as they approached the group.
Keahi was holding on to Reyna's tags and Alek was afraid he was going to have to jump in and do something when Keahi simply told Reyna she was not a dog and tucked the tags under the girl's shirt. Alek sighed with quiet relief and waited for someone to answer Sage's inquiry. It was Celia who did it, the mute who had just transferred to their academy. Alek took a seat on the grass beside William, who expressed with sincerity about liking a large group. Alek could tell Keahi's nerves were beginning to become frayed, she seemed a bit jumpy as though one little thing could startle her into running away. "If it's becoming too much I don't mind eating somewhere else." He was looking directly at the girl, although whether Keahi received the message was unclear.
Reyna was frozen in that moment, even after Keahi tucked the tags under her shirt Reyna could not move. It took Sage and Alek coming over to finally shake her out of it and slowly Reyna reached for the pack of juice on her tray, taking slow, deliberate sips as she thought. She wasn't sure what to make of this sudden development and it made her nervous. She was not a dog, no, but the tags made sure she couldn't climb the fence again without alerting authorities. Reyna pushed her tray away, no longer hungry and hugged her knees. Come over the fence, come play the wind whispered. Reyna had not heard the wind in a long time and it startled her. She shook her head, raising her hands over her ears and pressing tightly to make the voice go away. It sounded like one of her childhood friends, one who had moved to a different section for her parents work that Reyna never got to see anymore.
"Reyna are you alright?" Alek asked and her head snapped up. They were somewhere else, inside of a memory. Alek was sitting under a tree reading a book, she was standing behind a fence, watching him. The mutants were so free and yet, they were trapped here on this island, just like them, different from irrational, but treated like humans. "Yes," Reyna replied and it was the truth. She pulled her tray towards her and picked up her juice pouch once more, draining the rest of it and regretting it instantly. Now she wouldn't have any juice for later.
Reyna turned towards William, she was excited to talk to the artist. "I saw your coloring that they used for the Festival of Stars, it was really pretty." The Festival of Stars was a week during the winter where they prayed for forgiveness from the Sky God. Castle Rock was supposed to be a punishment after all. Some treated the Festival of Stars like a carnival, they decorated the trains and hallways, hung up large coloring's and burnt paper offerings in prayer, then had a feast and exchanged gifts. In Reyna's family they celebrated the Festival, although to Reyna it had always felt wrong. She had told her Mother this once and the woman that was supposed to protect and love her had slapped her daughter instead, telling Reyna never to speak of such things again.
Reyna had been careful about what she let slip in front of her Mother afterwards, although sometimes during a fit she couldn't help but express what she was feeling, mostly because during a fit Reyna wasn't always aware of what or who was around her.
Back to reality, she had to go back. No, stay with me, stay a little longer. The Wind tried again, its soothing voice cooed gently and it was tempting, but Reyna did not want to lose her new friends. "How do you get the colors like that?" Reyna asked William, her voice eager. She wanted to learn, she wanted to color like that, but mostly, she wanted the voice to go away.