A windy day, a new acquaintance

He loved March. Even though he liked winter, too, March was the beginning of spring! Everything was coming alive again; the flowers were blossoming, the trees were growing buds, the snow was melting... he would miss the snow for the following months, though. It was just so white and fluffy and fun to play in! He'd miss his furry winter coats, too; wearing those in the heat wasn't exactly a wise idea.

Sabriel inhaled the sweet air as he exited the academy, throwing his fuzzy pink scarf around his neck. Immediately the wind whipped at him, blowing his hair all over the place. It was strange not feeling the cold in his cat-ears for once; it was going to take some time to get used to them being gone. There was a part of him that missed the feline appendages, but he looked and felt so much more grown up without them!

Twisting at his gray, fingerless gloves, the fifteen-year-old journeyed toward the lake. He paused in adjusting them, glancing up from the fabric to see how close he was to the water. As his golden eyes lifted, he spotted another person sitting near the edge. For a moment he stopped walking, wondering if he should continue on his way. He couldn't remember if he had taken his medication that morning, which probably meant he had forgotten, which probably meant he wasn't going to be on his best behavior.

Oh, crap.

But it was kind of too late to turn back now. So, inching forward, Sabriel peered over her shoulder, looking down at her book and squinting to read the text from over her shoulder. "What are you reading?" he queried, putting his hands on her shoulders to balance himself.

Sabriel removed his hands from her shoulders when the girl shrieked. Yikes, over reaction, much? He stared down at her, a slightly apologetic look on his face. A chorus of giggles sounded in his head at the situation, and inwardly, the boy sighed. There was his confirmation that he hadn't taken his medicine.

"Um, I don't know what it's called. The title wore off the front...but it's really old."

Aw, well that didn't help him much. Sabriel stepped to her side, plopping right down onto the ground next to her. He was probably invading her personal bubble, but he couldn't exactly notice right now. He looked at the print again, reading a few lines. As expected, he was completely lost, and he simply shrugged, her statement going without a reply.

"It's interesting though."

"Yay, that's good!" Sabriel said in a cheerful tone, scooting closer to her. "I like books, they're fun to read. Unless they're boring, you know? 'Cause when they're boring they're just like... ewww." The boy wrinkled his nose to show his disgust at boring books, not realizing at all that he probably wasn't making any sense. He was silent then, pulling a few loose strings out of his scarf and examining them for a moment.

"Would you like a pink string?" he asked, holding it out for her. If she didn't, then it didn't matter; more for him!

"Um...thanks?"

Sabriel grinned widely when she accepted the string. Though he wouldn't have minded keeping the string, he was glad she had taken it. Now they were friends! At least, that's what he thought in his mind. "You're very very very welcome!" he exclaimed with a giggle, tying the other strings together and making one long string out of them. "It's it pretty?"

"What's your name?"

"Sabriel!" he said, his voice far too cheerful to be anything considered normal. This was what happened when he didn't take his medication. Either he got too happy to the point where it was freaky, depressed to the point where he was almost suicidal, angry to the point where not even violence was bad... basically, his emotions went out of control and the voices did nothing to solve that.

His golden eyes examined her, especially her red hair. "Oooh, I like your hair! Are you Irish? Hm, hm, hm?" he reached out, tempted to touch her hair, but refraining and instead tilting his head to the side. "I'm gonna guess your name. Umm um um um... let's see..." The boy tapped his chin, humming softly in thought. "Cathy, maybe? No, no, no... Keegan? Gah, that's too masculine. Hint, please?"

"Uh, it starts with a B..."

He had heard that she was Irish, and he certainly took that into account. She had said his name was nice, too, which he appreciated. Like before, though, the statements went ignored and he tapped his chin lightly, his head rocking back from side to side. "A B, eh? That's a toughy..."

"Brianna? Bella? Belle? Bianca? Ummm..." Oh, this was hard. Sabriel sighed, glancing at the breaking ice on the top of the lake. He had never really tried to guess people's names before, but it seemed that the second letter of the alphabet was proving to be extremely hard. There were so many names for every other letter... why did B have to be the letter her name started with?!

Sabriel's eyes turned back to her. "I'm out of ideas. You can tell me if you want to!"

"It's Brielle."

"That's pretty!" Sabriel complimented. He hadn't been close at all... well, at least he had gotten the first letter right! He grinned, turning away from her for a moment and cracking his knuckles. "I've never heard that name before. Both our names are uncommon!" They were going to be such good friends! She'd accepted his string, they had similar names... oh, this was the start of something marvelous!

"Brielle Hannigan."

Hannigan? Sabriel blinked for a moment; he'd heard that name before. The thought formed in the back of his head, a foggy sort of thing that he couldn't quite understand yet. Finally, though, after a moment of pressing, it clicked. Hannigan... like from that musical! He laughed, the sound almost bordering on cackling. "Like from Annie!" he managed through the disturbing laughter. "You know, you've got red hair like that kid and yet your name is Hannigan! Isn't that ironic? Do you hate orphans? Are you a drunk?"

He continued laughing, unable to stop himself. The situation was simply too funny for him!