Mood swings really aren't fun.

"Most likely, I would poke one. Just to see what it felt like..."

He started laughing at her answer. "Haha! I'd be too scared to poke one." Alright, so he was a slight wimp, but it was a wet, slimy, fishy fish. Why would he want to touch it? Sabriel shuddered at the thought, not really wanting to think about it. Sometimes, he could be as afraid of germs as his brother was.

"MY TURN!!!! What would you do if you had a wooden spoon attached to your hand for the rest of your life!!??!!??"

"That was the most random question EVER!!! You win!" the thirteen year old said, laughing harder than before now as he thought of all the possible answers. "I would poke people repeatedly. Oh, yes, FEAR THE POKENESS!!" He laughed and shook his head at himself. He hadn't laughed or had this much fun in a really long time. "Or whack people. Though whacking is dangerous and painful."

"What would you do if that spoon was a FORK?!!" he asked.

"Whimp..."

He stuck his tongue out playfully. The thirteen year old knew he was a wimp. "And I am NOT ASHAMED!" Sabriel said, striking a proud pose. Once she poked his nose, he laughed, and even though it hadn't hurt, decided to act even more wimpish than he was; he would obviously be kidding around. "Aww... now that hurt, Ella... that was my NOSEY!!"

He had no idea how she felt about him, and unfortunately, he didn't feel the same things she was. Well... for now, at least; there was nothing saying he wouldn't in the future.

"BAM!!!"

The child laughed along with her, both at what she actually said and at the little first punching movement. Ella was really a great person and he liked hanging out with her. Hopefully he wouldn't do anything to screw this friendship up... stupid mood swings and "mental unstability".

"I'M FEARING, I'M FEARING!"

At her scream of terror, Sabriel fought himself not to start laughing. Once he was calm, an evil laugh was definitely in store. "BWAHAHAHA!! Yay, fear!!" Amazing that his evil laugh sounded quite real. He rubbed his hands together as if he were plotting, then started laughing at himself. This was really, really fun.

"I'd eat with it!"

"Haha! Hooray for simple answers that no one ever about!!" he said. He actually hadn't thought of eating with it as an option. Hooray for blonde moments!

"Haha! Well you and your nosey can eat cookie dough for all I care!"

"But my nosey can't eat!" Sabriel said, pointing to his nose. After all, his nose didn't have a mouth or teeth or the like. However, after a moment, he smiled brightly. "But cookie dough sounds good anyway. Haha." He shook his head at himself, fighting back laughter.

"Boys..."

He pouted, still faking, even though he knew that she was kidding. "What's that supposed to mean?" he said, feigning an expression of hurt and putting his hand over his heart to add to that affect.

"To be honest, I wouldn't mind some cookie dough at the moment. Heheh..."

"Neither would I..." he said thoughtfully, looking up at the sky. After a moment, he returned his gaze to his friend. "You wanna head back to the school to get ice cream?"

Once his hand was removed from his heart by her, he smiled, still just looking at her. However, when her psychotic grin returned, he was just as freaked out as he had been earlier in the evening. "Uhh... ok then... it means everything..." he said, trying not to whimper. Sometimes, she could just be really scary.

"Fo shore!"

He laughed at her slang, and slowly stood to his feet. He opened his mouth to try some slang words to agree with her, but decided against it. Slang wasn't exactly his forte. The boy closed his mouth, cleared his throat, and looked away without saying anything.

"Yeah...I was, erm, kidding."

Sabriel then realized he had probably upset her. He hadn't meant to do so. Oh, great, he had probably already messed up the friendship. Way to go. "Yeah... sorry... kind of over reacted..." The cat tailed child sighed inwardly. Being around so many truly crazy people at a young age hadn't helped him much; neither had the psychiatrists that were supposed to help. Murder definitely wasn't good. It just caused too much pain.

"To the school we go!"

"Yep!" he said, turning around and beginning to walk toward the school. Even if it was dark, there was enough light for him to see.

"It's alright!"

He smiled when he was forgiven. Yay, he thought to himself, glad that she wasn't angry with him anything. "Alright," he said, returning her grin. His teeth, however, weren't sharp and cat-like; the only cat features about him were his tail and his ears.

"Erm...what color are your eyes?"

"Dark gold," he told her. He looked back at her, unable to tell what color her eyes were. Amazing how he hadn't noticed before. "What are yours?"

Sabriel was slightly confused at her silence for that while. He said nothing, though, giving her time to answer. He looked ahead and not at her, and because of this, obviously didn't see her touch her throat. If he had, though, he would have been concerned for her health and wonder if she had a sore throat or something.

"Um...they change. My natural eye color is green, to be honest."

"Oohh, cool!" the child said. "It must be awesome to have your eye color changing all the time." He wondered what it would be like for a moment, and came to the realization that it really would be cool.

"Haha...so...how many family members do you have?"

At this, the boys pace slowed. Family members? That was a topic he hadn't exactly been expecting. It was a painful topic as well... Sabriel swallowed, trying to keep his cool. "Uh..." he paused, swallowing again. "A few. My brother Nicolas, my Aunt Michelle, and my cousin whose name I just forgot." He blinked for a moment and scratched the back of his head, knowing that the name had escaped him just because of the unexpected, hurtful topic.

Oh, hopefully she wouldn't ask about his parents. That memory above all was just too much to bear.

"What about you?"

"Oh it's great...but sometimes they give my emotions away! Haha!"

He smiled softly. "I guess that could be a problem," Sabriel told her. "But not really if people don't know what each color means." He offered a smile, wondering if that might reassure her or something a bit.

The boy was glad that she had slowed to still walk with him. It was comforting, and to be honest, he wouldn't have minded if she had hugged him. He liked hugs. Once she said 'I see', he just nodded. "Yeah," was all he said.

"Oh...my mother passed away...."

Sabriel frowned somewhat. He would have apologized, but she was smiling; plus, she went on to talk more. "Who's Quigi? If you don't mind my asking," he said, hoping she wouldn't be upset that he had asked.

"Hmm. I guess you can say my dad wasn't the greatest person. He did things to me that hurt me terribly...like...he touched me where he shouldn't have. And his friends did too...."

At this, Sabriel's eyes went completely wide. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should do what he was about to do, since he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. After a few seconds, he decided to just do it, and pulled his friend into his arms, giving her a nice, big hug. "I'm sorry," he told her, apologizing for both her father's actions and for him hugging her in case she didn't like it.

"... One day a man came to my room and introduced himself as Quigi. He said he would take me away from that dreadful place...and I did.... Then he sent me here, 'cause he was in trouble with the government or something..."

"In trouble with the government?" the boy questioned. "Well... that's not good." He was grateful that Quigi had saved her from her old home, though, and that he had sent her to this school. If he hadn't, neither of them would have a friend.

"Hey, do you know how people hug?"

The thirteen year old laughed softly. 'This, Ella, is a hug," he told her, since he was still holding onto her. He would let go if she wanted him to, though, since he didn't want her upset with him.

"Thankyou..."

He smiled softly and just held her, not going to tell her not to thank him. If this had made her so happy that she had tears in her eyes, he most definitely wouldn't ruin her moment. That would just be cruel, and he thought that if it made her this happy, she was slightly deprived of affection. Sabriel remained silent, and watched as she wiped her tears.

"It's alright," he told her, both as a 'don't be upset, don't cry' and a 'you're welcome' statement. He slowly let go of her, which actually caused a little pang in his heart, but he ignored it.

After a few moments, he asked, "Are you alright?"