The Mix of High Places and Quilting

After his last episode, Sabriel had decided upon waking up this morning it might be a good idea to take his medicine. He hated the way it made him feel numb, like he wasn't alive or even a person, but he had no choice now. One day of lifelessness was better than another of ruining his life further than he already had.

Thinking some fresh air might do him well, Sabriel headed up to the roof, hands tucked deeply into the pockets of his jeans. He wore a T-shirt with an unzipped hooded sweatshirt over top it. His ears twitched and then fell back to lay against his head just before he opened the door that opened to the roof. He wasn't quite sure why the nervous habbit had taken place, but he didn't think on it too long before he stepped outside.

Dammit, of course. Someone else was already here. The door slammed shut behind him, as if on its own accord, although in reality the breeze had done it. There was no way he could get away unnoticed now.

"Sorry," he said. "I, yeah I can go." He lifted his hands, thumbs pointing back at the door. He looked down and bit his lip. Even with the medicine his uncertainty remained.

That's what everyone said. 'You can stay, no, don't go' — he had heard it all. Sabriel sighed deeply. It all started and ended the same way, what was the point in even ever changing? He figured he could at least respond to her though, and gave a slight shake of his head. "No," he said.

More questions hit him. Sabriel almost felt dizzy by t\her words and the questions she asked before regaining his equilibrium. "This place is definitely as strange as it seems," he said with little emotion in his voice. "I don't know how much you've seen... but this school and the rest of the world can be... well... the lines between fiction and nonfiction often get blurred." He knew that all too well.

Cautiously Sabriel stepped forward so that he was closer to her, but there was still some distance between them. "I'm Sabriel," he said quietly. "What do you mean you've never seen anything of the world?" His eyebrows knit in confusion.

Factory? It was then that Sabriel noticed the stitches where her face had been sewn together. He froze for a moment, realizing at long last that something was wrong here. He didn't quite follow her story, but he caught enough of it to understand the basic gist. "Ah... weird is normal here," was the best answer he could come up with. "None of the people here are what society would deem normal."

He felt dizzy again as her questions hit him. Sabriel looked up at the sky, taking a moment to realize what the 'cotton things' were. "Those are clouds," he answered, embarrassed that he had to explain something so simple. "That's not cotton. Cotton is a plant..." The embarrassment suddenly lifted and turned into guilt. He was ruining her naivete! Oh no, that was a horrible thing to destroy; naivete was precious!

But what could he do?

"What lines?" he asked, unaware of what she was speaking of.

Her number of questions was bound to happen, if this was her first time seeing the world. It surprised him just how many things people accepted without any other thought and without any imagination. For all they knew, clouds really were cotton, they just didn't want to think something so unscientific. "Plants grow from the ground. Like flowers," he answered patiently. "And clouds are made of water that's in the sky." He could have been more detailed, but thought that would only confuse her more. "Society says we're not normal because we're not exactly... human, I guess." He laughed when she mentioned his ears. "Yes, I have kitty ears. But I don't think anyone else does."

"Sabriel," he said at her introduction. He turned when she pointed toe the 'puddle,' but didn't feel the need to correct her. He then nodded in realization, thinking about how he should word this. "Well, the lines get blurred because things that shouldn't happen do happen," he said. It was so watered down that it didn't do justice... but he was trying.

He blinked at her sudden question. "No, you're not," he said. "You can't be called weird for not understanding something." His ears twitched quite a bit when she poked them and a wide smile stretched across his face. "You're not weird. None of us are, really. Misunderstood is a better word."

Sabriel was somewhat taken aback by her astonishment at his ears. He laughed nervously, flushing somewhat at what he believed was a compliment. "I'm not sure why," he said honestly. He'd just been born with them... or something. In all honesty he wasn't quite sure and no one had ever felt compelled to tell him.

"And I don't know why no one else has them. I'd feel less weird if other people did." He laughed softly. "I don't think you can just get some. Sorry Doll." He gave her an apologetic smile and shrugged his shoulders sincerely. "I would give them to you if I could! Maybe you can buy fake ones?"