St. Peter's Asylum discussion

Morgan didn't notice Raven at first, as the Indian excelled at the art of stealth. Her oblivious mindset continued for a few minutes after Raven arrived, and then Morgan noticed him. Raven had a certain perfume around him; the young girl couldn't describe it, but she remembered it.

"Hi, Raven," chirped the little girl with a smile. Her gaze stared forward, though her hands kept moving across the book. The smile reached her eyes for once, brightening their already shining colour.

A slight raise of one eyebrow. Morgan was getting better at recognizing...what? Auras? That would make sense, he supposed; if he did have an aura about him, he imagined it would feel very distinctive. He couldn't think of anything else that would lead Morgan to recognize him with such unfailing accuracy, even though he hadn't spoken and had hardly moved since he sat down. "Hi, Morgan," he said, with a nod and a very small smile sent in her direction. "You seem to be feeling better."

Morgan nodded with a wide grin, marking her place in her book and then shutting it closed. "I am! A lot better." The blonde offered a bright giggle and an even brighter smile to the older boy, and then cocked her head to the side. "And on that note, you seem to be feeling not better." Of course, this was only an assumption. Normally, when she engaged with Raven, he was much more... himself. Pushy, almost, and interested in her "progress". And he had been sitting there for quite a while, presumably, and yet hadn't said a single thing about it.

"Have you ever considered becoming a doctor, Morgan? For a girl who's blind, you're awfully perceptive." In truth, Raven was quite surprised. Did she really pick out the patterns in his behavior so quickly? Was he really so predictable around her? Yes, he thought, looking back on it; yes he was. He had to be, because if he wasn't--if he didn't resign himself to acting a certain way around Morgan--that would make him just as liable to hurt her as anybody else, and he didn't exactly want that. The Indian could safely say that he liked the little blonde child; he didn't want to hurt her. Not even now, when he was feeling so volatile. That, he thought, had to be saying something.

Morgan's smile grew wider with the compliment, and she shifted a little in her seat, moving her hands underneath her thighs so that she sat upon them. "Thanks! But you didn't answer me." Though on some occasions she would have let it slide, Morgan wasn't in such a terrible mood that silence was welcomed. The blonde girl cocked her head to the side, causing her shiny blonde curls to fall along with her, and pursed her little lips a little. "Are you okay?"

"Would you like me to tell you the truth or some overly-optimistic lie, Morgan?"

Morgan didn't even think about it; she answered immediately. "I don't want you to lie, lying is a sin and sins are bad, right?"

Oftentimes, it was easy to forget Morgan's religion. One would think that in spending so much time at the asylum, she would forget her faith, especially with such a young, moldable mind. But her faith was one of the few things that kept her sane here; everything happened for a reason, and God knew what was best, right?

Raven looked almost amused. "So they say. But I wouldn't really know, Morgan; I'm not a Christian." But Raven hadn't forgotten. Had it not been for her father's strict interpretation of the Bible, Morgan wouldn't even be in the mess she was in now, after all. It was hard to forget about your faith when it was all you ended up having left.

Morgan frowned and kicked her feet back and forth again. "You keep avoiding the questioooooon," Morgan pouted, crossing her hands over her chest. "We can talk about the religion stuff later but I asked you a question."

"All right, all right, fine. Leave me be, child." Raven paused a moment. Had he been avoiding her question? He didn't think he had, but then, his thoughts always had a way of leading him down the wrong path. "No, Morgan," he said finally, with a slight sigh. "To answer your question, no. I'm not doing okay."

"Why?" Pleased that he had at least began to answer her question, Morgan sat her arms down, grasping the chair next to her legs with her tiny hands and continuing to kick her legs. Her tone was curious, nothing more, though perhaps a little demanding. She truly wanted to know; if the little girl could be concerned for someone, it would most definitely be Raven.

Raven shrugged. "I'm sorry for getting all I-know-what's-best on you, but in truth, you probably don't want to know, Morgan. Just trust me on that, okay?" A lot of things contributed to his significantly worse mood, of course; Ankantha, Felix, Cleo, sleeplessness, nightmares when sleep finally came, nurses, concerned friends, concerned not-friends. Anna. Nothing the child needed to worry herself with, especially not now, when she was doing so well.

The blonde pursed her lips a little, but nodded. Raven was usually right about these things. "Okay, I guess." She frowned a little, clearly unhappy with the outcome of the conversation, but she wasn't about to push it. "Will you tell me someday?"

"Maybe. Maybe someday, Morgan. Right now, I just don't think your mind is up for what's been going on with me." Raven gave her a small, slightly rueful smile. "Come ask me about it when you feel a little stronger, all right?" After you've used that knife I gave you, for instance. "For now, we probably ought to talk about something else, don't you think?"

((Oh snap I forgot about that. When can she use it?))

"Mkhay," Morgan chirped again, happier with the new solution. She made a mental note to "feel a little stronger" as soon as possible, because the young kitten was truly curious.

"If you want. It'd probably help you get your mind off of whatever, right?" Morgan cocked her head to the side again, pursing her lips a little. "Like what?"

((You're the one who has a bunch of negative-idea mojo now. Help me brainstorm? XD))

Raven shrugged. "I don't know. What do you want to talk about?"

((DO YOU WANT NEGATIVE OR NO?))

((Why all the caps? I thought this was just going to be a culture lesson.))

((Well you aid "negative-idea mojo" so I felt like you were implying bad turn of events. Okie dokie, culture is good c: ))

Morgan thought for a minute, and then came up with a slight idea. She had been curious for quite some time about Raven's history; where he was from, who and what he was. The girl didn't understand the word ethnicity, but without a doubt she was curious about that.

"Where are you from, Raven?"

((No, I meant in regards to when/where Morgan would use the knife. XD))

"Oklahoma." Raven gave a slight shrug. "I lived on a reservation up there with my sister and my parents." Until, of course, everything had gone wrong--still, Morgan had only asked a question, and he didn't think that, after his last warning, she would ask about what had put him in the asylum. She was a smart girl; she knew how to listen when it was important. And this, of course, was quite important.

((Oh wow yeah I feel dumb.))

"A reservation?" To be entirely honest, Morgan didn't even have the slightest curiosity as to why Raven was in the asylum; it didn't cross her mind, and it definitely wasn't high up on her list of thoughts. She was more curious about the history, and in all honesty she had no clue what a reservation was.

"Yes. A reservation for Indians, you know? They were all made back in the nineteenth century by a much of stuffy old white guys who thought they were better than us." And Raven was ever-so-slightly bitter about that--his parents had been, as well, and though they hadn't taught their children to hate, they didn't sugarcoat the fact that they had been kicked off their land two hundred years ago. "The Cherokees--my people--originally lived in Georgia. We were sustenance farmers. Then, in the 1830's, Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act, and our choices pretty much came down to leave or die. We resisted, of course, but eventually Jackson got the militia down there and they forced us off of our lands and into Oklahoma." That was the shortened version, with all the cursing removed. Raven couldn't say he was very fond of that particular period in history.

"Oh goodness!" Morgan popped one hand over her mouth in an expression of shock, and continued: "That sounds terrible."

She found it entertaining; Morgan had never learned the basics of history, as she spent her entire growing life in the asylum, and so she was intrigued by the abundance of new information.

"You're telling me. Have you ever heard of the Trail of Tears, Morgan?"

She shook her head, blonde curls flying around. "Nope," she said, popping the p, and moving up to cross her legs underneath her. She rested her elbows upon her knees and then placed her head in her hands, interested. "What is it?"

"That's the name the Cherokees gave to the path we took--they made us walk from Georgia all the way across the Mississippi, to Oklahoma." Of course, the Cherokee hadn't been the only tribe to walk the trail, but Raven was simplifying it for Morgan's sake. "Out of the 130,000 people who left, about half of them died. Mostly from disease and exposure and starvation and such. It was pretty much a death march--at least when it comes to my people. But I doubt you came to me wanting a history lesson." He sounded amused, and even smiled a little. "Is there something else you'd like to know?"

Morgan's eyes widened, as if she was impressed, and then sat back into her chair just a little. "Wow," she said quietly, "That's awful."

She then thought over Raven's next question, furrowed her brows, and shook her head. "No, none that I should ask." She of course was now considering how his old home was so screwed up that he ended up in the asylum, but she was a smart girl and understood that she shouldn't ask.

"Come on, don't fib." Raven sounded gently chiding, almost as if he were her older brother, simply teasing her. "You're practically fidgeting. You can ask, I won't get mad." Of course, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't get upset, but to the Indian, upset and angry were two different things.

"I'm not lying." Morgan seemed even offended by the idea. "I just shouldn't ask them. Didn't you tell me to be careful about what I ask?"

"Sure I did. But there's got to be something else that you're curious about other than my personal history--you've been in here since you were three, for Pete's sake. I doubt you've ever been to school--officially, anyway. And aren't children supposed to be curious?" Raven tilted his head and gave her a pointed look. He did know Morgan--better than she thought he did--and he knew that she was indeed a curious person, and so he prodded. Just a little bit, because she was right--talking about things, even random things, made the current state of his mind a little bit less chaotic.

Morgan shrugged. "Idunno, I guess the nurse kind of took care of the basics. I know my math and my words and I think I can write pretty okay. What else do I need to know?"

Raven shrugged. "Have you ever considering asking questions just for the sake of learning? You can't determine who a person is just by knowing their history, you know. There's more to everyone than that."

Morgan crossed her arms. "Well, you seem to know what you want me to ask, so go ahead and just start answering then."

Raven chuckled, amused. "I'm not a mind-reader, Morgan. Mind-readers only exist in the legends, and I haven't heard one of those in ages--I doubt I'm anywhere close, actually." It was true: it had been a while since he'd heard any stories at all, especially when it came to old tribal legends. There was a difference, he thought, between legends and stories. Stories were made-up--legends were true. They may not have been real, but they were true.

"Ummmmm..." Morgan wracked her brain to find her curiosity, to find what she wanted answered.

Ah. There one was. Morgan paused, and looked down at her hands. "Did you have a Mama and a Daddy back on the reservation?" Morgan struggled with the last word, trying to remember how easily it had slid off of Raven's tongue.

This time, Raven actually laughed. "Of course I did. I was born, wasn't I? I don't care what you may have heard about the Cherokees, Morgan--we didn't all live in the forest, and our kids weren't raised by the animals. Actually, compared to the stories that ignorant white people have been making up, most of us are pretty boring."

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Not like that, of course you did. But like how I didn't have a Mama, you know? Does that make sense."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Your mother died," he said. "Didn't she? Giving birth to you. So yes, unless I'm completely on the wrong track, I know what you're talking about and I did have a mother. She just wasn't a very nice woman, is all."

"Yeah, that's what I was asking." Morgan nodded a little, and then brightened almost automatically once again, though she did offer an apology for the "mean woman" Raven spoke of.

Rosa Sat on an empty wicker chair and took out her iPod. She downloaded the movie The Little Mermaid. Ariel proceeded to swim with her mermaid tail. Rosa grinned to herself her dimples actually showing. She was too interested in watching the movie instead of looking around. Her rope burn itched but she refused to scratch it.

((I'm assuming she doesn't have headphones and that's why the staff let her keep it? XD))

Ruby, unlike the stranger who sat on the other side of the library, was not smiling. She did, in fact, look rather put out--it had been several days, almost a week, since she'd seen Felix, in person or in passing. She was worried about him, where he was, what he was doing, why all the nurses refused to talk about him when she raised the question. No, the little girl was certainly not having a good day.

(( Yep ))
Rosa replayed the scene again. It was so interesting right now and she was not going to be in a good mood after it finished. Her smile faded as she watched the shark chase the mermaid. Rosa was content on the Grimm version because there was more gruesome storylines behind the prissy- princesses.

There was a soft but constant sound in the background, as if someone were playing a movie. A little frown puckered at Ruby's full lips; was that The Little Mermaid? She couldn't say for sure--that particular Disney movie had never been her favorite and she had only watched it once--but she thought it might have been. Curiosity briefly drove the thought of Felix from her mind, and she walked over (only slightly hesitant) to the girl who was watching intently as the movie unfolded. "Are you really watching The Little Mermaid?" she asked. "Here?"

Rosa paused the movie. She looked at Ruby raising her left eyebrow. " Do you have a problem with me watching the movie? " She asked, just annoyed that she was being questioned about her habits. Her scowl etched in her face. Rosa' s hair fell loose from behind her ear but she didn't feel like fixing it.

Quickly, Ruby shook her head. This girl didn't sound all too happy with her, and there was no Felix around to help should things take a turn. Best to play it safe and not confront her at all. "No," she replied, slightly wary. She looked around uneasily, searching for the girl's shadow--she found it several feet away, sitting in a high-backed chair, watching them. "No," she said again, as if Rosa hadn't heard her the first time, "I don't."

After taking a breath, she fake smiled. " I'm Rosa, and you are? " she felt kinda bad. She reached up and rubbed her neck scar. The scar felt rough as she touched it. Rosa was a nice person at times and Ruby was lucky she was in a good mood. Ariel can do many wonders. Catching Rosa in a good mood is seriously a rare thing to occur. Well anything can happen.

"My name is Ruby." She was about to extend her hand for Rosa to shake, as she had been taught to do, but at the last moment thought better of it. This girl didn't seem to be in the mood to shake hands, if her shadow was anything to go by (and to the young girl, it was a lot to go by.)

" Why are you here? " She said gesturing to the asylum. She was the curious type and loved getting into peoples personal business. She leaned back on the wicker chair and smirked.

Ruby gave a little shrug. "I see shadows," she said simply, and began to twist at the hem of her gown, a nervous habit. She was not liking this girl at all, who had gone from irritated to semi-amiable over the span of two minutes and struck her very strongly as the bullying type. She did not at all want to be faced with another bully--Raven was quite enough for her, thank you.

She nodded with approval. " That's interesting." She said truthfully. Now she wants to get to know this chick. Watching her squirm was fun, but getting to know her would be more interesting. She turned her smirk into a smile.