The doors of the detention room unlocked, Sylas and his brawl opponent stepped out single file. The supervisor blabbered on about friendship and teamwork, Sylas rolled his eyes and glared at the boy. The idea of locking two enemies in a room together so they can 'talk out their feelings' was completely ridiculous to him. They were forced to shake hands, all the while glaring at each other threatening, and go their separate ways. Having been in the detention room for a couple of hours, Sylas felt boxed in and nauseous, which led him to the yard.
He inhaled some fresh air and scouted the yard. In the distance, leaning against the fence which divided the girls and boys, he saw Barney engaged in a book. He trundled towards him, his body still a little sore from the earlier fight, and sat by his side.
"Hey." He rested his head against the fence and looked up. "I got one week of morning cleaning duty for the broken window," he announced and shrugged, he had been given worse punishments. His destructive trait is more dominant whenever he is angry, consequently when he was pushed earlier by the other boy in detention, in a fit of rage he threw a chair at the window. The glass smashed and the chair bounced off the security bars, fortunately no one was hurt by it otherwise his punishment would have been more severe. However he did feel somewhat guilty; he needed to control his temper if Barney and the younger boys were to feel safe around him.

Bored and restless, Neo began to doodle on her arm. She hid an assortment of felt-tip pens under her bunk which she had stolen from the art class. There was no paper, as it was prohibited to take it out of the rooms after letters were found being passed between the older girls and boys, and so she made do with her flesh. Looking up, she noticed Sammie and waved, she was more or less one of the easier girls to approach. Neo smiled brightly and skipped over. "Hey, Sammie".

It was dark where Jett was. It was always dark, he was safer where he could hide. High dark spaces were the safest away from people. He never went outside. On occasion a guard would try to make him, a few even succeeded before he made his way back inside. Most guards didn't know he existed and that's how he liked it.

From his perch he could view the few people remaining in the compound. Most were deemed non-threats but he kept his eyes on some. Not that most of them could get to him up where he hid.



The only time Asta didn't feel cramped was in the yard. It was small but the fresh air and view beyond the fence made it feel enormous. She loved nature for as long as she could remember, the wind against her cheek, the occasional leaf that blew in. And the birds. She could hear them chirping in the woods just beyond the yard. If she ever escaped she would live in the woods. Away from people and surrounded by the one thing she loved. Where she could hear birds and see deer and never worry about being locked up again.

She turned from the fence she was staring out of and looked to her fellow captives. Rejects, monsters, most of them anyway. She was. Some weren't though. Asta might seem to be unable to love but there were others who deserved freedom. The girl who spoke in tounges, Sammie, she was one of the good ones. She should be freed.

Barney was reading when Sylas walked up to him. He looked sore from a fight, and also had several cuts and scrapes from broken glass. He sighed, closed his book, and stood. "One week? That's a new record, Sylas - what'd you do this time?" he joked, inspecting Sylas's wounds. He took out a first-aid kit and began to rummage through it.

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Sylas smirked slightly as Barney tended his wounds, despite being the younger of the two, admittedly he acted the most mature. "Just got into a little fight, that Rage kid was pushing his luck," he spat at the ground at the thought of it. He looked back out at the yard, it seemed quite peaceful today, at least none of the little ones weren't crying. His gaze wondered from the kids on the yard back to Barney. "Whatcha reading today?" cocking his head to the side to get a better look. While he wasn't a big fan of reading, he enjoyed hearing it second hand from Barney.

Upon approaching Sammie, Neo realised she wasn't alone and blushed. Both were older and held an aura of elegance which she couldn't seem to match. "Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were busy," she fidgeted with the pleat of her skirt. She smiled awkwardly at them. Having been surrounded by girls, Neo had become completely tongue tied around boys and didn't know how to act. She had heard things about Refujo which made her nerves worse.

Asta stopped watching the yard when she saw one of the other girls go to join Sammie and the boy. She didn't know him and quite frankly didn't care to. He would never be a concern of hers.

Back out in the forest she spotted a deer, a doe, young. They sometimes got close enough to the yard to touch, well, for Asta to touch. This one nibbled at the grass unkept around the fence and Asta forced her hand through the fence almost begging the deer to let her touch her fur. She only had a few moments until a guard caught her and she might even be punished. It was worth it when the doe curiously sniffed at her hand, soft nose like velvet brushing Asta's skin.

It was broken by the heavy boots stomping up behind her which made the doe flew as if for her life.

"Not supposed to have you're hand out there like that. You know the rules."

"So then cut if off." Asta said as coldly as her mark suggested. Maybe this place had broken her but she was still alive. The animals were the only things she had left to love, to look forward to. If she stopped trying to be with them she might as well be dead.

Barney smiled at Sylas's interest in his book. "Nothing much... It's just a book about the human anatomy..." he said. He bandaged Sylas's arm and looked him in the eyes. "Don't throw any more chairs, ok? I saw the whole thing." He smiled. How could he not have seen the fight? All of the guards had to go inside to break it up.

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His smiled faded as pointed to his mark on his chest. "I can't promise anything," he said with sigh. He took back his arm and curled up against the fence, there was no longer any point in fighting his nature, he was going to be stranded in the centre scheme for the rest of his life and had accepted it. "But I'll try, for you." He glanced at Barney and flashed a weak smile.
Sylas laughed as Refujo flirted with them. The hug was surprisingly comforting. "See you later, Mommy," Sylas teased, mimicking the smaller children as he departed. He took the note from his sleeve and handed it to Barney. Although there was an unspoken rule that the notes were private, Sylas felt there was no harm in sharing his with Barney, besides without him, he could barely make out what the note contained. "What do they say this time?"

Neo cursed her stutter, it would only come around if there were boys around. She tended to stay away from the fence, she was a early bloomer and in the past the more aggressive boys would hoot and call at her. It terrified Neo to the point she decided to stay away from boys altogether. She much rather the company of someone like Sammie. As they walked away, she began to feel more herself again. "Why don't you talk to her? Everyone pretty much listens to you," Neo suggested, still looking out at the girl. Neo was too afraid to approach her, she had when they were children but Asta's cold nature left Neo in tears. Admittedly it wasn't difficult to make Neo cry.
She turned back to Sammie and smiled sweetly, trying to dismiss the sad thoughts.

Asta found herself once more in the detention room, head of the girls guards sat in front of her with a knowing, pitying look on her face. Sticking your hand through the gate was considered attempted escape but the guard knew what Asta was really trying to do.

"I'm going to let you off easy. Write a paper on the virtues of following the rules. And I won't insult either of us by asking you not to do this again." She sent Asta away and instead of returning outside she went down to the unrestricted section of the basement to play with the rats.

Barney shrugged. "Something about the sun and the moon... I dunno..." He turned to face Sylas. "I'm not into poetry much..." He tucked away his and Sylas's notes and inspected Sylas one more time. "Looks like you're good to go, Sylas." he said, and patted him on the back. He picked up his book and began to red where he left off.

With a raised brow, Sylas watched Barney slip back into his book. He lingered for a moment, looking out at the yard once more. Finally, the sun was making his eyes ache. Patting Barney's shoulder as he stood, Sylas scuffled indoors and retreated to the shade. He rubbed his eyes and groaned as he reached his block, collapsing on his stiff bed. His body became heavy and sank into the mattress, Barney's bandages had helped ease the pain but there was still a constant dull ache.
"Thought I'd find you here," Sylas looked up to see his social worker at the foot of his bed. "I was in a meeting earlier, heard you got in another fight."
"It was nothing," he mumbled, sitting upright.
"This is the second time this month, Sylas, if you're not careful we'll have no choice but to prescribe medication to deal with your anger," the social worked spoke sternly yet warmly, having been working with Sylas since he was a little boy.
The inmate shrugged.
Shortly the dinner bell rang, Sylas stood to leave but was blocked. "Since this morning's incident, I think it's best you eat far from anyone who can antagonize you for a while," the social worker said calmly. Sylas groaned as he followed him to the detention room. A tray was waiting for him on the table. Grunting he sat, they left the door open to give him a sense of freedom but all it did was allow the younger boys to peer in and gossip as the passed.

Jett was ready for dinner before the bell rang. He was usually either in line or at the back door and it wasn't uncommon for him to eat before any of the bells rang. He would just sneak in the kitchen take some food and head out. He did need to make an appearance a few times a week so the guards didn't get suspicious. A good deal of the kitchen staff knew him and didn't care what he did, most of the ones who knew him were sympathetic anyways.

He was getting his food right as people started filing in and hoped to get out before anyone paid too much attention.

Barney heard the dinner bell ring, and closed his book. He walked inside and got in line. After he got his food, he went to a table in a corner and sat, far away from everyone else. He preferred to be alone when he ate, or when he did anything at all. People really only liked him because he helped them when they were hurt or sick. He didn't have any real friends, except for Sylas. And the guard that stood outside his cell that he talked to occasionally. He sighed, and opened his book again. He continued reading as he ate, ironically about the human digestive system.

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Neo watched as Sammie rushed away, her mouth half open due to unspoken words. She bit lip, cursing her bad luck, and followed the crowd to the cafeteria. Today's slop was 'special', leftover sauce with added chili powder and kidney beans. At least the burning chilies masked the awful taste. Neo ate quickly, hoping to avoid tasting too much of it, spending the rest of the lunch break talking to girls from her block. Admittedly, the young girl disliked being alone for too long, fortunately people regarded her as friendly and so finding someone wasn't too hard. If given a choice, she would choose to be in Sammie's company, since she has been one of the few people to show her genuine kindness.
Once dinner was over, Neo returned to her block. The younger girls had already gathered for their 'tattoos', Neo was happy to oblige, she enjoyed drawing and it kept the little girls quiet for a while, so the rest of the block were grateful to her.

When the dinner break was over, Sylas was free to roam once again. He didn't understand why he had to spend the whole hour in detention, except that it was for 'his own good'. The suggestion made him roll his eyes and scoff. As one of the 'leaders', he made his rounds; checking to see if any of the children were in any bother. He was worried that the Rage boy, who was also a 'leader' would have stirred up trouble with the boys from his block by now. From a distance he surveyed the familiar faces and exchanged nods with the boys in his protection. Content with the lack of violence, Sylas sought out Barney.

When he was done eating, Barney brought his tray up front. He went back to his booth and continued reading. He saw Sylas and waved him over.