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Peregrine always admired the sky, and today was no different from any other. When all the other Freshlings were out scurrying and playing with one another Pere was perched on the monkey bars of the jungle gym, eyes flicking from cloud to cloud. In his mind they felt like cotton candy and maybe even tasted like it as well if he was lucky. The mutants greatest concern was that he would never get the chance to find out. He felt grounded as his oversized wings weighed heavy on his shoulders, and nobody would teach him on account of not knowing just what might happen if he attempted it. It seemed like he might be grounded for life. The boy's mind would slip into these thoughts in from time to time and it would leave the boy bitter and hopeless. His head hung so dramatically that he could touch chin to chest. His black lidded eyes stayed semi-shut staring at the tam bark beneath the bars as he sulked. He did not need this right now. The young Freshling began to twist and turn, attempting to maneuver his tiny hips so that he could carefully climb down, but once he got to the ladder he furrowed his brows. Why should he use a ladder? He saw other Freshlings with wings much smaller than his help them float down from desks and bench tops. So why couldn’t he clear this six feet drop. He stood up on the bars with shakes legs and prepared himself with some hesitation to jump.

Talia had been playing in the sand box by herself so far, unable to find any friends in her class that she would have been able to play with. Well she might have been able to join some, but they were playing sport games and she knew that if she messed up somehow, that they would probably kick her out and she would be teased for it. Better to watch from afar than actually join in. So while she had been playing in the sandbox, she had been looking around everywhere, and her eyes had eventually settled on another freshling who had huge wings! They were amazing! She almost wondered if the other could actually use them, though they seemed like they might be a bit too big for it. But they must have been heavy! Hopefully the freshling would grow into them instead of the wings growing much larger than him as he aged! Talia had continued to play in the sandbox, after all it was a bit fun, and when she went to go look at the other freshling again, they were gone! Or at least they had moved, and it looked like they were trying to get down from the monkey bars by using the ladder. They seemed to be hesitating? Talia couldn't tell, but she decided to go over anyway to try and help! After all, heights could be scary, and even for someone who had wings they could still have a fear of heights! She jogged over, and when she was finally close enough she called out, "Do you need any help?" To see if she could be of any assistance.

A voice was projected towards him it seemed, and yet Peregrine hadn’t been speaking to anyone. Typically the other students in the nursery knew very well to leave him alone. He wasn’t typically nice to them because more times than not so he decided not to be nice first in order to save himself some dignity. Perhaps when he was a few years younger he would fall for others kindness only to find a kick me sign on his back or his crayons broken when he went to sharpen his pencil. After so much deceit there was really no surprise when the child decided to stop trusting others and start treating them all like the enemy. “H-Help? I do not need help,” the boy clarified but as he tried to assert his confidence his footing was a bit shaken and a flash of fear filled the youngins face as he tried to correct his stance. It seemed like just in the knick of time the boy had regained his balance and sent a flaming glare down towards the other who had broke his concentration. Yeah, sure. That’s what it had been. “See? I am perfectly fine.” He began to stretch his wings, starting to feel the pressure of being watched and not knowing if he was going to eat it.

The other freshling still looked unsure, but Talia didn't want to bother them if they really didn't need help. However, she would feel guilty if she left and hurt themseles by falling and she wasn't there! And when the other replied in the somewhat shaky voice, Talia wasn't sure what to do. "Well um... I'm here if you do need help! I know that ladders are always scary for me!" She replied, almost mumbling the last part. After all, falling from anywhere was scary! She felt like pacing a bit, unsure of what to do. "Are, are you sure you don't need help?" She was probably starting to annoy the other now, and really should go back to playing the sandbox. But she couldn't just stand there and tried to think of something, until she accidentally blurted out, "I like your wings!" Yeah, that was really helpful to the situation wasn't it? But his wings were quite large, and they seemed to dwarf him. She felt a blush creep on her face as she continued to embarrass herself. She really should have just gone and gotten a teacher rather than putting herself in the middle of this mess!

“Am I sure? Of course I am, or else why would I say it?” The young boy was quick to defend his word but it seemed like that sudden distraction of nervousness and irritation were enough to make his footing on the bars a bit wobbly. Peregrine could have jumped at any time, and yet he was entertaining the thoughts of this strangely nosy girl. Why was she talking to him? It wasn’t like she was making fun of him in any way so what was the point? Unless… she actually cared? No, it’s a trick, surely! Pere was crouching, choosing to ignore her reasoning on whether this was a bad idea or not. Yes he was scared but these wings had to be good for something, right? They couldn’t just be for ridiculing and poking fun at. He took a deep breath, ready to jump off when something seriously caught him off guard. Did she admit to liking them? Not only that but she sounded genuine! The shock came at such a surprise that the boy snapped his attention down to Talia, but that had been a mistake it seemed. The flick of his eyes caused him to lose balance and tumbled over the edge of the bars. Thank goodness his reflexes kicked in quick enough for his grubby little hands to grip the bar. He was left dangling from the metal, large wings dropping and weighting him down. “H-Help!” The child squeaked our in pure fear as he panicked

Talia gasped as the boy started to lose his grip a bit. It seemed that by talking to her, he had been distracted! Oh no! She had made the situation worse! She felt so guilty as she watched him. Wondering if she should just run away now so that the other freshling could concentrate on what he was doing, until the inevitable happened! He had decided to jump! But for some reason, mid-way through the jumping part, he stopped! She could only watch as he tumbled down a bit, and only stopped when he managed to catch himself. "Oh no! I'll help you!" And she rushed over to save him. Of course the best thing that she actually could have done was go and get a teacher, but he could have fallen and seriously hurt himself by the time she was able to bring one back! Or at least that's what she was thinking as she climbed a few of the bars, and tried to hold grab a hold of him so that he could get a grip on the bar once again. "I'll grab you and then you can try and grab the bar with your other hand too!" She hoped this would work, otherwise she would have to get and get a teacher immediately.

The boy was in a panic as he tried his hardest to keep that grip from slipping any further. All his witty childish remarks flew out the window in that moment. He shouldn’t have been so snappy and rude. Maybe not the girl would just walk away and wish him the best of luck. At least, if the tables were turned he would do just that. Pere would think that anyone as rude as him didn’t deserve help in the least bit. Surprisingly enough though this girl wasn’t as heartless as he was. As she reached down and grabbed him the frightened boy latched on, clinging and clawing to get himself up on the bars. With one more rough grab he wiggles himself up onto the bars, panting from him struggling so hard. “I’m... I’m sorry. I’m so sorry... I just...” he began to pant from his efforts and racing heartbeat as he settled on the bars. “I don’t want to talk to others because others are mean. Why couldn’t you just leave me alone?”

Talia was glad that he managed to get back onto the bars, and breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart was racing and she hadn't even been the one who was in danger! She didn't know if that was what it felt like to save someone, but she didn't feel too good. She still felt responsible for it in the first place. But the danger was over now, and she could try to calm her beating heart. At least the had been able to help! It wasn't until the boy apologized to her, and then asked her why she couldn't just leave him alone. She felt tears start to form in her eyes, and she sniffed a bit. "I'm sorry! I just thought... I thought I could help!" She replied. She was full-on crying now. She couldn't help it. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and the stress of the situation was hitting her suddenly. The boy had been in danger and then had, in her mind, told her to leave him alone! She felt the tears fall down. "I don't know many other freshlings sniff here, or at least ones that aren't sniff mean to a geist like me and I just though that sniff you looked interesting and I wanted to talk..." the rest of it was lost as she could no longer talk and continued to cry.

Peregrine felt his little brows knit together in frustration and anger. “Well you didn’t help! You almost killed me!” The boy lashed out, but that anger was a facade. Truthfully the boy had just been frightened, and like most of the time he turned hostile before he let it be known that he was genuinely scared. He thought shouting would make her run away, but instead of turning on her heels and running she in fact planted her self there and began to sob. Perry swallowed thickly, guilt now coming to replace his panic. He genuinely felt bad, and ever so slowly began to crawl to the ladder’s bars. He hopped down onto the top step and carefully climbed down till he was safe and sound on the ground. “People are mean to you?” The boy asked for the honest truth. His whole life he had been picked on for his big wings that were compatible to dumbo’s ears. He felt bad knowing now the girl had her own struggles. What should he say though? He wasn’t sorry for putting his defenses up. They kept him safer, but he didn’t want to be another mean freshling who makes this girl cry. What now though? He took a deep breath, eyes dropping to the grass beneath his feet. “D-do you want to... go play in the sandbox?”.

Talia didn’t realize that Pregrine had been approaching and jumped a bit when he asked her the question. She sniffed once more before looking up at him, her vision still watery. She could only slightly nod, her throat still a little constricted from the crying and she didn’t want to be of any trouble to him by annoying him even more with her blubbering. She used her sleeve to clear up her vision a bit more before looking at Peregrine. He seemed to be sorry, though he hadn’t apologized. Maybe he just forgot to though? Talia gave him another silent nod. “S-sure. The” another sniff, “ sandbox sounds fun.” She replied, though she still felt a bit bad about the situation. Still though, he seemed to be trying to apologize in his own way, and Talia couldn’t be too mad at him. After all, it must have been scary! She smiled a little at him. “What do you want to build?”