andrew-m:

He shrugged his shoulders a bit. “I guess I’ve just been avoiding human contact for awhile. I was in solitary for two years and was only let out for therapy and then an extra hour of time to do what I want, supervised of course. I chose to go to the library or just stay in my room. People in that wing aren’t great to be around so I avoiding anything having to do with them which usually included going outside.” He said. He hated that wing. So far this had been much better. Aside from his fight with Ethan and whatever was happening with Arabella. He didn’t know where that stood. For all he felt at the moment Ethan could have her. He wanted to keep his mind off of that though.

He realized then once he started to talk he could be a bit of a talker. He was a bit surprised by himself. Oh, well. She was pretty easy to talk to.

He turned in the direction she wanted to walk and walked next to her. He saw her tense up a bit but decided not to ask about it. If she wanted to talk about it she would say something to him. He sort of went by that as a rule.

He nodded a bit. “I’m sure. That place can get unpleasant a lot. This place seems like some sort of sweet relief from it all. It’s nice. Thanks for coming out here with me.” He said and looked at her and smiled slightly.

Smiling felt weird to him which was why he did it so rarely.

He followed her over to a tree and sat down after she patted the spot. He leaned back against the tree and sighed softly. He watched her pull out a cigarette and he realized he hadn’t had a smoke in so long he almost forgot that there was a time that he did smoke. “Yeah, thanks.” He said and took one from her. “It’s been way too long for me. I don’t even have a lighter on me anymore. I used to stash one in my shoe.” He said. 

“Oh…” Solitary for two years. She was curious now. She didn’t know what she’d do if she was ever in solitary. They allowed her a fair amount of ‘liberty’ by the asylum’s standards and she felt she was going crazy sometimes, she couldn’t even imagine if she was ever put by herself.

Why’d they put him in solitary?, she asked herself. She didn’t dare to ask; she didn’t know if it was a sensitive subject for him. Though he had told her his situation was similar to hers when they first talked.

“Don’t mention it, Andrew. I needed to come out here anyway. I haven’t had the greatest week.”

She felt herself blush a little when he smiled at her so she looked away quickly.

“…I don’t even have a lighter on me anymore. I used to stash one in my shoe.”

“Then here.” Scarlett leaned closer to Andrew and lit his cigarette. She looked at him and smiled, he seemed more open than the first time they talked. She looked at her lighter for a second and then handed it to him. “Keep it. I have another one in my room. Besides, you never know when you might need to set something on fire.” she teased. 

She took another drag of the cigarette and looked at the asylum.