The Walls We've Built - ◈ ARMIN ARLERT X OC ◈

Chapter 19 - Star gazing

As we enter the hallway Gen begins laughing, I look at her, unamused. She turns around to face me, "What?" She asks genuinely confused. I drop my head, how can she be so smart one minute and so dumb the next. "What!" She says again slightly annoyed, "My kind lady?" I repeat what she said which makes her smile amused, I smack her on the side of her arm. "Seriously Gen!! MY KIND LADY? Where did you even get that from! We were trying to make this big grand exit to show how dumb we think they are being and then you go and be even more dumb!" I scold her as she rubs her arm.

"Ok so maybe the light humour at the end wasn't the best idea but still Zariya, violence is never the answer! Did your parents teach you nothing as a child?" She rambles on waving her arms around in the open space. Gen is too proud with her comeback to remember, I look at her blankly once again, "My parents abandoned me, remember Gen?" I respond in a sarcastic tone. Gen's lips press together, "Oh, right forgot about that." She says, looking at the floor quietly. I playfully slap her on the back but she jolts at my touch, maybe that was a bit too hard. I push her to continue walking down what I thought was an empty hallway.

At the end of the hallway is another door that leads outside which is wide open. Sitting on the steps of the doorway Rosette is looking over her shoulder at us with a judgemental look on her face. "Oh, hey Rosette!" Gen says chipperly, I look at her again. "How about you stop talking now?" I say in a dramatic tone. Gen just rolls her eyes and walks over to Rosette and I follow behind her. Gen sits down at the bottom of the step and I sit on the step next to Rosette. She tears her eyes from the hallway looking back at the stars above us with one hand around her neck, resting on her elbow on her knee.

We sit in an awkward silence for a few minutes, no one speaks as we all think about what just happened. Rosette quietly sighs hanging her arms over her legs, "Did you know that the moon's light isn't actually its own, it's reflected off the sun?" I mutter admiring the moon's patterns. Gen and Rosette look at me confused, "How is that possible?" Rosette ponders. "Well the sun is the centre of our solar system, and all the other planets circle it, the moon only reflects the sun's light onto the earth." I explain, however from the looks on both Gen and Rosette's faces they only look more confused. "Sorry that information means nothing to you guys without reading the rest of the book." I reassure them that their confusion is warranted. "Right." Gen says looking back up at the stars.

Rosette slightly nudges me with her shoulder making me look at her, "What do you know about that star?" She asks curiously. My eyes follow the direction she is pointing in, "That really bright one?" I ask her in confirmation, she nods. I recall the page of the only astronomy book I could find in Shiganshina as a child. I see the thin aged page of the book in my head as if it is here in front of me. "That's Venus." I responded by making Rosette tilt her head, "Venus is a planet, well by planet I mean it's another place like earth, it's the closest planet to earth." I conclude, trying to simplify the information. "Huh, that's cool." Rosette says happily looking up at the sky, Gen nods along with her. We sit in silence again admiring Venus as it shimmers brightly in the night sky. I continue to tell the girls some things I know from the book, I tell them about our solar system and all other types of astronomy facts.

With every new piece of information I tell them their eyes widen more and more, it warms my heart seeing them get excited about the things that excite me. As a child I was always asking questions about the sky and space, so when Nick told me all of the very little information he knew. He told me to follow where my curiosity lead me, so that's what I did. I went to every library and bookshop I could find in search of knowledge on the stars, unfortunately no one seems to know anything about the stars that coated our sky each night. It was only when I was about to give up I came across this small hidden book shop that had a single book about space. I still remember how it felt to finally find the book I had been searching for, opening the first page of the old blue hardcover book titled 'Astronomy, an atlas of the stars'. At the time I didn't know what astronomy or atlas meant, but it didn't take long until they became my favourite words.

Rosette yawns next to me bringing her hand to her mouth, "It's late, we should probably get some sleep." She mumbles getting up, Gen nods next to her. I remain seated looking up at them both, "But I didn't get to tell you guys about Pluto!" I exclaim, eager to keep admiring the stars. Gen's shoulders drop, "Zariya it's close to midnight and I am extremely tired as I'm sure you are too. Tell us about Pluto tomorrow night." she says, beginning to walk up the stars. I turn around, "But-" I try to convince them to stay with me for a bit longer. "Come on Zariya it's a star, it will be there tomorrow night, it's not like it's going anywhere."

I sigh knowing she is right but refuse to get up. "Oh. Hi Armin" I hear Rosette at the top of the staircase making me quickly look over my shoulder, I look over at Gen who is already staring at me with a sheepish smile across her face. "You know what, maybe it is time for bed." I say going to get up, Gen forces me back down, "I don't think so my kind lady, I have a different plan for you!" She says loudly looking back at Armin as he walks outside, "Why don't you tell Armin about Pluto!" She finishes happily, I stare at Gen unimpressed. "Hey Armin!" Gen waves at him, I quickly punch her lower leg. "Ow, that's my bad ankle!" she squeals. "I know." I grit out before Armin reaches us. However before he does, Gen hurries away on her good foot, I'm going to kill her. I think to myself as I look back up at the stars.