Petals on The Moon || Reyna Ramirez-Arellano x Fem!OC

LXXXV

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Hello again.

Jason and I hit sank through some random body of water, his arms still tight around me, and we burst through the surface. I had trouble because of my leg, and Jason had trouble because he's not a great swimmer. We floundered for a little bit before I realized the pond wasn't very big.

I got my arm around his back. "Jason!" He spat out water and had one eye squeezed shut as he looked at me. "Just breathe, okay? Kick your legs with me. One and two, one and two, one and two..."

He did so, and slowly stopped almost drowning. We managed to swim to the edge of the pond and crawl out, coughing and gasping, algae stuck to our clothes. I gasped, and looked around, seeing nothing but trees upon trees upon trees.

"Jason," I gasped. "We don't have any of our things."

Jason flopped onto his back and sighed. The lightning bolt took everything out of him. Swimming did too, probably. "And now we're who-knows-where without Reyna and Seb." He sat up, hunched over, his sword across his lap. He turned to me. "At least we have each other."

"That's a good way to look at it." I turned and sat down next to Jason, both of us facing the pond. "We just... have to meet up in New Orleans, I guess. It's too dangerous not to keep moving. Which is why we should probably get up."

"Yeah." Jason didn't put up IVLIVS, and probably for a good reason, so I went ahead and prepped my dagger just in case. We brushed off as much mud as we could and helped each other with a sanitizer bath before trekking on through the sticks. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Was Seb just joking back there, or are you autistic?"

"I'm autistic," I confirmed. "My therapist diagnosed me a few months ago. But, it's nothing meds really fixes. Or anything to fix. It's just how I am."

"I don't know how autism works," Jason admitted. "I never really learned about it."

"Um, it just basically means I process the world differently," I said. "It's hard to explain. Everyone's different. It's why I get easily overwhelmed when it comes to meeting new people, though. And why I like my routine so much. Apparently, having trouble describing things is also kind of part of it. It's, um..." I thought deeply. "Like a mental block, I think. But, you know how I always eat at the same time most days, and I don't really like loud places, and I have trouble remembering that people exist so I forget to talk to them regularly?" He hesitated. "My therapist says that is all part of my autism. Oh, and also my bluntness and inability to lie." I scratched at my lip. "It's a lot more than that, but I suck at explaining things so that's the best I can do I guess."

Jason looked at me. "Oh. I never thought that was something like... to be diagnosed. I figured some people are just like that."

"Well, you're kind of like that, so that's probably why you thought it."

"Mm. Yeah, makes sense."

"But, like I said, it's different with everyone," I continued. "So, some people have autism so severe, they may never live on their own and might have trouble even eating outside of their comfort zone. Other people might just have some social trouble and that's about it. So, they call it a spectrum disorder, because... well, it's a spectrum. Sebastian says he always thought I was autistic, but he didn't pay much mind to it because it's not really a disability for me. It just sucks sometimes."