Leave This Night Pure and Perfect

"If you think they're boring, you aren't reading the right ones." Sam immediately insisted in a voice far more pompous than his usual unsure, quiet tone. Seeing Nate's flask he pulled a disapproving face (would this man taint the sanctity of tea so much?) but said nothing, just raising his eyebrows and looking down as if to say 'Well.' Still, he leaned forward interested to hear more about the mystical land of Jersey. "Near the ocean? Oh, how lovely. I've never seen an ocean...they say there's one outside of the barrier and I suppose I could go see it now, but..." He smiled, shrugged. "I'm not really an explorer kind of man." Most people said it was worse here, so he smiled a little wider to hear Nate describe it as nice. "No. There's Naturals and Outlanders. You are an Outlander, meaning you came from somewhere else. I'm a...Natural, which means I was born here. There's been more Outlanders in the last few years." His voice was free of judgement, just explanatory. He reached forward and began to pour the tea, pushing one towards Nate slowly as if hesitant to let him have it with his...addition. "Some Naturals are upset with Outlanders. There is..a Spire, in the middle of town. And there used to be a barrier around it. The Outlanders...and some others. Me, too. Went to the Spire. Got rid of the barrier. Some Naturals didn't like that." Samuel I hear in my mind All these voices I hear in my mind All of these words