What's the Dumb Tree For?

[Demi Smith]

Demi stared across the auditorium, seeing the fairly large tree filling up a portion of the stage. They'd dragged it in a few days ago and all, and then people had put lights and baubles on it and stuff. Demi had watched with some curiosity, mostly wondering if there was some way she could turn the situation to her advantage. When it became clear that this was some kind of strange ritual that they just sort of did, Demi had sat back and watched.

Now, however, she stared up at the tree. She circled it carefully, looking up at it. The thing made her feel small, though she knew it wasn't the largest tree in the school. The one in the entrance easily dwarfed it (she still didn't know how that one had gotten inside). Still, it loomed over her, making her feel kinda tiny and all.

"I don't get it," she said. Demi wrinkled her nose and looked up. "What's with the tree?" she walked around again and, feeling a little frustrated, she gathered up some of the dust and dirt on her. The cold weather made getting her usual layer a little harder then normal, but she'd still managed to get enough to stick to her. She flicked her fingers at a few ornaments, catching them. One fell off and Demi dove, managing to catch it on a small cloud of dust.

"Hey, this is kinda fun," she said, playing with it. She grinned and looked up at the tree. "Wonder how many I can do at once," she gathered her dust and took another shot, knocking another ornament off, getting ready to dive to catch that one too.

[François Laffont]

To say that François loved Christmas would be a euphemism. Of course, when you so naturally gave of your time to everyone who needed it all year round, this month of giving had to bring even more particular attention from you. And it was his intention to be even more present to those he loved and those who might need him. He didn't have a lot of money to spend on them, unlike another Frank of his acquaintance, but his heart was big enough for all of them and he sure had enough time. It would take away this bittersweet feeling he had often during the holidays, when other families gathered together for the celebrations, knowing this he only had his father around. He planned on being there for him but, to compensate for those members of his family so far away from him, he had a lot of friends he intended to be there for.

His love for Christmas didn’t go to the point of putting lights and decoration everywhere so that his house can be seen from the moon but he definitely was in for decorating the trees at the school, or at least to give a hand doing so, since they were not small. It was why he was making his way to the auditorium right now with a box in his hands. You couldn’t see if you looked at the stage but there was a portion of the tree that still needed to be decorated. It was on the back, so not exactly necessary but Franck thought they should do things right so when the bigger one at the entrance was fully decorated, he picked the few baubles and garlands remaining to do the finishing touches required here.

He was not really alarmed by the light being on or the sound of feet on the floor. He thought that someone might have decided to help him out. When he saw what was really happening however, he froze. Not because this girl was playing with the baubles but because of who this girl was. Franck didn’t know her name but her sight brought him back to one sunny day with a bird, a fight and a Franck losing control of the emotions he dealt with.

He was ashamed of what he put that girl through that day, even though he was ready to throw a stone at her as well. She didn’t look dangerous right now, unless perhaps if you were a Christmas ornament. She even seemed to have fun. Since it was December, he thought he should be nicer to everyone, including this dirty and aggressive little girl. “It’s nice to see you having fun. You know, without anyone suffering for it.” Okay, maybe he would need a little more work on the being nice thing.

[Demi Smith]

The voice had Demi whirling. The dust clouds came up, throwing the ornaments nearly to her eye level, all swirling as if ready to launch out like extra projectiles. Their dirty wielder narrowed her eyes. The guy looked familiar, though Demi couldn't immediately place him. She had quite a few unpleasant run ins since her arrival, and they all tended to blend together after a while.

"Well, it's kinda hard to have fun in this stupid place," she replied. Demi snorted and flicked her hands, lowering the dust clouds. The ornaments spun around in circles after they landed, the momentum from Demi's work carrying them. She supposed she should try to break them or something, but it just felt slightly wrong. Instead she looked over at the guy, trying to remember where she'd seen him.

Well, he did look like he could probably answer her question, so that was something. "What's the dumb tree for?" Demi demanded, jerking her head toward it. "With all the decorations and junk. Is this some kind of holiday thing?" Demi did understand the holidays, after all, even if the ones the people here celebrated didn't mesh up very well with the ones she remembered. That wasn't too surprising: not much did. It just made her more homesick and heartsick, which made her as surly as ever.

[François Laffont]

Franck did hesitate for a second when he saw that dirt in the air and the ornament it hold within its grasp, already aimed at him. But he wanted to bury the hatchet with her, if there was anything to bury at all between them, and that meant he could not let her think her little threat, intended or not, worked on him. He wanted to be nice for a change, make amend for the words he spoke at her. He was still ready to defend himself by claiming she was ready to kill a bird for no other reason than it was chirping and only sociopaths did such a thing but he got that calling her a sociopath was not the right way to start anew with this girl. He was also sort of happy never to meet with her again but they were both studying here and he figured he might bump into her again in the future. Since Franck was not one to like having people disliking him, he would deal with her, as displeasing as it may be.

“Really? Well, I guess it kind be boring at times but I wouldn’t say it’s all that hard.” Even though the words exchanged between them last time were sort of blurry, Franck seemed to vaguely recall being considered a weakling in her eyes because he was trying to be nice. This time, he intended not to make too much effort other than to be civil.

Instead of smiling to her and looking nice, he walked towards the tree and placed the box by it. He was about to ask her a question of his own but she beat him to that. He seemed surprised, even widening his eyes at her words. “You don’t know what a Christmas tree is?” Now that came as a shock. He thought it was impossible not to know, even when you came from a place where you couldn’t get firs. But it wasn’t just the tree she didn’t seem to know about, it was the whole celebration. “It’s Christmas,” he said as if this explained everything. He gestured at the tree. “It’s just another decoration. Christmas, it’s...” Franck stopped as he realised talking of Jesus and everything might not mean much to her and he didn’t want her to mock his religion. Best go for the more commercial aspect of the holiday. “It’s a moment of joy and sharing. You meet with your family and you exchange gifts that you placed under the tree, that sort of thing.” Franck couldn’t help a smile as he looked at the tree, not really looking at it as much as remembering good memories from when he was younger.

He looked back at the girl. “It’s just to bring a bit of cheer. I was actually about to finish decorating it, you want to help?” he asked, pointing at the box with some more decoration in it. He was not expecting her to say yes but he offered nonetheless.

[Demi Smith]

Demi snorted. "Maybe it's easy for you, but every time I try to do something fun, people get upset with me," she replied. She shrugged her shoulders and looked back at the tree and then down at the decorations that were about. She could hear Franck moving around, saw him move by the tree. Demi's eyes shifted slightly to look at Franck, and she held silent. Of course she didn't know what a Christmas tree was, though she sort of understood Christmas. There were all the decorations and weird music and all that kind of thing.

Apparently it was some kind of holiday involving joy and sharing and gifts. "That sounds..." said Demi, but she couldn't quite add her usual "stupid" to the mix. She looked over at the tree instead, thinking about the whole togetherness thing, and family. Her family was far away, and she wasn't allowed to return to them until she finished school here, however long that took.

"What?" she said as he asked. Demi turned to him, blinking. "Finish... you mean putting more of those things on it?" she pointed at the decorations, then looked up at the tree. Demi took a step forward, then paused, looking to Franck. "Wait, aren't you the one who told me that they were gonna lock me up and stuff?" Demi's eyes narrowed. "Why would you want me to help with this stuff? Is this some kind of trick or something?" Demi looked around, alert for the slightest hint that something hinky was about to go down.

[François Laffont]

Franck felt the desire to let out that maybe if her definition of fun did not involve hurting others, maybe people wouldn’t be so upset with her but he forced himself not to say a word. He told himself that he would be nice to Demi, be a little more in the spirit of Christmas and forgive her rather brusque nature. He should pity this girl, who probably didn’t have enough people extending a kind hand at her in the past. What else could explain that someone so young was so aggressive? He could not believe the school let a sociopath amongst them.

He turned his head as she wanted to comment Christmas now that he tried to explain it to her. He did expect some comment to mock this holiday. You must really be bitter if you mocked a celebration where you were supposed to be nice and joyful. He knew he was lucky, he had his father around while most students here couldn’t see their family. Maybe it explained why he wanted to do so much when it came to decorate the school and be a part of the festivities. He wanted to give a bit of his happiness to others.

He didn’t expect Demi to agree in giving him a hand. He normally preferred to see the best in people but he was not expecting any kindness from her. Especially when she finally remembered him. He sighed heavily when she pointed out he once said they would lock her up. Yeah, it had not been very kind and saying her anger had rubbed on him and made him say those words would not help either. “Yeah, I’m sorry for that,” he said. He wasn’t quite sure if he truly was sorry however but he still apologized. He was surprised though that she would take his proposition of helping him as a trick. “No trick, I swear. It’s just that, you’re here, so I thought maybe you’d like to try. You sounded like you’ve never decorated a tree before,” he explained. He knew what Demi thought of his kindness but he refused to let that destroy his spirit. He shrugged at her before she could reply anything. “If you don’t want to, it’s fine with me. It’s not like I should care what you do.” Okay, maybe he was doing the laidback attitude a little too much but he thought her suspicion on his behalf was ridiculous. Anyone in this school could tell her he was the most harmless person around.

[François Laffont]

Franck felt the desire to let out that maybe if her definition of fun did not involve hurting others, maybe people wouldn’t be so upset with her but he forced himself not to say a word. He told himself that he would be nice to Demi, be a little more in the spirit of Christmas and forgive her rather brusque nature. He should pity this girl, who probably didn’t have enough people extending a kind hand at her in the past. What else could explain that someone so young was so aggressive? He could not believe the school let a sociopath amongst them.

He turned his head as she wanted to comment Christmas now that he tried to explain it to her. He did expect some comment to mock this holiday. You must really be bitter if you mocked a celebration where you were supposed to be nice and joyful. He knew he was lucky, he had his father around while most students here couldn’t see their family. Maybe it explained why he wanted to do so much when it came to decorate the school and be a part of the festivities. He wanted to give a bit of his happiness to others.

He didn’t expect Demi to agree in giving him a hand. He normally preferred to see the best in people but he was not expecting any kindness from her. Especially when she finally remembered him. He sighed heavily when she pointed out he once said they would lock her up. Yeah, it had not been very kind and saying her anger had rubbed on him and made him say those words would not help either. “Yeah, I’m sorry for that,” he said. He wasn’t quite sure if he truly was sorry however but he still apologized. He was surprised though that she would take his proposition of helping him as a trick. “No trick, I swear. It’s just that, you’re here, so I thought maybe you’d like to try. You sounded like you’ve never decorated a tree before,” he explained. He knew what Demi thought of his kindness but he refused to let that destroy his spirit. He shrugged at her before she could reply anything. “If you don’t want to, it’s fine with me. It’s not like I should care what you do.” Okay, maybe he was doing the laidback attitude a little too much but he thought her suspicion on his behalf was ridiculous. Anyone in this school could tell her he was the most harmless person around.

[Demi Smith]

Hey, at least Demi got him to admit to having contributed to her torture and all. Seemed like just about everyone around here did that; they certainly didn't seem to like having her be herself. Not her fault that they were all a bunch of weaklings and stuff. Though at least Franck sounded somewhat contrite about it, as though he realized that he'd been kinda mean or something.

"Right," said Demi as he continued, though she didn't sound as though she believed him. She eyed him for a long time, trying to see if some answer would bubble up, something that she could see. She looked back at the tree for a bit, her lips pursing. Had she ever decorated one? No, but it didn't look hard or anything. Did she want to? he even asked that, and Demi wasn't entirely sure.

"It's just putting up those," she pointed at the ornaments and decorations set nearby, "onto that," she pointed at the tree, "right? That seems easy. I can so do that," she walked over to the ornaments, picking up several in her arms, cradling them against herself. Demi adjusted as best she could, figuring that she could show just how awesome she was at this by doing as many at once as she possibly could. Show him that she could do stuff.

[François Laffont]

Call this an early New Year resolution but Franck was focused on not losing his temper again in front of Demi. If she didn’t want to be a part of this school, he’ll have to shrug it off and ignore her. It shouldn’t be too hard. Not letting her rude comments affect him might prove harder. For now, his plan was to pretend he couldn’t care less whatever she chose to say or do. He had no idea how long he could pull this up but he planned on doing this for as long as he could and possibly leave before it got out of hands. He didn’t want to repeat what happened last time.

He nodded as she summed up the task at hand in one simple sentence. “There are already some but there are a few holes to fill,” he added. He might need a stepladder though if she wanted to reach the higher branches. He pushed that thought away as it would no doubt anger her if he was to say it. He chuckled seeing her take so many ornaments at once. “You don’t have to take so many, the box won’t run away. Just pick those you prefer and place them where you think they’ll look good,” he told her. It was no race or competition, at least not to him, although he still felt like he won a small victory because she agreed to try. Honestly, she didn’t think she would have.

“What were you doing for the holidays then, if you didn’t have a tree?” he asked her, trying for his tone to sound like he was just filling the silence with words and didn’t really care if she answered or not. This one was a pretty tough one to tame and he knew he had to tread with caution. “Are you Jewish?” he asked as he realised she might just not be celebrating Christmas because they celebrated something else. He should have thought of it first. Although, he was pretty sure even Jewish people knew about Christmas.

[Demi Smith]

holes to fill? Demi nodded and looked at the tree with a calculating eye. All those years of combat training actually worked to her advantage here; she just needed to see the tree as an opponent and the openings as weaknesses. She'd strike at those, leaving the ornaments behind as a testament to her skills and such. though she was still struggling to actually hold said ornaments balanced in her arms, something that Francois apparently picked up on.

Demi shot him a defiant look, snorted, and then walked determinedly forward, her intent still focused on the tree. She shifted enough to get a few of the bulbs into her free hand and began placing them strategically onto the tree, carefully adjusting them so that they hit the various open spots. It was actually proving to be kind of fun, and Demi was seriously tempted to use it as practice for her ability.

Though Francois seemed determined to distract her. Demi looked back at him at his question, and felt the word "stupid" raising to its usual position on her lips. She just barely managed to swallow it back, figuring that he probably didn't know. Still made him stupid though.

"my people don't really celebrate the normal holidays," she replied. She added a little shrug and had to quick alter her position to make sure not to drop anything. "I think we did something celebrating the whole birth of Jesus thing. He was supposed to be one of the first of the Inherited or something," Demi wrinkled her nose. "I'm not exactly great at remembering all the stupid history stuff," she added another shrug and then moved to try and put three bulbs up at the same time. See if he could match that.

[François Laffont]

He knew that was not a big deal, hanging ornaments with this girl, but to Franck, it felt like a small victory. He finally managed to pierce a tiny hole in her very think wall and be around her without feeling any anger from her part. They might not even fight! Oh, he knew he was a long way to calling her a friend but maybe they'll be able to put last time's little accident behind them. He was certain there was a soft heart underneath all this dirt and he didn't mind unearthing it for her.

She didn't seem to care what he said about the ornaments and brought many with her. Franck chose to shrug it off. There were so many, even if she was to break one or two, he doubted the school would really mind. He could still buy some more for a few bucks if it came to that.

He didn’t really think she could be Jewish. She seemed to have a vision of the world that sounded incompatible with any religion he knew. “Well, since you’re here this year, you might want to try and see how we celebrate the holidays around here. What’s the worst that can happen, you might like it?” Franck told her. He didn’t intend to invite her home for the holidays or give her a gift, unless, by some miracle, he found something that screamed her name to him but he wasn’t sure she’d accept it. There must be some activities around the school she might like however. It would help her fit in. Even if she didn’t want to fit in.

He stopped placing the decorations when she said Jesus was a mutant. It wasn’t the term she used, but it was what it meant. “I like that term. Inherited. Or Gifted. Sounds so much better than mutant. Mutant makes it sound like we’re an experiment gone wrong,” he said after a moment. It still took him some time before he went back to the tree, too busy thinking about Jesus being a mutant. It would explain a lot but it was also shaking his beliefs so he preferred not to think about it. “My name’s Franck, by the way. Well, François but you can call me Franck. I don’t remember if I told you before.”

[Demi Smith]

"I'm here for lots of years," groused Demi. She put the next few ornaments on a little more roughly than was necessary. One nearly caused several ornaments to fall. Demi stared at the shaking branch for a moment before casting some dirt out to catch it and bounce it back up. She might like it indeed, though she wasn't so sure. It didn't sound quite as stupid as everything else that they did and all, but it still sounded pretty stupid.

Demi was all set for Franck's response to also sound like that. She had the words to retort ready on her lips and everything. Instead, she ended up turning and blinking as he actually said that it made sense. "Well, duh," she said, snorting, "that's what I've been trying to tell people. We've got this really cool thing that makes us totally better than other people and all," she looked at the tree, frowning for a moment. She sighed and put more on. He was probably going to go on about how all humans were special or something stupid.

"I'm Demeter," she said, reflexively giving her whole name. She blinked, then looked at him. "I mean, Demi. Demi Smith," she frowned and stepped back, holding a few ornaments. "I bet I can throw a bunch on at once," she said, turning and grinning almost viciously at Franck.

[François Laffont]

“It’s still not going to last forever,” he pointed out. For a moment, he nearly added they only wanted to help her control her power and give her tools to live a normal life but he remembered what happened last time he said something along those lines. It was best not to bring that up again if he wanted to avoid being called names. And be tossed baubles at. Yeah, in the end, it was a lot better if he left it at that.

Franck felt sorry for her. She must have lived in some very sheltered world, the kind of place where you couldn’t go against the beliefs and mentality. And she sure wasn’t, in fact, she called everyone names for thinking differently. It sort of reminded him of a cult or something and made him wonder how those who have been raised in this could possibly change their mind. He had the proof before his eyes that it was far from easy. “Maybe if you stopped calling everyone stupid, they would care to listen to you,” he pointed out, only to think it was a stupid thing to say. He was trying not to anger her after all. Again, the need to add more, to say that they were not better but different and that he didn’t want this difference to define him, came to him but he managed to stop the words from coming out, actually having to bit his lip at some point. He tried that before and it didn’t end well, he doubted hanging some Christmas decorations would make her nicer to him all of a sudden.

He looked at her when she corrected herself and said she was called Demi. Since he gave her a nickname, he accepted to call her by one too. He blinked however at what she said next. “If you want to reach higher branches, I can try to find a stepladder or something, no need to throw them.”

[Demi Smith]

"Just going to feel like it," mumbled Demi, feeling another darkening of her mood for a few seconds. She hated thinking about how long she'd be trapped here and what that meant. Four long years without contact with her family or anyone she'd grown up with. She supposed they could visit, technically, but she knew they never would. None of them would dare break any vows or anything.

So instead she had to try and deal with the idiots here. Demi just snorted as one of those idiots insisted that she stop calling them that. She gave him a rather wry look. "I would if everyone stopped acting so stupid," she informed him, before turning back to the tree. She already gathered her decorations and eyed the top of the tree now.

"It's not about reaching," she insisted, focusing, gathering more dust and dirt and what have you. She outstretched her hand, moving the ornaments and stuff. "it's about doing it because you can, and because we're mutants," Demi looked at Franck, meeting her eyes, "using our powers is what we're supposed to do," and she arched her arm back, getting ready to fling some ornaments at the upper reaches of the tree.

[François Laffont]

Once again, he put her through some negative feelings and he felt sorry about it. Everyone was a little homesick at first, even he despite having his father coming along with him. Then again, it was a little different with him, he had to change of country and all. He wanted to cheer her up but he feared anything else he might say would only make her lash out. He fidgeted, unable to focus on the decorations or anything as he tried to chase the discomfort taking over him. There was also the fact he was interested in suggesting her she could just leave. He doubted the school would let her but it would be one less menace around here. “Of course, if you take it that way, it will,” he mumbled back, almost wishing she wouldn’t hear it.

He looked at her. It seemed to be her favourite word, stupid, and her favourite activity to call everyone by that name. “You know, I’m sure people think the same about you. You think we act stupid because we don’t think like you but we could think you’re stupid for the same reason.” Alright, this one, he did regret after he said it. Logic, their sort of logic, didn’t seem to work with her and he feared all she would get from it is the fact he called her stupid. He had to defuse that bomb before it blew on him. “Of course, you’re free to think whatever you want,” he added with a shrug. It was best not to care what she thought. If only it was something he was good at.

He looked at Demi than the tree and then at her again as she talked about using her power and all, because they were mutants and it was what they should do. “I don’t really see how my power could help me here. Unless the tree has feelings that can tell me where to put the decorations.” He wouldn’t be surprised she didn’t remember he was an empath. Remembering what he told her was easy since it affected her but this must have meant very little to her, too little for her to bother remembering. Either way, as she prepared herself to use her power, he was wondering how she could do it when he didn’t think she could move objects with her mind, he prepared himself to catch them should they fall.