{SCE} If You Want Meat

[Demi Smith]

Yes! Demi's latest attempt at catching some wildlife had actually gone well. She wasn't entirely sure that they were supposed to be catching game, given that this was some sort of national park or something, but they had been going on about how it was some sort of survival camping trip and all, so Demi had pretty well figured that meant that she could get away with it. And if not, she just had to make sure not to get caught by one of the teachers.

So instead Demi approached one of her fellow "campers" holding up the dead animals she had in one hand. "Want some meat?" she asked, her eyebrows raised, a smirk raising on her face. After all, she was willing to bet that most of the others hadn't managed to hunt down and kill game on their own, while she had a handful of squirrels in one hand, fat squirrels, too.

She was already moving to sit down, figuring that the answer to her question would be yes, which meant she'd have to skin them... which meant something sharp...

[Quinn Wiley]

The closest to camping Quinn ever experienced was the fact there was a lot of woods near his grandparents’ house. He did wander there a lot when he lived with them but he never actually spent a night in the woods, not even in a tent or with all the comfort modern life could offer to this activity. He was a city boy who was later tossed into a suburb environment. He was not prepared for this.

Quinn had a plan however. If he wanted to ‘survive’ here, the best way was to stick with those who were the best at this. And after checking how the others handled themselves, it was clear that this girl was the most at ease in this environment. She was the one he should stick around. He checked on her when they built shelters to do something somewhat similar. It was obviously not as good and only comforted him in his thought that he really didn’t belong here and this had all been a mistake.

He lost her track earlier but she came back to the camp with dead animals in her hands. He couldn’t help how disgusted he was at the sight of the dead squirrels in her hands. They were supposed to eat that!? Couldn’t they just pretend to be hunting for marshmallows or something? Seriously, they were teenagers and Quinn had no desire to start hunting. Except that this girl went hunting and now asked if he wanted some. So he didn’t have to hunt. “Uh, yeah, I guess...” Quinn didn’t want to stay near those things. Did they have rabies? He bet they had rabies. “You want me to start a fire or something?” Anything would be good, so long as he didn’t have to touch those things.

[Demi Smith]

The guy didn't seem familiar to Demi. Though she really didn't know all that many people here, so it wasn't like she could really pick one out from the others. He had some kind of weird name that almost sounded familiar or something. Demi didn't know. She did know that he was willing to work with her and to help eat her food and, well, some part of her still remembered what that was like.

"Can you actually do that?" she asked, smirking. She sat down then, looking around for a moment. Demi needed a knife. It didn't even have to be particularly sharp, not with her ability. Just something that she could actually use to skin the animals and properly dress them. She'd already done some of the preliminaries. "If you can get a fire good and hot, I can get these guys ready to cook," she held up the critters, before leaning over again.

"You see a knife around here somewhere? I know that some of us had them. I guess I could make one out of a rock and a stick..." she was tempted to do so. Last time she'd managed with something like a spear. But there should be something around and, well, for all she knew, this guy could, like, make knives or something. So Demi looked expectantly at him, figuring that he could totally help.

He was going to get fresh meat out of it.

[Quinn Wiley]

Those squirrels didn’t look all that good to eat but they apparently couldn’t go hunting for Campbell soup or something of the like. Besides, meat was meant and Quinn didn’t want to spend his entirely week eating fruits and mushrooms. He didn’t want to skin those squirrels either though. It was so gross. If vegetarians wanted to recruit, they should show a video of people skinning animals. It would make them want to eat cabbage all the time.

Could Quinn make a fire? Now, that was an interesting question. He wouldn’t need matches or to rub two sticks together to create the flames, that was for sure, but building it so it would not die? “Stones in circle to delimitate the fire, then wood, twigs and moss to make sure it takes, right?” If there was a specific way to build it, he didn’t know too well however, but she asked him in a way that told him she knew. She could still watch and tell him if he didn’t do it right. “I’ve got the fire, don’t worry about that,” he assured her. He was not that confident however. He knew he didn’t have too much fat stocked so he shouldn’t build a large fireball, that was a plus. But he needed to know exactly how far from the wood he’ll have to stand so it wouldn’t instantly burn. If he was standing, it should be right, right? If not... well, his bad.

She asked him then for a knife. He checked his pockets, even though he already knew there were none there. “Uh, I don’t have any on me.” A rock and a stick. He looked around but he didn’t see a rock that looked sharp enough. “I guess I can try to find that too...” Or she could. Since she’d need to it skin those creatures. It made him wonder how she killed them in the first place if she didn’t have a knife but he opted not to ask as it would probably gross him out even more. “By the way, I know the staff said my name’s Tarquin, but it’s Quinn, okay?” he told her to introduce himself. He never liked his real name. Quinn, that sounded so much better.

[Demi Smith]

Demi nodded, actually looking mildly impressed: "That's cool: you actually know stuff. That's better than most of the id--people around here," hey, she was at least learning to be more social. Demi nodded and then started moving toward where she knew they kept some cooking gear. Because while the guy did seem to know what he was doing, he wasn't exactly pulling a knife out to hand to Demi or anything.

Yep: she'd been right. No knife. Demi just waved a hand. "I got the knife. You worry about the fire," she said, giving him another nod. He did seem competent, and Demi didn't see any reason not to treat him like that until he proved otherwise. She headed off, going the short distance to find the knife.

Or, well, she started to,t hen paused at the name bit to look back at him. "Cool. I'm Demi," though Demi couldn't recall if they'd introduced her as that or used her full name. She didn't let just anyone hear that though, so Demi it was. She gave a last nod and took off, already looking for a knife. It wouldn't take long: she was confident in that.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn had a little smirk as she nearly called them all idiots. Now, that was an attitude he could get along with. He didn’t like those who were overly protective and motherly. “I don’t promise it the be the best campfire you’ve ever seen though,” he warned her as he began to gather some of the rocks around. He’ll still have to pick some more and also wood and twigs and moss like he said. At least the actual igniting it part was covered. They were allowed to use their power right? Even if they preferred not, Quinn still intended to. For once, he found a purpose to his ability other than making his life a misery, he was not going to ignore that just because they might want the students to rely on what was around them instead.

She assured him that she got the knife, meaning it was time for him to gather everything for the fire. He also happened to get her name and nodded at that. If they called her something else, it wasn’t like Quinn paid much attention but in case she heard his name, he wanted to make sure she would not call him Tarquin. Why his parents chose this name, he had no idea, but they obviously suck at name picking, considering they thought calling him Alfried like his father was also a good idea. Parents, sometimes.

He left the camp but didn’t go far. It was easy to find dry enough branches in these woods, as well as rocks, twigs and moss. He couldn’t bring it all in one shot though so he began with rocks, than wood than went back for some the rest. Now came the moment of truth. Many things could happen. He might just burn everything to a crisp in one shot, forcing him to start all over again. It could also spread, which was why he did his best for there to be only dirt around the fire, to avoid burning the whole place. Then he stood up and tried to evaluate the distance. She must be wondering what the hell he was doing, should she ever pay attention. Finally, he started exhaling loudly. He didn’t have too much stored so it should be fine. He hoped. He coughed up the acid and it went straight to the wood, burning all the moss. He startled at how quickly it took, even moving away a little, just in case. But it didn’t spread. He might need more wood later but he brought more than necessary so he hoped they would be fine. “That’s good for you?”

[Demi Smith]

Demi didn't really care how impressive the campfire was, so long as it worked. She was tempted to say as much to the guy, but he seemed to have a handle on it. Plus, that knife wasn't going to find itself. So instead, Demi headed off, sorting through the various supplies. She did have to find this sign-out sheet and write down that she was taking one of the knives. This she couldn't argue with: you wanted to know who had what, after all. They'd had similar systems back home.

Gah, this whole stupid thing just kept reminding Demi of home far too much. She nearly stomped back to where she'd left the squirrels. She sat without any ceremony, grabbed a squirrel, and quite literally twisted its head. Then she brought her knife down and started skinning it with evident skill and practice.

Only to pause as she watched Quinn do his thing. "That's pretty cool," she said. Demi nodded, then jerked the knife, taking the squirrel's skin off in one go. She held it up. "You want these just charbroiled over the fire? Hope so, 'cuz I don't want to sign out a pot too," she was already moving to get this one onto a skewer so she could start on the next few.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn couldn’t tell what was more disturbing, to see a squirrel getting its head twisted before being skinned or the fact it was done by a girl clearly younger than he was. Yes, with that simple gesture, Demi intimidated him. He would respect the girl and try not to piss her off or get in her way. Even if she didn’t have the knife in her hand. She managed to kill those squirrels after all, who knows what she could do to him.

He had the bad luck to look at her as she showed off the skinned animal. This was disgusting, actually, even more as he thought he was going to eat those. He never thought he’d ever be so desperate as to eat squirrels. Demi seemed to have no problem with it however and was even so skilled as to know how to cook it. “It’s fine,” he said, after gulping down and try not to look like his food scared the crap out of him. It would be like in the movies right? With the rat over a skewer. Yeah, those didn’t look all that good in real life either.

“You... you ate a lot of squirrels before?” Quinn asked only to feel like it came out not right. But it was kind of late to take it back. So he figured he’d just go along whatever answer she’ll give him and be more specific later on, if necessary.

[Demi Smith]

Demi didn't have any qualms or show the slightest bit of distaste for her action, even as she got some blood on her. She just wiped her hand off on the ground and used her power to let the dirt and other bits slide on off back to the forest floor. The girl did spent a few more moments doublechecking to make sure that the meat was actually clean before setting it up over the fire.

Then it was onto the next one, which Demi again handled with the same aplomb as before. Snap head off, bring knife down, part skin. She looked up at Quinn at the question and shrugged. "Less squirrel, more rabbit. Pretty much the same. I've dressed deer and junk before too," she was already finishing up that one and setting it to the fire.

As Demi adjusted the animals, she looked over at Quinn, grinning impishly. "You're so getting squeamish about it, aren't you? Don't worry: it tastes good this way. Less of that junk in it and no other tainted crap," Demi adjusted the squirrels again, wanting to get them in a good position to cook thoroughly.

[Quinn Wiley]

He noticed how she wiped her hands on the ground. At first, he thought about saying something, as it could not be very hygienic but the dirt that replaced the blood just fell off and it had the boy pause for a moment. Of course, it had to be her power. He was almost ashamed that it took him so long to get that. Hopefully she would not notice however since she was so busy skinning those poor creatures.

Quinn couldn’t help but wonder once again if they were really supposed to go hunting like that. They couldn’t have expected them to know how to, right? And he saw no fishing lines so they didn’t want them to catch fish either. Still, it meant meat instead of plants and whatever else they might have found/smuggled in. He was for meat. If he needed to make another fire during the week, he would need some fat and he doubted he’d get any with berries.

She really seemed to know what she was doing. That girl would fit more in this world if they were two or three hundred years ago. She listed animals she prepared like that. Maybe he should be insulted that she was sort of mocking him for hesitating with this food or being grossed by the whole thing but he was not. He was hesitating and he was grossed out but he also wanted to eat and she offered to give him one. “I’ve never went camping before. The only skewers I ever had were grilled over a barbecue and came from the supermarket,” he admitted. He looked down at the squirrels. They didn’t look much like squirrels anymore. “How long does it take to get used to this?” Quinn asked out loud. He doubted he would ever.

[Demi Smith]

If Demi knew Quinn's thoughts, she would have agreed with his assessment: she would have done better a century or two ago. She also would do just fine when her people had finally Inherited all that was ordained to them. Though she wasn't about to go espousing her beliefs unless prodded. Or hinted at. Or yeah, it was probably going to happen at some point.

"always been used to it," Demi replied, shrugging. She adjusted the animals' position on the fire, rotating them slightly before putting some dirt onto the edge of the skewer. Demi figured she could then push the skewer slowly with her power, getting a little fine training in and creating an easy to spin skewer. "My clan was all about living off the land and junk. If you couldn't catch or make it for yourself, or trade for it I guess, then you didn't really need it," Demi shrugged and looked to the meat. "Made sense to me."

Demi paused for a moment, then looked over at Quinn. "I saw you breathing the fire earlier. That's a pretty cool power." And hey, a compliment from Demi. better look out for the flying pigs.

[Quinn Wiley]

Why did it not surprise him? You couldn’t look so young and be this skillful unless you’ve seen it done all your life. “Clan?” Quinn could not help but repeat after her. Who had clans these days? This girl was more peculiar then he had first thought. He noticed how she put dirt on the edge of the skewer and what effect it had. So she had some power over dirt, or earth which was the same thing he supposed. This had him forget a little about the clan thing and even had him miss some parts of what she said.

He had a little scoff after she was done. “You must love this world then,” he said with clear irony. “Here, it’s more if you cannot afford it, you’re a nobody whose presence is unwelcome.” Was that too cynical? Maybe, but it was not like Quinn would take it back. The world was crazy like that. And since Quinn was not one of those who could afford much, well he certainly did not like it. He could have, once, but he’d rather not think about this.

He stared at her again when she talked of his power. He had a little smile. “Thanks. I wasn’t sure it would work though. Glad to know I finally have a use for it,” he let out. He was playing with one of the smaller branches he brought in extra for the fire. He was drawing shapes on the ground but he looked back at her after a moment. “And you... you control earth, is that it?”

[Demi Smith]

"Yeah, clan," Demi repeated, giving Quinn a "don't be an idiot" look before gesturing to roll the skewers again. With the dirt she'd put on them, Demi could almost move them as easily as if she held them. Technically she couldn't do too much, since she'd just pull the dirt off, and she hadn't practiced this technique for a while, but she could still manage something like this.

"this world sucks," Demi said without any irony, adding a snort, "and it's not just because of people wanting to buy stuff, though that doesn't make, like any sense," Demi almost rolled her eyes again. she definitely didn't understand the whole buying things you didn't need bit. People had tried to explain it to her several times, and her answer generally came down to "stop buying it."

Her comment about the power went over well, and Demi grinned at that. "All powers are useful in the right situation,' she said. "that's one of the first things my clan taught me," she then shifted, pulling up some earth using her power and letting it spin in a spiral above her hand. "What do you think?" she asked, turning to look at him, smirking and raising her brows.

[Quinn Wiley]

The way she said the word clan, Quinn preferred not to ask any more questions. There was something about her tone that tone of her that just warned him to drop the matter. And he would. It was still strange to hear she came from a clan. That didn’t sound like the name she would give her family, like some did. Nothing about Demi seemed very normal but she also looked like she could kick his ass so he chose not to talk any further of the matter.

He had a dry chuckle at her view of the world, a nod indicating he thought the same. This world indeed sucked. He was not entirely with her for the whole not making sense part but he barely listened to that. “They say ‘you want that’ and people believe it. Then they are mad at those who sold them all this like it was their fault they were gullible,” Quinn added. Of course, had he been allowed to live this life, like he used to as a child, he wouldn’t have the same opinion about it. He’d also wouldn’t be the same boy and not likely to be thrown in here so there was no reason to care about that. Now he thought the world just loved stealing everything and everyone he liked from him. He wasn’t sure he could change that.

“Everyone in your clan has powers?” That seemed to be the logic coming from her words. “None of my family does. Well, maybe my dad,” he explained to her. They were always ready to blame everything not going on well on his dad so he bet they were ready to blame him for this also. He looked down but since he didn’t want any pity, although he wasn’t sure he’d get any from her, he shrugged and looked up so he wouldn’t look too miserable. She showed him what she could do and he stared as the earth seemed to twirl under her command. “It’s impressive,” he admitted. He was not sugar coating it for her, he really thought it was nice. And gave him some creative ideas. Too bad he didn’t have his camera.

“You’ll probably think I’m an idiot but I told you I didn’t do camping so: how exactly do I eat these?” He pointed at the squirrels slowly roasting over the fire. “I mean, do I have to watch out not to burst organs or something or I can just chew on it without problem?”

[Demi Smith]

"I know! But everyone around here keeps acting like that make sense!" Demi held her hands out, her eyes wide. It was rare that someone said something she actually agreed with, but this definitely fit in with her overall philosophy. it all sounded like gullible stuff used to trick incompletes, but everyone just swallowed it and acted like it was completely normal.

The question had her nodding, feeling even more enthusiastic. "Yeah, if you're Inherited you're a mutant," she replied, "though we don't use that word, we're just... us," she shrugged. "But we all definitely have powers, and you're not allowed to interact with an Incomplete. Well, some do, but you can get tainted and it's super complicated," Demi shrugged. She would have likely continued, but she got distracted with the question.

Which actually made sense. "Oh, yeah, I totally didn't remove the guts," she said, staring. "Well, uh, you can actually eat those if you want. if you don't, I can just tear them out hot and you can focus on the meat. Just, like," Demi pointed, "eat the bits like you would on a chicken: Legs and junk." They had chickens back where Demi was from too: she knew how to pluck them and prepare that for eating too. Just didn't happen to be any chickens roaming around the state park.