When it’s Raining Cats and Dogs... (Demi Smith)

[Demi Smith]

Murder? Demi frowned at that, looking away. This wasn't the first time someone had said that. Even back with the other Inherited, the actual Purging had been up for debate. A lot of people, especially those with "wussy" powers like Empathy, argued that they should aim for a nonviolent purge, or possibly just outbreed the others. They'd used that word in conjunction with what everyone else said.

"So what if it is?" demanded Demi, looking over at Andrew. "What if, like, we have to murder people in order to get to paradise or something? Okay, wait, it's not, like, actually murder though," she frowned, this was far, far more thinking than Demi cared to do. "It's, like, you're putting down a sick monkey or something. Okay, not even that. It's, like, if there's a bunch of monkeys that are living somewhere you want to live. You got to get rid of them somehow, right?"

She looked over at Andrew, her face hard. How could he not get this? Was he just stupid? Who was Demi kidding; everyone here was stupid. That was just how they worked.

[Andrew Wylen]

“"s- so what if it is”?-” Andrew repeated the girl’s words, horror struck, as she continued, demeanor seemingly put off by his incessant inability to see how she was so obviously correct though none the less still attempting to justify her belief to him. Meanwhile rain thrashed against the window pane, sheet after sheet of dagger like drops slashing across it in a muffled rhythm, while he looked across the space towards her. Why didn’t I just stay in tonight, Andrew thought with blissful longing, to just read a book as the rain pitter pattered across the low roof, dorm mates talking and TV blasting some show or another at a volume that in all likely hood would shatter glass if it was placed too close to the device. He had no idea why he was infuriating this obviously dangerous, most likely volatile individual, nor did he know why he wasn’t attempting to extract himself from the situation, what he did know though was for one reason or another he said.
“T- These are people though- l- like real people- w- with lives- and dreams- and-hopes and-“ his voice died out, gulping before he finished “m- maybe not exactly like us- t- though s- still, t- that doesn’t make us better just because we are different- f- from everyone else” lastly he added with a silent thought, and please don’t kill me.

[Demi Smith]

"Yeah, that's what I said," repeated Demi, wrinkling her nose, wondering if maybe this guy was stupid. He kept going on, prattling and looking like he wanted to go find a corner to hide in. Demi would just love to show him to one too, stuff him into it or something. She had to keep reminding herself that he was here, which meant that he was people too, if stupid people.

"And the monkeys probably had lives and families and stuff too," replied Demi, "but those were, like, monkey hopes and dreams. Totally not the same," she sighed then, rolling her eyes. "you're just making me repeat stuff now. It's really simple, so stop making it all complicated."

she turned then, looking back at the various textbooks and stuff. They'd told her she'd have to read it and all, but now she just felt like punching something. She definitely couldn't do that here though, not with all this stuff in the way. Well, she could, but she'd get in trouble, and she didn't need more trouble right now. Outside wouldn't work either, not with it being all rainy and junk.

Great, that left her stuck here. "Why do you care so much about people anyway? It's not like I'm going to kill you or anything. Maybe beat you up a little, since you're such a big wuss, but I'm not gonna kill you. That'd be stupid, and, like, murder or something," and no, no she didn't realize the possible contradiction there. Her tone had been flippant all throughout, as if discussing something that continued to be obvious.

[Andrew Wylen]

Specs of dirt flaked from the girl’s skin as she sneered in annoyance, rolling her dark eyes once then glared back at Andrew with simple disgust. Finally -with an air of impatience- she replied, speaking about how non mutants were as good as monkeys, how their thoughts were of little importance, mouthing her dislike towards him yet again, until, turning back to the wall, she finished; suddenly intent on inspecting a row of battered text books with a quizzical eye. He though had hardly opened his mouth to respond when she continued unexpectedly.

“W- Why do i-?“Andrew stopped himself mid-sentence, realizing he was repeating her and cheeks going rather red again as he struggled to put his thoughts into words. “b- because- I- I- “ he blinked, trying to come up with some kind of argument, though the thing was, how could he even argue this case when she was already in complete belief of her own superiority. After a second Andrew let the words die in his throat, instead asking hesitantly “w- why? w- why would you e- even want to r- rule over e- everyone?” it was an honest question, why did the girl even want this? He had never really wanted to lead anything, much less the world. Did she simply crave power? Or rather was this all just because of her belief? was the entire wish for world domination all set upon this premise that mutants were simply better then every one else?

[Demi Smith]

Ugh, more stuttering. Demi nearly rolled her eyes at that, wondering what made this guy continually sound like an idiot. You'd think that mutants would be better in all regards,but nooooo. He even kept whining about all the humans and junk, like so many people here did. Then they had the gall to claim that they weren't brainwashed. Idiots.

"I don't want to rule," she said, barking a harsh laugh. "I'm just one of the Inherited. It's like, we're all going to end up getting the Earth or something, because we're mutants and we're better, next step and all that junk. It doesn't mean we're all going to rule," Demi wrinkled her nose and then shook her head. "That doesn't sound like fun at all. I just wanna live in a world where all the humans are gone or in little cages or something."

Demi shrugged then walked over to the various textbooks, reading over the spines. She couldn't help but wonder if there was some way of telling whether or not certain ones had been written by mutants or not. She didn't want to be defiled by reading some stupid human stuff, but she was betting that they didn't know. She glanced over at Andrew, clearly considering telling him, but, at least for the moment, saying nothing.

[Andrew Wylen]

Demi gave a jagged chuckle before she replied in an exasperated yet commanding tone like that of scolding a child or rather a small pet who simply could not understand the intricacies of what she was attempting to say. She paused then to make a leering sneer in Andrews general direction –who was standing awkwardly, hands held nervously at his side- and shook her head, spitting out the rest of the words before moving back to the book cases, grime filled hair swinging with her head in a dusty flourish.

Rain continued to pound outside, small leaf snapping against the window for a second or two before it shot off into the wind’s merciless guffaws, Andrew’s eyes trailing it until the small piece of foliage disappeared among the bellowing trees, and, unable to avoid it any longer, he turned again to Demi. She had already peered back , eyes colder than the rain outside, their gaze sending a chill through his bones and up his back that made him look down quickly, hands folded to suppress a shudder.

“H- How are mutants “better” though?” Andrew stammered glancing over hesitantly, “i- it’s not like were smarter- or- more intelligent- w- well I guess some are, b- because of their ability- b- but still- even then- it doesn’t mean were just “better”- I mean, m- most powers are not that great at all-“ he grimaced slightly remembering the latest night-vision, goose bumps crawling up his arms as he quickly went on finishing “a- and b- besides, d- don’t you ever wish you were- j- just… just normal?”

[Demi Smith]

Demi could hear the rain, though she chose to actively ignore it. The last thing she needed to think about was all that water and mud, considering what it would do to her. Maybe with some more training she'd get over her water thing; but for now...

For now, she was happy to be dry and in a better position to argue. She rolled her eyes as Andrew pretty much answered his own question. Before she could berate him yet again, he asked a question that had her snorting. A strange mixture of amusement and anger rose up in the girl, and she barely managed to tamper them down enough to actually respond.

"What kind of stupid thing to say is that? We've got powers, and it doesn't matter how sucky they are, they're still powers. That obviously makes us better than everyone who doesn't have powers. And we're just the new normal," which was another Inherited line, "or we will be or something. Just---you're an idiot."

With that, Demi turned her back fully, dismissing Andrew as she began pulling down a few books, flipping through them to try and figure out which ones she should be picking up to read through.

[Andrew Wylen]

The words had scarcely left Andrew’s lips when Demi chortled spitefully as though she found his question both insulting and vaguely humorous at the same time, seeming unable to decide which of the two emotions to follow. After a few seconds she finally responded, voice cold with annoyance, ringing above the high wind, even the rain outside seemed to be drowned out by her tones. Andrew flinched nervously as Demi drew out each word with increased emphasis until finally she took about a perturbed air, spinning around and returned to her books, pulling one or two down from their shelves to finger through them absently as if giving him permission to depart. He blinked once, twice, three times, then picked up his stack of papers, glancing back at Demi, who was still engulfed in the texts.
“W- We are not normal t- though” he said weakly remembering with a sting of the phone call as he again tried to drive the memory from his mind, “i- if we were then why would there be S- SPECTER?- w- why would we be here?” Andrew looked away thinking to himself, I just wish I would wake up and find out this was all just a long bad dream, he pinched his arm, nothing happened. Well so much for that, he thought, but was that what he really wanted? He just wasn’t sure anymore.

[Demi Smith]

Why did people just keep talking to her? Especially after Demi made it super clear that she didn't have the slightest interest in talking to them. She sighed as she heard Andrew's latest counterargument, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling. He really was an idiot. Worse, he was the simpering, cowardly, pathetic, weak kind who probably had one of those stupid abilities that he couldn't really control on account of his being stupid and an idiot and a big, fat wuss.

"We're the new normal. The rest of the world just has to catch up to us," she said over her shoulder. Demi stood up on her toes and pulled down a book, scowling as she looked at the cover. She flipped through it experimentally, looking at all sorts of things that she didn't recognize in the slightest. Who needed to know all this junk?

"If I had been here, I would've kicked SPECTRE's butt," she asserted, looking over her shoulder and nodding. "And we're here because people are afraid of us, especially the people who run this school. They want to make sure we're not hurting the precious humans," Demi, paused, looking down at the book. "What the heck is chemistry supposed to be about anyway? It looks super boring."

[Andrew Wylen]

Andrew didn’t respond to demi, feat shuffling underneath him for what seemed the millionth time and once again glancing towards the door as he entertained the notion that someone might perhaps walk in and save him from this morbid discussion. Was it true that they were only here because people feared them? Probably, though didn’t people have a right to be afraid? Heck Andrew was terrified of most people here and he was a mutant himself!

After a few more snide comments he blinked, taken aback by her last and seemingly rather unrelated question, “I- uh, well uh-“ he stuttered blankly for a second in surprise, “I- I guess it’s kind of about understanding chemical properties of different elements, and j- just elements in general I suppose, l- like the periodic table- o- or atoms…”

[Demi Smith]

The guy seemed to have finally shut up, though Demi wasn't sure how she felt about that. At least he finally responded to her question. That actually surprised Demi: she'd been expecting him to fire back something about how humans were good and nice or how mutants weren't all that different or something else. Instead, he actually responded to her question, and Demi turned, blinking a few times.

She opened her mouth, closed it, considered for a few moments, tapping her fingers and working her lips before finally going: "What's a periodic table? And are atoms, like, multiple guys named Adam or something?" she sounded angry, like she shouldn't have to ask this stuff. But it all sounded important or something, and Demi found it frustrating. Even now, she looked about ready to just snap at Andrew and talk about forgetting the whole thing.

[Andrew Wylen]

Demi stood gaping at Andrew for a second, mouth moving, but no noise left, with a silence that followed broken only by the gentle tapping of rain and the beating of the girl’s nails atop the hard desktop. After what seemed like a minute of the awkward quiet she once more spoke, seeming to have forgone the insults for now –a fact that he was glad for- and instead took about an angry yet inquisitive tone that sounded more like a threat then a question. One thing though was odd and it struck him then, she didn’t know what chemistry was? Nor the periodic table? Or an atom? Now, Andrew was not great at science class, if anything it was a miracle he hadn’t yet caused some major fire, or bio hazardous disaster, though even then despite all this, he had still known what chemistry, atoms and the periodic table were since seventh grade. It was just a bit odd he supposed, even having to stop himself from asking demi why, knowing that, first of all, it would probably be rather rude and second, he didn’t exactly want her to sting him with another dirt pellet; getting a sneaking suspicion the next one would be a lot more painful.

“U- Uh- w- well,” Andrew gulped, giving his head a slight shake then said. “T- The periodic table i- is like a w- way to categorize elements- i- i- guess- a- and a- atoms are k- kind of what make up those elements.”

[Demi Smith]

Demi crinkled her nose as Andrew started explaining things. It sounded vaguely familiar: not the stuff about the whole table business, but the stuff about atoms. She had a feeling that there had been a lecture about something like that, the whole atoms of the universe and feeling them and crap like that. It just wasn't the sort of thing that she ever paid attention to. She frowned at the explanation.

"You people need a table for elements? There's only, like, four..." Demi counted, talking softly, almost under her breath, "earth, fire, wind, water... well, I guess you could count like wood or metal or something; I know some people do, or light or dark, but you guys need a whole table for that?" she looked at him, clearly finding the whole thing just, well:

"You people really are stupid."

[Andrew Wylen]

Demi wrinkled her nose into a look of undefined disgust yet again as some of the dirt smeared across the girl’s cheek bone pealed back slightly to reveal the smallest slither of bleach white skin. She then spoke, brow furrowed, counting off each number beneath her breath; the noise hardly audible over the thrashing rain.

Four? Now Andrew -thankfully for the wellbeing of mankind- was no chemist, though even he was relatively certain that there were more than four elements on the periodic table. Suddenly something came back to him, a brief lecture in history class about ancient Greek philosophy and the medieval usage of the same principals in alchemy. The topic didn’t really have anything to do with the class itself though Andrew had listened with interest all the same, or at least, as much interest as he could when a warm draft whispered through the open window, gentle tweeting of birds almost seeming to have willed his eyes shut without consent and the previous night having been used to fight off at urge to vomit after waking from a particularly gruesome dream.

Even so, he thought, didn’t those beliefs die out a couple hundred years ago? Apparently not, that or Demi was for whatever reason, joking; a notion which, with one glance towards her cold mirthless eyes, was instantly dropped and replaced with a nervous flinch.

The sky darkened further, room displayed in a grim colorless grey as through the window all that could be discerned from the lawns outside were dark smudges where there once had been trees, buckling beneath the weight of the heavy rain.

“w- well uh-“ Andrew began hesitantly as another roll of thunder broke causing him to give a start. “u- uhm- well- uhm I- u- uh- a- are y- you s- sure?” he gulped, the tips of his ruffled hair swaying slightly, silhouetted before the clouds.

[Demi Smith]

The gathering rain caught Demi's attention, and she looked out to it. She swallowed hard, fidgeting for a few seconds. Rain, so much rain and water and just... wet. The thought of heading out there and experiencing it just made her... well, fidget and nearly tremble. She licked her lips again, before turning back to Andrew, who'd started stuttering out more words.

"Of course I'm sure," said Demi, bluffing as usual. She swelled slightly, narrowing her eyes. "Why? Did something else--- are you talking about some kind of other elements? Are there any? I know there's some kind of science stuff, but, like, I mostly know about, I dunno, biology and stuff. You know," she wrinkled her nose, "important stuff."

And "knowing" was used in the loosest sense of the word, as what Demi knew was decidedly biased and only partially based in real science.