Material Desires

[Roxana Strix]

Demi didn't say anything for the rest of the ride, and thus Roxana had nothing to say in return. There was no point in conversation if the other was not going to participate at the very least pay attention to what you had to say. At any rate, it didn't really matter since the goal of the little get together was not to change Demi's mind on the matter or to get her to see things in a different light. They were here for the mall and to pick Demi up some food since that was part of the deal.

That was why Demi was here but Roxana was here because she wanted to see if Demi could pull off not using her power when she would end up among so many people that were not like her. People that were not mutants and didn't really have a clue as to mutants even being real. She got out of the car when Demi unbuckled her seat belt, waiting for the girl to be out of the car and the doors to be closed before she looked it. She was already moving to go into the mall, seeing that while it was not packed it was still busy with people going about their business.

Her eyes were mainly focused on Demi, seeing how the girl was reacting to the surroundings and the different people around them. She did still keep an eye out for their general surroundings as she moved to the directory. She did not really go here to get her food, but it was ideal place to get a verity of things, food being one of them. Rox just had to recall where it was and it did not take long to locate where in the mall they had to go. "That way." Rox said, pointing to where they needed to go on the map and then in the direction they needed to head in the mall.

She was half tempted to ask Demi if she wanted to hold her hand but figured she would have gotten the whole 'I’m not a kid' reaction again so said nothing. Instead she made sure that Demi was either moving or going to follow her and started to head in that direction, still keeping an eye mostly on Demi.

[Demi Smith]

The building just looked so huge. Demi had heard about it and she'd seen it before. It was probably smaller than the school, but, well, people lived at the school. No one lived at a mall or anything like that. They just... shopped.

Demi nodded at Roxana's comment and point. Demi followed the direction, heading that way. She tried to keep attention, her head moving, looking all around and taking in everything, just not quite believing that she was even here, going willingly forward. It was just... a lot to take in.

"Why do people need all this?" she couldn't help but ask, twisting back to look curiously at Roxana. It seemed like a legitimate question to her, even as she hurried to fall in step, her gawking no doubt leaving her somewhat behind her guide.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana had been to malls and shopping districts around the world so she was used to seeing places smaller and even bigger than this mall. It was always amazing to see how much the world cared about trade, buying things, and well possessing items in general. The day in where it was all about showing off what you had and standing out from everyone else. It was interesting but really not all that surprising when you looked at the nature of the human race and animals in general. The flashier the better, was how some things in life just turned out to be.

It was interesting to see how Demi was looking around and Rox had a few guesses as to what was currently going through the younger girls mind. She didn't say anything, just lead the way and made sure to stop and look back to make sure Demi was keeping up. It was no surprise that the girl was getting distracted here and there and Rox was in no rush. There was no harm in taking a moment to look at things and take the whole environment in. A question was asked, one that had Roxana chuckling a little bit, because she could recall wondering the same things years ago.

"They don't. Not most of it anyways." Roxana said as she stopped for a moment to let Demi catch up before going back to walking. "Most of the things in here are just goods one desires to own to make their life easier, or to show off their wealth, to make them stand out, and so on." Roxana went on to explain. She could not give one set answer for everyone, because everyone had their reasons for buying what they brought. Plus it was the social norm to own certain things, like several pair of underwear. Say you revealed to someone you only owned one pair and even if you washed them every day, people would still give you a strange look.

[Demi Smith]

So much stuff. There was probably more in this building than Demi's entire collective used to get by. Just thinking about that nearly made Demi sick. What were they doing with it all? Roxana answered that question, pointing out that they didn't actually need it, that it was just something to make life easier or show off wealth.

"That's stupid," Demi said, looking around. She waited another second, then elaborated: "Like, not just the normal stupid you all have ,but really stupid. Why have a store that's just stuff that you don't actually need? Spend all the time on this making, like, food and clothes." Demi waved a hand around, then let it drop. She grunted, shaking her head.

This was why her people were better in a nutshell, really.

"Let's get some food or something," she mumbled, turning her head to look around. She could smell the food already, so... where was it?

[Roxana Strix]

Demi used her favorite word again, no surprise there. This time the younger girl seemed to go into detail on the matter of what was stupid about it all. Roxana understood what Demi was getting at and what she meant by it all. There was a question but the way Demi asked it did not fully make it seem like she wanted an answer to it. Demi would have probably found the answer stupid at any rate, so Rox didn't feel like she needed to really say anything more on it. Yet, she did want Demi to at least understand the people that she viewed as strange, if only a little bit.

"Well none of the people here actually made the things in here to buy. Someone else made it for them and people come in here to buy it. They can get pretty much anything that they want or think they need if they have the money for it." Roxana explained, reaching a hand to mess with her own hair a little. It was actually harder to explain things then she thought. It was just how most of the human race was. Why make something when someone else could make it for you and allow you the free time to do what you liked. "It’s all about making life easier in the end." Roxana just decided to go with that and move on.

She could not help but to let out something that could be viewed as a slight chuckle at Demi's focus back on the food. "I figured we could go to the food court now to get food to eat at this moment, and then go actual food shopping to get food to take back. Is that alright?" Roxana sked as she headed over to the escalator which would take them to the food court. If Demi didn't want to go to the food court, they still needed to go down the escalator in order to go the right way to where they could buy food.

[Demi Smith]

Demi snorted at the explanation. "Someone made the stuff because idiots would buy it," she said. That was how it worked; she understood that much. That's how her cooperative got the few bits and pieces that they couldn't strictly make on their own. though most of that had to be purified or cleansed or something else that Demi didn't fully understand.

Why did life need to be easier anyway? Demi nearly snorted at the thought, but instead was far more focused on the food. "Sounds good," she said. She turned a few more times before realizing that Roxana was heading toward an escalator. Demi followed, heading for the strange moving staircase.

The little dirt gnome paused at the base of the moving stairs, staring at them, watching them as they continually went up and wound their way through. She licked her lips, realizing that this was probably something completely normal that they were just used to. Demi took a cautious step forward. The escalator pulled her, and she nearly overcorrected getting back on, her arms shooting forward so she could grab on the railings, which also apparently moved. Demi held still as best she could, her brow furrowed, definitely not sure that she particularly liked this.

[Roxana Strix]

"I supposed that is one way to look at it." Roxana said, not really sure what else to say on the matter. She explained it the simplest way she could think of and it seemed like demi got the idea of it, even if she still found it stupid. Then again Demi found a lot of things stupid and Roxana had already listed it down as Demi's favorite word. Perhaps with age it would turn into a larger word that still meant stupid. Rox could not help but to smile for a moment at the thought but it went away once she realized she had smiled for an odd reason.

Why had she smiled? She started to wonder about it as the reach the escalator, waiting for Demi to go on ahead of her since she wanted to keep an eye on the girl. Yet Demi was hesitating and then when she did get on she was behaving weird. Had she never been on an escalator before? Well, that made sense that she had not and Rox didn’t know why she had been surprised. Or why she found how Demi was acting very…cute? “Are you going to be alright there?” Roxana asked as she stepped on the escalator behind the younger girl. She watched her to make sure she was not going to fall or anything and was tempted to offer out her hand or something.

She doubted Demi would like that and would probably comment about how she was not a kid or something like that. Rox didn’t know why she just wanted to like…protect Demi for a moment there. Just seeing the younger girl out of her element and not knowing how to react to something so simple just made her…feel.

[Demi Smith]

The stupid stairs beneath her kept moving, and all Demi could think about was how much she wished she had some earth between her feet. She didn't like wearing shoes to begin with, and she definitely didn't like standing on something that felt so unnatural, something that moved by engine or whatever. She could feel Roxana coming up behind her, which didn't really improve her mood. If anything, the presence of someone else just made Demi that much edgier.

"I'm fine!" she snapped, looking over her shoulder. She dared take a step forward, and soon realized that despite their moving, they were steps. Steps Demi could handle. Steps were nothing new. So she purposefully stepped forward, using her own legs to keep going, wanting to get off this thing in the process.

Yeah, she might have had to moved around a person or two, but that was where being a small little bundle of muscle definitely worked to Demi's favor.

[Roxana Strix]

Demi snapped at Rox, expected. "Alright, I was just checking." Roxana responded back simply. IT was still interesting to see Demi react to the escalator and how she still was keeping that whole tough shell about her. Roxana did wonder if there was anything that would make Demi shows a weak side, as in personality. Demi did get weak when she was covered in water, but she still had that 'I'm going to wreck you' personality even then. Was it even possible that Demi had a soft side? Roxana figured Demi was much like her in terms of them really only having one side to them.

There were probably more side to the both of them, they just never showed them, or at the very least not around others. Roxana knew she normally was the same no matter who she was around, unless she was putting on the act. Rox stayed quite as Demi worked out the escalators, soon moving ahead and taking charge of the situation. Roxana of course followed without a word and once they were at the top they would be in the large food court. There were several food chains to pick from where they could get something to eat from.

"What are you in the mood for?" Roxana asked, feeling like she pretty much could eat anything. Not that she was super hungry at the moment, but she could eat if there was food to be eaten. She did know for a fact that she wanted to see how Demi was on an elevator when they were done here.

[Demi Smith]

Okay, this moving thing was gonna work. A few more lurching, jerking steps and Demi was off the stupid moving staircase thing. She leveled a glare at it and balled a fist, wishing that she could punch it or something like that. Instead, she heard Roxana talking and turned.

Demi's eyes went wide as she beheld a food court for the first time. It sort of reminded her of the fair she'd been to last year, except that had been a little less formal. She guessed that this wasn't too far away from the cafeteria at the school, but the selection was just. "All of it isn't an option?" she asked, deadly serious as she looked up at Roxana. Because Demi would seriously order something from just about everything here. Except maybe Orange Julius.

That sounded kinda sappy and stupid... though also fruity, and Demi liked fruit. So yeah, maybe she'd give that a shot for dessert or something.

[Roxana Strix]

They made it to the top and on still ground after a little bit of moving and going around people. Rox was just pleased that Demi didn't actually shove anyone out of the way or try and pull dirt from somewhere and just make her own bridge or something. So far things were going pretty well for Demi not using her power, so there was hope. Really they should not have run into any situation that would require Demi to use her power, but who knew with the younger girl. That was what this trip was for and things were going good for the most part.

"Yes, whatever you want and as much as you want. So long as you eat it all, it's not good to waste after all. Even if a cast majority of people waste, but that is for pretty much everyone." Roxana said, not minding if Demi wanted something from each place. So long as she could eat it all Rox did not really care. She had the money for it and did say that Demi could and was not going to go back on her word now. Rox tended to not be the type to waste anything, even if she didn't like it but it really all depended.

If she was playing a role or feeling in her really rebellious moods it was easy enough for her to not finish what she got herself. "Just make sure you don't combine certain foods together, you don't want to end up sick." Roxana added as she started to walk further into the food court so Demi could see all the options. She then waited for Demi to pick a place so she could follow her and pay for what the younger girl ordered.

[Demi Smith]

Whatever she wanted... Demi looked at all the available choices and nearly started drooling. However, she quickly realized there was a slight problem: most of this stuff had been handled by humans. That had been the good part about corndogs: the actual meat part hadn't really been touched by anyone or had anything touched by humans involved in it.

Roxana mentioned getting sick, drawing Demi out of her thoughts. "You do remember that I'm fourteen, right?" she asked, looking up at Roxana. "I was raised by awesome mutants, not, like, morons," she looked around again, frowning and taking a step forward. 'Do you think we could, like," she paused, trying to figure out how to word this before sighing and turning to look up at Roxana.

"I can't anything that humans touch," she explained. "Or something that really touches what they touch. Though I guess, like, disposable gloves are okay?" She frowned, turning. "So, like, I think it's all gonna be stuff on sticks, unless there's some mutants working here?" That would be awesome. Well, not really awesome, but awesome for Demi's stomach. They could pick up all the taint and she'd just get to eat good food...

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana had forgotten about Demi's whole 'tainted' issue, or more accurately she was not aware that it also carried over to food. What did her people expect her to live off of when she went to Bellefonte Academy? Did they expect her to always remain on campus and eat the food there, wear what was provided, and never go off somewhere else? Roxana could not help but to look down on the group a little at that though. It really did seem like they were very much like the Amish, but even the Amish allowed the kids to go out for a time period to see the 'real world'.

"I do recall your age and who you were raised by. You still could get sick if you mix the wrong foods in your stomach. It would be unwise to say have fish and a milk product together, as in say a milkshake." Roxana said as she gave an example. Then again, she figured Demi would be fine either way and the worst case she would just look out for the girl and take her back home. That was no problem. Then Demi was starting to ask a question, Roxana could see that the girl was trying to work out how to even ask it. Then when it was said, Roxana just felt like getting Demi anything was going to be basically impossible.

"Well they scoop everything up with spoons and put it into a container in most places. Or is that even still a problem?" Roxana asked as she looked at the options. Most places did in fact wear gloves if they were actually touching the food with their hands. "What about gloves? If they are touching food with their hands they have to wear gloves." Roxana pointed out, it was a health concern things. She was still thinking what Demi could eat if none of those were acceptable and she was quickly coming up with a blank. "There probably is at least one mutant working around here, many mutants from the school tend to stick close by in this town, but I can't say for certain without checking a few things." Roxana answered as she started to ruffle her hair a little.

This was complicated; she really needed to figured out a way for Demi to at least drop her concerns about the humans for at least some things. Worse case they could leave the mall all together and go to a place when Rox was certain mutants worked. It was a place where she often met up with a contact or two for letter transfers that were best handled directly. However; she did not think it would be acceptable to bring Demi there.

[Demi Smith]

Demi rolled her eyes. "Oh wow, fish milkshakes. That was definitely going to be my first choice! How do you do it?" she snorted and looked back at the various eateries. There had to be something here that she could potentially eat. Did it count if it got cooked? Did that heat away the impurities or what have you? Demi almost wished that she had an Elder to ask or even just an adult.

She half-listened to Roxana explaining and had to resist the urge to roll her eyes again. Demi wasn't dumb, and she'd been around in this culture for a year. Yeah, she still didn't get things (escalators, apparently), but that didn't mean she hadn't noticed how people around here prepared food. They generally beat out all the good stuff, but, yeah, not a whole lot of touching. Demi had to give them that much.

"Gloves work," she said, looking at the various eateries to see who was required to wear them. Pizza place was probably out, not unless she could convince them to just hand her the food. Besides, they had plenty of that in the Academy: it was one of the easiest things to steal. "Pretzel," she said, pointing, "and sandwich," at the sub shop, "toasted, and..." she turned and pointed, "one of the orange Jules things."

Because she was still gonna eat as much as she wanted. Demi nodded and headed straight for the pretzel one, figuring she could munch on that while she waited for them to put together her sandwich.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana was worried for a moment that Demi was serious, but the usual eye roll and the tone gave away that she was being sarcastic. The amount of people that I have to deal with that are sarcastic, is staggering. Roxana thought to herself. She was already starting to play with her own her ideally as she thought. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered with people and then recalled that it was part of her job. Yes, she did have a level of interest for Demi, but there were a lot of complications that went along with it.

Rox could not help but to sometimes want things to just be easy. Perhaps that was why she got along so well with Luxanna, that girl just made things relatively easy for her and reduced stress instead of adding to it. She still explained to Demi everything, just to be safe because she was not fully aware of just what Demi was used to and what was new to her. The cult thing was making things difficult, but at least she was getting a lot of information from this little outing. Roxana was thankfully that gloves would work.

Demi started to list off all that she wanted and Roxana just stood there in silence for a moment as she was mentally doing the total amount, approximate wait time, and how many carbs Demi was going to be consuming based off of the things she listed. "Alright. Are you going to be fine talking to none mutants so you can order your food, or do you want me to order while you find us a table?" Roxana asked as she already started to walk towards the pretzels since that would be the fastest and it was what Demi said first.