Material Desires

[Roxana Strix]

Right, of course that would be Demi's reasoning behind why it was better. Not actual point or anything to make that statement a fact so it remained an opinion. Roxana expected as much, which was why she just gave a small nod as she took another biter of her salad and remained silent. There was no point in getting into it with Demi. Not in such a place and not on something that was not all that important and likely would be very hard to change Demi's mind without actually beating her up or something drastic like that. There were years that did separate them and there would always be years but eventually Demi would get to Roxana's level.

Roxana didn't really do this sort of thing often, not by choice anyways. So it made her life a little easier when people worked with her. She had already had to guess what Demi had wanted thus far so figured that Demi could at least pick what she wanted from the place Roxana had missed. She ordered...what the place was named after. Or at least if it was not named after it, they had made sure to have it on the menu for that reason. "Alright, I'll get that now." Roxana said after finishing one more bite of her salad. It was pretty much all gone by this point and she didn't desire to it down to the last drop.

She slowly rose to her feet and moved to head over to the place in order to order Demi the largest of what she desired. She caught the woman and her son looking, but she didn't think anything of it. Why would she? She didn't care about those that were not her targets and the woman didn't look like she was a threat so Roxana was not worried. No doubt Demi was likely going to end up saying something soon so Roxana made sure to order the drink quick, pay for it, and head back to the table and set the drink down in front of Demi. Hopefully the new drink would be enough to keep Demi from saying or doing anything.

[Demi Smith]

Rox got up, talking about going to get the drink and all. Demi didn't even bother to look at her: she was focused on her current nemesis, her eyes narrowing even more dangerously. Rox left. Demi kept staring, letting her tongue wet her lips slightly. No dust or dirt on her: that had been part of the deal. But surely there had to be something around here that Demi could manipulate? If only just a little, not enough to get caught or anything like that.

There: a potted plant a few feet away. Demi grinned, then looked to it for a moment. She kept one eye on the plant, another on the mom and kid. the moment the mom looked away, Demi flicked her hand. A little ball of dirt went flying, hitting the kid in the face.

There was some crying. The mom spent about a second looking around before focusing on Demi. Demi was already super interested in her food, nibbling away at it like she was the most innocent creature on the Earth.

[Roxana Strix]

It was pretty hard to miss the fact that when Roxana came back that the kid that Demi had been glaring at and worried about had dirt on him now. No surprise that the mother was giving looks now too, but it didn't seem like anyone had actually seen Demi do anything. Yet, Roxana could not help but to be a little worried on staying out for too much longer after Demi pulled that stunt. It had to be Demi, Roxana might have missed Demi actually doing it but by the way her younger...friend? What was Demi to her again? A student? Someone she had under her wing on some level?

She would figure it out later as she sat down and look at Demi, not saying anything for a moment. It was cute how Demi tried to pretend to be innocent, a look that did not work for her because she was really not the innocent type. "Because of that, we are leaving when you are done your food." Roxana spoke up simply. She did still plan to get Demi the food that she promised the girl, but she would do it by herself. Demi would just have to eat or not eat whatever Rox brought back to the younger girls dorm. Worse there were always Demi’s roommates to handle it and she didn't plan on changing her mind on the decision.

Demi had done wrong, she was being punished. A very simple and easy punishment in Roxana's opinion. Nothing compared to the kind of punishment that Roxana got when she did something she was not supposed to do. "I will say that you do look especially cute at the moment." Roxana said with a small smile spreading across her face. She wondered what the mother was going to do or say, if she did anything. Roxana certainly was not going to say anything about it and act like they had nothing to do with why the boy had dirt on his face.

[Demi Smith]

Leaving after they got food? Demi wasn't quite sure that she even saw that as a bad thing. It meant less chance of her getting tainted, and the food was more or less what she'd wanted out of the whole thing. It certainly seemed an easy enough price to pay for the satisfaction she got out of seeing the dirt on the spy.

"Who said I did anything?" Demi asked baldly. She nibbled at her food again, looking up at Rox with some smug satisfaction. "It would take a lot of control and stuff to fling just a bit of dirt on a kid like that and not get caught," she had to point out, smirking. Yeah, Rox was going to either have to acknowledge that Demi was awesome or deny that she'd done anything. Either way, she'd win.

And rox took a bit of that away by mentioning the cute thing. Demi gave the other woman a hard look, her eyes narrowing for a bit, but it only lasted for a bit, mostly because Demi was feeling far more smug than anything else: she knew that she'd done something really cool there, and nothing Rox could say or do would take that from her.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana didn't respond when Demi asked the question. There was no point in playing dumb when they both knew that Demi had been the cause. Had there been any other person around that could manipulate earth, why would they throw dirt at a little boy? A little boy who had been bothering Demi because he was just looking at her. There was that smug smile on her face, which Roxana didn't get why Demi was so pleased with herself. Yes, she had done something without getting caught by the person she had done it too but what was there to be proud of?

The boy had done nothing to her besides look at her, which meant that while she had control over her power she didn't over her emotions. It was disappointing that Demi used her powers on someone for just looking at her compared to actually using them when she was angry from an argument with them. Clearly her temper was still pretty short and the only good things out of this; besides knowing how low Demi's tolerance was, was the fact Demi did manage to pull it off without getting caught. That was only good for the sake of not having to explain things to worry about covering the matter up.

"It would take even more control to not fling dirt at a kid for just looking at you, but you is still young so I can't expect you to be that skilled just yet." Roxana responded back. She said it the way she did for two main reasons, one of which she expected to get a reaction out of Demi on the matter. Or perhaps the little girl would actually think about it and not be so smug about the matter. Roxana would have praised her had the kid actually done something worth attacking him for or if Demi had been told to do such a thing, but neither were the case.

"Finnish up your food so we can get going. I'll drop you back off at the school and drop off food for your dorm room later." Roxana responded, pushing was little of her salad remained to the side and finished up her bottle of water. She would then just look at Demi for a moment while she waited for the younger girl to finish her food before she would do a quick scan around the area.

[Demi Smith]

"The kid was asking for it," Demi replied. "Also you still don't got any proof that I even did it," she went back to nibbling at her food, continuing to deconstruct it, definitely not in a rush to get through it. she didn't particularly like sticking around here, but now there was the principle of the thing. She still wanted her win.

The kid and the mother were leaving. The mother gave Demi one last look, which Demi ignored but Roxana might have caught. Demi just kept focusing on picking apart her food and eating it in little bits, still looking over at Roxana with that confident smirk on her face.

[Roxana Strix]

"I'm fairly certain that he was asking for nothing and simply looking at you because he might have thought you were cute or possibly a little odd." Roxana responded back. She personally didn't know why the boy was looking at Demi or why the mother had started to look over as well. She didn't really care, and if she didn't care then she didn't waste her time analyzing every little thing. She already did that too much and in situations like this she didn't bother when she had no need to or felt any need to. To her; the mother and child were just normal people; people that were curious, and people that had in a way been helpful as a test for Demi.

Which she sort of failed, but lesson learned and that meant another test would have to be given at some point. Not today and certainly not now when Roxana was pleased and disappointed in Demi all at the same time. "The proof is in what you are capable of and the lack of there being anyone else around that would do it." Roxana said, letting out a small sigh. She glanced up when she saw the mother and son leaving, but didn't say anything and looked back to Demi. Demi was still eating and looked like she was going to be taking her time.

So Roxana pulled out her regular phone at first to check a few things before swapping that phone with her work phone to send out a few messages and check some private emails. She had nothing else to say and was just waiting for Demi to finish so she remained silent and did her work while waiting for the younger girl to finish so they could leave.

[Demi Smith]

"Well, maybe you're wrong," Demi replied, adding another shrug. "Not like you know everything." she did have to admit that Roxana's explanation probably made more sense. it was far more likely that the kid had just never seen anyone who looked like Demi or whatever. She'd sort of grown used to that around the school, or they'd gotten used to her. It only made sense that the moment she got out among "normal" people she'd have to deal with that problem all over again.

Somehow that didn't stop her from wanting to be contrary about the whole experience. She kept eating as ordered, but seemed to be chewing at a scene that would have looked slow even if hit on fast-forward. she swallowed as Roxana insisting the proof was in what Demi could do. So, she did think that Demi could actually manage something that impressive.

"Pretty crappy proof," was what Demi said instead. she deconstructed a bit more of her food, pushing it into her mouth before reaching for the orange julius. "Does this count as food? I'm only asking because it's technically not, but we're apparently going with whatever you think, so..."

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana didn't say anything more when Demi spoke up about Roxana possible being wrong and how she didn't know everything. That was true that she could be wrong and that she didn't know everything, despite how beneficial it would be if she did. Still, that did not change the fact that she was not wrong about Demi being the one to throw dirt at the boy. Roxana was not going to argue the matter with the younger girl, there was not point. Demi was going to stick to whatever story she wanted to tell and do things that would give her an ego boost.

Demi was still a child, but she did have a natural talent that Roxana did praise from time to time. Not this time, not when Demi had failed a test and now was not even owning up to what she did. Roxana remained silent, sitting there, waiting for Demi to finish. She was just thankful that she had a pretty good level of patience once she found something to keep her mind busy. This would be the only time she was thankful that her mind was as full of thoughts as she let them float around in her head while she waited. On the outside she just remained calm, still, and blinking every so often when she would do her casual glances around where they were and at Demi.

"Some proof is better than none." Roxana responded back as her train of through was broken by Demi's question. She was thankful that while she had not been fully paying attention she still caught what Demi had said before. "Food is any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or that plants absorb, in order to maintain life and growth." Roxana said pretty much right out of the dictionary, and left it at that. "Just finish your consumption so we can go." Roxana added, not really having anything else to say or talk about. Her thoughts already occupying her mind once again.

[Demi Smith]

Some proof is better than none? But she didn't even have... whatever. Demi wasn't going to push it, because she already knew she happened to be right. Plus, she had the whole orange julius thing to work with now. The definition Rox gave sounded almost like it had been recited from a book.

"Then what about stuff that's not from animals or plants?" Demi asked before taking a loud, almost obnoxious slurp of the drink. It tasted sweet, way too sweet for Demi's taste. She'd take fresh squeezed juice over this sugary stuff any day of the week. Still, that didn't mean she wasn't going to take another sip, maybe a bit longer of one this time.

Because Demi could also feel her body perking up as she took in the sugary drink, all those years of austere living making that particular small body not in the slightest bit prepared for processed sugars such as what lay in the frozen orange slush.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana was starting to wish that she had brought one of her sketch books to at least eat up her time. Yes, she had patience but apparently when it came to not being on orders she actually felt bored. Was that the right word? She figured it was, but all she really knew was that she was getting restless waiting for Demi to finish her food when they were done here other than the other girl eating. She honestly should have been used to sitting around and waiting for someone to finish eating because that was how most of her talks with others had gone of late.

It still didn't change the fact that she wished to do something as she felt her thoughts start to wonder what Elsa and Ellen were up to. "What about them? A lot of what we eat and drink comes from a plant or animal. Yes, there are some artificial dyes but even those are often made from say a bug at times." Roxana replied, not really sure what demi was getting at. Everything she was consuming counted as food so she didn’t' see the relevance. She didn't even have any worry about the sugar that Demi was now consuming.

She honestly didn't think Demi would be the kind of person to get hyper off of sugar, but if she was Roxana was prepared. Prepared to pick the girl up and just leave before Demi did anything that would get them both in trouble. "Come on, let’s be on our way. You don't have to finish it down to the last drop." Roxana spoke up as she rose from her seat and gathered up what Demi was done with to toss away.

[Demi Smith]

The universe was slowing down. Demi could practically feel it. For that matter, Demi was pretty sure that she could feel every bit of her body, even the bits where there should be dirt and junk but there wasn't anything because of being out here and stuff. The whole world just seemed a bit slower and Demi was sitting there realizing that she was, in fact, out in this world that she'd never quite explored with all this delicious food and stuff.

"You know, I think I like this," she said, before leaning over to slurp at the drink again. She could see Roxana rising and she jerked. "Hey! You said after I was done, but I'm clearly not done, because I'm drinking this and I've got that thing and didn't you say that you were going to get me some more food? That is why we came here, right? and because I did super awesome at helping with the fire and keeping your weird secret thing about checking up."

Demi was already getting ready to move. she'd risen to her feet already (not having really realized it), and was edging around Roxana, her attention focused on the other girl, ready to dodge around her if that's what it took to stay around here and get more delicious food.

[Roxana Strix]

"That is good to hear. Now if you ever go to that place again, you will know what to order." Roxana responded back. It would not have been that big of a deal if Demi didn't like it, because she coudl just throw it away. What would have been a big deal was that if Demi ate only one thing out of all the things that Roxana had bought for her. Thankfully, that was something that she didn't have to worry about. Now all that was left was to get back to the car, drop Demi off, and then come back to pick up some other food things from an actual grocery store to drop off back at Demi's place.

Then she would be free to get to other matters she had to take care of and possible some time to relax. "You can drink while we walk and you can also eat while you walk. I did in fact say that, but if you recall a few moment ago you hit a boy with soil for no reason and I said that because of that we are leaving. So, grab your drink and let’s get back to the car so I can drop you back off at the school. Then I will go by myself to get you some actual food to drop off at your room later." Roxana responded.

Her tone slightly different because of the hint of some agitation at Demi either have not being paying attention to why they were not staying to get more food. "Yes, we did come because you did well during the fire event, but you misbehaved so we are not remaining." Roxana added after she finished tossing the trash away. She didn't touch on the whole secrete bit that Demi said, because it was irrelevant and there was nothing for Demi to say on this 'secrete'. Demi was already moving, so Roxana turned to head off in the direction where they parked, looking back to make sure Demi was following her.

[Demi Smith]

Yeah, like Demi was coming back here. She might send someone here to get her food or something, but no way was she coming back here on her own. Especially not if the people around here were going to overreact to little things like hitting some kid with a little bit of dirt. Roxana was definitely doing precisely that, and Demi really didn't see why she should be all that surprised.

The teenager just rolled her eyes and gathered her things. "Should've figured you're just like the others," she mumbled. No proof, no warning, no nothing. This place sucked and even this stupid little outing was pretty much a giant disappointment. Demi would rather have just headed out into the woods and killed some more animals or something like that. But noooo, Roxana had insisted and was now punishing Demi for doing exactly what the school had been training her to do since she got there.

Listen, right there! Roxana so remembered the whole point of why they were there and everything. Demi was already gesturing at the other girl as if this should all be super obvious and definitely something that you took note of. She moved a few steps and turned. "So, like, that doesn't actually matter. It's all about the one thing we do that you don't like," she said, tilting her drink toward Roxana. "I'll keep that in mind," and she took a sip, glaring with defiance at Roxana all the while.

{post 500, whoot)

[Roxana Strix]

If they had been on campus, in the school cafeteria, then this would not have been a big deal and Rox would have likely given Demi some sort of praise had she not gotten caught being the one to do it. However; they were in public, with people who were mostly non-mutants and that the secrete of mutants was still something that was whispered about or shot down as someone being crazy. They could not risk exposure, especially because Demi was being a child and didn't hold herself back when a kid was just looking at her.

Had the situation been on a more serious level, then Roxana was willing to be a bit more understanding but for this; no. It was just foolish. Had Roxana been in Demi's shoes, she likely would have been hit or worse for doing something so stupid. Demi was lucky in that regard. "I won't praise you for not showing actual control." Roxana responded simply when Demi pointed out that she was like the others. Perhaps she was, Roxana didn't know and she didn't care too much because while she wanted Demi on her side she didn't exactly know 'the soft way' of teaching someone. She was trying and Demi did make it easy sometimes but it was hard to teach someone with praise when you were used to punishment as the way you were taught.

Yes, Rox recalled why they were here and she repeated it back as such. Demi still didn't seem pleased about the matter, stating something that caused Roxana a small amount of confusion. "You used your power in public when we are not allowed to. Did you honestly think I would be okay with it in that kind of situation?" Roxana asked, trying to figure out what Demi was honestly getting at. At any rate she kept walking, aiming to get out of the store, to the parking lot, and to the car so they could head back.