{SCE} If You Want Meat

[Quinn Wiley]

He looked at her. Maybe she was a little too young to understand this. “That’s just how it is. We live in a consumer society. What you have... it makes what you are.” Maybe it made no sense. Maybe he hated the system only because he couldn’t have all he wanted while others around were luckier. He always tended to think the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. Someone had more money while he had to deal with less, someone had as little money as he had but lived in a loving household... there was always something. In the end, Quinn thought it was easier not to care than whine about it. It was not going to change anything in the end, only tire him.

Calling mutants inherited was of no problem to Quinn but he started to realise she lived in a cult as she went on. No interaction with incompletes otherwise you get tainted, that screamed cult to him. His green eyes fell on her, seeing her from a different angle all of a sudden. She was good with her hands, could skin a squirrel and didn’t understand the way the world run. It all made sense. Almost had him wonder how he did not see it before. He just thought she might have lived on the countryside or perhaps had been really poor in her life or just had a father who took her hunting at a very young age. Still, cult or not, she could kick his ass. Whatever opinion he might have about her beliefs, he would keep them to himself.

Quinn nod as she explained he could eat the squirrel like he would a chicken’s leg. He was actually glad she didn’t think he was being stupid for not knowing. He might have told her he never did that before but that might not have stopped her. “Okay, I’ll try that,” he replied. He was still a little grossed out but he also wondered what squirrel tasted like. No point in asker her that though, he was going to find out on his own. “So, your place... I guess you were never judged then, for being different? If everyone is like this... you must have known it was going to happen to you too.” Quinn didn’t really have a question for her. He merely thought out loud. She was so lucky. “It must be a lot easier on you guys when you first manifest then. How come you’re here, if you have all of them around?” He figured they had to have some of them teaching the kids how to deal with their abilities. Going to Bellefonte then sounded rather pointless.

[Demi Smith]

"You all live in this dumb world: I'm just visiting," Demi replied in an almost distracted manner. She still didn't quite understand certain aspects of this dumb world, and sometimes when she got an "answer" it only made things worse. Why didn't they just fix society if that was how things were? Or just stop caring about things? There were too many easy to answer questions there, so Demi just forgot about it: she had squirrel to cook and her life to explain.

At least Quinn wasn't acting like she was insane and he hadn't started the whole "you're in a cult" thing. Though Demi fully expected the latter to happen sometime in the near future. Seemed like she couldn't get through anything resembling a conversation without it coming up. She'd just stay focused on the squirrel: she thought Quinn was too cool to bother with all the other crap.

"It works," Demi repeated, nodding. She looked at the squirrels again, mentally berating herself. Yeah, you could eat squirrel guts: some parts were good, but you should take that out first. She'd just been a rush or something. Well, she could do it after just as easily...

oh wait, more stuff on her world. Demi licked her lips, keeping her eyes on the roasting critters. "It was awesome," she said, a little wistfulness leaking into her voice. "When you manifest, it's coming into your Inheritance. You get a day where everyone stops doing everything but celebrating you and your place in the Divine Plan. You feel so awesome and special and different..." Demi trailed off, gesturing absently with her hand to spin the meat for a few seconds, "and then they tell you you're going to leave them for a few years, because they made a deal with these people so they'd leave them in peace. Just a few years, and you won't get tainted because everyone there's just confused and different. Then you're there and you just figure things out."

Demi rolled her hand again, hearing the meat crackle. "You probably need to eat, like, gas or something, right?" she looked over at him now. "To do the fire thing? The people at home always talked about how fire needs fuel and junk."

[Quinn Wiley]

“So you’ll go back to your clan after is that it?” This only made him wonder even more why they bothered taking her out of it. If they expected to let the world in her clan through her, Quinn had the feeling this was not likely to happen. They didn’t pick the one kid who was the most open to other’s influence.

If Quinn didn't say the word cult already he sure thought it. He never met someone who used to be in one. If you could say she used to. She really looked like she was just taken out of it and would return at the first occasion given to her. For now, she was holding a knife and despite being smaller than he was, he knew she could kick his butt. And use the knife. So he would try not to anger her too much by having this discussion.

The way he eventually brought it up didn’t seem to bother her. Of course, he made it sound more like he wanted to know how it was than judge it. Mentally, he was judging it though. He could never live in that kind of place. As much as he complained over the ‘dumb world’ he lived in he loved it too and couldn’t live in any other. He was way too in it for that to change. He already proved that when it came to ensure his survival, he sucked. He didn’t want to lose the few things he had. He wanted to have more things, not less. Yep, he really was caught in that consumer society.

He was sort of envious by the way things went in her world though, when it came to the manifestation of one’s power. He became a freak. She had been celebrated. How could he not envy that? He wouldn’t survive in her clan but he would have wished he had been celebrated instead of feared for what happened. He didn't say it though. He looked down, caught in his dark thoughts until she added being trapped in here. “So that’s why they sent you here? So that Bellefonte would leave your clan alone?” He guessed it explained it. But for it to make sense... “It’s dumb,” he let out.

He stared at her again as she tried to understand how his power worked. It actually amused him and had a tiny smirk showing up at the thought he could eat gas. “Fat. I need to eat more fat than people,” he corrected. “I don’t really create fire, I make the gas inside of me. Then I pour it out and throw something else that ignites the gas and creates the fire.” He rarely bothered to explain but somehow it didn't seem to bother him too much with her.

[Demi Smith]

Demi nodded. "That's it," she repeated, though without looking at him. She sometimes wondered, and that wonder increased whenever she talked to someone, hearing that doubt spiking in their minds. It certainly didn't help that she could practically hear the "cult" in Quinn's words: he clearly wanted to spit that out instead of the proper term for Demi's family group. At least he was smart enough not ot actually do so.

There was another moment of silence, and Demi almost wished she could punch it or something. She frowned and poked at the meat a little more. "Partly," she replied sharply. "And it's stupid. But, like, all mutants go to schools,' she looked at him, "that's your rules," because Demi wasn't one of them: didn't want to be, and wouldn't.

Back to the fire, back to the powers. Fat. Demi almost winced. "Makes sense," she said, looking toward the squirrel. not really creating fire, just the gas and sort of... flung it out. "Not bad," Demi said, rolling her hand and the squirrel. It sizzled, and Demi felt like she should confess: "You're supposed to gut them first. I forgot," she hoped it didn't explode. She looked to him as she finished. "Not too much fat on it either, but you can have it if you want."

[Quinn Wiley]

No, Quinn was not going to say cult. Although it would make sense Bellefonte tried to get as many of their kids out to study at the academy instead. But it was kind of odd that a cult would agree to let their children go, even just one. If it was to be left alone, maybe it explained why they did it, but they couldn’t have only Bellefonte against them. He thought every cult was in some sort of database and watched by a bunch of governmental freaks who were afraid they would turn into terrorists or plan a collective suicide or something. Then again, it was just what he saw on television. It wouldn’t be the first time it lied to him.

Demi pointed out they were the ones who decided that every mutant had to go to school, so they can control those strange and new powers of theirs. “I know but that makes sense for me, I have no one else to learn it from. But you have people to help you.” He shrugged. There really was no way one could win against the school and whatever rule they decide to come up with. “It’s not like we have any say in the matter. We just have to go along.” Or her, more particularly, but he didn’t want to entirely dissociate himself from this.

He knew his power sounded a lot more impressive when people thought he was able to throw actual fire. There was something gross at the thought he was throwing up fat and then ignited it. But it was closer to how it happened than actually say he blew fire like a dragon. He bet dragons blew it like that too, that is, had they ever existed. He nodded when she said the squirrels should have been gutted first. He didn’t know if it was her way to apologize because she did not. Either way, he was not exactly seeing himself doing it now so he’ll have to be careful. He didn't think anything bad could happen because she did not do it first. “There’s still more than you can find in plants. I was told to eat a lot of meat and dairy products. Fried stuff work too but I guess their dietician had scruples telling someone to eat a lot of fried food.” He can do it eat right? He can eat that squirrel. It didn’t look too much like a squirrel anymore. It made it less difficult.

[Demi Smith]

No one else to learn it from: Demi had to let out another dark laugh at that. "They don't believe in..." she searched for the word for a moment, frowning, "home schooling," that felt right, "mutants." Though it wouldn't have been home schooling, it would have been Demi learning from people who had mastered it. They'd worked at getting closer to their powers, closer even than some of the people around here. Demi had met some trainers that made her feel as though she were the one with all the qualifications and training.

That same feeling held here, where she clearly knew more about how to survive in a circumstance like this than the people around her. Quinn counted in that, even if he did act cool about the whole thing. He mentioned the fat again, and Demi nodded. It made sense, even if she didn't know quite all the details involved. Her power just came with headaches, body strain, fear of heights, and a stubbornness that was probably as much a part of her personality as anything else.

Fried food: "Sounds like a good diet to me," Demi replied. She smiled and then reached for the squirrels, pulling them slightly from the heat, considering them. She'd have to gut them now, and she wasn't looking forward to the process, though she supposed that the liver and stuff wouldn't taste so bad. Demi prodded them slightly before nodding and turning to put them back on. "Need just a bit more,' she looked over at Quinn, half-smiling, almost smirking, "unless you like them good and bloody."

[Quinn Wiley]

“You mean they’re afraid what you’ll learn goes against what they believe in,” he let out. He could see why the school chose that approach. It sort of made sense. But the way Demi talked of her ‘clan’, they sounded more like a bunch of hippies casting away anything too materialistic. Maybe this was a naive way to look into it and her clan was a little more dangerous than that. He wouldn’t be surprised at all, if she could hunt like that and all. Still. Wouldn’t it be hard to have someone from Bellefonte to go and have a look, see if it really was as dangerous? Probably. A cult mustn’t show all of its secrets to newcomers, especially one they cannot trust. Didn’t change the fact Quinn thought she’d be better there, if only because he was intimidated by this small girl and would rather not have her around. Except when it came to food. Then he was very happy he had her around.

He laughed when she called that a good diet. “Not according to dieticians. But that’s what works for me. And I gain more weight eating bread than I would from all the junk food of the world.” All the girls must hate him for this. Quinn actually liked that. He looked at her as she took the squirrels. He figured they were ready if she was pulling them out of the fire. Quinn wasn’t quite sure. All he knew was that it didn't smell as terrible as he feared it to.

Since Quinn never even separated the meat from the bones on a chicken, he had no idea how to take the guts out from the squirrels. He let her handle this part. Except they were not done yet. She said they needed a bit more time. “Never tasted them but I’d say I’d like them well cooked,” he replied. Couldn’t squirrels carry the plague or something? He didn't want to catch anything from eating raw meat. His gaze landed on the fire but he was not really seeing it, focused more in his thoughts. “Last year, the camping trip was more fun. And we weren’t forced into it. I don’t see what they’re trying to achieve here. Unless they just wanted to get rid of the worst elements for a week.”

[Demi Smith]

The thought had Demi letting out another sharp laugh. "It's all about brainwashing people," she stared into the fire as she finished. People said that about her and her people. That she was brainwashed, that she just believed whatever they said. Maybe that was true, but Demi didn't really care. She liked being an Inherited, she liked being different, and she didn't see why she had to change that just because a school was all worked up about it.

The thought about the food had Demi smirked again. "they don't get how we work," she replied. Then it was a matter of shifting and working at getting the food ready. Hot guts splattered as Demi opened them with a knife, using her power and her skill with a knife to work the various chunky parts away. She readjusted the meat while she worked, getting it more evenly cooked while she did. She heard Quinn's comment, wanting it well cooked. Demi nodded at that.

The next had her laughing dryly. "I volunteered," she said, looking at him and smirking. "This is what I like to do," she gave the meat another yank and finished getting everything ready, leaning back and watching. "I dunno why they pulled all you guys out here though. Maybe you did something to tick someone off?" She shrugged. It really wasn't her business to figure. She'd just tagged along for the kicks and giggles. And now apparently to cook and get squirrel ready to eat.

[Quinn Wiley]

“I’m pretty sure that’s what they think your place would do. Seemed like the first thing they accuse c... clans like yours, to do,” Quinn said, almost letting out the word cult. But it was a cult. Quinn would not follow it. First, because it was asking way too much. No one should expect him to go hunting his meal or to harvest vegetables or even to get rid of his camera. he loved his life, at the end of the day, how comfortable it was despite the bumpy ride he had. Financially, without being rich, his family had enough. He wouldn’t miss of anything if he didn’t have stuff in excess. He liked that. He didn’t want to change that.

There was something in her smirk. She didn't look like a kid when it happened. Or one of those scary kids in horror movies. The kind you should not entirely trust. He raised an eyebrow at her words. “You say they as in mutants in general or because you have a special diet too?” He was not seeing what food had to do with using dirt but who knows. Someone might find a connection. They used to think women were insane because they had a uterus so stranger things definitely happened before.

The gutting out part was gross. Quinn tried not to pay too much attention. She knew what she was doing no doubt. He was not really afraid she might crawl into that shelter of his to kill him but it did remind him why he shouldn’t try and piss her off. Was he surprised she volunteered for this? Not really. “You may just be the first. If only they let me bring my camera. But they didn't want us to, so we can really bond or something like that I guess.” It was funny how she seemed to dissociate herself from the rest of them. Quinn saw perfectly why they would have forced her to come had she not been happy to. “We don’t integrate ourselves well enough with the rest of the students. At least, that’s how I see it. You haven’t noticed?” Maybe she knew even less the other students than he did. But he knew several of the students here, some for having interacted with them before this camping experiences, others because he had the bad luck of sharing a dorm with them. He could see a pattern. Maybe they were not all violent but they all sucked at people skills. He was not seeing this trip making them any better.

[Demi Smith]

Yeah, Demi was fairly certain that Quinn had been about to say "cult' instead of clan. She'd spent enough time here hearing people say that word to recognize it when it was about to pop out from someone's mouth. Had it been someone else, she probably would have dragged it out of him, almost in a literal fashion (which would involve pulling on the tongue). However, things had been going well, and Demi had already decided that Quinn was more or less a cool person, or at least cool enough that she didn't want to ruin things over a word he didn't quite say.

So the conversation moved on to the next point. "People like us in general," Demi replied, leaving that alone. He seemed to think that she'd been forced along on this, and she supposed she could see why. She didn't exactly scream 'social" and definitely didn't seem like someone who fit in with the rest of the group. As Demi yanked guts out, she could practically hear him thinking that. The words he actually said didn't really discourage the idea either. Bonding and talking about how he didn't integrate.

Yeah, it was noticeable.

"Pretty much," Demi turned the meat again. "I really did pick to come here," she repeated, looking over at him. "But yeah, I don't 'integrate' well,' she'd done the air quotes, something she'd seen done before. "I've only got a temporary free pass because I was on call to put out the fires in the library," Demi had to smile at that, remembering how she'd been right there and been able to do some really cool stuff, and then gotten quite a bit of reward for it. Definitely made her glad she'd gone through with the suggestion to join the squad, that was for certain.

She gave the meat another turn, knowing it wouldn't be long now till the squirrels were at the eatable stage.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn didn’t really care if Demi was from a cult. The only thing he wanted was not get on her bad side, especially as long as she had a knife in her hands, although he figured she was able to beat him up without the use of any weapon. Despite being taller than she was, he was not really a fighter. More of a runner. There were plenty of trees to hide in but it was terribly humiliating to think he could be running away from this tiny girl covered in dirt. He had an ego that might not survive this.

Although she came here of her own free will, Quinn could see why they wouldn’t have left her a choice should she rebelled against the activity. She was hunting squirrels and was able to kill them, she did not flinch when skinning them and was even ready to gut them and the whole way she acted and talked proved him she was not one you should mess with. Plus she came from a cult. If someone needed an attitude adjustment...He was not really in position to talk but Quinn was not violent, just antisocial.

He looked away as she pulled the guts out. This was disgusting and he felt like throwing up the meat he had yet ingested. “I can see you in that environment. I don’t really fit there,” he said as she reiterated choosing to come here. At least she admitted not being a very social person. It would be hard to assume otherwise. Maybe in her clan she was more at ease but in here she didn't fit in. He stared at her when she talked of the fire that happened in the library a while back. “You helped out?” not that he thought it impossible. Well, maybe a little surprising. Quinn didn’t. It wouldn’t have been wise, when coughing up from the smoke it generated could just make him create more fire. He did like most students, he went into safety and waited for this to be over.

[Demi Smith]

Demi nodded, both for the whole not fitting in there and not fitting in here and just everything. She was also focused on getting the last few bits of the squirrel ready: they'd be eating them soon enough. She looked over at him as he let out his surprise, grinning. "Voluntarily," she replied, putting extra emphasis on the slightly long word, which she'd mostly learned thanks to her actions. She settled back onto her heels, keeping a close eye on the meat as she continued: "I joined Security Squad, and was, like, on hand. Ended up in the library, and it turns out that dirt beats fire," she scuffed a little bit of her dirt toward the edge of their fire, covering some of it.

Then she nodded, reaching up to the squirrel. Demi tapped the meat a few times, testing the heat and everything, before moving with the sharp object to open it up again. "Looks about ready," she said, giving it another nod. She pulled back, looking around for a few moments before nodding. "Should be good," she said, then pulled the skewer off, offering it over to Quinn with raised brows.

[Quinn Wiley]

She liked that word, really. He didn’t know if it was because it really was the most accurate one to describe everything or if she just liked to show no one made her do anything against her will. She explained further though, saying she was in the security squad. “Anyone else, I’d say I was surprised they let someone so young in the squad,” he admitted. But she looked tough, played tough and could hunt down squirrels. Still, he was a little surprised they let her in the security squad. Maybe it was the best thing they found to channel the violence inside of her. Punching things was not enough. He looked at her hands. They were small and didn’t appear like they would hurt a lot. Then he saw the squirrels and figured those little creatures probably thought something like that too before she got them.

At first, he wondered how dirt could be fire. Obviously, when you think of something beating fire, you think water. But then he realised. “You buried the flames until they died.” Yeah, made sense. She even showed him how she did by covering some of their fire. Quinn had a little smirk though as he wondered if she tried to show him she could beat him like that. Unless she tossed her dirt on him before he could blow any fire, he was pretty sure he had the advantage here. Then again, he knew it would be easy to defeat him. He could not control where the fire went, it would be easy for her to move out of the way. At the thought of this tiny girl beating the crap out of him, he shifted from where he was sitting, as if uncomfortable. And he had reasons to be.

The squirrels were finally ready. He took the skewer as she offered it to him. “Thanks. For sharing with me.” Quinn was not entirely without manners. Especially not around a girl who could beat him up if she wanted to. Plus he understood she really didn't have to share so he figured thanks were required.

[Demi Smith]

His surprise had Demi letting out another laugh. "I beat the two idiots in charge," she pointed out. Her eyes sparked at that. "They're not bad, but they aren't nearly as good at fighting as me," as Demi should be. This was pretty much what she did: survive, fight, and train. There wasn't much socializing or talking or figuring things out. Her grades weren't great either. Not that Demi cared all that much about grades: it was just the system and she didn't really see herself a part of it.

Except when it aligned with her, like it did for the fire. She nodded as Quinn got it. "Yeah, and I totally saved, like, the library," which was a bit of an exaggeration. Technically there had been several people involved and Demi had worked directly with one of them. Still, she'd been there, she'd done what was needed, which was more than most people could say.

Demi had gotten the squirrel out, handed the one over, then shrugged. "Not like I can eat it all," she said. Then she lifted the squirrel to just above her. She whispered a short little prayer over it before ripping into it, clearly enjoying herself and looking as much like a caveperson as she had since she'd wandered in carrying a few animal corpses.

[Quinn Wiley]

Considering he believed her capable to kick his ass, he could see her fighting with them. Winning, it was debatable but she could definitely prove her worth and show she could be an asset to the security squad. “You took martial arts lessons?” God, if that girl knew martial arts, he bet she could take on Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee all at once, even though one of them was dead. If Bruce Lee was still alive, she could kick his ass. Maybe not now, but probably after a few years, if she kept training like that.

“Yes, I’ve heard of that. And seen the damages after,” he let out when she mentioned the library. Again, maybe she exaggerated a bit, since he doubted only one person was used to put out the fire in there. With all the books, it could burn for a while and he heard some managed to be saved so obviously she had not been alone to put it out. “I didn’t really help then. Not that I didn’t care about it but with my power, if I coughed...” Why did he try to justify himself? For it sounded like he did when he didn’t mean to. He did like most students, he got out to safety and waited for it to be subdued. But he was right, with the chance he could blow fire, he was not someone they should ask for help.

She claimed she couldn’t rightfully eat both of them but he thought she might have, if she wanted to. And she didn’t have to share with him. “Still,” he simply replied. When someone deserved a thank you, he’d give it. He was not totally lacking of manners, despite what they might believe. He didn't intend to say anything else though. He heard her muttering something but couldn’t quite get the words. When she started to eat though he did the same. Not as bad as he thought. Not the best, but it would do.