Aren't You Hungry? (Seb)

[Sebastian Bolstad]

Sebastian listened carefully as the man explained how he prepared the vegetables. Whilst he could quite easily understand what the other man was saying and the processes that went into the preparation, he couldn't understand why. With his upbringing and life to that point, the blonde could not understand why anyone would want to take something clean and natural and muddy it by the application of sauces and sugars. Basic seasoning made sense, salt and pepper to help enhance the natural flavour of chicken or fish, but he could not grasp why anyone would risk doing much more than that. His stomach churned slightly as he took another bite of the pickled vegetable.

He would however have been lying if he said he disliked the flavour of the morsel. It was alien to him and sat uneasily on his palate, but it was not overly unpleasant and he was surprised and inwardly scolded himself when he found himself picking up another piece. Teenage curiosity was winning over metaphobic sensibilities. “What is shoyu and miso? I have never heard of them before.”

At the man's question Seb sat in silence for a long moment, staring at the box so he didn't have to make eye contact. He couldn't understand what he had done to deserve this punishment. All his life he had followed his parents instructions to the letter, doing everything he could to avoid the risk of becoming a freak. He'd even gone on the marches with his parents when that abomination had tried to run for town mayor. After a while he nodded slowly, stubbornly brushing away a tear he refused to let fall. “Yes, sir... We did everything we could to prevent it, my family and I, but... I caught it anyway. I failed them.”

[Vincent Meian]

The trainer seemed slightly startled at the question, though not offended as he thought it over. He'd been so used to people knowing what he meant when he talked about his culture's food that he'd used the wrong language to describe how things were made, apparently. Fortunately, as he thought, he was able to explain. "Shoyu is what you would call 'soy sauce', I believe," he replied. "Miso... it is a difficult ingredient to describe unless you have tasted it. It is comparable to tofu, but is made with soy and salt."

There were other processes that went into fermenting the soybeans properly, but it was difficult to describe to outsiders without sounding... strange. Especially when the process was best explained in Japanese, yet was being described in English.

Vincent frowned. It wasn't a frown of anger or annoyance, but of concern and disbelief. Honestly, what some people could believe. Still, rather than telling the boy that his parents were wrong (and foolish and bigoted and a hundred other things), the trainer held back and thought over his words. Tact was not something he was adept in, but choosing his words carefully helped to lend a similar effect. Besides, it was very difficult to overcome years of conditioning in a single conversation.

Still, he was going to try. "Obtaining these abilities is not something a person can choose," he countered, though gently as it was a concerning subject. "It is not a disease to be 'caught', either. Becoming what we are is simply a part of life, such as being born with dark hair or growing older."

As much as Vincent was philosophical about such things, there was little he could prove about metahumanity aside from what he'd just said. Different people believed different things, but there were certain things that had been proven by science. Denying the biological component of the metahuman gene was like denying evolution or gravity.

[Sebastian Bolstad]

The somewhat startled look that crossed the older man's face caused Seb to cringe slightly. He hadn't meant to cause any offence at all; he had simply been raised in a household that had never made any kind of use of foreign condiments and ingredients such as those. The names had been completely alien to him, and though he wasn't quite sure he understood the descriptions of them he gave a small, slightly awkward smile and a polite nod. “I see. I apologise if I caused any offence with my question, I had just never heard of them before.”

Sebastian listened intently as the man tried to explain about how meta-human abilities were forced upon a person, but they sounded as false to him as if someone was trying to convince him that the sky was pink. The blonde gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head, dismissing them as nothing more than empty words applied like a band-aid to try to stop the hurt.

“A person does not choose these afflictions, that is so. I certainly would not have chosen this.” Seb brushed a hand across his cheek, swatting away a rogue droplet. “But I did something wrong... Something I can't remember, and now I'm ill-fated to suffer this misery along with all the other accursed people here. Neither of my parents are abominations, just me... I failed.”

[Vincent Meian]

"It is of no offense," the taller man replied, waving away the apology politely. "Questions are a way to learn what you do not know. No teacher should be offended by questions." Unless they were inappropriate, but from the way Sebastian acted and spoke Vincent found it unlikely that the boy would intentionally do so. He was not Lucy Serrano, after all.

Still, this major shutdown against his power were unhealthy. True, it was a genetic mutation in the human body... but so were green eyes or identical twins. Neither of those were considered "abominations", and both of those were far less prevalent than metahumans at this point. Though, metahumans did have abilities that could seem "god-like" to religious people - Vincent himself was proof of that idea; fear was a nasty thing if let free. But rather than try and dissuade the blonde's idea again, the trainer merely shook his head. "A person can only suffer if they wish to suffer," he replied, drinking the last of his tea and taking another cup from the thermos. He would say no more on the subject - it was not his place.

Still, it was sad that people thought this way. He felt the same sadness, anger, and shame towards those in Japan who made his wife and daughter feel less than people simply because of their coloration; it was horribly unjust, and very cruel.

"Would you like to try this tea?" he asked, holding out the fresh cup to the student. It was unsweetened green tea, brewed very carefully and let to chill overnight - it wouldn't be strong, but it would have a hint of something earthy to it because of the leaves. Besides, those vegetables could make one very thirsty as they were a bit salty.