School Food... Enough Said (open)

[Vix]

Vix blushed lightly, "Uhm... Thanks..." He said, his voice quiet. Then he shook his head, "Didn't offend me, just didn't want your opinion. And the only reason i did it is because you were right. Long bangs annoy me when they won't stay out of my face. My hair grows fast, so I can't go get a haircut every week. I just do it myself..." He felt like he was rambling, so he let his voice trail off. "We need a new topic" He though. "So..." He paused for a moment, then added, "What do you do in your free time?" He said, nearly mumbling. He felt idiotic, not being able to come up with a better question to ask. "What a horrid conversation starter" He thought, beating himself up inside. He truly felt he was a moron sometimes, and he had no one to blame but himself.

[Kylie Jenson]

Kylie smiled at him, this smile a more kind sort of grin, instead of being mischievous. "It really does suit you. It's a wonder you hadn't cut it before."

The girl nearly burst out laughing when Vixen broke the awkward silence with one of the most cliche conversation starters ever to be uttered by man.

"Well," she began, still trying not to laugh, "I like to draw and paint, dancing, swimming, and playing with my pet snake. Do you like snakes? I don't understand why everyone thinks they're so horrible. My little Kink is an absolute sweetheart." She shook her head. It never ceased to amaze her that so many people hated snakes. She really didn't see what was wrong with them.

"Anyway, I also don't mind reading, depending on what sort of book it is. I'm sort of a finicky sort of reader; I only like certain kinds of books."

[Vix]

Vix scratched the back of his head, looking down. She was laughing at him. Oh had he messed up this time. The word snake caught his attention. He smiled. "You actually like snakes? Well that's a first..." He trailed off. "I have a pet snake myself as well. I'm just not used to meeting people who like them. And I think if I had it my way, I'd throw my life away reading. I will read anything, but i do prefer certain types over others..." He decided reading could be a good conversation topic, except she didn't look like the type to love dark poetry and depressing novels. Snakes, that topic was one that seems to work. "What kind of snake is Kink?" He asked, honestly interested. Then he stopped, and tilted his head out of curiosity, "How do you feel about spiders?" He asked, half smiling.

[Kylie Jenson]

Kylie grinned. She'd finally found someone who actually liked snakes! Given, it was a boy, so he was a little more likely to like snakes than any girls she might meet here, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, she supposed.

"You have a pet snake, too? That's neat," she said truthfully. "Kink is a boa constrictor. She's a bit on the small side, but I don't mind. It makes her easier to carry." She shrugged at his question about spiders.

"I don't mind spiders, really. I mean, I guess if a really poisonous one was sitting on the cap of my milk jug in the morning as I was getting myself some cereal, I'd probably be pretty annoyed. But just regular spiders or people's pet spiders really don't bother me. I don't know as I would keep one myself, but they are interesting to look at."

[Vix]

"Oh, okay, good. I have a pet tarantula, I hate being told how much some people like squishing them. I treat my pets like babies and the idea of anyone squishing Monti sickens me. And a boa constrictor? Really? Nice. Phang's a ball python. He's an albino though. He likes to hide in my sheets, and has startled me a few too many times. And he pretty much does anything he wants. He likes to twist around my leg when I'm reading. And he bites my socks when he's hungry for some reason. I hate having to feed him though, but it's just the natural order of things..." He looked down, then back to her. "I'm a vegan, don't like watching people eat, harm, or cage animals. But I have to put Monti in his cage at night or when I leave, so I guess that makes me a hypocrite, doesn't it?"

[Kylie Jenson]

Kylie stuck her tongue out when Vixen mentioned squishing spiders. "That's so disgusting. Why would you want to squish a tarantula? I think they're kind of cool, and it's not as if they'd do something to you as long as you don't provoke it, right?" She shook her head in disgust. Some people were just so cruel.

"Oh, cool, I like ball pythons. An albino? That's neat, though I imagine it's probably kind of hard to tell when he's in your sheets then, huh?" Kylie laughed a little, smiling as she thought of his snake basically doing whatever it pleased.

"Oh, you're a vegan?" She looked down at her bowl of salad, complete with chicken chunks. Oh well, maybe he couldn't see them. She looked back up at them. "Well, I guess it kind of does, but as long as the enclosure is big enough for him and he gets plenty of excersize, it's not as if you're hurting him, right?"

[Vix]

"No, of course not, I'd never do that. Although, I do poke him for fun some times. He gets kind of upset. But it's cute, he bats at me with his legs like he's punching me." He looked over at her bowl of salad, since it had grabbed her attention a moment before. "Chicken?" He shook his head. "I guess I can't be mad at you for it, they'll be killed anyway. Might as well enjoy it, and contribute to the industry." He thought for a moment. "Sorry, if I seem overly anti-conformist, I'm usually not. I just really hate animals being hurt. I'm quite the contradiction at times though. I got kicked out of a zoo once for protesting and attempting to set the caged animals free, yet I have pets. But, both of my pets were born in captivity, and couldn't survive on their own in the wild. While, the zoo had recently announced the purchase of two tigers and an elephant that had been captured in the wild."

[Kylie Jenson]

Kylie laughed as Vixen described how he played with his tarantula. He obviously really loved his animals, that was for sure. She winced when he regarded her salad bowl and gave her a scathing comment about it.

"Sorry," she said, truly meaning it, "I've always eaten meat, and I guess I've never really seen any problems with it. I mean, yeah, the animals are killed for food, but aren't they killed for that in wild, too? And when we die, we'll eventually become dirt, which provides nutrients for plants, and animals either eat the plants or eat the animals that eat the plants, so we all basically feed off each other. It's just a cycle, so I figure...why fight it?" She shrugged and leaned back in her chair as he described the thing about the zoo.

"It's certainly not very humane of them to kidnap those animals from their rightful homes and stick them in a cage to be stared at," she said grumpily. Hearing about that sort of stuff always made her angry. "There are plenty of animals that are born in captivity that they could have. Some animals, I understand it, though. Like the pandas, since they're nearly extinct. The breeding program is good, right?"

[Vix]

"I find the breeding program for pandas sickens me, all they do is make the reproduce to be put on display. The one's in the wild barely stand a fighting chance." He shook the thought away. "And in all reality, when we die, we don't become dirt, we are closed in caskets, and buried, where we become dirt. Unusable dirt. Dirt that cannot hold nutrients for plants to feed off of. We are nothing more than a waste. Humans destroy good land for our own selfish purposes, and kill tons of life in the process. I know that in order to survive we must feed off of other living things but the least we could do is feed off the one's that don't feel pain, that don't have a brain, that don't have feelings or emotions. And some people say animals aren't smart enough to have feelings, but they are. Animals have feelings, they get attached to things, and they can love. They are much more loving than humans, that's for sure. Humans are much to fond of the word hate. A word I never use, because I do not hate anything in existence, there are things I most definitely do not like, but I do not wish bad things on anyone or anything. Karma ought to take care of that anyway. "

[Kylie Jenson]

Kylie thought for a moment. "Not everyone's buried, you know. I want to be cremated. Cremated people become dirt; usable dirt, too. Just because someone eats meat and animal products doesn't make them a bad person, does it? I try to be kind to animals, and I know that they can feel. Probably a lot more than humans do. How can they not? My dog at home always has the most happy, loving expression on her face when she sees my brother or me. How can that not be love?" She couldn't look at Vixen; she felt too guilty. She knew that she would probably never give up meat, and she felt like a complete hypocrite for saying that she cared about animals even though she ate them. "Maybe it's not enough, and maybe I am a bad person for eating meat, but I'm only human. I make mistakes, repetitive ones at that, and will certainly continue to." She sighed. "Maybe I'm just too much of a conformist, but I don't think it'd do much good to stop eating meat now. Whether I eat them or not, the animals will still be killed. Might as well give some meaning to their sacrifice."

[Vix]

"you're not a bad person for eating meat. Like you said, the animals will be killed no matter what. Might as well put use to it. And cremation... Ashes don't do much for the environment, they have no nutrients in them, and tend to just blow around and end up as dust in a lot of places were it shouldn't be. It just doesn't compare to natural decomposition. In some ways, I wish things were the way they were in the stone age, at least then rain forest wasn't destroyed by the acre for big cities to build or slaughter houses for cows and chickens that are kept in pens, and they never truly get to have a real life. And then more and more of them are bred and raised that way, just to feed people. Feed them at the animals expense. What happened to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, is that not for animals too, because they aren't superior enough?" Vix grew angry, the thought of what he was saying physically made him feel sick. "Animals have as much rights in life as anyone else."

[Kylie Jenson]

"Well, it's probably the closest thing you can get to natural decomposition unless you're murdered and they bury the body somewhere. At least they won't be digging up land to put your coffin in," Kylie pointed out. This topic was making her feel uneasy and depressed, two emotions that Kylie rarely had and definitely did not like. But she couldn't see a way to change the subject discreetly, so she figured she might as well go along with it and see if it resolved itself.

"Most people don't think of animals as deserving of human rights," she said. "And I find that funny, since the people who don't think animals deserve human rights are usually the same people that say humans are just evolved monkeys themselves, in which case, human rights technically are animal rights. But then, humans aren't always the creature that likes to share much, considering half the time we don't even give to other humans, let alone animals."

[Vix]

"Which is exactly why I can't stand most humans." He thought about it, and he really wished he had the passion to hate anything, because if he did, he'd most definitely make sure the first thing he grows to hate is people who are cruel to animals. "And the reason I keep saying humans, is because I consider animals people too. Just though you should know that." He looked down, toying with the hem of his shirt, then he looked back up. "But some people, are bad people, and they like to hurt people, and they don't care what other people feel, and they do bad things. I don't like bad people. I'd like to consider myself a good person, but I can't say I am. Not without lying at least. I don't think of myself as a bad person though. And I hope no one else does."

[Kylie Jenson]

Kylie thought that made sense. She respected Vixen's decision to not eat animal products, mostly because she didn't think she'd have the strength to do the same.

"I don't think you're a bad person," she told him, giving him a small smile. "And I guess I don't really know enough about you to make an informed judgement, but I think you're probably a good person. Maybe you're a little bit different from other people, but then again, who isn't a little different? Like my father always said, 'We're all unique. Just like everyone else.'" She laughed a little bit, remembering all the times her father would tell her that when people called her a freak because of her wings.

Looking over the boy in front of her once more, Kylie decided that she liked Vixen. He wasn't afraid to take a stand for what he thought was right. So maybe he was a little different, and maybe he was dressed in a sort of goth/emo way. Who cared? Kylie wore ties to school, which most other people thought was stupid. She never had been one to judge by appearances, anyway.

[Vix]

Vixen nodded, listening to Kylie. He grabbed his wrist. "Yeah... You don't exactly know me well enough yet but if you'd like to know more, just ask. I'm pretty open about things..." He said, looking down at his grip on his own wrist. He held it tight, almost cutting off the circulation to his hand, and he cringed inside at himself. He let go of his wrist and shook his arms slightly, letting his jacket sleeves fall over his hands. "Out of sight, out of mind," He thought, looking back up to Kylie. "And I don't really know you well enough to make any judgement of you either. I don't like to judge people, but I know I do sometimes without really thinking about it, but I keep it to myself. I'd like to get to know you better though. I don't really have any friends, so I don't exactly know what to ask you to get to know you better..." He looked down, a little embarrassed.