Infamous: Innocent Touch (Private RP)

[thelonegrunt]

The meal already prepared on both ends (though his helping was significantly less than hers now given that he had eaten most of it), Craig patted on the seat he wanted her to sit in as he went to get her a glass of water. "So what's your name? I guess we're safe enough now to be able to exchange formalities." Craig said, putting the glass on the table after she had set down.

[Sami-Chan]

"I said it earlier, but I guess I did just randomly blurt it out, so..." Emma trailed off before properly saying her name to Craig. "My name's Emma. I actually haven't traveled too far from home despite being on the streets for a while. i don't think I'll ever go back though, especially since my own parents..."

She quickly stopped herself, not wanting to bring up such a touchy memory once again. "It's hard to believe they'd do that, though. I don't even know how to use my powers even if I wanted to hurt people. Everything you've seen me do is all I know. I tried concentrating my powers to do other stuff, but that hasn't worked out. They're, at least, useful abilities."

[thelonegrunt]

"Emma, huh? That's a really nice name." Craig replied with a genuine smile, wanting her to feel at the very least comfortable, at the time being. "My name's Craig, but call me whatever you like."

"Well... who says you have to hurt people with them? Maybe you can use them to... like... kick tons of ass and stop crimes around town or something. Like you said, you have pretty useful powers."

[Sami-Chan]

Emma sighed at Craig's suggestion. "I don't think that would work. If I do stop some random robbers or something, everyone will still be scared of me. It's a vicious cycle. I can't think of any possible way to stop all of this fear on Conduits. It doesn't help that some of the actually DO like killing and scaring people..."

[thelonegrunt]

"Oh come on! People would start to notice and appreciate it; if they were being robbed and a Conduit took out the robber, chances are they'd be killed just for the hell of it. But I don't think you'd do that..." Craig, after thinking for a moment, thought about how other Conduits used their powers for evil purposes. Contrasting this with Emma was a no-brainer.
"Oh! Maybe it's just how the government portrays the Conduits all as like-minded killers without anyone proving it wrong. So what if you took it upon yourself to do that?"

[Sami-Chan]

"I just said I don't have any useful powers to do that," Emma snapped, though not trying to be aggressive. "I don't exactly have any muscles to punch people too hard, either, so that's out of the question too. It's ironic, though; the troops walking around now use Conduit powers too. Although they are only infused with them and not naturally obtaining them, that still makes them a Conduit, yet people look at them like they're Hercules. It's unfair."

[thelonegrunt]

Craig tensed up a little at the snappy response, but waited for the girl to finish. "Yeah... those government pricks are straight-up hypocrites. They can use brute force with the powers that they condemn. If anything, I say they're as just as big of villains as the no-good jerks on the streets who use those powers to kill and steal. I think the government scares people more than they do."

[Sami-Chan]

"And I don't think people realize that yet," Emma added on. "They think this is the only way the government can 'protect' them from people like me. I wish I could do something, Craig, honestly. I just...can't."

[thelonegrunt]

"Come on, don't say that," Craig replied, trying to be optimistic. "You just... well... let's not get ourselves too down; we can talk more about it later... also, I noticed you haven't even taken a bite yet out of your mac and cheese."

[Sami-Chan]

Emma looked down at the table once Craig pointed this out. Sighing, she took her silverware and poked at her food a little. "Sorry. A lot has been running through my mind, in case you couldn't tell. I should be scarfing this down, considering..."

Emma tried to eat, but it was noticeable she didn't have much of an appetite now. She didn't want to seem rude and simply let the food sit and get cold despite having been kindly offered it.