”You don’t have much of a choice.” Sam said shrugging his tone going back to annoyed. ”I just hung you off the ledge of the roof, I don’t think you really want to lie to me. I’ve had a pretty rough year.” it was an empty threat Sam didn’t really mind killing that much anymore unless there was a damn good reason. This wasn’t those times; a kid who was pouting threatening to lie about why he tried to kill himself definitely isn’t a good reason.

”Now how about you tell me and we talk a bit. Been out of touch for too long.” Sam let go of Persi and lifted his hands to let the kid have a little ease before he backed away towards the ledge himself this time. Leaving Persi in between himself and the roof access in hopes the kid felt a little safer. ”There, now we can talk. I wouldn’t try running, you wouldn’t get very far.” Good ol’ roof access. If the kid sprouted wings or tried to actually jump he wouldn’t get very far either. Sam was a decent shot with an ice beam.

Persi glared again. "I didn't say I was lying! I said you'd say I was." Not that people used those words, technically. They were more likely to just say he was wrong, or insane, or kidding himself. It all ended up the same, though; saying that everything he did was pointless and wrong... which most of it was, actually, but they were saying the only good thing he'd ever done was what was wrong. Persi knew better than that.

Oh good the crazy guy let go of his shirt. Persi backed away too, almost entirely ignoring what the guy said while he focused being free. At least, the first thing he said; the second Persi noticed, and considered for a moment before letting go of his shoulder, turning and deliberately walking toward the door. He wasn't running. He probably wouldn't get away anyway, but he wasn't running. If he did manage to get to the door, he wasn't waiting to try getting back in.

”Right, right. I promise not jump to conclusions and actually listen to what you have to say. The main reason I brought you up here anyways.” Sam sighed to himself and pointed his hand to the ground and started to create a small chair of ice. Sam was reluctant to take his eye off of Persi but he could still feel the kids heat signature walking towards the door. Sam looked from his chair he sculpted to Persi who was still walking to the door.

Letting out a loud sigh Sam yelled calmly, ”Your stubborn kid I’ll give ya that!” Leaning back into his chair Sam pointed his finger to the roof access door and shot a small beam of blue to the frame of the door. The blue spread down a little till the door frosted over. Sam thought that was enough and stopped to let the kid walk back towards him.

The chair was cold but it didn’t bother him. Sam created another chair a few feet from him should Persi want to sit. ”Come on now. Have a seat and tell me why ya did what ya did. Sooner we talk the sooner I get out of your sight.” Sam said trying to sound a little less stern and a little more like his old self.

Oh yes, that was very reassuring. The crazy guy would think about what he said before deciding how to interpret it. Persi didn't see any way that could go wrong.

Aaand yeah, that figured. So Persi should have run. He growled under his breath, took the last few steps to the door anyway, and tried the handle. Which was locked. So maybe running wouldn't have mattered, except why shoot the door just to cover it in frost? So maybe he had locked it too somehow. Either way Persi couldn't get through. He kicked the door, and kicked it again when the first kick only succeeded in smearing a bit of frost.

Stubborn... yeah. Persi couldn't really argue with that one. He lurked by the door for a few more minutes before giving up on the hope that it would miraculously unlock itself, and edging back over to something resembling a conversational distance from the crazy guy. Not actually close, and the chair was eyed with great suspicion and then avoided, but he wouldn't have to raise his voice to be heard.

Which, when he thought of it, was not necessarily best. He still didn't actually want to talk. He couldn't get back in though, and his shoulder hurt and he was shivering, and eventually he glared at the ground and tried to say as little as possible. "Because being a mutant is a sin and people have to pay for sins by suffering, and I don't want to go to hell so that means I have to hurt now. Except it's not possible to hurt enough on Earth to actually make up for sins so it's more about proving you're willing to and that means dying. Now can I go?"

Sam mentally shrugged when the chair wasn’t taken. The kid should be suspicious of anything he had done. Sam did hold him off a roof after all it only made sense the kid would eye things he made suspiciously.

>>>"Because being a mutant is a sin and people have to pay for sins by suffering, and I don't want to go to hell so that means I have to hurt now. Except it's not possible to hurt enough on Earth to actually make up for sins so it's more about proving you're willing to and that means dying. Now can I go?"

Sam blinked and scratched his head for a second before he responded, ”No.” was all he managed before he scratched the back of his head again still surprised at what he just heard. “W-Who told you that kid?” Sam asked still in shock and a little disgust that anyone would think like that. He had seen it before and heard about it. Seeing it in front of him was always a little disconcerting, funny you’d think mutants were used to being hated on.

“I thought the bible said you shouldn’t take your own life?” Sam asked trying figure out Persi who was apparently very religious or at least that was what he claimed. “That really the reason you tried to end it?”

Apparently not. Of course. It wasn't like the guy had said he'd let Persi go after he talked, just really strongly implied it. But that wasn't technically saying.

On the other hand, Persi didn't care all that much about technically at the moment, so he scowled anyway. "I dunno, everyone? Priest talked about it a lot, and the elders, and my brother liked pointing it out...." Mostly because that always made Irri mad, but crazy guy wasn't going to hear about him.

Crossed arms joined the glare. "You're not supposed to if it's for a selfish reason. Like if you're just poor or something. If it's because, like, there's only enough food for three people to survive and you're the fourth, or because God told you to, then you're supposed to obey God." He rolled his eyes. "You're not saying anything new, you know." Which was kind of surprising, from the crazy guy. Persi was fine with that, though, he'd had enough insanity already.

>>>>>"I dunno, everyone? Priest talked about it a lot, and the elders, and my brother liked pointing it out...."

It seemed the kid wasn’t joking; it also seemed that other than his religious figures telling him but his family as well. Sam sometimes forgotten that not all the kids in the mansion came from happy backgrounds, in fact a majority of them had some skeletons in their closets. Persi’s seemed to be holding some bibles.

>>>>"You're not supposed to if it's for a selfish reason. Like if you're just poor or something. If it's because, like, there's only enough food for three people to survive and you're the fourth, or because God told you to, then you're supposed to obey God." You're not saying anything new, you know."

Sam nodded his head, ”Oh I don’t think I’m saying anything new.” Sam said shrugging his shoulders again, he leaned forward into his chair and continued, ”I’m just a little curious about your God is all.” Sam said. ”Met a lot of religious people before, none of them ever said I was going to hell for being a mutant.” Sam definitely would be going to hell for other reasons if he believed the bible was a cut a dry life rule-book.

”Couldn’t you trying to take your life be considered a selfish reason?” Sam asked curiously.

The extremely suspicious look Persi now had was probably an improvement from glaring, even if it still was far from friendly. "You just threatened to throw me off a building. Why would anyone tell you anything they know you don't want to hear?" Plus, a lot of supposedly religious people worshipped an entirely incorrect god. But people tended to use that as proof that the majority was right, so Persi had no intention of bringing it up.

Persi blinked. "...No, trying to do anything is an action, not a reason." Did the guy not hear himself, or was he just so crazy he didn't know the difference?

>>>"...No, trying to do anything is an action, not a reason."

Sam shrugged his shoulders and put his hands on the arms of the chair, ”Never had an opportunity really to check out church.” Sam said lying a bit he had been to a few churches before but never to actually attend. Sam always believed that the guy upstairs was more of a watcher not a do-er. If he was the type to intervene in the affairs of the mortals he definatly wouldn’t have had the childhood he did or there wouldn’t be as much chaos and destruction that there was. Over-thinking it all tended to give Sam a headache but he was always curious about what others believed in. One of the reasons he was focused on Persi and his beliefs.

”So there wasn’t really a reason why you were trying to kill yourself?” Sam asked his tone calming more to a tone where it could be mistaked for compassion or understanding. He really was curious now though. ”I mean, it was just an action of yours?” Sam asked still trying to understand.

”Why does everyone think Mutant are ‘sins’?” Sam asked adding to his questions hoping not to overwhelm the kid. He also put an emphasis on ‘sin’ to let the kid know he actually was listening.

"No, there--ugh." Persi glared at the crazy guy again. "The reason and the action are separate things. I have a reason, but killing myself isn't the reason for killing myself because killing myself is the action so it can't be the reason for itself." That explanation probably would barely make sense to someone sane, much less the crazy guy, but that was the best Persi could do. The difference between actions and reasons wasn't something he had a lot of practice explaining.

"Because...." Persi had a bit more practice explaining that one, but not a lot of success. He still ought to try, though. "Mutations are power that people aren't supposed to have. Basically all of them either make the mutant really good at hurting or killing people, or let them control people. Either way it's taking away peoples' free will, and God doesn't even allow himself to do that. So they're wrong even if the mutant thinks they're trying to do... um." To do good things was going to be the end of that, but on second thought Persi maybe shouldn't be saying that much to the crazy guy. "They're wrong."

>>>"The reason and the action are separate things. I have a reason, but killing myself isn't the reason for killing myself because killing myself is the action so it can't be the reason for itself."

Sam stared at the kid for a second in his frozen chair not sure what exactly to say. Then he shrugged and asked, ”So what is the reason then? You keep avoiding that.” Sam said as the kid continued onwards with the religious mumbo jumbo. The next part left him more speechless than the first. Was everything he was doing not really considered good then? Was he evil for actually saving people? Sam didn’t know and at this point he didn’t really care. If hell was a place he was pretty sure he was going that route anyways. No matter how much good he could do now.

”So mutations are an abomination, correct?” Sam asked curiously, ”Good or bad they are just an abomination?” he waited for a conformation from the kid again he was spelling it out for Sam already and he knew he’d be a little upset being asked to spell it out more. ”So you’re telling me, every time I save someone, every time I prevent a bank robbery, every time I put out a burning building, what I’m actually doing is going against God’s will?” Sam asked trying to sound sincere in his questions.

”Amish way of thinking I guess.” Sam said mumbling to himself at this point, there teachings pretty much spelled out Sam was going to hell for technology. Shrugging his shoulders Sam shook his head, ”I guess it makes more sense now.” Sam said feeling the kid illuminated his problem a little more.

”Even if we are a sin in your gods eyes I still don’t think he’d want you to off yourself. I’m sure there is a more productive route even if you are a mutant.” Sam said standing as the chair behind him shattered. Walking towards the kid again this time a sad smile on his face, ”How about we try to find that out together? No more talk about ending it? Or we might have to have some more words up here?” the air became cold for a second near Persi just for a second.

"Because people have to suffer for sins and if I don't now then I will in Hell, and I'd rather not do that. I already said that." Maybe the crazy guy was actually just fifteen different people, or something, all possessing the same body and they kept switching but didn't tell each other anything, and that was why he didn't remember anything Persi had said. That would explain a lot, actually.

"Yes." Finally the crazy guy got something right. Or the current crazy guy did; who knew if it would--nope. No apparently it wouldn't last long at all. At least he was closer.... "No, it's like... being a mutant is bad, but you can be a sinner and still do decent things. Like... I don't know, Robin Hood. Helping the poor is good, but stealing is still stealing even if you're going to give what you stole away. So it's sort of one sin and one good thing is better than if you stole money and used it to hire a hitman or something, but it's worse than if you got money without stealing and then used it to help people. And then it's about how many good and bad things you do and how significant they are and...." And Persi never liked this part, but he'd had the conversation often enough to know what the crazy guy's next question would be. If he used the same logic as sane people for it, anyway.... "And being a mutant is really bad, there basically isn't anything worse than messing with free will, and I don't do anything good so there isn't anything I can do to make up for it."

"...Amish?" Persi stared. Apparently one of the crazy ones was back. "No, that's... what? Amish?" What did the Amish have to do with anything he'd said at all? They were a religion, sure, but not any more related than any other religion in existence. Why pick Amish, of all of them?

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I'm capable of it." Persi had never heard anything that implied there might be one, but even if there was, that sort of thing tended to involve great feats and defeating enemies and such, and Persi wasn't strong, smart or courageous enough to ever do anything like that.

"You're the one that wanted to talk about it." Not that Persi didn't understand what the guy actually meant, but he didn't have a response to the actual comment other than backing away when the guy got close. Or not one that wasn't likely to get him hung off the room again, and his shoulder hurt enough already, thanks.

Sam smirked when the kid backed up seemed he was a quick learner. He’d have to keep that in mind next time he ran into the kid. Hey maybe, just maybe Sam scared him enough to not try killing himself again. Sam gave one last look to the kid and walked to the door back into the mansion. ”You’d be surprised what people are capable of when presented with the right motivation. Sam said pulling out a key and unlocking the door.

”Have a good one kid, I look forward to the next time I see ya.” which hopefully wouldn’t be too soon. The kid seemed off, it was odd that Sam felt sorry for the kid’s childhood he couldn’t imagine what his life would be like if he was drilled into thinking that he was a sin against god. Sam smirked a little to himself. He heard it before and he was sure he’d hear it again.