Private Finished All the Power of a Pansy Plant

Carmin watched Gabe shifting and frowned. “How about you sit instead? It doesn’t actually make a difference for me so it makes more sense to do it that way.” He hopped off the stool, and nearly fell but managed to regain his balance.

Regardless of whether Gabe was going to accept the offer, he stood. It really didn’t make a difference. He couldn’t even tell if he was standing or sitting all that well unless he had his eyes open or tried moving.

“And for a question, hmm.” He thought about it, this was hard. “What is... your favourite animal?”

Carmin listener to what Gabe has to say and then just kept standing anyway. Gabe’s legs were tired, his couldn’t get sore if he tried, it only made sense for Gabe to sit and him to stand and he’d stubbornly stand there until it was that way.

“A panther?” Panthers were like shady looking lions right? Or maybe more like shady looking tigers? Well either way, they were shady. But he figured he shouldn’t read too much into that, it was just a favourite animal. It was nice to see they had a shared dislike for insects. It seemed people on the island mostly didn’t mind bugs and considered his fear irrational. At least Gabe was in a somewhat similar boat.

“I read all sorts of books. Um, lots of young adult fiction, some adventure, some old books, some newer. I tend to avoid romance and horror though.” He kind of liked that question now. He’d been asked it a few times by different people and so he knew the answer without thinking too hard.

Then it was as his turn to ask he supposed. “Hm... How long have you been on the island?”

That was right. When he’d first met Gabe, he had returned from someplace else, and it looked like he’d been around for a good while before that. Still not so long that he didn’t know the pains of arriving at the island though. “Hm. Alright.”

After Gabe asked his question, Carmin froze for just a moment before resuming. “Um, right. I... don’t have any powers. Not real ones. All I can do is grow these dumb flowers or roots.” Dodged. And he didn’t even technically lie.

Obviously he didn’t have untapped powers, his current situation was a curse. But he couldn’t tell Gabe that.

“I don’t think... I mean, I’m pretty sure I would’ve discovered them by now if I did. I’ve never tried any of that stuff, but I don’t really see how I could. I have no clue how anyone does stuff like that. “

He couldn’t even feel his arms when he moved them. How on Earth was he supposed to do that.

It didn't seem like Gabe was convinced he didn't have powers, so Carmin decided to just play along for now. Hopefully if he just did that, Gabe would quickly realize this was the case and move on.

"It's not really a matter of me doing it. If I could control it I wouldn't be coated in flowers. They're just kind of there and if I rip them off they grow back on their own. As for the roots..." He looked down at his shoes. "If I'm touching dirt with a part of my body and I tense myself up, roots just grow I guess? I don't have much control over how they grow but if I give them a quick tug they go away."

Nothing all that impressive and mostly all just an inconvenience. His so called powers were just side effects. They were nothing like what Gabe and practically everyone else could do.