Francis' brow furrowed when Dietre clarified what he was talking about. It made more sense, and Francis knew firsthand how frightening the things Dietre could create with his mind could be. On top of that, the fact Dietre could summon, imagine, create – whatever – anything, let alone monsters, could have made the girl think he was some kind of freak. As normal as it was for residents of that island to have some power, most people didn't know that. They were stuck in the boring illusion that they were just like everyone else.
"Yeah, well, when I come home to find you siccing your own mother on yourself, I'm not surprised to hear that, kid." It was almost a joke, but Francis didn't bother to smile or even change the intonation of his voice to something friendlier. "You'll make a fool out of yourself if you go around showing that to people before you can control it." Francis was reminded of his own past and how he'd done just that once upon a time.
"Or worse," he added after a pause. If the power was what had killed Dietre's parents, they could very well kill someone else.
Francis mulled that one over while he turned off the burner beneath the pot on the stove and removed its lid so he could place all of the halved pumpkin pieces in a strainer to cool. While they did, he brought the pot to the sink to dump out the steaming water.