|
    |
*
The door to the cavernous practice room opens, and Emma Frost enters, dressed in another hideously expensive, top-shelf fashionable ensemble all in white. One would think she employs an entire cadre of designers and clothiers exclusively to make up and create these new outfits.
Oh wait. She does.
THe platinum blonde CEO stands still for a bit, watching the students arrayed singly and in pairs around the facility, each exercising their powers, trying to get stronger and build greater control. It's no Danger Room, but it's a quiet, safe place where the young metahumans can let loose, practice without fear of being observed or hunted, and push themselves without fear of doing damage to their homes, their families, etc.
And each of them is one of Emma's Hellions, young metahumans she is grooming to be beholden to her in the future, willing then to do favors for and help her in her goals when they are in a position to do so. Isn't enlightened self-interest wonderful?
*
Lorna was trying, with a myriad of success, to push on the magnetic field of the earth as Erik Lensherr had taught her some weeks back. At some points her powers swelled and she lifted off the ground, only to fail at directing her path of flight and end up tumbling back to the floor with a hard smack. More than once, she had held out her hands, struggling to push off and take control of her powers.. only for nothing at all to happen.
Now was such a time. She groaned, slipping back to the ground and dragging her hands over her features. A mutter of 'it's useless' escaping her as she dropped her head to her knees.
Then as the door opened her gaze shot up, finding Emma Frost entering the training room and she dragged herself up to standing straight once again. Though she did not reach out to try with her powers once more, merely turning round and reaching for her water bottle instead.
*
It has been a trying day, really. Floundering around with Rogue and a naked man who spoke a strange language would do that to someone. And the smell. The god awful smell of bug crap and sulfur hung upon her until she wisely returned to the Frost Institude for a delousing of the self. And the expensive soaps had done her good. Then. That was possibly two hours ago.
Now? Jean wasn't riddled with sweat, but she was close. She remained in the corner, away from the other students, coupled with another as she throws her fists towards the punching pads the young man had upon his hands. And it was a very, very sorry sight. Jean didn't have control over her powers but the other student thought she should at -least- learn to fight should her powers fail her. Cripes. She was -winded!-.
Once she hears the door opening, she throws one more flimsy punch, the student immediately retracting as Jean turns around, her chest heaving, her body bending foward to place her hands upon her knees to breathe it all out.
*
Internally there's a lot of disdain in Emma at seeing the somewhat sorry state of her students; she cannot help it, she pushes for success and perfection, and she's not terribly forgiving of herself. It's even harder to be forgiving of failings in others.
But Emma does remember what it was like - though she rarely lets herself dwell upon it - when she began trying to control and focus her powers, or work on her own physicality. And when she lets herself remember that, she eases off the urge to castigate her students for their failings.
Emma has other things to accomplish here, anyway.
"Miss Dane, Miss Grey, might I borrow the two of you for a few minutes? I am sorry to interrupt your training, but I need to discuss something with the two of you." So far, Emma's not giving much away. That may change.
*
Lorna mentally groaned, no doubt the two telepaths would pick up the chaotic tumble of thoughts that pulled at Lorna's mind. Memories of crashing to the ground, or of the repeated attempts to summon her powers in vain. Scattered between the random run ins she'd had with other mutants in the past week and a smattering of what had happened at the dinner with Jean.
But Lorna nodded, setting the waterbottle down and off to the side as she pushed her hair back from her face and trotted over to Miss Frost. "Yes Miss Frost," She chimed, an exhausted sort of smile lined with some mild worry tugged at the corners of her lips.
*
*
To say that Jean already knew that there would be a talking to was circumspect. For why else would Emma Frost appear, save for actually teaching or giving off words of wisdom? Jean slowly looks up, her eyes gracing Lorna for a moment, finally standing with a roll of her shoulders as approaches the two women with a slight smile. There was also a twitch.. her face nearly burning red as she takes an inhale, attempting to pull herself back from the buzz that was Lorna's mind.
"Yes Miss Frost?" She asks quietly, both hands soon placed at the small of her back.
*
Jenny is working with a group. She has a boy girl pair facing off against another. She watches them at first, gauging their own flaws and strengths. "Jessa, stop looking away. When you flinch, it opens you up for a stronger attack." She sends a white disk to the girl, to bolster her luck. She's not sending any black disks yet. She's building confidence and gathering her own cult of personality. She'll wait until later to start breaking them down. There's already sweat on her outfit, evidence of her own physical workout prior. She sees Emma, but doesn't stop working with the group, since Emma hadn't called her. "Don't get distracted. If Miss Frost needs you, she'll grab you. Now's not the time to slack off." She says, her own experience running a gang coming through in her work ethic.
*
Emma has a poker face to beat all poker faces, which is just about the only reason one cannot read in her face the discomfort of the thunderous roar of Lorna's self-doubt and personal confusion. Once both young women have presented themselves, Emma gestures towards a corner of the room that is not actually in use, and draws them after her to said corner before she speaks.
"You are both young ladies, young adults." Emma leads, offering just the ghosted hint of an almost-smile before continuing. "And I am not in the habit of micro-managing anyone's feelings or interpersonal relationships." She really isn't. Emma usually just doesn't give a damn. Ice cold bitch, see, has its advantages.
"That being said, it has come to my attention that there is some stress between you." Emma offers. "Given I approved putting the two of you in a room together, I feel it necessary to make sure that has not become untenable for either of you." She's not exactly offering up the warm fuzzies of understanding and hugs, here. But she is at least asking.
*
Lorna fidgeted on her toes, rocking her weight back and forth as she bit her lower lip and glanced side long at Jean and back to Emma. A hand rose to rub the back of her neck awkwardly and she sent her gaze down low to the floor. "Uhm.." She stopped and started, a jumble memories tangling in a chaotic snarl in her mind that did no one any good at figuring out anything from her.
"Well.. Uhm.. we were going to go to dinner, and I guess… I was annoying. I'm sorry Jean." She mumbled, ducking her head and moving to fold her hands behind her back. But she said nothing else, her mind too 'messy' to get any sort of a clear track on what exactly had happened.
*
Jenny's words rung out enough for Jean to take a glance back to the little gathering that she has formed. A few ideas ran through her mind, but as Emma begins to talk, she turns back towards the woman in White and listens aptly. There was a tiny little look of embarrassment that crosses her features, her own hand lifting to rub at the back of her neck, subconsciously mimicking Lorna as her feelings leak off of her like water.
"You weren't annoying.. I.." Well, she just had a bad slew of days and no one to talk to. She knew full well that she could go to anyone, but she just didn't. "I was just having a really bad day, and I'm sorry Lorna. You don't have anything to apologize for. It was all me."
*
Emma takess a moment as both young ladies hem and haw before coming to the point to look past them, observing Jennifer as she works with the other students. She is well aware of what the other young woman is doing and intending. And as proof that Emma is not nearly so nice or sweet as some believe, she has zero intention of stopping her so long as her actions to not actually abuse any of the other students. They are here, in part, to learn to look out for and protect themselves. Doing so from allies as well as enemies is a vital life skill in Emma's book.
Trust is not a thing in Emma's book. And for good reason.
"Very well, ladies. It sounds to me as if both of you are still quite willing to go on living together. Assuming that is so, I will leave it to the two of you to work this out. But I am about to assist, if that is necessary." Emma offers Jean and Lorna, looking them both over calmly and impassively.
*
Jenny sits on the border of wanting to know what's going on, while also really not wanting to get involved, lest she get herself in trouble, and whatever keeps Jenny out of trouble is good for everyone. She turns back to her group. Jimmy, one of the boys, is having too much fun with a physical advantage over the girls. "Knock it off, James. No one likes a show off." She hits him with a black disk, weakening him, while she hits the girls with white ones. "Never get cocky. You have no idea when your enemies will find a weakness and turn the tide on you… Or when your luck will run out." She says with a smirk.
*
Lorna casts a glance up to Jean and she grimaced faintly, while trying to still smile. It was an awkward expression. "It's okay Jean, I know I've been sort of.. single minded lately.." She mumbled, heat coming to her cheeks as she looked away once more.
"I didn't know you were going through hard times." She added, wide eyes opening to look at Jean once more, while she pulled her lower lip between her teeth. "If you ever need me for anything though, I just.. I'm here.. Not sure what I can do, but yeah…" She offered somewhat weakly.
Then her attention was pulled toward Emma and her brows shot upwards, "I still want to live with Jean! She's a really swell roommate.." Besides making her cry in the resturant, but besides that!
*
Jean nods whole-heartedly towards Emma. And she sways. Both hands remaining behind her back as she keeps her gaze to the ground, fighting to put her own mental blocks in place so that those little flashes of anger remain subdued. Her eyes lift as she smiles, even giving a slight grin to Lorna as she sings her praise. "And Lorna is the cleanest person I've ever roomed with."
Which was true. She lived in a mental institution, there were -horrors- that she's faced with. Just when she was about to speak, she glances back towards Jenny, clearly watching the way she instructs, then looks back towards Emma. "I.. had a few issues to contend with lately and.. well. It got the better of me. I promise I won't lash out, and to come talk to you if I need anything."
*
Emma nods to Jean. "Our counseling sessions should continue, I think." Emma knows, better than any other on Earth, what it was like to grow up the way Jean did. It's why she made sure the girl ended up here. Well. One of the reasons.
"I hope you ladies will not mind, but there is one more issue I feel the need to address." Emma looks out at the others practicing, and then gestures them back to join the others as she calls out. "Can everyone please give me a few moments of their time? Again, I am sorry for interrupting training time. But I feel this is important."
*
James isn't thrilled at the having the tables turned on him. "Let's see how good you are without your luck.." He says as he charges after Jenny, who just laughs and waits for the lummox to barrel towards her. She was about to use his momentum against him, but Emma's call to attention took her off guard as he knocks her over. With a solid 'oof', she pushes the boy off of her and gets to her feet, brushing herself off. She just nods to Emma and listens, pulling in the others to get them to pay attention as well.
*
Lorna scooted closer toward Jean as Emma turned her focus else where, leaning on her toes to whisper softly to the telepath. She could /think/ really hard, but if there were two telepaths in the room and you were trying to only talk to one, was that rude? Either way, Lorna didn't know. So she went with the age old practice of whispering while the teacher was talking.
"Hey, do you want a hug?" She whispered softly, her head cocked to the side as she kept her eyes on Emma.
*
Jean nods slightly. There was a tiny wince. Jean was keen on counseling sessions but recently? She'd rather not talk. But when it comes to Emma, there was little choice in the matter. "I do not mind.." She says quietly, waiting until Jenny joins the fray, the little whisper towards Lorna has Jean's brows lifting high. That.. was something rare.
Rare in which, she couldn't remember the last time anyone has ever asked her such a question. Her cheeks flush a little bit of red, her features nearly crumbling. But, she forces out a smile, both hands soon striking out to invite Lorna into a hug if she really meant it.
*
Emma very carefully, very judiciously, does not look at the two hugging young women. It's none of her business, and at least someone else was offering the warmth of human contact so that Emma doesn't have to. She's terrible at it, after all. She also doesn't lambast James for being an ass. It is what it is. She just moves on.
"I realize that I never discussed this with anyone, when I established this program." Emma begins. "I suppose, to be fair, I foolishly assumed the idea would be self-evident. Yet part of life is adapting ones' expectations to reality, and adjusting." Life lessons, by Emma Frost. Take notes, people.
"This program was started covertly. Each of you was recruited without any public declaration of your status, without any documents existing anywhere that identify your abilities, your identities." Emma explains. "This was done so that each and every one of you would have the option to live your life as you see fit, rather than having that life determined by others' thoughts, feelings or fears about who or what you are."
Emma doesn't single anyone out. But only the blind would fail to realize that someone has done something to earn this talk. "Beholden upon us all, in that circumstance, is that we do nothing to expose this program, nor others within it." Emma's eyes sweep the room, making eye contact with each student. "That requires that we also take steps to make sure none of us are identified and connected with both our abilities, and this school. Because if that happens, that potentially exposes everyone else in this program. And I think we can all agree that as open as some of us may wish to be with our abilities, none of us has the right to make that decision for anyone else."
*
Jenny nods to Emma. She looks around at the group beside her and they begin to nod as well. She doesn't say anything to interrupt Emma, allowing the more experienced woman to continue on. She's not paying attention to Lorna and the redhead.
*
Lorna quite simply launches herself to throw her arms around Jean in a much needed hug. If there anything that Lorna felt particularly proud of, it was her ability to give good hugs. A smile warming her features as she quite simply wrapped her arms around her roommate and didn't let go until the other woman showed signs of wanting her to.
And then Emma starts her speech and Lorn's brows knit together in a furrowed expression, her mind racing over each of her possible chances where /she/ might have messed up. Her smile fading as she biting her lower lip and shifts to glance at Miss Emma Frost as the woman speaks.
*
As Lorna hugs her, Jean leans into it. There was a comfort that she had rarely ever known. Others drew their arms around her shoulder to lead her, but never just to keep her still and -hug-. It was a welcome gift, a super power where the girl thought she could only move metal. Her eyes squeeze shut, and she lingers, yet.. once Emma begins to speak, her eyes pop open -immediately-!
Oh. Shit.
But she wasn't being scolded outright. Which was a good thing. Jean was angry when she outed herself to the public and thankfully didn't use her name. But it would only be a matter of time before they find her.. at least that's one thing she knows. With a tighter hug given to Lorna.. Jean stays there. Protected. Because of that damn hug that she never wants to let go of, she refuses to flee.
*
"I trust we all agree?" Emma asks, finishing up the first part of her lecture as her gaze sweeps each of the students around the room.
Once she is sure all do agree, Emma moves on. "Now. That being the case, I have a suggestion. I am not going to tell anyone not to use your abilities. That would be ludicrous. They are a part of you, and part of the whole point of this is to use them, when and as you can." Emma sure as Hell never restrains from using hers, so she would never counsel others not to use theirs.
"My suggestion is that we develop uniforms. Costumes. And probably include masks. These will allow you to go about as you see fit, when you see fit, and use your abilities without then being traceable back to this school." Emma offers. "I would also like to encourage each of you to envision another name. A 'code name', if you will. Something to label this costumed persona, rather than using your real names."
*
Jenny grins and nods. "Like secret identities. I ~like~ it." She grins, already putting her mind to costume ideas. Maybe even a group theme. She looks over and notices Lorna and some other girl. She waves over, but then returns her attention to Emma.
*
Lorna doesn't let go of Jean so long as the other young woman allows it, even offering a gentle squeeze as she rocked her weight lightly from side to side. Her attention firmly on what Emma had to say.. and then confusion colored her expression. It took Lorna a decidedly long amount of time to process exactly /what/ it was that Emma was suggesting, and then she made a face.
A decided and repeated, mental, 'nope'. Trailed in her thoughts. Along with the firm mental reminder to redye her hair brown and /not/ go out and about using her powers anywhere anyways.
Code names? Masks and costumes? Nope. Nope. Nope.
*
Well, at least Jean had one part of that down. She had a name, but.. she didn't have a mask? Even more shits. Though something breaks the reverie of what Emma was suggesting, the quieted thoughts of Lorna. It was hard to block against those, but she could hear it. In fact, touching as they were, she could practically see the words blaring across her eyes. Everyone's face was filled with 'nope'. This makes her giggle, even as she lifts a hand from around Lorna's shoulder to wave towards Jenny.
*
"We have secrets." Emma admits, nodding to Jenny's suggestion. "It seems only appropriate that to protect ourselves and each other, we adopt identities to help keep those secrets. Whether we use them - how or when or even if we use them - is up to each one of us. But for the safety of us all, I believe we must create them, know them, and be prepared to use them if and as we must."
After a long, pregnant pause, Emma meets the gazes of all the students once more. "Are we agreed ,then?"
*
Jenny nods in agreement to Emma. Those around her do as well. She returns Jean's wave with a smile, not knowing the girl yet but there's no need to be unfriendly.
*
Lorna loosens her grip on Jean, and tries, really she does try, to not /think/ too loudly in her disagreement. The images of students running around with their underwear on the outside of their clothing bobbed about in her mind. Of silly names and equally silly costumes. While there /were/ serious heroes, she could not take her classmates, much less her ineptitute with her powers seriously enough to come up with anything serious.
So she started to amuse herself with all manner of foolish names for herself.
'Magno-Girl', 'Magnetrix', 'Maggie-The Magnificent-Magnet', 'The Nail-Bender', 'Magnetta', 'Magie-Net'..
*
Jean grins towards Jenny, finally drawing herself away from Lorna as she gives a faint nod towards Emma. "I'm calling myself Phoenix." She cringes as she speaks it aloud, that inner bird was practically swimming with delight. In fact, Emma could practically hear the laughter that booms, which as Jean's hand snapping up to press against her ear. Snapping that side shut, she moves away from Lorna to stand proud, her chin slightly lifted. But.. when she aptly named herself as such, there was no mask in place. And she felt mighty foolish. "I.. kind of think it's too late for a mask." Thankfully no cameras were about and live!
With all of Lorna's thinking and the laughter, Jean has to physically separate herself from the crowd, her arms wrapping about herself as she quietly focuses upon something else.
*
"It is only too late if you allow it to be." Emma comments. "This time, there were no live cameras, and the only two photos taken were too quickly taken to get a good look at your features. Next time, you will not be so lucky. And neither will the rest of us." She's pretty serious about this. "I will make this a 'homework' assignment, for each of you. Consider a name, and a costume. We will gather in a few days, at our next group training session, and go over design ideas for the costumes." Emma doesn't bring up that they should call her the White Queen. It might be too soon for that.
*
Jenny nods and smiles. "This is the type of homework I can get used to." She turns to her group. "You heard her. Put some effort into it." She says, using her aura to influence the group as they nod and begin to back away, fairly certain that Emma is finished, but they haven't been officially dismissed yet.
*