Job Interview (for Scott Summers and Emma Frost)

[a_sloane]

It was an odd thing to reflect on: the last time he had applied for any kind of position had been decades ago. Not counting all the counterfeits, of course, but all serious positions had been offered to him since then, and of course his profession had, in essence, remained the same

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[ice_emma]

You are doing fine, darling, and yes, I do. Emma orders a grilled chicken salad with a side of fresh fruit. She thinks, very carefully, before she speaks. She's intrigued by Arvin Sloane, though a little wary of what it is he wants. He is eager to learn something about himself, and while Emma understands that completely, she must keep the students foremost in her mind.

Arvin is right, about strategy. She thinks back to few weeks ago, when Scott tried to teach her chess. She had been practicing on the computer ever since then. Trying different things. Different strategies. There was wisdom, she was learning, in different approaches. Approaches born of different motivations. As long as they remained careful, there was no reason Sloane could not be an asset.

His healing abilities are, frankly, a bonus. They often lead very...unpredictable...lives, and Arvin may have been at a disadvantage in that arena. But this new information--it would need to be tested, of course. Still, it eased her mind somewhat to know he would not be entirely defenseless.

"I agree. Latin is most certainly important, and would give the students a competitive edge. And I cannot say we could not use some strategists on board. Perhaps you could head up the chess team." Emma smiles at him.

What do you think of him, Scott?

[a_sloane]

Sloane decides that Emma is more or less favourably inclined, so the one who still needs convincing is Scott. The way Scott started to ramble, the conflicted unease about Professor Xavier and the discussion he had with Scott Summers about teachers, students and whether one ever forgave one's mentor isn't that hard to put together. As he said, he was trained for that sort of thing. While considering various approaches, he goes for a casual remark first.

"I'd be happy for a match or two," he says to Emma, "but you know, as much as it might ruin my image, I'm only good at chess. My real passion is for Monopoly." He smiles at both of them. It's not a lie; chess is good for the mind and can be very revealing - it's not a coincidence that Irina never played with either Jack or himself while still pretending to be Laura - but Monopoly is fun. It also offers more opponents to beat at the same time. The true reason for the remark, though, was to insert some distance between himself and Charles Xavier, who had to be a formidable chess player. It wouldn't do for either Emma Frost or Scott Summer to associate him too much with past manipulative mentors right now.

Getting serious, he focuses on Scott.

"I can't guarantee you I would never, under no circumstances, bring harm to your students, or your school," he says. "And you'd be right not to believe me if I did. None of us know what the future could hold, after all, and we all have hostages we gave to fortune. Mine are a bit more... remote at the moment, but they are there."

Which is one way of saying: I, too, have people I care and worry about, and if it was their lives versus yours, well...

The limited number of people he cares got even smaller during the last years, and it is very unlikely Sydney Bristow or her father (don't think about Jack, something in him warns, something connected to the black nothing in his memories, and he shies away as bidden) will ever be held at gunpoint in exchange for a couple of mutants, or that they and he could not come up with a more creative solution than just giving into demands if such a situation arose. But such details aren't important. His statement is crafted for Scott Summers; hopefully achieving a higher degree of credibility by adressing one concern the man voiced, and in a way that looked more trustworthy than if Sloane had claimed complete reliability.

"But I can promise me you that right now, I not only have no such intentions but want to do my best to help them, and you, in any way I can. The definition of that help would be up to you. Not me."

He doesn't point out Emma can read his thoughts to verify what he just said; this is obvious.

[cyke_out]

"Good," Scott says. "That's good. We've got no room for men who make promises they have no way of keeping." He thinks back, involuntarily, to those first months with Xavier, the way the man had seemed to promise everything. Scott can't remember, now, whether he really believed it, or if he just made himself act like he believed it -- because he had no more choices, nowhere else to run.

I like him, Scott thinks at Emma. "As for Monopoly," he says, "I think it's an extremely underrrated game. And if you'd be willing to sit down for a game with a few of our students on your first night at the mansion, that will give you a good chance to decide whether you really want this job." He smiles sideways at Emma. "Our students can be a handful. But if you're sure that it's what you want, we'll be happy to have you." He raises his wineglass. "I believe there is a saying about the beginning of a beautiful friendship?"

[a_sloane]

"Being cast as Claude Rains," Sloane says, amused and impressed. "Now that's a way to feed a man's vanity."

It also makes Scott Bogart and Emma Ingrid Bergman. He'll think about the appropriateness later; they'd definitely look both dashing in black and white. Right now, he has, apparantly, a job. And the chance at a new life.

"I'm sure," he says, raising his own glass. "To rounding up the usual suspects, then. And the future."