Arms Hotel, Room 324. Friday mid-afternoon.
To be perfectly honest, Emma wasn't sure when she'd last eaten something besides coffee. With the voices getting louder and more insistent, she hadn't been able to sleep in the dorms, let alone find her appetite. She'd changed back to diamond hours ago to delay the need for sleep, but even now she could feel the edges of exhaustion wearing on her.
She was a telepath, dammit. She was smarter than the vast majority of the people on this island, and there was no excuse for her not to find something useful.
Jack Priest
Jack made a point of stopping at the diner before he went back to the room. He suspected Emma would be there, and he knew she was even worse than he was about self-care during times of stress.
"I have burgers," he said, with the briskness he only used when she was a diamond. It wasn't an unfriendly voice; the shifting was a difference, that was all, and one that made her a bit less human. "But it looks as if you might not need yours for some time."
Emma Grace Frost
"Hmmm?" Emma looked up from her notebooks absently, hair rustling slightly as she tilted her head at him. "Oh, Jack. Sorry for letting myself in, darling, I was just looking for a quiet place for a bit."
Burgers. It took a moment for the concept to work its way past her research, and a ghost of a frown flitted across her face. "What time is it?"
Jack Priest
"Around lunchtime, darling," Jack said, more gently. "The researchers were all headed off for a break when I left. What time did you get here?"
Emma Grace Frost
"Awhile ago," she admitted. "Half-past whenever they were starting to get hysterical. It was growing tiresome, and I wanted to focus."
Emma reached for her phone and turned it on. "I have been awake since Tuesday; no wonder I was finding them vexing."
"Hopefully your work has been going better than mine."
Jack Priest
"Ask me tonight," Jack sighed. "William Murdoch and I are supposed to go to the university in a bit. Hopefully it won't be a waste of our time."
Emma Grace Frost
The idea of food was making Emma's subconscious resolve waver, and parts of her skin flickered back and forth between stone and flesh. "Better you than me," she replied. "I think I'd be tempted to rip everything out of their little heads. You're much more charming under duress."
Jack Priest
Jack smiled. It felt good to smile, despite everything.
"How else am I supposed to get everything I want?" he asked. "You're always accusing me of being spoiled, but the truth is I'm just that charming."
Emma Grace Frost
"One does not preclude the other, Mister Priest," she said, a tart edge bleeding over her cold tone as she shifted back fully. "Give me my burger."
Jack Priest
"You could say please, Miss Frost," Jack said.
Who was he kidding? His hand was already in the bag to pull out the sandwich.
Emma Grace Frost
"I could," Emma admitted, "but where would be the fun in that?" Besides, she was starving now that she was back in her natural form, and manners generally took a backseat when her mutant metabolism needed to be fed.
"Besides, I think I'm running on coffee and pure adrenaline at this point. You're lucky that I don't just steal the entire bag."
Jack Priest
"Hungry little thing," Jack said idly, but he surrendered the bag. "Just ... save one for me, will you? I should eat something."
Emma Grace Frost
Emma mumbled something which might have been 'sucker' as she tore into the first burger with relish. <>
<>
Jack Priest
"Don't talk with food in your mouth, it's rude," Jack said, undaunted. "And I think telepathy counts. Darling."
He was tired. His banter was a bit off.
Emma Grace Frost
<> she retorted, giving him a mental image of a raspberry without even pausing as she devoured her meal. Still, he had bought dinner, so she fished one out of the bag with her left hand and tossed it at him.
<> Well, half-truths were possible if you were good at it, as was presenting your truth. But Jack didn't need to know that.
Jack Priest
Jack caught the burger neatly, then snorted at her as he unwrapped it. "World would bloody fall apart by lunchtime if everyone woke up tomorrow and decided to be honest."
Emma Grace Frost
Emma, for her part, was absently licking her fingers of the last of her food as she checked the bag for more. Old habits died hard, even after two years off the street.
"But wouldn't it be entertaining?" she asked. "A whole day, where people could speak nothing but the truth; hear nothing but the truth. It would give them a good taste of what I deal with every day."
Jack Priest
Jack gave her an amused look. "That happened, remember?" he said. "You got angry because I asked where you got your underpants, and I broke things off with Sebastien. You didn't seem so amused at the time."
"Though," he added thoughtfully, "it was better than monsters, I can say that much."
Emma Grace Frost
Emma glared at him over her fries. "It's rude to ask a lady about her undergarments at any time, Mr. Priest. I expected better from you."
She simply wasn't going to comment on the Sebastien part, since that would also be rude. "Now, the singing day was hilarious in retrospect, mostly because I managed not to embarrass myself too horribly."
Jack Priest
"Spoken like someone who thinks it's not rude at all to talk with food in her mouth, if she does it mind to mind," Jack said loftily. He reached a hand over, running it over Emma's hair.
"I've never had to sing, except at graduation, and I'd just as soon keep it that way."
Emma Grace Frost
She would throw a fry at him, except that would be a waste of food, so Emma bit into it viciously and sulked at him. <>
Emma Grace Frost, ladies and gentlemen. She's three-years-old when she's exhausted.
Jack Priest
"Please. I am approximately four hundred times more mature than you will ever be." Not that Jack had anything to back that up with, but he was working his way into a sulk of his own.
Emma Grace Frost
"Are not," she whined retorted. "If you were, you would simply let the lady be right, because that's the mature thing to do."
No it wasn't, Emma.
Jack Priest
"That makes precisely no sense," Jack said, folding his arms. "It's not what chivalry means at all."
Emma Grace Frost
Emma's lower lip wibbled slightly, not that she'd ever admit it. She was tired dammit.
"Chivalry means being gallant and not picking a fight with a girl," she snarled, getting up and stomping off to make coffee in his little kitchen. Caffeine, dammit. Now.
Jack Priest
"Emma, I didn't mean --" Now Jack had to chase after her, and there was no way to do that without feeling a bit foolish. "I'm sorry, darling. I think we're both on edge."
Emma Grace Frost
Emma just looked at the coffee maker forlornly. "I'm just so frustrated," she admitted. "Research on top of research, and I can't find anything to help you crack the case."
"At this rate, my talents and lack of a bedside manner would be of more use in the clinic, where I can just zap the patients who annoy me into behaving."
Jack Priest
"We aren't getting much of anywhere useful either," Jack admitted. "And cracking the case usually just leads to a bigger case. Even if we find out why things are happening, it doesn't mean we'll bloody stop anything."
He couldn't quite hide his smirk, though. "I don't think the clinic staff smiles on zapping as a treatment technique."
Emma Grace Frost
"Nonsense," Emma replied crisply, stabbing at button on the poor coffee machine. "It's efficient, providing drug-free sedation without endangering clinic staff."
"And Ronan can't say no if I don't ask."
Jack Priest
"And yet you didn't zap me when I was all concussed and forgetting my languages," Jack pointed out, but lightly, as if his words came on cat feet. "We need a distraction. Scrabble or sex?"
There were other choices, but those were the first two to come to his mind.
Emma Grace Frost
"Because you would have sulked for a week if I had, and you didn't need it. But you cheat at Scrabble," Emma accused. "It's not fair when you break out the Latin ."
Those were related in her mind, yes.
"Poker."
Jack Priest
"It's not cheating to use one's education," Jack protested. "But fine. Poker. You won't cheat at that?"
Emma Grace Frost
Oh Jack. Emma was just going to smile angelically at him. "It's not cheating to use my natural gifts," she said, parroting him. "What's in it for me?"
Jack Priest
"The satisfaction of a game well played?" Jack was aware this barely counted as trying.
Emma Grace Frost
"Blackjack, then, and we'll take turns at dealing so I can't cheat too horribly," Emma offered. "Strip Blackjack. Consider it a chance to work on your telepathic shielding in less-than-optimal circumstances."
Jack Priest
Jack laughed. "Strip blackjack during a crisis. This will be a story to tell the grandchildren when we're old, you realize."
That wasn't a no.
Emma Grace Frost
"You plan on telling people?" she asked, raising a brow slightly. "A lady never talks, Mr. Priest."
Gossip sessions with Sookie and Karla didn't count.
She rubbed at her forehead absently, waiting for the coffee to finish. "I may be up all night. The only things that make that damnable voice shut up so far are caffeine or cutting off my telepathy all-together."
Jack Priest
Jack raised a disbelieving eyebrow, but he was done picking fights for the day. She'd owe him later.
"Is there anything I can do, other than keeping the coffee pot full for you?" he asked, conciliatory.
Emma Grace Frost
"I'd like a little cream in my coffee, if you have any," she replied, giving him a tired smile. It was close to conciliatory as Emma could manage at the moment, but Jack could probably see the lines of pain around her eyes. "I shouldn't start with straight black, as much as I'd like to."
"And a sweater, if you have one to spare." She should not feel this cold in summer. "Thank you, darling."
Jack Priest
"Anytime," Jack said, and leaned over to kiss her temple lightly before trotting off to find a light sweater.
Emma Grace Frost
When he returned, Emma stepped in to give him a slightly deeper kiss on the lips. "I'm sorry, darling, I'm just cranky," she said, resting her forehead against his. "I don't mean to be a pain."
For once.
Jack Priest
"You could never be a pain," Jack promised, after he'd returned the kiss. "We're just both out of sorts. It'll be all right."
He hoped he wasn't wrong.
[[OOC: Possibly to be continued in comments, open for calls/texts if desired.]]
She was a telepath, dammit. She was smarter than the vast majority of the people on this island, and there was no excuse for her not to find something useful.
Jack Priest
Jack made a point of stopping at the diner before he went back to the room. He suspected Emma would be there, and he knew she was even worse than he was about self-care during times of stress.
"I have burgers," he said, with the briskness he only used when she was a diamond. It wasn't an unfriendly voice; the shifting was a difference, that was all, and one that made her a bit less human. "But it looks as if you might not need yours for some time."
Emma Grace Frost
"Hmmm?" Emma looked up from her notebooks absently, hair rustling slightly as she tilted her head at him. "Oh, Jack. Sorry for letting myself in, darling, I was just looking for a quiet place for a bit."
Burgers. It took a moment for the concept to work its way past her research, and a ghost of a frown flitted across her face. "What time is it?"
Jack Priest
"Around lunchtime, darling," Jack said, more gently. "The researchers were all headed off for a break when I left. What time did you get here?"
Emma Grace Frost
"Awhile ago," she admitted. "Half-past whenever they were starting to get hysterical. It was growing tiresome, and I wanted to focus."
Emma reached for her phone and turned it on. "I have been awake since Tuesday; no wonder I was finding them vexing."
"Hopefully your work has been going better than mine."
Jack Priest
"Ask me tonight," Jack sighed. "William Murdoch and I are supposed to go to the university in a bit. Hopefully it won't be a waste of our time."
Emma Grace Frost
The idea of food was making Emma's subconscious resolve waver, and parts of her skin flickered back and forth between stone and flesh. "Better you than me," she replied. "I think I'd be tempted to rip everything out of their little heads. You're much more charming under duress."
Jack Priest
Jack smiled. It felt good to smile, despite everything.
"How else am I supposed to get everything I want?" he asked. "You're always accusing me of being spoiled, but the truth is I'm just that charming."
Emma Grace Frost
"One does not preclude the other, Mister Priest," she said, a tart edge bleeding over her cold tone as she shifted back fully. "Give me my burger."
Jack Priest
"You could say please, Miss Frost," Jack said.
Who was he kidding? His hand was already in the bag to pull out the sandwich.
Emma Grace Frost
"I could," Emma admitted, "but where would be the fun in that?" Besides, she was starving now that she was back in her natural form, and manners generally took a backseat when her mutant metabolism needed to be fed.
"Besides, I think I'm running on coffee and pure adrenaline at this point. You're lucky that I don't just steal the entire bag."
Jack Priest
"Hungry little thing," Jack said idly, but he surrendered the bag. "Just ... save one for me, will you? I should eat something."
Emma Grace Frost
Emma mumbled something which might have been 'sucker' as she tore into the first burger with relish. <
<
Jack Priest
"Don't talk with food in your mouth, it's rude," Jack said, undaunted. "And I think telepathy counts. Darling."
He was tired. His banter was a bit off.
Emma Grace Frost
<
<
Jack Priest
Jack caught the burger neatly, then snorted at her as he unwrapped it. "World would bloody fall apart by lunchtime if everyone woke up tomorrow and decided to be honest."
Emma Grace Frost
Emma, for her part, was absently licking her fingers of the last of her food as she checked the bag for more. Old habits died hard, even after two years off the street.
"But wouldn't it be entertaining?" she asked. "A whole day, where people could speak nothing but the truth; hear nothing but the truth. It would give them a good taste of what I deal with every day."
Jack Priest
Jack gave her an amused look. "That happened, remember?" he said. "You got angry because I asked where you got your underpants, and I broke things off with Sebastien. You didn't seem so amused at the time."
"Though," he added thoughtfully, "it was better than monsters, I can say that much."
Emma Grace Frost
Emma glared at him over her fries. "It's rude to ask a lady about her undergarments at any time, Mr. Priest. I expected better from you."
She simply wasn't going to comment on the Sebastien part, since that would also be rude. "Now, the singing day was hilarious in retrospect, mostly because I managed not to embarrass myself too horribly."
Jack Priest
"Spoken like someone who thinks it's not rude at all to talk with food in her mouth, if she does it mind to mind," Jack said loftily. He reached a hand over, running it over Emma's hair.
"I've never had to sing, except at graduation, and I'd just as soon keep it that way."
Emma Grace Frost
She would throw a fry at him, except that would be a waste of food, so Emma bit into it viciously and sulked at him. <>
Emma Grace Frost, ladies and gentlemen. She's three-years-old when she's exhausted.
Jack Priest
"Please. I am approximately four hundred times more mature than you will ever be." Not that Jack had anything to back that up with, but he was working his way into a sulk of his own.
Emma Grace Frost
"Are not," she whined retorted. "If you were, you would simply let the lady be right, because that's the mature thing to do."
No it wasn't, Emma.
Jack Priest
"That makes precisely no sense," Jack said, folding his arms. "It's not what chivalry means at all."
Emma Grace Frost
Emma's lower lip wibbled slightly, not that she'd ever admit it. She was tired dammit.
"Chivalry means being gallant and not picking a fight with a girl," she snarled, getting up and stomping off to make coffee in his little kitchen. Caffeine, dammit. Now.
Jack Priest
"Emma, I didn't mean --" Now Jack had to chase after her, and there was no way to do that without feeling a bit foolish. "I'm sorry, darling. I think we're both on edge."
Emma Grace Frost
Emma just looked at the coffee maker forlornly. "I'm just so frustrated," she admitted. "Research on top of research, and I can't find anything to help you crack the case."
"At this rate, my talents and lack of a bedside manner would be of more use in the clinic, where I can just zap the patients who annoy me into behaving."
Jack Priest
"We aren't getting much of anywhere useful either," Jack admitted. "And cracking the case usually just leads to a bigger case. Even if we find out why things are happening, it doesn't mean we'll bloody stop anything."
He couldn't quite hide his smirk, though. "I don't think the clinic staff smiles on zapping as a treatment technique."
Emma Grace Frost
"Nonsense," Emma replied crisply, stabbing at button on the poor coffee machine. "It's efficient, providing drug-free sedation without endangering clinic staff."
"And Ronan can't say no if I don't ask."
Jack Priest
"And yet you didn't zap me when I was all concussed and forgetting my languages," Jack pointed out, but lightly, as if his words came on cat feet. "We need a distraction. Scrabble or sex?"
There were other choices, but those were the first two to come to his mind.
Emma Grace Frost
"Because you would have sulked for a week if I had, and you didn't need it. But you cheat at Scrabble," Emma accused. "It's not fair when you break out the Latin ."
Those were related in her mind, yes.
"Poker."
Jack Priest
"It's not cheating to use one's education," Jack protested. "But fine. Poker. You won't cheat at that?"
Emma Grace Frost
Oh Jack. Emma was just going to smile angelically at him. "It's not cheating to use my natural gifts," she said, parroting him. "What's in it for me?"
Jack Priest
"The satisfaction of a game well played?" Jack was aware this barely counted as trying.
Emma Grace Frost
"Blackjack, then, and we'll take turns at dealing so I can't cheat too horribly," Emma offered. "Strip Blackjack. Consider it a chance to work on your telepathic shielding in less-than-optimal circumstances."
Jack Priest
Jack laughed. "Strip blackjack during a crisis. This will be a story to tell the grandchildren when we're old, you realize."
That wasn't a no.
Emma Grace Frost
"You plan on telling people?" she asked, raising a brow slightly. "A lady never talks, Mr. Priest."
Gossip sessions with Sookie and Karla didn't count.
She rubbed at her forehead absently, waiting for the coffee to finish. "I may be up all night. The only things that make that damnable voice shut up so far are caffeine or cutting off my telepathy all-together."
Jack Priest
Jack raised a disbelieving eyebrow, but he was done picking fights for the day. She'd owe him later.
"Is there anything I can do, other than keeping the coffee pot full for you?" he asked, conciliatory.
Emma Grace Frost
"I'd like a little cream in my coffee, if you have any," she replied, giving him a tired smile. It was close to conciliatory as Emma could manage at the moment, but Jack could probably see the lines of pain around her eyes. "I shouldn't start with straight black, as much as I'd like to."
"And a sweater, if you have one to spare." She should not feel this cold in summer. "Thank you, darling."
Jack Priest
"Anytime," Jack said, and leaned over to kiss her temple lightly before trotting off to find a light sweater.
Emma Grace Frost
When he returned, Emma stepped in to give him a slightly deeper kiss on the lips. "I'm sorry, darling, I'm just cranky," she said, resting her forehead against his. "I don't mean to be a pain."
For once.
Jack Priest
"You could never be a pain," Jack promised, after he'd returned the kiss. "We're just both out of sorts. It'll be all right."
He hoped he wasn't wrong.
[[OOC: Possibly to be continued in comments, open for calls/texts if desired.]]