Emma's New York. [Friday, Fandom-Time]
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Candy asked for the fifth time as her fingers danced through Emma's hair, weaving the strands into a complex updo. "I mean, are you sure-sure?"
"I dropped off their radar seven weeks ago, have had Frost International up and running and ready to go public for six months, bought my building out from under them two years ago, fired the super that was spying on me yesterday," Emma replied as she expertly applied her eyeliner, "--and sent in my notice over email this morning. If I'm not ready now, Candy-cane, I might as well roll over and play dead."
"This isn't a game, Ems," Candy snapped, and if her hands were shaking, neither she nor Emma commented on it. "These people play for keeps. There's a reason I don't go any farther into the Hellfire Club than the basic inheritance level, although I could. You don't know what you're getting into."
"I know better than you do what's at the heart of the club," Emma replied, holding her head totally still while she held her nails up to the light. "What do you think? Do I need to redo the manicure, or did I finally get the shade of 'ripping out your heart's blood' right?"
"Emma!" Candy grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing Emma to turn around and look at her. "They're talking registration on the news, Emma. It's everywhere. ESU has come out in favor of genetic testing before admittance. You aren't safe, even though you're passing." Just like Warren, was the undertone of Candy's fear. Like the boyfriend she'd just found out had been hiding wings from her for the past five years. The scared little rich boy who hadn't trusted his girlfriend with his physical mutation, while her best friend had outed herself while she could have hidden forever.
Candy was terrified that Emma was going to do something she could never take back, and she was right. "Go marry Jack. Right now," she continued. "--Have a dozen babies. Have a life. And get out of this world while you can."
Emma was completely still for a long moment before she sighed, and leaned over to kiss Candy on the forehead. "And that is why I'm doing this, and I'm not leaving," she said, pressing her lips to the shorter girl's temple. "I would never forgive myself if I did."
"Go home, Candy. Go have sex with Worthington, and if you're that scared, forget we were ever friends. Make up something to tell the papers, if you want."
"Emma--"
"Go. Home." And Emma put a push of her telepathy behind it, so that Candy couldn't argue anymore. Only glare at her helplessly, from angry eyes, as she grabbed her coat and left, slamming the door behind her.
Emma sighed, and turned back to the mirror to study her reflection. Flawless. Frozen. Good. Candy would be back. There was more loyalty between the two of them than fear could kill, and Candy had a big heart. Too big for her own good, really, but Emma loved her for it.
"'When I was a child, I spoke as a child,'" she whispered, running her fingers along the countertop of her little bathroom. "'I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.'"
Emma looked around her tiny little studio, at the fairy lights and her daybed, the tiny kitchen and the piles of books. It had been fun to play at being a normal girl, at not being a Frost, or a mutant, or all the other things that she could hide under her skin. "'All children, except one, grow up,'" she continued, swallowing hard. "...I'm so sorry, Candy-cane. I'm sorry."
Candy was right in that every single day things were getting more dangerous for mutants, and Charles Xavier and his Children's Crusade weren't helping things. So Emma was going to do it her way; she was not going to let her world end up as fucked-up as Jono's. Not when there was something she could be doing.
Balenciaga. Dior. Chanel. Her armor against the world and a cab waiting downstairs that she'd summoned using her telepathy.
An hour later, Emma was striding through the doors of the Hellfire Club, past the bouncers and staff, and straight into the room where the private meeting she wasn't supposed to know about was already in process. Expressions ranged from the comically outraged to the intrigued and bemused.
"I'm going to assume my invitation got lost in the mail, otherwise my feelings are going to be oh so hurt," Emma said, sauntering over to take the empty chair opposite Shaw, and the man's eyebrow rose a fraction at her audacity. "I think it's time we all stopped playing around this way, don't you? You've known about me, or suspected, since I enrolled at ESU. I've known about you since before I had my first official Hellfire Club party invite that wasn't forged. And now you've let things get out of hand to the point where you need me on your side." Emma ignored how purple Selene Gallio was turning, and folded her fingers together so that she could rest her chin on her hands.
"Now, let's talk about what we're going to do about this 'mutant registration act,' and Ned Buckman and Dr. Lang."
[OOC: NFB, NFI, OOC welcome.]
"I dropped off their radar seven weeks ago, have had Frost International up and running and ready to go public for six months, bought my building out from under them two years ago, fired the super that was spying on me yesterday," Emma replied as she expertly applied her eyeliner, "--and sent in my notice over email this morning. If I'm not ready now, Candy-cane, I might as well roll over and play dead."
"This isn't a game, Ems," Candy snapped, and if her hands were shaking, neither she nor Emma commented on it. "These people play for keeps. There's a reason I don't go any farther into the Hellfire Club than the basic inheritance level, although I could. You don't know what you're getting into."
"I know better than you do what's at the heart of the club," Emma replied, holding her head totally still while she held her nails up to the light. "What do you think? Do I need to redo the manicure, or did I finally get the shade of 'ripping out your heart's blood' right?"
"Emma!" Candy grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing Emma to turn around and look at her. "They're talking registration on the news, Emma. It's everywhere. ESU has come out in favor of genetic testing before admittance. You aren't safe, even though you're passing." Just like Warren, was the undertone of Candy's fear. Like the boyfriend she'd just found out had been hiding wings from her for the past five years. The scared little rich boy who hadn't trusted his girlfriend with his physical mutation, while her best friend had outed herself while she could have hidden forever.
Candy was terrified that Emma was going to do something she could never take back, and she was right. "Go marry Jack. Right now," she continued. "--Have a dozen babies. Have a life. And get out of this world while you can."
Emma was completely still for a long moment before she sighed, and leaned over to kiss Candy on the forehead. "And that is why I'm doing this, and I'm not leaving," she said, pressing her lips to the shorter girl's temple. "I would never forgive myself if I did."
"Go home, Candy. Go have sex with Worthington, and if you're that scared, forget we were ever friends. Make up something to tell the papers, if you want."
"Emma--"
"Go. Home." And Emma put a push of her telepathy behind it, so that Candy couldn't argue anymore. Only glare at her helplessly, from angry eyes, as she grabbed her coat and left, slamming the door behind her.
Emma sighed, and turned back to the mirror to study her reflection. Flawless. Frozen. Good. Candy would be back. There was more loyalty between the two of them than fear could kill, and Candy had a big heart. Too big for her own good, really, but Emma loved her for it.
"'When I was a child, I spoke as a child,'" she whispered, running her fingers along the countertop of her little bathroom. "'I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.'"
Emma looked around her tiny little studio, at the fairy lights and her daybed, the tiny kitchen and the piles of books. It had been fun to play at being a normal girl, at not being a Frost, or a mutant, or all the other things that she could hide under her skin. "'All children, except one, grow up,'" she continued, swallowing hard. "...I'm so sorry, Candy-cane. I'm sorry."
Candy was right in that every single day things were getting more dangerous for mutants, and Charles Xavier and his Children's Crusade weren't helping things. So Emma was going to do it her way; she was not going to let her world end up as fucked-up as Jono's. Not when there was something she could be doing.
Balenciaga. Dior. Chanel. Her armor against the world and a cab waiting downstairs that she'd summoned using her telepathy.
An hour later, Emma was striding through the doors of the Hellfire Club, past the bouncers and staff, and straight into the room where the private meeting she wasn't supposed to know about was already in process. Expressions ranged from the comically outraged to the intrigued and bemused.
"I'm going to assume my invitation got lost in the mail, otherwise my feelings are going to be oh so hurt," Emma said, sauntering over to take the empty chair opposite Shaw, and the man's eyebrow rose a fraction at her audacity. "I think it's time we all stopped playing around this way, don't you? You've known about me, or suspected, since I enrolled at ESU. I've known about you since before I had my first official Hellfire Club party invite that wasn't forged. And now you've let things get out of hand to the point where you need me on your side." Emma ignored how purple Selene Gallio was turning, and folded her fingers together so that she could rest her chin on her hands.
"Now, let's talk about what we're going to do about this 'mutant registration act,' and Ned Buckman and Dr. Lang."
[OOC: NFB, NFI, OOC welcome.]