Rogue (92131) (aintalady) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2017-07-08 19:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, emma frost (616), rogue (92131) |
WHO: Emma Frost and Rogue (92131)
WHERE: The X-Mansion and New Orleans
WHEN: Today 7/8/17
WHAT: Discussions
WARNINGS: Minor warning for language and possible trigger warning for running away from issues? It’s typical X-Men fare really.
STATUS: Closed/Complete
After thanking Jean for dropping her off, Rogue walked into the X-Mansion, well aware that the redheaded doctor was watching her until she walked through the door. Rogue stood in the foyer for a few seconds, incredibly relieved that it was empty, but at the same time wondering just what that meant. She hadn’t looked at the network since her tablet had been returned to her - even now it was in the messenger bag that doubled as a purse - so she had no idea what had transpired after her phone call. For another minute, she stood still, wondering if anyone would show up and act like they’d even cared she was gone, before finally Rogue shook her head. This was ridiculous. These people didn’t know her, and she didn’t know them - and while that probably shouldn’t really matter, it stung. Heading for the stairs, she took them quickly and walked into her room. After reaching it, Rogue grabbed a duffle bag out of the closet and started to throw in the few belongings she’d gathered since arriving in Tumbleweed. It didn’t take long, and when she finished she pulled the tablet out of her bag and left it on the bed, then slipped out of the room to head back downstairs, both bags slung over her shoulders. There were a lot of things Emma did (or didn't do) just to see how people react. Not immediately greeting Rogue was one. She'd likely have realized the girl’s return even without the telepathic warning from Jean Grey, but Emma was a big believer in letting people act in order to get a better sense of either who they were or what their mental state was. Jean had said Rogue was a flight risk and now Emma knew she wasn't wrong. “Leaving so soon?” Emma asked from the ground floor as soon as Rogue was within view on the stairs. She glanced over the bags on her shoulders. “I owe you a lunch,” she said, a bit of a smile on her face. Rogue stopped on the stairs, surprised to see Emma below, and after a moment she slowly continued down the stairs. “You aint gotta do that. Ah never said you owe me. No one here owes me anything at all,” she replied. Looking away, Rogue’s eyes dropped to her messenger bag and she tightened her grip on the strap. “Look - thanks for yesterday, and for the offer. Ah appreciate it. But Ah think it’s best if Ah just take off. Maybe find some place where Ah don’t gotta worry about bein’ arrested for being who Ah am and just helpin’ people out.” “When you find that place, will you share the address so that I might join you?” Emma asked, calm and looking Rogue over with a little concern. “Not to sound too bitter, but it doesn’t exist.” She gave the girl a little, knowing smile. “What they did was wrong. And you apologized for using your powers over the phone - I don’t ever want you to do that again.” She could feel Rogue’s upset through her powers and a reluctance to leave, along with a desire to belong somewhere. “I realize I don’t owe you anything, but I want to take you somewhere. You’ve had a stressful day. You deserve a break. Will you please stay, at least, for that? And a debrief? I understand a need to protect yourself but if we don’t have all of the details of your capture, it could leave the rest of us at a disadvantage.” For a long minute, Rogue hesitated, not meeting Emma’s eyes. Finally, she lifted her gaze and glanced longingly at the door, though at the same time she didn’t really want to leave. At least the mansion was mostly familiar, almost like home, even if no one else was. Letting out a sigh, she looked over at the blonde. “...Fine, Ah guess Ah can hang out a little longer.” She knew, though, that the longer she stayed the less likely she’d be to leave later. But if what she’d gone through could help, then it was probably worth it. “Thank you,” Emma said. “Come on, then.” She nodded back up the stairs and led Rogue to an office where Scott was waiting. Emma spent the time mostly silent, gauging Rogue’s mood. She figured Rogue would need extra support and would work on that in the evening. Rogue reluctantly entered Scott’s office with Emma, and folded herself into a chair so that she could talk about what happened. She laid out everything that had occurred at the carnival, and what the military had done and said when she’d been detained and before she had been placed into a quarantine room. When she finished, she felt exhausted, but stood again, just glad it was over. It took a little longer than Emma would have liked, but once it was done, Emma ushered Rogue out. “Thank you again for that,” she said once they were alone together in the hallway. “Let’s drop your bag off in your room and you have to tell me where you’d like to go.” Fingering the strap of her duffle bag, the mutant sighed, then gave a nod. “Okay...but Ah’m not sure Ah really want to go anywhere ‘round town. Ah dunno how those people who saw me using my strength will react now.” “As luck would have it, I hate spending any of my free time in this little town,” Emma said pleasantly. “I have a teleporter on standby. We can go anywhere you want in the world.” She was hoping Rogue would pick somewhere far from Tumbleweed, somewhere cultured. New York or Paris would have been her top picks. She slowed when the reached Rogue’s room and motioned for the girl to put her bag back. “Just say where.” Rogue was a little reluctant to move into her room and put her bag down, half tempted to take it with her so that they could just leave her somewhere. But she did it anyway, and as she stood in her room, she studied the tablet, before finally picking it up and slipping it back into her messenger bag. Returning the the hallway, she pulled the door shut and looked at Emma. “...What about New Orleans?” The fact that she hadn’t really made any friends had caused her to strongly miss the X-Men back home, and Gambit had been on her mind while she was in that room overnight, and as such she had the desire for Cajun right now. “Oh,” Emma said, sounding pleasantly surprised, “Yes. That works.” New Orleans was no Paris, but it was still leaps and bounds better than Tumbleweed. Where Emma had once been picky about getaway spots, she now was just happy to get out of Texas. She held up a finger as she got out her phone. Then she was typing quickly. “One second.” Emma had an arrangement with America Chavez that had been working out pretty well so far. A few minutes later, they found themselves in the middle of an empty side street in New Orleans. It was cloudy, hot, and humid in a way that Emma still wasn’t used to, but there were things to do that made up for it. “Have you been here before?” Rogue watched as Emma set things up, though the thought of teleporting to another city just for lunch seemed rather...decadent. Once they were there, she lifted her head to take in the scents - not all were good, but there were definitely spices in the air - and sounds of different accents not too far away. If anything, it all made her relax a little and she shook her head at Emma. “No - but Ah’ve heard stories about it. Always wanted to see it. You?” “It’s been a little while,” Emma admitted. She’d been on more than one occasion, but the first and longest was a blurry memory made vague by a mix of time and excessive alcohol consumption. She started to walk, leading the way. “I believe the French Quarter is this way,” she said, reading minds of people in the distance to confirm the muscle memory that told her where to go. “Might as well see the most popular part.” The streets got a little more narrow as they walked and the buildings got more familiar and a bit older looking. Emma looked down a block and was somewhat certain she’d made bad choices at one of the bars they passed. “So tell me how you’re feeling,” she said, coming off friendly and patient. She could look into Rogue’s head easily enough, but had a feeling the girl needed to talk. Rogue took in everything as they walked, trying to memorize it all. No one seemed to give the fact that she was dressed in a full jacket with gloves a second glance, but that was probably because there were more than enough other oddly dressed people around. When Emma spoke again, she glanced at her absently, then shrugged and looked away. “Exhausted more than anything. Ah didn’t sleep last night - don’t think Jean either, ‘cause Ah could see her most of the time. Ah just couldn’t seem to relax in that box they had me in.” She’d been too afraid that she wouldn’t be released the next day. “You do know that we would have come for you if you hadn’t been released, don’t you?” Emma asked. “Our lawyer was sent shortly after I got your call and we spent the evening discussing with the community at large how best to deal with these sort of situations. No one forgot about you, Rogue.” “Jean said so but…” Rogue trailed off and shrugged. “How was Ah to know if that’d work or anything?” She looked back at Emma, frowning curiously. “So what got decided? Was this really the first time it had happened? Ah don’t get it since no one ever said using powers was against the law.” “It would’ve worked,” Emma said with a certainty that was a little grim. “We’ve handled threats far larger than the military before,” she explained. It wouldn’t have been a good situation, but Emma knew they’d be able to break someone out of a quarantine room if necessary. The fallout would be the real problem. “For now, we’re monitoring the situation and trying to play nice. I do not personally love this solution, but we have experience with escalated situations that we’d like to try and avoid here.” She paused. “If things get worse, we’re hoping it won’t be due to our actions. And we’re figuring out solutions for problems that might come up.” Emma was vague because she couldn’t give away all the plans to anyone. “I’m fairly new here, but to my knowledge, it was the first time someone was detained. Using powers has been frowned upon, but, no, it’s not illegal. They detained you illegally.” “Then why’d they do it - why did they think they could get away with it? Ah mean, just a warning would have worked and Ah would have stopped.” Rogue wrapped her arms around herself as they walked. “It doesn’t make sense that they’d suddenly do that, does it? Without even warning anyone ahead of time?” She was glad now that she’d been surprised by the approach and as a result she hadn’t resisted or tried to fight. “They wanted to make a statement and they used you,” Emma said, as though it was simple. “The why isn’t so important - whether it’s a little man in charge whose feathers are ruffled or if it’s a strategy - a stupid one, I might add - they’re making their play.” As she walked, Emma made sure that no one around them could hear the details of their conversation, only that they were talking. “Lucky me,” the younger woman muttered, and glanced over at Emma after a moment. “Emma….you don’t know me, so why did you bring me here? Is it just because we’re mutants and gotta stick together? Ah don’t know any of you either, not really - so Ah don’t really know why Ah should be sticking around back there in that town.” Emma could lie about many things, but she didn’t think it wise to do so in this situation. “I brought you here because you had a bad day, darling,” she said with a little shrug. “I’ve had a few of those fairly recently myself and might have enjoyed someone taking me out.” The last thing she was going to do was discuss the hell she’d been through fairly recently, but it was honest enough that she hoped Rogue wouldn’t push on that. “I would begrudge you leaving; none of us can make that call for you.” Well, Emma could but when she, herself, wasn’t certain she wanted to stay in Tumbleweed, she wasn’t going to force a twenty-something to make her same mistakes. “I realize you don’t know us and we don’t know you well. I do think that will change with time if you stay.” She slowed and looked Rogue in the eye. “Things are never easy for us, separate or together. We’re born different and that marks us for our entire lives. I have found, though, that on the whole, it’s been worthwhile staying with this team.” She sighed. Even the bad things she’d done, she wasn’t sure she’d take them back. “I would very much appreciate you not repeating that to anyone. I don’t want any of them to start thinking I have feelings.” She looked down at the street before turning onto another block. Then she glanced back at Rogue. “It’s your life, darling. Sometimes it’s worth taking chances on people. Sometimes, not. It’s for you to decide.” A pause. “Though I will remind you again that we were prepared to fight the United States military to get you free.” Rogue watched Emma as she spoke even while slipping gloved hands into her pockets. She wasn’t entirely sure why she’d even asked, because it was more confrontational than she usually was, but she’d wanted to know and had a feeling Emma wouldn’t bullshit her. Finally, she gave a slow nod, deciding - inwardly, at least - that she’d stick around. For now, at any rate. Maybe things would change, like Emma said. “Why don’t you want them to know you have feelings?” Switching subjects made it easier for Rogue not to think too hard about what had happened if they’d really had to break into the military to get her out of there. “I have an image to maintain,” Emma said quickly, a little smirk on her face. She didn’t feel like getting into the complicated history she had with the X-Men, so she deflected. “Here we are,” Emma said, slowing before a nice looking restaurant. She held the door for Rogue and then followed her in. They were seated at a nice corner table. “I hope you’re hungry.” The response had Rogue rolling her eyes and snorting a little, but she didn’t push the issue. Obviously she wasn’t the only one who had things she didn’t feel like talking about. As they walked into the restaurant, Rogue took a deep breath, then smiled a little and looked around while they sat. “Nice place,” she said, glancing down at the menu. There were no prices listed on it, so she knew that it was definitely out of her personal price range, but it felt good to know that someone wanted to take her to a place like this. As she scanned the names and descriptions, she thought again of Remy and wished that he was there too. He’d definitely be telling her the right way to cook all this stuff, and would be able to help her pick out something good. “Ah am, actually. Ah barely ate last night or this morning.” Emma frowned to hear that Rogue hadn’t eaten, but didn’t comment. Instead, she glanced over the menu and decided what she’d eat. “You get whatever you want,” she said pleasantly. She noticed the thoughts about Remy, but also didn’t go there, worried Rogue would shut down if she knew she was being read. “So where would you go, if you were to leave?” she asked. She was still studying the menu at Emma’s question, and one shoulder lifted in a dismissive shrug. “Ah don’t know. Here, maybe. Or Canada. Didn’t really think it through that far yet.” Hell, she hadn’t even gotten a job yet and didn’t have any money, so she’d really probably just hitchhiking if she ever did actually leave. While she’d done that before, it wasn’t really something she was too eager to do again. Lifting her head as a server approached, Rogue flashed the man a smile and gave her order - the house gumbo, which she assumed probably every place in that city had. Emma ordered a seafood dish and sent the waiter away. She noticed that Rogue didn’t have solid plans, which she think worked in their favor. “That’s a bold move, leaving without a plan.” She had to admire the guts it took, if nothing else. “Are you still going?” “Ah...don’t know. Maybe not yet, at least,” she replied, looking over at Emma. “S’just - Ah don’t know what Ah should be doin’ in Tumbleweed. Aint like we have a real X-Men team where we go all ‘round the world savin’ people and stuff. Never really thought Ah’d have to think about gettin’a job, but there isn’t too much someone like me can do around there. Don’t have any skills really.” It took self control to not roll her eyes. Emma didn’t know how Rogue expected to survive on her own when even she could admit she didn’t have skills. She couldn’t help her smirk, “You’ll probably want to acquire at least one skill before you go. Bartending is usually recession proof. We can help you find something better, if you so choose. And if you do decide to leave, I’d very much appreciate you giving me a warning first.” Food arrived piping hot and smelling delicious and Emma asked for a drink before the waiter retreated. “The only thing Ah’ve ever really done back home was construction. The Mansion tended ta end up with holes in it pretty often, or half blown up, so me and Logan would usually end up rebuilding or patching on account of our strength, ya know? But Ah guess in Tumbleweed Ah can’t do that if they look at you sideways for pickin’ up a dumpster.” She shook her head. “Ah’d need something where there’s no risk of accidentally touchin’ anyone, ya know?” Emma considered quietly for a moment. “We can think of something. Office work, like an assistant, might actually be a fairly safe job for you if we can find it in Tumbleweed.” She waved a hand and figured they could work on it later. “Y’think?” She looked over at Emma with interest, unable to hide the faint gleam of hope in her eyes that maybe there might be a place for her after all. “Guess it might work,” she said after a moment with a shrug, then started to dig into her food. |