đź đ±đąđŁđđ« đź đđ©đłđđ±đŹđŻđą (wouldberipper) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-07-29 15:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, emma frost (white queen), stefan salvatore |
Who: Stefan Salvatore and Emma Frost
When: June something
Where: Victrola
What: Random Encounter
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Ever since Stefan compelled Chuck Bass to be nice to him (how amusing was that?) he wasnât afraid to head into Victrola and have a drink. He could see Tyler, who wasnât really a friend yet, but they were on their way, and have a beer, watch pretty dancers, get his mind off the hunger. That was pretty much the goal; get his mind off the hunger.
Emma wasnât the âlive to workâ sort, but with the current state of things and battling things out with Adrienne, which was seriously making her glad sheâd killed the wench in the dreams, Emma was pushing her business just a little more than usual. Of course, she always added a degree of play in there too. All work and no play made Emma a very cranky lady.
As such, she had an exceptionally rich, and decidedly perverted client enjoying the fruits of Victrola, lounging with some very pretty girls dancing around. And if Emma just so happened to implant some false memories, well, no one needed to know.
She kept a near constant sweep of her powers over the group in tonight, just to be sure that there werenât any uncomfortable issues with people. Sheâd so hate to deal with paparazzi.
Stefan collected his drink from the bar and turned to find a place to sit while he drank it. The place was really swanky, actually. He thought he could actually have a good time here. There was an older guy surrounded by girls, and a woman nearby, so Stefan took a seat closer to the woman than the man. He didnât need any of that⊠stuff.
Then he leaned back in his chair and sipped from his glass slowly. The stage was between dancers, so the music was just slightly raised. He took another glance around the room and met the eyes of the blonde woman, then tipped his glass up as if in a toast.
Emma just offered a smirk, saluting with her own drink before a little movement to her side caught her attention. Not exactly the hard hitting journalistic press, but bloggers -God, she hated bloggers. Her darling associate wasnât anything too special, but he did have fingers in pies and some of it included some high profile production company that employed tween stars and their rise to fame.
The headache from a scandal and itâs attachment to her was just not something Emma needed. A very simple psychic push had certain brain receptors reacting terribly inappropriately to the current setting, the pair of bloggers having an unfortunate bodily malfunction that would prove decidedly uncomfortable once the embarrassment of jizzing wore off. It at least gave Emma time to text Mitchell to come in and get the camera off those idiots too.
Back to smirking very self satisfied, Emma carried on sipping at her champagne, making a point of catching her previous toast makerâs eye.
Movement off to the side made Stefan turn his head. He raised an eyebrow, wondering for a moment who these newcomers were, but he didnât have much time to consider it. Suddenly and inexplicably, he was witness to something that those dudes probably would rather have kept private. Surprise belted quickly away to amusement, and he turned his eye back over to the blonde woman. ...was she⊠looking at him?
Stefan cleared his throat, and lifted his drink so he could scoot over a chair or two closer. â...is it just me, or do you look rather pleased about the fate of those poor saps over there?â
Really, Emma was terribly pleased with herself; sheâd only just learned how to poke the right places of the psyche to get the reactions, she could force people to do things on command, and while she understood exactly where her other self went wrong with that and how she wasnât prepared to fully slip into that system of getting her way, she did enjoy utilising it once in awhile.
Especially on idiots who deserved it.
âWell, sometimes you just have to enjoy other peopleâs cringeworthy moments.â Although she was a little surprised that he noticed just how uncomfortable they were. He didnât strike her as something undercover. âSnoops get what they deserve after all.â At least she could be a little bit warning and coy at the same time.
Then he lifted his glass to sip from it again. The dancers were a little distracting, drawing his attention from the embarrassed men and the platinum blonde woman. He brought his eyes back over to her.
âWere they snooping?â Stefan asked, obviously amused at the whole situation. He wondered what they might have been snooping over, but it wasnât really any of his business. âSeems like an interesting place to snoop.â
âWell itâs an interesting place to be.â Emma let her telepath stretch out, the rest of the club was largely unaware of what was going on, and who was there, and Emma wasnât getting too much of a read off her current conversation companion. âEspecially for a married publications owner.â It wouldâve never been front page news, but gossip rags were not going to get in the way of Emmaâs business. Ever.
âBut like I said, got what they deserved.â Considering how nasty she could be from time to time, they got away with minimal psychological trauma.
âOhhhh,â Stefan said, understanding dawning on him slowly. He probably should have picked things up a little faster, but it wasnât exactly his forte to know about publicity agents and the like. He assumed that she was some kind of bodyguard or something, and that her client was in here somewhere, hoping for a little privacy.
âThat seems a little⊠coincidental,â he said, deciding on a word. If he was correct in his guess, the woman had something to do with the predicament of the guys whoâd just jizzed their pants then fled the club. âAs if it was the will of someone inside the club that they should end up that way.â
âImagine that, someone being able to make other people do something they might not want.â Emma just smirked, sipping from her glass with her eyebrow curving upwards delicately. Many people in Orange County had some kind of understanding of powers and the like, but few people were decidedly welcoming of telepaths. âAnd to do that with it. How scandalous.â
Emma really was rather pleased with herself, since she had mastered psychic suggestion it was delightful to use it.
âItâs not as uncommon as you might think,â Stefan muttered softly. He, too, had the power to make people do things they might not want to do--this establishmentâs owner, for instance. And heâd been thinking about it before. It was almost as if fate wanted him to be fully conscious or fully aware of his own powers in this moment. And why? Because someone else could wield them--or something similar?
âAnd people have done worse.â Compulsion really shouldnât be used for a drink here or there, should it? But that didnât stop Stefan and some of the other vampires in the area from doing so.
Emma had gotten to the end of her tether a few weeks previously, her powers had grown to the stage where she was comfortable enough attempting things she knew in the dreams, and using them for her own personal gain. Like getting the few naysayers and her irritatingly stubborn hold outs on the board to just stop being prats and give her what she wanted.
Of course it was the same time she discovered that Adrienne was scheming, but she wasnât above using these powers of hers to her own benefit against she sibling. âI donât doubt it in the least.â There was worse Emma could do than having someone mess their pants after all. And worse she had done.
And of course, it wasnât even a demonstration to just get the bartender to produce another drink for Emma with a thought either.
âYou know, itâs lucky to be able to do that sort of thing without talking or even making eye contact,â Stefan said. He was thinking about Compulsion, thinking that he had to make eye contact and He had to vocalise his instructions. But to be able to bend the will of others from across the room without so much as a glance? That was pretty amazing. He was very impressed.
âOh, thatâs exceptionally limiting, although I do happen to understand there is a subset of abilities that does that.â Telepathy was exceptionally intricate, for the most part it was simply the projection of thoughts, images, mental awareness. But with the right training, psychic abilities could broaden exponentially. âPsychic suggestion is decidedly intricate, after all, you have to make them believe itâs their idea. Or just override the synapses to cause a reaction.â
It was a lot like poking a voodoo doll, and it was one of Emmaâs specialities.
âBut then, it does have itâs draw backs.â Like the mass of information that came at any and all times, the noise of people all thinking so loud and constantly. Occasionally, being a psi wasnât great.
âYes.â Stefan said, shifting just a little. âThere is a subset of abilities that does that.â He had it. Was that obvious? Were they on the same page about this whole thing? He could tell that sheâd just done⊠that⊠to those paparazzi. And he was admitting that he could do similar things, only he needed eye contact to do it.
He lifted his glass and sipped from it.
âI imagine thereâs a pretty steep learning curve with that ability,â he said, glancing over at her as he lowered his glass.
Honestly, the subterfuge was unnecessary, after all, it wasnât like Emma couldnât wipe minds if things got out, but it wasnât a big concern that someone might overhear. âThankfully it wasnât overly difficult to master. The range is⊠Intense at times.â Since she heard absolutely every thought the flickered through the minds of those around her to begin with. Jeanâs tutelage helped to settle that though, and from there everything clicked into a place where Emma was mastering her abilities exceptionally well.
âI suppose we should be grateful that the lessons appear to transfer well. Abilities with a manual, so to speak.â Since she dreamed learning her powers before she attained them. âBut youâre not a mutant,â she could tell, sheâd learned to recognise the psychic signature, and while his mind wasnât easy to glean into, likely his own barriers from psi abilities, he wasnât the same as her. âSo, pardon my bluntness, but what are you?â
Mutant. Stefan didnât have any of those in his Dreams. That was something new and interesting. The first thing that came to mind was The Fly, or older horror movies with mutant monsters from the age of nuclear fallout fears. But this woman was absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way, so that thought was dashed. Then he thought about some of the more recent, comic-book type thoughts about mutation, and nodded. She must be one of those.
âVampire.â He said, inclining his head a little, as if in greeting.
Now that was interesting. Vampire without the cliche pallor with the bloodshot--- well, mostly not bloodshot, but she couldnât exactly say if that was to do with the vampirism or if someone was burning the midnight oil at both ends. He wouldnât be the first.
âA pleasure Iâm sure.â There were a lot of questions, sure, but Emma hated people prying about her mutation, she wouldnât go ahead and do the same thing. âEmma Frost, CEO Frost International, telepath.â She offered out her hand, adorned with a perfect manicure and white gold accessories. She was nothing if not decadent at every turn.
âPleasureâs all mine.â Stefan said, taking the proffered hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. He wasnât sure if he was supposed to kiss it. She seemed like the kind of woman whoâd like that sort of thing. But in the end he figured bringing any part of her body toward his mouth after admitting he was a vampire would probably be in poor taste. So a gentle handshake was what he went with.
âWhat does Frost International do?â He asked, bringing his hands back to his beer.
Kissing mightâve been a little too far, even for Emma. âInvestments, mostly.â Emma knew that discussing business was frightfully boring, especially her business. âWe plug money into start up companies, acquire the rights, those sorts of things.â She was decidedly good at finding good investments, âI mostly own a lot of other companies under an umbrella company.â
Sheâd started in technology, little niches that werenât too redundant when compared to Stark tech, then went into funding a lot of medical research and investing in infrastructure. It was a decidedly dull topic all things considered. âIt comes with some⊠unfortunate side notes.â Like the cheating hambag over there groping the blond dancer.
âAh.â Stefan didnât know a whole lot about financial stuff⊠but he probably would get more of it from his Dreams. After all, a vampire didnât live for a hundred and some odd years just to be shit with finances. He should probably look into that kind of thing in this world, too--he wanted to live comfortably and not have to worry about it. And he could better take care of the people he loved if he had more money in the bank, right? âThatâs something I should look into.â See if he could multiply his meager finances (not so meager, considering heâd been saving since joining the Navy) without having to compel anything. Though, he wasnât above that, truth be told.
âI can see that.â Stefan said, glancing over at the other. At least with his job he didnât have to deal with⊠that. âI assume theyâre few and far between.â It was more a question than a statement.
âFor the most part,â but then, Emma was fine with exploiting the few unseemly types to get what she wanted. The breed that came from her fatherâs time, those âold moneyâ sorts, they were the ones who felt they were entitled to everything and anything, including people. Just because they were rich. And Emma had no problem using that to her advantage and take their companies from them.
Egotistical idiots.
âSadly, there are more than enough of them.â Sheâd whittle that down a bit at least. Speaking of⊠âAnd since my charge for the night is pillowing his face in the breasts of that poor woman, I think Iâm going to have to take my leave before he brings on a lawsuit.â She already had enough cash on her for a very generous tip for the girls as a compensation for dealing with it. âBut, if you do want to sort out those finances,â Emma produced a card, with her name and business address and contact details printed of perfect stock with gold cursive writing, âYou just give me a call.â
Stefan accepted the card, and glanced down at it, turning it over once in his hand. He nodded, bringing his eyes back up to the beautiful woman. âI will.â Heâd need to. If he wanted to have a comfortable eternity, he was going to need someone to help him with setting up those finances. âThank you, Ms. Frost.â