WHO:Emma & Jean WHEN: (backdated) during the singing plot WHERE: Emma's (& Jean's) House WHAT: Conversation, singing and an ominous thought WARNINGS: Really Low STATUS: Complete
Jean felt like she was burning from the inside out. It was the kind of burning and the kind of anger that she knew could lead to losing control, and yet she wasn’t sure she cared. Oh, she cared enough to use her link with Emma to bring her mood back down, but there was still a little fire in her eyes.
The ritual of Saturday tea usually helped, too. It had never been something she’d ever been super interested in before but she enjoyed the quiet time with Emma. She noticed her tea was getting cold and warmed it up.
“I’m looking forward to summer break. No more brats.”
No more brats. Emma smiled softly, trying to think of a time that Jean would’ve ever called her students brats. But then it wasn’t like either of them had a length of patience just now. “Long mornings in bed? Evenings out whenever we please? Are you sure you still need to work, pet?”
But summer break could bring some other exceptionally beneficial things to them either way, brats or not.
“I can prepare next year’s curriculum in a week,” Jean assured her. Her tone was dismissive, as if it wasn’t that big a deal and as if it didn’t matter. And in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t. They’d live miserable lives and then die. Why should she care?
You and me, conquering the world.
There was something about a Jean Grey who didn’t think education was important, something that should’ve niggled at Emma, something that should’ve worried her. But at this present moment, she was far more interested in her own benefits from that outlook.
“Well, if you can set it up in a week, is there a need for us to stay here? Wouldn’t we be better seeing the world?” Emma did love to travel after all. Their break in Paris had been lovely, she had a feeling that Jean rarely treated herself to the finer things. “Have you ever been to Tokyo, darling?” And when Emma started to hear I can show you the world, she had to bite down on her own tongue, hard.
"I'd love to see the world with you." Seeing the world, now that was a thought. It seemed to calm Jean momentarily. But she could feel herself burning. Tinder needing a spark to catch fire. Jean got to her feet.
"Now darkness has come to the roses. The fire is reaching the end. The colors that I have created, are suddenly flying away." Jean spread her arms out, singing to unheard music. " I'm not fighting myself, will not follow. 'Cause my choices are mine it's my fate. And I'll never bow down from the sorrow. I'll face all that is coming my way. Denying the devil of silence. Embracing the world on the edge."
She started to pace around, her voice rising. "Let us burn! Let us burn and light up the skies here tonight! Let us burn Let us burn in this fire that makes us yearn. Whoah. We're fighting our fear of the silence, we're running through walls where they stand. Let us burn!"
Sipping her tea, Emma’s eyebrow rose slightly. Dear god, this was what they meant. Jean wasn’t a bad singer, not at all, the words were fairly poignant too. It was just the lack of music and the dramatics of it all, Orange County at it’s best.
Her neighbours were going to peek over the fence for a karaoke soon.
“Right then,” She was almost expecting herself to leap up and join in, some crazy musical going on in her backyard, maybe some dancers, a fun tap number. “Do let me know when you’re finished dear, I’ll arrange a standing ovation.”
For a moment, Jean was literally on fire. She fixed Emma with an annoyed look. “That won’t be necessary. I’m sure I won’t sing again.”
Because she wasn’t going to embarrass herself even in front of her girlfriend.
At least she wasn’t going to sing any marriage proposals.
Emma grinned broadly, even with the threat of fire hanging in the air, because the fire was always simmering right now, just ready to flare into existence. “Darling, you’re a wonderful singer. I’m sure that should you break into song, anyone would be lucky to get a free concert.” Although truly, she was grateful that there was nothing too lovey-dovey spouting from either of them.
“Although I am going to ask, if I do start to warble at you, give me a good whack. My singing should be limited to the shower.”
“I’ve heard you sing, lover.” Jean smirked at her, trying to recover from her embarrassment. “But usually that’s reserved for the bedroom. Or the car.”
Or other places. Jean started to hover, hair flowing on invisible wind. “Or high in the sky, we should try that some time.”
Talking about anything was better than singing.
And oh weren’t they talking about completely different singing now. “In the sky, hmm, now you’re just tempting the song to burst out of us.” If Emma had to bite off her tongue, she would. “Not that I’d say no at all.”
Like Emma would say no to Jean ever.
“Best be careful, we go too high, we might never come back down. Goodness knows there’s not a lot worth it here.”
“We could do that.” Jean laughed. She closed what distance remained between them, running her hands up Emma’s arms, leaving bursts of flame in their wake. “I wanna run, I want to hide. I wanna tear down the walls, That hold me inside. I wanna reach out and touch the flame where the streets have no name."
It sounded like a fantastic idea. Leave. Leave everything, let the power consume them and go some place where nothing mattered.
Emma couldn’t rightly tell if she was being swept in with things, or if she was just feeling puckish enough to amuse herself, leaning in to rest her forehead against Jean’s, eyes closed as she felt the soothing flush of flame build between them, “I wanna feel sunlight on my face. I see the dust-cloud disappear without a trace. I wanna take shelter from the poison rain,” It wasn’t quite belting it out, a nice soft, private moment for them.
“Where the streets have no name.” Somewhere like space. Somewhere they could just exist together, just the two of them, consuming when they needed to, carrying on through the universe until they reached the very end.
It was a dangerous thought though. Dangerous for everyone.