WHO:Emma Frost & Jean Grey WHEN: Post-Phoenix; early August WHERE: Monaco WHAT: Emma and Jean take a break and leap towards their future. WARNINGS: allusions to sex, smoopy feels STATUS: Complete
Monaco was nice this time of year. Warm and welcoming and most importantly devoid of any cosmic entities. It wasn’t devoid of dreams, as Jean once again witnessed her death. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but she had, walking to the balcony to let the breeze wash over her.
She actually felt at peace, though she was certain that peace had been the last thing Logan would receive from that. But Jean, at least, was free. She glanced back at the bed and smiled. They might both be mind readers, but Jean could still keep a secret.
Emma loved sunshine, it could simply be because when she was diamond it sparkled through her like rainbows through glass, but the warmth on her skin almost always brought a smile to her face. Curling towards Jean’s side of the bed, even the sunlight couldn’t coax Emma to stay in the light doze she was in when she felt her lover’s side of the bed being cool and empty.
It wasn’t enough to make her panic, she could still sense Jean’s calm presence in her mind, but it did get her shifting a little, stretching languidly before seeking out her companion. “Jean, darling, vacation is not meant to be spent getting up early. You’ll have plenty of early mornings when you go back to work.” And Emma was rather enjoying being lazy.
The diamond in the sun was something that Jean had certainly enjoyed seeing, even if she preferred Emma in the flesh and blood. Especially when she stretched out like a cat. “I couldn’t sleep. Besides, I was enjoying the view. The sunrise is gorgeous too.”
Chuckling slightly, Emma propped herself up on her elbow, smirking at Jean and her cheesy lines that still seemed to work just fine. “You know, sunset is just as pretty as sunrise, and it doesn’t draw people out of bed at the crack of dawn.” Not quite that early, but still. “What’s keeping you up, dear?”
Monaco was about relaxing, shaking off the last of the stress from Phoenix and just being for a while. Letting Orange County just wait for a while.
“My new dreams finished, the ones where I’d killed Scott. Joined Magneto, went to destroy a mutant cure, lost control. What you’d expect to happen when Logan got close enough.”
She stepped away from the balcony, coming over to the bed. “I feel like … closure.”
Emma could understand the dream death’s feeling like closure, like there was an end to a horrible disaster of a dream cycle. It did seem like Logan was repeatedly killing Jean in their dreams though. But she knew that it was probably a good thing that Logan could stomach doing it.
“Should we hope that this is the end of it? Or is that wishful thinking?” Emma was mostly relieved they didn’t have to constantly go through Jean dying here.
“Probably wishful thinking. Kitty made me a list, there’s a half dozen more realities we could potentially dream of.” Jean sank onto the bed, laughing softly. She took Emma’s hand and kissed the knuckles.
“But I don’t want to think about that today. I’ve got plans for you.”
Emma rolled her eyes, because of course there were dozens more versions of them, the multi-verse alone, then the timelines they’d messed up over the years, God, Emma could imagine. But the promise of plans meant that Emma wasn’t too interested in pursuing that train of thought anyway.
“Oh? And just what do these plans entail love?” Emma did like plans.
“A nice breakfast in bed. Clothing optional,” Jean tapped her finger on her lower lip, giving Emma her very best come hither look. “And I’ve chartered a little boat to take us out onto sea for a few hours. We’ll have lunch, and then come back to a show this evening.”
Emma hummed with a small smile, pushing herself up to press a kiss on Jean’s waiting lips, “Darling that does sound like a spectacular day.” She rather liked the clothing optional portion of the morning too. “You’ve been a very busy woman, wherever do you find the time? Hmm?” Once the kisses started, Emma was less inclined to stop, happy to litter pecks down Jean’s jaw while humming softly.
She smiled against Emma’s lips, and for the first time in months felt normal. There was a giddy energy thrumming across her skin and in the air between them. She laughed, tilting her head back to give Emma easier access. “Oh, just you wait and see. I’m curious as to if I’ll manage to surprise you.”
“Oh, now you’re just teasing. You know I don’t want to pry, but you open with that…” Emma didn’t exactly want to go hunting and ruin any surprises, it was difficult to have them in a relationship with a psychic, throw in two psychics and that just pulled the rug out. But if Jean were trying to surprise her, Emma didn’t want to mess something up.
“You’re a cruel woman, testing my control.”
“Since when do you have any self-control, Emma Frost?” Jean traced her fingers down Emma’s arm, back up again, then caressed her jaw. “I’ll bet you can’t even go four hours without giving into temptation.”
“Oh, now we’re making bets?” It was true, Emma was a hedonist in every sense; she got what she wanted, when she wanted it. And it counted for everything. “And what do I get if I hold back? Hmm? What’s my prize?” Emma stretched out her throat, welcoming the soft trail of fingers while she reached out herself to caress Jean’s thigh.
Jean leaned in, pressing her lips to Emma’s. “If you can last four hours, you’ll get a very special prize. And as an added bonus, we can try that thing you want to do but never tell me about.”
Emma moaned, somewhere between annoyance at the conditions and pleasure at the kiss, “Evil woman.” But Emma could make herself not snoop, the promise of naughty, naughty fun in the bedroom and surprises enough for her to steel her resolve. “I guess I’ll just need to find things to distract me for four hours, hmm? Like the delicious red-head in my bed.”
“Me, the evil one? Now you have to last five hours.” Jean was teasing about the extra hour, and she was more than willing to distract Emma for awhile. They’d at least want to clean up before they went anywhere, and Jean knew they’d be distracted in the shower, too. She pushed her down onto the bed, straddling her and deepening the kiss.
Despite her intentions, they still ended up almost being late for the lunch reservation Jean had gotten, but her legs were a little wobbly and she was in high spirits anyway. Holding Emma’s hand actually made her feel giddy.
There was just something so wonderfully peaceful about long hours just enjoying company, even if Emma was bopping her own thoughts off her head regarding Jean’s little surprise, she was well and truly distracted by her lover.
Monaco was a good idea, Emma loved the cool air and the simple ease of it all. Fingers entwined with Jean’s and thoroughly relaxed from the morning activities, Emma was mostly distracted from surprises by the curiosity of lunch reservations.
Jean had chosen a light summer dress, green, naturally. It made her feel light and airy too. Like she had no care in the world. No anger or fire burning in the back of her mind. She didn’t even have any grades or papers to worry about. Just Emma, herself, and the surprise hiding in her purse.
“According to reviews, this place is supposed to have the best lunch in the country.”
In her own trademark white dress, designer but understated, of course, Emma gave Jean a small smile, “The best, hmm? That will certainly prove interesting.” A decadent lunch with a decadent redhead, and the still lingering promise of rewards and surprises. Emma was capable of relinquishing control to enjoy herself, of course.
“It’s a small country,” Jean allowed. “They may not have much competition. But we’ll see how it stacks up with others we’ve had.” She took Emma’s hand, squeezing it as they were led to a table. She chose something light, considering the boat ride she had planned. And what she planned to do on that boat. The only question in her mind was if Emma was ready for that level of commitment.
Small indeed, but no less wonderful, and while Emma might jest, she had no doubt that the place Jean had picked would be more than just suitable, it would be lovely. “I’m sure they’ll be up to scratch darling, it’s already shaping up to be quite the lovely day.”
And it was. Lunch went by seemingly too fast, before Jean was leading Emma down to the docks. There were numerous yachts, large and small, and Jean took Emma to one that on one hand might be disappointingly small. But on the other hand, it required no crew, which meant much more privacy, and it had a shaded cabin.
Frankly, Jean didn’t want an audience. “Let’s see if I still know how to drive something…”
She hopped on board and held her hand out to Emma.
Grasping at Jean’s hand, Emma just smirked a little, “Darling, if you shipwreck us, you will never live it down.” Emma still had very fond memories of childhood around the waters of Boston, watching all the upper class enjoy the summer weather, sailing their size metaphors and congratulating one another on making disgusting amounts of money.
The quiet waters outside of Monaco seemed like a far better afternoon, even if Emma hadn’t brought a hat, she’d worry about sunburn later, ready to enjoy the sea salt air and a private afternoon.
“I promise I won’t shipwreck us. If we end up on a three-hour tour, we can send a telepathic distress signal. Hopefully interrupting Logan at an embarrassing moment.” Because that would be the best possible outcome if they were shipwrecked.
Jean settled in at the controls, easing them out of the harbor before upping the speed as they got to the open ocean. There was no way to go as far as she’d like, not in one afternoon, but she wanted to go far enough that land seemed like a memory. She wasn’t ashamed, but she did want the only witnesses to be the sky, the sea, and maybe a few dolphins.
“You haven’t tried to sneak a peek and see what I have planned. I’m very proud of you.”
“I’ve been distracting myself,” Emma wasn’t entirely patient but she could appreciate delayed gratification, and for Jean, she could control herself rather well. “Mostly by picturing you naked.” Which wasn’t a terrible exaggeration, she’d enjoyed the odd time or two just imaging the morning.
Like right that second, smirking at Jean while the images flitted over her mind.
Jean laughed, tossing a smile over her shoulder. “We did have more plans about that.”
She’d never been someone to shy away from sexuality. She enjoyed being intimate with the person she loved, and she really, really enjoyed the attention that she got. She figured Emma could appreciate that sort of thing. They were both by nature attention whores.
If all went well Emma would have more attention than she could ever want. Jean cut the engine and let the yacht drift as she came over to Emma and slipped her arms around her. “I’ve actually had a lot on my mind lately. Besides the whole Phoenix thing.”
Emma hummed lightly, resting into Jean’s arms happily. Domesticity wasn’t something she’d spent a long time envisioning for herself, but with Jean it was just entirely comfortable, something she could easily slip into. “Well, besides the whole Phoenix thing, what’s on your mind darling?”
“You. Us. The future. The future of us,” Jean replied. She kissed Emma briefly before stepping out of her arms. Fire flared around her, swirling around in a display of light. It suddenly collapsed into a ball of light and flame in her palms. When it faded, what remained was a ring. Diamond, of course.
“If you’d have me, I’d like to have that future of us. Marry me, Emma?”
It wasn't totally out of left field. Emma had sometimes given some thought to her and Jean making things a little more permanent. It wasn't that Emma wouldn't have asked, but like she told Kitty, she wanted Jean to want this.
The little flare of dramatics drew a soft, almost musical laugh from Emma, even as she felt herself grin wide and free. “Of course, yes. Of course I’ll marry you.” The diamond was a nice touch too.
“As if you have to ask if I'll have you.”
Jean wanted this. Part of her had wanted it since before the Phoenix, but in the ashes of the cosmic entity, her want had only solidified. But she wanted Emma to want it too, and that smile on the blonde’s face was more than a satisfying answer. Jean laughed, holding long enough to get the ring on Emma’s finger before flinging her arms around her.
Honestly, that made two for two where she was the one to ask someone to marry her. Hopefully things would work out a little better this time. “Let’s pretend there aren’t going to be absurd logistics for this and just bask in each other for awhile.”
Her own arms wound around Jean, the smile was going to be hard to get off her face for any length of time, and she certainly wasn’t going to hold back on any of her elation either. Especially not from Jean.
“Oh, there’s going to be so much basking.” Emma was intending to turn the remainder of this little break into a celebration, and if she couldn’t find a gorgeous ring for Jean here, she’d find one at home, maybe something emerald, or ruby. Something that was just Jean. “We can worry about logistics later darling.” Emma tangled her arms around Jean’s neck, smiling into a kiss against Jean’s lips.
“I can’t wait for the basking,” Jean said. “In fact, we should get started right away.” Her hands moved up to Emma’s face, stroking her cheeks and then petting her hair as she leaned in to kiss her.