Emma Frost is tired of trying to be good (ice_queen) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-12-25 22:40:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, emma frost (white queen), scott summers (cyclops) |
Part three of four
Who: Emma Frost and Scott Summers
What: waking up and grumbling about life
Where: Scott's house
When: December 26th, late morning
Rating: PG13
Status: complete
Emma groaned as she woke up. Her head was pounding! She covered her eyes with the heels of her hands, hoping it would abate with the pressure. She took deep breaths, focusing on other things.
She’d dreamed again. It wasn’t anything strange, this time. No bodyswapping, no turning into water. She’d just relived the robot attack. “Ugh, how did I forget about that?” After she spoke, she remembered that she wasn’t alone in bed, and wondered if she’d woken Scott.
Scott shifted, rolling onto his side. A faint red glow colored his eyelids, but he hadn't yet woken. Whatever had allowed him the ability to control his powers was gone now, and replaced by what was his natural state.
Emma looked over at him, noticing the red glow. That didn’t bode well. First things first, she had to find his glasses, and hopefully wake him without making him open his eyes. She sat up and slowly got out of bed, hoping he’d put them somewhere intuitive, like the bedside table. She was sad, for a minute. Though she hadn’t known to appreciate it, somehow, she’d enjoyed being able to see his eyes. Thankfully, the glasses were in plain sight.
She grabbed them and put them in his hand. She almost stood in front of him, but thought better of it and crawled back into bed, so she could lay behind him. She leaned in and said, “Keep your eyes closed, Scott.” Her tone was calm, and she hoped her normal speaking voice would wake him up. Damn memories. Stupid powers.
Scott grunted in his sleep. As he started to wake up, he could feel the pressure behind his eyes, just in time for Emma's warning. It prevented a hole in the side of the house. His glasses were in his hand, so he pulled them on and massaged his temple as disappointment flooded through him.
"Damn it."
Emma nodded, rubbing his back softly. “I can agree with that.” She sighed softly. “I’m sorry. At least you got to enjoy Christmas without your powers.” His problem was more interesting than her own. She couldn’t brood properly around another person, and talking to him was a good distraction.
"I had control, I just never had occasion to need them." He leaned back against her, closing his eyes and letting her hands sooth his muscles. It had been so freeing, without the headaches, being able to see the world like he had not all that long ago.
“Not needing to use them is enough of a gift in its own right.” She rubbed his shoulders so she could support his back with her body. “I forgot about the dreams, which seems selfish in comparison.” She could live without the headache from remembering things, but wishing to forget something was a little extreme. “I should have taken a picture of you, but I didn’t realize it at the time.”
"We got a semblence of normalcy, it was nice," Scott replied. Her hands were warm, her skin taking his breath away. "It's okay, Emma. I have a picture if you want it."
She laughed. “I do, but not right now.” She kissed the back of his neck softly. “I felt less stressed when I thought things were normal, but I prefer the truth to even the most comforting of lies.” Her hands stroked his chest and the sides of his neck. She wanted to make him happy again, like they’d been the day before. She wanted to soothe this obvious disappointment.
Scott shifted a bit, moving his body with her hands, then turning and wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her, because otherwise he might have a very unmanly break down.
She wrapped her arms around him, holding him with all her strength. The kiss had a different quality to it before. It had need, but a different sort than before. She wished she could make things better for him. Nobody deserved to live in constant fear of tearing their house apart with their eyes.
Eventually, Scott pulled away,the glasses hiding any emotion his eyes might have in them. He slipped out of bed and searched for pants. "I'm starving, and I don't think I'll be getting back to sleep. How do you feel about a ham and eggs for breakfast?"
“Sounds delicious. I can make pancakes too, if you want.” She stood up, heading for her overnight bag. “I brought the mix with me, assuming I would stay.” She assumed that he’d feel better carrying on as normal, from the way he acted. She was okay with that. She hoped he would confide in her if he needed to, and not just keep it all bottled up, but it wasn’t her place to say anything.
"You smuggled in pancakes?" Scott chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers for a moment, leaning over her on the bed. Then he pulled away and tugged on a shirt, before making his way out of the room to take care of morning deliberations. Once that was done, he set about starting breakfast.
Emma snorted. “Smuggled? I suppose, but if this is an anti-pancake state you need to beef up your border patrols a little.” She wiggled into her clothes and did her own washing up, before heading to the kitchen, mix in hand. “You know, pancakes actually take a while to make in any kind of quantity. I suppose I’ll just let you do all the cooking.” She said it flippantly.
Scott laughed. "I'm hungry, and want to get to the part of the day where we do things that aren't each other or food. I was thinking of taking a drive. Just to drive." And keep her with him just that much longer.
Emma laughed. “You act like it’s such a chore.” She began to set the table, since he was busy cooking. It smelled very good, and her stomach rumbled. “A drive will be nice. I was intending to stay until I got kicked out, so I don’t have any plans today.”
"It's a chore, Emma," Scott replied, turning his head to grin at her. He'd gotten used to expressing himself with his eyes again, and it was difficult for him to go back to being unable to use them to that effect. "That's good to hear, I wasn't about to let you go until I had no choice."
Emma made a face at him. “I’m going to remember that.” Her threat had no real intent behind it, and the smile she failed to hide made that clear. She finished setting the table and took a seat, watching Scott move. Even doing something as unsexy as making eggs while fully clothed, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. “When do you have to go back to work?” She hoped they’d have most of the day together.
"Tomorrow," Scott replied, putting the eggs onto plates along with leftover ham from the night before. He brought the food over and set one in front of Emma, before sitting across from her.
"Can't let Wrex have all the fun."
“No, of course not.” Emma smiled, digging into her food. She still ate carefully and slowly, but she didn’t hold herself as stiff, her shoulders were relaxed. “I have a bunch of papers left to grade, I’ll probably be doing that until New Year’s Eve.” At which point she intended to get drunk with Jean. If Jean was up for it. She hadn’t asked yet.
"Did you give them holiday homework or did you have some good cheer left over and spared them?" Scott had had both kinds of teachers, and when he'd taught at Xavier's, he'd been the former, always. He believed in making sure they retained something over the holiday break.
Emma chuckled. “Oh, I gave them a small paper and a chapter to read. I can use an extended deadline after they beg and plead to bribe them into sitting quietly, or some other blessed but rare thing.” The kids could finish the homework in a day. If they needed more time as a group, then they would have to suffer as a group.
Scott grinned. "That's manipulative"
He dug into the eggs and ate in silence for several moments. He wished he'd thought of that before. It was manipulative, yet brilliant. His respect for her rose.
She nodded. “It’s something they can understand, and utilize later in life. Beside, if they actually do their work, I’ll have nothing to manipulate with.” It was just highly unlikely.
Scott tilted his head. "Ten dollars says they actually do the work." He grinned at her, knowing he'd probably lose, but he couldn't really help it. He wanted to make the bet, and he had faith in youth.
Emma laughed. “Alright, though I hate to bet against them. It’s only happened one year, so the odds are against you.” She didn’t finish her plate, but she was too full to continue. “The eggs were excellent, as always.”
"Thank you. Next time we can do the pancakes again. They're always a good excuse to stay for breakfast at your apartment." Grinning, he got up to put the dishes away.
Emma nodded. “If you’re going to be staying over more often, I might move into a bigger place. It would be nice to be able to have a chair or something for you.” She’d put most of her money into paying off her loans when she first started teaching, but she could afford something a little better now. They were mostly paid off.
"You could stay here," Scott replied, before he had a chance to really think about that.
Emma blinked. “Uh?” She hadn’t thought about that. It would be efficient. “I’m not sure. I- it’s all a bit overwhelming, sometimes. You, the dreams, everything else.” She pursed her lips as she thought. “You have an upstairs to this place, is there a bedroom there?”
"There are two." Scott nodded his head, understanding what she was getting at. It would be like a roommate type thing, and at the state they were at, with the dreams and memories, it might be better that way. "One was only briefly used by a woman with a major OCD problem so it's very clean. I haven't cleaned out the other one yet."
“I’ll take the clean one in. . . uh, well. Spring break is probably the next time I could get together enough time to move, and that’s sufficiently far enough in the future for things to settle out. Also, that’s when my lease ends.” She nodded. Okay. So there was that. She hoped the deer in headlights expression wouldn’t freak him out too much.
"I know someone who could probably move most of your stuff in half an hour," he replied, smirking a bit. The look on her face was answer enough. "But I think giving things time to settle is probably a good idea."
“Yes.” Emma said, firmly. It would take nearly that long to deal with the idea.
"I'll bribe her when the time comes." Dishes done, Scott leaned his hip against the counter and folded his arms. "Fair enough."
Emma nodded, taking a deep breath. What could she say now? She honestly didn’t want to think about moving in anymore at the moment. It seemed too sudden, too much too fast. Even if it was set for far in the future. “I’m sorry, Scott, I need to take a walk or something. This is. . . I’m having a little trouble dealing with it all. It’s not a reflection on you by any means, but I need some time to think and sort things out.”
He knew he shouldn't have asked. He hadn't intended to, it had really just come out as soon as a good moment had arrived. Scott nodded at her. "Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere."
“Thank you.” She picked up her plate and put it in the sink. “I won’t be long, I think.” She slid her shoes on, hesitating for a moment as she tried to decide if she should kiss Scott before she left or not.
Scott left that decision up to her, watching her from behind his glasses.
She assumed she was looking at least close to his eyes as she moved closer, planting a small, light kiss on his lips. She was confused and afraid, but she didn’t hold that against him. This question was just bringing up more in her mind, ones she was afraid to have answered, and afraid to ignore. “I’ll be back.” Then she left, taking a deep breath after she cleared the door.
Scott watched the door close behind her, then sighed and rubbed his temple. Sometimes he could be an idiot.