Emma's Flat, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. [Feb 2nd, Afternoon, Marvel Time//Friday Afternoon, Fandom Time.]

[icecoldfrost]

Emma had...drunk. A lot. And had only her mutant metabolism to thank for not having alcohol poisoning. Hallelujah, genetic awesomeness. The only thing saving her from an epic hangover was using up the vast majority of the hot water in the building, more coffee than God, and eating an entire box of frozen waffles. Candy had already departed for her own apartment, to shower and finish sleeping off last night's revels, leaving Emma and Jono alone to talk shop.

"So, are you going to tell me why your brain feels like swiss cheese - more than usual - or do I get to guess?" Emma crammed the last bite of waffle in her mouth in a manner that should not be physically possible before pointing her fork at Jono. << You promised. >>

[OOC: For that dude!]

Comments

[furnaceface]

//I promised,// Jono agreed, nodding a little. //I'm not going to try to weasel my way out of that now. Just... maybe stop pointing that fork at me before I start telling you, hm?//

No, he didn't actually think she was going to use it. That was his way of acknowledging that he was well aware that she was going to be Not Best Pleased with him, that was all.

//And I'd rather this not leave this room, Morton and I have been keeping this secret for a reason.//

And that reason was, Karla would probably kill them, and then tell them to cut it out for their own good.

[icecoldfrost]

<< Morton's involved? Now I know this has to be a terrible plan, >> Emma replied, although she obliged in putting down the fork. << Morton comes up with terrible plans. >>

[furnaceface]

//He had help with this one,// Jono admitted, toying awkwardly at the wrappings around the back of his neck. //It's... territory security, I suppose. Since Karla and Warren are in the running for the Worst Timing Ever award. I'm having a plaque made up and everything.//

[icecoldfrost]

She needed more coffee for this, didn't she? Emma reached for her mug and downed the rest of her beverage, finishing off her second breakfast. "Riiiight. Let me guess, you're trying to use your telepathy in ways you never let me train you to use your telepathy. I'm insulted and will be telling you 'I told you so.'"

Oh, don't worry Emma, it gets worse.

[furnaceface]

//You'll be saying that a few times, yes,// Jono agreed, shifting his weight a little, uneasily, and looking... anywhere but at Emma. //Glacia's still crawling with people who want to kill Karla, and opportunists who weren't serious about it before actually putting together plans to do so now that she's completely bloody helpless. So... I've been ferreting those ones out, and Morton and I have been personally taking care of them.//

Come on, Jono, you could to better than that.

//... Across about as much of the territory as I can reach.//

[icecoldfrost]

"Of course you are," Emma sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Jono, I love you. That's possibly one of your worst ideas yet."

"One, you're not trained for it. Two, you don't have the temperament for it. Three? I offered to give Hobart and his friends mysterious heart-attacks years ago, and you people told me that was Not Okay for Reasons."

"You do realize you have Weapon X'd yourself, by yourself, this time, right?"

[furnaceface]

//I'm well aware,// Jono replied, keeping his tone even. //We're not going after Hobart, much as I'd like to. We're putting a stop to plans that people who might or might not have anything to do with him have put into motion. And if I have to play Big bloody Brother to do it, so help me...//

He tapered off at that, and then just shook his head, running one tired hand through his hair.

//It's just a couple more months, if that. Provided I don't sprain my brain... and I'm trying not to, Emma, I swear... I can handle it. I have been handling it.//

[icecoldfrost]

"If you could handle it -- physically, psychically, or emotionally -- you wouldn't be confessing to me right now," Emma retorted. "--and if I'm noticing without peeking, you are too going to sprain your brain, because you're doing it wrong."

Emma got up to pad into her tiny kitchen area and pour herself a glass of water. "Since you're a damned idiot and not going stop whatever I say - Atlas - you're going to start doing it right. Starting with me patching whatever you've broken in the last few months."

Emma was going to kill Morton. Slowly.

[furnaceface]

Atlas. Fitting enough. Weight of the world on his shoulders, and there was no putting it down, was there?

//... That...// Normally, that would be a hard 'nope.' Jono was either tired enough, or had put himself together enough, that he wasn't about to argue. //... That would be good. Thank you. I should've asked earlier, I know, but everything just kept getting away on me.//

He shrugged his shoulders a little.

//I'm looking forward to this being over. I might take more time to myself on the island when it is. Not that I think for a second that Karla is capable of making responsible grown-up decisions that won't get her killed, these days. But at least she'll have the Ebon-sodding-Grey back and can throw up a shield when need be.//

[icecoldfrost]

"Yes, well, Karla is supposedly a damn adult, and if her decisions get her killed, that's her problem. I'll just go on a rampage until I feel better," Emma replied, although both she and Jono knew that wasn't completely true.

She leaned back against the counter, sipping her water. "Don't worry, you're going to be with me every step of the way, and I'll make sure you know exactly what I'm doing and how it works. No unrequested alterations; cross my heart and hope to lie."

[furnaceface]

At least that got a bit of a Jono sort of laugh out of him, a glimmer of tangible amusement, however brief, as he bowed his head a little.

//I appreciate that, Emma,// he replied. //Not that I don't think you want what's good for me, of course. I don't trust anybody in there.//

Karla got to take a peek, just once. She wrote on the walls, even temporarily, and then he didn't invite her in again, either.

//But I'm no good to anybody, least of all myself, if I keep going like this. I get that.//

[icecoldfrost]

"Ugh, you're making it sound like I said that out of consideration for your feelings or something," she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "It's totally self-interest. If you see what I do and how I do it, next time you can do it yourself instead of making me play nursemaid."

She loves you too, Jono.

[furnaceface]

//There's that, too,// Jono agreed, not bothering to conceal his mild amusement at her protest. //... Actually starting to get to... to a point where maybe I'd be up for learning a bit more about what I'm capable of. Not just for everybody else's sake, for once.//

For as twisted up and broken inside that he was, he was finally, finally getting to a point where maybe he wanted to try to better himself for his own damn sake, too.

[icecoldfrost]

"Oh my God, he might actually live up to his potential," Emma deadpanned. "Will wonders never cease?"

[furnaceface]

//Don't get too excited now, or I might realize what I'm doing,// Jono replied, equally deadpan. //I'm just... tired of being afraid of myself. I figure everybody else is already doing an excellent job of that for me, they don't need my help.//

[icecoldfrost]

"Thank you!" Emma yelled, throwing up her hands in VICTORY. "I didn't even have to roofie you this time! It's a miracle!"

"Wait, are you real-Jon or pod-person-Jon? Just checking."

[furnaceface]

//I doubt I'd admit it if I happened to be a pod person,// Jono pointed out. //But it's more likely that I've just had my fill of bullshit I can't fix while I'm at odds with my own bloody body. My mind, I'm working on. Probably will be forever, fine, I've made my peace with that one. But...//

He shrugged his shoulders.

//I just came to terms recently with the fact that one of my biggest fears is myself. And I'm dangerous, fine, but in those rare and very refreshing moments when nobody else is in control of my powers, I was thinking maybe it would be nice if perhaps I was.//

[icecoldfrost]

"Of course you're dangerous. Humans are dangerous. You and I are spectacularly dangerous creatures, and it's part of what makes us fabulous." Ego, thy name, as always, is Frost.

"Now then, let's take a look at that brilliant little brain of yours, hrm?" she continued, coming back over and taking a seat on the floor. "How much work have you put into creating your shields? Do you have a preferred visualization?"

[furnaceface]

//Walls,// he replied, making himself comfortable across from her. //They're... simple. Straightforward. I can pull a wall up in seconds if I need to. And for the most part, they work. Shite against stronger telepaths, though, at least when I'm not at my best.//

Karla crumbling them to dust while he was a broken and bleeding mess on his bathroom floor came to mind. But then, that had been while he was powerless and headblind. It had been a wonder he'd been able to pull up walls at all, back then.

[icecoldfrost]

"We can work with walls. The nice part is, they're easy to patch. And while they are fairly simplistic to break... there's ways around that," she said. "...I assume you are familiar with the works of Escher?"

He had broken her out of the Labyrinth, after all. But Emma preferred not to talk about that. It still hurt, for many reasons.

[furnaceface]

And if she wasn't going to mention it, he certainly wasn't about to. Instead, he just nodded a little.

//Intimately enough, yes. You're saying I ought to make it so that it's difficult for anybody to tell which way is up, in my head?//

[icecoldfrost]

"You're in charge. Wherever you are becomes the center of the maze. Spin it 15 degrees and walk ten paces. Move the walls. Maybe a gap turns into a pit of spiders. Hell, flip the maze upside-down for shits and giggles. You shape your reality when it comes to your own mind," Emma replied. "Have you ever seen the interior of mine?"

[furnaceface]

//If I did, it was lifetimes ago,// Jono replied, shrugging his shoulders a little. //I once found myself stuck quite by accident in the head of a telepath who rather enjoyed cat-and-mouse games, so I have some idea of what you're saying...//

He tamped down thoughts of the last place he'd shown somebody in his head. Nobody deserved a walking tour of Neverland. Not even people he didn't want to have in there.

[icecoldfrost]

Emma was a lady - and, actually, trying to help for once - so she outwardly ignored anything Jono was projecting.

"Here," she offered instead, holding out her hand. "Take a look, if you like. Besides, it may help you feel more in control if you look in my brain first, to see that I don't have any ulterior motives beyond giving you control of yourself."

[furnaceface]

Jono tilted his head a little, and then nodded, reaching for Emma's hand.

//It might,// he agreed. //And I'll admit I'm curious to see what the inside of the head of somebody who's not a member of the Blood actively plotting to murder Karla looks like.//

He'd seen a lot of those, lately.