Room 528, Monday Morning

[icecoldfrost]

Emma had skipped last night's party, since she had no reason whatsoever to deal with a bunch of teachers and other adults in her spare time. Besides, she had plans to be out late tonight, and had needed her beauty sleep.

Right now she was curled up on her bed, happily ensconced in her AP Algebra textbook as she worked on her correspondence class final. Mmmm...math.


[OOC: For a ginger, but door & post are open before that!]

Comments

[ihavenocodename.livejournal.com]

The knock on the door was much more gentle than the mental knock on her mind as Jean stood outside the room, trying to stay calm and everything Mr. Dayspring tried to teach her.

It was... working-ish.

"Emma."

[icecoldfrost]

Ugh. She was busy.

"Jeannie." Emma barely glanced up from her text before starting to scribble again. "Am I broadcasting quadratic coefficients? Sorry. I think I'm dreaming in them, which is disturbing, but no worse than some of the other stuff floating about. I'll try to turn it down."

[ihavenocodename.livejournal.com]

The next mental knock was less polite.

"It's about Jono, Emma."

[icecoldfrost]

"What about him?" she asked, waving the other girl in. "Tell me he didn't pull a Bobby and get himself abducted? I've already done my three selfless things for the month, so he'll have to wait until I finish this final before I go trotting after him."

[ihavenocodename.livejournal.com]

"I know what you did to him."

[icecoldfrost]

"Anyone with half a brain can figure out what I did, darling," Emma replied. "I gave him a Valium, since he can't exactly take one orally. One must compensate for mutant physiology in unusual ways sometimes."

If Jean expected her to deny it or play innocent, she had another thing coming. Emma was actually rather proud of her solution.

"It should already be starting to wear off gradually, so don't get your panties in a twist. I didn't do anything permanent."

[ihavenocodename.livejournal.com]

That? That would be the telepathic version of a slap there.

"Is that supposed to make it alright?" Jean asked. "Or do you not understand basic morals?"

[icecoldfrost]

Okay, that got Emma's full attention, and her head snapped up from her textbook.

"What the fuck, Jean?" she snapped. "He's the one that wanted to start getting a handle on things, but was too depressed to know where to start. So I gave him a starting point. What's your problem?"

[ihavenocodename.livejournal.com]

"So you forced it on him," Jean replied, lip curling in disgust. "People change because they want to. Not because you make them change. How would you feel if I went in your head and made you be nice?"

[icecoldfrost]

"So he wants to be miserable? Really? Because I was under the impression that he wanted to be happy and have a life," Emma snarled. "I gave him what he wanted. Not permanently - he's got to do that work himself, and I've got no patience for people who want to take the easy way."

[ihavenocodename.livejournal.com]

"Which is odd, because you took the easy way there."

[icecoldfrost]

"You know what's funny?" Emma asked sweetly. "Why you seem to think it's your business, that's funny. I don't see you coming up with any better ideas, and I don't see Jono in here complaining."

[ihavenocodename.livejournal.com]

"Because he doesn't trust you, Emma. And I promised I'd discuss this with you because you can't do anything like that to me. You're not good enough."

[glacial_queen]

There was another polite tap on Emma's mental door though whether it comes before or after Jean is your call. *Emma? You around? I was hoping to talk a bit.*

Karla'd been hiding up on the sixth floor for a bit. She wasn't yet ready to face Gabrielle, not after...everything.

[icecoldfrost]

<<Please. Before I lose my temper and go break some normals just to piss Jeannie off some more.>> Emma wasn't having the best day either, to judge by her mental tone. <<Come distract me from my own foul mood, darling.>>

[glacial_queen]

*Jeannie?* she asked, slipping inside Emma's room. *I don't think I've met her yet. I was coming to see if you thought I should go to Jack's party tonight, but we can talk about about other things instead, if you like.*

Karla was perfectly ready to dislike Jean Grey on Emma's behalf. She was a good friend like that.

[icecoldfrost]

"Don't be silly, of course you should go to Jack's party," she said aloud, making room for Karla on the bed and patting the coverlet beside her. "Why on earth shouldn't you?"

Karla was nice, reassuring company, who didn't think Emma was Evil Incarnate for trying to help people. Emma would be perfectly happy to chatter about anything.

[glacial_queen]

*Because I was kind of responsible for his crush on Priestly,* Karla admitted, sticking to psychic threads for right now. There were squirrels everywhere. *No one really knows but me and 'Dite right now...but I still feel really, really bad.*

[icecoldfrost]

There were, but Emma wasn't afraid of the drunken little rodents.

Her head was also hurting from the altercation with Princess Perfect, and she didn't want Karla to catch any of the raw and churning bits of anger that were floating around her mind right now, so she took a moment to put her walls in order, carefully layering them up in what she thought of as her Onion Girl sheilds.

"I knew," she informed Karla aloud before switching over to her telepathy. <<You'll have to tell him sometime, you know, but not tonight. You could always try writing him a letter.>>

[glacial_queen]

"How did you know?!" Karla cried aloud. "Even I didn't know!"

*And no I don't,* she sulked in the private forum of their thoughts, politely waiting for Emma to finish strengthening her mental barriers. *I could keep happily playing the victim just like everyone else and never say a word.*

She wouldn't, of course. But she could.

[icecoldfrost]

<<Who do you think went to your 'Dite?>> she replied, reaching out to stroke Karla's hair soothingly. <<You said you got bitten there, so I figured she had to know something.>>

[glacial_queen]

*Oh. Right.* Karla leaned in to the pettings. She could use a good soothing. "I'm sorry for being all crazy and in love with you," she murmured. "I'm not, really. In love with you, I mean. Not like that, anyway."

[icecoldfrost]

"I know. You can't love someone who doesn't have a heart," she teased, perfectly happy to pet Karla until she calmed down. "Well, you could try, but I doubt it would end well."

[glacial_queen]

"You have a heart," Karla sighed. "You're just not so stupid as to wear it on your sleeve like almost everyone else. Trust me. It's a stupid plan."

[icecoldfrost]

"Do not," Emma sniffed. "What would I want with a heart? Don't say such slanderous things, you'll give people the wrong impression."