Players:
Summary: Sam expresses his concerns with Selene, things get heated before they get better.
Date: August 5, 2010
Log Title: Coming To An Understanding
Rating: PG-13
Xavier Mansion - Emma Frost's Office
Miss Frost's office is not as white as one would expect, however it does present an overall theme in the room. Using a classic den/office style structure from the building, the hardwood floor has been mostly covered from entry to desk with a white carpet that has been decorative bordered in an ivy-pattern, with the center having a delicately done floral arrangement. Two plush white leather chairs sit slightly staggered and angled facing a white marble topped desk of dark-stained oak, the Xavier Academy logo in front emblazoned in a polished steel. Atop the desk is materials for physical writing as well as a dual-monitor computer system that seems keyboardless, instead having a single mouse-like interface device. To the right are a pair of striated white marble book-cases filled from top to bottom, in the center of the pair a marble fireplace that burns sedately despite the time or season.
The left wall has a series of file cabinets sitting next to another computer desk, this one with a standard keyboard and mouse with the academy logo floating sedately on the screen. Next to those is a table where mail seems to be laid out next to a carafe of what is either coffee or tea, and a small pile of cookies, which seems to vary day by day. Behind the carafe is a small containers for sugar, fresh cream, and honey.
Behind the desk is a bank of windows facing northwards, running practically from wall to wall, bordered on both sides by silver-embroidered sheer silk cloth, so even when drawn you can make out details outside, and so long as day is present, line pours in to give the room a sense of warmth. For the times when more light is required, it comes from the vaulted office ceiling from a tasteful-looking light and fan combination. Just behind the desk and on the right side is a second door with a hand-print scanner.
After his converastion with Selene the other night, Sam needs to talk to Emma since he's not…happy in regards to several things. There's a knock on the door from Cannonball as he waits to see if Emma's in. Sure he can go talk to Scott in regards to this but honestly he'd rather come to Emma first.
The knock is an unwaned interruption in the midst of dealing with her personal work, but after a moment's irritation and reaching out enough to assense the minds in the hallway passively, Emma grumbles to herself, "Lovely… the Kentucky Blue…" Emma keys the remote to the door, saying after, "Enter, Mister Guthrie." Mustering a prim and proper voice as she goes over and touches the carafe to reheat the coffee there. After that it's a slow circuit back to her desk to sit down, "Are we social, or will this be the obligatory 'I don't care how you've changed, you're still a bad guy' speech?" Arching a brow as she waits for the response.
Walking in Sam give Emma a polite nod. "Ah'm sorry to interupt ma'am but it ain't exactly social." Though the obligatory speech isn't on the menu today. "Ah came tah talk 'bout a certain…guest whose stayin' here at the moment." There is much distaste in the way 'guest' is said and Emma can easily figure out he means Selene. "So ya really lettin' Selene stick 'round here, after all the crap she's pulled."
Emma tilts her head back and stares up at the ceiling, "Dear God in heaven, I will live to regret this choice won't I…" Then shaking her head, she rolls it back down and stares back at Sam before standing up and coming around the desk, "I do not need to remind you of myself, or Magnus, or Rogue, or a myriad of others who began life on the other side. That seems to loom like Damocles' sword often enough. Whatever transpired with being inside Mister Palmer's body has balanced the proverbial scales. She now lacks all the knowledges she's stolen over the course of her life, and the power she has amassed because of it. And letting her leave the grounds is a death sentence. The circles she would travel in would snap her up and before we could muster a call to arms, she would be back as someone's pawn assaulting the school."
A death sentence that would be derserved is Sam's thought. "Ah find that hard tah believe Ms. Frost. Ah'm sorry but Ah do. Lettin' her stay on the grounds is a death sentance to tah kids who stay here. She's almost killed a few of 'em but Ah guess you're givin' her the chance tah try again." Sure Sam hasn't forgiven Selene for the past, it's a hard thing to forgive. "But what do ya think someone like Mr. Palmer is gonna say when he walks intah the kitchen and sees her sittin' there?"
Emma counters with the only defence she can, "Would Charles have turned her away, despite her past? No. He never turned away a soul who asked for assistance, no matter how many times it came back to haunt him. Nor did he ever turn a blind eye even when the worst of us were suffering, Samuel…" Shaking her head, she sighs, "I agree with you, I heartily do in some regards… but… this…" Motioning out there, "This with Selene… with myself… with so many others… is what this school is supposed to be about. Not just teaching the young the responsibilities and burdens of bearing the X-gene, but also of showing that the hard road is easier to bear when you've the company of others." It's then that the younger X-man gets a hard look, "Selene is here, and she understands she has rules to abide by. She also understands we have two combat-trained telepaths and a Phoenix to come down on her if she crosses that line."
When Sam was with X-Force they left Xavier's since, as kids, they had more radical ideas so this is just a hard pill for him to swallow and he doesn't like it at all. "This school is about teachin' kids how tah live with their powers, how tah survive in tah world out there that don't like us so much. Ah understand about second chances but are you don' this cause ya think it's the right thing or cause she's an ol' Hellfire Club buddy of yours?" Sam says directly as a part of him is wondering if the two are in cahoots together. "For Selene the rules have never mattered before, why is she gonn' follow 'em now?"
The room goes cold… physically cold… to the point that the next exhale that Sam makes is visible. Pushing off her desk, a flinty-faced Emma Frost near-stalks towards him, "The amount of times that… ANIMAL… has attempted her crude ruses and labyrinthine plots within the Hellfire Club would stagger you, and the amount of times I've been forced to check her moreso. If it was not for HER the X-men would not have been a concern for the Hellfire Club for YEARS… IF not for her, I would still hold my rank instead of being merely an ALUMNUS…" Stopping inches from his face, she glares, "And unlike the X-men, and can veritably guarantee that one has NO friends in the Hellfire Club. Even those you love will use you, will discard you, or will usurp you when the time is right Samuel Zachary Guthrie. I would sooner lay in a bed made of vipers and mongoose than admit ANY friendship to THAT!"
Well it's good to konw that Emma feels so…strongly for Selene. "Then why are ya lettin' her stay? You know what kinda person she is, do ya really think she's gonna change? Ya really believe that this ain't just another plot of hers to do something more horrible than the last thing she's done?" He can't guarantee that he doesn't have friends in the Hellfire Club, his best friend is but then Berto's worst crime against him was making out with his girlfriend. "Just cause ya don't trust yer friends don't mean that Ah don't, so what's the real reason she's stayin' here then? Is it the whole 'keep your enimies' close bullcrap?"
There's not a bit of venom in Emma's next words, "And how many times has that been said about me. By Miss Pryde. Yourself. Or a myriad of others. When even after -I- proved my best intentions, I was forced to fight for every moment of recognition of change in my character. Of an actual respect for this place, and what it does? Of the trust Charles Xavier placed in me when he let me teach in Massachusetts. Teach your sistter and her friends." Turning away, the room begins to warm once more, "For one very, VERY brief moment, Selene understood what it was like to be her victims. And in that moment I saw genuine despair, naked for the world to see. She was defeated Samuel. Utterly. And not by any of us, or our vaunted powers. She was laid low because of circumstance. I do not like the woman, but I have enough respect to not toss her on the street like a reprobate and jeer her as she crawls in the streets. We have to be better than that Samuel. Because if we are not….What IS the Dream worth? What would it mean… that Humans and Mutants can live together, but some restrictions may apply? That Justice is only worth who WE say it is?"
"Ah'm sorry if yer offended by what Ah say but Ah ain't talkin' bout you or your character. You taught my sister adn she came out okay." Though Sam still has memories of the Hellions and those day but they're also long gone. "Ah do understand The Professor's dream Ms. Frost, Ah understand it very well. But Ah wasn't only taught by The Professor, Ah learned a lot from Cable and Mr. Wisdom as well. Less than a month ago two of our students where almost killed because of her, if she's stayin', Ah ain't trustin' her and don't expect me tah work with her."
A smile spreads on Emma's lips as she replies, "I do not expect you to Mister Guthrie. And neither do I. The only thing I trust Selene to be is Selene. What she does with this opportunity will be the benchmark for her continued to treatment." The smile is thin, and forced, but she continues on, "I would daresay, Samuel… you have taught them more than they taught you. You and your friends had too many teachers, and too many mixed messages, and yet in your generation I see an unusual strength in it. But… your understanding of Selene is also the kind of deterrent we require. The more who are aware of her nature, the harder it will be to revert to form. And the more closely she konws she will be watched. Because if we are waiting for that moment to strike her down… as she would do to us? Then she is forced to behave."
Sam crosses his arms over his his chest and nods to Emma and then gives a small smile. "Our strenght came from the team Ms. Frost, from havin' friends. People like Shan, Dani, Berto, Rhane, Illyana, James and the rest. And we also had bit mistakes tah learn from." Like with Doug Ramsey. "Just ya might wanna inform the rest of the staff that she's here and what tah look out for. Ah had tah walk intah the kitchen tah find her sittin' there. You're sayin' the more who are aware, well ya gotta make sure the staff is aware."
Her reply is rather simple, "And that was a mistake in my regard. And I apologize. I have been trying to catch up on the student body, all the incident reports, updating the school to relieve pressure on Forge to be nothing more than tech support… there are so many things wrong with this place, that I fail to see how it has managed to run since my abscence." Exhaling she walks towards the snack table and picking up a cookie to chew the edge of, "Have you looked at your new mentorship group, Samuel? I would wonder your thoughts on it."
"Well Scott is a busy guy with runnin' tha X-Men and such." Which Sam is a memeber of. "Yes ma'am, Ah've seen the students Ah have now, Ah gotta arrange a meetin' with 'em. And talk to their old squad leaders, those that had 'em. Max and Cam are the only two that Ah have from last year. Speakin' of Cam, any word on his wear abouts?"
Emma sighs deeply and shakes her head, closing her eyes, "He has somehow gained the ability to not be found. We are not sure where this comes from, but any searches with Cerebra has garnered nothing but confusion. I have even gone so far as to re-optimize the system as much as I am capable, and I am still somewhat confounded."
"It figures that the one student who can find anyone is the one who goes missin', well if ya dig anything up on his where about lemme know." Sam says as he gives Emma a polite nod "Ah gotta git goin' though. Ah gotta set up some stuff with the Danger Room for the New Mutants, thanks for listenin' tah me Emma." Even if he didn't like the outcome of the conversation and wishes that Emma sent Selene off to be hit by a mack
Emma holds up a finger before Sam can depart, "I should not have become cross at you, Samuel. You have every right to be suspicious of my motives, and I've given you no reason for you to trust me again. But I thank you for your candor, and I do hope you will continue to remain open with me."
"No, Ah don't have reasons tah trust ya, but…Ah do. The only reason Ah do is cause of Paige. She turned out alright." Sam says as that's his little sister and well, he word means a lot to him. "And she trusts ya which is why Ah do. Take care Ms. Frost." Sam says and with that he leaves the office.
