Players:
Summary: Theo presents his case to Emma for changing roommates.
Date: Thursday, September 15, 2011. 1:15pm
Log Title: Inappropriate!
Rating: PG
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.
The response to the email sent from Emma's desk was terse and sweet… consisting of one line. 'Mister Fegenbush, please report to my office before the end of school today. -Emma Frost, Headmistress'. Leaving the telepath to wait in her office after handling some paperwork, scanning the grounds once more for any mental presences that should not be there.
Proto is left behind at the door when Theo arrives, lest he be tempted to tell Proto to taser his headmistress if something should go wrong. The teen enters quickly, though not in a hurry. Theo looks pretty collected, and calm, at least for the moment. No tizzy or emotional time bomb seems to be cooking at the moment. He's calculating his argument. "Ms. Frost," he announces himself, actually calling her by her last name instead of her first, already a step up in the politeness category.
Emma stands up and moves round from behind her desk to motion to the seats before them. She tilts her head curiously for a moment, but otherwise remains silent until you've been seated, and then the first question comes out with a deceptive smoothness, "So… has your new roommate made any sexual advances on you?"
Theo sits down casually, leaning his arms on the arms of the chair. He's sitting mostly straight, but not rigidly so. "Not yet, but I find an ounce of prevention to be worth a pound of cure, don't you?" Theo asks. "I'm not complaining to be a bigot, I just find it very inappropriate."
Emma simply nods once, and leans back in her seat, asking another question without addressing your issues as of yet it seems, "Do you feel that your new roommate is a danger to you or to your property?"
"Potentially," comes the curt reply from young Fegenbush.
There seems to be a checklist somewhere that she's working from, as another nod comes, and then one leg crosses over the other in an almost demure fashion, "Has he threatened you or otherwise caused any kind of physical damage… or has he in any way or form harassed you or made you feel unwelcome?"
"He did threaten to put me in the Medbay," the technopath answers, content with Emma's process of moving through her list. His face is neutral and almost business like, and he folds his hands in front of him, interlocking his fingers lightly.
A final nod comes from Emma as she sits back up, and leans in ever so slightly, a faint and cool smile on her face as she regards you carefully. Eyes flicking up and down in study of your posture, and everything else before she sits back, "And was this threat provoked?"
"I don't presume to know all the things that other people consider provocation," Theo answers. "I'm not the telepath." He returns the smile evenly, not moving from the chair.
"Do not pretend to be cute with me, Mister Fegenbush." Emma replies the coolness now being felt in the air around her, "I am attempting to discern if there is a credible need to arbitrarily change your room arrangements. That need is based on the ability of yourself and your assigned dorm mate to be able to cohabitate with a minimum of known conflict, and without harm to either party. All I have seen to date is a carefully crafted attempt to dance around a simple concept. You are uncomfortable. There are many young men here at Xavier's who are homosexual. I recall you had conflict in the past with Mister Larkin. Does it surprise you to know that many young men your age question their sexuality? And some deny it. I am attempting to respond to your request with all the respect it deserves, Theodore. And to do so means that I need to know… if you will pardon the bluntness… how much of this is real, and how much of this is selfish design."
Theo is silent for a moment, though his first thought goes unspoken. A credible need would make it by definition no longer arbitrary. He doesn't say it, nor is he attempting to get the thought picked up, but it passes through his mind all the same. "That is a relative question," he finally answers. "I'm not really sure how to answer that to your satisfaction," he concludes. "What I see as a real situation you may see as selfish. Would you ever consider putting a boy and a girl in the same dorm room?"
"Yes, I would… given the right boy and the right girl… and not because I wish to see them breed a better class of mutant either. But the bylaws of the school were established by others than myself, and my place is to interpret and abide by them, and request amendment if required." Emma says in a soft tone, before a deep breath is taken, "Your request is denied. However… if you and your current dorm mate can return here together demonstrating in a reasonable and rational manner that you cannot co-exist, and you both have found a third party that I will approve… then I will consider the transfer. While I do feel that your issue is a projection of your own discomforts, I would be remiss if I did not allow you the chance to do a voluntary swap."
"Well I wouldn't," Theo answers. "Just because you lack reasonable judgment on the matter does not make the issue less real. But it would appear that you are suggesting that I intentionally antagonize my roommate until he feels the same on the matter that I do. I'm sure he will appreciate your decision." At this point Theo folds his arms across his chest in defiance, though his face remains unmotivated, his mental bristles are quite active.
Emma arches one cultured brow, and purses her lips in amusement, "No, Mister Fegenbush… as usual… you eschew what I say for what you wish to hear. I am saying that you talk to your dorm mate, and you ask him if he feels the same as you. Then I am suggesting that you both perhaps seek out someone who would be willing to change out their assignment for your's. And then I am… perhaps… suggesting… that as reasonable human beings you come to me with this entire package." Putting her hands together as if holding a box, "And present it to me in a reasonable manner that shows you are all in agreement. I am suggesting you act like an adult. Which is how you wish to be treated."
There is a beat and a half before Theo responds, mental bristles gone. "Fair enough, I'll let you know when we've arranged it," he says, standing back to his feet. "Thanks, that's all I needed," he tells her promptly.
"No." Comes the response, in a tone that strikes across the ego like a whip crack, "You alone will not. All three of the individual in question will come to me. Not merely you… not merely your dorm mate… all three." Emma replies, standing back up, letting her height give her a slight advantage on the young man, "Let me make something clear to you… I will be speaking to your dorm mate about this as well, so he is aware that you have made the complaint to staff, and your reasons, so he can rebutt them. I will then take the measure of your request, and speak to the room-mate of the one you will be swapping with to ensure that they will not feel antagonized by your moving to a new room, and we must start this process again. This is not your carte blanch, Theodore Fegenbush. This is about diplomacy. This is about understanding, and cooperation. You will do well to remember this going forwards."
Theo twitches from the mental snap before arching his brow, "Oh, I understand you just fine," he answers. "Your suggestion has given me very helpful avenues of choices to make with my roommate." He smiles in an enigmatically warm way. "Seriously, you've given me some things to work with to resolve this issue." He starts to walk to the door. "I have to head to class now, we will talk to you later. And, if you don't mind, next time you want to have an assembly, could you just call an assembly? I almost fell down a flight of stairs with your last one."
Emma replies with the most demure possible smile, "Yes… I could… but then any one of you would have cause to not attend. My way is much more economical, wouldn't you agree? You are dismissed, Mister Fegenbush. Send your dorm mate in when you exit. He is waiting outside." And with that, she turns her back on the boy, looking out the windows and onto the campus lawn for a moment, watching one of the other teams doing an outdoor exercise.
