2010-12-14: Reconciled

Players:

Emma_icon.jpg Theo_icon.jpg

Summary: Emma lifts Theo's punishment, and Theo gives a little information about his past.

Date: Tuesday, December 14, 2010.

Log Title: Reconciled

Rating: PG


Xavier's Mansion - Emma'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.


He doesn't have an appointment, and under normal circumstances, Theo wouldn't be caught within fifty feet of Emma's office. But to the door he comes. No laptop, no backpack. All he carries with him are two apples. One he's eating. He lets out a casual 'shave and a haircut' knock on her door, waiting to be acknowledged before entering. He isn't even wearing the psychic inhibitor he's been toting around.

With that same almost… silly… prescience, Theo can feel something in the walls as he touches the door 'speak' and it opens just as the first knock falls. Quite possibly the vainest and most useless bit of technology in the mansion, and yet it is still horribly impressive in how it opens the door right as the hand connects. "Come in, Mister Fegenbush… this is actually quite prescient of you." Say Emma, sitting behind her desk, and despite the holiday season there is a sterling lack of decoration in her office space, and the woman seems to have if nothing else, even more paperwork than usual, "Please… there's coffee and ginger cookies on the table if you'd like something."

Theo steps inside, and places the second apple on Emma's desk. Very uncharacteristic of him. "No, I'm good," he holds up the apple he's been eating. "I wanted to let you know that I'm leaving for Christmas break." Not that he's ever seemed to have someplace to go before, and there is the issue that he's still grounded, but before that argument comes to light, he adds. "I'm going home." He doesn't take a seat, choosing to stand before her desk as if he didn't have a care in the world.
"Then you'll need this…" Emma replies almost immediately, passing over a form to you that apparently is to release you from school grounds and Xavier School responsibility for the duration of your leave, ceding the 'In Loco Parentis' status until your return, but obligates you to keep your school phone and it's emergency response system on you at all time, "This…" Which is a waiver voucher to charge the school for any transportation fees out to and back from said location, "And most likely you would like this as well, Mister Fegenbush…." All without even really looking up at the moment…
The last is a formal letter from Xaviers… dated for today. The letter states that due to your model behavior and activity, and acting within accordance to your punishment, the Head Chairs of Xavier School are releasing you from your punishment detail effective as of this morning!

Theo grazes on the form. A fast reader, it doesn't take him more than a few seconds to look over the document. "Aw, that's sweet of you," he says with a grin. Not quite serious, but not mockingly either. "Don't worry, I don't have any plans of leaving the school phone behind. I'm going to take my car," he adds. "But I'd like to request that if I'm not back before the fifth, somebody come help me. Tony's coming with me to convince them that I haven't been kidnapped all this time, but I don't want to stay there long enough for the freaks in my home town to realize that I'm there." He pulls a flash drive from his pocket, and sets it next to the apple. "Since I'm going back, you can know all the ugly nasties of how I got here, now. It'll be safer once my sister sees me again."

Emma stops what she's in the middle of, settling her pen in an exacting fashion, and closing the file before her. Those are set to the side as she looks up, "This is a remarkable bit of frankness from you. And there was no sweetness in this, only fairness. In the time I was detained in that other dimension you had every chance to buck the proverbial leash. And you did not. In fact, of anyone, you have accorded yourself with much more maturity than would be expected given our previous meetings." Watching your eyes she continues, "Theodore… I understand you dislike me. On an intense level… and perhaps if I knew I had given cause, I might seem less… brusque… with your being here. I am sure that this was a hard decision for you, especially in light that before now you have been hesitant to discuss in any detail what occurred between you and your family. Good Luck."

Theo nods, and takes a brief seat across from Emma's desk, deciding that her response warrants further explanation. "You're right, I don't like you. You like to control things. I won't be the kid you control." He rolls the apple in his hand a little, avoiding touching the wet open area he bit off of. "But I didn't hold this back from you because of that. I'm not like the other students here. Back in Virginia, people burned my family alive because I was a mutant. I have an older sister who was already out of the house when it happened, and a younger sister who was staying the night at a friends' house. I wasn't going to risk losing them by wallowing in misery and telling my story to everybody I came across so that they could pity me. My sister doesn't understand. I tried to call her once, and all she cares about is getting me back home. She doesn't understand that people are broken and evil by nature. So I'm sorry if I just seemed like a stubborn ass, but I needed to take whatever precautions were necessary to make sure that my sister couldn't find me and try to make me come back."

A peal of laughter comes from the woman before she replies richly, "Of course I like to control everything, Theodore, as do you… and just like you. I have a very good reason for it." Settling herself a moment to stand and then retrieve a cup of tea from a nearby carafe, "If you think your situation is unique, you are ignorant, or fooling yourself. None of us have lived this life without suffering hardship. Perhaps you would like to ask Mister Guthrie about how I manipulated his first girlfriend into nearly attacking him… or how I possessed Robert Drake…" A small smirk still on her lips as she sits, "I have been the cause of just as much suffering as I now prevent. I understand I am going to hell, if there is one, Mister Fegenbush… so I will enjoy every day I receive until that sentence is passed." But after a sip, she places the cup and saucer to the side, "The issue between us remains the same. Reflections."

Something that the two can agree on. "Don't worry, I'm sure everybody here will join you there sooner or later," Theo comments. "I don't really care if it's unique on the grand scale," Theo answers. "I just care about my family." He gets back to his feet, and takes another bite out of his apple.
"All the same, that drive has all the news media stuff on the fire." One that was clear arson, but no arrests were made. "The only thing that isn't there is how I found this place. You might want to rework the network system so that it'll mask the city the IP comes from and not just the actual location, and make sure that students don't go blabbing about how great their mutant school is on blogs. Even without a name I was able to get close enough to find it. This town isn't that big."

And the retort is as mild as it is a rebuke, "I cannot marshall all their freedoms away, Theodore… nor can I put my foot down. The harder we try to enforce security, it will only lead to more leaks to be plugged as enterprising children find new means of bypassing them. As correct as you are… there is a delicate balance. This is a gilded cage, but the door remains open so that any can pass freely out. Otherwise, we would be no better than those who would turn you into a tool of industrial espionage.", and as Emma speaks she stirs her tea, and stares into it, "You share quite a bit with Mister Guthrie again… which is perhaps why you dislike me just as intensely." There's a sigh, and she finally says, "Give the drive to security… let them store it with other critical information. As much as I would take this peek into your world as you've offered it… I will not. You have no wish for me to be involved in your life, and even my position you have made clear is a hindrance. So we will leave things at this friendly level of antagonism… which I am far more accustomed to than anything else. As I said… Good Luck. And the School will be here when you get back… even if it has to come for you."

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