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Summary: Christopher drags Shane along with him to his Salon and Emma shows up because….she's Emma and we don't disclose that information.
Date: April 18, 2011
Log Title: Tiger Stripes
Rating: Log Rating.
Westchester - David's Salon
For a small salon outside of the big city, it definitely has a New York feel to it. Lines of shampoos, conditioners, and other hair products for sale line the front walls. The salon is decorated in darker colours giving it a sheik feel. The waiting area has tons of books on the latest hairstyles and black leather couches for customers to relax while waiting for a hair cut.
Christopher has some after hours work to do at the salon and knowing that Shane likes to dye her hair and such she invited her to come along. After a short drive from the school to Salem Center he's unlocked the shop, turned on the lights and music in the place. "I have a CD player in back so if you want to put on something else but showtunes feel free." He says as the soundtrack to Wicked plays over the speakers. "I figured since you seem to like to dye your hair I could show you some of my magazines and get you dye at cheaper prices."
Shane grunts a wordless, but probably not negative, reply, glancing around the salon and jamming her hands in her kangaroo pocket, careful not to touch anything as she ambles about the floor, brows furrowed. "…So this yours? Or you just work here?"
"This is mine." Christopher says as he goes behind the counter to start looking through some paperwork. "It's a lot of work but I love it. I love doing hair thought I cheat with dying." He admits. "I use my power on people's hair and just pretend I'm using real hair dye, that way my colour doesn't fade."
Shane's eyebrow rises, the girl turning to peer at the back of Christopher's head. "…So like, you charge them the same but don't actually do anything?" By the sound of her voice, the teenager doesn't seem to approve of the idea very highly. "And they don't know any different?"
Christopher shakes his head. "Oh no, no no no. I didn't mean that. They let me know what colour they want their hair, let's say as a red head. I just change them to the colour they desire." He says as he picks up a mug that's sitting on the receptionist desk can changes it from black to red to mauve to blue. "Just hair colour fades as you wash it out, it never stays as vibrant. I make sure it stays vibrant by using my powers."
"Ah," Shane says, at a loss for how else to respond to a much gentler truth than she'd suspected, one hand reaching up to fiddle with a lock of frizzy, but very eye-searingly yellow-green hair. "…So it's like, you change the whole color? Or could you do like patterns?"
"I could do whatever you wanted. If you wanted blue hair with pink spots I could do it for you." Christopher says. "Feel free to look around, if you need anything, shampoo, conditioner, new brushes, let me know. I don't mind giving stuff to students. I also don't mind offering haircuts or hair dying if you want it." Knowing he's offered before. "Whatever you wanted I don't mind doing. I could give a demo too if you like."
Shane lifts a shoulder, turning to amble about the shop's floor. "…When you're not busy," she says after a moment's silence, eyes straying to the inevitable portraits of Incredibly Beautiful Hair Models. "How much business d'you get out here, anyway?"
As if that was the perfect queue for such a thing to happen, the door chimes open to a busy but familiar voice saying into a high-end model PDA, "Listen to me you incessantly boring little man… I do not care if you have to commit seppuku with your damn foutain pen… you will go back in there, and you will get me that shipping contract for Fukushima. Because if -I- have to come out there… a severance package will be the LEAST of your problems…" And Emma Frost sighs deeply as she turns off the phone. Looking up and around at the place, she moves to the waiting area desk, saying almost absently, "Evening, Miss Morgenstern… I see you're doing well."
"Well I'll be not busy in about five minutes. Just got a few more things to work out here. One of the joys of owning your own business, book keeping." Christopher says with a chuckle. "If you want I can pamper you with a wash and blowdry as well." Not because he thinks Shane's hair needs it just because he knows some women find it relaxing. "Hello there Emma." Christopher says from behind counter. "I can always count on you to visit me after hours." He jokes.
Shane turns around, face paling at the sound of Emma Frost in a display of temper, hands darting back into her hoodie's kangaroo pocket. Peering at the woman's feet from behind deeply-ringed eyes, she twitches a shoulder, glancing at Christopher as if to check for signs he might be able to read deeper into Emma's comment. "……Guess so," she mumbles, edging around the counter and finding a chair to sit in up front. Eye contact avoided, physical contact avoided, conflict avoided. Mission accomplished.
Pausing for a moment, her brow arches at Christopher and then a smile curls up one side of Emma's lips, "Excuse me… I forgot the time. I've been arguing with one of my contract lawyers… honestly, is it too much to ask that a FEW things be run without my sayso on a day to day basis?" But the ire seems to relent a bit as she moves to sit herself to one side, "I was here second… see to Miss Morgenstern first… after all… a customer is a customer, and I don't mind sitting and pretending my roots have gone again for another half-hour or so." Not that anyone could tell with her keeping her illusion of perfection's edge about her.
"Well if you like I can move some of this to my back office and you two can talk or I can stay here and finish up this accounting while you two chat." Christopher says looking up at Shane. "That is if Shane is okay with it." He says giving her a smile. "I did tell her that I'd be free in a few minutes."
"I…." Eyes dart from Emma to Christopher, and her mouth closes with a snap. "….Y'okay, sure," she murmurs, shifting in her chair, her mind working furiously in the background, dissecting and analyzing every possible motive for Emma's question, and Christopher's offer to leave them alone. Whatever reasons she comes up with, the innocuous are swallowed in a rising tide of worry that some of the many, many less-than-friendly possibilities may end up true. And as before, it seems, the mode of thought is entirely out of reflex.
The phone goes off again, and Emma presses the decline call a bit more viciously than intended before saying to both, "Whatever works best for you both." Looking towards Shane for a moment, and letting her mind go that route, but her face betrays nothing as she then pushes up, "Actually… here… Christopher… let me finish your book-keeping while you work on Miss Morgenstern. I am in a dreadful need to distract myself. What do you say? Favor for a favor?"
"Okay, it's just some payroll numbers I'm crunching since I have to figure out the schedule for next week along with how much costs are. I don't mind doing it myself but if you want to look over my numbers." Christopher says as he gets up and walks over to Shane and holds out a hand with a smile. "So would like the whole wash and blow dry experience along with however you want your hair coloured?"
Shane blinks, surprised that the order of things can change this quickly, and suspecting it might be her fault. Clearing her throat, she slips out of the chair, shrugging. "…I guess, sure. …I mean if you're not busy or anything."
"Christopher is never too busy when it comes to a pretty young woman who is looking for a new outlook." Emma replies with a smirk as she stands and moves over to where Christopher was working. Almost humming to herself, she pushes her blonde hair back and begins to flip through the numbers, somehow managing to frown and smile at the same time, before saying with an almost gleefully cattish tone, "It's amazing how much you can learn about someone by how they keep their numbers. Some are elegant… some are churlish… these are… matching to their owner."
Christopher smiles at Shane and offers a hand to her so he can take her towards the stations in the back. "I dragged you out here so it's only fair that I do something to thank you for being company." He says. "So of course I'm not busy right now." He says before shrugging to Emma. "I try to keep on top of it and keep my numbers are organized as possible."
Shane doesn't seem to want to take Christopher's hand at first, but after a moment realization dawns that it's expected of her, and thus she allows herself to be led to the washing station. "…Well yeah," she says quietly, "but this's like what, thirty bucks of thank you?"
"Simple math, Miss Morgenstern… he can charge me whatever he does for you, if he needs to… since I expect to be overcharged for work, and will pay more for excellent work. But, that is the burden of being rich… one is expected to pay more." The last words from Emma said with a hint of rich amusement as her PDA comes out on one side, and a notebook on the other, and she begins to tap and scribble at the same time, eyes flicking back and forth over the ledger, "I think… if you follow some sound advice though, I can give you another six hours out of your employees and save you a bit of money…"
Christopher waves a hand at Emma. "I don't charge for coworkers or students at Xavier's." He then looks at Shane and grins. "Well if it's not enough for a thank you I can take you out fabric shopping in New York again." He offers as he gets her comfortable, well as comfortable as possible for Shane, so he can give her a shampoo and a bit of a scalp massage. "How so Emma, I just don't want to overwork my girls."
Shane stabs a Look at Christopher as she settles into the chair, leaning her head back. "…That's not what I meant, and you know it," she says, glancing at Emma and raising an eyebrow as business is discussed. The arcane science of making money flow, as alien and vaguely interesting as a Russian soap opera.
Emma replies as she looks over the numbers once more, "What you should do is take the lunch hour blocks of eleven to two, and break it into a set of nine appointments for each girl at twenty minutes per… then take two hours off for the post-work hours… not many come in during that time. That gives each girl time to clean her station, go out and get something to eat, and come back for the evenings. Give them all an hour lunch there, and that's five hours a week per girl. Hours you can put back into the till with an extended weekend time." Looking back up at Christopher, she then taps her notebook, "You can even coordinate your haircuts with other businesses. Like say… a bistro. They can place their order, come here, get their cut, and go back in time to pick up their food."
"I think about Emma." But it's obvious that Christopher isn't really sure about that idea after all he's not really that kind of boss. He smiles at Shane and finishes her hair before leading her to a chair so he can carefully comb out her hair and blow dry it. "So Shane, what did you want me to do to your hair, did you want a fun pattern?"
Shane opens her mouth, closes it, and seems to give the idea due thought. Indeed, with sneakers, old jeans, and an older hoodie, her hair seems to be the last thing she's *got* to seriously consider. "…Black and red. Like tiger stripes if you can. If not, half-inch stripes'd be fine."
Emma makes no comment on the hair coloring, but then strips out her notes, writes down a couple phone numbers, and then folds the book in half for Christopher to review later. After that she walks back over, and looks in the mirror behind Shane and Christopher, rubbing her chin with two fingers, "Well, this is one area where I refuse to offer advice. Though looking at you gives me an idea… Christopher… would you happen to have a measuring tape around I might use after you're done?"
"Measuring tape, like one for housework or one for measuring for sewing?" Christopher asks as he runs his fingers lightly through Shane's hair. Her hair turns black with tiger like stripes in it, but not chunks of red. It's actual stripes going horizontal through her hair in uneven stripes, like a tiger. "So did you want it like this or more just red streaks?"
Shane's eyebrows disappear into her bangs, as her hair changes color as easily as a drawn breath. Turning her head to one side, then the other, she nods once, lips twitching up at the corners. "…I like that. 'S good just that way. Thanks." Emma, given an odd look at the request for measuring tape, but it's not her place to speak up… yet.
Emma motions with her fingers in a circle, "Measure for sewing… I need her measurements… There's something I should have done a while ago… and I've been remiss in. Providing Miss Morgenstern with comfort and security."
Christopher smiles and leans in to whisper to Shane. "Anytime you want a change, find me. Really, it's no effort and it's fun." He squeezes her shoulders lightly and looks to Emma. "I think I have one in the back office, let me look." He says as he disappears for a few minutes and comes back, handing the cloth tape measure to Emma. "Here you go. I'm gonna look over what you gave me and then you're next Emma. And Shane, I'm glad you like it."
