4346/Catching up with the White Queen

Catching up with the White Queen
Date of Scene:	26 April 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Emma visits Julian, and a teenager becomes a little more humble.
Cast of Characters:	Hellion, Emma Frost

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Hellion has posed:
     Things had been relatively quiet on the student front. Julian was able to join the other students of Xavier's with relative ease.

  However, the young telekinetic's made a name for himself as being brash, boastful, and a bit of a rebel. All the things that should be expected from Emma Frost's transfer student. The young mutant was in the study hall, along with study, he was engrossed with an advertisement, for the island of Genosha it seems.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma, meanwhile, was.. well, trying to fit in was perhaps an overstatement of the situation, but she was at least making an effort not to alienate herself from the rest of faculty here. ..Other than that one fateful after hours encounter with Hank.

However, she expected it was time enough to check in on her protege and see how he was faring. Especially as those very descriptive words had drifted to her ears. She'd left him long enough to make his own way, but there came a time to bring matters back to bear.

"Julian." Her clipped voice isn't raised, and yet it still manages to cut through the air in the study hall between the two of them, as though she'd spoken much more emphatically than she actually has. "A moment of yoru time."

Notably, she does not say 'please'.

Hellion has posed:
     Julian's cobalt eyes shoot up at the voice, suddenly the phone he was looking at is placed face first down on the table, and he stands. "Ms. Frost, of course." He responds, out of almost every adult that's been in his short life so far, Emma was given the most respect,he wasn't so naive to think of her as a surrogate parent, but the strongest mentor possible.

  He motions to the table he was sitting at, luckily the late hour meant they had the hall to themselves.

Emma Frost has posed:
One of Emma's brows shoots up fractionally. "I see. Studying, hrm?"

Her smile is its usual chill, though her words aren't ice. And she comes to sit across from him.

"I was thinking it about time we had a little talk about how you're settling in here." It's not a question, but neither has she left him in the limbo she might have had she stopped her statement at 'about time we had a little talk'.

Hellion has posed:
     Julian's usual cool expression turns to a tinge of a smile. "Study break." She would know he wasn't studying that much. But he excelled in the classes he needed to.

  "I'm getting along fine, funny enough most of the kids here are the kind I figured would be." He was an elitist, but there were people he was growing friends with. Few as they may be, by choice. Julian never got along with everyone, but only a select few. The others, he was ruthless with, most of those others he felt deserved it. But he never got into it with the fragile ones, he mainly butted heads with other alphas.

Emma Frost has posed:
There's something of a soft chuckle from Emma. Barely enough to truly denote that she's possibly amused. The sound so very fleeting it's gone almost as quickly as it's identified.

"Studying? So you say." She nods. "And just what kinds is that you thought, Julian?" Her attention firmm upon him as she waits for his answer.

Hellion has posed:
     "What can I say? I multitask." Julian's thoughts then go to the last question from Emma. A somber tone from the telekinetic. "Lots of..." He sighs lightly, but finishes. "Lots of hard cases. You know, kids dumped by their families, or worse." He looked genuinely saddened and angered by the thought. Though his own family pretty much did the same to him.

Emma Frost has posed:
There's a pause from Emma. Something of a moment that might be considered 'thought' in another, but with her is most likely a matter of her precision. "And?" Her prompt is, surprisingly, much gentler than one might expect of her.

Hellion has posed:
     "And it just sucks. I mean, the super cuddly feeling of this place really wrecks my sh-mood. But I can't take that out on the students." Succinct, and true. The telekinetic however never shows away from Emma's eyes.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma nods, the very corners of her lips twitching upwards fractionally as he acknowledges his priviledge.

"Good. I'm glad you came to that realization on your own. I'd have to have had to impart it upon you." Her lips return to their normal thinly pressed line. "As for them ruining your mood, Julian, you will learn in this life that you will have to pretend an awful lot. Especially given who and what you are. There are those who will not appreciate you, and the better you get at hiding your true feelings, the better. Consider it your next lesson."

She regards him carefully.

"Do I make myself clear?" Relenting only enough to impart, "I don't expect you to be touchy feely, but I do expect to hear from you what you've learned about that 'cuddly feeling' as you call it the next we meet."

Hellion has posed:
     Julian regards Emma's words fully. She wanted him to play nice with the others. "Yes Ms. Frost." He responds, if only a touch amiss on how long he will be able to keep the charade up.

  "Is there, I mean, what's the reason for it? You know I'm...well me." If this were any other school he'd most likely be a football quarterback or something equally as dreadfully stereotypical jockish.

Emma Frost has posed:
'Play nice' wasn't quite the fullness of definition Emma wanted him to understand, but it was sufficient. She also wanted him to observe others around him, and learn *how* to fit in. How to gauge their moods. Their attitudes. Even more, to understand what function these things held in any group.

It was, she knew, a very large portion for the boy to swallow, but she had faith that over time he'd begin to understand what she was trying to teach him here.

"The reason for which, Julian? I'm afraid you're going to have to be clearer."

Hellion has posed:
     He bites his lower lip for a moment, trying to put the thought to words. "Is this solely for my benefit, or are you trying to keep everyone else from seeing how I was, at the Academy." He ran the roost, and was known as quite the hot head, obviously.

  Chalk it up to youthful bravado, even if Julian would have a hard time with it, he would do everything to not disappoint Emma.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma settles back in herr seat, and regards Julian quietly. She keeps this up long enough that most people would have become quite uncomfortable. Worse, she is most certainly well aware of this fact.

"Tell me, Julian," she ventures finally. "Why do you think I brought you here with me? I'm curious to understand your thoughts upon the matter."

And in doing so, force the young man to engage in some much needed self-awareness, but also, in understanding the motives of others.

Hellion has posed:
     "You brought me here because my abilities are great, in both senses." A slight pause, and the first time he breaks eye contact. A sigh, he was having a difficult time with it. "You want me to be more than just telekinesis. You want me to be someone better than that." And he soon sees his own folly, a glimpse of that self awareness she was looking for. "Not to be the villain."

Emma Frost has posed:
It's a start. Emma is willing to allow that, and as such offers the boy a small smile.

"See, you're learning already. Yes, Julian. I want you to be more than. You have a unique opportunity to be a leader in our community, and as such you can not be merely another face in the crowd. You must be *the* face in the crowd."

"Our road is not an easy one. Nor should it be. But if we are better than, then we must not fall prey to the foibles they accuse us of. I want you to be an exemplar, Julian. More, I wish you to always to be proud of who you are and what you have done."

Shhe lets him sit with that for several long, uncomfortable moments before asking quietly, almost gently, "Are you proud of yourself, Julian? Truly?"

Hellion has posed:
     Julian can not help but rise up a bit with pride as Emma explains what she wants him to be. But he deflated a bit once she asks him if he truly is proud of himself. "I've done lots of shit, getting in trouble, starting more than one fight. All after my parents got rich. Then I found out I could move things with my mind." A small point of introspection before he continues. "I'm proud of being a mutant, proud of what I can do. But I can't say I'm proud of all of myself."

  He had a great amount of pride, but all associates with his abilities, his actions at times were harsh or even criminal.

Emma Frost has posed:
"Julian," Emma says softly, her words very carefully couched in tones that bear little to none of her usual ice. "You will have failures. I expect that. Just as I expect you to learn from your mistakes and rise above them. As long as you continue to to that in the manner I am witnessing, I will remain proud to call you my protegee."

She nods at the rest of what he says, the gentleness slipping behind her usual mask of icy disregard again. "I will tell you this, Julian. You will find yourself in situations where you will not always be proud of what you do. There will be times you have no choice about such things. I would hope that those times are few and far between."

"It is what you do with the times you have a choice over that matter most. The potential I see within you?" She shakes her head. "So much more than the powers you possess. I had my pick of students, Julian. I chose you."

The unasked, but implied, is 'why'.

Hellion has posed:
     The reassuring words from Emma stick with Julian. A deep breath before his confident smile reaches his face again. "Thank you Ms.Frost. I...am glad you see that I could be who you say I can be."

  He is almost at a loss for words, but he does manage to reiterate what he told her a long while ago. "There was a reason I chose to be called Hellion." He says with a great deal of pride behind that statement. "I want to be the best." But it was more than that. "I want kids like these to not have to worry about their families abandoning them, or have to fight to the bone to keep going on with their lives."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma's features slide into an indulgent and pleased smile.

"That, there, Julian, is why you're my student, and not so many others. It was never because of your power potential. I want you to remember that."

She allows the smile to remain moments long. Long enough for her to ask, "How about other matters? You're being treated well? Classes are sufficient? Do you think you can comforatbly call this your home for the time being?"

There's an imperceptible pause.

"Anything I should know or be aware of?"

Hellion has posed:
     Julian gives a little bit of a humble smile at the mention of why. "Thank you." His words are genuine, and he lets out a happy sigh.

  "The classes are good, a little boring but it's better than any public school I've gone to. Everyone is nice, a little too nice sometimes. But Tommy, he's pretty chill, like...we come from the same planet it seems." He can surely call Xavier's home, the Beverly Hills mansion surely wasn't. "It's not Metropolis, but I like seeing more grass than concrete around for once."

  Then there was another point, his power studies. "Ms. Grey seems to know her stuff with telekinesis, she's not too bad. Having another TKer to learn from has me thinking about it in different ways."

Emma Frost has posed:
"Good," Emma gives a succinct little nod that sumamrizes the rightness and fitness of his experience and observations. "It's a decent enough place for what you need to learn now. These people will be people who wil look up to you in the future, and they'll remember being here with you. In fact, as much as I regret the loss of the Academy, in some ways I could not have engineered this more perfectly to suit our needs."

She realizes she's drifted perhaps a tiny bit too far in her thoughts and draws her attention back.

"Ah. So Ms. Grey is aware of you now?" There's a knowing little smile from Emma. "Good. It saves that awkward conversation. As it is I've drawn her the roadmap she needs to myself. And, yes. You need someone who can teach you the specifics of your skill. I can give you many things, but that is not my area of expertise. Learn what she is willing to teach you. Challenge yourseslf and her."