4370/Weighed and Measured

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Weighed and Measured
Date of Scene: 01 May 2018
Location: Unknown
Synopsis: Summary needed
Cast of Characters: Speed, Emma Frost, Spider-Man




Speed has posed:
Snails never understood.

Sure, on the outside it looked like Tommy had blazed through his day's homework in about fifteen minutes but as Tommy sped up so too did his perceptions. So what was fifteen minutes for those looking in felt like hours of homework to Tommy.

Unlike most students he does his work in pen, computers can't keep up, and even then, Tommy has three spent and broken pens beside his work books, casualties of writing at super-speed. A fourth pen is added to the pile as Tommy finishes his work and takes a moment to flex tired fingers and let out a breath as he leans back in his chair.

The posture fit his carefully crafted look, his untucked but pressed button down, his new jeans, a pair of fresh Nikes and his hair perfectly arranged to make it look like he'd spent no time at all on it. School was a social battlefield and looking like he didn't care was Tommy's armor.

Emma Frost has posed:
Since her little talk with Julian, Emma felt mostly reassured that her protege was fitting in here at Xavier's School for the Gifted. Still, something he said gave her a moment's pause, and she'd decided that she needed to meet this young man that Julian had quite possibly befriended. If only to reassure herself that he was the sort she didn't mind hanging out with Julian - not that she was telling her student.

No.. that wouldn't do at all. This needed to be a private little visit. One that convinced the other boy it was his idea not to remain friends with Julian should Emma find him wanting..

She finds Tommy in the nearly empty study hall, and within short minutes of her arrival every last other straggler in the room found a reason to be elsewhere. Which, of course, Emma had helped along.

Sometimes it was good to be Emma.

Which left Tommy. Emma approaches his seat, the faintest of smiles upon her lips. "Young man."

Speed has posed:
Tommy still flexing his hands when he notices the other students packing up and going.

"Dave, you want to hit the town after this?" he asks one of the departing students.

"Yeah, later man, got to get somewhere."

Tommy nods, miming typing with his thumbs, "Text me when you're done."

Which to Tommy's brain would feel like a million years from now no doubt.

He stands, about to pack up and leave before suddenly there's a voice behind him. One he remembered from a few weeks back, he turns, "Ms. Frost," he says noting the smile. Oh, that wasn't good. "Anything I can do for you?" he asks in the same tone one might ask 'is there a problem officer'.

Emma Frost has posed:
That small, cool smile remains. "Tommy, isn't it?" As if she didn't know.

Emma gestures to the table the boy is at. "Do you mind if I join you?" Her tones making it abundantly clear that the question is rhetorical in nature, and that the boy should settle himself back into his seat, that she has plans to join him whether her wishes it or not.

Speed has posed:
He nods, keeping the Eddie Haskell act in place. "That's right. Tommy Shepherd," he supplies easily and when she 'asks' to join him he nods, "Sure thing," he says pulling out his chair and sinking into it. As he waits for her to do the same he arranges his books and things neatly in front of him subconsciously building himself a tiny wall to shelter behind.

Emma Frost has posed:
"Tommy. Shepherd."

Emma says his name as two distinct words with a small pause between each. Enough to say, or give the impression, thhat this isn't a social call. In others, it might produce a squirm. All the while, the woman aware of Tommy's vitals. His wall of books is noted with the slightest upturn at the corners of her lips. Predator meets prey style.

Seat taken, she asks the boy, "You haven't been here all that long, have you, Tommy?"

Speed has posed:
Tommy pulls at the corner of one of his work books, "That's me," he confirms with a grin before reining in his nervous fingers. He laces them infront of him on the table and nods, "No, I came here just after the Invasion, a friend of mine recommended me, hoping to graduate in June with the rest of the seniors."

His records suggest that's likely, even if it's only with a C average, but in all he's been better behaved than at his last school, where, according to police he blew up a large chunk of it and possibly one of his teachers when he discovered his powers.

Emma Frost has posed:
There's a soft and considered hrm from Emma. So far the boy was sticking to the story his files told. "Yes. The invasion. It disrupted many. And this friend of yours would be..?"

His nervousness is watched, with little attempt on Emma's part to make the boy feel more comfortable. At this juncture she wants him aware that he is in the spotlight. Let him think it is to do with his schooling. His records. Seeing how he is fitting in. when she makes the segue to Julian - /should/ she make the segue to Julian - she's hoping for palpable relief that thrusts the boys together and solidifies their relationship.

So far, Tommy is responding predicatably. It's boring, but expected.

Speed has posed:
Tommy nods, "Yeah, it did, I was there by the way, the final battle, it was-" his eyes grow a little wider. "-something. I hit the guy though, Darkseid," he says that proudly. He had too, once. The rest of the fight had been handled by more powerful beings than himself, it had been at once humbling and inspiring.

"He goes by Vorpal," Tommy answers. "I met him after the Invasion, he used to go here and made the call to give me a chance to meet with Mr. Summers and he got me in here," he says, the play to authority, was obvious, a declaration that he could be here, one of the big names at the school said so! The move gave away what worried him most about this encounter, that it was a prelude to this place being ripped away from him.

Emma Frost has posed:
"Interesting," Emma nods, as much to herself as to his words. Her mind wandering off and putting the boy's story away into the nooks and crannies of her mind, to amalgamate with all the other stories she is learning here. "I see. So, this Vorpal, he helped you get in contact with Mr. Summers."

Again she nods, this time allowing a faint, almost indulgent smile. The kind notoriously given by people in authority everywhere. Perfectly engineered to leave you squirming, while at the same time feeling vaguely nutured. "Would it surprise you to know that I've been looking at your student records?"

He played Summers. Emma feels justified in playing the lacklustre academic showing card.

Speed has posed:
Tommy nods, "That's one word for it," he says before nodding. "Yeah, I think he might have called Mr. Wagner first but I met with Mr. Summer and he let me in." Of course there were stipulations like GPA, but he'd been given a full ride everything paid for. Just the way he says 'he let me in' shows that single gesture still boggles him.

He blinks, the smile does its job and he shifts uncomfortably in his chair, "I've met my requirement, right?" he asks, assuming he'd gotten to what this was about. He swallows, adding: "Academically, I mean."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma's gaze lingers upon Tommy, letting him draw each and every one of his failings to the forefront of his thoughts - easily plucked from him by the woman. Or should be provided he has no defences against it. And she waits for the boy to do her work for her and speak to his own faults.

It will.. she notes, allow her to step in and be the saving angel. The vision of redemption. And certainly not the bad guy.

Speed has posed:
His thoughts come on in a rush, running through his failings: he wasn't applying himself to his studies (they were sooo slow and boring!), he was mean to some of the other students, he'd fallen back on using his powers to steal to keep up his wardrobe (when you can phase through walls and run at the speed of sound stealing was stupid easy), and he was sneaking out to clubs on the weekend using his fake ID.

The silence seems to stretch on forever for him until finally he has to fill it with words, "Right? I mean, I can stay, right?"

Emma Frost has posed:
There's almost a smile from the woman as he asks that. Emma's lips forming that indulgence again, then slipping into something that suggests he's made it quite difficult for her to be on his side in this matter.

"I suppose the real question here, Tommy, is do you think you deserve to stay? After all, you've been given quite the unique opportunity with your.. well, admission to Xavier's. Not so many are afforded the gift you were given."

A pause.

"How do you feel about your performance here?" ...the 'honestly' is implied.

Speed has posed:
"I know," Tommy says about being given a spot at Xavier's. "I understand just how much my staying here costs and that the school is picking up the tab, and I'm definitely trying to be worthy of that," he says. And he had, for a few months before old habits got the better of him. He frowns, sizing Emma up, trying to see how best to phrase his answer to appeal to her.

"Truth is, Ms. Frost, I think I let things slip, which I know is bad, but I think I still deserve to be here, it's the only shot at a future that I have after my incident and what was done to me. If I need to do better, or you guys are changing the deal, let me know, I'll do what I need to do to stay." He says his gambit made. The thing of it was, it wasn't even lies, just a custom sculpted version of the truth. One he hoped was to Ms. Frost's liking.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma /almost/ laughs. The sound is there, but it's a chill little thing that can't truly be called a laugh. Not unless you're a fan of mystery and horror theatre, and consider the macabre chuckle issuing forth from the villain to be an amusement. Not that Emma is a villain. Or even that the sound is macabre. More, it's that there is no life to the thing. It's not only perfunctory, but a statement upon how well, and how poorly, Tommy's statement has worked upon her.

"Oh, my dear boy, you will have to do better than that if we're going to continue to have these talks." Emma sighs, and returns her features to their usual considered things. Observant and cool. "Truth is, Tommy, you're wasting your opportunity here. After your incident and what was done with you, you should be grateful for an opportunity like Xavier's, not wearing it upon your sleeve like a beggar's cup."

She eyeballs him calmly. "Tell me, has that always worked for you in the past?"

Speed has posed:
Tommy flinches at the laugh. Yeah, he missed his mark there, his mind scrambles to recover.

"Better how?" he asks, with a fair approximation of innocence before he listens to what she has to say. By how he frowns the words hit their mark.

"I am grateful!" he insists. "It's just, school and me, I, whatever, never got along, it's so slow, like painfully slow. It's made for snails not people like me." That much was honest.

He considers his answer to the last, it's not so much a request for information as a confession. "Maybe. Depends on what you mean," he answers arms crossing over his chest.

Emma Frost has posed:
"Let's not pretend you're stupid, Tommy. You're a very smart boy. Smart enough to have survived this long despite all manner of things that would lay someone lesser out. And you're scraping by the bottom of the barrel by hardly paying attention to what it is you're here to learn."

She lets him sit with that a moment before continuing.

"I can't imagine that your slacking off is any less boring than applying yourself. Nor can I imagine that one such as yourself shouldn't be able to think of actual applicable ways to get the most from this experience. Hrm?" Again with the cool smile.

"What I mean, Tommy," Emma's words are pointed, "Is, what is it you want of your future? To always play the manipulating fool, or something better? It seems to me we have enough of the one, and you're being offered a unique opportunity to be the other. So, I ask again, do you deserve to be here?"

Speed has posed:
Tommy isn't called 'smart' very often. It draws a curious frown from him and has a silvery-white brow arch over an eye. Though he doesn't speak. Not at first, turning over what's said in his brain before he trusts himself with words. Ironically, the process makes him feel anything but smart.

"No, not really," he admits. "To be honest, I am sort of lost on where I am going with all of this," he says gesturing around at the room. "I don't really know what I want from it or what it can really give me. I mean eventually I graduate, and then what? I don't have anyone to pay my way for college and even if I did, I don't know what I could be here except what I already am."

Emma Frost has posed:
"Ah." Emma nods. The boy having walked himself right into the crux of her argument, and the actual meat of this conversation. "You've touched upon the heart of it, haven't you, young Tommy. What it is that you are."

Again that cool smile for the boy, touched with the briefest of indulgence. "What you are is unique. I dare say you've never had that beaten into you with any thoughts of the positive, hrm? No fear. We shall not beat you with it. However, what if I were to say to you that you could be anything you wanted. What if I were to say to you that you could be better than you think you are?"

Upon the table between them, her fingers thread to one another, the index fingers steepling. "Forget money. That's a paltry argument. The rest, however.."

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter Parker wore a sky blue dress shirt, which probably could have used an ironing. He had actually ironed the darn thing today, but he had to change into his other clothes, so it got stuffed into a backpack, and well, that happened often. Peter actually wasn't nearly as scruffy as he sometimes came across, but at least he was a top notch teaching assistant, able to handle his own course despite the 'assistant' modifier. Heading into the Study Hall, he noted a conversation in progress. He didn't mean to snoop, but he had heard Emma giving some positive reinforcement, talking about how Tommy was a smart boy. So he wandered over. There was a book about Egyptian hieroglyphics under his arm, as he had recently tussled with someone calling themselves King Tut, but that was very off the record stuff. He coughs nervously when Emma mentions money. He really, really wanted to contradict her there, but he didn't. It would have been wrong to do that to a fellow teacher, especially one senior in title, if not longevity, to him.

Speed has posed:
"What I am?" Tommy asks. "You mean a mutant?" That had always been the core of his identity, the thing that made him special.

The rest is met with a skeptical look. "Easy to say if you've got money, it's a problem if you don't." He says, "As to your questions, I am not sure what I'd say, I am not even sure what I want to be."

The presence of Professor Parker is noted and he's given the slightest of nods, even as he begins to close down. Emma had chipped away at his tough exterior to get him this far, now though it begins to be put back into place with new ears close at hand.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma sits up, Peter's presence noted.

"Easily enough said, yes. And I am saying it." The implication being, should he follow, that perhaps he might wish to find out more about Ms. Emma Frost himself, and then ask those questions again to see if his answers come up the same.

She taps the table between them, her hands coming away and removing to her lap. "I would ask a favour, Tommy. I have a student who, like yourself, is trying to fit in. I think you might be of benefit to one another... being like minded individuals."

Again with the coding.

"I expect the next we speak that you might have better answers to my questions. Now, run along. I do believe Mr. Parker there wishes to have words with me."

Dismissing Tommy with one hand, while removing Peter's ability to interfer with the other.

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter didn't like that the first thing Tommy thought of himself was that he was a mutant, but when given the nod, he interjects, "Tommy, your species of the genus homo shouldn't really be what defines you. It's part of you, always will be, and yes, like a lot people here, you're special. But you were special as Tommy Shepherd first. Never forget that. You are Tommy Shepherd, and in the 100 billion planets of the Milky Way Galaxy, you are the only Tommy Shepherd. You've been shaped by your experiences, you are unique. And you're going to do great things. I know it." Then to Emma, he quirks a brow, "uh, not really, I was just coming here for a bit of light reading." He tapped the Egyptology book, which apparently was light by his definition.

Speed has posed:
Tommy nods, "You mean Julian right?" he asks about the student, even while mulling over what Emma said. "And I'll think on your questions," he promises. Though Peter's interjection, is met with a bit of a grin. "Sure thing, Professor," he agrees all too readily.

When he's dismissed he nods, "Enjoy, thanks for the talk," he says gathering up his things before he takes his leave at a normal pace.

Emma Frost has posed:
Tommy gets a pleased inclination of head. "Indeed. Julian. At any rate, depsite what Mr. Parker says, it's time for you to flee, Tommy. We have other business to discuss. Come see me in office hours."

And she dismisses the boy, turning her attention to Peter.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Oh, I'm not a Professor." He was Mr. Parker. "I'm just a glorified T.A." Peter does give Tommy a friendly pat on the back as he heads out, "remember what I said Tommy." Then he took a seat next to Emma, and after Tommy was out of earshot, he said to Emma, "Professor Frost. I really didn't have anything to speak with you specifically about, though if you'd like to talk, I'm all ears. How are you settling in here at Xavier's?"


Emma Frost has posed:
Emma quirks a brow at Peter. "Please. You might say you have nothing to speak to me about, but that cough moments ago would beg to differ. As was that little demonstrative speech about how he was Tommy Shepherd first."

Peter gets one of those cold little smiles that never reach her eyes. "Tell me, what do you know of the boy? I'm curious."

Spider-Man has posed:
"I was just trying to encourage him. We are all special in our own way, from the Flash and Tony Stark, to Tommy, and Anne Ghazikhanian," the last one being the school nurse, a human like Peter. "I don't actually know that much about him, since I haven't actually taught a class he's been in, but I've seen him in the hallways, study hall, and other parts of the campus." He decides not to bring up the thing about money and his cough.

Emma Frost has posed:
"I see," Emma answers slowly. Entirely too slowly, letting the calm and measured pace of her words be a statement against the man she's speaking to. "And based on that small amount you felt qualified to speak against the matter of his being a mutant."

She nods, much as if to herself. Dismissively, even, and certainly with disappointment behind the gesture.

"The fact of the matter, Mr. Parker, is, that Tommy /is/ a mutant. A fact that has been used against him. Used to harm him, even. Your.. words.. however well meaning, weren't."

She offers Peter a smile that suggests he might be only slightly above a dimwitted uncle in her estimation. "And that little cough? A none to subtle way of drawing attention to the fact that I'd overstepped my bounds by suggesting money didn't have to be a stumbling block? Or did I miss your meaning there?"

Spider-Man has posed:
Dismissive as she might be, Peter wasn't budging, from his point of view, or shrieking under the stare of the billionaire. "Homo sapiens sapiens, homo sapiens superior, homo sapiens mermanus, homo sapiens inhumanus, homo sapiens magi... we're all homo sapiens. We may be different species, but we are all of the same genus. We are all human. We all have hopes and dreams, aspirations, wants, desires, strengths, flaws, obsessions, interests. We can receive each blood transfusions from each other, donor organs, we are the same. And everyone is unique in their own way. We all add something to this world. We all make our mark. Being a mutant is a statistical minority. It has repercussions. There are people out there who hate and fear them. But there are people out there who hate and fear people because of the colour of their skin, the religion they follow, the language they speak, their culture. There are a lot of people out there who use things to divide us. But I believe in Professor Xavier's dream that we can all live together. That's why this school has people like me, like Nurse Anne, people who aren't mutants, working here, teaching, helping, showing these kids what the world can be. And... in my experience, it's only people who have money that don't think it matters." That last bit, well, he overstepped the mark. But he grew up struggling to survive. He wasn't that bad, there were people worse off, but money was always tight in the Parker household.


Emma Frost has posed:
There's a chill little laugh from Emma, "Oh, you delightful thing. And, of course, you suffer from the misconception that I might not believe in the same thing. How.. quaint."

Of course she doesn't make it sound either quaint, or admirable.

"What the boy needs, is to have a sense of the value in that which is abhored about himself - his very mutantness. He's been given the impression that it is something not only to fear, but to hate about himself. Its very being used to torment and torture him. Your words, however well meant, dismiss the very side of him that will allow him to embrace both sides of himself. You, in effect, have merely been the voice of what he's been led to believe: that his mutant side is something to revile."

She takes a slow breath, and pushes her chair out from the table she'd sat at with Tommy prior to his leaving.

"As to the matter of money, were the question rhetorical, its validity remains. It is not unusual to ask a youth what they wish to make of themselves, were all barriers removed."

There is another of those chill smiles as she rises from her seat. "And were it not rhetorical, did it ever occur to you that the matter of my asking what if I could say that money were no object, that perhaps I had intentions to offer the boy his future, should he wish to grasp any future he might? Or would you prefer to paint me cold and crass?"

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter was not in a position to argue with people often. He was not a psychologist. He was pretty sure that Emma Frost wasn't one either, but that was going from memory, and while he had heard about some of her qualifications when she joined the school, it was more water cooler talk. He hadn't actually seen a file. "People only abhor that which they don't understand. He can embrace him, and everything that entails, without jettisoning the rest of him. Being a mutant isn't something to revile. But it's not all that he is. Look at Dr. McCoy. He is a mutant, yes, and that's part of him, but he's also a world renowned scientist. Look at Drake," he meant the artist, "he's Jewish, and that's part of him, but he's also a world renowned singer. My point is, these things matter, but they do not define us. No one thing should. We all have choices to make, throughout our lives, big ones, small ones, and they define us. We are what we choose to do, where we choose to do it, when, and why. And... Piotr's way better with a brush." He grinned, really not wanting to get into the financial side of the discussion, plus, she did have a point on that one.


Emma Frost has posed:
There's a pained expression from Emma, who, while she hadn't a degree in psychology, /had/ had a lot of experience with understanding the human psyche. Not only as a matter of course at being able to pick people's and hear their thoughts, but through her professions, not only as a former exotic dancer, but as a businesswoman. In short, you didn't need a degree in psychology to know how to understand and manipulate people, and in this, she didn't feel she was wrong. Nor was she going to let a scrawny chit of a boy speak to her as an authority about something he knew nothing about: being a mutant.

"The boy can't embrace the entirety of himself until he learns to embrace that which is his mutantness. Until he's comfortable with that, and can discard the past traumas that being a mutant afforded him, Mr. Parker."

Emma ennunciates his name as two very separate and distinct words, punctuated by enough silence between them that they really are of two sentences.

"And, again, you assume that I am not also advvocating that he understand and accept his non-mutant side. Againt, a matter he can not, until he understands that it is also not a thing to revile. Which it remains as long as it is the source of his past pains for his lack of being fully non-mutant."

"You. Mr. Parker. Are not a mutant, are you?"

As though that single, solitary statement explains so much.

Spider-Man has posed:
He listened to her. He nodded along in understanding, if not necessarily agreement. While she enunciated so precisely, his tone was warmer, friendlier, being the antithesis of the White Queen. He was the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man, in or out of costume. "No, I am not a mutant," was his simple but polite reply to her question. "And there are aspects I will never understand, no matter how much I read, or witness. I can empathise, but I will never identify with a mutant. Nor will I ever identify with a number of other segments of the population. There are a multitude of ways we can divide ourselves. But I will always believe that we are more alike, than we are dissimilar."


Emma Frost has posed:
It is that last that earns a small noise of assent from the woman. "And in that, we can agree. However, by forgetting what we are, we open ourselves up to abuses. Much as history is doomed to repeat if we do not learn from it. However, I do believe that we have hit the stalemate of of differing vantage points on this matter. Let it suffice that we understand one another, even if we do not fully agree. Hrm?"

Spider-Man has posed:
"With Tommy, I'll back off. He's not my student anyway. But I will continue to support anyone that I see who I think I can help. And I'll be mindful of your words." He knew he was a guest here. He was supposed to help teach the students, and he in turn was learning from Dr. McCoy. "Sound good?"


Emma Frost has posed:
Emma allows herself to be mollified by the offered truce. Or, at the very least, to make it seem that his words have placated her. After all, none of this will help Julian if she alienates herself from the rest of the staff. And, it would seem, her point was heard, if not bowed to. The rest? Well, better someone like Peter than herself putting bandages on the scraped knees of every lost soul..

"I do believe that suffices, Mr. Parker, or might I call you Peter?" That cool smile lighting upon him as though she were nothing but congenial, offering to exchange names, even.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Of course... Emma." That sounded very strange coming from his lips. "Yeah, Peter's fine, but I think Ms. Frost might be better coming from me." He laughed a little. It really did sound awkward.


Emma Frost has posed:
"Of course, Peter." She gives him an expectant look. "If that was all?"

As though she'd deigned to offer him her time and he'd outstayed his welcome, and not that she had waylaid him to have this conversation.