5034/Summer Relaxation

Summer Relaxation
Date of Scene:	27 July 2018
Location:	Westchester Country Club
Synopsis:	Emma and Ororo spent their Friday at Westchester Country Club. Ororo sends Emma on an intelligence gathering mission.
Cast of Characters:	Storm, Emma Frost

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Storm has posed:
Westchester Country Club.

199 Manursing Way. 10580.

    Almost twenty miles from Westchester, New York, lay the Westchester Country Club. Offering two championship golf courses and amazing amenities for its members, the best offer is possibly the massages. This is what Ororo is getting currently, her head against a massage table as Abel puts pressure on the sides of her body, working his firm hands around her to release tension.

    "Mmmm," is a response that is common, Ororo feeling her worries wash away against the beach front. She can hear the waves wash against the beach affording her a harmonious calm, which soothes her. "Harder."

    Ororo can hear the steps of someone else, and she attempts to turn her head but can't because of the massage chair. "Emma?" she asks.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost. Doesn't like being touched at the best of times, even if a massage can be a delightful thing. However, times and places, and today is neither the time, nor the place, though she has deigned to accept the mani-pedi option that Westchester proudly offers. Not accepting the massage hasn't stopped Emma from dressing down and arriving into the private space wearing only her (very, very expensive) undergarments, and a thick terry robe that all the clients are offered when availing of personal services.

That, and she's carrying a glass of champagne.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into this, Ororo." Still, there's a hint of amusement in her voice. Emma settles into one of the oversized leather chairs that have been custom built for the mani-pedi process. "The champagne is passable, though. I daresay I might not despise the whole process."

Storm has posed:
    "Because you need to--" Ororo pauses as Abel massages the small of her back. "--to get away from--" Another pause. "--from the- okay, stop. Stop."

    Ororo pushes herself up from the massage, allowing a towel to fall to the side. She is wearing a not so expensive bikini, allowing her Kenyan curves to show. The white Mohawk is set in place, freeing her exotic, blue eyes from her hair. "Sorry, sir. You're fine," she offers, turning to Emma.

    "You more than others need to get out of the mansion from time to time," Ororo begins, "or you turn into the bee-word." The honesty is there because Ororo cares. "Besides, would you have really turned down this offer in place of getting your lesson plans ready for next semester?"

Emma Frost has posed:
There's a delicate arch of brow from Emma, who, at this very moment, is having the very expensive flipflops that the Club provides, taken from her feet, and each foot placed in a basin of lightly scented water - enriched with essential oils.

"The b word? Oh my. I wasn't aware we were eight and unable to make full statments. And just what is it you're trying to say? That I'm unpleasant to be around?" Emma exhales slowly, taking a small sip from her glass. "Besides, I had no plans on updating my lessons. It's not as if any of the students have any actual interest or passion on the subject. What's there already suffices."

The way she says it, one might think she doesn't care one way or another. Then again, those who know her passingly well enough to glimpse past the wall of ice might consider the matter from a slightly different matter.

Not that she'd admit it, but the warm water in the basin, and her feet resting upon the thick cloth placed in the bottom of it for comfort, is actually quite relaxing, and something she'd missed these past months: pampering herself.

Storm has posed:
Abel nods to Ororo's apology and fetches her a crystalline flute. He pours champagne into it expertly and offers it. "Thank you," she replies with a smile, taking a sip before she rolls her eyes just a little.

    "I try not be crude by cursing, Emma, and yes. Sometimes it is hard for some people to be around you. You are an impossible person, which is why I invited you outside of the mansion walls." Ororo takes another sip of her wine, taking notice of Emma utilizing the services afforded to them.

    "I find Business Administration fascinating, for one. Two, you know a lot about the subject and teach very well. Your approach is very succinct. Why do you think they haven't taken an interest in it?" It is a genuine question, as Ororo enjoys education and knows how certain interests fluctuate as time passes.

Emma Frost has posed:
"I'm not difficult, Ororo. I merely fail to see the point in pandering to people I have no interest in cultivating anything further than a cursory acquaintance with. Honestly, if they weren't so banal and boring I might actually see my way to rising to the occassion."

Emma shrugs, and notes, "As to why no interest? Likely because too many of them are flighty young things caught in the throes of finding themselves" - and their newfound powers - "and anything that detracts from that is not only boring and tedious, but something only old people are interested in. As if they haven't futures ahead of them where such skills will be important. That or I'm getting too old for this."

Storm has posed:
    "This is why you have no friends," Ororo jokes, smirking slightly at the jab. She knows Emma has friends, of which are most likely in another tax bracket than Ororo's friends, but the thought of her not-- it is amusing.

    "We're all getting too old for this," Ororo responds, even though she is Emma's junior by nearly a decade. It is either that, or teaching super-human teenagers take a lot of energy and hassle. "Mind as well look and feel great while doing it." She raises her flute in a 'cheers' while she says that.

    "How long has it been since you've been with the school?" she asks.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma has.. well, if you can call them friends, she has friends. They certainly aren't people she'd share her life story with. Or her deepest thoughts. Or anything even remotely akin to what would pass as an actual relationship. However, they serve purposes. They're backing when she needs it. Alliances in business deals. Walls to stand behind and create the illusion that all is right in her world.

Whether or not all is right in Emma's world is up for debate. Few, if any, get close enough to her to know the truth of the matter. With Emma, it's all layers of deception and carefully crafted facades.

There's an almost smile from the woman, though, as Storm lifts her glass and toasts; Emma's own lifted in like kind, and sipped from.

"Well, one hardly needs a reason to look great." She considers the answer to the question over a mouthful of champagne. "Since mid-last semeseter."

It was true, Emma arrived rather abruptly, and was ensconsed as Business Administration in a move that had no fanfare and wasn't quite explained by Jean. Just one day Emma wasn't at Xavier's, and the next she was. Though the astute, and those who cared to dig for such tidbits, might have discovered that Emma's departure from the Academy of Tomorrow wasn't a mutually agreed upon matter, and that Emma may not have been pleased about that lateral move. Still, by all accounts, she did right by Xavier's and the students there. Whatever Emma herself might think about matters, she didn't shirk her duties.

Storm has posed:
    Ororo takes another sip of champagne and nods her head at Emma's response. A manicured index finger rises at the recognition in her memories. "That's right," she remembers. "It was a little bit before Charles asked me to step in for Scott."

    "It feels like time is just flying by," Ororo says, turning as her hand is softly gripped. Abel is refreshing the flute in her hand, which almost instantly returns her gaze back to Emma.

Emma Frost has posed:
"And yet," Emma observes, "Time seems to stand entirely too still."

Of course she has her own reasons to consider things just so. Not the least of which is the ever-present consideration of how to get her own school back. She'd yet to find a solution that didn't require more of her than she was currently ready to give.

"How are you finding matters? And he's returned in the interim. I trust there's no ill-will between the two of you?"

Storm has posed:
    "No ill-will at all, and I wouldn't expect any from either of us." Ororo's words are confident and sure, developed from years of working with Scott Summers, the X-Men, and the school.

    She nods to Abel's offer and steps from the massage table. Preferring a lounge chair now that her massage is over, Ororo settles next to Emma. The champagne flute is placed onto a sturdy table, allowing Ororo to gracefully fall into the chair.

    "We are that family that doesn't fight over titles, positions." For years, Ororo held her team's back from behind someone else or from the sidelines. This is her opportunity to learn from the past to make the future better and brighter.

    Seeing one of the guests reminds Ororo of something. "I've been meaning to ask you something, actually. At the Hellfire Club, the leaders are named after chess pieces, yes?"

Emma Frost has posed:
"I daresay you're a better person than I," Emma murmurs. Then nods. "Yes. The Inner Circle."

She sees no real reason to hold that information back. Then reminisces, "I was the White Queen. I believe the position stands open." Waiting, Emma likes to think. Truth be told, she's thought about taking her throne back. "Why?"

Storm has posed:
    When Emma responds, Ororo whispers something to Abel and he starts walking away. She wants fruit, and for the man to not hear what she is going to say next.

    "Remember the investigation with the NeoGen runners?" Ororo asks, her tone lowered. "One of them continued mentioning a bishop; the Bishop. They want to be free from the Bishop. How relevant would that be if we considered a bishop from the Inner Circle?"

Emma Frost has posed:
"Interesting" is all Emma says at first.

She's been to the club frequently in recent times without that undercurrent reaching her ears. Of course, if she's not actively 'listening' she isn't privy to much more than what can be visibly seen, and while talented in that area, the Inner Circle's workings aren't a front room activity at the best of times. And Emma, as a former member, certainly hadn't been invited to have a tete a tete in the more exclusive areas for some time now.

"It does sound plausible." And meshed with her own desires to poke the bear, so to speak, and see if she might be able to finangle her way back in. "I'd say the odds are good we're looking at the same thing. It's not a moniker any would wear lightly, nor did we allow others to fashion themselves in kind."

Emme smiles, a chill little thing. "Let me guess. You wish someone to investigate."

Storm has posed:
    "You are a brilliant woman indeed," Ororo responds, grinning at the woman before. "Find out what you can. If we can stop this battle, we'll be one step closer to stopping the war."

    "We should come here more often."