7590/Inappropriate Behavior

Inappropriate Behavior
Date of Scene:	23 May 2019
Location:	A New York City Penthouse
Synopsis:	Emma visits a business partner who had hired Vanessa Carlysle and treated her poorly
Cast of Characters:	Copycat, Emma Frost

---

Copycat has posed:
Stein Weinharvey is a man well known to Emma Frost. She would have first met him when she was still on her way up in the world. When she took advantage of the needs of others to gain money and information. Both of which contributed to building up the small empire that Emma Frost now possesses.

Even if her interaction with Stein no longer takes the same form, she still sees him from time to time. Stein owns a number of companies with close interactions with Frost International. Supplying material to one division, providing transportation to another. And Stein has invested in a few startups alongside Emma over time. She was always a favorite of his.

Though the same might or might not be true for Emma. Stein is a hard man, with rough tastes. Not many women have the fortitude of Emma Frost to endure what he would put them through.

Those days are in the past though, for Emma. It has been years since she's had a meeting with him that wasn't about business. Even if his desire still makes playing the game with him advantageous. So it is today that a business matter made it across Emma's desk involving Stein. One that seeing him in person to capitalize on his attraction would be advantageous. And so she arrives at his building where he has the top floor penthouse to himself.

Emma Frost has posed:
    Emma curses to herself as she had promised herself that she would only do business with the man over the phone or email. None of this 'in person' bullshit he always tried to pull. The blonde woman sighs to herself as she looks up to the top of the elevator and frowns at the rising numbers. This isn't going to be fun. Emma thinks to herself.

    Ding and the doors open. Emma steps into the uncomfortably familiar place, with a few things different it's still the room she took and was taken advantage of in several times. A small shudder forms in her back but she quashes it before it gets a chance to spread through to her arms and head. No. She's stronger than all this. "Stein! I'm here for business." The woman says loudly as she looks at a set of photos and frowns at them.

Copycat has posed:
The front desk called ahead to Stein that Emma was coming up. The penthouse is tastefully decorated, with the kind of expensive taste that only the super rich can afford. Stein comes around a corner, wearing a white robe, and probably nothing else beneath it, knowing him.

"My darling Emma! Such a wonderful treat to have you here. I didn't expect you so soon," he says. There's a glow to him, and his thoughts are familiar. Not the utterly lascivious ones he would normally greet Emma with. No, he's been recently sated. Not to say his thoughts of Emma don't take such a turn. Just not to the degree she would normally expect.

"Come to talk to me about my new rail acquisitions? I know how perfect it would be for ferrying raw material to your Savannah operations," the older man says, giving her a grin that is a mix of greed and hunger. He walks over, reaching out as if to take both of her hands. And following will probably be a kiss to both cheeks if she allows her hands to be taken. Not unlike him to try to pull her into a hug, at that.

Emma Frost has posed:
    "Not yours Stein, I've always made that clear. I'm my own." Emma says, tapping the glass of the photo and then setting it back down and looking back towards Stein. She squints her eyes for the briefest moment before turning and putting her hand up to stop him from taking her hands. "We don't do that any more. Business and business alone. Plus something tells me you already had company more than recently." Emma says with a look over the man's shoulder and down at the door is a pair of heels that obviously wouldn't fit him.

    "The rails are something I've already signed off on... I was hoping to discuss something a bit more relevant and new." Emma says stepping past Stein and making her way towards the main living room and with a touch of sway to her hips, let him see what she just denied him. The White Queen was taught that the first step of foreplay begins immediately after the last climax. Get his blood flowing now.

Copycat has posed:
Denying Stein just makes him want more. The man's thoughts are an open book to Emma. An open book that might test the notion that book-burning laws are a bad thing. He watches the swaying walk as he follows her deeper into the penthouse. "Oh, and what it is that you have in mind exactly?" he asks. His thoughts run through three different possibilities she could be here to discuss. One of them is possibly something Emma hadn't even considered before. Semi-conductors from Equador?

There's a sound of movement elsewhere in the penthouse. A beautiful woman in her mid-twenties comes out of another room. Her face is a little damp, having obviously just been washed, though it the water wasn't enough to remove the bit of red from around her eyes where she'd been crying earlier.

The lovely brunette is wearing a black mini-skirt and thigh-high stockings. She has on just a lacy black bra. The woman is beautiful, but the clothing, while appealing on her, is cheap. Emma's experience might suggest the best-looking girl picked up from off a street corner, rather than a high-end escort.

The woman looks up finally and realizes Emma is there, along with Stein. Pretty eyes, clear and large. Stein would have loved those. The young woman has the kind of potential Emma might have kept an eye out for once, though is probably squandering it on the streets.

"Sorry, I just..." she says, before her gaze meets Stein's. The woman's eyes drop before him, and she hurries over to grab a slinky top, then disappear back into the bathroom.

Stein moves around in front of Emma. "Now, what was it you had in mind?" he asks, not seeming to worry about the girl or Emma having seen her. Indeed, he's barely remembered she's still here, and he expects she'll be leaving shortly.

Emma Frost has posed:
    Emma looks back to Stein and is able to go about business with ease as she's done for years. She's learned how to multitask with her own brain in frightening ways. "Really, there's on thing I'm interested above all else at the moment. It's been on the news, everyone's talking about it. Good. Bad. I don't care. I want Trask. I want in on the Sentinel game." Emma says with a sharp stab of her voice, she's pure business.

    Hiding beneath the vissage of her cold exterior, Emma is surprised to find she's looking through the woman's mind and that hint of familiarity is what draws Emma deeper. <<Vanessa, that's a beautiful name.>> Emma sends the message telepathically before adding a few lines more. <<You're not going crazy, don't worry about that. I'm the blonde in the other room.>> Then finally... <<Stein, how much did he hurt you?>>

Copycat has posed:
Stein looks surprised. Trask and Sentinels are not something he had expected, not realizing Frost International had interest in robotics, or armament, or any of the other categories that it would fall under. He begins to talk to her about the situation there, droning on for awhile.

Within the bathroom, Vanessa Carlysle looks in the mirror at the red rims around her eyes. She holds a washcloth under the cold tap and then brings the cooled cloth to press against her eyes and help remove the redness. She's wondering who the woman in white is. Wondering, can he really go on further after what he'd already done tonight?

And then Vanessa hears the voice in her head. She starts and looks around for someone in the bathroom, even check for a speaker when it's clear no one else is in there. "H-hello?" she says aloud as the voice in her head identifies itself.

The question on what Stein did draws back memories. If a lot of it is not unexpected by Emma, some of it is. Clearly his tastes have grown even darker in the intervening years. The thoughts tumble through her head, the young woman not able to stop them when the question is posed to her. Though she answers aloud in the manner someone well-versed in her profession likely would. "Not... he wasn't bad. I'm ok," she lies. She scoops back into her purse a few things that she had taken out, touching up her makeup where it had run. Vanessa pulls her top back on and looks about for her shoes. There's a thought of how much she's getting paid. Definitely someone picked up on the street. Would Emma have even opened the door of the Hellfire Club for that little.

Emma Frost has posed:
    "Don't act surprised. My tech line could use the boost in popularity, my phone sales are in the toilet at the moment, so why not try to absorb another company who's already doing it big and maybe get some government funding while I'm at it?" Emma says, trying to convince Stein that she's not only thought this through, but that she's already planning the move after this one.

    <<Stop talking, we're both in your head. Don't want to get you in trouble with your richest client do we?>> Emma asks with a mental frown. <<I'm ok is the biggest lie we tell ourselves after going through what you just went through. Thinking the money makes it okay... It does... for a while...>> Emma continues. Her blue eyes linger on Stein as he responds and yet she turns to find a spot on the plush couch to sit on and then smiles up to the creeper man. "Would you mind pouring us a drink? It's been so humid lately." Emma says coyly.

Copycat has posed:
Stein acts surprised. He is surprised. His mind races as he tries to wrap it around what Emma is suggesting. He attacks it from all angles, including wondering if this could be some kind of misdirection on her part, and trying to work out what it could be meant to cover if so. "It seems an area a bit fraught with peril though. All it takes is one big malfunction. Imagine one of those monstrosities losing power in flight and crashing into a school," Stein says. Though he's mostly stalling while he tries to evaluate this idea after having been caught flat-footed.

In the bathroom, Vanessa gets a sheepish look. She's wondering if the woman is some kind of hero, or villain. Or maybe a mutant. She was down in mutant just three nights ago, when a raid effectively closed down her normal corner. <<Well, it's over now. I'm on my way out,>> Vanessa thinks. She looks around, and them remembers removing her shoes not too far from the elevator, Stein not wanting to risk her heels leaving dimples on his hardwood floors. That brings back memories of sternness from the man that Vanessa tries to push out of her head. She double checks her small purse. The $450 he'd paid her is in there. She closes it up and begins to head towards the door of the bathroom.

Emma Frost has posed:
    Emma holds up her hand to Stein, a motion meant to shush the man. She stands up and walks towards Vanessa as she enters the room. Stepping up and lifting both of her hands to rest on Vanessa's biceps Emma halts the younger woman. <<I'm going to make this right.>> Emma warns Vanessa. "How much did you pay her?" The white queen demands as she looks over her shoulder towards the soliciter and former business partner.

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa comes out barefoot. The young woman has a poise to her that is not quite common for a girl from the streets. One of the things that stands out about her. She looks up into Emma's ice-blue eyes as the woman comes over to stop her.

Stein tells Emma, "She's just a street girl, she'll be fine. Must have given her a thousand, probably more than she'll make in a week." Vanessa's jaw tightens at the man's lie. Though her thoughts reveal she made more than normal, she'd not have gone with him if she had any idea what he truly had in mind.

To her credit, Vanessa says, "I hope you're not an accountant with that kind of math." Though as Stein glares at her, Vanessa drops her eyes. The memory of what she went through is too fresh, even if she doubts he'd repeat it with Emma there. Vanessa looks about for her shoes, spotting them, and intending to grab them and get out of there. Maybe walking kind of extra hard to make this dents in his flooring.

Emma Frost has posed:
    "You know my girls get triple that." Emma says while looking to Vanessa before turning back around to face Stein and without missing a beat, Emma demands, "Pay her. Now. Or we're through." Frost's face is cold as ice and stronger still. She's going to help Vanessa, <<I'm going to help you. Show me your biggest passion Vanessa.>> Emma projects, knowing that when asked someone's favorite thing, they usually tend to think of it on impulse, even if it's so they can divert from it for the sake of lying. Telepaths can be annoying in that way.

Copycat has posed:
Stein tries to suppress a scowl, with only partial success. He gets up and goes to get his wallet, pulling out $2500. Which means he knew he'd only paid her around $500 already as well. Of course Emma could get that from his thoughts anyway.

Meanwhile, Vanessa's thoughts instinctively go to something that Emma can pick up on. Given the nature of her job and what she's done tonight, her thoughts tend to be of more the physical passion variety than of the favorite hobby variety. She tries to stifle the thought though it's picked up just the same.

Stein makes his way over to Vanessa. He's not the best looking man and has added a bit to his potbelly over the years. He hands the money to Vanessa. "You did pretty good, kid," he tells the younger woman. Mainly trying to make points with Emma. He knows the money is nothing to him, but it still galls him to have to pay her more than he could have gotten away with.

Emma Frost has posed:
    When Stein gets close to Vanessa and Emma, the blonde woman suddenly and violently strikes the man across the face with her palm and fingers. "That's for trying to steal from my girls. If I hear about it again and you'll be entirely cut off." Emma says, turning to be side by side with Vanessa and she starts to help and usher the girl to the doorway. "I'll call you when I'm calmed down." The white queen says towards the man in the room, but she doesn't even seem visibly upset, but if she says she's not, she must not be.

    "Come on darling. Let me give you a ride this time." Emma says while opening the door. <<Do you want to keep doing this kind of work or would you rather be able to do something else?>> Frost asks mentally.

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa stares at Stein as the man gets slapped. There's a core of strength in the young woman, but what she was put through earlier has broken it enough she'd never have dared to slap Stein. Though seeing it happen brings her great pleasure. She stuffs the money into her purse, closing it as if Stein might grab it back if she doesn't. Though he's just glaring at Emma, and trying to remind himself how much her business is worth.

Vanessa walks with Emma towards the elevator down out of the penthouse. "Thank you, could use a ride back towards 17th," she says, of a very poor part of town. So that's where he picked her up. He went slumming, but found a bit of a diamond just the same. Vanessa hesitates. <<Yeah, it's... it's what I've got,>> she thinks back. There's a jumble of thoughts behind it. Remnants of a rough life that brought her to this point, one heavy memory piled on the other in a jumbled pile that would take time to sort through and set aside. This is how it is for some girls. They see where they are as where they deserve to be, and giving her a leg up for now won't change that she'll end up back there.

Emma Frost has posed:
    The lack of the girl's drive and ambition to make herself better causes Emma to frown deeply if not externally as she shakes her head as they decend down the elevator. Emma looks to Vanessa instead of the numbers of the elevator. "If you ever want anything else in life. Come find me. Until you do... All I will ever give you is a ride. Don't think of this as charity, think of it as an interview." Emma notes as she gets out of the elevator on the ground floor and has Vanessa follow her towards the vallet where they wait for a moment for a white Benz to be parked before them.

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa Carlysle follows Emma over to the car, eyes taking in the expensive vehicle. "Wow, you have a beautiful car," Vanessa tells her, before climbing into the passenger side once Emma is behind the wheel and the door unlocked. Does the inside still have that new car smell? Maybe it even is a new car. Vanessa looks around the inside. Even more luxurious than what Stein had picked her up in. His was a sports car, fueling his ego.

"So you... how is it that you're able to hear my thoughts?" Vanessa asks, turning in the seat to look over to Emma. "Are you an enhanced person? Or, a mutant? Or... I mean you look human." Vanessa glances down at Emma's perfect body. <<Maybe too good to be human. Oh shit she heard that didn't she?>>