2012-10-25 Looking Out for their Own

Emma has been working-- overworking, perhaps-- for days straight now. And even Emma Frost needs to decompress now and then. Thus, late this afternoon as the city starts to turn to evening, she's elected to finish early... and in her own inimitable style insisted on dragging Karma along for the ride.
The 'ride', in this case, is a light bit of a walk in the fresh air, and the pair hit the sidewalk from the Lobby of the building where Emma has her penthouse. Her aim is the park across the street-- but she's in no particular rush to get there.
Karma was not about to argue about getting some fresh air, or what passes for it in the city. (Especially after the day she's had.) She follows along with her hands tucked into the pockets of her coat, looking tired more than anything else. 'course, at this hour, most people in slacks and dress shirts are looking similarly worn down, so it hardly stands out.
"You were right about one thing," Shan asides to Emma, her tone dry. "It's a simple job. Not an easy one, but very, very simple."
At least one person within the park is in a bit of a rush today, Noriko always nervous when surrounded by groups of people. She's got her hood pulled up and her hands stuffed into pockets, fingers wrapped around small scraps of metal that she's found across the city over time. Remy's there beside her, and he seems like a cool guy and all, but there's a lot on her mind to be comfortable with the situation. Presentation, not spontaneously frying anything (or anyone,) wondering if any of this is the right path for her, it's all quite a discombobulated mess within her turbulent mind. Though, despite her head being bowed forward, she's looking all over the place. "What about there, is that her? That might be her. Really wish I knew who I was looking for."
When you're a covert operative, you spend a lot of time on preparation. Scouting locations. Counting cameras and exits. Making sure you haven't been followed. Even when you trust someone, every public meeting carries an inherent level of risk for those who live a grey lifestyle. So you show up early and do your homework.
"Parks are nice," Remy muses as he scans the crowd. "Too many witnesses and not enough cover. Huh? Merde. Yeah, dat's her. C'mon, let's go get you introduced." He jerks his head in the direction of the blonde headmistress.
The girls worked together to pick out his clothes before he left. A new pair of heavy-framed sunglasses, a plaid shirt, and snug denims. Even with his coat on top of it all, it gives him a pleasantly woodsy look.
Emma, as usual, is striking in anything, but today is back to her usual business attire-- an immaculately-tailored white Armani suit, and a pair of matching Chuck Taylor All-stars. Somehow she makes it work. As a concesson to the falling temperatures of fall, she's thrown a white felt overcoat on, and an ice-blue scarf left loose around her collar. Unlike Karma, she looks like she could keep more activity up all night. No telling how she pulls it off. "Oh, I don't think you doubted my word," she muses. "But you're handling it well. You should be pleased, Xi'an." Habitually, she casts her mind out over the nearby populace. It's hard not to notice, in a very vague sort of way, the little knot of trouled thoughts centered around Noriko. It's also hard not to notice that she's a little staticky.
Emma, for a wonder, doesn't press further mentally. She just nudges Karma a little, adjusting their trajectory to meet Remy's approach. One of the advantages of telepaths like her-- privacy is easy to acquire. Peole find themselves just... wandering off to more interesting places without much attention as to why.
Shan is still getting a feel for how powerful a telepath Emma is. She's familiar with the way people just... wander off, and it gives her a fairly good idea, to say nothing of the way it makes her quirk a brow and give Emma an inquisitive look. "Thank you. Do we need privacy?" she asks curiously, casting another look around... and this time, her eyes fall upon the only people not suddenly walking in the other direction. Oh. "Nevermind."
"Sure hope so, 'cause it looks like she just found us," Nori asides back to Remy while peering at two different individuals now on an approach vector from beneath that worn out hood. There seems to be a significant difference in presentation amongst the group, from high-end fashion right down to parkbench pajamas. As far as first impressions go, this one could stand to be better. It's just not in her budget, as it were.
"Why are you so worried about being seen, anyway? If that arachnid chick is cool with you, what's to worry about?" Maybe the answer to her inquiries will have to wait, the two pairs of people are about to intersect. Nori's left hand stays hidden, tightening around the rust-speckled bolt contained within as she quickly extracts her right hand long enough to wave at Emma and Karma. "Looks like a party," she mutters to herself.
Remy can't help but smile. "I'm not worried about being seen. I'm worried about being dead. Comes with de job description. De old job, anyway."
Hands stuffed in his coat pockets, head slightly bowed, he watches at the parkgoers scatter in ones and twos. "Neat trick," he says, nodding to Emma as the four of them converge. "Dis de one I tell you about. Noriko, meet Emma Frost. She de one with all de big plans."
There's an unfamiliar face, too. Remy quirks an eyebrow, pulls a hand free from his pocket, and holds it out to shake. He's got on a curious pair of gloves that only cover his palms and his two smallest fingers. "Remy LeBeau. Miss... ?"
Emma gives Remy a wry grin. "One I suspect you've seen performed before," she muses in greeting, and then focuses her attention on Noriko, who is offered a hand, and a smile. Shan can introduce herself easily enough. "Hello, Noriko. You can call me Emma if you like. Remy suggested you might need some help, though I rather think he wanted to leave it for you to explain if you wish."
Ah. Now, this is a familiar dynamic. "Xi'an Coy Manh, but Shan is fine," Shan replies, smiling as she reaches out to shake Remy's offered hand. "I'm lending a hand with said big plans. It's nice to meet you both." Oh, lord. She is out of practice. Just like riding a bicycle, Karma, settle down.
Hesitation persists. It would be rude not to take the hand that's offered to Noriko, but accepting it might result in an unwanted surprise. She draws a deep breath, holds it, and takes Emma's hand while trying not to seem like she's overly cautious about doing so.
No shock? Whew.
That hand is returning to its pocket as soon as it's able to. "Big plans, that's great." Man, this is going to be embarrassing. "So..yeah. 'Nori' is fine. I don't have a whole lot of places..which I'm able to go to right now..? This guy here and some lady dressed up like a spider suggested that we have a talk sometime. As you can probably tell, things could be somewhat better for me."
"Pleasure's mine, chere," Remy drawls. Rather than shake, he gives Shan's hand a firm squeeze before he lets go. Flirting aside, he moves to stand next to Noriko again. It's a subtle, protective gesture. He couples it with an enouraging smile and a friendly chuck on the shoulder. "Don't worry, kiddo. You one of us, right? Well, we take care of our own. Dat's what dis is all about, I think."
Emma seems unbothered by the girl's caginess. "It is indeed what it's all about," she agrees. "Though some might be surprised how far 'our own' is going to reach." She glances around, purposefully indicating the lack of passersby. "You're not the only person who has had difficulties and needed help with them. I daresay you won't be the last. But I want to make sure that people like us have somewhere to go. May I ask what is giving you so much trouble? The school... unfortunately is not ready yet. But perhaps we can find a shorter-term way to help you."
What flirting? Shan just looks quietly amused as she tucks her hand back into her pocket and, much like a mirror image of Remy and Noriko, she shifts to stand just behind and to Emma's side. Not really protective so much as supportive, but it's similar enough. As for the talkin', she leaves that to Emma and Noriko.
It might be difficult to tell, but that protectiveness that a certain Cajun shows toward Noriko is appreciated. Granted there aren't any enemies or threats at the moment, but it's the nature of the beast. She doesn't have a lot going for her, yet this guy's choosing to help look out for her. Hard to complain about something like that. "Yeah," she admits, "I think so."
When asked about what's troubling her, Nori's not sure where to start. "I uh, absorb things, I guess? After a while it gets to be too much to handle, and ..it needs somewhere to go."
There's another run of hesitation as she brings one of her hands back out into the open, two fingers held up in a peace sign. In her case, this turns out to be more like a Jacob's Ladder. One tiny arc crawls up from the webbing of her hand to the tips, arcs, fizzles out, then disappears. As does her hand. "Sometimes..it gets the better of me."
This is the first time Remy has actually seen Noriko use her powers. He raises an eyebrow and lets out a low, appreciative whistle from between his teeth. "Can we put dis one in my class when school's in session?" he asks. There's a pause for a wink and a friendly elbow-nudge to the teen's ribs. "I know a thing or two about controlling energy," he confides to her.
Emma displays a lot of interest in the display. The same can't be said for the few people wandering around nearby. It's like they're in a little 'Ignore me!' bubble. "If you think you might have some insights, Remy, I think that could be arranged," she muses, and smiles at Noriko. "That's quite a gift. I can see how it would pose problems, though. I'm confident you can learn to control it, but we must be practical. That will take time, and for now, I expect you'd like to make sure you're not going to hurt anything." The look thoughtful for a few moments. "I think we could arrange a comfortable place to stay a few nights that wouldn't cause problems for you. That would give us some time to figure out what's next." She looks at Remy, then Karma. "Though I am open to additional suggestions."
"I can see how the buildup can be a problem," Shan agrees, offering Noriko a sympathetic smile. "If it can be controlled, I'm sure we can find a way. We're smart people," she muses, glancing between the other three. "And there are probably avenues we could pursue until you were able to handle it yourself. I can make a couple of calls," she says thoughtfully, glancing off to the side.
Nori smiles timidly at the reaction from Remy, though it quickly turns to surprise then confusion when he talks about getting her in his class. "-You're- going to be teaching?" How's that for unexpected! It completely derails her thoughts for a handful of seconds, finally returning her attention to both Emma and Shan with a quick blinking of the eyes. "As long as nothing gets torched in the meantime," she grumbles. However, their confidence in having somewhere to go where she's -not- going to be a problem brings about a look that's much more hopeful. Hopeful, and ever so slightly suspicious. "You're not gonna seal me in a room, are you?" Talk about getting it under control sure sounds good, but she's not ready to talk about what she has been doing to keep it contained in the meantime. "Well, if you guys think you know what to do..." Maybe this is all going in a good direction. Time would tell.
Remy's clearly pleased at how all this is working out. He grins at everyone makes a show of dusting his hands off. "Maybe. I talk to Emma about dat later. Oh, hey, speaking of rooms, I make a... what you call it... ? A tryst? Anyway, I put some money in de bank. For room and board. Expenses. Whatever."
The slip of paper he produces has a telephone number, an account number, and routing information written on it. He offers it to Emma. "I leave dis with you, I think," he says. "Dat way she taken care of for a bit, no matter what happens. One of us look after her, yeah?"
Emma nods at Shan. "If you have an idea or two, by all means, pursue them. This is a priority for now," she agrees, and then takes the slip of paper from Remy, giving him a lopsided grin. "Quite a gesture, Remy. We'll make sure it's used properly." That said she turns back to Noriko, with a sympathetic look. "Well. Not sealed. But Frost International does have a facility in town that we used for sheilded testing. We can move some things in to set it up as a comfortable sort of apartment for a couple days while we work out something a little better. The door won't be locked and you'll be able to come and go as you feel comfortable." She pauses. "I stress that this is just a temporary measure until we understand what's happening well enough to help you work with it."
This is all moving a lot more quickly than Noriko had been expecting. Frankly, she didn't expect much of anything to come out of this meeting. Now Remy's making sure that she has somewhere safe to go, Emma's -providing- somewhere safe to go, and Shan is prepping to figure out the biggest problem of them all! The surprise showing upon her face is almost comical. "You guys really do look out for your own, huh?" Emma's explanation, and reassurance, makes a positive difference. She thinks about it, quietly swallows once, then nods in affirmation. "I don't have any better ideas to work with." Being able to leave when she likes, that's a major perk there. "I don't understand why you guys would go through all of the trouble, though!"
Supremely confident and completely unabashed, Remy slips his hand into Noriko's and gives it a quick, reassuring squeeze. "Because it's de right thing to do," he says, looking her squarely in the eye. "And because I know what can happen to people like us when we alone and afraid. Trust me. I imagine dese ladies do, too."
Then, with a lopsided smile, he lets her go. "Can I come by and help?" he asks Emma. "Her powers and mine are apples and oranges, but I could probably still give her some pointers."
Emma Frost is already stood up and digging her phone out. She doesn't waste time, no. Once you've decided to do something, there's very little point in waiting around to do it. Unless, of course, timing is crucial. "Because noone ever did it for me," she answers promptly. "And because I can. I've spent my life building the kind of success that enables me to do whatever I wish, whenever I wish. One of the benefits to pulling that off is getting to do what you always thought someone should have." Okay, so technically someone did sort of help her, early on. But that doesn't entirely count, because... it ended super-badly and maybe wasn't altruistic at all. No need sharing that.
Remy's question pulls her away from the thought. "Of course. In fact, we could head over there now, so you know where to drop in to." She's sort of worked out that young ladies in trouble is one of Remy's do-good weak points. She's not really above encouraging it, either.
Shan is looking very perplexed when she tucks her phone back into her pocket, but it's nothing to do with Emma, Noriko and Remy. It's everything to do with the guy she was trying to get ahold of. She shakes it off quickly and returns to the group, glancing between the older pair before offering Noriko a downright sheepish smile. "Paying the favor forward," she notes simply, then she's turning to start the trek back to the street. At least Emma's building isn't far.
Once again Nori is looking up at Remy, smiling faintly and squeezing his hand back around a metal washer that remains stuck to her palm. Then there's talk about going to check this new place out, right now? Maybe there isn't much reason to wait when a decision has been made, but this pace is quick enough to make her head spin. It's that eagerness, though. She's been here once before. It didn't end very well. While this group feels more worthy of her trust, previous life experiences aren't easily pushed aside. "Alright," comes the eternally cautious response. "Remy was my ride out here, anyway. If he has the time for it then I guess I do, too." Shan gets a look all of her own, back to being somewhat puzzled. "Paying forward for what..?"
"I got de time, don't worry about me." Grinning, Remy tugs Noriko's hood and nods toward the street. The thought of doing battle with Metropolis traffic and emerging victorious has him fidgeting. "My bike's parked out dere. You got my number, Emma. Text me de address and we meet you, yeah? I think we stop off for lunch first, though. What you think, Nori?"
Emma nods towards Remy. "We can work with that. It will give me time to get some furniture moved in and make proper arrangements." Without doing so while driving, which she is all too happy to do and other people probably prefer she avoid. She spins her phone, checks the slip of paper, and then tappy-taps like the consummate pro she is. "Let's say... an hour? Two?"
"When I was a kid, someone helped me out," Shan explains to Noriko, tucking her hands into her pockets. "So it's only right to do the same thing for someone else now that I can. Pay it forward. I do need to get home soon, though," she adds, lightly nudging Emma in the arm. "Leong and Nga will be home and I need to make sure ice cream isn't dinner." Again.
Okay, yes, an hour or two sounds awesome. Nori needs some time to get her head on straight, and tend to some other matters best left to herself. "I think we could do that," she replies in a way that shows willingness without actually saying that she enjoys the idea. The hood tugging gets a friendly look, though. Shan's explanation makes sense, something which she nods to but doesn't verbally respond to. There's a lot on that mind to process! Like trying to figure out why things are suddenly looking so much better than they did yesterday. "Guess we'll see you two in a while."
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