Casting Perfection
Oct. 5th, 2020 10:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jormiwillinghamTitle: Casting Perfection
Fandom: Generation X (X-Men)
Characters/Pairings: M, White Queen
Rating: PG/K+
Words: 1,383
Notes: Emma calls Monet out.
You're stronger than this, Monet.
The voice sounding suddenly and sharply within the confines of her own mind startled the children. They had been playing ball in their mind, quite content to spend time alone with each other than with any other child in the entire school, and had not expected the headmistress to locate them so soon. They were projecting an image of their big sister crying alone in the bathroom, something that should have prompted the cruel White Queen to leave them alone. It clearly was not working.
They frowned, the ball dropping and rolling across the astral plane of their joined mind. Carefully, they formed their response and "spoke" back to her. Why are you in my mind? I thought we had an agreement, Miss Frost. You do not enter my mind. I do not enter yours, and trust me, I can.
Such a slim, foolhardy threat from a child spooked into acting foolish and naive. You are stronger and better than this, Monet. Honestly, hiding in the bathroom? I understand you have family issues, child, but that is not the behavior of a X-Man or even a woman. You should be ashamed, and you do know better.
For a moment, the girl froze. Could her teacher suspect the truth? She sniffled and forced a tear to trail down her face for good measure.
I'm sorry they found out about your brother, Emma spoke, her words bringing them instant relief, and certainly that is such a monster, but he is far from being the only one. You are also far from being the only one here with family issues, Monet. Do you honestly want Jubilation to look as though she is taking today's studies more seriously than you?
I can pass any test you throw at me. We both know that.
Not any test, child, just any test I can administer here within the confines of this Xavier classroom. There is much I can teach you, including how to best every one of your family, no matter what connections or devices Emplate may have.
That's funny, considering how easily he wrangled you for a snack.
I was caught off guard. It will not happen again. Emma shivered at the memory. This place, this school, was supposed to be safe, not just for the students but for Sean and herself. Cassidy had his own Demons and secrets with which to contend. Emma was quite certain they were no match for any of hers, but that did not matter. They had been attacked within their own school, their own, makeshift home. Emma bristled at the memory, her fingers curling around the hard wood of her desk. She should have known better than to trust Xavier's security systems. She was hiring her own people, and if she had her way, those would include a telepath almost equal to herself and Bishop. Normally, she would not think she could pull the last X-Man away from his team, but Jubilation's presence might just be the chess piece she needs to pull him away and into her team. Between the two, no one would be able to successfully poise another secret attack on any of them, not herself, not Sean, and especially not her students. She would not lose these children as she had the Hellions.
Now who's getting moody, Miss Frost?
Silence yourself, child; you know not of which you speak. That was too close a call, but it will not happen again.
What? You tearing up because my big, bad brother almost killed everybody and ate us all alive?
If you had bothered to be honest with me, Monet, even just me, he never would have gotten so far. He never would have successfully touched a tendril down here.
What a choice of words.
Silence yourself, girl, before I silence you. I have many more ways of doing so than mere powers. Despite her threat, Emma knew she would never willingly harm the child, not unless it took her harming her slightly to prevent her from being hurt on a grander scale. The choice really is yours, child. You can continue making a spectacle of yourself and allowing Paige to look like the brightest student and Jubilation to be a more valuable member of this team than yourself, or you can pull yourself together, snap out of your brooding and your past, and use whatever amount of pain your family has given you to make you stronger.
Monet didn't move; she could almost feel Emma sigh despite the rooms between them. The choice is yours, Monet, Emma insisted, sounding oddly pleasant though firm. I can and will treat you like any other disobedient child, but you are worth more than the manner in which you are currently depicting yourself. You can do so much more, Monet, become so much more than your family can ever imagine. Why stop at being a X-Man? You do not have to become one of Xavier's just because you go through this training; the man is nothing more than a means to an ends. You could become the next great leader of our people, or yours.
Monet did have a certain reputation, as a Saint Croix, to uphold, but at the moment, she could not care less about her family legacy. She stayed stubbornly where she was, sitting on cold porcelain, completely alone in the bathroom. Very well, child. Be that way: let yourself down. Emma's words were chosen very carefully. But know that I can train you. I can personally train you far beyond what any other teacher you may ever again encounter can offer you. I, too, have family issues, and a past to overcome.
Monet sniffed in disdain. You don't say.
Continue to be their puppet, Monet, Emma snapped in response. Remain a child until your last breath. I can only offer. I will not force you to do what is best for you, even if not doing so makes you a fool I never thought you would be. But if you continue to refuse to do what is best for you and endanger the other students again because of your family ties, I will personally remove you from this school. I don't care who your father is. Or your brother, for that matter. It's your choice, child: Be a puppet, or learn to overcome them all.
Emma snatched out of her mind with such force that Monet lurched forward. Her head hit the stall door, and she almost slipped off of the toilet onto her knees. Her mind, her whole body, ached with Emma's sudden departure. The twins looked at each other. The red ball still stood on the plane between them, but they left it there without a second of contemplation. There were more important things, after all, than playing alone together, such as their survival and that of their sister's.
They stood, walked to the sink, washed their hands, and checked their reflection. They looked as perfect as ever with nary a sign of any of the trauma they'd endured or the doubts they faced every day. They turned and walked stiffly back to the classroom. Monet opened the door just in time to hear Miss Frost announcing, "Remove everything from your desks except a pencil and a single sheet of paper."
The entire student body except Monet groaned. She smiled as she slid into her seat at the front of the class. Emma caught her eye and held her gaze for a long moment before she began the hardest questions she could think of from the class that day. Angelo cursed. Jubilee groaned aloud. Jono would have sighed if he had a mouth, and Paige's hand trembled slightly as she wrote. Everett spoke a silent prayer.
Outside Penance leapt from a branch and continued on her silent way pass the window. Emma and Monet held each other's gaze for a long moment. Then Emma began to speak swiftly, and Monet to write just as swiftly. The pop quiz was the hardest one she could muster, as normal, but today, only one student would pass with a grade as perfect as she was determined she would one day be. Perhaps Miss Frost was just the one to lead her to that perfection after all.
The End
Fandom: Generation X (X-Men)
Characters/Pairings: M, White Queen
Rating: PG/K+
Words: 1,383
Notes: Emma calls Monet out.
You're stronger than this, Monet.
The voice sounding suddenly and sharply within the confines of her own mind startled the children. They had been playing ball in their mind, quite content to spend time alone with each other than with any other child in the entire school, and had not expected the headmistress to locate them so soon. They were projecting an image of their big sister crying alone in the bathroom, something that should have prompted the cruel White Queen to leave them alone. It clearly was not working.
They frowned, the ball dropping and rolling across the astral plane of their joined mind. Carefully, they formed their response and "spoke" back to her. Why are you in my mind? I thought we had an agreement, Miss Frost. You do not enter my mind. I do not enter yours, and trust me, I can.
Such a slim, foolhardy threat from a child spooked into acting foolish and naive. You are stronger and better than this, Monet. Honestly, hiding in the bathroom? I understand you have family issues, child, but that is not the behavior of a X-Man or even a woman. You should be ashamed, and you do know better.
For a moment, the girl froze. Could her teacher suspect the truth? She sniffled and forced a tear to trail down her face for good measure.
I'm sorry they found out about your brother, Emma spoke, her words bringing them instant relief, and certainly that is such a monster, but he is far from being the only one. You are also far from being the only one here with family issues, Monet. Do you honestly want Jubilation to look as though she is taking today's studies more seriously than you?
I can pass any test you throw at me. We both know that.
Not any test, child, just any test I can administer here within the confines of this Xavier classroom. There is much I can teach you, including how to best every one of your family, no matter what connections or devices Emplate may have.
That's funny, considering how easily he wrangled you for a snack.
I was caught off guard. It will not happen again. Emma shivered at the memory. This place, this school, was supposed to be safe, not just for the students but for Sean and herself. Cassidy had his own Demons and secrets with which to contend. Emma was quite certain they were no match for any of hers, but that did not matter. They had been attacked within their own school, their own, makeshift home. Emma bristled at the memory, her fingers curling around the hard wood of her desk. She should have known better than to trust Xavier's security systems. She was hiring her own people, and if she had her way, those would include a telepath almost equal to herself and Bishop. Normally, she would not think she could pull the last X-Man away from his team, but Jubilation's presence might just be the chess piece she needs to pull him away and into her team. Between the two, no one would be able to successfully poise another secret attack on any of them, not herself, not Sean, and especially not her students. She would not lose these children as she had the Hellions.
Now who's getting moody, Miss Frost?
Silence yourself, child; you know not of which you speak. That was too close a call, but it will not happen again.
What? You tearing up because my big, bad brother almost killed everybody and ate us all alive?
If you had bothered to be honest with me, Monet, even just me, he never would have gotten so far. He never would have successfully touched a tendril down here.
What a choice of words.
Silence yourself, girl, before I silence you. I have many more ways of doing so than mere powers. Despite her threat, Emma knew she would never willingly harm the child, not unless it took her harming her slightly to prevent her from being hurt on a grander scale. The choice really is yours, child. You can continue making a spectacle of yourself and allowing Paige to look like the brightest student and Jubilation to be a more valuable member of this team than yourself, or you can pull yourself together, snap out of your brooding and your past, and use whatever amount of pain your family has given you to make you stronger.
Monet didn't move; she could almost feel Emma sigh despite the rooms between them. The choice is yours, Monet, Emma insisted, sounding oddly pleasant though firm. I can and will treat you like any other disobedient child, but you are worth more than the manner in which you are currently depicting yourself. You can do so much more, Monet, become so much more than your family can ever imagine. Why stop at being a X-Man? You do not have to become one of Xavier's just because you go through this training; the man is nothing more than a means to an ends. You could become the next great leader of our people, or yours.
Monet did have a certain reputation, as a Saint Croix, to uphold, but at the moment, she could not care less about her family legacy. She stayed stubbornly where she was, sitting on cold porcelain, completely alone in the bathroom. Very well, child. Be that way: let yourself down. Emma's words were chosen very carefully. But know that I can train you. I can personally train you far beyond what any other teacher you may ever again encounter can offer you. I, too, have family issues, and a past to overcome.
Monet sniffed in disdain. You don't say.
Continue to be their puppet, Monet, Emma snapped in response. Remain a child until your last breath. I can only offer. I will not force you to do what is best for you, even if not doing so makes you a fool I never thought you would be. But if you continue to refuse to do what is best for you and endanger the other students again because of your family ties, I will personally remove you from this school. I don't care who your father is. Or your brother, for that matter. It's your choice, child: Be a puppet, or learn to overcome them all.
Emma snatched out of her mind with such force that Monet lurched forward. Her head hit the stall door, and she almost slipped off of the toilet onto her knees. Her mind, her whole body, ached with Emma's sudden departure. The twins looked at each other. The red ball still stood on the plane between them, but they left it there without a second of contemplation. There were more important things, after all, than playing alone together, such as their survival and that of their sister's.
They stood, walked to the sink, washed their hands, and checked their reflection. They looked as perfect as ever with nary a sign of any of the trauma they'd endured or the doubts they faced every day. They turned and walked stiffly back to the classroom. Monet opened the door just in time to hear Miss Frost announcing, "Remove everything from your desks except a pencil and a single sheet of paper."
The entire student body except Monet groaned. She smiled as she slid into her seat at the front of the class. Emma caught her eye and held her gaze for a long moment before she began the hardest questions she could think of from the class that day. Angelo cursed. Jubilee groaned aloud. Jono would have sighed if he had a mouth, and Paige's hand trembled slightly as she wrote. Everett spoke a silent prayer.
Outside Penance leapt from a branch and continued on her silent way pass the window. Emma and Monet held each other's gaze for a long moment. Then Emma began to speak swiftly, and Monet to write just as swiftly. The pop quiz was the hardest one she could muster, as normal, but today, only one student would pass with a grade as perfect as she was determined she would one day be. Perhaps Miss Frost was just the one to lead her to that perfection after all.
The End
