Summary:Catseye, Pris and Emma discuss room design for Pris and plans for the future. Is a very domestic scene Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Clad in a purple chemise and a matching pair of bikini panties, Priscilla is curled up on the sofa in the living room with a laptop between her and her partner in crime. "OK. So … we do what? We click these other things, move them around, arrange the room so it looks in the model like we want? And then the people order the stuff, bring it, put it together, and the room ends up looking like the model on the computer?" She sounds incredulous. Do things like this actually work?
Catseye mmhmms. "More or less. Is why had to measure the room multiple times, wrong measurments, things not fit or look crowded." She points to the color options, recoloring things. "Colors in model not quite right, always check against fabric samples. Close, yes, but samples are better." She actually has physical fabric samples of the ones she thought Pris would like most. "Is easiest way to get room together quickly. Or can buy furniture piece at time, multiple places, but then have to make sure things will fit and imagine how goes together."
Emma comes up the private elevator, and steps inside, mind and eyes scanning the place by habit and a healthy dose of paranoia. But really, since people ARE out to get her, is she -actually- paranoid? Hard to say where paranoia leaves off and prudence kicks in. Regardless, sensing and seeing nothing amiss she doffs her white leather trench and hangs it up, then smiles as she sees the pair of Cat and Pris hard at work on something.
She's home now, so her shields are a lot lighter, Pris can surely sense Emma's amusement at the sight, her love and fondness for her daughters, and her appreciation of the sight of purple clad Priscilla. "Well, what are you two up to? Should I be worried?" She asks.
Emma is herself dressed in a very retro women's business suit - white of course, but tight skirt to her knees. Half length jacket with long sleeves and white lapel, silken shirt with a cameo at the throat.
"OK. So, don't depend on colors on the screen. Just placement. We do colors here, in person. Got it." Pris is trying to sound like all of this makes sense to her. But given the extent of her 'decoration' previously is whatever she could pick up from a thrift shop or out of a storage room, this is way beyond her. Clothes shopping? Pro skills. But this? Whoa. Good thing she has Catseye to help her.
When Emma's mind starts scanning up ahead of the elevator car, Priscilla pauses her conversation with Catseye, her purple eyes going unfocused as she concentrates really hard on being gentle as she reaches out to caress that probe with her own mind. « Hi. All safe up here> » she sends. But even that much has her breaking out in a mild sweat; holding back and controlling her apparently immense telepathic power is hard work. But hopefully she did a good enough job not to give Emma a migraine; she'd feel very bad about that.
Once Emma arrives, Pris is already looking up towards the door as she enters. "Hi. We're just working on my room. Catseye has this thing on her laptop. She 'scanned' the room, and now we're making the computer arrange furniture. Which I guess is better than just throwing a mattress on the floor?" Don't worry. SHe'll learn how to be upscale. But it'll be a process.
Catseye smiles at Emma, "MotherMotherFrost! Finished applications for college in city for spring, helping Prissy Kitten look for furniture, design room." Part of her ongoing quest to prove to Priscilla that she deserves to have nice things! She is determined to see her new sister happy and well taken care of. They both had rotten pasts in different ways, but that changed when Emma entered their lives. It was a huge adjustment for Catseye as well, though in a different way with the whole learning to be human thing.
As Emma does not appear to be in any pain, odds are Pris did a good job of controlling her power. A mental stroke of Emma's mind to Pris's as she enters. «Well done, Pris. I know it is hard, but you'll master this, trust me.» Her certitude and her affection are layered onto the caress, it is a nice bit of emphasis to the intimacy of mind to mind communication. «And thank you for the heads up.» If anyone would know about paranoia it would be Pris.
Moving over to the couch, she leans on it, one hand bracing as she leans between Pris and Cat to study the screen. "That looks like a good start." A pursing of her lips, and she tweaks some of the layout a bit, it is plainly just a suggestion. Emma can't help but offer input.
"I am going to get changed, would either of you like something to drink?" Depending on the answer, she'll head off a bit to get out of her work togs and into something more comfortable before she grabs herself some coffee and whatever the girls want and returns.
"I think it's pretty awesome that you're going to college, Catseye." Pris offers; she hadn't spoken of it earlier, though her scent said she was impressed by something. "Thank you for the help."
Pris opens up like a flower to light and water when Emma offers such reinforcement, faith and kindness. It pleases her beyond words, really. It is a kind of feedback, faith and reinforcement she has never really had before. Her old team - the closest to family she'd ever known - supported her, but they pushed her for their own needs and goals. She knew it, but wanted their approval more than enough to keep her motivated. By comparison, Emma seems to just want to help her; the difference is a profound one to a born empath.
"I wouldn't mind some milk." Pris offers. Yes. Milk. Not coffee. Not alcohol. Just milk. A lot of people would think Pris boring when she's at home … at least until they looked at her. "What do you think, Catseye? Better, with Emma's input? Anything is better than I was going to set up." So she's taking advice from those with more experience.
Catseye looks at Emma with big eyes, "Chocolate milk, please and thank you?" Yes, she has a sweet tooth and chocolate milk appeals to her human and feline sides. She looks at the tweaks of the room Emma suggested and nods. "Flow of the room is better. Tempting to make room more symmetrical, but after couple months will be shoving furniture around in middle of the night because it feels stiff." She sounds like she is speaking from personal experience.
A caress to both girl's hair as she straightens, another pair of mental caresses as she heads off, Emma is gone a few minutes and when she returns Catseye will recognize the outfit - is one of her older costumes from when she was Inner Circle. Tight fitted corset that makes already healthy endowments look even more so and reveals a positively scandalous amount of cleavage. White bottoms little more than bikini briefs, thigh length white boots and opera gloves. Finally, a flowing cape with white fur at the collar.
"Here you go." Each girl gets their milk, Cat's with chocolate, and Emma has her tall cappuccino with the foam having a snowflake pattern worked in.
Setting her drink down, she settles gracefully into her own seat with a relaxed sigh, and a little wriggle to get settled before she takes up her cup again. "Which schools, Sharon?"
Chances are, Priscilla wouldn't actually be pushing furniture around the room; she'd just come out to the living room area and flop on the sofa. But she understands the impetus from Catseye's perspective - she can feel it - and so she simply nods, agreeing. "OK. So, we make those changes. Now, we need colors." She glances to her new sister curiously, wondering if Catseye is as insightful in colors as she is home arrangement. "I've heard that decorating predominantly in black or dark brown is not a great look." But that's what she usually does. That's what is freely accessible on the cheap, after all.
When Emma returns, Priscilla arches an eyebrow quite eloquently. That was not the 'relaxation' outfit she was expecting. Not at all. Not that she minds, of course, but apparently her new mother is full of surprises. "Nice one." she comments softly, not wanting to interrupt Emma's conversation with Catseye about schools. "Thank you." she murmurs, accepting her milk and taking a long sip.
Catseye accepts the chocolate milk with a purr. "CUNY, SUNY, and NYU Polytechnic. Want to live at home. Institute is limiting, and with basic credits out of the way, can focus on more interesting classes. Will miss working with DoctorHank but… can only get Associates at Institute, and is too far away." She sips her chocolate milk. "Institute… bothers me more. Keikofriend cannot visit her daughter there. Not happy with school that keeps good parents away from their children. She is not /approved/." She snarls a little, then drinks her milk, and looks apologetically at Priscilla. "Sorry, is upsetting. Institute teachers not like Mother Frost, some suspicious of me even though Catseye passed their telepathic exam. So… think happier if going to school someplace else. Live at home with MotherFrost."
Sensing the surprise from Pris, Emma smiles. "My past, when I was a bit more aggressive about mutant rights, this was my costume." A soft laugh. "It was very shocking to some of my foes, and really, why not take advantage of shutting down many men's higher brain functions?" A long sip of her cappuccino, and then she settles a bit more. "Frankly, it is a lot more comfortable than most things I wear too."
A soft laugh. "Well, Sharon went for lots of lavender, you are welcome to for whatever colors make you happy, purple perhaps?" She definitely approves of Pris's reaction to simple encouragement, and controls her urge to bristle that support and trust and love were so very lacking in her life prior.
Fortunately that won't be the situation now.
"Excellent schools all, Sharon. I took some courses at Polytechic myself, in fact I'm friends with the Dean of Admissions." She will not hesitate to put in a good word — but ONLY if Sharon asks. And then she sighs. "The Institute is too insular, it perpetuates the cycle of isolation and fear breeding contempt. That distrust of you, and the fact that Miss Kurita cannot visit her child were powerful motivators for me to build a school of my own."
Which might be a surprise to Pris.
"I have friends who are going to ESU. And I've heard of some place … Columbia? That's supposed to be really good, I think." Pris offers, just out of pure curiosity. It's just about the only useful thing she could add to a conversation about colleges. "Sounds to me like this Institute needs a serious talking-to. Anyone f*cking stupid enough to think poorly of Emma are willfully stupid blind morons." It's just that simple. Of course, Pris knows nothing at all about the Institute but what these two tell her. But does that really make her observations incorrect?
Priscilla listens to what Emma has to say with rapt attention. "Hey, that's cool. I wear skin to work, so zero judgy here. I think you look amazing in it, and if you like it and it's comfortable, that works." But the school stuff? Yeah, Pris is pretty blown away.
"You're building a school?" Pris wows softly, shaking her head. "You run a huge megacorp. You make billions. You teach and train Catseye, and now me. Others, I'm guessing? And now a whole school? Do you, like, sleep? Ever?"
Catseye collapses into gigglepurrs against Priscilla. "Yes! Now have someone else to help nag MotherMotherFrost to take care of herself!"
"ESU is a decent school, Columbia is also fine, it really depends on what you plan on studying. In a few years once we've gotten your reading and other learning issues sorted, we'll hopefully have a good feel for what sort of advanced schooling you'll want and need, but that's a ways down the line, Pris."
Emma is /very/ touched by Priscilla's fierce protests denouncing the idiots, and it is not something she hides from Pris. She KNOWS that Pris /needs/ to feel the emotions of those around her, so she doesn't hide hers from the girl.
A grin. "I honestly found it in the closet…" The costume. "…I wondered if I could still fit, it is a /little/ snug in the rear, but not too bad otherwise." It clearly pleases her that she can still wear it, must have been a while since she's tried it on.
And then the commentary about sleep, and Cat's laughter earns her a flat look, though — yeah, not going to have any impact since she's not actually upset. "I sleep sufficient unto the day." She declares archly with an aura tangibly laughing to both girls.
"You work hard to take good care of us, Emma. Surely you can understand that to us, taking care of you is equally important and a viable expression of our love." Priscilla offers, with a smile. She winks.
"Not really so sure there would ever be any 'advanced schooling' that would suit me. I doubt they have advanced schooling for strippers. If they did, I'm sure I'd ace it without any more classes." Pris offers. Sure, maybe she'll be able to read better than she can now. But that won't make her a brainiac like other people. It'll just make her literate. But that'll be a big step up for her.
Sharon admits, "Double major. Comp Sci and Electrical Engineering. Minor Mathematics." She was tempted to reverse it, but Computer Science is a good field for not having to speak with people, and Electrical engineering will put her on a path for designing things for Frost Enterprises, or understanding how others have designed them. Whatever path her future takes, they'll all be valuable skills. "Will just have to talk in class little a possible… more talk, more people notice /difference/. Was tempted by History… history is -fun-. But… too much talk in front of people, not practical career."
"You're my daughters." Emma states with absolute finality. "I wouldn't be very good as that if I didn't take care of you both." She smiles then, and nods. "I will allow that family does reciprocate caregiving as needed, at least when done right." And then she joins Cat and Pris, her precious cappuccino set aside so she can join the cuddling.
"Priscilla, you can be whatever you wish to be. It will take time, but you don't always have to be a stripper. I was a stripper once, you know." Emma is utterly not ashamed of that fact too, it was just something she did. "You can find another path, whatever suits you, and the joy of discovering that alternate path is something we can treasure together, all three of us, as a family." An eloquent shrug. "Or not. YOU decide, nobody else gets to say boo."
Emma smiles. "I enjoyed History a lot, Sharon. But what I said to Pris I meant for you too, dearling girl."
Priscilla nuzzles into Sharon's lavender hair and pets along her back, eyes rather wide as the other young woman explains her education plan. She is astounded, but very proud of Catseye. "More power to you." is her only answer. She cannot imagine being that good at such things. But she can be proud of the other regardless.
"You are our mother, Emma. And daughters we may be, but not children. Adult daughters take care of their mothers all the time. I've seen it, even if I've never had a family of my own to do it with." Yep; for her it's book learning and then applying that reality to her new life, not anything she has ever known for herself.
"I … I don't really have any concept, Emma, of what I might be good at. I'm serious." Pris shrugs. "I'll trust you that may change after I can read. But I was never good at anything in school, except languages, and athletics. I wasn't even much of any good in home economics, though I did learn how to sew pretty well." Costuming, from her dancing before there was stripping. "To me, dancing, stripping, and later hunting and fighting, are the only things I've ever shown any talent in at all."
Catseye purrrs at Priscilla's petting and Emma's cuddling. Kittybliss. "History fun, but to make a living at, have to teach… have to debate. Speech stands in the way of that. Computer Science, electrical engineering more practical. And like making stuff, fixing stuff, improving designs. Work has to be presented in form of programs, or designs… those Catseye can do."
Catseye smiles at Pris, "Reading first. Then see what makes Prissy Kitten happy, what good at. Have time, yes?"
"Well, you have one now, Pris. And we'll do our best to be a good family, and give you the means to be whatever you wish, whatever your heart desires." She's happy to cuddle, and looks to Pris with Cat in the middle. "As to your difficulties in school many of them are not a lack of talent or ability on your part, sweet Pris. Your brain is just wired differently than the mainstream, so you have what is termed 'learning disabilities'. And these can be overcome, if not in whole, in large. So…as Sharon has said…we can get you past the first hurdles, and then see what comes after. We do indeed have time."
And then a nod. "And if you want to go into some other fields, or act, or model…we'll work towards that. Your life, your decisions."
"Y'know, that's pretty darned smart, to choose work that won't depend on speech, so you won't have to stand out except by being amazing." And Pris has no doubt in her mind that her feline sister will be just that: absolutely amazing. Pris has read the minds of brilliant programmers before, and she can see where Catseye can be their equal, or even their better.
"I know we have time. No one's rushing me. It's just … I don't know. I just find it hard to imagine. Almost impossible." Pris offers, honestly. She knows they believe; and so she is willing to try her darnedest. But she won't truly believe it can be so, until it is so. And even then, she'll probably be flummoxed. But she'll have a better chance of figuring out what to do with it then. Or so she would hope.
Of course, the longer this goes on, the more likely it is that Emma is going to realize some of the unhealthy things about even Priscilla's most positive prior relationship, with her former teammates. Pris doesn't see it, despite her skill and talent for emotional context. But that's about a blindspot she needed. What will become of her when she realizes what they did to her, and what they made of her?
Catseye nods in sympathy to Priscilla. "Is hard. When MotherMotherFrost found Catseye, could never have dreamt of college, much less computer science. Took years, yes? Who knows where Priskitten will be in years? Just that Catseye and MotherMotherFrost will be with and help." She headbutts Pris, purring, then the same to Emma.
"Sharon is very intelligent, yes. I'm very proud of her, she's taken what I did for her and ran with it, she never seems to think about how much hard work she had to put in to LEARN as she has." Emma looks to Pris, projecting her confidence, and her faith in Pris's abilities. Emma Frost does NOT think she's dumb. At all. "You know who's dumb? Your former teachers, they didn't realize your needs, and so they started you on a cycle that was decidedly unhealthy, and -dead- wrong. You are NOT dumb, Pris. You are NOT worthless. You're not. Not at all."
She scritches Cat as she headbutt-purrs. "We love you." A nod. "In time perhaps you'll learn to love yourself, because you deserve to be happy." A sweet smile from Emma. "And we'll get you through it all, together. Whatever trials, whatever the tribulations. We will NOT abandon you. Or denigrate you. Or belittle you. Not ever."