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WHO: Jono Starsmore and Emma Frost
WHEN: May 5, 2025
WHERE: Emma's Office
WHAT: Jono comes to ask for help investigating the Kick dealer in Phoenix.
WARNINGS: None!
Jono doesn't spend much time in the school parts of the Xavier Institute these days. He's no longer a student. He'll never be a teacher. He's not cut out for any sort of mentorship. So he gets no small number of looks from the kids as he navigates the bustling halls on Monday morning and makes his way to the teachers' offices. Many of the newer ones barely know who he is or have never actually seen him before and that's fine by him.
The students thin outside the actual offices and he glances at the nameplates beside each door as he progresses until he finally spots the one he's looking for: EMMA FROST. The woman is as much a mystery to him as he is to some of the students. She was gone for most of the time he'd been here, off running a company and modeling bikinis on Instagram or something, and had only returned after the bollocks with marks had started. They've never trained together. Never spent any meaningful time together. But he knows her from her reputation and he knows that she's the only person here other than Charles that could give him the assistance he's looking for.
The door is closed, so he gives it a light rap with the side of his fist and projects his psionic voice outward.
«Oi. Frost. You in there?»
Emma is, in fact, not in her office - she's exiting an office a few doors down behind Jono, and pauses to watch him for only a moment before approaching. Curious, to see him here, but his mind readily gives his reasoning. Which - no defenses? Really? She comes up beside him, pushing a thick, heavy binder into his hands so that she can unlock her office door more easily.
"I don't think we've ever spoken one-on-one, have we? Everything has been so hectic since I've been back."
Hearing someone approach, Jono half-turns just in time to have Emma's binder pushed into his hands. He blinks, then scowls a little, dropping the thing down to his side and holding it without much care while she opens the door. Hectic is one way to put it. The old guard have been busy going mad and chasing down the Professor and fighting dinosaurs. The rest of them have just been getting on with things.
Yesterday, though, had finally brought the teams back together.
«Not like we'd have much to talk about,» he points out. Except. Now they do. «...Normally. Do you have a minute?»
Stepping inside her office, enough that he can follow, Emma pauses to hold out a hand to take the binder back from Jono with a quiet thanks. His light annoyance is pleasing to her, especially with the mood she's in. Once the binder is back in her hands, she heads to her desk to deposit it, though she doesn't circle around to sit on the other side. Instead she turns back around to face the young man, leaning back against the edge of the desk. She's not quite ready to settle into work mode just yet.
After a moment of consideration, she switches to telepathy too.
«I'm not so sure that's true, but regardless none of that was top of mind when I arrived, obviously.» She sighs, as though everything that has gone on has simply been an annoyance.
«But yes, please, continue. You need something.» She knows what but figures she should be polite.
Handing back the binder and following Emma inside, Jono slips his hands into the pockets of his worn leather jacket and waits for the woman to turn back to him. His eyebrows quirk upward when she responds to him using telepathic speech (he's got no mouth but what's her excuse?), though it doesn't actually matter.
She can still sigh, though. How nice for her.
He nods. «I assume you've read Kitty's report? We tracked down the git selling that contaminated Kick, but he wasn't the source. Didn't know much about the guy he got it from either. I was hoping we could go back and you could take a glance in his brain? I doubt he was holding anything back, seemed scared shitless of Laura and me, but maybe there're some useful details stashed away in his subconscious?»
While he 'talks', he watches the woman's expression, trying to get a read on how she feels about all this. It's impossible not to notice the bruises on her neck, though. A tangible reminder that she’s got enough of her own shit to deal with already.
«Once you've got all the public enemy bollocks sorted out. You know.»
Emma listens intently, her expression slowly becoming a little incredulous. Not because she didn't know that this is what he was coming for, but she hadn't fully grasped that he simply was coming to her for help because she's a telepath. Not because he doesn't feel well-trained enough to extract the information himself. Just that he… can't, apparently.
His final comment earns a dismissive wave of her hand. «A press conference and a few interviews with highlighted bruises will sort everything out. It helps that my public persona is generally sympathetic, with all the charity work I do.» Not a calculated choice, but a helpful one.
«But yes, I've read the report. What I don't understand is why you didn't just do it yourself. It should have been top of mind for him in the moment, so tracing it deeper should have been relatively easy.»
It seems like a forgone conclusion at this point that what Jono is going to say will leave her annoyed with Charles.
Now it's Jono's turn to look incredulous.
«Because I'm not a telepath?» Even he knows how this claim sounds when made with his psionic voice speaking directly into Emma's mind and he grimaces with the remnants of his face, quickly shaking his head. «Because I'm not that type of telepath. You know what I mean. I can't go digging around in people's heads, but you can.»
Ah, well, at least he's smart enough to know how dumb his first comment sounds. Emma taps her nails on the desk, continuing to watch Jono. Her probing in his mind is gentle and subtle, her typical route when it's not someone from Blue Team or someone she's actively trying to annoy. Generally she doesn't want people to know she's there, and he's definitely not going to take kindly to her just blatantly rooting around. He really does seem to think he has no capabilities other than telepathic speech. She wrinkles her nose.
«Charles never made any attempt to teach you? Stupid man. I assume that's why you have no mental defenses either.»
Jono doesn't perceive Emma's presence in his mind at all. There's not even a twinge of recognition. Not until she acknowledges it out loud and he tenses visibly, dark eyes narrowing in annoyance. Beneath his bandages, his energy flares up and she can see light bleeding through the cracks in his skin.
«If you're in my head right now, you need to bloody well get out,» he shoots back and there's a force behind his telepathic voice, a reverberation of psychic power, that only proves her point. Clearly growing impatient, he ignores her question and adds, «Are you going to help or not?»
«I suppose that answers the question about Charles,» Emma laments. She pulls back mentally some, but not fully, testing him. She's a little curious if he'll be able to sense her remaining presence - she figures it's unlikely, since it's such a light touch and he's horribly untrained, but the flare in his psionic energy may afford him a bit more sensitivity than usual. There's so much potential in him, which she hadn't really noticed until now because she'd paid Jono no mind, and it makes her even more annoyed at Xavier.
She's scowling a bit as she pulls out her phone to look over her schedule. This really needs to be remedied, particularly because the young man clearly isn't going to do anything about it himself.
«To be clear, you are that kind of telepath. And I'll help, of course. I can teach you some things in the process, and then…» Flipping through her phone, Emma hums before raising her eyes to look at Jono again. «How are Wednesday evenings for you?»
On some level, Jono can sense Emma's persistent presence in his mind. But he doesn't recognize it for what it is and he couldn't put a name to it. It's just an intangible feeling that something is off, an itch in his phantom brain, that's readily overshadowed by his souring mood. He doesn't know what this lady is on about, but he doesn't like it.
«Save the condescension, luv. You don't know anything about me or my powers and I'm not looking for a bloody lesson. We just need to find out what we can about this guy.»
When she looks up at him, he meets her eyes, stubborn and unmoved. Until she asks him about Wednesday nights and he blinks in surprise. He doesn't know what she's about to propose, but his response is automatic.
«I'm busy.»
He isn't.
«Providing information and offering to help you improve is condescension?» Emma isn't surprised by his response, but she is a little disheartened that he's so combative right away. She'll look over his files, later, and probably creep around his mind a bit more to get the full details. Then she'll know how to best approach this.
Because, really, it's idiotic to just let his potential talent be wasted, even if he has a clear attitude problem. She can deal with those.
She quirks a smile at his thoughtless response. Yeah. Busy.
«Most of my evenings are free. Pick one that works for you.»
Jono rolls his eyes, not believing for a second that Emma doesn't know what she's doing. Talking down to him and trying to strongarm him into...whatever without any discussion. He's known people like her all his life and he isn't about to get pushed around by Charles' understudy. Especially not when she's potentially still trespassing in his mind.
«...Look. If you actually want to help with the investigation, brilliant. Text me. Otherwise, consider me booked up.»
Then he turns, stepping away and starting to move toward the door.
Understudy? Emma scoffs quietly but doesn't let Jono know just what about. This is clearly not the right approach for him, but… there's time to figure it out. She sets aside her phone again, watching as he turns to go. The desire to just rifle through his thoughts grows - she knows his general mood thanks to Manny's complaints, but even so she can't imagine not wanting to at least make some sort of effort to grow his powers. Despite her curiosity, she remains mostly on the surface of his thoughts, a little annoyed but not enough to lash out.
«You really have no interest, Mr. Starsmore?» It's a genuine question, one not steeped in any sort of tone other than curiosity.
Mr. Starsmore now. Like she's his bloody teacher.
Nevertheless, Jono stops in the doorway and turns back to look at Emma, considering the question more levelly now that she's just asking it. After a pause, he shrugs. «None of my business what's going on in people's heads. Even if I could do it, why would I want to? Powers've given me enough trouble without all that.»
Insane, to Emma, to not want to be stronger simply for the sake of it. Even though, as Jono has said, his powers have been trouble up until now, she can't imagine just accepting that as the state of the world. His lack of drive makes her want to push harder than is sensible at the moment.
«Telepathy is a wonderful way to relate to others,» she starts, which, while technically true, is hilariously altruistic sounding to her. She can't imagine he'll take her saying it seriously, but it's worth a try.
«And you have a lot of potential. Harnessing it seems like the sensible path to take. Especially given that your powers have 'given you enough trouble' already.»
The look Jono gives Emma in return makes it clear that he isn't taking her seriously at all. He doesn't know her well, but he knows her well enough to understand she doesn't just use her powers to relate to others. And all his so-called potential has done is rip him apart.
«...I'll pass. This,» he lifts his hand from his pocket, gesturing between the two of them a few times in quick succession, «Is all the telepathy I need. Everything else...you and Charles've got it covered.»
«Incredibly short-sighted.» There's a hint of annoyance in her thoughts, delivered along with these words (can he even do that?), as Emma pushes herself fully off her desk and circles around to the other side of it to sit down.
«And I'm disappointed you don't want to show up Charles. Do you want to come with me tomorrow, or are you afraid you might learn something useful simply by being in proximity?»
The words that Jono projects into Emma's mind are just words, reflecting a tone like any voice might, but nothing more than that. Not intentionally, at least. He watches as she moves to the other side of the desk, still lingering in the doorway and scowling at her criticism.
«Didn't ask,» he replies tersely, «But I'm coming. I want to see this through.»
«I don't wait to be asked to speak my mind. That's a little too demure for my tastes.» Despite his tone, Emma smiles. The fact that he's still here, and wants to do this additional legwork, is at least something of a good sign. Though she doesn't doubt he's going to be an incredibly annoying project.
«I'll arrange it, then. I'll text you the details once I figure out my schedule.»
Jono doesn't know what to make of that smile and his dark eyes narrow slightly as he looks at the woman. She thinks she knows everything and that's bloody irritating, but if they're going to uncover more it's either her or Charles. Unless he could convince Rogue to give one of them a little tap and become team psychic for the day.
She'd probably say no.
«Knock yourself out. Sort it and I'll make it work.» With that settled, he gives her a nod, indicating his intention to leave before he jerks to a stop and glances back at her briefly. Begrudgingly. «...Thanks.»
Then he turns and departs back into the hallway.
WHEN: May 5, 2025
WHERE: Emma's Office
WHAT: Jono comes to ask for help investigating the Kick dealer in Phoenix.
WARNINGS: None!
Jono doesn't spend much time in the school parts of the Xavier Institute these days. He's no longer a student. He'll never be a teacher. He's not cut out for any sort of mentorship. So he gets no small number of looks from the kids as he navigates the bustling halls on Monday morning and makes his way to the teachers' offices. Many of the newer ones barely know who he is or have never actually seen him before and that's fine by him.
The students thin outside the actual offices and he glances at the nameplates beside each door as he progresses until he finally spots the one he's looking for: EMMA FROST. The woman is as much a mystery to him as he is to some of the students. She was gone for most of the time he'd been here, off running a company and modeling bikinis on Instagram or something, and had only returned after the bollocks with marks had started. They've never trained together. Never spent any meaningful time together. But he knows her from her reputation and he knows that she's the only person here other than Charles that could give him the assistance he's looking for.
The door is closed, so he gives it a light rap with the side of his fist and projects his psionic voice outward.
«Oi. Frost. You in there?»
Emma is, in fact, not in her office - she's exiting an office a few doors down behind Jono, and pauses to watch him for only a moment before approaching. Curious, to see him here, but his mind readily gives his reasoning. Which - no defenses? Really? She comes up beside him, pushing a thick, heavy binder into his hands so that she can unlock her office door more easily.
"I don't think we've ever spoken one-on-one, have we? Everything has been so hectic since I've been back."
Hearing someone approach, Jono half-turns just in time to have Emma's binder pushed into his hands. He blinks, then scowls a little, dropping the thing down to his side and holding it without much care while she opens the door. Hectic is one way to put it. The old guard have been busy going mad and chasing down the Professor and fighting dinosaurs. The rest of them have just been getting on with things.
Yesterday, though, had finally brought the teams back together.
«Not like we'd have much to talk about,» he points out. Except. Now they do. «...Normally. Do you have a minute?»
Stepping inside her office, enough that he can follow, Emma pauses to hold out a hand to take the binder back from Jono with a quiet thanks. His light annoyance is pleasing to her, especially with the mood she's in. Once the binder is back in her hands, she heads to her desk to deposit it, though she doesn't circle around to sit on the other side. Instead she turns back around to face the young man, leaning back against the edge of the desk. She's not quite ready to settle into work mode just yet.
After a moment of consideration, she switches to telepathy too.
«I'm not so sure that's true, but regardless none of that was top of mind when I arrived, obviously.» She sighs, as though everything that has gone on has simply been an annoyance.
«But yes, please, continue. You need something.» She knows what but figures she should be polite.
Handing back the binder and following Emma inside, Jono slips his hands into the pockets of his worn leather jacket and waits for the woman to turn back to him. His eyebrows quirk upward when she responds to him using telepathic speech (he's got no mouth but what's her excuse?), though it doesn't actually matter.
She can still sigh, though. How nice for her.
He nods. «I assume you've read Kitty's report? We tracked down the git selling that contaminated Kick, but he wasn't the source. Didn't know much about the guy he got it from either. I was hoping we could go back and you could take a glance in his brain? I doubt he was holding anything back, seemed scared shitless of Laura and me, but maybe there're some useful details stashed away in his subconscious?»
While he 'talks', he watches the woman's expression, trying to get a read on how she feels about all this. It's impossible not to notice the bruises on her neck, though. A tangible reminder that she’s got enough of her own shit to deal with already.
«Once you've got all the public enemy bollocks sorted out. You know.»
Emma listens intently, her expression slowly becoming a little incredulous. Not because she didn't know that this is what he was coming for, but she hadn't fully grasped that he simply was coming to her for help because she's a telepath. Not because he doesn't feel well-trained enough to extract the information himself. Just that he… can't, apparently.
His final comment earns a dismissive wave of her hand. «A press conference and a few interviews with highlighted bruises will sort everything out. It helps that my public persona is generally sympathetic, with all the charity work I do.» Not a calculated choice, but a helpful one.
«But yes, I've read the report. What I don't understand is why you didn't just do it yourself. It should have been top of mind for him in the moment, so tracing it deeper should have been relatively easy.»
It seems like a forgone conclusion at this point that what Jono is going to say will leave her annoyed with Charles.
Now it's Jono's turn to look incredulous.
«Because I'm not a telepath?» Even he knows how this claim sounds when made with his psionic voice speaking directly into Emma's mind and he grimaces with the remnants of his face, quickly shaking his head. «Because I'm not that type of telepath. You know what I mean. I can't go digging around in people's heads, but you can.»
Ah, well, at least he's smart enough to know how dumb his first comment sounds. Emma taps her nails on the desk, continuing to watch Jono. Her probing in his mind is gentle and subtle, her typical route when it's not someone from Blue Team or someone she's actively trying to annoy. Generally she doesn't want people to know she's there, and he's definitely not going to take kindly to her just blatantly rooting around. He really does seem to think he has no capabilities other than telepathic speech. She wrinkles her nose.
«Charles never made any attempt to teach you? Stupid man. I assume that's why you have no mental defenses either.»
Jono doesn't perceive Emma's presence in his mind at all. There's not even a twinge of recognition. Not until she acknowledges it out loud and he tenses visibly, dark eyes narrowing in annoyance. Beneath his bandages, his energy flares up and she can see light bleeding through the cracks in his skin.
«If you're in my head right now, you need to bloody well get out,» he shoots back and there's a force behind his telepathic voice, a reverberation of psychic power, that only proves her point. Clearly growing impatient, he ignores her question and adds, «Are you going to help or not?»
«I suppose that answers the question about Charles,» Emma laments. She pulls back mentally some, but not fully, testing him. She's a little curious if he'll be able to sense her remaining presence - she figures it's unlikely, since it's such a light touch and he's horribly untrained, but the flare in his psionic energy may afford him a bit more sensitivity than usual. There's so much potential in him, which she hadn't really noticed until now because she'd paid Jono no mind, and it makes her even more annoyed at Xavier.
She's scowling a bit as she pulls out her phone to look over her schedule. This really needs to be remedied, particularly because the young man clearly isn't going to do anything about it himself.
«To be clear, you are that kind of telepath. And I'll help, of course. I can teach you some things in the process, and then…» Flipping through her phone, Emma hums before raising her eyes to look at Jono again. «How are Wednesday evenings for you?»
On some level, Jono can sense Emma's persistent presence in his mind. But he doesn't recognize it for what it is and he couldn't put a name to it. It's just an intangible feeling that something is off, an itch in his phantom brain, that's readily overshadowed by his souring mood. He doesn't know what this lady is on about, but he doesn't like it.
«Save the condescension, luv. You don't know anything about me or my powers and I'm not looking for a bloody lesson. We just need to find out what we can about this guy.»
When she looks up at him, he meets her eyes, stubborn and unmoved. Until she asks him about Wednesday nights and he blinks in surprise. He doesn't know what she's about to propose, but his response is automatic.
«I'm busy.»
He isn't.
«Providing information and offering to help you improve is condescension?» Emma isn't surprised by his response, but she is a little disheartened that he's so combative right away. She'll look over his files, later, and probably creep around his mind a bit more to get the full details. Then she'll know how to best approach this.
Because, really, it's idiotic to just let his potential talent be wasted, even if he has a clear attitude problem. She can deal with those.
She quirks a smile at his thoughtless response. Yeah. Busy.
«Most of my evenings are free. Pick one that works for you.»
Jono rolls his eyes, not believing for a second that Emma doesn't know what she's doing. Talking down to him and trying to strongarm him into...whatever without any discussion. He's known people like her all his life and he isn't about to get pushed around by Charles' understudy. Especially not when she's potentially still trespassing in his mind.
«...Look. If you actually want to help with the investigation, brilliant. Text me. Otherwise, consider me booked up.»
Then he turns, stepping away and starting to move toward the door.
Understudy? Emma scoffs quietly but doesn't let Jono know just what about. This is clearly not the right approach for him, but… there's time to figure it out. She sets aside her phone again, watching as he turns to go. The desire to just rifle through his thoughts grows - she knows his general mood thanks to Manny's complaints, but even so she can't imagine not wanting to at least make some sort of effort to grow his powers. Despite her curiosity, she remains mostly on the surface of his thoughts, a little annoyed but not enough to lash out.
«You really have no interest, Mr. Starsmore?» It's a genuine question, one not steeped in any sort of tone other than curiosity.
Mr. Starsmore now. Like she's his bloody teacher.
Nevertheless, Jono stops in the doorway and turns back to look at Emma, considering the question more levelly now that she's just asking it. After a pause, he shrugs. «None of my business what's going on in people's heads. Even if I could do it, why would I want to? Powers've given me enough trouble without all that.»
Insane, to Emma, to not want to be stronger simply for the sake of it. Even though, as Jono has said, his powers have been trouble up until now, she can't imagine just accepting that as the state of the world. His lack of drive makes her want to push harder than is sensible at the moment.
«Telepathy is a wonderful way to relate to others,» she starts, which, while technically true, is hilariously altruistic sounding to her. She can't imagine he'll take her saying it seriously, but it's worth a try.
«And you have a lot of potential. Harnessing it seems like the sensible path to take. Especially given that your powers have 'given you enough trouble' already.»
The look Jono gives Emma in return makes it clear that he isn't taking her seriously at all. He doesn't know her well, but he knows her well enough to understand she doesn't just use her powers to relate to others. And all his so-called potential has done is rip him apart.
«...I'll pass. This,» he lifts his hand from his pocket, gesturing between the two of them a few times in quick succession, «Is all the telepathy I need. Everything else...you and Charles've got it covered.»
«Incredibly short-sighted.» There's a hint of annoyance in her thoughts, delivered along with these words (can he even do that?), as Emma pushes herself fully off her desk and circles around to the other side of it to sit down.
«And I'm disappointed you don't want to show up Charles. Do you want to come with me tomorrow, or are you afraid you might learn something useful simply by being in proximity?»
The words that Jono projects into Emma's mind are just words, reflecting a tone like any voice might, but nothing more than that. Not intentionally, at least. He watches as she moves to the other side of the desk, still lingering in the doorway and scowling at her criticism.
«Didn't ask,» he replies tersely, «But I'm coming. I want to see this through.»
«I don't wait to be asked to speak my mind. That's a little too demure for my tastes.» Despite his tone, Emma smiles. The fact that he's still here, and wants to do this additional legwork, is at least something of a good sign. Though she doesn't doubt he's going to be an incredibly annoying project.
«I'll arrange it, then. I'll text you the details once I figure out my schedule.»
Jono doesn't know what to make of that smile and his dark eyes narrow slightly as he looks at the woman. She thinks she knows everything and that's bloody irritating, but if they're going to uncover more it's either her or Charles. Unless he could convince Rogue to give one of them a little tap and become team psychic for the day.
She'd probably say no.
«Knock yourself out. Sort it and I'll make it work.» With that settled, he gives her a nod, indicating his intention to leave before he jerks to a stop and glances back at her briefly. Begrudgingly. «...Thanks.»
Then he turns and departs back into the hallway.