The coffee on her Styrofoam cup had gone rather lukewarm, the soft fog of the bitter smelling beverage warming her face on the cold autumn day. Her gloves cupped the cup as she watches Charles talk at a very rapid pace, his pale cheeks red from the warmth—or possibly the excitement that his voice elevated as well.
“—And so the labs making a few cuts here and there, but we are getting the new tech that we so desperately needing and now we can definitely continue on with our research.” He finishes, looking quickly at her, whose eyes had been casted all of this time on the table. “Love, are you feeling alright?”
Moira looks up, brown eyes blinking in confusion. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I just…” She says, running a thumb down her tall white cup. “I have a lot on my mind; sorry I’m being a bad friend.”
Charles chuckles. “Not to worry, love. Anything I can help you with?”
Moira sighs. They’re sitting by an outdoor café in one of the busiest parts of New York City, not that there is a part of it where it isn’t busy, but Moira likes it, she considers it home. “Our last model for the Pro-Mutant Campaign had to drop due to personal issues. She’s all well in good but we have to launch these posters in three days and we… we can’t seem to get anyone on time. Most of our other models are already booked for other event.”
Laughing softly, Charles takes his phone out and starts looking for something, Moira can’t tell exactly what it is, though. “Moira, you should have told me earlier.” He punches in some numbers and makes a call; she waits patiently, looking at how Charles engages a conversation with some anonymous patron. “Azazel, hello. Is Em around? She’s in New York? Splendid! I don’t seem to have her new number so please, as soon as you can, let her know that I’m looking for her please. Thank you. Send Raven and Kurt my love.” He hangs up and looks at Moira, who’s just staring at him, an eyebrow quirked up.
“So?”
“So, I found you your model, I think. She’s in New York right now, so we’ll try to get her as soon as we can.” He responds, standing up. Moira is still looking at him, demanding more explanation. Charles is always so aloof and off beat, how is he my roommate? “Her name is Emma Frost and she’s a mutant. Telepath and a shape-shifter of sorts. She can turn her skin into diamond form. Also, I’m your roommate because I am quirky and adorable.”
“You have to stop doing that,” Moira replies, more tense about the whole situation than actually being mad at Charles. Telepathy was a part of him; it wasn’t his fault she technically thought off that really loudly. “Diamond form? I’ve never seen that before.”
Laughing, Charles slaps a twenty dollar bill on the table and Moira stands up, taking that as a clue that it was time to leave, Charles obviously leaving behind a way bigger tip that intended. “You work in a Pro-Mutant add campaign and you’re surprised by diamond skin?”
“Well, being surrounded by fire welders and invisible women, you should be glad something’s still able to impress me.”
Charles scrolls down his pictures and comes up to one of him at a New Year’s Eve party over at his family estate, one Moira hadn’t been able to attend because she had been staying over at her now ex-boyfriend’s family house. “Don’t worry, you didn’t miss much.”
On the screen, Charles appears with two people, a rather handsome, tall man on his left and the most beautiful woman Moira’s ever seen on his right. Her blonde hair shimmered under the light of the room, falling down her back, cascading like a waterfall, blue eyes icily staring at the camera that demanded that the attention should be on her, always. She dressed in an ivory colored cocktail dress, accentuating her curves in such a way that might had been illegal in some countries. “Seems like I missed something.”
“That’s Erik Lehnsherr and Emma Frost.” Charles says, locking the screen back. Moira looks up to see him blushing, which was a rare sight on its own. “They’re Azazel’s friends from his studies abroad. Erik’s from Germany, but was over at France where he met Emma, who was also studying there. They’re friends. They’re absolutely delightful too. It was so relieving meeting another telepath, although we have very different methods.” Charles is rambling, Moira notices, as he jams the phone in his pocket and proceeds walking down the sidewalk with Moira, passing a random boy that was following a dog. “I was actually looking for a chance to look them up and now it seems to have fallen into my lap.”
Moira looks sheepishly at him. “So, you’re using my Pro-Mutant campaign as a cover?”
“Absolutely not,” Charles lies, he’s a terrible liar. “Erik’s actually a Pro-Mutant activist, owner of an organization, Emma’s his co-owner but I am very, very sure she’d love to be a part of this.”
Musing on the fact that there is something definitely fishy about the way Charles is acting—which isn’t mysterious at all, he’s probably crushing on one of them— Moira accepts, not really having a choice.
“Ah, but you do have a choice, love.” Charles winks. “You could always say no.”
Moira sighs. “I told you to stop doing that.”
Emma smiles as she hangs up with Azazel. She turns to find Erik sitting by the window, flipping through his latest acquired novel. “Well, take a wild guess over who’s looking for me?”
Erik doesn’t even look up from Hemingway’s To Whom the Bell Tolls. “Everyone’s always looking for you.”
Rolling her eyes, Emma sits on the bed, crossing her arms. They were in New York to be interviewed by an underground Pro-Mutant magazine, so she was stuck with her oh so endearing best friend for three days in a hotel room in the busiest city on the world. “You’re no fun,” She adds, scrolling through her contacts. She smirks when she finds the one she’s looking for and looks at Erik through her lashes. “But, it seems that Charles Xavier has been wanting to catch up.”
“Charles?” Erik says, taking a tight grip on the book. Bingo, Emma thinks, as waves of CharlesCharlesbBlueEyedCharles hit her with a fierce velocity. Erik’s face may be dead serious, but it had always fascinated her how someone so cold and calculating on the outside could feel and hide so, so much on the inside.
“Yeah, going to call him right now.” Emma says, hitting the green button on her phone; she stands up and exits the room, leaving a very flustered Erik behind.
“Hello?”
“Charles, it’s me. How you’ve been?” She says, closing the door in a slow place, so that Erik could hear.
“Emma, darling! I’ve been good, I’ve been good.”
“So, tell me. Azazel said you were looking for me?”
“Ah, yes. Well, long story short. My friend, Moira MacTaggert works for the Mutant and Proud campaign and she needs a model for her latest piece. I was wondering if you would mind filling in, seeming as how you are gorgeous and all.”
Emma laughs. “Oh, Charles. If you weren’t undressing Erik with your eyes the night we met, I would have taken that as you flirting with me.” She takes in the moment to hear Charles mutter something and quickly replies. “I’m with him here in New York for a few days; I think I can make a day. When’s the shoot?”
“Is tomorrow too soon?”
Emma takes a moment to look back inside to her hotel room to see Erik trying to get back to his reading, his face still red and flushed, she smiles. “Oh, it’s perfect. See you then.”
“I don’t know, Charles.”
“Oh, come on, Moira. She’s beautiful and she may not be a professional model but the camera absolutely loves her.”
“That’s not why I’m worried.”
Charles arches an eyebrow as Moira prepares the scenery. They’re at the studio and the team had chosen had been Scream and Shout, an idea prompted by a young intern—Angel Salvadore? Moira thinks, she’s so bad at these things—and the room had been plastered with several colors on a white canvas. The male model from the day before—Janos Quested?—had taken some shots shirtless, had been thrown several paint balls on him as little tornadoes formed from his hands. She definitely did not want anything thrown at Frost.
“You’re overthinking it,” Charles says as he stands next to the light Moira was unnecessarily fixing. “She has diamond skin, just shot some pictures like that.”
“Like what?” A new voice enters the room and Moira nearly freezes. Oh my gods these two aren’t real, I swear. She thinks as she eyes them, Erik is very handsome… but Emma. That photo didn’t do justice at all to her beautiful eyes, the way her skin looked so soft and my god, Moira she’s a telepath, stop it right now.
“Emma, Erik,” Charles smiles, Emma hugs him and he politely shakes Erik’s hand, Moira watches how Charles shoulders tense. It’s Erik’s, it’s Erik he wants to see. This shouldn’t make Moira as happy as it does. “It’s so nice of you to join us for this.”
“It’s a pleasure.” Emma says, looking Moira up and down, she feels incredibly flustered under her icy stare.
“You’re the photographer then? You one of us?” Erik asks, putting a hand in his pocket.
“…Uh.” Moira blushes, looking at her feet, shifting a bit on her toes. She’s always felt so terribly useless and unimportant when she remembers she herself is not a mutant. “No, no I’m not.”
“Hasn’t bothered us a bit though,” Charles swoops in and saves her from any former humiliation. “She’s been a great addition to the team and she’s just fantastic all around.”
“I am sure she is,” Emma says, smiling and offering her hand. Moira quickly shakes it, feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders, then Emma sends her a smile and Moira feels flustered all over again. “Now, why don’t you two head off while Moira and I get started?”
Charles and Erik share a quick glance before nodding and heading towards the same direction, both of them at an awkward pace. “They’ll thank me for this later.” She hears Emma say, as she looks up and lights a cigarette. “Do you mind if I smoke here?”
“Not at all,” Moira answers, easing a bit around the woman. “Now, shall we get started?”
The way Moira blushes as she takes her coat off and looks for her camera, nearly dropping it in the process, is extremely adorable.
The woman was lovely to look at, brown doe eyes and a beautiful shade of auburn hair in a messy bun, Moira looked like the type of woman who lived and breathed her work, which was something Emma could definitely respect… but her soft pink lips were tempting, though.
“Well, the theme is Scream and Shout, this was our male model yesterday,” Moira says, handing her a picture of a familiar face. “I was wondering what type of pose you’d be comfortable with.”
In that instant, Emma turned into complete diamond, leaving Moira stunned. “Surprised?”
The way Moira’s eyes dragged down on Emma’s body was nearly illegal; taking every moment she could to memorize every single detail. “You are—whoa—um,” She started mumbling at a loss for words.
Emma smiled softly and put on a pair of jeans, to at least look decent enough. “When I turn, my clothes turn with me, but if you don’t mind, I’ll use these to mimic the male model’s pose. Is that alright?”
With her eyes still a bit widened, Moira nods and goes back to be behind the camera as Emma clasps the jeans close. “Yes, that’s alright, although not screaming, like Janos was,” She says, not exactly looking at her, but watching her through the lens. “Just be natural. I’ll take a few pictures and we can decide later. You’re free to move around if you want.”
Nodding, Emma starts walking around the paint splattered set, hearing the camera click away. I could get used to this, she thinks to herself. Emma tries her upmost to not read the photographer’s mind, since she seems so quiet and reserved, but she does cheat a bit and gently linger over it. Nice thoughts like: She’s beautiful and why doesn’t she make this her career? Floated about making Emma’s cold smile feel like a genuine one. The flashes made her a bit numb after a while.
“I don’t want to disagree with you, my friend, but calling out congress by their actions in a hostile manner is not the way it should be. You shouldn’t try to make them submissive to you, or fear you; you want them as partners.”
“We’ve tried that, Charles, and it has failed us before. I’m not saying we’re going to attack them with some media exploitation, but we are thinking of at least calling out some of the horrible things they’ve done. Remember the Chicago fiasco?”
“The girl nearly drowned the school, Erik.”
“She was thirteen! It was probably the first time her powers were manifesting. And instead of helping her seek help or guidance they sent her to solitary confinement chamber for a week.”
“I’m not saying that what they did is good. It’s terrible, absolutely horrifying. But you have to consider that they have had reason to be afraid of us. That’s why we should start slowly, maybe by building a school where they can learn how to better access those gifts.”
“But a school for what? So when they go out to the real world, people will shame them? We need to change the world first, for them to have a future to look forward too.”
Moira sighed. She came at a bad time, didn’t she?
“Not at all, darling.” Charles said, quickly standing up and offering Moira a chair next to Erik, Emma follows behind in her normal skin and sits beside him. “Erik and I were just discussing.”
“And yet I’m surprised the tables are still in place.” Emma says, stealing a fry from Erik’s plate, he pays her no mind. “Good work, Lehnsherr. You got that temper in check.”
“Don’t start, Emma.” He says, eyes not leaving Charles, who seemed just as intense as he did. Which was odd… Moira had never seen Charles actually be on the offense when he liked someone, on the contrary he was always pliant and agreeing with the person.
With Erik, though, it seemed different. “And I agree with you Erik, but we need to take it step by step. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
“And yet, Rome fell.” He says, appearing to end the conversation with that. Charles didn’t push any further either, leaving a small sense of tension in the air.
Emma seemed used to it, which was baffling to Moira. Don’t worry, darling. A soft voice told her. They wanna screw each other’s brains out but Charles is being respectful and isn’t reading Erik’s mind, which isn’t needed, really. I mean, you can practically cut this tension with a knife.
Moira laughed audibly, causing Charles to look at her skeptically. Erik just stared at Emma. “Well, don’t leave us out of the joke.” He said, stern and completely serious, which only made it seem funnier for the blonde.
“Oh, trust me, you’re not.”
“How did the shoot go?” Charles asks, taking a fry to his mouth.
“It went well,” Moira says. “We managed to get a couple of shots, but Emma insisted that the one picture where I caught her back and her looking over her shoulder is the one we use.”
“Yes,” Emma interrupts. “It creates a perfect contrast to Janos’ picture. He’s loud while I’m quiet and discreet.”
Erik mumbles something under his breath that sounds like: “Hardly.” And Emma lightly punches his stomach.
Moira laughs. “But you have a point, I think we will end up using that one.”
Smiling in what seemed like triumph, Emma orders a white latte, Moira just orders a mocha one. The rest of the afternoon was lovely and inviting and Moira cannot sincerely remember when was the last time she had enjoyed other people’s company, except Charles, of course. From Emma’s stories of Erik basically going on rampages (I am not angry, I am just very passionate, he tries to defend himself), to Charles regarding the organization where Moira works at as one of the top notch New York has. “I like you already,” Erik says grinning before he takes a swing of his beer. Moira smiles back, not really knowing why she needed his approval, but kind of glad she got it.
Emma looks at her when she can, Moira pretends not to notice but the woman is a freaking telepath, so Moira has really no alibi to her, really.
“So, would you like to go to a movie with me?”
The invitation over the phone leaves Moira a bit baffled—you know, her third natural state, right before completely serious and occasionally pleased really. “Excuse me?”
“Charles came by the hotel room to bring us white wine as a gift, he and Erik are now so involved in something that I need to get out of here as quick as possible.”
Moira laughs softly, trying to push the immense question of “Is this a date?” out of her mind. “Sure, do you want me to stop by or meet me there?”
“I’ll meet you there; I cannot stand being here one more minute before they actually touch each other.” There’s a small pause and then she adds. “It can be a date if you want it to, MacTaggert. You’re beautiful and I definitely wouldn’t mind.”
Moira grips the phone tight. “Okay,” She answers and hangs up. She swears she can hear Emma laughing before.
Watching Moira walk up with her hands in her jacket was endearing. Emma had been waiting for her in front of the theater. She lets her cigarette fall and crushes it under her boot. “Hey,”
“Hello,” Moira says, catching up. She smiles and Emma takes her hand and rushes into the theatre. Moira doesn’t fight it, seeming pretty content with it.
“What are you in the mood for?”
“Hmm,” Moira stares at the posters for a while, when she decides on a dumb, action one. “I need something dumb, it’s been a stressful week.”
Laughing, Emma pays for the tickets while Moira volunteers to pay for the treats, sharing a big bag of popcorn and two sodas. They enter the room and there appear to be only two or three groups of small people, nothing to crowded. They sit by the end and watch the trailers.
“Were you serious?” Moira asks in a mousy, soft tone. “Is this a date?”
Emma chuckles and takes her hand. “Well, I could kind of read that you liked me and well… who am I to deny something as pretty as yourself?”
“Are comparing me to a thing, Miss Frost?” Moira said; Emma could practically feel her confidence boosting a bit up.
“Not at all, love.” She answers. “I am merely making an observation.”
Moira laughs softly and hangs her head on Emma’s shoulder as the feature presentation starts, it was a good night.
Emma kissed her goodnight, leaving her by her apartment door. She tasted of cigarettes and mint and light and just so right. Moira has felt her knees go weak but there’s a first time for everything.
“Tonight was…” Moira says, the moment her lips separate from Emma’s.
“Fun,” She finishes her sentence and goes back to kiss her, gently pushing her against the door. Moira lets her back go flat and wraps her arms around Emma’s waist. “I—“ Emma says, catching a breath, Moira’s arms don’t let her go, though. “I’m leaving New York for a couple of days but I’ve actually been meaning to move her for a while. Can I call you when I do?”
Moira grins. Oh, this was going to be the start of something beautiful.