Emma Frost picks up Jetstream from the airport

[x-jetstream.livejournal.com]

Players:
Haroun ibn Sallah al-Rashid, AKA Jetstream
Emma Grace Frost

Meta: Apologies for the format, I'm new at this. Let me know if I got any of it wrong. This was RP'ed via AIM.



x Jetstream (2:59:01 PM): Scene is thus:

JFK. Early afternoon. The place is _packed_, wall to wall humanity in all their shades. Specifically, the Babel-like International Arrivals terminal, where a wide-body from Morocco is currently disgorging its passengers.

emmafrostbites (3:02:00 PM): Emma is sitting in the airport lounge reading the Financial Times. Despite the crowds, no-one is sitting on either side of her. She's making sure of it. She has a coffee resting on one seat.

x Jetstream (3:03:23 PM): Haroun, for his part, looks ragged and worn. He's got a large duffel over one shoulder, and a too-thick winter jacket covering his thin frame. He hasn't seen Emma yet; weariness has dulled his senses.

emmafrostbites (3:05:55 PM): Emma is idly scanning the crowds as she reads her paper. She picks up the familiar notes of Haroun's mind. WIthout looking up, she gently prods him in her direction. She doesn't look up until he's reached her, at which point she folds up her paper and stands before looking at him. When she does, she actually smiles. "Hello Haroun."

x Jetstream (3:07:07 PM): Haroun wanders towards Emma's location without realizing it - but smiles when he finally spots her. "Miss Frost!" he says with a grin, using his free hand to mock-genuflect towards her. "It is good to see you again. Thank you for accepting my request for a meeting."

emmafrostbites (3:08:41 PM): "It's lovely to see you too, Haroun. How have you been?"

x Jetstream (3:11:54 PM): Haroun sinks into one of the unoccupied seats next to Emma - the one without the coffee cup in it. "Tired, but doing well. The Americans are still honorless sons-of-pigs, but I've been working close to the ground trying to get some folks back home to see reason regarding the mutant situation. But the reason I asked for this meeting is that I've developed a nasty bug in my guidance arrays - I can't fly anymore, and even walking is a chore." He manages to keep his face impassive, but even the most casual telepathic scans would show how concerned and distressed he is over this development.

emmafrostbites (3:18:32 PM): Emma, of course, has already conducted the most casual of telepathic scans. She's also sitting back down, of course. "Honor is all well and good, darling, but it doesn't get you Louis Vuitton, now, does it?" She picks up her coffee and swirls it in the cup while she contemplates Haroun's situation. "A nasty bug, you say? Well, we'll have to see what we can do about that."

x Jetstream (3:22:52 PM): Haroun nods once. "That begs the question of whether or not Louis Vuitton is a good thing or not, but that's neither here nor there. And yeah, something's glitching in the stabilizer arrays - if I go airborne, I can't maintain my position. Even walking is off a little. I've had the hardware checked out my Dr Shaw, and he assures me that it is operating perfectly." After this he smiles warmly at Emma. "It is _good_ to see you again. I've missed you - as well as the others."

emmafrostbites (3:28:33 PM): Emma drains her coffee cup and drops it under her chair. "It's good to see you as well. It's a long time since I've really seen any of the old school, but I'm always... grateful, when I do. What are your plans, Haroun? I can put you up in our offices here in New York, but I think it might be better if I took you back to the school. Charles's school. That's where I'm living now. I don't have much of a workshop there, but Henry... Dr McCoy... lets me play with his things once in a while."

x Jetstream (3:32:12 PM): Haroun quirks _both_ his eyebrows at this. "This is ... unexpected. Do you trust these people? Should _I_ trust these people? And I have no plans save for the repairs. I am always loathe to leave my country unsupervised - did you hear of the bombing in Marrakesh? Turns out some of the dumber followers of the Prophet got a hold of some military explosives, and decided to end the mutant plague in their city. I stopped them - but I think that's when I damaged myself. But I digress - I am once again at your disposal ... Emma."

emmafrostbites (3:34:56 PM): "You're a very brave, very honorable young man, Haroun. It's admirable. You should go on to great things. As for the school... I need to be somewhere. Charles and his people, they're the ones who came to my aid when Pierce attacked the academy. I may not see eye to eye with them on everything, but I appreciate that they're trying to do good work. They're also brave. Also honorable. Frankly, it makes me a little ill."

x Jetstream (3:37:13 PM): Haroun spits casually onto the carpeted floor. "That for that evil pig Pierce. Him I especially would like to get my hands on." He then stands, wobbling to the point where he needs to steady himself by grabbing the back of his chair. "Shall we go, then? We can talk in the car privately." It is hard to tell, but it seems that he is flushed with your praise - and his thoughts certainly reflect that.

emmafrostbites (3:38:41 PM): Emma stands. "Yes. You're happy to come to Westchester? I can't promise they won't bite, but we have an impressive faculty, and there's a few other fliers at the school that you may be interested to meet."

x Jetstream (3:40:52 PM): Haroun nods again, but a sudden breakout of sweat on his forehead betrays how much concentration it is taking him to stay upright. "I look forward to the day when I can once again fly." he says, while taking a step forward to test his treacherous legs. "I think I've got it, now. Shall we? And I would like to meet those other fliers - I have the honor of the Academy to uphold, after all." he says with a smile.

emmafrostbites (3:44:10 PM): "The honor of the Academy? My, we'll have to set up a Quidditch team." She gives a sly smile and leads the way to the exit. She telepathically signals her driver to meet them at the door. She considers offering Haroun some telepathic help, with his balance or the pain, but she realises he'd probably be offended. "So, how was Sebastian?"

x Jetstream (3:47:09 PM): "Dr Shaw? Busy, as always. He happened to be in Spain for a meeting with the King, so I managed to obtain an opportunity to speak to him personally. He was gracious enough to hear me out, and his team took a look at my gifts later that day." Haroun follows Emma towards the exit, taking things plenty slow to allow his malfing cyberwear to function. "_I_ don't need a broomstick to outmaneuver anything else in the sky." He apparently got the reference, which is highly unusual for him.

emmafrostbites (3:48:50 PM): "Did they do anything? Add anything? Have you had anything added that they might have... observed?" The limousine is there, as expected. Her driver holds the door open. Emma gestures for Haroun to go first.

x Jetstream (3:52:13 PM): Haroun folds his frame into the limousine, more of a controlled collapse than a dignified entry, then slides to the far side to allow Emma entry. "They hooked me up to diagnostic equipment and ran a series of tests. They believe that a cyberkinetic in that terrorist cell may have partially corrupted the software that handles feedback and the feeds from the gyros."

emmafrostbites (3:54:18 PM): Takes a seat and nods to the chauffeur. "Cyberkinetic? So, what happened to the terrorists?"

x Jetstream (3:55:17 PM): Haroun smiles thinly. "They have gone to make their apologies to Allah directly."

emmafrostbites (3:59:57 PM): Emma nods, poker faced. She's relieved, but also a little disappointed. "Good." Emma reaches for a folder from the table in front of her. "These papers are for you. I've put you on the payroll at Frost International, so you can use company resources to upgrade the tech. You'll be registered as a test pilot. But you will need to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Is that going to present a problem?"

x Jetstream (4:01:44 PM): Haroun shakes his head, then takes the folder to flip through the documents therein. "Sounds perfect. Does this mean that I'll have access to that new military line of Frost Aerospace projects that no-one's supposed to know about?" he asks with a grin.

emmafrostbites (4:03:45 PM): "Next time I see Sebastian, I will punch him in the kidneys," Emma mutters. "You'll have access to anything I sign off on, and you'll have access to me. You'll get what you need."

x Jetstream (4:06:15 PM): Haroun laughs at this. "I don't think he knows that I looked at that file. And that's fine, I was mostly jesting." He begins to sign the documentation where necessary, and in English. Another improvement from his school days. "Tell me of this new school, Emma. Are the students there as big of hellions as we were? And are they all ... gifted?"

emmafrostbites (4:08:24 PM): Emma balks at the use of the term 'hellions'. "They're wayward, certainly. And yes, they're gifted. All of them. It's not a mixed school, like the Academy. It's... well, not more exclusive, but exclusive in a different sense."

x Jetstream (4:10:20 PM): Haroun hmms at this thoughtfully. Clearly, he used that word delibrately. "I see. Am I ... the only one left? Of my classmates? Is that why you teach for this Xavier?"
emmafrostbites (4:12:35 PM): "Not the only one, but... there are none at the school. Of those that survived, none of them could be persuaded to... follow me." Emma clearly isn't happy with the subject. "I'm still trying, but... I understand."

x Jetstream (4:13:22 PM): Haroun nods again. "I will pray for them." he says, then falls silent, digesting this new information.

emmafrostbites (4:16:45 PM): Emma gives him a moment with his thoughts, and takes a moment to collect hers. Then she re-exerts herself. "As I said, it's a strong faculty. I don't know if you ever met Professor Xavier, but he's a very resolute man. Then there's Hank McCoy, who, well, you've heard me speak of before. Elisabeth Braddock, Ororo Munroe, a few new staff who seem quite promising... oh, and we lost Dr Grey. Very sad. Very unpleasant. She... drowned."

x Jetstream (4:18:52 PM): Haroun nods. "Drowned? Unfortunate. Very unfortunate. I had seen her, on CSPAN, during the mutant registration mess. I presume she was one of our kind, doing the right thing for our people. I look forward to meeting these people. Perhaps I can, in my own small way, make myself useful to them."

emmafrostbites (4:21:07 PM): "Perhaps you can. You can talk to Charles, see if there's any way to apply your expertise. Otherwise, well, the students will probably just feed you pancakes and try to make you wear dresses."

x Jetstream (4:22:36 PM): Haroun _blinks_ at that last bit. "I see. Anything else I need to know about before I set foot in this school? Are there any other Faithful, or will I be on my own?"

emmafrostbites (4:24:53 PM): "There are faithful, but not your faith; just a few churchgoing Catholics. I think the rest of us are all honorless heathens."

x Jetstream (4:26:45 PM): Haroun smiles at that. "Despire my best efforts, you're still denying the One True God. Ah well, Allah has already forgiven you. I was merely curious."

emmafrostbites (4:28:28 PM): "Allah is too kind. We'll do our best to honor your needs, don't worry. You can't preach tolerance and diversity at a school and not follow it to the letter, after all. How long do you think you'll be with us? Just until you can fly again?"

x Jetstream (4:29:10 PM): Haroun shrugs. "I can spare you a month or two, I think. But not much more than that - I am needed back home to keep a lid on things."

emmafrostbites (4:37:34 PM): Recap: "Well, while we have you, we will have to make best use of you." Emma means it well. She's genuiely lifted to have one of her old students back.

x Jetstream (4:39:06 PM): "It is good to be back." Haroun admits. "I should have done this as soon as I got word that you had survived the attack. I bitterly regret that I could not be there..."

emmafrostbites (4:40:13 PM): "No slight meant to your skills, Haroun, but I'm very glad you weren't." She reaches out and squeezes his hand momentarily. It's an uncharacteristically intimate gesture, but she keeps her face forward the whole time.

x Jetstream (4:40:58 PM): Haroun squeezes back, his eyes bright with unshed tears. "I am here now."