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seriousficTitle: Room Without A View
Fandom: Wolverine And The X-Men
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 610
Characters/Pairings: Emma/Scott, mention of Scott/Jean
Timeline: Takes place after Hindsight Part 3
Summary: Scott is perfectly fine with not being leader anymore. Nothing Emma says can change that.
Scott was still trying to ignore the metaphor when Emma came by. His room was newly rebuilt and he was trying to call up a mental snapshot of how it was when he shared it with Jean. The end result of a thousand shopping trips, spring cleanings, “Scott do you like the teal or the aqua?” And now it was barren but for a bed and desk, stripped down to the essentials. But the metaphor didn’t hold. To Scott, Jean was the only essential.
Emma knocked on the door, and when he didn’t answer she just walked in. “I’ve taken up the mantle of refurbishing the wine cellar,” she announced. Her flask was white as ivory. “But I always insist on a sample.”
“This is a school. We kept spare gym equipment down there.”
“This was a school,” she corrected, every inch the teacher. “Now it’s Superhero Central and if you expect me to avert the apocalypse, you can hardly expect me to be a nun as well. Besides, maybe a little drink will make your ‘my room is myself’ metaphor a bit more fun. Because you’ll never replace everything. Even if you did, the computer would be out-of-date, the books would—“
Scott grabbed her jacket one-handed, knowing she was more threatened by damage to her garment than herself. “Snoop in my head again, I will kill you.”
She smiled like an angel as she sat down. The only chair was at the desk, so she sat on the bed. “Perhaps we’re off to a bad start. I hear you blasted dear leader through a wall. Allow me to toast that.”
“You’re not a fan?”
“He’s not my type, no.”
“And I am?”
“My my, aren’t we presumptuous?” Emma chided lightly as she unscrewed the flask.
He snatched the flask from her before she could take so much as a sip. “Jean’s my type,” he warned her before taking a champion pull.
“Sit, please. Unless there’s something you’d like me to do down here…” she trailed off, eyeing his crotch.
Scott sat down at the desk, but in no hurry. “I don’t like you anymore than Logan does.”
“Perhaps once you get to know me…”
He took another drink. “You turn kids into weapons.”
“I prepare them for the real world, not an idealistic fantasy. You think the future Xavier predicted will come to pass if mutantkind can defend itself? Logan agrees with me. That’s why he leads the team. Or am I wrong?”
Scott tried for the flask again, but Emma put her hand over it. She had long fingernails. Manicured, which Jean had never had time for. Jean had cuts hers short, but grown them out for special occasions. The wine would’ve been suited to that too. If he closed his eyes, he could almost—
“The Professor had his reasons,” Scott said, almost under his breath.
“Maybe it’s Jean. Without her, you’re—or perhaps it’s the opposite. Without her to hold you back, you might be more than a toy soldier. Maybe you could be a real leader instead of Xavier’s lapdog.”
“Yes, I could be your lapdog.” He tossed her the flask. “Get out.”
“Why, is that a backbone I detect beneath all that ennui? I apologize. Jean didn’t settle for you. Perhaps you do bear further investigation.”
“Door’s that way.” He pointed. “And you won’t turn this into another Massachusetts Academy.”
“And you won’t turn me into another Jean Grey.” Scott’s hand flew to his visor. “No snooping. Just a lucky guess.” She went to the door. “And that bed would look better under the window.”
“That’s not how Jean had it.”
“No. It’s better.”
Fandom: Wolverine And The X-Men
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 610
Characters/Pairings: Emma/Scott, mention of Scott/Jean
Timeline: Takes place after Hindsight Part 3
Summary: Scott is perfectly fine with not being leader anymore. Nothing Emma says can change that.
Scott was still trying to ignore the metaphor when Emma came by. His room was newly rebuilt and he was trying to call up a mental snapshot of how it was when he shared it with Jean. The end result of a thousand shopping trips, spring cleanings, “Scott do you like the teal or the aqua?” And now it was barren but for a bed and desk, stripped down to the essentials. But the metaphor didn’t hold. To Scott, Jean was the only essential.
Emma knocked on the door, and when he didn’t answer she just walked in. “I’ve taken up the mantle of refurbishing the wine cellar,” she announced. Her flask was white as ivory. “But I always insist on a sample.”
“This is a school. We kept spare gym equipment down there.”
“This was a school,” she corrected, every inch the teacher. “Now it’s Superhero Central and if you expect me to avert the apocalypse, you can hardly expect me to be a nun as well. Besides, maybe a little drink will make your ‘my room is myself’ metaphor a bit more fun. Because you’ll never replace everything. Even if you did, the computer would be out-of-date, the books would—“
Scott grabbed her jacket one-handed, knowing she was more threatened by damage to her garment than herself. “Snoop in my head again, I will kill you.”
She smiled like an angel as she sat down. The only chair was at the desk, so she sat on the bed. “Perhaps we’re off to a bad start. I hear you blasted dear leader through a wall. Allow me to toast that.”
“You’re not a fan?”
“He’s not my type, no.”
“And I am?”
“My my, aren’t we presumptuous?” Emma chided lightly as she unscrewed the flask.
He snatched the flask from her before she could take so much as a sip. “Jean’s my type,” he warned her before taking a champion pull.
“Sit, please. Unless there’s something you’d like me to do down here…” she trailed off, eyeing his crotch.
Scott sat down at the desk, but in no hurry. “I don’t like you anymore than Logan does.”
“Perhaps once you get to know me…”
He took another drink. “You turn kids into weapons.”
“I prepare them for the real world, not an idealistic fantasy. You think the future Xavier predicted will come to pass if mutantkind can defend itself? Logan agrees with me. That’s why he leads the team. Or am I wrong?”
Scott tried for the flask again, but Emma put her hand over it. She had long fingernails. Manicured, which Jean had never had time for. Jean had cuts hers short, but grown them out for special occasions. The wine would’ve been suited to that too. If he closed his eyes, he could almost—
“The Professor had his reasons,” Scott said, almost under his breath.
“Maybe it’s Jean. Without her, you’re—or perhaps it’s the opposite. Without her to hold you back, you might be more than a toy soldier. Maybe you could be a real leader instead of Xavier’s lapdog.”
“Yes, I could be your lapdog.” He tossed her the flask. “Get out.”
“Why, is that a backbone I detect beneath all that ennui? I apologize. Jean didn’t settle for you. Perhaps you do bear further investigation.”
“Door’s that way.” He pointed. “And you won’t turn this into another Massachusetts Academy.”
“And you won’t turn me into another Jean Grey.” Scott’s hand flew to his visor. “No snooping. Just a lucky guess.” She went to the door. “And that bed would look better under the window.”
“That’s not how Jean had it.”
“No. It’s better.”
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-29 03:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-29 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 08:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-29 07:02 pm (UTC)I'm going to be honest here. I heart Scott. A lot. This fandom, of course, makes it hard to watch him play second fiddle to Wolverine when I'm used to him being the leader of the X-Men. WatXM presents him as a broken man trying to find his palce again. You manage to capture this so very, very well. I'm a sucker for Scott-with-a-backbone, and you deliver. I can hear him speaking the words you've written, and it's this wonderul dry voice that just boarders on sarcasm.
Your Emma is fantastic as well, and manages to be everything that I love about the White Queen. She's subborn, prideful, straightforward, and so blunt as to be almost tactless.
Your last line specifically worked for me -- "No. It's better." -- you absolutely nailed her there.
As to ships, I don't mind Jean/Scott (hell, I've written it), but I'm firmly on the Emma/Scott side. Fic like this is why. The two of them manage to bring out the best and worst in each other, and I love it. The antagonism that you illustrate here is finely-tuned, and leaves the door open for more to come.
Considering that we've only got four episodes worth of canon to work from, a small portion of which actually contain both these characters, you've managed to capture them wonderfully. One line in particular -- “Maybe it’s Jean. Without her, you’re—or perhaps it’s the opposite. Without her to hold you back, you might be more than a toy soldier. Maybe you could be a real leader instead of Xavier’s lapdog.” -- manages to sum up what I see their relationship and their characters as being in this universe. I'm personally very interested to see what the canon material does with them. Honestly though, I'm even more interested to see what kind of things you may yet do.
My apologies for this long and rambling response. I have a bad habit of getting verbose whenever something excites me...and I am very excited about your writing. I look forward to any further work from you.
Cheers.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 08:53 pm (UTC)And while I imagine Scott and Emma get their own bad writing, I think their pairing is instrinsically interesting, like Batman and Catwoman. There's this loving antagonism between them that will never fully be solved (without one of them either being totally reformed or going totally amoral), so that's always interesting. Plus, Emma has THE SNARK.
And I wrote a slightly more hate-mo-sexual fic here.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-30 02:23 am (UTC)I LOVED THIS!!! Heheheh!! You need to write more Emma/Scott from Wolverine and the X-Men. Make it NC-17 next time! And I think you wrote the first Emma/Scott Wolverine and the X-Men fic evar. Heheheh. I have an Emma/Scott Wolverine and the X-Men fic stashed somewhere in my notebook, though I don't plan taking it out anytime soon.
Oh, and I'm still in the process of beta'ing that fic. I'm half-way done. I'll bet you'll never take up my offer of beta'ing a fic for you ever again!! :P
no subject
Date: 2008-09-30 05:25 am (UTC)Oh, there is so much porn waiting to happen. Scott needs Emma to search for Jean with Cerebro. Sure, Emma might do one inconclusive scan out of the boundless charity of her heart, but what will Scott have to do to persuade her to do with a fifth scan when everyone else has given up on Jean? He could get down on his knees and... beg.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-30 05:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-30 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-30 03:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-30 05:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-09 06:34 pm (UTC)And Emma and Scott -- so IC and amazing!