Emerald learned from an early age what hunger was. She learned a lot of things early, (like how to be cute, and what made people like you, and) like how to show people what they wanted to see. She also learns, that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. In some abstract sense, that is the nature of illusions, and the concept of being a thief. You have to make someone feel like there isn't any danger. There are thugs out there that just take what they want without following these most basic of steps, but they don't last long. They don't keep doing it and get away. They end up in prisons, or dead, and that's fine, because the world doesn't need more obnoxious muscle heads that think they're entitled to everything, without learning how to bend. No, being a thief is about patience, about setting your scene, about cleaning up, and about being likeable. The taking aspect, is simply the end result, the profit after the labor. It's what puts food in your mouth, and keeps expensive weapons you shouldn't need to use in working order, but if you're an idiot, it will spell your doom.
These are all things that Emerald learns early. (Because you need to learn how to survive, it isn't something you're born with) One can't push too hard, there is a need to move around people and adjust to them. It must be natural, like any other force of nature. That's what she does. But for her, there's an extra layer involved, because she's been gifted with an ability that makes it easier, and harder.
No one really knows what she's capable of, because to be honest, Emerald isn't sure herself. She has a pretty good idea of the parameters, but there is always the possibility of more, and there is rarely a need to push those boundaries. They often work without any hitch, without any extra effort needed.
Emerald deals in wants. Most people want to see a pleasant, nice person. They don't want to see a thief who is going to take their money. Most shop keepers want to see a customer who will pay a good price and not give them a hassle, they don't want to see a thief. Most people want to see someone that needs their help, not someone who is going to hurt them. It's not hard to understand. People want and expect certain things, and Emerald has the ability to show them those things. Sometimes, she doesn't even know what those things are, but usually she does.
She knows that the blond bimbo wants someone who will keep getting back up, an enemy, a cause, something worth fighting for. So when the bimbo sees Mercury get back up and attack her, she doesn't give a second though to the score boards saying that Mercury is completely depleted of Aura. (Which is good, she shouldn't trust that, since it's rigged. Mercury's Aura is much higher than that.) She wants an antagonist to strike down, and she gets one.
When Emerald drags the student from Beacon into the woods alone, it makes perfect sense that she wants her comrade. Emerald doesn't even have to think about it, it just happens, like breathing. The illusion is broken when the announcers say that her comrade is already eliminated, but that just adds to the fear and mystery, because she doesn't know what she wants to see now. It's easy sailing from there.
The Fall Maiden wants someone to help. Someone simple, without real problems or concerns. Someone who will be happy with an apple and a bandage for a scraped knee. Perhaps someone who is afraid, who needs some nurturing and care. (It's not surprising that the Fall Maiden sees through the ruse, what she sees and what is in front of her is perhaps not as different as Emerald would like to admit.)
The problem in all this, arises when the shoe is on the other foot. When, one day, Emerald is backed into a corner, and she isn't sure if she's seeing what she wants to see, or what is actually in front of her. From then on, it is a constant question. Who is falling for the ruse?
The woman in front of her is class and grace, and all of the things that Emerald isn't. The worst part, is that Emeralds trying, she's trying to show this woman exactly what she wants to see, so that she can slip past her, and never worry about those intrigued yellow eyes ever again. Because they worry her, the way they look at her like search lights, like a candle burning in a cottage window, beckoning some foolish thing to come out of the cold and into the warmth of the hearth. But no matter how hard Emerald tries to make it work, that interest in the woman's eyes only deepens, her smile still coy and inviting.
It's too good to be true.
"What do you want?" It's said as an offence, as a way of creating distance, because they are already much too close. Emerald makes sure the sound grates, that it promises retaliation should the answer be unfavorable, but that's a bluff. Emerald has lived long enough to know who not to cross, but sometimes, if you ask people what they want, they'll give you a hint. They usually won't tell you the truth, but you can catch it on their face, the look in their eyes, how their body shifts.
"I've already told you, and I don't like repeating myself." The answer is too much. The click of heals as they move ever closer, the look in those eyes, and the knowing little tilt of that pretty little head, it is far too much, and Emerald knows it's too good. There's too much at stake to be trusting now. She knows better, but that doesn't change anything. She tries again, to show this woman what she wants to see. Emerald doesn't know if it works. (Some days, she hopes it did, and some days, she hopes it didn't.)
From then on it really is a jumbled mess. When she looks over, and Cinder is smiling at her, in that coy, dangerous way, who is seeing the illusion? When Emerald is alone, and she hears the clinking of those high heels, and the small jingle of that dark anklet's gems, is it wishful thinking, or wish fulfillment? When she looks up, and the Fall Maiden glowers down at her, about to smash in her head, is it really Cinder who saves her, or is it a dying plea? (She gets an answer to that one.)
But, there are other times, when Emerald knows she is seeing reality, when the world is cruel and mean and Cinder knows. When they meet that boy. The boy that Cinder looks at in the same way, with that unbridled want. It's the same look, and Emerald hates it. The boy named Mercury, that coyly smiles back at Cinder, and thinks he's clever. The same boy who gets to dance with Cinder, who gets praised, and not reprimanded. (If Emerald is being honest, she knows why. For all his bullshit, and what passes as masculine wit, Mercury follows orders. Emerald has never been good at that, but she's trying. She's trying not to anticipate, trying not to go above and beyond what she is told. It isn't easy. You don't learn how to live by following orders.)
Emerald hates him. If Cinder didn't need him (the same way) she would have killed him a long time ago, or died trying. He's like a roach - he never dies and whenever he makes noise, it makes her want to squash him.
When he makes their duo a trio, the illusions become less stable. It wavers more often, because there is something else in Cinder's eye now, right next to the embers and the hunger, and it isn't only her anymore. It stings, and she promises retribution every time Cinder's eyes fall on him, for how he holds her hip lightly when they dance, and for every coy smile that isn't in her direction. She doesn't know who she hates more.
When Cinder found her, when she became a we, Cinder promised that Emerald would never go hungry again.
It was a lie. They both know hunger when they see it.