Title: Seasons of Change: Spring
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: Right, I actually went and checked to be sure this time… after being passed around like a slut at a frat party over the past few years, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel: the Series, and all associated characters now belong to Warner Brothers. With a myriad of writers, artists, and editors, actual rights are a nightmare when you go near a comic book universe. Suffice it to say that Marvel Entertainment LLC owns all of the property printed in their comics, along with the television and movie adaptations of said same property. Not mine, don't sue, and so forth and so on.
Summary: Everyone enjoys a good story about love triumphing over all. Dawn Summers is no different, especially when it involves her roommate Emma and Emma's hot girlfriend Jean.
Joe's Note: When Lexi sat down to write the original Seasons of Change, she was pretty far removed from the last time she'd written any sort of prose. I ended up doing a decent amount of editing and refining each chapter, leaving me with a significant amount of knowledge about the background of the universe by the time she stopped writing to ponder why she was dissatisfied with her results. With her permission, I've opted to write a non-canon revision of the world. She'll be doing her own reboot at some point in the future, but I wanted to try my hand at it while simultaneously giving her a bit more information on this version of Dawn Summers, who was my contribution to her world.

August 30, 2013
The Xavier School for the Gifted - Salem Center, New York
4:13 PM

"So, you're the chick dating the living dead girl."

Taking a moment to type out the rest of her current message and send it, Emma Frost raised her head before thinking better of it and going back to work on her MacBook Pro. Reacting to certain behaviors only encouraged them, she reminded herself. "So, you're the girl who blew a hole in her own chest."

"Well if you want to get technical, Warren shot me in the chest and that tiny breach in my construct turned into a bigger hole when my true self decided it wanted to peek its head out and see what was going on." From behind Emma came the sound of something large and heavy being dragged across the floor, along with an odd whirring noise, but the blonde refused to give her new roommate the satisfaction of turning to satisfy her curiosity. Few people were as fastidious about organization as her; she'd undoubtedly get to see all of the girl's belongings spread all over their shared room for the next four years. "I can't say I've 'always wondered' because that would just be weird, but what's it like dating an amnesic?"

…oh, this was going to be a delightful four years, Emma could already tell. Then again, she'd sparred against far better at some of the dinners and charity events her father had taken her to. When she was twelve. "A forgettable experience, or so I've been told."

Cackling, Dawn Summers crossed over to Emma's side of the room and slapped the blonde hard on the back. "Oh, I like you. Scott was worried when I told him who I'd been assigned to room with, but I think we're going to have a lot of fun together." Yes. 'Fun'. That was exactly the word Emma would use to describe it. Then Dawn's eyes drifted down to the screen of Emma's laptop and she let out a whistle. "Holy freckly tits, Batman! How the hell did Jean hide those under the high schoolers' uniform?"

Emma let out a groan and leaned to one side, raising her left arm in the process as she tried to cut off Dawn's view. Rather than take the hint, though, the brunette just took two steps to the right and then leaned down, resting her arms on the back of Emma's chair and making the smaller girl sigh. "Were all of you Summers raised by wolves or something? You're got no concept of personal space, you're completely inappropriate…"

"I'd argue with you, but that would require me to take attention away from your awesome wallpaper." Dawn reached her right hand forward and batted Emma's out of the way, taking control of the blonde's laptop and minimizing iMessage so she could get a better look at the image in question. "Seriously, you could get capsized trying to motorboat those things. Damn. I would be jealous, except trying to go from looking to touching would probably leave me feeling really icky and I doubt it's worth it."

Emma rolled her eyes as she slid her hand back under Dawn's, retaking control of her touchpad and opening Safari simply to hide the photo of Jean she had set as her wallpaper from view. "I would say something juvenile like 'more for me', but considering we're in a monogamous relationship… I think they're all for me." With the show over, Dawn finally retreated to her side of the room and flopped down on the bed with a loud huff. After shooting a glance over at the brunette to make sure she wasn't looking in her direction, Emma minimized her browser and licked her lips as her eyes roamed over her girlfriend's pale skin. While part of her was still upset that Jean had taken her shirt off for another girl… well, it wasn't like she had to worry about Rogue touching her girlfriend. And the tastefully sexy, bra-clad photos Emma had gotten out of it were amazing. Although now that she knew the rumors about Dawn being asexual were true… Emma whistled softly to get Dawn's attention before turning her laptop so the brunette could see again. "As someone who's done it many, many times? Believe me, it's completely worth it."

"Ugh. Not sure the second look was worth the overshare, Emma. Especially because now you've got me picturing it, which makes me think about trying it, which can only lead to bad things." With an overly dramatic sigh, Dawn flopped back onto the bed once more, covering her eyes with the back of one hand. After a few seconds, she turned her head enough to peer over at Emma with one bright green eye. "Do you think Rogue would date me?"

Even if Dawn's… unique nature… didn't make her a psi-null, Emma was fairly certain that she wouldn't be able to understand the way Dawn's mind worked most of the time. "She knows more about me than I do about her. I let her draw from me sometimes for the transmorph combat training sessions that we're in together. Betsy and Jean both claim that reading Rogue's mind is incredibly unnerving; something about running into echoes of their own memories. I haven't tried it because… well, I'm honest enough to admit that Betsy is a far braver girl than I. If it freaks her out, I want nothing to do with it." Dawn pouted at that, making Emma raise an eyebrow. "Why are you even asking, Miss 'Touching Is Icky'?"

Dawn propped herself up on her elbows as she stared over at Emma in disbelief. "…seriously? I would expect better from one of the co-presidents of the Xavier's GSA. I'm asexual, not aromantic. You meat bags make awesome company and the idea of doing things with you isn't so bad, but the prospect of turning those ideas into reality? All my nopes." Sitting up, she turned and threw her legs over the side of the bed before tugging at the bottom of her t-shirt… and pausing. "Um, please tell me you're adult enough to be okay with the sight of some bare skin? Because most shirts aren't really made with my chest plate in mind, and so I like going without when I can. Without the shirts, that is, not the chest plate. If I go without that… boom."

Yes, Emma could live without any 'boom' in her life. "Feel free. Unless this is some kind of bizarre, socially awkward penguin seduction technique of yours. In which case no. Keep your shirt on. Always."

Rolling her eyes, Dawn yanked her shirt up and over her head, giving Emma her closest look yet at… wait. That wasn't the same chest plate that she'd seen Dawn… wearing, for lack of a better term… when they crossed paths in the girls' locker room over the years. It wasn't even the same chest plate as she'd seen in June. It actually looked a lot like one of Tony Stark's older Iron Man designs, the more Emma thought about it. But before she could ask about the change, Dawn followed Emma's gaze and rapped her knuckles against the sleek green and silver armor. "Yeah, I got a bit of an upgrade. That hovering pod over near the door that I need to find a home for is my very own suit of Heartbreaker-class armor. While you were visiting every single country in Europe, this girl was taking a level in badass."

"First of all, it was eight. Eight countries in Europe. Second of all, since nobody's around to hear me being unladylike… that is bullshit." Turning her desk chair to properly face Dawn, Emma crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at the brunette. "He wouldn't let me buy a suit off him, and then turns around and gives you one? How is that even fair?"

Dawn shrugged before bringing a finger up to trace a circle around the smaller - but still present - viewport that looked in on the glowing green ball of energy at her core. "Well, first you need to get yourself one of these, and then you need to convince several of the world's leading scientific minds that you might get up to no good trying to harness your own energy if they don't give you something productive to do with it." Grinning, she leaned forward and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Doctor Pym actually emailed me about testing this new 'Yellowjacket' combat suit he's been working on, but I decided that being Iron Dawn sounded like more fun."

Ah. Well, Emma had no idea how to go about the former, and throwing a mixture of blackmail, intimidation, and the old 'idle hands' proverb at people far smarter and more powerful than her didn't seem terribly smart either. Maybe she'd stick to being the telepathic diamond girl. Much simpler. But they were getting off-track. "At any rate, no, I don't know if Rogue likes you. Or girls at all, for that matter. Why the sudden interest?"

"Well it's not really sudden. I spend a lot of time with Rogue since we're both year-round attendees here and we have a bunch of things in common. But it's kinda hard to figure out the sexuality of a girl who recoils from the idea of touching anyone, you know?" Dawn paused and raised an eyebrow, waiting for Emma to nod in agreement before continuing. "So I've been thinking about her for a while, but can't really figure out what to do there. Then came the discussion about breasts and faces in breasts, which made me think of Rogue because Rogue has amazing breasts, and then I remembered what your powers are and the fact that you might have some insight into things that could be useful. But whatever. Okay, think about it. If Rogue is into girls at all? We're perfect for each other. She's not used to being touched, so she won't expect me to be sexual with her. But if I ever change my mind about being with a human, I'm one of the few people who can safely touch her, and so we can experiment. And she's almost as busty as Jean, so there's that same potential for epic motorboating with her."

That… was remarkably well reasoned, Emma had to admit. Especially for Dawn. The blonde wasn't even shocked that her roommate could touch the girl that everyone else thought was untouchable; after all, while Dawn looked human enough, she was almost as proud of her inhuman nature as Quentin Quire and his friends were of their Homo sapiens superior heritage. "I… good luck with that? Or something?"

Dawn shook her head rapidly, and then hopped to her feet so she could pace back and forth along the length of her bed. "No! Bad luck! Horrible luck! Even if I knew she was interested in girls - or girl-shaped magical golems - I wouldn't even know where to start. I mean, sure I've dated before but the other person has always asked me out. Which obviously won't happen here, because if Rogue was interested she could have asked me out any of the times I told her I was single and ready to mingle. And I definitely don't want to take after Willow, who kept doing crazy mind magic shenanigans on Tara to keep her." She paused, slumping at whatever thought was running through her mind, before rebounding and turning to stare at Emma with frightening intensity. Bounding forward, she grabbed the blonde by the shoulders. "You! You have a girlfriend! How did you get Jean to go out with you?"

Staring up at Dawn, Emma bit her lip and managed to hold it in for a few seconds, but then the laughter erupted. "Get Jean to go out with me? I… you're kidding, right?" When Dawn's expression morphed into a mix of confusion and uncertainty, Emma sighed before rolling her eyes. "The sad part is, you're not the first person who's asked me that. I should probably be offended by how many of my classmates misjudge me so completely. No, Dawn, Jean asked me out. Not the other way around."

"…are you fucking serious?"

"No, but Remus Lupin is if you find the right fanfics online. Tonks, too, which is more than a little gross because they're first cousins. Sometimes Hermione, which just screams 'daddy issues' if you ask me…" Emma trailed off and then laughed at the horrified expression on Dawn's face. "Oh what, like you're the only one around here allowed to make pop culture references?"

Backing away slowly, Dawn took a seat on the edge of her bed before glancing over at the red and gold Starktop Educate sitting atop her own desk. "Actually, I'm kinda freaked out that you know what fanfic is. Especially because I… kinda post smutty fics about you and Jean?" Emma's jaw dropped at the revelation and Dawn raised her hands defensively. "What? I've watched a few of your Danger Room sessions; you're always so forceful and commanding with your squad. Combine that with that white leather getup you wore for Halloween last year, and is it any surprise that people think that I'll be getting sexiled this year so you can get Jean all face down and ass up on the bed while you break out a whip? Which totally isn't the premise of one of my stories. Honest."

Times like this made Emma wish she shared Jean and Betsy's power set. Instead, she was forced to turn and grab the white stuffed rabbit off her desk and hurl it at Dawn the old-fashioned way. "I'm 'forceful and commanding' with my girls because unlike your squad, we don't like spending all afternoon running laps with Instructor Howlett. So they trust me to be able to analyze our mission and then figure out how to best apply their skills and abilities to meet it. It makes me a good leader, not some kind of… dominatrix!"

"And the whole 'White Queen' thing?"

"That was Jean's idea, and she made it worth my while." Emma blushed faintly as she thought back to exactly how happy Jean had been that the blonde had agreed to her couple's costume idea. "Three times that day."

"Hashtag giggity, hashtag ohmyyy." Pulling her legs up so that she was sitting Indian style on the edge of her bed, Dawn planted her elbows on her knees and brought her chin down to rest on her palms. "Well then, I guess I know the plot for my next fic. Or three, evidently. Damn. And this was back when you guys were in the group dorms? How did you not get… wait, duh. Telepathic shenanigans." Actually, none of the three times had been in either her dorm or Jean's… but Emma didn't need to give Dawn any more ammunition. "Fascinating as this is - and it really is, I'm totally going to grill you about this more later - let's get back on our original track. We've established that you're the me in your relationship and Jean is the everyone I've ever dated. Which doesn't help me at all. Or maybe it does. Can you tell me more about how Jean got you to go out with her? Or your first date? Or something? Maybe she did something different from the boys and girls I've dated, and I can learn from that. Unless you guys were all Brittany and Santana, because I'm definitely not up for screwing her until she gets bored with being my walking vibrator and decides she wants cuddling and dates too."

Emma screwed up her face in disgust at that. Ah yes, Glee. Television's most recent monument to the fact that not all representation was good representation. "Actually, we didn't start 'screwing' until almost a year after our first date. No, after a few months of what was probably the most awkwardly obvious crush in the history of mutantkind…"

September 21, 2011
Applebee's - Salem Center, New York
6:16 PM

"Well, this is certainly… quaint."

Looking up from her menu, Jean Grey frowned as she looked around before meeting Emma's gaze. "What were you expecting, Eleven Madison Park or something? This is Salem Center, Emma, and I'm a sixteen-year-old on a budget. It was this, Olive Garden, or Chili's, and I figured the LEED Gold certified option would appeal to you more."

Emma had to admit, the conservatory they were seated in would give them a spectacular view of the sunset by the end of the meal, which would add a bit of romanticism that was sorely lacking at present. And the nearby living wall was pretty cool too. It was still an Applebee's, though. Emma was reasonably certain that even her family's servants had a bit better taste than this. But at the same time, Jean was right. Emma had put complete control over the date in the redhead's hands, knowing full well that the object of her affections was from a significantly less wealthy background than Emma herself. Did she really have any right to complain that Jean was stuck living within her limited means? "It does. And bringing someone who visits Italy regularly to the Olive Garden would be like bringing you to…" Emma trailed off, furrowing her brow. "They don't do Scottish casual dining restaurants over here, do they?"

"No, not that I'd have anything to compare them to even if they did. I've always wanted to visit Scotland and see where my ancestors came from, but that's not exactly something my parents can afford to do with three kids and student exchange programs aren't really an option when you go to Mutant High." Jean looked back down at her menu, barely missing Emma's cringe. So that was what foot tasted like. Awesome. Not. "To be fair, you literally asked for this. Not the Applebee's, obviously, but you're the one who couldn't wrap her mind around a date that didn't follow heteronormative stereotypes and wanted me to 'be the boy' for you. If we'd come at this like equals, we could have met in the middle on somewhere a bit more to your liking and I could have asked my parents for my Christmas money early so I could cover my half of the check. Or you could have been the boy."

Those were all indeed valid points, Emma had to admit, especially the last one. Saddled with a borderline mutaphobic absentee mother, her father and Christian had both been far more influential during her formative years. Not to mention the fact that Jean continued to develop in all sorts of ways that Emma still barely was, making her the more 'boyish' of the two. The only problem was that her father - forward-thinking as he may have been - still raised her to look at relationship dynamics in a certain way. She was a girl. And… so was Jean. So there went that excuse, huh?

Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Emma decided to both drop that train of thought and concede the not-quite-an-argument with Jean. Instead, she looked down at her menu and furrowed her brow as she tried to figure out what to order. Even beyond the fact that most of the options were unfamiliar to her… how much could she order? The prices looked ridiculously low to her, but that didn't mean they were to Jean. Would the redhead be offended or annoyed if Emma ate as much as she normally did? Was she supposed to be looking at the '2 FOR $20' menu, because it'd be romantic to eat a joint meal like that? Gah! Who would have thought that dating could be so difficult? "So, um, what do you recommend?"

"Hullo and welcome to Applebee's. My name is Betsy, and I'll be your server this evening." The familiar, perky voice made Emma's head snap to the right so fast she was surprised she didn't get whiplash. Standing there in a black polyester polo shirt with her violet hair pulled back into a ponytail was the last person the blonde expected to find in an Applebee's, much less working at one. Betsy Braddock, on the other hand, seemed utterly nonplussed by their presence, reaching into her black waist apron and pulling out a pen and a pad of paper. "Can I start you two off with drinks?"

Jean set her menu down with an exasperated sigh, looking up at Betsy and jerking a thumb in Emma's direction. "For the first time in my life… I wish. No, I'll take a Coke and let's get a Diet Coke for her. And a double order of chili cheese nachos as an appetizer. If they can find a really big plate to stick it on, I'm fine with that." Betsy jotted all that down, nodding along, even as Emma did her best to keep her face blank. Chili… cheese… nachos? That was the kind of thing she ate at Fenway when she was slumming, not in a restaurant. "I already know what I'm having, but that'll buy me a few minutes to figure out whether she actually wants recommendations or if it'd just be easier to order for her."

Giggling, Betsy let her pad drop back into her apron before pointing at Emma with the end of her pen. "If the thoughts that slipped out when you ordered those nachos are anything to go by, probably the latter. Otherwise she'll probably just sit here staring at the menu all night." Emma shot Betsy a betrayed look, causing the Briton to take things inaudible when she responded. 'Oh, get over yourself already. My family's as rich as yours and I ate at these kinds of places even before I came to Xavier's. What did your father do, bring a private chef when you went on vacation in case there wasn't an Emma-approved restaurant near wherever you ended up?'

'…it's funny you should say that…'

'Oh. My. God. Emma Frost, I love you to death, but it's a good thing you're cute because you would starve in the wild.'

…why was she friends with Betsy again? Oh, right. She made a fun shopping companion, and Emma also enjoyed having someone to trade notes with when trying to discover uses for her telepathy outside of what Professor Xavier chose to teach them. Still, weren't friends supposed to have each others' backs? Not screw them over on dates? Then again, Jean and Betsy were friends too. Speaking of Jean, the redhead shot Emma a narrow-eyed look before groaning and flipping her menu open once more. "In that case? Let's get a Chicken Frescado and a Margarita Queso Chicken and Shrimp. I love both of those, so she can take her pick and I'll eat the other."

Betsy's hand glowed a faint violet as her pad zipped back up into her hand, and she jotted down a few more lines. "Gotcha. I'll put that right in. Drinks will be out in a minute, nachos shouldn't be too much longer, and that'll keep you busy until the entrees are done. Going to the register, BRB." And with that, the violet-haired girl turned and flounced away, twirling one finger to flip the pages in her floating pad as she went. Looking around curiously, Emma noticed that nobody seemed to care. Were they all that used to Betsy's post-human antics at work? Had Betsy finally learned how to split her concentration well enough to do that while simultaneously projecting an illusion of normalcy? Or-

"Do you even want to be here?" Jean's exasperated question pulled Emma from her thoughts, making the blonde nod rapidly. "I'm just asking because it doesn't really seem like it. You were quiet the entire way over here, I think you've said maybe twenty words to me since we got out of the car and none of them have been positive… oh wait, there was 'thank you' when I pulled out a chair for you. So eighteen out of twenty words tonight have been unpleasant. You're not happy with the restaurant. The food isn't to your taste. I mean… do you just want me to have Betsy cram everything into a doggy bag and we can head back to the school? I'll go eat dinner with one of my friends and you can go do… whatever would be more fun to you than being here with me?"

"I do! Well, maybe not here per se, but…" Emma trailed off as Jean's expression grew even more irritated. "But with you! I want to be with you. On a date. Somewhere. I just… I am dealing with a whole lot of new things all at once here, okay? Dating, dating a girl, girl-girl dating dynamics, casual dining… this is all very strange to me, and-"

Jean rolled her eyes in response. "Yes, and I'm any more used to dating a celebutante with ideas about romance straight out of Leave It to Beaver, and who likes to stalk me." Hey! Emma wasn't a stalker! She just… liked to watch Jean. A lot. Quietly, because she was never sure what to say. And sometimes follow her around school so she could watch the redhead more. "Listen, you seem like a cool girl. You're way smarter than me, I would love to pick your brain - pun intended - about some telepathy tricks, Betsy says you're really nice and fun once someone can get you to open up… I can understand being shy. I was too, back when I first started at Xavier's. But you've gotta give me something to work with here. Let me see what Betsy does… or more."

Despite her best efforts, Emma's mind immediately tipped over and felt straight into the gutter. "Or more?"

"Not in the middle of a restaurant, and usually not on the first date." Wisps of orange and red fire curled around Jean's left index finger as she crooked it, the neckline of her blouse inching downward a bit. "Another reason to make a better impression from here on out and earn yourself a second date."

That made Emma sit up a bit straighter in her seat. And not just because the invisible finger hadn't released Jean's neckline and doing so gave the blonde an even better view. Things weren't ruined, at least not yet. That was good news. She could work with that. Emma just had to think of something that she'd discuss with Betsy. Homework? Pass. Music? She didn't know what Jean liked, and what if the redhead was one of those hardcore audiophile types who would be genuinely offended by Emma's musical tastes? Gossiping about their fellow students or said students' love lives didn't seem like a winner either. Hmm. Jean was from New York. Maybe she followed baseball? "Did you hear about the Yankees game today? Well, the first one? They secured a playoff birth in the first game of the doubleheader and if they win tonight's game, they'll clinch the AL East division title today too."

Jean hummed softly at that, casting a glance to her left at where the bar - and its dozen large televisions - was. "No, but that sounds pretty important. I'll have to look it up when I get home." So… did that make her a fan or not? Emma's uncertainty must have shown on her face, because Jean took pity on her and elaborated. "My dad and my two older siblings are all obsessed with baseball. Me? Not so much. I watch it so I can spend time with them, and follow it so I can keep up with the emails and phone calls I get." Oh. Damn. Cross that one off the list of discussion topics, then. "But it wouldn't be hard for me to add a second team to the list of things I check before bed every night. Or to watch games back at the mansion, if it was so I could spend time with someone special to me."

Ooh. That could actually be wicked fun, especially since the only member of Emma's fairly limited circle of friends willing to watch Red Sox games with her was Betsy… who tended to sit there comparing it to cricket the entire time. Loudly. And unfavorably. Or rather, Betsy was the only one of her peers. Professor McCoy loved baseball almost as much as she did, but sitting in the living room watching baseball with him could get a bit awkward, especially given her tendency to get a tad profane when things went badly for the Sox. "You'd do that for me?"

"If you really want, we can carve out a corner of the living room when we get back to the school and trade memories back and forth. You can show me what you think a relationship is supposed to be like, and I'll show you what dating has actually been like for me. Except for certain things. I never kiss and tell…epath." Jean giggled at Emma's groan of disgust before reaching out with her right hand and covering Emma's. "Seriously, though? If you're doing it right? Dates and dating are pretty much just like hanging out with one of your good friends. Except with more physical stuff going on, unless you've got some really interesting friends. And gifts. I'm a sucker for chocolate, by the way. Dark chocolate. And peanut butter. If you can find me something with both…" Jean trailed off, moaning softly in a way that made Emma flush dark red, before catching herself and continuing. "So yeah, if baseball time is something that'd make you happy? If we were dating, that'd be a thing we did."

Emma nodded slowly as she tried to process all of that, particularly the two offers that had been made. For the former… that was really considerate of Jean. Even if they didn't end up going out on a second date, knowing where she'd messed up and how to not do it the next time around would be invaluable. It might even be the sort of thing that she could use to make a second pass in a month or two, if Jean was willing to give her a second chance. The latter was just plain awesome, as previously noted. And it even gave her the opportunity to advance their conversation in way that showed she would reciprocate Jean's kindness. "What about you? If we were dating, what kinds of things would we do to make you happy?"

For the first time that evening, Jean's confidence faltered a bit as she offered Emma a nervous smile. "Um… well… as long as we're talking about the idea of shared couch time, do you like anime at all?"

Oh God, not another one. Emma was still trying to get used to how obsessed Betsy was with Japanese culture; between the anime, the manga, the piles of snack food she imported every month, and that whole 'cosplay' thing Betsy had recently dove into with both feet, sometimes it felt like she was friends with a Japanese girl stuck in a white girl's body. But… there were some people who thought her love of the Red Sox bordered on the obsessive. If Jean was willing to watch NESN with her, shouldn't she be willing to make the same sacrifice? And who knew, there were thousands of animes out there. If she was lucky, Jean's taste in entertainment would be better than Betsy's. "A bit with Betsy, but not enough to really be familiar. What's your favorite show? Series? What's the proper term there?"

"Series. I think. Betsy would know; she got me into it but she's way more of a fan than I am." Oh thank God. Jean released Emma's hand so she could brush her fingers against the side of Emma's purse. Which was still on the table for some reason, an oversight that the blonde quickly corrected. "If you're really curious, I can give you a few titles to run through Google while we're waiting. There's Revolutionary Girl Utena, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, fandubbed versions of the original Sailor Moon are turning out to be a lot better than the crap we got on TV as kids, Bible Black…"

August 30, 2013
The Xavier School for the Gifted - Salem Center, New York
4:51 PM

"…so basically you were all 'I can usually make a few vowel sounds, and then I have to go away' around Jean for a few months, she got tired of your crippling social awkwardness and asked you out, and things sorta went from there? With her taking the guy role and leading you along because even once you had her, you didn't quite know what to do with her?" Dawn waited impatiently as Emma thought that over; while it was far from the most flattering summary of her and Jean's early days, it was truthful enough. When Emma nodded, Dawn groaned and tipped over backward onto her bed. "That doesn't help me at all! What a waste! There's half an hour of my life I'm never getting back."

Emma didn't really know what to say to that. After all, she'd warned Dawn of the ugly truth before she'd begun her story. Was it her fault that - just as the blonde had predicted - Dawn hadn't gotten anything out of it? "…sorry?"

"Whatever. Ugh. Damn it. So now what do I…" Dawn trailed off, eyes slowly widening as she craned her neck upward so she could stare at Emma. "Wait, Bible Black? Jean watches… did she get you to watch hentai with her?"

"How do you know what Bible Black is?"

"I write BDSM fanfic about you and your girlfriend's vigilante personas for public consumption. Are you really surprised that I watch hentai?" Well when she put it like that… no, not really. Silence descended, lasting for almost a minute as a variety of emotions raced back and forth over Dawn's face. Finally, she pushed herself up onto her elbows and narrowed her eyes. "Fuck it. Where's Rogue?"

While she would have preferred something closer to a request than an order, Emma closed her eyes and cast her mind outward anyway. Mostly because she saw it for what it was: a chance to get rid of Dawn so she could go back to what she'd been doing before she was so rudely interrupted. Rogue's mind was incredibly easy to find, roiling ball of uneven thoughts that it was. "She is… coming up the hall toward our room. Probably going to her own. Why?"

Rather than answer, Dawn hopped up off her bed and hurried over to the door, yanking it open and sticking her head out. "Hey! Rogue!"

"Yeah?"

"You. Me. Applebee's. Tonight. Whatcha think?"

"What, like a date?" Dawn nodded and there was a long stretch of silence before Emma - barely - heard a reply. "...okay."

Huh. Like Helen Keller, Emma hadn't seen that one coming. Dawn hadn't either, evidently, standing there grinning stupidly for a moment before pulling herself together. "Awesome. In that case… I'll swing by your room and pick you up at six. Wear a dress." Rogue's reply was either too quiet for Emma to hear or purely in the form of gesture and expression, but something prompted Dawn to elaborate. "Being the fork out of their pair of chopsticks worked for Jean with Emma, so I figured I'd give it a try."

Emma groaned and buried her face in her hands.