1
"And Rogue's lipstick makes her look sickly.", Wanda continued as she charged through the front door of the boarding house. She combed her fingers through the black of her hair, above the red. "And her two color hair is stupid too. She should just die it a single color." The girl ruffled her brother's hair as he passed. "Like why not just go pure white?"
Pietro rolled his eyes so hard he though he might see his brain.
"How long is she gonna go on for?", Lance asked out loud.
Pietro flittered from standing aloof to glaring at Lance. When Wanda rounded on the other boy, he shrugged and wandered off.
"Keep it moving, Fred." The large teen remembered that Todd was behind him and stepped out of the way, as much as he could.
When Todd was past him, Fred turned back to the door and froze. "duh..."
"It's a door Fred.", Todd called. "You shut it after you go through it, yo."
"nu-uh.", Fred replied.
Todd came back. "What do you mean 'nu-uh'?", he inquired until he too fell silent.
Lance was able to see over Wanda's head as she was yelling at him and slowly began to ignore the angry girl. Only after a moment of not being paid attention to did Wanda bother to look over her shoulder. "Well, damn.", she exclaimed.
Pietro materialized again. "Why did it go so quiet in...well, damn.", he exclaimed.
In their doorway was a bombshell of woman. Blonde, busty, piercing eyes. They could see she was dressed in a nearly sparkling, crisp, white blazer and skirt with strapped on high heels, matching the stark ivory of her toe and finger nails. They had to assume she was wearing some sort of shirt under the blazer despite how deep and fitted the cut was.
"Hello, dears.", she breathed.
"Hello.", the room returned listlessly.
"I'm looking for a Mr. Todd Tolensky."
Pietro threw up his hands. "Oh for fuck's sake." Wanda turned away from Lance to chase after him after he sped off.
"I'm a Todd Tolensky.", Todd pointed to himself.
"Otherwise known as 'the Toad'?", the woman inquired.
Lance and Fred looked at each other mouthed 'the' with incredulous looks on their faces.
Todd nodded.
"Good." She strutted up to the boy and leaned down more to his level. Todd nearly hurt himself as his eyes couldn't decide between looking down that deep cut blazer and into those piercing eyes. "I have a proposition for you."
"You", Todd pointed at her, "are propositioning me?", he pointed at himself.
The woman smiled, a gentle smile filled with promises. "Of course. Is there anywhere we could talk."
"uh..."
"Like your room?"
Todd smacked himself in the face. "Oh yeah, I have a room!"
"Do you want to take me up to your room?"
"Okay!", the boy agreed. He proceeded to hop up the stairs one step at a time on all fours. The bombshell carefully sashayed behind him.
When they had left, Lance darted over to Fred and grabbed his overalls attempting to shake him in excitement. As always, Fred proved unmovable. "Did you see that chick?!"
"Yeah, she was really pretty.", Fred agreed. "I really liked how...how...um/"
Lance didn't give Fred time to form his thoughts before deciding to finish for him. "You mean like those grey...no blue...green? Well, never mind her eyes. But for someone as tall...er, short..." The boy trailed off. For the life of him, he knew for fact that he had just seen the most beautiful woman in his life. He just could not seem to form a description of her. Even if a cop asked him, all he knew he could come up with was 'fine' and 'hot' and if the cop had her number.
2
Once X-23 and Rogue had intended to come to his room, Todd made sure it was girlfriend presentable. There still weren't any books that implied he was a reader or electronics that implied he had an income. The street sign informed that he was the type to steal a street sign but it no longer held the prominence it once did.
Todd glanced around and pulled his only chair to his visitor. The woman accepted the seat. Todd looked to his bed, gulped hard, and accepted crouching in a quite amphibian pose well beneath the woman's gaze after setting down his bookbag. "So, um, what can I you do you for? Mrs..."
"Miss.", the woman informed. "My name is Emma Frost. I've come here to offer you a particular scholarship. Very particular."
"Me?", Todd disbelieved. "A scholarship? Like, for doing well in school."
She nodded. "I understand your consternation. Several others in my programs are quite the little hellions themselves. But they have their gifts and their ambitions. And if I can bring them to an understanding, they can not just profit but flourish.
"Under my...guidance.", she shrugged.
"Tell me, Mr. Tolensky. What were your plans for when you left highschool?"
A thought crept into the boy's mind that reminded him she said 'left' not 'graduated from'. He tried to remember and...who was he fooling. He barely had a plan for the next day, let alone a plan for after high school. Which all of a sudden frightened him. He couldn't stay at the boarding house if he wasn't in school right? Because old Mags...was with Xavier. But Mystique...was shattered. How did they keep living here?
"Well, let me offer you an additional opportunity.", Frost allowed. "What if I were to tell you that your ability to secrete chemical concoctions consciously could be an absolute gold mine. And that I was willing to invest.
"So much so, that I would first offer you a small stipend concordant with you raising your current grade point average to something that I could help get into an east coast college. Not much of an increase mind you - just something that when you end up in an ivy league school would be plausible. And when you graduated, I would be willing to pay for your college and living expenses throughout college as long as you put in the work to meet my standards and keep my approval. And at the end of it all, when you have your degrees in chemistry and biochemistry and pharmacology - perhaps even a doctorate of medicine - I would then stake venture capital in a chemical company start up. How would you like that for a future, Mr. Tolensky? Running a company for my conglomerate?"
"Yeah, that sounds pretty swee...", Todd paused. "Wait. How do you know so much about me already?"
The woman smiled a teasing smile and waved a dismissive hand. "Your school records, your arrest records, your medical records as spotty as they are. Your principal put in additional surveillance and security apparatus once the abundance of your peers forced the government to admit the existence of a certain type.
"There are all sorts of ways to get into a person's mind and find out how they think."
The boy stared at her. "And someone can just go ahead and do that?"
A light laugh. "Well, I'd hardly consider myself just 'someone'. There are a few high society groups that were once old boys clubs that allow members to network with other like minded, wealthy and influential individuals. They allow their members to affect the world in the way...us one percenters can. I just so happen to belong to one that understands the utility of acquiring...pawns to promote."
Todd nodded sullenly. "So I'd be/"
"Paid, Mr. Tolensky.", Frost cut off the thought. "Well. And taken care of to the point that you could take care of others."
The woman leaned toward him, judging. "Are there any people you'd like to care for?"
The images of the people she met downstairs came to him but they were pushed aside by memories of Rogue and X-23 holding hands. "Yeah, there are."
"Of course there are.", the woman assured him. "You have a lot to offer the world. And one could hardly fault your work ethic considering what you have actually been rewarded with versus what was dangled in front of you.
"I have no truck with that, Mr. Tolensky. I will put this all in writing - notorized writing, for you to tuck away in whatever safety deposit box you would like. An actual guaranteed future, for you and your very closest. Imagine what you could do for those two."
Todd nodded. If this panned out, he could actually become something worthy of X-23 and Rogue. He could take care of them. He could share his gifts with the world - wait a minute.
"This is one of those things that allow me to share my gifts with the world, right?", Todd asked with an eyebrow raised.
Emma shrugged. "I will teach you about the manner in which to do that.
"However, people often regret and then try to back out of what they jump into - metaphorically speaking of course. So I'll leave you alone for some time. Please, discuss it with the two you care for. And once you see what you can do for them, I'll have the paperwork ready for you to join my program. Is that acceptable, Mr. Tolensky?"
Todd nodded, nearly bowing in front of this shining goddess bearing blessings.
"Then thank you for your time. I will enjoy speaking with you soon to finalize our arrangement." With that the woman left his room and the nearly stunned teen within.
1
The woman's heels clicked against the stairs as she descended. Wanda and Pietro looked up from the couch they were...lounging on. She paused, then came to the two teens. "I apologize for the intrusion today. Thank you for letting me speak to the best of you." The woman sashayed out of their door.
One thought was stuck in their heads though. Toad was not the best of them. And despite whatever strokes of luck he might be having lately, they would damn sure remind him of his place.
3
The professor rolled up to Jean and Cyclops. "Excuse me, children.", he began. "But Jean. If you could indulge me. Have you...recently been in the bedroom of one Mr. Tolensky?"
"Ew! No!", Jean objected. Then Jean gasped. She turned to her boyfriend. "No. I have not. Ever.", she told him adamantly. And then a little sourly. "That you thought I could."
Scott was getting accustomed to these impossible positions he was put in. "I didn't think you had."
Xavier steepled his fingers in front of his face and nodded. "Of course not. I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused by asking.
"Have you seen Mr. Lensherr, recently? I need to speak with Magn...Mr. Lenshserr."