9/23 - Leo
9/23/2009
It's a fairly cooler evening, and Leonardo has invited Emma over to his new place. It's a modestly sized upscale mansion on the outside, in a neighborhood with other fairly old buildings. But on the inside it's quite remodeled with white carpets and cream colored furniture, book cases, his maid (In a typical French maid outfit), a spiral staircase and everything. Of course the couch in the large living room is a fairly standard setup. Couch, then coffee table, then the large HDTV on the wall over the fireplace with DVDs and such surrounding it inside the entertainment system, built right into the brick fireplace. On the couch is where she'll find Leo, dressed semi-casually with an unbuttoned dark blue blazer with a white buttoned up shirt under it, matching dark blue pants, and a pair of black sneakers. He simply wanted Emma to spend the evening with him, drinking wine and trying the things in some expensive gift basket he was sent, possibly watching movies too. The gift basket is on the table.
Emma trails behind the servant sent to escort her to the living room, then dismisses her with a flick of her fingers and a pointedly unamused look at the maid costume. Emma is so hypocritical. She waits, folding her arms in front of her and not saying a word, to be noticed. If it takes more than a few seconds, she's likely to... ah, help things along.
"Emma!" Leonardo quickly stands, all his calm and poise suddenly down the drain at the sight of her. He stands there, holding his hands out as if waiting for something. "Can I take anything for you? Or get you a drink? I bought especially expensive wine for you, it got high reviews on a reliable website..."
Emma undoes the large buttons on the short, fitted jacket she's wearing, revealing an unadorned longsleeved shirt underneath. It is paired with simple, dark-colored jeans that sit low on her hips. She holds the jacket out, expecting /someone/ to take it, and gives Leo a small smile. "Maybe later, darling. " She stops and brushes him from head to toe in a slow, sliding look. "You look well."
Leonardo quickly takes the jacket, walking to open a barely noticable sliding door on the wall, carefully putting her coat on a hanger. He looks back at her, then back at the closer, and quickly pushes /everything/ in the closer to the side, so her jacket doesn't have to be ruined by somehow touching his clothes. "I've been very busy, but the company's finally on its feet again, so I should have some freedom. And I've been working out a lot, not wasting time with women. You're still the only woman I think about. Have you gotten my gifts?"
Emma flutters a blink at his answer, then slowly nods her head in reply. "I have. They have been... interesting. Thank you." She drifts toward, then around the couch, stopping by one of the arms to look down first at it, then at the table, and then finally around at the rest of the room. "I am pleased to hear that the company is doing well," she adds, slanting a speculative glance back at him.
Leonardo slowly approaches her, raising a hand to place it on her cheek, swallowing hard as uneasiness quickly builds in the pit of his stomach. "Have you been doing well? I'd never /ever/ think that I was in a position to help /you/, but if somehow, by some act of god, you needed someone else's help, you know you could come to me, right? My company is your company."
Emma's eyes widen a bit at the touch, and her lips twitch. She allows the contact for a handful of breaths, then gently turns her head and pulls her cheek away. "Your offer is touching, darling. I can think of no one else I would rather turn to. In a time of need." She reaches up and takes his hand in one of hers and squeezes, then drops it and looks back around the room. "Are you enjoying your new home?"
"I am, I didn't want anything too large, but I didn't want something unimpressive either. I decided I outgrew living in an apartment mostly chosen because it was good for parties." Leonardo still appears rather nervous, averting his eyes for a moment, then looking back at her. "E-Emma, I've been wondering. I mean, I know you're an independent business woman and all, but..." He clears his throat, then suddenly heads for the couch. "I... Nevermind. Would you like some wine?"
Emma takes a step back and tilts her head inquiringly, following his escape around the couch with a hint of a smile hiding in the curve of her lips. She waits for a moment, then mirrors his movement around the couch. "If you insist."
Leonardo uncorks the red wine, pouring them both a glass. He offers one to her, nodding for her to take it. "I don't mean to be so nervous, it's just been so long since I saw you, I forgot how intimidating your beauty was, like staring directly into the sun. Alright, let me try and take this slower. Are you seeing anyone? And I don't mean those business men, I can live with the things you do for your career, that doesn't mean anything to me."
Emma takes the glass, then sinks onto one knee on the couch, tucking into a corner so her elbow is support by the furniture's arm. Her lashes flutter and she turns her head until she can wrestle the smile back out of sight. When she has, she looks back at him and widens her eyes innocently. "I am not exclusive with anyone, if that is what you are asking," she answers.
"Would you like to be?" Leonardo asks, not-so-discreetly scooting over a bit, moving to place a hand on her thigh as he sips at his glass. "I stole an entire company from my own father to impress you, I've stayed completely... well, you'd be the first to unwrap me, so to speak, despite my power to have nearly any woman I want. We never have to tell anyone, I just want to be able to call you mine, even if it's to myself."
Emma puts the glass down on the coffee table without a taste and turns to brush a light touch across his forehead, as if combing just the edge of his hairline with her fingertips. "That sounds a bit unfair to you darling," she murmurs, her lips pursing just a bit.
Leonardo lightly shakes his head, placing a hand over her's. "You know how I am, I don't care if everyone knows I'm with you or not, as long as I'm with you. I know you have a reputation to protect, I know there's probably a number of reasons you may think no one could know about us, but don't think it's unfair to me. The only thing that would be unfair is not being with you at all." He frowns slightly, sitting his glass down as well. "I've been pursuing you for almost three years now, haven't I?"
"And what, exactly, does 'being with me' mean, if not a public acknowledgement of a relationship?" Emma asks, leaning back against the couch's arm.
"Vacations to private islands, confiding in eachother, you know, couples things," Leonardo awkwardly coughs, covering his mouth. "Romantic evenings..." he quickly throws in there, just trying to slip it in.
"My evenings are usually full with those business men I see for my career," Emma points out, her tone lightly amused and curious. "As for confiding in each other, don't we already do that?"
"I know I said I'm alright with it, but, you don't have to actually /say/ it... It's not that I'm jealous, and I definitely am, I just feel like I've earned your attention a lot more than they have." Leonardo says in a mixture of his usual jealousy and Emma-induced hurt feelings. "I know we already confide in eachother, I just wanna know I can completely throw away all the formalities and just, I don't know, hug you or something."
A hug? Emma looks a bit blank at that expression of sentiment, then pushes it aside in favor of paing attention to the rest of his of his statement, and the emotions behind it. She detangles her hand and cups Leo's chin in its palm as she leans back toward him. "And what attention would you have from me?" she murmers, her face close to his, her eyes veiled and narrow.
"I want the same attention you give those men, except I actually care for you, it won't be some business thing." Leonardo reaches forward to gently place his hands on her hips, leaning in a little closer, his lips barely touching her's. "What does a guy have to do to get a woman to make him a man?" he asks in a whisper, waiting to see what she does with the closeness.
Emma wraps her arms one at a time over his shoulder and arches a brow at him. "Trust me, darling," she breathes against his lips, "You wouldn't like the kind of woman who likes to make men out of boys."
"Why don't you let me decide that?" Leonardo's attempting to take charge for once, gently moving forward as he tries to get her into a laying position. "I'd give up everything, absolutely everything, just to have you once. Though I think I may be rushing ahead in the evening, we've barely gotten drunk and I'm already trying to sleep with you. I hope that's not a problem?"
Emma slides into place with experience ease, and presses a kiss to his jawline. "Mmm. Now you sound just like all the others," she whispers with skeptism. "They say they would, but no one ever wants to prove it."
"I took the company, I can give it away too, I don't care." Leonardo's completely enthralled, breathing heavily as he starts fiddling with the buttons of her jeans. "I can have a merger contract written up by morning with one phone call..." He's crazy enough to do it, she should know that.
Emma snakes a hand behind his head and pulls his mouth to hers for a practiced kiss designed to elevate his...enthrallment before she breaks away to say, "Why don't you make it then?"
"You'll be with me, I mean, we'll have the kind of relationship I want?" Leonardo asks while reaching into his pocket for a cellphone, continuing to undo her clothing with his other. "You'll promise me?"
Emma pushes back so that she's sitting upright against the couch arm once again, holding him at arms length with one hand against his shoulder. "I'm giving you the chance to prove that you are what you said. That you are different," she counters.
Leonardo, without much hesitation, flips his phone open and hits speed dial. "Mister Pots, have Frost Enterprises contacted, I want a merger contract negotiated by morning and on Emma Frost's desk. Understood? I don't have to answer any questions, just do it." he orders, then flips the phone shut and slides it into his pocket, staring at her as he waits for her reaction.
Emma's reaction is slow and subdued. She pushes him further back as she extracts herself from his couch and his reach. Standing, she starts to put herself back in order, straightening this and buttoning that, and then she looks down at him and smiles. "Your intentions are certainly noble, darling. I look forward to seeing if they can be sustained."
Leonardo sighs, sitting up to watch her get herself straightened again. He knows when he's failed. "If I have to stay a boy for another night, can't you make me, I don't know, just a /technical/ boy?"
Emma laughs and leans over to plant a kiss on the top of his head. Probably not the reaction he was hoping for. "I will see you tomorrow morning, darling." She finds the closet and her jacket, and leaves.
Some things never change.