Posing

[Elsa Bellefonte]

This one had to be a joke.

Mostly because Elsa knew that Frank Cox was either not around any more or finally passed out after going through God knows how many days without sleeping. Though there was that prank off thing. Elsa liked to think that whomever would think up a prank would at least go further than... than this. But someone had noticed, and that someone had told someone else and word had gotten to Elsa. she wasn't entirely sure why she wanted to check on this one herself, but, well, she needed to do something. This felt a little more proactive. she just wasn't sure if it should be Elsa or "Erika" doing the checking up.

"Great, now I sound like I've got two personalities," Elsa mumbled to herself as she pushed through the modest crowd that had gathered outside the art studio. She pushed inside, and, sure enough, there he was, whoever he was, standing as naked as the day he'd been born while standing on a pedestal in roughly the middle of the room. Elsa sighed, bringing a hand up to just the right height to block off bits that she didn't particularly care to see at the moment.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, not looking the guy in the eye. Some people didn't deserve that. "We don't do nude paintings here," which surely even this guy would know... right?

[Riley Coleson]

Okay, so Riley essentially knew that this was a bad idea. He was no prankster, but this was too good of an opportunity for the hulk to miss. Seriously, what better way was there for him to... Well, okay, so maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all, and maybe he'd been dared into doing it by his teammates. And proud as he was, Riley couldn't turn down a dare. Besides, it wasn't like half (or more) the school had seen him naked already, so he knew there wasn't much point in hiding all that he had to offer.

Sadly, when he stood there on the pedestal, completely and utterly naked he couldn't help but to feel a little awkward. People were staring, people were whispering and pointing and here he thought he was going to sink back into the school routine without much attention. Yeah, that was clearly not happening anymore. And it didn't help much that the rumor seemed to spread like wildfire and more people showed up.

And then, in all her glory and might on of the Bellefonte princesses decided to ruin the party. He wasn't sure which one he had the joy of meeting, but he was secretly hoping it would be the less grumpy one.

''Heyo,'' he greeted her with something similar to a very awkward and very little embarrassed smile. How you ask? He had no idea. He was feeling both proud and insecure about it all at the same time, so there. ''About that...'' he began, his eyes moving from the girl to the crowd, offering all of them one of his classical, charming smirks, ''Surprise?''

[Elsa Bellefonte]

A greeting and a smile? Well, the expression did mention wearing nothing but a smile, and here was someone who seemed all too willing to embody that quite perfectly. Elsa sighed at the young man's "explanation," rolling her eye toward the ceiling. She counted slowly, but only got to five before looking the guy in the eyes. Yes, straight in the eyes, no detours, no passing Go, no collecting two hundred dollars, just straight into those eyes.

"I suppose the only surprise here is that it's not as small as one would think. Generally people who do this are trying to compensate for something," she said, her voice flat, her tone even. She sighed again, this time looking over her shoulder to address the crowd behind her. "Doesn't anyone have a sock they can loan him? Please tell me that at least someone can manifest clothing or webbing or something," she paused, looking around at the crowd, most of whom were simply enjoying the free show.

"Don't everyone rush at once," said Elsa, again speaking slow. Surely someone around here would at least cooperate with her? It was rather difficult to talk to someone when you had to keep your hand in a certain position to act as a mobile censor bar.

[Riley Coleson]

Woah, joykiller ahead! No, really. Riley understood her reaction a lot more than what he let on. Her words had him looking down, bopping his head somewhat before looking back up. Well, at least there was that. He wasn't going to question it or even be as forward as commenting it. When she turned towards the crowd, Riley made the appropriate move of jumping down from the pedestal. Shifting his position he walked over to the chair he'd left his clothes, rubbing the neck as he hoped the others were distracted by the brunette for long enough for him to get distracted.

After all, the way she had stared so directly at him had creeped him out a tad, and he figured it was better for him to simply step down and get this over with.

Pulling on his boxers, Riley kneeled down to gather the rest of his clothes. ''You know, you could have simply asked me to get dressed instead of creating a scene,'' he pointed out, a playful smile bouncing on his lips as the hulk shook his head. He then continued to pull his pants on. ''Unless that's your thing, of course,'' he added with a chuckle. He wasn't going to judge. That wasn't his style.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Stepping down? Just like that? No protest, no big fuss, even looking like he was abashed at having done all this. There wasn't the usual embarrassment at being naked, more like he hadn't hoped to actually cause a scene while doing it. Elsa found herself staring for a reason that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the boy was practically naked. She blinked a few times to help reboot her brain, watching as he picked up some of his clothing. Well, at least he'd come here decently dressed; that would save them a very awkward trip through the school.

"Would it have worked?" she asked, raising her brows. She clearly meant just asking, and no sooner had the words left her lips than she began skimming Riley's thoughts. It wasn't quite deep enough to be overly obvious, but there was a slim chance, focused as this read was, that Riley might suspect something. He might also know who she was, or at least suspect, which would mean he'd put up his guard. She wasn't sure how to respond to the making a scene thing either, since that comment might help with his thinking that she was, in fact, her sister: the wild Bellefonte instead of the tame.

Though Elsa had to admit that she wasn't positive to how Erika would react to this. Probably with some giggling and teasing, if she had to guess.

[Riley Coleson]

''Have I done anything to make you think otherwise?'' he asked in return, not bothering to look up this time. Standing up, the boy pulled his shirt up with him and shrugged. Truth be told, he didn't really care which of the princesses the girl was. It didn't matter. They social status didn't interest him. If he wanted to further himself in that area, he could have simply continued like he had way back before he'd left. Besides, he didn't want to offend either as he didn't know enough about the girls to tell them apart. All he knew was that one of them was -- or appeared wilder than the other. Heck, for all he knew they were both untamed lionesses and only one got blamed for it.

Pulling on his shirt, Riley sighed before snapping his head towards the crowd, ''Okay, show's over folks, you can all return back to whatever dark corner you usually linger at.'' Even this was said with a casual smirk, though the boy didn't exactly care if either of them got offended by his words. He had already decided to cut out the whole shameless flirt act and get his life on track. There were more pressing matters for him to focus on.

''There, problem solved, eh? I hope I didn't cause the misses too much trouble,'' he offered again towards the brunette, a little more playful than the words that had been directed towards the crowd. After all, she had tried to fix things, in her own, unique little way.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"You posed nude unasked in the middle of the art studio. That's not the kind of behavior that would usually equate to 'follows reasonable requests,'" Elsa pointed out, still eying the man curiously. The thought skim picked up something about having left and returned, and Elsa dimly recalled hearing something about someone parading around here. But he thought it like it was some kind of life-changing event. Nobody really had those when they were a teenager, not unless they got kidnapped or had a family member die or something. they just thought they did.

Show's over, and most of the people were actually leaving. Elsa jerked away from Riley (she'd pulled his name from his thoughts; that happened occasionally) long enough to do a quick skim. Most were disappointed, with one or two sending ill thoughts toward "the Bellefonte girl." Most guessed that she was Elsa instead of Erika, but nobody knew, which was probably the best outcome that Elsa could have hoped for.

Problem solved? Elsa quirked a brow. "The crowd's mostly gone," she agreed, "but there's still a little matter of your being nude in public. That's generally not considered to be acceptable behavior in polite society," she intoned this with the utmost solemnity, of course, with only the slightest hint of tease threading its way through the words.

[Riley Coleson]

Smiling sheepishly, Riley nodded in agreement, ''Fair enough. One-zero, Bellefonte.'' He couldn't argue that, and even if he wanted to (which he didn't) he'd lose it, he was sure. She didn't exactly strike him as the kind of girl who'd drop a debate just because someone smiled or tossed a wink in her direction, which Riley found him surprisingly impressed at. If more girls had been this level-headed, there would surely be less men taking advantage of them. And yes, he realized just how ironic that was coming from him.

Again, another win for the girl. Arching his eyebrow, Riley sighed. Well, at least she was following the rules, so he guessed she wasn't the perky Bellefonte everyone seemed to love talking about. Again, he didn't care. It was simply an observation and it was a fun hobby he could make himself trying to separate the two. He really needed something better to spend his time doing, didn't he?

''I agree,'' he said dryly as he ran a hand through his hair. ''So, what are we going to do about that? Headmaster's office? Informing a teacher?'' He'd already figured he'd end up getting in trouble for this, so he'd might as well go willingly, right? The tease was however lost on him. He never had been the best at picking up hints, especially not the subtle ones. ''Assuming that's where your thoughts are heading of course. Either way, it doesn't matter.''

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa stared at the boy as he spoke. She was starting to get the urge to just rip into his thoughts. That happened, albeit very, very rarely. Most people were not very subtle in thinking what they thought, or they weren't very keen on hiding their intentions or their personalities. most people, in other words, weren't quite as frustrating as this young man was. Elsa could not figure him out, and for some reason, that bothered her far more than it should.

"You sound awfully calm about it," she said, choosing her words carefully, speaking flatly, "considering that you could very well end up getting into quite a bit of trouble," not that something like this would get you expelled. Expulsion was all but unheard of at Bellefonte. what other options were there, really? at best they could ship you to another school, and with the Canadian institute in flames, the closest alternative options were overseas.

"Most people who strip naked and pose are not this calm about being found, nor are they this compliant," she said, staring him down again. She blinked, wondering for a bit. He hadn't done anything to demonstrate mutant abilities, but had instead done something that would draw attention, likely an authority figure. put that with this very strange behavior and: "You're not a spy, are you?' Elsa began scanning, taking the next step beyond the skim, ready to pick up any thoughts that happened to be of interest or incriminating.

[Riley Coleson]

Lifting his head, Riley once again rested his eyes on the brunette. He gave her a look that might have been taken for saying something around the lines of 'so what?', though that wasn't exactly what he was going for. ''I know,'' he said, smiling somewhat, ''Doing stupid things is one thing, but not taking the consequences of said stupid things is entirely different.'' He had done that far too many times already, and he had decided to change things around, if even a little.

He had to admit that her cold demeanor was somewhat amusing, and it did make him want to pry into it further, but that wouldn't end well. He knew that from experience, and after dealing with Hadley and her crazy... Well, needless to say he might have been a little careful around females these days. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, he mused to himself. ''A spy?'' At this, the boy had to laugh, finding himself a little surprised at her accusations. ''What, do you think I'd look good with a gun?'' The image was interesting. And what guy didn't want to end up as the next James Bond? But no, he wasn't a spy. Sadly. ''No, sorry to disappoint you, sparrow, but I'm not a spy.''

Riley paused and rolled his shoulders. Chuckling, the boy craned his neck forward as he picked up his phone and other belongings from the floor. ''You didn't answer my question,'' he pointed out as he finally stood up, this time fully facing the girl. ''Are we going to the teacher's office or are you going to keep telling me what most people would do? Because I think we've already come to the understanding that I'm not most people, ey?''

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Yes, they were different... but that was barely an answer. It was sort of a noncomittal non-answer that left Elsa narrowing her eyes at Riley and wondering just what the hell she was supposed to be doing here. He talked about his being a spy in very dismissive tones, and Elsa attempted to skim over the words to see what was going on there. It didn't feel wrong; it felt defensive and dismissive and a whole host of other things that, again, didn't really help Elsa come to any real conclusion about the whole situation.

"That is precisely what a well-trained spy would say," she said, keeping her voice flat, attempting to make this sound serious. It sounded ludicrous: accusing the pretty boy who had no issue with stripping naked of being a spy. But Elsa couldn't very well let this go. If he was a spy, if he meant to harm the school or the people here... Elsa couldn't allow that. She simply didn't have it in her to even allow the possibility.

Which left his question up in the air for her. She met his eyes, her own still reflecting nothing but suspicion. "Right, you're not most people, and you still haven't given me a reason to not suspect you. How do I know that you don't want me to take you to the Headmaster or someone else to do something nefarious?" Oh God she really used that word aloud. Elsa wanted to drag her palm across her face, but she certainly wasn't going to give Riley the satisfaction. "Maybe I should drag you into another room and interrogate you myself," yes, because that was better, Elsa. "Or I could just mindfuck you in the hallway and get my answers where everyone can hear and see you screaming." Much better, and definitely not overcompensating in the slightest.

[Riley Coleson]

Riley didn't say anything further on the topic of him being a spy. Really, the girl obviously had a vivid imagination or she was naturally suspicious; Both seemed very likely and Riley didn't even want to dive into the amount of observation it would to figure out which one was correct. Not only did it not interest him, it simply wasn't worth the effort. She wasn't worth the effort. As much as Riley wanted for him to be the good guy, he wasn't. He really, truly and honestly wasn't. He had nothing to gain from finding out, and that made her, the answer and everything around it seemingly worthless to him.

Lifting his eyebrows in disbelief, a smile caressed the older boy's lips; The only thing he could do was shake his head. He was so baffled by the line of words that flowed out of the brunette's lips that he couldn't even begin to wrap his mind around it. What the hell was she on? 'Wow,'' he let out, again shaking his head, ''I'd say that that sounds rather kinky, but I'm starting to wonder whether or not you're just naturally sadistic, which quite honestly just makes it sort of fucked up.'' Pulling his jacket over his shoulder, Riley pinched the bridge of his nose.

''Yeah, because if I was a spy I'd attract as much attention to myself as I possibly could just so everyone can recognize me when the deed is done.'' Really, she couldn't be serious, could she? ''You got me. You discovered my secret masterplan.'' Taking a few steps towards the door, the taller boy craned his neck so he could look down at her once he reached her side, ''If you don't mind, I have far more important things to do than play pretend.''

[Elsa Bellefonte]

She might have been somewhat sadistic. It certainly wasn't the first time that someone had suggested as much to her, after all. Elsa's eyes narrowed at them. Familiar words brought back familiar feelings. She could follow a script, especially when she had the director's cut moving through her brain. Kinky, frustrated, pinching, it all flew through Elsa's mind, which worked wonders at balancing the two, forcing her to try and face this rather unusual situation head on.

"It's not pretend," she said. Elsa didn't bother to move to physically stop him; she'd never been very muscular or imposing. Elsa couldn't even intimidate her sister, not physically. No, Elsa's greatest weapon had always been her mind, and she planned on using it to better affect now that she'd gotten a better look at the script. "There are people here who want to hurt us and imprison us. Who knows what they would do? Something like this would be a perfect excuse to attract attention away. You're certainly not giving me any reason to suspect otherwise. You were naked five minutes ago, and now you're the one calling me crazy?" Okay, so maybe the whole "cool, calm, collected" thing hadn't quite settled in as well. "So if you're not here to 'play pretend'," airquotes included, voice dripping with sarcasm, "then what is your game, Riley?"

Had he said his name aloud?
Did Elsa care if he had?

[Riley Coleson]

Okay, clearly there was no free pass, no easy way out, so instead of bailing, Riley turned on his heel and ventured deeper into the room. He pulled out a stool and sat down with a frown. ''Okay,'' he said, his tone dull and his expression solemn. If she wanted to do this, he'd do it. Anything to get her off of his back, because he was pretty sure he had classes to get back to, and if not that, there was also football practice. Resting his hands in his lap, the hulk chuckled, ''What's my game? I'm an eighteen year old boy with an ego.'' Sadly, it was true. He had absolutely no complexes with walking around naked, let alone showcase himself the same way.

''You know, all you need to do is look at my student file. You already know my name which tells me you can either read my name or you already have. Though, if you could read my mind, I'd place a pretty safe bet on you sucking at your ability,'' he pressed, a sheepish grin forming on his lips. Really, did she jump the bones of every single person that came off as shady?

Folding his arms across his chest, the boy pursed his lips. ''Do you honestly believe I'm a spy for SPECTRE? Aren't they supposed to hate mutants, so why would I help them?'' The thought of him not having used his ability didn't cross his mind. In fact, he simply assumed she already knew.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Eighteen year old with an ego; that didn't fully explain this, this, mess. Elsa had dealt with plenty of eighteen year olds with egos before. She'd gone out to coffee with one or two of them. They generally did not just wave off their having stripped and been questioned by one of the Bellefontes (specifically the "bitchy" Bellefonte, a title that Elsa would proudly admit to).

Read the file? "Files can be forged," sucking at her ability? "I don't suck; I just generally don't mindfuck people until they give me a very good reason to do so," the hint being that Riley was already teetering on the edge of that now. Did she honestly believe it? Yes, but before she could say those words, keeping up her snappy retorts to his comments, he said something about mutants and how SPECTRE hated them. Why help them? She kept rummaging through his mind. He at least believed he was a mutant.

"How about this: You prove that you're a mutant," she said, again meeting his eyes, "and I promise not to report you," not least of all because he could all but report her for the accusations and threats she'd thrown at him. generally speaking, threatening to "mindfuck someone" wasn't something that the school approved of. Elsa had been told off for that sort of thing before, and she was likely to have that again. "And no, I don't believe that just because you think you're a mutant or have memories of being a mutant that it's enough. Your memories could have been implanted, since you're still being suspicious," though Elsa's voice wavered at that last bit. How was he still being suspicious exactly? What was more likely: that Elsa was too paranoid and stubborn to admit that she'd jumped to the wrong conclusion, or that this guy was some kind of highly trained special agent? Elsa already knew the answer, but it's not like she could let it go now. She'd lose too much face...