Finalizing

[Elsa Bellefonte]

It did feel like nearly every discussion Elsa had had with her twin lately had been in some odd area. Either one or the other of them had been rushed, getting everything together, moving things in. The office showed that very work, as Elsa had already filled it with several items of her choosing. She had kept bits and pieces of their grandfather's work, but overall, she'd wanted to make sure that they owned this office, even down to the furniture. Plus, Elsa had updated a few things, including a phone and a computer system, both of which had been upgraded. She had one of each for Erika too.

Plus, she was hoping that she could use these things to distract her from more serious things. They could talk about where to put furniture, move items around, get the room ready. Then maybe Elsa could work up the nerve to actually discuss what she desperately needed to discuss with Erika. her twin deserved to know what happened with Felix, even if nothing more came of it. Elsa wouldn't have that be a secret between them, especially as Roxanna and Franck knew.

There were other important details to discuss, including a small pile of folders Elsa had set on the desk. So many details. She sighed, moving over to tap her fingers against a vase, figuring that she could focus on arranging furniture until her sister arrived and the real work began.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Looking around the office, Erika let an audible sigh fall from her lips. She had slowly but surely come to terms with the task at hand, but she wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of her twin sister. Elsa seemed to have kept herself busy making the transition as easy as human possible and Erika couldn't even begin to explain how thankful she was for having Elsa around. Elsa was her rock and would always be her rock. Elsa knew this, and she also knew that despite Erika's lack of experience when it came to wording her feelings, Elsa knew.

She always had. It was very reassuring.

Looking around, Erika folded her hands in front of her and smiled, "It looks really good," she said and looked at her sister, offering her a polite smile before drawing closer. Erika knew that she had been childish, selfish and quite frankly every idiotic over the past couple of years, and she figured Elsa didn't really think she was suited for this job, because truth be told, Erika wasn't. All of this should have fallen onto Elsa's shoulders, because this was what Elsa had been raised to do. Not Erika. But as the oldest, and the one that had apparently had the closest relationship to their grandfather, Erika had been picked and forced up to take over the throne, quite reluctantly at that.

She wasn't even sure why she felt the need to go along with her family's wishes, and part of her wanted to back out. She knew she couldn't though. It was too late for her to run away from the responsibility. No, Erika had to grow up and do the right thing for once in her life. "You're amazing," Erika said and grinned. No surprise there.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"It's not finished yet," said Elsa. She looked up from the face, turning to meet her sister. An easy smile slid on Elsa's face, and for a few moments, the two looked as identical as their genetics would have you think. Both standing at a sort of comfortable ease with one another, smiles hiding doubt that bubbled just below the surface. As always, Elsa caught her sister's thoughts, and, as usual, Erika seemed to be thinking about how unworthy she was of everything that befell her.

"I am," was what Elsa said though, nodding. She agreed and addressed the words, at least for now. She also walked closer to her sister. "It's the genetics though," Elsa continued, gesturing toward her sibling, "which means that you're fairly amazing yourself. After all, we are genetically identical, even if you're clearly prettier and I'm clearly smarter," she gave her sister a twinkling smile as she stopped just in front of her.

Elsa raised her hands up to grab her sister's shoulders, meeting her eyes. "How are you feeling? We've only a little longer, and we've got nearly everything set up. You're going to be the one they all look at and depend on. Just remember: they already like you," Elsa chuckled, "and I'll be giving a nearly identical speech in a few weeks, won't I?"

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

A grin splayed over Erika's lips at her sister's cocky arrogance. Elsa was among few people Erika could stand that acted that way. Then again, Elsa was probably incapable of hurting or even pissing Erika off. Sure, there had been heated moments during their life together, as expected between sisters, but none which Erika held her younger sister in fault for. "That is true," Erika nodded, "Guess we scored on the charts, between having a bitch of a mother, an absent father and two loving siblings," she said, the sarcasm practically rolling off her tongue. She even added a tiny eyeroll. No, their sister, Alexis was hopefully the least of their concerns this upcoming time.

Meeting her sister's gaze, Erika frowned ever so slightly before nodding, "A little nervous," she said honestly, but smiled nonetheless. "I know," she added quickly, "I just want to live up to the name, you know? Whether they like me or not doesn't matter in the end, there's much more at stake here than general popularity." In truth, Erika hadn't cared much about that in quite some time. She simply didn't want to see the school crash and burn. She wanted them to make it a better and safer place for all of them, the mutants to call home. She smiled at Elsa though and sighed, "Thanks though."

No, Erika could already tell that she had grown as she had grown accustomed to the idea of being one of the future headmistresses. She wanted them to succeed, regardless of who didn't agree with them. That was what being in charge was all about right? Doing what was best for the school as opposed to doing something to please everyone.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa chuckled dryly at the mention of their two other siblings. The only blessing she could see was that Alexis and Abel had been relatively quiet of late. She didn't want to even think about what that meant Alexis was up to though: the girl could hardly go unsupervised for more than five minutes.

The siblings were far away though, excepting the two that stood there, face to face. Nervous, willing to live up: Elsa had to chuckle at that. "Sorry, it's just... I spent most of my life working to live up to the name, so for me, it's almost second nature. I suppose it's got to be killing you that you're actually stepping up to this," Elsa paused for a moment, frowning. "You could still--- if you wanted," she said, turning to look at Erika. She couldn't even believe she was suggesting it, and some part of her wondered if it was her own mind making some kind of twisted power play.

But no, she truly didn't want Erika locked into a position where she'd have to suffer. Elsa was already committed, but she'd always been. She could handle things... but then again, hadn't she already given Erika several outs? When did they pass the point of no return? Would they ever...?

"Assuming you stick around, there are a few details to finalize," said Elsa, sighing and gesturing around, "bits and pieces. Speeches, appointments, secret councils, you know, the standard, really."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Shifting her gaze back to Elsa, Erika sighed. Shaking her head, she let out an audible sigh, "You know," she began and frowned, "Sometimes, I wish I could, but... It doesn't feel right, you know?" Part of her also wanted to just let Elsa take all the responsibility, because yes, Elsa had more or less been born into this. But Erika? She wanted to focus on her art, and maybe spend some time traveling. This was not at all what she wanted. But here she was, stuck in the position anyways. "I can't," she finally finished and shrugged.

Combing her fingers through her hair, Erika pursed her lips, "I might not be very confident in myself," she began with a sheepish smile, "But I've already said that I'm in. There's no way I'm backing out now."

Nodding quickly, Erika was glad the conversation topic was changed. "Secret councils?" she asked with an amused smile. "Well, boy, haven't you been busy." Not that she was surprised, of course. That sounded like something Elsa would want to implement into the school, and in a way, it actually did make sense. Especially after everything that had gone down.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

As expected, Erika continued to accept her responsibility. Somehow, Elsa couldn't quite believe that would stick. She wanted to; she did love and respect Erika and all. She just... knew that this had never been what Erika wanted. In a few months, a year, two, Erika would hopefully realize that, that she was really made for another destiny, and she'd step into that one, hopefully with as much grace as she did this.

Elsa just had to make sure that they both survived that long.

"Well, thankfully I've enough confidence for both of us," replied Elsa, demonstrating that very attribute with each word. "And yes, secret councils," she added, nodding. She waited for a moment, then continued: "I'm quite serious about that: I intend to put together a council of various people around our age together. That way we'll be prepared for whenever the next SPECTRE arrives. I also don't want most of the student body aware." Elsa met Erika's eyes. She'd been planning this and sowing seeds for ages now. But this was the first time she'd laid out some of those plans, begun discussing where it could go, trying to make it real. She was fairly certain Erika would be behind her, especially considering that those Elsa planned on talking to were likely the same people Erika would pick.

But still, there was a chance, and a small bit of doubt...

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Studying her sister's face, Erika nodded slightly. She gave it a thought before reacting, which didn't happen very often. Erika was an impulsive person who reacted on her instincts. Now though, now she was simply standing there in silence as she weighed the options. It was a good idea for sure and it was always nice to be prepared, even if nothing happened. "Alright," she said simply, "Let me know what I can do to help, and I will."

Turning away from her sister, Erika walked over to a nearby window and looked outside. "Just be sure to pick people we know we can trust, and that won't possibly have ulterior motives," she tossed over her shoulders, "And that won't get any in the future." She could name a handful people that might be suitable for the position now, but perhaps not so much in the future. She wasn't going to mention any names though.

"We should paint this room," she said absentmindedly, "The color doesn't seem... fitting. It's a little too bright. What do you think?"

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Just like that? Erika almost absently took Elsa's idea to start a secret council like she'd talked about changing the color of the desk. Worse; there weren't even thoughts going underneath it. Just pick people that had no ulterior motives, as if that was entirely possible. Elsa read that little thought about people, then the absentminded comment that followed.

Play it calmly, Elsa. She's probably still dealing with things. You can talk to Trevor or someone about it later. Maybe Vera... no, stop thinking of Vera. Roxana? Roxana might work.

"It does," agreed Elsa, nodding. "We should consider a more somber color. Maybe something dark. And of course we should make sure to have a large houseplant near the desk so that we can sit in absolute shadow while we're plotting our evil regime. Oh, and we should get a cat. Make a note of that Erika: find a cat."

Yes, sarcasm, but, well, Elsa could use that well enough. Plus she wanted to make sure that Erika could still laugh, and, well, it was either start joking around or sit Erika down and try to deeply probe her mind to see what was going on in there. The probing could come later...

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

"Evil regime? Nah, I wouldn't go quite that far," Erika smirked. "Try... Wicked. It makes it sound a lot more intriguing and compelling." But she still thought that they should redecorate. She had never really agreed with the way their grandfather had decided to.. Well, keep the room, and she had always wanted to do something about it. Maybe it was her inner artist, who knew. And now she also had the means to do exactly that, which just made it all the more tempting.

Shrugging then, Erika pursed her lips, "I was thinking maybe dark brown with ivory details, or maybe a more modern by mixing black and white..." she spoke absentmindedly as she gazed around. No really, that was really what she was the most worried about. She wasn't kidding. Like, at all.

"What do you think?" she asked and turned to face Elsa once more, "We should also get two desks. I think that would be rather cute." She smiled sugar sweet at that and turned to face the current desk, trying to picture how it would look with two of them.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"Wicked?" repeated Elsa, arching a brow. "Are you suggesting that I should dye my skin green and learn to sing soprano?" They'd actually seen that musical together during a trip to New York once, and Elsa was willing to bet that Erika remembered it too. The old memories were just the sort of thing that Elsa wanted at the forefront of her sister's mind.

She watched Erika move about, planning the decor almost too eagerly. Elsa knew when her sister joked around, and she could tell that Erika wasn't now. She waited till Erika turned to ask her opinion before vocalizing anything though: "I think it would be to our benefit to personalize it to a degree, yes," she said, nodding. She looked around for a moment. "And we could always consider seeing about getting a decorator in here. Probably do wonders for the place. As for two desks," she looked back at the old one. "It seems rather kitschy, don't you think?"

Elsa reached out to run her hand along the desk. She couldn't help but wonder how long it had been there. How much were they going to be changing? Not just the decor, but so much. They shouldn't be here, neither of them, not yet. There should've been schooling, more training. They shouldn't have been put in as Headmistresses right out of high school, no matter how much talent or ability they had. They were being set up to fail, and Elsa hated failure.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

"Green's not really your color," Erika said with a feigned surprise to her voice. She looked at Elsa as she shrugged; Of course she remembered their trip to New York. A trip with Elsa, no matter where or what they did, was always hard to remember. Mostly because of Elsa's divine personality that never seemed to fail amusing her two minute older sister. Unless of course, said personality did something said older sister didn't like. Then it sort of stopped being amusing.

She noted what Elsa said and agreed, too. A decorator would probably be the best option yes. A little disappointed she wouldn't get to dig her hands down into a can of paint, Erika sighed. "Kitschy?" she repeated. Ah, well, damn. Not that Erika really thought they'd spend so much time in here that they could really use two desks, but it still sounded cute. "So, what, one desk, two chairs or you sitting on my lap, or?" she grinned at that. She couldn't even picture Elsa sitting on her lap and actually being happy about it. She'd probably do that very cute 'I don't like this'-face.

Then again, Erika knew better than to argue against her sister's opinions. Especially over such trivial matters. However, had it been something that was actually important, she probably would have been fighting harder. Probably.

"So," she began and pressed her lips into a thin line, "Why are you just going with everything I say rather than pointing out how trivial it is?" she said, her dark eyes scanning her sister's face for anything. "Anything you wanna talk about or... are you simply that bored?"

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa smiled slightly at the mention of green. At least Erika was following along. Unbidden, as sometimes happened around Erika, Elsa picked up stray thoughts, learned that Erika remembered it, that she treasured the moments together. Elsa's mouth opened, ready to say something much the same, but she closed it before the words could form. No reason to address thoughts, not now.

Especially not with words. She gave Erika a stern look as the other talked about sitting on one another's laps. Then she sighed as Erika continued. "I'm not simply going on with everything you said. I just pointed out the flaw in having two desks," she said, pointing. "And I wouldn't say that our decor is all that trivial, as this is where we'll be working," she looked around for a moment, nodding contemplatively.

"Besides, you just went along with forming a secret council of students to potentially influence major decisions, so really, I should be asking the same question, don't you think?" she asked, looking over her shoulder and raising her brows in challenge.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

With a pout, Erika simply sighed. "Alright." Well, it didn't really matter in the end. After all, Erika was incredibly impulsive and if she woke up one day and decided that decorating the office was a good idea, she most likely would end up doing exactly that, with or without her sister's consent, but for now, she wasn't going to argue it.

Because yes, it was a trivial matter.

"Perhaps," Erika said with a faint shrug. "Though, even if I had disagreed, you'd argue it until you changed my mind, so what's the point, right?" No, she really didn't see a point in travelling down that path with her sister. Nor did she have the will to. The past couple of months had been hazy and well, Erika had kind of just glided through them, and she was okay with that. She didn't really have much of a choice anyways as life was quite the bitch.

"Your turn."

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa probably would've pushed the issue, if slightly. She knew that this council was a good idea, and she did have a tendency to be... forceful when she got to an idea that she considered of benefit to all. Still, there was something in the way that Erika said it, something almost... defeatist about it, as if she'd already given up even before they'd started.

"My turn?" repeated Elsa. She raised her brows and folded her arms, smiling slightly. "What exactly do you mean about that?"

Though Elsa could simply root around in Erika's head until she figured it out. The other girl was, after all, an open book in that regard.