Back To Our Roots

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Gazing around, Erika pursed her lips. She felt as she hadn't really talked to Franck in a really long time, which was partially because she had been busy with the whole headmistress thing, and partially because she... Well, she didn't really know. Things had been weird lately, with Everett coming back and old feelings being rekindled. But that wasn't why she was seeking out her favorite French boy though. For once, she wasn't going to have the conversation steer over to being about her and her life. That seemed to be the only thing they ever talked about anymore, and she didn't want Franck to feel as if she took him for granted.

Looking around, she finally spotted him sitting next to the fountain in the courtyard. Walking over with a smirk, Erika crossed her arms over her chest and tried feigning her most serious expression, "Well, now Mr. Laffont, we all know it was you, so you might as well fess up," she said and quirked a brow.

But that was about as long as she managed to keep up the facade. Soon, Erika simply laughed and shook her head, "You know, this is the exact same spot we met about seven, eight months ago," she pointed out with a smile as she sat down next to him. "Well, granted, this is also where you met Ellen for the first time, which I still feel like I should apologize for," she added with a short laugh.

Folding her hand in her lap, Erika shook her head, "How are you, Franck? Feels like I haven't talked to you in ages."

@François Laffont

[François Laffont]

Franck couldn’t quite explain how this change occurred in him. It wasn’t really because he had sex with the Emory twins. Sure, it was a new experience but it had more to do with the fact that he did it than the act itself. His mother always shoved down his throat that he shouldn’t do anything before marriage and even though he never intended to wait for so long, he always though feelings had to be involved, that he’d be in a relationship for a while and be comfortable with the person. You know, the stuff you tell mostly girls to think so that the horny guys cannot get what they want. None of this happened with the twins. Yet he was not regretting it. In fact, he liked how he did something entirely for himself for once. He wanted to keep doing that. Not the sex (even though...), doing things because he wanted to as opposed to what others asked of him.

Another thing that caused the changes in him was his mother cutting what remained tie that bound them to each other. He had been devastated at first. But he grew to understand that if she could not accept him the way he was, parting ways might just be the best solution. He was not entirely fine with the whole thing but was getting there.

Franck wished he could talk of this with someone. But his best friend was Frank Cox. As much as she loved her, she couldn’t keep a secret. The whole school would know by the end of the day. He did think talking to Erika but he felt like she had enough on her shoulders already, being the new headmistress and everything. Besides, he was normally the listener, not the one who talked. So he kept t all in himself while trying to find a way to be this new person he wanted to be.

For now, he was just reading by the fountain in the courtyard. He did see someone coming near him but did not take his gaze up his book until he heard Erika talk. He frowned and was about to ask what she was talking about but she ended up laughing and he laughed with her, understanding it was all but a joke. He preferred it like that. He paused as she remembered it was where they met the first time. Had it been only seven, eight months? He thought it had been longer than that. He chuckled as she brought up Ellen. He was pretty happy to see her. That didn't mean he was ready to put on her shoulders all of his recent troubles. “I’m good, how about you? Headmistress, that’s something. You think I can get a free pass out of any detention for being so close with the administration?” he asked, a grin on his face as he was obviously joking. “How’s the work, not too hard I hope?” Yes, he was tossing all the attention on her and no, he was not aware of it.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Smirking, Erika quirked her brow as she looked at him, "I don't think that's going to be much of an issue, honestly." No, Franck didn't exactly strike Erika as the type that got into detention a lot, and even when he did, she was fairly sure he'd simply gotten dragged along with Frank Cox for some crazy adventure, and Erika knew all too well how easy that was. "And I'm doing good too," she said, "I thought it was going to be bad and the worst experience of my life, but I can't really complain," she shrugged. She had been keeping a very even way of dealing with it all. "It is exactly what one would imagine, I suppose." No, she had more or less simply accepted the fact that it was what it was and she just had to deal with it.

"Besides," she drawled, "I have Elsa to help me, so that kind of makes things twice as easy," she chuckled.

"What about you? Anything interesting happening lately?" She was actually kind of sad, having to leave Franck, and so many other friends as students while she became one of two heads of the school. It felt... Weird, but she was also glad their relationship hadn't changed much. In fact, she wasn't sure if she still would have been head of the school had anything changed at all. He friends seemed to view her the same way and that was really all she could ask for. Not that she actually thought Franck would ever treat her differently over something as silly as title, mind, but it warmed her heart nonetheless.

Erika was glad she still had Franck in her life. Even if they didn't talk about his or his problems, or even when they did, he was kind of her rock. She knew he was always around if he needed someone to talk with, and that was oddly reassuring.

[François Laffont]

Franck chuckled when Erika pointed out the obvious. It seemed like a given to everyone that Franck ought to be the least likely to end up in detention. Yet, it had been seen before. “You’d be surprised. Though you probably have Frank to thank when it happens,” he replied, a light chuckle in his voice. His best friend was pretty good at putting him in trouble now and then. Although most teachers knew better and Franck could normally get away spotless when that happened. Hey, he was often trying to stop her or to moderate her crazy ideas, they should thank him instead of making him share her pain.

Franck did worry for Erika at first when he found out she would be co-headmistress. It was a job he could see his twin doing but not her really. She reassured him and he nodded. He didn't quite wanted to get a good sense of her emotions right now so he tried not to. He could still tell what she was feeling at the right moment but he refused to get in more details. He wanted to believe she was telling him the truth. “That’s good. None of us wants you to lose your head over this,” he told her. Well, mostly him but he was certain he could find quite a few other people who thought like him. He nodded as she mentioned her sister. “And she called me about a group she wanted to put in place. So you guys aren’t totally alone in this.” Franck still couldn’t believe she asked him that because, let’s face it, he never thought he could be one you’d consider a reference in any way.

Franck was hoping their relationship wouldn’t change too much. He knew there was a new boundary he could not cross as she was head of the school, at least one half of it, but he liked to think it didn’t change much what they were to each other. Franck smiled when she asked about him. He was ready to just tell her everything but all wanted to come out as once and while it happened, he also felt a bit weird to be the one sharing for a change. He didn't think Erika used him to unburden herself, of course not, but he knew he was more of the listener in the relationship. He sighed, laughing as he realised the awkwardness of his situation. “I don’t quite know where to start. You want to comfort me first or you want to go gossipy?” he asked. His smiled made it ambiguous whether he was joking or not. A bit of both maybe?

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Ah, yes; Frank Cox. The only thing in this entire school that could be equally adorable and annoying at the same time. Erika adored the tiny, bouncy girl more than what she ever let down. In fact, Erika had under several occasions considered the girl as a part of the family. As the hyperactive baby sister, or dog, or something. She didn't say it or show it nearly enough, but it didn't really change much. "I wouldn't be surprised," Erika laughed. No, she was fairly sure Frank was the cause for most of the students ever getting in trouble. And she was also fairly certain that Frank could easily step into her office and adorable her way out of detention too...

"Lose my head? Pfft," she grinned. Really though, being headmistress wasn't nearly as bad as she had thought it would be. Mostly because Elsa had absolutely everything under control, so it kind of rather felt like Eri was simply around because of appearances, and not much else. Not that she really minded, mind. "The uh, council thing? Yeah, she told me about that," Erika said, pursing her lips into something akin to that of a smirk. She was glad Elsa had picked out Franck for that. He was a good asset, and she had a lot of confidence in his ability to achieve greatness.

Shifting her position so that she was facing him, Erika furrowed her brows at his words. At first, she was a little confused, and then, extremely curious. Franck had never really been the type to confide in her, at least, not like this. She considered this a extremely big step in their relationship. "You can't possibly make me pick between two evils," she smirked, "But either way, I assume it's going to be good, so why don't you pick whichever you feel the most comfortable starting with?" She didn't want to pressure him into talking or anything, but she was actually genuinely happy about him picking her for it, considering everything they had been through.

[François Laffont]

Whoever was surprised that his friend Frank might be the cause to any detention he ended up in had never met the girl. He didn't hate her no matter the amount of trouble she might put him into. She never meant for anyone to suffer for her pranks. She was actually very nice, she just happened to be as hyperactive as she was sweet. And you had to add a very short attention span and a lot of glitters to the mix if you wanted to paint an honest picture of her. François actually liked that. It added spice and laughter to his life. And he didn't care how people might say otherwise, he didn’t think he was all that funny to be around. Not that he minded, it was not his position in his social circle. He was the go-to guy whenever you want a hand or a compassionate ear. And he was pretty good at that.

Franck didn’t mean to say Erika was incompetent at her job or anything but he sure saw Elsa doing all the work and Erika all the talking. It was their strengths. Elsa seemed more the organized type and the kind not to break under pressure. But she definitely lacked the people skill Erika possessed. Together, they might do a good job even though their young age and the fact Franck had seen them as student only a few months ago was still a bit strange for the boy. He would get over it, of course. He had to. He only hoped that he could still talk to Erika without this new position of hers getting in the way, changing their relationship. He nodded as they brought up Elsa’s little project. “To be honest, I don’t really get everything she wants us to do but it made me feel like I would just have to do exactly what I’m doing, only with others. If so, I don’t really have a problem with it,” he admitted. Eri’s sister did bring she wanted him because of his ability to read people and the fact he was well liked and respected. If she wanted him to be around the students and help them as best as he could, she didn’t really need to ask. He wasn’t quite sure about dealing with her but if she left him enough space, it might work. One thing for sure, he wouldn’t be surprised if the two of them ended up lashing out at each other on occasions.

He chased this away however as he thought about everything he might want to tell Erika. He knew he could speak freely without any of this to end up in the Dirty Laundry at some point. And he sure didn’t want that nasty blog to detail his life like it did with so many others. He still hesitated to talk to Erika. He knew he’d be fine but he wasn’t used to it. He generally kept it inside until it blew out of proportions. He had enough of one person claiming he overreacted, he didn’t want this to happen again. He took a deep breath, not sure whether he just wanted to sigh as she let him choose or to laugh about it. He figured he might as well talk of his mother first, as he actually found it less embarrassing and therefore easier to tell. “Well, I told you about my mother, right?” he began to say. He knew he did but he wanted to make sure she remembered. “I, uh, I wrote to her, sometimes. She never writes back but I still do it. She did reply this time though. She...” he hesitated there. He might have accepted it, it still hurt. “She wanted me to stop. I think, she, she can’t really deal with having a son quite like... well, like me.”

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

"Welcome to my world," Erika said and shrugged; It was no huge secret that Elsa planned further ahead than any teenager would normally think, and despite Erika too being one that liked having everything planned down to the last detail, she couldn't even begin to match up to her sister. In fact, they were so incredibly paradoxical and still similar all at the same time it was almost hilarious. "She probably has some huge plan for all of us; Turning us into brainless minion she'll use to conquer the world," Erika joked and gave Franck's shoulder a playful bump.

When Franck started talking about his mother again, and yes, she had heard a little about the woman before, Erika fell silent. Instead of joking around and grinning, her face fell silent. She knitted her brows worriedly as he spoke and when he finished, the telekinetic sighed. "Wow, Franck," she said and shook her head, her eyes wandering over the courtyard. She wasn't sure what the right thing was to say, or if there even was a right thing to say. But fuck. It made her sad, because Franck didn't deserve something like that at all. He was a wonderful person who deserved nothing but good things happening to him.

It actually made her kind of mad.

"I can't begin to understand what it is you're going through and how it makes you feel, but if there is one thing I do now, it's that your mother is missing out on a great opportunity at getting to know the single most fantastic person in the world."

[François Laffont]

Elsa had a way of forcing her ideas on you. But, in the same time, Franck supposed he had not been all that hard to convince. He still couldn’t get believe that his opinion may matter. He was no member of the school committee or anything of the like. But if what Elsa wanted him to do was pretty being himself, he could do that, no matter how strange it was for him to have his opinions matter like this. He chuckled, rather amused by the idea of her twin sister conquering the world after turning them into her little minions. “She didn’t pick the best people for that then,” he said. He liked to think Elsa wouldn’t be able to rule him entirely. But, truth be told, pretty much anyone could do it, to a certain degree.

Franck remembered how much it hurt him when he read his mother’s letter. He had been devastated. The last thread he had connecting him to his old life had been cut and left him uncertain of who he was anymore. But as he shared this with Erika, he didn’t feel as much pain as he did before. He realised that he already started to get over it. He had a life here and sure he was sad his mother would never be part of it but he was also able to see all that he had here.

He knew he let out something big and didn't quite except for Erika to say anything about it. He smiled though, truly grateful for the support she gave him. “Thanks. Honestly, I’m fine now, or, well, I’m getting there. You might not believe it, but Scott O’Reilly actually said the right thing to me then. Our lives are too different, it never would have worked. In a way, it’s best that we keep away,” he told her. He wasn’t as fine with it as he claimed but, as he told her, he was getting there. He wanted to forget about it. Maybe one day he would be able to think of the woman without that sting to hurt his heart again but for now it was better for him to think of something else. And he had the best topic to change the subject.

“Besides, I have other things to think about. I’ve just learned that being selfish and thinking of what I want once in a while is actually pretty nice,” he told her, a little smirk playing on his lips.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Laughing at the comment about Scott, Erika nodded, "Scott has his moments," she smiled. Scott got far too little credit than what was him due. He was a great guy, but he simply failed to see so himself and well, hence all the 'acting out'. "I'm not surprised. You'll find yourself a loyal friend in him," she said as she looked at Franck, "And I'm glad you're getting there. Really. I understand that it's probably extremely though and that healing said wounds is gonna take some time, but you have a great array of friends around you, Franck, and no one's going to blame you for leaning on them once in a while." It was hilariously hypocritical of her, really, as she too struggled with leaning on other people, but she liked to believe that she wasn't nearly as closed up as she used to be.

She looked at him then and nodded, "That's good," she said, honestly. "If anyone deserve to be selfish, it's you." And she meant it too. After all, Franck was the support network for anyone that befriended him and well, she was sure everyone would love to return the favor even if it was hard for him to actually get to that point. He deserved to be happy too, just as he claimed every so often that his friends deserved to be happy.

"You know," she said and gave Franck's shoulder a playful bump, "I might not say this very often, but I'm proud of you and how far you've gotten since we first met. It makes me so happy to see you grow and thrive into this amazing person and you know what? You did that. You did that all on your own and if someone doesn't want to be part of that, though luck."

"Let them mess up their own lives by making mountains out of molehills."

[François Laffont]

Franck probably agreed with Erika about Scott. He had seen mostly the cocky, obnoxious and even manipulative side of him but, somehow, it was what he needed to shake himself out of the torment his mother put him through. Franck would never have said it so bluntly but then again it probably wouldn’t have worked with that little tough love. Although one might argue whether he did it because he appreciated Franck or just because he wanted to hurt him further. Franck was always ready to give the benefit of the doubt however and would say it was tough love. He did pause at the thought of Scott being a loyal friend. “I don’t know. He’s one of those who like to use me but at the same time fears me, if that makes sense? He’s like your sister, he doesn’t like having someone who might know more about him then he wants to give,” he said. That didn’t mean he was a bad guy. Franck could tell where all that facade came from it was just frustrating sometimes to watch him pull it up with him when it was so obvious it was useless. It was where their personality clashed.

He smiled at Erika. Her words were true and probably obvious to anyone but that didn't make them any less soothing to his heart. He was used to be everyone’s pillar that he rarely did the same, even though he knew they would support him. He even chuckled at the contradiction in his behaviour, to tell everyone to lean onto him but not sharing his burdens. “It’s not as much her rejection that hurts than the difference between my old life and this one. I don’t know if you can understand, you always lived knowing mutants exist and that you were most likely one. I didn’t and parts of my old life, parts that I like, are not all that compatible with who I am.” He sighed, not sure if his words made any sense. He never felt like he had the right words. Maybe because English was not his first language. “It’s easy to say I believe in doing what’s right and not what others claim to be right, but doing it requires a bit more time.” That too was not something he believed Erika might understand perfectly. But she might still get his point.

He laughed again as she praised him. He was a tad embarrassed by all of this. He never did anything to collect praise out of everyone. “Well, hm, thanks,” he told her. He really didn’t know what to say to that and chuckling over it was not that good of a method to chase this feeling away. “How about you? I’ve been talking all this time about myself and barely even asked about you. I mean, we didn’t even spend that much time together at the camping trip and now we’ll both be busy on our own, who knows when we’ll get the time to chat like this again.”

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Nodding, Erika sighed, "I know what you mean." She really didn't like the idea of Scott using anyone, but she could also see how easy that was doing with someone like Franck. Not only because of his ability, but because of his personality. Now, Erika didn't doubt at all that Franck couldn't stand up for himself, because she had both seen and experienced that herself, but he was more the guy who easily agreed to what people wanted him to do, because he wanted to help. It was one of those situations or things you had to take with a spoonful of sugar.

"No, you're right, I don't understand, but I'd like to try." She looked at him and smiled. "But I guess that makes a lot of sense, because change is scary. And when it happens like that and causes such a domino effect of events to happen..." She sighed and leaned her head forward, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I don't know. But what I do know is that what has happened, has happened and it's far better to simply accept that and move forward than rather constantly looking back, wondering if you could have done something different, or that things might have turned out differently, because it's pointless. Things happened the way they did for a reason." She wasn't really sure where she was going with this, but in a way, she figured it didn't matter. Her message got across, right?

"You're very welcome," she said honestly and smiled yet again at the younger boy. However, as the question was turned and directed towards her, Erika frowned ever so slightly. They were here to talk about Franck for a change and not her never ending problems. "Oh you know," she shrugged. "Been working a lot, but I suppose you figured as much," she said and smiled sheepishly. "It's what you'd imagine it to be; Lots of paper work." She purposely tried avoiding getting into anything too personal, because she was unsure of how he'd react to it all, with the whole breaking up with Trevor and getting back together with Everett again, and what not.

[François Laffont]

Franck was well aware that he wouldn’t end up being used by so many people if he didn’t let himself being used. He liked helping whenever he could. He felt the need to do it. It didn’t take a lot for Franck to agree to it. Of course, he was able to say no. He was also able to stand up against someone if need be. At least, he wanted to believe that he could. No, he really could. There was a limit, even for him.

When he said that Erika didn't understand what he dealt with, of course, he didn't mean she shouldn’t try because of this. He merely stated a fact and she agreed to it. There were lots of things she went through he couldn’t understand but could try to. Just because he didn’t experience her particular form of loss didn’t mean he couldn’t understand how loss felt. He nodded at her words, not feeling the need to add anything to it. It was kind of hard to explain anyway but she got most of it. He had to accept the fact the part of his life his mother represented, his youth, his beliefs from back then, his life in France, it was all over. It was a big chunk to swallow so of course, despite the smile on his face and the confidence he showed, he was still affected by it. But he didn’t want to let it show. He’d get over it, well most of it, with time.

He smiled as she kept going. “Well, on that I agree and I know you talk from experience. Just like you can tell it isn’t always easy. But, like you said, it isn’t doing any good to keep looking at the past, you have to deal with what happened and move on.”

Franck had heard a lot of the rumours surrounding Erika. He made sure to learn about them. Even though he didn’t believe them, he preferred to know and be of help if any went out of proportion. That Dirty Laundry had thrown its venom at her enough times already. He nodded as she talked of paperwork, even though it wasn’t want he wanted to hear the most about. “At least you’ve got your sister to help. And I heard a lot of people were backing you two. I mean, with everything that’s being said about the rest of your life, you can use a hand,” he said. There was something in the tone of his voice, in the smile he gave her afterwards, that was reassuring. He didn't want to point out whatever drama going on in her life right now, only to show that he knew and was here if she needed to. Like always.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

She smiled at him, and then she nodded. Though, her way of forgetting the past was usually denying it ever happened, and well, it tore on her. But again, this wasn't about her, and truth be told, she quite preferred it that way. Lately, she had felt this nagging need to just shut it all up inside and keep it there, because there was just too many cans of worms to open. She was however glad that Franck felt comfortable around her, enough to share his own feelings. It was a fleeting feeling, but she felt proud of him, and she also felt thankful. "Yeah," she spoke softly, again, nodding.

Erika's brown eyes started wandering when he spoke, gazing over the courtyard as she nodded slowly at his words. "Yeah," she said, her voice barely above that of a whisper. There was a nagging feeling inside her chest whenever Elsa was brought up into a conversation, and even if she was the one doing it, she couldn't shake it. She didn't know why that was, or how to make it stop, but it was getting rather annoying. She felt kind of... Replaced, in a way. It wasn't exactly the correct word to explain her emotions, but whenever they surfaced, she pushed them away as best as she could, as she didn't feel like her sister really deserved it, and truth be told, it wasn't something Erika wanted to deal with. "I suppose you're right," she said with a plastered on smile and looked at him.

"But it is what it is," she added quickly. "There's no going back now, and I don't know, but it could have been worse. All things considered." At least that much was true. Despite putting some distance between everything and herself, she was still thankful that despite all odds, things were running smoothly. And again, which was no surprise, that was thanks to Elsa. Always Elsa.

[François Laffont]

Franck was aware they had very different way of dealing with things that happened to them. Erika preferred to shut them somewhere deep down inside of her. Franck needed to express them, to find some form of closure before moving on. He couldn’t understand how she was able to keep all of this inside of her without it eating at her. But if she was fine with that method, he supposed there was a limit at how much nagging he could do for her to express her feelings openly.

Maybe it was because he was an empath, but feelings had a lot of importance in the boy’s eyes. Certainly more than people assumed it was supposed to have to a guy’s eyes. To those who thought like that, he liked to joke and say he was not gay for no reason. He knew it was irrelevant but somehow people seemed to think it made sense. Stereotypes were hard to kill.

He stopped thinking about his own feelings as he sensed changes in hers. It might just be at the surface and not affecting how she really felt inside, but he still sensed that change. The emotions she felt were as hard for him to name as it was for the girl. But he got it. “You sure you’re alright? I mean, you know...” That I’m an empath. Of course she knew. Knowing it didn’t help people watching how they felt. It was sadly something you had very little control on, no matter how hard you may try.

“You mean about Everett and Trevor or being headmistress?” he asked her as she brought there was no going back. He wasn’t certain he liked how she felt right now. He considered holding her hand or even hugging her but he knew it would only make her emotions stronger on him and since he doubted of the efficiency of a hug right now, he preferred not to do anything.

“Maybe we should change the subject? How about... I tell you how naughty I’ve been at that camping trip? Let’s just say it involves a game of dares, skinny dipping in the lake and twins,” he said, forcing a smirk on his face. He didn’t like frowning, he preferred to smile while facing an obstacle. And cheering her up was the new mission he set to himself. He couldn’t possibly start it without a smile on.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Nodding quickly, Erika forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm sure," she said. She didn't really want to talk about it and she knew Franck would understand. Besides, if he really thought she was in any danger, he'd sense it and thus, act out on it. The fact that he asked, meant that she wasn't. She found very little consolation in her logic, but whatever. She didn't think he'd actually press the issue and that was just fine with her.

Freezing, Erika could feel her body go cold as he mentioned Everett and Trevor's names. Frowning, she pursed her lips. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, remaining quiet. So he'd heard. Of course he had. It was plastered all over that damned blog. Her entire life, for everyone to see. Was there really no escape? No way of avoiding having every little private part of her life on display for anyone to see. "Being a headmistress," she said and looked away, biting down the growing feeling of anxiety.

Glad though, he changed the subject and Erika's smile was quick to return. "Woah, woah," she began, lifting her hand as she turned to look at him, her brows arched. "Say what now?" And just like that, Franck had her full attention, and more so. She forgot all about their previous conversation and well, now she was curious. Very curious. "This is too good to pass out on. Spill it, Cinderella," she laughed, giving his shoulder a playful bump.

Anything to avoid the topic being about her.