Apparel

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa already knew and figured most of what Roxana said. Yes, they'd need to do some adjustments for the uniforms and what have you, though Elsa still wanted to get something relatively universal. Like the students, the staff needed to be recognizable on sight. The last thing they needed was for some more random SPECTRE agents to show up on campus and begin shooting at students again. though it may not be a bad idea to have some sort of combat outfit and a normal, everyday outfit as well.

"I'm sure you will," replied Elsa distractedly, referencing Roxana's oft-repeated statement about protecting. "seeing as that's what you're paid to do," Elsa had a tight smile following that, raising her brows. As if they both weren't aware that they'd likely do some protecting for more than that. Elsa still figured Roxana as an employee, but that didn't mean that things weren't slightly different.

"If you're certain then,' said Elsa, flicking her fingers, "there's still two more setups I'd like you to try on for testing." She gestured toward a few mannequins that were already dressed and ready, already all geared up and what have you. "And this is work, this isn't supposed to be all giggly and fun."

Elsa was tempted to add that they almost never had giggly fun together, so it was rather pointless to mention it. That felt a little ruder than was strictly necessary though. "So go on, start changing again. There's more outfits for you to dress up in."

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana figured so long as the colors looked the same then no one would make a huge deal over the matter. She was still al for the whole having two different sets of uniforms so that way around campus people would or sure be able to tell that the person was in the security squad. While the other uniform would still sort of communicate that but still be modified in such a way that it would work with each person's power. Roxana honestly was just thankful that she was not in charge of such a thing and that Elsa would make the final call on it in the end. Roxana had an artistic eye, but she actually didn’t like things to look the same. She wanted things to have their differences, even if they were small so she only felt like she could only be actually helpful in terms of her feedback of how the gear felt compared to how it looked.

Roxana nodded when Elsa agreed with her words about how she would protect the other girl. She did give Elsa a quick look when the other girl brought up that it was what she was paid to do. It seemed that Elsa still had to fully understand what it was that Roxana was actually being paid for. Protecting was just a part of it and she had already decided herself that she would protect Elsa even without money. Roxana just opted to not say anything on the matter since she figured that Elsa had read her mind when she had kissed the other girls cheek which symbolized Roxana actual personal desire on a matter over just because she was told to do something. Elsa was the only second person that she had done that to at the school, but didn't think she would be the last. Roxana was getting to know other students and coming to understand a life outside of just doing what you were told and expected to do.

"Understood." Roxana said simply as she first worked on loosening and undoing the fastening of her current gear before setting everything on the table. Then moving over to the fully dressed mannequins that were already wearing the gear. Well at least Elsa had a way to look at what they would look like on someone but she apparently wanted an actual person to try them out. Rox still really didn't understand why Elsa had her doing things, but she simply worked on stripping down one of the mannequins and putting on the gear that it had been wearing. "Right, just work and business. Understood." Roxana said in a simple tone again as she got dressed, making sure to adjust everything so that it fit for her the proper way. She knew very well that her and Elsa never really had the whole giggling and girly moments with one another, but even this kind of work just...didn't sit well with Roxana but she did it anyways.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Yes, Elsa was well aware that Roxana had volunteered to protect her out of some personal desire to do so. She understood what lay behind that kiss even if the other girl hadn't outright said it. That was part of the benefit of being a mind reader, and, in Elsa's case, part of the benefit of simply being good at reading people just in general.

She kept doing so, watching Roxana as the other girl detached various parts of the uniform and moved over to the mannequins. "I have you doing things because you work for me,' replied Elsa, keeping her voice crisp. She raised her brows and folded her arms over her chest. "Just in case you forgot that little bit. Though I do realize that you have competing loyalties, and, unlike you, I'm aware that at some point those loyalties will likely come into conflict, and I intend for that choice to be a difficult one for you."

Elsa paused, breaking attention from Roxana to look at the various dummies. "You're different then them, after all," she said, flicking her fingers at them. "I'm just hoping that you remember that when it matters. Now," she looked back, "you should be changing. The words should be 'this one is too loose on the leg' or 'this will pinch if I try to judo throw someone.'" And again, that tight smile had returned.

[Roxana Strix]

Elsa was doing that whole mind reading things again that Roxana party hated because no thoughts were safe and Roxana was all about her thoughts. Planning steps ahead, thinking of different plans to do when the first plan would not work. She was a big thinker and keeping all her thoughts in check was not always easy, even less when Elsa seemed to be able to go on and dig deeper if she really wanted. There was not much Roxana could do on it other than her tricks that she had learned over the years. It was still much easier to not say anything out loud then it was to keep your head from saying things. Sure Roxana could attack Elsa and put the other girl in so much pain that she could not even focus on her power, but Roxana felt that she could bet that Elsa would still be able to figure out a way to read someone’s mind if she really wanted to.

The mental question Roxana had in her head was brought out loud by Elsa. The other girl just saying it was because Roxana worked for her, which just had Roxana remaining in silence for a moment. Not fully understanding what Elsa was getting at, because she knew that she worked for Elsa. How could she forget that? She didn't need this work that someone else could do in order to remind her that she worked for the other girl. Roxana didn't say anything and just listened to Elsa's words as she worked on changing into one of the uniform on the mannequin. Getting the shirt off was a lot easier than the pants and she had to practically take apart the mannequin itself in order to get at the pants. She would have hated to be the one to have to dress these things and personally found them to be a little bit creepy. They were great for when you wanted to make clothing and Roxana understood the artistic need for them, she just didn't like them personally.

Roxana did have competing loyalties and she did understand that but didn't really think on it too much. She had her loyalty to her organization first after all and then Elsa was second, even if she would like to think they were at the same level. At the moment she was sure that she would listen to her organization over what Elsa said, but she had worked for her organization longer and they had ways of really getting at her compared to Elsa. Still...she would considered her order carefully if they ever conflicted. "You intend to make the choice difficult by making me do small little task with you? Working on building our bound or something?" Roxana asked, understanding what Elsa was getting at now but she wanted a bit more. How did Elsa figure it would make it difficult for Roxana to make a choice when their relationship always borderline employee and friend? Elsa said that she was different then the dummies that were dressed up and then brought the subject of the uniforms again.

"Sometimes I wish we could trade abilities so I could understand the way you think better." Roxana said simply as she kept changing, making sure everything was adjusted properly before moving around in it once everything was in place. This was certainly had several issues with it that Roxana knew would make movement and in general combat difficult. "This material is very itchy and would probably lead to rashes from the material repeatedly rubbing against the skin when you move. There is also way too many pockets and extra material on the outside that is begging for a person to get caught on something when moving through trees." Roxana said, giving her review on the uniform and already wanting to take it off because she did not want to start scratching a lot.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

So many interesting thoughts. Oftentimes Elsa felt a little abashed at having to read the thoughts of someone who she called friend or ally of some kind. That didn't mean that she didn't do so; she just usually felt guilty about it. Strangely, it felt almost natural around Roxana. Perhaps it was just because she'd been doing it since they'd started. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Elsa had delved fairly deep into Roxana's mind when they'd first met, making each following sojourn that much easier, trodding increasingly familiar ground and whatnot.

Or maybe Elsa was just a bitch.

"Something like that," she replied archly. She smiled and turned away for a moment, looking at the last uniform choice. It struck her as being the most likely to receive positive comments from Roxana, assuming that price tags and features actually equated to quality. Elsa certainly hoped so.

Roxana mentioned trading abilities and Elsa smiled. "You'd hate it," she said, still without looking, "because my ability takes years of training to really understand, and without it, it becomes a complete mess. imagine trying to read a book before you learn to read," she looked back as Roxana finished, scanning the other's body and the uniform. The appraisal didn't sound too positive. "I thought pockets were a benefit?" she said, raising a brow. Elsa was at least partially serious, though there was a hint of jest in the tone.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana wished that she was one of those people that Elsa felt more abashed about reading her thoughts with. Since day on the other girl had been in her head and Roxana could do little about it other than do what she had been trained to do when she had enough focus to do so. not that her training helped that much with Elsa anymore since the other girl basically had like some kind of pass in Roxana's head. She would probably always have a little bit of an issue about the other girl being in her head. Not much of her life was really private because of who she worked for so only when she was dealing with other people did she ever feel like she had something that she could keep hidden with little effort.

That had been her thoughts, but with mutants that had Elsa's power, it just removed that small illusion of privacy. Still, she did look on the positive side in knowing that at least Elsa did not know everything about her. "Vague." Roxana responded simple back to Elsa's reply when Roxana had asked a question. That was like Elsa however, only letting Roxana fully in on plans that she could trust the girl on or if the plan was fully planned out. Or Elsa just liked to keep Roxana not fully in the loop to keep her guessing and trying to figure Elsa out. All of them could have true and probably were on some level but Roxana tried to not think too much on it as she removed the itchy gear. Glancing to Elsa when the other girl started talking about how Roxana would hate to have a power like Elsa's.

"Well if I was born with your mutation, I'm sure I would have been fine. Discipline would have made sure that I achieved the level of understanding and control over my power by this age for sure. At least I know that you are one of those who does have to actually work for something and the world is not given to you." Roxana pointed out and thought for a moment if her usefulness would have been different and how much easier a lot of her jobs would be if she could just get into the heads of her targets or enemies. She was still undressing while thinking of all of this and ended up moving onto the last set of gear and working on stripping down the mannequin so she could start putting the gear on. She started at Elsa for a moment, unsure if Elsa was joking or honestly wanted to know.

"They are depending on if they are on the outside, inside, the material they are made out of, and if they are a part of the uniform or onto. The onto ones, those that are practically like someone sewed them on top get in the way in settings such as the woods because they tend to get caught branches." Roxana explained as she worked on adjusting the new gear that she was putting on, already feeling that it was a lot better than the other two. It had the nice balance in the weight, didn't itch, and didn't have too many pockets on it. Everything just felt balanced out but Roxana knew that with such perfection had to mean a lot of money. "I would say this gear is overall the best, but I'm guess it cost an arm and a leg for say the average jo." Roxana pointed out, knowing that money was not a problem for Elsa, and was not that large of a problem for Roxana.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa's answers would be as vague or as specific as they needed to be. She didn't bother saying as much to Roxana: the girl already knew. She was far more interested in what Roxana said next. Were she being honest, she would have actually agreed with the bodyguard. Roxana had the type of discipline and diligence that would mean that she'd have mastered the ability at least as well as Elsa... possibly even better. While Elsa had always had certain pressures, she'd never had anything extreme done to her. She couldn't quite shake the feeling that Roxana had such opportunities.

Elsa opted not to discuss that further though, instead returning to the necessary topic at hand. There was the matter of pockets, but that was more or less dismissable. "I figured as much," agreed Elsa, sighing. "though it's a little disappointing to hear that I just had to pick the one with the highest price tag," she flicked her fingers at the mess, "makes me wonder why I bother to call in professionals at all."

She considered the uniforms for a moment, tapping a finger to her cheek. "So I suppose I should give the pocket uniforms to all the staff I don't like, and the nice ones to all the ones I do. That way we'll know who's expendable in battle!"

[Roxana Strix]

Elsa didn’t comment on Roxana’s words on how she felt that if she had been born with Elsa’s power that she would have mastered it by this point. Roxana was confident regardless if Elsa thought Roxana’s words were true or not. It did not matter what power Roxana had in the end, she would be forced to make sure she had a decent amount of control over her power. Roxana was just thankful that she had an actual useful power. If she had been born with something that had been useless then she probably would not even be here at this very moment, and that went far past just being at the school. A Stirx had to be the best, had to be useful, and the family would do what they had to in order to make sure that in at least one aspect of their job, they were really good at.

Roxana’s special talent that she had been conditioned to be the best at was pain. She could handle a lot of pain but back when she was young in order to handle pain like she was able to now, she had to go through a lot of it. Life was interesting that way that all it took were a certain view from your parents to affect how strict and just how much pressure they would put on their child in order to make sure they filled the mode as the parents wanted them to. Such thoughts were in the back of Roxana’s mind because of the words Elsa had said about her power, but Rox was brought back from her thoughts when Elsa responded to Roxana’s comment on the last gear set. “Well, the first gear set could work; you just need to make a few small adjustments if you are looking to save money.” Roxana pointed out because the first gear did work, it just needed some things changed.

Roxana didn’t comment to Elsa’s latter comment about being unsure why she called in professionals and just worked on removing the gear and putting back on the clothing she came here in. She didn’t think Elsa was going to want Rox to take the gear for a spin around campus while they went on a pleasant evening stroll. Even if a pleasant evening stroll did sound like it would be enjoyable. Elsa’s next comment actually had Roxana laughing a little. It was not a super long laugh, but it was long enough to be counted as a laugh and not a chuckle. She had just found great amusement in what Elsa had said and was still snickering a little when her laughter had stopped. “Safe to assume I will be getting the nice one then, right?” Roxana asked as she glanced over to the other girl, a smile still on her face. She didn’t even know why she had found Elsa’s words as funny as she had, but she did and was going to hold onto the comment for a while.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

The first one could work... Elsa look at it, frowning. Roxana said it would work, and she trusted Roxana's opinion; hence why she'd invited the other female here in the first place. Was this something she believed they should be spending money on? What kind of message would it send if they opted for the higher priced gear? That they were ready for assaults? That Elsa intended to throw money at problems? Shame that these situations never had easy answers; it would certainly make Elsa's life much easier.

"Most likely," she drawled in response to Roxana's question before turning to look at the other girl. She raised a brow. "Though I may give you the set with pockets just to demonstrate that I've full trust in you," her brows raised for a moment before she turned back. "We have plenty of money. We always did," she shrugged slightly, "but we hired a mutant accountant a while back and, well, suffice it to say that she did more than a good job."

Indeed, McLisk had given them far, far more then expected, especially considering the short duration she'd been here. Elsa sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose. "I'm just not certain how everyone will react if I drop several thousand dollars on high end uniforms..." or if the various school backers would even allow it. She could always force the issue, but that came with a whole mess of problems of its own. Times like this nearly drove Elsa to drink...

[Roxana Strix]

The first one could in fact work; it just needs some modification here and there, which would happen because of each person. Sure the last gear would be the best if you didn’t care about the amount of money you were spending and didn’t have time to waste on having the gear modified. Roxana figured that Elsa was not concerned about the money but it was not like they didn’t have time. Unless Elsa was planning something big and wanted everyone to be ready as soon as possible, but Roxana didn’t know because she was not a mind reader. Instead she just looked at Elsa for a moment before she started to remove the gear and get dressed. Trying to figure out how to put the gear back on the mannequins and was having some difficulty.

Rox had worked with mannequins before but she was used to working with those that just had the torso on a pole. Roxana smiled at Elsa’s dulled words and then rolled her eyes a little bit at Elsa adding that part about the pockets. “It at least it good to know your level of trust in me.” Roxana responded back as she made sure they what she was wearing was back on how she liked it and that everything was tucked in or not tucked in how she wanted it. Roxana didn’t say anything to Elsa’s words about the school having a lot of money, Roxana knew they did and knew who had helped with that. Roxana did of course keep tabs on everything that would be a large effect on the school. Money of course was a bit effector of what happened at the school. Roxana just nodded at Elsa’s words, since Elsa herself had told Roxana about this a little bit, but probably was just not fully recalling at the moment.

Roxana messed with her hair, setting it back to the style that she wanted it in, after all that changing it had messed her hair up a little bit. Roxana thought for a moment on Elsa’s words about the amount of money that she could potentially end up dropping for the uniforms. “Well…some could view it as you doing everything in your power to make sure they are safe. Still, dropping a lot of money just on uniforms where the money could go to say…other areas of the school would be seen as better. I’m not in charge of this academy, but if I were you I would go for the middle ground of everything. Please everyone until you have accumulated enough power, money, and backers that you can do whatever you want and no one will be able to really stop you.” Roxana explained, thinking about her organization for a moment, before giving a small shrug. She followed orders, she didn’t handle things such as this unless she was trying to gain information or manipulate.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa kept her eyes on Roxana, continuing to carefully watch her. She nodded almost distractedly as Roxana spoke of trust. She had to trust someone: those who trusted no one ended up spiraling out of control, forever left alone and without the slightest hope in the world. Elsa knew that, knew it and fought desperately to make sure that she didn't end up in that sort of position.

Roxana continued, responding to Elsa's concerns. Elsa listened, tapping her fingers on her folded arms. "The problem is that we have---" she began, before pausing, pressing her lips together. She shouldn't give that away, not to Roxana, not yet. Instead, Elsa looked back at the various uniforms lined up, studying each one intensely. The better prepared her people were... but what kind of repercussions?

What did Elsa care about more: maintaining her own position and solidifying it? Or protecting her students and preventing another massacre? Wouldn't the former work for more long term then the latter? But could she shoulder that burden again?

This was the problem: Elsa didn't know the answer, and no one was about to step forward and offer.

"I don't suppose there's anything else?" she asked, turning to Roxana and quirking a brow. It wasn't quite a dismissal, but it bordered on one.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana could feel the eyes on her, but she didn't think too much into it or read into it, which she seemed to have a slight habit of when it came to dealing with Elsa. Well...probably just mind readers in general since they could read your mind and know what you were thinking about but you could not do the same back to them. Still Roxana did want Elsa to trust her but also there was a small part of Roxana that didn't want the other girl to trust her. That part of Roxana that was a trained body guard who did all sort of jobs for the organization that she worked for. For now things were still fine and everything was perfect the way it was now with Roxana's friendship with the other girl.

That trust was real and Roxana just hoped that she would be able to maintain it but in her line of work one could never be sure of anything other than when you killed someone that they were actually dead. Elsa brought up something but did not finish, causing Roxana to look at her for a moment and debated on if she should ask Elsa what she was going to say. If Elsa was not willing to say then that must have meant that she wanted to keep it a secret, which made Roxana want to know all the more. "The problem is, what?" Roxana went ahead and asked since if Elsa really didn't want to answer then she would pull a classic 'completely ignore the question' or 'going around the question', the first option the more likely to occur. Roxana was still no mind reader so Elsa's thoughts were her own and thus there was silence between the two of them, something that was not uncommon and Roxana didn't plan on breaking the silence since Elsa seemed to be deep in thought.

There was a question then, from Elsa that was basically implying that they were done here which of course had Roxana sighing inwardly. These summons for simple task and then being dismissed still felt like a poor use of her skills and time but she would probably still show up to Elsa's summons out of her loyalty towards the other girl. "Nothing from me, did you need anything else then?" Roxana asked, assuming no but just wanted to be sure in case Elsa changed her mind and wanted to talk about, share something, or do something else other then what had already been done.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"Not of your concern," Elsa replied easily enough to Roxana's question. There were several issues that the two of them would have to go over in time, including determining who to look over and, well, other things that Elsa wished to keep close to her chest, at least for the time being. While she trusted Roxana to a degree, she didn't want to tantalize her any further. Besides, Roxana's people were from across the Atlantic: if anyone had some idea of what was about to happen, surely they would.

it was all rather moot: they were clearly done here and to continue would only drag things out further. Elsa had a few decisions to make, now supported by trustworthy information. She felt quite confident going forward. "Strangely," said Elsa, continuing, "the answer is very much the same: nothing of your concern. Now, if you'll excuse me,' Elsa was already pulling out her phone and walking past Roxana. she paused only for a moment to give the other girl a hard look before walking forward and heading out of the office.

[Roxana Strix]

Not of her concern, that just made it all the more of Roxana's concern but she would not say anything more on it. Just accepting Elsa words and just noted it in the back of her head to handle that all later since there was no point in wasting her breath and trying to get Elsa to change her mind in terms of revealing something to Roxana. At least Elsa was not always willing to tell Roxana everything but that did not mean that Rox liked to be left in the dark with things. Worse case Roxana would just ask her employers if they knew anything but she had to be careful about that so she did not risk sounding incompetent.

Her organization did love to point such things out with her all the time and Roxana figured it was done to keep her in line or in check. That whole don't praise someone too much or it will go to their head and to knock them down every so often so they knew who was really in control. Roxana did raise a brow at Elsa's next words but didn't say anything. Stepping aside as Elsa excused herself and just walked past her. "Have a good rest of your day, Elsa." Roxana said simply just looking back at Elsa when she received the hard look. Roxana was not going to think too much on that and after a few minutes after Elsa left Roxana headed out as well. Making sure that the room was in the same condition it was when she had entered it. Fixed her clothing fully and then headed back to her room to look a few things up on her computer.