I wonder if she had expected that the guy would try to hire me.
I sat with that thought for a moment.
The chances were that she actually did. Emma Frost hadn't become the most powerful telepath in New York by being mentally slow.
I filed that thought away and returned my attention to Shaw, who was watching me intently, waiting for me to respond to him.
"I'll consider it," I said finally.
Shaw studied me for a moment, probably deciding whether or not he should push it or just leave it as is.
Thankfully, he left it.
"See that you do." He reached into his jacket and produced a luxurious black card, extending it toward me. Nothing on it but a number. "When you've made your decision."
I took the card without looking at it and slipped it into my pocket.
Briefly, I wondered if he might have put a tracker or chip in it, but chances were he wouldn't take that risk.
After all, he was clearly quite desperate to recruit me, even if he didn't make it obvious.
Shaw gave me one final appraising look, then left the private room, presumably making his way back to the main hall of the gala.
'Welp.'
That was a lot.
I sat back on the sofa whilst looking at the chandelier on the ceiling.
I wasn't sure what to do. Joining the Hellfire Club had real advantages and real problems in equal measure.
The biggest upside was probably that... well... I'd be able to farm fear from Emma like no tomorrow. Judging by how I got six-thousand points just from launching my conqueror's at her, she was basically a cash cow in the making.
But the downside was that I'd be walking into the chess match between Frost and Shaw without knowing the board.
Shaw wanted me as a leash on Emma, and Emma surely would already know this, having read his mind after regaining her bearings.
So if she allowed that to happen, she probably had some ideas for me as well.
I didn't particularly like being caught between so many opposing forces.
I opened the Fear Shop.
[Hanma Template (Unawakened) - 50,000 FP]
I stared at the ability for a while before closing the window and leaving the room.
I made my way back to the main hall, specifically towards a waiter with a tray of champagne.
'Didn't think she'd be so fast.'
An unexpected presence fell into stride beside me.
"Looks like you've handled him well."
Emma Frost matched my pace, champagne glass in hand, eyes forward.
Taking a look at her, she was... to say the least, a little distracting.
She was tall for a woman, only being a few inches shorter than me, with flawless, straight platinum blonde hair.
Her dress was white and fitted to her hourglass form. It appeared expensive even to me, though, its clear expense made it in no way tacky.
More than that, though, it was her expression which surprised me. I thought she'd be hesitant to approach me after the... earlier stunt, but she seemed perfectly composed, not even a single tick to display her nervousness.
'Guess she's at that level, huh?'
"Did I?" I finally responded after unashamedly analysing her appearance.
"Mm." She hummed thoughtfully. "Most people either fold immediately or posture badly. It seemed that you did neither, a trait that man finds attractive in recruits."
She knew exactly what Shaw and I had spoken of, yet she didn't seem to be bothered.
"So, what's your pitch then?"
I wasn't the type of guy to fool around with flowery language.
"I'm not recruiting you," she said.
"Then, what are you doing?"
I took a champagne glass from the tray and gulped it hastily. She watched my actions as if she was genuinely interested, whilst thinking of how to answer.
"Satisfying my curiosity. Something I seldom get to do."
We drifted naturally to the edge of the hall, making our way to a balcony which overlooked the endlessly bustling city of New York.
"You tried to read me when we walked in," I said.
"Yes." She agreed shamelessly.
"And?" I asked with raised eyebrows.
I mean, I was no icon of valour, but even I wouldn't be so shameless as to act like this after trying to read someone's mind.
"And nothing, that was the problem." She turned away from the balcony view and looked at me directly. "I reached out and hit something I couldn't understand, then it hit back. It's something I've never experienced."
It seemed she was getting to the point. She wanted to understand what I had done to her.
"Guessing that bothers you, huh?"
"Enormously."
The edge of my lip raised slightly as air escaped my nose.
This conversation was far more preferable to me. Of course, talking to a beautiful woman was better than talking to some old unc, but the fact that she was plain and honest compared to Shaw's calculated and carefully managed words mattered more to me.
"For what it's worth, I didn't mean to do... well, that."
She looked at me without changing her expression, yet I could see something brewing behind her eyes.
"I know, and that's what bothers me."
I turned back to view the streets below as silence settled between us.
After a minute of this, she spoke again.
"Shaw is going to make you another offer, something more concrete than tonight. He'll put something tangible on the table."
"And? Are you warning me not to take that offer?"
She smiled.
"I suggest you think carefully about what you'd actually be agreeing to. Fisk is a practical man; he makes practical arrangements."
She glanced back at the main gala hall, where Shaw faced us from far back, monitoring us whilst speaking to various politicians and financiers.
"...Sebastian is more complicated than Fisk." She ended her warning vaguely.
Obviously, she had some kind of plan behind this warning. She wasn't doing this out of concern towards me; more likely, she wanted to establish herself as the more trustworthy of the two options.
The issue for Emma was that she had no idea what motivated me. Money meant nothing. What I wanted was something she'd never guess.
Fear.
And as it stood, farming fear off her by randomly shooting blasts of Conqueror's Haki seemed far more enticing than anything she could offer me.
"I'll keep that in mind."
She held my gaze for several moments after that, afterwards drifting back into the main hall.
I turned my head back to the street below.
"Man, I'm not cut out for this shit."