10044/Coffin Testing

Coffin Testing
Date of Scene:	09 February 2022
Location:	Jubilee's Apt - College House
Synopsis:	Noriko is teleported back into the coffin after having been abducted by Mojo. Jubes gets her patched up, Nori lets Jubes know about the possible Xavier's job, and then they finally dig into VAMPYRE. They discover something new between the pages, prompting difficult dilemmas and fresh wounds.
Cast of Characters:	Noriko Ashida, Jubilation Lee

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Noriko Ashida has posed:
Nori told Jubes she was going to test the coffin out for a quick nap, but that was...how long ago?  It's hard to tell, but Nori's naps do /not/ last that long.  The coffin doesn't rumble, vibrate, or even move during the course of this test.  The only sounds are from the owl that makes a pit stop at the tree outside before moving onto the forest for hunting.  It's not uncommon for Jubilation to get some flashes of emotional signal noise from Noriko when she's dreaming, but this time, but Jubes didn't get anything of the sort...until now.

Fear and terror.  And then the sharp coppery smell of Noriko's blood.

Noriko stands at the foot of the coffin, it's little escape hatch popped open.  She's in her pjs, those short cotton navy shorts and her hot pink crop top, barefoot of course, but standing in blood.  Her face wanes as she watches some kind of stabby contraption called XXX-Stab-O-Tron clatters to the floor.  Nori could have caught that.  "Oh fuck.  We're not out.  This isn't real.  I'm still stuck, in there, or in my head?"  Her eyes wide, she starts to blurrily pace bloody tracks over the floor, eyes twitching to various details in the room, wishing she had the scorched curtain from room 404.  

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    A vampire's work is never done, but at least she has company. While Jubilee was hesitant to share the contents of the Vampire Codex with anyone, Noriko Ashida is a clear exception to that. Her plan was to grab some snacks (for Nori), grab the book, and make a night of it. She imagined they'd be lounging on the floor, bent at the knees, and propped up on their elbows with the book open in front of them. They'd laugh and toss popcorn back and forth, take breaks when the horomones tell them to, and generally have a good time learning about the forces of darkness together. But, sometimes life has other plans.

    "Nori...?" she calls out, feeling a sudden pang of terror extending towards her. The coppery smell of the speedster's blood, one she knows quite well, mixes with subtle notes of the sealant used on the bedroom's hard wood floor. Jubilation drops the bowl of freshly popped popcorn and busts through the heavy door to their bedroom, using her shoulder to handle the stubborn wood and metal latch. "Nori, what happened?" she cries out, reaching for the speedster with both hands.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
It was supposed to be a quick recharge nap.

Noriko turns toward Jubes and steps back at first when she comes through the door.  Her eyes sweep Jubilation rapidly, as if she's looking for something...something familiar in Jubilation.  Suddenly, she looks lost, breathing rapidly, and then she draws close to Jubes, perhaps deciding Jubilation is real.  Perhaps finally able to feel some feelings that aren't just her own, sensing the emotional connection reverberating from events in this reality.  Perhaps, Noriko just needs to trust Jubilation even if she might be a facsimile, because she needs it.  She begins to vibrate with that need, taken over by the shakes as Jubes reaches her.  Noriko leans, resting her forehead against Jubes as if the contact could ground her in the here and now.

"I think I was just kidnapped.  I thought it was a nightmare.  I thought...you're real right?  My feet really hurt.  There was an explosion and fire....and crazy contestants.  That pixie girl was there and that nut Tabby."  Someone Noriko has referred to as 'Bomb for Brains.'

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee pulls Noriko in, both eyebrows hiked up. She leans in, opening her arms for the speedster to fall into. One arm reaches around Noriko and pulls her in. Her other hand reaches up and gently cups the speedster's cheek, thumb grazing against her skin. Jubilee's touch is chilly, or at best room temperature, but her heart is warm with love. She closes her eyes and leans in with her forehead, as if she's trying to communicate her presence.

    "Hey, hey, hey," Jubilee whispers, moving her hand from her back and into Noriko's hair. "...Hey, hey, you're safe, you're safe. You're here. With me."

    "Yeah, I'm real..." Jubilation replies, one corner of her mouth curling upwards with a little bit of amusement. With Noriko, she isn't shy to smile, isn't worried about showing her fangs. Isn't worried about showing her deformed face. She pulls away just enough so she can drag her nose along the speedster's cheek, towards her ear and jawline. Jubilee draws in little bursts of air through her nose, like an animal inspecting something by scent. Gasoline. Rubber tires. Explosions. Metal. And then, something else. The weird, unfamiliar aroma of the Mojoverse tickles against Jubilation's sinuses. She can't place it. The experience draws a hiss from inside Jubilee's throat. She can't help it.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko closes her eyes as she mentally clings to Jubilation's whispers.  Those fangs should have scared her, but they never have, not once.  She tucks her head to the vampire as she's scent-spected.  She has no idea what she smells like to those with an enhanced sense of scent, but she knows she's...different.  Still, the sudden hiss was something she wasn't expecting and the fragile speedster pulls back at the instinctive disapproval or...at least, that's what it feels like to Nori, that's what it reminds her of it in that moment, a sharp pain.

Is she?  Safe?  Noriko swallows.  "I think I bloodied the coffin..." she admits with a pang of guilt streaking across her features, at a loss for any words that sound right for the situation.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The hiss doesn't go on for long, just a second or so, before Jubilee is able to suppress it. Her ability to control her inner monster wanes a little when a surprise threat is presented, no matter how trivial. When Noriko pulls back, Jubilee's arm tenses to try and keep her close. Jubilation's eyes lower to the black coffin. Bloodying the coffin is kind of like getting cookie crumbs in the bed sheets, isn't it? "That's okay," she whispers.

    "So, who was it? Was it..."

    Jubilation's voice trails off. No. If Noriko was kidnapped by The Malefactor or his agents, Jubilee would no doubt know about it. The smell would be obvious.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko moves against Jubilation's arm like a bumper with a small instance of fight or flight, like someone running into the side of a cage and realizing nothing is happening to them.  Something deeply engrained in Nori, but it subsides quickly when she feels the strength keeping her there, and sinks back into Jubilation's embrace, resting her head against Jubes' shoulder.

"Some guy who called himself Mojo.  He wanted us to fight to the death in some death race and all he gave us was some shitty old Beetle, so I pushed it.  There were other mutants, maybe one of them was a mage dude.  I don't know.  He had some way to hide his appearance and dropped it...the mage dude."  This stuck in Noriko's mind and she rattles it out as the information tumbles out of her brain.

"And Tabby wanted me to steal charge from her so I could destroy all the other jerks in cars and maybe Mojo, but...honestly I didn't know where he was.  I just wanted to break out of the arena, break whatever was keeping Megan from teleporting us.  But the cars all globbed together into a super boss transformer and Megan opened a portal over its head so I jumped through before the boulder could so I could get on the robot car thing and I tried to fry it but I don't think I had enough juice so I just...I took all of its juice because the frying wasn't working and then something exploded and we were falling and then it was black-"  All in one breath.  She breathes a few breaths.  "I think that's when I ended up back here."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Mojo... Now /that's/ a stupid name..." Jubilation mutters. She's something of an expert on stupid names. She gently pets Noriko's hair as she listens to the speedster's account of events. It all sounds a little nonsensical to her, but she doesn't interrupt, not yet. Besides, it's kind of impossible to interrupt Noriko. Still, Jubilee waits for her moments when they come.

    "Let me check out your feet," Jubilee offers. She releases her hold on the speedster and goes down on both knees to get a better look.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Luckily, Noriko talks fast in this state, so it's not like Jubes has to wait forever through the panic, and Jubilation's determination of how dumb a name Mojo is helps nudge the speedster somehow, a reminder of where she is, who she is with, and the gentle petting seems to keep her time synced so she doesn't speed up and slow down all over the place, which sometimes happens.

"Okay."  Noriko sits down on the ground, promptly shutting up.  As Jubes starts to check out Noriko's feet, the first thing that hits her is the aroma.  Jubilation, depending on her capabilities, might be able to detect that this is the only injury Noriko has beyond the superficial scrapes and scratches which have already started to heal.

"Jubes...I thought it was a dream.  But it wasn't...if I had known..." that it wasn't a dream, she wouldn't have done all of that?  It's something she realizes, she realizes she's /not/ that hero.  But still.  "I didn't know I could do those things."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee scoots forward on her knees and leans in to inspect the speedster's feet. She reaches out and delicately lifts one by the ankle, cradling it gently in her hands. Noriko's skin is bloody and raw with little bits of debris embedded. Little bits of glass and gravel and metal pieces. It's like she ran around the world without shoes on. "I knew you could, Nori..." Jubilation replies quietly, her eyes lifting to look at Noriko's face. She smiles a little and then goes back to inspecting the injury. "Doesn't really surprise me at all." And it doesn't. Noriko Ashida is a hero, a fact as clear as night to Jubilation. She has no doubts about it.

    Jubilee gently lowers Noriko's foot and frowns a little. "/Well/...." Jubilee announces, looking up at the speedster again. "...I've completed my examination."

    "We have to amputate." She fires a little grin in Noriko's direction.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Jubes.  I'm sorry..."  If the Danger Room predicament was bad, apparently this was a lot worse, but at least Noriko was doing dangerous things for a good cause right?  The guilt flashes all over her face until Jubilation's quiet reply, her smile bringing Noriko a little one, the feeling of someone else's confidence in her, someone she believes, actually getting through, but also feeling a bit foreign.

"I guess all I have to do is just think I'm dreaming and I can do whatever," Nori says with a little laugh, clipped off just slightly at the end by a laugh.  "The diagnosis?" she volleys back to Jubilation's announcement, pinging off of her proverbial pong.

"YOU MEAN I'LL HAVE TO RUN ON MY HANDS DOCTOR LEE?!"  Noriko launches into the faux hysterics only one of her mother's stylized soap operas can provide, complete with oh-no-doctor-I-need-such-a-strong-shoulder-to-weep-on moment where she drapes her arms around Jubilation.  "Do it," she says, steely and committed to the moment for...well as long as the moment lasts.

"Thanks...they just need disinfecting and wrapping, but I don't want it to stick," because ow.  It's no fun when one's wound just grafts itself into the gauze.  "I've never really figured that out..."  Noriko's mind has moved on, has been fumbling around with something she was going to talk to Jubilation tonight while they gently perused the dark tome.

"Is there any popcorn left?" Noriko asks hopefully like a kid wanting their comfort foods.  "I can-I can clean this up-" they can go on like nothing happened.  "Maybe the blood smell in the coffin will make you dream of sugar plum fairies or something," because she doubts she'll ever be able to fully get it out to a vampire's level of 'out.'

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "You'll have to do /everything/ with your hands!" Jubilee fires back with a fangy grin. There's a moment of hesitation about what she just said and the implication of it. She'd blush if she could. As soon as Noriko says to 'do it,' Jubilee wiggles her nails against Noriko's ankle, up her shins, and part of the way up her thigh, laughing maniacally for maximum effect. She gives Noriko one last, lingering smile before rising to her feet. "I'll get some first aid stuff," she says. "...And make some more popcorn, too. No girlfriend of mine is going to eat floor corn."

    "Yeah, maybe, though I don't dream..." Jubes can be heard on her way out, now on the hunt for medical items and hot, buttered popcorn.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko's mind goes where Jubilation's hesitates and there's a marginally suppressed smirk.  "I'm pretty good with my hands," she says smugly, leaning back a little for effect...an effect completely obliterated and trumped by the dance of Jubilation's nails across her skin. Her grin softens and she nods.  "How many girlfriends do you have?" Noriko questions, amusement in her eyes.  "And how many of them like popcorn?"

Jubes had told Noriko that before, and at the vampire's parting words, Noriko chides herself sharply.  Idiot.  You knew that.  A few self-blows.  These are the little emotions Jubilation is now privy to, the ones Noriko masks away.  They pass quickly, like sharp little reminders chipping away at Noriko's projected image.

"Yeah...I knew that...I'm going to clean my feet," Noriko calls out and then there's this noise of her crawling quickly across the wood floor like some horror show.  The speedster couldn't let Jubes have to do that.  It's so rude.  Like making a kid clean up an ice cream that fell in the dirt.  Plus, Noriko can do it quicker.  She can do multiple passes hitting the surface only the least amount.  She'll know the temperature to use better than any vampire could, as loving as that vampire may be...there are just some things Nori has enough time to think over more than the average person, like she's pretty sure Jubes would just be wildly guessing about things like temperature...or at least Jubes' relationship has changed wildly, and with fire.

Eventually, the cleaning of the wounds (and Nori's hair), the hiding of the pain, and the wrapping of the speedster's feet are done.  Eventually, they also have popcorn.  Nori changes into a new pair of short shorts and a tank.  She wobbles over to pull down a blanket someone gave them that they never use.  It's huge and fluffy.  It's probably more meant for a bed than as a throw.

"So....If I can stop getting kidnapped, maybe we can actually look through this dark ancient book, maybe I can keep a job, maybe I can eat some popcorn, you know normal things," Noriko tosses out darkly with a smirk, eyes twitching to the book she wouldn't dare just start casually perusing without Jubes' presence.  There's something about this that needs to be done together.  Noriko just knows.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee would absolutely wash Noriko's feet. It's actually her Plan A in this situation, which sends her on a hunt for soap, disinfectant, and so on. But, Noriko forces the issue in her absence and Jubilation won't be washing the speedster's feet this evening. Jubilation sets a fresh bowl of popcorn down next to Noriko, along with two cans of Sprite. "Choose wisely. I shook one," Jubilee teases. "So, like, you have a fifty-fifty shot."

    "Aw, Nori, did you get fired again?" Jubilation moans. It's said casually, as though it's an issue as common as leaving the dirty dishes in the sink or something. She lowers herself to sidle in next to Noriko with that big, evil book. VAMPYR. The Codex. The dark grimoire supposedly archiving vampire knowledge, culture, and history.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko wiggles her feet a little before inspecting the Sprite cans, eyes darting like a lizard.  Some popcorn goes missing into her mouth and she munches thoughtfully, not put off by the prospect of a Sprite fountain at her fingertips.

"Well I put my name in for another job, but it might be a long shot.  Then again, they might be more forgiving of the kidnapping absences and the like."  Noriko smirks and her posture perks up when Jubilation brings the book into view.  "I don't want to spray shoes for the rest of my life..."  She quiets and leans to wrap her arm around Jubilation.

"So I don't know how you want to do this."  Oh Nori just can't resist to pop a few more popcorn into her mouth.  "I know you've been reading something big and heavy, but I thought it was just a cover for something else," she admits sheepishly.  "I mean, Vampyr.  I thought you came up with that to keep anyone from peeking over your shoulder."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation's eyebrows rise with curiosity. She tilts her head a little and curls her lips upwards, staring at the speedster expectantly. "Nori," she drones. "Why aren't you telling me what the job is?" It's as though Jubilee is expecting it to be some funny thing she can tease the speedster about. Is Noriko going to work at Orange Julius?

    "I've been /trying/ to read it. It's... hard. I mean, super old and some of this stuff is so weird, like, I'm having a hard time knowing if something is real and serious or, like, a euphemism for something else. I was able to dig up some dirt in here about those hags that came to the school looking for it like an overdue library book...I assume." Not like she'd know much about checking a book out of the library."

    "But, um, I've been trying to find, like, my, my..."

    "My sire," she admits, looking away. "It's what we call, like, our..." What's the best way to put it. "...Vampire mom, I guess?" It's a truly selfish thing she's doing. She stole this book, drew the attention of the local vampire Duke, and put the entire school in danger for it.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Well, I mean it's not the most glamorous, but I think I can do most of it with my powers and-oh.  Well I asked Rogue if anyone was going to get her old job once she moves on to teaching next year...I mean, I still don't know what I'm going to do, but I thought, maybe it comes with a meal plan or something?" which would take a huge burden off of their projected food budget.  Noriko suddenly realizes that she's likely to be the only one working normal hours for the two of them.  She looks to Jubilation and tries to shove her errant thoughts away.  "Rogue said I'd probably have to use her truck, but I've got an idea for that," she says idly as she transitions back into listening, back into the moment more fully.

"Hmm, well, maybe I can help do the legwork that helps clarify some of those things...like, jam the context and expertise into my head."  Noriko doesn't sound miffed at all, curiously, but then she's not bringing up the jeopardy of the school...just yet.

"You know I can ready really fast."  Noriko stopped trying to hide that she's a bookworm from Jubilation pretty quickly, though as she explained it, cursorily, it's just because she'd go insane otherwise.

Finally though, the moment just shifts as a beat of silence goes by.  "You really need to get better at not getting caught Jubes."  Nori doesn't fault Jubes for wanting to steal a book to look for her Vampire Mommy.  "Any of us could have died.  Any of us still could.  And I don't know why you don't talk to me about any of this stuff but it's not cool."  Noriko could have helped in planning!

"So...have you found anything out yet?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    There was a time when Jubilation would've been excited about Noriko getting more involved with the school. She would have celebrated it as the best possible choice. Now, though? Her connection to Xavier's has suffered, so this is just any other job to Jubes. "What's the idea?" she wonders. "...If you're pulling a rickshaw, you should tell them that it's degrading and that you should get extra pay." A faint smile forms on her face.

    "Oh, I know you can..." Jubilation says with a mock laugh. "Here." Jubes slides the heavy, ancient book so it's in front of the speedster. "I'll just watch you like you're some kind of sexy librarian." She leans back and puts both of her hands behind her head, grinning from ear to ear. But then... the grin fades away. Jubilee reaches out to take the book back.

    "I didn't tell you because I was /embarrassed/," Jubes admits. "And it's not like I knew they knew where I took it," Jubilee quietly adds, looking away. She tucks her chin in. Hurt. "I wouldn't have come back to the school if I knew I got caught, you know." Jubilee glances back at Noriko, briefly, but looks away again. Jubilation just assumed that Noriko would know she didn't mean to put the school in danger, but, perhaps that's not true. Perhaps the speedster is among the rest of the them that assumed she didn't care if she brought ruin upon them. Mind = blown.

    "Maybe I should just..." Jubilee starts, hesitates. 'read it by myself' is what she was going to say.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"No I'm just going to mod Rogue's truck, Flintstone's style.  But I should use that extra pay thing.  I'll keep thinking about ideas for that."  Noriko grins and munches on some more popcorn.  She blurry wobbles off like a sped up cartoon of someone running across hot coals to go carefully clean her gauntlets.  It only takes a few seconds before she's smiling on her way back in.

Her smile also fades when Jubilation snatches the book back.  Noriko had only gotten through a few pages and it seems she was tunnel focused in already.  She syncs back down to Jubes' slower time with a flutter of her eyelashes, each one progressively more visible to the naked eye.

"Oh.  Jubes, I'm just saying when the stakes are high, you know I've got your back.  I never thought you would do that or did that.  Ever.  But...why are you embarrassed?"  Noriko truly sounds like she doesn't get it, but concern, worry flood her eyes.  "I'm sorry...that you didn't feel like you could tell me."  Noriko's head and eyes turn down.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee rolls her eyes at herself, tilting her head back a touch to emphasize it. "Yeah, yeah, I know," she replies. "I'm being dumb." She inches the book closer to Noriko and reaches up to rake her fingers through her own hair, getting it out of her face. It has been covering her disfigurement, but it's nice to get it out of her eyes for once.

    "It's not that, Nori," Jubes explains, nudging the speedster with her shoulder. "I just... I don't know. I don't know why I was embarrassed. Like, people would think it's weird for me to care about this. Like I'm supposed to be all too-cool-for-school about it. I don't know. I'm being stupid."

    "I just want to know where I come from," Jubilee explains with another shrug. It's a weird way to say it, as though she has completely forgotten that she had a life prior to getting turned. "But I don't even know the guy's name or anything... So..." Jubes quickly flips through the tan, wrinkled pages. In this part of the Codex, each page has a particular bloodline represented almost like a family tree. The inscriptions appear hand-written. Some of the more notable vampires even have inked sketches of their faces. This is the section of the book that traces the various bloodlines through the ages. Eventually, she flips the last one, revealing a blank page that acts like a buffer between sections.

    "Does Rogue know you're going to remove the floor of her truck?" Jubilee wonders. "And if you're gonna do /that/ then maybe you can get more money because you'll also be the truck's engine. Gotta get compensated fairly, you know. Engines aren't cheap."

    It might be the imagination or a trick of the light, but it looks like ink is beginning to spread from within the fibers of the blank page of the grimoire...

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko tilts her head, but waits and listens, a grin appearing when Jubilation rakes her hair back from her face.  "Okay.  Just like, maybe I need to remind you more that I'm not like most people."  Noriko isn't even sure what the words mean.  She shakes her head and looks back to Jubilee.

"That seems normal to me.  Wanting to know."  The speedster's eyes dip down quickly as the pages begin to flip through, absorbing what she can.  But then they get to the blank page and she tilts her head again as she wonders if this was an intentional omission or just what they do for each section.

"Huh?  Oh, I don't want them to tell me I can't use my powers.  Soooo, I thought it best she not know, since she's going to be a filthy teacher and all...We'll just have to pocket the gas cash or do some night riding or something."

Noriko's eyes are drawn quickly to the shifting of the ink as if she were adapted to flight-for-survival, detection being the first line of defense.  "Something is appearing...Right?  You see that?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Eh, that book is weird," Jubilee answers, leaning back to stare at the ceiling. No doubt she's seen some unusual things from that book. She doesn't even bother looking.

    Each of the pages included an intricate, luxiorious header text, a title for the page, indicating which clan was being documented. Each clan is its own little species of vampire, built from several bloodlines, each tracing back to a different, ancient vampire. Each of those, however, trace back to a single progenitor for the entire clan. Each page looks like the scribe toiled endlessly to capture the ancient genealogies, giving every one of them a lifetime of attention. Complicated patterns, line work, and crosshatching give every page a luxurious, antique quality.

    The blank page, however, doesn't have any of that. It doesn't have a clan at the top of the page. It doesn't have any bloodlines. Just stained, wrinkled paper pulped hundreds of years ago, hand bound with thread between thick leather from an ancient animal's skin. Moments ago, the page was just an empty buffer between the chapters of the book that record the vampire lineages and whatever chapter comes next. Now, though?

    Dark ink spreads from within the page, bleeding out as it soaks into the paper's fibers and threads. It's not a simple spill, however. Instead of spreading from an epicenter, the ink flows like a river made of curves that twist back over themselves. Two words seem to be forming, made of thin lines drawn in a neat, ostentatious cursive from a bygone era. One is significantly longer than the second. The pair of words are centered on the page and there is empty space above them, presumably for a heading -- a clan name, if this page follows the format of the rest. The ink spreads, twists, and flows and eventually dries. Two words.
    
            Jubilation Lee.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko has never gotten to see something like this happen in a book, so her eyes are glued to it, allowing everything to stretch out in front of her meditatively.  She has absorbed so much, interleaved her attention within the crosshatching as it slides by.  So many of the books of the world have nothing to them, but this, by Noriko's fascination's standards, is gorgeous.  So when the book begins to display a mind of its own, Noriko circles back to her thoughts about whether this page was intentional, and as she witnesses the /intentional/ movement, much earlier before there are letters, she realizes that this page /was/ intentional.  It was waiting.

"I think you're going to have to make your family Jubes."  Noriko can't look away from the page.  "Jubes look."  She has no idea how much time has passed while she was waiting for the words to develop like a photograph.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Non-plussed. That's Jubilee's attitude about the book's changing pages. She has seen weird things from it. She has watched names getting crossed out, presumably when some poor vampire got a chest full of wood or forgot to set their clocks correctly for daylight savings time. It was interesting the first few times but eventually it takes on a morbid sort of quality. "Do you think I should dye my hair?" she wonders idly, staring up at the ceiling. Jubilee bounces one of her legs over the opposite knee. Just one of those things to do when one has a surplus of energy. She has a well-tested strategy for expelling energy with Noriko, but Jubilee has been notably hesitant about it since half of her face got melted by holy water. It's hard to feel attractive.

    "I'm thinking, I dunno, neon pink... Like, streaks..." Jubilee reaches up and grabs some of her hair and drags her fingers along the long strands, as though imagining how it would look with pink streaks.

    But, Noriko's point about making a family draws her interest. Is this the moment she's been secretly obsessing over? All that time spent practicing signing her name -- Jubilation Ashida -- and then all that time spent preparing her argument about why it should be Noriko Lee. Jubilation perks up and looks over...

    "...Woah..." Jubilee mutters, leaning forward towards the book and its magical ink. She watches her name dry on the page, right at the top with no lines connecting it to someone else. Just her. Jubilee slowly turns her head to look at Noriko, eyebrows hiked.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Um, I think your hair looks good now but yeah neon pink would be cool."  Is this the moment?  Noriko hasn't really mentioned anything about all of her secret desires, where her heart fully lies, not in the lingo of things like marriage, things that require ink and binding agreements.  And suddenly, as she stares down at that lonely name on the page, Noriko just feels saddened.  Neither of them have family, and even this book wouldn't ever recognize their connection.  The vampire world doesn't value such unions by her observation of all the bloodlines that are so deliberately recorded.

"Do you know how to do that?  Sire someone?"  Noriko's noticed some of the almost instinctual or impressed instincts, she is not sure what they are, but she has noticed some things just coming to Jubilation like a duck to water or a baby bird being pushed from its nest.  It just knows to fly.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I mean, it would be a total pain in the ass. I'd have to dye it, like, every night... But..." Jubilee goes a little cross-eyed as she tries to look at her own hair, pulled forward so she can see it. "I mean, it could be cool..."

    But, there's Nori's question. Does she know how to do it? How to sire someone...?

    "No," Jubilee answers simply, shrugging one shoulder. She doesn't look up from the book, staring at her own name on that page. All the blank space. Just her name. Nothing else. No one else. The answer to that question -- how to sire someone -- might be in the book, but there has been a long tradition of older vampires holding that forbidden knowledge over the heads of the young. It may be omitted or Jubilation hasn't found it. Or, perhaps, she hasn't gone looking. Many vampires sire out of loneliness. Jubilation isn't lonely.

    "We live forever, Nori," Jubilation explains, shrugging her shoulder again. "There's only one person I'd want to be with forever and I'd never do this to her even if I knew how..." She smiles a little at Noriko, giving her another nudge with her shoulder.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I could help you with that a little," Noriko offers.  "I mean you still have to wait for the whole thing to take but, with applying and stuff."  She looks back down to the page and then to Jubilation.  She wonders if perhaps the book just needs to be asked nicely, or maybe if it is waiting till it thinks Jubilation is ready to know how to sire.

Jubilation's words hit Noriko bittersweet.  "I know," a weak grin forms at the nudge.  The speedster leans back into the nudge and rests her head on Jubes' shoulder.  "It'd be weird if you were my mom," she says with a laugh, just something to try and twist a smile onto her face as she thinks about her own mortality...but more so, her and Jubilation's eventual separation.

"But I don't want you to be alone...after I'm gone.  If I go.  Maybe I'll just figure out a way to live forever too."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I would rather make you wait for me to finish getting ready," Jubilee admits with a little bit of a grin. It is tradition, after all. She lets out a long, wistful sigh. Content. And fabricated. Jubilee doesn't need to breathe, doesn't breathe, which makes every exchange of air deliberate and meaningful. She wanted Noriko to hear it. That sound perfectly explains how she feels. After a short bit of silence, Jubilation tilts her head against Noriko's shoulder.

    Noriko would no doubt feel a shudder from within Jubilee. Fear. Heartache. Whatever caused it, it's something deeply upsetting. "No!" she shouts suddenly, trying in vain to interrupt the speedster. "No." Jubilation's voice lowers.

    "...Nori, I...When you...." She refuses to say the word.

    "...I will too."

    Vampires don't do it naturally, but there are plenty of ways to force the issue.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Ohh," Noriko nods, and other people say the devil is in the details.  Noriko thinks the devil is in the waiting, but for Jubilation, she'd wait forever.  Her thoughts have left a pall over her demeanor, but she is wistful, enjoying this moment she has now, her life she has now.  The shudder of emotions sideswipes her, as does the shouting.

Noriko's body tenses and she stays quiet.  She understands it.  She would were she in Jubilation's shoes, but the stubborn speedster's brow is furrowed.  "Well I'm going to live forever so it's never going to come to that." Noriko won't let it.  It's her statement in defiance of the inevitable.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee nods her head a little, staring down at the book and the mostly empty page. Mostly empty, that is, aside from her name. She frowns, just a hint of one, and gently touches the ink with the pad of her finger. It's dry. "I wonder if the whole book was written like this..." Jubilee mutters, staring down at it. 'Like this' implies that Jubilee understands what just happened. She doesn't.

    "So..." Jubilee turns to watch Nori, undoubtedly broadcasting some nervousness about what she's going to say. "...Bobby wants me to lick him."

    With no context, that's weird as hell!

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Probably," Noriko concludes rather quickly.  "I mean how else would they keep it accurate?  Feels like a lot of work either way," though that implies Noriko has any understanding of what goes into any ounce of magic, or this, whatever it is.  She doesn't either.

"To close his bite?"  Noriko asks softly.  There's a tension, but it isn't shown, only felt.  A quieted tension.  Perhaps she is trying to be reasonable, or keep herself reasonable.  "Will that give him back his powers?"  Noriko doesn't look to Jubilation.  She just stares at some indeterminate spot.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "/Is/ it accurate?" It's a fair question. It's not like the creepy vampire textbook is being submitted for peer review. Jubilee shrugs one shoulder and flips through some of the pages on a hunt for articles written about the 'kiss,' a playful bit of jargon that refers to a vampire's bite.

    "Yeah," Jubes answers quietly, her head nodding just a little. It's a sensitive thing for Noriko, she knows it, and knows to approach this gently. "I... I told him no at first. I mean, like, I don't even know if it would work." She reaches up and gently graces her fingers against a spot of flesh on Noriko's neck. It has been bitten and healed so many times. "Like, since it wasn't me who... You know."

    "And maybe Clemencia's bites can't be healed? I mean, why else would she leave it?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Who knows, but I imagine that was the aim, at least to a useful degree.  It could be equally useful if it is inaccurate," to whoever stands to benefit.  Noriko doesn't explicitly voice that though.  "We don't know enough.

Noriko's eyes close when she feels that cool touch at her neck, adjusts her vector toward it ever so slightly.  "It's right to try," Noriko concludes, even though it's obvious she rather Jubilation's fangs or mouth come anywhere close to anyone else.  She curls up and draws close to Jubes.

"Maybe.  Maybe she doesn't care.  Maybe it has to do with her crazy flower child bitch vibe she's got going on...So, does that require direct contact or is it like you can drop some spit on him or?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I don't know..." Jubilee answers, some frustration bubbling to the surface. "That book is, like, really vague." She frowns at it, rolls her eyes at it even, but Noriko's shifting draws her attention. Jubilee watches Noriko react to her touch and grins a little. She starts to trace gentle circles with her fingernail. "I think it's direct contact but don't quote me on that one," Jubilee adds.

    "I'm also kinda worried about doing it for another reason. The book says that she makes people go crazy. I'm not really looking to swap spit with her, even with Bobby's neck as an in-between..."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Maybe..." Maybe Noriko's a little distracted, drawn to the little patterns being drawn upon her. "Maybe try indirect first?" It might be a hopeless thing. It's not like Noriko's ever come across someone selling vampire spit on the streets. If it could heal wounds there'd be a great market for it, but maybe it really is so specific.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Maybe..."  Maybe Noriko's a little distracted, drawn to the little patterns being drawn upon her.  "Maybe try indirect first?"  It might be a hopeless thing.  It's not like Noriko's ever come across someone selling vampire spit on the streets.  If it could heal wounds there'd be a great market for it, but maybe it really is so specific.

"We don't know anything about vampire maladies.  I imagine there are things that can make you sick now just like when you were alive."  The way Noriko says it is so casual, like it was another state.  She knows it was a big change, but to Noriko, it has become a part of Jubilation's story, her path to who she is now, not a division, but a joining of two stories into one.  "What if...what if you get screwed up by it?  What do you want me to do?"  Nori's eyes search to Jubilation's.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, that's a good idea. We can put some of my spit into a water gun and spray him with it," Jubilee decides. She leans in and rests her chin on Noriko's shoulder, watching her own finger dance little circles and figure eights into the speedster's neck. Naturally, her eyes are drawn to the little curves and recesses of Noriko's flesh and the veins and arteries just under its surface.

    "I think you know," Jubilation answers quietly.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
I'm not doing that, Noriko immediately thinks faster than anything she's thought before.  Her heart surges at the thought, probably quite literally. "How much spit do you want to spit into a water gun?" Noriko laughs at the thought of Jubes having to be on salivating duty, but doesn't press it much further, because the thought is too funny to sabotage.

"I would do everything I could to help you," Noriko finally says as if her mind is tethered to Jubilation's wishes.  "First...You said, you, when I do.  Well me too, and I don't give up that easily."  Or maybe she's a coward, she thinks.  Her neck tenses naturally as she turns her head to gaze upon Jubilation, accentuating those natural lines Jubilation is admiring.  "Really it's just that I couldn't bare to destroy your boobs," she says, deadpan.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Just a tongue's worth, I guess," Jubilee replies with a smirk. She sticks her tongue out and wiggles it a little at Noriko. Generating the saliva is a tricky thing, Jubilee has learned, and it requires blood. Just like everything else her body does. Noriko's hesitance to stake her through the chest, for whatever reason, gets a little bit of a nod from her. Jubes leans in and hovers there, her nose just gracing the speedster's cheek.

    "Then cut my head off. That works, too..." she whispers. It's not-at-all as sexy as perhaps she thought it would be.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
And Noriko is smart enough to intuit that everything Jubilation does by now requires blood.  "How do you make that not weird, like, spin a bottle like the movies?" Noriko laughs awkwardly.

And then Jubilation goes and whispers that.  "Yeah.  Let me go practice that so I don't have to hack a billion times.  I don't think I'm that Beastmaster yet."  Noriko still isn't paying attention to those genre flicks.  "But I'll let you know when I've graduated to decapitation.  I haven't even gotten a grade on staking yet."  Trivialize it.  Yep, that's how Noriko gets by.

Noriko grins and says, "I can't ruin your neck like that."  She leans to nip there gently, playfully.  "Any other parts I can destroy you with?  Less of my favorites?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Oh, it's gonna be weird no matter what," Jubilation decides, apparently so sure of it. How could it not be weird? Still, Jubes plays along with the joke of Noriko making light of it all. "We'll get you started with a soft stick of butter and work up from there..." "And staking's harder than it looks, Nori," Jubilee whispers. "Everyone picks up a stick and thinks they're Van Helsing." (Is there really a Van Helsing? Has Jubilee met him? Have they gone toe-to-toe with each other?!)

    "I guess you can toss me out in the sun..." Jubilee adds with a shrug. "Not my preference, though..."

    When Noriko gets closer, Jubilee's reaction is mixed. At first, she smiles and closes her eyes. She tilts her head to expose more of her neck for the nipping... But then...

    Suddenly, Jubilee shifts a little so she's no longer up against Noriko, her neck no longer in range of nipping, her shoulders tense. She reaches up and rakes her hair down over her face. "Nori..." Jubilee gently complains, as though they've had this conversation before.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I'll practice with butter sticks but euphemisms are as far as I go in preparation a la Jubilee."  Noriko doesn't know how to use that term.  All that French is beyond her.  "Or is it Jubilation a la flambe?  Anyways I don't do barbecue or sun-roasting.  I'd rather torture you for my entire life by keeping you waiting in your insanity while I research the most humane way of killing you."  Aka, stall.  "I know you wouldn't approve of me not living a full life, so that's the only way-wait.  Is Van Helsing real?  Like, was he just some dude but he's real but he worked out of an ancient food carriage with no prospects but he just wrote all of his legacy out?"  It sounds like Noriko is getting an idea, but the rapid little words all peter out as she continues to distract herself with her girlfriend's neck.

And the neck goes away, out of range, it's pulling away.  Instant disappointment stings deep inside, but it's written all over her face.  There was no expectation that Noriko was aware of until she felt the loss of it.  She realizes she was hoping maybe Jubes was amenable again.  "What?  You can-"  No, she's not going there.  She's not using Jubilation's need for blood against her.  The disappointment turns inwards, savagely cannibalizing her sense of self and that she was on any kind of high road...lustful or not.  Her lips press together tightly and she swivels away from Jubes, facing more front as she broods.  "I just want to-"  Noriko knows she just wants to feel closer to Jubilation but she doesn't know how to say it.  She doesn't even know if that's it.  She feels like she's just putting thoughts to feelings, not that they spawned them, not that they match.

Half the popcorn bowl goes missing but Noriko's slightly shifting position and the fact that she's the only one here who eats food gives her away.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Well, you gotta pick one, Nori. The stake, the sword, or the sun. That's it," Jubilee points out. Is that even true? How could she even know for sure. The book has implied that not all vampires fall to the same methods. Still, it feels like she knows for sure, as though that knowledge is somehow burned inside her. It's helpful for the newly sired vampires to know, at least, what to avoid, right?

    When Noriko turns away from her, Jubilee looks down and hugs her knees to her chest. This routine, this new tradition, usually goes like this. Jubes pulls away. Noriko stiffens. And then Jubilee feels the pressure to give an excuse. The first time was awkward. She blamed a bodily function that she doesn't even have anymore. What will it be tonight?

    "...I have a headache," she tries, eyes lowering. It's all rather embarrassing for them both.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I have a lifetime to choose, or find alternatives," Noriko hopes sourly, not wanting to accept it.  She can't accept Jubilation dying alone, so it feels like a decision she is bound to, even if it isn't one she wishes to ruminate on...Jubes is the first of her line.  Perhaps she came with some of her own survival instincts baked in.

---

"I know you know I'm not an idiot Jubes..."  But Noriko has no tact, none at all.  She'll never be known for it, but it's also an advantage.  There's a pain behind her words.  She's allowed Jubilation's excuses to slide because she loves her, because she knows Jubilation needs time, because Jubes' bullshit is the only bullshit Noriko will willingly swallow, but they both know it's bullshit.

"You can just talk to me.  Maybe it will help."  Noriko has no idea what will help, or if she should be trying to help, or if there is anything to help.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Talk about what?" Jubilation replies quietly, not looking up. Her hair has fallen over her face, per usual, hiding the scars that just don't seem to be going away after that splash of holy water. She has been hiding her face since that happened, though soon allowed Noriko to see it in private. Still, any time they started to get especially tender, Jubilee would pull away and cover up, giving some flimsy excuse.

    Last time, she had homework to do (ha!). The time before that, she saw someone in the window. And the time before that, she ran to the stables because she thought Pony was hungrier than usual that night. And so on. This evening, it's a headache.

    "Nori..." she tries, pain and shame pushing the words out. "Look at me." She offers that as though it's the one thing that will explain it. Jubilation Lee, the girl who failed an art history test because she declared her body a work of art, can't stand Noriko to look at her.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Jubilation feigning just makes Noriko feel it all the more.  Those words, talk about what.  What?  What?!  A part of Noriko wants to rail and scream for Jubilation.  Maybe even at Jubilation, but Noriko pretends that's not a part of it.  Noriko remains in silence.

A headache.

"No.  You hate it when I do."  Noriko gives words to what she's felt, what she knows.  Hate might not be the right word, but Nori has always used words like buckets or categories.  She has a great vocabulary, but she still doesn't sound as nuanced or intelligent in English as she does in Japanese.

Still, Noriko is Jubilation's and Jubilation is her's.  Not long after refusing, she looks back to Jubilation, tears springing to her eyes and blurring the image, blurring the scars and mottled flesh.  It's exactly what she didn't want to do.  "I miss you."  That way, but also fully.  Those extra words hang in the air.  They aren't the words she really chose.  They are just the words written on her heart, what she feels, not what she can devise, which is something beyond her in this moment.  "I'm sorry...that was a stupid thing to day," she says as if she'd take a do-over if there were such things.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Yeah, she does hate it. Or, perhaps more accurately, feels sorry for Noriko for having to. The girl who once thought her face was the most significant cultural touchstone of western civilization instead hides it. Feeling self-conscious is a new one for Jubilee and she hasn't built up the knack to move through it. It hits hard and fast.

    "I bet you do," Jubilee mutters, pressing her cheek into her own knee. She might have misunderstood what Noriko is saying. Is Nori saying that she misses Jubilee's unscorched face? "So do I..."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
So does she.  She misses me?  She misses her?  Noriko is suddenly confused.  Her mind roils over the words so precisely, sifting for a glimmer of more understanding.  "I do miss you.  I miss you letting me kiss whatever I want and I miss your smile.  I miss you letting me see you the way I do," Noriko insists, her tone pleading as she can't help but turn more to Jubes, pouring her heart out.

The lights flicker, but that's pretty normal with Noriko around, a momentary distraction.  Noriko can't see it anyways for all of her tears.  Tears can be dangerous when she's in motion, but right now they are just a nuisance, an impediment.  "I thought, maybe around me, it wouldn't matter as much.  Because you know what I think."  Does she?  Noriko hasn't really thought about it, and doesn't now.  To her, the way she sees Jubilation is /obvious/ and glaring.  As true as the sky is blue.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Noriko's words pull Jubilee's eyelids down. She lets out a demonstrative sigh and pulls her legs even closer to her chest. It's like giving herself a tight hug. "...I..." When the lights flicker, Jubilee's eyes rise, drawn by the sudden change. It sparks an idea, at least.

    "Maybe... we could turn the lights off?" Jubilee suggests hopefully, looking over at Noriko for her reaction to that. Jubilee is, of course, missing the point entirely. She just thinks they're talking about how hideous her face has become.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
The sigh is enough to feel like a millstone around Noriko's neck.  She was wrong, and she doesn't know why but it all feels really crappy.  The lights gutter again, leaving them in sudden darkness until Noriko raises her gaze back to Jubilation.  She sniffs.

"What?"  Nori just seems confused and distraught by her confusion, like maybe she sped over something Jubilation said and didn't realize it.  "Is that what you want?"  You want to blind me?  Nori thinks.  But she'd do anything for Jubilation.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Blind you?" Jubilation questions, totally not getting it. "No, no, I just mean..." Her voice flutters a little as she hesitates. The confidence she once enjoyed is all but gone. She's unsure. Insecure. As essentially an animate body, Jubilation's self-image is naturally wrapped up in it.

    "I just..."

    "I'm just saying... If you need to, like, do...that..." Again, Jubes is totally missing the point. While Noriko might have needs that Jubilee just isn't fulfilling, it's not really about that, is it? But, her self-image is so low right now, at least with this, that it's all she can think.

    "If we turned the lights off, like, you wouldn't have to see my face."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko blinks, brow furrowing at Jubilation's response and she questions whether she said something aloud.  Perhaps her odd sleep schedule is getting to her, or all this crying.  She doesn't think about it any further.  She can't.  She just starts crying again, and it's like a mini-flood between words.

"Too much salt," Nori mutters as if making an excuse for why she'd need to cry so much.  Something in her eye probably would have been more convincing, but Noriko's not really trying to lie to Jubes.

"Juubes," Noriko whines painfully, almost like a howl before the tears flood her again.  She didn't want to cry.  She didn't plan on crying.  But there's something very primal in her response, her reception of Jubilation's word...that she wouldn't have to see her face.

"No.  I don't want you to hide from me," Noriko blubbers stubbornly through her strong words, almost reminiscent of a kid who has thrown a tantrum.  That will.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee presses her face into her kneecap, falling into a glumness entirely not in her character. Her gaze lowers as Noriko's crying intensifies. "Nori..." she tries. "I'm...I'm sorry." Her eyes close tightly, so tightly that wrinkles briefly appear next to her eyes. "I'm sorry, okay?"

    "I don't know what to say."

    Her tone suggests that she thinks that, in this conversation, she has somehow done something wrong. As though this is her fault. As though she has mistreated Nori somehow.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
At this point, Noriko just feels like everything she's touching is frying to ash.  "Nononono.  You didn't do anything wrong.  You don't have to say anything"  The speedster instinctively reaches out to wrap her arms around Jubilation, charged with more energy than she realizes.

"I just wish you could really feel what I feel."  But right now, all Noriko feels is weighed down by the great sadness of the moment.  "See how I see."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee doesn't shy from the speedster's touch, but she doesn't exactly melt into it. Her body is an expression of herself, of who she is, and right now, it's not what she wants. Now, it's unfamiliar. It's ugly and disfigured. It's not expressing the right thing. Or, perhaps, her expression is changing to match her body.

    "I already know," Jubilee protests, leaning her head against the speedster's shoulder. "I'm sorry you have to see me."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"No you clearly /don't/ know," Noriko says almost forcefully.  Her brow furrowed.  She pulls back from Jubilation to look her in the eye.  There's some kind of release, an outpouring of something that starts off as adoration, but shifts somewhere more naughty quite quickly.  "I want to see you, and I want you to see me.  You have nothing to be sorry for."  She lifts her gauntlet to Jubilee's chin.  "Jubes-" But Noriko interrupts herself, just bursting in speed to meet her lips to the one she can't wait to express how she feels to.

"Please.  I love you, but you've got it all wrong," Noriko says gently when she breaks away only just enough to say it.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The speedster's advance isn't something Jubilee can really react to. Suddenly, she's being kissed, and Jubilee returns it, but it seems like it's done almost out of politeness and not a desire to push things forward. Just something so Noriko isn't kissing a wall.

    "It's not about that, Nori," Jubilee protests, avoiding Noriko's eyes. She tilts her head forward, giving the speedster a good look at her forehead. "I know you love me, but, but, ... my face... It's not supposed to be like this. I'm embarrassed."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko sighs and just wraps her arms around Jubilation.  "Okay.  Well I'm not embarrassed myself, but I understand.  I'm sorry I keep pushing.  I just want you to feel comfortable around me and I'm doing a shit job at that.  I can't help that I'm biased and you're still the hottest woman I've seen."  Her heartbeat is steady, no lies.  "I won't push anymore.  Is that what you want?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee frowns a little. She reaches up and moves her hair back in front of her face. "Okay," she agrees quietly. Jubes shifts a little so she can stand up, though the book is left for Noriko, should she want to keep looking through it. "I'm going to go to the Danger Room," she explains. "Blow off some steam."

    "I'll bring back some food for you," Jubilee offers as she makes her way to the door. As time has gone on, Jubilee's retrievals from the kitchen have gotten progressively less food-like. Noriko beware.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Jubes..."  Noriko sounds sad, but she lets Jubes go free when she shifts away.  Her eyes drift toward the book, but remain melancholic.  "Hope whatever you get isn't still wriggling."  Noriko waddles over in a blur after Jubilation and lands a peck on the young vampire's cheek before she can escape away.  "Thanks."  And Noriko keeps eating what Jubilation brings back, as if not to would be some kind of disrespect or violation of her feelings for the vampire.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Sometimes, getting over things just takes time. Sometimes it requires being shoved towards a solution, ready-or-not. And so Noriko would hear the usual sound of the door opening so Jubilee could head out into the hall and then close again. "...I can't believe you were gonna let me leave," she lectures with a growing smirk, her back leaned against the closed door. She shrugs one shoulder and heads through the living room.

    "You'll pay for that," Jubes mutters as she passes Noriko on her way to the bedroom. The door is left open.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko turns swiftly, smarting her bandaged feet, but able to hide the other pain on her face.  Jubilation's words hit Nori's back and the speedster spins back so fast she might as well have cartoon marks swirling about her.  A hopeful expression though her eyes obviously red.  "I'm an idiot.  F-, total dropout," Noriko replies as her gaze is stuck to Jubes' retreating figure, hypnotized.  She is NOT crawling.  She just grits and tries to look intentional as she follows after Jubes, completely open to an ambush.

"I'm counting on it!"  Noriko is all grins.