15303/Fourth of July

Fourth of July
Date of Scene:	04 July 2023
Location:	Breakstone Lake
Synopsis:	Jubilation Lee presents the 4th of the July! Sponsored by Capri Moon!
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Monet St. Croix, Rogue, Lorna Dane, Ororo Munroe, Jean Grey, Noriko Ashida

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Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Now that the sun has fallen below the horizon and the sky has grown dark, expectations for fireworks are at an all-time high. It's the traditional way to celebrate the nation's Independence Day, but the sandy shores of Breakstone Lake are clear of waiting pyrotechnics. Instead, Jubilation Lee paces back and forth across the beach, quietly murmuring to herself about the fireworks she'll do.

    A few dozen feet from the water's edge, wooden picnic tables beckon with a scrumptious display of food and drinks. There are sandwiches, salads, pastries, and an assortment of chilled beverages. Sitting at the end of the picnic table is a tired looking person, pale and confused, who refuses to talk to or look at anyone. The catering accounts for all tastes.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Shouldn't Tabitha be out here as well? Monet goes to walk along with the rest of the group and wanders along. "So, will you be trying to not set the forest on fire tonight?" That's said in passing over to Jubilee without any particular rancor to it. She looks out to the mostly cleared area while she would tap over at her shoulder.
    "MOre's the shame that Ms. Blair and Ms. Smith couldn't make it . I'm sure they would be a lovely addition."

Rogue has posed:
The school is about half capacity over the summer break, not all of the kids are parentless afterall. So with about 30 kids on-hand the lake, the pool, the sport courts and everything else aroundthe backyard is still littered with a variety of different children throughout the evening and up to now where most are gathering around where the food is being served out.

Rogue, having been swimming earlier, and playing volleyball, is walking along the lake shore with her dad beside her. Owen is in his mid fourties, wearing blue jeans and a Gremlins t-shirt, Rogue in a US Olympics Volleyball Bikini with a light airy unbuttoned shirt pulled over it now that the sun is down. Beside them is JEEPERS the X-DOG which Owen holds the leather leash of. The trio are headed for the picnic area with Owen going to gather up some food while handing the leash off to Rogue who settles in at a empty place at the table, adjusting her baggy shirt, and buttoning it up to about halfway now since the day is getting late and the summer sun fun is at its end for the night.

"Sit." Rogue tells Jeepers who pants heavily, and drops his yellow furred butt down on the grass beside the table. He looks around at everyone while wagging his tail against the grass.

Lorna Dane has posed:
    Splitting from the group to find a spot to sit her bigger butt down and take some of her newfound weight off her feet, Lorna holds a juice box in both hands before setting them on the tabletop. Yes, she's being told to drink extra juice. No she's not upset about it.

    She takes the stabby straw and tries to stab it into the straw hole only for it to bend after two tries. A roll of her green eyes and Lorna takes a bobby pin out of her hair to use it briefly to puncture before placing it back into her hair and then puts the straw in the drink.

    "God I'd kill for a margarita." Lorna grumbles to no one, wearing a black one piece swimsuit and a black and slivery sarong around her waist and a pair of flip flops. She smiles to the pale girl at he end of the table and yet looks up to everyone else gathering. "You taught him to sit!?" Lorna says, impressed by Rogue's dog's training.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Ororo is, for once, relaxing. Tireless as she is with her duties at the Mansion she seems committed to enjoying the display and the company around her. Her white hair is worn loose save for a single gold and leather band holding the heaviest locks behind the crown of her skull. Her dress is some thin white linen precisely the color of flawless eggshells. A brass torc holds the dress to her neck and waist, and flowing sleeves attach to bands around her upper arms. It simultaneously looks simple and regal, with subtle touches that make it obvious its not something Ororo picked up off the rack.

Sitting with her back to the picnic table, she does seem unable to fully let go of her watchful nature. One leg is crossed over the other, and she finagles a paper plate with a hot dog on it balanced on her thigh. "Don't think of it that way," Ororo suggests to Lorna with a smile. "Think of it more as an opportunity to cleanse your body. Like a fast," she clarifies.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, I mean, I guess," Jubilee mutters back at Monet. "Can you, like, let me think, Monet? Like, I'm trying to figure out... cone and /then/ confetti... with a brocade at the end... or, like, a dahlia and then falling leaves or something? Like..."

    Jubilation turns towards the motion at the shore line, watching as the others show up. Jeepers gets a frown.

    Contrary to the others with their bathing suits and dog fur, Jubilee seems to have prepared herself above and beyond what might be necessary for a couple hours at the lake. Her hair has been pulled up into a tight bun with side-swept bangs. Her makeup is striking, with dark winglets at the edge of each of her eyes, and dark gloss spread across her lips. Instead of some inappropriately revealing or brightly colored outfit, Jubilation instead wears a skin-tight qipao dress with a red and yellow floral pattern. She's trying to make an impression on someone.

    Perhaps it's for...

    "Jeepers!" Jubilee scowls. "Rogue, why'd you bring your dog?!"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would go to shrug her shoulders then and give a nod over at Jubilee. "Very well." Monet is wearing something that's rather flat (by M standards) consisting of just a dark black one piece. She has a floppy straw hat on. She moves to slide over and take a seat on one of the picker-nick benches and goes to turn to watch the spectacle. The other arrivals are given a nod.
    Noticably, M is not giving the slightest look over at any food that's being brought over to the grills. She finds American deep fried things unappetizing after all! Still, she can apprecaite a good show. There's a small ndo given to Jubilee when no one else is looking - something of light actual appreciation to it.

Jean Grey has posed:
During the day of festivities, Jean has been back and forth from her temporary domicile. The nice thing about living the pool house is that, well, it makes for convenient pool and lake access! And you don't even have to go far for floaty tubes and pool noodles. Equally so, the BAD thing about living in the pool house is that when you're having an event like this, your personal living space gets mixed up in the activities!

She's in her usual green bikini with gold sarong skirt, a look that is always suspiciously costume-y, and makes one wonder if she bought it at the store or just cobbled it together out of molecules WITH HER MIND. The colors work for her! On this trip, she's not hauling anything pool related, but instead took a trip back to the house to grab a few random forgotten things from the kitchen, some of which she carries on a tray, and the rest of which bob along beside her in the air. It's fine to cheat among friends!

Soon, she's made it down to the table with Rogue and her dad. But it's not even Jean who starts the conversation.

"So Owen," says one ELAINE Grey. "Are you two gonna come up and visit us for the next holiday?" Indeed, the whole Grey Clan is here today. If Jean isn't gonna drive the hour up to enjoy the 4th with them, they've decided to invade instead. Sara homes in on Jeepers. "Do the fireworks bother him?"

Rogue has posed:
Owen returns to the table within a few minutes, carrying a plate for he and Rogue loaded up with hotdogs and fried chicken, among a few side dish options as well. As he arrives he overhears the question about Jeepers which has the older man smirking some. His eyes go to Elaine as he settles in beside his daughter. "Uh... which is the next holiday?" He asks, clearly a connoisseur of American holiday events. "But yeah, if you're havin' guests, I'd be happy to come out and see your place. Anna-Marie said it's quite a shack." He states with a grin as he glances from Rogue to the Greys.

"Because..." Rogue says back to Jubilee with a sigh. "If I leave him in my room and the fireworks start goin' off he'll tear up every bit'a fabric he can get his muzzle on. He might even vomit on the bed, or in the closet. He can't be couped up inside while we're out here."

Rogue looks to Sarah with a smile, as she reaches over to pat Jeepers on the head. "Yeah. I mean... not really. He just can't handle if we're havin' fun without him. That's when he really riots." She explains.

"Welcome back." Rogue says to Jean with another light smile before she looks around at the group gathered up. "So is this gonna be bigger than last years?" She has to ask it, someone has to ask it every year.

Lorna Dane has posed:
    "Ororo." Lorna says with a look towards the weather witch, and her lips curling around her tiny bent straw and she squeezes the juice box as she slurps it up. "I'm trying, but dang, this weather, the atmosphere, and the friendship here. It would all be better with that hint of booze, don't you agree?" She says and then takes another long sip from her children's drink.

    Lorna gives a nod to Monet, and lifts up her green apple juice box to give a small toast, then towards the approaching Jean. "Glad you could make it!" The queen says with a greeting before a polite nod towards the Grey clan and then finally Owen. She'll have to stand up and meet them all as the night goes on, but she is going to take a moment longer to rest her feet still. The showing baby bump hopefully will let her take the moment.

    Lorna does lift her head slightly as the scent of barbeeque catches her attention and smirks as she twists her head to look in the direction that Owen just appeared from. "Oooh." She coos to herself, but still finds the strugle to stand real.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Ororo looks back at Lorna and flashes a bright grin at her. "Not at all," she says, wagging her chin up and down in the affirmative! She glances at the wine next to her, and makes a bit of theater out of moving it out of Lorna's immediate line of sight. "It won't be forever, dear. We will toast your birth in due course."

She turns her sky-blue gaze upwards, just checking for any weather patterns that slipped past her. The dusk sky remains clear as crystal-- at least, within ten miles of the Institute. She looks at Jean to catch her eye and makes a subtle gesture at the telepath. <I hope the family visit is going well,> Ororo offers with a comforting tone, as Elaine and Roger start chatting with each other. <It seems like everyone is getting along smashingly.>

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Uh huh," Jubilee replies to Rogue, not sounding too convinced of it. Jeepers always seems to be around. "That dog is, like, always around. I think I saw him in my front yard the other night..." It could've been her imagination, but it seemed like Jeepers showed up to do some business and then left...

    As Jean comes in with others in tow, Jubilee rises onto the balls of her feet and cranes her neck, as though looking for something or someone specific. "Hey, uh, Jean... Was there anyone coming, like, that you saw? Like, behind you?" she wonders, calling out loudly to the headmistress and anyone else who might be within earshot. One of her hands gently pulls the material of her qipao dress to make the thigh slit cover more skin.

    Soon, it would be time for Jubilee to focus on the task at hand, though, and it's in that task that she'd find herself down at the waterline, where the sand becomes cold and wet. Both hands rise above her head, as if something might begin, but... something's wrong.

    Jubilation turns and looks at Ororo and tilts her neck towards a nearby bluetooth speaker. "Stormy, can you hit the play button on that?" Jubes shouts over, nudging her chin in the direction of the speaker a couple of times.

Jean Grey has posed:
Well, we usually have some people over Labor Day weekend," Elaine goes on. It probably isn't surprising that they're the kind of people who do a lot of entertaining. "But that's really just an excuse. You're welcome any time, if you want to do something smaller." Right at the 'nice shack' line, Jean comes around to stand behind her dad after setting down her various trays, floating and otherwise. "They've still got the old treehouse up and everything," she points out, grinning.

"Well, someone's always got kids," John explains, as if it's necessary to justify such a frivolous thing!

Sara just seems in love with the dog, offering sympathetic scritches at the suggestion he might miss out on the fun. "Well we wouldn't want that, would we? No we wouldn't! You wanna be out here for all the fun, yes you do!"

The family fun continues, Jean watching with a happy smile over all of it. <<I think they're really enjoying it,>> she thinks back at Ororo, before Jubilee catches her attention. "Hmm. I didn't see anyone, although it's hard to keep track. I think you can start. Liam?!" The last is shouted, down toward the water. "You got all the kids down there?"

Down by the water, the younger brother herds his niece and nephew back toward the food. "Got 'em, Jeaniebean."

There really are a lot of them!

"Speaking of," and Jean turns to Sara, "have you thought about-"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would give a nod over at Ms. Grey's family as she would fold her hands. Going through thier names in turn in case they came up to her for conversation. She would smile over at them and exchange pleasantries with anyone who was approaching her. She would turn around to the others coming over, and then watch.
    "I'm glad that this event has a good turnout, Ms. Grey. And a pleasure to get to meet people." The words were spoken out of a senes of etiquette rather than sincerity - but M knew the sort of appropriate behavior to put on in these events. It was a holiday so be polite. Smile.
    Don't go near the food. Don't go to snark over at the ones that were njoying themselves, going to be spending time with friends and family, and making an event. And push away in her mind the sense of complete loneliness far away.

Rogue has posed:
"Oh come on." Rogue says softly to Jubes between munching on curly fries that her father included on her plate. "I'm sure it was just some other Yellow Lab. How would Jeepers know where you live now? Hell, I don't even know where you live now." Munch munch munch.

Owen casts a smile over to Elaine, along with a nod before he strokes his thick salt'n'pepper hued beard. "Labor Day. That's right... That's when the city fair came in to town back in Meridian." He glances to Rogue on his right. "Remember that, Pumpkin? Used to take you to it with your mom... You loved the kiddie coaster that was a fire breathin' dragon."

This, of course, gets Rogue to glance to her left to her dad and she smirks. "I don't remember that, but ... I've kinda flushed most'a Meridian outta my mind. Bein' chased outta a town by a gang'a hicks with guns an' pitch forks has that effect on a person..."

Owen has to frown a bit at this comment from his kid. "Somethin' else I need ta look into, huh?" He asks lightly back.

Meanwhile, Jeepers is absolutely losing his mind at Sarah's affection shown to him. He's barely able to contain himself as he bounces around in front of Sarah, his tail wagging side to side.

Rogue nods to Lorna then. "I got him trained by professionals." She answers the Queen's earlier question. "He got a A+ on his test. I... uh... I got a B- on it, the parts where I'm supposed to work with him." She has to clear her throat after that.

In Jeeper's happy madness, his tail bats at a cup on the table's edge, and it causes it to spill the contents right over toward the Bluetooth Speaker that Jubilee was wasking Ororo to turn on!

Lorna Dane has posed:
    Lorna, seated near Storm hears Jubilation call out to the other queen and decides she's going to at least try. She reaches a hand out and finds Ororo is much much closer and so she strains a bit more and, "Got it!" She calls out as Ororo in fact, 'gets it'. Lifting her juice box in smug playful satisfaction, Lorna sits back up straight and smiles to Ororo, enjoying the silent laugh.

    Lorna then finishes her first juice box and squeezes it into trash that she leaves on the table. A look to Rogue, "How'd that make you feel Rogue?" Lorna asks with a sad kind of look, like she doesn't think Rogue is a B- and wonders how the girl would feel being told she earned such an evaluation

    Slowly, Lorna gets back onto her feet and walks past most tables, asking Monet, Rogue, and Ororo if they'd like anything while she's up. "Drinks, burgers?" She's being polite, and trying to work on her thankfulness and kindness.

    She moves over towards the grill to grab a paper plate for herself and takes only a burger, a little red meat she thinks will be okay, not a lot, and it's well done. Things in moderation. Plenty of lettuce, TONS of mustard for some reason she is craving the tart.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Ororo laughs merrily at Lorna's feeble attempt to help, shaking her head with an amused expression. She's quite near the speaker when she sees the Disaster Tail wagging dangerously and sending the glass' contents spilling across the table! Ororo reaches out quickly to save the speaker by lifting it in both hands and holding it aloft.

"Silly dog," she chivvies the pup-- but he gets a scritch behind the ears anyway. It's not like he *meant* to do it. The speaker is set down and she turns the speaker on with a press of a long index finger and gestures at Jubilation. "Got it," she calls over to the 'fireworks engineer'.

The weather shaper retrieves her plate and goes to load it up with another hot dog and some crisps from the table. "Mustard is good, it stimulates blood flow," Ororo murmurs to Lorna. The green-haired queen gets a squeeze of the arm and Ororo moves back to her seat, sitting down with an effortless grace and crossing one leg over the other again. "Everyone loves a treehouse, John," Ororo tells Jean's father. "We have one here on the property. Well, one sanctioned one. There are others out in the woods that the kids have built over the years, but they are far from finished," she says, and laughs gently.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I know what I saw!" Jubilation shouts back at Rogue, though a fangy smile makes it clear she's not really that mad. But, it's Jean that manages to get a real reaction from Jubes. "Oh," is Jubilee's reply to Jean's report with no shortage of disappointment in her tone. "Really? Like, no one else was coming? You didn't see anyone? Like, maybe just... running late?" First, her gaze turns upwards, as if it was possible for her to look at her own hair. Then, she looks down at her qipao and frowns, annoyed and wondering why she even bothered. Still... The show must go on.

    Once Ororo does the honors, the speaker begins to play The Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga. o/~

    Jubilation stands there, nodding her head to the beat, awkwardly waiting for Gaga's voice to ring out. As soon as the lyrics start, Jubilation begins to throw her hands into the air, alternating left and right, in sync to the beat. As each fist opens, Jubes spreads her fingers, and a colorful explosion of plasmoids erupts high in the evening sky. Instead of the usual red, white, and blue fare, the explosions are of the pastel variety, with bright yellows, pinks, greens, and blues.

    Jubes ramps things up by swaying from side to side, alternating her weight between her hips. The explosions start small and quiet, but they begin to grow in size and volume. Once the beat kicks in full force, Jubilation leaps off of one foot and begins to dance across the beach, still throwing her arms into the air, losing herself in the music, the dancing, and the explosions of light and color happening in the sky all around her. It's the most alive she's seemed since...well, dying.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
And there's a very, very low smile from M that's given in Jubilee's direction as the girl seems to be so happy for a change. That's something that Monet can appreciate. Jubilee's earned it - be still her unbeaten heart. Monet looks up into the air to take in the spectacle. Making no real event to approach anyone, itneract with anyone, or do anything to approahc the food that's rapidly being taken over to the barbecue pit.
    She's content to just enjoy the sights, the sounds, and people 'oohing' and 'ahhing' to things. Even when she's not contributing to it! She can let someone else do the work for once. She goes to take a seat on a bench, one leg curled up against her, arms propped over on it. Her head lightly bobbling over to the music and her lips upwards in a sincere smile.

Jean Grey has posed:
"They're still a little young to worry about it, aren't they still?" Sara answers Jean, first looking up from the dog, and then rising. Obviously the two of them are carrying on a familiar, well-tread conversation, as sisters do. Though the context here might suggest something a little more than the usual. She gives Jeepers a last pat on the head and then goes to intercept her children as Liam brings them back. "Lets get you all food. Who wants hotdogs?!"

"Me! Me! Me!" Who -doesn't- want hotdogs?

It's maybe convenient that she misses the bit about the guns and pitchforks, which draws an obviously sore look with Jean's parents, and especially her dad. He had his own close call, when their home was attacked. That treehouse? It's the only original part left, after the house burned down. "This is why I worry about having the grandkids-"

"There's nowhere in the world they'd be safer than right here," Jean points out, a bit more firmly. "Which is exactly -why- I've been trying to get Sara to-"

It's apparently more than a sibling discussion, but an ongoing family debate!

"You know, we should take them out to see it," Jean suggests, as Ororo points out their own variety of arboreal fortifications. "If not tonight, then the next time you guys visit. The area behind the lake, there's really tons back there, room to hike and have fun in the woods." John is sitll a little grumpy about, well, whatever, but he has to agree, "Yeah, Chuck's always had a real beautiful place."

All Grey drama aside, the kids get their food (maybe Lorna can give them burgers!) and everyone mostly settles in for the show. Jean teases Rogue about her grade. "Sounds familiar." She should know: she's seen Rogue's report cards! As for Jubilee's disappointment, the brief intensity of it hits Jean (you know, MIND stuff) and she makes a little 'oh' of realization. "I'm sure she's- coming--" And then the explosions start!

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is dabbing at her lips with a napkin when Lorna returns having asked that question. "How did it make me feel that my dog scored a higher grade on the same test as me?" She asks with a half smirk. "How do you think it made me feel?" She adds before she looks over to Jeepers who is switching between Sarah and Ororo now to show his affection through the presence of a slobbery pink tongue lolling out the side of his face as he looks from one of them to the other. Rogue pats him on the head too which gets some of his attention now as well, as does the food on Rogue's plate... easily distracted doggy...

"I've seen that tree house on ya'lls property." Rogue chimes in over the Grey's family home. "That thing is nicer than most normal houses back in Meridian." She jokes with a grin sent to her dad who just smirks at the joke. "I can believe it." He fires back before taking a swig of his cola cup.

"Did ya'll know that Pepsi is sellin some kinda new condiment named Cola-Chup this year?" Owen asks moments before the fireworks start going off which draws his attention along with everyone else's.

Rogue had been smirking Jean's way, but hadn't had a chance to respond before the show started and her eyes too were sent upward toward the sky and the pretty lights, and booms. She doesn't solely look up though, as she also has to watch Jubilee who has been one of her oldest friends here at the school, and the dancing gets a light hearted laugh from the Belle amongst all the booming and crackling going off now, not to mention the Gaga'ing.

Students start to make their way down from the house once the fireworks start going off, some carrying sports equipment, others water guns. Up on the back patio Charles Xavier is sitting at a table with a small collection of his colleagues and friends, as he is prone to do on holiday events like this.

Collectively the whole of Westchester is celebrating tonight too, and since it's one of the richest counties in the nation, there are a lot of pretty big fireworks popping off in the distance too, in every direction.

Lorna Dane has posed:
    "Thank you." Lorna says softly but turns back to the grill to finish grabbing her burger fixin's and yet she doesn't want to miss Jubilation's show. She's never seen the girl in action like this. Something so natural that one would just assume she's in charge of the fireworks, and thinking back, she's surprised she's never seen a show like this.

    It's as she's nearly done with her own burger prep that the army of the soulless arrive. "Oh goodness!" Lorna says as she straightens up and spies the hungry eyes of several Greys. "I'd ask who your with but I think your pretty hair is enough of an answer already no?" Lorna says, a hint of that budding maternal instinct starting to show. She moves back towards the girl. "Okay, everyone grab a plate, and the buns you want. I'll get your meats." She says, as she floats a pair of tongs over to her hands and clicks them twice in front of the youngest Grey's nose. "What kind do you want?" She asks kindly, using a cheated bit of metal to move her own plate with the mustarded up burger on it back over to her spot on the table. So she doesn't forget later.

    "Jean, your family is always welcome to Genosha too. If you want safe and since it sounds like no one's sure if they... M'd or not yet." Lorna calls out as she's dropping a patty onto the older boy's plate, "Eat that and we'll get you more later if you're still hungry."

    Of course all of this was interrupted by the fireworks show, and by kids and adults both pausing to gawk up at the sky with ideas of dreams and hopes all lingering in the fronts of their minds. It's too fun not to watch. Too pretty to NOT be distracted. "S-sorry. Here ya go." Lorna says putting the last hot dog on the last plate and moving slowly back over towards her spot next to Ororo. She'll ask Rogue more about her feelings later. After the show.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Ororo watches Lorna with a largely unreadable expression as the green-haired woman starts helping some of the children with their dining needs. A beat later it breaks into an approving smile as her train of thought clearly leads Ororo to some happy conclusion. She's distracted enough that she almost misses Jean's statement but it comes through the edge of her awareness and she swings her arresting blue gaze to the Headmistress.

"You hardly need twist my arm to take a walk in the woods," Ororo agrees with Jean, smiling at the Greys and Rogue's family. "It is a proper New England forest. Lots of healthy plants and undergrowth, and great old trees on every hill. Some of them have been here for over a century." When Lorna arrives, Ororo offers to hold the woman's plate and drink while she gets settled back into place.

The fireworks popping off attract Ororo's focus and she stares skywards as they burst. She's one of the first to start applauding, some of the students cheering and celebrating in her wake at the spectacular show Jubilee puts on.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation keeps the energy going, dancing and grooving to the song while her hands seem to throw explosions of light and color into the evening sky. It's not long before gymnastics enters into the routine. While the show continues in the sky, Jubilation gets carried away and leaps into a trio of cartwheels as neon-colored streamers swirl around her. At a dramatically appropriate time, she lands the last cartwheel and thrusts her finger into the air above her head. Red, white, and blue streams of micro-explosions seem to dance around her, circling from the tip of her finger and down her arm, then around her waist, and finally break off to flirt in the air in front of the Grey children. They swirl and shimmer for a few moments before disappearing into nothingness.

    Down on the beach, Jubilee spins around on the ball of her foot, and bends one knee while holding a pose with her arm held up high. Overhead, a red dahlia explosion transitions into a blue and white falling leaf pattern that begins to fade away just as Lady Gaga does.

    After holding that pose for a moment longer, Jubilee shifts her weight onto her tippy-toes, once again to scope out who's here and who isn't, and then slumps forward. She kicks up sand as she stomps back towards the rest of the group.

    "I went with the leaf and the dahlia," Jubes mutters to Monet as she approaches.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would go to approach Jubilee over after the woman had finished it. She doesn't applaud - that's not M's thing after all. But she would bow her head over ina ppreciation. "You did well." About as much approvla as she would ever give anyone under any sort of circumstances. She had kept her attention on the performance the entire time. There's none of her usual snippienss present. This is an event with children and family having fun after all. So she doesn't project anything.
    THen a slight comment. "You should do this more often." Wait, was M not only saying that she event had been acceptable but that she was impressed enough to even go to it again, eprhaps? What had the world come ot!?

Jean Grey has posed:
Lorna indeed gets swarmed! Fortunately, she's not left solely to fend for herself, as Sara tags along to make sure the kids behave. And they do, for the most part, although there are some notable squeals of amusement as she puts on her magnetic display, as well as calls for food that vary from 'hot dog!' and 'hamburger' to 'stegosaurus!' Kids love dinosaurs. "What do we tell the lovely Queen of the Grill?" their mother prompts them. "Thaaaaaank yoooouuuu!"

All the cuteness aside, the woman's smile is... just a little uneasy as Lorna mentions Genosha as another possibility, or perhaps because she puts the subtext of what she and Jean have been going back and forth about a little more out into the open. She lowers her voice a little. "We obviously don't know for sure, but..."

Jean overhears enough, that she cuts in - and not aloud. <<After I joined the school, my parents had Charles test my siblings. He thinks she's latent but never had the X-gene activate, for whatever reason. It's the same with her kids. They're not old enough yet, but...>>

<<Oh my god Jean, not the head stuff again!>>

<<Sorry, I just thought it would be easier this way->>

"Anyway, I do appreciate it, your ah, highness," Sara says aloud, forehead scrunching at the simultaneous conversation. "But they have school and it's just..." Nevermind the whole Choice A: Death Commandos. Choice B: Brainiac. "C'mon kids. Let's take your food back to the table with granmma and grampa." This fails, because the kids are currently ENTRANCED by Jubilee's performance. "We wanna watch the pretty lady with the sparkles!" "Well you can watch from over there!"

Back at the table, Jean looks a little exhausted by it all, and lets her attention drift between Jubilee's performance, her family, and Rogue and Owen. "Maybe, after this, just a -small- family thing..."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is leaning backwards against the table now with her legs up and her bare feet on the edge of her seat. She's watching the fireworks, she's watching Jubilee, and she's making sure Jeepers is okay with it all too. Jeepers is just staring at the handful of curly fries that the Belle has, and is feeding him some of here and there between feeding herself. She's one of the many releasing the audible "oos' and 'Awwws' at the fancy displays too, and manages to miss most of the Grey's conversation. She does glance in Jean's direction though and offers her a smile before the flashing lights draw her eyes back up to the sky, while her right hand snakes down to give her dog another season fry, that the Lab eagerly snaps his mouth around and woofs down.

Owen was transfering his eyes from the show, to Jubilee, offering a few rounds of applause and cheers himself, but he does manage to catch Jean's expression, and with a whipping of a napkin off of a small plate, he gathers up the plate and offers it to Jean, it containing a single mini-cupcake. He smiles to her before he sits back much like his daughter, and puts an arm around behind her shoulders.

His free hand now goes up as Jubilee finishes her show, and the music dies down. He does a appreciatieve whistle with two of his fingers at the corners of his mouth, one of those super loud whistles with a nice melodic flutter to it.

Rogue just cheers for Jubilee as the rest of the yard is doing just about the same, even the ornery kids still up on the lawn with the water guns, who fire them up in the air only to get rained down upon which leads to more childish squeals and laughter.

Charles, and his friends, are too clapping from all the way up at the house on the patio.

Lorna Dane has posed:
    "No pressure, just, giving you an option." Lorna says to Sara with a falsetto sort of smile. Practiced, perfect on the outside, but one that quickly fades once no one's looking. She's being diplomatic as always, and she doesn't seem bothered by Jean's telepathy, simply a smiling shrug given to the headmistress as she's not going to get involved in any other family's family drama. She's got enough of her own.

    Sitting finally back with Ororo, Lorna takes a deep breath. "I'm not having that many." She warns, trying to prevent Ororo from getting any wild ideas. Looking up at the last bits of the show, Lorna does clap, and the tongs in the back at the grill clap, and the spatulas at the back also clap together. A lot of banging and uproar from the monarch towards the vamp. "Looks great from down here." She shouts as she unwraps her new straw to get into her last juice box.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Ororo laughs softly at Lorna's warning. "Don't be so quick to sell yourself short. There could be a whole classroom of Genoshan royalty lurking in your future. Or, if you're anything like Jean, legions of *potential* children." She glances sidelong at Jean and grins teasingly at her old friend.

She joins the applause with everyone else as the show concludes, and flashes her most approving smile at Jubilee as the girl returns to the fold. "That was very well done, Jubilation. You outdid yourself. Even better than last year," she assures her. "Come, sit with us and-- rest." She almost says 'eat' but thinks better of it.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, yeah, yeah, very funny...." Jubilee mutters back at the how-could-she-possibly-be-sincere Monet St. Croix. "It's just 'cuz Dazzler was on tour, I bet." Jubes takes a step to move past Monet but hesitates. "Don't tell Alison I used Gaga..." she adds, raising both eyebrows at Monet. Totally serious!

    Jubilee continues walking along the picnic table and waves her hand in the air at the applause and cheers and kind words. After a beat, she smiles a little and shrugs one shoulder. "....'merica!" she announces with a fangy grin, doing her best to add some southern twang to how she pronounces it.

    Jubilation tippy-toes one last time to get a little inventory of who showed up and who's absent, and then frowns at her dress again. What was the point?

    "Huh, wha?" Jubilee answers Ororo, her mouth already wide open. She looks over, wide-eyed like a deer in headlights, as she's addressed by the teacher. At some point in the last few seconds, she had made her way next to the confused, tired stranger quietly seated at the end of the table, and brought his limp wrist up to her mouth. She's ready to bite down, too! But... doesn't.

    "Actually..." she begins, her attention briefly fluttering to all the children who would've seen her do something really scary. "I think I better start heading back 'home'... It's, uh, in town..." Jubes had moved out, evidently, without saying anything. Jubilee nodes her head a couple more times, though she seems a bit unenthused by the idea of leaving.

    "Thanks for the clear skies, Stormy," Jubilation adds before starting her trek across the sand. "Oh, and can someone take care of that for me?" The /that/ is the tired guy quietly seated at the table. "Thanks!"

    Just as Jubilee is about to disappear into one of the trails that could bring her to where her Vespa is parked, she can be seen undoing the tight bun in her hair, shaking it out, and muttering the word 'unbelievable...' under her lack-of-breath.

Jean Grey has posed:
Cupcakes can do wonders, miniature or not! Admist all the party chaos and family arguments, it's a high point, and Jean takes the plate with a grateful smile. "Thanks." She daintily nabs the little mini treat, unpeels the wax paper, and soon pops it in her mouth. Omnom!

Despite Jubilee's enticements, Sara eventually gets the kids sitting and eating in mostly-civilized fashion. No one throws anything larger than a glob of catchup, and this is considered a win! And given her discretion (or perhaps because they're now focused on scarfing down their own meals), no one is traumatized by any vampiric bloodshed! Eventually, John gets up to go bother Charles up on the patio, while Elaine helps Sara with the kids. Things settle down into the normal bbq buzz and ambient holiday energy, which is still chaotic, but in a familiar way.

As for what Ororo says? "This is why I'm defying the timeline!" she declares. "Don't put it that way in front of your father," Elaine mutters.

Family!

"Thanks for doing this, Jubilation. We'll definitely handle, uh, everything else. And I hope you're settling in alright." She doesn't question the change in residence. It's what students are supposed to do, right, grow up and move away? Nevermind the particulars, here...

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko had heard the fireworks.  She figures someone must have gone to the store and put some cotton in her ears, which turned out to be a bad idea later.  It's just that she couldn't stand the reminder that Jubes is gone.  She's whimpering softly in the casket they shared, tears all spent.

Suddenly, Noriko realizes those aren't store bought fireworks.  She /knows/ these pops, she knows the flair, that song.  Her ears suddenly ignite with the spark that jolts through her body.  "IT'S JUBES!" she shouts to no one as she bolts upright, her tears shedding from her face with the force of it.

Suddenly, Noriko realizes her ears are kinda on fire and simply shakes the fire out by shaking her head, then plucking the lightly charred tufts from her ears.  She hops out of the coffin and high tails it to the mirror.

"Rough."  Nori grimaces and commences the I-CAN-TOTALLY-DO-THIS-TIME-TO-GET-HOT-IN-3-SECONDS operation which takes longer than 3 seconds.  She hops in the freezing shower, not even waiting for it to get hot and calculates during this burning cold that she could dry her hair along the way right?

But her makeup.  That has to be done.  Her teeth chattering, head sopping wet, she somehow manages to even do her eyes.  WHAT THE HELL IS SHE GOING TO WEAR?!  She settles for something she figures will get Jubes' attention.

Halfway out the door, she stops, a slake of droplets shooting across the hall off of her form, well her head.  She darts back to the fridge to grab a pouch of blood that has some weird drawing on the side in sharpie.

Out the door the speedster goes, down the stairs, because the elevator is too slow, and out to find the fireworks show is definitely over.  Noriko races right out to where everyone is gathered and zips around at a blurry speed before coming to a halt, her lower lip stuck out in confusion.

"Jubilation was here?"  Noriko actually is trying to catch her breath.  "She left?"  Realizing the answer to her own question, coming to terms with it before anyone can really answer, seeing Capris Moon boy looking wan and a little lost, Noriko lets out a single tiny sob before taking off in an uncharacteristically bright display that stays away from other living objects.  A bright ball of lightning appears to travel across campus until it safely disappears into the forest.

Rogue has posed:
With her napkin full of curly fries finished off, and Jeepers waiting for more, Rogue turns around to face the table again. "That was great, Jubes." She says without looking to her friend who is in the process of leaving. "Better than last year even." She adds as she picks up a half a hotdog that she drops down to her cool dog. He snags it up and chews it down in a single breath or two. As Jubilee walks off in to the dark, Jeepers looks in her wake ... and barks three times before stopping.

This causes Rogue to look off in Jubilee's fleeing direction. She frowns then before she reaches for her phone out of her loose shirt pocket. She instantly starts tapping out a text to send to Jubilee 'Tell me where your new place is' and sends it off with a little 'blurp' noise from her phone's messaging service.

When Rogue looks up again, she looks to her dad. "Wanna make a plate for Logan an' take it up to him?" She asks, which garners a 'Sure' from Owen in response who dusts off his fingers and rises up to do just so.

Rogue too stands up, with her plate and cup to take to the waste bin. "Who wants to go on a late night forest hike? We got tree houses and old deer stands, and the Breakstone Slasher is out there somewhere too."

Time to get all the little Grey kids scared!