15603/Just In The Neighborhood

Just In The Neighborhood
Date of Scene:	13 August 2023
Location:	Nevermore Point (Manor House)
Synopsis:	Monet St. Croix manages to track down Jubilee and check on the prodigal vampire. She finds her rocking out to the Spice Girls.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Monet St. Croix

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Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Most neighborhoods have a negative attitude towards loud activity after the sun goes down, but Nevermore Point is off the beaten path, hidden away in one of the old, forgotten parts of historical Westchester. The Manor House sat empty, aging its way into the history books, until a local figurehead needed her own place to live. And so, tonight, the Manor House is treating anyone in the area to up-tempo pop hits as loud as Jubilee's bluetooth speaker can handle.

    Anyone brave enough to get this close to Nevermore Point at this time of night (hey, the local kids say it's haunted to the extreme!) would see that the owner carelessly left the front door open. Jubilation Lee is dancing to the loud music in the Manor House's foyer, eyes closed, hair flailing around in every direction as she sings along -- badly and off-key. It's more of a yelling, but does she care?

    What do you think?

Monet St. Croix has posed:
It's all rather dramatic. Which is rather impressiv eto Monet. She didn't think that Jubilee had this sort of flair in her. She hadn't had any luck tracking down the girl until she had been across Westchester. Casually scanning minds.. Then picking up thoughts of the music.. Which was easily identifiable. The thoughts then confirming from someone without a heartbeat.. Monet had just tracked down where the location was (the vamp alas had not gone on about meddling kids).
    She goes to casually enter in as the door is left open. For once going without making a spectacle of it. She just waits over for Jubilee to spin about then for finishing one of her twirls.
    "Spice Girls, Ms. Lee? I suppose that makes sense."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "....If you wanna be my lover, you have got to giiiive! Taking is to easy, but that's the way it----!"

    Something primal stirs inside Jubilation. She's lost in the music, the movement, the singing, the dancing with her eyes closed, but the darkness she carries with her is never lost. It's always on the hunt. Always waiting. Always ready. Suddenly, Jubilation stops singing and turns abruptly towards Monet. Her expression has curled into a snarl, mouth open, fangs at the ready. Her brow has formed a hard line. She looks totally evil.

    HISSSSSSSSS!

    It looks like this is it for Ol' Monet St. Croix... But...

    No.

    Jubilation's features relax as she regains control of herself. Embarrassing. It's the sort of thing vampires laugh at each other about, it happens to them all, but it's always embarrassing. Jubilation grimaces, though, for an entirely different reason. She's been found.

    "Oh, fuck!" is all she can say.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would take a moment over to evaluate Jubilee, looking her up and down. She watches her carefully. Not reaidng her mind, or doing anything to invade it. "Your singing was impressive. I was able to pick up people complaining about it for nearly ten blocks. You might want to reconsider leaving the doors open in the future. It carries." She plays over to her role now - it's a way to let Jubilee keep her emotional distance if need be.
    The girl seems healthy (as much as an undead can) and emotionally reasonable. "You seem like you've been doing well. Taking advantage of freedom to run around all the time in your pajamas is very much what we all dreamed of spending our lives doing as children as soon as we were an adult on our own." She takes a breath and then purses her lips.
    "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. You just haven't been seen in some time and.. I was worried." Wait.
    Monet was.. Worried?

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation does a vampire sigh, which isn't much more than just a sloooooow blink. Without air-filled lungs, it's the best way to communicate the same thing. Annoyed. "Yeah, well, like, I forgot," she explains. To close the door, that is.

    Monet's comment gets a shrug from Jubilee. "Not everyone can handle the pajama life, Monet. You don't choose it. It chooses you," she replies with a fangy smirk.

    Wait. Wait. Hold on. Jubilation pulls her phone out and taps the screen, pausing the music. For further effect, she makes a record-screech sound with her mouth.

    "/Worried/?!" she repeats. "Worried? /You/?"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would just go to cross her arms, taking in Jubilee's positioning over. "Yes, yes, and the neighbors are too intimidated over by your rather spooky manor and enjoyable disposition to speak up. You need a butler whom you can ring up over and a disembodied hand to come up and over to render you aid when you snap your fingers." Yes, apaprently even M was going to go for the low hanging fruit.
    "Yes, Ms. Lee, I was worried. You -are- a friend and no one has seen you for months. You're not the type to wander far and wide. Nor has there been any appreciable /gossip/ from the natives about you. I was worried that something had happened to you when you were alone and had no one to watch your back."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, yeah, I know it has that whole Addams Family kind of vibe," Jubilee answers, her tone suggesting that it's a conversation she's either had a lot or expected to have a lot. But, what comes next is especially strange.

    "I tried a couple times to fix it, but, like, it doesn't like it," she says. Jubes shrugs, like it's just some tiny detail like low water pressure. "...It always changes back to this." Jubes extends a hand to gesture to the spooky interior. Another shrug.

    "Plus... I have a guy," Jubilee adds, rolling her eyes a little at the reminder. "But, I'm trying to avoid calling him." Weird! Vague!

    Monet's concern -- legitimate concern -- gets a frown from the vampiress. "...What are you talking about? Nothing's happening to me," she protests.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would go to enter in once it's clear that Jubilee isn't going to outright shove her out. "I suppose if you're going to play fully by stereotype and that you lack any overall sense of creativity in the matter one ight as well go ahead. Where's the small flock of bats coming and going though?" She would look about the interior.
    "Ah, interesting." Accepting it reverting back over the possibility of Jubilee being too lazy to actually put effort in; which is where her initial commentary would have been.
    "No, likely not. But none of us knew if you had. You vanished, pardon the comment, in the dead of night." Jubilee probably deserved that.
    "We were worried. You -are- a friend."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "We use ravens," Jubilee responds glumly to Monet's question about where the bats are. "I tried to teach them how to text but, like, it's hopeless..." She shakes her head disapprovingly.

    "I didn't /vanish/... I just, like, left without saying where I was going."

    There's an abrupt change of subject. "So, like, are you still a mutant?" she wonders casually. The recent news of an alleged cure is hard to miss. Jubilee, though, is not much of an academic, so she's likely behind on all the particulars.

    "Is, um, everyone...still a mutant?" she adds. While she's trying to appear casual about it, Jubilation is extremely obvious. She has one mutant on her mind.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would sigh, "As far as I'm aware. And have you considered telling them that therea re things that are easier to use if they insist on using messenger animals? I might suggest crows. A murder of them is a far more intimidating statement after all than a flock. If your brethren wish to have a touch of the theatre to them."
    She doesn't push on the point. "For now. The.. Vaccine has not been deployed. But there's talk of it being used on mutants that are incarcerated. If it is legitimate. The group that is producing it has.. Considerable assets."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "It's not like I haven't tried. But, like, everyone is kind of stuck the way they were when they died," Jubilee explains with no shortage of annoyance. Still, she finds a way to give Monet a hard time. "...Oh, gee, I guess that means I'm going to be forever eighteen years old..." Jubilation's mouth curls into a wry smile. "So, like, when you're using your powers to cheat at bingo in the old folks home, I guess I'll just be... well, just like this." Her smile widens. Still, she wouldn't brag about it if it wasn't a constant nightmare to be a vampire. It's nothing to brag about.

    "Yeah, like, there were some locals who weren't too happy about it," Jubilation explains. "Bad for business. But, well, I think word has finally gotten out that selling mutant blood in Westchester is a good way to earn a pointy one."

    Jubilee leaves that sinister point to speak for itself. Her mind lingers elsewhere. "So, uh, how is everyone?" she asks hopefully. It doesn't take a telepath to know Jubilee is asking about a very specific someone.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would take a moment to listen to Jubilee babble on, being sure to listen to ehr and take her seriously. "Yes, Ms. Lee, but I won't have lead a life of looking like a doll. Do you forever wish to have your ID checked every single place you go? And have no one ever listen to you and call you a child? That will get old after the first two or three centuries, I presume. Then you'll start wanting to color your hair grey so you can get taken seriously." She gives the girl a very sincere response.
    "And.. There are organized groups selling mutant blood?" Handled yes or no, that's still a very, very bad thing. She takes a breath at that last bit.
    "She's fine. Safe. And.." Monet's body posture is tight. Her tone is left unvoiced.. but Jubilee can read her. Tensing, unsure.
    Worried. Worried was how that very specific person was.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I think I'll be able to manage," Jubilee replies oh-so-confidently. Anyone familiar with her mannerisms would surely notice that this is just another example of her overly cheerful defense mechanism. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that being a vampire sucks.

    "There were. It's very good," Jubilee explains with a casual shrug of one shoulder. "/But/ ... I think everyone knows what happens to the dopes who think they can get away with it." Jubilee does a few pretend karate moves -- a couple air-punches and a little kick -- before pretending to thrust an invisible wooden stake through an imaginary vampire dealing mutant blood for money.

    Monet's answer about how 'everyone' is doing pulls Jubilee out of her pretend-playing. She smiles softly to herself and looks down at the wooden floor. The smile lingers. "...Good," she answers. She's fine. Safe.

    Oh!

    "...How rude of me... " Jubilee's eyes shift towards one of the foyer egresses. "...I don't have any food, but I've got some O negative..."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
That's all the message htat needs to go back and forth for just the moment. "It's ever so good to see that being here hasn't made you lose your bite, Ms. Lee. I'ts not the same without having someone that can throw out such sass as yourself. The Mansion is quieter and there's no one that can quite as haze the younger students as you can. Tabitha is far too easygoing and the teenagers are left untraumatized. The place is far too peppy and cheery without your presence there." Aww, she's missed!
    "And thank you." For handling the pepole selling mutant blood? Or doing worse things to them that gets the point across? And at the offer of a snack..
    "No, thank you, I brought my own." She holds up her wrist and goes tos queeze it in a show of someone who might be getting a vein to show up for a needle.
    "Do you wish to keep up our banter or shall I depart? Or shall we speak on matters at hand?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee gives Monet a look like she has three heads. "...You brought your own?" she repeats. Her expression sours into one of abject disgust. "...That's /gross/..." Is she just giving Monet a hard time or ... does she really not remember that drinking blood isn't the norm?

    "No, I better get back to work..." Jubilee's voice trails offer as her gaze lingers on her bluetooth speaker. An obvious lie.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would give a low nod at Jubilee, "Of course. I'll leave you to your peace. And the suffering to your neighbors. Don't be a stranger, Ms. Lee. You do have people who care about you." She gives a very u n-Monet like look before she geos to start to leave as she's gestured to.