15943/Quoth the Jubilee Ever-More

Quoth the Jubilee Ever-More
Date of Scene:	25 September 2023
Location:	Nevermore Point (Manor House)
Synopsis:	Monet goes to check in on Jubilee and Noriko.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Monet St. Croix, Noriko Ashida

---

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The manor house at Nevermore Point has had its share of tragedies. The axe murders of 1881. The ritualistic suicides of 1936. The failed daycare business of 1962. The house was left alone and mostly forgotten for the next few decades until it came into the possession of Jubilation Lee. The spirits that allegedly haunt the property jangled their chains excitedly in anticipation of the horrors that an honest-to-goodness vampire would bring to them. They've been mostly disappointed until now.

    The manor house looks mostly normal from the outside. The sun has all but dropped below the horizon but the overgrown paths that lead up to the house are dimly lit by an interval of decorative lights with old, brass fixtures. Like any concerned resident, Jubilation Lee keeps the front door locked, but bored ghosts do enjoy making mischief...

    ...And so, anyone walking up to the house would find that not only has the front door mysteriously unlocked itself, it would slooooooowly open to allow easy access and vantage of the front parlor.

    A large section of the floor has collapsed into the basement sections below. It's possible to enter, but one must be careful to avoid the gaping hole in the floor. It seems to be scorched around the edges, as though there was some kind of fire or explosion or something.

    In the center of the usable floor, Jubilation Lee stands with both hands on her hips. She looks like she has gone through hell and back dealing with this. Her hair looks like a rats nest of tangles. She's half-dressed, too, with just an oversized pink sweatshirt that falls halfway down her pale thighs. For some reason, instead of shoes, she wears a pair of those thick, oversized socks made popular in Japanese cartoons. Even stranger, one of her hands is covered by a mitten. She seems to be assessing the damage.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
And a short time after having heard of the fire and the explosion, Monet St. Croix has come to investigate. She's had the politeness to come in the next evening. Whatever it was can't have been that catastrophic. The house is still partially standing, there's been no mass exodus from the area by civilians, or signs of mass slaughter and vanishings which would indicate an opening in the local power structure of the vampires of Westchester. Which means that Jubilee is still not alive and is in a position to exert her influence rather rthan any of them attempting to finish her off.
    Coming up and waiting for the door to open for her, Monet St. Croix goes to cross her arms over and just lgances about. At the holes, the extremely disheveled appearance of Jubilee, and the damage that looks like someone went about with high explosives throwing them about liberally like a child with flowers at a wedding.
    "Ms. Lee." Monet would dip her head politely. She doesn't ask how the girl is doing - that's rather obvious, isn't it? "I thought I would come on by to confirm what the local gossip networks were saying. Might you care to confirm their accuracy or inaccuracy?" She would inquire very politely in a very M-like way. But still, to Jubilee's enhanced senses, if she does check there's a look of concern in M's eyes - just by the way her pupils are shifting and how she appears to position her body. She's putting up a very good air of being her normal self centered and assured self, but the very light propping of herself and leaning forwards is a sign that it's her normal 'persona'

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Upon hearing the unmistakable voice, Jubilation closes her eyes and expands her cheeks, an affectation to make it seem like she just filled her mouth with air. "Hello, Monet," she replies with some gravel in her tone. It's possible she's tired. It could also be Monet. The odds are high that it's a combination of both.

    "So, like, let me get this straight, Monet. I'm younger than you, but you still insist on using a title instead of my name even though I told you not to. Weird, but, fine, whatever. But, like, you're insisting on using a title and you're not even using the right one!" Jubilation furrows her brow a little. "I got upgrades over here, Monet. So, like, it kinda seems like you're just trying to be an a-hole about it."

    "And, like, I don't think I need that kind of junk in my trunk right now. So, like, maybe just stick with Jubilee or whatever until I no longer have a huge hole in my floor, huh?" Jubilation gestures with her mitten-hand at the collapsed part of the floor.

    "I don't know what the KGB told you, so I dunno if they're right or not, but look at the hole. And my texting chair, too, Monet! My /texting chair/!" she cries out, pointing the giant mitten-finger at an arm chair that has fallen down into the basement.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would shrug, "You are nobility, Ms. Lee. You have title to the area of which I reside in. I am not of equal social status. Thus it is polite for me upon coming to your residence to be polite upon my arrival. Unless there is another term you would wish for me to refer to you as." Monet would dip her head over. At least she was being polite instead of her normal lightly belittling self. She was either moderately considered, considered Jubilee some sort of.. Person that deserved being worried about? Freaky.
    "I would hardly call it an upgrade. I might suggest finding whomever your interior decorator was and blacklisting them from further work in this area." Yup, that was definitely M being her normal self.
    Glancing over at the so-called 'texting chair'. "I do hope that it was under warranty. If it was supposed to be fire and explosion resistant, then it was certainly a disappointment. You should go to the company and register a complaint."
    Yup, definitely M now.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation stares at Monet with a blank look on her face. Stares. STARES. Finally, she opens her mouth. "......No," she answers curtly. "No, the hundred year old texting chair is not under warrnaty, Monet. No." Jubilee brings her non-mitten hand up to her face and pinches the bridge of her nose out of frustration. "And I didn't mean the house got upgrades... I... Forget it," she adds, shaking her head a few times. ".../And/ cut it out with that social status stuff, would ya? Until this gig lets me skip the line at the DDR machine at the arcade, it's kinda worthless, isn't it?" Jubilee reaches down and tugs the bottom of her sweatshirt so it might cover more of her legs. It's close.

    "It's not like it means anything to anyone! It's not like people are coming by to kiss my ring and bend the knee all day like in Game of Thrones. You know, since vampires don't exist, right?" Jubilation points out. Touchy, isn't she?

    Jubilation is on edge. There's something going on here and it's not the hole. It's not the damage to the house. It's not the untimely demise of her texting chair. She's just uncharacteristically on edge about something. Nervous.

    There's a non-specific rustling in the kitchen. Something falls to the floor.

    Jubilation glances over her shoulder in the direction of the sound and then back to Monet. "Old house," she explains. "Drafty. Haunted a little bit."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would go to curl her hansd together. "Very well.. Jubilee." There's no stretching it out to 'Jubilation' or 'if you insist'. Just an acceptance of calling her that without making it another bit of verbal sparring.
    "And I thought that you could skip the line at the DDR machine simply by scaring everyone away or caommanding them to leave." Between the teeth and ability to inflict mental commands on the others after all.
    "And vampires are a very well known quantity. Mister Van Hellsing's diaries on the matter are quite public knowledge and easily accessible." Because he was a very real person,a fte rall. Or had been a very real one. The same with Sherlock Holmes.
    "And are you all right?" Her tone softens as she sees Jubilee on edge. She doesn't ask about the rustling. There's actual concern in her eyes now that she's not bothering to conceal.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Babe?  Your toothbrush is totally frayed.  You need a new one!"  The unmistakable speedster suddenly calls out from the direction of the bathroom as she crosses past a corridor wearing only one of Jubilation's throwback sweatshirts and no gauntlets.  Yes, she has a gauntlet tan.  Her hair is...something else.  It sticks out straight end to end.

"Everything is so much easier with hands because you can feel the pressure.  I wonder if I could get someone to build that into my gauntlets for me."  Yeah, with what money?  She seems to be oblivious of how much time has passed and Monet.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yes, Jubilee. See? Was that so hard?" Jubilation wonders, smirking a little. The mention of Van Helsing sours her slightly.

    "Yeah, /some/ people know, but, like, there's a lot of propaganda and all that jazz to discredit it as fiction. Not exactly hard to convince people that some crusty dude's diary is a bunch of b-crap," Jubilation replies, shaking her head. "Our official position on the matter is that we don't have one because we don't exist," she adds, upturning her nose slightly for extra snobbery.

    "And /that's/ why I can't just skate into the arcade and have all the metabolizers hop off the games. To them, I'm just this really hot, really cool, really awesome girl who, despite how great she is, still has to wait in line like everyone else," Jubilation points out. It's unclear how much of that is part of her meandering embellishment.

    "Not gonna risk ruining the surprise party just to impress the food," she adds. Yikes.

    When Noriko comes out wearing her sweatshirt with omega-level sex-hair that matches her own, Jubilation blinks a couple of times. She sloooooowly turns to look at Monet and smiles nervously. After a beat, Jubilee looks over at Noriko again. "Nori! What are /you/ doing here?" she tries. Jubilation doesn't really put up much effort to try to sell the ruse to Monet. She and Nori were caught and there's no reason to deny it. At least Monet didn't come ten minutes earlier.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would just glance over at Noriko and give a tentative smile, "Noriko, Jubilee. I take it that your.. Reunion has gone moderately well?" The house is rather heavily damaged, but that seemed inevitable after all. I twas inhabited by Jubilee!
    "And you two are all right?" Her tone is soft and actually timid here - this is still aprivate affair and she's possibly intruding here. That's offered as a quiet cue in her body posture for Jubilee to tell her to leave if she wanted to keep some dignity.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Just stopped by to see how you were doing-"  Yeah that doesn't go with the situation at all, and Noriko frowns lightly.  "How well our 'reunion' went is none of your business."  Noriko provides some sparky air quotes.

"Fine enough to live through the night."  Noriko doesn't do anything about her hair.  She knows without her gauntlets it is a lost cause.  "And have a 'reunion' or two."  Now she's going to rub Monet's proverbial nose in it for sticking her nose where the speedster thinks it doesn't belong.  "Had a headache but it's gone."  Perhaps the more detail she gives, the less Jubes will have to.  All those subtle cues?  She misses.  She's far away and not paying attention to them anyways which is okay because they weren't directed at her right?

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, it's none of your business!" Jubilation agrees, matching Noriko's attitude with a confidence normally reserved for a child sassing an adult they know can't do anything to them. She turns a little and gives Monet a thumbs-up gesture while silently mouthing 'very good.'

    Jubilation plays it off by reaching up and raking her fingers through her hair all casually. Though, when Noriko elaborates and admits there was a reunion or two, Jubilation holds up the palm of her hand for Monet. She silently mouths 'five, five times' in Monet's direction.

    "Headache?" Jubilation suddenly questions. She thinks about it for a second and then looks down at the hole that leads to the basement. "Oh, oh, right," she agrees. "Yeah, and... I broke a nail." Jubilation starts laughing a little at something.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The two have gotten back together on some level. At least that's all that matters to M's care and concerns. There's a very, very faint smile on her face that's visible for a moment rather than beings moothed over. "Very well." Noting with amusement flickering off her face very quickly the 'five times'.
    "So do you like the imprmoptu renovations tha tyou've made or do you think you'll be having some remodeling done?" A very, very small offering for Jubilee to make a subtle gesture for her to ge going.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko pads back toward the bathroom to, presumably, do some things really quick-like.  There's the sound of a large static discharge, accidental by the hissing sound.  But then, suddenly, she's there, dripping water all over Jubilation's floor (for a second before she appears with a towel) to watch Monet's reaction.

"She's fucking with you," Noriko throws that wrench into the fray, knowing it won't stick.  It's a wrench, not a dagger.  Let them figure out which person 'she' is.  It's like teasing cats.  She boredly pads back toward the bathroom, the towel moving so fast it looks like a turban of cotton candy.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I am not!" Jubilation yells in response without even looking over. She'll let the house and its newly modified acoustics do the work for her. She looks at Monet again and nods. "I really did break a nail. Well, not just a nail, but, well, all of them. And my fingers. All of it. The whole thing, really..." Jubilee holds up her other hand, the one covered up by a mitten, as though the mystery of that would now be solved.

    Jubilation hesitates a little and frowns, turning to watch the direction that Nori's non-plussed voice is coming from. "Well, /Monet/..." Jubilee raises her voice and, judging from her tone, she's really talking to Noriko, wherever she got to. "I guess I should've went into my coffin and got a good day's rest, huh? Should'a focused on healing my hand instead of /staying up/, huh?"

    Once it was clear that there was no way Monet wasn't going to understand the true nature of Nori's visit, Jubilation ditched the ruse and instead leaned in to her own happiness about the whole thing. But, Noriko's cool attitude about it, the bored posture of her walk, the unwillingness to share this moment with her, has the vampire lashing out.

    "What a mistake /that/ was, huh, /Monet/!" Jubilation continues to loudly pretend to talk to Monet. "...I'm a real moron, huh, /Monet/! That's the last time I make a mistake like /that/, /Monet/!"

    Jubilation turns to face Monet with a disappointed frown that just won't fade from her face. Disappointed and embarrassed, suddenly.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
M would shake her head over. "Well, so long as you're not waking the dead, Jubilee. I'ms ure that they wuold mind thier unrestful sleep being interrupted. They're already two meters under, after all." Monet would look over and eye Jubilee going on and on again.
    "I'm very glad to see that you know my name, Jubilation. I was afraid that it would be somewhat past your capacity to grasp. Thank you for dispelling my concerns on the matter."
    Even as she just watches the interplay between the two. Amused. Glad that the two were back together - in their own way. If only for now. And of /course/ M understood the purpose of their meeting. They just needed to put up lfashing signs.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko doesn't usually facepalm.  To do so would be to smack herself with metal and possibly break her gauntlets.  But they're already broken!  So there's a loud smack that comes out from the bathroom.  Something has gone over her head, or she missed something.  All that's clear is Jubes isn't happy and why would she say that!  Noriko's head peeks out suddenly, concern and confusion on her face as she observes.

"What did I do?"  That was in her head.  Monet could know that.  But it also comes out of her mouth.  So now everyone knows.  There are times Nori wishes she could telepathically communicate with Jubes but the vampire isn't even looking at her!  How is she supposed to send eye-stares through the back of her head?!  Instead she resorts to glancing to Monet for clarity.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation's shoulders slump a little. Monet's quips don't even get their time to shine. They get no response. "Nothing," is Jubilee's answer to Nori. "You didn't do anything." Her tone has softened, but it's more of a disappointed acceptance.

    "Well," Jubilee announces, turning to look at Monet. "I better get to work. Gotta clean this mess up or, at least, find my phone and charge it so I can find someone to clean this mess up. Thanks for coming, but --"

    Jubilee turns a little so she can include Noriko in the second half of the sentence.

    "-- probably time to go."

    She walks over to the front door, half expecting one of the alleged ghosts to open it, but that doesn't happen. Still, she opens it herself and stands next to it, waiting.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
At this point, it's clear that isn't needed for anythign else. Noriko is spending time with Jubilee, so hopefuly it's a start for the two of them to try and work on patching up their relationship. There's no mutual fear in their eyes, or resistance. So that's a place for things to start.
    "Jubilee, Noriko, I bid you a good evening. And come the morn I wish you unpleasant dreams." Monet would incline her head to the two, then turning to head out. At least one small thing in the world was going right. She would take that as a change of pace. Some things in the world did get better with time and communication.
    Now if it could just apply to mutantkind as a hole.