17671/You're In Big Trouble Mister

You're In Big Trouble Mister
Date of Scene:	16 April 2024
Location:	Radical Arcade
Synopsis:	Jubilee's minding her own business. Remy's minding his own business. They start minding their own business together as she confronts the Cajun about the prank he pulled on her in the Danger Room.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Remy LeBeau

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Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Odd hours spent in subterranean locales are part and parcel to the living dead package. The hours are tonight. The locale is the Radical Arcade in the Xavier's school basement. By now, most students have gone to bed, leaving the arcade empty except for the video games, pinball machines, and Jubilation Lee. She's lying on her back, one knee bent, sprawled across the corner of the bar, with her head dangling over the edge. Both arms are extended, giving Jubes a good look at whatever nonsense she has loaded on her phone's screen. It's a compilation video of people throwing slices of cheese on their babies to get them to stop crying.

    After a few seconds of that, Jubilation brings her phone close to her chest and lets out a frustrated sigh. "Well, this sucks...." she announces to no one, apparently reaching her limit for how much time she can spend by herself before losing it.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     The basement of Xavier's holds many rooms. Music studio, gym, but Remy is down here for one thing...laundry. Apparently the Cajun hasn't been able to convince someone else to do his laundry this week, so with a whistle as he walks towards the laundry room, he strolls along the corridor with a sack over his shoulder like some disheveled version of Santa Claus minding his own business.

     At least until he hears a voice coming from the arcade. There are odds of someone up at this time of night, and odds the odds that Logan would be frequenting the arcade are slim to none. That doesn't leave very many other options. Gambit being a man who likes to play the odds decides to stroll into the arcade, his red colored eyes sweeping over the room till he spots Jubilee.

     "You know, chere, dey say dat staring at a screen like dat in de dark is bad for your eyes."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "What the...!"

    Startled, surprised, or perhaps just bored enough, Jubilee falls off the bar as her attention abruptly changes to the unmistakable source of the voice that's neither her own or the giggling moms and dads coming from the YouTube video on her phone. She lands hard, knocking down the nearby stools with arms and legs akimbo.

    "Yeah, well, sneaking up on me like that is bad for your everything!" Jubes hisses, glaring up at Remy from her new position on the floor. "Or did you not get enough the first time?" Jubilation gets up and brushes herself off, lifted by a bit of that supernatural grace that vampires sometimes use to smoothly rise from their coffins and freak everyone out.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     "Wasn' actaully tryin' to be sneaky," the Cajun says with a shrug of his shoulder, the one carrying the massive sack of clothes. He shrugs it off his shoulder and lets it fall to the floor with a thud. "Sneaky is what I do when I'm workin'. Dis? Dis is just laundry." Though, Remy can't help but half-smile just a little that he got the drop on the vampire.

     He watches as she rises up, seemingly nonplussed by the supernatural grace and overall creepy factor of it. "How come you hidin' down here, chere? Ain' dis your time to roam free?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Why don't you just yoink some clean clothes?" Jubilee wonders, tapping the edge of her mouth a couple of times as she ponders that for a moment. There must be some rube out there who wears the same size t-shirt as Remy. Suddenly, Jubilation closes her eyes and rolls her head back. "Oh that's just /great/..." she moans, holding her newly cracked phone up towards the ceiling. It's honestly amazing that it wasn't already cracked before tonight. Jubilee hams it up properly by throwing herself onto the bar surface, both arms extended forward. She can't be that upset about it if she's already falling back on the theatrics.

    "I'm not /hiding/..." Jubilee answers sharply. "I just wanted to get away from all the...." (heartbeats) "...people. Tonight. I was feeling kinda... you know."

    "/Normally/ I'd go down to the Danger Room," Jubes adds, glaring up at Remy, cheek pressed against the bartop.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     "'Cause most people ain' got my style, chere." Remy grins, reaching up to comb his fingers through his hair to push it back out of his face. He glances from her to the phone back to her and he smiles again with a shake of his head.

T 'Funny. Gambit thought dat was the definition of hidin'. Sometimes I guess an old dog like me can learn a new thing or two." A look of slight concern crosses his face, "Hungry? Don' you have somethin' for dat?"

     The Cajun smirks, "Don' look at me. I ain' stoppin' ya. We already played dat hand, mon ami. It's a fresh pot, so go ante up, less you ain't got de chips."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubes stares at Remy for a while, too long perhaps, as though she's playing out their conversation privately in her head. The odds of someone having Remy's same style are fairly low, made even lower when only considering those who do laundry more often than he does. "...Yeah, that's probably true," is what she eventually says, shrugging one shoulder as she eventually agrees with the Cajun scoundrel.

    Hungry. Jubilation's wrinkleless face manages to form one as she considers that word. Is it true? Absolutely. Is it an oversimplification? Also true.

    "I guess," Jubilee answers. "...I mean, sure, I got stuff. But, like, it's not...It's not the whole package, like... it's missing that special little ingredient."

    Killing someone. She doesn't say it.

    "They set up a special Danger Room thing for me. Like, so I get to be all free-range and stuff. Safety protocols are, like, way way way low. So, like, your little special guest star..." Jubilee stares up at Remy, holding her glare for a few moments before it fades, revealing something that hints at a broken heart. Her eyes lower.

    "I miss him," she admits glumly. The special Danger Room program intended to be as close to the real thing as possible to satisfy Jubilee's bloodlust approximated Remy's Dracula too accurately to be forgotten this soon.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     "Ah, so it is more a roux dan it is de whole gumbo? I guess I understand. I'd offer a taste of de real thing, but probably a game we best not play, yeah? To much temptation to go all in when you should be foldin'." Remy says with a nod as he wanders over to take up a seat near Jubilee.

     He listens, and looks over towards her as she speaks, As the hurt hits her eyes he seems to finally put two and two together to make four. "Oh? Oh! Oh. Gambit was just tryin' to have a bit o' fun, chere. I didn' mean nothin' by it and didn' t'ink it would have that much of a lastin'...impression on ya. When I played with de program I made sure to change the safety settings, but I guess it was less dat and more de matter of subject? You could always...I don' know...make a tame version to..uh...pal around wit' for a bit, non?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "No....No, that would be really, really weird..." Jubes answers, sounding absolutely, positively, sure about that. "I don't need you calling me up every night..." She grins a little, waving her cracked phone in the air. She doesn't elaborate on that thought, but there's the implication that she doesn't imagine it would be a one-sided exchange.

    As Remy's tone shifts under the weight of understanding, Jubilation closes her eyes and leaves them closed, doing her absolute best to suppress the gross red line from growing along her eyelids. A pale, room temperature hand rests on Gambit's forearm as he sits. "No, no, it's alright," she decides. "Like, I get it. I would've found it funny if it wasn't me." The ultimate hypocrisy. "But, like, some people haven't been so cool about, like, what happened to me. And, like, /that/ died out eventually. But then it kinda started up again a little after I started working here. People fucking with me again, like, a little..."

    "It was funny," she repeats for both of their benefit.

    "Yeah, yeah, I dunno how it works, Rem. I didn't, like, get a manual or anything..." Jubilee explains, waving her hand up near her face, indicating, perhaps, that she's still a bit in the dark about some aspects of her new life. "...But, like, there's just /something/ about....D....About /him/... Like, I never met the guy so I don't know what he's really like...But..." She presses her hand against her chest, pushing back against a heartbeat that isn't there. Somehow, her cheeks fill with color for just a moment.

    Jubilee starts lightly swatting her hand at Remy's shoulders and chest. "Ew!" Jubilee cries out, finding her smile again. Her sharp, fangy smile. The thought of meeting up with a virtual Dracula is a weird line to cross. "I'm not doing that!"

    "Remy Le Beau...The Digital Pimp..." Jubes accuses, laughing a little as she imagines his business card.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     If she does have a line of red on her eyes, the thief doesn't mention it. He just shrugs a shoulder and stares straight ahead as he folds his arms over his chest. "I wasn't tryin' to fuck wit' ya. Not in that way, anyway. I was hopin' more for a laughin' wit' me than laughin' at you if you know what I mean. I'm sorry, chere. Remy didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

     He laughs again, glancing over with that charming smile of is, "I wasn't meanin' like /dat/ chere, but now ol' Gambit sees where your mind is." He laughs again, shaking his head as he pulls out a toothpick to pop between his lips. "I'd lay odds that someone has used the DR for that though. Even money."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Yeah, her mind went there and set up residency.

    "Remember how in 'Interview', Kirstin Dunst was, like, always acting like a six-year-old even though she was really super old? Well, I'm stuck like /this/...eighteen-years-old forever..." Jubilee points out. After that point lingers, Jubilation's shoulders tense a little as hints of self-consciousness manage to chip away at the monster she keeps at bay. Jubes abruptly slides a few inches away from Remy, pointlessly and arbitrarily increasing the physical distance between them.

    "That.....That is a horrifying thought," Jubilation eventually replies, stuck in a thousand-yard-stare. "Holy moley...."

    Jubilee snap-turns her head to stare up at Remy again. "It cleans itself, right? ....Doesn't it? ....Doesn't it?"

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     Remy watches he scoot away from him a bit, but doesn't seem to take offense that it might actually be him, though he does jokingly raise his arm up and sniff under his pit. "Hey now, chere. Dere is a reason I am doin' laundry but I shower!" He tosses a wink to the perpetual eighteen year old.

     "So..you stuck at eighteen? Could be worse ages. Least it ain't nine. Could be better though, twenty one at least you could get into a bar. Or are you tryin' to tell me you are..how do I put dis... Uh.. 'In da mood' like a teenager? I mean, I know how it was for me, but..." Does the cajun actually blush? Maybe a bit.

     The later question has him laughing though, tossing his arms up. "I'd reckon so. Probably goes into some sort of self-cleaning mode after use. Heats itself up to burn away anything or something akin to that. With the amount of bodies, sweat and blood that room has scene, it has to right? I know I don' go in dere and clean it myself and it's always sparklin'."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "No, it's not that. You smell fine," Jubilee assures, waving her hand in the air dismissively. It's actually just the natural, teenage discomfort that forms when their proximity is combined with the topics they're broaching.

    "I can get into a bar just fine," Jubilee answers, huffing a little under her breath. "Just gotta tell the person at the door I'm old enough." She wiggles her fingers in the air, implying some kind of spooky magic. "But..." When Remy starts to take the long way around the topic of her endless puberty, Jubilation closes her eyes tightly, forcing a hint of a wrinkle at their corners. A quiet squeal of distress echoes from inside her throat.

    "Kinda!" she finally blurts out like a pressure release valve was just opened. "But...it's not...It's not that simple, I dunno. I don't know a lot about it, but I at least know there's a bunch of different kinds of us... Some of us are, like, gross and scary... And some of us are hot. But...we're the same monsters on the inside. Hooking up...and killing...It's all, like, the same thing..." Her eyes lower a little as she dismisses that notion with a shrug of her shoulders. "...I know that doesn't make sense. It's not really something I think I can explain."

    Jubilation falls quiet for a few seconds before she realizes something out loud. "...You're the first person to really ask me," she says, looking up at Remy with a hint of surprise on her face. Remy LeBeau. Thief. Scoundrel. Ne're do well. Nice guy?

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     Remy nods, shifting the toothpick in his mouth back and forth in some sort of perpetual motion. "Well, I can see how dat might be a bit of a...issue. If I was stuck at eighteen, I know what I would have been like and let's just say if I had a danger room, it'd probably have a sock on the door constantly." He shakes his head, "Sorry you have to go through life like dat, chere. But don't you and Nori..."

     He leaves the rest unsaid, just floating the last of that idea out into the ether without giving it a voice. "She ain' dead last I checked...not that I have ever checked."

     He falls quiet for a moment and shrugs, "You're a friend, petite, and it seemed you had an issue. Gambit just tryin' to listen like a friend should."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Sock on the door....and then you'd....go in there to fake slaughter a bunch of fake Orange Julius employees in a fake food court at the fake mall?" Jubilee finishes, watching to make sure that the point reaches Remy's ears correctly. "Cuz... that's what I do in there. It's embarrassing." Jubilee lies backwards, now fully reclined on the top of the bar and staring up at the ceiling. "But it keeps real people alive, so, like, I do it."

    "Eh, it's okay. It beats being dead," Jubilee points out, dismissing Remy's sympathy as unnecessary. She hesitates a beat before adding. "...I mean, like, I /am/ dead but...you know what I mean."

    Jubilation's shoulders tense again at the mention of Nori's name. A mysterious nerve has been struck despite her nerves no longer being functional. "What about her? She's alive still," Jubilee answers abruptly, coming to her own defense about something she's not being accused of.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     "Uh...yeah. Dat's what a teen Gambit would do in the DR all right." Remy says with a bit of a smirk as he shifts the toothpick in his lips again. "Seems your teenage urges are slightly more bloody than mine ever were, but I get the, uh, need for release?" Remy shakes his head with a snort as he runs his fingers through his auburn hair. "And good for you, being responsible about it."

     "Oh, maybe Remy got his wires crossed. I thought you were sayin' that hookin' up was problematic and lead to people dyin', so I was just saying Nori seems ok so...yeah. Never you mind. Forget about it."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee smacks both of her hands against her face, covering her expression from view. Underneath, she's mortified beyond description. "It's not like /that/...." Jubes tries, words muffled by her own hands. "Just...just shove a stake through my chest...right now... This is....the literal....worst..." Her valley girl vocal fry is the only sound that can properly capture just how horrible this moment is.

    "I'm saying... /everything/ is... like that. /Everything/ can lead to people dying. /Everything/ is this weird, confusing mix of killing and hunting and sex and power and, and, and all of it is just, like, wrapped up in a weird, confusing ball I can barely keep under control...." She presses her fingers into her face even harder, trying to keep the words from getting out. "Like, five different times in this stupid conversation...I just barely held back the urge to make this the best /and/ worst night of your whole life.... And it's like that /all the time/ and, like, I can't ever let my guard down!"

    And if, somehow, her point remains unclear, Jubilation clarifies. "....Forever and ever and ever!"

    It echoes around, awkwardly filling the basement with Jubilee's shame.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     "Oh," Remy says as Jubilee explains it more clearly, Jubilee's mortification not really bothering him as he continues on, nor does the implied threat that he might have the best, worst night of his life. "But...you do keep it under control. I mean you and Nori...are you and Nori. And you ain't Rogue, and she ain't Rogue. So you two...keep it under control. Dat just goes to prove to me you stronger than you let on, Jubes. We all got something like that. Logan got his anger, Scott and his eyes, Rogue and her touch. Hell, you ask me your problmes just make you human."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee releases the pressure against her face and blinks, falling quiet as Remy's words bounce around in her head. "....Woah, you're right..." she mutters, thinking about why Scott can't open his eyes and why Logan shouldn't sneeze in public. She sits up suddenly, filled with energy by this marvelous bit of advice. "...Thanks."

    "I...I dunno. We used to be. But now we're kinda like you and Ro--- " Jubilee cuts herself off, shoulders tensing again. She hops off the bar and hesitates before continuing that thought. "...Uh....Sorry," she adds, eventually finding the words. "I didn't mean that..."

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     Remy stiffens ever so slightly at that comparison, but he waves it off with a shake of his head. "Rogue and I, we... I'll always care for her, non? But she find her happiness, and I can't be anythin' but happy for her even if it ain' with me. 'Sides, I can't blame anyone but myself. I wasn' around when I should have been. Can't ask a fish to swim when you don' give it any water." He glances over to Jube, "As for you and Nori, long as you happy dat's what matters."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "...Yeah...I...I guess it was kinda hard to see the complete picture when you weren't around...." She says the words slowly, hesitantly, as though she's processing something important. Despite being stuck at eighteen, Jubilee grows up a little bit in this moment, realizing that her relatively low opinion of this man comes from only seeing him from one perspective during a specific moment of his life. Jubilee smiles a little, viewing Remy LeBeau from a totally different perspective for the first time.

    But then he keeps talking and she keeps listening. Jubes nods her head a little at the Cajun's point about a fish not being able to swim without any water. "....Yeah...I think I know what you mean about not letting a fish have any water..." she replies, struggling through the idea as she applies it to her own situation. She hops down from the bar.

    "...So, like, you're saying Nori's holding me back....and, like, I shouldn't let her confine me... and I should go out and, like, totally embrace what I am....freely...."

    Uh oh.

Remy LeBeau has posed:

     Remy blinks, turning his head to look at Jubilation and shaking his head. "Non, non! Dat's not what Remy is sayin' at all! I was sayin' I can't be upset for Rogue movin' on and findin' love elsewhere because I wasn't around to be a partner for her. You and Nori ain't like me and Rogue. At all. You both here and carin' for each other. Supportin' each other. You got both the water, and the fish, mon ami. Cherish dat, because it sucks when you loose it, especially when you could have prevented it."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I'm not a kid anymore, Remy. You don't have to sugarcoat it for me," Jubilee protests. As the Cajun tries to smooth it over and explain his meaning, Jubes's expression fades into nothingness. "....Oh...." she replies with an empty tone. "...Okay, then, like, I don't get it. You're saying I should ...." Jubilee's attempt to interrupt is abandoned, allowing Remy's words to reach their target.

    Except they don't.

    "What....Okay, so, what are you saying I should do, then?" she questions, hands on hips.

    It's a tricky situation since Jubilee didn't mention needing advice about something.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     "I'm not saying you should do anything," Remy says after taking a deep breath as he tries to pick his words carefully. Slowly he tries again as he looks at Jube with those red colored eyes of his, "I was talkin' about me and Rogue and how I fucked that all up so now she gone and marryin' Jean. If, and this is a big if, you take anythin' away from my issues, it's don' be like me. Stick around and love your girl. Dat's it. Stick around and love your girl."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Oh....Well..." Jubilation frowns a little, mildly unsatisfied by this. "That's it?" She sounds surprised, suspicious even, by this lack of direction. Never mind that she didn't even identify that she needed advice about something. Never mind that Remy wasn't informed that he was giving advice. None of this stops Jubilee from wanting to speak to the manager about this.

    "I'm going to head up to the Recreation Room to see if there's an arty kid who can draw me a selfie," Jubes explains. She makes a vague gesture towards the bag of laundry Remy hauled into the arcade. "They have these scented beads you can add now, B.T.W...." She continues. "...Makes your clothes smell nice." She casually shrugs one of her shoulders. "Just, like, an idea."

    Before there's even a moment to process that, Jubes appears near the door that leads out into the basement, using some of her dark curse for a burst of speed to get her across the arcade. "Thanks, Remy," Jubilee adds quietly, lingering near the doorway. "...I've decided that you're forgiven for what you did in the Danger Room."

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     "Oui, dat's it. Sometimes the hardest lesson to learn is the easiest one to do." Remy says with a shrugs of his shoulder as he runs his fingers through his hair. "Sometimes you just learn it too late."

     He gives Jubes a frown when she mentioned the beads, looking at the bag then back to Jubilation..or at least where she was. He takes a moment to find her back at the door when she speaks, and nods to her. He flashes her a smile, tipping his head ever so slightly at her, "Well, dat's at least one I can put to rest. Don' make up for a lifetime, but any win is a start, non? Have a good evenin', Jube."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    As her parting shot, Jubilee lingers long enough so she can roll her eyes in the Cajun's direction one final time. "You're too hard on yourself," she points out, deciding that she's not the only one whose opinion might have formed too quickly. She reaches into the waistband of her shorts and plucks a piece of wrapped gum free. She tosses it across the arcade, presumably for him to catch. "Make sure whoever chews that deserves it," she instructs before flashing a quick peace sign on her way out.

    "It better be you!" she can be heard yelling as she makes her way through the basement. "You better be the one chewing it!"

Remy LeBeau has posed:
     Remy sits there for a moment, plucking the gum out of the air as it sails over in his direction. He stares down at it for a bit, weighing it in his hand before he lets out a little sigh and finally shrugs, opening the wrapper as he stands and plopping the gum into his mouth as he moves to go get his laundry.