17678/Clang Clang Clang goes the Toilet

Clang Clang Clang goes the Toilet
Date of Scene:	17 April 2024
Location:	Girls Dorms (East Hall)
Synopsis:	Messes were made, water was spilled, mopped up, and a toilet was fixed.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Alex Summers

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Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The Xavier's mansion eastern hallways are normally pretty quiet. At this time of day, most students are in a class or having lunch, so the dorms are usually empty. Occasionally, a student can be heard going back to her dorm room to retrieve a book or something, but that's usually just a few footsteps and maybe the sound of a door being slammed. Today, though, is an entirely different story. One door remains propped open by the weight of a purple JanSport backpack. From inside the room, the sounds of banging pipes, blasts of rushing water and shouts of frustration are unmistakable. It's a plumbing predicament that is rapidly spiraling out of control.

    Suddenly, a loud *CLANG* rings out as a brass pipe rolls out of the room and comes to a halt inside one of the angular pools of sunlight on the hardwood floors of the eastern halls. Jubilation Lee comes running out of the room, soaked from head to toe, chasing after the apparently important bit of plumbing.

Alex Summers has posed:
Alex Summers had exited his room and was about to make his way downstairs to find breakfast. He slept in today, last night was a late night and he needed the rest. Walking down the hallway toward the grand stairs, he not only hears but he thinks he feels the loud CLANG that resonated from down the girl's dorm hallway. He mutters to himself, "What the hell?" and then he begins walking in the general direction from which he heard the sound. The closer he gets, the more troubling the noises from the propped open door. The sounds are recognized as running water - which makes him pick up speed. Then there's the brass pipe rolling into the hallway. He gets to the door just as Jubilee is exiting and collides with her, spinning to the side and catching himself on the wall. He exclaims, "What the what?! Jubilee! What the heck is going on?" Though he's pretty sure he already knows the answer.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation looks up at Alex and slowly blinks her eyes. Without functional lungs, impromptu sighs are tough so it's not that easy to communicate frustration. The slow blink is the best she can do right now. She's drenched from head to toe. Her hair, heavy with water, covers much of her face and neck. The once precise winglets of her dark eyeliner are now smudged, creating a playful contrast to her normally vibrant demeanor. She can recover from this. Jubilation straightens up and leans against the wooden door frame.

    "I'm..." Jubilee leans to the side and peeks inside the room for a moment before turning towards Alex again. "I'm not at liberty to say..." she mutters conspiratorially, as though she might be protecting the privacy of the girl who lives in this room.

    "But....!" Jubilation announces, perking up a little as she summons some of her trademark infectious energy. "How'd you like to .... How do I put this....." She thinks about how she'll spin this. "....Sorta.... work....I mean...help....for free...?"

    Jubilation nods her head enthusiastically, as though Alex would consider such a deal. In a moment of awkwardness, Jubilation looks down and realizes that her clothing has become a second skin. She quickly pinches her shirt and pulls it an inch or so away from her chest and pretends that she didn't just do that and everything is totally normal.

Alex Summers has posed:
Alex pays close attention, letting Jubilee get her words out, but was quickly losing patience and shakes his head just as she gets to the free word. Then he turns and moves into the room where all the trouble is ensuing. Alex mutters, "Holy crap..." at the flow of water and the spray. He moves to the source of the water, into the spraying water, the toilet in question, and begins looking around for where to shut off the water at the base of the appliance. He calls back, "Jubilee.. How in the heck did this start?" as he's getting pelted with splashing and spraying water.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation holds that parting smile for a second or two after Alex takes off in search of the source of her issue. After just a moment, Jubilation turns to chase after him. "Oh!" Jubes starts. "Well. After I removed that." She points at a place inside the toilet where normally something important would be found... but isn't. It's the part that's still out in the hallway.

    "It's out in the hall still," Jubilee explains, shrugging a little as though it should be obvious. Duh.

Alex Summers has posed:
Using his hands to deflect the spraying of water, Alex will see the place where the part once lived. He says in a raised, excited voice to overcome the noise of the spray and reflect his heightened anxiety, "But you didn't shut off the water first." Then he moves around to the other side of the toilet to discover the water shut off valve. He drops down to his knee and begins cranking. Righty tighty, lefty Lucy. He cranks down the valve and the water stops flowing. He, like Jubilee, is soaked. His jeans are now tightly clinging to his legs, his shirt does the same against his chest and back. He reaches up with his left hand to do his best James Dean and push the mussed hair back out of his face and then looks back to Jubilee. He takes a moment and then says in a lower tone, "Okay... so we're gonna need that part. And you're gonna need a mop and a bucket to clean up all this water before it ruins the floorboards and floor... and rugs... and whatever else. Then we'll sort out the toilet. Bring two mops, I'll help."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Okay!" Jubes replies, annoyed at Alex pointing out that she didn't turn the water off first. "Like, that's easy to say /now/...since it's spraying water everywhere ....!" It's as though she didn't make the absolute dumbest mistake in the history of plumbing. The fundamental step is to turn the water off, everyone knows it, and it must be Alex's fault somehow.

    Jubilation glances over her shoulder in the direction of the hall. "Right..." she replies, tone falling flat as it becomes more clear that this isn't a problem that's going to just go away in an instant. "I'm not gonna be able to ...." She frowns a little, stifles that thought, and turns to head back out in the hall. "...I'll figure it out!"

    In a couple of seconds, Jubilee is back out in the hall, staring at the pipe fitting on the sunny spot on the floor just waiting for her to pick it up. She gets down on her knees and starts to hesitantly extend the tip of a pen towards the pipe fitting, perhaps to push it out of the patch of sunlight. It. Doesn't. Quite. Reach. Jubilee huffs and turns towards the open door, opening her mouth to call Alex back... but doesn't. Instead, she starts looking around for something larger she can use.

Alex Summers has posed:
Meanwhile, Alex is in the bathroom grabbing towels out of the linen cabinet and spreading them out on the floor to soak up water. Trying to get the bulk of it before it becomes a problem. He's also expecting that Jubilee will be taking some time to find the broom/mop closet to retrieve the buckets and mops along with the brass fitting. He runs out of towels within a few moments and then decides to move from this particular bathroom to another in search of more towels. Exiting the room, he finds Jubilee struggling to handle the retrieval. He stops in the doorway, sees her, sees the brass, and then notes the sunlight. He says, "Oh. Sunshine."; then will move to grab the brass fitting from the floor. He'll append, "Mops, bucket. I'm gonna get more towels."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation stands up as Alex picks up the fitting effortlessly. She grins a little and clasps both hands up by her ear and lifts one of her feet. "My hero!" she declares with bits of sarcasm and sass peppered in. Jubes acknowledges Alex's order to retrieve mops and a bucket with a limp salute. "On it!" she announces before pushing off with her foot. The hidden wheels in her Heelys sneakers engage, effectively becoming indoor skates.

    Jubilee's movement through the mansion is frenetic and abrupt. She skates along as quickly as she can, avoiding unexpected obstacles and dipping underneath beams of sunlight peeking through the windows. It doesn't take long for Jubilee to come back with a pair of mops and a grey bucket. "Ding ding! Mop delivery!" she announces as she skates through the doorway and into the wet bathroom.

Alex Summers has posed:
Making haste, Alex pockets the brass fitting and then moves to another set of bathrooms and will pull towels from shelves. Twenty or so towels that someone is going to have to launder soon so the students will have towels for the future. Regardless, he returns to the doorway just as Jubilee is returning with the required items. He says, "Put them to the side." He'll offer half the stack of towels and then break from her to start spreading them. "We're gonna let them soak up most of the water. Toss them in the shower when they've soaked as much as possible and then we'll mop.

He does in fact begin spreading towels as he did before and says, "By the way... it was very thoughtful to take the initiative and try to fix the toilet. You did good - even though it turned out; well, the way it turned out."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Put them to the side. Jubilee raises her eyebrows a little in response to the clear and direct order to put the mops to the side and start with the towels. It does not go unappreciated. Soon, she's down on her hands and knees spreading her share of the towels.

    The compliment gets redirected a little bit. "Thanks, but, uh, I'm getting the sense that this isn't really something the Director of Resident Life is supposed to be doing..." Jubilee admits. "But, like, I dunno... you mortals don't ever stop pooping, so, like, I didn't think this girl could wait any longer..." Jubilation looks down at the towel arrangement again before back over at Alex.

    "Thanks for your help. You, like, really know your way around a Whiz Palace..." Jubilation gestures towards the toilet.

Alex Summers has posed:
Alex is curious where her commentary is going and then often forgets the mortal and vampire things that really aren't part of his daily life. However, pooping is. So he takes it for granted that everyone does it. He glances to the directed toilet and then chuckles, "Whiz Palace... that's just not right. But yeah. I've fixed a few toilets in my days and it's something that everyone should know how to do - cause they aren't that difficult a mechanism. Also, yes, we do have maintenance to handle things. But it's not outside your purview to fix stuff if you don't see it getting done. Being a Director of Resident Life means you've got to maintain things and fix things when they're not getting fixed. Which is why I say that you did good just simply trying."

    He tosses his last towel out and spreads it over a wet area. Then starts walking back to his original towels with the intent of lifting them and tossing them into the shower.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I kinda think we all thought it was just gonna be stuff like... organizing fun meet-and-greets and dealing with kids complaining how their roommates drank all their soy milk or whatever," Jubilation admits. She picks up one of the soaked towels and tosses it into the shower. It lands with a loud, wet plop.

    "Okay, okay, so I think I know who I'm calling next time someone burns down their Whiz Palace..." Jubilee decides as she rises to her feet. She stares down at the rest of the towels as they soak up the water. "It's you."

Alex Summers has posed:
He'll laugh and gently shake his head. He comments as a veiled threat to expose the mess that Jubilee made, "I expect this could be a great teaching moment for all the students. They could all be brought in to learn about the catastrophes of DIY toilet repair." He'll bend down to pick up another soaked towel, then grab another as he turns. Taking a few steps then tossing them into the shower with the same smacking plop made before.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I don't think that's....I don't....I don't think....That's not...." Jubilation tries to skirt the issue a little before she decides to just lay it all out. "I'm not going to do that," Jubes replies through a hint of a fangy smile. She bends down and grabs another one of the wet towels so she can toss it into the shower with the others.

    "You know what's weird... I kinda forget what these are even for," Jubilee admits, though it's not clear if she's being serious or not. She raises both eyebrows and gestures to the toilet. "What do /you/ do with one of these?"

Alex Summers has posed:
He enjoys the stammering and Alex grins. He continues grabbing towels and laying them over his already soaked arm. He moves through the room where others are laying. When she goes into parts where she doesn't remember things and questions what toilets are used for he stops and looks back at the toilet and her with a slight confused look, "Hang on a sec. How long have you been a vampire?" As he's curious about how she's forgotten such things.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The question tumbles its way through Jubilee's mind. It should be an easy one to answer but it's not. "Oh....Uh..." Jubilation eventually works it out and casually shrugs. "A couple years now... I think. 2021....So...Wow, just three years?" she questions. After hesitating a little, Jubilation elaborates.

    "It's, uh, not so cut and dry. I mean, like, I died, right... And, uh, that kinda...Well, things are weird. So, yeah, like three years ago, but it's been a long, long, long three years..."

    And, as if to punctuate that, Jubilee plops another wet, heavy towel into the shower.

Alex Summers has posed:
He walks back to the bathroom with water soaked towels over his arm. His expression is that of calculation and consideration. When he passes her walking toward the shower, he'll ask, "So time moves more slowly for you? Rather, you perceive time as dragging instead of flying by?" Then he tosses the towels onto the other towels with a splooosch.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "No, no, it's not slower... It's just..." Jubilation hesitates, losing some of that effervescent, carefree attitude that keeps her such a sunny-side-up kind of gal. "...It's sometimes hard to remember stuff from when I was alive. Sometimes stuff seems, like, alien and weird. It's kinda hard to explain."

    "And...I don't want to," Jubilation adds, just in case.

    "I was joking, kind of, when I said I don't remember what you do on one of these..."

    She hesitates again.

    "Kind of."

Alex Summers has posed:
He moves to grab the mops. Taking both of them, handing her one while pondering her answers and her concept of life and death and undeath. He moves to one side of the room and begins mopping before he finally states, "That's really hard to wrap my head around. But I suppose it's mental prioritizing or something. Though I can sort of see it in my own life and life's pursuits. Some parts of my life are a blur and inconsequential compared to the here and the now."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee takes the mop handle and begins to joylessly drag it around the floor. "It..." When Alex compares it to how the inconsequential parts of life can become a blur, Jubes lifts her gaze and inspects Alex curiously.

    "...That's...a really good way to put it," she decides. "...I mean... I remember how TV works because I can still watch it."

    A vaguely impressed expression lingers, as though she wasn't expecting Alex Summers to say something to her that was going to change the way she regards her own living nightmare.

    "He fixes Whiz Palaces and ladles out free advice to the supernatural monsters... Is there anything this guy can't do, people?!" Jubilation shouts into an imaginary microphone attached to the end of her mop handle.

Alex Summers has posed:
There's a clear laugh and a broad smile with the faux introduction. He glances over while still mopping and says, "Well, you're no monster. Definitely supernatural." And he'll lift the mop to the bucket, twist and wring it out then move to another part of the wet floor. He'll continue mopping to sop up the water while pondering the nature of life and the questions she brings to the discussion. Her point of view is definitely unique regardless of his analogy to his own life. He continues to mentally track and seek examples of the things he's forgotten how to do over the years and relate it to her own experiences. Yet, he doesn't share the things or try to trivialize the matter.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Eh... I kinda am," she protests with a shrug and a grin. A monster, that is.

    Jubilation watches Alex ring out the mop once before she tries it out with her own. "You know, I can probably work the rest of this out on my own... I mean, you basically took care of the hard part." Jubilee gestures to the now-functional toilet. "I don't think I'm gonna break it again."

    She hesitates.

    "I don't think so, anyway."

Alex Summers has posed:
Alex states, "One sec."

He'll wring out the mop again, survey the floor and then carry the mop to the bathroom to sit in the shower. Then he'll move to the toilet and look at the damage and what it needs to be fixed. It takes a few moments to sort it all out. He emerges "I've got to get a few parts and tools for the toilet. I'm sure it's in the garage storage - least that's where I last saw it. Finish up the mopping. I'm gonna shower, get on some dry clothes and I'll be back in a few to handle the rest. And I'll grab a few fans, too. Anyway, you don't have to hang around. I'll get it sorted."