18159/Goodnight and Good Luck

Goodnight and Good Luck
Date of Scene:	02 June 2024
Location:	Headmistress' Office
Synopsis:	Jubilee visits Jean to find out her preference of cake flavors for her retirement party and finally reveals what she's been dealing with for the last couple years. The two share a heartfelt moment.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Jean Grey

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Jubilation Lee has posed:
    It used to be a long, scary walk to the headmistress' office. Typically, it's a walk Jubilee would make if she was caught chewing gum in class. There was also that time she accidentally turned in her homework with all those inappropriate doodles in the margins. And who could forget the ... 'incident?'

    Now that Jubilation isn't a misbehaving student anymore, it's a much easier walk. This evening, she's a misbehaving employee.

    Knockknockknock. "Jean?" Jubilation lingers outside the door to the office. She presses her ear against the wood, as though there was a chance that Jean might be in there but decide not to answer her knock.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Come on in!"

Inside, Jean is doing the very stereotypical 'cleaning our her office' scene as Jubilee arrives. She has a little white cardboard box to put keepsakes in and everything. Of course, despite the trope-y visual, it's not like security will be arriving to escort her off the premises, and she could easily just come and grab anything she forgot later. Still, there's a certain ceremonial gravity to it, of making a concerted effort to clean the slate, take her possessions and move on.

The shelves around the room have lots of gaps now, visible spots from a few missing picture frames (OK, a lot of family pictures, because the Greys breed like rabbits), the sideboard an empty gap where the tea set used to be, and the liquor cabinet is notably bare. More, a few knick-knacks are visible sticking out of the box, like a Killington Ski Resort snow globe, a small clay pot with tribal designs she'd been using for pens, and a little almost Rubik's cube looking device that is definitely of alien origin and MIGHT be a doomsday device or... might just be their version of a children's puzzle game.

"What can I do for you, Ms. Lee?" This is how Jean answers when she looks up, but she waits just a bit before breaking into a sort of 'just kidding' grin. "Or how about, just Jubilation, now? What's up?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation enters the office as soon as Jean acknowledges her. The vampire curse, ever present, would prevent her from doing that, but is this really Jean's office anymore? Some part of the cosmic gumbo, the one that handles vampires, has decided that it isn't.

    What could Jubilation want with Jean during her final moments as Headmistress? Is she here to confess to one of the school's unsolvable mischief from years past? Is she just here to pick up one of Jean's family photos and point out that they are a fertile people? No, but she does that.

    She also grabs a Sharpie poking up from the tribal mug, using it to write JEAN'S CRAP in large bubble letters on the side of the cardboard box. She recaps it and tosses it unceremoniously into the box. Jubilation doesn't immediately respond, perhaps as a joke. Perhaps she's implying that her true purpose was to come in here and write that on the box.

    It's not.

    "Sorry to, uh, brighten your office with my presence, but, like, I wanted to find out what kind of cake you like for your retirement party?" Jubilee starts. It's kind of presumptuous of her that there's going to be a party at all, but she's not really known to ask for permission for things.

    "And, uh, to say thanks..." Her sudden awkwardness, a stark contrast from the confidence she had a moment ago, suggests that perhaps there's more to this than she's letting on.

Jean Grey has posed:
After that bit of scribbling, Jean leeeans to get a view at what was just written. "Well, that's not inaccurate. You know it's really easy to forget how much... well, yeah, crap we accumulate over time, until it's time to pack it up and move it. And this is just the office." She's also arranged for a new room for both her and Rogue, leaving the coveted JACUZZI SUITE up for grabs. Or just to Charles. Who knows if he's into that lifestyle. Gotta flex those legs now that he's using them...

After noting the label on the box, she resumes packing stuff in it, before doing a bit of a double take at the question. "Well I like red velvet or lemon's pretty good- wait, what retirement party?" She was not informed. Well, until right now. Now she is informed. "I guess it's no use protesting the will of the party planning committee, hmm?" Not that she actually would. Jean's very pro party... the only real challenge is throwing one that she doesn't throw herself into the work for.

After a moment, she pauses her Law & Order esque box loading & chatting multitasking to more properly to the latter activity, focusing her attention. She looks very briefly unsure what to sayh, and then rather than offering a simple 'you're welcome' or other such plain reply, instead does the most horrifying and shocking of possible choices: she comes around the desk and holds her arms out and open.

OH NO ARE WE IN FACT HUG PEOPLE?

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Red velvet.... " Jubilation mutters, as though saying the words are enough to keep track of them in that dead brain of hers. Her expression sours. "Lemon!? Jeez, even I know that's wrong..."

    Jubilation's eyes widen as she finds herself in between two outstretched arms. No, not yet. Not yet. There's more that has to be said. It was a long walk to this side of the school. Jubilee suddenly turns and grabs two of the Grey family portraits and waggles them in the air like they're a pair of dolls having a conversation.

    "Well, like, I feel like I kinda put you in a bad position. You took a pretty big risk on me," Jubilation begins, staring at the makeshift dolls while she works through this heavy moment. "Not sending me away, I mean. When I, like, died and, like, you know...this..." She vaguely gestures towards herself instead of saying the v-word.

    "Standing up for me..." (when I killed that horse)

    "And then... not sending me away, uh, again... when we got attacked by Westchester because of me..." The vampire nation of Westchester, she means, but that's obvious. By now, Jubilee has busied herself with the bric-a-brac of Jean's office that hasn't yet made it into the box. Anything to prevent eye contact.

    "And..."

Jean Grey has posed:
"What, am I supposed to say carrot?" Cuz of the hair?!

Of course, Jean doesn't force anything, as far as personal space is concerned, though she only lowers her arms just a little, as if leaving the possibility open. The talking portrait routine elicits at least a slightly arched look - one would imagine the /Professional Psychologist/ side of Jean probably has quite a few thoughts on this behavior. Though presumably, she also recognizes that it serves a purpose, the objecties working as proxies to talk through something that isn't easy to say. And for her own part, it's tricky. Her answer is 'obvious,' but it's hard to say in a way that doesn't come off as dismissive of the underlying concern.

"Mmm. Maybe. We deal with a lot of people who have difficult backgrounds here, it's part and parcel with what we do. But I won't pretend like your situation was normal by any means, that it wasn't one of the stranger ones, the harder ones. I-"

There's a thoughtful pause.

"Maybe it was a little reckless. But you know, it- it was really hard, when we went to see you, you know, after. So I don't know. I can say it's just because our job is to always try, against all odds, to be understanding and supportive, even when it means dealing with students who have powers that can be really dangerous. Because you're not alone in that. But maybe part of it was a little selfish too. I was happy not to lose you."

Still watching as Jubilee goes through her things, playing with random items, her expression turns more wistful. "You got us attacked by vampires. I got us attacked by aliens. People stuck by me then - and that's just what we've done for you, I think. It's what this whole thing means." The power of found family and all that jazz! "I'm just happy things have worked out, mostly. Or at least I think they have? I don't know, exactly, but it seems like- well, that you've adjusted, that you're doing OK?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    And there it is. Have things worked out?

    Jubilation slumps into one of the seats in the office. Jean's words have pushed her to this or, perhaps, it was her original intention all along to vent.

    "No, I think I fucked up again, Jean," Jubilee admits, leaning forward to put the pictures back on the desk. She rolls her eyes, even, at her own stupidity. "Big shocker."

    Jubilee leans back in the chair and gently presses into her tear ducts with her thumb and index finger like she's seen old people do on television. "...So, like, I quit, uh, being duchess. Abdicated, it's called," Jubilation admits. "I really screwed us, I think."

    Instead of waiting for Jean to ask her to elaborate about that, Jubes opens her eyes and keeps going. "I only did that to keep us safe, like, originally. You know how Bobby got bit by whats-her-name? Yeah, well, word's out that mutant blood tastes really good and this school's full of it," Jubilee explains, leaning back in the chair again. Her feet go up on the edge of the desk so she can use her legs to push the chair back even more. "And, seriously, it's awesome. Like, you have no idea. Mutant blood. Like, woah!"

    There are parts of this story that only vampires could appreciate, maybe.

    "So, like, yeah, I ... did what I did. I dia.....diabl....." Jubes frowns, trying to remember her vampire vocabulary. There's a special word for what she did to the Duke of Westchester. "...diabler.....Oh, you know. You were there. Killed him, like, sucked him dry."

    "So I could ... make mutant blood forbidden."

    This strange, terrible saga gains some clarity...

Jean Grey has posed:
Jubilee sits in a chair. Jean, in response, shifts back a little just to perch at the edge of the desk behind her, beside the box. Since it's story time, she settles in to listen; understanding of the vampire stuff has always elusive, and truthfully Jean hasn't -tried- that hard to concern herself with understanding it. Maybe she's simply trusted Jubilee to handle it all along?

Seems she's getting to hear how all of that went, now.

"I suppose that's not surprising, that it, we, might... taste good. On top of whatever genetic changes, biochemistry... the reality is that we barely even know how our powers work and it's highly probable we're storing lots of excess energy in our cells, compared to baseline humans. If you get your life force from blood, it makes sense you might get more of it out of highly energy-dense version, and that evolutionarily - or whatever vampire equivalent - they'd correlate that energy with good taste."

Here she ties it back: "Like cake tastes good because our body's tricking us to hoard the calories for times of scarcity. Same idea, kinda." And also guesswork, but it makes sense to her!

Back to the story. "Right," she echoes, not stressing the terminology. "Job promotion via cannibalism, or something like that? So how does that work if you quit?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Don't worry, I don't wanna be headmistress..." Jubilee adds, looking up at Jean with a cautious smile. The smile fades in a near instant.

    "Well, it might come as a shock to you but I wasn't really too popular, so no one was too quick to check what was supposed to happen. They were just happy about it. Plus no one ever quit before," Jubilation explains. She waves her hand dismissively. "Severina's running the show now." Like that name means anything in the mortal world.

    "She's the really evil one," she adds.

    Anyway.

    "I've got some eyes and ears on the inside, but I'm basically 'dust on sight' now." Perhaps as a way of explaining, Jubilee uses both hands to pretend to stick an invisible stake into her chest. She rolls her head back and sticks her tongue out for maximum effect. It only lasts a moment.

    "I'm really sorry," Jubilee adds, glancing up at Jean again. "...I just... I couldn't take it anymore. I thought, like, okay, no mutant blood anymore... big deal. Who cares? Oh, they cared. They cared a lot."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean holds up her hands. "Hey, I already quit. If you want to eat my replacement, you'll have to work that out with him." Dot dot dot. "Uh. Do not actually try and eat Charles."

All levity aside, it's back to following along with the tale of the Vampires of Westchester. "Ok, sure. So you took the job, tried to do a bit of internal reforming and... met some resistance, and ultimately, rather than I imagine having to constantly fight off challenges for your position, you just gave it up? Still an enemy to them, but it probably cuts down at least on some of the incentive to go after you, yeah?" She's clearly weighing all of this, analyzing. And then ultimately...

...she shrugs. "Oh well. So, you didn't solve the problem of ancient blood sucking creatures who have been around doing this for I can only assume thousands of years? That's kind of a high bar. And no one could really expect you to come out of the gate a master of undead politics. Even that you tried... well that's a lot."

Now she glances at the window, as if toward some theoretical looming threat. "And not to be dismissive of the seriousness it, but as for hunting us for food goes, they'll just have to get in line behind the people doing it for silly ideological reasons. We'll manage, like we do. And even if you're not in charge any more, I'm sure having you gives us advantages, intel we wouldn't have otherwise."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jean's crack about Charles manages to draw out a little smirk. "It's not really, like, eating. It's more of a slurping..." she comments. She might have more to joke about but then Jean continues talking.

    Jubilation watches the former headmistress carefully, going along with her on this little journey as she considers the width and depth of the situation. She watches while Jean shifts out of the position of mere adjudicator and into one of true empathy and understanding. At this point, she's staring.

    Jubes rises from her seat, steps towards the window, and wedges herself into that little space that remains in front of Jean. The arms go around her, finally, and Jubilation presses her face into the former headmistress' shoulder.

    Jubes remains quiet. She doesn't talk. She doesn't crack a joke. Since she doesn't breathe, there's really no sounds that come from her. She's motionless. Cold. Dead.

    "Thank you," she whispers into Jean's clothes. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

    Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee, the loudest, most obvious person in any room... is finally seen by someone.

    Soon, she's near the door to the office. She drags the back of her hand across her face, wiping away a thin line of blood that managed to accumulate across her lower eyelids. "...I'm gonna get the red velvet," Jubilee promises. "...Send me the bill for your dry cleaning."