4540/Musical Kinship

Musical Kinship
Date of Scene:	30 December 2020
Location:	Jubilee and Noriko's Room
Synopsis:	Noriko and Jubes discover they like some of the same deep cuts. Hurray! Music! Friendship! Rainbows! Fireworks!
Cast of Characters:	Noriko Ashida, Jubilation Lee

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Noriko Ashida has posed:
A smalllll red hand outstretches to Jubes' laptop.  Tap, ta-tap tap!  "NOOOOOO."  The browsing history is full of Senor Scratchez's typos, some of which seem to be not at all what she wanted to look up orrrr, did she?  This time though, Noriko's cheeks flush and she starts panicking, sending Senor Scratchez into overdrive.

SNAP!  Noriko freezes, holding a plastic nub of a stick.  "OMG SENOR SCRATCHEZ!"  Because seriously he's been her best tool so far after the nun-on-a-stick and the T-Rex.  All who met melty ends...and the nun caught on fire too.  Polyester is not your friend if you are friends with Noriko.

"Shit shit shit," she knows she can't touch Jubes' laptop so she searches around for something to use as an extension and, well, perhaps a bit paranoid, perhaps actually sensing Jubes coming, Noriko darts over to lie back on her bed while embarrassing sounds fill the room with her metal covered hands awkwardly behind her head.  Not comfortable, but she tries to make it look that way, her legs crossed at the ankles.  Whistle whistle.  Little lightning strikes out from her lips at certain notes.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Suddenly, the door flings open and Jubilation Lee comes barrelling in like she owns the place! Well, half the place. She hurries into the room, cold as the dickens! She had spent some time outside with her brand new pogo stick, courtesy of Rogue, but had absolutely not dressed for the occasion. She was wearing her typical yellow jacket, but her legs were mostly bare -- only covered by black shorts that were way way way way too short for this weather (or anytime, honestly). It was nice to be inside where it was warm and the only company was someone she didn't have to pretend around. She actually DID find it entirely too cold to dress like this, but...no one gets to know that!

    Jubilee stops in the center of the room and stares, stares, STARES at Nori as the sounds of the laptop fill the room. Her own cheeks fill with color and warmth, just...standing there as she locks eyes with her roommate. Suddenly, Jubilee drops the pogo stick and rushes to close the door. She presses her back against the door and takes a breath.

    Did she leave that open on her laptop before going outside? Could she really have been that stupid? Really, she doesn't remember. Or... wait a second...Wait just a second...

    "Nori!" she gasps, rushing over to close the laptop lid. "Was...was that you? ... Or me?" She's still blushing, not wanting to look at the other girl.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Lookin' hot /and/ cold," Noriko doesn't stumble over /this/ zinger.  It's all flash, the kinds of compliments Jubilee is probably more used to hearing from Noriko.  No hesitation accompanied by a smirk.  It's defensive, reflexive, but it's not a powerful enough attitude to stave off the sheer horror that creeps back into her in the form of a totally red face.  Not just cheeks.

"Uh..."  That could mean yes or yes!  BOTH!  D! But isn't the answer always C?!  Noriko is definitely on board with looking everywhere but Jubilee...but, yeah she looks, /and squints/ as she realizes something.  "Oh you're into that."  Why must thoughts be spoken aloud? she questions herself and her cheeks puff out as she sighs out through closed lips.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee sits down on the edge of her bed, facing away from Noriko. Her shoulders are tensed up and she leans forward, utterly mortified. "...I...uh.. " she tries, thinking that it was HER who left that on the screen. Jubilee's eyes are wide, staring at the pogo stick lying helplessly on the floor.

    Jubilee brings both of her cold hands up and presses them against her hot cheeks. "I...um..." she mutters, her words sounding nasal as her eyes start to accumulate a thin layer of moisture. Jubes gathers enough courage to glance briefly over at Nori but quickly looks away if caught. She sighs audibly, her lips pursed slightly to let the air out with some noise.

    Slooooowly, Jubilee rises and approaches the laptop. She moistens her lips and stares down at it like Indiana Jones getting ready to steal the idol. Her hands shake a little as she reaches for the screen. She had to close the browser but... as soon as that lid was opened...

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Nori is in shock.  This whole thing is like a train wreck in slow motion that she has no idea how to stop.  She can't move, paralyzed by the sight of Jubes with her back to her.  Her heart sinks, her eyes turning downward as if anchored by the guilt when they both catch each other's fleeting glance.

"Ju-" Noriko starts softly.  She could easily be trying to stop Jubilee from cursing herself or dooming them all when Jubilee reaches to open the laptop.  Noriko is up in a flash and places a gentle, cold, metal hand on the girl's wrist.  "I'm sorry.  It was me.  You can-go to the bathroom or something...I'll figure out how to get rid of it."

They're going to turn off fun?!  Poor Senor Scratchez...he is crushed.  Literally.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    For a few moments, Jubilee considers putting the laptop in the sink. Just drown it. Put it out of its misery. But the girls out of their misery. But then, she feels the metal hand reach out for her wrist. This causes Jubilee's cheeks to darken even further, which prompts her to look away even more. "You?" she nearly squeaks, shifting her eyes a little to try and look at Nori while also keeping her head pointed towards the wall. It doesn't work.

    Jubilee's expression shifts towards guilt. Extreme guilt. Suddenly, she turns towards Nori and shakes her head. "No... You don't need to lie," she confesses, looking down at the laptop. "I forgot to close the browser..." She sounds glum -- like, how could she be so stupid? On the other hand, it's honestly a miracle this hadn't happened sooner.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Too wrapped up in her own coloration, Noriko doesn't exactly notice how Jubilee's cheeks darken further.  Her mind flits in all directions at once, fractured thoughts that never assemble into meaning.  Panic.  A part of her wants to run, run so far, crawl up a mountain, into a cave, and just disappear.  But she doesn't.

"I would never lie to you," Noriko says with a strange boldness.  "You forgot to close the browser, but it wasn't on that.  Seriously."  Ugh, having to insist in her confession just feels even..worse.  "Please.  Listen to me.  I fucked up.  I mean the evidence is right there."  Not only is there the 'body'/head and chalk outline of the late great Senor Scratchez, but if either of them cared to bring up the internet history, it would show the timestamps.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee's eyes follow a path along Senor Scratchez, who died for this cause. She stares at him -- died too young. One day away from retirement. The pieces come together. It was Nori. Except...

    "Well..." she begins gently. "...On any other day, it could've been me." She fills her lungs with air through her nose and lets it out slowly. "This morning it could've been me." She closes her eyes, leaving them closed for several seconds as she dies over and over and over.

    Jubilee swallows nervously and clears her throat. After a moment to collect her thoughts, she reaches both hands for the laptop and turns it over. With a quick press, she releases the battery and holds it in her hand. Duh.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
If only browsers didn't keep sessions and 'continue working' features that bring up all your damn tabs.  It was a nice thought Jubes, but Nori changed the settings one day.

"Oh, uh," okay now Noriko's breathing /is/ a bit unsettling.  She tries to force herself to take deep breaths, but she's feeling a little dizzy.  She's not about to dart away and end up with her head through a wall.  Spills are kind of intense for the speedster.  "This morning?"  her eyebrows arch.  Deep breaths Nori.  Deep breaths.  She reaches up to rub the back of her neck, pinching with where the plates wrapping around her finger flex.  "That explains," Noriko doesn't know what this explains and she still hasn't backed off.  Still frozen with lead shoes.

"It's just fantasy stuff right?  It's no big deal.  Doesn't mean anything.  I mean I bet the guys' rooms and stuff are filthy..."  Noriko doesn't even know if she's making this better or worse for the both of them.  In trying to minimize Jubilee's confession, it feels like she's minimizing this whole disaster.  A mirage of a solution.

"Do you..want to talk about it?"  WTF NORI.  WTF.  She almost vomits the second the words come out.  "I don't know why I just said that.  I'm such a fucking moron."  Noriko walks straight into the bathroom, turns on the faucet, and starts filling up the sink with cold cold water as she leans, bracing her hands on either side of the sink.  "So fucking stupid," she whispers to herself as she tries to breathe.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee lives in a fantasy world where cutting power to the laptop would save them from this. Poor, poor, Jubilee.

    Nori's intensified breathing causes Jubes to look up immediately -- she's concerned! But, Noriko question about 'this morning' causes Jubes to inch away from the other girl. Oh god oh god oh god. "This is...like... the worst day," she mutters, but Nori probably didn't need to be told. Jubilee's hands can't seem to decide on pressing against her cheeks, covering her eyes, and rubbing against the back of her neck.

    Suddenly, Jubilee turns to stare at Nori, looking positively desparate. "Can we pretend..." she tries. They couldn't. She knows it. The suggestion that they talk about it? Woah. Jubilee's face sours almost immediately. "Do /you/ want to talk about it?" she asks, not believing her ears.

    But... as soon as Nori goes for the bathroom, Jubilee actually looks... less at ease, if that's possible. She reaches a hand out, almost immediately, but comes in contact with nothing. Jubilee stares down at the floor, her hands coming down to worry against each other for a second. And then she gets up.

    Jubilation Lee stands there, stunned, in the middle of their shared room. She looks at the bathroom doorway, watching Nori fill the sink. She turns to look at the door to leave the room entirely. It calls to her. Yet...

    "Are you okay?" she asks softly, lingering in the doorway to the bathroom.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Fuck no she doesn't want to talk about it.  Noriko would like to get some oxygen or go bury her head in the sand.  She has to wait.  And wait.  And wait for the sink to fill.  It feels like a whole revolution could occur in that time period.  She could only hope one that would overthrow the school and set off the fire alarm.  Do they have one?  Or did they get rid of it after it was used too many times to get out of tests and pop quizzes?

Having to wait leaves Noriko vulnerable.  Her face feels like its on fire, but she doesn't dare open her eyes, which means she doesn't see Jubilee coming in the mirror.  She dunks her face into the water which lights up with blue flashes.  The stings, the cold.  She pushes further in, not caring that she gets her hair wet, that she can feel the prickly shocks like running into a thorn bush repeatedly.

The question.  "I will be."  Noriko looks down.  Shame.  Immense shame.  "I won't...I won't do that again.  I promise."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "...It's fine," Jubilee answers, looking away. "I mean... if you did something wrong then..." So did she.

    Jubes doesn't finish that thought. Instead, she takes a nervous breath. Obviously, whatever Noriko was doing in the bathroom to make herself feel better didn't involve her. She steps away from the doorway, her fingertips lingering on the wood for just a moment before she returns to the security of her bed. Jubilee sits down and reaches out for her laptop.
    From the bathroom, Nori might be able make out the distinct whistles and pops of Jubilee's fireworks. Her hands are guiding the micro-explosions all around the laptop, swirling it, covering it, engulfing it. When they all crackle away, the laptop remains unharmed. Dejected, Jubilee tosses it onto the floor and slides towards her pillow.

    Jubes lies down on her stomach and presses her face into the pillow, gripping it tightly with both hands.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
If only it felt better.  Jubilee's words crush Noriko though.  So reaffirming in a way, the way Noriko hears it, but she's not so self-involved to not fill in the blanks.  Noriko listens to those familiar sounds.

Taking a deep breath, Noriko stares at herself in the mirror, inspecting herself, as if she can find something deeper there, reflecting on what Jubilee must be feeling.  A part of her wants to punch the mirror, the tile, anything.  Punch until her gauntlets break away.  She removes them instead, calming herself in the methodical and strange act.  They've become a part of her now, even these newer, crappier ones.

Noriko walks back into the room and looks over at Jubilee with her face in her pillow.  She diverts her course and quickly ends up sitting on the side of her roommate's bed, the indentation being enough to feel her presence.  "I didn't mean-You didn't do anything wrong Jubes.  I mean you're not even the one who left...that running on your laptop...Are you okay?"  The worry in her voice.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee just wants to scream into her pillow. She doesn't dare risk it -- someone might hear and come knocking. If there was anything that could make this moment more horrifying it would be another person. When the mattress shifts to announce Nori, Jubilation freezes in place.

    After taking a deep, steadying breath, she rolls to her side to face Noriko. "Nori..." she begins, her voice coming out as something closer to a whine. "Can we just forget about this and go back to being awesome?" Her wide-eyed expression and the mourning in her voice are all indications that she knows they can't.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Life has been horrible to both of them, and for Noriko, she never thought that something so immediately visceral as human touch would be so important to her, a need she can't control.  She's leaned into that insulation she's built up, insulation from others and her own needs, zipping around constantly to live in her own little world.  Popping out for propriety or people she's come to care about.

But still, Noriko doesn't trust herself, even if her small interactions have come a long way, and she still can't go without her gauntlets.  This...this here feels like someone has poured a cup of salt into that hole and all she can do it cry inside while she watches it melt her away, creating more scar tissue, terraforming her heart for better or worse, salting the land like some ancient army not bent on total decimation.  She stares down at her hands, body rippling with hair-standing electricity that begins and ends with a deep breath.

"Well we're definitely going to be awesome no matter what," Noriko says with a compromised smirk.  "Going to be pretty hard to forget though."  There's a small stretch of silence, but no hesitation.  Her eyes are earnest, glowing with intensity as if she's bottled all her feelings there, "Look, I don't care what you're into or what you do.  You couldn't change anything..." between us, how I see you.  "I mean you can try, but it's..." futile, that's the word she's trying to remember and gives up on.

"I think we need to talk about it though.  At some point."  Noriko isn't really sure what the hell is going on, but she knows she doesn't want this to drive some wedge between them, superficial pushing-down-feelings nonsense or otherwise.

You've been there for me.  "I want to be there for you."  There are just some emotions that she cannot articulate, that are nearly inaccessible, but those armored plates are fracturing away, and Jubilee has helped keep Noriko together to fight another day, to fight stronger.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubes manages the faintest smile. They ARE going to be awesome no matter what. That's a given. She moistens her lips, as if to get ready to say something, say anything, anything that could make this better. To summon the courage to just let her mouth open up and see what happens. But, sometimes the things that should be so easy can be the things that are most difficult.

    And there it was. I don't care what you're into or what you do. For the briefest moment, Jubilee's brow forms a line, as if to silently return the ball to the other side of the court. As if to say 'what about you?' But, the words don't come and the expression softens. There is a natural human tendency to pass the buck and push the scrutiny onto others. But, Jubilee isn't really human according to some. Neither is Noriko. And, frankly, this other girl was so much more to Jubilee than just an 'other.' And so, she just lets Nori's comment stand.

    Jubilation's eyes lower, finally noticing that the other girl isn't wearing her gauntlets. Jubilee closes her eyes so tight that wrinkles begin to form at either side of them. After holding this for a second or two, she opens her eyes and hesitantly reaches out for her friend's bare hand.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I-" But Noriko can't even make sense about what she's going through.  There are even questions she'd want to ask if this wasn't so mortifying.  Some part of her feels like she owes Jubilee something, or at least she feels that alien tug of wanting to share even if every part of her is screaming NOOOO at the same time in her head.  Her hands are shaking, little micro vibrations.  This isn't just something owed.  She knows.  She owes it to herself.

At Jubilee's return expression, Noriko looks down.  Her hands are slightly angled outward.  She stares down at her palms, not initially seeing Jubilation's outstretched hand.  It should scare her.  It should make her jump, her heart beat out of her chest, her mind to explode in an electrical cascade, but the sudden comfort and perhaps a new measure of control, perhaps this just this moment...she doesn't.

There is a slight low buzz to the touch, but not enough to cause any discomfort, and not like normal static which just sucks your hair back to your face.  It's as if the electricity is riding some different micro-forces, like it's even more connected, reaching out for more absorption found all around, coursing everywhere.  Her eyes still glow softly, as if somehow she doesn't carry current the way matter normally does.  The electrons have not taken their free ride surfing from atom to atom to distribute widely across her body...for once, it is localized.  And Nori has no idea it's happening.

Even already touching without any negative consequences so far, Noriko holds her breath, eyes darting to Jubilation's and never leaving after initial contact.  /She's/ shocked instead, that nothing bad happened, but more so that Jubilee would even risk it.  Her jaw remains slackened, her lips slightly parted as she simply tries to get her brain...no, her mind is blank.  How?

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    She didn't announce it. She hadn't asked. It just seemed like the right thing to do. It was just there for her to take and she did it without thinking. The initial buzz is startling -- Jubilee's jerk reaction is to close her eyes. She grips Nori's hand, squeezing it for just a moment. Her eye lines wrinkle again as the skin covering her eyes is pulled tight. The gentle buzz coursing up her arm is enough to make her wince, just a little, but she doesn't seem to be in any physical pain.

    She opens her eyes, looking over at Nori hesitantly, and starts to pull her hand back. As her fingers slide against Noriko's, a small cloud of sparkles, pops, whistles, and lights come into existence, seemingly against Jubilee's control. All of them explode harmlessly as soon as her fingertips finally break free from Nori's.

    "Sorry," she finally says, her eyes lowering to her hand, inspecting it. Jubilee sits up and swings her legs over the side of the bed so she's no longer on her side, taking a seated position instead. Jubilee takes a deep breath, still looking down at the palm of her hand. Unknown to her, all of the styrafoam detritus leftover from the pogo stick's packaging had accumulated on her back.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
There's an instinct to yank her hand away at Jubilee's wince, a reflex.  But Noriko also knows from all her time on the street that this can sometimes be a bad idea, even if she was dealing with higher charge at those times.  She doesn't seem upset, which is the key indication that she knows she hasn't hurt Jubilee...that and the lack of profuse apologizing.

Noriko's eyes drift quickly down to the trail of Jubilee's powers, like she's watching a small comet.  "Huh?"  Noriko initially responds, looking back up to Jubilee with genuine confusion.  "Why?"  That's when she sees that this trick could be a much easier way to clean up after a package-geddon...or an idea for a costume...or that her friend might not like that she just turned into a styrofoam turtle....or MOST LIKELY, all of the above in rapid succession as her brain kicks back into that endless hyper stream.

"Thank you..." Noriko says quietly before she reaches out as if to put her arm around Jubilee, maybe, but she doesn't touch.  Her hand passes over the shoulder around to glide contactless over the little styrofoam mosaic and see if she can somehow get it to drop or attract to her.  She doesn't dare take her concentration off of keeping things tamped down with her powers though.  This is the side she has least control of.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I don't know..." Jubilee says, just above a whisper. By the time she's finished saying it, she's laughing a little but still looking down at her hand and blissfully ignorant to the styrofoam shower she just had.

    As the arm comes around her shoulder, Jubilee's eyes rise to watch Nori's, but when the contact doesn't come, she turns her head to look at the other girl's hand. She's just in time to see the styrofoam leftovers start falling from her jacket. Jubilee laughs, shaking her head at the absurdity of it before bringing both hands up to gently pat down her hair in case it's standing up. "We don't have to talk about this," she points out. "Could just... let it be."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko jazz finger wiggles as the styrofoam starts to fall off.  That's only for Jubes' entertainment though, a more secretive whimsy to Noriko that usually doesn't come out without Jubilee's influence.

Jubes' laugh gets a warm, proud grin from Noriko.  She reaches up to gesture buffing her nails against her jacket.  Jubes was left with more normal feeling static in her hair after ceasing contact.  "Is that what you want?"  She bites her lip. Noriko's never felt so slow, so slogging as she has through this.  Juggling has always been easy, physically and mentally.  Even before her powers manifested, she's always been a quick thinker on her feet.

"Yeah...I guess."  Noriko says with a little shake of her head, like she's getting the cobwebs out or has finally got her mind working enough to lean back into her old neural grooves, to hide away.  "Whatever you want."  She breathes deeply to deal with a sudden swell of unidentifiable feelings that linger so long for that temperamental hyper-cycling brain.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jazz hands are enough to keep Jubilee smiling. But, the calm before the storm would only last so long. Her eyes trace a path from the jazz hands, up to her jacket, and then to Nori's face in time to catch the lip bite. In time to see the apparent discomfort that she has caused just by suggesting they avoid talking about this. Whatever it was.

    "Do /you/ want to talk about it?" Jubes accuses. "...Why?" She takes a deep breath and just decides to put her discomfort to words. "...So we just found out that we're accessing the same thing on the computer. The same exact thing, almost down to the letter." It was her part in trying to talk about it. Jubilee's knees come together, her ankles going wide. Her eyes, meanwhile, are locked on Nori's -- there's fear lingering there, embarrassment has passed. She's afraid.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko can't look up.  A soft small pool of blue light emits down from her eyes in the blanket of shadow from hanging her head.  "I don't know...I guess, like, I have a lot of shit going on."  Woooords.  "I-want to know things and there are just some things I feel like I can't figure out on my own..."  Suddenly, too late, it dawns on her what that must of sounded like.  Her face turns like a stoplight, accelerated processes turning her whole face RED as her mind screams STOP!  "I mean-that's not what I mean-" so fast.  "Oh God.  I-I meant-not with another person-you know how I lost control that one time I told you and I burst Dr. McCoy," yeah Nori told Jubes about that mission gone wrong.  And if Jubes can't remember, Nori adds, "The one where the trees were hugging me," which is a colorful word for trying to contain her and even possibly tear her apart.

The story is a diversion, kind of.  A long way to go about avoiding trying to ask if, well, does Jubes have control over her powers through 'such things?'  It's telling just how much Nori's power has or she's allowed it and her fear of hurting people to limit her explorations.

"Yeah...I guess that explains why you never figured out my weird search history."  She means Senor Scratchez's!  She looks up and across to Jubes.  "Have you always been into...?"  Ah, the curiosity has now finally overcome the fear, or maybe the impulsiveness has, or her affinity for pushing herself toward disaster.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee stares, her eyebrows hiked just a little as she catches the light pooling in Nori's lap. "...Nori..." she says softly. She can't seem to bring her voice above a whisper. Are they doing this? They're doing this! Her hands come together on her own lap, her fingertips gently worrying with each other. Her breathing had become a little unsteady, nervous. She had a sense of what Nori was asking but wasn't completely sure. Rather than overplaying her hand, Jubilee lifts a hand and points her finger at a tiny scorch-mark on the curtains for their room. "This morning..." she explains, her eyes lowering. That should give a sense of how much control she had of her powers in this context.

    The return to the search history -- Jubilee sucks in a lungful of nervous air. It's like a reverse gasp. For her answer, Jubilee can't look at Nori. She stares at the opposite wall, sitting up perfectly straight like she's submitting herself for inspection. Has she always? "...No," is her only response. It's cryptic, uninviting, but it happens to say a lot with just a single word. Lots of ways to take that.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Sorry," Noriko mutters when Jubes says her name.  She's barely audible and sounding more like just a nonverbal utterance with how fast it slips out.  It's possible Noriko doesn't even fully know /everything/ she's asking.  Noriko looks up when Jubes points.  She never even noticed the new scorch mark.  "Oh..."  Maybe if she wasn't so self-absorbed right now or maybe a little bit more, she'd make a crack excitedly about how Jubilee /can/ affect stuff with her powers!  She just needs to...you know...every time.  The brief flashing thought causes Noriko's face to fire up red again.

It is soooo much easier to look at that dirty pile of laundry at the foot of her bed, well one of those little islands.  Ugh, why does she have to look at Jubes to detect what's going on?  Or even try to scratch the surface?  The worst.  THE ABSOLUTE WORST, but she does it in fleeting glances.  After a stretch of silence.  "Oh.  Okay...I mean," 'stop blathering' races through Nori's head about a thousand times.  "Not like I was into anything at-" nine?  She stops herself and falls backwards onto Jubilee's bed in defeat, staring at the ceiling, looking crushed.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    As if mirroring each other, Jubilee's fleeting glances happen to catch Nori's at each interval. And each one forces her eyes to retreat. Intermittently, Jubes glances at their door and the escape it offers. But... She's not budging. When Noriko falls backwards onto her bed, Jubilee straightens her posture and stares forward. She freezes in place for the moment, not sure of what to do or say. But... her eyes rapidly shift to glance over at Nori, then away, then back.

    Jubilee looks up at the scorch mark on the curtains. It was the second time she's managed to affect the outside world with her fireworks -- the first was an accident she couldn't replicate, back when they were tossing Tootsie Rolls at each other. Jubilee shifts, turning her body towards Noriko before bringing her hand up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

    "...Only...The last few months, I think..." she offers, elaborating on her 'no.' She brings both hands up to her face and closes her eyes "I don't know..." she says suddenly. With her palms covering her eyes, Jubilee falls backwards and lies there next to Nori, her face pointed up at the ceiling as well.

    "...What about you?" she asks, her words muffled as they pass between her hands.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
The fact that Noriko isn't already running for the mountains or to go jump into the freezing ocean is telling of just how much she trusts Jubilee, but even more so how much she /chooses/ to be vulnerable around her.

Noriko forces herself to look to Jubilee when she shifts her body.  "Oh...but before that?"  She needs the distraction from her own self pity, though the question and motivations (some) are genuine, it's rather easy for her to pile up less than virtuous intentions in any small amount of time.  "What do you mean you don't know?"  she asks, looking up at the ceiling again.

"Uh...same.  Guess with everything, I never had space to think about it," time to care, or anything.  "I don't know."  Clear confusion.  Are her cheeks burning again?  Probably.  It's not like her metal gauntlets would magic-8 ball her temperature to her.  Am I blushing Gauntlet?!  'Seems likely,' her power gauge would spell out in calculator numbers.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee is endlessly cheerful, effervescent, and happy. Except when she's not. Noriko is one of the very few people who gets to see it. The one who Jubilee doesn't have to act around. As painful as this moment is, Nori is the only one who she could spend it with. If she left the room, she'd be off in the Mansion, likely around other kids, and forced to put on a front.

    "I mean... I don't know," she repeats. Her voice is more mournful, not annoyed. It's as though she wishes she knew what to say, frustrated perhaps that she doesn't. And so, the two roommates lie there, both fixated on the ceiling, both blushing, both stymied. Truly horrible.

    The sounds of something gently patting the comforter can be heard -- it's one of Jubilation's hands searching for one of Nori's.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Nori gets it.  Maybe not /it/.  But she is certainly feeling that way.  Her own feelings aren't dissimilar.  She wishes she could help Jubilation.  She wishes this was something she could shove deep somewhere else where no one could see it and she could forget.

The girl hardly even registers the sounds, but certainly on some unconscious level.  She reaches out in one slow, steady motion.  For her it is like an eternity, even if it might come off as decisive.  She takes a deep breath and lets Jubilee find her hand, keeping it in one place until her hand slips into Jubilation's.  Hers is warm.  She tilts her head to the side closest to Jubes, still staring at the ceiling.  "We really need some glow in the dark paints."  Deflection.  "Sorry.  I don't know why I said that."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    That low buzz, the harmless one from before, trickles up Jubilee's arm and into her shoulder. Earlier, it was a surprising, unwelcome feeling, but now it's a comfort.

    She takes a deep breath and continues staring at their currently not-glowing ceiling. In December, the days are short, so their room was only dimly lit with the sun's last rays for the day. It made their position even more precocious, more awkward. Jubilee's hand grips Nori's tightly -- she summoned the courage to take it and she wasn't going to be doing THAT again.

    Her other hand, however, lifts in the air and sways across the empty space over their heads, as if conducting an invisible orchestra. In the path of her hand, a wake of sparkles, colors, micro-explosions, and blobs of light pop into existence and hang there, above their heads. They didn't need glow in the dark paint. Noriko and Jubilation lie there, illuminated by the light cast from the orbs of color exploding just under the ceiling.

    "We have to destroy the computer," Jubilee decides, tilting her head towards Nori's.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko also feels a little burst of charge that trickles up her arm, but these aren't unfamiliar sensations.  Combined with human touch and the biochemical reactions though, the experience is...different.  Charged differently.  There's not an ounce of Noriko that would let go of Jubilee's hand right now, no matter how much the other girl might squeeze or crush it.

Jubilee's light orchestra washes them in an array of shifting colors, revealing the soft contented grin that materializes for Noriko, unbidden.  The 'thanks' goes unspoken, communicated in a warm squeeze of Jubilee's hand.  It's beautiful, and she doesn't want to ruin it.

Noriko tilts her head, mirroring Jubilee, though her features are etched in apology.  "Yeah...so how are we going to make her go?"  Because destruction should be /fun/.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee either doesn't notice the apologetic look or just flatly ignores it. She wasn't mad at Nori -- she didn't have enough emotional capacity for that at the moment. There was so much other stuff happening here that being angry or demanding an apology just wasn't in the cards.

    "...I'm not sure..." Jubilee replies. She squints one eye, as if doing so would help her access a memory or thought that could help here. "Large-scale, wanton destruction is more your thing, Nori..." she reminds, turning on her side to face her whole body towards her. Jubes gives Nori's hand a squeeze in return -- she even smiles. The first in a little while.

    "I can barely sear a curtain...." Jubilee's eyes rise to try and look at the burn mark again but her angle was wrong and she couldn't.

    "We could ask Tabitha to hel--- Nevermind," she stops right there. "Dumb idea. The worst idea. There has never been an idea worse than that one."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko's guilt is deeper, like it is that more intense because guilt as a concept has been drilled into her core in one of the most violent ways.  It completely hijacks her demeanor, but her racing processes help her shift through it faster according to other people's perceptions and the reality of time.

"Yeah I know, but this is small scale stuff...and you should have a say in how it goes right?" Noriko asks gently, brow raising slightly.  Feeling more at ease by Jubes' smile, Noriko does too, still angled toward the girl, looking at her kind of from a crooked perspective.

"Just because you can't do it with your powers doesn't mean you can't throw it off a building or something," Noriko's smile broadens, for once being the one to see the silver lining of things.  "Oh you seared that curtain," she says nearly under her breath, eyes flicking upward and back.

"Yeah, no.  First ideas are always the worst anyways.  Bad ideas don't discriminate," Noriko graciously assures Jubes.  "What if we ran over it with one of the cars?  Maybe I can jump start it with a little charge?  Or we can go throw it off a cliff...or down a well...or use it to defend against something in the story we cook up...these are all kind of boring aren't they...what if we blew it up with chemicals in the lab...or used it as a sled across the ice."  Oh these ideas could go on forever.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee starts itemizing the ideas, critiquing each one by one.

    Run it over with a car: "...If we get caught, the laptop is right there..." she begins, looking up at her own lightshow.

    Down a cliff: "...What if someone finds it?"

    Down a well: "They /always/ find the kid trapped in the well..."

    Chemicals: "We need a science kid."

    Sled: "My butt is too big for that to be a sled."

    "What if we grind it up?" Jubes suggests, her eyebrows hiking. She gives Nori a mischievous smile, even waggling her eyebrows. "I saw this video online..." Jubes pauses, suddenly looking uncomfortable again. "...I saw this YOUTUBE video, online, where they put stuff like computers into blenders!" She smiles, holding her bottom lip at bay with the top row of her teeth.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Well yeah but...if we succeeds, who is going to look at the contents and trace it back to us?"  Maybe the car.../maybe/, especially since it's be waaay more likely for Nori to screw it up with her powers.

"Hmm.  Kids down wells.  Good point."  Noriko needs Jubes for this.  She's got so many things running through her head that it's rather refreshing to have someone play the other side of the chess board...even if neither of them are likely smart enough to excel at chess.

Noriko tilts her head further as if trying to judge if Jubes' is just exaggerating about her butt.  "I thought maybe if it were open..."

"OH YES!" Any and all interrogations that might come out of blending a laptop piece by piece isn't even thought of because this is such a magical idea.  It's too late for logic.  "I can take it apart while you throw it in.  Brilliant Jubes."  Noriko squeezes and a little ripple of a buzz reverberates out softly.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "There are, like, millions of stories of kids getting stuck in wells and the whole town swooping in at the last minute to get them out of there!" Jubilee explains. "We can't afford it -- not with all these well-intentioned townspeople in our midst!" She's trying to bring back some of the patented Jubilation Lee spunk. Jubes turns over so her back is against the bed again and her eyes back on the orbs of light cascading above them.

    "Oh, open -- yeah, I could ride it if it was open," Jubilee decides, grinning a little as she does. She's still staring up at the lights, now imagining herself roaring down a steep, snowy hill with her laptop underneath. "You could even take it apart here... We could bring it to the kitchen in a bag or something..." Jubilee suggests.

    Nori's squeeze and the buzz that comes with it earns a most unusual reaction from Jubilation. She clears her throat, as if to hide whatever's about to happen -- she shifts her hand and tries to weave her fingers with Nori's. She says nothing, does nothing, just stares at the ceiling.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Truuuue," Noriko says skeptically, but she leans into Jubes' reasoning when she mentions the well-intentioned townspeople.  "Okay, they are so annoying and nosy.  You're right."

"Brilliant.  I'll go get the sledgehammer."  Why Noriko knows where the sledgehammer is?  Most people wouldn't know.  It's probably not hard for Jubes to guess that Noriko probably goes through anything that isn't /personal/ in the school out of sheer boredom.  But Noriko doesn't just blip away and appear with the sledgehammer.  She doesn't want to let go of Jubes' hand.

Noriko grins, watching the lights lazily.  When she feels Jubes' hand shifting, she assumes it's the herald of her breaking contact.  There's a flash of Nori trying awfully to manage her emotions and then a blink...blink blink blink.  Her fingers part and she glances over to Jubes and then back up to the ceiling, bookending the whole thing with a clearing of her throat too.

She doesn't move a muscle, her breath caught, and she tries to think about keeping calm, puppies in a field?  Other things-NO NOT THOSE THINGS-more puppies in a field...puppies and kittens chasing each other and rolling around batting each other-GAH-why aren't their cuter animals she can think of?!  Eh, let it ride.  After that moment of a billion thoughts, Noriko faintly grins.

"It's either a sledgehammer or I go rifle through some geek's room for tiny screwdrivers which I think is worse.  Is that worse?"  Normalizing with words tumbling out so rapidly.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    I'll go get the sledgehammer. Jubes has every confidence that Nori knows where the nearest three sledgehammers are. It's unquestionable. But, the suggestion that she would go, well... Jubilee's hand squeezes, as if to say 'don't.' The thing about sledgehammers is that they're, frankly, not the belle of the ball when it comes to tools. It would be waiting for Nori later.

    When their fingers thread, weaving with each others, Jubilee turns her head to return the glance. She offers a shy smile and then immediately turns back to the ceiling. She takes a deep breath, in and out. After another inhale, she holds it in up until the point she needs to reply to Nori.

    "Sledgehammer sledgehammer sledgehammer sledgehammer," she chants. Jubilee wanted nothing more than to just lie there in silence, but if she didn't chant 'sledgehammer,' who would? After a few seconds of silence following the last sledgehammer, Jubilee turns her head towards Nori and watches her.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Okay Noriko isn't really looking at any lights right now, nor is she really staring at the smooth, tall ceiling that this ridiculously opulent school has, of course.  Not after the shy smile from Jubes.  Now her damn /ears/ are red.

The sledgehammer chant gets a smirk out of Nori.  The normally cavalier speedster is absolutely frozen when Jubes looks over.  Sensing she's being watched, Noriko side glances to Jubilee and ceiling and Jubilee and ceiling.  Sometimes her mouth just opens and a whole lot of lame nonsense tumbles out.  Apparently, this is one of those times.

Mouth opens, mouth is soooo dry, nothing comes out.  So maybe this isn't one of those times.  She doesn't leave Jubes.  "I'm glad we talked about it..." oh wait there it is.  Noriko has no measure of what success is.  She has no idea whether she should be saying this or not, whether she really wanted to say this (because of course it comes with the consequence of blushing) or not.  It's just there, and she doesn't revoke it.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I'm glad we didn't," Jubilee replies, just barely over a whisper. They didn't really talk about it and for that...Jubes was thankful. But, that doesn't stop her from blurting something out suddenly. She hasn't turned her face away from Nori after turning towards her. Her eyes, however, were similarly dancing around the room, periodically returning to Noriko.

    After watching Nori's discomfort for a few moments, Jubilee turns back towards the ceiling. The colors, previously a neon rainbow, start to shift towards more somber colors -- deep reds, dark purples, and some splashes of orange. "Sorry..." she manages, releasing some of the pressure of her hand, starting to unwind her fingers from Noriko's.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
For Noriko, this qualifies as talking.  Baby steps.  Baby steps.  She's counting it.  "We totally did," Noriko insists, though her look says she agrees with Jubes.  Nori is also distractedly glancing back to Jubilee, or maybe she's distractedly glancing back to the everything else.

But the shift in colors is something Noriko doesn't understand.  She hasn't really seen Jubilee use her powers while in the dumps and so when that word comes, and she feels what is actually going on, she holds on so Jubilee /can't/ unwind her fingers and looks over, confused.  No words, just the question that doesn't require verbalizing.  'Why?'  Why are you pulling away?  Why are you sorry?

Clueless as to what she's been projecting outward.  "No."  I don't want to let go of your hand.  It almost takes on the tone of a pouty kid.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    When Nori's fingers capture hers, she raises her eyebrows and turns her head back towards the other mutant. She blinks a couple of times and swallows nervously. After taking a breath, Jubilee relaxes her fingers so they can slide down Nori's before curling over to the top of her hand. When she did it the first time, she almost snuck in. This time, it's all eye contact and just kicking the door in.

    The 'no' from Noriko -- that's an unexpected thing for Jubes. The word, the tone, all of it. It causes her to blush in her cheeks and on the ceiling. One by one, the blobs and sparklers all switch to a dark red color, as though a wave passed over them all. All she can say, if it even counts as saying anything, is a breathless, "Okay..." She keeps staring, unsure of what's going on, what she's doing, and what she will do.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
That flash of determination, knowing what she wants, that word resulting...it flickers out almost immediately, as if Noriko never expected that word to come out of her mouth, her head, something.  Her head swims at the intensity of the moment, under Jubilee's inspection, the blush she causes.  

There's a few moments where Noriko's eyes dart from blob to sparkle, sparkle to blob, trying to discern the switch in virtual slow motion as she gives in to the overdrive.  Suddenly she's looking back to Jubes.  "Fuck," she is just able to get out before she suddenly rips her hand away and appears on the other side of the room, rippling violently with electricity, huddled and shuddering like a vibrating Blanka.  "Are you okay?"  She had to beat her own electrical surge...and electricity is fucking fast.  As fast as she is.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation suddenly sits up, her arm outstretched towards the other side of the room. The space between her fingers very briefly arc with blue electricity. Blink and you'd miss it. Jubes stares, now realizing what had happened. She takes a slow breath, filling her lungs with air as she comes back from that space between her thoughts. Jubes spins around so her legs are hanging off the side of her bed. She turns her head away from Nori and closes her eyes.

    "I'm fine..." she answers quietly, not wanting to look up. The ceiling returns to its usual bland nothingness as the fireworks explode and putter out. Jubes keeps her eyes close -- she dare not open them. Her hands find a resting spot on top of her knees. She sits there quietly, the rug having just been pulled out from under her.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Watching Jubilee turn her head away, even seeing the beginnings of it cause her to immediately start tearing up, electricity clustering over her eyes, not in them, and blinding her vision.  The blurry vision wasn't enough?! she thinks, suddenly aware of how exposed her feelings are aside from utterly telegraphing her own emotions via everything else.

"I'm-sorry," whips out of the speedster.  "I can't help it," she says softly, though the cracks and constant rumbling in her ears, the tiny storms popping in their own microcosm make it really hard for her to hear Jubilee.  She keeps watching, but the spike of fear causes her to reappear with her gauntlets...still shaking as she tries to to put on her gauntlets.  She works in a blur, continuously fumbling as fast as she can, only working her up more.  "I'm sorry-I'm sorry," she chants out rapidly over and over again as her breathing grows more shallow.  She keeps looking back to Jubes.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I know. I know," she replies, looking over at Noriko as she says the words. The charged up speedster didn't concern Jubilee, not at all. She was used to these moments. Jubes fills her lungs with air and lets it out noisily between her pursed lips. She stares at Nori as she does it -- like she's trying to tell her something. After looking away, Jubilee suddenly stands up and rummages around in her bedside table.

    She produces a pack of gum and holds it up for Nori to see for some reason. She plucks a piece and starts chewing it aggressively. The rest of the pack is thrown overhand onto her bed, almost like she's protesting something. Like a brat. Next, she grabs her sunglasses from the bedside table and sticks them on her forehead.

    "I'm....going to go downstairs and watch all three of the Lord of the Rings movies, directors cuts...." she announces with burning cheeks. "...And then all three Matrix movies." Chewchewchew. "...And all three Bill and Ted movies. There's three now." Chewchewchew. "And... then probably Terminator 2." That's more than twenty-four hours of movies.

    Jubes lingers near the door to their room, holding the knob in one hand. She bends one of her knees, as if to strike a pose.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko blinks through her tears and swipes them away in a jittery way.  Whatever Jubilee is trying to tell her, Noriko's just staring back, confused, but at least she gets Jubes is trying to tell her something.  So she watches while holding a gauntlet, the other one a casualty to the floor.  She keeps watching, trying to see if there are more clues that will reveal the message.

She blinks again when the gum pack is pelted to Jubes' bed.  "Okay..." she responds to the crazy long marathon announcement.  "I guess...later..."  The pose or whatever it may be, does not change the look on Noriko's face, which has drooped considerably from the initial confusion.  There's /three/ Bill and Ted movies?

"I guess I'll just...run," Noriko says softly, shuddering, but yielding to Jubilee's right of way.  "What are you doing?" she actually asks, tentative.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee stares, so sure that she had just finished saying what she's doing. "I told you -- I'm going to go downstairs and watch nine movies," she answers quickly. Ten movies, Jubes, ten. "And you're going to run. Good. That'll be fun for you." She looks away, her hand still gripping the door's knob. "We'll just...do those things...then."

    Jubilee reaches up and pushes her sunglasses down onto her nose, totally uncool-like. She still hasn't turned the knob.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Right.  Yeah.  You did.  Let's do-yeah," jitters out of Noriko in little hop-skip stops and stutters, her voice taking on an electronic quality.

Jubilee never does anything uncool.  It's so uncool to see her doing something uncool.  It's more than uncool; it's deeply unsettling.  Noriko's insides feel like they are twisting and twisting into knots like some Katamari ball has started in her gut, rolling everything up and making all of her feelings bigger and bigger.

Noriko has /no/ idea how much time has passed since Jubilee has touched the knob.  She's been slipping in and out of her velocity changes, but then she remembers lots of words have been spoken.  She darts closer to Jubilee, but stops short of what seems to be her electric range.  What she thinks is that.  Her hand outstretched.  "Jubi-...have fun."  Immediately disgusted with herself, but she /has/ to wait till Jubilee leaves, and she needs her gauntlets if she's going to get out of there without hurting anyone, unless she jumps down from a window.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yup..." is all she says. She practically forces it out. Yup. With a heavy sigh, she turns the knob and opens the door. Either she really didn't want to go or she really wanted Nori to know that she didn't want to go. Or both. In any case, it's going to be very awkward again after those ten movies.

    After slipping out through the doorway, Jubilee closes the door behind her. As soon as it's shut, she presses her back against the door and closes her eyes. One hand is brought up to her cheek. She lingers like that for a few moments before going down to do what she said she'd do. First one up: Fellowship of the Ring. If there was anyone who could flatten the mood, it was Elijah Wood..

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Maybe Noriko will figure it out later.  Right now none of this makes sense to her.  She just knows she did something and Jubilee is leaving and it's probably her fault.  Noriko knows there was something coded in Jubilee's actions.

When the door shuts, Noriko bolts into the bathtub and huddles up, wrapping her arms around her knees.  When Jubilee gets back, Noriko won't be there, and will not be there in the morning either.

A little note with a singed corner has been left.  "Sorry."