4720/Getting Off Work - TBD

Getting Off Work - TBD
Date of Scene:	14 January 2021
Location:	Cosmic Bowling
Synopsis:	Jubilation visits Noriko to surprise her at the end of her shift at her new job at the bowling alley, but Noriko surprises her instead. Then they eat stuff.
Cast of Characters:	Noriko Ashida, Jubilation Lee

---

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Word about Noriko may have traveled to another establishment or two around Salem Center.  It's hard to say, but for some reason they said she's not allowed in the kitchen or to work that counter.  She's also not allowed to work the register.  This leaves an inexperienced teen to...that's right, the job she'd be working as a newbie around here anyways.  Shoe rentals.

Noriko just got off her shift about 3 minutes ago, then walked to the bathroom they all have to share with the public to change out of her clothes.  Now she's waiting what she thinks is the appropriate amount of time for anyone else to change, go to the bathroom, etc.  She takes a few hits off of that disposable vape pen in preparation for parting with the dismal bathroom.  Juuuubijubidoo, Noriko sings in her head as she walks out.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Young hearts beat fast. The owner of this one just spent the last several minutes moving from one point of interest in the bowling alley to the next.

    Snack counter? 'Never heard of her.'

    Register? 'Yeah right!'

    Shoe rentals? 'Are you gonna play or what, kid?'

    With a heavy heart, Jubilee sticks her hands into the pockets of her coat and starts walking from the shoe rental counter towards the exit, and therefore in the direction of those shared bathrooms!

    "I smell like the Burger Joint, anyway..." she mutters to no one as she nears the exit. Jubes just finished up a shift at her part time job and thought she'd surprise Noriko. But, like usual, she was too slow...

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Is it really Jubilee's fault?  Is it really her fault that Noriko has spotted her and is lying in wait to scare the crap out of her?  Like Noriko really needs to hide in that strange little gap between one wall and the outer building that gets swept probably once every three years tops.  But there's something about the anticipation of waiting to spot Jubilee.  See she heard a familiar voice at one point and how could Nori not take advantage.

Oh yeah, and Noriko can't use her powers out in public, or so the faculty says, especially around here where it could draw attention to the boarding school for gifted youngsters.  Cough cough.

Gotta keep concentration together.  Gotta not jump across like a freak to hug the counter and get fired.  THIS IS TAKING FOREVER.

Nori peeks her head out to see where Jubilee is.  Damnit.  "Boo!"  She's not sure if Jubilee sees her or not.  Her blue hair complimented by the surrounding garish colors.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Off in her own little world, Jubilee is reasonably easy to sneak up on. Both parents dead. No family she's aware of. Lived in an orphanage before succumbing to homelessness. These things make a person grow eyes on the back of her head, but not Jubilation. Nope. She's just walking down the corridor that splits the bowling alley down the middle, separating the lanes themselves from the snack counters, registers, and so on.

    BOO

    Jubilee immediately shrieks, her eyes widening with terror. Suddenly, her lungs fill with air as she takes the biggest breath of her life and her pink wad of gum goes flying into the air...

    "Norrriiiii!" she cries out, even moving her flat hands to gently smack at the other girl's arms. It's one of those very playful gestures that young girls might do to someone they like, feigning anger.

    "You scared me," she admits, laughing a little. "...I mean..." Pause. "I'm only kidding. I knew you were there!" Bad liar! The young mutant experiences a brief pang of awkwardness -- she takes a step towards Noriko, as if to give her a kiss, unsure if she should, and ultimately chooses not to do it. She takes a step back and clears her throat. Jubes reaches down to her pockets to try and find another piece of gum. "Are you done with work?" she asks, finding her smile again.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko is ready for any reaction.  Any physical reaction that is.  The gum sails toward her and she duck and appears back in place just in time to get playfully smacked.  Okay that doesn't count distractions, Jubilee being one of them.  The speedster smiles brightly as if the little smacks are like gold stars for how good a job she did.  And not even with speed!

"Sorry about the gum."  Noriko could have caught it for sure, but she writes it off as probably being in need of refreshing anyways.  She stands tall, chest stuck out a little in triumph.  "Uh huh," she says, her playing along thinly veiled.  "Totally."

When Jubilee steps forward, Noriko's eyebrows are raised slightly, and then lowered.  She doesn't move toward Jubilee herself, perhaps seeing if Jubes ultimately felt comfortable or not, but that doesn't stop her from tilting her head and pressing her lips together, perhaps sending the wrong signals for the answer to the question.

Noriko grins and nods.  "My gauntlets smell like shooooes," she says as she fast-wiggles them in Jubilee's face with a metallic SHWING-SHWING-SHWING-SHWING-SHWING!  The fluttering is so fast that it creates a flip book effect on Noriko's amused grin behind them.  "My bag is over there," she looks back over her shoulder.

The girl looks back and forth down the corridor and suddenly Jubilee finds herself being kissed, a cool metal hand at her upper arm for no longer than three seconds before Nori is back in front of her with her little drawstring nylon sack that people toss after conventions.

"Those burgers smell good."  Is that a compliment or just?  What is that?  Well it's a grin at least.  "You want to grab something to eat here?  I got paid."  When did she start this job?  What kind of establishment are they running?  Probably she just joined up soon before payday.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee's smile is bright, toothy, and muffling a flirtatious giggle as she delivers the gentle smacks. "I'm going to get you back!" she warns, her eyebrows lifting to confirm it.

    The gum? Eh, it was the most recent in a long line of brothers and sisters spat out before their time. There would be more. There's always more. Jubilee waves her hand in the air as if to absolve Noriko of any wrong-doing as far as the gum is concerned.

    Jubilation's smile fades a little, her eyes scrunching up tightly. "Get that outta my face!" she shrieks quietly, laughing as she does. "They're not even regular shoes -- they're gross bowling shoes! A million and a half feet have been in those!" Her hands come out to playfully bat at Nori a bit more. The fluttering of the gauntlet causes Jubilee's hair to waft gently as it's pushed around by stank air.

    Jubes falls silent for a moment, looking down at her own sneakers, suddenly finding the brief interlude a little awkward. What was she supposed to do? What was Nori supposed to do? What /are/ they? So many questions, but perhaps they're more fun to find out? And then Jubilee finds out. Her eyes widen as she's suddenly kissed! They close almost immediately, giving her a full three seconds to return the sudden kiss, her own hands coming down to gently graze against the gauntlets.

    When the kiss ends, Jubilee opens her eyes and smiles the biggest smile anyone has ever seen in this dank bowling alley. "Oh..." is all she says, briefly looking down at her sneakers again. The moment of bliss she's experiencing -- that faint pitter patter of her heart trying to communicate with her brain -- ends at the mention of the burgers.

    "Ugh! You can smell it through my coat!" Jubilee whines, looking down at her outfit. The Burger Joint's aromas could be oppressive. The only redeeming quality of that job was the spineless manager who, for some reason, never fired Jubes for her sassiness.

    "Yeahhhh, let's get you some food," Jubilee says with a smirk, starting to walk towards the snack area. "Let me guess..." she begins, looking up at the ceiling as she gets her brain to work. "...One of everything.../No/... two of everything!"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko, ruining moments since 2002.  She seems satisfied with being absolved by the Patron Saint of Gum.  "Yeah.  Tell me about it," she says in response to the gross bowling shoes.  "I have to smell them /all/ /day/ /long/."  It comes out quickly.  She's excited to see Jubes and this slip of concentration that knocks her back into a speedier speech is particularly rampant.

"Oh?"  Noriko's brows arch at that.  "Oh?  That's all I get, not a 20 out of 10?" she teases.  Burgers do not dampen the butterflies for Noriko.  She lapped that feeling of relief from her burger comment ages ago and is right back where she started...now just staring at Jubilee blankly until she starts following Jubilee.

"Well that's what I'd /like/ but they don't pay me that much.  I do get a discount though.  I think I want like 4 packs of Nerds and five hotdogs."  Look scarfing one is like a moment of bliss.  "Their nachos are..."  She stage whispers, "Okay."

When they arrive at the snack window, Noriko looks back to Jubilee, getting her order first, "You want anything or are you going to be a parasite?"  She smiles, indicating this would be just fine, or maybe that's just a shit-eating grin.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Yeah, 'oh' is all Jubilee says about it. But, she has a big smile on her face, as though the P.D.A. affirmed something she had been wondering. It caught her by surprise and 'oh' was really all she could say. Oh.

    Jubilee returns the grin and looks at the menu hanging from the back of the snack bar counter. She makes a vague noise of consideration. Lots of hmmmming and mmmmmms.

    Jubes strums her fingertips against the counter top and starts rattling off the names of items she sees, building a list for the hapless snack bar employee. "I guess..." she starts. "...Two slices of pizza, two orders of fries, a hot dog, oh, a third slice of pizza, actually, a soda, a cheeseburger, oh, mozzarella sticks, a second soda in case I finish the other one..." Jubilee tilts her head to the side to grin, checking for Nori's reaction before looking back at the employee. "On second thought.... Parasite!" Her plan all along.

    Jubilee reaches her hand out and hunts for Noriko's metal one... She tests the waters.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko tries to keep her cool.  This is her place of work!  Her coworkers are going to tease her mercilessly later for sure.  The sour face and acerbic wit she arms every day with that dull 'kill me now' stare every time one of them opens their mouth.

The speedster quickly tallies up the total, but she does tap the side of her leg in substitution of keeping track on her fingers, something she prefers given the noisiness of her gauntlets.  "Fries, the mozz sticks, two giant sodas, five dogs."  Noriko smirks to Jubilee.  Nori can always supplement after dinner at the school with a kitchen raid.

The speedster can't feel Jubilee's hand at first, but she feels the displacement of her own hand and looks down, blushing as she twists her arm a little to take Jubilee's hand.  There's no way to be discreet with these metal things, and Noriko just tries to own it, even if her face is red.  She smiles down to Jubilee with a slight tilt of her head and says, "You're paying right?"  Beeeeam.

Of course Noriko already got her money handy back in the corridor speedily when she snagged her bag.  She didn't want to be seen fumbling repeatedly.

When the guy behind the corner takes the wad of bills from her, he rolls his eyes.  "This is too much."

"So fucking do your job and get me change," Noriko spits out easily, which earns her a glare.  Chances are if they were going to spit in their food, it was already a foregone conclusion, but this guy has already been caught doing it and he's on his last leg.  He's also pretty sure Noriko would jump at the chance to tell the manager.

Change is given and Noriko nods in the direction of a table set aside for birthdays.  No one likes cake in a lane except the customers.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I'm joking!" Jubes whispers. "I'm joking, Nori! I don't need all that!" She looks wide-eyed between Nori, the employee, the menu, and then back to Nori. "I'm gonna parasite!" Still, she's smiling. Happy. Jubes quiets down as things just start happening and food gets ordered. Nori's smirk and suggestion that she pay, though? Jubes turns towards the speedster suddenly and shares her intention. "Nope!" she announces, smirking a little as she turns back to the counter.

    "Did you used to work at the Burger Joint?" she asks, squinting as she tries to place his face. Surely the answer is no -- who could've forgotten Jubilee?! Still, local teenagers seemed to play musical chairs with all the service positions in the Salem Center, so who knows?

    Jubes prattles along with Nori, moving down the aisle towards the birthday table. Her fingertips drag against every table they pass on the way over. "So!" she begins, flopping down into one of the seats in a flourish.

    "How was your first day!" she wonders, tilting her head to the side. "Everything you dreamed it could be?" It was a tough question -- Noriko dealt with feet.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I do," Noriko says with a smirk.  "And if you're going to parasite, there needs to be more."  Noriko gets /eyed/ hard for ordering so much and holds her free hand out for the change.  This is the worst part.  Some of the coins slip, rattling on the ground and one rolling off.  She can't help but a little bit of her cool rubbing off.

"Dropped something," the teen says smugly down at Noriko.

"So did your mom," Noriko says without a beat and starts walking away, shoving what money she still controls awkwardly into her pocket but not trying to pull her gauntlet out again.

Dragging one's fingers across every table in here is a really really really bad idea.  The kids, the germs, the girl who barely wipes them down with a dirty rag.  Noriko tugs Jubes away from the idle distraction or minor display of happiness as a subtle gesture.  It's not her fault this pulls Jubilee a liiiittle closer right?  Teens.

"Smelly.  And yes, everything my nightmares told me it would be...and Ruth.  I think."  Who understands what Ruth is going on about, but it always seems vaguely important in a mystical way.  "I wish I could work nights when they put on all the black lights."

There's an awkward silence for a few moments.  "Can you help me get my gauntlet out of my pants?  It's stuck."  Presumably Noriko also hopes that the money doesn't spill out everywhere.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    As soon as Noriko starts walking from the counter and can't see her do it, Jubilee looks up at the snack jockey, smiles at him, and slooooooooowly brings her middle finger up into his view. She holds it right in front of his face for a couple of long seconds and then get pulled! Jubes trots along as she falls in step with Nori, bouncing up and down before her walk returns to normal.

    "Black lights at night!" Jubilee exclaims, snap-turning her head towards the lanes, imagining what they might be like at night. She looks back at Nori with a grin. "We /have/ to..." she decides, nodding her head up and down enthusiastically. But then... the request.

    Without looking down to evaluate the task, Jubilee stares at Nori right in the eye. "....No," she answers quickly, turning completely red in the face. "Not here!" There's a nervous gulp before she looks around a second. Could she? Wait. Wait wait wait. Pocket.

    "Oh," she whispers. "Hold on..." Jubilee takes a breath and reaches both hands down to take hold of the gauntlet. Her chair makes an obnoxious noise as she scoots closer. Another gulp. She could do this, but... No false moves. Slowly, reluctantly, carefully, Jubilee starts pulling on the gauntlet...

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko blinks at Jubilee's response, faint disappointment at the prospect of having to awkwardly walk around wi-confusion at Jubilee's insistence and blushing.  She squints a little, but doesn't confront it here, especially when Jubilee relents.

Trying to ease her own extreme awkwardness of having to even ask for help, Noriko says, "You know the manager asked me if I was going to take off these things for the interview?  Or at work?  Or if I sleep in them?  I told him they were prosthetics and I got the job."  ADA fraud for the win!  "Didn't even have to do any more of the interview," she says with a grin.

The gauntlet is tucked in tight.  The pocket wasn't really made for it and it wasn't really made for the pocket, like stuffing an ugly stepsister foot into a...cargo-pant slipper.  There's a reason she carries around a sack that can be opened easily enough and cinched closed.  Noriko tries to reach over and pull at the side of the pocket, but her metal fingers are just too thick.  She grumbles, already embarrassed, "It's okay, don't worry about it."

Annnd the food starts to roll in.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    She could do this -- it would just require some care. Jubes tugs at the gauntlet, both hands gripping as tight as she can. It's no use. "I bet they were so afraid of being sued!" she points out happily as she continues to yank. But... it's not budging. "I swear, as soon as the newspapers started running those stories about President Luther's hands being small, it's like pockets got smaller, didn't they?" Jubilee comments. Her eyes lift to check if Nori found that funny -- she hoped.

    Jubilation's face falls a bit as Noriko oozes embarrassment. The grumble. Jubes lowers her eyes as the food starts to arrive. But! Her despondency does not last long. She gets an idea. Jubilee leaves one hand on the gauntlet but stops pulling. Her other hand reaches out to take one of the hotdogs that arrived too early for them.

    Leaning close, Jubilation slowly brings the end of the hotdog up to Noriko's mouth. "Get ready for the airplane," she quips. Her eyes, though, are not amused. She's not making fun. Those two brown orbs tell the familiar story of teenage infatuation.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Totally.  I think he had to change his pants after," Noriko latches onto the chances for the her embarrassment to ebb.  "I think they made the crotch for guys smaller too," she quips to Jubilee's joke with an appreciative grin for the girl.

When one of Noriko's new colleagues arrives with some of the food, her embarrassment isn't out of place since they just think she's embarrassed to eat so much and has regretted her decision.  It's the most likely reason.  If only Noriko knew this.  She and her stomach don't give a damn what people think about their relationship.

The leaning gets Noriko's attention.  Should she tell Jubilee the airplane doesn't have ketchup or mustard?  One look and that's a NOPE!  "I'm ready," she tosses back at Jubilee as if playing some kind of vague game of chicken.  All these poor teenage boys.  The one who delivered the food has already elbowed his buddy who is wiping down some bowling balls and ever so indiscreetly pointing across the establishment to where Noriko is 'opening wide' for the 'airplane.'

Unfortunate for Noriko, Jubilee has sucked her into their little world where no one else seems to matter.  If the other night at the campfire didn't start rumors, hopefully no one from the school from the bathroom, because this definitely will.  Noriko doesn't care one bit.

As nice as it is though, Noriko is really hungry, so somehow she gets three bites.  "You're going to get me in so much trouble," Noriko says with a broad grin.  No, she doesn't care, but she also knows if she does get in trouble, it will just be a warning.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Is it embarrassing to get a prosthetic hand stuck in your pocket? Oh, for sure. But, Jubilation is going to be there to ride it out, to be part of it, to absorb some of it. Because that's what friends do. And these two? They're very very very very very good friends. Yeah.

    After Noriko takes her third bite, Jubes switches the hotdog out for the drink. She takes a little sip from the straw and then pilots it up to Noriko's mouth and smiles, letting it dangle there for the taking. "Oh, yeah, I'm trouble," she agrees with a grin. There are two drinks, which is nice, but taking a sip before offering it to Nori was a silent statement. Or perhaps a silent question.

    "Can't take me anywhere," she adds, giggling a little under her breath. Jubes scoots a little closer and smiles, readying herself to feed Nori the rest of her food if necessary. F the haters.