4729/Third Wheel Strikes Again!

Third Wheel Strikes Again!
Date of Scene:	14 January 2021
Location:	Cineplex Theaters
Synopsis:	Noriko and Jubilee try to go on their first official date. Simon shows up to begin his unwitting villainous (social flavored) onslaught! He's just trying to be a good friend when Ellie also unwittingly pens them in. Noriko finally causes Jubilee to have had enough mortification and flee after she becomes the casualty of a static shock...and soda.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Noriko Ashida, Simon Lasker, Negasonic

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Jubilation Lee has posed:
    If looks could kill, Jubilation Lee is trying to commit a war crime tonight. She skipped her last class so she could take an inventory of all available weaponry. If she was anyone else, a clean room would have resulted as a happy consequence, but not in this case. In fact, the piles of clothes and things just got worse, somehow. She spent what felt like an eternity finding a piece of clothing in her mess, auditioning it in the bathroom, and then casting it aside. Once something made the cut, it then had to be checked with everything else. It was a painful ordeal but one that needed to be done. The end result is an outfit carefully crafted.

    Jubilee wears a black pleated skirt, the same one from caroling -- when looking /back/ at Noriko's behavior that night, she determined that it was the best possible choice. Forget novelty. She wanted a sure thing. Because of the weather and the large bruise that appeared on her thigh recently, she covers her legs with black tights, sheer enough to be 'grown up' but not sheer enough to let that bruise shine through. On her feet: black flats -- nothing remarkable. Her tan sweater is tight, form-fitting, with sleeves rolled up to the elbows. She wears a gold necklace -- surely fake -- with a heart pendant dangling without a care in the world. Jubes wears her hair down -- it's wavy and volumous with curls and ringlets falling down past her shoulders. For makeup, black eyeliner with just a hint of baby blue eyeshadow. And, of course, pink lipstick. Because it's fucking Jubilation Lee!

    She spent much of her time completing this look in one of the dorm's communal bathrooms. And, once everything was perfect, she made her way nervously back to her own room. The knob is jangled a little and then... the door opens slowly. "Nori...?" she shyly calls out. She takes a deep breath. No turning back.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko has been an absolute mess.  Her only distractions have been Jubilee, but that's because Jubes has the magic of being able to completely blank out Noriko's mind.  Thank all her ancestors' spirits that she was just spraying shoes and matching numbers to people's words for her first shifts.

Outside of work, Noriko's still been hustling to collect on the debts she's let simmer since Halloween.  This kind of timeline is not something she's used to in preparation for something.  Collection, school, work.  Noriko actually has to think about it!  Not that it is challenging.  Still, none of her panic has subsided, instead winding to a fever pitch that has her stomach in knots and her brain thinking faster than ever.

Like the problem of dark matter, the one thing Noriko doesn't seem to be able to solve is wardrobe.  It's as if she knows options are there to complete the equation, but she can't prove it.  Nothing is right.  To be fair, she doesn't have many options.  The girl's wardrobe almost exclusively consists of cheap, brightly colored nylon shorts, t-shirts, and standard issue school clothing that she's been milking since she got here.  Borrow from someone else?  Noriko doesn't really have many 'friends' outside of Jubilee and she's determined one way or another they probably don't have anything she wouldn't be caught dead wearing for an occasion like this.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko had to be adaptable over the years, expressing style in the most minimal of ways, and suddenly feels totally lost.  Does this go with that?  Do these colors even match?  She's questioning every instinct in the face of this mountainous task, even ones she's retained.  During her rifling, she runs into some clothing tucked away deep in some drawer where a teacher put them once upon a time when she arrived in when she was admitted to the school.  Nori doesn't hesitate too much on the pair of grayish dark skinny jeans.  She fills them out better now that she's not total skin and bones on the streets.  She only wore them for a few reasons she didn't want to think about now.  They were a sort of camo in the past and a step up from her cargos, she decides.  At least there's that.

That settled, Noriko spots another relic of her past underneath the jeans.  She went on to reconsider other options for awhile, even if it's one of the two coolest things she owns.  It's the black leather jacket with a cotton hoodie style hood she fled home wearing.  The thing has seen better days, but once upon a recentish time on the streets, a good samaritan who actually stuck by the miscreant  helped her dye the hood purple from the original gray.  It helped hide some of the dinginess she'd built up that was never going to come out while still satisfying the homeless kid's /stringent/ style requirements.

This clothing isn't easy to don again.  It was Noriko's uniform in a war against extreme dangers and basic needs that so many homeless mutants go through, but she went with it anyways.  Jubilee was worth it, and once the thought entered her mind, a courage summoned indisputably ended the battle inside.  The war is another matter.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
This week, all that extra hustling and some strict discipline around extra-curricular eating allowed Noriko to legitimately purchase the best thing she could find at Target for a meager budget.  It had to be /new/ though.  It's merely a slightly nicer raglan tee made better by the standards of simply not having a white base.  It is dark blue with burnt orange sleeves that peek out from her jacket a little.  Best of all, it matches one of her her most prized possessions just a little too perfectly.  The Adidas kicks that Jubilee scraped and saved to get Noriko for Christmas.

Noriko flips around at Jubilee's question.  The blue-haired girl is running late.  She mistimed how long it would take to dry and style her hair, having flipped it under gently.  Yeah, she actually sat through that agony even if she's sure she'll end up worrying about it getting messed up all night.  She didn't have time to put on anything but the basics for makeup.  Black eyeliner, mascara, annnnd she wasn't into borrowing anything for her lips so she picked up some kind of cherry moisturizer for her lips that has a faint pink tint.

Jubilee has stipulated a whole dating ritual, but they've broken all the rules, so after Noriko appreciates the girl for a long long moment in her time, Noriko pops right up to give Jubes the kiss she can't resist.  "You look great."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee had specified a number of requirements, yes, but they're not firm. They were never meant to be. But, the rules of dating had been broken right from the start. The order was completely wrong from the beginning. Living together before they were friends. Kissed before even talking about it. Even more kissing and hand-holding and cuddling. But, they never really had a date. Without at least one, everything that came before could just be chalked up to a variety of misunderstandings. Each kiss, each glance, each touch adding more fuel to a fire of misunderstanding. Jubilee wanted to understand this, to make sure they were on the same page, and wanted to feel normal. A pair of normal teenagers for just one night.

    While the time leading up to her stay at Xavier's was similar in some ways to Noriko's, Jubes comes from Beverly Hills and brings a different fashion sensibility. The point was to look nice, sure, but more important was the effort. It was important to her that Noriko know that she did this for her. And so, Jubilee stands in the center of their room, her feet shuffling nervously against their floor. They had skipped so many pages in this story, jumped right past certain chapters, so why was she so nervous? She's been on dates but never, ever put on an effort like this. Never worried until now.

    With air-expanded cheeks, Jubilee stares at Nori -- the outfit was one she hadn't seen before, but it's the girl's hair and makeup that catch her eye most of all. Jubilation immediately curls her lips to contain the immediate desire to smile. The hair, the makeup, it was a mirrored effort. Evidence that Noriko was taking this as seriously as she was. Jubes lets the air out between pursed lips. "So do you," she whispers after reopening her eyes after the surprise kiss. "...So do you."

    And so, Jubilee would offer a hand to Noriko. She offers it before they ever leave their room to get to the movies. It would mean hold those hands through the dorm, through the mansion, and all the way to the theater. Like some kind of announcement of what they were doing. She knew it was stupid and when it's refused, she doesn't take it to heart. Instead, the two mutants would leave the mansion's grounds separately and then meet up once outside the watchful eyes of nosy faculty.

    Several minutes later.

    "Oh shit..." Jubilee whispers, staring up at the marquee advertising what's playing. "We never figured out what we're seeing..." She reaches a hand down and scratches the nylon material covering her knee and takes a breath. "Looks like... Threat Level Midnight... " She tilts her head to Nori. "Standard action thing. One of those Agent Michael Scarn movies." Another breath. "...And Titanic 2. That's weird." Her fingers come up to nervously play with the neckline of her sweater. "...Angels With Filthy Souls.... Mobster movie." And then finally. "...Vampire Weekday. Horror." Jubilee's mind makes a quick decision, thinking about what it might be like to see each of these. Exciting. Funny, maybe. ...Scary. Clinging together. Her hands reaching out to grab Nori's.

    "That one," she says, pointing up at the sign for Vampire Weekday.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Tonight, Noriko is not wearing her gauntlets.  Jubilee isn't the only one who wants a touch of normalcy.  It's a strange delicacy even this rebel secretly craves.  However, there's no doubt in Noriko's mind no responsible adult here would let her go out without her gauntlets, so she insists on sipping out past faculty presence before meeting up with Jubilation again for the journey.  She'd already thought this all out and so focused on it with her brain being scrambled so much, Nori totally misses the significance of holding Jubilee's hand through such a lengthy procession.

So Noriko ever so casually lays out the plan at the most awkward time, when Jubilee offers her hand.  She does have enough presence of mind to give Jubilee's hand a quick squeeze accompanied by a quick peck on the cheek.  It's not to make up for anything.  She just can't help it.

Noriko has been nervously, even habitually tucking the tag away on her shirt as it keeps trying to escape on the way to the theater.  She thinks she's being sly enough, fast enough, but she isn't though not for any readily evident reason.  Plus, it's not as if Jubilee can't feel the little shifts in the position of their hands.  Noriko has refuses to let go even if it jeopardizing exposing her tacky backup plan in case she gets a little too extravagant for her budget tonight.

"Does it matter?" The words cavalierly tumble out of Noriko unbidden, clearly as impulsive as usual, but not as fast or unintelligible as a more typical impulsive outburst from the girl.  Noriko's wearing a contented grin that hasn't left her save to oscillate with something a little more dopey.  Jubilee tugs Nori out of one of those minute daydreams she keeps slipping into and she catches up in less than a single Jubes' pace.

Once Noriko has paid for their tickets and offered to pay for popcorn or snacks or soda that will hardly sooth either of their nerves, they enter the right theater thankfully and Noriko doesn't ask where Jubilee wants to sit.  She just heads straight for the back row, finding them a spot with enough space from others and even considering line of sight.  She waits for Jubilee to sit first before following suit.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Does it matter? Jubes's eyebrows lower just a touch as she reacts to that. Of course it matters! The movie would dictate their posture, their behavior, their whole evening. A comedy would involve laughing, maybe smiling, but it would be a lot of goofing around. She doesn't want goofing. Friends goof. The same problem exists for action films, which rules out Threat Level Midnight. Titanic 2 is a wildcard -- it could have some steamy scenes but it sounded a lot like nonsense. Vampire Weekday, the horror movie, was the one known quantity. A horror movie meant clinging to Noriko during moments of real and pretend fight. It meant holding on for dear life and, for a moment, feigning weakness so she could be comforted. It's all part of the ritual. How could it NOT matter? Unless... OH. Jubilee's eyebrows rise. Her cheeks fill with warmth, announcing to the world that she understands now. Noriko's right. It doesn't matter.

    Jubilation would protest -- just barely -- as Noriko finances the details of their date. She really, really didn't want the other girl to pay for this, as she had been without a job for a little while. But, secretly, deep down? She loves it. Besides, it's not as though they won't do this again. And again. And again. She'll have her turn. By the end of the transaction, Noriko is out two tickets, a small popcorn and a small soda and, no, they didn't want to upgrade to a large for just seventy-five cents more, thankyouverymuch.

    In the aisle of the dark theater, Jubilee stares at the long back row of seats. She takes a deep, nervous breath and starts to shimmy her way to a seat. With the entire row empty, she might be expected to pick something in the middle but she doesn't. She keeps moving alllll the way down and settles into the very last seat, the one in the rear corner of the theater. Jubilee crosses one leg over the other, smooths her skirt, and smiles up at Noriko. "I can hardly see," she says softly, grinning from ear to ear.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko isn't so lost in thought, jitters, and daydreaming that she doesn't catch on to what /might/ be going on in Jubilee's mind when the girl puts so much effort into choosing a movie.  She knows what's coming.  It isn't hard given Jubilee's initial pitch for the night.  Normally, these little self-deprecating ruses would annoy the crap out of Noriko.  She sees them all over the school all of the time and almost always rolls her eyes.  But this is Jubilee, and Noriko can't help but be blind to her own hypocrisy as the focus of them.  She finally sees them for what they really are and is immediately charmed beyond self awareness.  So Noriko says nothing to call Jubilee out.

Holding the popcorn - Noriko let Jubilee hold the drink - she lets Jubes lead them on the back row to wherever she wants.  Noriko lets out a breath she'd been holding since they started down the row when Jubilee leads them all the way down to the far most corner for maximum privacy.

"Perfect."  Noriko wouldn't want Jubilee distracted would she?  "I have a great view," which is a lie if she were actually watching the movie, but she doesn't plan to really watch /that/.  Her eyes dip a little to Jubilee's skirt and up.  If only she knew how obvious she was right now or how fast she was going.  Her own grin is very subtle compared to Jubilation's, but no less telling or loaded.

That dumb overblown production meant to entice the audience into believing they'll have a better time watching the movie than checking the scores of some recent sporting event or some celebrity's latest tweet on their phones as if they weren't dealing with a bunch of addicts.  Noriko will solve this problem for everyone in about five minutes or less though.

The speedster's heart pounds so hard she doesn't even realize that the heartbeat that dominates her hearing is regular without any effort at all.  Combined with the sudden spacey look, she has no immediate context for whether she's in the moment with Jubilee or not.  Oh wait the previews went by.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee places the soda in the cupholder between their seats, the logical place for it if they're going to share. She gives Nori a big smile. One drink for the two of them. That's another bullet point from the list of date criteria that can be checked off. They're doing so well.

    Noriko's comment causes Jubilee's breath to hitch. She bites down on her bottom lip and smiles through it. "...I do too," she replies softly, immediately reeling back her comment about not having a great view. Sure, it was the worst seat in the house as far as the movie screen was concerned, but... that's not really why they're here, is it?

    As the previews roll on, Jubilee falls quiet, suddenly unsure. What should she do? What would Nori do? Why did she doubt herself so much? Jubes uncrosses her legs and brings both hands to rest on either knee, gripping them loosely. She takes a breath and then reaches for the soda.

    "You know... I'm not really that thirsty," she whispers. Jubes leans across Noriko's body and slides the cup into the cupholder on the other side. After settling back into her seat, Jubilee strums her fingers against her knees again.

    After a few strums, she lifts a hand and quickly lifts the armrest that separates their seats. "And I don't think my arm is all that tired," she adds.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
They're finally here, to this point.  There is noooo denying they are on a /date/ and all of the movies Noriko's watched three times fast have not prepared her for this reality, or when her cheeks flush faaast at the reaction she stokes in Jubilee.  THANK YOU DARKNESS OLD FRIEND.

Noriko's eyes flit over to Jubilee's seemingly unattainable hand.  Her own time frame she falls into naturally makes her disgust with her own cowardice build quickly, lips pursing suddenly and even more when the self-involvement causes her to miss the chance to reach for the soda at the same time.  Her look vanishes immediately when Jubilee leans over her.

And because of /that/ Noriko misses her next opportunity as Jubilee seizes it, lifting the armrest with her thinly veiled reason.  Is that all it takes?  Noriko wonders.  It worked on her soooo, she concludes.  With her jumbled thoughts partially wrangled by now, Noriko casually lowers her hand to rest on the edge of her seat, hoping she doesn't spark against the metal and start a fire.  It's a brief thought in a million before her hand moves.  There's no thought in how she sits.  Her feet are locked together in a sense, crossed at the ankles.

The move is actually somewhat calculated.  Noriko doesn't want to just rush things and take Jubilee's hand.  She wants more anticipation and the formal Dance of the Hands.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Hidden in the cover of darkness, Jubilee's hand traces a path down her own thigh, across her skirt, and down to the edge of her seat. It lingers there for what feels like an eternity. They've done this before, this and so much more, but this context changes things so much. Yesterday, she would have just gone for it. Tonight, though, it's impossible. It feels like they're so far from each other. Why isn't Noriko making a move? Why aren't I? She lets out a tuft of air and proceeds behind schedule.

    Noriko would feel the faintest bit of touch, a foreign pinky gently stroking against hers. Jubilee keeps her eyes glued to the screen.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
The movie just started right?  Yeah, it just started.  'Vampire Weekday' is the latest horror flick that's out.  It's one of those horrors that might reel in Twilight hopefuls unwittingly, only to keep them in their seats begrudgingly because they are starving for the teen trappings in between the slaughter.  Given a solid but vague enough ad campaign, the only rows that aren't packed are the very first and the very last which almost all adults avoid.

That's where Noriko and Jubilee are seated, tucked all the way at the end.  Does that do anything to hide Noriko's electric blue hair?  Absolutely not.  She's second from the furthest seat with a small soda in the cupholder to her left and the armrest between her and Jubilation is raised.  Her hand is resting on the edge of her seat...sans gauntlet.  She stares ahead somewhat intensely and blankly at the same time somehow.

Noriko is wearing a black leather jacket with an attached purple dyed jersey hood, a dark blue shirt underneath, and some faded grey jeans, frayed at the hems, and some blue Adidas mid-kicks with bright orange accents.

Noriko was waiting for Jubilee's hand to be riiight there, but she really does keep missing her marks.  It's a matter of her thinking she's letting less time pass, relishing in the small moments, but she's dead wrong.  She inhales and slides her hand past Jubilee's, grazing the bottom of her hand over the girl's knuckles, leaving a slight buzz and turning it inward.  Eff the Dance of Hands.  She keeps screwing up.

Simon Lasker has posed:
Simon had figured that a horror movie would be fun. He hadn't seen one in a while and this "Vampire weekday" looked lik a likely candidate. Simon was dressed in his usual fashion, except that it was a casual moment, so he had a graphic tee of a band that sounds waaay to serious, with the scratchy impresionist art. He had brought a pizza in, because his deep dark secret is that he doestn't actually like popcorn.

He had honestly been looking forward to some time away from the mansion. There were too many hungry people. Everyone was snatching snacks, and to top it all off, there was always someone being chased by an adult in every room, so there was no reprieve from the officials anywhere.

Like any self respecting delinquent he headed up to the back row. That was of course the best row for looking at the audience and occasionally throwing things several rows ahead to start trouble. On the way there, he spotted someone with blue hair. What a coincidence, he figured Noriko had the same shade of hair. He would have to remember to tease her about it. Maybe something about 'hey I saw you at the theatre.' or perhaps 'god your hair is so derivative...I saw the person you copied it off of'. Oh well he would work on it.

Wait, was that actually Noriko? And she was stranded alone with Jubilee. That must be awkward, going to the theatre and your friends no show, leaving you alone with the girl who friend zoned you. Simon would have to help her out.

He slides past several people to sit at the seat one right next to them. "Hi!" He loudly whispers, "Hey we wound up in the same theater. What a coincidence right? I bet things were so awkward. No worries, I can help out."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    And so, Jubilee's hand waits, having just laid out bait in the form of a pinky. Her smile grows as she feels the other mutant's hand drag against her knuckles and, like Nori, she turns inward. Jubes parts her fingers so they may thread together, all done under the cover of darkness and the space between their legs. She smiles and raises her eyebrows at the commotion on the screen. Something about a vampire on the loose in an office building. Who cares. She's not paying attention -- no, Jubilee's mind is lingering on what her next move will be. Maybe she'll be on the lookout for the familiar pacing of a scary moment and pull Nori close? Time it just right with a jump scare. Something like that.

    "Thanks for taking me to the movies," Jubilee whispers before turning her head to the left so she can deliver an eager smile. Maybe they'd make eye contact?

    With wide eyes, Jubilee gasps and snap-turns her head towards the screen. In the same motion, she pulls her hand -- and Nori's with it -- backwards into the empty shadows between them, covered by their thighs. "Simon..." she greets, a touch above a whisper. Her breathing becomes a little heavy.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
If Simon asks Nori what he's missed, she's screwed.  Her attention is completely consumed by everything and the amount of concentration it takes to keep her hand so slow and steady.  She glances over to Jubilee after the whisper, her timing perfect just by luck of the draw.  Eye contact achieved!  "Thanks for coming...and asking."  Credit is due for Jubilation's boldness!

The sudden jerk of her bare hand causes her to blink slightly, but her thoughts spike fast enough to hypothesize what might be going on before she turns.

Normally, if anyone can call any typical mercurial shift of Nori's moods normal, Noriko would snap sharply at any kind of intrusion on her personal space, her little world, save for Jubilee, who is a moon or a sun.  Who is in whose orbit?  At this point it's all relative.  Noriko beams brighter than he's ever seen the girl smile when she hears the loud whisper, not that he's known her long.  She unlocks her feet from each other at the ankles, turning toward him after his oh so helpful words to blind him with some of that inextinguishable sunshine.

This must be a sign of the apocalypse.  Noriko has avoided Simon since the campfire night and has even been making sure he sees her scowls when she can't help but have run into him.

"Hey Simon," Noriko says in cheery tones which is immediately shushed by someone two rows in front of them.  "I hope we're not putting you out," she offers politely (and quietly) with an informal bow of her head in greeting.

Negasonic has posed:
Ellie is not usually one to go to the movies, but where she goes, she tends to go on her lonesome. Just as she is now, walking into what sounded like an awesome vampire movie, with blood, goth affectationes, and awesome fashion. What's not to like? The fact people die is just the cherry on top.

Utterly oblivious to who is already there, she's using the light from her phone to check out the row numbers, heading all the way to the back, only to find her seat is right next to Noriko...and Jubilee. She turns off the light from her phone, and thankfully it's dark enough that it's hard to make her expression. She says nothing, and just sinks with an audible 'thud' into her seat, crossing her arms and trying to focus on the screen. A minute or so passes and she quips, "so how many people died already...?" Yeah, she's charming.

Simon Lasker has posed:
"Oh, its no trouble. Chatting over trashy movies is my favorite. I can't just leave a friend out to dry." he leans in conspiritorially "I know how awkward this must have been. You bare your soul to someone and they just don't feel the same, and to top it all off you then wind up alone with her right after. Well thats all over now. I can help. And hey maybe she might change her mind by the end of the movie. You know how horror movies can be." The last bit is punctuated with a semi gentle elbow to the ribs.

Simon continues to be oblivious to what is happening. He honestly just assumed that Noriko is depressed. Getting friendzoned sucks. At this moment he is convinced that Ruth and Tabby ditched them. (It would be them, wouldn't it?) He hadn't been expecting company.

He speaks back up so Jubilee can more easily hear him. "Hey can you pass the popcorn? I didn't bring any." And then Ellie shows up.

"Hey Ellie, I was gonna throw popcorn at people and maybe get the people in the good seats to fight eachother. See any good targets?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    This couldn't possibly get any worse and, yet, it does. There's a rustling to her side and, wide-eyed, Jubilee looks to her right and sees Ellie. The projectionist would have an excellent view of this. Jubilee and Nori, bookended by Simon and Ellie. She takes a deep, audible breath and stares forward at the screen. Why the fuck didn't she take the last seat against the wall?! Why did she leave an opening?!

    Jubilee's right hand searches for their tiny carton of popcorn -- her left hand is hidden in the shadows between her and Noriko -- and nervously offers it out for Nori to take, presumably to give to Simon. "No one," Jubilee whispers to Nega. "...Yet."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
But how can Ellie survive with her phone off?!  How can she survive when Noriko has drained the battery by the end of the movie?  The speedster doesn't have her gauntlets on, something only evident when the light of the movie washes over her left arm when she reaches for a small soda in the cupholder between her and Simon.  So far, no lightning!

Noriko's hair is done.  She's wearing a black leather jacket with a hoodie-like hood attached, the color of which is washed out by the pale tones of the movie as one woman is gratuitously drained by being tossed over a stall divider and letting gravity do the work.

The blue-haired girl's appearance is hardly the most alarming though though.  She's smiling, brilliant and unshaken by Simon or Ellie's intrusions.  She's not even bothered that Jubilee was totally supposed to grab that last seat.  Shaaaame!  "By my estimates, at least 5.  It's a big cast," she offers to Ellie, leaning, consequently, over Jubilee.  "It's going to be an impressive bloodfest."  Who was paying attention?

And now Simon is talking across everyone as Noriko leans back, completely chill, not one barb tossed out or even some impulsive toss of popcorn down Simon's shirt as she passes the popcorn.  "You're a great pal.  Do you have anymore advice?" Noriko baits Simon, or is she asking genuinely?  It's said at a stage whisper so it's not like people can't hear.

Negasonic has posed:
"..." Ellie was just settling in, trying to focus on the movie to figure out what she missed, went out of her way to even ask about the number of dead thus far...and Simon is looking to start trouble, quickly glancing his way across Jubilee and Noriko, she mutters, "I'd much rather focus on some vampire fangs tearing apart some terrible people...maybe they get to win in this one, if we're lucky..."

Ellie looks briefly at Jubilee and blinks, "really? Nice! So I just missed on boring stuff..." at least she didn't go out of her way to get abrasive with Jubes.

But then Noriko offers a different count, 5 is not the same as 0. "Oh...?" Ellie looks a bit annoyed, as she chirps at Jubes, "were you even watching? Fuck, I really thought I wasn't that late..." but then maybe it was Noriko who wasn't watching? Ellie is inclined to believe to Noriko over Jubilee, so that's what she goes with. "Oh geez, Nori, you don't want advice from Simon...what is going to advice you about anyways?" But then her eyes shoot to the screen as one throat gets bitten into and blood trickles down, "mmmm....that one was great!"

Simon Lasker has posed:
"Well, since you asked:" He whispers in again "I would recommend finding somebody else. If you want her to change how she thnks about you, you gotta make her jelous. The best part of this plan is either she realizes what she is missing, or you move on to the new girl." In a voice that others might be able to hear, "But then, I'm single so wadda I know."

He over hears the discussion of body count and he realizes that he hasn't been counting. "Hey now Nori, Extras and off screen don't count." He gives one corn a real good flick and it lands in the middle row in a woman's complicated hair-do.

He turns to Negasonic "Well that isn't even a little rude. Jubes friendzoned Nori... and I better not say any more. I don't want to betray her confidence. Also they never let the humans lose in the end in these things." This gets punctuated by a vampire wishboning an acountant.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "What!" Jubilee screeches. "Of course I've been watching. What else would I be doing?" She takes a deep breath. Pause. "What else is there to do? It's the movies!" She tales another deep breath and slides down in her seat a little bit, suddenly wanting to be smaller. Her eyes are locked on the screen, though her brain is disconnected from the mayhem and bloodshed. It's just motion and color. Red, mostly.

    As Noriko leans across her lap, Jubilee holds her breath, staring forever. No sudden moves. She's barely listening to the conversations between Simon and Nori -- Jubilee is too focused on acting properly. Acting precisely like someone just at the movies with three friends. Just... an overly dressed, make-up wearing, hair-done someone at the movies with three friends.

    "I meant five," Jubes hisses, trying to sync up with Nori's body count. She's mortified.

    On screen, the office's CEO is having a tense meeting with the VP so they can hash out the horrors befalling their company. "Exactly three deaths," the VP answers, nodding her head. "No more, no less."

    Jubilee closes her eyes and winces. Can't the Universe just give me a break? Please? And then Simon opens his mouth. Jubilee snap-turns to her left, looking past Nori at the pyromaniac loudmouth. Snap-turns to her right at Ellie.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Yeah what else would they be doing sitting in the very back row in the darkest spot in the corner?  Hmmm?

"His advice is the best," Noriko states for Ellie as if it were evident.  It's strange though.  There's not even a drop of sarcasm in her voice.  "But yeah.  I mean only the most boring, dumbest characters get axed off first."  That's supposed to be some kind of assurance for Ellie, after the fact.  "So it's no big deal."  So generous!  Where's the catch?  Nobody knooows.  She just leaves the absence of malice a mystery.

"Want to be my beard?  I'll be your mustache." Noriko says to Simon just loud enough for the others to hear, but not to completely overpower the movie.  No shame.  "Still?  Anyone caught your eye?"  Giving a damn about someone else's love life is about the last topic Noriko would care about, but here she is, either distracting Simon for the others ineffectively or baiting him perfectly.  Either case seems like a better alternative to being a jerk to Ellie and asking if she'd be her girlfriend.  At any other time, Noriko might gamble for a smirk, but she's not cruel enough today to directly interrupt Ellie's blood thirst.

"I think the secretary is getting it next," Noriko calls it without putting a bet out there.  Jubilee's discomfort has seemingly gone completely unnoticed unless one counts Noriko giving the girl's hand a squeeze when she shuts her eyes.  They're surrounded.  There is no escape now.

Negasonic has posed:
As she tries to enjoy the next kill, Ellie can't help but overhear Simon talking, and she eventually turns to glare directly in his direction. "You seriously giving relationship advice in a public movie theatre? Fuck me that's lame."

Then somehow manages the feat of making it worse, by discussing how Noriko got friendzoned by Jubes, in the presence of both women, nevermind everyone else in that movie theatre, and one could almost feel Ellie's eyes rolling. "Are you even serious right now? That's like professional level of stupid...they're both: Right. Fucking. There. Dumbass." She almost feels like getting up and displacing herself into a random open seat, just to avoid this awkward explosion.

To Jubilee's benefit, Simon's masterclass of tactlessness is simply dissuading Ellie from pursuiting any further comments on Jubilee's body count for the movie. Hell, she's not sure she can even enjoy the movie anymore, considering the real life drama to the left of her. Noting the absolute look of disbelief on Jubilee's face, she smirks and notes, "I think the Universe sent you Simon as punishment, so...I forgive you, I guess we're even now."

Trying to intentional switch focus back to the movie, she quips at Noriko's remark about the secretary, "why do they always make the vampires be charming and stuff? I mean, if I was a kick ass vampire, I'd just hunt...fuck fake flirting."

Simon Lasker has posed:
Simon is a little shocked to hear that. A beard? Who does she have to fool? "Why do you have to pretend? Is there someone we gotta beat up?" That possibility hadn't entered his mind. This was supposed to be a more enlightened era. All that and someone was still hassling his friend. Ooh he felt ready to do something colossally foolish.

Ellie just layed a verbal smackdown so intense that even Simon gets the picture. The mood has shifted and he is mostly just stunned into silence. "No need to be a jerk about it." okay almost silence.

Talking about the movie seems like a great idea right now. "I dunno why, but wouldn't you want to be charming? Obviously flirting with the food is wierd, but in general?"

Negasonic has posed:
When Simon notes she doesn't have to be a jerk about it, Ellie snorts, as she turns to look his way. "That what makes me so special, I got the extra mile, even when I don't have to...and this is a vampire movie, they are food to them." Having made her comment, Ellie goes to make a quick twit, when she notes her phone has run out of battery and she lets out a horrified screech, that just may have jumpscared some members of the audience worse than the movie. "Shit, shit, shitshitshitshitshit, I got an emergency here..." she snaps and bolts ouf of her seat to rush outside. Turns out, some things matter more than movies.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"No shit right?"  Noriko agrees with Ellie, not missing a beat.  "It seems lame that every vampire has the same personality of wanting to toy with their food by seduction.  I'd be going for kill count."  Her mood seems absolutely impervious to everyone, though Ellie's never annoyed her to begin with.  She doesn't enlighten Ellie...or Simon that this is the second time he has outed Nori or talked about some relationship with Jubilee in front of people.  Nope.  Ellie's doing just fine on her own, until...

Two guys in front of them get up and walk alllll the way down to sit in the front row.  Apparently getting a crick in their neck is less insufferable than sitting in front of the teenage soap opera and shriek inducing crises.

When Ellie has a family emergency, meaning her phone is next of kin, Noriko cracks a joke, unwittingly on point.  "I bet I sapped her battery.  I'm not sure she's figured out that she should heavily shield her phone around me yet..."  Noriko looks back and forth from Simon to Jubilee.  "Don't tell her," or Ellie will stop being frri-no.  That's not right.  Some kind of association that means Noriko isn't going to get blown up.

"I'm joking Simon," Noriko says with a smile.  "But people are assholes everywhere."

Soda lifted.  Sluuurp.  Noriko, not thinking but with presumably good intentions, offers the soda over to Jubilee without using her nearest hand.  Slightly awkward to do so, and the sudden realization of that causes a tiny hesitant jerk in her hand.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Totally off-brand, Jubilation remains silent. Anything she might say is bound to make this worse. No talking. No gum-chewing. No commenting on how the vampire better not hurt that dog that she just saw on the screen. No long diatribe about how offing a dog would be a strategic play on the part of the filmmakers to get the edgier audience members to stop rooting for the vampire. Nope. She just faces forward and tries not to bear witness to the real horror show happening to her left and right.

    To her right, the one classmate who probably hated her most in the world, seemingly doing a double-blind recount of the chaos happening on screen. To her tangential left, Simon saying exactly every wrong thing imaginable. Jubilee hated almost nothing and no one...but at this moment, this precise moment, she hated Simon Lasker. She'd never say it, but somewhere deep down, she felt it. Ellie's words linger for a moment longer than they probably were meant to. Was the Universe punishing her for something? Was Simon sent as an agent of vengeance? She tilts her head to the side so she can give Ellie an absent smile, just the corner of one, before turning back to the screen. They were even...for something. Alright.

    I'm having a good time. I'm having a good time. I'm having a good time. Jubes repeats these words in her head -- she can't even focus on what she'd do if she was a vampire. Imagine Jubilee as a vampire. Heh. That would never happen.

    Ellie goes, seemingly to attend to some sort of emergency. Jubilee takes a breath and relaxes just a touch. She even smiles a little, her eyes lifting a little to see Noriko's hand coming over with the shared soda. Jubilee reaches out with her far hand, her right one, to take it...but...something goes wrong in the dark.

    Jubilee suddenly SHRIEKS and jolts forward, then backward, then forward, and then backward. Her hair, which had been so carefully done, starts to lose structure -- flyaways galore! Her hand is stuck to that styrofoam cup, bound to it by the electricity. Her hand squeezes the cup, causing the lid to pop off the top. Soda spills backward and all over the poor girl's sweater and face. The cup is dropped and Jubilee's hand hangs out in front of her, blue electricity arcing between her fingers.

    Jubes lets out a shuddery sort of gasp -- she wasn't in any physical pain, but her hair was standing on end and the outfit she had so carefully picked out was ruined. She was wet and cold. There was an ice cube where one shouldn't be. She had enough.

    Jubilee stands up suddenly, turns around to face the rear of the theater and climbs over the back of her seat -- thankfully she's wearing tights, so any lookie-loos won't get too much of a show. Not too much, anyway. Without saying anything at all, Jubilation runs down the rear aisle of the theater and out the back, leaving the confines of this 'date' and back to the mansion as quickly as possible.

Simon Lasker has posed:
"Hey they used to be people. They still wanna get laid" Simon is firm on this point. He isn't going to say that its because he --. The possibility of telepaths pops into his head and he stops thinking that thought. Some thoughts are too dangerous to even think.

Simon chuckles at Nori's comment about the battery. "Don't worry, I won't tell her your secret." The irony of that statement goes right over his head. Some things will take time for him to figure out.

Simon notices the spill. "Well that could have gone better." Even he knows thats not very helpful, and Simon is nothing if not helpful. Time for some sage advice. "But you can still save this. You just gotta go after her and ... maybe I better do it." He starts to get up to follow Jubilee. He isn't sure what he would say to her, but he knows he has to say something.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Vampire Jubilee.  One word.  Hot.  Too bad that will never happen right?  Never mind all the pesky difficulty with things like sunlight that she would have for the rest of her immortal life right?

"Thanks man.  Appreciate it."

Unfortunately it wasn't a no look handoff.  It's just dark in there so Nori doesn't even notice the contact till it is too late.  She'd been so careful to keep herself as much on the cloth seats as possible, not come into contact with any metal like that rail down there below the seats.  So she has to see it all.  Her eyes go wide, her chest rises and falls faster than a hummingbirds and her bright disposition suddenly replaced by worry in a flash even as the shrieks starts.

The second shriek has people turn around and glare, some to see what they think they saw.  No amount of static shock would be /that/ bright would it?  The flash of flyaways they think they see without any external source of static?  There's discerning squints and someone finally gets up to announce for the sake of the audience, "I'm getting the manager," to the sounds of claps that drown out their comment about mutants, because they are so sure.  Must be the brother of that Home Depot guy.

Noriko's hand shoots out fast, but stops about a millimeter from Simon's arm, suddenly on her feet to block him.  "No!  I mean.  It's my fault.  Don't worry about it!  I'll take care of it.  She's my best friend."  It all comes out way too fast and she glances toward the disgruntled customer.  Then Noriko advises Simon..."Uh.  Scram!"  What did she pick that up from some old movie...and then she ditches him.

And then Noriko walks out of view of their audience (to more applause and things like, 'Good riddance you freak!').  At that point, she's gone, taking off to search for Jubilee at top speed.