5081/You Could Just Shower, You Know...

You Could Just Shower, You Know...
Date of Scene:	08 February 2021
Location:	Workout Room
Synopsis:	Noriko Ashida sweeps Jubilation Lee off her feet (literally)...not realizing Paige Guthrie is there. The couple counts on Paige's discretion while Jubilee has to face facts.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Paige Guthrie, Noriko Ashida

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Jubilation Lee has posed:
    An early morning in the workout room. Classes haven't started for the day and most students are still asleep. Strangely, Jubilation Lee is present and engaged in some stretching. She's rarely up this early. Almost never.

    Jubilation stands on one leg. Her other leg is bent at the knee and pulled backwards, with her foot held behind her head with both hands. A classic gymnastics stretch. She's dressed for the occasion -- black spandex short shorts, a pink tanktop, hair in disarray.

Paige Guthrie has posed:
Heading into the workout room is Paige, who's dressed in a pair of spandex black workout shorts and a baggy white top that is soaked in sweat. Her hair is pulled up into a thick and chunky blonde pony tail behind her held together by a scrunchie. She has a pair of weights strapped to her ankles and another in her hands.

Once inside, she leans down to unbuckle the weights on her feet, then puts them into a bag that she had set up on the side of the room. Popping the earbuds out, she tucks them in as well. Giving a long stretch, her body cracks and pops a few times. "Ah'right Paige. Yah' just killed those ten miles like it was nothin'. Time ta' work on your core before class. You got this." She's trying to pump herself up a bit under her breath.

Peeling her shirt up and over her head to reveal her matching excercise sports bra, the blonde omni-morph starts for the weights, then slows down at the sight of Jubilee. She gives a casual glance down at her fitbit to look at the time, then over to her. "Ah.. hey Jubes. Everything okay? Too many energy drinks?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Ten miles!" Jubilee calls out, craning her head back to watch Paige for a second, having caught that private moment. "What the heck for?!" Her eyes widen and she takes a deep breath, finding the entire idea difficult to understand.

    As for herself, Jubilee shakes her head rapidly and straightens out her bent leg into a 'needle' stretch, pointing her foot up at the ceiling. Very flexible, this one.

    "I'm fine!" she says. Frustration.

Paige Guthrie has posed:
"Yah' don't sound fine. Yah' sound .. ah .. bent outta shape, even though yah' kinda doing some pretty sick yoga." Paige says as she put the weights down that she was holding in her hands. "This is mah' morning routine. Ah'm up at five in the morning and ah' do mah' runs and then ah' do my workouts before class.'

"You sure everything is okay? We can talk if yah' want. Ah got an hour or two to kill." Wrapping her hands up with some tape, she tears the end off with her teeth, then sets up in front of a punching bag as she starts to work with the combos. Jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Right hook jab. Jab. Right Hook. Left Hook. Jab.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee turns her head to face forward as she tugs on her leg to deepen the stretch. To her credit, she's doing this with virtually no struggling or wobbling on her standing leg. Like she's done it a million times! "Thanks, Paige... I'm good," she says softly. "Just... didn't get much sleep." She takes a breath slooooowly lets her leg come down. Jubilee transitions perfectly into a straight, standing position.

    After letting out her air, Jubes lowers herself to the floor and bends her legs into a classic lotus position. "You did so great at the talent show, Paige!" she manages. She sounds like she means it, but it doesn't come out as effortless as it normally might.

Paige Guthrie has posed:
"Ah' dunno. Ah' kinda felt real silly afterwords. Everyone looked awesome doing their singing and dancin' and ... uh .. rap battlin'. And here ah'm playing with toys." Paige says with a sheepish grin on her face. "Ah' just didn't wanna do a skin thing and gross people out, but ah've been working on something with mah powers that is really cool but it's hard ta' pull off."

She continues to run combos into the bag, bouncing from foot to foot as she slams her fists into the canvas. She ducks and wheeves, followed by a couple of quick 'gut shots' into the bag with quick short uppercuts. Once she is finished with that set, she starts in on the kicks. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot.

"How come yah' didn't get a lot of sleep? What kept yah up?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Speaking of keeping people up...

What do you get with a speedster who has tunnel vision and seems to have a homing beacon on Jubilation?  One who can't hear the jabs hitting the bag or the shuffle of other feet because she sliiiips in at high velocity, sees Jubes over her shoulder, and then sprints over to do that hi I'm already tackle-kissing you! greeting that everyone loves so much.

The velocity bleeds out fast before Noriko makes contact, arms wrapping around Jubes with enough force to knock her on her back.

Oh...and, Nori doesn't seem to want to get up.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "You weren't silly at all!" Jubilee insists as she reaches up to tuck back a lock of her hair. "I don't know anyone who can solve one of those things without taking them apart! And you did /three/!" She presses down on her knees to deepen the lotus stretch in her pelvic bowl. Yeah, that's right -- pelvic bowl! "Everyone but you and Bobby did music. It was a great act. I'm sorry you didn't win."

    Jubilee is just about to answer Paige...really, she is! What was keeping her up at night? HUFF! Suddenly, all of the air in Jubilee's lungs is knocked out of her and she's on her back, held by Noriko's embrace. Her giggling gets muffled by the kiss and one leg kicks out into the air and both arms wrap around the speedster. The giggling fades entirely as Jubilee returns the kiss with eagerness. Noriko has a good excuse here but Jubes does not. She SHOULD just let it be a quick peck and be done with it, but....

    It goes on for a few moments longer than it should. The poor girl manages to find her good sense and, against all odds, remember Paige. Jubilee starts gently rapping against Noriko's back with the palm of her hand, trying to get her attention. "Nori..." she whispers. "Nori..."

Paige Guthrie has posed:
"Well, ah wasn't thinking ah'd win at all. Ah' was kinda thinking ah bunch of us dumb kids would be doing some goofy things like ..." Paige trails off as Nori speed runs herself into a make out session with Jubilee.

There's a slow blink of her blue eyes and she tilts her head to one side. Did she know they were dating? No, probably not. As intelligent as she is, she doesn't pick up on relationship buzz or romantic cues. Giving a slight clear of the throat, she is jostled by the punching bag that swings back and rattles her shoulder.

".. Ah.. um.. " Awkward. She steadies the bag, then rubs the back of her neck as she crabwalks a bit towards the lockers.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko is fully engaged and a large part of that is trying to not fry Jubilee, the rest of it is pretty obvious, and her brain already thinks the room is a ghost town...so she doesn't really have room for extra little sounds to pierce through, but the gentle rapping does after a few, and her name?  Yeah, that's her name.  "Huh?"

Blink.  Then Nori's suddenly staring straight at Paige.  Does she know how horror movie that is?  Nope.  It's just a reaction.  "Oh."  She swallows.  "I'm-so-sorry-Sorry-I'm-" comes shooting out fast hopefully a few will land on Paige and on Jubilee.  She hurries at different speeds as she speaks, almost seeming like she's jumping up into a blur just a little before coming back to something more easily visible.  Because some people need extricating from other people in front of other people sometime.  No big deal.

Noriko pops up onto her feet, offering Jubilee a hand and forgetting she wouldn't need one.

"So yeah...that Trig homework..."  Jubilation is not in Trigonometry by a long shot.  Noriko rubs the back of her neck lamely and then just starts to laugh.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    It would seem Paige got her answer about the missed sleep. Does Jubilee wants this to end? Not by a long shot, but... it must. The gentle tapping of her hand against Nori's back switches to something a little bit more obvious and forceful to get the point across. The leg sticking out flails a little bit at the knee. And then... Jubes is alone, on the ground, on her back. She's panting.

    She doesn't need the help, no, but Jubilee takes Noriko's offered hand and stands up. "...What's 'trig'...?" she wonders aloud. OH! "Oh! Yes, Trig. Uh, I... finished the two page, uh, trig paper.... Did you?" She raises her eyebrows and turns her head to look at Paige. To see if she's buying it.

Paige Guthrie has posed:
She's so close to the lockers! Paige can take a shower and throw on some fresh clothes and find another way to work out her core. Maybe she'll sneak in a routine on her lunch break. Power protein shake, peanutbutter and crunches.

"It's ah'lright!" She calls out over to the awkward tangling of limbs. She knows Jubes isn't in Trig. She tutors Trig! .. and Beyond. But, she also gets that this may be (is) incredibly awkward for all parties.

"Ah'm just gonna take a shower." She says as she reaches up to start tugging at her hair, giving a loud 'sclurrrrping' noise as she rips her face forward to reveal a clean, non sweaty version of her.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko's earlier ideas are like boomerangs and hindsight comes quickly.  The Japanese girl doesn't interact with the tutors, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know Paige is one.  All she can do is stand there and stare, hard, at Jubilee as everything goes up in flames.  Apparently staring isn't an effective measure against fires.  But the funny thing about Nori is she can cycle through her emotions at an incredible rate.

"Yeah, not buying it."  The speedster says, right on queue.  "Look I should go," she says to Jubilee, and then louder to Paige, "Yeah.  Sorry!  I just thought she was alone.  I'm going to head out.  Let you guys do whatever it is you need to do."  Noriko backs up without looking, grinning, and quickly runs into a bench, which leads into a stumble, which Noriko miraculously recovers from in seemingly a single movement if it weren't for the little blips of her announcing when she's come back into the moment.  "Right."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee's cheeks puff out like a chipmunk and she empties them slowly through pursed lips. Oh boy. She almost reaches out to shake Noriko's hand, as if that might somehow dial back the impression they're creating. Instead, she settles on taking a step back from the speedster and stares at Paige.

    "Paige...uh..." she begins, snap-turning to look at Noriko and then back to Paige. "...You did so great in the talent show!" Said that already. Jubilee's mouth gapes as she works through this new problem that she, somehow, never considered. When Paige announces she's going to take a shower, Jubes relaxes a bit and expects her to go to the locker room and give her and Noriko some time to figure this out. But then... shlllrrrp. Jubilee's wince lasts only a moment -- she tries to contain it with a disingenuous smile, one born from not being completely used to Paige's shucking.

    A new panic sets in. "Nori..." she begins, even reaching a hand out pointlessly. "You don't need to go... Paige, tell her!" Snap-turn. Snap-turn back. Wince at the stumble.

    "You can't tell the teachers!" Jubilee suddenly announces, staring at Paige. If there was someone at Xavier's most connected to the teachers, it could be Paige.

Paige Guthrie has posed:
"You don't gotta go!" Paige parrots Jubilee to Noriko. "It's ah'll good!" She is saying this with a handful of herself dangling limply like a blow-up doll that got popped and deflated. She stuffs it into the trash in front of the lockers, shoving it down deep. It'll disintegrate in a few hours.

The last declaration causes her to pause. "Why would ah' tell th' teachers for? Ah' don't think they'd even care. It's not like .. uh .. being gay is a big deal now .. you know. Ah'm a pretty good example of a conservative Christian but even ah'm not bothered by it. Ah' was just figuring ta' give ya'll some alone time if you guys wanted ta' uh.. work on your trig some more."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Limp versions of self skin suit, totally making out in front of a senior, there are all sorts of horrors in this room.  Noriko never liked it anyways.  It was stinky and she wasn't one to work up a sweat so easily, probably due to mutant physiology.  Plus everything is too easy.  So...she hasn't spent much time in gyms or even know what all is done in there.

There's just a lot of reasons 'It's ah'll good!' doesn't provide a lot of motivation to stay okay?  But it's Jubilee's announcement that stops Noriko dead in her tracks.  Mouth agape, she's not leaving.  Blink to Jubilee.  Blink to Paige.  "We're roommates.  We don't want to get reassigned," is all Noriko can manage to say at first.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation nods her head eagerly as Paige repeats her sentiment. It's all good! Still, her bottom lip peels back under her teeth as she watches the pile of Paige get dumped into the trash. Oooh boy. This girl probably saves a ton on makeup remover, Jubes figures. Probably evens out with trash bags, though.

    "Because..." Jubilee begins, her voice trailing off as Nori covers it nicely. She couldn't imagine living with anyone else. They were roommates first, then friends, and then...more.

    It's not like being gay is a big deal now.

    Blink. Blink. Blink. She turns to look at Noriko. Then Paige. Jubilee's mouth hangs open in astonishment. Total silence. Jubilation's eyes slowly dart around the room as she combs through her thoughts and feelings at hearing herself put into a category.

    Jubilation's ponytail bobs up and down as she runs full speed out of there!

Paige Guthrie has posed:
This is why Paige is going to make a great X-Man one day. Drama! That's all they're about, and also kicking ass. So far she has both in spades. Ass kicking and drama.

"Well, ah' ain't no snitch. Ah' promise not to tell anyone. Ah' mean .. it's ya'lls business. Not mine. It's not like ah'm gonna be snooping." By now, she is peeling off the skin from her left arm, the sound of ripping is like shredding paper. She crumples it up and stuffs it into the trash, then blinks.

"Jubes! Where yah' going? Aw horseapples.."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Ass-kicking drama!

"It's different where I'm from," which is about the only way Noriko knows how to describe the complex web of things that weaves the attitudes and people's expectations around relationships and all manner of things.  Boring.  But what is not a big deal to one person is to another.

Noriko's eyes shoot after Jubes.  Nori wants to run to her immediately, but she'd intercept her NOW, before Jubilee would ever have a chance to reach whatever safety she couldn't find in here.  "Arigato.  I'll get her," Noriko says almost as Jubes reaches the door.  Zip!