5519/Teaching stuff like a teacher

Teaching stuff like a teacher
Date of Scene:	10 March 2021
Location:	Faculty Lounge
Synopsis:	Scott calls Jubilee in and quotes Captain America. Then makes her watch Crime and Punishment.
Cast of Characters:	Scott Summers, Jubilation Lee

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Scott Summers has posed:
It's been a few weeks, but it finally got back to Scott that Jubilee was involved in a situation at the riots in DC. It's after classes have ended for the day, while Scott's enjoying his refreshing decaf coffee drink, that he sends out a message for Jubilee to meet him in the faculty lounge because for some reason they still wont give him an office which is kind of rude if you think about it but whatever he's not bitter about it.

As usual, his expression is tight, eyes hidden behind rube lensed glasses focused out the door while listening to soft Silverchair playing from the speakers around the room. He loves the classics. And it may have hurt to call Silverchair classics.

Dressed like he usually does during classes with a sleeveless sweater over a white button up shirt with slacks and loafers. Hair, slightly longer than usual, has bangs dangling over the lense of his glasses.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation Lee has finally returned to classes and the myriad of self-imposed extra curriculars. She was notably absent from class and campus life in the days following the events in DC, with assignments being delivered to her room by helpful friends and classmates, but has recently been spotted in the wild! Today, those spotting her would note that she's skating through the mansion on her Heely sneakers clutching the message from Scott Summers.

    "Waffles. Whipped cream. Ice cream. Pizza. French fries. Licorice," Jubes mutters softly to herself as she stands nervously outside the faculty lounge. After carefully considering what she'd request to be her last meal, she pushes the door open and slides inside. The girl shrinks an inch or so as the wheels on the bottom of her sneakers retract. There are a number of things Scott could be cross about -- the riots, the dance -- but there's no reason to add 'skating in the halls' to the list.

    "Hellloooo," she calls out, adding some pomp and circumstance with the way she rolls the L's.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott glances backwards over his shoulder when Jubilee enters, waving her in with a flick of his wrist, "Have a seat, Jubes." Sipping what remains of his cafe so he can set the cup aside on a nearby table. "Hopefully I've not interrupted your routine terribly much, I don't intend to take up much of your time." He's not being gentle, he's just being Scott. Straight to the point with very little pie filler.

He does, however, wait for her to take the seat across from him, having positioned one of the chairs there so that they'd be facing one another. "I understand you were involved in an incident, I was wondering if there was anything you needed to tell me about?" Perking one brow, hands resting on either arm cushion beside him.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Six careful steps bring Jubilee to the empty seat. She lowers herself carefully into it -- no false moves here. Not while she's sitting right in the blast zone! One leg is crossed over the other. "So...What did you wa--" Her question putters out as Scott speaks. Oh. The riots? Wait. He's being non-specific. Nice try, Scott. Nice try.

    "Could you describe the incident?" she requests, smiling sweetly. Her tone isn't sarcastic at all -- she just doesn't want to incriminate herself for something. She gets into mischief.

    Jubilee turns her head to notice the total lack of anyone else in the room. There are only so many things this could be about and if it was about the /other/ thing, she'd probably not be the only one here. She connects the dots.

    "You mean... the riots," she accuses softly, the smile fading from her face. Suddenly, Jubilee looks uncomfortable. Her shoulders tense and rise to almost meet her ears as she tries to shrink in her seat.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott doesn't look convinced, nor moved, by sweetness. But neither is he angry. At least he doesn't look angry, which is kind of different from being angry where it pretains to Scott. He rarely looks anything. Mostly he just watches, quietly, even stoically, as people try to tap dance around him. Suffice, he has a brow perked. "If I could describe it, I would have led with that, Jubilee. You're not in trouble, but I do want to hear what happened."

He takes a breath then, reaching up to rub his slightly stubbled jaw. "I heard that you went to the protests. Which, as far as I'm aware, was something Jean was specifically against without a teacher present. So... I wish you'd been responsible in that particular situation, but it's not to the point of what I've asked you here tonight." The hand falls back onto the arm of the chair.

"I understand that someone was hurt. I'm not a councilor... but I am here to listen, if you want to talk about it."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation opens her mouth, as if to protest or argue the point about not having a teacher present, but that point seems like a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of it. She doesn't bother. Jubilee fills her lungs and then slowly lets it out. Her eyes lower.

    "Someone was hurt by /me/," she clarifies, not looking up from the floor. There's just something SO interesting down there. This was bound to happen sooner or later.

    Jubilee's gaze lifts suddenly. Wide, brown eyes stare back at Scott's...uh...eye. "I didn't mean to!" she exclaims suddenly, a slight panic forming. "I really didn't! I...I didn't even know that I could /do/ that...And...I just wanted to disorient him... You know, blindness, just like always -- just like in practice...But..."

    "He was going to kill N---"

    Don't say her name, Jubes.

    "Us."

    Jubilation curls her lips inward to moisten them, readying herself for the next round. It seems that Scott's suggestion that he's just here to listen has been met with suspicion.

Scott Summers has posed:
There's no sudden flying off of handles or rants, but that wouldn't really be Scott's way on any other time either. He's a calculated punisher. Rather make people think about a situation and punish themselves, so that they don't duplicate whatever got them in that position in the first place. He nods slowly at what she's said, not really needing to hear the name to know who she was talking about. The two of them have been seen around enough to make it pretty obvious where one goes, the other isn't far behind.

Eventually that's a conversation they'll have to have.

They're just not at that bridge yet.

"You were protecting yourself and your friend, then." Calm, like the eye of a storm? Possibly, but it's still calm. Fingers drumming the arm of his chair, "This is why we stress development classes for our powers, but it's impossible to know how they might evolve under different circumstances. Putting children into harmful or dangerous situations just to see if they will suddenly manifest equally dangerous abilities is inhuman and against what we're trying to do here at Xavier's." His lips purse for a second, ruby red glasses turning down to whatever Jubilee is looking at. Even though he knows there's nothing there.

"Nor am I in a position to forgive you. You defended yourself, as I've read from all accounts of the incident, and from your own. At least you don't seem to be deceiving anyone here regarding what happened, so I have to take you at face value. If we don't trust you, at least to some degree, then we'll never come to a place where we'd be comfortable allowing you on the team." Which Jubilee is, or at least it's assumed she will be. "I do want you to consider something, however. Had a teacher been there, it is entirely possible they could have been in a position to protect you and your friend from harm... it isn't assured, of course. We're not all powerful, but that's the reason Jean made the rule about going out alone until this situation was over." Still no anger.

His tongue clicks against the back of his teeth, "How you doing with what happened? Hurting someone, I mean."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I thought lights and colors and...You know, fireworks, was all there is!" Jubilee insists, squirming a little in her seat. "Every other time, full blast meant brighter lights. Prettier colors!" She reaches up to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear. When she first got to the school, her hair was on the shorter side with an almost permanent cowlick. Now, it's long, wavy with elaborate ringlets and curls. "I haven't even been able to do it again..." she adds, suggesting that she's tried again. Pause.

    "On leaves and sticks and things!"

    The suggestion of joining the team earns another squirm. But, what is it like for her to hurt someone? "It's awful," Jubes admits, lowering her eyes to the floor again. "...I...Everyone's telling me the same thing -- 'play stupid games, win stupid prizes' and that he had it coming to him." She takes a deep breath and releases it before finally looking up at Scott.

    "I don't want to hurt anyone," she adds softly. "That guy -- and all his buddies saying stuff about me online -- hates us. Hates me..." Another pass of air from her nose.

    "I don't hate them," she adds finally, just barely above a whisper. It's said with trace amounts of embarrassment.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott remains silent while Jubilee rallies to her own defense as to the nature of using her powers offensively. In his same quiet manner, just watching her, but for a further elevation of his brow. "It's good that you're attempting to further examine your abilities, that's precisely what we're here to learn. Not so that we can use them in harmful ways, but that we know that we're able to, then figure out a way to get around doing so. Like someone learning martial arts-" Which he knows she's at least partially proficient, "- you know how, but you don't. Knowing our capabilities and limitations is an important part of becoming mentally stronger."

As she continues, so too does his silence while listening. Nodding when she's finished on the subject of hating or not the individuals responsible for what took place at the riots. "Good, because they didn't deserve that. It's unfortunate that they've let their personal beliefs cloud their judgement enough that they would attempt to assault a child, but that's the measure of them, not you. You're not a monster for what you did, Jubilation. Though I can only imagine how you must feel to the contrary." His tongue slips across his lips gently, wetting them, glasses turning to the side.

"You know the mission here at Xavier's is the coexistance of mutants and humans. The team, the X-Men.. we're not a group designed to go and hurt people. We protect them, mutant and human alike. From threats big enough that it requires a team capable of and willing to stand in front of the worst tides of humanity and mutant kind and tell them: No... Not today." Holding up a finger.

"That said, I'd like to read you a quote. It's Captain America's." He reaches in his pocket, a little raise of his hip to work the slip of paper out. After unfolding it, he speaks. "Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs says. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe. No matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant your feet like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the world... No. You move."

He gently folds the slip of paper and holds it out to Jubilee. "I trust you Jubilee. I just ask that next time you take a teacher with you, okay? Set a good example. People like you. They listen to you. Show them how to be better.. Because I know you can."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I thought I had my powers all figured out," Jubilation admits, peeling back some more of the 'Jubilee' bravado. In fact, this might be the longest Scott has seen of Jubilation Lee without the usual veil of positivity and sunshine obscuring raw teenage vulnerability. She lets out a defiant, frustrated tuft of air -- the sort of attitude that comes with finding out that the personal trailer has 'and one more' pushup planned.

    Against all odds, Jubilation sits quietly as Scott reads the quotation. She even reaches out and slides the paper across the desk and plucks it up. It goes into one of her pockets. "I don't take back what I did," she suddenly adds. "I played it back in my head a thousand times and every time it's the same. But...I wish it didn't have to happen." Another deep breath and then a shrug.

    Jubilation stands from her seat, having picked up on the social cue that suggests their conversation is wrapping up. "Thanks for not kicking me out of the school," she adds with a slight return of her smile and some of that 'Jubilee' charm.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott tilts his head slightly at her, "Why would I kick you out of the school? Do you know how many people Logan has actually killed? What about Laura or ..." waving his hand outward, ".. Magneto. He's upstairs, you know? What about me?" He wonders with a little frown, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. "I know I'm not the best at this, Jubilee. I'm not a councilor, I think I said that.. and I probably would have been upset with you if you hadn't felt bad for what you'd done. You've thought about it, and replayed it in your head, and are trying to improve yourself based on the experiences you've faced."

He too stands up, "It wont suddenly get easier just because someone says it's alright, but I hope that it puts everything back into perspective a little for you. You're a good kid and take agency of your actions. That's not something to punish.." He nods to her, grabbing his empty mug to clean it out at the small sink. "I'll see you in class tomorrow?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation doesn't explain her comment. She was joking, of course, but some small part of her expected an eviction notice to be taped to the door of her room. The notice never came, of course, but the other shoe is always ready to drop. After brushing off her legs, Jubilee takes a few steps towards the door.

    "Well, I guess now I have to go to class since you know I'm alive and well," Jubilee replies from over her shoulder, that smile still continuing.

    After pushing the door open with the palm of her hand, Jubilation's gaze lingers briefly on Scott. "Thanks," she says softly before slipping through the doorway and into the hall.