6550/No-Contest Cannonball Contest

No-Contest Cannonball Contest
Date of Scene:	13 June 2021
Location:	Swimming Pool / Patio Deck
Synopsis:	Despite thinking she has the pool all to herself, Jubilation Lee is summarily defeated in a cannonball contest by none other than Piotr Rasputin! The two discuss the nature of their lives at the Mansion and trade cannonball splashes. Jubilee makes Piotr promise not to tell anyone she hung out with a teacher, obviously.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Piotr Rasputin

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Jubilation Lee has posed:
    For a Sunday in June, the swimming pool and patio deck are shockingly empty. Suspiciously empty! While this would normally be prime real estate for summertime fun and relaxation, only one person is enjoying it -- Jubilation Lee. She has laid claim to one of the reclining chairs and is currently sprawled out on her back, one leg bent at the knee. She wears a bright yellow bikini and a pair of black Ray Ban sunglasses. On the table next to her chair, the normal pool stuff has been gathered -- a folded up towel, a bottle of suntan lotion, and a bag of snacks from the kitchen. She is currently taptaptaptaping against her phone screen.

    But why is no one here? Careful observation would reveal a brown, lumpy cylinder bobbing up and down in the pool... Further observation would show a Baby Ruth wrapper pinned down by Jubilee's bottle of suntan lotion. Finally, some light COMPUTER HACKING would show that Jubes just watched Caddyshack on Netflix...

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Coming down to the pool area, Piotr has a towel over his shoulder. He has a yellow tank top on, baggy but cut low to reveal so much of that muscled body of his. Underneath of course the Russian has no problem with a red speedo. The red and yellow keeping his trademark look of course. "Hello." he greets rather friendly like to Jubilation giving her a quick look over before he turns to the pool as he pulls his tanktop over his head and drops the towel and shirt on a nearby chair.

"Ah..." he grunts out a complaint. "Jubilation...what is this?" he says gesturing to the pool, not mad so much as annoyed and a bit grossed out.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Tilt to the left. Tilt to the right. Back to the left. Hold head completely steady. Jubilee sighs at her phone screen -- apparently those Ray Bans of hers are polarized. Frustrated, she tosses her phone onto her chair between her legs. That tweet will have to wait.

    When Piotr comes over, Jubilee sits up and turns towards him, triggered by that phantom 'someone is nearby' feeling that happens from time to time. "Oh, hey," she replies, following the complaint towards the pool. "Well, you know how dogs pee on stuff to mark their territory?" Jubilee pauses a moment and then gives Piotr a big toothy smile, showing off those pearly whites.

    After holding that pose for a moment, Jubilee slumps down a little. "It's a candy bar," she admits softly before reaching a hand out to taptaptap against the Baby Ruth wrapper. "I just wanted some peace and quiet. Besides, they already ran off to find Logan to come clean it up, but..." She reaches both hands up to start pulling her hair into a ponytail -- when she arrived at Xavier's all those years ago, it was short and prone to cowlick. Now, it's long and flows down her back.

    "If you don't tell on me, I won't try to pin it on you," she offers, grinning a little.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
The large strong man simply rolls his eyes. "You Jubilee, are...something." he says with a chuckle as he walks along. Circling the pool to grab the skimmer so he can fish the candy out of the pool. "Plenty of ways to get some quiet time without such pranks." he grins, "But not many quite as ammusing." he adds then with a shrug of his shoulder.

He leans over and begins to reach out with the skimmer to fish out the candybar for her. "Everything ok? None of the need for peace and quiet for the wrong reasons I would hope?" he wonders idly as he works.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Some quiet time /at the pool/," Jubilee points out, an index finger rising to make the point. When it becomes obvious that Piotr is going to fish out the chocolate bar, Jubilee lets out a lungful of pouty air. She even falls back onto her chair and stares up at the sky. "You're no fun," she complains with a fake, pouty huff. "Now everyone's going to come..."

    Jubilee's head turns a little to watch Piotr dip the skimmer into the pool, furrowing her eyebrows a little as she considers his question. Was everything okay? Jubilation suddenly cracks a smile, ready to respond with some of that false cheeriness she's become known for. But then... it fades. "Yeah..." she replies with a quiet sigh. "Just, that Mystique was here. Got me thinking about, you know...what happened in Washington."

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
"I see." Piotr replies glanicing over to Jubilation a moment. Then back to the pool finally nabbing the pesky candy bar. "Its unfortunate that conflict and trouble seems to haunt us X-Men." he explains. "But it is not trouble that we cannot rise above. Control and peace do not come easy, but it does come." he reminds her. "You've come very far already."

he returns the skimmer to its place. The strongman like a big muscular big brother trying to give his best advice at the moment. "We all have some regrets, but it is important to not let our low moments define us. We choose that for ourselves." he smiles.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation sighs and shrugs her shoulders. "Yeah, well, I've managed to get it out of my head, but, you know, seeing her just reminded me of it," she explains. From her tone, this is just an unpleasant memory being drawn to the surface. It's not like she was in the weeks after that day -- nearly catatonic and sequestered in her room. "Honestly, I wish my powers were more like Nori's. She can go fast, hurt no one... Instead..." She brings her hands together and mimics an explosion. "Boom!" Jubilee adds.

    After staring up at the sky for a few moments longer, Jubilation shrugs and turns on her side so she can watch Piotr put the skimmer back onto the hooks that hold it in place. "Besides, I'm not an X-Man," she explains. "Not like you."

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
"You could be. Someday." Piotr points out with a shrug of his shoulders. He pauses and then says, "And a little secret? I consider you all X-Men...we are a family, one and all. Willing to fight for each other and care for each other. If that doesn't make you an X-Man, then what does? Hm? That is how I define family. I am here for you Jubilation." its a very liberal use of the word X-Man, and definitely many would disagree, but the heart is in it.

"I hope we have peace, but if we are at war with our enemies..." Piotr begins, exhaling, "I hope when you are /ready/" heavy emphasis on when she is ready, "You are at our side."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation moistens her lips and then bulges out her cheeks as her mouth fills with air. She exhales loudly through pursed lips and then leans back against her chair again. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know," she replies, sounding very much like she's heard this several times before. "We're a family. We're in this together." She takes a deep breath and reaches a hand out for her bag of snacks.

    "Honestly, I don't know what I want to do... I mean, I'm definitely /on/ your side... I just don't know if I want to be /at/ your side," she answers absently. Her full attention is on the bag of snacks. After some rummaging, Jubilee tosses a bag of pretzels onto the reclining chair next to hers. "Sorry it's not a borscht or vodka or whatever," she jabs with a grin. She holds up a bag of cookies for herself and waggles it in the air. "I can find a bunch of articles online that would suggest that vodka would actually be better for me than this junk..." Jubilee waggles her eyebrows up and down, as if to ask for permission. Nice try, Jubes. Nice try.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
"We can do a shot of vodka together..." Piotr says as he settles down at the edge of the pool and put his feet in, "When you are of age." he finishes the sentence with a grin. "I will introduce you to my 'drink and paint' method.." he jokes idly. Look at that, Piotr can have a sense of humor too.

"Being on our side but not at our side is good and well too." he adds then with a glance down to the water, "It is a dangerous thing we do, and it is not for everyone. I do not like the violence myself often." he explains with a pause, "But I am a protector by nature...it is how I manifested my powers and what I do. I would never forgive myself if something happaned and I wasnt there and could have been."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation's eyebrows rise with excitement. She even sits up. "Now we're talking!" she exclaims. But then... Oh. Jubilee rolls her eyes and reclines back against her chair. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, 'not till you're older'..." The universe can truly be cruel.

    Jubilation closes her eyes tightly and sighs a little. "I know what you mean," she admits. "I.. I saved Noriko's life that day. In Washington. When I melted that guy with my fireworks." Officially, Xavier's (and Hank) calls them plasmoids, but to Jubilee they are fireworks. Jubilation takes a breath.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
"You saved her life. Never forget that part." Piotr points out. "I have things I'd do differently, but I have saved many, as I have been saved many times as well." he points out with a shrug. "Great pain and great joy comes from what we can do. I like to think...or hope it balances in our favor, yah?" he shrugs idly kicking his feet in the water.

"If you ever need someone to practice blasting with fireworks, I will offer myself as a moving target." he beams helpefully. Combat training along with art class is his specialty of course.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I wouldn't do it differently," Jubilation responds with a notable fire in her voice. "If anything was different, even a little, Noriko might not be here..." That thought lingers in the air for a second before Jubilee reaches up to pull off her sunglasses. "I think maybe you should read Hank's report before you offer that," she warns with a smirk. Jubes stands up and tosses her sunglasses onto her chair. "Aren't you worried about rusting?" she teases, bringing both hands up to pull her hair out of the ponytail.

    Jubilation looks to the side, conspiratorially, before leaning her head back. "Cannonball!" she shouts into the air. With a running start, Jubilee leaps into the air and grabs both legs. She falls into the pool, creating a reasonable splash.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Piotr Rasputin lifts a brow at her reply, opening his mouth to speak but he shuts it. He shields himself from the small splash but then he rises to his feet. he large russian grins broadly and lies in wait. Wait for it...time it just right...

Then just as she surfaces he leaps, she'd rise out of the water just in time to see the large man leaping into the water near by, creating a cannon ball form of his own. Only it is much different than that of Jubilations. he is much large, much broader and as a result, his splash is a great deal larger.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    With a self-satisfied grin, Jubilee kicks off the bottom of the pool to resurface. Huh, that's weird... the water level is just a touch higher than she was expecting. Did someone suddenly just add several hundred gallons into the pool? She does come up to the surface, managing a very brief smile. But then...

    SPLASH

    Jubilation is pushed back a few feet from the force of the wave and her face is pummeled with a blast of water. Only her hands can be seen emerging from the wave. "What....the hell?" Jubilation calls out before both hands come up to wipe water away from her eyes. "You win. You win."

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
"Dah. I win." Piotr says rather pleased with himself, giving a hearty laugh then. "Cannon balls are one of my specialties." he brags lightly and begins to wade slowly backward towards the edge of the pool once again.

He has a rather pleased smile on his features, happy to have the mood light. When he pulls himself back to sit beside the pool again, his muscular frame dripping with water. "Of course, I dont think you expected the a contest."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, I can see why..." Jubilee replies with a smirk. She kicks off and swims to one edge of the pool before lifting herself out of it. After a few careful, wet steps towards her chair, Jubes stuffs her feet into her flip-flops and wraps herself in her towel. The sunglasses go back onto her face and the suntan lotion is picked up. She leaves the snacks for Piotr. "I gotta get ready for a stupid shift at the stupid Burger Joint..."

    "Listen, I'd appreciate it if you'd not tell anyone about this," Jubilee starts. "I mean, I /get it/ -- if you told people we hung out, it would absolutely increase your 'cool points' by quite a few... But..." She hisses a little and shrugs. "...I don't know what would happen to mine if people heard I hung with a /teacher/..." Jubes gives Piotr a teasing smirk before flashing a peace sign with her empty hand. "See ya around!" And with that, she's flip-flopping back towards the mansion.