7994/Snack Sabotage

Snack Sabotage
Date of Scene:	26 September 2021
Location:	Swimming Pool / Patio Deck
Synopsis:	Noriko and Jubes go to swim, at night! Noriko sabotages Jubes' snack, and Michael reveals his true form to promote understanding. Nothing goes as planned.
Cast of Characters:	Noriko Ashida, Michael Erickson, Jubilation Lee

---

Noriko Ashida has posed:
It started as a race to meet at the pool.  Noriko ends up on a slight detour...slight, and ends up at the pool with her towel haphazardly around her shoulders, hair a whirl, in her 'hideous' Xavier's one-piece and some flip-flops that just snapped against her toes when she tried to jump into them before Jubes could notice.

SMACK! The plastic bit of the thong goes through the sole and hits her in the shins.  "Here!"  Then she scans the area for her competition as she runs her fingers through her hair.  It's getting longer and less manageable.

The moon is out tonight, casting a lovely pale glow over everything not already bathed in yellowy light of the sconces and pool glow.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    The moon is indeed out tonight - as is Michael, who, dressed in jeans and singlet and battered cafe racer jacket, is already out on the patio as the girls come running up to the pool. He sits on a step near the door into the house, largely shadowed in the mingled glow of the moon and the pool lighting, nursing a longneck of beer from a sixer sitting next to him as he looks out into the night. Space man. Space thoughts. Space serious.

    As the girls come down to the pool, laughing, he smiles. And says nothing.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation's own walk is heralded by the familiar smacking of flip-flops striking against her foot and the floor. Still, she seems to just glide gracefully through the air, as though she might actually be floating instead of walking. Her hair is tied up in a tight ponytail and she wears black liquid water-proof eyeliner done in winglets. A triangle-tie yellow bikini is what she wears, totally unwilling to be caught dead (alive?) in the standard Xavier's one-piece.

    "Nori..." she teases gently, adjusting her unnecessary Ray Ban sunglasses. "You brought suntan lotion?" She tilts her head back and looks up at the sky. "Can't be too careful, I guess...." She grins, showing her fangs. Jubes leans in and plants a kiss on Noriko's cheek before tossing her towel at one of the nearby pool chairs. "Hey, look. Cal," she says, pointing a finger in Michael Erickson's direction. She lifts her hand over her head and waves.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Nori's swimsuit looks like it has never gotten use and probably smells fresh off the factory floor.  "Well all my stuff was in the same spot and-," and she was rushing to do something really important like sneak a certain TV to its new home!  She grins back, amusement caught in her eye as she receives the kiss and follows suit, tossing her towel after Jubes'.

"Who-oh."  It's Space Dad.  Noriko lifts her gauntlet and flashes him an electrified peace sign.  Then she dips down to snag her ruined flip flops and toss them to the side.  She sits down and starts to unbuckle her left gauntlet.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Indeed, it's Cal! Space Dad takes another pull from his bottle and slides it into the carton, moving to get to his feet. "I can give you two privacy," he offers as he stands, giving the two a salute with his free hand. Odd salute, fist against chest. Even done lightly it seems terribly formal.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "If I demanded privacy every time I wanted Noriko all to myself, you'd never see us!" Jubilee calls back, apparently not at all ashamed of the implication there. She turns her head to smile at the other girl as she unslings her backpack strap from her shoulder. She gives the Jansport bag a toss at the pool chair. When it lands, the bag begins to chirp and stir rapidly for a few seconds. Jubes looks at the bag and then at Noriko for her reaction to that.

    "You don't have to go. It's a free country!" Jubes adds, her hand coming up to her mouth to give her voice a boost. "For some of us, anyway..."

    Jubilee plucks her sunglasses off of her face, gives them a toss, and then leaps into the pool!

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Yeah we're only swimming at night for obvious reasons.  No people for me to kill around," Noriko rattles as she continues to take off her gauntlets.  The sudden chirping stirring Jansport causes Noriko to blink-blink, frozen as she considers the bag.  There's a bird in a bag.  It's so absurd that Noriko's ultra fast brain doesn't really cycle through that thought, but just whizzes right past any processing.

Noriko sits there, looking at her half-unbuckled gauntlet.  Then over at the bag, then down at her gauntlet.  That bird has a family...surely.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I was more meaning you might want to have private time to yourselves," he points out, nodding meaningfully in Jubilee's direction. "Pool's a romantic place. Sure you don't want me to go?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation emerges from the water, head tilted back and eyes closed. She reaches up to wipe away any water that might be ready for her eyes when she opens them. "Everywhere's a romantic place," is all Jubilee has to say about that. She leans back in the water and looks up at the night sky, letting that comment speak for itself.

    Apparently the turmoil about the bird-in-the-bag goes totally unnoticed by Jubilee. The bird was placed there by her new set of ethics, apparently with the same level of care given to a bag of Fritos. Jubes reclines in the water and begins to float. Effortlessly.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
While Jubes is momentarily preoccupied.  It doesn't take long at all, there's a little blip in how Noriko is sitting, her posture.  That's because...well...some stuff happens.

Suddenly Noriko's gauntlets woosh back on and she's already got that bag unzipped and bulged just so to create an opening, the moonlight spilling down to alert the prisoner to perfect freedom.

Annnnd she's back!  Nori's posture blips but that's about all she sees.  She finishes up taking off her gauntlets and then unsteadily makes her way to the pool and steps down into it.  There's little snaps and crackles and a strange amount of tiny bubbles around the girl, clouding it up as the light bounces around in the millions of clusters.  The water moves a little strangely around Noriko, as seen by how the bubbles reflect that movement, but it's more subtle than obvious and probably wouldn't be so obvious if she could be around other people.

"My hands feel so light!" she exclaims with a laugh, wiggling them in the water.  "Let the birdguy do what he wants...if he wants to be a terrible chaperone, who am I to argue?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "You two are adults," Mike points out with a snort. "Just don't want to be a creeper is all." Then there is a floating bikini girl and a jailbreak in slow progress, and then Noriko is back in the water. "Should take you girls to the dark side of the moon some time," he says. "Get you some suits and carry you up there. Could be fun." Ah yes! A field trip!

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "That would be fun," Jubilee decides, apparently all in favor of seeing the moon. She swims over to one of the edges of the pool and props herself up with her arms. Already being dead, she's completely at ease with the possibility of being electrocuted. Jubes lazily kicks her feet in the water, churning up some choppiness behind her. Unlike others, her body seems to prefer to float on top of the water rather than sink.

    "Don't make it weird," Jubilation suggests with a shrug. She is totally oblivious to the bird escape.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Moon, going to the moon?  All Noriko can think about right now is what the hell is coming off her in these bubbles and the bird.  Will it make it?  Be cool.  Be cool.  Just casually look over and, "Yeah sure.  Sounds awesome."  She has no clue.

And that pool is negatively charged as soon as Noriko set foot in it.  "Wait what were you doing?  Was it something creepery?  Is that why you can't continue in front of two teenage girls who are also adults sooo...why would it be weird huh?  What are you up to?"  Speaking of making it weird.

ESCAPE BIRD WHILE YOU HAVE YOUR CHANCE!  Noriko glances over to the bag and back, then finally dips below the surface, shutting her eyes tight.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Because it's usually not a good look for a grown man to sit around watching teenage girls make out." Mike shrugs, takes the bottle back out of the six-pack and sits back down. "Just let me know if you want privacy, okay?"

    Then, to change the subject: "Earth's moon isn't really all that special in a galactic sense. Prettier than many on account of the glow, though. Been trying to visit as many planets in the system as my armor will allow, but of course there's lots of places I cant. Lots of high-pressure gas giants." He takes a swig. "Upper atmosphere of Jupiter is really nice. Very pretty."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee squints her eyes and looks over her shoulder at Noriko. She's making it weirder than Michael ever could. The bridge of her nose wrinkles a little as Jubes takes in Noriko's demeanor. Something fishy going on, she's sure of it, but the thought that Noriko would jailbreak her snack was not her first guess. Jubes turns back and continues to float lazily while holding onto the side of the pool.

    "Oh, you don't have to worry about that! Nori practically pretends I don't exist when other people are around," Jubilee announces, her voice echoing around the pool area. She punctuates that point with a smirk. Michael's description of the moon apparently fails to do it for Jubes. "Yeah, I bet it's really nice..." she replies half-heartedly. Jubes rests her ear against the concrete that surrounds the pool and closes her eyes. "All I can think about is getting stuck up there with someone and nothing to eat," she admits. It would be a tricky situation. This is when Jubilee opens her eyes. Her face is right in line with that backpack and its gaping hole.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko can see Jubilation's squint from a mile off, as if in sync.  She chills immediately upon inspection, backing off of her regression into former, juvenile behavior.  "What are you talking about?" she shoots to Jubilation right after a demonstration.

"I do not ignore you.  I'm always trying to put my tongue back in my mouth...Please.  As long as you can keep me fed, you're fed because of m-"  Then it ever so obviously hits the girl.  "Yeah we'd die.  I'd probably want you to drain me.  I've starved before.  I don't want to again."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Trying to work on that, actually." Mike runs a hand through his hair and leans back, elbow propping him up on the step behind him. "Talking to a scientist I know about developing a clonal blood machine. Put a little bit in, clones a bunch more at once. I figure you need whole blood, though, so it's gonna take a while longer than if you just needed plasma. Figure it'll be more nutritious as well." Space Dad, looking out for the young folks. "But anyway, Jupiter. We can go if you want. Or if you want to see Saturn's rings up close."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Noriko's sudden fire draws Jubilee's eyebrows upward. If she paid more attention in class, she might quote Shakespeare: the lady doth protest too much, methinks. Instead, Jubes just says it in the only way she knows how. "Oh, don't even deny it!" she replies. Jubes turns her head towards Michael, perhaps to explain. "When we're alone, it's like she's dying of thirst and I'm a bottle of water."

    Jubilee's eyes zero in on the open backpack. She pulls herself out of the water and walks over to the chair. Both hands reach into the hole in the backpack and pull to expand it. The bag is empty. Jubilee sits down on the beach chair and throws the backpack at the ground. "Oh, don't even bother," she says to Michael. "There's no way this is going to work out." The 'this' in this case is her safe cohabitation at the school.

    "I can't even be trusted to bring a snack so I don't get hungry. I'm so stupid." She looks away from the backpack.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"What, you want me to grab you in the middle of third period?"  Noriko rolls her eyes.  "We already know how that goes over."  Is she for real?

Nori watches Jubilation after she exits the water.  Her eyes dip, lip drawn into a little worried pout.  "You're not stupid Jubes..."  not at all...maybe Jubilation didn't consider an unforeseen obstacle...Nori.

FUUUUUUUUUDGE...only she didn't scream fudge in her mind.  WHERE IS THAT BIRD?!  WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE?! OMG ALL BIRDS LOOK THE SAME.  Noriko's eyes spurt around as she listens for bird song and gets a HOOOT instead.  "I need to poo."  She suddenly announces, and then there's just a bunch of water on the ground where she got out.

BIRD. BIRD. BIRD. BIRD.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I'm not talking about 'this'." Michael waves his hand around the campus. "This won't be forever." He gives Noriko a sudden, sharp look - and then he's suddenly not there, awreath for a moment in pellucid fire - and then there is no Michael, just a gleaming red figure equal parts anatomical model and Deco hood ornament, resplendent against the glow of the moon. Wide wings extend from his arms unto that of Isis, red foils tipped in cutting blades instead of feathers - and he is in the air, hurtling skyward, red chrome bathed in silver light, silhouetted against the moon as he whistles into the woods beyond the manor.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation exhales a small bit of oxygen she probably didn't even know was in her body. Her mouth hangs open as she hears Nori's response, sees her eyes roll, and finally catches some of that razer sharp wit that was always reserved for others. This moment seems to take precedent over the horrifying misunderstanding that she's too irresponsible to be able to continue to go to school with the living.

    "Not anymore!" she what she mistakes as fires back, frowning a little. She tilts her head towards Michael. Her tone takes on sarcasm. "If you hang out longer, maybe you'll get to see her---" She stops talking. When Michael goes up in transparent flames, Jubilee immediately leaps behind the back of the pool chair and takes cover. With fangs on display, Jubilation hisses loudly, compelled by the sudden display of what she mistakes as fire, her face peeking out from behind. Her head tilts back as she watches Michael lift off into the sky, wide-eyed.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko doesn't hear Jubilation.  The sound just never traveled fast enough to catch her.  There are a few things that can stop Noriko in her tracks in the moment she's frantically fleeing from the scene of her crime to try and locate a replacement-BIRD!-

The speedster is diving toward a bird in the forest when she notices the cosmic display in her wake far off.  No really she's past that and the bird is in her hands and maybe she bonked it...maybe she bonked it too hard.  Maybe she bonked it just right.  The thought crosses her mind that it wasn't hard enough.  Is it worse for it to be dead, knocked out?  Alive?

Auuuuugh, the poor girl's mind races through all of the possibilities even as she races back.  The truth of the matter is it was dead the second she touched it on account of the electricity...but right now, sure, sure it's sleeping now in that Jansport tomb.

To everyone else, she isn't gone, not really.  She ends up right back by Jubes' side.  "Sorry."  Eww, did she even have long enough to wash her hands after 'going to the bathroom?'

"Uhh..."  Noriko also stares.

Michael Erickson has posed:
Michael is no speedster, but the armor is supersonic in atmosphere. He whistles forth into the night, and returns only after a minute or two, silent as death as he settles back upon the patio by the pools. The visor of the sculpted helm is a long V that seethes with a rich, violet glow - and in armored fingers tipped with raptor's claws he holds a bird in his hand as well. A fat owl, lesser predator to both of them. Extends it, alive and glaring, to Jubilation.

    << Accept that she is a predator, >> he advises Noriko in a metallic, rumbling version of his voice that emits from seemingly every inch of the metallic body. << To not do so is to deny her, also. Which we both know you do not wish to do. >>

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation's hissing fades out as Noriko joins her at her side. "For what?" she questions in hushed tones, staring up at the sky to see where the cosmic bird went. She doesn't know Nori freed her snack. When the armored figure comes back down, Jubilee steps in front of Noriko, both arms out at the ready. Her legs are bent in a readied stance. Her fangs are out and on display. All of this in a yellow bikini.

    However well-intentioned Michael might be, Jubilee's reaction is that of a bear protecting her cubs. "Leave her alone!" she shouts back in response to that metallic voice coming from everywhere. Her eyes briefly flutter to the owl, a confirmation that Michael might know she has been drawing blood from the most shameful of sources for a vampire: animals. For shame!

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I don't know what you mean.  I love her."  Little trickles of electricity leap across her skin, which is dry, from all the running.  The electrokinetic doesn't even qualify her love with 'how she is' or this or that.  To her it is simple.

"She can take care of herself.  She's not a child remember?" Jubilation isn't the only protective one.  Something flares up, probably obvious to any adult.  But Jubilation is there..in front of her, at the ready, in her bikini.  With quick eyes, Michael might catch a little head tilt.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    If one expected the bird-figure to be upset, he gives no sign. Instead, he simply opens his hand and allows the owl to streak off into the night, or lumber since owls are the slowest flyers. The claws retract, melting away like liquid into the hands from whence they came, and Michael gives a solid nod. << Good. You and I are not human, Jubilation Lee, but we are not beasts. There is no shame in mediating ourselves, in mind, diet, or passions. Else we fall to ruin. And you... >>

    He looks past the hissing vampire girl to Noriko. << You are the perfect love for her. I am happy for you both. >>

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation is not so easily calmed. Her hackles are up, so to speak, and her fangs are proudly on display. She continues to stand at the ready, arms akimbo, in between Noriko and Michael. She's staring at Michael, or more accurately, Michael's armor. There's something about it that's picking away at her, putting her on edge. She doesn't dare look away. There's just something off about its smell, a taint that could only be felt by other predators.

    The compliments go past Jubilee. "Yeah, she loves me!" Jubes hisses back, as if she had to confirm it for it to be true. Whatever out-of-character self-consciousness she was feeling earlier about their different approaches to PDA has wsahed away and has been replaced with a burning need to ruin the day of anyone who would dare get in her way right now.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Well, good," Noriko says stubbornly in a defensive tone, though her hackles are no longer raised like Jubes'.  They go up and come down ever so quickly, like someone flip flopping between feelings.  She notices the tension in Jubilation's frame, ready to spring and then looks to Michael.

"Jubes," Noriko whispers softly as she steps closer, gently placing the soft buzz of her hand at the small of Jubilation's back.  "We told him.  He knows."  She may not know why Jubes' hackles are still raised, but she knows something is up.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Michael, apparently, does understand. << As I said, >> he tells Jubilee as she postures like the hunting creature she has become can only do. << I am not human. I am a member of the apex hunting race of a /galaxy/, Jubilation. You show me the manifestation of your 'Dark Passenger', well, this is mine. Behold it, and realize that I mean no threat to you, and that I accept you as you are. Unless you wish me to be. >>

    It isn't a threat. But it is what needs to be said, so that she may well understand the bald truth of his words. << Now. Will we be friends? >>

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Apparently, Jubilation can't tolerate the other predator and can't process his question to her. "Are you trying to bore me to death?!" Jubes fires back, a glare never leaving her face. "Well, you're too late -- you can't!" What is dead cannot die, right? She extends her arms backwards, as though she's worried Noriko might try to step around her. Jubilation grits her teeth, body tensing. She looks like she's going to pounce at any moment.

    And there it is. That touch on her back. That whisper. That buzz. With her mouth hanging open, Jubilation turns to face Noriko. She blinks her eyes a couple of times as the speedster pulls her back from the edge of violent passion. Jubilee closes the distance between them and wraps her arms around the speedster, one hand coming to rest on the back of Noriko's hair. She buries her eyes into the other girl's shoulder and relaxes her body.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko can see that this is a dance between two beings that is not.  She isn't a predator.  She remains quiet and wildly unafraid.  It's probably seems easy to feel invincible when one can run so fast and is 19.  Being 19 is enough.

The speedster simply stays quiet and listens, patient, something she is not known for around campus, feeling first the tenseness come out of Jubilation's body as she holds the vampire back, letting her have the moments she needs.  "Jubilation can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave a message she'll get right back to you...in a moment."

"Is your armor a part of you?  A part of the predator?" she asks curiously, still holding Jubilation.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    And with that, Jubilee cannot see the flare of violet fire that sihmmers awawy, and Michael is there again in its place. "We are bound," he explains to Noriko. "Just as she and her instincts are. It has existed for thousands of years, serving the will of the Empire - but I nearly destroyed it outside of the headmistress's home, and just as I died from my wounds I took control of it. Now I am whole again, but we are bound. Inextricably. We are both predators, the machine and myself. Two minds. Something that I, too, must dominate with will alone."

    That said, he checks his watch. "I need to go. I'm sorry to make things...dramatic. But know that I support you, Jubilation, hate me or no. I support you both." He moves to go, now, winding around the edge of the pool and toward where the beer remains - which he fetches on his way into the house.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I don't hate you," Jubilee manages, releasing Noriko so she can watch Michael walk away. Her voice is quiet, perhaps only audible to Nori. Jubes bends down to scoop up her presumably empty backpack. She'll discover the 'spoiled' food later. Next comes her sunglasses and towel. Jubes lets out an aggressive shriek before she stuffs both feet into her flip-flops.

    "I'm sorry, Nori," Jubilee proclaims. "I just wanted you to get to know what the pool is like. I didn't mean to wreck everything." She shakes her head a couple of times and, without any further word on it, stomps off in the direction of her totally-not-a-prison apartment in the College House. A frustrated scream can be heard off in the distance, but that's about it.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"She-"  But Noriko finds herself talking over Jubilation just as she says what Nori was going to tell Michael.  "She doesn't!" she shouts, louder, as Jubilation apparently grabs her things and Michael walks back

"It tickles and stings...and I think maybe I shouldn't be in water with chemicals.  I should probably tell Rogue the levels need check-" it all comes out so fast and Nori's realization that Jubilation intends to depart happens simultaneously, forming as a wrinkle deepening in her brow.

Noriko watches Jubilation stomp off.  When she hears the scream, well...  "Hello Boredom, old friend," Noriko sighs.