8444/So Many Weirdos

So Many Weirdos
Date of Scene:	26 October 2021
Location:	Apartment 4A (Jubilee's Apartment)
Synopsis:	Jubilee reveals the magical room created for her at The Curio. The two hash out some of their recent relationsip tensions and settle up the best way possible.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Noriko Ashida

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Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Their exit from the birthday party was sudden and gleeful. The first order of business was to get Noriko fed, courtesy of the various foodtrucks in the nearby streets of Hell's Kitchen, but once that was handled, it was time for Jubilee to finally reveal her surprise for Nori. They made their way back to the Laughing Magician, Jubilation guiding the way, but instead of going inside, she stops at the building /next/ to the pub and looks up at it. The Curio.

    At first glance, it's a dingy old building that looks like it was ripped out of England. But, are things always what they seem?

    "We're here..." Jubilee says with a big smile, laughing a little at the thought that she brought Noriko right back to where they left. Or did she?

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko has been all eyes for Jubilee tonight, even while eating, the moony creeper just keeps beaming back at her less than alive companion.  There is something that happens while she's not thinking, while Nori knows that Jubilation has to wait and watch her eat.  Nothing is worse than waiting to Noriko, and there's no way she would make Jubilation wait if she didn't have to...and so, suddenly, in stark contrast, Jubilation gets a demonstration of /just/ how fast Noriko can eat, and might like to eat if left to her devices.  Noriko eats each dish on the way to the next truck, and most of the time is really just spent standing in line.../not/ eating.  But in those moments, Nori seems content to be quiet and just lean into Jubilation, enjoy the night air together and the sounds of the city.

By the time they get back to their destination, Noriko's not really primed to be paying attention to where they are going.  She's just swimmingly strolling alongside her eerily graceful girlfriend in the crisp air under the moonlight.  "Hmm?"  Noriko looks around.  "I think you missed."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Time is a funny thing for the newly minted immortal. The peer group would likely be lackadaisical, planning things by the decade instead of the minute, but Jubilation hasn't reached that point yet. She feels the call to be impatient, to be hyper, to be bouncy, but waiting for Noriko to eat isn't a problem. Not tonight. Besides, Jubilee is riding a fine line here, having just recently recovered from a fight that was immediately followed up with a birthday party full of weirdos. Thin ice.

    "I didn't," she says with a grin. Jubilee pushes open the door to the Curio, revealing a lobby that could only be regarded as... dumpy. But, it's not long before they're up the four flights of stairs and to a wooden door that has an awfully familiar looking golden doorknocker... Jubilee smiles at the knocker and glances at Nori, wanting to see her reaction to it.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"You aren't not so secretly kidnapping the Japanese girl for some weird dude that is definitely already a movie are you?" Noriko teases as they float through the dumpy lobby, but she's smiling like a loon, clearly not put off in the slightest.  This is royalty compared to some of the places she's laid her head.

Noriko doesn't keep pace on the steps.  It's just too agonizing.  She parts from Jubilation's side to wait until Jubes is almost up a segment and then hop up to join her.  This is a surprise, and she's making sure she's not spurting ahead.  But she doesn't do this the whole time.  She returns back to Jubilation's side pretty quickly, like she can't stay away, curling her arm around Jubilation's waist any chance she can get to hook her closer.

When Noriko spots the door knocker, she stops, quite literally.  Her head tilted at the out of place knocker.  She looks back, all around herself.  Then suddenly her fingers leave Jubilation's as she appears at the knocker.  POKE POKE.

AHA IT IS SOLID.  Noriko is used to investigating things on her own.  She has a lot of time to do it!  And Jubilation is treated to Noriko squirreling around for a few split seconds as she just has to poke and prod.  "I CAN'T TELL IF THIS IS FAKE OR NOT?!" she finally announces with the kind of admiration only an art forger can produce.  Her eyes glitter from the delight of it, but she clearly hasn't put together the big picture of this...at all and so all significance flies right over her head.  In her defense, she did get her first chance to talk to a magic crow that drinks whiskey tonight...and blew it.  She's clearly not in fine form.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Maybeeeee," was Jubilee's only response to the accusation that she's really here to kidnap Noriko to satisfy the plot of some Liam Neeson movie.

    "Oh, it's real. Check it out!" Jubilation points at one particular spot on the knocker, indicating that it has all the same scuff marks the one back at Xavier's does. The same exact marks in the same exact spots. The door's number '4A' looks like it was placed /over/ where '404' used to be, as though it was on the door and removed prior to being renumbered as '4A.' Like the actual door itself was moved from Xavier's to here.

    "Wanna go in?" she asks with a big, fangy grin. Without even waiting for the assumed yes, Jubilation turns the knob -- same noise as the one from Xavier's -- and pushes open the door. Inside... is the room that Noriko and Jubilee shared prior to her getting moved out. Inside is their room, recreated in intricate detail, indistinguishable from the original.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"The 404 is missing..."  Noriko's eyes widen.  She could be upset about this difference, but instead she grins at that meta of the ghostly negative marks left behind from ages of just, being there.  "Wow.  Wait..."  Noriko wonders if the door knocker will still be back at Xavier's.  What is  happening!  So many questions, but she shovels them all aside for new experiences.

"Yeah!" Noriko says emphatically.  All of the little details hit Noriko smoothly, all noticed.  The speedster is sensitive to the slightest of changes in her main path, and all of these little details are part of that warm tapestry of home that is their room.  Their room.

Noriko allows the door to swing open and unfold her view instead of rushing through as soon as Jubilation gives access.  It is like stepping into a different world, and there's an awe and reverence for something so wholly familiar and mundane to them, but at once magical and altogether their's.  Somehow.  Transported.  "Did we just-?  I don't"  Noriko starts buzzing around the room.  "But how do I get to class?"  She clearly thinks this is some kind of portal.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "You gotta go back to Xavier's for your classes, Nori," Jubilee answers with a big smile. She's usually the one who has no idea what the hell they're talking about here in the Night Brigade, but for once she's the one who has the answers. Some of them, anyway.

    "We're in the Curio."

    She steps further into the room and gives the door an unceremonious kick with her foot to close it, just as she's always done to their door back in Xavier's. It closes with the same heft it always has. "John wanted to know what I wanted my room here to be like," Jubilee explains. "I told him that I wanted it to be just like my home."

    And so, it was done up as an exact copy of the last place she truly felt at home. And it's not the apartment she was stuffed into back at Xavier's.

    "Isn't this so /cool/? It's like they never separated us!" Jubes exclaims, spinning around a little in the center of the room, between piles of their mess. After completing a rotation, Jubilee bolts over to their shared bed and picks up a pillow. She holds it out for Nori. "Smell it!" she suggests gleefully.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I just-..."  It still takes her a second to conclude that maybe it isn't a portal then.  There are so many layers to conclude.  Like why does this exist?  Why is she standing in a room that looks exactly like-oh.  Of course, all she has to do is wait.

"Your room?  Are you going to live here or is this like supposed to be an office or what?"  The question feels weird in her mouth, but only because /she's/ asking Jubilation.  She ignores it.  She's too busy staring at everything.  One of the first things she checks is the little burned curtain spot.  There's a blur and flutter in that direction.

"This is so crazy," Noriko finally says, just standing in the center of the room in awe as her eyes keep pulling from one more detail to the next.  The target family framed on the wall.  Clearly though, 'crazy' means something way beyond her vocabulary on the spectrum of cool.

Noriko takes the offered pillow and draws it to her chest, ducking her head to sniff it like she might do opportunistically while sitting on the bed.  Look, one has to test the fluff density of the pillow for realness.  She's dives right into the surreal reality of the place and the delightful confusion it creates in her mind when it forgets where this room really is.  She needs this and she knows it immediately like a thirsty person reaching for water.  The speedster lingers, holding onto the pillow and the comfort she draws from it.  These aren't things other people would be able to notice.  The smaller variations in Noriko's pauses.  It's easy for the brain to keep thinking short is short.  It just isn't built for the job, but Jubes' familiarity and newfound powers give her a leg up and a new window into the speedster.  More private moments have unfolded.  More vulnerabilities and evidence of masking.

This is one of those subtle moments, and it slips by QUICK, like every other one.  "Is this pillow going to stay this smell forever or can you try new detergents?"  Just like her to shoot past in thinking to a weird question.  "This is so cool and weir...and cool."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee immediately regrets her choice of words, but it's too late. "No, I'm not living here, Nori," she answers immediately, droning out Noriko's name to emphasize what a dumb question that is. Still, given their little argument earlier, it's not completely unfounded. "...I just... I don't want to get caught out in the sun, so, it makes sense to have another place. And..."

    "I don't know what I'm doing here, I really don't, but these people have welcomed me. I don't know what they're saying half the time and they're all really old and I have nothing in common with /any/ of them. But, you know..."

    "They weren't the ones who took me away from you."

    Jubilee stands in the center of the room, as if a piece of art on display, dead center. Her face softens as melancholy briefly takes over, just letting Noriko zip around the room and inspect things. She doesn't even address the question about the detergent.

    "Nori, that stuff from earlier..." she begins, looking kind of awkward about the whole thing.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Cool.  So it's like a hang out spot."  A safehouse, but when you're still in high school, treehouses are cooler than safehouses.  "I know.  They are just the ones opening their arms," the speedster replies succinctly, emotions sitting below the surface as she maintains her cool.  It makes her come off slightly aloof to anyone not paying attention.  Still, some kind of little raincloud has moved in over her.  Her grin is genuine, but a little tired, and then drawn when Jubes awkwardly brings up earlier...something Noriko would like to act like never happened thank you very much...or was at least hoping it would go away in some stupidly primitive portion of her brain.

"Yeah?"  Noriko pads over to sit on the bed.  She grabs the pillow, wrapping her gauntlets around it.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "They don't make me feel like an Other here," Jubilee clarifies. "I mean, back at school Logan's patrolling the halls at night, as though I wouldn't notice! Making me clean up the wood shop for six weeks for an /accident/? I mean, how fucked up is that?" She imitates driving an invisible stake into her own heart, drawing up a reminder of the jagged scraps of wood that accumulate in that classroom. "All of it for everyone's safety even though I didn't hurt /anyone/..."

    One of Jubilee's hands turns into a tiny fist down at her side.

    "I didn't do /anything/ and, and, and, they're supposed to be the ones teaching us about building a world that works for everyone, not just mutants and not just humans, but humans /and/ mutants. And they can't even handle /this/!"

    "I don't want to be /away/ from you, Nori. But..." She lowers her head and moves slowly towards the bed so she can sit next to the speedster. "I don't think I belong there, anymore. I mean, there's already a new 'Jubilee'..." It's a petty comment, sure, but how could Jubilation NOT see the fliers posted everywhere for a fall formal she isn't planning? It's downright eerie.

    "I'm sorry if you felt... I don't know, shut out or something. I just know there's stuff I have to do here and you're not going to approve. You're ready to go to war over anything that happens to me." She does smile, though. "...And I /love/ that... I mean, do you remember when Quintin called me J-Lube?" Her smile widens. It's a fond memory, Nori sticking up for her like that.

    "...I'm here to kill monsters," Jubilation finally admits after a long pause. "Being a monster myself, it's the least I can do."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I know."  For once, Jubilation has had it worse than Nori.  Ten times worse.  And for what?  At least Nori /did/ something to earn her reputation.  Okay so Jubilation ate /one/ horse because she was hungry.  So the fuck what?  The whole thing is enough to make Nori's blood boil two times over.  Just thinking about it, electricity starts to dance along her body.  It's quickly shut down.  "It's all sorts of fucked.  They might as well just lock you in a coffin at night?  At least that'd be more private for you.  It's also pretty ridiculous if he thinks he can stop you from eating every child, pet, and horse on that property if you wanted to.  You'd at least eat a class before he got to you."  Ah, dark humor.  Noriko's old security blanket.  She can't keep thinking about that sticking point, the treatment from their own kind.  Not all, but those who haven't also have the luxury of not being in charge.  Not having to make difficult decisions.  Nothing feels one hundred percent solid there anymore.

"What do you mean I'm not going to approve?  How do you know?...Ugh.  That guy is such a fucking turd."  That's a new one.  Nori's expanding her potty mouth.  She probably doesn't know how weirdly tame the word is.  Her jaw is already tense, something she only realizes after with an annoyed sigh as if every surprise and automatic response of her body is an unplanned annoyance or a minor betrayal.  Turd body.

"...Why didn't you just tell me that?  You aren't a monster."  There's a real spike in Noriko's heartbeat when she starts talking about this, the kind of blood pressure that carries someone away with their passions (not those passions).  "Don't ever let anyone tell you that speciesist human-centric garbage."  She is vibrating with anger (literally) by the time she finishes the sentence, a subtle blur of her fists edges before she releases.  It happens for a flash, yet curiously no dramatic shows of electricity.  It does play along her skin afterwards more casually, cracking intermittently.  It's clear though, as weirdly as this manifests, the anger is starting to subside immediately, given her heartrate, which she allows to speak for her, along with a look to Jubilation, something uncompromising, determined, fierce, a love that is all of those things.  Noriko is a fighter, but she's in Jubes' corner.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    It's dark humor but, perhaps, accurate. Jubilee's nature is now permanently affixed with a Dark Passenger, entwined in sinister magic and a predator instinct. "Yeah!" Jubilation exclaims, a slight grin forming. "I could totally ---" She stops right there, deciding it's a joke she doesn't want to be a part of. It's not that funny when it's true. It's not that funny when the thought feels so natural.

    When the sparks and vibrations start quaking, Jubilee reaches out with a calming hand. "Nori... Nori..." she coos. "Hey..."

    "I just didn't... Look, you worry about me /so much/..." Jubes hesitates to keep talking, now trying to be extra careful with her words. "...And I love that. But, I just didn't /want/ to worry you with this stuff. I know it's not a great excuse, I know that, I just... I don't want to hurt you."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"You could," Noriko agrees, as if she might bet on Jubilation in some post apocalyptic fighting ring next.  It's an affectation she wields effortlessly to try and keep everything in fantasy joke land.  She's not thrown when Jubilee's enthusiasm is stopped short, but she doesn't ignore it either, offering a brief softening of her look to the girl.

"I worry so much because you don't tell me anything Jubes.  You used to tell me everything and now you tell me nothing until we're eating fries randomly or whenever you want to see if I'll choke on my drink."  Noriko takes a deep breath, the somberness lurking inside her washing over her face.  "I just want you to understand something," she says carefully.  Too carefully because it just sounds a little weird.  "I spent so long not knowing what was going on, having to wait for people to tell me what they thought I should hear, what they only wanted me to hear.  Because they thought I was dangerous or not deserving of being treated any better..." soooo, yeah obviously the teen doesn't really know how to wrap this all into a neat little bow.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Nori, no, no," she tries to interrupt softly. "Even before all this. You even freaked out over my door being left open. Like, majorly." Jubilee's tone is calm, gentle, and meant to bring this to Noriko's attention without it turning badly. "I just... I figured you'd react the same if you knew I was out there with, well, these people." She lowers her eyes and goes through the motions of producing a sigh again.

    She stops right there, though, and takes Noriko's request to heart. She listens carefully.

    "I'm sorry, Nori. You're right... I should've told you. I should've told you and let you react however you were going to. But you understand why I didn't, right? I mean, it's no excuse. It's just a reason."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko looks down when Jubilee brings up Noriko's freak out.  She knows she would have thought the same thing if she were in Jubes' shoes.  The girl doesn't blow up or weep or anything, but that cloud still hangs over her.  She's about to concede to her shame, say she gets it and shuffle forward metaphorically or literally, whichever one feels more comforting at the time.  But that time doesn't come.

"I get it...I'm just really disappointed that you had all of these cool stories to tell me and you made me wait all this time," she says with a light air.  "Clearly."  And then drops it, chewing at her lower lip.  "I'll try to be better at...this."  Whatever this is.  Noriko ran out of her eloquence for the day.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee shakes her head rapidly. "No, no, no," she says, perhaps fast enough that even Nori could appreciate it. "No! It's not your fault. It's /my/ fault. I should've told you, even if I thought not telling you was the better option. It never is!" She reaches out for the speedster's gauntlets. "I just want you to understand /why/... I don't need you to agree it was the right choice. I just want you to know why I made it."

    "I'm sorry I haven't been a very good girlfriend," is her summation of things. She shrugs her shoulders. "I messed up."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko steps a little closer when Jubilation "Okay then I guess I'll just keep on freaking out the right way," Noriko says as if there could be a right and wrong way to freak out.  There is, but she's not reflecting on such things!  "And you just have to keep dealing with it," she determines with the start of a grin.

"Jubes, I wasn't just agreeing with you for agreement's sake.  I just, saw what you meant, why you did what you did."  Understanding.  "I know why now," she rounds back.  Jubilation has succeeded!  Touchdown!  SPORTS THINGS AND BALLS IN HOOPS!

Anyone else and Noriko might be BITING THEIR HEADS OFF, anger would have blinded her.  But with Jubilation, everything is different.  "It's okay," she says quietly, removing one gauntlet from Jubilation's hands only to encase them.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "No, Nori, no, it's not your fault..." she says, blinking her eyes a couple of times. "I should've told you no matter what. Even if I thought I had a good reason not to." She shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head at this mess she created.

    "I mean, I should tell you this stuff. And not hide it," she proclaims.

    "So, uh, what do you say about spending the night here? In my magical room in this building of weird-o's?" She grins and cranes her neck so her face gets all up close and personal, invading the speedster's space.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Okay," Noriko says simply, not knowing what else to say and knowing full well that those kinds of moments don't work out for her with Jubilation...at least in her memory, but we all remember our failures.

"That's all I want.  Is you to not hide things from me.  I mean if I'm going to freak out no matter what at least let me freak out about things that are real instead of having to do it twice," Noriko shoves playfully.  She only grins as she finds the young vampire getting all up in her business.  "Only if you're staying here too.  Otherwise it's just like Xavier's.  So many weirdos."  Noriko steals one of her way too quick to be consensual kisses, a little burst of happiness out of the rains of their conversation.  In this moment, everything is okay, everything is lovely.