8611/Even Archivists Go To The Mall

Even Archivists Go To The Mall
Date of Scene:	08 November 2021
Location:	Lost Pond Mall
Synopsis:	Noriko and Jubilee bump into Jonathan Sims at the mall. Blood is shed (sort of) and words are exchanged. Jonathan agrees to work things out with Constantine and Nori gets a corndog.
Cast of Characters:	Jubilation Lee, Noriko Ashida, Jonathan Sims

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Jubilation Lee has posed:
    There are few things that can offer a semblance of normalcy than the Lost Pond Mall. The last time Noriko Ashida was here, she was battling run amok Karens for the safety of all! The last time Jubilation was here... she was in the Danger Room fighting feral vampire Orange Julius employees. In any case, Jubilee insisted...INSISTED...that they come here tonight. And so, Jubilation walks with her fingers threaded with Noriko's gauntlets, pulling eagerly on the speedster.

    "I know you're hungry but I want to show you all the cool stuff they have. Some of it will look /great/ on me... You know... On Christmas..." Jubilee looks up at Noriko with BIG BROWN EYES and smiles sweetly. Subtle. Very subtle.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
The speedster must get some sick low grade kick out of trudging along while Jubilation tugs because it doesn't get her to pick up the pace, only grin serenely.

"I'll try to pay attention," Noriko warns without a waver in her grin, which only grows warmer at Jubilation's Puss N' Boots routine.  "Okay.  Well where are we going?"  Jubes made Nori come somewhere Noriko feels like she has to walk through at such a torturous pace?  She's going to be the navigator.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon Sims would not be in the mall, because it's /Christmas/--well, no, it's November but that means the Christmas decor is already coming up. But even beyond needing to buy things for their new "apartment," he needs to get to know the area around where he now lives and works.

    When the teenagers happen to come into his view, he's coming out of a tea shop, walking backward with a bag full of loose-leaf, carrying another bag from the candle store. He's saying, "Thank you again! I'll definitely have to bring my husband next time, he'll love the place." Bright smile. Not a customer service smile, really, but the kind he gives customer service people to let them know their work is appreciated. He's wearing that green cardigan he's always got on, it's practically a uniform by this point.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Wellllllll...." Jubilee smiles at Noriko, leaning towards her flirtatiously. "... First we'll go to Sephora -- I know I used to be all about the pastels, but their Urban Decay line looks /fire/ on me these days...." She taptaptaps against her temple, as though doing so might access some kind of mall encyclopedia. "....And /then/ we'll go to the shoe store... I gave my Doc Martens to Phoebe, so, there's a store with a pair of size sixes they're probably looking to offload..."

    Jubilee stops pulling on Noriko just long enough for them to come to a stop. She gives Noriko a chaste kiss on the cheek and smiles at her. "And /then/ we can find you some food, okay?" Could life get any better? Nevermind the fact that she's dead... but... WAIT. Green cartigan. Jubilee blinks. Blinks. FROWNS.

    "What...the..." Jubilation lets go of Noriko's gauntlet-bound fingers and begins to walk with purpose. Step step step step. Stomp stomp stomp stomp. "Jon?!" she exclaims, now standing behind the Archivist...

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Sounds good.  Wait, are we eating last?"  Noriko tilts her head to the side when Jubes 'accesses' her mall wisdom bank.  If they weren't in public, she'd be tempted to tap-tap on Jubes' nearest temple for kicks like she's cycling through channels to see if the remote works for her too.

But alas, Nori doesn't really use her super speed here, even if she totally outed herself last time she was here.  It's a force of habit, a contradiction she doesn't even realize exists.  "Well I already said sounds good.  Let's go!"  But Jubes isn't going.  Noriko blinks when Jubes goes off on her mission.  The blue-haired girl simply trails behind, over Jubilation's shoulder for the moment.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon spins around as he hears Jubilee's voice, manages to /not/ dumps his packages, though his glasses wind up somewhat askew. "Jubilation! I wondered if I might run into you around here." He smiles brightly, for all the world as if nothing's wrong and he hasn't almost entirely disappeared from their joint social group for the past two weeks.

    He glances over her shoulder. "And... Noriko, right? Good to see you again."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    When Jonathan turns around, Jubilation freezes in place. She stares at him, disbelief forcing her expression. Her eyebrows lower, her nose wrinkles, and her lips purse. Her features are locked like that until...Red lines of blood accumulate along her lower eyelids. Her eyebrows manage to lower even further and those red lines break from their lids and fall down her cheeks in the form of a single tear on each side.

    "Where have you /been/?" Jubilee demands. While Jonathan might be smiling, Jubilee is not. It seems that the Archivist has managed to find a birdhouse in her soul.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko up-nods to Jon in confirmation and greeting at once, but Jubilation's tone clearly takes the speedster by surprise.  It's a moment, but she steps forward, her gauntlet resting at Jubilation's lower back gently, as if letting her know, quietly, that she is there.  She doesn't interrupt though.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon blinks and then gapes, smile dissolving. "I... I... didn't you... I thought you knew..." Oh, but Jubilee and Noriko had left by the time Jon had put his amulet on the bar and walked out. She wasn't around for the subsequent (failed) attempt at an apology.

    His shoulders slump a bit. "I'm... sorry, Jubilation. John and I had a fight and... and it's best I stay away for right now. From the Night Brigade, I mean, and the Curio, and all the rest."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    When Jubilee feels the metal fingers on her back, Jubilee turns her head towards Noriko. She's crying. It's blood coming from her tear ducts, sure, but it's still crying. She reaches up, twice, and wipes away the blood , smearing it down both cheeks with her fingertips. When Jubilee turns to face Jonathan again, her mouth opens, each corner rising to expose her fangs. She hisses angrily, nudges forward... and pulls back. She closes her mouth, even reaching up to cover it with her fingers.

    Jubilee stares at John, listening to his explanation... but doesn't respond with words, at least right away. Instead, she reaches out with her right hand and...thwap, thwap, thwaps against Jonathan's shoulder. It's the kind of smack that's not meant to hurt, but it's the only way to express this kind of pain. It's the kind that someone doesn't know they have been holding on to until it comes to a head like this. It's the kind that might be the pain of someone who just found out that she didn't matter as much to another person as she thought.

    "...You....you could've said..."

    And then, Jubilee finds comfort in the only place she's known to find it... She turns and wraps her arms around Noriko and buries her eyes into the speedster's neck.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko doesn't really understand all the ins and outs of the Night Brigade, not even a shred of it, but it's clear to her this isn't good, especially when Jubes' tears confirm it.  "Jubes..." Noriko angles herself to try and give Jubilation more privacy, her eyes darting to anyone looking on when the Jubes' hisses.  While Jon has all of Jubilation's attention, Jubilation and /everyone else/ has Nori's.  The speedster surreptitiously lets her eyes buzz this way and that to take stock as she listens.

The speedster just wraps her arms and gauntlets around Jubilation.  "What does /she/ have to do with all that?  I mean sure you guys met through that...," and clearly Nori has /no/ idea the extent of Jubes' friendship with Jon or why Jubes is so upset, but-but!  Nori falls flat and just shuts up.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I... Jubilee, I..." Jon takes in a shuddering breath. "I've been... things have been so... and I didn't know how to... I've been meaning to call you, but I didn't know if you'd..." Care? But clearly she /cares/, Jon, you knew she /cared/.

    He's choked up. In the middle of the damn mall. "I'm sorry, Jubilation, I... there's been a /lot/. My husband turned out to be alive, and I've been... dealing with that, the... well." He huffs out a half-laugh. "The /paperwork/ for starters. And we moved out here, and..." And he's been dumped right into SHIELD training, and trying to figure out how to explain anything to anyone.

    His eyes track to Noriko. "That's how we met," he says quietly. "I... things with John Constantine have been... awkward. Strange. I didn't want to put Jubilation in the middle of all of that, I know he's been helping her."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee squeezes Noriko, shuddering into her neck. When the speedster stops talking, it becomes clear to Jubilee that Nori remembered why the Archivist was important. Jonathan Sims saved her life. A near-stranger at the time. Instead of getting outraged by Nori's forgetfulness, Jubilee just holds the speedster, allows herself to be held, and takes comfort knowing that Noriko sometimes talks before she thinks. It's the cross that speedsters must sometimes bear.

    Finally, she releases Noriko and makes wild arm-throwy gestures at Jonathan. "Yeah, but, but, you've been helping, too!" she nearly shouts. Having people in her life that treat her normally even though they know what she has become? That's helping. "...You..." She shudders a little, as though her emotions make it difficult to breathe. She doesn't need to breathe, no, but it's an affectation of life. "...You..." The words don't come and Jubilee abandons the thought.

    Instead of laying it on EVEN MORE, Jubilee steps towards Jonathan and reaches out for a hug.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
It's as if Noriko's mind finally finds the full dossier on Jon while some part of her lunged forward with emotion, mixed though, since it was more weak than scathing.  Her instincts proved correct when her memory catches up with her mouth.  She just gives Jubilation a squeeze before she can feel Jubes release her.

The speedster is far more concerned about Jubes being outed as a vampire than she is being outed as a mutant, and there's a brief blur as Nori deftly brushes some of the residual evidence from Jubilation's cheek with the inside cuff of her jacket as Jubes steps away from her.  And she tries to avoid the thought that this is all happening in a mall.  Impossible.  So much is MOVING like a sea for Noriko.  In a lapse of a speed, for a moment, her eyes flit around to a few dozen details.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon sighs and then goes ahead and hugs Jubilee, sniffling a bit himself. "I'm sorry, Jubilee," he says. "I really am." He keeps slipping into calling her that, despite trying to be all serious and grown-up about calling her 'Jubilation.' "I should have reached out sooner. I just... I was scared. Things have been hectic, and I was worried that..."

    He pulls back, blinking down at Jubilee. "I... didn't realize I was helping that much. I suppose I should have. I'm sorry." A pause. "How can I make it up to you?"

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The blood on Jubilee's cheeks wipe away as well as blood ever does. It's fresh and viscous, so it swipes easily on Nori's sleeve. Jubilation closes her eyes, just for a moment, as the blur of Noriko zips alongside her. She has gotten used to it, at least a little, so Noriko's sudden departure from the here-and-now doesn't separate her from Jubilee at all. Jubes just /knew/ Noriko would be there to wipe her cheeks faster than she could see with her eyes.

    "I know about the paperwork..." Jubilee mutters into Jonathan's shoulder as she holds the hug. This moment draws on for a few seconds before Jubilation opens her mouth again. "...You saved my life," she adds quietly. "...I just thought I'd have more time to pay you back."

    When Jonathan pulls away, Jubilee waves her hand in the air a couple times, sniffffffffffling a salvo of blood back into her undead sinuses. "...It's fine, it's fine. I just... Nothing." Jubilation steps backwards and drags the back of her hand across her nose.

    But...that attitude doesn't stay for long. "You figure out some way to fix this!" Jubilee lectures, even pointing her finger at the Archivist. "You and John." She means it! Jubilee isn't glamouring, but she means business.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon blinks at Jubilee. "But... I... but... he threw me out! Twice! He... doesn't want... he..." He stares at the little vampire, mouth agape.

    Finally, he sighs, shoulders slumping again. "Good lord, how can I say no? Alright, I'll... figure out how to fix it. I owe you, too, Jubilation, more than you know." He smiles at her. "That's what friendships are made of, though. You never really manage to pay anyone back if you're doing it right, because you're always making new memories."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Sounds like you've a lot of work to do," Nori says under her breath before Jon expresses his change of heart or at least direction.  The speedster is just trying to ignore the gentle rumble of her stomach that seems to put her in a trance like state as Jon waxes on (for her at least) about she doesn't know, he's smiling.  Something about memories.

PAY ATTENTION ASHIDA.  Noriko snaps herself back into the moment, back to Jubilation, her main concern.  She waits.  That seemed like a leaving line.  Was that a leaving line?  She watches Jubes' body at speed to try and pick up on it before people would expect her to just...know.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "He's a broken person!" Jubilation snaps, though without the usual rancor that comes with such a thing. "He's all, like, defective and return-to-sender..." The vampiress huffs a little and puts both hands on her hips. "You ever hear of 'love languages', Jon?" Jubilation reaches up to wipe away more of the blood tears. She's stopped.

    "He doesn't say what he means... He /does/ what he means," Jubilee nearly shouts. From the mouth of babes...

    It's not a defense of John Constantine, not by a long shot. The guy is a total asshole and has said some truly mean, stupid things, but the things he does are completely different. Jubilation's brow relaxes and her head leans to one side. "...I hope you do," she mutters softly as John agrees to figure out a solution. "I hope you do."

    When the vampiress turns towards the sour speedster, her frown turns into a gentle smile. "C'mon, Nori... Let's get you a corndog," she offers.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I know all of that, Jubilee," Jon says softly. "I know. I'll fix it. Somehow." He smiles, almost grateful for the excuse to have to... well... figure it out, one way or another.

    He gives Noriko a wry grin. "Enjoy your corndog, Noriko! It was good to see you again." Despite the fact that he's still standing there sniffling in the mall.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Just the /word/ 'corndog' lights up Noriko's brain and clears out all of her cluttered thoughts in one moment.  There's a flash of something softer suspended in the speedster's eyes.  Then she looks to Jon and lifts a gauntlet.  "I will," enjoy it.  Her stomach is still rumbling in anticipation of the thought of it.

Noriko wraps her arm around Jubilation, drawing her close as she walks off, having no idea whether they are heading in the right direction.