Owner	Pose
Jubilation Lee	It's not the most traditional place for a picnic between two betrothed, but the Lloyd Braun Memorial Cemetery has a certain charm. There are only so many hours in the night, so Jubilee has decided to make the best of things. Juggling the responsibilities of the Duchess of the Great Vampire Nation of Westchester with a crippling social life is not easy, but sometimes opportunities present themselves. That was the plan, anyway.     "What the fuck, dude," Jubilee complains, staring at the clock on on her smart phone. Her attention darts to a fresh grave, back to her phone, fresh grave, phone. The plan was to have Noriko arrive /after/ the dearly departed dug his way out from the earth. Being present so the newest citizen can pledge loyalty to the duchess in person. It's the least she could do. But, it seems... the newest vampire of Westchester... is late.     Jubilation, normally cool as a cucumber, actually looks a little nervous. Nervous that Noriko is going to show up for their date and catch her 'working.'     There are only so many hours in the night.
Noriko Ashida	Jubilation might as well have scheduled them to have night-lunch after a work meeting but luckily, Nori has no idea and hasn't arrived...oh look there she is.  The speedster's skirt flares out as if she arrived with a gust, even if Noriko definitely changed back behind some shack.  Noriko is, sadly, always on time for engagements with the Duchess, unless something awful has happened. "Hey, what's wrong?-Am I late?"  Noriko asks the second question over Jubilation's shoulder, sneaking a peek at her watch as she pecks one cheek, then darts around Jubes' back to hit the other one before landing right in front of her.  The smirk shows she knows she isn't late. "I brought the blood," Noriko teases, as if she went through oh so much trouble to get this vintage on location...Her.
Jubilation Lee	Despite her resting heart rate of zero... Despite her sharpened instincts... Despite her ability to /feel/ the heartbeat of those around her...     Jubilee is startled.     "Ah!" Jubes belts out instinctively as the speedster is upon her. She's uncharacteristically nervous -- the kind of unease that comes with trying to get away with something. She reaches up and nervously rakes her fingers through her hair.     The second kiss placed on her cheek draws out a smirk from Jubilation. "Nori... One on /each/?" she teases, apparently summoning her cool. Now would be a good time to make some kind of crack about the way Europeans say hello. Instead, she just smiles. "You should've split the difference and went right down the middle." To illustrate the point, Jubes makes kissy faces at Nori. One part joking. One part serious. One part trying-to-not-seem-nervous. Jubilation's eyes briefly linger on the fresh grave a few feet in front of her.     "No, you're never late," Jubes adds, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. A smile breaks free. Nori brought the blood. "And I brought the cheeseburgers," she announces. On the grass, just nest to Jubilation's foot, is a bag from Burger Joint. "Obviously they're all for you."
Noriko Ashida	"Well I wasn't done yet," Nori pouts slightly, but as soon as Jubilation's lips pucker up, the speedster's lips are there.  She is sufficiently distracted, for a moment at least. "Good, I got in a little jog," or like 20 super-crazy jumping jacks around the corner to get her heart pumping, obviously.  Her cheeks are flushed, but at the thought of the jumping jacks.  Noriko's body moves through the exertion way too fast.  But at the word 'cheeseburgers' Noriko's heart kicks up a little faster all of the sudden.  "Good because I'm starving."  Nori collapses down onto the grass, folding her legs as she gets into the bag.  Three bites in and a half a moment later, Noriko is looking up at Jubes. The speedster reaches up to take Jubilation's hand and tugs gently.  "Are you going to join me or wait for your second date?"  It's a joke.  Noriko is her only fiance.
Jubilation Lee	There are just some things that are easy to predict. One of them is Noriko when she makes kissy faces. While normally such a thing would be just a funny noise -- Jubes knew that Nori would be there to turn to her pretend kiss into a real one. The vampiress' eyes close. She even makes a sudden inhale sound from her nose, though it's entirely just for show.     "What?" Jubes almost shouts. Her second date? Did Noriko know? Jubes glances over at the fresh grave. Here Lies Someone Without A Watch.     Jubilee looks back in Noriko's direction and slowly lowers to the ground, letting the pull of the speedster to light the way. "I don't have a second date!"     Contrary to that statement, the dirt piled in front of the yet-to-be-chiseled gravestone stirs a little...     And no one's paying attention to it...
Noriko Ashida	Time has been slim between the two and Noriko would rather not spend her date scarfing her cheeseburgers, even if it would be less displeasing than watching her eat them in fast forward, so she tries to make quick work of them, but Jubes keeps acting...strange, which causes Nori to keep syncing back to the vampiress in little spurts. Dark eyes flick toward the fresh grave after she's pulled Jubes to the ground.  "Okay then why are you so weird right now?  Did you get me a surprise?"  The eyes widen with hopefulness. Cheeseburger 3 is now being slain voraciously.  The little tickle of movement has Noriko's gaze twitch back to the grave, but at this velocity, it's going to take a long time for it to do anything else (unbeknownst to her) so she goes back to eating.
Jubilation Lee	Now that Jubilation has lowered herself onto the blanket that she has set up near the fresh graves, the moonlight strikes her directly, giving Noriko a much better look at her appearance this evening. Jubilee's preparations, apparently for this low-key picnic, are suspiciously formal. Or, at least, elaborate. Her hair has been pulled into a braided updo, giving her a dark, pleated crown that goes from one side to the other, with a large side-swept tendril partially covering one of her eyes. Her skin, pale as ever, is fiercely contrasted with expertly applied makeup -- dark eyeliner that curls out in small winglets. Peach eyeshadow fades out towards her temples, while black cherry lip gloss commands attention. Her hair and makeup have been applied with a precision that suggests professional help.     Jubilation's dress is a tight, punky goth number -- violet and black, sleeveless with dark ruffles at the shoulders. It is cinched at her neck by a silver dragon emblem that watches over a keyhole window that allows constant opportunities for distracting glances. The dress ends far too soon, though dark ruffled embellishments afford her some modesty. She's trying to make an impression with this one. But... on who?     "I'm not acting weird," Jubilee answers, frowning just a touch. Is Jubilation acting weird? It's possible, considering her idea of a date involved meeting at a graveyard. "Maybe /you're/ acting weird! Huh, did you ever think of that?" Jubilation's tone suggests, most certainly, that she's acting weird. As Cheeseburger 3 draws Noriko's attention, Jubilation nervously reaches down, her fingers disappearing into the bottom of her dress...     Woah, woah, woah, JUBES! Relax...     A faint slap of elastic is followed by Jubilation's hand, now emerging with a silver pouch with a pointy straw that had been tucked under a garter belt. This might normally be when Jubilation slowly glances up at Noriko to see if she disrupted the speedster's brain with that little demonstration, but... she doesn't do that. Too nervous, maybe? Too... weird? Jubilee's eyes, instead, are focused on that fresh, dark patch of dirt that has not yet had a gravestone installed... Jubes stabs the pouch with a nervous hand, thumb capping off the end of the plastic straw. To the untrained eye, it looks just like a Capri Sun. "So...uh..."     "How are you?" Jubilation asks awkwardly, using the side of her mouth to get the words out while her teeth remain clamped down on that straw. A dark red liquid flows up the straw.
Noriko Ashida	Noriko is also wearing makeup, but nothing so formal as Jubilee.  It doesn't take much to affect a striking look on her angular features, but it intensifies all of her expressions, including the slight narrowing of her eyes when she pauses between bites.  A brief plateau in her movement.  She opted for a chapstick over a lip stain, the only thing Noriko swears by if she's not going to be 'slapping color on my lips all day like a clown.  Her attire and makeup are perfectly appropriate for a date like this, if that is all it was. As Nori eats, her eyes quickly rake over Jubilation's features, the finishing touches, the professionalism.  "I didn't dress well enough for the surprise did I?" she concludes with a soft sigh.  But Jubilation's fingers disappearing under the hem of her dress in her peripheral view gives Nori's imagination a fertile runway for distraction.  Instead of the eating getting slower and slower like any other human who has fallen into a stare, Noriko's slip in the opposite direction.  Faster and faster. The speedster's eyes never leave Jubilation's fingers as she manipulates, stabs the pouch, drinks.  Something about the question feels scripted to Nori and the fact that Jubilation had to ask so formally...She stops eating.  Her brain contemplates the answer to Jubes' question while also remaining preoccupied with the pouch drinking.  "...You're acting weirder.  I'm good.  I'm glad we finally have time to hang out a little."  She grins and takes another bite. "Is that fresh enough?"  Noriko asks, assuming Jubes is partaking of a Japanese vintage.
Jubilation Lee	It's not a Japanese vintage. The contents of that silver pouch did not come from Noriko, nor was it meant for Jubilation's lips. Tonight, the duchess had two appointments and one of them, unfortunately, has kept her waiting. The silver pouch was for him. Her ascension to the throne has not been without its challenges, unfair burdens placed upon her social life, and tonight... the risk of collision between Jubilation's two lives is as high as its ever been. It has the vampiress off-center, stuck in an unfamiliar region of 'uncool'     Jubilation stares at the speedster, nodding her head up and down in response to the noises that come from her mouth in between bites. Is Jubilation even listening? Or is she staring past Noriko's shoulder at that fresh mount of dirt... The funeral had been an awkward affair, Jubilee was told, as the dearly departed was survived by six children from seven mothers. When asked about the math, Duchess Lee was advised that it's best not to think about it. She's supposed to consider it an irrelevant detail best left in the past. The top of the grave stirs again...     "Huh? What? Yes!" Jubilee cries out. "Of course it's fresh! See?" Jubes begins to suck the contents of the pouch up the straw and into her mouth. It's watered-down swill stolen from one of the nearby Red Cross donation trailers. This one came from a local degenerate who makes ends meet by donating nearly everything that comes out of him. It's not meant for a duchess. It's not meant for Jubilation. It was meant to give tonight's guest of honor something to calm his appetite. That first night can be a rough one. But, instead, Jubes squeezes the silver pouch in a tight fist.     "Mmm...." she drones, eyebrows hiked as she nods her head. Once the pouch is spent, Jubilation's throat flexes and her mouth opens. "Ahh! See? It's..."     Jubilation's face spasms a little as her sense of taste catches up. "...Mm--fresh..." she manages through a suspicious, fangy smile. Just over Noriko's shoulder, the dirt shifts again... revealing a pale hand reaching out of the ground just out of the corner of Noriko's eyeline. Eyebrows hiked, Jubilation suddenly slides to the opposite side in an attempt to get the speedster to turn a little and not see what it looks like when a vampire is born. "Nori, hey, uh, tell me...About your day!" Big smile. Big smile. Big smile.
Noriko Ashida	Noriko's sense of time is sometimes a little...off.  It's probably something Nori doesn't even notice, not realizing, but should be obvious by now to Jubilation given how long they've been living together.  How long ago something was is usually where Nori comes out the weakest, and it an angle easily exploited when she tries to remember the last time she contributed to snack time and if Jubes saved some for later.  There's a moment of guilt from her own instincts, likely wrought from her childhood. That yes seemed a little too...excited?  Like when her little brother was hiding something or sneaking something.  He'd get too emphatic, she thinks to herself after working through her guilt trip.  Noriko squints and frowns, doubtful of the freshness of 'her' blood and looks over her shoulder where Jubilation's dead-eyed stare has settled. "Yeah it's just you don't seem to be enj-"  The quality of one vintage is divine to Jubes, the other is tragic.  The speedster isn't so dense as to not pick up on the forced eagerness enough to suspect- "What..."  what is that noise?  But then Jubes is right there.  She's right there, smiling all big and fangy.  "Not until you tell me why there's a hand sticking out of the ground behind us."  When did she spot it!  "And why you're dressed like you're on a date with Dracula."  Does she bring up the fact that she thinks that wasn't her blood?  The one thing simmering underneath her skin?  Not yet.
Jubilation Lee	"Huh? What? That's silly! I mean, uh..." Jubilee's gaze flicks between Noriko's all-seeing eyes and the hand that reaches up from underneath the fresh earth just behind her. The hand has a wrist. And now a forearm.     THINK. C'mon, you're smart, Jubes!     ...     Okay, well, you're quick, at least? Try that.     "Uh, heh... Lazy gravediggers, huh? Can't even go down the full six feet, right?" Jubilation tries, eyebrows hiked with some amusement. She holds that expression for a few moments until Noriko makes that crack about her appearance. Full stop. "Woah, wait, hold up. Hold. Up," Jubilation insists. "What's wrong with how I'm dressed?" Jubilation looks down at her outfit, fingers idly feeling the material stretched against her hips. "Can't I just want to look nice for you?" This wasn't for Noriko.     "Oh! And. By the way! Dracula? Ew. That guy is ..." Her voice trails off there, leaving the detail of whether she knows him or not ambiguous. Jubilee's eyes roll back with no small amount of annoyance as she gets ready for another volley in this argument. Her mouth opens to deliver her response... but she closes it with showy slumping of her shoulders. "Fine!" Jubilation declares. "Ugh. Fine." She rises to her feet in one smooth motion despite her dress -- gotta love that vampire grace -- and tosses the empty blood pouch to the ground. "Nori... " Instead of saying anything further to the speedster, Jubilee redirects her frustration where it belongs. She stomps past Noriko and bends down a little so her scowl is the first thing that the fresh vampire sees when he finally gets his head above ground.     "Took you long enough, you jerk!" she shouts right in the freshly risen vampire's face, which has now poked its way out of the grave.
Noriko Ashida	"I know stuff is weirder like, you're probably some attractor for weirdness now but-"  Noriko's hand appears extended, gesturing to the epic struggle for new 'life' behind her.  "Nothing's wrong with the way you're dressed...it just feels like...like why would you bring a pouch when we don't need it?"  When Jubes can enjoy some first rate sampling?  Why would she deny Nori the experience unless by necessity? "Don't-" but Noriko's second round gets cut off as Jubes declares the ruse to be over.  "Huh?"  The speedster wasn't sharp enough to realize exactly what everything was.  She knew something was weird and vampire-y, but the young woman has other competing thoughts.  Maybe the blood is all rushing to her stomach and making her dumb.  Maybe it rushing to other places too, she thinks while tilting her head slightly as Jubes bends down. "What the fuck Jubes!?  Are you giving MY BLOOD to these asshole strays?"  Noriko assumes Jubes is just being opportunistic, somehow taking in an orphaned vampire...any wild thought that doesn't include Jubes experimenting with making vampires, not telling her, and perhaps raising an inept army behind her back.  Not discussing schemes seems to be just as bad as not picking each other for the same kickball team, at the very least. The speedster is up on her feet, robot fists planted at her hips as she stares on.  She resists the fleeting urge to sprint over and fart in this jerk's face.  "AND IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR DATE?!"  Her chest puffs up with indignation and air that never seems to come back out.  "I can't believe you."
Jubilation Lee	"I think I look good," Jubilation adds with some indignity, giving Noriko a dirty look. Her outfit is tasteful, yet trashy. It's gothy, punky, yet peppered with small embellishments that pull from her Chinese heritage. Her scowl is redirected back down at the pale man pulling himself out of his own grave. "If you're wondering, by the way, your first impression is not going that great, uh..." What's his name? What is his name? Jubilation runs her fingers along the curves of her dress -- all the places she might have kept that tiny scrap of parchment with the new citizen's name. Fuck.     Somewhere, a small slip with the name 'James Butcher' flutters in the air, perhaps flirting a little with the Forrest Gump feather.     "/Nori/...." Jubilation begins, hands-on-hips, frowny-face. "It's not like that at all!" But then, the speedster's anger grows as the misunderstanding is allowed to linger. It just puts Jubes further on the defense, distracting her from Mr. Butcher's progress to free himself from the earth. "You better just stop before you say something you can't un-say, NORI!" Jubilation's finger lingers in the air as she points at the speedster, saying her name in the most annoying way possible. NOR-E. More has been added to Jubilation's plate. She has already been getting stretched thin and Noriko has the nerve to start laying this guilt trip on her?! How /dare/ Noriko not be a mind-reader! How /dare/ she form reasonable conclusions in this ambiguous situation!     The first few moments of a new vampire's life tend to be fairly standard when they're created the right way. One moment they're dead and the next moment... they're not. They wake up feeling amazing and awful at the same time and there's a hunger that, no matter what, cannot be ignored. The best case, of course, is that they wanted this, planned for it, and are waking comfortably to find their sire offering a warm glass. That's not how Jubilation Lee was born -- not even close -- and the same can't even be said for tonight's guest of honor. He's crawling out of his fresh grave in a dirty suit and coming face-to-face with an angry speedster and his local monarch trying to claw her way out of the dog house.     His first impression is not going so well, as Jubes pointed out, but it gets a lot worse. After shambling to his feet, the dirt-covered James Butcher looks upon the world with his new vampire eyes for the first time... and sees Jubilation Lee yelling at him. So, he does what any newborn vampire would do... He bares his new fangs, hisses, and lunges at the duchess! Not expecting that /at all/, Jubilation is tossed a dozen feet into a nearby tombstone, landing there with a loud thud and the crack of masonry.
Noriko Ashida	"Oh excuse me.  How dare I say something to offend the great Duchess Lee," and then Noriko chipmunk speeds out a slew of curse words dispassionately too fast for anyone to make out what they are, even if /anyone/ can guess what she's doing...especially Jubilation, who has a slight one up on reaction time.  "Like that?!"  She hops up in the air to snatch the , something always odd to see when she keeps the magnitude so low since she's often transitioning from going fast when suddenly subjecting herself to gravity while not transferring the horizontal motion from the moment before...like Pippin taking a jump shot in NBA Jam...except she's on some Game Genie speed.  And just like that, the great love affair between 'James Butcher' and Forrest Gump's feather of serendipity is over. "Jim Butcher.  Who the fuck-"  Noriko mumbles as she's already turned to stalk off slow enough for Jubilation to watch, but that horizontal force is transferred into vertical as she stomps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Noriko sized foot prints 3 inches deep until the loud crack of the tombstone stops her in her tracks.  It all happens in a near instant.  Her gaze snaps back to the assailant and Jubilation then she snaps into an all out sprint from her standing position.  She's never done this...tackled someone, but Noriko's not thinking about consequences or velocity or impact, or anything. Someone touched Jubilation.  Noriko's Duchess.  There is nothing but silence and death in her.
Jubilation Lee	James Butcher's first night in this new world is not going well. Not at all. He might think it is. He just tossed this girl halfway across the graveyard, so it's easy to assume he's winning here. Unfortunately, Noriko Ashida is nearby and seems intent on making sure that he doesn't. "I swear to whoever we swear to... If you ripped my dress...." Jubilation's muttering can be heard above the scraping of stone as she slowly rises to her feet, eyes squinting, granite dust sprinkled in her hair. Ugh. What the hell is it about Thursdays... Why are they always so...     "Nori, no!" Jubilation shouts, fingers outstretched, eyes wide, as Noriko blurs across the graveyard and tackles J. Butcher! The pair tumble across the moist ground, sending a cloud of stone into the air as old gravestones crumble in the wake of the speedster's momentum. Unfortunately for her, there are few things more dangerous than a hungry vampire and there are few vampires more hungry than one who has never eaten before...     Once they roll to a halt, Butcher sprungs up and hisses loudly, fangs reflecting the light from the moon as he prepares to enjoy his first meal. Anger, horror, hate. All of it is directed at Noriko Ashida and the blood that pumps inside her. "No no no no no no no!" Jubilee cries out as she starts running to catch up, fingers plucking masonry from her hair as she moves. She takes what could be mistaken as a breath -- just a little moment to prepare herself -- before she works up a hiss. The air raid signal of her people. It lets everyone nearby know that some shit is about to go down. It's also scary! But, what is she to do? Even the first of her bloodline, as new as she is, can't handle the hunger that surges in a newborn. James Butcher will not be stopped in his thirst for his first meal. "Nori! Nori!" Jubilation shouts in between hisses. "...This isn't...It's not what you're thinking... "     "Asshole! Hey!" Jubilation tries. It's no use. James Butcher has his sights set for speedster blood and he's not going to stop until he gets it. It's a shame that no one has a silver pouch of blood they could give him to fend off this hunger. Butcher snarls one final snarl and moves to rip into Noriko's flesh with his fangs! Before he has a chance to take his first bite, he's clobbered by Jubilation's round-house kick to the face. He goes down -- hard -- but brings Jube down with him, her ankle tightly held by one of his fists.     And so, it's like this that Jubilation Lee, first of her bloodline, Duchess of the Great Vampire Nation of Westchester, would meet her end. Pressed to the ground of Llyod Braun Memorial Cemetery and about to be diablerized by some random schmo. All because she couldn't tell her fiance that she was struggling to balance her responsibilities. Hungry or not, James Butcher is a vampire and, like any vampire, he briefly relishes in this moment. The moment when he has the duchess pressed under his legs and he gets to look down at her before plunging his fangs into her neck. Of course, in order to properly relish, one has to sit up straight, doesn't he?     "Nori... Nori," Jubilee's voice comes. No more hissing. No more snarling. She sounds scared. Terrified. "...Nori, listen... You gotta run... Go! Just... I lov--"
Noriko Ashida	THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!  Noriko's eyes seem to scream over the imbibing rights to her blood.  This unadulterated rage is all redirected toward good old Jim. Noriko shows absolute zero fear.  An asset or a liability?  All hesitation, fear of hurting innocents, all of that has vanished.  She shifts him just slightly when she spots Jubilation's incoming roundhouse kick and perhaps inadvertently making it easier for him to catch her (debatable). Seeing Jim's trajectory leading down, Nori assumes Jubilation has it and starts to run towards the nearest wooden thing, a tree.  But Jubes' voice makes her run cold.  "NO," she grits out in a growl, jumping up to grab the lowest tree limb, healthy, strong.  She immediately bear hugs the branch and twists to push against the trunk and another branch with her legs.  "NO!" she keeps shouting over Jubilation's suggestion.  She cries out from the strain on her body.  CRACK! the sound of the tree splitting off from itself rips through the cemetery.  There are no scorch marks, no evidence of lightning. Noriko falls to the ground, wasting precious time to gravity as time seems too slow for her.  She runs.  She runs, just not in the direction Jubes wants her to.  With the jagged tree limb in her useless arms, Nori charges faster than she's ever run before.  The impact is somewhat like taking an giant's industrial wooden spork to the chest.  Parts of Nori's lance break apart, most of it drives back through her grip at impact, tearing up her arms and hands along the rough bark of the poor unsuspecting tree.  It becomes clear, after one massive splinter finds its way through Jim's heart, that Noriko was more using physics than her arms strength to keep her grip on the branch, since her arms fall like uncontrollable noodles. The Ashida is left squinting, bloodied, and breathing heavily up-down-up-down-up-down like a pissed off hummingbird. "Did I just kill your first baby?"
Jubilation Lee	What happens to vampires when they meet their Final Death? No one really knows. It's the kind of death that no one has really come back from. This is a terrifying prospect for them, naturally, as they've already cheated death once. And they cheat it every evening when they rise from their coffins. But no one comes back from Final Death. It's this horrifying detail that Jubilation must contend with, lying there on the ground about to be devoured by some no-name vampire still wearing his funeral clothes. All those outfits at the mall she'd never try-on. All the gum she'd never chew. All the time she was supposed to have with Nori. Forever was supposed to be forever.     There isn't even enough time to finish telling Nori what she already knows. Jubilation knows it's time to close her eyes and so she does. Just in time for her to be covered in a fine mist made of the newly dusted James Butcher.     Jubilation lies there motionless, one leg bent, eyes closed, slowly getting coated in a thin layer of vampdust. This moment seems to drag on. As brave as she may be, sometimes, Jubes just can't bring herself to open her eyes and find out what happens when vampires die. 'Did I just kill your first baby?' Jubilation opens both of her eyes after hearing Noriko's question. Blink. Blinkblink. She opens her mouth, perhaps to answer, and lets out a little cloud of James. One burst at first and then three more shoved out by her laughter.     "No..." Jubilation answers, her mouth curling into a little grin. "Nori..." She tilts her head a little as her smile grows. "I didn't do that. I'm just here so he can pledge his loyalty, you know, bend the knee, kiss the ring." She doesn't even know how to make baby vampires. Not yet.     "He was supposed to show up before you got here..."
Noriko Ashida	Forever.  It's a tricky word for the star-crossed lovers.  They were supposed to beat the Fates, curse be damned; they would turn it into their twisted blessing, but its moments like these, when you spray paint your fiance with some deadbeat rage-filled asshole trying to eat her into oblivion?...these moments are forever. Until the pain of dislocated somethings in her arms causes the speedster to just slump down.  She decides Jubilation is as good a pillow as any and crumples down somewhat half on half off of Jubes with a grunt.  "Ow.  I think I fucked up my arms," she murmurs against gritted teeth and a bit of Jubilation's soiled clothing, trying desperately to appear tough and not cry.  Noriko just rolls off of Jubes so she can talk more clearly. "So...does that make you like his undead concierge?  I need to teach you how to delegate."  Not that Jubes should even feel safe delegating, but that's not a part of Noriko's consideration right now.  She's just thinking about how her arms would feel a lot better if this guy was trying to kill a lackey instead of the Duchess.   "Did you even want to picnic here or was it just?  Convenient?"
Jubilation Lee	Coming so close to another death -- the Final Death -- is still not enough to pull Jubilation away from her defensive position. How /dare/ Noriko Ashida -- a mere MORTAL (ew!) -- question Jubilation about her motives? How dare she!? That voice echoes somewhere deep inside Jubilation, ping-ponging around as her heart and mind grapple with her new place in the natural order. Noriko has no power, no influence, no /worth/ in Jubilation's new existence. It's absurd to even think about tolerating such nonsense from someone so meaningless. And yet, Jubilee's heart, dead and lifeless, manages to break a little anyway.     "Nori..." she quietly drones in a naggy kind of tone. "It's not like that..." Convenient. The Duchess takes a moment to think about it further. Actually, convenient is exactly what this place is. The plan was for the late James Butcher to rise, pledge his loyalty, have a liquid breakfast. and be on his way way before Noriko was ever supposed to arrive. Having a picnic here was the ultimate convenience.     "Okay, so, it's /exactly/ like that..." Jubilee almost rolls her eyes at herself. Stupid. If Noriko had asked her to meet her in the outfield of the softball field and smelled vaguely like sports when she got there, Jubes would be equally pissed. Jubilation lowers her eyes and closes them tightly so Nori can't see her own disappointment. "I didn't... I was trying to.... I wasn't..."     Jubilation stops right there, managing to find that little bit of her that still knows how to be who she once was. The bit that remembers things like injuries. She sits up and shifts so she's kneeling next to the fallen speedster. "What happened to your arms?" she demands, reaching out with both of hers.
Noriko Ashida	The speedster does not look amused or even surprised at Jubilation, but a resting bitch face is somewhat expected by default.  She's desperately trying to hide the fact that she's gritting her teeth against the pain, but she just remains in the same position.  "I pulled them out."  She doesn't know how to say it.  Indeed the speedster's body is not shaped just right when the vampire finds her and Noriko makes no attempt to move from her position. Well shit.  Little veins of lightning start to crackle down her cheeks along fresh tears.  "I'm just another appointment to you," she howls softly, the pain mixing in with her tone and only making her more angry as it saps the accusatory angle.  "Next to Home Depot VampBros and new brood."
Jubilation Lee	I pulled them out. The answer creates more questions than it answers. Jubilation's face scrunches up like she just took a bite of a confusing lemon. "You pulled them out?" she repeats, mouth curling upwards in a failure to hide her inability to understand. She has been slowly forgetting the minutiae of being alive more and more as the nights go on, but Jubilee still has arms. She still knows how those work and Noriko's seem to still be there. But, once Jubilee leans in a little, she's able to see that Noriko's figure is not what it should be.     "Oh... Uh, they look okay to me..." They don't.     "But... you might, like, you know, prefer them to be facing the right way. I'll help you."     Jubes hesitantly reaches out with both hands, fingertips lingering just shy of Nori's left shoulder. She doesn't dare touch it. "...No, you're /not/ just some appointment..." she cries out, disturbing the sanctity of these hallowed grounds. "I'm just..." She inches closer, using her knees to take tiny steps in the grass to get a better angle. "...There's not enough hours in the night, Nori. It was meet here or not meet at all. And I didn't /make/ that guy..! Someone else did, and... like, they're not supposed to be doing that..." It's the first hint from Jubilee that there might be vipers hidden among her. The first hint that being the Duchess is not all its cracked up to be. The first hint that it might even be dangerous.     "...You don't..." She was going to say 'understand' but takes it back before it's too late. "Why are you being like this?" is what comes out instead.     The little argument is not enough to deter Jubes from her task, though. By now, her hands have found their place at Noriko's shoulder. "Ready?" she asks, suddenly breaking up their fight so she can shove Nori's arm back into its rightful spot. Instead of waiting for a confirmation -- a pause that could feel like a lifetime to a speedster -- Jubes just shoves it in place with a sudden jerk of her own arms. No warning, no hesitation.
Noriko Ashida	Noriko flinches slightly at Jubilation's hesitation and winces.  "You sucked down his snackpack when I was right here in front of you," Noriko growls out as if she could barely keep it contained anymore at Jubilation's question.  If it were one arm, this would be easy for the speedster.  She doesn't even get to such issues like how much danger that put both of them in, because the idea that Jubes isn't making vampires but someone else is...it barbs.  It worms Noriko's mind. "N-" Noriko was about to say /no/ she's /not/ ready behind that pained pout, but for once, she's not fast enough.  Or rather, the moment is more like a jack-in-the-box.  She actually pushes back against Jubilation's force after the vampire starts her jerk, just to try and end the pain quicker.  The noise she lets out almost sounds like the cry of a coyote made into something as short as a yip. "Who?"  Who did this?  Who is making vampires?  Noriko has a few loose ends she can think of.
Jubilation Lee	That's what has Noriko in such a state? That Jubilee drank from that Capri Sun of blood? It almost doesn't make sense to Jubilee. She looks over at where the plastic pouch landed in the scuffle. It was stolen from a blood bank and most certainly did not contain anything above 'homeless' quality. "So what?" Jubilee fires back, unable to pull back that bratty valley girl intonation. Drinking from that blood pouch was just done without thinking, a nervous little thing, but that doesn't mean Jubes won't defend herself from accusation.     "Did you think I---" At first, Jubilation's tone is laced with anger and mockery. Did Noriko /really/ think that Jubes only drank /her/ blood? HA! But, before she even has a chance to finish the sentence, Jubilation's tone softens as she leans in. "Nori..." she begins again, her voice just barely above a whisper. "You're not my food." At some point in all of this, Jubilation has shifted so she's straddling the speedster -- a subtle act hidden in plain sight, obscured only by her velvety voice. Is it meant to change the tone of their conversation? No. It's so she can get a better angle to...     *SHOVE*     This time, Jubilee lowers her mouth to Noriko's ear, cooing softly to comfort her in the wake of her second arm being forced back into place. "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay..." For someone who might be a bloodthirsty monster, this softness manages to come easy. Still, she pulls away to give the speedster room to flail about if necessary.     In the wake of all of the pain, Noriko's question hangs ominously. "I don't know," is Jubilation's answer. The worst possible one.
Noriko Ashida	"You've reduced blood to something that you buy out of a gas station.  I don't want to be on the same shelf."  The edge hasn't left Noriko's voice.  Suddenly her eyes widen.  "You've already done this?" she realizes aloud to the shame Jubes' reaction stabs into her.  She can't help the constant crackling that ripples out at strange times like a spasm which kicks out at the shift of Jubilation's weight onto the speedster. With Jubilation closer, Noriko breathes in the vampire's familiar scent.  Ugh.  How does a dead person smell so good?!  Bitch.  She's perfect.  Noriko gazes slowly in the moment before the-let's get this over with. Noriko cries out softly, a burst of electricity shooting out from her in all directions for one or two flashes, gripping the two in brief light.  "Who is looking into this?"  The speedster sounds all business, her eyes narrowed slightly as she mulls through the faces of court.
Jubilation Lee	"You're /not/...." Jubilee insists. "It's /different/, okay? Everyone else is food." She tilts her head a little to the side, looking down at Noriko with those baby browns. Is it manipulation? Or is it just a non-verbal way to enhance her communication? Is there a difference? Is it only evil because of what she is?     "You're not food," Jubilation explains, staring down at the speedster, unable to contain her fondness.     But, it's not long before Jubilee realizes what they're fighting about. Eye. Roll. "Nori, I didn't bring that for /me/. I brought it for /him/..." Jubilee sticks her arm out to point at the dead vampire, but keeps moving it left, right, up, down. It's very unclear where she should point. The guy is kind of everywhere. "...You know, something to take the edge off. Dying sucks."     "But, like, I got all nervous when he didn't show up in time. I didn't mean to drink it," Jubilation adds before a look of disgust finds its way onto her face. "Gross."     "I am," Jubilation answers. "I'm trying to, anyway..." Another vague gesture to the pile of dust that surrounds them. Another indicator of why Jubilation is just so damn busy these nights. Another reason she needs to double up on her plans. Instead of using that to fuel her argument and affirm her position as the one who is being wronged in this argument, Jubilation instead leans forward so she's lying on top of Noriko. "It hasn't been going well," she mutters into the speedster's hair, somehow finding comfort in that electric blue.     "Can we go home?"
Noriko Ashida	But Noriko is a human...well mutant.  Either way, she is not a vampire.  She is not eternal.  When Jubilation reveals that she didn't bring it for herself, the news doesn't seem to dull the spark in Noriko's eyes. "You shouldn't be doing these things alone."  What?  Investigating?  Meeting strange new vampires at night?  The hardness in the speedster's tone and her frame melts as Jubilation shifts.  She inhales Jubilation's scent to conjure some relief, some familiarity. "Yes."  One simple word, but with Noriko, it weaves a reality.  Not a moment later, Noriko has swept Jubilation up in her arms and the cool air is streaming pleasantly past their ears, muffling out the din of the passage home.