Owner Pose
Noriko Ashida The evening darkens early now and Noriko is realizing this is definitely her new favorite time of the year.  Still, Jubilation woke up to any fancy-wear she brought laid out.  Nori must pay a lot of attention to Jubes' particular favorite combinations, because she's nailed it down to laying out the accessories, even if the pieces could mix and match in other combinations rather pleasantly.

What's even stranger is Jubes wakes up to the sound of a hairdryer.  Nori's doing her hair the /slow/ way.  Every time she does, it takes her forever.  She even re-wets her hair three times.  It's as if every hair must either be out of place or in place to be perfect and nothing in between.  What's worse is when she tries to do her makeup.  The girl isn't practiced and by the time she's done to her liking she's ground her eye pencil to half its former glory.  She'll blame it on the sharpener.

By far, the strangest thing, was a small dark, corked bottle about the size of a pint, which Noriko has babysat in the crook of her arm on the slow walk she insisted they take to the Wobbly Barn.

Noriko has already torn through a sampling of a few appetizers, but when the main course comes, she calls for a wine glass and pours a glass from the small bottle before setting it in front of Jubilation.  "Bon appetit."  Then she slouches back into her chair and grins, resting her gauntlets over her stomach, one above the other.  They've gotten more than a few looks, both for how dressed up they are, their lack of coats, Nori's token scarf, and those gauntlets.

"You think everyone is in the hot tub?"  The image of /everyone/ being in a single hot tub conjures up instantly in Noriko's mind and she laughs to herself.  "...sorry it's cold," she mentions as her eyes dip down to the strange red vintage.
Jubilation Lee     Jubilee rises from her slumber the normal way, which is simply by slowly sitting up in a smooth motion, using only her core muscles to do so. It's the natural, vampire way that could very well be part and parcel with the curse itself. When she wakes, any new blemishes or imperfections from the previous night are gone, skin and hair once again smooth and luxurious, just as long and wonderful as it ever was and forever will be. Jubilee will forever be thankful that she was turned when her hair was long instead of that awful cowlick she had when she was first brought to Xavier's...

    "Did I leave the hairdryer on...?" is the first question. It comes in a mumble, spaced out between unnecessary, rehearsed yawns. She's getting good at that. Jubilation rolls out of bed and reaches up with both hands, a kind of stretch, with both sets of fingers trying to touch the moon. Next, she sees the clothes -- that's weird -- and then... Noriko's reflection, caught from an angle off to the side, through the slight opening in the bathroom door. Makeup. Hair. Jubilation's eyes light up. LIGHT UP. Never before has she been so full of life, even while alive. Jubes begins to send their cabin into a whirlwind, picking up this, tossing that, and so on, until she's wearing the outfit that Noriko picked for her. Noriko could be getting ready for someone's funeral for all she knows, but... that would be fun too.

    "I can't believe it," Jubilee whispers excitedly, her arms wrapped around the speedster's as they walk together to the Wobbly Barn. Her smile is brilliant, broadcasting nothing but ironic sunshine. She can't possibly keep those fangs hidden with all this happiness bubbling forward. "...I can't believe it..." Her hair is done in an elaborate up-do, makeup soft and subtle, clothing sexy and impractical.

    Nothing for me, thanks. That's her order when it comes time to get drinks and appetizers. She doesn't even care. Both elbows on the table, chin in her palms, staring across at Nori as she eats and eats and eats. Has there ever been a more perfect moment? "You look beautiful, Noriko," she says lazily, no doubt catching the speedster mid-chew. She's often mid-chew. Still. She said beautiful and even dragged out the speedster's name. 'Nori' just wasn't enough for this, this time.

    The bottle, the glass, the sudden switch-over to French get a quizzical look from Jubilee. She leans forward and puts her nose near the rim of the glass, as though she would have to in order to know what's in there. Still, there's nothing wrong with keeping up appearances. Her smile just cannot be contained. She doesn't even immediately go for the drink. Just... everything, all of it, is so perfect.

    "Yeah, probably," Jubilee answers, shrugging one of her bare shoulders. "They're always in the hot tub." She finally tips the wine glass back and nods her head a little. It's cold, yes, but there's no way a little detail like that is going to spoil this gesture.
Michael Erickson     Such a magnificent thing, love. The two young women of which he is familiar are not, as of the moment, familiar with /him/ being in the parking lot, but this will change in five...four...three...

    Enter Mr. Erickson: Astronomy teacher, spy, veteran of warfare in another galaxy across multiple worlds. Witchfinder for rebels and malcontents against his government. Like him! Bundled up like a East European taxicab driver, the man enters shaking a gloved hand, drawing on his other glove as he makes his way inside. Cursory scan of the environment, faces noted, couples noted in the case of Jubilee and Noriko. A faint smile lines his lips. Good. Happiness is good for those two. He makes for the bar.
Noriko Ashida Noriko owns a pair of heels.  The proof is on her feet.  Did she know or remember how to walk in them yesterday afternoon?  Absolutely not, but she does now.  Practice makes perfect.  Plus Nori and Physics go way back.  Sure the heels are worn down a little now, but it's better than Bambi-ing around.

...

Noriko seems to not pay attention as much to her speed when she's eating.  There are small snippets of her visually falling back into more mannered, more delicate eating a little late, after she slowed down, giving windows into her Cookie Monstering, Lost Boy devouring style, no doubt a remnant of her sequestered cultural rebellion.  She freezes in just such a polite pose at the sound of Jubilee's voice, her glass just obscuring her grin as if raising her pinky might finish the composition.  Her eyes wrinkle upwards with her grin, and then lower when she lowers her glass.  Speechless.

Of course Noriko notices that Jubilation doesn't immediately go for the drink.  It's like thorny bush, snagging her clothing and attention against her wishes, pulling her out of the flow of the moment, but only for a moment.  "Getting pruny."  Holding out her minor anxiety pays off when Jubilation finally partakes.  There's a slight easing of Noriko's frame.

"...Did Major Thomas Kenneth Tom come with us on the bus?"  Like Rosencrantz and/or Guildenstern, Michael always seems to just...be there, suddenly, but always preceded by that strange feeling of being watched, like the cold preceding ghosts.  Well, at least in Noriko's electrically charged world it seems that way.  A crackling chill rushes up her spine at the thought of a ghostly Ken doll and the thought of it and all of its knockoffs existing in all dimensions.

All of these thoughts (and many more) happen before anyone breathes.

Of course, what Jubilation hears right on the tail of Nori's own words and her crackling shudder is, "Ghost Kenneths..."  Then she addresses some random spot on the ceiling, brain hopping to, "I wonder if he boards or skis?"  And a beat later, eyes twitching to Jubes', "Skis."

"Is he going to drink alone or eat alone?  Which is more sad?"  Nori's done them all, so she should know.  Something about this digs at her subconscious.  With a mind that craves stimulation, Nori's focus bounces around freely though it always drifts back to Jubilation.
Jubilation Lee     "Nori..." A pale, cold hand reaches out to rest on top of one of the speedster's gauntlets. "It's /perfect/." Cold blood is, without question, gross...but Jubilation is all smiles. She takes an eager sip from the glass and sets it down. As romantic and proper the moment may be, Jubes still reaches up and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. Total badass.

    "I don't remember seeing him... but I was under a blanket," Jubilee reminds, squinting one eye, as though doing so might loosen up the memories a little. She doesn't even need 'Major Thomas Kenneth Tom' translated. Of course that's Michael. The vampiress turns her head a little to look in his direction, finally, before returning Noriko's look.

    "Skis," she answers with a little nod, her voice perfectly in sync with Nori's, before forming a small smile. There is no doubt in her mind that Erickson is a filthy skier.

    "I think he has a girlfriend now," Jubilation adds quietly, glancing in Michael's direction again. "Maybe she's running late."
Noriko Ashida Well the blood isn't freezing or coagulated!  It is fresh, but Noriko was worried about ruining the bottle if she ran too fast.  It's not like the bottle has her crazy circulation system and she's not sure if it would separate her blood or something.  Something to find out.

Noriko's eyelashes flutter slightly as Jubes brings her out of her momentary reverie about experiments.  The vampire is often Nori's tether to the here and now, to this shared velocity.  The speedster has always found it easiest to snap back into rhythm with Jubes as a reference (and focal) point.  It feels more reflexive.  "Well you should recognize the vintage at least," Noriko says with a smirk, dipping her chin toward the unlabeled bottle.  She grins when Jubes wipes her mouth.

Noriko just hands their waiter her list of desserts she wants, because it's way faster than listing them and waiting for him to write them down.  This is a new lifehack for her and she seems to take a tiny measure of enjoyment from the imperiousness of doing something so snooty in a place called The Wobbly Barn Bar.

"I'll give him till my first dessert course comes out.  I can't watch."  Him eating alone of course, which means she doubts this fabled tale of a girlfriend.  "Does she have a name?  An occupation?  Or is she just some space chick who is always 'busy?'"
Jubilation Lee     "Oh, I recognize it," Jubilation replies with a knowing smile. "It's the only one I'd ever have outside of a glass..." Her smile lingers as they draw on their earlier promises to not do that with others.

    But... Michael's maybe real girlfriend? "Oh, I saw her. Totally corporeal and everything," Jubilation affirms. She even raises her hand and displays her palm, as though swearing some kind of oath. "I didn't stick around too long, though. Was getting a guilt trip over buying that drunk guy's blood in the bathroom." She shakes her head and even rolls her eyes. "Buncha prudes," Jubilee adds with a smirk.

    "Yes. By all means, invite him to join us on this date," Jubilee mutters, eyes diverted to the side. She reaches to the neckline of her dress and gives it a quick pull so it covers more of her skin, as though her clothes needed to match the change in the evening. Still, a soft smile returns. "It's cool," she adds.
Noriko Ashida "I-" didn't think, and doesn't even know why she did it.  Noriko feels the sting of repercussion for her impulsive behavior at Jubilation's mutter and regret when the vampire adjusts her clothing.  "I wanted tonight to be for us..." She practically exhales the words.  "It's just distracting."

"Oh.  Well I guess that changes everything," now that Michael's so-called girlfriend is not so-called.  "Were they all weird about how you're underage or what?"  The idea of paying someone for some blood and a bathroom being the most private place for the transaction seems perfectly logical to Noriko, so any other social aversions implicated in the subtext hit Noriko as if on a delay.  The revelations arrive in the furrow of her brow, lips slightly pursed.  Her eyes seem to ask more seriously, 'Or some prejudicial squeamish bullshit?'
Michael Erickson     No food for the man, and certainly no dessert - but a whole bottle of vodka is our man Michael's victuals of choice. Poured into a whiskey glass. To the top.

    Yes, the bartender is distinctly surprised as well.

    But he doesn't seem to be...affected. Drinking vodka like water, cheerfully asking for a plate of Reuben sandwiches. Ever so pleasant and without a woman on his arm. Perhaps trouble in paradise? Or perhaps she is 'Canadian'. Is his middle name Jan?
Jubilation Lee     "Oh, no, it was the usual thing," Jubilee answers, unamused. No one seemed to care about her age. "...I don't see why I'm not free to buy something that's up for sale." She shrugs her shoulders and even rolls her eyes.

    "Nori..." Her hand falls atop the speedster's gauntlet again. "It's okay, really. I'm just really glad we're here. Like, like, this." She makes a vague gesture to their outfits, hair, makeup. "...Like, a date." Her finger traces a lazy circle along the rim of her wine glass before dipping into the murky red liquid inside. "Besides..."

    Jubilation pops the end of her finger into her mouth and quickly licks off the bit of blood. "You'll just have to make it up to me," she adds, glancing up at Noriko with a conspiratorial smile. With that settled, Jubilation slides from her seat with a shrug of her body. And then... suddenly...

    Her nose is brought in close to Michael's cheek. Somehow she got over to the bar, silent, graceful, nimble. She draws some air in through her nose. "Hello, Space Man. You smell good," Jubes declares before leaning back. A thumb is jerked back in Noriko's direction. "Wanna come hang?"
Noriko Ashida The speedster sighs sharply, soundlessly through her nose at 'the usual thing.'  But her expression softens at the touch of Jubilation's hand.

"Me too."  Noriko shifts her gauntlet so she can let Jubes' hand fall into it, lightly caging it into a 'hold.'  Her gaze follows the circling finger, falling into the hypnotic gesture as her concentration slips, sending her into a hyper velocity stare.  Watching the liquid's surface tension shift as Jubilation dips her finger.

"Hmm?" Noriko asks with a blink, snapping out of it at Jubilation's 'Besides.'  "I can do that," she replies without missing a beat.  Her gauntlet is gripped loosely enough for Jubilation's hand to slide from it easily.  She gets lost in watching Jubilation glide away, time just slipping slowly and quickly all at once.  If Michael looks over, he'll probably catch the warm, though slightly too wide grin on the speedster's face.
Michael Erickson     Is he surprised? He doesn't seem it - though there's the very slight, millimeter-narrow flex of muscles to suggest reflexes tightly under wraps. "Bit of a problem with the locals," he offers, likely guessing at what to which she refers. "Don't worry, all that was made was a demonstration." Now he smells like violence /and/ vodka. Vodka which he now takes a generous swallow.

    "I don't mean to be 'that guy', Jubilation, but you appear to be on a date. Whatever will Miss Ashida think if you bring a plus one?" Smirking nuance. Gasp. Apparently he isn't above /talking/ to her like an adult - though he does look over his shoulder and spots said too-wide grin. "Ah," he intones. "Mischief. Right, then, let's see what you've got." Thus does he get his bottle, his glass and his newly-arrived plate of four whole Reuben sandwiches and crosses the floor to sit opposite Noriko. Assuming that, of course, he's either going to be bracketed by Jubilee or sitting across from two very toothy cats.
Jubilation Lee     Trouble with the locals. Typical. "We've been coming here for years. They should be used to us by now," Jubilation answers with a half-shrug. "But, the adults in this town drink way too much milk, I'm thinking, so who knows what's going on in their pea brains?" Another shrug. When Michael mentions Nori, Jubilee's head turns towards the speedster, her own smile growing. "...Sorry, but it's not your 'lucky night'... You're not plus-one-ing. We just thought you might wanna see what the 'cool kids' table is like." Jubilee's smile turns into a smirk, but then shifts back to something more like a sincere smile.

    "No mischief. Honest," she adds before haunting her way back to the table.

    With Michael taking her seat, Jubilee finds another one next to Noriko. She gives it a nudge with her foot, which causes the heavy wooden seat to slide noisily towards the speedster. Jubilation breezes onto the seat, hip-to-hip with Noriko.

    "So. This isn't, like, your average, everday boozing, is it? This seems more like..." She glances at Nori for a moment and then back to Michael. "...Advanced Boozing."
Noriko Ashida Noriko just gets out of the way of Jubilation's sitting trajectory with a quick pop of her hip.  She looks like she teleports right out from 'under' her, so to speak, but Jubes is probably used to this little trick and all of Nori's weird ways of entertaining herself throughout the moments.  Doing things that make people double-take and say nothing are becoming increasingly more common.

The speedster waves as soon as they change their direction to the table.  Poor thing doesn't even have a cell phone to make her seem more normal while her knee bouncing vibrates the floor around her.  It stops when Jubilation picks her spot though.

"Do you have a super liver or something?" Noriko follows up after exchanging the glance with Jubes in eery synchronicity.
Michael Erickson     "It's just as well, then," Michael says as Jubilee's smile grows. "I'm not that sort of teacher." He flashes her a wink, then turns his attention to Noriko. "I have the equivalent physical stamina of ten human beings in similar physical condition," he affirms. "Which is, my case, peak. I've had a number of long weeks and wanted to get just a bit of a buzz. Legal intoxicants on your planet are weak to me thanks to that physiological dissimilarity, and since I have no interest in hard drugs..." He takes his bottle by the neck, sloshing its contents. "Bottle of Grey Goose for me. Although, it must be said, I prefer the Russian brands."

    That said, Michael puts the bottle down and takes a long pull from his glass. People are, having noticed what he's doing, started to look a bit. "Now, then, my cool, cool kids whose table I am sharing because I am clearly an elderly fossil, why are you two looking at me as though you're deciding what part of me to eat once I expire before your eyes?"
Jubilation Lee     "First..." Jubilee starts, putting her finger up. "Ew. I'm not breaking off a piece of that. I'm on a liquid diet these days." She adds another finger to her counting gesture. "...Second...if you're already dead, that's just too late." She scowls a little. "...Way way /way/ too late." The subject of eating/drinking Michael lingers a little too long for Jubilation's taste, even if it's all a joke, so she slips her arm under Noriko's and clings a little.

    "We were just talking about how you have a totally real, not-at-all made up girlfriend," Jubes explains. She leans forward and reaches forward to take that special wine glass from the other side of the table.
Noriko Ashida "Alcohol doesn't affect me.  I'm not sure if I should drink a tanker full of booze to figure out if it ever will."  Truth is, Noriko could never get her hands on enough to try it out, not that she didn't have the idea once upon a darker time.  "Hard drugs do though," she says ever so casually.  "But yeah all of the legal stuff pretty much might as well be water."

"Not a fan of alcohol.  It tastes disgusting," Nori concludes.  When Jubilation draws closer, the speedster naturally adjusts.

"Right," the speedster jumps in on the back of Jubilation's explanation and welcome shift in tone.  "She's trying to convince me she made a sighting and that she's real.  I have a lot of time to fill in my head," and in Nori's opinion, Jubes is effortlessly helping her do that...not go mad.  "What made your weeks long?  Lots of midterms to grade or something?  Trouble with your real girlfriend?"

"Oh...also, I was wondering what sorts of things I'd have to learn in your class and what the pacing of it is.  I'm considering taking the elective," but Nori has learned to recon her electives now for whether she feels like she's going to be driven insane by the format and other factors.  "I'll save you some time trying to figure me out.  If I get bored, you will be giving me detention.  Also, if there are any exercises could Jubes be my partner."  Nori has not talked to Jubilation about taking any particular classes or any of her designs on the semester, but this potential seems to be an important term in the...negotiations.
Michael Erickson     "Well, perhaps some day we will see if my blood isn't horribly toxic to you. I only look human, after all." Another wink, and he takes another drink of the vodka. "And yes, yes. I have a totally real, not-at-all made up girlfriend. You are, I think, familiar with the way I was introduced to you, mmm? Jumping out of a SHIELD SUV out front of the school, opening fire on Shi'ar troops?" He pauses to take another swallow, this one perhaps a bit larger than the last. Lets out a deep sigh. "Ahh. Well. At any rate, my totally real, not-at-all made up girlfriend was the agent who fought alongside me during the battle, at the school and in front of the headmistress's family home." He gives them a tight smile. "Her name is Jessica. Agent Drew to you two, mind, unless she says differently." The smile loosens, then. Grows warm, if small. Admiring. "She's a good person. Believes deeply in mutant equality, as do I. Had no problem jumping right into the line of fire with me."

    He takes a deep breath. "Anyway. You might see her up at the school from time to time. She's busy, but she seems to think the idea of me teaching astronomy adorable. Especially since she knows I teach a two-track class." Yes, the two tracks: what's really going on as far as spacefaring races are aware, and what everyday people think so you don't sound like a maniac when you discuss astronomy with them.

    "So. The elective. Astronomy? Introduction to galactic politics? Shi'ar Culture? What do ou want to learn?" His brows arch. "If you get bored, tell me. Don't fuck with my class, just tell me. I'll work with you. My people are fascists. I am not."
Jubilation Lee     "You'll have to forgive me for not remembering her from that whole thing. I just shambled my way out of the morgue and didn't get to play in the Shi'ar reindeer games," Jubilation replies flatly. She was kind of a writhing corpse, hidden away in the sub levels and figuring things out.

    "But, if this /Jessica/ is as cool as you say, I'm sure she won't care if we call her /Jessica/..." Jubilation grins, letting the tip of her tongue poke juuuust past her teeth. The smile is cut off, though, at the prospect of more school. She gives Noriko a look filled with disbelief.

    "I'm not taking /more/ classes, Nori..." Jubilee points out, eyebrows hiked. "I can barely handle the ones I'm in now."
Noriko Ashida "Perhaps not," Noriko says, sounding unamused after Michael's suggestion of blood toxicity experiments.  She doesn't seem to regret saying it and lets the moment slide on as most teens do, listening to Michael talk about this woman, "I don't remember her.  I had to jump through a damn portal not knowing how it would affect my trajectory or velocity made by someone I don't trust...with children."  And there were things to dodge.  "I was a little distracted.  How did you two meet?  Did she try to arrest you?  Find you out?" Noriko's mind bounces to the most dramatic of places, but for her, it's a little tame.

"That all sounds like it'd be way more interesting to find out firsthand than wait for all the words to come out of your mouth."  Noriko sighs and then sighs again when Jubilation boycotts more classes.  "Might also call her Jessie, Jess, Jay, Sic-J, and...no that's probably it.  Oh.  Bond.  Or Agent Zero.  Double O 7," she rattles out rapid fire.  "Depends on how cool she is."
Michael Erickson     "Well I'm afraid that since I cannot go back to the Empire and get a tele-instructor unit, which would just beam the knowledge into your brain, you would have to deal with the plodding of listening to me talk, I know." He gives Noriko a tight smile. "It's incredibly annoying for those with your neurological acceleration, I'm sure. How you sit here listening to me I can't imagine." It's not actually said in a /snarky/ way - he sounds genuine, regardless of the words.

    "And as for Jessica, she and I were in the front of the house, coming up from the traffic loop. We engaged Black Spear and his attending guard immediately, and had made good progress cutting down the infantry before he cut a spatial tunnel into the lower levels. I think at the time, the bulk of the older students were facing off with additional squads attacking from other areas of the house while the young ones were being taken elsewhere by teleportal. Jessica and entered the lower levels due to another teleportal conjured by a student and then helped engage Black Spear, and kill him before he could harm the headmistress." That's where he was killed, too, of coure. Or set on a short course toward total organ failure. Not that anyone but Jessica would know.

    "She'd probably not mind at all, really, the nicknames," he says after a moment's consideration. The vodka has been left on the table now, abandoned. "Though perhaps allow her to give you clearance first? I don't know why I'm bothering saying this, she's an adult, she can tell you what she wants to be called. I'm not her father."
Jubilation Lee     "Right. Jay-Jay. Jay Dee. Jay Drew. The possibilities are endless..."

    "Part of our charm is our informality," Jubilee mutters into her wine glass. She closes one eye and stares into it with the other while sloshing its contents a little. She takes a long pull from the glass before setting it down.

    "How long have you been seeing your 'not daughter?'" Both of her hands have been raised so she can properly finger-quote 'not daughter' for all to see. She tilts her head to the side and grins up at Michael.
Noriko Ashida Noriko's mouth is suddenly just open, like flipping a flip book.  "Are you fucking with me?"  There's a number of things Noriko could be doubting.  A tele-instructor unit, and sadly, even his genuineness.  She almost shrinks a little, brow still furrowed defensively as she regards Michael like wary prey around a potential predator.  It's clearly reflexive on some level.  But her hackles aren't raised.

"That explains it.  I bounced before I saw her," Noriko assumes, tapping her gauntlet fingers on the table.  "That feels like asking to kiss someone before you kiss them.  Nicknames are spontaneous.  If you ask before you give it, it'll jinx it."  Noriko looks over to Jubes for confirmation, wondering if she used her new word right, though Jubilation's question makes her laugh out loud since she was wondering how old Jessica is and how old he is and how old he is percentage wise of his life compared to her's.  She waits and listens, hungry for hints (not necessarily answers).  Three of Nori's desserts come out and she offers to Michael, "You can try my desserts if you're curious."  It's not very often that the whole menu gets ordered at once.
Michael Erickson     "Yes, yes," Michael says, chuckling faintly. "Zaddy Michael, that's me." How the Hell did the old man get /that/ term? "No, we've only been seeing each other a few months." Then, to Noriko: "I'm sorry, I think you asked how we met. Are you familiar with an obscure, armored so-called superhero known as the Red Sentinel? Been operating in and out of the public eye since the early nineties. Looks like a Transformer toy, punches people into oblivion. Fixed the Lincoln Tunnel with the Vision last year? That's me. Except the armor's bulkiness was all holography. I met Jessica busting a group out of Germany trying to sell advanced weaponry to the Maggia. And we just kept meeting each other, and she got /extremely/ suspicious. Because she has a gloriously suspicious mind and I love that about her. Suspicious in all the righ ways, of course. She's not dramatic.

    "So then I of course outed myself as Shi'ar when I got my orders to try and kill the headmistress, which I was /not/ going to do. And I outed myself to SHIELD, through her. Last minute, they trusted her enough to trust me, we came out to help while the strike fleet in orbit was getting busted. Then we had the battle. And then of course, just before I was about to die outside the headmistress's family home, I managed to merge with a suit of my people's armor, and so..." He waves a hand about. "Clearly I didn't die." Then he squints between the two. "I'm seventy-one, by the way. I was born in 1950, came here in '75. I look about thirty-five and I'll remain that way for quite some time. Genetic surgery done to keep me as a long-term observer." He goes for his glass again. "I age one year for every five. So I've got another, what, two hundred and fifty-odd years ahead of me without further treatments. And then I'll just drop dead. Shouldn't age after forty." He takes a long, deep gulp of vodka, smacking his lips as the glass is drained, though he does not go for another. "She is twenty-eight. So. Feel free to give me all the point for cradle-robbing by comparison, I am certain I deserve it."
Jubilation Lee     "More like... she's robbing the grave," Jubilee mutters. She tilts her head to the side and squints a little, thinking about that. Noriko is older but she's kind of doing that, from a certain point of view, so Jubilee course corrects. "...Or...the Craftsmatic Adjustable Bed." Her gaze snaps to Nori. "It's this bed for old people."

    "She sounds like a real gem, this grave robber of yours..." Jubilee confesses. "But, honestly, what's even the /point/ if the best grave-robber is right here?" The undead young woman brings threads both arms through Noriko's and gives her an affectionate little squeeze. She even plants a chaste kiss upon the speedster's cheek! It's tricky work riding that fine line of using 'grave robber' to refer to Jessica for their age-difference, as well as using it to refer to Noriko for, well, literally being with a corpse, but Jubilee seems to navigate it just fine.

    "Also... Isn't that what /you/ did, Nori?" Jubilation points out, her smile extending to the limits of her cheeks. "You said you wanted to kiss me and I told you to do it." Her lips curl inward as the memory comes fluttering through her dried up synapses. Her gaze shifts to Michael. "I wanted her to do it so bad and, wow, I was /really/ laying it on thick. But she got the message, I think..."

    Jubilee's head tilts a little to the side so her temple comes to gentle rest against the speedster's.
Noriko Ashida "After she stops being qualified to be on her parent's health insurance I think you get to dodge a few of the jokes."  Noriko leans back.  "He outed himself to SHIELD Jubes and got a girl out of it."  She snickers.  "I have no idea how I will age, though I suppose if my aging was some kind of extrapolation of normal I'd probably already have hip problems and dementia," which is probably why she even thinks wondering about how she'll age is even relevant...that implication of something different that sustains her.  "Sometimes I wonder if the secret to a long life is just a shit ton of electricity.  Or just treat myself like a battery, though I guess you have to understand that mechanism first before knowing how to treat it optimally," Noriko digresses.

"Sorry I don't really know all the superheroes.  I was busy too, just not earning my boy scout badge fixing the Lincoln Tunnel and all."  Noriko says it with absolutely zero ire or edge, more a sudden somberness that welcomes Jubilation's robbing joke.  "Oh," she mouths when Jubes clues her in on the weird term.

"It's true.  I'm like a grave pirate.  I should have a pirate name," Nori muses, smiling cheerfully.  "Only the prettiest for me though, so that disqualifies all zombies and non-animated varieties.  Basically Jubes is my undead unicorn."  She doesn't think too hard on that one.

"I was stoned.  I wasn't sure if I was going to shock you or not.  That's different," Noriko just says as if somehow saying it made it so and Jubilation was not supposed to remember that detail...at this very moment.  But then Nori sees the look on Jubilation's face and her entire attitude shifts.  Her heart pounds faster, harder, and her cheeks flush all in an instant before she feels Jube's head against her's.  The speedster shifts to put her arm around Jubes.  "It's hard not to get the message once fireworks start going off...literally."
Michael Erickson     "Well I'm glad you guys have each other," Michael says, smiling warmly at the two. "You guys have great chemistry. I'm just happy that you're happy. Must be an old man thing." A wink to both, now. So winky.

    With the emptiness of the glass remaining, he takes a deep breath, ignores his sandwiches, and looks between the two. "I," he proclaims, "Am going to let you two get on with your date. Because love is amazing, and it is amazing to see you two in love. Feel free to come bug me on campus or wherever, or if you're in town. I live in Murray Hill, you can come visit someday if you want. And I'm going to Paris next weekend so if you want something from there, please, let me know." And then he gets to his feet. Smiles again, a lingering smile - but he says nothing. He just goes, tossing the bottle on the way out.
Jubilation Lee     Jubilee laughs an obnoxious, loud sort of laugh, drawn out from her by Noriko's joke about qualifying for her own health insurance plan. The laugh fades into a smile and then... that fades, too, as the subject of Noriko's aging hangs in the air. One of them would age, grow old, and die. One of them won't. It's just one of those things vampires have to think about. It's part of the curse.

    "Yeah, well... Best night of my life," Jubilee mutters quietly as Noriko starts adding on qualifiers and stipulations to her telling of the story. She'll just continue to keep close her own memories of that night, even if they're somewhat idyllic.

    "If you go to France, try not to come back all snooty. Oh, and... no matter what they try to convince you... deodorant is not optional." With that firmly set in stone, Jubilee brings her fingers up to give the SHIELD agent a mock salute before turning back to Noriko. "So."
Noriko Ashida "Food.  Bring me food," is all Nori tells Michael in parting with a big grin.

"He's so weird."  Nori's pretty sure it's weird everywhere in the galaxy to gush about teenage girls' love for each other.  "Eh."  She shrugs.  "Why is he so winky?  Does he know what an acceptable amount of winking is?  You'd think all those years on this planet and he'd have gotten kicked in the nuts enough to figure it out."

"I guess he's alright."  Compared to most human men in her life and past, he's a saint and coming from Nori, this is a compliment.

Noriko's brain has skated over the deeper implications of her discussion of her aging.  She does, however, squeeze Jubilation's shoulder as she reminisces on their first kiss.  "It was the best night of my life too," she says softly.  For her, a literal dream come true.  "I asked because I was nervous and my mouth just...it was only a little from fear of shocking you at that point," she admits.
Jubilation Lee     "He's an alien," Jubilee reminds, as though it might explain all of the guy's weird quirks and foibles. She shrugs one shoulder and stares down at the wine glass in her hands. Unlike wine, where one must be careful to hold the glass to not warm the liquid, Jubes would likely want that. Unfortunately, she has no body heat to transfer.

    "Nori..." Jubilee tries to interrupt, but... well, that's so difficult to do, isn't it? "Nori...Stop..." To show she's serious, Jubilee gently presses her index finger against Noriko's mouth. "No, no excuses. No wishing it was different. It was /perfect/."
Noriko Ashida "Oh yeah."  Noriko grins, letting it go the second Jubilation brings the speedster's perspective back.  "He probably doesn't even have the right stuff to process stuff like us."  Because to Noriko, Jubilation is still like her somehow, even if she has no pulse and no thought really at all.  But it's just the way Nori understands things.

It really is difficult to interrupt Noriko sometimes.  Sometimes it's like she's on a roll and her mind and mouth need to finish a track and loop back around to stop, but at that cool touch, her breath hitches.  "I meant.  You gave me butterflies?" The question is clearly her hope that she used the phrase right, something easily discernible given the surge of emotional warmth that swells behind the statement.  "It was perfect."  It's not acquiescence, but agreement.
Jubilation Lee     Jubilee smiles, her memories coming back, bouncing off the cold emptiness of her dead brain. It's fun to think back on that time, that awkward, unsure time, when the two were so scared, so shy, so reticent, with the insights of the present day. "Yup," Jubilee confirms with a single nod. "Butterflies. I thought I was going to throw up, like, all the time, back then. Oh, god, remember the /laptop/ thing..." Her eyebrows hike, head shaking. What a nightmare that was!

    With almost no warning or incidental movements that telegraph what she's doing, Jubilee has left her seat. "C'mon, Nori. Let's go back to the cabin. I think the rest of our trip down memory lane shouldn't be in here," she points out, a hand extended for the taking.
Noriko Ashida Noriko laughs nervously at the mention of the laptop, still feeling some of the initial shame of that moment.  But the most overwhelming feeling that comes back leaves her cheeks flushed.  She looks up to Jubes when she rises.  A smile curls onto her lips as she takes the young vampire's hand in her's, more than happy to go at whatever pace Jubilation desires.

"Agreed."