2013.04.24 - Chat, Jokes, and Pie

It may be Spring Break, but some students have no place to go besides the Xavier School. But Jubilee's learned to make the best of it. Besides, it does have an upside or two, like no waiting for the game consoles! But right now, game consoles don't interest her. Relaxing does. She's just coming back from the kitchen, clad in shorts and a Hello Dead Kitty tee, a plate and fork in her hands. On the plate is a slice of cold apple pie that could easily feed three girls her size. See? Upsides!

Spring Break also makes it a good time for a new student to move in and get accustomed to the school. Thus, Josie's arrived. She must have arrived and been shown to her new room while Jubilee was in the kitchen, as she's just unzipping her bag when Jubilee returns. Spotting the older girl in the hall, she gives a friendly wave, smiling, "Hi."

It's pretty late, but people do show up at all times of day. Still, Jubilee's not expecting new arrivals at this time. Thus she sets down her as-yet-unused fork and starts looking around when she hears someone greet her. Strange, the hall's empty... Then she notices the open door. Right beside her. D'oh, airhead moment! "Oh, hi!" she calls back, offering a return smile at the blonde girl. "Did ya just get here?" she asks, noticing the bag the girl's working with.

Josie nods quickly and smiles, "I was supposed to get here this afternoon, but my dad spent *hours* going over all the enrollment papers and everything." Then she steps out to offer her hand, smiling still, "I'm Josie."

Jubilee transfers her well-filled dessert plate to one hand, balancing its heaviness carefully, and shakes Josie's with her now-free right. "Cool, another J-name. I'm Jubilee... well, technically it's Jubilation Lee, but don't waste your time calling me that, 'cuz I won't answer," she replies, her smile twisting wryly. "Totally cool to meet you, Josie! Need any help unpacking?"

Josie grins and says, "Jubilee, cool name. Nice to meet you, too!" She nods quickly then to the offer of help, "Yes please. I kinda rushed packing and everything's messed up. Mr. Drake made the school sound so cool, couldn't wait."

"Thanks. It's the only thing I go by," Jubilee says cheerfully. "And... yeah. Bobby kinda does that. He's totally into enthusiasm." She steps into the room, setting her plate down on an unoccupied spot on the dresser. Late Snacktime Appley Goodness, you're gonna have to be patient. "Where do ya want to start? Closet or dresser?"

Josie smiles as she steps back inside her room, and says, "Thanks!" She pauses and opens her bag the rest of the way and peeks inside, "Well, closet I guess, a few shirts are on top." As she pulls out the first, she asks, "So is the school as cool as he said? He said one of the teachers used to be a circus acrobat. I used to be too, before my mom died, so can't wait to meet them."

"Closet it is!" Jubilee nods and pulls out the second shirt on the stack, giving it a little shake to help rid it of wrinkles and nudging the closet door open with her foot. "You are? That's /so/ cool! I'm kinda into that, too. Well, gymnastics, but it's almost the same thing, right?" The shirt goes into the closet, slipped artfully onto a hanger. "I know the teacher he was talking about, though. The school can be really cool. Sometimes it's just a school, though. Just fair warning."

Josie hangs up the shirt she was holding and then goes back to the bag. Under the next shirt is a pencil case, which she grabs as well to place on the dresser. "Gymnastics is still the same, pretty much, yeah. Except you're going for points instead of applause, so there isn't as much flare. I was doing that at my old school, too. It was a fun school too, until I went all water-balloon in front of everybody a couple weeks ago. After that, except one teacher I bet the school woulda kicked me out if it wasn't against the law."

"I dunno about as much flair... but they do worry a little too much about form, I think," Jubilee says, stifling giggles. "I've had more fun improvising." She turns back to the bag, holding back so Josie can retrieve that pencil case. She has no idea where it'll go, and its owner no doubt does. Then she realizes what Josie said. "Wait... went all water balloon in front of everybody? What happened?" she has to ask, looking a little wide-eyed at the blonde girl.

Josie nods quickly as she puts the shirt away and says, "Yep. Some of my friends dared me, they set up a tightrope that went from the ground to the roof of the school gym. I almost made it up, but then a teacher yelled at me and I fell. First time I'd fallen from a tightrope since I was six, but it's a lot harder going uphill on one. Anyway, I turned into water just before I hit the ground, so it looked like I popped like a water balloon, or that's what everybody said anyway. I splattered everywhere. Took me hours to figure out how to get back together and change back."

"Oh, wow..." Jubilee murmurs, eyes widening. "I'll bet that was scary," she adds, in the tone of someone who can't think of a single thing to say about it because she's too busy living it in her imagination. Sudden fear, strangeness, more fear, confusion... "Wow. You must've been totally terrified! I mean, I know /I/ would be!"

Josie nods quickly, adding, "Not much scares me, but that did. Didn't know what was going on. And... think, like, seeing outta thousands of eyes at once. Every drop I could see out of, and in every direction around it. It was really confusing at first. But after the first time, it's really fun."

"Wow, no wonder you can talk about it so calmly now!" Jubilee stifles giggles, shaking her head. "I guess fun does help with dealing with that kind of thing." She looks into the bag, then catches up another shirt, giving it a shake. "But you said stuff got bad at school, after. And that's why you're here?"

Josie nods quickly, and grins, "It is *so* fun. Well, except leaving my clothes behind part, but I figured out how to change back so I'm dressed again, except for shoes and socks, they're tricky. But it's still so fun to be able to go places I couldn't fit before." She nods quickly to Jubilee again as she mentions her old school and says, "Yeah. A few kids thought it was cool, but the rest, they acted like... I dunno. It's stupid, anyway, I'm still me, I can just do some new cool stuff. That makes sense, right?"

"That /would/ suck," Jubilee agrees, through more giggles. "But it must come in handy when you forget your keys!" Which she's done, plenty of times. But then Josie speaks of the other side of being a mutant. Jubilee's smile fades, and she nods. "You're still you, but they're... things have changed. It makes /total/ sense. I know just what you mean." She manages to smile again, turning it on Josie. "But you don't have to worry about that here." She lifts her hand... and suddenly, tiny orbs of multicolored light flow out of her skin! They begin to circle her hand, little orbits of shining /stuff/, their glow tinging the walls with flickering bursts of color. Jubilee smiles at Josie. "'Cuz we're /all/ a little like that. A little different."

Josie nods quickly with a giggle too, "Yeah! No door can keep me out... well, I guess a flood-proof door would. But, not many doors like that. I can go through any little crack and get inside now." She looks back to Jubilee and nods a little, smiling. Then her eyes widen at the orbs of light appear, and she says, "Whoa, that's cool!"

Jubilee lifts her hand a little higher, and the orbs all *POP* in a rapid, stroboscopic sequence, much like flash-firecrackers. "It comes in handy sometimes," she admits. "Where you can flow under a locked door, I can totally burn the lock off! But it's not much good for anything but light shows and blowing stuff up... unless I'm just missing something." She grins. "On the plus side, though, I don't end up naked when I turn it on!"

Josie smiles and says, "Well, you'll never get stuck in the dark without a light either." The she nods quickly with a giggle to the last, "Yeah." She pulls some socks out of her bag and stuffs them into the dresser, and then says, "You said before, the school's sometimes just a school. What is it when it isn't? Bobby mostly talked about school stuff, and learning to control my powers. There's fun stuff to do here too, after school, right?"

"Done that!" Jubilee replies with a laugh. "Not having to carry a flashlight everywhere is a real plus." She hangs up that shirt she'd been working on, struggling to get a stubborn hanger into the collar and under the shoulders. "I don't know if I could explain all of it. We do get survival training, and games that are supposed to teach us stuff. And there's the Danger Room... which is a big part of the whole powers control training idea. I could /never/ explain that. It's gotta be experienced to be believed."

Josie's eyes widen a little again, "Danger Room?" Then she pretty immediately grins, "Even the name sounds fun. Is it like some obstacle course or something? I'm really good at those." Then she shrugs and smiles, "Guess I'll see it eventually, whatever it is."

"Partly..." Jubilee finally turns back to the room, and the bag. "Just a lot more unpredictable. It's really complicated. But you'll definitely see. Everybody gets into that sooner or later." She peeks into the bag. "Should I let you get this next part? That might be a little personal." 'Cuz some people don't like having other people touch their underwear.

Josie blinks, "Oh, right. Whatever." She doesn't seem to much care, just taking the underwear out of her bag and stuffing them into her dresser rather haphazardly, much like she did with the socks. Left in the bag is a couple pairs of jeans, some shorts, a single dress, and a gymnastics leotard. She starts stuffing the jeans and shorts into another drawer, and asks, "How many kids are there here? This school's so big. Like a big mansion."

Jubilee, seeing that the dress is the only thing left aside from the leotard, carefully gathers it up and finds a hanger. "I've never really counted, but it's at least two dozen most of the time. Some of the faculty used to be students here, too." She grins. "Not too many mutant-friendly schools or jobs out there, I guess. But they believe in this place and they really want to help kids like us. And really? They're a pretty good bunch. Even ol' Scottdog... and don't you /dare/ tell him I said that!" she adds, giggling so hard she has to bend over to save her stomach.

Josie smiles and says, "Wow, nice! Had hundreds of kids at my old school." She smiles as she puts away her leotard and says, "That is so cool, teaching at the same school they went to. That mean all the teachers are mutants too? Awesome." Then she blinks again and asks, "Scottdog? Who's that? Someone who can turn into a dog?"

Jubilee blushes a little, calming down. "Scott Summers. /Mister/ Summers to all of us, Cyclops to the faculty. Look for a guy wearing red shades or a visor. He's kinda cute, if you like the clean-cut, serious type, but he's got the idea somewhere that anybody can be head of the class if you just push them hard enough." She grimaces. "And I am /so/ not into being pushed."

Josie ohs, and giggles a little again, "I've had teachers like that. They don't like me much. Except gym teachers, I'm usually good in gym." Then she smiles and says, "But ok, I swear I won't tell him what you said."

"So am I. S'what I do best." Jubilee shuts the closet, dusting her hands as if she's just finished loading a truck. Late Snack Appley Yumminess time! Except there's another person here, one who might be hungry, too. "Um... want me to go get you a plate and another fork, Josie? I was about to have a snack, but I got a little too much... and I'd be happy to share!" she offers, summoning up a smile.

Josie smiles brightly and says, "If you really have too much, yes please! I don't wanna take your snack, though..." She smiles and says, "Is the kitchen really open at night too? Or did you sneak in?"

The sweet science of snacking... the legs and denim-clad posterior showing from behind the refrigerator door show that there's a practitioner at work in the kitchen. Jubilee pulls a cold apple pie from the inner reaches of the Magic Kingdom Hall of Food, leaving the gates unbarred, and sets it on the table, along with a can. Humming something annoyingly catchy and bouncy from the radio, she begins cutting herself a slice. A big slice. Will that /fit/ inside her?

"I do. I totally do," Jubilee replies, her smile taking on a touch of plasticky insincerity. But she nods in the direction of the dresser all the same. "It's not /really/ open, but the cook likes me 'cuz I help her out sometimes. It'll just take me a second to get another plate and a fork. Ciao for now!" And out the door she goes.

Josie smiles and says, "Thanks." While Jubilee is off getting another plate and fork, she quickly changes, so when Jubilee gets back she's dressed more fittng for the late hour, in one of her larger t-shirts, big enough to serve as a night-shirt for her.

It takes more than a second. Probably about 300 seconds, actually. But Jubilee is back quickly all the same, carrying another dessert plate and a fork for the pie. She also has a butter knife for division of her earlier snack into two snacks. "Okay... oh, going to bed soon?" she asks, seeing that Josie's changed into nightwear. "I just need to cut this in two." Moving to the dresser, she sets down plate and fork and begins doing so.

Josie blinks, and says, "Oh, I thought... well, with it so late, I thought everybody'd be going to bed soon. I could say I was anyway if they did checks." She shrugs and says, "Never lived away from home before, isn't there a curfew or something? Just... assumed there was." She looks a little embarassed now, shrugging a little.

Jubilee stifles giggles and finishes cutting, and transfers half the pie to the other plate. Okay, not /quite/ half; one slice is a little bigger than the other, just barely. "I'm just teasing you, Josie. There's usually a curfew, but since it's Spring Break and all, it's been lengthened. Plus, you're making me feel overdressed, with me actually having pants and all." She offers the slightly smaller piece to Josie, complete with plate and fork. "Here ya go!"

Josie grins again in relief, and says, "Oh, cool, ok." Visibly relaxing again, she sits on her bed and tucks her legs under her shirt as she gets comfortable, and takes the plate to sit on her lap and begin to eat, "Thanks!" After swallowing her first mouthful she says, "Wow, this is awesome. We used to sell pie at the carnival but it was never this good. 'Course, they had to make enough for hundreds of people all the time too."

"We do that, ya know. Tease each other," Jubilee says, grinning impishly at Josie and setting her plate on the edge of the bed. "But you're still making me feel overdressed!" She hooks her thumbs into the waistband of her black running shorts and tugs it out, as if loosening it to pull them down, and stoops and pulls... ... but when she stands again, she's actually pulling her shorts back up over her bright blue undies. "Kidding again!" She sticks her tongue out playfully at the blonde girl and seats herself, picking up her plate. Josie's appreciation of the pie draws a smile. "We've got a good cook," she agrees. "Personally, I prefer 'em fried, like some of those carnival pies, but she kinda worries about nutrition, so we don't get those very often. But you had /real/ pie on the midway? And it was good? That's so cool. Sometimes I wish I'd lived in a carnival. Or a circus."

Josie blinks in surprise as Jubilee starts to undress, but then starts to giggle as she stands back up normally. She then eats another mouthful before nodding quickly, "We did. We had stuff like hot dogs too, normal stuff, but we had a cook that liked making real stuff for people too. Surprise them with something new every day we'd stay in a city." She grins and says, "It was awesome. Always seeing new places, meeting new people, and being in front of an audience is the /best/. I mean, we were always a bit poor, most of the money we had went into the carnival again, but didn't matter. It was all fun, and had a huge family."

"I think I would've liked them," Jubilee admits, before popping a mouthful of pie into her mouth, big enough to shut her up for a while so she can chew. At least she doesn't eat with her mouth open! Ew! "Maybe not so much the poor part. Jubilee's gotta have her gadgets! But maybe all the great people would've made up for that. All I ever had were my folks, and their money. Sometimes I think most of my friends were into me more for what I could get them than for me." For a moment her eyes grow wistful and sad, as if thinking back to those days. She snaps out of it, putting on another smile. "But I'm here now. Then doesn't matter much. We're a lot like a family here, too, complete with arguments. But we make up, too."

Josie eats another couple mouthfuls while Jubilee explains her past, and after swallowing she smiles and says, "Well, not me. I think you're cool, and I didn't even know 'bout the money until now." She smiles more as Jubilee goes on, "Cool. Miss having that family. We had fights and stuff at the carnival too, but usually all got fixed."

"A good family life makes up for a lot of things," Jubilee agrees. "Even with the occasional explosion. I don't think I'd trade my life here for anything." She pops another mouthful of pie down the hatch, grinning at Josie after. "And thanks, Josie. I think you totally rock, too. Oh, want to go shopping sometime later this week? Salem Center has a pretty cool mall, but there are better ones in New York, if you don't mind a train ride."

Josie smiles brightly at the invitation and nods quickly, "That'd be awesome! Yeah, I don't mind a train ride. Yeah, that'll be fun, thanks." She grins and says, "I'm from New York. Well, since my mom died and dad sold the carnival, anyway. We moved in near Columbia University."

"I should be free day after tomorrow, if I hurry up and get that stupid paper done," Jubilee says... and cuts herself off after Josie mentions what happened to her mother and the carnival. She looks at the other girl for a long, silent moment, another stroke of total sympathy. "Oh... I'm sorry about your mom, Josie. That seriously sucks."

Josie nods a little, looking down at the last bit of her pie left, eating it quietly. Then, finally, she says, "Thanks. Yeah, it does. Miss her a lot." After another moment she changes the subject back and asks, "What's your paper about? Unless it's about life in the circus, bet I can't help, though," she adds with a grin.

"Yeah..." Jubilee agrees softly. But, paper. "Oh, that? I wish! Not about circuses. It's about the influence of computers on education... like I'd know anything about that! By the time I was born, /everything/ was computerized!" She giggles and forks up another mouthful of pie, shaking her head at the silliness of the people who choose paper topics.

Josie giggles a little and nods quickly, "Yeah. Even my dad used to teach me, when we were travelling all the time and I didn't go to school, on his computer." She pauses and says, "Well, I guess you could ask someone old what it was like going to school before computers."

"I've talked to Doc McCoy, but he couldn't tell me much. But there are plenty of older people here who might know something about it. Good idea though, Josie!" Jubilee pops the last bite of pie into her mouth and stands, stretching a little. "I'd better get these back to the kitchen before somebody besides the cook notices they're gone," she says, gathering up the used plates and silverware. "It was totally cool to meet you, Josie!"

Josie smiles again and nods quickly, "Really cool to meet you too! Thanks for the pie, and for helping me unpack." She waves then and says, "Good night, and see ya later."