2013.03.13 - Meet Me at the Food Court

It was more than a week since the last chance Fern had to check her phone, and thankfully One found it undamaged when he went back to his trashed Brooklyn apartment to collect what things of theirs he could salvage. After it was recharged the little device practically exploded with messages, from Anita and Julius, from her mother, and from her new friend, Jubilee. Calls were made, abbreviated explanations were hastily given, but Fern didn't explain much to Jubilee, instead inviting her to meet at the food court at the mall where they first met. It's both nice and weird, after a week of almost total isolation, to be in the crowded shopping center. People come and go, involved in their lives to the exclusion of most other things, and Fern sits by a fountain, watching it all go by. She dropped a few pounds that she really didn't need to drop so her t-shirt and jacket drape a little more than they typically do, but her new jeans still fit well, and the purple in her t-shirt matches the purple stitching on the denim. There's a loud crash as someone drops a tray of food, and it has Fern on her feet, startled for a moment before she eases, her posture relaxing again, and she sinks back down to wait for Jubilee, one foot tapping ceaselessly.

After days and days of no answer on Fern's phone (and several messages), Jubilee was surprised but joyous to get a message from her newest friend. It wasn't much, just an invitation, but the worried kid was glad to get it. She'd passed her 17th birthday totally in the dark, and she'll be glad to see Fern, even if she doesn't find out a thing about what happened.

And so it is that she's arriving at Hazelton Mall, one of the universe's great centers of bargains and crowds. At least her small size comes in handy for getting through the pedestrian congestion.

She's just squeezing through a very small gap in the crowd near the Food Court when there's a crash from almost right next to her! She jumps and looks, blinking as the sees that the guy she was passing jerked to his right without looking and knocked into someone who /was/ carrying their lunch. "Dude, not cool!" she opines, and ducks before he can respond, slipping through another gap and catching herself on the rim of the fountain. Whew, close! She really doesn't need a bath...

Almost before her behind is settled, there's Jubilee, and Fern pops back up immediately. "Jubes!" she chirps, moving at once, no hesitation as she flings her arms around the younger girl and gives a huge hug. A week in a cage can really make a girl appreciate the simple things, like a friend. "I am SO happy to see you!" As if there was any doubt about that.

And here's surprise number two! Jubilee gives a squeak and quickly hugs back with one arm. The other's holding on to the edge of the fountain so she and Fern don't end up in it! "Fern! Um, could you lean to your left, just a little? If you don't, we're both gonna wet our pants... and shirts, and hair, and probably everything else."

Fern laughs and steps back, holding onto Jubilee's arm and giving her a light tug away from danger. "C'mon, I'm starving. Lets get something terrible to eat and find somewhere to sit." Actually, she really is suddenly famished, and as she looks around everything looks far more tempting than mall food ought to look. "What are you in the mood for? I could eat an elephant." Sadly, there are no elephant barbeque shacks in the food court.

"Thank you. I already had my bath this morning," Jubilee replies, letting Fern pull her to her feet. "There's a really good Chinese stand on the other side of the court. It's a little early yet for lunch, so maybe we can get there before Wong Woo gets covered up!" She catches Fern's hand and leads off, since she knows the way well. "I don't think he has elephant, but I'm sure there's beef, pork, chicken... no cat. I checked once."

Following along easily to Jubilee's lead, Fern looks truly disappointed. "Aww, no cat? Bummer." She embellishes dramatically with a quick gagging noise that gets an odd look from an old guy trying desperately to appear young in his Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt. She skips sideways to avoid bumping into someone, having absolutely zero desire for any contact with strangers right now.

"Easy, Fern... not everybody shares our sense of humor," Jubilee teases, through giggles. "Let's get our food and sit down before we bowl somebody over!" The tone is light, but that look in her eyes is pure concern. So is the guiding arm that slips carefully around Fern's waist and back. "Just over this way..."

Fern grins at the sage advice, stage whispering back to her friend, "Some people need to lighten up." Actually, this freedom, even among so many strangers, is liberating, but she can't quite stop her sharp eyes from darting around, as if looking for someone. She moves closer to Jubilee easily, giving a little hop as they reach their destination, murmuring, "Safe as houses." Her eyes immediately lift to take in the illuminated menu boards, and the smell of food brings a loud growl from her stomach. "What're you going to have?" she asks, still studying the options.

Jubilee's concerned mood strays down into her smile, but that doesn't stop her from giggling and patting Fern's tummy when it complains of emptiness. "Down, girl! We'd better feed that thing before it comes bursting out of you. I think I'll go with vegetable lo mein noodles, a small portion of cashew chicken, and an egg roll." She stays close to her friend, having felt the other girl ease closer, and repeats the order in rapid Cantonese to Wong Woo, who smiles at the sound of his native language and replies just as rapidly. "What about you? I can order for both of us," she offers.

Fern giggles as well as her stomach is patted, "I might be a little hungry." Elephant! Give her elephant! When Jubilee speaks in Cantonese, Fern looks at her, then grins. "That's so neat. I can only speak Pig Latin. It's not really a marketable skill." She giggles again, then refocuses her attention on the menu. "Hmmmm... beef lo mein, pork chow mein, extra rice, three egg rolls and wonton soup." She pauses, looking to Jubilee, "You want soup, too?"

"With my folks being from mainland China, I grew up with two languages," Jubilee replies modestly. "They moved here before I was born." Her eyes widen as Fern makes her request. "Whoa, Fern, don't they feed you at home?" she asks softly, giggling but looking more closely at the redhead. Funny, she recalls that shirt fitting a lot better, now that she looks...

She tears her eyes away to repeat Fern's order to Wong Woo, who nods and smiles politely to the redhead, then bustles away to prepare the order. "Can you find us a table? I'll get our stuff and meet you there. Someplace kinda out of the way'd be best."

There's a look of unabashed fascination on Fern's face, hearing even a little of Jubilee's story, and then hearing more Cantonese spilling easily from the girl's lips. Her brows lift at the suggestion, "Oh sure, I'll get us by one of the windows," she offers. One hand dips into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out a bill and pressing it into Jubilee's hand, giving no room nor time for argument as she then moves off, hopping a little to see over heads and veering toward the window tables. The twenty should cover even the copious amount of food she herself ordered, combined with Jubilee's order. When she finds them a table, Fern shrugs out of her coat, laying it on a chair back as she turns to look for Jubilee and wave her over.

"But..." Jubilee starts to protest, but quickly falls silent as Fern hurries away. She shrugs and watches her go, frowning thoughtfully.

Wong Woo never prepares an order the wong way, and he's got a tray full of Chinese culinary delights ready for the two girls in just a couple minutes. Jubilee says a quick thank-you and turns... and catches Fern's wave within seconds, hurrying to join her. "Okay... better loosen your belt, Red! He got it all," she says, setting Fern's plate before her, along with a bowl of rice and a little tray holding those three egg rolls. Her own order all fits on one plate and looks surprisingly small, at least to her. She slides into the seat across from Fern. "And here's your change!"

Fern plops into her seat when Jubilee spies her, taking a second to type something into her phone quickly before it disappears into her pocket, switched to quiet mode. Blue eyes look eagerly at the treats brought over. "Score!" she says quietly, then grins up at Jubes. "Wow, it smells sooooo good." The change is taken, deposited without a glance back into her jeans, and she reaches for the chopsticks, not the plastic fork. She proves to be deft with them, digging in at once, and looking up with a mouth full of food that she quickly shoves into her cheek. She holds her hand up, at least covering the food as she talks with her mouth full. "So what have you been doing the past week?"

Jubilee slips a pair of disposable chopsticks from their pouch, smiling approvingly at Fern when she sees her friend do the same. "Last week? Just stuff... school and the like. And worrying, too. I called you lots, Fern, but you didn't answer. Did something happen?" She hasn't forgotten how the redhead freaked when she saw missed calls on her phone. "I wanted to ask back at the fountain, but it was too crowded. I didn't want someone to overhear."

Taking a moment to chew and swallow, Fern pauses before shoving more food into her mouth. She blows out a breath, her lower lip out so that the air blows up and shoos a curl out of her eyes. "I'm sorry you were worried, Jubes," she says sincerely, looking contrite. "I would have called if I could." Her lips press together and she pauses again, then says, "My boyfriend got into something, and I got kinda involved by association." Being clueless about what Jubilee may or may not know about the nefarious sort of things that go on in the city, she isn't sure where to go from there. She pinches up some lo mein in the chopsticks, using it for a brief motion, "Kinda kept us tied up for a week." That's pretty accurate, actually, and the food gets chomped.

Jubilee looks at Fern's loose shirt again. "Literally tied up?" she asks, her smile fading into a worried frown. "You've lost a lot of weight, Red. Even a good diet won't take off that many pounds. And you're kinda jumpy, too."

Fern's eyes raise, sheepishly meeting Jubilee's. "Not quite literally?" she ventures. She picks up an egg roll and takes a bite to buy a minute, then she decides to just come clean. Mostly. "There were some guys after One. Kind of a family thing." They do consider each other Brothers, of a sort, after all. "They caught up with him, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Thin shoulders shrug, as if it was really no big deal, but she admits, "They just kept me. They hurt him." These words are softly spoken, haunted, and she doesn't elaborate, but lifts her head and goes on more brightly. "Some people he knows came for us. Man, they had this huge airplane, too, it was amazing." Of course, she could have enjoyed the novel experience more.

Jubilee's eyes widen again. "Guys after One? And they kept you prisoner?" Beat. "Wait, who's One? I don't think we've met. But you're okay? They got you out all right?" She leans forward interestedly.

Red hair shifts as Fern shakes her head, "No, you haven't met One, he's who all those texts were from." When they met the first time. "Everything's right as rain now. We're safe as houses." She smiles reassuringly with this, but she's not exactly telling the truth. Still, she looks like she is, because she doesn't want to worry Jubilee any further. Instead she moves to focus on something exciting, "I think we got teleported! There was this blue guy, Herr Wagner, and he's got this.... thing... he can do." It's actually hard to explain to someone she doesn't realize likely knows far more than she herself does. "It smelled funny tho, like sulfur." Her nose wrinkles expressively at the memory.

"Your boyfriend," Jubilee replies, with some relief. "I hope he doesn't run into a lot of people like that. It sounds unsafe for near and dear people." She pauses and chopstick-pops some rice into her mouth, chewing as she thinks and displaying the manners her parents drilled into her.

Then she speaks again. "Teleporting and sulfur smells sound a lot like Herr Wagner," she admits with a grin. "I'm glad he was around to help. You're sure you and One are safe now? There won't be any more trouble?"

Fern's eyes widen almost comically, threatening to fall out of her head. "You know Herr Wagner??" She is clearly incredulous, because Jubilee looks.... well, as normal as Fern herself is. "How do you know him?" Her surprise makes her bold, perhaps bordering on rude with her curiosity, but she just can't believe the coincidence. Questions posed to her from Jubilee are forgotten.

"He's a good friend," Jubilee replies, her smile returning. The rudeness she lets pass; she'd probably do the same thing in Fern's shoes. "He's also a mutant, like I am... um, I promise, I don't eat human flesh or microwave little old ladies' artificial hip joints or anything horrible like that," she adds hastily. "Most mutants don't, really."

Thankfully, Fern's jaw doesn't unhinge, but her surprise doesn't lessen any. "You? No way!" She waves her hand dismissively at the suggestion of such weirdness, already learning that there are good guys and bad guys and abilities don't really determine who is who. Now, mindful of so many people around, Fern leans forward and hisses, "You have to tell me all about it! Is it really neat? Do you know many people like you and Herr Wagner? Hey, do you know Warren Worthington too??" Clearly, the pair will have a lot to talk about over their meal. Most of which, incidentally, Fern does chow down on, but she manages to save some (and order more) to take back in a container for One to the warehouse they're temporarily calling home.