2013.07.06 - In the Summer Time

Sand starts to push between Ben Reilly's toes as he moves across Brighton Beach. A red bathing suit with bits white and black hangs loosely to his lower frame. Stares are tossed at him as people do admire the frame of a guy that works out regularly and moonlights as a super hero. After a few minutes Ben breathes out then pulls out his phone.

Pulling out a number Ben sends out a text he hopes go through, "I'm at the beach and well...I've missed you a lot lately. Would love it if you were able to join me out on the beach, I'll grab an umbrella and everything. Bring towels though. Please Come. Please. Please. Please." And deep down he wouldn't be opposed if Jubilee leers at him like some of the beach folk are right now. He's not used to being attractive given years of being a nerd.

Slowly he trudges to nab a beach umbrella and some sunscreen before he nabs a spot. Hopefully Jubilee would be able to join him. He breathes out and looks at his phone anxiously.

Jubilee always has her phone with her. Well, not in the shower or the bathroom, 'cuz that's just creepy. But just about everywhere else. So when Ben looks down, he finds a reply:

>BEN!!! Missed u too! Can be there in twenty, as long as the bus doesn't get stuck in traffic. See you soon! XOXOXO <3 <3 <3!<

And the Chinese-American teenager's as good as her word. It's a little closer to twenty-/four/ minutes, but close counts, right? Clad in jogging shorts, a tee bearing a symbol seen on the good guys in a recent robot movie, and a bright yellow windbreaker, along with her signature shades and earrings, she hurries down from the boardwalk, looking all around for her favorite guy.

Seeing the bright yellow windbreaker causes Ben starts to hop up and down frantically. "JUBILATION! JUBILATION! JUBILATION!" he cries out toward the woman waving his arms. Hopefully she would see him. A white beach umbrella is propped open nearby him as he manages to find an okay spot in the crowd of beach goers. In a novelty sand bucket rests some ice and two bottles of coke chilling.

Jubilee's sharp eyes pick out Ben just before he starts hopping, which has her stifling giggles as he bounces up and down on the sand, waving like a hyperactive windmill. She dashes to meet him anyway, all but diving into his arms to hug him fiercely. "Ben!" And for a long moment, she doesn't say anything else, letting the hug speak for her. Maybe he can speak, if she's not cutting off his airflow!

Smiling at the hug one of his hands runs up her back then through her hair. "God I missed you," he whispered to her while the other arm wraps back around her tightly. Even before confessing to Black Cat and Longshot that he missed her, Ben knows he has missed his Jubilee. Looking down at her he tilts her face upward then kisses her deeply. Like Jubilee with the hug, Ben is letting the kiss show all of the emotion he carries for her.

Jubilee /mmms/ softly, enjoying the closeness. "I missed you, too-MMMMMM!" The last is a surprised yelp into Ben's mouth as he kisses her... but she slowly relaxes into the kiss and returns it. Of course, she has to stand on tiptoes and hold on with her arms around his neck to keep gravity from pulling them apart. Ben's not big, but she's still smaller than he is.

When the kiss ends Ben smiles down at her, "I love you Firecracker," the smile pulling at his face is enormous. "I got us a spot. Umbrella, drinks, and Sunscreen. Did you bring the towels and a sight that will get people to stop staring at me as they will look at something prettier than me?" His hands are reluctant to let go of her but slowly do so.

The kiss finally parts, letting Jubilee gasp for air. "Whew! You really know how to say hello, Bugman," she whispers, trying not to giggle. She tips her head back and kisses him on the cheek, then steps back. "I have towels," she replies, patting the tote bag slung over her shoulder, which she unslings and sets down next to the umbrella. "And... I dunno about something prettier than you. You're a tough act to follow," she teases, running a hand over his chest. "But we'll see." She winks and shrugs out of her jacket.

Smiling at her hand on his chest, "I think I'm a weak opener when you're around." He watches her shrug out of the wind breaker. Then he whispers, "Wait til' later and I can give you a better hello Firecracker," Ben tosses his girlfriend a wink. Both eyes stay glued to her.

"I might just hold you to that, Ben," Jubilee replies, keeping her voice soft and tracing a finger up his chest. Then she playfully tosses the windbreaker at him, letting it drape over his head to give her some cover so she can finish getting out of her traveling outfit!

Shivering a little at her touch Ben is suddenly blindsided by the coat. "No fair! If you can enjoy my swimsuit I should be able to do the same!" Pulling it away he looks at her again then turns to give her a moment pulling out only one towel then spread it on the ground, "Just for that only one towel for us. If you want to keep yourself out of the sand you're going to just have to lay on top of me and snuggle," his words have a 'so there!' tone as he plays around. Laying on the towel Ben looks up at the woman. Everything feels like old routine the second they're together. Whether it's been hours, days or weeks, Jubilee and him always click like their last time together was just minutes ago.

"Scarlet /Brat/," Jubilee teases, quickly hiding a look of dismay. It's a public beach! But she shucks her shorts all the same, dropping them on top of the tote bag, then shrugs off her tee...

Wearing anything even remotely cute makes Jubilee look twelve years old, so she's gone for fairly modest and simple, the former just to keep the faculty at school happy. About the only thing eye-catching about her two-piece is the color, a shade of rose about one grade below shocking pink. Fortunately, the rest of her can keep up with the attention it draws: She's petite but well-formed, with the grace and confidence of a gymnastic background. Jubes pirouettes casually and leans down, bracing her hand on her knee, posing playfully. "So, whatcha think?"

Pulling out his phone Ben starts to snap photos, "Now give me a pout," his voice has taken on an accent. "Remember the camera and photographer loves you! Pose a little more. Make the camera want you more than the camera man already does!" More photos go off until he closes the phone, "I'm a big fan," he says trying to be modest. "I will have to make sure Johnny doesn't see you like that or else things will be awkward."

Jubilee laughs and obliges, striking one pose after another, enchanting, sultry, goofy... and then Ben closes the phone. "No way I could forget," she replies, moving to sit down beside him. See? When you're small, you can find a way to share a towel without making a public make-out spectacle! "But who's Johnny?"

Smiling Ben lays back then pulls Juiblee on top of him. Clearly someone doesn't care about making a spectacle of himself. Holding her close he breathes out a second, "Well, you know how I'm serious about us? And how I love you, right?" A blush runs through his face. "Iwantyoutomeetmyfamily," the words are muttered as he speaks to his girlfriend. Looking at her he breathes out then says, "I want you to meet my family. Johnny is my pseudo brother who I recently met after he walked out of an elevator wearing a woman's robe and three women moved out behind him. Clearly everyone seemed happy with the night before. I mentioned your heritage and immediately had to say 'HANDS OFF! MINE!' before he could say anything."

Jubilee gives an inarticulate little squeak of surprise as Ben pulls her over on top of him! "I /think/ I'm getting the idea," she murmurs, blushing as pink as her bikini.

And then Ben tries to tell her what he's got in mind. It takes a couple tries. Jubilee's eyes widen. "Wow... you're serious, all right! But if you really want me to meet this ladykiller, I'm game. And I'll only have eyes for you," she adds, lowering her voice. She kisses the tip of his nose. "'Cuz I love you, too. Totally."

He gives her butt a playful slap then brown eyes stare at her, "Although one day if you ever want to leave my place whilst I only wear a robe you're welcome to it." Giving the woman a wink he kisses her deeply. Pulling her closer to him his arms wrap around Jubilee as he holds her tightly. "Just to make him jealous," another wink is given to the woman.

Before long he admits, "I missed you. Even spent some time talking to Longshot and his friend about it," another blush runs through his face. He leaves out some details about Longshot's friend. However, the action did happen.

"Ooh! Down, boy!" Jubilee protests lightly, her body stiffening in surprise at that slap. Then she gets kissed again. This time she's quicker to kiss him back. "I think robe-leaving day is gonna have to wait a while," she whispers. "But not 'cuz I want it to."

She looks deep into his eyes as he speaks... and onto his cheeks, seeing that blush. "Missed you like crazy, Ben. How is Longshot? And who's his friend?"

"You know my door has an open policy if you ever wanted to swing by, if you need a place to stay one night, or just need a place to crash until you find your own place after you're done with school. Mi casa es su casa," Ben says giving off one of the few Spanish phrases he knows. "When the time is right for strung about clothing and robe wearing. I just know I want it to be you Jubes," a hand strokes her face and love twinkles in his brown eyes. He gets lost in her face until she asks questions about Longshot's friend.

Panic runs through his eyes then he whispers, "Can you keep a secret about Longshot?" His body shakes with nervousness. Breathing out to center himself he waits for Jubilee's response.

"I know, and I totally appreciate it," Jubilee replies sincerely, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek again. "It's kinda small... somehow, I don't think I'd mind at all."

Then Ben's face changes, and Jubilee blinks in surprise. "Whoa... I can, but maybe I shouldn't ask. Ben, is this bad? The dangerous kind of bad?"

Breathing hard Ben begins to explain, "Remember how I told you about a girl I sorta had a crush on before some crazy-asian woman swept me off my feet? And that said girl was a villain. A thief to be exact, and that she had a boyfriend, unbeknownst to me, who set me up for a fall." Pausing for a moment, "Longshot was the boyfriend. When Longshot was allowed on the team it was agreed that he would stop seeing her. Well, he hasn't." Pausing for a moment to choose his words Ben just comes clean, "I tried playing matchmaker with the two of them recently. I know what it's like to be forced to give up the things you care about. I'd kill to go to the person I think is my Aunt and just give her a hug. After thinking on it I didn't want to put Longshot through a similar thing. Well, I brought the two of them together only to find out that they ummm," there's a long pause, "Haven't stopped dating. If they did it lasted for the two hours Longshot waited to be shown the Terminal before slipping off to her apartment that he didn't leave until midday the following day."

Recalling the story causes Ben's nerves to die down a lot. Still he always feels a little bad when confessing to Jubilee there was a crush before they started dating. Jubilee is Ben's world and he doesn't want to break that world. "And seeing them so in love and happy made me miss you more than I already did. I ended up talking to them, whilst in costume, about how amazing you are. Never mentioned a name just said I have a girlfriend and she's amazing, lovely and all sorts of things." Ben's face starts to redden and nearly match his shorts as he blushes once more.

"Jubilee winces faintly. "So Longshot's broken his promise," she murmurs, "and he's keeping the team in the dark about it. That does worry me a little. Stuff like that really hurts teams and friendships, no matter how cool the girlfriend is." She's known some pretty interesting thieves herself. She leans down and kisses him on the cheek again. "I know you're gonna start apologizing for having that crush on her. Don't. Seriously. It's in the past." She smiles wryly. "Guy as cute as you, Ben, I never thought for a second I was your first love. I'm just glad to be on the list. Especially when you're so happy to say how amazing I am," she adds teasingly, tapping his nose with a fingertip.

"That's their business in my book but if he didn't break it before me, I would have helped break it." Then a blush runs through him, "Yeah. You kind of are my first love," again his face turns as red as the swimsuit. "You were my first genuine friend as Ben. I liked the girl but I didn't love her. You, I love. So by that right, you're my first love. Lots of firsts so far." Blushing he looks at her kissing her finger and reaching for one of the cokes in the novelty bucket, "We can lay on the beach all day. Go to the Mall. Whatever the lady wishes," he pulls off the top to the glass bottle then offers her the first sip.

"I think so too, personally, but lying to your team's not a good thing. It makes for trouble," Jubilee whispers. "Maybe they won't be mad, though." She slides off of Ben and nestles in close beside him, giving him a smile. "Maybe the mall, later. But for now, right here's just fine." She kisses him on the cheek again, then takes that offered sip of Coke. She can't teach the world to sing, but she's more than happy to be part of a perfect harmony.