2013.03.25 - Ice Is Slippery

Ice skating is a seasonal thing, unless you know a good rink. Those aren't easy to find, despite the popularity of ice sports, simply because of the maintenance costs. But there are a few in Metropolis, and North Point Galleria is one of the better ones. Named for its location in the northern end of the Bronx, it has one of the biggest and best-maintained skating surfaces in the city. It also has an attached mall, restaurants, and plenty of conveniences, like locker rooms.

That's why it's the first choice for Jubilation Lee when she invites her friend Fern to join her for some ice skating. "Not quite shopping on skates, but it's the next best thing," she says, slipping a bill across the ticket booth counter and accepting two tickets in return. She clips hers to the leather bag that holds her skates and skating attire.

Fern laughs, noting, "Well, it seems we always end up shopping, so it's fitting, eh? Thanks, Jubes." She takes the other ticket and holds onto it, having neither skates nor actual skating attire, thus no bag. She tends to travel light, carrying only what she can fit into pockets unless she's going to an audition and knows she'll need more. She moves to hold open a door for the other girl. "I'm glad you suggested this. I was on the ice last week, and sure have lost my footing. Thankfully, Kurt was there to hold me up. But by the end I was getting it back a bit."

"Not that I mind! Even if it's just window-shopping," Jubilee replies, giggling. "Hopefully we can get you back in form this trip, or at least a lot closer to it. I know I'll need practice. These aren't rollerblades!"

She pauses once they're through the door, looking at the signs. "Skate and locker rental... this way! You can put your shoes in my locker, long as they don't mind slumming with high school footwear."

Fern spies the sign at the same time, opening her mouth, but Jubilee beats her to the punch. She laughs again at the footwear remark. "I don't think my boots are particularly snobby, so they should be fine." Despite the heaviness of her boots (the better to kick you with, my dear) Fern steps lightly along with Jubilee, over to the skate rental. She secures her skates, paying in dollar bills, and snatches them up. "Lead on, MacBeth!"

Lockers ho!

"Mac who?" Jubilee asks, blinking in confusion. It doesn't stop her from turning and heading for the locker room once she has her key, but it does make her do it a few seconds later than she would've. The Pause Of Ignorance... ouch.

She pushes the door open, slowing down to hold it open for Fern. "I'll be quick, promise. 182... 182... start from the left and work down, dummy," she murmurs, tracing the numbers up. 50 to a bank means she'll be looking for a bit.

"MacBeth? From the Shakespeare..... nevermind," she ends with a giggle. "I'm the theater geek, not you. I'm surprised you haven't had to read it in school, though, I had to." It was honors English, though, and not at a school anything like Jubilee's. Which Fern is clueless about. She follows Jubilee instead of waiting, tapping lockers lightly as they walk, making a rhythm to their steps. "Don't call yourself dummy," she notes lightly. Since they have a couple banks to traverse, she turns her tapping into a song, something about a lime and a coconut. Whatever it is, it sounds odd, but her voice isn't unpleasant and she's not shy about singing in the middle of a locker room.

Fortunately for both of them, the locker room's nearly empty at this time of day. Not that Fern's singing is bad! "I think I did... I don't remember it, though," Jubes confesses, slowly counting down numbers. "I remember we had to read it out loud, and I got some lady who appeared maybe three times, so it was pretty boring for me." Catching herself humming along with Fern's catchy singing, she giggles as she finally finds the right locker, nodding in satisfaction and keying it open. "Can you hold this for me? It hasn't got a clip or anything, and I can't just leave it in my pocket 'cuz I won't have pants or pockets in a sec." She offers Fern the key.

There are actually good acoustics in the locker room, and Fern stops when Jubilee does, although she doesn't still. Her foot still taps as she gets more boisterous as the song does, raising her voice, "I said doc-TOR! Ain't there nothin' I can take! I said doc-TOR! To relieve this belly ache!" She pauses abruptly, holding her hand out to let Jubilee drop the key into it. "I shall have both pockets and pants, and I will keep your key safe, my darling Jubilee." True to her word, the key is immediately stuffed into her front right pocket, and she goes right back to singing at some volume, "Put de lime in de coconut, drink 'em both together, put de lime in de coconut, den you feel better..." The dancing will likely commence momentarily.

"Thanks, Fern!" Jubilee says with a smile, unzipping her bag and shrugging out of her winter coat. It goes in the locker first, followed by her cap, then she turns her attention to unlacing her high-tops. True to her word, she works quickly, but it's still going to take a few minutes at this rate. "Sounds like a tropical Granny Clampett remedy," she opines cheerfully, stepping out of her jeans and holding them up to fold them. It's a locker room. No reason to feel self-conscious about standing around in one's underpants.

There is definitely an underpants trend with this pair, but, in fairness, they are usually trying something on or changing clothes somehow. "Yeah, it's some old song my folks play a lot. They're a little weird." The words hold distinct affection, and even a wistful hint of homesickness. She finally shrugs out of her own voluminous coat, dropping it to the bench moored to the concrete in front of the row of lockers, and drops the skates to the floor. With a flop she sits, starting to unlace her boots as well, the singing stopped. For now. "So what kind of classes do you take?" she asks, curious about a school where an Angel and Devil both teach.

"I think I'd like your folks," Jubilee says, with a smile for her friend. "They play interesting music." She lays her folded jeans beside her bag and begins slipping out of her layered tees, moving the underpants trend as far as an underwear trend. "Classes? Just stuff, really. It's high school. I did get an art class this year, and I'm enjoying that. I'm thinking about drama next semester..." She trails off, looking thoughtful as she sets down her folded tees and digs into her bag. "What's it like, acting? I've never tried it."

"My folks would adore you. They always like my friends better than they like me," Fern teases lightly. "I was supposed to go home to visit for the Fourth of July, hopefully I'll still be able to." One boot is slipped off her foot and Fern's attention shifts to unlacing the other. "Art class is cool, are you an artist? My oldest brother can draw anything, but I didn't get any of that talent." Pausing with the boot half undone, she looks up to Jubilee, through a curtain of her red hair. "Oh man, it's.... amazing. It's terrifying to audition, and if you get a part rehearsals are great. You become, like, this second family. And the performances..." She stops and sighs dreamily. "When you hit it and you know it, there's just no other feeling like it. And then people clap. Hopefully." She grins with this last word, having experienced the world of non-clapping.

"If they do, they're selectively blind. You're the most fun person I know, Fern Fiddlehead!" Jubilee pulls out a sweater, shaking out the bag-wrinkles carefully. "And I say that as a person who knows some very fun people." She listens, still shaking, as the young actress speaks on the trade. "Sounds like I'll have to try it. I don't know if I'll like it, but the experience sounds like it's not to be missed."

Fern bats her eyelashes at the other girl at such high praise, putting on a Southern lilt, "Why I do declare, you are so very kind, Miss Jubilation Lee." She breaks out into giggles, kicking off the other boot, bending to gather them and leaning to stuff them into the bottom of the locker. "I have a callback this week for a part from Shakespeare In The Park. I'm up for one of the fairy rolls in A Midsummer Night's Dream. You can help me run some lines?" she suggests. "I don't know which one exactly they might put me in, but I'm really hoping to get the fairy that has a nice part against Puck. And I've seen the guys that are up for the part of Puck. There's some hotties."

"Just bein' honest, my deah Miss Fern," Jubilee ripostes playfully, managing a creditable accent despite the fact that she's doing some giggling of her own, and miming an exaggeratedly graceful curtsey, bending low and spreading imaginary skirts wide. She has to put down her sweater, of course, but that shouldn't do it any harm. "Lines? Love to! Can you get an extra copy of the script?" She doesn't, however, mention any familiarity with the play. That probably isn't surprising, though, considering she didn't know anything about The Scottish Play.

The giggles only multiply with Jubilee's return playfulness, and Fern starts getting her skates laced up. "Oh sure," she says, her voice a bit muffled because she's sort of talking to the floor as she laces. "You can use my script, actually. I have the whole thing memorized. I've always been good at that." She knows all the parts and the stage directions, and she uses her ability to try and help the other actors with their cues and lines. "It's kind of a funny play, about these humans who have this mixed-up love thing going on, and they get mixed up with fairies who have their own mixed-up love thing going on." She pauses to sigh again, sitting up with one skate tied. "I would love the part of Titania, the fairy queen, but I know that's above me right now. But Oberon, the fairy king, is always a mega-hunk." She pulls up the word that Jubilee had used to describe Warren Worthington, finding it a perfect fit. And she pauses a moment, picturing the young millionaire decked out in the little costumes that Oberon wears, his wings all white and dazzling, and.... Fern, coughs, and leans to tend to her other skate.

Multiples are mirrored in Jubilee, who is picking up her sweater and gathering it about her forearms to slip it on. "Memorized? Wow. I'd never be able to do that," she admits. "I think I can at least read the parts well. Maybe I can even make 'em sound different, if you help me with the names a little." The last is muffled as she pulls the sweater over her head, pulling at the sleeves and hem to get it properly into place. Then she hears a familiar word, one she's used to describe an acquaintance of hers. "So Oberon always has a hot actor? And there's an impressively hot cast? Sounds like I should accompany you to practice... to carry your costume bag. Or something." Jubilee turns away, bending over her bag to hide a blush. Which leaves her blue-pantied backside perilously close to Fern, but better that than her flaming face!

"I'll help you with everything," Fern says confidently. "You'll be the best in the drama class, if you decide to take it." Ok, she may be over-selling herself just a bit, but if you want to make the big time, you have to have confidence! The second skate is on, and Fern stretches her legs out, clinking the blades together lightly at the toes. "You can totally come with me if I get the part. But," she hesitates, then goes on, "Well, I don't recommend dating an actor. I've done it. Couple times. Mostly, they think sex is a sport and only want to talk about themselves." She wrinkles her nose, showing her distaste with the concept. "I dated this guy when I was just out of high school, we were doing some community theater together. He was all hands and when I wouldn't give in he dropped me like a hot potato. No thanks," she says with finality. "They're nice to look at, and it can even be pretty easy to fall for the part they're playing, but I haven't liked many when I've gotten to know the real guy."

"Love to! And I'll gladly take the help, too. I'd like to get a good grade in /something/ that doesn't involve sketches and paints!" Jubilee replies, pulling out a short white skating skirt and black spandex tights. She sits down next to Fern and begins gathering the tights up, left leg first. "Okay, so look but don't touch? I think I can do that..."

Spending a fair amount of time in tiny dressing rooms with other actresses changing for auditions, Fern isn't phased by the proximity of blue panties, but she still doesn't look at Jubilee directly until she sits to put her tights on. Then she laughs, "Well... I guess you can touch if you want to? Just don't let them do anything you don't want them to do, and don't fall for one of them until you're sure he's not a giant honking asshat." Sage advice, grasshopper.

"Maybe save the touching for after some get-to-know-you time," Jubilee replies sagely, nodding. "I guess I'm a little young to be falling for some actor, anyway. Somehow I doubt any of them are in high school." One leg on, now the other... "Are the fairies in the play interesting? This doesn't sound like /Peter Pan/, or even close." Hey, that was a play, too... a few times.

Fern nods, agreeing, "Yeah, these guys are def ones for you to stay away from. But maybe there'll be someone in your drama class," she says with a waggle of eyebrows and a light jab of her elbow. Then she pauses and actually thinks. "Hey, do you have a boyfriend? And yeah, they're interesting. The language is a little hard to understand. We read the play when I was in school and the teacher 'translated' for us." She giggles at the memory, going on, "One line, one of the guys says 'Tarry rash wanton!' and he explained to us that meant 'Hey, hold on a minute foxy mama'. He was a little seventies."

"Not counting on it. And yeah, boyfriend. And he's totally nice as well as cute. But I can still look!" Jubilee replies, giggling. And evidently she doesn't mind looking. It just usually doesn't involve fairy costumes.

She giggles again as Fern explains the lingo. "Shakespeare's /always/ hard to understand, if I remember right. I was a little glad to only have a few lines in MacBeth, even if I was bored for most of it. On the good side? I don't think anybody'll be telling me to 'tarry rash wanton'!"

Red brows lift with the imparting of this news, and Fern leans forward. "And you haven't mentioned before? C'mon, chicky, spill it! What's his name? What's he like? Does he have any older brothers at home?" Everything else seems to be forgotten in light of this very important discovery!

"Chicky? Sounds like somebody else is a little seventies, too!" Jubilee teases, standing and wriggling the rest of the way into her tights. "As far as I know, he doesn't have any family. He lives alone, he has a talent for ending up in dead-end jobs, and he's not that good at keeping them, either. But the rest of him makes up for all of that. He's good-natured, sometimes a little angry, kind, patient, generous, and plenty cute, too." She sighs softly, smiling as she recalls his face. "And somehow he wasn't snapped up until I found him. Lucky me."

Fern's amusement at Jubilee's accusation falls to abject disappointment at word that there isn't a brother so they can double date. Poop. She listens to the list of the boyfriend's good points, and smiles as Jubilee's expression. "Well, you're young, he's got time to find a decent job. But if he doesn't, I'm gonna have a little talk with him." She's living in pretty dire straits herself right now, and would not stand for a boy not taking care of her friend in proper fashion! "That is pretty lucky." She pauses, face taking a thoughtful cast. "Maybe we should double date sometime. Even tho there's not a brother, a couple guys asked me out recently." Of course, who those guys are might make for a bit of awkwardness.

"I wish there /was/ a brother. A double date would be fun," Jubilee admits, stepping into her skirt and pulling it up. Then her face lights up. "Maybe we can set one up, me with Ben and you with one of the new boys? That'd be totally fab! And I'd get to introduce you to him! And then the only problem would be keeping him from falling in love with my fabulous friend," she adds playfully, giving Fern a mock glare. Grr!

Fern waves her hand, the gesture dismissing Jubilee's last words. "He would be insane to let you go. And I'd kick him in the... Oh! So hey, I guess before we set this all up, I should ask..." She pauses, looking a little pained, a little impish, and a little excited all at once, "How weird would it be, being on a double date with one of your teachers?" Immediately she puts on this smile, all teeth, brows lifting, as if begging her friend to think it's cute and not hit her.

"One of my... Fern, you're dating a faculty member of my school?" Jubilee asks, blinking in surprise. Surprise, not utter incredulousness. Apparently the idea's crossed her mind before. She fastens the skirt she's holding up, then sits down, still looking at Fern as she pulls her skates over and begins putting them on. "Who is it? 'Cuz if it's one of the bunch that doesn't like me, I'd be risking certain death going on a double date, even with you, Fern. Awesomeness is no defense, I swear!"

Fern stands, getting her balance set on the twin blades of the skates, smoothing her jeans out absently. She chews her cheek lightly, a nervous habit, before offering, "Yeah. Maybe two of them?" There's a cough, then a giggle. "We could make it with whichever one you get along with better between Kurt and Warren?" Then her brows arch, and she asks, "Who could possibly not like you? They would have to have a heart of stone."

Jubilee, seeing Fern stand up, reaches up, snagging the back of the redhead's jeans with her hand and pulling back and down, trying to get her friend sitting down again. "Fern, can't /whisper/ if you're way up there," she reminds the taller girl teasingly. "Either one would be okay, really. Just... who do you like better?"

Fern plops back down rather ungracefully, laughing as her butt hits the bench. She sighs and shakes her head, "I don't know. They both have pros and cons, but I don't really know either of them that well yet." Her face sobers and she gives this some serious thought. "Kurt is so easy to be around, and he's thoughtful. He bought me a blue stuffed bunny that I have named Kurt the Bunny," she adds, that light of humor back in her eyes for a moment. "And Warren is nice, but he's.... kinda awkward? It's cute, for a guy with his kind of power, not what I expected." She pauses, then corrects herself, "Well, alright, he and I kind of butted heads when he practically ordered me to date Kurt. I gave him a piece of my mind." She does smirk at this, remembering the kind of shocked look on his face when she stood up to him.

"Kurt /is/ quite the socialite," Jubilee agrees. "And Warren is all that, and attractively not full of himself, even if he's stubborn." She ties the final lace on her skates and rests the runners flat on the floor, flexing her knees to loosen them up. "But Warren wants you to date Kurt... okay, that's totally a twist I didn't expect! Did he say why?"

Fern stands again, reaching to pull Jubilee to her feet as well, eager to get out of the locker room and onto the ice. "Well, they kind of started talking about me in front of me, and I hate that." The recollection brings her grin back. "I told them to decide who was going to ask me out so I would only have one of them to say no to." She starts to lead the way out, kind of hopping sideways on her skates over the padded floor. "So he told me I -will- give Kurt a chance. It was a little cute and a little infuriating."

Jubilee, ready as she'll ever be to skate, lets Fern pull her to her feet and draw her along. She does leave the covers on the blades of her skates for the sake of the floor (and fellow walkers' feet), following her red-haired friend out to the edge of the ide. "So, /will/ you give Kurt a chance? I'd be just as mad as you were; small chance of that, as they think of me as just a kid, but I'd be totally cheesed, too."

Rental skates don't come with blade guards... it's kinda lucky they come with blades at all in most cases, but Fern steps carefully, pausing with Jubilee at the edge of the ice rink. "Of course I'll give Kurt a chance. And Warren. I do want to get to know them, and the only way to do that is spend some time." She looks out over the ice before stepping out, taking in the rather sparse crowd already out there, moving to the music during free skate time.

"But, given a choice, which you have been, which one would you ask out first?" Jubilee asks, pressing the point as she slips off the guards, rolling them up and slipping them into a pocket. Then she steps out, following Fern, though keeping her distance. She doesn't want to run over her friend if she falls. They're both a tad out of practice.

Iceskating? Nate might have seen that on TV at some point, made a mental note to try because it looked fun, and then forget about it for months. There are just too many interesting things to try and not enough hours in the day! At seeing the ice rink, though, he remembers, and has been watching the skating for a few minutes. It doesn't look very hard. And he thinks he knows at least one of the skaters just arriving.

And as people end up on the rink, there is at least one person already on it. All though this person hasn't really been skating. Or moving. Sure they're wearing skates, but well....

Just leave it to Laura Kinney to find the lone spot where shadows fall on the rink, and for now to be standing in said shadows. After all, she's not exactly known for being social.

Fern pushes off, gliding onto the ice... for a moment. Then she wobbles. Still, she manages to recover with a bit of ungainly pinwheeling of her arms, until her balance returns and she glides again. "No one saw that," she mutters, before replying to Jubilee. "Honestly, I dunno." There's a blow of air through her mouth, directed with her lips to blow her hair out of her eyes. Gaining her 'sea legs' (ice legs?), Fern gains confidence in her stride, striking out away from Jubilee and beckoning her forward. "C'mon, princess." It might be noted that, while Fern is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, Jubilee is dressed for skating.

Jubilee takes a few steps, stumbling once as she tries to glide, but quickly regains the hang of it, and picks up speed, giggling at Fern's remark about her stumble. "Nope, they didn't," she replies with a wink. "And The Great Date Debate continues."

And then Fern pulls away! "Oh, no fair!" Jubes says, giggling and pumping to catch up. "You're used to this already!" She is too, really, but it's more fun to banter than to just blandly coast along. Her black, silver-glittered sweater, white pleated skirt, and black spandex tights could almost qualify as a skating costume.

Nate is pretty sure he knows Jubilee, but it takes him a minute to spot Laura, someone he definitely knows. Also, someone he definitely didn't expect to see here. X-23 can ice skate? Color him surprised. He stands up and walks to the side of the rink, "Laura, hello! I think you are supposed to run around in circles and try not to fall down, what are you doing there hiding and lurking?"

And Laura is in black. Black jeans. Black hoodie. Heck, somehow she even ended up with a black pair or skates from the rental counter. All though as Jubilee and Fern 'skate' past her, the girl in black starts to push off the wall, as if trying to surprise them. Only to gets that 'hello'. After all, she may have smelled him, but still...

As she pulls over towards Nate for a moment, Laura says a single word.

"Training."

Fern laughs, calling back to Jubilee, "Ok, I cheated a little. I was just ice skating with Kurt a few days ago." Not a date, tho, just an unexpected meeting in Central Park. Of course, laughter must be punished. Fern's attention is first caught by the voice from the side, then she's startled by the figure in black and the toe of her skate digs into the ice, catching, and sending her sprawling with a soft 'oof!' as she hits. Stomach first on the ice, she squeaks, "Cold!"

Jubilee winces in sympathy, seeing Fern go down. She swings wide and circles back. "Fern! You okay?" she asks, carefully sliding over and offering her hands to the fallen redhead. She's steady enough on her skates now that this should be pretty easy. Should be. Not that she doesn't see Nate and Laura, and give them a smile and a nod each, but Fern's more important right now.

Nate tilts his head, peers at Laura, then shakes it. "Should have known." He flops back on a seat and puts in his skates himself. Some might call it training, but he is just curious. He pauses briefly to wave when Jubilee spots him, "okay, so training," he heads for the ice, walking somewhat clumsily on the blades.

And yes, Jubilee gets that wave returned, before yet again, Laura pushes off while Nate gets his skates on. This time though, the girl in black heads right towards Fern. Not fast (after all, she doesn't want to loose control), but she does head that way so hopefully she can stop and echo Jubilee's question.

"Are you all right?"

There's nothing like a cold belly to make someone move that little bit faster, and Fern is pretty quick to get her feet back under herself, staying crouched to pull her shirt back down to cover the bare strip of stomach. She smiles at Jubilee first, reaching for the helping hands to straighten, laughing softly, "And Karma smacks me upside the head. Er.. stomach. Serves me right." She looks to the girl in black, her smile still steady and friendly, "Yeah, thanks. Would have been better if I fell on my head, less to damage." She wrinkles her nose and brushes ice shavings off herself.

Seeing Fern slipping should have clued in Nate that ice skating might not be that easy. But of course, it didn't. He hops into the ice, and attempts to walk forward towards the girls. Two seconds later he is on his back on the ice. Ice is slippery, who knew?

"No. More damage. Hurts more and takes longer to heal too." is said by Laura in a flat, emotionless tone to Fern, before she adds a slight, "I know from experience." and offers the other woman a hand up.

And no, she doesn't share what that experience is.

Of course as she hears Nate fall, the girl in black doesn't even have to look his way before she shakes her head slightly.

"Karma and the ice, anyway," Jubilee agrees, giggling and helping Fern up, assisted by Laura's offered hand. She helps with the brushing, getting small spots that her friend misses. "Thanks, Laura! Fancy meeting you here!" The serious girl having fun? Who would've thought it?

She glances over at the sound of someone else suffering the same fate as Fern. "Ouch! Falling looks like a popular pastime today," she murmurs sympathetically. Leaving Laura to steady Fern, she half-stoops and reaches over to offer Nate a hand up, catching hold of Laura's jeans to anchor herself in place.

Fern doesn't hesitate to grab onto both of the younger girls, and keeps hold of Laura lightly for a moment longer as Jubes moves to help Nate. She's noted Laura's rather literal interpretation of her joke, but Fern is a waitress. She's used to all kinds of people, from those who joke about everything to the polar opposite who wouldn't know a joke if it tickled them. "Well, you do have a point there, I suppose even my head could end up hurt worse," she says lightly, with a soft laugh. Then it dawns on her that Jubilee addressed the other girl by name. "You know each other? Cool! Hey, I'm Fern, nice to meetcha." The greeting is offered easily as Fern lets go of Laura, steady on her blades again. She looks past, "Hey, dude, ya ok there?"

Nate sits up and throws a skeptic look at Jubilee. Because she is tiny and trying to help him up from the ice is likely to end with both of them down again. And anchoring to Laura does not seem such a great idea either, she is about the same size. Time to cheat. He takes the offered hand but stands up mostly using telekinesis. "Thanks, this looked easy five minutes ago," he explains. With a tilt of her head towards Nate, Laura says, "Know her. And him." in her same emotionless tone towards Fern, even as Jubilee grabs her waistband.

All though towards the asian sensation, there is a flat, "Training." as if explaining why she's here.

And of course Nate just gets another shake of her head before the girl in black says, "Nothing is ever easy."

"Yup. But I figured the introductions could wait 'til we were all on our feet again," Jubilee replies teasingly to Fern. "Fern, Laura. She doesn't talk much. Laura, Fern. She's an actress, so she has to talk a lot. You balance out nicely!"

And she helps Nate up... maybe. There's not much of a pull on her helping hand, less than she's putting on Laura's jeans, actually! The teenager's eyes widen a bit, but she smiles at the joke. "It always looks easy 'til you get on the ice. You okay?"

She might not talk much, according to Jubilee, but she obviously uses the words she decides to say wisely, and Fern nods to Laura's assessment. "Boy, ya got that right. But, if everything was easy life would be boring." Still, some things could be easier. Le sigh. She pauses, letting Nate get to his feet, before he's offered a fingerwiggle wave. "Hey." Any friend of Jubes, and any friend of a friend of Jubes.... well, it's just always fun to meet new people. She looks to Jubilee. "More school friends?" At this rate, she'll have met everyone at this particular school before much longer.

"I am alright," replies Nate with a grin. "Falling here seems easy," he notes, glancing at Laura, always so full of negative pseudo-wisdom. "And I am Nate. Not a school friend, really." He had met both young women before discovering that school, after all. "But we do have... some common interests, I guess."

Strangely enough, Laura sniffs the air before tilting her head at Nate. After all, she has noticed this before, but never commented...

"Like who you smell like."

Then though there's a nod at Fern.

"Yes. I know her from the school." Pause. "An actress?"

And considering that tug that Jubilee did, there is a brief flash of black panties before Laura adjusts her pants.

"More like not-school friend," Jubilee replies, stifling giggles. "Nate, this is Fern, actress. Fern, Nate, well-meaning klutz. Nate, Laura, wearer of black undies." She lets go of Laura, flexing her shoulders to ease their stiffness. All that tugging on things adds up. "Just here to try the skating, Nate?"

And the Jubilee/underpants connection continues! Fern can't help but giggle, but still there's a curiosity to her eyes as Laura talks about who Nate smells like? She sniffs, but she's only got a normal nose, and can't detect anything out of the ordinary. It just smells like ice in here, to her. Laura gets a nod, but Fern is honest about it. "Well, Jubilee is a little generous, but I want to be an actress. Right now my steady gig is acting like a waitress most of the time." Gotta make money to pay for rent somehow.

Fern's inability to stand still for long periods (unless it's in the script) shows as she pushes off and navigates a slow circle around the little gathering. As she passes Nate she sniffs again, unobtrusively, still not catching anything that Laura caught.

"I knew Laura, and she likes black too much," comments Nate. The comment about the small draws a blank look from him. "Hey, I bet you also fell down the first time you tried to skate, give me a break." Fern sniffing gets another /look/. "What kind of actress? Movies or plays?"

There's no comment about why Laura wears black so often. At least not from Laura. Nor is there a comment about if she likes it or not. Instead she just silently listens to the others as she stands there, while mentally keeping track of Fern as she circles.

And no, there is no follow up on her earlier smell comment either.

"Several times. But I didn't do it /just now/," Jubilee replies, winking at Nate. Laura's sniffing is something she's gotten used to, and she stifles more giggles as she sees Fern trying to see what the dark-haired girl is smelling.

Then there's a /sound/... an electronic sound. Drat, it's her phone. "Fudgesicles... sorry, I've gotta take this," she murmurs, pulling out her phone and skating back towards the locker rooms. "Ciao! Back soon!"

Fern toes herself to a stop again, looking at Nate with a smile. "Plays. Well, I keep trying out for plays, anyway. But I've got a callback for a part in the Shakespeare in the Park this year." She lifts one hand with these words, crossing her fingers for luck. "I still won't know for sure if I get a part until sometime next week." Jubilee's modified curse gets another giggle, and Fern uncrosses her fingers to wave. "Alright, but hurry up, or I'm going shopping without you." It's Jubilee, of course they chose a rink with a mall attached. Her eyes settle on Laura, and she offers, "I've met some of the people from the school. Kurt Wagner, Warren Worthington, Bobby Drake. Jubes, of course. Everyone seems really nice." She's also noticed the common factor they share, having some ability. While Fern was considered gifted in her Ohio school, it's not at all like the gifted that gets one into the Academy.

There's a silent nod from Laura as Jubilee heads off. All though as Fern lists off those names...

The girl in black pauses. And even offers Fern an odd look. After all, some of them...

"I see. You know some of the teachers, and Jubilee."

Yeah. That has her slightly curious. Curious enough that she in turn flashes Nate a bit of a questioning look as well.

Nate was sure she did. Jubilee looks like the kind of girl that does not look before jumping. And... cell phones are evil, "see you later," he mentions in passing. He smiles genuinely at hearing Fern is trying to become a theatre actress, "that is great... wait, Shakespeare in the Park? When is this happening? I have to see it. Man, I miss acting, one of the few things I miss from, er... before I got to New York." Smile is gone. He does try to move forward again, there is some tentative advance.

Fern notes the look from Laura, and she's quick to explain, "I met Herr Wagner at the Shakespeare auditions. He brought Mr. Drake by the restaurant where I work. Bumped into Mr. Worthington in Central Park. And Jubilee while shopping." That last one is probably the most expected. Granted, even Fern thinks it's some kind of weird coincidence that she's met so many people from the same place, most of them so independently of one another. "And now you out ice skating," she adds cheerfully. Her attention swivels back to Nate, "They'll be putting on the plays from the end of May through August. It's free, you should come by. Especially if I get into A Midsummer Night's Dream," she adds, a gleam in her eye. "I'll need all the moral support I can get." Red brows lift expressively, "You act? You should hit some auditions!" She pauses, watching Nate's attempt at progress.

While that isn't exactly what caught Laura's interest, or her concern, it is enough to cause her to nod ever so slightly at Fern.

"I see." is said.

Or at least that is before she hears the suggestion that Nate should join in an audition. Because the mental image that comes from /THAT/...

Well... It causes something very rare to happen.

That's right, Laura lets out a brief, momentary giggle at that thought, before just as suddenly she clams up and goes back to looking neutral and emotionless.

Nate hmphs, noncommittally. Step-step-slide. Yeah, he got it. "Yeah, I acted for a few years, part time. While I... "blew up train track of a tyrannical mutant empire and dodged giant robots. No, that does not work, not when Fern has a link to other mutants from Xavier's already. "...was pretty much living on the road. I had a weird upbringing. But I definitely want to act again. And I will go to watch every play if I can." He turns to the quiet brunette. "You should come too, you could... ah, train your acting." Snerk. Also, he wasn't looking ahead, so he slips and falls on his back, again. Stupid ice.

She should have reached out when she thought to, but Fern has learned caution around New Yorkers. They aren't like the people she grew up with, and some of them get downright anti-social if you so much as touch them. But as Nate goes down again she pushes toward him, gliding easily and then stopping with her hand offered out, digging into the ice lightly with one toe to hold her in place. There's a sympathetic nod to Nate's words. "I've met a lot of people who've spent time in the streets. It's sad that anyone has to." Her voice is sympathetic, but not really pitying. No one likes to be pitied. She glances over at Laura, hearing a sound she already didn't expect from the serious young woman, but the other girl has already sobered again. Did she really hear that?

Train her...?

"No. Already trained in that."

Huh? Wha?

It only takes a moment, and it's as if Laura's body language changes. She offers a weak smile, hunches ever so slightly, and takes a few steps forward on her skates, and well... She's gone from serious and emotionless to something along the lines of a meek defenseless looking girl.

She even keeps that up for a little bit, before returning to 'normal' and just skating normally.

Streetswhat? "It was not..." Nate has to catch himself, because the explanation would be too complicated. "Nevermind," he takes Fern's hand and stands up again. "Laura, you are a mouse, and that is in a good day, otherwise you are a shadow." He smirks, tries a few more steps, and sliiiiding. "At least you should go to watch a few plays. Hell, I am going to talk to Kurt so he assigns that to you as homework."

Fern watches the change in Laura, smiling as the girl shows quite an aptitude for changing her demeanor. "Do me a favor and don't start trying out for parts in plays. The competition is tough enough." Her voice is a light tease, her good nature showing. She doesn't let got of Nate's hand unless he withdraws it, instead offering some advice. "Plant yourself solidly over one foot, and push off with the blade of the other foot. Then plant the other foot, and push with the first." Her feet are positioned as she talks to demonstrate what she means, although she can't yet get more than arm's length from the young man. Wait, didn't he say he doesn't go to the school. "You know Kurt? That's cool." There's a distinct fondness for the fuzzy blue elf in her tone.

There's simply a nod at Fern as Laura says, "I won't."

There's no explanation why. Just that she won't.

Nate on the other hand gets a hard look and two words as well.

"You won't."

Yet again, there's no explanation to him either.

"Yes, I will," replies Nate, still smirking. Back to Fern, he tries to follow her advice. Nice, it works. He should have picked some minds for instructions before, but that is cheating. "So you know Kurt well? That is interesting. Did you meet because of the whole Shakespeare business?"

Fern isn't uncomfortable by Laura's brief replies, but she does make a gentle attempt to draw her out a little. "There's worse things than watching a play. Maybe you'll come out with some friends if I get the Shakespeare gig?" She nods to Nate, encouraging him, "Yeah, that's it, you're getting it now." His hand still isn't released as she helps steady him until he feels confident enough to take off on his own.

"I don't know Kurt terribly well. Yet. After we met at the park, he helped me out of a jam." She doesn't elaborate out loud, but her thoughts drift. Something that looks an awful lot like a prison cell, but not quite; a room that looks like a hospital room, a man hooked up to machines; then Kurt and two women and a feeling of 'rescue'. Her smile never falters, and the images are quick, something she doesn't like remembering, something still near and raw. "How do you know him?"

All that anyone is gonna get from Laura right is short replies unfortunately. Oh well.

"No. You won't." is yet again said to Nate as Laura starts to lag behind the pair.

All though as Fern speaks up, there is a shrug.

"Maybe. And he is a teacher at the Institute."

"I met him through my father," semi-explains Nate. He catches some of Fern's thoughts, and assumes she met Kurt in the course of a superheroing activity, which means... he needs to dig a little, Xavier's is supposed to be a great secret. "Remind me to tell Kurt to make Laura go watch Shakespeare. In the case I forget." Take that, clawy girl.

Fern can't help the grin at the little back and forth between Nate and Laura, and she finally releases Nate's hand, pushing away to let him go it alone. She executes a turn, swinging back around toward the lagging Laura. "He's been really thoughtful. Kurt has," she adds as an afterthought. There's a soft laugh as she nods to Nate, "Like I'm gonna get in the middle of this? I just met Laura, I don't need to give her something to hold against me by taking a teacher's side." She looks to the other girl, giving her a quick nose wrinkle. From anyone else it would be a wink, but Fern is, sadly, wink impaired. The redhead looks toward the locker room, "I wonder what's keeping Jubes."

And Nate only now is getting that thought...?

If Laura were one to facepalm, now would be a good time for her to do that.

Instead, and yet again, Laura simply says, "No. You won't."

Before she blinks and glances around at Ferns words. While she appreciates the not taking a side bit, the girl in black says, "Nate is not a teacher." before she sniffs the air.

"And I will find Jubilee."

And with that she up and starts to head for the exit of the rink.

Nate manages not to fall again when Fern releases him. Go him. Laura's leaving makes him sigh. "She should be more fun to tease, really, always so serious. Ah, go find Jubilee, you wanted to go shopping, didn't you? See if you can get Laura to buy something colourful. I will be alright, I have the falling down trick mastered."

"No, I meant..." Fern starts, but she lets her voice taper off as Laura turns to go scare up Jubilee, "Kurt." She watches the girl go thoughtfully, before her attention returns to Nate. "She does seem kind of serious, yeah. Some people just are, though." Fern isn't, but she run across all kinds of people, and at least makes attempts to be understanding about differences. Like she does for blue guys and guys with wings.

There's a pause as she assesses Nate's progress, then her smile blooms fully again. "You look like you're getting the hang of standing up, too. By far the more important trick." She pushes again, this time drifting backwards, "Nice to meetcha, Nate. Hope I get to see ya again soon." There's a wave before she turns, skating off after Laura to go find Jubilee.