Remy and Jubilee log

[x-jubilee.livejournal.com]

Date: Backdated to 25th April 2005 Time: 3:40pm
What Happens: Jubilee goes to find out what Remy has been up to, and they get to talking about scars and other things.




Jubilee wandered up to the boathouse, in no particular hurry. It was a beautiful day outside, the sky that perfect shade of blue and she could see sparkles of light on the water. She wasn't sure if Remy would be in but she'd wanted to stop by and say hello now that he was back. She hadn't really talked to him much since that night she'd been in medlab and she felt it well past time she checked in. She'd have to watch that now that she was going to be doing x-men training as well. Losing touch with people wasn't what she wanted at all.

Remy had finally decided to take a day off. After his kidnapping of Amanda and the talk with Lorna, he's realised that he was pushing too hard, and was skating burnout pretty closely. He was too good at what he did to make a rookie mistake like that, and with uncharacteristic kindness, had given Jake the day off too. Now he was lounging in one of the deck chairs, a stack of papers beside him, a book that Nate had reccomended, and his shirt off as he enjoyed a sunny spring morning.

Jubilee grinned as she approached the dock, admiring the view. Sure, Remy was old but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate his charms. "You're gonna spoil your pasty look if ya keep layin' out in the sun, Gumbo. Then you won't be able to pull off broodin' goth anymore." she called out, humor clear in her voice.

"Pasty? You impugning Remy's alabaster skin, chere?" LeBeau said without opening his eyes. Nate's book must have been sinking in. Remy was fairly pale, but the range of scars still showed, from the pale white lines around his muscles to the ugly puckered pink knot on his right shoulder. They were the only signs that the body wasn't that of a well developed teenager.

Jubilee studied the pink scar on his shoulder, jumping up onto the dock and sinking down next to Remy's deck chair, crossing her legs.

"I just calls them how I sees them, Dude. Heard you were back." she replied, studying the other scars. She wondered if she would have scars someday. Being an x-man was obviously not going to be a cakewalk and there was always the possibility of injuring. "So, you stayin' for long this time?"

"Not exactly sure." Remy opened his eyes and sat up. "Jake and I have to be in Instanbul next week. After dat," Remy shrugged. His job was one of those things that might he was always going to be coming and going, just to try and stay ahead of the game. Remy reached down to the cooler beside his feet and pulled out the bottle of white wine that had been cooling in it, and refilled his glass. He offered a second with a nod.

"Corruptin' a minor, Dude? Shame on you." Jubilee said, but took the glass with a grin.

She'd not had a lot of chance to drink wine, and it always went to her head.

She refused to admit to being a cheap drunk though, she was merely uneducated in the joys of alcoholic beverages was all. "Always wanted to see Istanbul. Well, always wanted to see anywhere that wasn't America. Only been ta China though. What's it like? Travellin' to foreign ports at the drop of a hat?"

"Tiring. Airports all smell de same." Remy took a sip of his wine and leaned back again. "De thing dat you notice is not de difference, chere, but de similarities. De same sorts of things, people, just a different wrapping. Don't usually have time to do de tourist thing, you know?"

"Yeah. Must suck though, always goin' somewhere new but never really havin' the time ta hang out an get ta know the place. How do you know you've lived, if ya ain't got anyone that'll remember you were even there?" Jubilee replied, sipping at the wine and making a face.

She couldn't really describe the taste, maybe dry? It didn't have the sweetness of the cocktails she usually drank.

"Think dat Remy could prefer a few people forgetting him dese days." Remy grinned, lounging obviously. "So, heard dat you just joined de leather brigade. Fitted wit' you very own S&M gear and everything."

Jubilee laughed, leaning back and relaxing. Remy had that effect on her for some reason, maybe it was just that she knew he wasn't the judging type.

"Yeah. Just finished up all the stuff Scott gave me to read. Team mission briefings, procedures, lots of stuff. Have ta go see him an organise stuff later. Haven't got the leather gear yet though. What do you think? Somethin' with a mini skirt? High kicks would really distract the enemy." Jubilee replied.

She knew that a few people thought she wasn't taking things seriously, she just couldn't help her natural inclination to make light of any situation. It made things easier to deal with. It didn't mean she was treating it lightly though.

"All depends what you wearing under it, chere." Remy nodded and took another sip. It seemed that most of the students had ended up in the new trainee roster. "Or not wearing under it, for dat matter." After all, Remy considered, it would distract him.

"That would be tellin'. Lady has to have some secrets, afterall." Jubilee replied flippantly, taking another sip of her wine.

She could feel it now, a slight heat flushing her cheeks and a fuzzy tingling in her fingertips. She pushed them against each other, suddenly intrigued by the sensation.

"Scott made me write down why I wanted ta be an X-men, ya know. Seems like people're alway gettin' me to write things down. Got some kinda paper fetish or somethin'."

"Helps you organize your thoughts. Lots of operational profiles get written down just to fix dem in de persons head. Know dat's why I do it." Remy nodded, noting Jubilee's sudden finger interest and mentally cutting her off. A glass of wine wasn't going to hurt any one, but getting one of the students hammered by noon would likely get him a talking to from the Professor.

"Nate used ta get me to do it too. Made me make a list of all the things I did wrong once. Felt stupid writin' it all out like that but it drove the point home." Jubilee replied, placing the now empty glass beside her on the deck. "You ever wonder if we're fated to do the stuff we do, Gumbo? Or if it's all just random? Family in China were all buddhists an I think they were wantin' me to be as well. But, I don't get religion much. Seems like a lot of trouble for somethin' that ain't exactly proven. I mean, what if you die and then 'bam' So sorry, but you followed the wrong God, off to Limbo for you."

She was rambling, and God, had she just brought up religion? Wasn't that one of the three deadly sins or something? Never talk about religion, body piercings or what you did with the body.

"Don't know, chere. If dere is a God, he got a lot to answer for in my mind. But, sometimes things do happen dat seem like dey fated. Who knows?" Remy shrugged and took another long sip of his wine.

"De fact is dat until we dead, we don't get to find out. Since Remy ready to put off knowing for a good long time, guess we need to work on being alive for now. Fate or not, we still got choices to make, and it better to focus on dem."

Jubilee foccused on him, ignoring the distraction of his naked torso. He seemed tired somehow, strung out a little in some indefinable way. "You doin' alright, Gumbo? You're lookin' kinda hollow, Dude. Should I be puttin' on the Grandmother voice an tellin' ya to eat more?"

"'tween you and Lorna, Remy going to end up de only superhero wit' a potbelly." Remy grinned. He put down his wine and crossed his arms behind his head, settling a little more into the chair.

"Non, been working too hard recently. Stupid amatuer mistake too. Burn out is easy in what I do, chere, and makes you do all kinds of little mistakes. Dey have a tendancy to be fatal in my line of work. So, Remy taking a day off."

Jubilee nodded, looking over the lake as it sparkled in the sun. "Good day for it. Although, one of these days, I'm so gettin' you on rollerblades."

Jubilee didn't mention the enjoyment she got out of watching otherwise completely coordinated people stumbling around. She wondered if she could hide a camera somewhere.

"Speeding down a hill wit' wheels strapped to my feet not exactly Remy's idea of a good time." LeBeau mentioned. He actually did know how to skate, and his unnatural agility made it easy to stay up. He just didn't like it that much."'sides, Remy going to sit here and hope de lake draws in femmes wit' tiny bathing suits to look at."

Jubilee snickered, shaking her head. "Little too cold for that still, Remy. Although, insanity isn't exactly unknown around this place, so it's not impossible that someone might decide to go for a swim."

She let her eyes drift to the white scars again, and she wondered where he'd gotten them. Could she ask? Would that be considered rude? Especially the pink one. It looked awfully recent.

Remy caught the glances, smiling slightly. Pretty much everyone wondered.

"Go ahead and ask, chere. Remy not going to bite you head off."

Jubilee grinned wryly. "Was I that obvious? Totally losin' my poker face, ain't I? Just wonderin' where they're from. If you're up for tellin' stories, that is."

"Depends. Dat one was a round from an AK-47, back in Prague. Went right when I should have gone left, and dey actually tagged me. Dere's a similar one on my hip, but dat one was from Nate." Remy grinned. "De small ones are surgical. When Remy was a kid, dey opened me up. Did things to my bones and muscles to make me more effective."

"They?" Jubilee asked, tone even.

Nate had shot Remy? When? No, ask that one later, one thing at a time. He seemed willing enough to deal with her curiosity, she didn't want to waste the chance to get to know him a little better.

"Government. CIA program called LOST BOYS. Which is part of de reason dat

Remy don't exactly look his age, you know?" Remy stretched and settled back again, not at all fazed by the fascinated study of his somewhat abused body. Body consciousness and Remy were mutually exclusive terms.

"Had wondered at that, Gumbo. Although, did the Government know they were namin' their op after an 80's movie?" Jubilee asked, grinning.

She straightened her legs, lying herself out against the deck to better catch the sun. She probably could have just grabbed another deckchair but she was here now and feeling somewhat lazy in the warm sunlight.

"Named after dat Peter Pan book, actually. Troop of children dat never grew up. See, dey used a genetic process dat slowed our aging. When you looking for an operative, you know dat de sixteen year old girl isn't one, because she not old enough to have de knowledge and training. However, when dat sixteen year old girl is actually in her late twenties, she can cause all sorts of havoc." Remy grinned. "Which is why Remy is an old man, and likely to get carded before dat Alex homme does."

"Had wondered how ya could be so ancient an still look so hot." Jubilee replied, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "So, okay, when did Nate shoot you, an why? Inquiring minds, Dude."

"Arms conference in Spain. I killed one of his team." Remy said flatly, and Jubilee recoiled slightly. "De person dat I was found that sort of thing funny, which is why I'm here right now. Lot of things to make up for."

"Who are you, Gumbo? You the Assassin, or the wise crackin' playboy or somethin' else? Why you so needin' ta make up for things? Seems the way you act on the journals sometimes, it's all about makin' the wisecracks. Not that I'm complainin', I'm not really into the whole broodin' woe is me crap." Jubilee replied, serious now.

She didn't like being played, and if she was going to be straight with someone, she liked them to do the same with her. So she'd always been herself with Remy, long as she knew he returned the favour.

"Dat's a good question, chere. One dat I don't know de answer to." Remy scrubbed his hands through his hair. "Am I de monster dat once killed an entire family and used dere station wagon as a moving bomb because it was funny? Am I de eighteen year old street rat dat only interested in drinks and sex?"

Remy took off his sunglasses, catching Jubilee with that bizarre red on black gaze. "De anwser is dat I don't know. Not sure if I'm a monster or a man, and dere's all sorts of evidence to go either way. So Remy just gets through each day, and hopefully I'll figure it out. Dis place gives me something worthwhile to fight for. Maybe one day I'll turn out to be better den I think I am because of it. I don't know."

If this had been Hank, she'd have pulled him into a hug and told him it'd be alright. With Remy she really wasn't sure it would be. Still, she trusted him, the man who had gotten them all through the Vegas job and hadn't laughed at her that first time, when she'd come looking for him to learn something. Truth be told, Remy had always treated her with an openness that most people didn't. It meant something.

So she simply reached up and pulled him down, kissing him softly on the cheek, and then looked directly into his eyes. "Start of wisdom, ain't it? Not knowin'. But I think you're alright, Remy LeBeau."

"Guess dat's a start den, chere." Remy smiled and put his sunglasses back on, leaning back into his chair. "Of at least something."