![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_daytripper posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsHaving found out about Kurt's new romantic interest, Amanda does what she really shouldn't and goes to talk to Jubilee.
If Kurt knew she was doing this, he'd be very unhappy with her, but here she was any way, knocking at the door of Jubilee's apartment. It wasn't really meddling with Kurt's love life, she told herself. It was more a sisterly interest. Right. That was it. "Jubes? You home?" she called, before her conscience got the better of her and she had to flee.
"Door's open," Jubilee called out, pondering the mess she'd made of her kitchen. She just wasn't a baker, that's the conclusion she was coming to, give her a grill or something dinner; or protein shake related and she was fine, ask her to bake cookies and this is what happened. She wondered if she could pretend they were a new line of weapons she was working on, or possibly hockey pucks.
Amanda obeyed, closing the door behind after she entered and wrinkling her nose at the disaster that had been a kitchen. "Bloody hell, it looks like a Christmas window in here," she reflected, observing the flour scattered everywhere. "Did something explode?"
"Note for the ages," Jubilee explained as she turned and bent to get her cleaning supplies from under the sink. "Do not dance to music and attempt to bake ever, it'll all end in tears. I'm thinking of naming them 'cookie stars'. I figure if we threw them hard enough we could decapitate someone, no sweat."
"At least you didn't set yourself on fire this time," was the witch's dry response. "What brought on the domestic urge? There's always plenty of baked goods for the nabbing at the mansion, especially now with all the stress bakers at it."
"The day is still young," Jubilee responded, starting to clean up the mess as she talked. "And I like, read that it was good for stress, and totally soothing or something. I think whoever decided that was smoking something at the time, which probably totally explains why they weren't stressed."
"Yeah, I can't get on the bandwagon with the baking thing." The mention of smoking of course made Amanda want one, but she pushed the urge away - she was getting good at that. "I, uh, ran into Kurt yesterday. On the stairs," she said instead, jumping into things in typical Amanda fashion. "He was here on a date."
Jubilee paused in her cleaning, eyebrows raised before she went back to her cleaning, finally managing to make a dint in the kitchen bench before going to pull out her broom. She spent some time cleaning the floor before she finally answered Amanda.
"So, just curious what's going on, or is this the standard 'I'm here to threaten you with grievous bodily harm if you hurt him' conversation?" she asked idly.
"A bit of column A, a bit of column B," Amanda admitted. "Kurt told me you two had talked things over and decided to make a go of dating or a relationship or whatever. It was... a bit of a surprise."
"Why?" Jubilee asked, curious herself now, despite her innate weariness when it came to talking about relationship stuff with Amanda. While it had been a long time since they'd buried the hatchet, so to speak, over Manuel, and were as close as she was to anyone these days. That didn't mean she didn't know what some of Amanda's buttons were and family was a big one. "The surprise, that is, although all the rest as well, obviously."
"Because I never saw Kurt as being your type?" was Amanda's response. "I mean, apart from the fact he's a good eleven years older than you, he's about as pure X-Man as you can get. Not exactly your normal sort."
"My normal type being arseholes who use me and then discard me when they've gotten whatever it is they want?" Jubilee noted, the bitterness readily apparent as she put the broom away and dumped the failed cookies into the bin, reaching to turn the hot water tap on as she pulled out dish washing liquid and squirted a small amount into the sink. "That's if I don't get wise and leave them first, of course. Or, are you talking about the guys I just use for sex? Cause it's easier not to have an emotional attachment when you can't be entirely honest with someone. You said he told you he and I talked, did he tell you he'd said he was fine with anything I had to do? I didn't lie to him, Mandy."
"I didn't say you did, Tinkerbell." Amanda tried to keep the anger out of her voice. "And he told me the same himself. But this is Kurt. He forgave me doing the deal with Selene before anyone else did and he stuck by me even when I was being a total monster. He forgave fucking Mystique and helped her get away. He's probably the most compassionate and caring man there ever was, and he'd be pissed off as hell with me if he knew I was here talking to you about this. But I had to."
"Right," Jubilee began, and then paused as she dumped the baking tray and the variety of instruments she'd used to try baking into the soapy water, pulling the dish sponge from its little holder as she scrubbed hard at one of the bowls. "So what is it you want me to say here, Mandy? The man's an adult, I can't stop him from making choices that might get him hurt, especially when I don't want to. I'm not going to not date your brother because you're worried I'm going to like, pull a fast one on him. You're just going to have to trust me."
It was Amanda's turn to pause. That's what it all came down to, didn't it? She trusted Jubilee with her life on the job - could she trust her with Kurt's heart? "I want to," she said at last. "But I don't really understand where any of this has come from. Before Genosha, you hardly even talked to him. What makes you decide now you want to date him?"
"He was there for me in a dark place," Jubilee admitted, pausing in her washing to grab a tea-towel so she could dry the things she'd already washed. She didn't really need to do this now, but she'd be a liar if she didn't admit that it gave her both something to do, and a reason not to have to meet Amanda eye to eye.
It caused her pause, that thought. What Remy had said to her, about not hiding from her team before she'd left on the trip he'd sent her on, it came back to her now. She sighed, put down the washing up and turned to face Amanda.
"He didn't turn away when things got ugly, and he didn't leave me alone. I got to know him a little in Genosha and I liked what I saw, and it made me want to know more. That's all this is, Mandy. Just two people liking what they see and wanting to know more. I'm not, I can't promise whether it'll be love, or just a bit of comfort for awhile but I wanted to know more, and I guess he does too. I promised him that I'd try not to hurt him, but that's all I can promise. You know that, you know what we do, and so does he."
To Jubilee's possible surprise, Amanda nodded. "Thanks," she said. "For explaining. I'll get out of your hair now." She turned to go.
"Hey, if you stick around for a bit till I'm done here, we can go to the pub?" Jubilee offered, not turning back to her washing up just yet. "Or hang out and watch movies? We haven't exactly had time to hang out since we all got back."
The witch stopped. "Yeah," she said, turning back around. "Hanging out would be good." She grinned. "Tinkerbell."
If Kurt knew she was doing this, he'd be very unhappy with her, but here she was any way, knocking at the door of Jubilee's apartment. It wasn't really meddling with Kurt's love life, she told herself. It was more a sisterly interest. Right. That was it. "Jubes? You home?" she called, before her conscience got the better of her and she had to flee.
"Door's open," Jubilee called out, pondering the mess she'd made of her kitchen. She just wasn't a baker, that's the conclusion she was coming to, give her a grill or something dinner; or protein shake related and she was fine, ask her to bake cookies and this is what happened. She wondered if she could pretend they were a new line of weapons she was working on, or possibly hockey pucks.
Amanda obeyed, closing the door behind after she entered and wrinkling her nose at the disaster that had been a kitchen. "Bloody hell, it looks like a Christmas window in here," she reflected, observing the flour scattered everywhere. "Did something explode?"
"Note for the ages," Jubilee explained as she turned and bent to get her cleaning supplies from under the sink. "Do not dance to music and attempt to bake ever, it'll all end in tears. I'm thinking of naming them 'cookie stars'. I figure if we threw them hard enough we could decapitate someone, no sweat."
"At least you didn't set yourself on fire this time," was the witch's dry response. "What brought on the domestic urge? There's always plenty of baked goods for the nabbing at the mansion, especially now with all the stress bakers at it."
"The day is still young," Jubilee responded, starting to clean up the mess as she talked. "And I like, read that it was good for stress, and totally soothing or something. I think whoever decided that was smoking something at the time, which probably totally explains why they weren't stressed."
"Yeah, I can't get on the bandwagon with the baking thing." The mention of smoking of course made Amanda want one, but she pushed the urge away - she was getting good at that. "I, uh, ran into Kurt yesterday. On the stairs," she said instead, jumping into things in typical Amanda fashion. "He was here on a date."
Jubilee paused in her cleaning, eyebrows raised before she went back to her cleaning, finally managing to make a dint in the kitchen bench before going to pull out her broom. She spent some time cleaning the floor before she finally answered Amanda.
"So, just curious what's going on, or is this the standard 'I'm here to threaten you with grievous bodily harm if you hurt him' conversation?" she asked idly.
"A bit of column A, a bit of column B," Amanda admitted. "Kurt told me you two had talked things over and decided to make a go of dating or a relationship or whatever. It was... a bit of a surprise."
"Why?" Jubilee asked, curious herself now, despite her innate weariness when it came to talking about relationship stuff with Amanda. While it had been a long time since they'd buried the hatchet, so to speak, over Manuel, and were as close as she was to anyone these days. That didn't mean she didn't know what some of Amanda's buttons were and family was a big one. "The surprise, that is, although all the rest as well, obviously."
"Because I never saw Kurt as being your type?" was Amanda's response. "I mean, apart from the fact he's a good eleven years older than you, he's about as pure X-Man as you can get. Not exactly your normal sort."
"My normal type being arseholes who use me and then discard me when they've gotten whatever it is they want?" Jubilee noted, the bitterness readily apparent as she put the broom away and dumped the failed cookies into the bin, reaching to turn the hot water tap on as she pulled out dish washing liquid and squirted a small amount into the sink. "That's if I don't get wise and leave them first, of course. Or, are you talking about the guys I just use for sex? Cause it's easier not to have an emotional attachment when you can't be entirely honest with someone. You said he told you he and I talked, did he tell you he'd said he was fine with anything I had to do? I didn't lie to him, Mandy."
"I didn't say you did, Tinkerbell." Amanda tried to keep the anger out of her voice. "And he told me the same himself. But this is Kurt. He forgave me doing the deal with Selene before anyone else did and he stuck by me even when I was being a total monster. He forgave fucking Mystique and helped her get away. He's probably the most compassionate and caring man there ever was, and he'd be pissed off as hell with me if he knew I was here talking to you about this. But I had to."
"Right," Jubilee began, and then paused as she dumped the baking tray and the variety of instruments she'd used to try baking into the soapy water, pulling the dish sponge from its little holder as she scrubbed hard at one of the bowls. "So what is it you want me to say here, Mandy? The man's an adult, I can't stop him from making choices that might get him hurt, especially when I don't want to. I'm not going to not date your brother because you're worried I'm going to like, pull a fast one on him. You're just going to have to trust me."
It was Amanda's turn to pause. That's what it all came down to, didn't it? She trusted Jubilee with her life on the job - could she trust her with Kurt's heart? "I want to," she said at last. "But I don't really understand where any of this has come from. Before Genosha, you hardly even talked to him. What makes you decide now you want to date him?"
"He was there for me in a dark place," Jubilee admitted, pausing in her washing to grab a tea-towel so she could dry the things she'd already washed. She didn't really need to do this now, but she'd be a liar if she didn't admit that it gave her both something to do, and a reason not to have to meet Amanda eye to eye.
It caused her pause, that thought. What Remy had said to her, about not hiding from her team before she'd left on the trip he'd sent her on, it came back to her now. She sighed, put down the washing up and turned to face Amanda.
"He didn't turn away when things got ugly, and he didn't leave me alone. I got to know him a little in Genosha and I liked what I saw, and it made me want to know more. That's all this is, Mandy. Just two people liking what they see and wanting to know more. I'm not, I can't promise whether it'll be love, or just a bit of comfort for awhile but I wanted to know more, and I guess he does too. I promised him that I'd try not to hurt him, but that's all I can promise. You know that, you know what we do, and so does he."
To Jubilee's possible surprise, Amanda nodded. "Thanks," she said. "For explaining. I'll get out of your hair now." She turned to go.
"Hey, if you stick around for a bit till I'm done here, we can go to the pub?" Jubilee offered, not turning back to her washing up just yet. "Or hang out and watch movies? We haven't exactly had time to hang out since we all got back."
The witch stopped. "Yeah," she said, turning back around. "Hanging out would be good." She grinned. "Tinkerbell."
