xp_logs | Backdated: Jubilee & Gabriel, Cigarettes and Chatter

After late nights at work, Gabriel and Jubilee catch up.

It was both late and early, and Gabriel Cohuelo was teetering between energized and exhausted. It had been a good night at work, one full of tips and flirting and loud music. It had been a while since so many boys had bought him drinks, and he'd nursed a healthy buzz, but when it came time to go home, he was standing alone, eager to keep the night going but hesitant to go it alone.

So it had been the typical subway-to-shuttle-to-train-to-Uber routine, but he was still too wired to sleep. It wasn't until he'd stepped out of the car, once the imposing figure of the mansion and the quiet, quiet still of the night were before him that he'd felt even a little tired. And he figured that mostly came from lack of options.

If there was adventure to be had anywhere in the mansion, he figured it'd be the kitchen. And so he'd tiptoed through the dark mansion until he ended up there, poured a drink and walked right out the door to the smoker's porch. After a minute or two punctuated only by the clinking of ice cubes, he lit a cigarette, finding himself surprised to enjoy the calm. Lost in his thoughts, he hardly noticed the building behind him.

"You know, you should probably be more alert these days," Jubilee noted as she dropped onto the porch from her perch on the roof. "Although, you know, spy slash ninja, so not like I'd make it easy."

"Eh," Gabriel shrugged once his heart stomped jumping. He glanced over at her for a second before taking a drag on his cigarette and turning back to the grounds. "Beating the apocalypse made me cocky. And anyone who's stayed up this late trying to murder me probably deserves the advantage."

"Nice. Though, not like anyone looking to murder is gonna do it in broad daylight. Well, most, anyhow. There's always like, the over enthusiastic. You got any to share?"

Jubilee motioned toward the smoke in his hand, and grinned brightly at him.

Gabriel nodded for a second before reaching to his right side and grabbing the pack from on top of its phone. "The two in the back left are joints, but the rest are normal." He flicked ash onto the ground next to him. "Guess you won't be needing a light, though? That's handy."

"Dude, nice," Jubilee hesitated for a moment and then took a normal cigarette. She'd have loved the relaxation but she had too much work to do to be anything less then alert. "Remind me to hit you up on the 4th for one of those. And it's not bad, speed must be nice though. Never having to pay a taxi home."

She lit her cigarette with a small spark from her finger and took a long drag.

"Ha, I can hook you up," Gabriel grinned, "but you might have to throw in a little cash. My commute's expensive, and so is the weed." With his cigarette mostly spent, he ground the end into the porch and tossed it into a nearby ashtray. It was soon replaced by the double Negroni he'd poured into a large Thermos. "And speed's whatever," Gabriel shrugged. "I still take a lot of cabs. I don't like to take my chance with 4 a.m., if you know what I mean."

"Cash I can do. Like, total benefit of bein' back here is Chuckles is like, totally fitting the bill for my food needs." Jubilee blew out several smoke rings proceeded by multi-coloured sparkles that exploded directly at the centre of each. "I hear ya on the 4am. Seems like I'm awake at stupid o'clock more often then not these days. Still, gives me a chance to surprise Kurt when I get back from an Op."

"An op?" Gabriel tilted his head and studied her before taking a sip from his cocktail. He closed his eyes as he swallowed. "Oh," he said after a few seconds, "right. You're one of those. Must make for some pretty awkward pillow talk."

"Not really, he totes understands I can't always talk about it, but if it effects him, I will," Jubilee replied, watching him with a curious air. "Same as I understand the X-men stuff means he gets into danger from time to time."

She leaned against the wall, allowing sparks to run over her fingers and then disappear into the night. Experience had taught her stillness when it was needed but it was definitely not her default state.

"Surprised you don't remember that I offered you a place with us. Can always use speedy types with what we do. Not that I'm like, offering again but you ever change your mind..."

"I do remember," Gabriel responded, an aggressive note creeping into his voice. "And I'm still not interested. I don't know what the cause it is, but I don't buy it."

"Fair enough, I ain't gonna bug you or anything," Jubilee replied, taking another drag on her cigerette. She pulled a hand through her hair, thinking that perhaps it was time for another haircut. "You work at a bar, right?"

"I do," Gabriel nodded. He grabbed his pack of cigarettes and tapped out a joint. "I like it," he smiled as he fumbled in his pockets for a lighter. "Meet a lot of interesting people. In the center of everything. That appeals to me."

"You sound like a friend I used to know, he was a D.J at this place called Silver," Jubilee replied, her eyes shadowed with sadness as she remembered that he would be someone else now, or gone entirely. It never quite left her head these days, the cost of their survival. She could be anywhere in the world, any time of day and suddenly something would remind her and for a moment she would be frozen, trying to get her head back in the game. She was just lucky it had never happened during a mission critical moment. "Here, save your lighter fluid for when you ain't around an energy projector."

She launched a small spark from a finger and held it deftly in front of Gabriel's face, oscillating between all the colours of the rainbow as it hung suspended in space.

"Show off." He laughed before he put the joint to his lips and leaning forward, lighting the end of it on her rainbow sparks. His eyes closed, and he took a nice, long hit. "Thanks," he said after he'd exhaled. "Never went to Silver. Wasn't really my scene."

"I prefer consummate performer," Jubilee replied with a grin, sketching a short bow before taking another drag on her cigarette.

She tapped her fingers against it to drop ash into the tray at their feet and breathed out smoke.

"It was a good place to just be sometimes, back in the day. Guess we don't always get to keep the stuff we had when we were kids. You do anything besides bartending?"

"Not really," Gabriel shrugged. "I mean, not so much anymore. Rent's a lot cheaper." A light breeze came along, and he closed his eyes so that he could better feel the wind. "Had to hustle around a bit more in the city, though. Not an easy living."

"I was always fond of street art," Jubilee noted, flicking the ash off the end of her cigarette. "It wasn't too bad, especially since I made friends pretty easy back in those days - most of the time I could couch surf. What was your jam?"

"Eh. Buncha things." He took another hit off the joint, looking away from her as he exhaled. "Handyman stuff on Craigslist. People need a painting hung or something nailed into their wall. Can't ask their super, don't want to spend too much." He shrugged. "Danced at the bar for a while too. You know, like, go-go kinda stuff. No need to do that since I moved here."

"Sounds like you got by pretty well," Jubilee mused, pondering her own childhood. She envied the kids who came here young, even after manifestation troubles. "So, you ever thought 'where to from here?' or you just like, happy to be right now?"

"Dunno." Gabriel shifted uncomfortably and tapped the ashes at the end of the joint onto the grass. "I mean, things are good, you know? I like work. Not like I've got anywhere else to go or anything."

"Dude, there's always places to go, even when you're scared of what you might find there," Jubilee replied, flicking the last of the ash from her cigarette and throwing it at the small bin by her feet. "Still, this is a good place and like, better then a lot of other places I've seen. Good people too, give or take an opinionated asshole or two."

"Laurie's not so bad," Gabriel said without missing a beat. He looked over at her and grinned so she'd know he was kidding, even though he kind of wasn't. "I dunno, though." He shrugged. "I've run a lot. Had to. Nice to be in one place for a while, for however long it's gonna be."

"She's self righteous and a pain in the ass but Doug seems to see something in her," Jubilee opinioned, not particularly interested in talking about her. "Seems like we both found reasons to stick around when it counted."

"Yeah." Gabriel nodded before taking a last hit on the joint and extending it to Jubilee. "Guess so."