xp_logs | Jubilee and Amanda

Jubilee. Amanda. In a room together for the first time since Jubilee shattered Kurt's heart. Who will win?

There weren’t a lot of places that Jubilee felt appropriate for the sort of conversation that was likely to occur between herself and Amanda. Especially not places that Kurt wasn’t likely to get word of and try to police. Snow Valley’s boardroom happened to be one of those places and so she’d arranged for Amanda to meet her.

A pot of coffee and several muffins graced the middle of the boardroom table, as did a projector. While the conversation they had to have first might be of concern, Jubilee’s primary purpose was to pick Amanda’s brain about the artefact she’d managed to uncover in her months in China.

There was a brief knock at the door before Amanda came in, closing the door behind her. Her expression was carefully blank as she took a seat at the other side of the large table from Jubilee. After a brief nod, she reached for the coffee carafe and poured two cups and silently pushed one over to Jubilee. It was only after she'd taken a sip of her own that she spoke: "I owe you an apology."

“Would you even mean it?” Jubilee clicked the remote control she was holding to bring up an image of the artefact she’d spent all these months getting close to. “We both know what Kurt means to you. I don’t really expect you to apologise to me for being angry, and dude I’d rather you didn’t if it’s just to make working together easier. I can work with you just fine whether you’re angry with me or not. Like, I can do it whether you’re friendly with me or not as well.”

Amanda pressed her lips together for a moment, breathing through her nose as she controlled her temper. "I'm sorry that I threatened you, even vaguely. You didn't deserve that, not after all the time we've worked together. And you're right, I am angry with you. This is the third break up Kurt's had, but not even Monet shredded him like you did - she at least felt enough for him to be angry at him. From what I understand from what Kurt told me, you broke up with him because it wasn't convenient for you to be together any more. And I want to believe that we're wrong about that, but the thing is, I really can't. I know you, Jubilee. I know the job. And this was exactly what I was worried about when you two got engaged in the first place." She paused to take another breath, to control the slight furious shaking of her hands. "Now's your cue to tell me whether you want my apology or not."

“I may have let him think I didn’t care because it was easier at the time.” Jubilee sighed and rubbed a hand over her face, she’d had some sleep since she got back from Russia but she was still jetlagged. Hopping between time zones was always a crapshoot as to how your body would handle it and given that she slept lightly at the best of times, she wasn’t feeling that great. “Don’t think I don’t realise that what I did to him was an asshole move, but you were the one that said it, we were never going to be good for each other. What he wants, what he needs is not something I can ever give him. It just took me a long time to realise it.”

"Yeah, well, you're stubborn that way." Amanda shook her head, her voice wry. "I really wish you'd listened to me way back when, but it's too late now. And I am pissed off that you did a bunk and left a mess for Meg and me to deal with. But I can't be angry at you for doing what I knew had to be done." She shrugged. "So yeah, sorry for the threats. You'll notice I didn't actually come after you, even though I could have, yeah?"

“You’ll notice I didn’t poison your coffee.” Jubilee’s tone was amused but the underlying threat was there as well. Neither of them were children anymore, and neither of them were untrained. Should they ever truly go after one another, the resulting damage wouldn’t necessarily be structural. “You and I both know the only reason we would ever come for the other would be due to some sort of villain turn. Threats of violence weren’t worth my time and they certainly weren’t worth yours.”

"Or you date and dump another of my siblings," Amanda answered in kind. "If that happens, I won't bother with threats." She leaned back and looked at the object projected on the wall. "So what's the doohickey?"

“I’ll try to remember that. But I’ll talk to Kurt, maybe I can at least fix some of the damage.” Jubilee finally took a sip of her own coffee and looked up at the artefact. “Was hoping you could tell me. All I know is like, a whole bunch of extremely paranoid and dangerous people are protecting it like it’s the next sword in the stone. They’re building to something, some kind of ritual but I’m not far enough in to get an invite. Only found out about that thing because I did some snooping while my mark was off having some kind of meeting.”

Nose wrinkling, Amanda considered the object. "Well, it could be mystical. Especially if it's being protected. I'll have to go through the books, tho', to see what it actually is. Where's it from, again?"

“China, more specifically Urumqi.” Jubilee took another sip of her coffee and clicked the slide forward to show the room where the Dun was housed. It was set in the middle, surrounded by a glass cage and lit from beneath. She’d managed to bypass the various guards and security on the room but hadn’t had much time to get more than a few pictures. “I think I’m going to need to steal it, but some idea of what I might be trying to lift beforehand would be good if you can find anything.”

"Yeah, no point going in if it carries the psychic weight of generations or something and you can't even budge it." Amanda's tone was joking, but she was making notes for herself on her phone as she examined the pictures. "The last time the leather brigade came across something like this, a giant purple dragon came out of it. But I'm going to need a bit of time to research. How much can you give me?"

“I told them I had business to deal with, so like, at least another week here before I have to head back.” Jubilee rubbed the back of her neck, looking suddenly exhausted at the idea of having to go back into that environment. “Otherwise, I can keep up the pretence for as long as needed, longer might even let me get in closer but without knowing what the thing does or doesn’t do, we don’t know that it’s not damaging something. Quick as you can, is like, what I’m saying?”

Amanda nodded. "I'll do my best. And if worst comes to worst, I can 'port in and grab it, if it's a danger. But let's do the research thing first."