xp_logs | Jubilee and Nathan, Monday afternoon

Jubilee stops by during Nathan's office hours to get some help with Arabic punctuation. She gives in to her long-standing curiosity about telepathy, and they wind up having a bit of a philosophical debate. (OOC: Spot the X1 reference! ;)

Jubilee looked down at the dog eared Arabic textbook she'd been reading for most of the weekend. She'd been trying to work her way through the chapter that Nate had assigned for homework but she just couldn't seem to 'get it'. She knew she was way behind in the written version of the language and she was still making what she considered to be baby mistakes with the spoken. Damned if she was going to give Amanda the satisfaction of seeing her give up.

She raised her hand and gave the door to Nate's office a quick tap, noting the time on her watch. It was mid-afternoon so she wasn't sure he'd be in.

"Come in, Jubilee," Nathan called, saving the half-written quiz on his laptop as he did. The door opened to admit her, and he smiled as he saw the Arabic textbook under her arm. "Problems?" he asked.

Jubilee grinned as she opened the door and peered in. "Kinda, can't seem to get the punctuation stuff down. It's different ta any language I know, ya know? I mean, least with Askani, it's different' cause it's like, future language juju but with Arabic, kinda feels like I should know it, and I'm totally gettin' a headache tryin' to decide between knowing it and being completely blank on it. English has got a lot to answer for, Teach." she said, stepping inside.

She noticed that he had his laptop open and turned on. "M'not interruptin' or anythin' am I? I could like, totally come back later on and all."

Nathan waved a hand. "Office hours," he pointed out. "I'll pick up with what I was doing when you go." He gestured for her to sit down. "So, what's bugging you about the punctuation?" Jubilee immediately launched into an explanation, which he listened to for approximately two minutes before cutting her off and grabbing a pad to demonstrate the problem. She watched him intently, nodding, and he got the distinct impression that she was indeed getting it. "See, it's not so hard after all," he concluded.

Jubilee shook her head, smiling. "Think it's more the two languages I already got in my head, Teach. It's kinda a mess of Mandarin an English in there, considerin' my parents spoke both to me when I was a kid. Usually not too hard sortin' out those two and speakin' one or the other. Specially since Mandarin ain't that strong in there what with livin' in America and all. But, add in a third and fourth and it gets kinda crowded with the translation. Specially since it's been a long time since I had a reason ta try learnin' anythin' new."

Jubilee looked at the pad, memorising the lines and filing them away for later. "So, how's Bella doin'? Saw ya mention her in the journals and all."

Nathan tore the page off the pad, folded it, and handed it to her. "I actually managed to convince her to stay in her cage this morning," he said with a chuckle. "Took some heavy bribery, but I can't walk around all the time with her sitting on my shoulder." He watched Jubilee stash the page away carefully in her textbook. "I've got to admit, I can't really sympathize with the crowded-brain problem when it comes to languages," he confessed. "I cheat, in a way; it's a lot easier for a telepath to learn a new language."

Jubilee raised an eyebrow, taking the moment to ask something that she'd always been curious about. "See, I'd always thought you guys were kiddin' with the whole telepathic language thing. Is it really that easy?"

Waiting for his answer, she put her textbook down on the table, leaning back against the chair as she assumed her usual half-slouch.

"I imagine telepaths like Charles can learn languages instantly," Nathan said easily, "but I'm a beta telepath at best, and still not properly trained. Telepathy makes it faster for me, that's all." He shrugged. "It's got a lot to do with the way a telepath's memory works, I think. We pick up vocabulary a lot faster, can call it back to mind with no trouble. And the mental processes that go along with spoken language are easy to pick up on, so..."

She nodded, thinking on that for a moment. "So, are there minds that are hard to read? Like, give you a headache or somethin'?"

She'd always been curious about telepaths and while she liked Charles, she'd never really wanted to bother him with a lot of questions. Nate was someone she could talk to, at least he'd never growled at her for talking a mile a minute.

Nathan nodded. "I don't do a lot of scanning, really," he said. "I can, but it's a strain. My receptivity's good, though, so there's a lot that I pick up without really trying. Especially if the person's not good at shielding - and most people aren't, really." He smiled a bit wryly. "Hard not to get a headache sometimes. And then you have the people who get angry or upset at you for overhearing things when really they're 'shouting' at the top of their mental lungs."

Jubilee blushed suddenly as she pondered some of the things she'd been thinking about Manuel lately.

'Dude, that's like serious wiggins. I mean, Nate's like a big brother type and he's totally hearin' me mack out about a boy. Gah!'

She blushed even deeper for a second and then shook her head, and grinned at Nate, toughing it out. If he'd heard her thoughts, then he had. "So like, you gotta get pretty tired about hearin' how hawt the 'Backstreet Boyz' are, hey?"

Nathan seriously toyed with the idea of saying something to her about Manuel. What would it really hurt, in the end... except he could hardly be sure that he'd do it in any sort of a tactful way, and it didn't really seem that much had actually happened between the two of them. Yet. "Actually," he said dryly, "stuff like that's pretty harmless. And amusing. I've overheard worse. You know how they say that eavesdroppers never hear any good of themselves? That very often goes for telepaths, too."

Jubilee nodded, grateful that Nate hadn't said anything about what she was sure he'd heard from her thoughts. She, had no idea of her feelings for Manuel right now, beyond wanting to spend more time with him so she could find out. She didn't really want to talk to anyone about it just yet. "That's gotta suck. I mean, even the best of friends have days when they're real shitty at each other. It'd suck if you had to hear all the stuff that we never say, even if we think it. Like, not everything we think, we mean. Sometimes only way most people don't hate each other more then usual is cause they don't say everythin' they'd wanna say."

"I'd disagree with the idea that not everything you think, you mean," Nathan said after a moment. "Your thoughts are one of the only places you can give in to impulse. You might only mean it for a moment, but you do generally mean it. However ugly it is."

She thought about that, her foot tapping against the chair leg. "Sometimes it's not our mind thinking though, just our instincts. Just because we can want to kill someone, and think that they should be dead. Doesn't mean we want them dead or make that thought truly ours. It's just, a moment, a point in time when we let it all go."

Jubilee shook her head, then flicked hair out of her eyes, looking at Nate seriously. "When I told my cousin I wanted to be a Buddhist like him, he told me I had to value all life, not just the stuff I like. I may think bugs and worms are slimy and want to squish them but they're still something I have to understand the reason for. I may really, really want to squash them sometimes' but if I got everythin' I thought made real, I think that'd suck, cause sometimes, you really don't mean what you think. It just comes up from the small spaces, the ones you don't notice when you're really thinkin'. Like, Dude, maybe telepaths have it harder, because you like, get to hear the things people don't say, the small moments, I don't know. Just know that there's stuff I've thought that I honestly didn't mean, it was just there, instinctual."

"It's still you, though," Nathan said, wondering precisely how they had gotten into a philosophical discussion. "Your instincts don't come from somewhere else, they come from within. Just because a reaction is spur-of-the-moment, or something you wouldn't want to follow up on, doesn't make it any less yours."

She thought about that, turning it over in her head. "Okay, I can pay that. It's all us, even the small petty bits none of us really wanna own up to. But, as a telepath, do you look at what they thought, or what they did? Like, a friend might hate you with the passion of a thousand suns for just an instant because of a missplaced word but then be your friend in the next moment just like always. Do you like, listen to the thoughts they had, or the actions they make? Or does it like, make you more aware of the stuff you do? Of cause and effect. Always wondered if Chuck was the way he is cause of the telepath thing."

Jubilee blushed for a second, and picked at the dog earred pages of her book. "Like, sorry if I'm goin' on. Just, don't get much chance to actually talk powers sometimes."

"Both," Nathan said immediately. "Thought, or as much thought as I pick up on, and action both. I can't count the number of times that paying attention to what people think but don't say has saved my life." He smiled a little. "As for letting it make me more aware of what I do... yeah, that too. The hidden consequences are just as important as the obvious ones."

She nodded, taking that in and filing it away. "I've always kinda gone with the instincts. Never had a lotta time to sit around and think about why I did what I did, just seemed easier to go with what felt best. Still do that sometimes', when it's do or don't do but no time ta think allowed. I'm tryin' to think more these days, rather then just go with it, ya know?"

"Always a good thing," Nathan said amiably. "There's not enough thinking-before-doing in the world, if you ask me." He eyed her for a moment, then decided that he could be subtle. "Especially when it comes to the really tricky situations."

Jubilee grinned. "I'm hearin' ya. I swear, if half the people round' here thought about stuff more, before just jumpin' in we'd get a lot less Medlab visits. I for one, intend to stay the hell outta there."

"There's a plan," Nathan said in amusement. A little too subtle, maybe... ah, well. "I can speak from personal experience - it's not a particularly entertaining place."

Jubilee nodded. "Ain't been in there much, although the safe room ain't much better. Won't catch me in there again, either. It's my plan, ya see. Never have to spend any large amount of time in a small room ever again. Course, school has been somewhat hard on that plan but I'm thinkin' classrooms don't count cause they've got windows and all."

Nathan gave her a speculative look. "Have you ever done any rock-climbing?" he asked leadingly.

She raised an eyebrow. "Not in this lifetime, although from what my relatives tell me I may have had a whole bunch of other ones, so possibly then. But, if you're askin' me if I'd like ta try rockclimbin', then I'd have to grin at ya like a grinning type thing and say I've always wanted ta try it but never had anyone ask."

Nathan grinned. "I'm hoping to get a field trip together," he said. "Well, actually a few field trips - I wouldn't be letting anyone at real rock before they get some practice in a climbing gym, but that's nearly as much fun, anyway." He chuckled. "The more students I can say are interested, the faster the details are likely to come together."

Jubilee laughed. "Dude, rockclimbin' would be great. Might even get some new fancy moves ta show that gymnastics teacher of mine. Although, I think I'm gonna have ta get up fairly early in the mornin' to show up Kurt though."

"I'll put you on my list, then," Nathan said contentedly. He did so love it when one of his ideas took off like this.

Jubilee shook her head, smiling at her teacher. "Dude, I gotta head off. Gotta finish off this and then I got some gym work ta do. Been kinda lettin' it slide lately and Kurt will truly be pissed at me if I've backslid any more then what I've already."

Nathan made a shooing gesture at her. "Off with you, then. I'll go back to writing this Friday's quiz." He grinned. "And no, you may not have a sneak peek."

Jubilee grinned unashamedly. "How'd ya know I was gonna ask?"

"Well, I am psychic, you know."