Log: Manny & Jubilee

[x-jubilee.livejournal.com]

Date:Backdated to Saturday 13th November Time: 6:30pm
Who is involved: Manny, Jubilee
What Happens: Jubilee tells Manny she won't sleep with him anymore. They discuss what happened at Halloween. This part of the conversation does not go well.



Jubilee has chosen one of the calmer spots in the rose garden. A circle of
bushes around springy, lush grass. It was the perfect spot for meditation
and one she used often when she really needed a time out. She hoped the
atmosphere would help her through what she had to talk to Manny about. It
wasn't every day you talked about why you'd almost gotten someone killed
and then refused to sleep with them ever again. Closing her eyes, she
breathed out, starting a short meditation exercise while she waited for
him.

Manuel came wandering into the Rose Garden. He was actually fully-dressed
for once, the button-down a little bulkier than usual to cover up the
layers of bandaged over his ribs. "Hey Jubilation." he said with a cheerful
wave. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"

She should have gone to see him earlier then this, checked out that he was
okay. But she'd asked the doctors when she could and stayed away from him
as she'd been asked. Maybe if she'd pushed a little, she'd have found out
it was only meant to be till he was out of Medlab. Guilt prickled at her
conscience, reminding her that a true friend wouldn't have taken no for an
answer. But she'd made so many mistakes, she hadn't wanted to make any
more. She'd never been good at the 'giving comfort to the wounded' deal
anyhow. She hadn't even been able to sit with Kitty when Illyana was hurt.
She'd always felt helpless in the face of mortality.

Selfish, she knew and something she was going to change. Smiling, and
shaking herself out of her melodrama, she stood, walking over to him. "You
okay? Sorry I had to drag you down here but I didn't want to do this in
your room. The rose garden was probably the closest place, ya know? Your
ribs not hurtin' too much?"

"They're sore, but Amanda's been doing an amazing job with the Healing." he
said slowly. "I can dress myself and feed myself and clean myself now, so
I'm a distinct step ahead of the game. So what did you want to talk to me
about?" he asked her, letting her set the pace and tone for the
conversation.

"Couple a things, Manny." she replied, leading him over to one of the
benches. "Guess it's better to just come right out with it. I ain't gonna
be sleepin' with you anymore."

Manuel blinked. "That was rather sudden. What changed your mind?" he asked
conversationally, sitting on the aforementioned bench and looking at
Jubilee. "You can't tell me you didn't love every second of it." he said in
a low voice with a seductive grin.

This was the harder part, being honest and to the point about everything
when even to herself she was somewhat contradictory and confusing at the
best of times. Sighing inwardly, she squared her mental shoulders and
smiled at him.

"'Course I enjoy it, Manny. We have a lot of fun. But we can have fun and
be friends without the sex." she replied, shifting on the bench to face
him.

"If you were single, or even if Amanda and I weren't the way we are with
each other, it might work. But, you aren't and she and I are never gonna
get along. That's two reasons I should never have even touched you. The
third reason is that sex ain't any good for me. I'm usin' it as a crutch
and that ain't good. When was the last time I told you anything about
myself? Didn't you ever think it weird that the moment you wanted to know
more about me, I jumped you? Fuck, Manny, I don't wanna use you like that
anymore, no matter how much you don't mind it. It ain't doin' me any good
usin' sex with you to avoid dealin' with my damage."

It was more honest then she'd ever been with him, she realised. Which just
went to show how much she'd been using him, you didn't call someone a
friend and then do your best to keep them at arms length.

"The last reason? I want more then this. I want someone to love me, Manny.
I don't want just sex anymore and you and I wouldn't work that way at all,
even if you weren't already with Amanda."

Manuel thought about what the girl was saying. "Well, you obviously feel
strongly about this. I think you're making a mistake, but it is your
mistake to make. But if you change your mind, want another hit from the
Castilian Connection, all you have to do is ask." he said with a cocky
grin.

"Oh, and by the way. We still on for Movie Nights? Sure, they won't end
with you screaming my name, but I will have to learn to live with that." he
said.

Jubilee laughed, shaking her head at him. "Dude, and here I thought this
was gonna be difficult. But no one ever accused me of not bein' a drama
queen. 'Course I'm still up for movie nights. It was The Poseidon Adventure
and Black Hole this week, right? Classic disaster movie and one of the
first Sci Fi movies, a must see for anyone. You're gonna totally love
Maximilian."

"What, did you think I was going to get upset, try to compel you to keep
giving it up to me? Those days are _behind me_ now. Sure, I could do it,
but to what end?" Manuel said, voice a little hot. "Yeah, I'll miss it.
Yeah, it was fun. But it's not the end of the world. And you've always been
picking the films, so I'm not about to start changing them around now." He
stopped to think for a minute, then moved over next to the Asian girl "Have
I been a good enough boy to earn one last night to say goodbye?" he
breathed at her, turning on the sex appeal all the way up to eleven.

Jubilee shook her head, sighing. "No, I don't think you'd try an compel me.
Manny, you know I know you'd never use yer powers on me. Least, not without
a damn good reason. An I'm just bein' melodramatic, I guess. And no to the
one last night. Gotta go cold turkey. There was somethin' else too, that
doesn't have to do with sex. I wanna talk about Halloween."

"I will need to find you a new birthday present, then." he said with a
shrug. "And you wished to speak of Halloween. Oh good. Tell me about
Halloween. Tell me about what possessed you to summon a _demon_ from _Hell_
to reclaim Amanda's soul. Tell me why you would do such a thing." he said a
bit tightly.

'Oh boy' she thought, cringing mentally.

"Okay, let's get one thing straight. I did not summon a demon ta reclaim
Amanda's soul. If I'd known for even a second that Patches was gonna do
that, I'd have never dealt with him in the first place. I was lookin' for
information, cause she threatened me. I thought I should know everythin'
about the person threatening to do me in that I could.

Manuel waved that off. "You enabled it. You made it happen. In my world,
which is admittedly not where I am now, that makes you just as liable as
the sorcerer." he said coldly. "I know about rivalry. I know about dislike,
I know about misunderstanding. But if you're going to try to kill her in
public like that, do a better job of watching your own back."

"Manny, I ain't one to sing my own praises but if I wanted her dead, I
wouldn't need some lowlife like Patches ta do it for me. I'd just need ta
wait till she was outta power from a healin' and I could do it real easy.
Fuck, I wouldn't even have ta use powers, she gets so tired after the
healin' stuff she does. Thing is, I don't want her dead, an I won't be
dealin' with Patches or anyone else again. That was a mistake. I changed,
Manny. I thought I was gettin' somewhere then this stuff comes back ta bite
me in the ass."

"Bad deals have a way of doing that." he said drily. "Really, it was
ill-done on any number of levels. But I suspect that you know that,
although you don't feel very guilty about it." he said with a knowing look.

Jubilee glared at him, suddenly angry as all hell and not in the least
trying to shield it from him. Her hands glowed as she clenched them into
fists and thrust them behind her back.

"What the hell do you know about it, Manny? What, you think cause I'm not
swimming in guilt and beating myself with some kind of medievil torture
device that I'm not sorry for what happened? Why is it that everyone here
is so fucking convinced that I'd have been happy to see her dragged to
hell? Didn't I fucking put my own life on the line getting rid of that
thing? Didn't I wait till it was out of the building before doing anything?
I could have done that sooner, Manny. I could have destroyed it the moment
I figured out I could hurt it but that would have meant blowing up the
building too and everyone in it. So, instead I wait, and I end up almost
gettin' my shoulder ripped off for thanks."

She'd had enough for today, and she had a feeling if she stayed here she'd
end up hitting him. She turned on her heel, walking rapidly toward the exit
of the rose garden, small sparks trailing behind her.

"Fuck you, Manny. I don't need this crap, I get enough people telling me
what an awful person I am without having someone I thought was my friend do
it as well."

"But I am your friend. I'm a friend who would like to see you live to see
her nineteenth birthday someday." he said calmly. "But if you'd rather get
all indignant and stomp off in a huff, you can do that too." he said
calmly, his eyes crystal-clear. "Let me make sure that there is no
misunderstanding. I am extremely displeased by your aiding Patches in
summoning the demon that tried to kill her and broke my ribs. I am saddened
that your grasp of subtlely is matched only by your inability to think
things through. And, dammit, I will miss you in my bed." he grumbled.

Jubilee had stopped at his words, her good hand reaching to adjust the
sling on her bad arm as an excuse while she controlled her admittedly
volatile temper. It had been getting away from her a lot more these days,
and she was beginning to think she should talk to Samson about it.

"Manny, can you at least accept that I'd never have helped Patches if I'd
known what he was about? I can admit to my stupidity in that, and I can
admit that because I was stupid, I was partly responsible for what
happened. But what I really, really hate is people assuming I didn't care,
because I do. I can't take back what's been done, I can only try and do
better in the future. Part of that, is not doing things that I know hurt
her. Sleeping with you was one of those. I'm tryin' Manny, with the
thinkin', and the subtlety but I need time. I can't learn it all at once."

"You forget who and what I am." he said simply. "You can't lie to me, not
about that. Yes, there's some concern there, but it's not enough. Not
nearly enough. But we can talk about it more later, OK? I don't want to get
into it right now." he said tiredly. "I'll have to get you a new birthday
present." he said with a shrug. "You won't accept the one I had planned."

"I guess you will. You still coming dancing?" She asked, not wanting to
argue anymore.

"If you'd like me to, I'd like to. Been too long since I've gone out, and
it would be good to feel the music again." he said with a smile. "I may be
angry with you, but hey, this is clubbing. And even through all of this I
can still be a friend."

Jubilee grinned. "I suppose I could deal with your company, yeah. I'd
demand you have fun though and totally not worry about anything back here.
It's a night to forget all this crap, totally."

"You're too kind." he said drolly. "You were _so_ not going to be able to
walk once I got done with you."

"Guess I'll just have to suffer, won't I?" She replied, a twinge of
irritation colouring her tone but she was determined to go out dancing and
she needed Manny for that.

"It will be terrible - to know what you could be having, over and over
again." His voice was steady and level, and _still_ managed to insinuate.
"Call me when everyone's ready to leave." he said with a grin, then he
stood up, taking a moment to steady himself on the back of the bench, and
slowly walked out of the Rose Garden.

Jubilee watched him go, irritation high at what Manny had said. She was
trying to be strong here, she didn't want to know about what she'd missed
out on. She had a feeling her mood was not going to be good for the next
few days, she hoped people didn't give her any reason to get angry, as she
just might well snap their heads off.