Log: Cain and Jubilee

[x-jubilee.livejournal.com]

When: Saturday 29th January 2005 Time: 8:00pm

Who: Jubilation Lee, Cain Marko

What Happens?: Jubilee goes to visit Cain while the party is going on. Only neither of them can open the door.



Jubilee slipped out the front door of the mansion, glad that someone had left the front door open. She still couldn't use her hands in case it damaged the new skin underneath, although a lot of the pain had begun to fade. She'd hopefully be able to feed herself next week, although Carlie had been an absolute saint with helping her out and weathering her occational waspishness due to forced inactivity. She'd have to find some way to thank her but right now she was escaping.

She'd managed to convince both Carlie and Madelyn that someone should be sitting with Cain while this dance was going on. They'd seemed to buy it, although from the look Carlie had given her, she could tell the other girl had known this sudden concern for Cain was hiding something.

Jubilee had been excited about the dance, right up to the point where she realised she'd probably be spending the night sitting on the sidelines watching other people dance. She knew her hands shouldn't have stopped her enjoying herself but...she just didn't want to go to the dance is all.

Cain had just rewound his copy of Full Metal Jacket for yet another laughter-filled viewing when he heard the steps on the porch, then the awkward knock. When the door didn't immediately open, he figured it wasn't one of the staff or the doctors coming to check up on him. Besides, everyone was at that party tonight, weren't they?

"Whoozit?" he mumbled loudly, shuffling over onto the edge of the bed.

"It's Jubilee!" she called, staring at the door as if it were all its fault.

She'd tried opening it with her elbows but that hadn't worked and had ended up getting her so frustrated that she'd banged her head against the door in exasperation. Cain must have heard it. "This damn door won't open."

"...th' fugg?" Cain mumbled, reaching for the crutches and levering himself up to a mostly-standing position. "'m com'ng, hol' y'r horses." Half-walking, half-dragging himself over to the area by the door, Cain leaned against the wall for support.

"Wass' probl'm?" he grumbled.

Jubilee's leaned her head against the door, shivering slightly in the cold. She pulled her jacket closer around her, wincing as her hands protested. She'd had to have Carlie's help to dress as well. "Nothin's wrong. Just thought you might want some company with everyone up at the dance. You gonna open the door? It's God damn colder then a Witch's tit out here."

"Comp'ny?" Cain asked, eyes rolling with restrained annoyance. "If I'd w'nted comp'ny, I'd've asked." Nevertheless, he leaned himself against the wall and pushed his way to the door.

Yet try as he might, he couldn't seem to get his hand to close properly on the doorknob. "Hol' on, s'jus' a mom'nt..."

Jubilee sighed, standing back up. She wasn't entirely sure what kind of reception she'd been expecting but this was probably close to it. She listened to the scrabbling at the door. "Let me guess...first time you've tried openin' a door since you woke up?" she asked.

"Fugoff..." Cain snapped back, "'s jus'bein' stubb'rn." He gritted his teeth, trying to will his hands into some semblance of coordination. With painstakingly slow effort, he tried gripping the knob between two balled fists, turning it slowly.

No use, the door was as much an obstacle as his paralysis, one more barrier between him and the rest of the world.

"So," he found himself asking, "why y're not at... party, huh?"

If it hadn't been so damn cold out here, Jubilee might have realised the amusement value in the fact that one fully grown man and an as close to an adult as she was likely to get right now woman couldn't open a damned door between them. Her insuing laugh was short, as she leaned back against the door that no effort on her part right now was going to open. Maybe it was the cold? She'd been able to open the door's in the mansion well enough with the method this door was stubbornly refusing to yield too.

"Bandages kinda ruin the whole 'dressing up' thing." Jubilee replied. "Why aren't you at the dance?"

"Not inna dancin' mood..." Cain grumbled. Which was true, even when his legs were working right. He fumbled with the doorknob briefly, then slumped to the floor, back against the door and sighed deeply.

"B'sides, 'm lik'ng this livin' 'lone, wi' Remy ... N'orleans."

Jubilee smiled, she wasn't entirely sure what living with Remy would be like but she was sure it'd be anything but 'peaceful'. Especially since she'd seen the amount of mess the two men left around the boathouse when she'd started with the cleaning duties. She wondered if anyone had been looking after that since Cain had started being mobile and she'd become indisposed.

"Must be hard creating that pyramid of clothing all by yourself." she replied, slowly sliding down the door to crouch, her back pressing into the heavy wood. "An what the hell was that brown gloop in the fridge?"

"Smart mout'..." Cain rasped back, trying to suppress a smile. "'f I wasn' tired, I'd throw y' in t' th' lake." He thought of the food Remy tended to bring into the kitchen and shuddered. "An' don' talk 'bout Remy's jamb'l'ya. 's' nasty shit."

Jubilee chuckled, remembering the conversation she'd had with Remy about Cajun food. "Think it was startin' a group for food liberation when I threw it out. An the lake's a bit frozen over right now. Although, I suppose you could always dig a hole in the ice and then throw me in."

She paused a second, letting her eyes drift across the lake to the trees on the other side. It had started to snow softly, small flakes settling on her cheeks as she lifted her head to catch some in her mouth. "Sides, you'd have to deal with Mads lookin' at you all disappointed like for givin' a student the flu."

"Froz'n ov'r, huh?" Cain gave a small chuckle, remembering how awestruck he'd been as a child seeing the lake covered with a layer of ice. "Howzit look?" he asked quietly. "Can' see 't from here."

"Beautiful." Jubilee said, and then realising that wasn't much of a description. She wondered how long it'd been since Cain had seen anything beyond the windows of his house. She hadn't realised, even if she should have thought about it. "There's birds walkin' across it, just a short ways from the pier. An ya can see the difference between the really solid ice and the stuff that you'd fall through. Been wonderin' if there's fish in there. Always wanted to try ice fishin'. Saw it on this Discovery channel program once. Looked like fun.You ever ice fished, Mr Marko?"

It was with a smile she realised she'd said that last without her usual inflection of disrespect.

"Few y'rs back," he answered, neglecting to clarify that it had been well over fifty years. "Don' have... patience f'r it now." He found himself smiling. Remy had joked that no one would need to come feed Cain if they could just give him a fishing pole and move him out to the back porch by the dock.

Jubilee suddenly realised they were having a conversation. Of course, they'd been speaking so obviously, conversation. But this was...well, pleasent. There was no flinging of insults and waving of arms that she usually associated with what usually passed for it between her and Cain. She couldn't say she missed the flailing, too much energy spent by far. "Sooo, you okay with me comin' back, doin' the house cleanin' and all? Mads said I should be good with the hands in another week."

"'f y'want," Cain said with a shrug. "Might be up 'n 'bout by then, might not. Don' rightly know." And that was what was killing him, he thought. The not knowing. The uncertainty of how much of this was going to be permanent.

"Place could use... fresh'nin' up," he admitted. While Madelyn was always punctual and professional with her medical attention, it wasn't her job to clean up the house. And with Remy away, Cain hadn't really asked anyone else.

"I'd like that." Jubilee replied, the admittance not as hard to say as she would have thought. "It's...well, s'somethin' I'm good at. An, there's only so many ways ya can clean a toilet, or make a bed. An then, when you're done, it looks like you're done. It's black and white, no room for 'I think I'm done but in an hour it's all gonna fall apart and I'm back to square one'."

She looked down at her hands, the bandages white and clean. They didn't show the blisters that were still underneath or the way her hands had turned funny colours from the burns. She'd been at a loss to describe the dull irritation that had begun to show up in her dealings with other students, the inability to do anything for herself. "I hate not bein' able ta take care of myself." she said suddenly. "Hate feelin' like I'm some overgrown baby for others ta feed and take care of. For fuck's sake, I can't even wipe my own arse."

Cain snorted. "'s humbl'n', ain't it? Havin' t' be tak'n care of? Y'r young. Y'll heal." I might not were the words he left unsaid.

"Door ain' mov'n'", he finally spoke. "An' it's cold. Y' oughtta be gettin' inside."

Jubilee thought about that for a second, noting that she was indeed cold and it would be warm inside. She should take his advice.

"I could always try climbin' through one of the windows." she said thoughtfully, a few moments later.

Cain snorted. "I ain' payin' t' heat th' whole backyard," he announced. "When y' come next time," he said quietly. "y' c'n help fix th' damn door."

Jubilee laughed, standing up with some degree of difficulty as she couldn't use her hands to push. She finally just used the door she was leaning against for leverage, sliding upwards. "Sure, Marko. I'll even follow orders without whining...much. I'll get Mads to bring you out some of the party food later."

"Good girl," Cain laughed. He grinned, slowly realizing he meant it. "Go t' party, now. Y'r friends're prob'ly missin' y'."

Jubilee grinned. "Sure. Night, Marko."

She walked away, feeling slightly better about the world, a silly smile on her face as she realised things were improving for her and for the people around her. Maybe, just maybe everything would be okay now.