Log: Nathan & Jubilee.

[x-jubilee.livejournal.com]

Who: Jubilee, Nathan
When: Wednesday 2nd March 2005 (Early morning)

What Happens: They climb, they talk. Jubilee suggests a little light show to get people in a better mood after the attack.



Jubilee jumped lightly to the floor, looking back up at the climbing
wall. She'd been doing some simple bouldering, not going far above
head height without someone to belay her. While she could have climbed
up the wall without ropes and a partner, she knew she wasn't yet ready
for free climbing. A month or so of instruction didn't make one an
expert and it amused her slightly that a year ago she would probably
have done it anyway and more then likely ended up in Medlab with a
broken arm for her efforts.

The fact that she could look back now and recognise some of her
recklessness, well, she supposed that might be called growing up. She
didn't particularly feel any more grown up then she previously had
though...so maybe it was wisdom through trial by fire then. Either
way, she wasn't in the business of taking stupid chances with her life
or anyone else's anymore.

'Getting boring in your advanced old age, Lee. 18 years old, they'll
be putting you out to pasture soon. Bet you couldn't even pick a
pocket without ringing a bell now.' she thought, shaking her head
wryly.

"Hey," came a familiar voice from the doorway. Nathan smiled amiably
at her as he came in, clearly dressed to do a little climbing himself.
"Didn't expect to find anyone else down here this early."

"Part of my 'wake up at horrendous hours of the morning and kill
myself with exercise' program. Although, it's still not as bad as my
first gymnastics instructor." Jubilee replied, a note of welcome in
her eyes as she smiled. "Think almost indecipherable French accent and
a huge mad on to win. Dude was probably Goring in a previous life."

Nathan blinked and laughed as he came over to the wall. "Well," he
said, reaching up for a handhold, "I didn't sleep. So this is my vain
attempt to burn off the grogginess with a little physical activity."
He started to haul himself upwards, pausing to give her a measuring
look. "You're all right after yesterday?"

Jubilee paused, a brief moment of weariness creeping over her before
she irritably pushed it back. The old ways were a hindrance and she
was trying to break the habit. So, honesty it was. "Depends, I guess.
No injuries, managed to get to the shelter without runnin' into anyone
or tryin' to be a hero. Just...kinda frustrated in a way. People did a
damn good job from what I'm hearin'. It's just that I was sittin' in a
hole while others were out helpin'. I'm some parts jealous and some
parts feelin' useless, an overall knowin' that if I'd gone harin' in
tryin' to be a hero I'd have gotten people killed. So I'm putting it
all into this, exercise and getting better at the schooling thing.
Seems like a better way to deal with it than gettin' all sullen cause
I had to sit in a hole while others took care of business. Fairer too,
cause I'd be pretty damn ungrateful bein' that way when you guys
busted your asses savin' us."

"Channelling all that into something productive is a good idea," he
agreed, effortlessly pulling himself upwards. "And hell, schoolwork
and exercise are two particularly good outlets. So long as you don't
overdo either."

"Well, gonna need both if I'm gonna be a good cop, rather then just a
donut eater." Jubilee replied, choosing another section of wall to
work on. "An I plan on bein' a good one, gonna have to be to get
somewhere I can make a difference."

"You need to go somewhere else to make a difference?" Nathan asked,
just to see what her reaction would be.

Jubilee frowned at the wall, gripping the handholds tightly. "I
thought about it. Truth is, think I burnt those bridges, Nate. Who in
their right mind would let me lead here, hey? An I wouldn't blame 'em.
Can't have someone givin' orders that you can't trust. Better I start
out there, build myself up to be someone they can respect. Maybe then
I can come back, make a difference here. I ain't leavin', you know?
Just doin' things in a roundabout way, givin' people a chance to see
me doing the right thing , rather then just sittin' around and
expectin' someone to hand me it all. An as a bonus, I get a proper
job, an maybe a chance to show people out there that mutants aren't
all dangerous bastards."

Nathan blinked and then smiled a little. "Let you lead... do I lead,
Jubilee?" He shook his head, hauling himself upwards. "Eh, I don't
mean to be questioning your choices. Just wondering." He reached up
for the next handhold. "About a few things, actually... if you do make
it into a police academy, how much is being a mutant going to matter
one way or the other? I don't really see your powers being all that
applicable on the job... if you don't have any reason to use them, how
are people going to look at you as a positive model of a mutant
contributing to society?"

Jubilee smiled. "Well, didn't think I'd have ta use my powers to be a
positive role model. Just had to be open about the fact that I was a
mutant, an let it go from there." She pulled herself up the wall,
pausing for a second as she got her feet positioned properly. "To be
honest, Nate. What else could I be doing? It's not like I have a whole
cornucopia of choices, ya know? What other job could I do? I mean, I
know how ta break a safe now, an I'm a pretty mean hand at picking a
lock, an I can run a small time scam. But those aren't exactly good
job skills for anythin' useful."

"You have all the time in the world to get whatever job skills you
like," Nathan pointed out, pausing for a breather. "And as for being
open about being a mutant... how? When? When you do your little 'why I
want to be a cop' essay when you apply?" He wasn't being sharp; he was
honestly curious. "There's a certain 'don't ask, don't tell' attitude
towards things like genetic status in occupations like that, you
realize."

"Didn't realise, actually. I'm so used to just knowing everyone around
me is a mutant, I kinda forget that to the outside world I look
normal." she replied as she paused on the wall, thought back over the
conversation and laughed at herself. "I'm bein' all naive, aren't I?
When it comes right down to it, without the high ideals and the hero
crap, guess I just wanted a job I could help people in. When I'm not
tryin' to be the next Joan of Arc. I ain't the doctor type, and I'm
probably not the Fire-fighter type. An I ain't really a good follower,
which probably makes me a horrible candidate for a cop, an that pretty
much rules out bein' any kinda soldier too. But I think I'd go
absolutely balmy sittin' behind a desk."

"I don't know," Nathan said thoughtfully. "Are you sure you've looked
at all the options? There are a lot of different ways to help
people..."

Jubilee smiled wryly. "Well, much as I don't want to sound like a
bitch, considerin' the circumstances. The careers advisor ain't
exactly around, an for awhile there probably would have considered
talkin' to me about up there with havin' an enema with acid. Makes it
a little hard to explore the options, really."

"There are other people you could talk to. The Professor, for one...
especially given his connections with, well, someone in just about
every field you could ever want to explore," Nathan said with a
chuckle. He slipped on his next move, and caught himself
telekinetically, floating there.

"Talked to Chuck already, he's willin' to sponsor me through Uni,
maybe help me try out for a scholarship or somethin' when I decide
what I want ta do." Jubilee replied, eyeing Nate as he floated there.
"You know, that's so unfair. I slip on this thing, I'm pancake. You
slip, you just float there like Glenda. Sure you ain't hidin' some
kinda wand somewhere?"

Nathan lowered himself back to the floor, then grinned at Jubilee
suddenly and ran up the wall, as easily and as naturally as if he'd
been running on level ground. At the top of the wall, he pushed off
the ceiling with one foot into a perfect flip, floating back through
the air like a leaf caught on the breeze and coming to a gentle
landing on the floor.

Jubilee was silent a moment, and then poked her tongue out at him
before laughing. "Dude, your power looks so much more fun. Can you do
the Kung fu stuff Morpheus can do in 'The Matrix'?" she asked, pausing
at the safety point for unharnessed work and starting back down. "I'm
kinda thinkin' of doin' somethin' fun with my own soon, just need ta
talk to Alison about it. Was thinkin' after all the stuff we've gone
through here, maybe givin' everyone a little treat would be nice. You
ever go to a fireworks show where they set it up to be in time with
music? Was thinkin' somethin' like that."

Nathan grinned. "That sounds like a great idea to me," he said very
sincerely. "I was going to say if you need any help, I'm good with
explosives, but of course, you'd be providing your own..."

"Actually, a combination would probably be better. Means I could
concentrate on the really fancy stuff without worrying about running
out of oomph before I was finished. It's weird how much energy the
really delicate stuff takes. I mean, I could probably level a building
without breaking a sweat but holdin' those plasmoids for the safe had
me almost passin' out. Was thinkin' maybe fireworks in the shape of
musical notes. I can pretty much get them to do any shape I want, it's
just holdin' it long enough before it explodes." Jubilee replied, her
face suddenly flushed with excitement as she rattled off her ideas.

She'd been thinking about it for awhile now and she had a lot of
ideas, some more doable then others. It had started off during a
routine gymnastics lesson, thinking about whether she could form her
plasmoids into a ribbon but had morphed into the more realistic idea
of what she was explaining to Nathan now.

Nathan was nodding as she spoke, smiling a little at her obvious
enthusiasm. "Let me check with the rest of the staff on when and where
and how best to do something like this?" he asked. "If I'm going to
help you with the artificial sort of fireworks, I mean..."

Jubilee bounced a little, the pigtails she usually had her hair in for
climbing falling forward over her shoulders. "Dude, so cool. In the mean
time, I'll talk to Alison an see what kinda music she thinks will be good.
Maybe I could even convince her to play some of her own stuff."

This was quite a good idea, Nathan thought. As well as everyone had
handled the attack, positive distraction never hurt, either. "Who
knows?" he teased lightly. "You might find out you like doing this.
Using your powers to create art might be an entirely new sort of
positive thing to do with the fact that you're a mutant."

Jubilee looked thoughtful. "Maybe, we'll see. I gotta go! Got to go find Alison!"

She grinned, picked up her book bag from the floor where she'd left it and dashed out of the gym.