xp_logs | Hank, Jubilee, Wednesday Morning

Hank goes to congratulate Jubilee on making the team. They talk a little, about her powers and how they work, and what she'll be able to do on the team... and she's reminded again that people care about her.

Hank tapped on Jubilee's door, grinning. She'd gotten in! As soon as he'd
gotten back and found out, he'd dug out some treats to bring up as a
congratulatory gift. "Jubilee?" he called, hoping she was in. "I come
bringing congratulations and sugar!"

Jubilee grinned, turning off the CD player she'd had running. She'd grabbed
one of Paige's CDs and had been using it as study music. "Come in, Hankster.
I'm decent!" she called.

He slipped into the room, smiling at her. "Congratulations, my dear, on your
acceptance as a trainee!" he said cheerfully. "I fear that if I ever give
you fudge again I may be taken out and shot, so I brought a box of belgian
truffles instead." He was fairly sure Maddie would have shared her cache
with Jubilee, and hopefully Jubilee had liked them...

Jubilee bounced excitedly. "You saw! Isn't it fantastic!"

She jumped up off the bed and gave Hank an excited hug, deftly grabbing the
chocolates from his hand and examining the box closely. There was always
time for candy. "I totally thought I wasn't gonna get in and they'd be all
'we don't think you're ready just now' but seriously surprised me. An I
wouldn't worry about Mads, she knows you'd never do anythin' to get me in
trouble."

He returned the hug before she slipped away again, smiling. "I, for one,
thought it would be good for you... joining the trainees, not the chocolate,
although that has undeniable health benefits as well. Mind you, I also
recommended plenty of training before you get even a tiny sniff of action,
so if your training runs long, you'll know who to swat." He patted her
shoulder lightly. "But I do think that your joining the team will be
beneficial for everyone."

Jubilee flopped down on the bed, shrugging as she dug into the chocolate.
"Doesn't worry me, Big Blue. Kinda expected to start on a bit of a back foot
with everyone. Not that I'm expectin' them ta give me a hard time just for
the sake of it but they gotta know who I am first before they can trust me,
right?" she replied through a mouthful of chocolate. "An well, same goes for
me. Gotta know who they are before I can trust them."

Hank nodded. "I'll be happy to help any way I can," he offered. "With
training, and so on." Okay, the little flake of chocolate stuck to her cheek
was just way too cute.

Jubilee grinned, licking her fingers clean before offering the box to Hank.
"Should probably let you have some, hey? An help would be fantastic,
Hankster. I so totally have no idea what to expect with the trainin' stuff.
What do you think they'll have me do?"

Hank took one of the chocolates and grinned. "It depends on who you train
with. But expect bruising. Lots of bruising. Also weird stuff, many
excercises you can't see any point to, and, in the case of the medevac
stuff, some quite realistic simulations of gore. You probably won't be doing
too much of that, though." He chuckled. "As competent as I'm sure you'd be
at it, I don't think there's a single person currently on the team small
enough for you to carry to safety."

Jubilee grinned impishly. "True, I am kinda the sport model, rather then the
all terrain vechile."

She pulled a pillow aside, surprising her bunny, who had been hidng there.
Pulling the bunny up on her lap, she offered some chocolate.

Hank nodded, reaching over to scritch behind the bunny's long ears. "On the
other hand, you're perfect for small spaces - something at which we big,
muscular types suck big muscular ass," he grinned. "I've never yet found a
crawlspace I can get more than my head into." Tiny, compact, strong for her
size... she'd be able to do a lot that most of the others couldn't, simply
by being so much smaller.

"I'm pretty good at the squeezin' myself into small spaces thing. Although,
Forge is like the King of that. An well, my powers tend to fry electronics
but maybe that could be a bonus sometimes too." she said, tilting her head
to the side thoughtfully as she considered what she could bring to a team.

"That can definitely be a bonus. If I'm trying to stop a runaway piece of
machinery, I generally have to tear it completely to pieces. You could do
the same job much more quickly, either by shorting it out or blowing it up."

This was good - she was clearly giving serious thought to what she could do,
that others perhaps could not, rather than wishing she could do what the
other members of the team could. "And you, at least, will never be short of
light if you need it. Very handy if you're the one who's going to be
crawling around in tight spaces."

Jubilee grinned, she'd been thinking about her powers a lot since Scott had
told her she'd been accepted. Trying to figure out ways she could use them
to help the team. She'd had an idea but she wasn't particularly sure it
would work.

"I kinda had a thought. But I think I'd need some kinda metal bowl or
somethin' for it an maybe a soft place ta land. Was thinkin' about it durin'
this talk in science class. You know how explosions are stronger when
they're in a confined space? Well, was thinkin', what if I could hold my
powers long enough in this metal bowl thing till someone was standin' on
top? Might not be flyin' or anythin' but I could probably launch 'em a bit
of distance."

Hank opened his mouth, then closed it, and got a thoughtful look. "That...
could be very interesting," he said thoughtfully. "We should definitely try
that... in the Danger Room would be safest. And if it works... we could
construct something more specific - a metal box, perhaps, small enough to be
carried on the person, entirely harmless until you create a plasmoid within
it and allow it to detonate..."

"Coolness! So, Hankster. Wanna come get some lunch with me? Was thinkin' of
seein' what kinda sandwich I could make from whatever Lorna's got in the
fridge. Like, we could choose a colour an just see what it tasted like at
the end." Jubilee replied, excited by the prospect of trying out her idea.

If it worked, she could use it a number of ways.

"I'm always up for food adventures - although I'm not going to give you that
much sugar all at one time again." He grinned. "I would, however, recommend
carrying a cache of candy with you, when you are sufficiently advanced in
training to go out on missions. It seems that the speeding up of your
metabolism with sugar - and possibly caffiene as well - makes it possible
for you to access more power. If you start getting tired, sugar should give
your abilities a temporary recharge."

Jubilee's look was curious. "Really? You mean like I now have a reason to
eat candy? Dude, so cool."

"Not too much at once... your powers are going to be harder to control if
they get that amped up again. But yes, you have a perfect reason to eat
candy. And wash it down with Jolt." Hank grinned. "Also, no skipping meals -
if your powers are dependent on your body being sufficiently fuelled to
handle them, going hungry isn't a good idea."

Jubilee glanced at him sideways. "Sure. Just so long as you don't start
tellin' me how skinny I am an how I need to eat more. Cause, so old story,
ya know? Just never been able to put a lot of weight on, no matter what I
eat."

"I would hazard a guess that this is why," Hank said, reaching over to pat
her shoulder gently. "From what I've been able to determine, you do use your
body's own energy to control the energy you... get wherever you get it...
for the plasmoids themselves. It's as if..." He thought about it, trying to
come up with a good example. "Imagine it as though your body is a form of
remote control. It controls the plasmoids, which are separate from it, but
requires energy of its own to do so. Which would represent a fairly
constant drain on your body's resources, quite aside from the demands on
your body made by your gymnastics and so on. You'll probably never be able
to put on much weight, but you do need to eat regularly - and probably more
than normal for someone your size. You're using up a lot of fuel, what with
one thing and another."

"So that's why I blew up my alarm clock when I was sick then?" Jubilee
asked.

"Most likely - you could still access the power, but didn't have enough
personal energy to control it." He smiled. "Next time you're sick, I'll
bring you plenty of candy. And if you can't eat it, I'll bring you an
inhibitor, just in case."

Jubilee grinned. "You know, it's kinda nice that if I got sick there'd be
people ta take care of me."

Hank laughed, and touched her cheek lightly. "My dear, I suspect I'd have to
take a number and get in line," he said fondly. "Or at least wrestle Madelyn
for the privilege. We might have to draw up a timetable in order to share
you out equitably."

She couldn't help it, she blushed. She just wasn't used to people 'caring'
all that much. She'd had people who had over the years since her parents
died, obviously. But it was different now, maybe because she found herself
actually accepting that emotion, rather then holding everyone at a distance.
"Dude." she replied, not being able to think of an adequate expression.

He leaned over to give her a gentle hug. "Sooner or later, my dear, you're
just going to have to get used to having people care about you," he said
gravely. "Jubilee, all the time you spent with me while I was... unwell...
meant a great deal to me. I know it couldn't have been easy, seeing me that
way, and I don't blame those who stayed away - but you didn't, and it does
you great credit."

"Wouldn't have been right, leavin' you alone like that." Jubilee replied,
returning the hug.

She'd never been able to walk away from someone in need. Even when she and
Amanda had been at their worst, she still hadn't been able to leave the girl
alone when she looked like she needed help. It was just the way things were,
you didn't see someone in trouble and not help.

Hank smiled. "And that's one of the reasons why I think you'll make a fine
X-Man, someday," he said softly, hugging her gently. "You help people when
they need it." She was a good kid, despite her issues. She'd be just fine.