Nick and Jubilee, Backdated to 7/15/15
Jul. 15th, 2015 10:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
om_wolfcub posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
om_mainNick and Jubilee share the pool, and come up with an exciting prospect for New Year's.
Nick was beginning to wonder if and when people would start making 'water dog' cracks at him, with how often he was going to the pool. Having to shower to get the chlorine out of his fur daily was totally worth it, though, considering how blasted hot it was getting. Nick didn't recall ever having a summer this hot, and then he remembered that his parents had always kept the AC blasting throughout the summer.
He padded his way out to the pool, wearing his black swim trunks, which had a stripe of blue flanked by stripes of white running down the sides of the legs, and deposited his towel on one of the chairs, before turning and settling down on the edge of the pool, easing in with his legs first.
The nearby doors opened to admit another student; this one dressed in a pink one piece with purple stars - and little regard for the 'No Running' signs hung on every wall.
"Cannonball!" Jubilee screeched as she dropped her own towel just before hurling herself into the deep end with a large splash.
Granted, it wasn't like he got to see much of the incoming student before she impacted the water, and at least he was far enough away that he wasn't immediately drenched by the splash, though he was left wondering how something that small could make such a splash. Then again, it wasn't like he had tried, himself.
Something about her struck him as relatively unfamiliar, though, and he tilted his head in the direction she'd landed. Greetings could obviously wait until she surfaced.
Her head popped up a few feet away from the impact point, a huge grin on her lips as she pushed the water from her eyes which allowed her to finally see that she wasn't alone.
"Oh hey!" Jubilee called out, immediately swimming toward him.
"Hey," Nick replied, smiling a little bit. That grin was contagious, he had to admit. He sort-of recognized her from around the school, of course, now that he got a better look at her. "Nice cannonball," he chuckled.
"Thanks." She ducked beneath water again so the water washed the hair from her face then surfaced again, spitting a stream of water like a fountain. "You're Ned, right? I'm totally bad with names so sorry if I'm wrong."
Nick kind of wanted to dunk his own head, simply because of how cooling it would be, but he didn't want to look like a soggy mop while making someone's acquaintance. "Nick, actually," Nick chuckled. "And it's okay. I gotta admit I'm kinda in the same boat." It was something kind of strange and unique. "It... starts with a J, right?" There were so few girls at the school, comparatively, but few of them even gave him the time of day, but that was mostly because of his own lack of asking, really. He was pretty sure it started with a J?
"Yup. Jubilee," the girl chirped as she tread water. "Really, it's Jubilation Lee but I like Jubilee better. Jubes is cool, too."
Interesting spin on her own name. "Well, it's nice to actually meet you, Jubilee." Jubes felt a bit too familiar of a name for him to use on their first meeting. "How long have you been at the school?" he asked, curiously. Maybe he hadn't run into her because she was newer than he was, for a change. Or maybe she'd just eluded him simply because she was able to go out and about on the town, and not nearly forced to stay here simply by the circumstances of appearance.
"Oh. Um. Like, almost a year, I think." Honestly, she'd lost track of the time. Jubilee squinted as she tried to count the months. "I got here in October soooo nine, ten months?" That sounded about right. "How about you? I mean, I've seen you in class and all but people coming and going kinda all blends together."
Longer than himself, then, which surprised him. He must have just been particularly focused in classes. "About five months, myself," Nick admitted. "I came in back in February." Honestly, it was kind of nice of her to suggest that he could blend together with the other kids. Last he checked, none of them had a permanent coat of fur or a wolf muzzle they had to wear around. He figured she was being, at best, metaphorical about it.
Then again, he took a moment to realize just how self-conscious he was about the whole thing. It was kind of funny when he looked at it sideways. Being at the pool was showing the most skin (well, okay, fur) that he'd shown the whole school, and yet here he was awkwardly trying to not get too wet even though that was arguably his objective in the pool, so that he didn't look even goofier. He eased himself a little more into the water. It wasn't like he was out of shape, quite the contrary. His fur obscured a good amount of his otherwise evident muscle, but it was still there. Nick just chose not to pay attention, really.
"So where are you from?" he asked, curious. Mostly because he wanted to take his mind off of the fact that he was letting himself soak more, and actually moving around a bit in the water, getting his muzzle a bit wet along with his chest and shoulders.
"Beverly Hills," came the proud reply. If she noticed his awkwardness, Jubilee didn't comment on it. Hey, some people were shy, some were loud, some we covered in fur... it just was what was when it came to Mutant High. Pushing her hair out of her face, she beamed even brighter while shifting to float on her back. God, did she miss swimming; the fountains in the mall weren't quite deep enough for it.
"Oh, like the show?" Nick asked, sounding maybe just a bit stupid when he said that. He put a hand on his face, realizing he'd just blurted that out. "Guh, I mean. That's... California, right?" he amended, quickly, feeling stupid.
"Yuuuup. Only, you know, I didn't make it to high school yet so I totally missed out on all the cool drama." Not that her new school wasn't just bubbling over with it, but, well, it was a different kind of drama. One that usually didn't involve teleporting or super strong kids (not using steroids to make the wrestling team). "What about you? Where are you from?"
"I'm sure there's probably drama around, if you know where to look," Nick said, hesitantly, as he started to let himself float a bit in a reclined position. At least he could relax. "I'm uh. From Poughkeepsie. It's not really far from here. But I didn't really get out much." He figured he'd get the long-winded explanation over with. "I manifested when I was eight, and my parents kept me inside so that ... people wouldn't judge me." Even though their judgment had been particularly harsh once it finally arrived. "But now I'm here."
"Yeah you are!" Jubilee chirped. "Which means you're among friends." And he was! If anyone at the school was a big enough jackass to mess with him because of his mutation, well, they were going to get a face full of fireworks. They were all mutants; they needed to stick together and not be jackasses. Plain and simple. At least, that was the way she saw it. "No judging here."
"It's great, actually," Nick agreed, nodding as he floated. "It's also kind of funny; I've probably known Xavier and Lensherr and Doc MacTaggart longer than the other students; they used to drop by my parents' house and give me checkups and stuff, even before the school was built. Mom and dad and them used to sit around the living room and drink coffee and tea." It was getting easier to think of that living room as how it should have been, rather than the memories of it aflame. "So, I haven't figured out if this question is rude around here or not, but what's your, uh, mutation?" he asked, figuring she'd guessed his. "I'm assuming it has nothing to do with the rather impressive cannonball," Nick chuckled. But maybe it did.
"Nah, that's just pure good old fashioned talent," she boasted, pretending to flip her soggy hair over her shoulder. "And it's totally not rude. I make fireworks. From my hands. Shot them off in little pafs like pew pew pew. Big or small depending on what I want."
Nick blinked a few times. Last time he'd seen fireworks was on TV. "You must be great for 4th of July parties," Nick said, without even really thinking. And then he winced. "You probably get that a lot."
"Hell yeah!" Jubilee didn't sound offended at all; quite the opposite. She beamed with pride. "And you should see how awesome I am going to make this coming New Years!"
"That should be pretty impressive," Nick agreed. He sheepishly scratched the side of his head, his soaking fur dripping water into the pool. "I, uh, actually haven't seen a live fireworks show in years," he confessed. He was fairly certain his parents had taken him to a park for the 4th of July when he was six or seven. But that was almost a decade ago.
"Dude!" She bounced excitedly in the water, sending little splashes in all directions as she flailed. "You're totally getting front row seats to it. Like, right next to me, up close. Uh..." Jubilee paused and began to chew on her bottom lip. "Um, you know, if you want. No pressure or anything."
It was an interesting offer, and it made him chuckle a bit, nervously. "Yours don't do that screeching thing on the way up, I hope?" Nick asked, just a bit nervous about it. "I mean, my hearing's a lot better now that I've got, y'know, wolf ears. So I can't imagine that being real pleasant to hear."
"Oh ouch yeah," Jubilee winced with sympathy. "That would totally not be fun. They don't do the screechy thing... or well, they might. I haven't really paid attention. They do a sorta 'paf' noise mostly but the big ones might. Um. OH!" She bounced again, giddy once more. "We'll have you sit on the roof or somewhere else high up so nothing is in your way and you're not super close to the noise!"
"I'll probably have a better view on the roof anyway," Nick added. "It'll be great! We can have a whole bunch of us on the roof. And maybe they can set you up someplace higher so you can launch them even farther. Oh, maybe have Jean-Paul fly you around while you launch them!" Now Nick was kind of getting excited.
"Oh Em Geeeeee," she squealed. "That would be amaaaaazing! You're a freaking genius! I wonder if he would do it?" And if not, who else would?
Nick wasn't sure about the whole genius thing. Or that Jean-Paul actually would. "If he won't, one of the other students who can fly might be willing? Like Jay." Jay wasn't as fast, but it would probably allow for a smoother ride for Jubilee rather than the super-fast Jean-Paul. Then again, the only time Jean-Paul had taken Nick for a flight was when he was half-conscious anyway; Nick didn't remember much except being cold, hungry, thirsty, and sad.
"Duuuude!" Her flailing became excited splashing. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod we need to do this. We need to do this! So much!"
"I'll ask around, and see who's willing to do it," Nick chuckled, shielding himself from the crazy splashing. Maybe they wouldn't be too thrilled to be asked to volunteer to become a flying fireworks platform, but hey. School spirit and all that stuff, right?
Jubilee made another little squealing sound - flying! Oh my god! - and a few more splashes sent water all over. "Totally a genius idea. Seriously, Nick. It will be awesome. I'll put on the best show ever."
He couldn't help but chuckle. Her excitement, and her giddiness about it, were kind of contagious. "Well, I'm glad I came up with it. I hope it all pans out." And that nothing exploded that wasn't supposed to. Or caught on fire. Or other miscellaneous disasters.
"Oh, it will. I know it will." It had to now. She was too excited for it not to happen. "We'll find a flyer and a date and boom boom! Light up the sky, baby!"
"I'll be looking forward to it, then," Nick said, wondering if she had the attention span to really remember the idea for when New Year's rolled around. Then again, it sounded neat, and if it could encourage other mutants to put on a powers-enhanced displays in celebration of the holidays, then that was fine with him. He just figured he couldn't do much better than sniff out Easter eggs. "Like I said, it's been awhile since I've seen fireworks. So I'm really lookin' forward to it."
"Which is exactly why I am going to make sure it's the best ever," she reminded. "Seriously. No one should be denied fireworks especially when there is someone here who can make them."
It was kind of amazing that she could. He wondered about all the different things he'd seen on television and such during the holidays. "You can probably make them different colors and stuff, I'd imagine. But can you do like, the shapes and stuff like that? I saw one on TV that exploded into something like a smiley face. It was pretty neat. Or can you get really crazy and spell out words and stuff in the sky?"
"Hey, just because I've never done it doesn't mean I can't," she pointed out. She would give it a try - very, very, very soon - and if it didn't work, then she would practice until she could.
"Well, I don't know if I could be any help with how to practice that, but if you need the help, let me know." Maybe if she had some sort of outline to follow that could be represented in the Danger Room? He'd have to poke around.
"Definitely." Taking a deep breath, she dunked herself under the water, forcing herself to calm down some before surfacing again with a giant smile. "Anything else you haven't seen in a while I could maybe help out with?"
"I don't know. I mean, last time I was out in public before this, I was like, eight," Nick explained, shrugging. "Heck, before this summer, I hadn't even been in a pool for the longest time. I'd almost forgotten how to swim," he chuckled.
"Clearly, that means we can only do one thing," Jubilee said, nodding seriously for a moment. It didn't last long, however, and instead gave way to another devilish grin. "RACE YOU!" she hollered before beginning to swim to the far side of the pool.
"Wha--hey!" Nick called, suddenly in a race that he hadn't seen coming. He hadn't practiced much for speed, or anything. It had mostly been to cool off, but this was fun in and of itself, and not to mention good exercise. He couldn't help but play along with the game. Jubilee's idea of fun was just strangely contagious, for some reason.
Nick was beginning to wonder if and when people would start making 'water dog' cracks at him, with how often he was going to the pool. Having to shower to get the chlorine out of his fur daily was totally worth it, though, considering how blasted hot it was getting. Nick didn't recall ever having a summer this hot, and then he remembered that his parents had always kept the AC blasting throughout the summer.
He padded his way out to the pool, wearing his black swim trunks, which had a stripe of blue flanked by stripes of white running down the sides of the legs, and deposited his towel on one of the chairs, before turning and settling down on the edge of the pool, easing in with his legs first.
The nearby doors opened to admit another student; this one dressed in a pink one piece with purple stars - and little regard for the 'No Running' signs hung on every wall.
"Cannonball!" Jubilee screeched as she dropped her own towel just before hurling herself into the deep end with a large splash.
Granted, it wasn't like he got to see much of the incoming student before she impacted the water, and at least he was far enough away that he wasn't immediately drenched by the splash, though he was left wondering how something that small could make such a splash. Then again, it wasn't like he had tried, himself.
Something about her struck him as relatively unfamiliar, though, and he tilted his head in the direction she'd landed. Greetings could obviously wait until she surfaced.
Her head popped up a few feet away from the impact point, a huge grin on her lips as she pushed the water from her eyes which allowed her to finally see that she wasn't alone.
"Oh hey!" Jubilee called out, immediately swimming toward him.
"Hey," Nick replied, smiling a little bit. That grin was contagious, he had to admit. He sort-of recognized her from around the school, of course, now that he got a better look at her. "Nice cannonball," he chuckled.
"Thanks." She ducked beneath water again so the water washed the hair from her face then surfaced again, spitting a stream of water like a fountain. "You're Ned, right? I'm totally bad with names so sorry if I'm wrong."
Nick kind of wanted to dunk his own head, simply because of how cooling it would be, but he didn't want to look like a soggy mop while making someone's acquaintance. "Nick, actually," Nick chuckled. "And it's okay. I gotta admit I'm kinda in the same boat." It was something kind of strange and unique. "It... starts with a J, right?" There were so few girls at the school, comparatively, but few of them even gave him the time of day, but that was mostly because of his own lack of asking, really. He was pretty sure it started with a J?
"Yup. Jubilee," the girl chirped as she tread water. "Really, it's Jubilation Lee but I like Jubilee better. Jubes is cool, too."
Interesting spin on her own name. "Well, it's nice to actually meet you, Jubilee." Jubes felt a bit too familiar of a name for him to use on their first meeting. "How long have you been at the school?" he asked, curiously. Maybe he hadn't run into her because she was newer than he was, for a change. Or maybe she'd just eluded him simply because she was able to go out and about on the town, and not nearly forced to stay here simply by the circumstances of appearance.
"Oh. Um. Like, almost a year, I think." Honestly, she'd lost track of the time. Jubilee squinted as she tried to count the months. "I got here in October soooo nine, ten months?" That sounded about right. "How about you? I mean, I've seen you in class and all but people coming and going kinda all blends together."
Longer than himself, then, which surprised him. He must have just been particularly focused in classes. "About five months, myself," Nick admitted. "I came in back in February." Honestly, it was kind of nice of her to suggest that he could blend together with the other kids. Last he checked, none of them had a permanent coat of fur or a wolf muzzle they had to wear around. He figured she was being, at best, metaphorical about it.
Then again, he took a moment to realize just how self-conscious he was about the whole thing. It was kind of funny when he looked at it sideways. Being at the pool was showing the most skin (well, okay, fur) that he'd shown the whole school, and yet here he was awkwardly trying to not get too wet even though that was arguably his objective in the pool, so that he didn't look even goofier. He eased himself a little more into the water. It wasn't like he was out of shape, quite the contrary. His fur obscured a good amount of his otherwise evident muscle, but it was still there. Nick just chose not to pay attention, really.
"So where are you from?" he asked, curious. Mostly because he wanted to take his mind off of the fact that he was letting himself soak more, and actually moving around a bit in the water, getting his muzzle a bit wet along with his chest and shoulders.
"Beverly Hills," came the proud reply. If she noticed his awkwardness, Jubilee didn't comment on it. Hey, some people were shy, some were loud, some we covered in fur... it just was what was when it came to Mutant High. Pushing her hair out of her face, she beamed even brighter while shifting to float on her back. God, did she miss swimming; the fountains in the mall weren't quite deep enough for it.
"Oh, like the show?" Nick asked, sounding maybe just a bit stupid when he said that. He put a hand on his face, realizing he'd just blurted that out. "Guh, I mean. That's... California, right?" he amended, quickly, feeling stupid.
"Yuuuup. Only, you know, I didn't make it to high school yet so I totally missed out on all the cool drama." Not that her new school wasn't just bubbling over with it, but, well, it was a different kind of drama. One that usually didn't involve teleporting or super strong kids (not using steroids to make the wrestling team). "What about you? Where are you from?"
"I'm sure there's probably drama around, if you know where to look," Nick said, hesitantly, as he started to let himself float a bit in a reclined position. At least he could relax. "I'm uh. From Poughkeepsie. It's not really far from here. But I didn't really get out much." He figured he'd get the long-winded explanation over with. "I manifested when I was eight, and my parents kept me inside so that ... people wouldn't judge me." Even though their judgment had been particularly harsh once it finally arrived. "But now I'm here."
"Yeah you are!" Jubilee chirped. "Which means you're among friends." And he was! If anyone at the school was a big enough jackass to mess with him because of his mutation, well, they were going to get a face full of fireworks. They were all mutants; they needed to stick together and not be jackasses. Plain and simple. At least, that was the way she saw it. "No judging here."
"It's great, actually," Nick agreed, nodding as he floated. "It's also kind of funny; I've probably known Xavier and Lensherr and Doc MacTaggart longer than the other students; they used to drop by my parents' house and give me checkups and stuff, even before the school was built. Mom and dad and them used to sit around the living room and drink coffee and tea." It was getting easier to think of that living room as how it should have been, rather than the memories of it aflame. "So, I haven't figured out if this question is rude around here or not, but what's your, uh, mutation?" he asked, figuring she'd guessed his. "I'm assuming it has nothing to do with the rather impressive cannonball," Nick chuckled. But maybe it did.
"Nah, that's just pure good old fashioned talent," she boasted, pretending to flip her soggy hair over her shoulder. "And it's totally not rude. I make fireworks. From my hands. Shot them off in little pafs like pew pew pew. Big or small depending on what I want."
Nick blinked a few times. Last time he'd seen fireworks was on TV. "You must be great for 4th of July parties," Nick said, without even really thinking. And then he winced. "You probably get that a lot."
"Hell yeah!" Jubilee didn't sound offended at all; quite the opposite. She beamed with pride. "And you should see how awesome I am going to make this coming New Years!"
"That should be pretty impressive," Nick agreed. He sheepishly scratched the side of his head, his soaking fur dripping water into the pool. "I, uh, actually haven't seen a live fireworks show in years," he confessed. He was fairly certain his parents had taken him to a park for the 4th of July when he was six or seven. But that was almost a decade ago.
"Dude!" She bounced excitedly in the water, sending little splashes in all directions as she flailed. "You're totally getting front row seats to it. Like, right next to me, up close. Uh..." Jubilee paused and began to chew on her bottom lip. "Um, you know, if you want. No pressure or anything."
It was an interesting offer, and it made him chuckle a bit, nervously. "Yours don't do that screeching thing on the way up, I hope?" Nick asked, just a bit nervous about it. "I mean, my hearing's a lot better now that I've got, y'know, wolf ears. So I can't imagine that being real pleasant to hear."
"Oh ouch yeah," Jubilee winced with sympathy. "That would totally not be fun. They don't do the screechy thing... or well, they might. I haven't really paid attention. They do a sorta 'paf' noise mostly but the big ones might. Um. OH!" She bounced again, giddy once more. "We'll have you sit on the roof or somewhere else high up so nothing is in your way and you're not super close to the noise!"
"I'll probably have a better view on the roof anyway," Nick added. "It'll be great! We can have a whole bunch of us on the roof. And maybe they can set you up someplace higher so you can launch them even farther. Oh, maybe have Jean-Paul fly you around while you launch them!" Now Nick was kind of getting excited.
"Oh Em Geeeeee," she squealed. "That would be amaaaaazing! You're a freaking genius! I wonder if he would do it?" And if not, who else would?
Nick wasn't sure about the whole genius thing. Or that Jean-Paul actually would. "If he won't, one of the other students who can fly might be willing? Like Jay." Jay wasn't as fast, but it would probably allow for a smoother ride for Jubilee rather than the super-fast Jean-Paul. Then again, the only time Jean-Paul had taken Nick for a flight was when he was half-conscious anyway; Nick didn't remember much except being cold, hungry, thirsty, and sad.
"Duuuude!" Her flailing became excited splashing. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod we need to do this. We need to do this! So much!"
"I'll ask around, and see who's willing to do it," Nick chuckled, shielding himself from the crazy splashing. Maybe they wouldn't be too thrilled to be asked to volunteer to become a flying fireworks platform, but hey. School spirit and all that stuff, right?
Jubilee made another little squealing sound - flying! Oh my god! - and a few more splashes sent water all over. "Totally a genius idea. Seriously, Nick. It will be awesome. I'll put on the best show ever."
He couldn't help but chuckle. Her excitement, and her giddiness about it, were kind of contagious. "Well, I'm glad I came up with it. I hope it all pans out." And that nothing exploded that wasn't supposed to. Or caught on fire. Or other miscellaneous disasters.
"Oh, it will. I know it will." It had to now. She was too excited for it not to happen. "We'll find a flyer and a date and boom boom! Light up the sky, baby!"
"I'll be looking forward to it, then," Nick said, wondering if she had the attention span to really remember the idea for when New Year's rolled around. Then again, it sounded neat, and if it could encourage other mutants to put on a powers-enhanced displays in celebration of the holidays, then that was fine with him. He just figured he couldn't do much better than sniff out Easter eggs. "Like I said, it's been awhile since I've seen fireworks. So I'm really lookin' forward to it."
"Which is exactly why I am going to make sure it's the best ever," she reminded. "Seriously. No one should be denied fireworks especially when there is someone here who can make them."
It was kind of amazing that she could. He wondered about all the different things he'd seen on television and such during the holidays. "You can probably make them different colors and stuff, I'd imagine. But can you do like, the shapes and stuff like that? I saw one on TV that exploded into something like a smiley face. It was pretty neat. Or can you get really crazy and spell out words and stuff in the sky?"
"Hey, just because I've never done it doesn't mean I can't," she pointed out. She would give it a try - very, very, very soon - and if it didn't work, then she would practice until she could.
"Well, I don't know if I could be any help with how to practice that, but if you need the help, let me know." Maybe if she had some sort of outline to follow that could be represented in the Danger Room? He'd have to poke around.
"Definitely." Taking a deep breath, she dunked herself under the water, forcing herself to calm down some before surfacing again with a giant smile. "Anything else you haven't seen in a while I could maybe help out with?"
"I don't know. I mean, last time I was out in public before this, I was like, eight," Nick explained, shrugging. "Heck, before this summer, I hadn't even been in a pool for the longest time. I'd almost forgotten how to swim," he chuckled.
"Clearly, that means we can only do one thing," Jubilee said, nodding seriously for a moment. It didn't last long, however, and instead gave way to another devilish grin. "RACE YOU!" she hollered before beginning to swim to the far side of the pool.
"Wha--hey!" Nick called, suddenly in a race that he hadn't seen coming. He hadn't practiced much for speed, or anything. It had mostly been to cool off, but this was fun in and of itself, and not to mention good exercise. He couldn't help but play along with the game. Jubilee's idea of fun was just strangely contagious, for some reason.
