5599/Thursday in the Park with Jubilee

From United Heroes MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Thursday in the Park with Jubilee
Date of Scene: 19 October 2018
Location: Central Park, Manhattan, New York City
Synopsis: Jubilee and Bruce share New York's best hot dog and discuss life.
Cast of Characters: Batman, Jubilee




Batman has posed:
    It's the early afternoon in Central Park, and Manhattan's most valuable stretch of land is just as busy as one might expect. Bruce Wayne has managed to sidestep a number of corporate minders and go for a walk. In Gotham he might use it as an opportunity to slip away and conduct research in the Batcave, but the Manhattan Batcave is on the other end of the Island and frankly it's been an eternity since he got to have an actual moment to himself. So, one of the most recognisable and eligible men on the planet sits on a bench with a newspaper opened before him. He doesn't really read it. Instead, he people-watches over the top of it.

Jubilee has posed:
There's a long line of people stretching down a sidewalk in Central Park, snaking toward a hot dog cart manned by an elderly gentleman known to locals affectionately as "Merv." Somewhere in the middle stands a young woman, clearly of Asian descent. She's dressed in jeans, a sparkly black and gold sequin bodysuit that looks as though she might ice skate in her spare time, and a black leather mini-trench tied at the waist. Topping it off are a pair of black converse sneakers, and a pair of brass goggles atop her head. They look old - turn of the century old - and fitted with welding glass. They're holding up part of her hair in an array of lazy curls. The rest falls in wispy tendrils around her face and down her neck. She is reading a magazine with the face of Bruce Wayne on the cover.

Batman has posed:
    When Bruce moves, it is with preternatural grace courtesy of his nocturnal alter ego. The noise of the milling crowd also helps. He leans forward slightly to look at the magazine Jubilee is reading, raising his eyebrows a little and smiling a beaming, pearly white smile. When he speaks, he affects a fairly convincing New York accent: "Bruce Wayne? I can't stand that guy."

Jubilee has posed:
"Ohh noooo," Jubilee coos from behind the magazine before lowering it to look at the heckler. "He's dreaaam--" She cuts off, mid-word. "Ohgods. I'm ...you're..." She stammers a little, eyes going wide, and she closes the magazine quickly, jerking it down to her side so that the face is hidden against her leg. Because that'll TOTALLY throw him off her trail. "Hi! I'm getting a hot dog. Want one?" She's doing brilliantly, so far.

"I mean, they're the best in the city, after all..."

Batman has posed:
    "Hi, I'm Dreamy," Bruce says, still smiling as he looks down the line to the hot dog cart, "And, yeah, I think I /would/ like a hot dog. Are you paying? I'm a bit strapped for cash." He makes a show of patting his pockets and pulling an apologetic face.

Jubilee has posed:
She doesn't skip a beat. "I'd pay, if I had to get a second job," she replies with a grin. "It's yer lucky day, though, because I have this tremendous wad of cash. Not that I'm tryin' to flash it around to look rich, or anything," she says, pulling two fives and a single out of her pocket. "And there's more where /that/ came from."

Then, she pauses, pulling the magazine up to compare the cover to her new hot dog buddy, then a bright smile slowly spreads. "Hiya, Dreamy. I'm Jubilation. People mostly call me Jubilee, though. Or Jubes. Or 'hey.' Or 'Stop that.'"

Batman has posed:
    "Jubilation? I like that name," Bruce answers, joining Jubilee in the line, "And I'm joking about you paying, of course. I'm a bit flush myself at the moment." He reaches into his wallet and holds up /three/ fives and /two/ singles with an impressive waggle of his eyebrows, "You could say I'm one of the richest men on the planet."

Jubilee has posed:
"I could say that, but then you'd just accuse me of patronizing and shmoozing," Jubilee quips haughtily, upturning her nose in the other direction. "You flash that kinda bank in New York, and somebody's liable to shank ya for it. Better put it away. I can hold 'em off for awhile, but eventually someone's gonna get past me, and I'll get fired from my newest job as your bodyguard before I even got started good."

Batman has posed:
    "My bodyguard, huh?" Bruce asks, jutting out his lower lip and appearing to consider it for a moment, "Well, I suppose I could use a new one. My current ones let me wander off into the park and eat potentially questionable hot dogs with someone I've only just met." Nevermind he gave them the slip fairly easy, "Are you ready to move to Gotham then, Jubilation the Bodyguard?"

Jubilee has posed:
"Well you can bet I wouldn't let ya slip off into mortal danger of stuffin' yer face with the best hot dog ever made. No, Sir! I'd be RIGHT THERE in line with you, offerin' to pay for it." She winks and peers down the line toward Merv. "See? I'm already doin' the best job ever. I'm SO ready to move to Gotham and guard your body."

Batman has posed:
    Bruce continues to wait in line as he listens to Jubilee talk, "Well, I guess you're hired then. Here's my card." He reaches into his pocket, producing a simple white business card with the words 'Bruce Wayne' and beneath that 'President' and finally the logo for Wayne Enterprises. There's no actual contact details on it, "Oh, sorry!" Before Jubilee can take it, he snatches it back and produces what looks to be a pen made from actual silver and neatly prints a series of digits on the back, "A number would probably help."

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee looks dazed, as Bruce Wayne just...writes down his number on a business card, all nonchalant. Like it's an every day thing. She's gonna have to get this thing laminated. Or bronzed. No, bronzing would probably be NOT conducive to what she's trying to accomplish.

"I also do fireworks, like, you know, if you have a big birthday bash or something. Pyrotechnics are sort of...my thing..." She's still dazed when someone behind her gives her a helpful shove to the front of the line that has just reached Merv. "Two uh..." She looks back at Bruce. "I'm havin' mustard and celery salt. What's your poison, Boss?"

Batman has posed:
    "Original, thanks, Merv," Bruce says as he hands his business card and number over to Jubilee as though it really isn't a big deal at all. He waits for the vendor to prepare the hotdogs, looking back to Jubilee thoughtfully, "Fireworks? As in, you make them or you know how to set them off safely? Or both? I'm surprised someone who plays around win gunpowder still has her eyebrows. Or do you paint them on?" The last sentence is followed by a half-grin.

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee is stopped dead in her tracks by the question, and looks genuinely perplexed for a moment as to how she should respond. "I'm the best and safest there is," she replies, not really answering any of his questions. "These babies are 100% natural, though." She wiggles her brows. "The eyebrows, not the boobs," she adds unnecessarily. Did she just say 'boobs' to Bruce Wayne? "I mean the boobs are, too, otherwise they'd be big. Or y'know, existent." Yeah. And she said it again. It's all she can do not to facepalm.

Batman has posed:
    Despite the content of the conversation, or perhaps because of it, Bruce cannot help but grin broadly. He even laughs outloud when she starts fumbling over the words, and the joy of it is that it doesn't seem in the least mean spirited. It's as though he's genuinely delighted to be talking to her and, for all intents and purposes, he is, "I'm glad to hear that. On both accounts. So, seeing as you're moving to Gotham to become my bodyguard, I should probably ask you for references. What do you do for a living?"

Jubilee has posed:
"I teach. For a little school called Xavier's, I doubt you've heard of it. Kinda low profile, y'know. And I blow stuff up. Or at least light it up. Pyrotechnics, y'know?" She grins broadly, too, and looks totally relieved to no longer be discussing what parts are real. "Sort of a bodyguard..." she gestures vaguely, "...sort of thing. You could probably talk to Charles Xavier. He's the best there is at bein' the headmaster. Or Logan. He's the best there is at...wh-what he does," she stammers.

Batman has posed:
    "Those are some glowing references." Bruce reaches out to accept the hotdog when it is handed to him, returning several times over what the two of them are worth in cash to the waiting hands of Merv. He only smiles politely at the reaction as he turns back to Jubilee, "So, you've got to be honest with me now. Do you /really/ want to leave teaching to work for someone like me? I mean, this is probably as exciting as my life gets. Beyond that it's board meetings and a few holes at Pine Valley."

Jubilee has posed:
"Ohgod." She can't even stifle the reaction when Bruce pays for the hot dogs. "Thank you, THANK you!" she replies, when hers is handed over.

For the first time since the two met, Jubilee gets the feeling Bruce might be for real. "Honestly? I've not been really happy with the teaching part for a long time. See, I was a gymnast all my life, and I love doing it, but teaching is..." She handwobbles. "I do sorta have a gig doin' bodyguardy sort of...things. But the teaching? All the kids are mean to me and call me short, and 'Stop That.'" She shrugs with a slight grin. "Full transparency? I'd have to take it into consideration, if I was actually faced with a job elsewhere. Weigh the options, and then just take the one that offered the most candy."

Batman has posed:
    "If you really are looking for something new, Jubilee," Bruce says, his voice suddenly not as carefree as it had been. Now he seems entirely genuine, "I can find something for you at Wayne Enterprises. I know what it's like to feel like you need to make a change."

Jubilee has posed:
For a moment, Jubilee watches Bruce's eyes. Intently. She looks as if she's got something of grave importance to say, but she's trying to suss it out before she gives it voice. Then, slowly, she lifts her hot dog to her lips and takes a big bite, chewing slowly. Stalling.

"Mmf." She chews. And chews. The bite was bigger than she gave it credit for. She holds up a finger. Rolls her eyes. Chews some more.

Batman has posed:
    Bruce does as the Romans do and takes his own giant bite of the hotdog, just following along with the mood as Jubilee sets it. When he's done, however, he asks again: "I think you have something you'd like to tell me? I hope it's not the most expensive place I've ever been on vacation."

Jubilee has posed:
"Mr. Wayne," Jubilee begins after swallowing the biggest bite of weiner she's ever swallowed. "Teaching hasn't been somethin' that really lights my candle, y'know?" She lifts a palm, low key, between them, and cups it slightly. Within her palm dances a tiny blue flame. Except it's not a flame. It's insistent, and sparks, and dances wildly like electricity. Or plasma. "Some people gotta find more excitement in the world than teaching. I'd love the chance to show ya what I can do, sometime. Consider your options, y'know? So we can both decide whether it's a good fit." She shakes her hand, and the sparkle fades out in an instant, like snuffing out a kitchen match. A man like Bruce Wayne deserves to know what he's getting into. And God knows Jubilee's a handful enough without adding SUPRISE! MUTANT! to the package.

Batman has posed:
    "Now that's something," Bruce says quietly as he watches the firework dance in the palms of Jubilee's hands. For all the awestruck tone as he watches, he doesn't seem at all fearful or bothered. None of the signs that might come along with the sort of people who decide that all mutants are terrible. He seems interested, yet as though Jubilee revealed some interesting new skill and not an actual mutant power: "If teaching isn't for you, there are opportunities for you at Wayne Enterprises. And they don't center around this," he gestures at the small firework in her hands, "They center around this." He broadens his gesture to encompass the whole of her.

Jubilee has posed:
"The hot dog stand?" Jubilee asks, looking around her. "Or like the whole park?" She keeps the serious expression up until she stuffs her mouth with another bite of hot dog. Then, chewing, she gets a half-cocked grin and winks at him. Once she has swallowed again, she sucks a bit of mustard from her thumb. "I'll tell ya what. I'll use this number to call ya one day really soon, and we'll go out someplace where I can show ya what I can /really/ do, yeah? And that'll give me time to see whether I need to get our new teacher under control or not. Dude's name is Scott. He is the most unstable guy I have EVER met. Like one day he's fine, then he's gone. And when he comes back? He's like a completely different person."

Batman has posed:
    "Sounds like a hell of a guy."
    As he polishes off the last of his hotdog (he must have been starving), Bruce smiles once again: "I was talking about you. I'm interested in what you have to offer, and the fireworks are certainly interesting but I think there's more there. And I hope you /do/ call that number ... because it is my cell. But do me a favour? Don't sell it to the press. I mean, I can afford a new phone number but I only just got this one memorized."
    As he's speaking, someone with a camera calls his name and snaps a quick photo of the pair before taking off into the crowd. Bruce smiles apologetically to Jubilee, "Well, ever wanted to be in the tabloid press?"

Jubilee has posed:
"I've wanted to punch the tabloid press," she offers hopefully, with a shrug. "Nah I wouldn't ever give your number to anyone, much less sell it. And honestly? I'd love to come see ya, anytime. I'll defintiely be callin' ya. Because I mean...I'd have to be crazy NOT to, right? You're...you. And I'm just me. But if we work together, we can be an US, huh?" She gestures, her hands cycling between the two like bicycle pedals. "God I talk too much."

Batman has posed:
    "I might be me," Bruce says, his features now entirely honest and without any humor or carefree attitude, "But you're /you/. And don't worry, I don't talk enough - seems like a good fit."
    At the moment, he notices a pair of men in suits and dark glasses peering at him from a respectable distance with pointed looks on their faces. He shrugs apologetically, "I've got to go, Jubilee, but it was an unequivocal pleasure to meet you."

Jubilee has posed:
"Oh no, that's where you're wrong. It was TOTALLY quivocal. If that's a good thing," she rattles off as she touches a fingertip to her ear and narrows her eyes at the men in suits, saying something softly before lowering her hand. "The voices in my head, y'know? What're ya gonna do? Sometimes I feel like Harley Quinn or somethin'."

She chuckles and stands on tiptoe to kiss Bruce's cheek without warning as the photographer snaps a shot.

"Gotta have fun with it, or it's not worth doin', right?" She fingerguns and backs away. "I gotta go flip around on some bars, but I'll be in touch real soon." She spins around, giving that business card a kiss, and Bruce an enthusiastic wave. "Thanks for the hot dog, Sweetie!" she calls out for the press' benefit. "Kisses!" And then she's gone. Slipped out of broad daylight just like Batman only not as suddenly. Or completely. Or as skillfully. But otherwise just like him. Now and again, a gold or black sparkle can be seen as she weaves between the people of a city that thrums with the excitement of possibility. That on any given day, somebody like Jubilee could meet someone like Bruce Wayne, and snarf a hot dog.

You're always just one decision away from an entirely different life.