8194/Campsite 4

Campsite 4
Date of Scene:	06 July 2019
Location:	Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Jubilee and Josh enjoy a campfire and a quiet night.
Cast of Characters:	Elixir, Jubilee

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Elixir has posed:
The day's heat has given away to nighttime coolness. It is a welcome relief. The sky is clear and out at the campsites, the city lights do not wash them out. There is some talking and laughing that drifts through the trees from some down the way, but it is mostly quiet in Josh's site.

He has a blue-green tent set up, from the school's outdoor supplies, and a small cooler. A fire is going in the stone circled pit. Josh sits on one of the logs near the fire where he can see the lake. A few pinpoints of light on the far shore show where students or staff have set up their own fires tonight.

Jubilee has posed:
This is Jubilee's favourite spot, just to get away from everything. Her place. The school. The people. Although tonight, there /are/ people. Not close enough to throw a rock at. She pauses and stands near a blue-green tent in the night breeze that tosses her long dark hair - straight, tonight. Her brass goggles are dangling from one finger. She's in a white cotton tanktop - buttoned up the front - and jean shorts. Her sandals make a faint flipping sound if she walks, but for now she's listening to the laughter down the way. She bends down to pick up a rock, and throws it after a pensive silence.

Apparently they're close enough to throw a rock at. But not close enough it hit, by any means.

Elixir has posed:
The thunk of a rock hitting a tree nearby stands out against the otherwise muted sounds of the night. Josh sits up straight, a frown on his face. The firelight illuminates him clearly enough, in jeans, a tight patterned t-shirt and sneaks. He looks a little more like he planned to go out than go camping.

"Hello?" he says into the darkness beyond his campfire.

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee startles. She had noticed the camp, but in the darkness, had lost the figure of the one sitting beside the campfire. "Jesus!" she exclaims, backpedaling as she looks back to the campsite from the spot in the woods where she threw the rock. "Sorry, I didn't see you there. Uh..." She squint and takes a few steps back toward the lone campfire. "Josh? Are you out here by yourself?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh recognizes the voice right away and he stands up.

"Jubilee? Hey!" Josh grins and walks over. He holds his arms out to her. "Haven't seen you in a while!"

Then he looks back at his campfire and to Jubilee again. He scratches the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah... Just taking a break from stuff," he explains. "Wanna come sit? I've got beer. No fudgecicles though."

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee blinks once, slowly, and narrows her eyes. "Taking a break from stuff. Does this somehow equate to girl troubles again? Cause if so, we have gotta stop meeting like this." Jubilee smiles warmly and brings Josh in for a hug. "A beer would be fantastic...only if ya have an extra. You don't look like you packed for company."

Elixir has posed:
"Yeah, I got lots," Josh says with a wry grin. "And girls are only part of it, I promise. Why are /you/ out here? You're stalking me, aren't you. It's okay, you can tell me."

Josh walks back to the fire and opens his cooler. He fishes out a beer and passes it to Jubilee, then takes a seat back where he was.

Jubilee has posed:
"So there I was," Jubilee begins, cracking open her beer and taking a sip for dramatic pause. "...looking for something to do. And I was like, 'Hey, I could go stalk Josh!' And so I came to stalk Josh." She gives him a smirk and a side-eye, taking another sip of her beer. "But really I was just coming out to check out the lake, and the moon, and stuff like that. But y'know, I can't throw a rock these days without hittin' some heartbreaker. Or at least a tree near him."

Elixir has posed:
"Hey, I'm breaking no hearts," Josh says with a laugh. "I'm good. I was dating a telepath, remember? Couldn't have hidden anything from Sam if I wanted to."

"The lake is nice though. That's why I picked here. And no cell reception. How've you been, anyway?"

Jubilee has posed:
"Ahh, I've been good. Pretty good. Worried about all the sentinel garbage lately. But what's new...If it wasn't that, it'd be something else. Seems like there's always something dramatic going on around here." Jubilee moves to the fire and sits on the ground, cross-legged. "Just enjoying the summer, the best I can, anyway. Somethin' on your mind tonight then? That you'd need to get away from everything? Alone? Without cell reception?"

Elixir has posed:
"Sentinel stuff has been bad," Josh agrees. "A couple people came to my apartment after the church attack, because they needed help. I guess word spreads..."

Josh shakes his head and then grins. "You're like, a bulldog, you know? Grab on and then that's it, not getting away."

"Okay, so like a month ago, Samantha tells me she's going to UCLA next year. And I was like, cool, you know? Great school, and she wants to do social work or something and she says they've got a great program. I mean, of course they do, it's UCLA. But anyway, I started talking about doing the distance thing and whatever. I just assumed. But then /three/ weeks ago, she's like, no, she's going and we're breaking up. And that sucked, I mean, it's not like there was a lot of people here who'd even talk to me because, you know, and it had been a year so I just thought it'd keep.... going," Josh drinks from his beer and shrugs.

Jubilee has posed:
"Well, yeah, I mean...If you'd been together for a year, I wouldn't think she could just throw that away." Jubilee sits, her gaze lingering on the heart of the fire for a breath. "I'm sorry, Josh. That sucks, hard. There's nothin' I can say to make that okay. But what I can say with complete certainty is that, if she was the right one, she couldn't have done it." She lifts her eyes back up to watch him for a long moment. "For all the good you can do for others, I wish there was something I could do to make things better for you. But I'm not a healer. Heart or otherwise." Her expression is pensive. "I even suck at being a bulldog."

Lifting one hand, palm-up and to the side, she issues forth dozens of tiny golden spheres that dance around her and out into the woods, twinkling like fireflies or faerie fire. She lifts the other, and dozens more join the array, until the woods are awash. "What I can do is try to bring light into the world. It took a long time for me to learn that it doesn't always mean fire. Sometimes it's just finding beauty in something, or someone. And you've got that, by the bucketloads."

Elixir has posed:
Josh watches the lights with a grin.

"Sure," he says non-commitally to her final comment. He just sits and enjoys the display., just sitting quietly with Jubilee and drinking his beer. The fire runs lower, totally ignored by Josh in favour of Jubilee's artistry.

"See now /that's/ beautiful. It's like magic..." he says and chuckles. In glitter and dance of the light he looks a bit sheepish. "Which is the other part of the story. I ran into Wanda Maximoff, the Avenger? In a church. I know. Anyway, I took for a drink, it was fun. Couple nights later, I took her /to/ Evolution and then home /from/ Evolution. And Sam heard. And Wanda was... I dunno. She's really different. But nothing from her since, so that's not happening. But non-stop shit from Sam about it."

"Who are you seeing? Where're your stories, huh?" Josh asks with a grin.

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee frowns, listening to Josh as he regales her of his situation with Wanda, and the consequences with Sam. "What business is it of hers, if she broke up with /you/, anyway?" She shakes her head. "It isn't fair. But sometimes life's not fair. And sometimes, well...sometimes life isn't fair, the other way. Sometimes you get something you feel like's way better than you deserve. Because people tend to forget how many times life has slighted them, in light of something new and amazing. It's pendular, y'know. It'll swing back the other way. Promise ya that..."

Then, in response to his questions, she shrugs. "I see my students, every single day. Except weekends. And the summer breaks. And that one time when I got kidnapped. And that other time I got kidnapped. If it works like inoculation, I should be completely immune to kidnapping before long, right?" She grins. "I dunno, though. I don't /see/ anybody. I hang out with folks here and there, but I think I was put here to try to help people, maybe, not to look for somethin' for me."

Elixir has posed:
Josh looks thoughtful while Jubilee talks. He puts more wood on the fire and uses a stick to stir up the embers a bit.

"Girls," Josh grins. "Does it have to make sense?"

Josh pulls the stick back from the fire. The tip still smolders and leaving an orange trail behind it in his vision when he waves it out around, making idle loops and figure eights.

"I mean, you're right it's not fair, but nobody promised fair. Fair is a story you tell kids so they're not scared."

"Still, you should get out and see people. You can't stay cooped up on the grounds all the time, that's not good. Go travel, or come to Evolution or stalk me while I'm doing classes at NYU," he says with a grin.

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee breathes a laugh, nearly choking on the swig of beer she's taking. "I haven't been to a club in..." She counts on her fingers. "Ever. I dunno, that scene is sorta just...I think for me it might be kinda dangerous. I'm a lightweight when it comes to drinking, anyway. A chick who can't hold her liquor, but makes plasma?" She shakes her head. "Not a good combination. So I guess I just never tried that scene."

After a moment of contemplation, however, she adds, "Fair is a balance, I think. Not a matter of what's good or bad for us at any given time. Maybe a balance of everything that comes to us in a lifetime. But if that's the case, you'd deserve something awesome for putting up with me stalking you at NYU. How are your classes going, anyway?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh laughs.

"It could be epic! I mean, Bobby might be pissed when you burn the place down, but..." Josh jokes.

"Not as great as they need to," Josh admits. "My grades are pretty good but not enough to compete with these wunderkind in my classes. And they've got all kinds time for all the volunteering and stuff. I really like what I'm studying, and it helps me a /ton/, but being real? Med school's a bit of a pipedream unless I stop doing like, everything else."

Jubilee has posed:
    Jubilee looks increasingly pensive as Josh delineates his current situation. She tilts her head, fretting at her lip for a moment before she looks back up to his eyes. "Josh...tell me what you /want/...Where do you really WANT to be?"

Elixir has posed:
"Huh?" he asks Jubilee, a bit confused by the question. He tilts his head curiously and takes another pull of his beer. "I dunno, I'm just trying to do what I'm supposed to. What do you mean?"

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee tugs idly on a string from the bottom of her cutoff shorts, wrapping it around and around her finger as Josh speaks. "Well...I mean, you don't need a PhD to heal people. Would the education improve the implementing of your abilities? Would you....would you be /better/ at doing what you do...with a degree?" She looks up at him again, her curiosity still intense.

Elixir has posed:
Josh makes an annoyed face. "Yeah, sort of? I dunno. It makes me better. Like, everything I learn makes what I do easier. It turns these feelings I get about peoples' bodies into something I understand. So that's cool. Don't need to spend a metric fuckton of cash for that though."

Josh pushes the dirt at feet around with his sandals. "But I can't just run around healing people. Well, I sort of do, but like I need the official thing. I can't just show up at MSF in Africa and be like hey, I can fucking cure AIDS mind if I help?" he quips dryly. "Which I can actually do I found out. And leukemia."

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee stands up and dusts off her behind, where it sat in the dust. She moves over closer to Josh and sits at his feet instead, as she takes a sip of her beer. "Josh," she begins quietly as she nudges her side against his knee. "You're right, y'know. You can't tell them. None of them. D'you know what they'd do to you? To figure out how you work. Not to mention big pharma. What you need isnt to go tell anyone what you can /do/...you just have to be in the right place to do what you need to do. If someone ever finds out you're the one that can do it, Josh...Life as you know it's gonna be over. I can't let that happen...You're too important."

Elixir has posed:
Josh shifts uncomfortably. He had worked hard at avoiding looking into the issue squarely and the idea of becoming a lab rat unsettles him.

He does not shy away from Jubilee's nudge. But he looks conflicted.

"Jubes, I dunno. But I want to help. Like, when I feel what's wrong in someone's body and what they need... It's like amazing," he grins. "And it's weird, too. I'm starting to be able to feel more about people? Like, everyone feels different. It's cool."

"So... makes it hard not to help. I probably need to be more careful though," he admits. "Some people know."

Jubilee has posed:
"Yeah, you need to be careful. People at the Mansion? The Avengers? They're one thing. Reed Richards, too. But people outside of our circles? No way. We need to be careful. It isn't so bad with just anyone. But you're special, Josh. You got the golden goose. But if you're in the right place you might could do what you need to, without anyone even knowing. Y'know?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh runs a hand through his hair.

"Golden goose," he snerks. "Lots of people have powers. You could be a superweapon if the army got its hands on you."

"You're right though, shit. I... Well, it's like I live in this little dive apartment in Bushwick near Evolution. And the lady across the hall, she's this single mom with two kids. And her little girl got diagnosed with leukemia. And seriously, nobody in my building can pay for treating that shit. So I sort of... Helped her," Josh says and scratches the back his neck. "I told her to keep it quiet.... But yeah. I've had a few knocks. And what do I say? Fuck you go bleed? I mean. I can't. But I think word might get out."

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee sits quietly for a time, at Josh's feet, leaning against his leg. She doesn't speak, but a chasm could be filled with all the words thought between them. When she finally looks up at him, Jubilee's dark eyes glint brightly in the firelight. Her expression is indiscernable. Her gaze conflicted.

"You could no more turn them away than I could," she finally replies. Resolute. Resigned. "We have to do what we were made to do, or else what was the point in living at all?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh looks down at Jubilee, and nods. He looks... Grateful. Understood.

"Sort of how I feel," he admits. "I can't... Not. I've done some epic shit things, I mean, I'm unpopular for a reason," he says and gestures toward the school. "But to like hide this away because I'm scared. I dunno. I dunno the right thing."

Josh leans forward and gestures for Jubilee's goggles. "I never asked what the story was with these."

Jubilee has posed:
It takes a few seconds for Jubilee to refocus her thoughts when Josh changes course, and she blinks, looking back at him. But then her eyes go wider. "Oh! Those. They're for when things get intense," she replies. "Sometimes I gotta go bright, and it can get blinding...Helps, if there are people who need to be blinded. But, well...I'm /rarely/ one of those people in any given situation. This way I can focus on my lights, and not go blind." She grins up at Josh. "What kinda kick is that? Not immune to my own powers."

Elixir has posed:
Josh chuckles. He holds the goggles up to his eyes and glances around. Then he holds them to Jubilee's.

"Yeah, look way better on you. I can't pull off goggles like those."

Josh lifts them back up and hands the goggles to Jubilee. He catches her eyes again and chuckles. There is some yelling and laughing from across the lake, and the sounds of splashing.

"They're nuts. It's cold in there," he says. He reaches over and past Jubilee to stoke the fire a bit.

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee takes the goggles and smiles, following Josh's gaze. "Yeah, but I'm guessin' they probably have each other to keep 'em warm." She winks and shrugs. "Young love, and such. But I'd just freeze, so I think I'll stay here by the fire."

Elixir has posed:
"Good idea," Josh agrees. He watches the fire and lapses into a surprisingly comfortable, companionable silence with Jubilee.