8270/Undercurrents: Jubi and the Beast

Undercurrents: Jubi and the Beast
Date of Scene:	11 July 2019
Location:	Beast's Lab. X-Men Base
Synopsis:	Beast and Jubilee are caught in the lockdown after a student overdose.
Thanks to:	Jubilee, Beast
Cast of Characters:	Beast, Jubilee
Tinyplot:	Undercurrents

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Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy drags his temporarily-purple self into his lab in the locked-down base. Taking off the poor, cut-in-half tie, the other half somewhere on a street in Metropolis. Unbuttoning his shirt a little, he flops onto his reinfoced couch in the back. "You all changed? I'm hoping it won't BE all night, but it might be before we're sure whether it's safe to release the lockdown."

Jubilee has posed:
"Yeah!" Jubilee pops into the lab, wearing what looks like a mini-dress and little shorts beneath. The top is yellow with turquoise sleeves. The bottoms, for what they're worth, are pink. "I doubt they'll have it locked down all night. We can do better out there than we can /in here/, after all. Especially once we get all we can from those two." She nods in the direction of the medical lab.

Jubilee furrows her brow, then, looking Hank over. "You okay, there? Wild night, looks like. Your poor tie.." She laments.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy sips from his XXL-sized coffee mug, and smiles. "I was on bookmobile duty. And while we were out, Kitty diverted us to some terrorists who were going to attack a young family. Father is outspoken for mutants, kids are mutants themselves. We got there just in time." He looks at his tie, spread out on his desk. "That one was new, too." Now eyeing Jubilee. "You still haven't lost your sense of fashion. That's about how we found you..."

Jubilee has posed:
" Just about, huh?" She looks down at her pj's. A little skimpy, maybe. But easier to function in than a dress. Besides everyone at the school has seen her in competition leotards, which are way worse. "I didn't expect to be caught in lockdown," she replies with a sheepish grin, her cheeks colouring pink. "But I guess I should, I mean around here it's not exactly a rate occurrence, is it?" Jubilee sips from no coffee cup. It is a fargone conclusion that Jubilee is not often provided with caffeine. Between her "perky" demeanor and her dangerous powers, maybe hopping up on caffeine to a hair trigger isn't the best of ideas.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy does look away as he realizes just how skimpy they are, and snickers. "Just about. I guess I was looking more at the colors than the cut." Then with a grin, he leans over, reaching under the couch to slide out a box of Twinkies. "Want one? And have a seat anywhere." Beds, chairs, big couch, plenty of options. "Nadia's in one of my classes. I'm so disappointed."

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee accepts his offer, taking a Twinkie from the box and opening it carefully along the plastic seam. She has perched herself in one corner of the couch, legs folded beneath her. "Thanks," she offers, as she takes a bite, and then, "Mmm..."

Jubilee watches Henry for a long moment, thoughtfully as she chews her bite of Twinkie and licks the cream off her bottom lip. "Well, look at it this way," she replies, swirling her fingertip in the cream filling of her cake pensively. "Maybe she dodged a huge bullet. If she survives this just fine, then maybe she'll see the danger in it all. Maybe she'll stop. It often takes a bullet, either dodged or taken, before someone will see the light, y'know."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy grabs one himself, and looks up just in time to see Jubilee's play with her lip, and snickers. "Yeah. It'll be hard on both of them. I hope they learn. I hope we'll be supportive enough." Then he dunks the tip of his twinkie into his coffee, and nibbles on that. It's tough to eat slowly at this size. "You have any students showing extra promise?"

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee grins, and shrugs, looking up at Henry. "The diplomatic answer is, 'They all show extra promise. We have stars amongst us.' But the real answer is, I Might have to bankrupt Chuck's safety fund to wrap them all in bubble wrap, if rhey're going to survive my classes in one piece. Some of them I think go out of their way to hurt themselves. One gave herself a bloody nose, stretching before class." Jubilee sighs.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy nearly spills his coffee snickering. "It's tough isn't it? My first time teaching, I'd just come back from Stockholm. Trying to teach the Krebs Cycle to kids who can barely draw a picture of a sugar cube... And you, world class gymnast, helping kids who might struggle to do a sit up." Dunk, nibble. "But you have the heart in you to do a great job for them, I know it. Even if we have to add an extra layer of padding to the whole gym."

Jubilee has posed:
"I hope I can do them some good. I mean, they aren't going to be gymnasts, that much is for sure. Most of them anyway. Someone might surprise me. But they need to know how to take a tumble. Be flexible. Generally keep from breaking something every time they take a fall. Because I figure some of them are definitely going to end up doing that. The whole fighting biz."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy quirks, and looks up again at her. "I imagine you're good at making the case that a great athletic regimen is good for making your clothes look better, if nothing else. And you're right. It's always shocking every time that gawky kid from 8th grade biology is suddenly a New Mutant and fighting along side you."

Jubilee has posed:
"Yeah, none of them wanna be known as The Stick, or something. Besides which it's important that they have to be able to take care of themselves, or they endanger not only themselves, but also their teammates." Jubilee grins, and takes another bite of Twinkie. She chews it for a moment, then stashes it in her cheek. "I guess someone like you or the Hulk just don't really have to worry about that, huh? You guys just BAM, and suddenly you're beyond ripped."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy laughs. "Been that way since high school, Jub. Before I even knew I was a mutant, before I was blue..." He pauses. "Well, today purple, but you get my drift. Before I was furry and weird, I was just a big guy. It was easy. I could never teach sports. It's just... well I never had to work at it."

Jubilee has posed:
"Well! That's...that's handy," replies Jubilee, sneaking a look at Henry in a nonchalant, but completely obvious manner. "So you were smart /AND/ you got all the girls. Bet you had a BLAST in high school, huh?"

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy bites into his twinkie after another dip, then she goes there. He'd turn slightly purpler if it were even possible, pausing before he chews slowly, and sips his coffee. "In a manner of speaking, if we consider the situation in the fullness of time, as we come to the final analysis, a reasonable observer could possibly conclude that, in the balance... yes." Snickering.

Jubilee has posed:
Laughter like shining bubbles erupts from Jubilee as Beast formulates his answer in a very literal manner. She rocks forward and back for a moment, considering, then shakes her head. "Well good. You got it, might as well flaunt it!" She grins brightly, then takes another bite, looking down at her Twinkie for a moment, and then to the door. "Hope all's going well in there. Josh is amazing at what he does."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy does move his eyes around when she says THAT, considering her PJs in that new light. But he clears his throat, and nods. "With his raw talent, combined with the tools I've managed to assemble here, they'll be fine." Sitting back, dunking the rest of his twinkie to finish in one bite. "But I'd be a terrible example to the kids if they knew me in high school."

Jubilee has posed:
"Oh, well maybe so. I guess kids that age are probably usually consumed with the opposite sex, drinking, partying...that kinda stuff, huh?" It's something this one missed out on. But she has a pretty vivid imagination.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy laughs, and smiles, sitting back once more with just coffee. "It was different in my day. Today's Internet makes it different. There was more... mystery and exploration then."

Jubilee has posed:
"Yeah....yeah, I can see that too, I guess. Suppose every generation has it a little differently." She looks down at her last bite of Twinkie and arches her brows. "Want my Twinkie butt?" She leans forward on hand and knees to offers it brightly, as if it were something delightful. "I didn't even eat all the cream out of it."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy squints and takes a deep breath. There are a few ways to parse that sentence, depending on where your mind is at the moment. "I uh, sure, thank you Jub." He daintaily uses two fingers to pull the confectin remnant out of her hand, dunking it in the coffee to toss it into his mouth. "Mmmm. Just such a simple joy in life. Twinkies."

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee smiles as she watches Hank down that last bite. "I like the little things," she replies. "Kinda fond of the big things, too, though." She winks and stuffs a hand into her backpack to pull out a bottle of water. "I kinda like you purple...But ya look WAY more dignified in blue." She nods once, affirmatively, as she twists the cap off her water bottle and takes a drink. "You ever use pick-up lines like 'Hey, Baby, you ever date a blue guy?'"

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy facepalms at that. big grin though. "These days? I'd be tempted. Jub, I never had... well, as I said. I never had to TRY before. But when you're blue... or purple... and fuzzy, you can't just show up and be the life of the party." Slow sip. "And don't even get me started on the size part. I have about 30 blue-based pick up lines in my head, for whenever I lose that last shred of dignity."

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee's expression falls a little with Henry's admission, and she scoots over beside him. "C'mon," Jubilee offers with a leaning nudge against him. "You're amazing. You /are/ the life of the party. You/are/ the party. Any chick who can't see how amazing you are is too stupid to deserve you. And you don't want stupid girls..." She closes one eye and peeks up at him with the other. "Do ya?"

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy moves his arm without hinking, resting over Jub's shoulders as she scoots her butt closer. Looking at her, he snickers. "Thanks. I appreciate that. Really. And you're right. It would never work with a bimbo. But in high school I wasn't even thinking about things like that."

Jubilee has posed:
"You're warm," Jubilee notes, only now realizing that she was apparently chilled before.

"We do a lot of stuff when we're younger that we never give a second thought at the time. Just...y'know...you're not alone." She wraps her arms as best she can around his midsection and hugs him affectionately.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy shifts a little, leaning into the hug. But not too much. Just a little. "Thank you" he rumbles, head tilting back and eyes closing slowly.