9844/Fireworks

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Fireworks
Date of Scene: 30 October 2019
Location: Wellness Office - Xavier's School
Synopsis: Jubilee and Shannon start talking things out. There's fireworks, fur in the pool filter, and cookies have been forever destroyed. Fireworks, without the Fourth of July!
Cast of Characters: Nightingale, Jubilee




Nightingale has posed:
     It wasn't unusual to see the young winged mutant in the wellness office. Whether helping to straighten things up, assisting with minor injuries, or occasionally as a patient herself, this was a very familiar setting. However, there was one place she had not yet been called to.

     Jubilee's office.

     The text on her phone had Shannon frowning slightly, and mentally running through the events of the past few weeks. Granted, a lot had happened, and a lot of it had been mixed, but still, she couldn't think of why she would need a counseling session. Still, perhaps it couldn't hurt to see what it was all about. Maybe it was a minor thing.

     Dressed in her dark blue jeans, cream tunic sweater with cable knitted pattern, and her knee-length, caramel suede boots, she runs her fingers through her hair, trying to make sure she's a bit more presentable than a bug splat on the danger room floor. She knocks softly, and waits, wings tucked in tightly behind her.

Jubilee has posed:
The firecracker of a counselor is sitting her pink and black bucket seat gaming chair, feet kicked up on her desk and lobbing a stress ball in the form of a Bamf upwards to the ceiling, then catching it. At this moment, Jubilee is trying to set a world record with a bubble of gum between her lips, blowing it out bigger, and bigger, and bigger...

Then, the door knocks!

POP! Pink gum splatters along her face as she starts to pluck it off. "C'mon in!" She calls out, swinging her legs off and sitting up straighter as she continues to tug a few more layers of pink from her cheek. She even has on her wall behind her a large poster of Shannon sprawled out on the ground, wings and all. Splat. The words: ALWAYS GIVE A 100, is written under it.

She always goes big. Never let your memes become dreams.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon steps just inside the door, and is greeted with the sight of that poster. She does a double facepalm, shaking her head. "Never going to live that down, am I?" Though she tries her best not to smile, one corner of her mouth tugs ever so slightly upwards, and her shoulders shake with the beginnings of laughter. "Get sent to mutant high, become a meme. Great."

The door closes behind her with a soft -click- as it catches, leaving the two sealed away from the rest of the wellness office. Shannon tugs a tissue from the many bits and bobs in the brown leather bag that is perpetually at her side, and offers it to Jubilee. "Looks like you need this more than I do."

Jubilee has posed:
"I do what I do outta love, Shannon. Never let an opprotunity go by. Anytime a kid sits in that chair and starts bitching to me about how bad their life is, I jerk my thumb back to your picture and I tell 'em that you did a hundred pushups without complaining and you did it in one go, so they can suck up their drama and push through it. Always give a hundred. Life will kick you in the jimmies sometimes and you gotta just cough and straighten up, not lie there crying." Jubilee is an excellent role model. But there is wisdom in her brashness sometimes.

"Take a seat, wings." She says as she reaches for the tissue to work some of the gum away from her chin. "Life is all about recovery. It will aways pop you a good one, but you gotta know how to get back to your feet. Rocky style. He wasn't a quitter." Once she works the last of the gum off, she lobs the tissue into her trash can next to her, then places her squishy BAMF on the table.

"So, I bet you're wondering why I called you down here, huh?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods slowly, sliding into the seat with more grace than she exhibited in the infamous bug-splat shot, crossing her ankles in a very ladylike way. No sprawling for her here. Nope. She already had that staring her in the face, no need to repeat it. Oh, yes, she knew that quote all too well.

"You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done."

A short, wry, somewhat sardonic laugh escapes her, and she inclines her head. "Yeah, actually, I was starting to wonder that. Unless I've done something that warrants counseling, there's a lot that needs to be done around here. What's going on?"

Jubilee has posed:
"Check you out. All nerdy up in here, quoting Rocky at me. That's pretty cool, Shannon. I'd totally Netflix with you on oldies one day." Jubilee says as she reaches for another large chunk of gum and crams it between her teeth, then starts chewing on it. She must have muscular jaws.

"So, here's the thing. Everyone needs counseling. Without it, we just walk around like little zombies, bottling up our emotions and then having a dramatic meltdown in the rec room with all our peers wondering W.T.F just happened."

"So, you obviously have been utilized as part of our student body to do above and beyond stuff and you've had the chance to see some horrific shit. Mangled bodies. Bigotry in full force. Murder bots." Jubilee nudges the jar of jellybeans over to her on the desk. It's filled with fun flavors. No black or green. "So, how are you coping with all of that? You having nightmares? You feeling scared? You need to sit here in the chair and cry and let it all out where your friends won't see? I won't take a picture of that one. Seriously, are you okay? I was your age once. Hell, I joined the A team when I was fourteen. I saw /stuff/. Which is why we have new rules that you can't join the A team until you graduate. I was a measuring stick to success and failure."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon pokes her way through the jellybeans, and frowns slightly. "What happened to the black ones?" Shrugging, she picks out a few yellow and pink ones instead, eating them together. Strawberry lemonade. Yum. Closing her eyes as she savors the treat, she leans back slightly in the chair, considering the question.

"You forgot having to pull a sword out of my teacher's back just a few minutes after being discharged from the medbay from another healing due to bigotry."

Shrugging, she thinks a few moments more. "You'd think I'd be scared out of my mind. That first field trip, the one where the Rhino decided to bust things up, while Josh was still here... I should have had the crap scared out of me. But no. It was deadly calm. All I heard was being told to go out there to help Mr. Parker, so I just went and did it." She pauses to let that sink in for Jubilee for a moment, and continues on. "Sentinels in Central Park when Noriko and I were there with Doug and Mr. McCoy? Sure, Mr. McCoy told us to run, but I'm sorry, you just don't leave a friend in the lurch like that. Fly to the top of Stark Tower to get away from there? Not in this lifetime. No, I drop-kicked a Sentinel off of Doug so he could do what he needed to do." A faint smile curls her lips upwards, as she considers these small victories. "Sentinel attack at Horizon Labs? Yeah, that one got a little messy. First order of business, get those younger kids out of there and to the bus. Second thing, get the person with the best chance of ripping the Sentinels apart back on their feet. That time, it was Lorna. Saw her and her father in the battle at the mutant protest... where Daniel was lost." There, her voice /does/ drop in pitch a little bit, something that will perhaps forever be a sore point. "I also learned how it's very possible to badly misjudge someone you might think at first to be a monster that day, too." Pop. A few more jellybeans find their way to her belly, and there's silence for the space of several long heartbeats. "I've seen some pretty horrific shit, yeah. Helped deal with an attack right here on school grounds, drop-kicked one of the intruders. Didn't do my legs any favors, but that's not as likely to be happening again. Healed things that should have killed a /god/. Worked alone for a while after Josh left. Also dealt with a chewing out by Logan for not setting boundaries. Now there's someone who makes a lot of sense. Think he's got a bigger heart than he lets on, but hey, the guy's got an image to maintain. You'd think all that stuff would give me nightmares. It doesn't. It just makes me want to work harder on learning everything I can so that when the time comes to graduate, I can actually start doing some real good out there."

A surprisingly heavy sigh escapes her. "That's not what hurts, though, none of that. Sure, there's anger at all the bigotry out there, but someone very wise just reminded me yesterday of the importance of forgiveness. And I've had plenty, including the good Captain, remind me of working with others. But none of that is what hurts. None of that is what makes me cry."

Jubilee has posed:
The eyes of Jubilee glass over a bit as she goes on and on and on. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get all of that. I've seen the file and the read all the details or at least glossed over it. I don't need a whole sit rep. That's more a thing for Scooter." She waves her hands in the air for a moment.

"So, everything you just told me is kinda concerning me. You are desensitized to violence it seems like, or at least bad situations. Most normal people goes home and gets worked up over what they see. /I/ go home and get worked up. I sit in Logan's cabin and I sob my head off when I see my friends hurt, or if I come home from stressful combat. That's normal stuff kiddo. The trick to being a hero is not always just doing brave stuff and drop kicking robots and patching up hurt people. That's the stuff you let the cameras see."

"But when the cameras turn off, that's when you gotta become a human being again, you know what I mean? You are fifteen. Normal fifteen year old girls shouldn't be out there fighting robots and bigots and aliens and being stabbed or shot at, or trying to push the guts back into something when they get yanked out. I sure as hell wasn't ready for that type of life, but times were different and I was thrown right into the fire. I also had a hero complex because Logan has been my father figure for most of my life and I wanted to impress him so much that I could hang with the adults, I forgot how to be a kid somedays. I couldn't buy a beer but I was drowning myself in vodka without my 'teammates' knowing because I was trying to chase away the nightmares of seeing people torn apart by assholes like Sabretooth."

"You are a good egg, Shannon. All of you New Muties are. When I was a New Mutie with Sam and Berto and Doug and Dani and Rahne and blah blah blah, know what we used to do? We used to sneak out and go to a club with fake ID's and go dancing. You kids though? You all want to be mini Avengers or something. Doug was reminding me the other day that our team and your team wasn't that much different. We got into trouble and scraps."

This is where Jubilee pauses, holding a hand up to her for a moment. She sucks in a deep breath. "And then I saw Doug get shot and he died in front of me. He died in our arms. For two years I lost one of my best friends, Shannon. We were kids. Fate brought him back to us and that's awesome, right? Right. But what keeps me up at night is thinking that may be you, or Andrea, or Beans, or Ellie or Megan. So, this is not me sitting here telling you to stop being a hero. Because I know half of what I'm saying is going in one ear and out the other and you're already building up a defensive retort that will try and convince me otherwise." She taps the side of her head with a grin. "You're stubborn as a drunk llama."

"All I am /suggesting/ is that you don't let this stuff turn you into a hard rock and you bottle this up. It's important that you talk to people about this, and that you work through it. It's /okay/ to be scared. It makes you human."

Nightingale has posed:
"Sixteen." Shannon crosses her hands behind her head. "As for pushing the guts back into something, that hasn't happened yet but I expect it will someday. Thing is, though--and I've had this talk with Kitty--honing my skills in the danger room, with my healing gift, that's not an option. Part of me wishes it was, because going through all that pain isn't fun at all. But it's one of those that has to be learned by doing. Take it or leave it as you will."

A short laugh escapes her, and she shakes her head slightly, eyes still closed. "About the closest I've gotten to getting into a scrape was sneaking down to the danger room on my own when I first got here. Turned out it was open and Kurt had his circus simulation going. Damn, that was fun. Never seen anyone with a zest for life like that. Hope to god he never loses it."

There's that wry smile again, and a slightly less heavy sigh. "Yeah, okay. I get it about wanting to impress someone important to you. Guess Logan's like that to a lot of us. Hell, on my list he ranks right up there with the Captain, and that takes some doing. So... yeah, I get that part, totally. And maybe there's times I wish I could be crying in his cabin, but the man's got enough on his plate without dealing with my bullshit, too."

When she opens her eyes, though, they've got a steely quality to them, hidden behind a faint veil of mist gathering at their corners. "Fact of life is, there's always the chance that any one of us could die like that. Do you think I don't see Daniel at night sometimes? Do you think I don't blame myself for not being able to get to him soon enough, or even if I had, for not having been able to do anything at all? Do you think I don't think about Ms. Burkle first catching hell from Sentinels for saving those mutant kids, and then when that attack failed, for being ripped from her home and torched... /twice/? Do you think I don't see Andrea there in the medbay, with Triage up to his elbows in her guts, fighting for her life?" She runs her fingers through her hair, actually starting to scowl now, her voice becoming more and more agitated. "Fuck, do you think I don't curse myself for not being able to help Logan, or even so much as being able to offer a little company when it was /his/ turn in the medbay? You'd be dead wrong, on all counts. If you think I don't feel any of this, think again. Then think twice, and three times. But you know what? I can't /afford/ to let it hurt. There are kids here who have dealt with much, much worse. /You've/ probably dealt with much worse. What the hell kind of right do I have to vent about any of that? So I suck it up, go to my dorm, do what has to be done, pick it up and get back to it the next day. Sitting in my room, or whining and crying, is not going to stop the bigotry. It's not going to pull another life back from the brink. Here's another nerd-gasm. 'Fear is not an option'."

She closes her eyes again, a single tear trickling down her face. "As rough as all that is, like I said, it's not what makes me cry. There'll be time for tears some other day. No vodka for me, though."

Jubilee has posed:
"Shannon." Jubilee says as she leans forward. "That is why this is healthy. Talking it out. You /can't/ bottle it up. It's not a competition to see who has the biggest balls in the room." She ponders. "It's Hank by the way. He has the biggest balls in the room." She says with a coy grin on her face, brows waggling. "But seriously though." She plucks a jellybean up and pops it into her mouth.

"You are fully allowed to come talk to me and vent this out, cry about it, eat jelly beans, punch a bag, squeeze a Bamf. Okay? If you got all of these messed up feelings inside, then talk to me, or talk to Kitty..but talk to me.. I'm the cool counselor. Sign even says so." She points to a hand painted sign that says: JuBilEe BeSt CouNeSloR. #1. Most likely she did it too.

"So, from here out, /mandatory/, when something like this goes down, I want you in here and I want you to talk to me. Okay? We'll have an hour of girl time just eating ice cream and crying and talking about what you went through, how you feel about it. Being an X-Man is all about this stuff here in the office. Feeling. Because it's perfectly acceptable to be upset and to be scared and to share those feelings with your teammates, your friends. Will you try and do that for me, please?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon shakes her head slowly. "I don't know if I can promise that. And... seriously? You didn't just go there, did you? Ewwwwww... blue b... NEVER MIND!!! Noooooo, no no no no no no... just... NO!!!" She picks up a blue jellybean from the dish and flicks it at Jubilee, gone red from her neck all the way up to the tips of her ears. "I can't un-see that now!!!"

There's a bit of a sigh, and she smiles faintly. "Usually I'd talk to Cannonball. But... lately he's got his own life to lead, that's... not as much of an option as it used to be. Kind of sucks, I was just getting used to thinking of him as a big brother, and already he's starting to pull away from here." There's the first hint of a quiver in her voice right there, and her eyes start welling up again. "Bless Kitty's heart, she rocks. She really does. But she's also got her own life to lead, too. Pulling her away from that would just be... wrong. Sometimes if I'm lucky I can catch Kurt, but that's not very often. Which sucks, that blue elf just completely rocks." A tear falls down her face, then another. "Bean... sometimes, I might talk to him. Hell, couldn't ask for a better bestie. Still stings, though, that..." Her voice trails off, and she leaves off the subject for a moment. "Can't promise I'll be in here, you've got your own shit to do, too, other than dealing with the bats in my belfry. I'll think about it, though."

Jubilee has posed:
"I bet you won't ever look at the Cookie Monster the same again either, huh?" Jubilee says as she gives a grin to her. "But, pff. You think the X-Men haven't done stupid things like jump naked into the swimming pool after a night of boozing and Truth or Dare? Hank is just unlucky he said the D word around me. Totally worth it. Not so much cleaning fur out of the filter though." She plucks the blue jelly bean up and stares at it admiringly, then pops it into her mouth.

"I don't got shit to do, Shannon. Look at me. I got plywood chest and I haven't raided Emma's closet yet. I don't got a dating life to steal me away from the kids. I got Jean's Netflix password and a ton of RedBulls to pass away my time. I'm here for you, twenty-four seven. Sam is always gonna be your wannabe big brother, but this is my job after all. There are somethings you may not wanna leak to him. Truuust me. I can't go to Logan about 'girl' stuff all the time. I got Rogue and Kitty for that."

"But, if you give this a chance, you will feel better and it will make you a better superhero." She lobs another bean into her mouth. "Trust me on that. Okay? Do you feel a little better though talking all of that out?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon snorts, a bit of a bitter laugh coming from her. "Girl stuff? Ha. As if that's ever going to happen for me. First crush I have, becomes my big brother instead. Second one becomes my bestie. That fucking hurts. At least you /have/ girl stuff! And girl friends. And get off it, I'm not some superhero. Just someone doing shit that needs to be done."

Though her eyes remain misted over, she just nods, ever so slightly. "Maybe a little. Times I wish I could do a hell of a lot more than talk it out, but that's just life for you. Okay, okay... fine. I'll bug you, the elf, or the lone wolf next time, okay? Just.. please. NO MORE BLUE BALLS!!!"