X-23 (x_23) wrote in marvel_united, @ 2013-12-31 12:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | jubilee, x-23 |
thread; jubilee & x-23
Who: Jubilee & Laura
NPCs: N/A
When: 12/17 [backdate]
Where: Mansion Basement holding cells
What: Laura gets detoured by vampire Jubes.
Rating: PG-13.
Laura had been down in the basement before, but never really went down there on her own. It was usually with a partner or group. She could remember the exact day she’d arrived at the academy, but she had no recollection of ever running a simulation on her own. Today, she thought, was a good day. After the return of Alisa, she was feeling less worried. Now the only concern she had was the weird break in Jubilee’s communication with her family. She hadn’t shown up for Rachel’s birthday. She hadn’t even sent a present or some sort of crazy video to the child. The woman had also not been around the school. While she would have usually taken out her anxiety on herself, she was running out of places to do so discreetly. There was always the fact that Alisa could be there, in her unseen state, just watching and she didn’t want to worry her. So, the only alternative was clearly the basement. The basement where she found a familiar scent...that was tainted by the smell of something being dead. Jubilee was still sitting in the case that was supposed to be strong enough to keep her in. It had less of a feel of a hospital, though there were still machines monitoring her. She was paler now and Jubilee's eyes remained that black color with red irises. She was given cow and pig's blood to drink, and even a computer to access the servers, as well as her phone. Bobby was sending her pictures of Ryan Gosling to make herself feel better, and Jubilee didn't have the heart to ask him to stop. Every time she saw that puppy, all Jubilee could think of was the horror of possibly getting hungry enough to feed off of the little Bichon Frise. Nobody came to visit her too much. Nemesis mostly checking in with her, Buffy and his stupid insistence that she just be put down, and some others. Jubilee wasn't anxious to talk to anyone so most of the time she didn't. Nobody, except for Nemesis, dared to get into that cell with her, and she didn't blame them. She wasn't Jubilee anymore. At least, she didn't feel like that. She could smell Laura when she approached. Jubilee could also hear the blood in the other girl's veins and from where Jubilee sat on beanbag chair in the cell, she looked up. It was dark now, and Jubilee didn't move to turn on the light. She could see Laura just fine from where she was. Maybe she would just go away. Jubilee wished she would. Despite the difference, the scent was fresh. She could hear the sounds coming from the other room too. There was the hum of the machines along with the clicking of keys. There was the creak of the chair as someone moved. Laura was not someone to get scared easy. Fear hardly ever registered when it came to her own well-being...and when it did... She easily brushed the thought aside, moving toward the darkened area. Following her nose wasn't hard, especially when her eyes adjusted easily to the dark along with her other senses. Jubilee had to be in there. So said the glow of the cell-phone...but she didn't hear a heartbeat. Jubilee glanced over and could hear Laura getting closer. Thump, thump, thump. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore it but apparently it only made her focus on it more. "Just stop right there," Jubilee said, her voice sounding like a recording through the speaker, "Don't come any closer." Because she really didn't want to talk to anyone right then. And honestly, she was getting distracted by Laura's blood. She could smell it from inside the cell. "What are you doing here?" she asked instead of telling her to go away. So maybe she was lonely, but she was often caught between feeling lonely and wanting everyone to go away. At the command, Laura came to a complete halt. “Jubilee?” she asked tentatively. Her voice was soft and clearly unsure. A moment later, she moved closer to where the voice was coming from...but there was still no heartbeat. “Jubilee. Why are you in the dark?” She could hear the whir of the machines, the whoosh of the air vents and even the shifting of the girl’s clothes against the chair, but there was the steady rhythm that was missing. "Because I hate the light," Jubilee snapped sarcastically and a little rudely before she muttered, "Sorry." No reason to take out her annoyance on Laura, who had just come down here and was asking a simple question. Jubilee brought her knees to her chest and tried to not think about that beating heart. The only beating heart currently in a basement occupied by two people. She whispered, "Laura, you should go back upstairs. Really." Because the hunger was strong and only gaining strength. Jubilee found her tongue running over her teeth, the tip pushing into the fangs that thirsted for blood. Laura was concerned, even if it didn’t appear on her face. She didn’t stop getting closer. She only stopped when she reached the front of the cell. “Why are you here?” She’d been in a cell much like this upon her arrival. The fact that Jubilee had been placed in one as well, was not okay. The edge in Jubilee’s voice didn’t make her want to leave at all. God, why did she have to keep stepping closer? Like in a trance, Jubilee rose to her feet and was staring at the supposedly unbreakable glass wall that stood between her and a healthy source of food brimming with fresh blood. In the dark she could see the outline of Laura's figure, silhouetted by the light from outside the room. "I'm dangerous," Jubilee said and stepped forward finally, coming close to the glass and her hand pressed against it. "Or that's what Buffy keeps telling me," she said sarcastically referring to Hannibal, "but you should go upstairs, Laura." Which is what Jubilee kept telling her to do, but she was realizing that Laura wasn't going to do it. Is this what it was like for other people dealing with her? Jubilee knew she often did what she wanted, but it was weird being on the receiving end of it. She licked at her lips and then the lights in the lab slowly came to life, giving the cell a soft fluorescent glow. Laura would see Jubilee now as she was. Wearing the hospital dress, her eyes now fully dark with no whites, save for irses of brilliant red. If anything, they looked oddly similar to Remy's. Only Remy wasn't a vampire and Jubilee was. Her skin was paler and there was something more menacing now in the way she stood. Buffy was a very distant reference. It was something that Victor had shown her once. She remembered it clearly, but vaguely. She said that Jubilee was dangerous? It made sense with the look of her. Her skin was pale and clammy, red eyes, and elongated teeth? She even took a look at her hands. She was definitely more of a predator than she’d been the last time they’d met. If anything Jubilee was the opposite of a predator. She was a protector. Now, everything was different. Also, she was dead. “Buffy let you live.” That didn’t make much sense in Laura’s eyes. There had to be a reason other than it simply being Jubilee. The only rational thought was that the state was only temporary. Then again, she thought of herself. They’d run tests on her, and then accepted her as part of their family, but she didn’t struggle with bloodlust. “Are they feeding you?” "Yeah, he did," Jubilee replied and pressed a hand against the glass, "but only because the professor won't let him kill me like he wants to." Nails scratched lightly over the window and she watched Laura much like a predator would. She was there, standing and staring and asking if she was fed and yeah, Jubilee was fed. In a way. "Cow blood," she said, "sometimes pig blood. It doesn't taste as good as…" though she'd never had the taste of human blood, or mutant blood, if it tasted as good as it smelled… She breathed in deeply but not out of necessity for air, but because it smelled wonderful. "Please go upstairs." Jubilee's nails screeched loudly inside and echoed through the intercom. There was always the question of how the professor found about all this, but she felt the need to research the situation more. She would have to inquire about Buffy’s true name later, but for now, she would content herself with hearing that they were feeding the girl, despite the current look of pure animal hunger in her eyes. The sound of the nails scraping against glass was very unpleasant. Jubilee was clearly suffering, which did not sit well with Laura, even if she was part of the cause. “I will go,” she finally relented. “But I will be back.” She couldn’t just leave her there alone. There was much to be discussed, but she didn’t know who to talk about it with. She, personally, had not interacted with the professor much at all. This Buffy person would be found and questioned, if she could manage it. “Rest well, if you can,” she said lingering just a moment longer before turning to leave. She didn’t know vampires were real. It derailed her from her original objective, but she didn’t realize that until she was already taking the elevator ride back up. She’d try for the danger room again tomorrow. Why would she come back? Jubilee didn't know. She wanted to tell her not to come back, but...it was nice to know that someone wanted to. Most people just looked at her sadly, Hannibal wanted to kill her, and Nemesis just wanted to poke her with needles. But Laura said she'd be back. And Jubilee watched as she was getting ready to go. She lingered for only a moment and Jubilee wasn't sure what to think. Then she was gone. Into the elevator and when the doors shut, all that remained was the lingering scent. Jubilee's forehead pressed against the glass and she hit it with the palm of her hand a few times out of frustration. There was a soft ring from the strikes, but it wasn't going to break. She stepped back and found her corner again, waiting for the lights to turn off and leave her to the dark. The dark wasn't dark anymore, but a new home for her to dwell in. Each day it was getting more and more comfortable in that darkness, and Jubilee felt with that she was losing more and more of herself. She didn't want to fight it anymore. |