spacebullet (spacebullet) wrote in mutatedpsl, @ 2015-01-17 21:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | jubilee, shadowcat |
Who: Kitty & Jubilee
What: A lecture and a friendly competition
Where: Massachusetts Academy
When: Present Day
One lecture. That was all the teaching Kitty had agreed to. It wasn't that she hated school, quite the opposite really, she just didn't feel ready. Not so long ago that she was attending lectures and finding herself absorbed in homework. How was she fit to give a guest lecture on Ethics of all things? Was a slideshow even ethical?
She had arrived early in the hopes that it would help her look and feel more prepared than she really was. Why was she so nervous? She knew a lot of these students, had even fought beside a couple of them, and yet now she had to play senior. Would they even listen to her? It's not like she actually had anything interesting to say. Get it together, Kitty. Ro asked you to do this for a reason. She sighed and pulled her laptop out, plugging it into the connectors to display her dazzling and not at all half-assed designed slideshow on Ethics on display.
Whatever nervousness she felt dissipated as soon as she began talking. The students in the class were attentive and she realized, standing in front of them, that they were young. Like, really young. When had that happened? It did feel nice standing in before of the next hopeful generation, offering a lesson that actually was important. Maybe she really could make a difference.
The lecture ended just as the bell chimed for lunch and Kitty breathed a sight of relief. She had survived. "Alright, you're free," she said, dismissing the students. She had no idea where she was expected to be next, if anywhere, but she was starving. Hopefully it wasn't sloppy joe day in the cafeteria.
- - -
For the most part, the students of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters -- collectively nicknamed Generation X -- had learned to be very attentive during class time. Their classes were usually taught by one of the school's headmasters, Sean Cassidy and Emma Frost. The moment a student was caught nodding off, the former would raise his considerable voice; the latter would creatively embarrass the student with telepathy. The students all agreed they were better off nodding off in Mr. Cassidy's classes.
Occasionally, the school would have guest lecturers from other X-Men teams. Hank McCoy would teach science-related stuff; Iceman guested for an accounting lecture. Not that anyone remembered what Bobby had taught; his class had been overshadowed by the epic prank that ensued when he and Jubilee had put their heads together. There was even a lecture on the legal profession by Cable -- because, wow, who knew he had actually passed the bar under an alias and could practice law if he felt like it? Jubilee was definitely going to keep him in mind in case future misadventures ended up going horribly (and awesomely) off the rails.
The guest lecturer this time? Pryde. Kat Pryde. Jubilee didn't feel like calling her 'Kitty', because that was a name that had gone out with the '80s. And she was teaching ethics. With a slide show. Somehow, Jubilee had imagined something more fun, like How to Hack a S.H.I.E.L.D. Database and Troll Them With a LOLCat Virus.
But no.
Ethics. With a slide show.
At least the class hadn't been taught by Emma Frost. Mr. Cassidy normally taught the class, if for no better reason than everyone involved agreed that an Ethics class taught by Frosty would be a disaster waiting to happen. Jubilee doubted Ms. Frost could pick an ethic out of a lineup.
All this was going through her head as the bell rang, causing her to flinch. She hadn't paid attention to the lecture. But luckily, Ms. Pryde seemed just as relieved for the class to be over as Jubilee herself was.
Unfortunately, no less than three of her classmates -- Paige Guthrie, Monet St. Croix, and Everett Thomas -- felt the need to stay after class and ask questions. Typical.
Jubilee got as far as the hallway before she stopped in her tracks, weighing her options. Okay, fine. She was going to play the superhero and save her teacher from this horrible fate. It would be the ethical thing to do. So in the spirit of ethics, she stepped back into the classroom and lied her ass off. "Yo, Pryde! Weren't we gonna eat lunch together? Y'know, that lunch thing we totally planned where we catch up on old times?"
Jubilee decided that ethics were nothing but trouble.
- - -
Why are they walking towards me? Oh no, we made eye-contact. Crap. Kitty's hopes that the students would all rush out of the classroom to avoid another humdrum lesson was lost as three of them started towards her. She forced on a smile, but was unable to make herself appear less like a deer in the middle of the road. They were going to hit her and hit her hard.
"Ethics is a debatable subject, Ms. Pryde, why is it we were offer not chance to debate?" Monet asked, her back straight and her head held high. The girl's confidence was far superior to the false one Kitty had exude through her class.
"It was just a starting point," Kitty started, trying to sidestep the questions. Debating. That would have been a way better option if only because it meant she could sit back and watch the verbal fist fight. "Maybe next time?'
"There's going to be a next time?" Paige asked hopefully. "If you need any help with-" The girl was cut off by the sudden appearance by Jubilee. All eyes turned towards the spunky girl. "I just have a couple more questions, it won't take long."
Kitty seized the presented opportunity and pushed herself to her feet. "Sorry, but plans are plans and I have to head out soon. Maybe you can get Frost to answer the rest of your questions. She's morally ambiguous enough," Kitty said, for the first time seizing an opportunity to act like herself. "See ya." She hoisted her laptop bag over a shoulder and rushed out the door, grabbing Jubilee by the arm to walk away from the horrors of the classroom.
"You're a lifesaver and I owe you," Kitty murmured, confident that they were not being followed by question-hungry sharks. "Lead the way, Jubes. You planned this lunch."
It was nice to have a friendly face come to the rescue. She knew most of the staff and students, but that did not mean any of them actually knew her. Jubilee had the upper-hand there. While not close friends, they had shared enough to know that they enjoyed having the other around. She was spunky and full of attitude, what wasn't to like? "And let's not talk about how horrible that lecture went, okay? I already know."
- - -
Kat was actually accepting Jubilee’s lifeline, so now they were going to lunch. Now that they had successfully vacated the classroom, Jubilee had absolutely no idea what to do with the older girl. “No big deal; I just hate to see anybody inside a classroom longer than they have to be – teachers included. Lunch is this way.”
They were in the Main Building, a mansion not unlike Charles Xavier’s in Westchester, but rather than localizing everything in the same house, this version of Xavier’s School had other buildings spread out across Emma Frost’s estate. There was the Tech Building, which housed science labs and a fully self-contained Biosphere. There were the Dorms on either side, and up ahead was Proudstar Hall, which contained the gym and swimming pools, and most importantly the Dining Hall.
“Okay, we will not speak about it. Nope, not at all. Won’t mention how boring and awful it was. Not even going there. Won’t mention your deer-in-headlights look. At all. Or even your slides. Sweet holy crap, we won’t mention your slides.”
- - -
Kitty actually smirked at Jubilee's comment about being a classroom savior. She had felt the same at one point. Well, except when it came to computer class. And history. And biology. And tech ed. Alright, so maybe she had never felt exactly the same.
Despite the fact that Kitty had set foot on the campus before, it still felt foreign to her. Though the look was completely different, she still expected to take a left at the upcoming hall to find their way to the kitchen, or a right to head into the main hall in order to rush up the stairs to the dorms. The place didn't even look like the X-Mansion, she just missed the old school. Braddock had a nice place and all, but it was never going to be home.
"Go on, keep talking, I don't want to find a nice, thick bank vault to disappear into right now or anything." Why had she gone with slideshows? Why? "It was my first time, alright? Ro asked me to do it and who can say no to her? No one. So I did it. And if she finds out how terrible it went, she's going to find me and she's going to give me a pep talk and she's going to make me do it again so let's just agree that it was great and I will never have to step foot in that classroom again, alright?
"What kind of food does this place serve?" she asked to quickly change the subject. She remembered having to forage for food or hope that someone with more skill in the kitchen had whipped up something for them all to eat. There had been a lot of gifted cooks around luckily.
- - -
Jubilee's face fell for a moment. She had been joking around, but clearly Pryde had been taking this whole teaching thing seriously. Wow, who knew?
She especially felt bad that this had been Storm's idea. Jubilee had never really thought about it, but from the way Kat had brought up Ororo, it seemed she and Kat carried around the same kind of hero worship for Storm.
Oh, good, subject change! "We serve the food kind," Jubille replied helpfully. "Today's enchilada day! C'mon!" She grabbed Kat's hand and started running toward Proudstar Hall.
- - -
"And now we're running," Kitty said as they took off, though she was smiling. So what if she had been talked into being a teacher, the day was over and she was free to have a little fun. Running through the hall was a good start. "Should I be yelling at us for this?"
As they passed into the Hall and passed first a gym and then a swimming pool, Kitty had to slow. "They sell out of enchiladas that quickly?" She was strongly considering taking a shortcut through the walls. Was she lazy? No, just driven by a good meal. "C'mon, play tour guide on the way to the cafeteria."
- - -
"And now we're running!" Jubilee chirped as she sprinted. "Yell all you want -- it'll be your detention, too!"
Jubilee reached the staircase leading up to the Dining Hall on the second when she realized Pryde had slowed down. Standing at the base of the staircase, Jubilee pointed at the entrances to the gym and the swimming pool in turn. "Gym. Swimming pool. Showers and restrooms past that. If you want, we could go swimming or gymnastic-ing later. But first? Enchiladas!"
She found herself interested in seeing how good Pryde was at those activities. She'd heard something about Kat being a gifted dancer in her youth, and that was before the ninja training. Which was unfair; Jubilee wanted to be better at the older woman at something besides fashion sense.
- - -
"That's all you've got? Put a little spark into it, Jubes. It's what you do best," she teased. The school was familiar territory, but that didn't mean she didn't want to hear how someone like Jubilee saw it. "Dish the dirt, what's happened around her?" So maybe she missed the gossip that came with being in school if only because she was no longer a part of that culture. Not really.
"C'mon, put on a show and I promise we'll hit the gym." Not that Kitty would actually pass up an opportunity to show off. "I'll make it worth your while," she bartered with a waggle of her brow.
- - -
"Ooooh, curiosity's killin' the Kitty," Jubilee observed as the two traversed the stairs to the cafeteria. "Look at you, wanting in on the gossip so bad you're even reduced to hittin' on little ol' me. Don't deny it! Your eyebrows waggled an' everything!" She was teasing, of course.
Unfortunately, her classmates were approaching, and Jubilee wasn't sure whether or not they were in earshot. And now Jubilee's face was beet red. In a quieter voice, she added, "um, sure. I agree to your terms. I dish the dirt, you dish the gymnastics or whatever. But fair warning, I was an Olympic hopeful back in the day, so it's gonna take a lot to impress me."
- - -
"Like I've never heard that one," she responded with an eye roll. The sarcasm was not cruel. In fact, Kitty was actually smiling. It was nice to have a chance to just be herself. There was no mission, no class, all they wanted was some good grub. "Hitting on you? You wish." She tried to brush off her embarrassment quickly. Had she really been flirting? No. No, of course not. She was just being friendly.
Jubilee's sudden, quiet demeanor took her by surprise. She looked around and noticed that they were no longer in the hallway. Was there a reason to be embarrassed that she wasn't aware of? "Fear tactics won't work on me, Jubes. Just give me some drama," she teased.
- - -
Jubilee hadn't often seen Pryde smile in person. Not that she'd interacted that much with the older girl, as Pryde was already off on adventures with Excalibur in England and wherever else when Jubilee had met the X-Men. So this was a rare opportunity to actually interact with the genius girl whose footsteps Jubilee had stumbled into. And she liked it. Pryde had a nice smile, actually.
And suddenly, the joking around about flirting had become awkward. Jubilee found herself feeling self-conscious in the approaching group of classmates. She wasn't sure why. The bit about the flirting had been a joke, right?
Seeking a way to distract herself from that, she dived into the gossip as they entered the line for enchiladas. "Okay, so! Lots of stuff has happened! Juicy stuff! Like, the girls' dorm building blew up, and I think it might've been Jono, 'cause I saw her and Paige bein' all awkward around each other whenever they got near the rubble. And of course they're gonna deny it, but c'mon, that's awesome! The Hayseed and the Yorkshire Pudding!"
She looked around, realizing her voice was rising, and her other classmates were in the same line. "Tell ya when we're at a table," she promised Kat.
Once they were at a table in the corner of the Dining Hall, Jubilee continued her report. "Okay, so yeah, Paige an' Jono. Especially 'cause Paige is all like, 'I'm gonna be an X-Man and nobody get in the way of my career goals and homework and jogging at obscene hours,' and Jono's all 'brood brood brood, luv, brood brood.'" She had affected a Southern accent for her Paige impression, and a Cockney accent for her Jono impression. Both accents were terrible.
"Then we got a new student, Mondo, who's totally chill, and did you know Ms. Frost has a sister? Completely blew my mind. So then, Banshee went and lost his family castle, right? So we had to dive in after it, like dumpster diving in a fairy-tale dimension. There were fairies and a dragon and everything! And we fought Omega Red, too! And this girl showed up with this spiky hair and really wicked claws and she's called Penance but I call her Penny." The more she talked, the more the events ran together and skipped around in order of happening.
- - -
Paige and Jono. Great. They sounded like a fun topic, whoever they were. The Guthries weren't unknown to her, but the Jono kid was. She was pretty certain he was the guy with an exploding chest, but she wasn't going to ask. It was probably a sensitive subject.
"Alright, table it is," Kitty agreed, grabbing a tray to load with food. The enchiladas did look good. Food was something never to be skimped on, especially around hungry students (and starving, one-time lecturers).
Kitty dropped into the spot across from Jubilee and immediately started in on her food. Whatever story the giddy girl was going to share was bound to last a while. She shoveled forkfuls of the cheesy/meaty/beany lunch and listened. She even managed not to cringe as Jubes did her best impressions of the two students.
Though the story had lost all coherency, she tried really hard to stay focused. Of course, when half the enchilada on her plate was gone and her stomach was beginning to feel it she had nothing left to distract her. "Alright," she interrupted, completely lost in the new story that the girl was sharing, "so what do you do when you're not out fighting dragons and spying on young love?" It seemed the best way to get her to calm down would be to have her focus on herself. That usually worked, right? Because Kitty was terrible when it came to talking about herself.
- - -
Jubilee pouted when Kitty interrupted her. She was just about to get to the best part, when she single-handedly saved the rest of Generation X from the evil Phalanx with nothing more than a paperclip and festive fireworks.
She blinked in response to Kitty's question; it was a serious shifting of mental gears. "You mean besides all the lame-ass homework? Well ... I'm usually in the gym practicing gymnastics, or swimming, or in the rec room playing video games." That actually inspired an idea that made Jubilee sit up straighter. "Waitasec! You're a gamer too, right? Do you like shooters, or platformers, or puzzles, or racing, or fighting games? 'Cause we got all kinds."
She dug into her enchiladas some more, realizing they were about to get cold. "Okay, so now it's your turn. X-People. Gossip. Spill." She wasn;t sure what all went on in Excalibur, but it had Nightcrawler and Wolfsbane and a few others she couldn't remember off the top of her head, so they counted as X-People. And if Kat had been to the X-Mansion more recently than Jubilee had, so much the better.
- - -
"Yeah, I dabble in games," she replied with a shrug. By dabble, Kitty meant that she was an expert at all things that require analog stick, button mashing, and expert mouse clicking. She lived and breathed the digital life. "Whatever you have to play, I'll beat ya at," she continued with a grin. Today was definitely a day for gloating.
"Eh, Excalibur is pretty dull," she lied. "I mean, we only got sent back in time and had to fight our way back. Some idiot prince thought I was in princess in need of saving from the fierce dragon, Lockheed." She chuckled, remembering how strange that whole event had been. "Kurt's been teaching me how to pirate, so if we ever wind up on the seven seas, I'll be ready. Pretty sure he's got a crush on Meggan. Britain's going to lose it if he finds out about that."
- - -
Jubilee rolled her eyes at the video game challenge. "Weeeee'll see, Dabble Girl. Dabbler. Dabblenator. Dabney Coleman. You're about due for another codename change, right? You've already been through, what, five?"
The mention of a dragon caused Jubilee's eyes to widen. "Oh yeah, you got that pet dragon. Or does he have a pet Kat? I can never keep that straight." Her running commentary kicked into high gear when Pryde brought up pirating and Nightcrawler. "That's seriously kickass! You guys gotta bring me along on some pirate action! But, uh, this is Fuzzy we're talkin' about. He's got a crush on, like, anybody with lady parts, right?"
Which made her peer intently at Pryde. "Hmm.... lady parts, check. But he'd be like a big bro to you, right? Okay, so never mind that. Howzabout the X-Mansion? Still keep in touch with Baldy, Big Blue, Popsicle, One-Eye, an' everybody else?"
- - -
"I just like to keep things interesting," she defended all the name changes. Kitty had gone through plenty of identity crises, including a couple of years where she demanded to be known as 'Katherine'. That hadn't lasted long, but people played along. Fortunately, Kitty had grown quite content with Shadowcat as her title. It had a certain je ne sais quoi.
"It's a little bit of both. But it works out," she said with a grin. Lockheed had been there whenever she needed him. He was a good friend. "We're trying to avoid pirating, but if we end up sailing, I'll recommend you for the crow's nest." She chuckled as she mentioned Kurt's incessant need to fall in love with anyone and everyone of the female persuasion. "He's never crushed on me." Or if he had, Kitty had been totally oblivious to the whole thing. She had only ever see Kurt as a friend.
"Don't give me that look," she said, trying to dismiss the whole idea of Kurt crushing on her. There was nothing there. Nothing. "Mansion' good for the most part. Bobby wasn't there when I stopped by. I guess he and Rogue took a road trip," she said, her tone growing darker. "Rogue and Gambit had a...disagreement. Remy was out for a couple of weeks. He just woke up a few days ago. No one's had the heart to tell him that Rogue's gone."
- - -
"Crow's nest! That'll be awesome! That'll be great for fireworks and long-range attacks."
It was kinda fun watching Kat squirm a little bit about the idea of Kurt crushing on her. But that caused her to think about her own dating life, or lack thereof. She had boys here at her school. Were any of them interested in her? She hoped so; she hated to think that she was their little sister the way Kat was for Kurt.
Her curiosity went into overdrive when Kat described the situation with Gambit, Rogue, and Bobby. "But he's gonna figure it out soon enough, right? Seriously, Rogue put the Cajun in a coma, and she stepped out on him with the Popsicle? That's kinda messed up, y'know? Takes, like, serious swingy balls." Which was sad, because she liked Rogue, and she liked Bobby.
- - -
"I mean, yeah, he'll figure it out. Remy's not an idiot...most of the time," she added in an aside. "I don't know what happened between the two of them that put him down for so long, but Rogue wouldn't have put him under without a good reason, right?" Kitty felt uneasy. She hadn't exactly been close with Rogue, but she knew a lot of people who trusted her. Logan liked the girl, so did most of the other X-Men. She was a vital part of the team, but she had her problems just like the rest of them.
Swingy balls? She shuddered at the thought. "It's not that sordid," she defended quickly. "Bobby was going through some personal stuff. So was Rogue. It made a lot of sense. There's never been anything between them, why would it start not?"
Oh, drama.
- - -
Even as she chowed down on enchiladas, Jubilee yearned for popcorn. This was the kind of vintage X-Drama she'd missed when she'd moved out of the mansion.
"I dunno," Jubilee countered, hoping to find some shred of love-triangle angst, so that the situation would better resemble a soap opera or prime-time TV. "I remember seein' Drake stare moony-eyed at Rogue a time or two." Granted, Jubilee had moved to Massachussetts shortly after Bobby and Rogue had first become friends, so she really had only seen him act that way toward Rogue twice. "I bet if Drake had long enough to operate, he could steal Rogue out from under Gambit's stubble." She paused and thought about what she'd said. "Naaaah, never mind. This is Bobbo we're talkin' about. Rogue's probably still oblivious."
- - -
The very thought of someone like Bobby stealing any girl away from Gambit was laughable. Bobby was great. He was cute and funny and smart, she really liked him, but Remy was...Remy. The all around charmer falling for the untouchable woman? It was kind of romantic if you didn't know the rest of the story. Of course, Kitty knew more than she cared to. Drama never stayed quiet long in the Mansion. It was both a blessing and a curse. "Rogue knows every guy wants her. She's the forbidden fruit," Kitty said with a grin. The woman did look fantastic in a spandex suit, and that hair was-No, Kitty. Stop.
Kitty cleared her throat and focused on pushing was little bit of dried cheese was left on her plate. She was stuffed. "So yeah, other than Logan being on another walkabout, that's about it. It's been pretty quiet."
- - -
"Well, yeah," Jubilee blurted out. "I mean, have you seen the size of Rogue's fruit?!" She glanced around, realizing that particular comment had been overheard by some of her classmates, who were looking at her with a puzzled look on her face.
Awkward.
Luckily, Kitty changed the subject to Logan. "Yeah, it sucks what happened to him. He hasn't really been the same since Magneto pulled the metal out of his bones." Which, granted, was the sentence a longtime member of the X-Men could say casually without realizing how odd it actually was. He's been more wild, and he spends a lot of time either hanging out in the woods outside the mansion, or he's gone some place else. I miss him."
- - -
Kitty chortled and ducked her head to cover her amusement. That was one way of putting it. At least she wasn't the only one admiring, which did leave her wondering if Jubilee was just observant or if there was something more to the comment.
She sighed as she thought about the torment that Logan was going through. "He knows where to find us when he's ready. Until then...well, the X-Men can handle things without him." Kitty offered a sad smile and shrugged. "So are we hitting the gym or what?" She got to her feet, grabbing her tray and started to head towards the door, knowing Jubilee would follow. She was done eating, right?
- - -
It would have been impossible for Jubilee not to have noticed that the bodies of the X-Women tended to be on the statuesque, boobtacular side. She'd been living with them since she was twelve, after all. She'd so far been unable to measure up, but she'd typically chalked that up to being a teenager and thus underdeveloped. But then she joined Generation X, and she ended up surrounded by girls her age who were better endowed. She was even willing to bet that Penance had larger boobs than Jubilee, and she was covered in tight leather belts.
Luckily, Kat directed her attention away from depressing stuff like Logan's ordeal and her own cups failing to runneth over. Jubilee scarfed down the last bit of enchilada and slurped down the rest of her drink before she put up her tray and followed Kat out.
They reached the gym in no time, and Jubilee shed her (usually) ever-present yellow coat. "Be right back -- I'm gonna change into my gym clothes." She disappeared into the locker room, where she kept her athletic clothing.
To conform with the school dress code, she had a regulation gym outfit that she wore during Phys Ed class. But since this wasn't class time, she elected to wear her own special gymnastic leotard. It was a bright and festive one-piece ensemble, with areas of red and gold separated by a diagonal field of splashy fireworks designs. Clearly, she took this seriously.
Emerging from the locker room, her footsteps were slow and hesitant. She had fully intended to come striding out of the locker room ready to show up Pryde. But the awareness that Kat was seeing her in the leotard made her unexpectedly nervous. She wasn't sure why.
She shrugged it off after a moment's thought and returned to her Carefree Gymnast headspace. She walked over to the balance beam and started stretching. "Ready to see how a master does it?"
- - -
The gym was spectacular. Everything looked new and well cared for and they had even managed to rid the smell of sweat from the facility. She was impressed.
With no outfit of her own to change into, Kitty simply pulled off her cardigan and tossed it over the vault. Her shoes were soon to follow as well as her socks. She tucked them into her flats and began to wander along the padded floor.
It took a moment to realize that Jubilee had returned. Her footfalls were quiet and there was no boisterous announcement of her return. The leotard was a nice touch and had all the flare she would expect from Jubilee "Go ahead, show me how it's done," she said with a smirk. She returned to the vault and hopped up on it, using it as a very tall bench. "It'll take more than a flashy leotard to impress me."
- - -
Kitty threw down the gauntlet, and Jubilee's self-consciousness evaporated. "'Course not," she shot back with a grin as she finished stretching, "it'll also take me melting your face off with my awesomeness! One awesomeness, coming right up!"
She glanced off to the side and spoke to the gym's integrated computer system. "Room computer? Drop the beat: Jubilee's Mix Volume One." The room was subsequently filled with Japanese pop mixed with a strong techno beat.
That awesomeness involved a floor routine she'd come up with years ago back when she'd trained for the Olympics; she'd continued to practice and refine the routine of the years because she'd never wanted to lose it. She hopped across the mat with a few choreographed dance moves designed to show off her athleticism and muscle control (and how awesome her leg muscles were). Those moves transitioned into a sprint across the mat that culminated in three handsprings and a midair twist. She totally nailed the landing.