The X-Project

Backdated to Thursday morning. Jubilee makes bubble tea, and seizes on Nathan to play guinea pig. She tries to get him to talk a little and winds up learning more than she expected. The conversation gets a bit tense, but thankfully, no one gets dunked in the lake.



The kitchen was a mess, in fact it was more then a mess, it could quite possibly be declared in a state of unnatural disaster. Jubilee surveyed the mess with the sinking feeling that Lorna would quite possibly murder her if she didn't clean this up before people saw it...people of the Lorna shaped variety.

She'd set out on a Bubble making tea expedition, having finally decided to try the recipe Warren's friend had e-mailed him. It had turned out to be an intricate, involved, difficult and incredibly messy venture. Pots sat beside the sink in an artistic jumble that had it not been for the fact that she would soon need to clean them, she would have appreciated as a possibly abstract new art form. Maybe if Lorna was in a really good mood she could pass them off as such. That was the ticket, blame the big Russian art teacher, Jubilee was merely the victim of artistic energy and couldn't possibly be held responsible for all this.

Having decided that, she pondered who she could get to try her experiment. Someone who wouldn't mind her playing Mad Scientist on them. She grinned suddenly as she saw Nate walking by outside. Perfect! Besides, she'd wanted to check up on him after the e-mail he'd sent. Even though she knew he was okay in an academic sense, there was nothing like a verbal confirmation.

Nathan heard someone call his name and stopped, looking back towards the kitchen door. "Hey," he said a bit uncertainly, not sure what to make of the gleeful yet oddly anxious look Jubilee was giving him. "Uh... everything okay?" She beckoned him into the kitchen and he frowned and followed, only to blink at the mess. "Do I want to know what you've been doing?" he asked, bemused.

Jubilee broke out in a movie 'evil villain' laugh. "Drink and you shall live forever!" she said in her best Dracula impression...if Dracula had been into milk drinks, of course. She thrust the glass she'd picked up toward Nate, smiling encouragingly. It was frosted slightly but small black balls could be seen floating at the bottom of it.

Nathan managed to look profoundly disturbed. "You made bubble tea," he said blankly. "Why did you make bubble tea?"

She pouted, looking at him in a disapproving manner. Here she was, offering him the opportunity for eternal life and he was quibbling about the method. "Because Dude, bubble tea solves all problems, even the really big ones like choosing what colour socks to wear in the morning." she replied.

She beamed proudly as she suddenly thought of something. "Dude, think of it as a cultural experiment. I'm sure the Askani would love to try bubble tea."

He gave her a wary look, then took the glass. Couldn't hurt to humor her a little, he supposed. "Do I have to try the bubbles?" he asked, then blinked at how petulant he sounded.

Jubilee noted the tone as she leaned back against one of the kitchen benches. "Dude, not if you don't want to. Nate, you really okay? You said so in your e-mail but like, there's modern crystal art on the lawn outside and you're totally not pinging as fine, ya know?"

She was silent for a second, her posture and expression still relaxed, as if she hadn't just asked something that was important to her to know.

"'Course, you could tell me to stop being so nosey and make noises about me bein' a student an all and I'd be like all understandin' and stuff. But I like, care about ya and I'd like to hear it if you wanna talk. So, you know, talk, or drink the tea or tell me to mind my own business. Any or all of those are a-ok with me."

Nathan stiffened a little at her first words, but told himself to relax as she went on. "I'll try the tea," he said with a faint, slightly strained smile, going over to lean against the island. "Not the bubbles, though. I've never gotten over Dom whipping them at me the one time. Ever heard the phrase 'It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye'?"

Jubilee smiled wryly. "They do kinda look a little like eyes, don't they? Guess it's an acquired taste but I like totally needed someone else to try this stuff. I don't mind it but sometimes ya can get a little blind and ya need someone else's opinion. Why was Dom throwin' them at ya?"

"I was sulking, apparently." Nathan sipped at the tea, managing a slightly more enthusiastic smile. "It's not bad. I'm kind of glad Dom's in Mongolia right now or she would probably have been throwing much heavier and sharper things at me over... all this."

Jubilee picked up the glass she'd been saving for herself, taking a sip. Nate was right, it wasn't bad. Not quite what she was used to still but she guessed she'd perfect the recipe given time. "Why do you think she'd throw stuff? Seems ta me the only reason' to hit people is if they did somethin' really stupid or really wrong. Not sure if we know each other real well yet but ya don't seem the type to do either, least not without a good reason. 'Course, I spent a lot of time losin' control and blowin' things up pretty recently really, so I guess I'm not exactly the expert on wise or right decisions."

She looked over at the dishes, and then shuddered at the thought of all the cleaning she was going to have to do in a minute. "Dude, I seriously miscalculated how much mess this was gonna make. How long you think it'd take Lorna to find me if I started runnin' now?"

"I wouldn't underestimate her," Nathan said dryly, sipping at the tea again. In itself, it wasn't bad. He still wasn't going to try the bubbles, though. His eyes narrowing, he concentrated a little, and the taps turned themselves on. The soap dispenser squirted a little of its contents into the water, and Nathan turned back to Jubilee, even as he levitated the first of the pans into the water. "And there are never good reasons to lose control when doing so means you wind up manipulating your surroundings on the molecular level in weird ways. I could have killed... someone."

She raised an eyebrow, suddenly realising that this might be the reason Nate had been so withdrawn and upset lately. It was a feeling and an experience she could relate too. Something she'd had to come to terms with herself only recently.

"No, there aren't." she said softly, her shoulders tensing and then relaxing again as she made a decision.

"And yeah, you coulda killed someone. But then, so could I. Heck, so could Chuck, or Alison or Storm. So could most of the kids in this place. You can get angry at me for sayin' what I'm about to say but guess I'm gonna take that chance. You keep drawin' away from us when shit happens to ya..."

Her expression was frustrated, her fingers clenching the bench top in a kneading motion to control her nervousness. What she was doing was going over a line, moving into personal territory without having been asked or allowed.

"After the soldiers, I spent a long time not rememberin' anything that happened. Any time anyone tried to help me, I'd lose control, powers and emotions. Then it'd be like nothin' ever happened. I never asked for help, or talked to anyone about it. None of us are the experts bout this stuff, you got the other teachers for that, I know. But, don't..."

She looked away, couldn't meet his eyes, didn't want him to see anything in her own if he took what she was saying badly. "Dude, don't cut us out. I know powers are scary and maybe you got a reason to want to keep us outta it but don't stop talkin' to us, hey? Don't hide cause it's scary. We've all been scared, one time or another. Only way I ever saw through to the other end was together, all of us, even the ones we don't like. "

Nathan took another sip of the tea and then set the glass down on the counter, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead for a moment and reminding himself that one did not slap the metaphorical hand of a student who'd just reached out and allowed herself to be emotionally vulnerable in the process. Not if one wanted to develop into a decent teacher someday. Of course, decent teachers didn't hide in their room sulking either, did they?

"There's a lot going on with me that you don't know about, Jubilee," he finally said, his voice very subdued. "It's not just my powers, although no, I'm not thrilled that my control seems to be going south. I don't... drawing away from you all when shit happens doesn't mean I'm repressing it." Except when he did. "Sometimes, like yesterday, I just need the time to get my balance back." He tried to smile, didn't quite manage it. "There are things I really shouldn't burden anyone else with. My cross to bear and all that shit."

Jubilee studied him, searching his face for a clue as to where she should go from here. She wasn't subtle, not like some of the people around the mansion and most of the time she ended up putting her foot in her mouth rather soundly. She'd learnt the value of thinking before you said something of late. But sometimes, her way was better. "We all got crosses, Teach. It's never just the powers. Those are just the things that make us dangerous when we ignore stuff." she said, shifting slightly as she placed her cup down on the counter. 'Those crosses become anchors if you let them.' she thought, not wanting to say it out loud but realising he could probably hear it anyway. "I ain't gonna lecture you, s'not my style. I'll tell ya somethin' though, it ain't a burden ta care about someone. And you can't stop people from wantin' to take the crosses up with you. No matter how hard ya try, they'll just keep on bein' there, holdin' up the end of it so ya don't fall. Least, it's what I've learnt, bein' here."

She meant well, Nathan told himself. And hell, it wasn't as if he wasn't getting lectured by people much younger than him on a regular basis around here. Why grind his teeth? "And sometimes if they try, the heavy end of the cross brains them," he said, a bit tightly despite his best efforts to keep a normal tone. Jubilee didn't look dissuaded, and his jaw clenched. "Do you really want to know?" he asked. She was older, he reminded himself, and he'd certainly shared the basics about his past with a number of other students, most of them younger than she was.

She nodded, keeping her expression level. She wouldn't push him in this, if he was going to talk to her it'd be his choice. You couldn't force trust, it had to be given. It was something else she'd learnt here. Funny how many things in her life were linked to this house, and to these people. "I'd like to know."

"The government started to train me to kill when I was fourteen years old," Nathan said, biting off the end of each words. He didn't want to give her the whole story... didn't have the energy, or the patience. But maybe if he gave her the basics, she'd understand, and stop pushing so hard without him needing to push back. Which he really didn't want to do. "They had telepaths and empaths alter my mind, so I would be good at it, and obedient. It took me a long time to... get away from them, and they've been trying to get me back ever since." He smiled a bit bitterly at the way her eyes widened. "So that's why I don't want anyone to help me pick up that particular cross. At least, none of you guys. You should be enjoying all the opportunities you have here, not worrying about me."

She'd not known, and she suddenly felt bad for pushing him so hard. This wasn't a particular story she would have wanted to relive if it had been her on the receiving end. "Thanks, for tellin' me. I know that can't be easy to retell, even in abbreviated form."

She tapped her fingers against the counter top for a second, her gaze square on him. "You say we've got opportunities here, and you're right. But, how long is that gonna last if you guys keep us in the dark all the time? I ain't sayin' we should be out there fightin' the people that did that to you.Although if I was older, and had more trainin', I'd be right there, offerin' to watch your back. But I'm not even eighteen yet, and so, that's what the X-men are there for, and I'd be pretty damn stupid if I thought I'd be a match for whoever it was tryin' ta get ya back. But, sometimes I think the teachers here don't trust us to be able to make that decision, don't trust us to know when we're out of our league. Can't speak for any of the others and I'm probably testin' your patience right now, and don't say I'm not, cause I can see it. But sometimes, it's nice ta think we're more then just kids that have to be coddled and protected. We gotta live in this world, if you guys don't trust us, then who the hell is gonna?"

Nathan stared at her for a long moment, struggling with a conflicting mixture of emotions. "I think I'm beginning to see why some of the other staff get so upset, hearing the same thing over and over," he said slowly. "On one hand, that comes up over and over again. Don't coddle us, treat us like adults. But some of you at least want to be coddled, at least part of the time. I understand it's the adolescent prerogative to swing wildly back and forth between the two states of being, but you shouldn't blame us adults if we occasionally get whiplash and don't know which way to turn."

She smiled wryly, realising she'd spoken without taking time to really think about what she was sounding like again. "Dude, sorry. I promised I wouldn't lecture, and then I go and give ya one. It ain't a blame game, ya know? And it's totally not an us and you guys either. We're all mutants, we all got shit out there that'd fuck us over ten ways from Sunday if it got a chance. I know I'm not sayin' any of this real well. I heard once that Chuck told someone that he pitied anyone that came to this school lookin' for trouble. I gotta believe that's still true. I feel safe here, even after all the shit that's gone down."

Nathan managed a smile. "I'm glad," he said quietly. "You... the others, too... you all deserve a place like this. I've felt that way ever since I got here, you know that?"

She leaned back further against the countertop, her body relaxing slightly from the tense position it had held for the last few minutes. As much as she was bouncy and loud most of the time, she still wasn't terribly used to social situations and she knew a lot of the time social cues passed her by. She was afraid most of the time that she'd alienate people, or get them so angry they'd take a shot. "No, I didn't know that. Nate, you deserve a place like this too, ya know. Just sayin' is all." she said wistfully.

Nathan blinked, picking up the glass of tea again and sipping at it, to cover his reaction. "You've all got a chance for a fresh start," he said unsteadily. "The rest of your lives ahead of you... it's a good thing, really..."

Jubilee noticed the unsteadiness and decided to change the subject. "Hey, you ever play dominoes?"

Nathan gave her an odd look. "Domino's what... oh. The game?"

Jubilee laughed, her eyes twinkling. "Yes, the game. Ancient Chinese Dudes were always playin' it in the town square when I was over visiting the relos. Got Gramps to teach me it when it was rainin' one day. Actually kinda fun to play, even if I'm not an ancient Chinese Dude."

Well. It might be something fun to taunt Dom with, if nothing else. "If I give it a try," Nathan said, "do I have to finish the bubble tea?" He mustered a smile, to show Jubilee that he was joking.