ax_jubilee: (cocked head)
ax_jubilee ([personal profile] ax_jubilee) wrote in [community profile] ax_main2017-11-15 09:02 am
Entry tags:

Laura and Jubilee | Backdated to 11/15

Laura tries her hand at rollerblading, and plans are made for movie-watching and fireworks!



Laura laid in the grass near the edge of the driveway, the cool blades of grass poking up through her shirt and into her skin annoyingly. Everything here at this school was either chaos or peace, right now she was luckily to find the later as she stared up at the white wispy clouds. She almost felt like she could nap until she heard a weird sound, sitting up quickly to see exactly what it was.

What she found was a girl around her age, Asian, gliding along on a pair of shoes that had wheels. Laura frowned in confusion as she tried to remember what they were called having only seen them once before. The girl was surprisingly graceful on the line of wheels, able to move quickly and without falling. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Jubilee had nearly gone past the girl sitting in the grass when the question registered, and she spun gracefully to face her. "Oh, hey! Roller blading. It's totally a lost art on the East Coast, I think - I mean, there aren't as many people doing it on the West Coast as there use to be either," she admitted, "but I figure it'll come back around eventually, right? People will call it retro or something." She eyed the other girl curiously. "Hey, you're next door to me in the dorms, right? I'm Jubes."

Laura blinked as she processed all the words that had come out of the other girl's mouth.

Roller blading =Roller blades ---> Roller blading-/-West Coast or East Coast --->Retro?

"Yes." She answered a little slowly, remembering having seen the girl outside her and Megan's doorway. "Yes. You live next door.....Jubes. My name is Laura."

"Nice t'meetcha!" Jubilee pulled a pack of gum out of her pocket, plopped down on the grass beside the girl, and held one out in offering. "So, you've never bladed either, huh? I keep trying to talk people into it - well, Gar anyway - but nooooooo, he'd rather turn into a dog and chase me or something. Which is totally fun, don't get me wrong, but not the same thing, y'know?"

None of those words together made sense to Laura, at least most of them, but she reached out and took a piece of the offered foil. She looked at it for a moment before unwrapping it and putting it in her mouth, looking unpleasantly shocked when it turned into rubber.

"Wat is it oing?" She asked around the gum.

It took Jubilee a moment to figure out what Laura was talking about, and when she did, she grinned. "Seriously, you've never had gum? You just chew it for a while, and then you can blow bubbles with it. It's awesome. And it's sugar free, so no problem there. Here, I'll show you." She popped a stick into her own mouth and started chewing. "So, what's your deal? Were your parents like, dentists or something? Or just a total buzzkill when it came to junk food?"

"Not dentists." She replied around the gum, finding it weirdly fun to flatten it against the roof of her mouth and let it stick there. "The later is more accurate. Only since coming here have I been able to experience 'junk food'."

She rolled the gum into a ball with her tongue. "How do you make bubbles with it?"

Huh. Jubilee's forehead furrowed as she blew a bubble, pulled it back in, and nodded. "Okay. You kinda flatten the gum out behind your teeth, and then open your mouth a little and give it a push with your tongue? Not like, hard, just a tiny push. And then blow into it? Except don't blow too hard all at once, or it can explode," she warned. "Getting gum out of your hair's a real bitch."

Laura listened to Jubes instructions, trying to do exactly as she was told, only it ended up weirdly sticking to her teeth and her tongue tore a hole into the gum. "I 'dink I failed."

Not laughing. Not laughing, not laughing - Jubilee gave up and laughed. "Yeah, kinda. But it's all good, it takes practice. Watch." She blew another bubble, this time in slow motion (or at least as slowly as she could manage. "You just do it over and over again until you get it, 'cause seriously, it sounds easy? But not so much, really. The first time, anyway."

She watched how Jubilee formed her mouth and out blew a perfectly round pink bubble before it popped loudly. Laura tried to concentrate as she flattened the gum in her mouth again, then rolled it over her tongue and tried blowing again. She went cross eyed a little and turned to show Jubes when the smallest little bubble she had made, doing her best not to breath too much incase it over inflated and popped.

Jubilee grinned and applauded. "Dude, that's awesome! Keep going!"

Laura did as she was told and continued to blow into the bubble until it was the size of her fist, then it popped. Laura frowned when it got all over her chin and some of her cheeks, reaching up to peel it away and hold it between her fingers. "You do this all day?"

"Nah, it stops tasting like anything after a while," Jubilee explained. "Then you spit it out in the garbage. Or on the ground, but eww, right?" She made a face. "I hate stepping in other people's gum. And besides, it's totally rude."

Laura nodded even though she didn't really understand and stuck the wad of gum back into her mouth to continue chewing. "How do your roller blades work? They seem as if they would be difficult to maneuver in."

"Nah. It just takes practice, y'know? I mean, it's kinda hard when you start? But then once you're going, it's just like walking - you don't even think about it." Jubilee grinned and leaned down to start unstrapping them from her ankles. "You want to try it? They adjust - they should fit okay."

She watched as Jubes starting taking off the skates and thought about declining the offer, but the idea of gliding sounded interesting. She just had to make sure to keep the claws in her feet sheathed so she didn't ruin Jubes skates. "I will try, but you have to show me how."

"Well, duh. Roller blading is totally something you have to be shown. And it's easier if the other person isn't on roller blades, because otherwise bam! Both of you end up in a heap on the ground, which is totally not fun. Except you're probably gonna fall a few times anyway," Jubilee warned. "Pretty much everyone does."

"I do not like falling." Laura explained, taking the skates after Jubes handed them to her and slipped then on the correct feet. She was a little confused on how the straps worked, but was able to figure them out after a little trial and error. When she went to get up, she immediately noticed how clunky and heavy the skates felt and wobbled into a kneeing position. "This is difficult."

"Yep! Blades are hard to get up on until you get the hang of it." Jubilee bounced up to her feet and held out her hands. "Hold on, I'll help. You can totally do this. I mean, I learned how to do this when I was like, seven? And you've gotta be twice that, so no prob, right?

Laura hesitated for a moment before reaching out her hands to grasp at Jubes, using the other girl's weight to help pull herself up. Once she was up, it was surprisingly easy to stay balanced, but being able to move was a whole other problem. "How do I start?"

"Hmm. Good question." Jubilee's face screwed up as she considered it. Teaching someone to roller blade was a lot harder than just doing it. "You kinda step and slide? And while you're sliding with the first foot, you start stepping with the second? Don't step too high, though, cuz it totally throws you off balance." Still holding onto Laura's hands, she grinned. "Try it. I'll hang on and help."

She watched Jubilee's face for a moment, then when she decided she could trust her Laura picked up her left foot and tried to move. She let the wheels glide against the concrete when her foot came back down and did her best not to wobble as she started to move slowly.

"Yeah! Like that! Now while that foot's sliding, pick up the other one," Jubilee urged, moving backwards and still holding on to Laura's hands. "As long as you keep moving, it's super easy. It's just stopping that's kind of a bitch at first."

Laura did not want to think about stopping before she learned to go, so she put all of her focus on moving forward as she held on tightly to Jubilee's hands. It got a little easier, the gliding bro king smoother as she learned. I believe I am starting to understand, but do not let go of my hands yet."

"Not letting go," Jubilee promised, though she was practically running backwards at this point. Still, she'd been blading every inch of the driveway lately. It wasn't like there was anything to run into. She grinned. "Fun, right? Just wait until you really get going, it's a huge rush."

She had seen how fast Jubilee had gone on the skates, surprised that such small wheels allowed for something so quick, and Laura nodded. "I want to try by myself now."

Jubilee gave her a skeptical look, then nodded and let go of the other girl's hands. "'Kay. Don't use the stops on the back yet - it takes practice. You're better off rolling into the grass and just plopping down if you're good at falling."

When Jubilee let go Laura did he best to balance, trying to glide her feet like Jubilee had told her to do which was a little disconcerting now that she had no one to balance on. She ended up rolling about ten feet and then coming to a very slow stop when she lost momentum. She stood there for a moment before looking over her shoulder at Jubilee. "I believe I need a push."

Jubilee laughed and sprinted over. "Nah. You just need to get started again. Seriously awesome balance, though. Take a step again, and glide, remember? Same as you did before."

Laura frowned at the refusal of a push, but tried Jubilee's way, gliding one foot forward and then the next. She had started to move, albeit very slowly and awkwardly, but she was doing it and she tried to turn so she could face Jubilee. She slowly made her way over to the other girl and proudly stood up as straight as she could. "I am doing it."

"Dude, you are totally doing it! Told you you didn't need a push - which, btw? Bad idea until you know how to stop." Jubilee grinned at Laura proudly.

Laura could now see how pushing while wearing shoes with wheels could be considered an unwise idea, shifting so she could move a little more and pick up a little bit of speed. She did her best to make a quasi-circle around Jubilee. "This is exciting once you learn. Where did you get them?"

"That pair? Skate shop," Jubilee replied. "But you can pick them up at like, department stores and stuff, usually. Or maybe second hand? It's totally cool though, right?" She grinned excitedly. "We should definitely find you some. And a helmet and stuff - damn, we should've grabbed a helmet and knee pads and stuff, I'm an awful teacher."

Laura wobbled a little when she tried to turn, but gained her balance back quick enough. She shook her head at the mention of padding, skating closer to Jubilee so she wouldn't have to raise her voice. "You do not have to worry. I do not need safety equipment. Even if I fall, I will not be hurt for long.

"Whoa, are you like, invulnerable then?" Jubilee's eyes widened and she grinned. But no, she said for not long, right? "Or you just heal really, really fast, which is also awesome!"

"The last one." Laura replied and then rolled one foot backwards, surprising herself when she starting going back. That was interesting. She tried testing out backwards for a moment before looking over at Jubilee. "What about you? What is your mutation?"

"Fireworks," Jubilee supplied promptly, firing a few pafs up int the air as she grinned. "Well, the Professor calls them something else, but seriously, dude, way too complicated, and who really cares, right?"

Laura startled a little when Jubilee shot off her fireworks, having never seen them in person, and staring at the Asian girl in a bit of wonder. "You can create them? From nothing?"

"Yep!" Jubilee grinned smugly at Laura's reaction. "Different kinds, too - I mean, I can do them so they make noise, or not, and I can put force behind them, but I'm not big on doing that. It's pretty awesome, if I say so myself, which is totally bragging, but oh well. Still hugely cool."

Laura watched Jubliee's hands for a moment longer before pushing forward over to her until she was by her side. "May I see more?"

"Sure! They show up way better after dark, though. Wanta go get something to eat, come back outside when the sun sets? I'll do a whole show," Jubilee offered.

A whole show. The idea of seeing a fireworks show in person was too tempting and Laura nodded after only a moment of thought. “I would enjoy that. I should take your roller skates off if we are going inside. I do not think the wheels on the wood would be a good idea.”

"Not until you get in a whole lot more practice," Jubes agreed. "Wood floors are totally slippery. Though if you wear socks and run on them right after they're waxed, it's almost like blading. Or at least really, really fun, anyway." She held out her hands to help Laura sit down.

Laura accepted the help down, quickly getting to work on the straps so she could slide the skates off her feet and wiggles her toes. “You know some strange ways to entertain yourself.”

Jubilee let out a snort of laughter. "Yeah I guess, huh? But seriously, sometimes weird things are the most fun, y'know? It's just that no one's thought of them yet. Anyway, what do you do for fun?"

Laura had not been expecting that question and glanced to the side as if it would have a better answer than fighting or reading. “I am afraid nothing as interesting as sock sliding. I normally like physical activity, but reading can be entertaining as well.”

"Ugggh. Not a big reader," Jubilee admitted. "I mean, I guess it was a great thing to do before there was TV? But why read the book when you can watch the movie, where they chop out all the boring parts?"

Laura frowned and tilted her head. “Watch the movie? There are movies about books?”

"Like, duh!" Jubilee grinned and held out a hand to tug Laura to her feet. "About half the movies out there were books first. Then they chop out all the boring parts, pick actors, add awesome special effects, and bam! 100% improvement! Like the Boy Wizard ones - you've seen those, right? The movies are like, amazing. Though the books aren't too awful, either," she conceded.

“Boy Wizard?” Laura questioned, not sure exactly what the other was talking about as she was pulled to her feet. “No, I have not seen this Boy Wizard movie.”

"Oh my god, it's a whole series of movies. You so have to see them, they're the best. Okay, here's the plan - we go in, grab something to eat, take it down to the rec room and watch the first one," Jubilee suggested. "And by Then it'll be dark enough to come back out and do fireworks! Whatdya think?"

“It...sounds like a reasonable and well timed plan.” Laura commented, not sure how she was going to like this Boy Wizard movie, but she could try.

Post a comment in response:

This community only allows commenting by members. You may comment here if you're a member of ax_main.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting