Bobby had never been to the arcade so early. It seemed to be the
only place in the mall not populated by senior citizens. Although it was
far emptier than he was used to seeing it, several of the games were
occupied. The clientele were mostly teenage boys, though Bobby noticed two
girls on the arms of their boyfriends. Though he had avoided coming here
in the past few months, he was no stranger to the establishment. He waved
at the manager behind the counter, who waved back. Bobby fed a five-dollar
bill to a token machine and was rewarded by a waterfall of tokens, which he
collected and pocketed.
A while later, Bobby had spent another five dollars and had come close to placing in the top ten in Tekken. He noticed a new Dance Dance Revolution machine and gave it a try. He failed in the middle of his second game and felt his ears redden, suddenly glad that the arcade was relatively empty and that there seemed to be no hardcore DDR guys around. Glancing at his watch, he decided that it was probably about time to meet Jubilee.
As he moved towards the exit, he spotted several people surrounding a new game he hadn't noticed yet. Apparently, whoever was playing was pretty decent at it. Bobby moved in closer for a look and saw that it was a shooting game. The person playing was a gangly teenage boy wearing a black T-shirt and sporting several zits. But what really caught Bobby's attention was the game's title: "Shoot the Mutant." The small crowd let out a cheer as the boy shot someone who looked very much like Storm out of the air. Apparently, the act had just doubled his score. Bobby frowned in anger. Although he fought the instinct to destroy the machine, he did allow himself to freeze atmospheric water surrounding the metal just inside the token acceptor on the game. He knew that the ice would distort the metal to the point where it would no longer accept change. He could only hope that the malfunction would be attributed to the manufacturer.
Leaving the arcade, he looked at his watch again. 11:15. He was only a little late. Diane's was just around the corner and it took Bobby less than a minute to reach his destination. Jubilee was sitting on the ground, back against the storefront, hugging her legs close to her. Her chin was resting on her knees. She was holding a coffee drink which was only half finished. There were only a few shopping bags spread out in front of her. Her eyes had a far away look, and she had yet to notice his arrival. He realized that she looked older and more tired now than when they had separated, if that was possible.
"Guess you didn't make out as well as you'd hoped," he said, plopping down next to her and nodding towards her bags. She jumped at his words, quickly turning towards him. She relaxed when she realized who it was.
"Nah, not too much out there," she replied. "There's still a couple places I'd like to hit, though. Sorry, you don't get off so easily," she smiled at his dejected look.
"Well, let's get it over this over with," he said, rising and reaching for the drink in her hand and taking a sip. "Mmm," he added. "This is pretty good. What is it?"
"An iced strawberry mocha," answered Jubilee, who also rose.
"I think I want to stop and get one of these."
"Don't bother, you can finish mine. I was done."
"Hey, thanks. Awesome."
Jubilee shrugged and started leading him towards the main part of the mall. "I've still got buy a couple changes of clothing and some shoes." At his frightened expression, she added, "Don't worry, I've already kinda got a good idea of what I want. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours."
"A couple of hours?" Bobby whined.
"Just a couple of hours," she reiterated, entering a nearby store. Bobby steeled himself against what promised to be the longest couple hours of his life.
_________________________________________________________
The food court was buzzing with activity when Bobby and Jubilee arrived. Luckily, they managed to secure a table from an elderly couple that was on their way out. Bobby placed most of Jubilee's bags onto the chair next to his. Several of the bigger ones had to be put on the floor. He made sure to tuck them safely under the table.
He couldn't believe how quickly the time past. More importantly, he couldn't believe that he, Robert Drake, had actually enjoyed shopping with a teenaged girl. Actually, that fact was making him kind of paranoid. He was scared that Hank or one of the other X-men would happen by and catch him. He could just imagine what would happen if word got out that he liked to shop. He'd become the official bag handler of the X-women. He could picture himself surrounded by mountains of shopping bags and wearing the official bag handler uniform. For some reason, the outfit resembled that worn by an organ grinder's monkey. He made a face at the thought.
"So, what do you feel like eating?" asked Jubilee, settling down into the seat across from him. She'd lain down the opaque department store bag that contained her new formal dress into the vacant seat beside her. She'd bought it before they'd regrouped. Not for the first time, Bobby found himself wondering what it looked like.
"Huh?" he asked, distracted.
"What do you want to eat?" she repeated.
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, my mind was wandering," he said. Surveying his surroundings, he continued, "I'm not sure what I want yet. It all looks good to me. How about you?"
"Cheese fries, I think. And maybe a salad."
"Great combination."
"Don't knock it till you've tried it."
"Well, why don't I go get our food while you save our seats," Bobby offered.
"I thought you didn't know what you wanted."
"I'll just get something from where I'm getting your food. What did you want to drink?"
Jubilee contemplated his question for a millisecond before replying, "Just water. Can I please have Ranch dressing with the salad?"
"Only if you're good."
"Where's the fun in that?" she countered, then added, "Thanks Bobby."
"No problemo," he responded, turning to make his way through the crowd. Jubilee soon lost sight of him.
She sat back in her chair and took a look around. The mall was pretty crowded for a weekday afternoon. She watched a young mother walk by, pushing a stroller. A child of about five years old walked besides her, whining, "Please mommy, I want it, I want it. Please mommy?" His mother replied, "No you can't. You only want it because Timmy has one."
"Mommy, pleeeeeease? Pretty pleeeeeease."
The woman chose not to respond. Apparently, that was a mistake.
"Mommmeeeeeee" the young boy began to cry.
"Jack, I already told you no. Keep this up and we're going home."
"Mommmeeeeeeeeeee." It was becoming pretty obvious to Jubilee that a tantrum was about to rear its ugly head.
"God, I hope we don't have one of those," said a familiar voice across from her.
"Don't worry, our children will be perfect in everyway," responded a masculine voice, also nearby. The comment had a sarcastic hint to it.
Jubilee drew her attention away from Jack's fit of temper and saw Alex and Lorna standing across from her.
"Oh, hey guys," she greeted them. "What're you doing here?"
"Just picking up a couple last minute things for the wedding," responded Lorna, sitting down into Bobby's seat. "You know how it is. You always forget something."
"Well, I've never really planned a wedding before, so I wouldn't know. But I'll take you're word on it," Jubilee replied.
"How about you?" Alex asked. "What are you up to?"
"Like I need a reason to go the mall."
"Well, you sure got a lot of stuff for someone not looking for anything in particular."
"Yeah, I know." Jubilee gestured at the shopping bag next to her and said to Lorna, "I got something to wear to your bachelorette party. Are you sure it's okay if I come."
"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"
"Y'know, that whole under twenty one thing might mess up your plans."
"Oh, don't worry, we'll find a way around that," Lorna smiled.
"Are you here by yourself?" asked Alex, obviously trying to change the subject.
Jubilee was about to respond, but she was interrupted by a cool voice that said, "No she's not. She's here with me." Alex turned around to see who was addressing him. He saw Bobby standing behind him, holding a rather overloaded tray of food. Lorna noticed this and removed her purse from the table so that Bobby had room to set down his load. However, she made no move to rise from his chair.
"Wow, Bobby. You're the last guy I'd expected to find here," Alex said, moving so that he was no longer blocking Bobby's access to the table.
"I've always thought that you hated shopping," commented Lorna as Bobby put the food down.
"It's my fault. I dragged him out here," Jubilee tried to explain on her friend's behalf. "I needed a ride, and he's the first person I could find."
"Yeah, I'm a regular Good Samaritan," Bobby said. Although he smiled as he said this, Jubilee noticed that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Someone should give me a prize. Or shoot me."
"Anyway," Alex said after an awkward pause, "We should get going. Miles to go before we sleep and all that. Let's go, honey."
"Oh, all right dear," Lorna pouted. While Alex seemed oblivious to Bobby's discomfort, for a fraction of a second, it seemed to Jubilee that Lorna was enjoying it. "We'll see you two back at the mansion."
"Bye guys."
"See you later."
Bobby and Jubilee began eating in silence after the couple left. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Jubilee pushed away her french fries and broke the quiet.
"I don't see why you're still upset about all of this."
Bobby, who was in the process of raising a slice of pizza to his mouth, looked at her. She could almost see his eyes darkening as he realized what she was asking. It was scary to see that sort of a reaction in easygoing Bobby, but Jubilee refused to let it deter her.
"I don't know what you mean," he frowned. His voice was curt and gruff.
Yes you do, she thought. Instead, she explained, "Lorna and Alex. I know you and Lorna were together back in the day. But it's been years. They've been dating, like forever. You had to know this was coming."
He glared at her for a couple of moments, pinning her with that not-Bobby stare. She almost didn't recognize him. Although she felt uncomfortable, she maintained eye contact. Finally, he looked away.
"I don't have anything against them," he muttered.
"Like hell you don't."
"No I don't," he retorted. "First of all, it's none of your business. Second of all, I don't think you're in any position to criticize me about relationship grudges."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You think I haven't noticed how you've avoided M every time she's visited the mansion?"
Jubilee sputtered for a second. She hadn't seen the attack coming. "What?!! That's totally different. I've always hated M. Yeah, it hurt that Everett chose her and not me, but ."
"But what?"
"It's just different, that's all."
"Yeah, right."
"It is different. And it's in the past." she said, barely aware that she was raising her voice, "We're not talking about me right now. We're talking about you and your issues with Alex and Lorna."
"I don't have issues with Alex or Lorna," he shouted back. "Will you quit hounding me?"
She just raised her eyebrow at him.
Taking a breath, Bobby said, "Fine, so maybe I've got some problems with the two of them getting married. I'd just rather not talk about them right now."
"Why?" Jubilee asked. She tried to make eye contact with him again, but he avoided her gaze. That blue-eyed stare did something to him. It would have been different had he seen any malice or arrogance in them, but all he saw was compassion, and maybe some sadness.
"It's just something I have to deal with. If you think I'm being too obvious about it, I'll try to work on that. But.," he trailed off. "I guess I still haven't figured out why this upsets me so much. You're right. I got over her years ago. Or at least I thought I did." He finally allowed himself to meet her stare, although it made his stomach do flips. "Look, I know you're just worried about me. But, like I said, this is something I have to work out by myself."
"Fair enough. But if you ever need someone to listen, I'll be here," Jubilee offered. She gave mirthless chuckle, "Heck, like you said, I'm practically an expert in the subject."
"I didn't mean it like that."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I .," he began, running his hand through his hair, "Okay, maybe I did say something along those lines. Look, I'm just kind of upset. Can we drop the subject please?"
"Yeah, sure," she replied quietly. This time she was the one avoiding his gaze.
"Jubilee, I really didn't mean what I said."
"I know. You're right, let's just drop it."
They both returned their attention to their meals, although the food seemed to have lost its flavor.
A while later, Bobby had spent another five dollars and had come close to placing in the top ten in Tekken. He noticed a new Dance Dance Revolution machine and gave it a try. He failed in the middle of his second game and felt his ears redden, suddenly glad that the arcade was relatively empty and that there seemed to be no hardcore DDR guys around. Glancing at his watch, he decided that it was probably about time to meet Jubilee.
As he moved towards the exit, he spotted several people surrounding a new game he hadn't noticed yet. Apparently, whoever was playing was pretty decent at it. Bobby moved in closer for a look and saw that it was a shooting game. The person playing was a gangly teenage boy wearing a black T-shirt and sporting several zits. But what really caught Bobby's attention was the game's title: "Shoot the Mutant." The small crowd let out a cheer as the boy shot someone who looked very much like Storm out of the air. Apparently, the act had just doubled his score. Bobby frowned in anger. Although he fought the instinct to destroy the machine, he did allow himself to freeze atmospheric water surrounding the metal just inside the token acceptor on the game. He knew that the ice would distort the metal to the point where it would no longer accept change. He could only hope that the malfunction would be attributed to the manufacturer.
Leaving the arcade, he looked at his watch again. 11:15. He was only a little late. Diane's was just around the corner and it took Bobby less than a minute to reach his destination. Jubilee was sitting on the ground, back against the storefront, hugging her legs close to her. Her chin was resting on her knees. She was holding a coffee drink which was only half finished. There were only a few shopping bags spread out in front of her. Her eyes had a far away look, and she had yet to notice his arrival. He realized that she looked older and more tired now than when they had separated, if that was possible.
"Guess you didn't make out as well as you'd hoped," he said, plopping down next to her and nodding towards her bags. She jumped at his words, quickly turning towards him. She relaxed when she realized who it was.
"Nah, not too much out there," she replied. "There's still a couple places I'd like to hit, though. Sorry, you don't get off so easily," she smiled at his dejected look.
"Well, let's get it over this over with," he said, rising and reaching for the drink in her hand and taking a sip. "Mmm," he added. "This is pretty good. What is it?"
"An iced strawberry mocha," answered Jubilee, who also rose.
"I think I want to stop and get one of these."
"Don't bother, you can finish mine. I was done."
"Hey, thanks. Awesome."
Jubilee shrugged and started leading him towards the main part of the mall. "I've still got buy a couple changes of clothing and some shoes." At his frightened expression, she added, "Don't worry, I've already kinda got a good idea of what I want. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours."
"A couple of hours?" Bobby whined.
"Just a couple of hours," she reiterated, entering a nearby store. Bobby steeled himself against what promised to be the longest couple hours of his life.
_________________________________________________________
The food court was buzzing with activity when Bobby and Jubilee arrived. Luckily, they managed to secure a table from an elderly couple that was on their way out. Bobby placed most of Jubilee's bags onto the chair next to his. Several of the bigger ones had to be put on the floor. He made sure to tuck them safely under the table.
He couldn't believe how quickly the time past. More importantly, he couldn't believe that he, Robert Drake, had actually enjoyed shopping with a teenaged girl. Actually, that fact was making him kind of paranoid. He was scared that Hank or one of the other X-men would happen by and catch him. He could just imagine what would happen if word got out that he liked to shop. He'd become the official bag handler of the X-women. He could picture himself surrounded by mountains of shopping bags and wearing the official bag handler uniform. For some reason, the outfit resembled that worn by an organ grinder's monkey. He made a face at the thought.
"So, what do you feel like eating?" asked Jubilee, settling down into the seat across from him. She'd lain down the opaque department store bag that contained her new formal dress into the vacant seat beside her. She'd bought it before they'd regrouped. Not for the first time, Bobby found himself wondering what it looked like.
"Huh?" he asked, distracted.
"What do you want to eat?" she repeated.
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, my mind was wandering," he said. Surveying his surroundings, he continued, "I'm not sure what I want yet. It all looks good to me. How about you?"
"Cheese fries, I think. And maybe a salad."
"Great combination."
"Don't knock it till you've tried it."
"Well, why don't I go get our food while you save our seats," Bobby offered.
"I thought you didn't know what you wanted."
"I'll just get something from where I'm getting your food. What did you want to drink?"
Jubilee contemplated his question for a millisecond before replying, "Just water. Can I please have Ranch dressing with the salad?"
"Only if you're good."
"Where's the fun in that?" she countered, then added, "Thanks Bobby."
"No problemo," he responded, turning to make his way through the crowd. Jubilee soon lost sight of him.
She sat back in her chair and took a look around. The mall was pretty crowded for a weekday afternoon. She watched a young mother walk by, pushing a stroller. A child of about five years old walked besides her, whining, "Please mommy, I want it, I want it. Please mommy?" His mother replied, "No you can't. You only want it because Timmy has one."
"Mommy, pleeeeeease? Pretty pleeeeeease."
The woman chose not to respond. Apparently, that was a mistake.
"Mommmeeeeeee" the young boy began to cry.
"Jack, I already told you no. Keep this up and we're going home."
"Mommmeeeeeeeeeee." It was becoming pretty obvious to Jubilee that a tantrum was about to rear its ugly head.
"God, I hope we don't have one of those," said a familiar voice across from her.
"Don't worry, our children will be perfect in everyway," responded a masculine voice, also nearby. The comment had a sarcastic hint to it.
Jubilee drew her attention away from Jack's fit of temper and saw Alex and Lorna standing across from her.
"Oh, hey guys," she greeted them. "What're you doing here?"
"Just picking up a couple last minute things for the wedding," responded Lorna, sitting down into Bobby's seat. "You know how it is. You always forget something."
"Well, I've never really planned a wedding before, so I wouldn't know. But I'll take you're word on it," Jubilee replied.
"How about you?" Alex asked. "What are you up to?"
"Like I need a reason to go the mall."
"Well, you sure got a lot of stuff for someone not looking for anything in particular."
"Yeah, I know." Jubilee gestured at the shopping bag next to her and said to Lorna, "I got something to wear to your bachelorette party. Are you sure it's okay if I come."
"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"
"Y'know, that whole under twenty one thing might mess up your plans."
"Oh, don't worry, we'll find a way around that," Lorna smiled.
"Are you here by yourself?" asked Alex, obviously trying to change the subject.
Jubilee was about to respond, but she was interrupted by a cool voice that said, "No she's not. She's here with me." Alex turned around to see who was addressing him. He saw Bobby standing behind him, holding a rather overloaded tray of food. Lorna noticed this and removed her purse from the table so that Bobby had room to set down his load. However, she made no move to rise from his chair.
"Wow, Bobby. You're the last guy I'd expected to find here," Alex said, moving so that he was no longer blocking Bobby's access to the table.
"I've always thought that you hated shopping," commented Lorna as Bobby put the food down.
"It's my fault. I dragged him out here," Jubilee tried to explain on her friend's behalf. "I needed a ride, and he's the first person I could find."
"Yeah, I'm a regular Good Samaritan," Bobby said. Although he smiled as he said this, Jubilee noticed that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Someone should give me a prize. Or shoot me."
"Anyway," Alex said after an awkward pause, "We should get going. Miles to go before we sleep and all that. Let's go, honey."
"Oh, all right dear," Lorna pouted. While Alex seemed oblivious to Bobby's discomfort, for a fraction of a second, it seemed to Jubilee that Lorna was enjoying it. "We'll see you two back at the mansion."
"Bye guys."
"See you later."
Bobby and Jubilee began eating in silence after the couple left. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Jubilee pushed away her french fries and broke the quiet.
"I don't see why you're still upset about all of this."
Bobby, who was in the process of raising a slice of pizza to his mouth, looked at her. She could almost see his eyes darkening as he realized what she was asking. It was scary to see that sort of a reaction in easygoing Bobby, but Jubilee refused to let it deter her.
"I don't know what you mean," he frowned. His voice was curt and gruff.
Yes you do, she thought. Instead, she explained, "Lorna and Alex. I know you and Lorna were together back in the day. But it's been years. They've been dating, like forever. You had to know this was coming."
He glared at her for a couple of moments, pinning her with that not-Bobby stare. She almost didn't recognize him. Although she felt uncomfortable, she maintained eye contact. Finally, he looked away.
"I don't have anything against them," he muttered.
"Like hell you don't."
"No I don't," he retorted. "First of all, it's none of your business. Second of all, I don't think you're in any position to criticize me about relationship grudges."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You think I haven't noticed how you've avoided M every time she's visited the mansion?"
Jubilee sputtered for a second. She hadn't seen the attack coming. "What?!! That's totally different. I've always hated M. Yeah, it hurt that Everett chose her and not me, but ."
"But what?"
"It's just different, that's all."
"Yeah, right."
"It is different. And it's in the past." she said, barely aware that she was raising her voice, "We're not talking about me right now. We're talking about you and your issues with Alex and Lorna."
"I don't have issues with Alex or Lorna," he shouted back. "Will you quit hounding me?"
She just raised her eyebrow at him.
Taking a breath, Bobby said, "Fine, so maybe I've got some problems with the two of them getting married. I'd just rather not talk about them right now."
"Why?" Jubilee asked. She tried to make eye contact with him again, but he avoided her gaze. That blue-eyed stare did something to him. It would have been different had he seen any malice or arrogance in them, but all he saw was compassion, and maybe some sadness.
"It's just something I have to deal with. If you think I'm being too obvious about it, I'll try to work on that. But.," he trailed off. "I guess I still haven't figured out why this upsets me so much. You're right. I got over her years ago. Or at least I thought I did." He finally allowed himself to meet her stare, although it made his stomach do flips. "Look, I know you're just worried about me. But, like I said, this is something I have to work out by myself."
"Fair enough. But if you ever need someone to listen, I'll be here," Jubilee offered. She gave mirthless chuckle, "Heck, like you said, I'm practically an expert in the subject."
"I didn't mean it like that."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I .," he began, running his hand through his hair, "Okay, maybe I did say something along those lines. Look, I'm just kind of upset. Can we drop the subject please?"
"Yeah, sure," she replied quietly. This time she was the one avoiding his gaze.
"Jubilee, I really didn't mean what I said."
"I know. You're right, let's just drop it."
They both returned their attention to their meals, although the food seemed to have lost its flavor.