Christmas 2012: Jason

[Esynthia]

One Hug Too Many


Rogue: Rogue slid her bike to a stop and flew off after setting the stand down. She stripped her gloves and shoved them in her jacket pockets as she made her way up the front steps of the mansion. Maybe she could find someone up for going out.

Alex: Alex slipped out of his room and made his way down the hall, heading for the stairs. Maybe he'd go grab a snack and watch a movie, or he could actually try to find something to do that sounded fun.

Rogue: Rogue moved through the front door and paused at the table in the foyer to sift through the mail left there. She took a deep breath as she found a letter from Sam's mom. She should probably go down and see them at some point this holiday season... She just couldn't bring herself to even call them yet.

Alex: "Hey, Rogue," Alex called with a grin as he quickly headed down the stairs.

Rogue: Rogue turned her head, but kept her eyes on the letter as she opened it. Once she'd pulled the letter out, she finally looked up, "Hey, sugah. What're y'all up to?"

Alex: "Nothing much," he shook his head, "What about you?"

Rogue: "Just stoppin' in ta see if anybody wants ta go out. Y'all up f'r it?"

Alex: "Yeah, sure," Alex smiled, "Where did you want to go?"

Rogue: "Anywhere that ain't here."

Alex: He shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

Jules: "I'll join." Julie zipped up behind Rogue and stopped short, her rainbow zooming around corners and connecting back with her.

Alex: Alex tried not to cringe. He wasn't sure he'd even talked to Julie since their spat in the rec room where she told him not to ever talk to her again.

Jules: "Oh... hey Alex!" She waved, trying to do her best 'I'm-Not-Crying-Inside-' face.

Alex: "Hey," Alex managed to force out along with a grin, fairly sure he didn't sound quite as pleasant as he had when speaking to Rogue.

Jules: "Where're we going" Julie asked excitedly, looking to Rogue with a large, toothy, grin.

Rogue: Rogue arched an eyebrow at Julie, "Calm down gal. An' like Ah said ta Alex, anywhere that ain't here." She cast a glance at Alex, "Y'all alright with her goin'?"

Alex: "Yeah, sure..." Alex answered, despite the fact that he really wanted to say no.

Rogue: Rogue arched a skeptical eyebrow at Alex. "Didn't we work on this whole 'no' thing?"

Alex: He shot her a smirk, "We did, but that doesn't mean it worked."

Jules: Julie frowned. "Y'know, I'm not a sob-bucket all the time. I can recover, move on, cease crying. I promise." She looked to Rogue. "You a grumpy-pants today? Maybe you should play some MGMT."

Alex: Alex rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Jules: Julie pulled out her yo-yo and began to flick it down and up back into hand. "I can walk the dog when we head out! Get it!" She nudged Rogue's arm with her elbow.

Rogue: Rogue narrowed her eyes at Julie in question, "MGMT?" She looked down at her arm as Julie nudged her, "Ah ain't a 'grumpy-pants' taday. This is just how Ah am. Like it or leave."

Jules: "I like you, so I'd rather not leave." Her smile flickered as she saw Rogue's eyes, but she resisted the urge to dash away. Be positive, stay happy. Friends, that's what you want. "Anyone feelin' the mall today?"

Alex: "As long as I'm not stuck carrying bags, I guess that'd be fine," he shrugged and glanced over at Rogue.

Rogue: Rogue made a face, "Ah ain't feelin' tha mall. Ah'd rather go ta a club'r bar'r somethin'."

Alex: "That'd be fine with me, too." Well, so long as he didn't end up drunk and sleeping with some other girl he barely knew.

Jules: "Wait, bar?" She checked her pocket for her bag of weed to deal with. "Okay, check. Wait... I'm not 21.... I'll sneak in though...."

Rogue: "Have y'all never gone out with tha students here? Y'all gotta get a fake ID'r somethin'. Damn." She arched an eyebrow as Julie checked her pocket though, "Check? Check, what?"

Jules: "My pieces-of-what, of course!" She shrugged and pulled a large scarf out from inside her hoody and wrapped it around her neck. It was bright orange with blue stripes.

Rogue: Rogue just stared at her, "Pieces-of-what." She looked over at Alex, "Real catch there." She carefully folded the letter and tucked it back in the envelope to read later, tucking it in the inside pocket of her bomber jacket.

Alex: Alex snorted and shook his head, "You're a bit behind if you think I'm still with her."

Jules: "OooOOH!" Julie said, eyes wide. "What's in the letter? Anything good? Scholarships? Paychecks? New credit card?"

Rogue: "Oh, Ah know ya ain't, sugah." She narrowed her eyes at Julie, "Is it really any o' y'all's business?"

Jules: "Well,... no. But curiosity never killed this cat!" She winked. "C'mon Rogue! I'm your friend, you don't need to hide stuff from me!"

Alex: Alex eyed Rogue and stole a quick glance at Julie, lightly chewing on his lip. He wasn't sure how Rogue would take that, and he wasn't about to get in the middle of it. He liked living too much.

Jules: "Rooooguuee! I wanna seeeee! I won't hurt it, I promise! Not one bit!"

Rogue: Rogue's eyes narrowed further, "Gal, Ah'm tellin' ya now that this ain't none o' y'all's business. It ain't no one's business at this school anymore but mah own. Back. Off."

Jason: Jason and his pilfered portion of path thai came in at that monent though it was forgotten on his spoon. "Are we going to start treeing people?"

Jules: "Anymore? What does that mean?" Her eyes got wide. "Ohhh! I'm sorry!? Is it about Sam! I didn't mean to make you feel bad about him! I'm really sorry, Rogue. Jeez...." She looked to Jason. "Jason, I think I upset Rogue." She felt bad and didn't know what to do-OH WAIT, YES SHE DID!

Jules: "Rogue you know what you need?" She opened her arms wide. "You need a HUG! Huggle bear! Rainbows and happies!"

Alex: He cringed, getting the feeling this would be the end of Julie.

Rogue: Rogue's jaw clenched and her hands balled in fists. "Ah don't need a hug," she ground out.

Jason: "In any case, a hug might be misconstrued as a gameplan for an assgrab. Dangerous situations abound." Jason leaned against the wall. "And what, dear co-conspirator, is 'happies'?"

Jules: "Happies are the good feelings you get from a nice warm hug from a good friend! That isn't sexual!" She said sternly. "C'mere Roguie, it's okay! It's just a hug, it's not poison!" She attempted to hug her dear friend.

Rogue: Rogue froze in slight shock and then pushed her arms up to break Julie's hold on her and then swung at her jaw in a right cross, all in one clean fluid move. "One? Don't call me Roguey. Second. Don't fuckin' touch me. An' third? Ah swear ta God if y'all even murmur Sam's name again Ah will put ya through a damned wall."

Jules: Like a well pitched curve-ball, Julie spiraled towards the wall and went headfirst into it, smacking against it with a yelp. Blood, a little bit, was visible in her mouth, and her eyes were groggy at best. She slipped out of consciousness with only the utterance "No...".

Alex: Alex let out another cringe and felt slightly sorry for her. One of the last people he'd want to be hit by was Rogue for that reason... He looked between the girls, then to Jason. Now was probably not the time to say hi...

Jason: "...." Jason looked to Alex, attempting to communicate 'wtf did I walk into' to him without saying a word.

Alex: He made a slight face and shook his head, fairly sure Jason didn't really want to know.

Rogue: Rogue fought Julie's psyche with a glare on her face as she looked down at the unconscious lump. "'Spose someone should get her some ice so her jaw don't swell too bad."

Alex: "I'm good with that," Alex said quickly, glad to be out of the room for any amount of time now. He started toward the kitchen and busied himself with finding a baggie, gathering ice, and finding a dish towel or something. Things between him and Julie weren't great, but he wasn't completely against helping if she really needed it. Though, if that hadn't been so awkward, it'd probably be more reluctantly.

Jason: "And maybe make sure her brain's not bounced off of it's stem or anything. See you've kept in practice." Well, there went someone back up Jason's 'do not piss off' list.

Rogue: Rogue watched Alex leave and then turned back to Jason, "Y'all think Ah got out o' practice?" She looked down at Julie, "She had it comin'."

Jason: "I'll...take your word on it."

Jules: Julie grumbled and murmured.

Rogue: "Good." She looked back up at Jason. "Y'all wanna go out then? Maybe go grab Ronnie an' Ginny?"

Jason: "Well...if it involves things similar to what happened last we spent time together I will have to ask for some assurance I won't be the target of the sledgehammer."

Jules: Julie's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Alex. "Did you see where my peanut butter shoes went?"

Alex: Alex had returned with the ice and was trying to figure out what to do with it, as he didn't really want to sit there and hold it to her face. "No," he sighed and shook his head, offering the bag to her, "Here." He wasn't sure she'd take it, but it was worth a shot.

Jules: "Good. Scurvy dogs." She took the ice and dropped it on her chest, passing out instantly.

Rogue: "No sledgehammers. But drinks an' bar fights'd be kinda fun."

Rogue: She glanced at Alex, "Thanks, sugah."

Alex: "Yeah, no problem," he mumbled, debating what to do. He supposed fetching McCoy would be a decent idea, but should he really leave her there? Not like anyone was going to mess with her, and she couldn't get too much worse. Well, he guessed that was his answer and got up.

Rogue: Rogue took a breath and moved to pick Julie up, hauling her over her shoulder. "Hank'll have a field day an' Ah'm sure Ah'll be tha talk o' tha staff meetin' again. But Ah don't think Ah really care anymore."

Jason: "Bar fights and the such are a bit out in the open for me. I rather likavoidingthose kinds o situations." Yet he always ended up wring with people who got him into uncomfortable situations; Shaw earned him an elevator ride with Essex, Julie could earn him a visit from local drug lords and God only knows what mayhem with Rogue could cause.

Jason: Probably brain damage.

Rogue: Rogue shrugged with her free shoulder. "Then we'll do somethin' more subtle." She made her way to the stairs down towards the elevator. "Meet me at tha garage in ten?"

Jason: "Why not, only live once."

Rogue: She gave him a grin, "Great. See if ya can round up tha other two." Rogue looked at Alex, "Y'all wanna come with or stay with Julie 'till she wakes up?"

Alex: He glanced between Rogue and Julie one last time and gave a shrug, "I guess go with?" It wasn't like he was going to do anything to bring Rogue's wrath upon himself...

Rogue: "Alright then. Lemme just dump her on a bed in tha med lab an' avoid a lecture from Scott. Be right back, y'all."

[Ult_Sm86]

The Grower

[[Timelined before "One Hug Too Many"]]


Jules: "So remember, we need him to be okay with it. We can't bribe him, we can't force him into it. If he has any reason to doubt us, our morales, or anything else, he could screw the whole thing over. He's a key element, if we can't buy him today? We'll never get him. For reezy."

Jason: "...did you just say 'for reezy'?" Jason's eyebrow crooked. "You know, for someone who deals in weed you are awfully tense."

Jules: "It's business Jason, you gotta be for cereals." She shot him a look of 'put-your-game-face-on' and opened the door to the Green House. "Heyyyy! Michael, you in here?" She asked.

Jason: "...Oh my God what on earth have I allied myself with?" Jason followed on in.

Michael: Michael's head popped up from a makeshift hammock he'd hung up in the corner of the greenhouse. "Huh?"

Jules: "Hey buddy! How's the Green Hou-" She stopped and dropped her jaw at the bright colors. "Wow... damn. You took my suggestion seriously then huh?" Xavier was going to shit a brick when he saw this. "It's like a damn jungle!"

Jason: "...Impressive." Jason observed, looking around at what Michael had created out here.

Michael: He carefully got up out of the hammock and searched for his staff. "Uhmm I just made a few of them grow and then the rest of them all joined in."

Jules: "Of course they would, why wouldn't they! You got a talent not just some ability. Sure, I run, but what you can do? It's art. Legit." She sucked her lip in as she looked at the tree at the end of the green house in the 'tropic' area. "Is that... that's a banana tree? Wow."

Jason: "A banana tree in New York? I would have to agree with Julie here, that's quite the achievement."

Michael: "Yeah I don't know who planted it but it was almost dead when I started to help it out." Michael rubbed the bark of the tree. "I'm more proud of my berry collection over there. They taste amazing."

Jules: "You know, you probably could use some money to get this green house expanded." Julie hinted at.

Jason: Jason looked to the berries in question. "May I?"

Michael: "Feel free. They're not mine to say no. I dunno I think it's pretty cozy in here. And the plants will thrive as long as I'm here." He pressed his hand to the berry bush that Jason was near and made it produce more berries.

Jules: "Well I'm just saying, you can always make it bigger. Or do other stuff y'know? Extra money is great. By the way, wanna earn some extra money?"

Jason: "Subtle." Jason popped a berry into his mouth.

Michael: "Huh?" Michael pulled off a berry and popped it in his mouth. "I uhmm don't really need money."

Michael: "Do I?"

Jules: "You always need money! What if something happened to Xavier's? Or you needed cash for insurance or something? If anything happened, any kind of financial emergency, you're gonna want hard cash, none of that credit stuff."

Michael: "Well I can take care of myself. And my parents are both doctors so... I don't have to worry about them. So I can't really think why I'd need any cash."

Jason: "Do you want nothing then?"

Michael: "Well I kinda want a drink but I can go inside and get that." Michael ate another berry.

Jules: "Michael... what I want to proposition to you is enough money to make this area living quarters if you wanted it to be. You wouldn't have to rely on your parents' money. You could be your own person. And you'd have tax-free income, total financial independence."

Michael: "I don't rely on my parents money I don't rely on anyone's money. I make plants and live off the land Julie. I'm
kinda confused on what you want."

Jason: "She's making a business proposition, are you interested in working with her kind of thing. Consider it money for things outside of yourself, something you can use to kick back to other things...like animals, you have those crazy things with the flaps and the eyes, yeah? Sugar-gliders?"

Jules: "H'omiGawd I love those little darlings!" She quickly lost any sense of business and went all out 'high-school girl' and squee'd at the thought of them.

Michael: "Uhmm are you okay Julie...?" Michael pondered what he could do with some money.

Jason: "She's fine...distracted, but fine. So,is the proposition something to be talked about farther or are we wasting time here?"

Michael: "I don't even know what you guys want me to do. I mean what am I gettin out of this. Money's not really a big draw for me. I don't really need it for anything. I mean clothes I just go find an animal kill it skin it, i've got clothes. Food, same. My gliders eat fruit and stuff I can grow. Money kinda loses it's flare when you're blind. And have special
powers...."

Jules: "Well, firstly, honey, if you're killing animals for clothes, that's great and all, but with some money you might be able to take a girl out on a date. Somewhere besides Grizzly Adams' lean-to, y'know?"

Jules: "Secondly, this would be an incredible experiment for you. I have dozens, in fact dozens of dozens, of breeds of marijuana that I need to have grown. Specific flavors that need special care and crazy sensetive environments."

Jules: "I can't provide that for them. But I need to provide them for the customers, and once I have customers, I have money, when I have money, you have money and then you can take girls like me out on dates." She would've shot a wink, but instead she just said "Y'see?"

Jason: "...I didn't realize this venture doubled as 'get Julie laid'...I might need a raise...and what she said plus with the move up here it can't be all that practical to go out hunting. It's pretty suburban around here plus I imagine the ferals give you some competition for things as well."

Michael: "There isn't much competition when you can will animals to come to you." Michael shrugged a little. "So wait when did sex play into this? This is startin to sound like one of those bad after school specials, drugs, sex, all we need now is guns and peer pressure."

Jason: "Nah, I do fake guns and they pressure themselves."

Jules: "Was totally just about to say that." Jules agreed with Jason. "And I said sex? I said a date. But if that's what you need to hop on board, then you'll see how badly we need your specialities. You're skilled, Michael. You, and only you, can do this job in the climate we live in. If it was Hawaii, I'd just ask Jack Johnson. But we're in New York and you're it."

Jason: "Though, you know, we're going to also have to hunt out a location for this too."

Michael: "Uhmm I guess I could help out. But yeah I don't know where we could grow them. There's not enough room in here. Plus I'm sure the Prof's wouldn't like that too much. I don't think I could get them to grow out in the cold and snow even with my power so that's kinda out."

Jules: Julie nearly leapt into the air in joy. She restrained herself however and just looked to Michael with a wide grin and said. "Thank you! Don't worry we'll work out the logistics and hard-ware. You'll get everything you need, just bring you and the green thumb!" She looked to Jason. "I'm thinking we start scoping out shipping containers maybe?"

Jason: Jason's lips quirked up. "I know where there's shipping and cargo holds to a certain pharmacuticals company who never quite got what they deserved in my opinion. Getting access will be easy."

Jules: "For rizzles?!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "It's so gangsta!"

Jules: "Let's get started! Thanks Michael!" She zipped out the door and ran into the house.

[Ult_Sm86]

[[Timelined after "The Grower" but before "One Hug Too Many"]]

Building 'The Speedy Weedy Co.'


Jason: Swiping his current employee badge, balding, blond, and middled aged Jason pushed up his illusionary biofocals as he looked around to make sure he was being met by who expected. "Well, glad to not be kept waiting."

Jules: Julie sighed. "You're way too covert about stuff. People tend to be very disinterested in a lot of this noise y'know."

Jason: "I would hope they're disinterested. I don't need people wondering why Jim from accounting is milling around the shipping yard, thank you."

Jules: "Who'm I supposed to be again?" She asked, only half curious. "Remember, we need to be able to keep an electrical source in whatever container. You said you can get ownership of it right? Fake some kind of paper so no one uses it?"

Jason: "I didn't actually get you a name, Jim's for my other work. I don't intend to let anyone see you at the moment so we'll have some time to worry about that later." Jason shrugged. "Generators okay by you? And yes, I can push something through easy enough."

Jules: "Whatever works Jason, you know how I feel. I need a hydration system and some lighting. These containers are plenty big enough, so I imagine it'll work. If the operation expands, we'll go somewhere else. Warehouse or something."

Jules: She gulped at the idea of trying to operate a larger business without the Kingpin noticing.

Jason: "I'm sure we can work that out." Jason didn't see it as a problem in any case. "Now let's see, the empty ones are farther back, got a few in row R at least."

Jules: "You know what we should do... we should get a dog. No wait, how are we going to walk it? We should get security cameras. Get some wi-fi hooked up and feed it to our laptops. I think that'd be the best idea."

Jason: "I'm glad you rethought the dog there. Question is who's chunk of the profit is this going to come out of?"

Jason: "For the record? I vote Michael."

Jules: "I actually would go so far as to say it comes from neither and we go treasure hunting off the coast of the tropics. But being that I doubt your'e in for that, wanna just go with rule number 34? Get a legal front?"

Jules: "All we have to do is get a business loan for something stupid, I'm sure you can help with that, and put the loan to the weed. Pay the loan back taking turns from each of our cuts, I'll volunteer mine first."

Jason: "Isn't that creating an unnecessary paper trail?" Jason asked, wary of the idea. "As it is we could probably lift some things from secuity supplies from the school, claim they busted and get Xavier to replace it."

Jules: "Or we can actually bust 'em?" She offered. "I'm really fast, and I've discovered when I'm angry, my rainbow flickers. I think I might be able to control when it shows behind me."

Jason: "...we want the cameras, why would we bust them?" Jason blinked, very confused. "We're taking the cameras and giving the school an excuse to replace them. Though I suppose busting one for evidence would be good."

Jules: "Maybe three?" She offered. "I wanna hit somethign with a bat. Why didn't you let me hit Chet with a bat!?" she whined to Jason.

Jason: "Maybe next time. He still has to pay us, after all." Jason smiled more. "Just have to be a bit subtle about the camera thing...we'll get to ballbusting, promise."

Jules: "Right. Also, did I mention we could have some trouble with competition?" She looked up and smiled at a shipping container. "This place looks nice!"

Jules: "It's big and sorta purple... oh wait I don't think it's supposed to be."

Jason: "...what now?"

Jules: "There may be a Kingpin type... figure.... who will not be happy that I'm taking their customers. And I also may have stolen quite a bit of money from him once upon a time and was tortured and had my finger cut off 'cause of it."

Jason: "..." Jason turned and looked at her. "You...what?!"

Jules: "Look, it's in the past! Like three, maybe four months ago! He's probably forgotten! Him and his mutant hitman who has amazing aim and impecable timing. Like a lucky-shot almost, sorta like that Neena. But probably better. He's got a bullseye scar on his forehead. Pretty messed up."

Jules: "Anyways, they're bigger fish. They don't bother with the street people like we will. They're beyond suburbia. They control cocaine, gun, and sex-slave movement mostly. From what I remember while being celled up in his sweet pad at least. Either way, they got grunt guys who do their pot dealing. They'll be too scared of him to tell him why they're numbers are low, if we play our cards right? They'll buy from us just to resell."

Jason: "...I need for you to supply me with reasons why I shouldn't lock you into one of these containers and just let you cook for a few months." Jason's eyes, and his illusions closed, hand reaching up to rub his temple. "Son of a bitch. These people aren't going to forget...especially being stolen from by some upstart."

Jules: "Well, Alex was involved. But we scared them. The pants off of 'em. Actually."

Jason: "...Oh I don't want to ask but I'm going to have to have you elaborate on just what you mean?"

Jules: "Well, a few of the X-Men showed up to save me, 'cause Alex finally decided to tell them he'd been getting ransom letters for the money or they were going to keep cutting parts of me off. So they showed up, beat up Bullseye, and sent the rest of his gang packing. And I was able to move really fast and steal a couple grand from the briefcase."

Jules: "Which was great 'cause that's exactly what I needed to get my project off the ground! I spent most of it buying Hector's supply! So in the long run, it served its purpose right? Hey, look! This ones orange! WOW! Bright! I like it!"

Jason: "...and you think he's forgotten this? Did you get a lobotomy while you were there?!"

Jules: "I cried a lot... especially when he cut my finger off. He's really fat...." She frowned. "Jason, it won't be a problem! His people will way away from us! And maybe, in time, we can be the true Kingpins! But not of crime... maybe of something nicer. Like unicorns. Or dumplings."

Jason: "..I have the worst ideas." Jason slumped against one of the containers, head coming into contact with the side a few times as if to jumpstart himself.

Jules: "No no, to be fair, this was my idea. Your idea was finding a way to get the shipping container."

Jason: "I was refering to agreeing to work with you, actually."

Jules: "Oh, then yeah. You dropped the ball on that one. Hey, you think I can keep a change of clothes in the container? So that I can sometimes stop by... sleep here?"

Jason: "I'd consider it a security risk to keep oersnal belongings with the product, wouldn't you?"

Jules: "No. A lot of people wear awesome clothing and grow pot. But ine, if that's what you're thinking yeah it would probably make sense Boy! We make a great team, eh!?" She nudged Jason excitedly.

Jason: "My only consolation is that I would be pretty good at escaping prison."

Jules: "Me too! I'm fast!" She smiled happily. "Plus, it's prison! We could get great business there! Hee!"

Jason: "Oh Jesus."

Jules: "This one!" She tapped the side of the container that was red. "It's long enough! Wide enough too! And we could totally make this place rock!"

Jason: "I never thought I'd have to own anything that resembles a single-wide so much."

Jules: "Good! Let's go get the equipment, set up, and we'll be in business!" She put her hand up for a high-five. "Whoo hoo!"

Jason: Jason looked at the hand asking him to 'hit it' and hoped it would go away. After a moment he realized it wasn't going to and gave into the high-five. "Whoo hoo."

Jules: "Oh! By the way! Did I tell you about the cops?" She smiled waiting for a reaction from Jason.

Jason: "...no." Nobody would find the body for weeks. He was sure he could get away with it.

Jules: "Good, 'cause there aren't any! I'll see you back at the school! Let me know when everything's ready!" She pecked his cheek and zipped off.