Jubilee had a lot of clothes. This was the understatement of the century. In fact, she had too many clothes, if that was even possible. The problem she was having right now is that a good chunk of her clothing was so last year, it wasn't even funny. That, and she decided she was hating everything. Well, except for her token yellow jackets. No way in hell she was ever going to get rid of those. Closet opened, clothes spilling out, she had tried sorting her clothes. Stuff she was keeping went on the bed, stuff she was tossing were closer to the door. Everything else was in a mess on the floor. 'Everything else', of course, meaning almost all of it. Really, the only things she had settled on keeping were her jackets and a select pair of pink shades. Stuff she was tossing included jean shorts, too-small tees and anything ripped. The rest? Oh God, the rest. It was a mountain of clothes. Mish-mashes of colours, textures and fabrics of all sorts. A difficult task, nigh on impossible.

This is why she called for backup. Who did she call? Why, the best big sister/mother around of course! Ororo Munroe, whom Jubilee had dubbed Roro. She had known the manipulator of weather since she got here, what, four years ago now? Yeah, that sounds about right. Jubilee absolutely adored her. When she came to the Mansion, she was in desperate need of parental figures. After all, her parents did die in a horrible accident. Living on your own at sixteen/seventeen was not a good thing. Between Cross and Roro, she had adopted them as her new parental figures. This worked enormously well for her, even though she was still very much a rebellious teenager, despite being twenty-one now.

But now to the task at hand: waiting for Roro to arrive. She needed someone to help her decide on what she should keep and what she should get rid of. Wearing one of her newer lace dresses, she was ogling herself in the mirror when she heard a knock at the door. Brightening up, she pranced over to the door. Swinging it open, she greeted the woman, "Hey, you're here!"

The first impression Ororo got as she walked through the door was...colour. Lots of it.

And, really, that was the understatement of the century. Because it was as if the biggest, most comprehensive multipack of crayons ever had just exploded all over Jubilee's room and that was before the stunning variety of fabrics and textures and materials was even addressed. Ororo could hardly talk herself, given how her wardrobe displayed her love for bold colours and striking prints, but she certainly didn't have anywhere near this volume of clothes.

So was it any surprise that even she - calm and seemingly unflappable Ororo Munroe - had to stop in the doorway as she let herself in and just blink a little in surprise, taking in the mess with eyes that widened a little in response. The moment didn't last long, of course, she was too used to teenagers and young adults for that...but, she had to admit, Jubilee had a definite talent for never failing to go all out.

With anything.

Once surprise (and the brief worry that all of that brightness was enough to trigger an epileptic fit) had faded away, amusement soon filtered into the equation though and a quiet sort of humour warmed the blueness of Ororo's eyes. She finally looked back to the girl who'd actually opened the door, rather than staring over her shoulder, slightly horrorstruck, at the state her room was in, and arched a brow at her in a rather pointed fashion.

"That I am," she said mildly, one corner of her mouth lifting in a subtle smile as she nodded at the interior of Jubilee's room. "That being said, are you sure there's even room in there for me? Your room currently seems very...full."

Not that Ororo was at all the person to think that the students should keep their rooms in a tidy state or--no, no, actually she was. She may not have been as much of a stickler for everything being as neat and orderly as Scott liked it, but cleanliness and at least a certain amount of tidiness was good for them, she thought. And as the resident den-mother of the Institute, Ororo was quite often found chiding messy students into keeping their rooms clean.

As for Jubilee...well, Ororo didn't technically have favourites, but she was closer with the younger mutant than she was with some of the other students. Which was probably only a good thing for Jubilee when Ororo then didn't take it as an excuse to try to mother the ever loving crap out of her.

Now was rather close to being a perfect example of that.

Jubilee laughed, even snorted a little bit, when Ororo commented on the lack of space for another soul in her room. "Um, yeah, total disaster zone, I know. But I totes have a system…" Literally yanking on Ororo's arm, she gestured towards the pile of clothes on the floor. "See, the stuff all around the door here, this is all the stuff I want to get rid of…" Gesturing to the bed, she added, "On the bed there, that's all the stuff I want to keep…" Staring pointedly at the floor, she told Ororo, "The rest? Well, I haven't gotten to that stuff yet…" She rubbed the back of her head, laughing nervously. "But see, that's why I called you. I need a little help. I mean, I pretty much know what's gonna where…I just need a little help getting to that point you know?"

Scurrying over to the side of her bed, having released her grip on the woman's arm, she started digging through the clothes. As she did, she intermittently chatted at Ororo. "See, I was thinking, a good chunk of the stuff I'm getting rid of…Technically speaking it's still good. So, I thought that maybe I could hold, like, a clothing swap or something. Kinda like a clothing drive or whatever. Basically, the kids can grab whatever they want…" Picking up a dress, she mulled over it for a second before showing it to her. "Like this one for example. I mean, it doesn't have holes or anything, it's still in good shape. But I wouldn't be caught dead in it. It's, like, three seasons out of date. But I'm sure someone else could probably fit in this no problem, you know?" Tossing the dress in Ororo's general direction, she added, "I mean, there's no real point in just tossing them if there plenty of kids here who could use some free clothes, right?" She returned to fishing through the piles of clothes, trying to determine what she wanted to keep or get rid of.

It should have been impossible for a woman to look quite so benevolent and serene, even as she was yanked unceremoniously into a room that looked like a bomb had hit a fabric factory, but maybe that was Ororo's secondary mutation, always managing to appear unruffled and in control of herself. Or maybe it was just that she was used to Jubilee now and the way the New Mutant conducted herself.

Inside, the scattered clothes seemed even more over-whelming and Ororo just had to smile about how even Jubilee's wardrobe was enthusiastic. As reserved as she herself often seemed to be, the younger woman more than made up for it with the vibrancy of her personality. And even if she was wont to tease, Ororo certainly didn't mind helping out - Jubilee contributed a lot to the Institute and deserved aid when she asked for it.

And, let's face it, since when did Ororo ever refuse to help someone, even with so seemingly frivolous a task as this?

"Oh, I see," she said sagely, obediently looking in the areas to which her blue-eyed gaze was directed. "A perfect system, I see it now. At least I know there's a method to this madness." She took a step forwards, delicately bypassing a tangle of extremely bright fabric (Ororo approved, loving colour herself as much as she did) and placed her hands on her broad hips as she surveyed the 'battlefield'.

"Well," she said calmly, though a trace of irony laced her low tones, accompanied by a certain glimmer of amusement in the sky of her eyes, "it's certainly generous of you to offer the rest of the girls a chance to take what they wish." Though she hoped that the abundance of glorious technicolour wouldn't provoke any sort of riot amongst the female students when they were given the chance to be let loose on it all. "Certainly whatever doesn't get chosen we can bag up and I'll get either Logan or Cross to drop it off at the charity store." A level look at the floor reminded her of the exact volume they were dealing with. "...maybe a few charity stores. To share the loot, so to speak."

A grin, brief but there, and that was a sign that Ororo actually enjoyed her company, but then her expression turned business-like. "Right, which corner do you want me to start in then?" That was if the corners could actually be found under all these clothes...

Jubilee found herself laughing once moor. "Um, yeah, kinda. But I think it's only really a system to me. You look like you're downright horrified. Or, I think so anyway. It's really hard to tell. You got this whole Jedi/Master Yoda thing going on. Like, super calm. It's freaking me out a little bit." She pretended to be scared, but the grin on her face gave her away.

She was glad that Ororo found her plan for the clothes a good idea. Generous, even. She nodded at her idea to get Logan or Cross to drop it off at charity stores and started laughing again when she suggested multiple ones may be in order. "Yeah, you may be right. I do have a lot of clothes, but we'll see how many stores we'll need to drop them off at once the fine young ladies of the school have their pick." Grabbing a pair of jean shorts, she pursed her lips in annoyance. Ugh, why had she gotten these? So hideous. She immediately tossed them to the door, to the pile of stuff she so did not want anymore.

When Ororo had asked where she should start, Jubes paused what she was doing and looked around the room. "Um, well, I guess that corner over there." She pointed to the corner farthest from the door, on the other side of the bed. "I know I tossed a bunch of stuff over there earlier, but I'm not really sure what wound up over there. Plus, I think some stuff may have fallen off the bed from earlier." Shrugging, she continued digging through the pile at her feet. "But yeah, basically, I'm tossing anything damaged…Um…Anything super winter-y…Animal prints…Stuff like that."

For all that the specifics of the game itself escaped her - and, really, Ororo had never been attracted to anything that represented gambling - it was true that the white-haired woman probably would have had an excellent poker face if she'd played. Probably not as good as Scott's because he was trained to be professional when it came to guarding his expressions, whereas her calm features were in response to learning how to control her powers and just because she had a certain natural serenity to her.

In spite of that, though, just to be surprising as she sometimes had a desire to be, Ororo made a point of grinning. Broadly. "Would you rather I televised every single change in my emotions?" she asked, amused. "Or perhaps I should get a - what is it, the thing where you make the bird noises? Tweeting? Whatever it is where one announces every detail of one's life to the internet." She chuckled, low and amused, her expression settling back into its usual, more moderate patterns. "Subtlety, Jubilee, is a fine art." For all that her smile was small, fond teasing danced through her eyes. "One perhaps even you will appreciate sometimes."

No, Ororo was hardly as formal as Scott all of the time, it was just that her natural gravitas gave people the wrong impression sometimes. That and the regality born of having once been worshipped, as well as being a senior X-Man...well, maybe it was understandable why some people tended to be intimidated by or in awe of her.

Not Jubilee, though, and Ororo liked that.

With all of the dignity of a racehorse (albeit one trapped in an exploded fabric factory) Ororo picked her way over towards the indicated corner and bent down, sweeping her skirts out of her way as she did so with an elegant and practiced movement. "Do you have an objection to staying warm in the winter?" she asked archly in response to the only criteria she was considering questioning, but was adequately distracted when her hands found something...interesting in the first pile she was tackling.

"...dare I even ask?" she asked, holding up a dress that might have been pretty once if it hadn't been for the obvious stain over most of the bodice. It was red and Ororo sincerely hoped the stain was food and not blood. "Tell me this isn't from that food fight that Scott had to break up."

((The garment in question can obviously be edited out if it doesn't work. <333))

{The garment is fine :3}

"Omg, yes! You should totally get a Twitter account. Do you not realize how awesome that would be?" She exclaimed, giggling at the idea of Ororo having a Twitter account. "And for your information, I would prefer it if you televised your emotional changes. It would make for awesome viewing." She stuck her tongue out playfully at that subtle jab on her lack of subtlety. LIke, ever. She was about as subtle as a hurricane when it came to, well, anything.

Continuing to dig through the clothes, she told Ororo, "I don't have any objection to being warm in the winter. I just don't have any room for a winter wardrobe. 'Sides, I can always buy new stuff." Pausing, she added, "Okay, not all the winter stuff, but a lot of it should go." Looking at the dress Ororo now held up, Jubilee frowned. A bright yellow pinafore with white polka dots. Simply faboo, if it weren't for the bright red stain on the front. Her face heated at the sight of it and she began laughing nervously. "Um, okay, I won't tell you it's from the food fight." Even though it so totally had been from that day. It had been all fun and games until someone tossed a fistful of spaghetti at her. Alas, she didn't see it in time before it had hit her and ruined a perfectly good dress.

Sighing, she told Ororo, "Yeah, spaghetti sauce as I recall. So not cool. That stain will not come out, it must be the special mutant-friendly sauce or something." She rolled her eyes. She had tried everything, but that stain was more stubborn than she was. "So yeah, gonna toss that one. No saving it. Believe me, I tried." With that, she went back to her work. She pulled out a pile of leggings, all different colours, all different states of decay. She carefully waded over to the door to place them in the 'toss' pile.

She'd been joking. Mostly. Ororo had been in America for over a decade now, plenty of time to give up on being someone who wasn't used to technology - she wasn't unintelligent after all - but most of it tended not to interest her all that much. She was only nonchalantly interested in visual media, so televisions and computers held nowhere near as much fascination for her as books and art and theatre.

Predictably, the world of live-blogging was not one she particularly wanted to enter.

"I'm not sure that it would be as interesting as you make it sound," she said mildly, fingers smoothing over denim more ripped than not, though she had a feeling that was deliberate and put in the pile she was calling 'to keep'. Or 'to keep once Jubilee approves it'. "I'm sure I would be very rapidly put aside for reality television soon enough."

The children all had to deal with her as a teacher and a senior member of the Institute staff; most suffered her attentions as a mother figure. Ororo reasoned that they had enough of her in their life without her entering their virtual worlds as well.

A low chuckle was Ororo's response to Jubilee not making a huge amount of sense. "That hardly sounds very sustainable," she told the younger girl with a certain chiding tone to her voice even as she picked up one of those so-called winter garments, the ones Jubilee supposedly didn't have enough space in her wardrobe to keep. "You'll regret throwing them away once October comes around." She eyed the garment critically, saw nothing wrong with it whatsoever, and staged her own mini-revolution by starting a new pile. "You can banish them from your wardrobe if you will, but I'm putting them storage so I don't have to listen to you complain once it gets cold again."

Laddered tights got tossed, a pretty brightly coloured shirt got kept and some ludicrously patterned combat trousers got put in the donation pile. Then there was the matter of the stained dress and Ororo smiled again, remembering Scott's complaints about that day.

"I'm sure Miss Dorn designed the recipe with that in mind," she said dryly and obediently put the dress in the pile of clothes that were being deemed as beyond saving. So much still remained though that Ororo's hands found her hips again and she cast a somewhat helpless look around at the still untouched piles. "Do I even want to know how many shopping trips this dragon's hoard represents?"

Jubilee rolled her eyes at Ororo, "Peshaw, says you. I happen to think it would make for awesome watching." She chuckled a little bit, returning to her 'work'. Having sorted through the pile at her feet, Jubilee took this opportunity to have a moment's rest. She was, however, promptly chided about her unsustainable notions of ditching all the winter clothes to buy new ones once the season started knocking at the door. Hm, maybe she had a point. "Hm, yeah, alright. If we can find a place to put all the winter stuff that isn't my closet, that should be alright." She half shrugged, glancing from Ororo to her clothes as she spoke.

Gosh, she had a lot of clothes. She had nearly forgotten just how many she had. But given that they were all laid out on the floor, it was hard to ignore. It was a little hard to believe, so it came as no surprise when Ororo asked her how many shopping trips it took to accumulate this number of clothes. Putting a finger to her mouth in thought, she tried to figure out how many times she had been out shopping. But the math involved was starting the shut down process in her brain. She started laughing nervously. "Eheheh…um…More than a couple, less than a crapload?" She rubbed the back of her head, removing herself from the edge of her bed. There was, after all, still a lot to go through.

Grabbing onto a rather large pile of camisoles, she placed them onto the bed, sorting through them one by one. Most were still in pretty good condition, but she wasn't a fan of them anymore. To the donation pile they went. Returning her attention to Ororo, she smiled, telling her, "I really do appreciate you helping me out Ororo. It means a lot. I mean, look at all this crap. I think I can honestly say I don't even wear half this stuff anymore." Still chuckling, she picked up the camisoles she was going to donate and moved them to the donation pile.

Jubilee did make her smile. In fact, she made a lot of people smile. So occasionally reckless and outspoken personality aside, she did make a wonderful student advisor. It was difficult to be indifferent to the lively girl and Ororo appreciated the help that she provided when it came to helping a lot of the younger students feel at home here. Not everyone, after all, could subsist on Ororo's gentle, motherly approach alone, and Jubilee was very much a breath of fresh air in comparison to a lot of the faculty.

And Ororo liked her, that much was clear. So clearing out a battlefield of clothes? Not that much of a hardship in the long run.

Ororo chuckled, low and throaty and quiet in her own reserved sort of way. She was never going to be someone who cackled or guffawed or sounded anything other than calm and warm and composed even as her voice shaped out the path of her amusement. "We hardly lack space here at the Institute," she commented, eyes crinkling slightly at the corners. "Worst comes to worst, you are welcome to make use of all the wardrobe space that I do not." After all, mostly impervious to the cold as she was, what need did Ororo have for thick, bulky clothing? And her own fashion took up fairly little space in the high aerie that counted as her room.

Not a big shopper herself, Ororo looked both bemused and amused at quite how much entertainment Jubilee garnered from the 'sport'. "I shall not even ask what a 'crapload' constitutes as," she said, shaking her head in resignation even as she held a somewhat dubiously patterned pair of harem pants and decided that those definitely had to go. "I bow to your superior experience, little one. Clearly the next time I have a clothes emergency, I should go to you rather than Jean." Not that Ororo ever really cared about what she was supposed to wear, but the sentiment was still a complimentary one.

"Maybe you should, though." That comment was prompted by a ripple of brightly coloured silk - something that was possibly styled after a kimono in the shape of a top - and Ororo held it up to the light. "Some of this really is beautiful, Jubilee, and I haven't seen you wear some of the nicer items in far too long."

Jubes couldn't help but laugh. It was true, they were hardly running out of space at the Institute. There was most definitely a place for her clothes, even if Jubes had her doubts. She tried to look sheepish as Ororo made a point not to ask how much a crapload was. She couldn't help but be a little proud of herself, what with Ororo 'bowing' to her own superior experience. Yeah, she was a pretty good little shopper. She smiled and nodded at Ororo, "Sure thing. Anytime you need help, lemme know." She had a rather big grin on her face at this point.

Looking over to what Ororo was holding, her eyes went wide. "Wow, I almost forgot I even still had this." Walking over to Ororo, she took the kimono-esque top from her. "My mom got this for me…" She smiled at the thought. "I remember seeing a top just like this one on one of my favourite cartoons…Couldn't tell you which one, it was so long ago…I begged and I begged her to get me one. But all she said was no, it doesn't exist, blah blah blah. Later, at Christmas, I found this hiding under the Christmas tree. God, I almost died right then and there. Turns out, she's…she had a friend in the fashion industry and well, they made one…just for me." The ever present smile on her face had all but faded once she had stopped talking. It was clear what she was thinking about just from the look on her face.

She missed her parents. And she was doing everything in her power not to break down into tears right then and there.

It was with a vaguely droll look that Ororo arched one pale eyebrow Jubilee's way, gently and calmly amused in a way that was so typical of the weather witch. For those not privy to the likely workings of Ororo's mind, that unflappable sense of quiet good humour could easily be mistaken for condescension, but she hoped that Jubilee knew her better than that.

"People tend not to care about what I'm wearing," she pointed out. Then the smile deepened a little, gaining a crooked edge that she was almost sure she'd picked up from Logan over the years. "Once some of your teachers convinced a younger version of me that clothes were actually necessary."

That had been a trying lesson for everyone involved.

The black woman's thumbs stroked carefully over the impossibly smooth fabric of the top, taking in the gorgeous colours, the elegance of the patterning. It was a well-made garment and perfectly suited to what Ororo knew and loved about the girl reaching for the top now.

"If that isn't a sign that your wardrobe is too large, then I don't know what it is." Ororo looked amused that anyone could forget that they owned any one particular item of clothing, but her expression turned more gentle, more empathic as Jubilee carried on with her story relating to the garment's origin.

This was what Ororo was here for. Not the specific clearing out of closets or gentle suggestions that people focussed on their schoolwork more than their fashion, but to be a mother figure when people were without one. It was instinct, this caring for people and wishing to make them feel better, and Ororo never thought too hard about what to do in situations such as these.

After all, it was second nature to put everything else aside and to step into Jubilee's personal space, to wrap her arms gently around the younger woman. Ororo gave good embraces, apparently, soothing and reassuring according to 'reviewers' of her hugs, and she rested her chin atop Jubilee's dark head.

"That one you should definitely keep then," she said quietly. "So you can wear it and feel closer to her whilst doing so."

Ororo was no one's mother. Not really. But, sometimes? She could be a pretty okay substitute.

The hug was more than necessary, and quite welcome.

Ever since she came to the Institute, she had all but adopted Ororo as her second mother. While there had been sometime between her parents death and her arrival to this place, she still desperately needed parental figures in her life. Ororo and Aiden both filled that need.

Squeezing 'Mama' Ororo tightly, she inhaled deeply, catching the all-too familiar scent that only occurs right before a rain storm. It was a nice smell, bringing memories both of her old home and her new home. She could feel the need to cry subside, but that didn't prevent two fat tears rolling down her face.

Pulling away, she sniffled, then wiped her face dry. "Yeah, definitely keeping the thing. My mother would kill me if she thought for a second I was going to get rid of it. Like, 'Paranormal Activity' or something." Looking to the top she held in her hands, she laughed a little to herself at the thought of her mother coming back from the grave just to kill her. A little morbid, but still amusing.

Slipping her arms into the kimono top's silky sleeves, she pulled on this treasured article of clothing. Not surprisingly, it still fit. When her mother had it made, she made sure to make it a little big so Jubes could grow into it. She did, and it fit just fine. Inspecting it, she checked for any sign of damage. None seemed apparent, which was a big relief for Jubes. Tying off the sash, she did a little twirl. "So, how do I look?" The ever present smile returned to her face in full force.

This was her job at the Institute, above everything else. No, not job, because she hardly considered it as such. Role, perhaps. Her niche within the family that the Institute was. It had come to her naturally as she's grown, as she'd matured from the suspicious, almost feral and definitely arrogant Goddess-child who Charles Xavier had plucked out of the desert into someone stately and sure of herself even without the prop of supposed divinity.

Ororo Munroe was the port in the storm for many people, even when she was the one capable of summoning said storm. She was unwaveringly steady, a fixed point to guide by, and she always had time to sooth hurt feelings and offer comfort. She was not an automatic leader, like Scott. She was not intelligent and beautiful and vastly powerful the way that Jean was.

But loving? And sheltering people under her spread wings? That she was good at. And it was that which she was offering to Jubilee now.

Few words were necessary to convey that in this moment, when her attention and understanding were all focussed on Jubilee. So many of the students at the Institute missed their parents with a sharp, aching passion, either because they were away from them for a long time or there were no parents to return to. And Ororo knew she could never replace a true mother, but she was aware that, in little ways at least, she could abate that loneliness.

So she kept her face gentle and lacking in pity as she stroked that dark hair, hearing and feeling Jubilee snuffle a little, though her expression when the younger girl pulled away was as if she hadn't noticed it at all. That was the point, to let the children still cling onto their dignity and pride because, sometimes, that was all they had left.

Her eyes, though, were dark and impossibly fond when they drifted over the pretty girl as she showed off the top the way it should be displayed - being worn. "You look beautiful," she said, warmly and honestly, reaching out to adjust one slight fold so that it lay properly. "The colours are very you."

Her smile turned a little teasing. "Though, as always, you make me feel as if I should be feeding you extra at mealtimes. What is it with you young mutants and having the metabolisms of about three people?"

Jubilee grinned broadly at Ororo's compliment, hands on her hips as she faux-posed a little. "Yeah, I know." Catching her reflection out of the corner of her eye, she continued to pose. "My mother had excellent taste. Always knew exactly what colours I looked fabulous in." Her smile softened a little, not seeming quite as broad. Finishing up on posing, she slipped off the top. She brought it over to the bed, carefully setting it on top of the other clothes she had decided she was going to keep.

The little jab made by Ororo made Jubes giggle a little. "I don't think I really have an answer for that. Good luck, maybe?" She half shrugged. "All I know is, is that if I don't keep up with my regular exercise, I could wind up not being able to fit in my skinny jeans anymore." She chuckled a little, moving on to search an assorted pile of jeans.

Most of them were keepers, so they were promptly placed on the bed. A couple pairs did not share in the same fate and were promptly set in the pile by the door. Looking around the room, she noticed it looked less like a hurricane hit and and more like a couple rambunctious kids ran threw, trying on everything. Which, surprisingly, was actually an improvement. "Hey, you know what? I think we're making progress."