Devon grinned as Noel realized she wasn’t nervous; she was just riding the ride that was Sveta’s influence. It always put him in an upper mood like no other elevator drug could, but eventually he was always adjusted. It didn’t hurt that he was excited to have the pool open and people over, so he was excited anyway. He bobbed his head side to side from side, grinning.

When Devon brought up the code name Sveta used, she seemed a combination of amused and annoyed. He was trying to figure that out, but he smiled when she said: >> "I try my best."

He went on about training and then Noel climbed out of the pool, saying she trained everything but her powers. It did occur to him he didn’t know what other talents she had. They’d have to review or train together some time. Who knew what kind of skills she had picked up in her time. Did memory of a physical skill bring the muscle memory along with it?

>> "Believe me I tried. De best to do is to train with each person I'd work with, to make sure dey know how it works, what dey can use it for, and what to be careful about... It's individual training, mostly."

“Ah yeah,” Devon nodded, taking a long slow breath. The memory of that blizzard, the keyed up energy of the storm, and then the surge of understanding and influence to the local weather pattern Muse had brought him was a rush in of itself. “I’d like to do that more, please. Your help with that blizzard was more than I could have hoped for. You likely saved me from a severe migraine or worse, let alone what you did for the city.”

A big smile spread across his face, “Thanks for trusting me and working with us.” As if to prevent the conversation from getting awkwardly personal, Devon decided it was time to get into the pool. He slipped down into the water from his seated position and under the surface. He closed his eyes and then sprang up to his feet, sending a splash of water around him. His eyes opened, blue and shimmering, as he smiled at Svetlana and gazed back into his living room.

“Hey Noel, can you grab me another Sprite please?”

She debated getting a real drink, but in the end chickened back out to water. Water and stuffing her face with some snacks. Noel hesitated with her hand over the cheese tray when Hadden called out to her. Oh. Busted!

"Yeah. No prob." She continued to hesitate for a few heartbeats more, hand over the food morsels. Had the person preparing them worn gloves? Maybe the inside cuts would be safe anyway if it came from a block. In the end Noel diverted to the crackers, which were so perfectly arranged that they had to have come from a sleeve. Devon didn't give her permission to pick up his memories and he seemed touchy about that. She would avoid anything that might give her secondhand information. She'd gotten lucky when she'd grabbed one before, but now that she was thinking about it, she knew better.

Sprite can in one hand, water bottle in the other, and a few crackers dangling from her lips, Noel came back to take up Hadden's seat. It was now his turn to play Monkey in the Middle and he shamelessly splashed about in a kiddy way that just could not be ignored or shut down. There was joy in being able to just be who you are.

Once Hadden seemed ready, she tossed him his can and got herself settled.

"Not swimming, Svetlana?" Now, having been up out of the water and having walked back and forth, it was plain to see that the scarring on Noel's stomach was far worse than what was on her back. For the most part, she was unmarred so the angry pink puckering of something freshly healed stood out. She crunched into her crackers sans cheese.

>>“Ah yeah. I’d like to do that more, please. Your help with that blizzard was more than I could have hoped for. You likely saved me from a severe migraine or worse, let alone what you did for the city.”

"It was nice to help without fighting anyone, for once." Sveta grinned at Devon as he splashed into the pool. That was one of the things she liked the most about working for Haven: She could use her powers without putting on the vigilante costume, and boost mutants who helped people in ways other than chasing criminals. Not that she did not enjoy taking down a bad guy or two occasionally... but it did suck as a full time job.

She watched as Noel left the pool to grab some food and drinks, and went to refill her own glass as well. She noted the scars on the other woman. It looked like they had more things in common than just their powers; Sveta had her own fair share of scars as well, everything from cuts to a bullet hole. It looked like Devon had a type when he collected allies. Nothing new.

>>"Not swimming, Svetlana?"

"I should" the blonde chuckled, setting her drink down at the edge of the pool "How often do I get invited to a private pool party anyway?" she teased before she slipped into the water, enjoying the coolness on her skin. She still had her gloves on, but it was nice not to have to worry about bumping into others. The pool was big enough. "I'd be suspicious why Devon decided to have the two of us here, but then again, it's Devon." she chuckled. The guy was not capable of being shady. He was too much of an idealist for that.

Devon grabbed the bottle of Sprite with a grin. He waded then walked once he had footing over to the edge of the pool where he’d left his glass and Noel had taken a seat. He smiled warmly up to here before pouring the soda in his glass, the ice still there but melting. He took a long sip and then turned to put his back against the wall and take a seat on the submerged portion. His elbows rested on the back as the water lapped just below his pectorals.

While hiding any sign of it Devon was trying to figure out where the fresh scars and marks may have come from. Random attack she didn’t bring up? Really intense training in CLASS? Maybe she’d been fighting for someone who needed help? It didn’t seem right to ask the woman where the stomach marks came from. He still figured if she wanted to bring it up, she would, but…

He chuckled at Sveta’s comment about invites to a private pool party and watched her slip into the water. She was careful; she kept her gloves on. However, Devon had hoped with the three of them only there’d be plenty of room to relax while yet a chance to get to know one another better. That is, he hoped Noel and Svetlana could meet. Their powers had impact to others and thus, they were careful. They learned to live differently. Few realized Devon did the same.

>> "I'd be suspicious why Devon decided to have the two of us here, but then again, it's Devon."

Devon chuckled and the mirth creased the forehead and even made his eyes squint. “Like I’m plotting a super memory wipe of the city or something!” he laughed the words and shook his head. “Or a serious living with mutant powers seminar! No, no. Well…” he shrugged a shoulder, glancing into the water. “Opening a pool and not having anyone to hang out in it with you would have been a little sad.” He nodded and glanced between the two women, “It’s enjoyable for me to bring people together in a positive way.”

Ah the water had helped. He was adjusting to the energy. The mellow conversation helped.

Why would Svetlana be suspicious? Noel's mouth was too full to speculate, but Hadden provided a few reasons, each easily dismissable.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be here, but that scenario is only sad 'cause you think it's sad, Hadden. You've way over thought this whole pool scenario." Overthinking. Maybe that was what Devon did that bugged Noel so much. He had food and drinks and everything just so freaking perfect all the time. It was unnatural to think about people so much and maneuver and socially tinker. Svetlana looked like a shrewd mind, well versed in people and social status and upward mobility, whatever upward mobility was. Maybe this was their world. Maybe people like Svetlana expected it.

Ugh. Now she was thinking about it.

And, well, that was dumb.

Noel opened her water bottle, took a swig, and abandoned it on the side of the pool in order to slip into the water again. Hadden had come back for his seat, but Noel was already in it so he'd stayed pec-high in the water instead. Once she sat next to him, the level was nearly up to her shoulders. Dumb height difference.

Whatever. The water was where she wanted to be. Hadden was going to have to pry her wrinkly prune fingers out of the pool at the end of the night... or once morning rolled around. She gave Svetlana her most innocent eyes which wasn't difficult considering that whatever she'd been hinting at went right over her socially immobile head.

"What are you worried about Svetlana?" Noel moved her arms in the water, it was a smooth embrace. "Would it be any less of a positive get together if we teamed up against Hadden?" Noel was patently terrible at dealing with women. They were flighty and she just didn't get them. But one thing she'd learned was that a lady was far more likely to team up with her if it was against a guy.

Noel made the first move while her words were still sinking in. She made a little splash in Hadden's direction, a testing anemic wave just violent enough to give him a watery slap on the cheek. Could she do better? Yeah. But this was a time to test the waters and make sure she wasn't plowing past some invisible social boundary she didn't understand.

Besides, what was a pool party without a splash fight?

Sveta chuckled as she floated int he pool, bouncing a little up and down in the water to test the buoyancy, feeling her gloves slowly taking up water and sticking to her skin.

>>“Like I’m plotting a super memory wipe of the city or something! Or a serious living with mutant powers seminar! No, no. Well… Opening a pool and not having anyone to hang out in it with you would have been a little sad. It’s enjoyable for me to bring people together in a positive way.”

"De seminar would me more evil." she pointed out with a serious face. Seriously supervillain plots were at least fun. Seminars were just deadly boring. Pool parties, on the other hand, especially low crowd ones like this, were definitely a better option than both.

>>"What are you worried about Svetlana? Would it be any less of a positive get together if we teamed up against Hadden?"

Sveta grinned at the other woman as Noel splashed at Devon. The playfulness was a welcome change for all the initial wariness and awkward.

"My plan is to corner him." she said easily "And den maybe smooch him so the city freezes over. I am the evil Russian mutant your government warned you about."

She clasped her hands, sending a high-pressure beam of water in Devon's direction. It missed, but it was not a bad try. Especially in gloves.

>> "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be here, but that scenario is only sad 'cause you think it's sad, Hadden. You've way over thought this whole pool scenario."

Devon glanced sideways at the woman and smiled. She was right. She had a good way of reading him, saying things that got to him. He wasn’t sure why that was other than she seemed to get him. She may have had a tumultuous past, but her future was hopefully with Haven and if he was honest about it with him. He found himself reflecting more on what she said than anyone else. He was trusting her.

>> "De seminar would me more evil."

A quick series of nods showed Devon agreed. He grinned and laughed, easily and happily. Sveta got it.

>> "Would it be any less of a positive get together if we teamed up against Hadden?"

Wait. What?

And splash. Right to the face. Devon’s mouth fell agape in surprise even as he laughed. His mouth closed as he laughed. Then Sveta threatened him with a kiss and a cold summer.

>> "And den maybe smooch him so the city freezes over. I am the evil Russian mutant your government warned you about."

“Oh no, the kiss of an amazing woman, however will I survive?” Devon laughed and then narrowly dodged the woman’s water beam. The gloves were holding her back, but that was the point wasn’t it? It wasn’t for her benefit but for everyone elses.

Devon dropped suddenly beneath the surface. He swam often. He loved the open air, whether forest or beach, but swimming was great fun! With a rush he pushed up from the bottom of the pool and threw his hands and arms wide, throwing curls of water out with his wide splash.

“Watch out, Poseidon rises!”

His surprise. So satisfying. Noel basked in her self-satisfaction while Svetlana contributed her own jokes and lame attempts at splashing.

It took Noel an extra step to understand that it should have been funny. Hadn't they just established that kissing was off the table for everyone here? Now they were teasing about it. Worse, they were... was that flirting!? Maybe Hadden had invited her to be the third wheel. A way to control himself through social expectations or something so they didn't storm out the city on accident.

Eugh. Screw that.

Noel turned against woman-kind and splashed Svetlana with the same testing water slap. She wasn't too serious... yet.

"Lip celibacy traitor!" She tried to make it clear that she was teasing. "Kissing is the worst!"

And she'd made the rookie mistake of losing track of where Hadden had gone until he quite suddenly appeared in a shower of water. He managed to startle a laugh out of Noel and then the splashing began for real. Now that there were no sides and it was every set of lips for themselves.

Suddenly, their friendly and sophisticated poolside encounter devolved into a childish free-for-all splash battle where alliances were forgotten, and everyone fought (or rather, splashed) for themselves. Sveta squealed and giggled as she joined in, forgetting for a moment that she was sharing this little moment of fun with two very powerful people that she barely knew. From the outside, the whole thing would have seemed ridiculous. From the inside, she mostly saw water.

Eventually, Sveta decided to make a break for it, and submerged into the pool, coming up for air and a well deserved break on the far side. She grinned as she looked back, wiping wet hair from her face, and waved a gloved hand at Noel and Devon.

"I give up! You win the pool! I pledge allegiance..."