So, if she had a little crush on Nessa before, watching her stare down her supervisor and defend her kind of made it a huge crush. A huge crush she couldn't do anything about because the law on that had been laid down pretty hard. For good reason but still, hard to not get some feelings when someone like her is fighting your corner and being an all round badass.

During the verbal exchange Alice kept the most contrite innocent look she could, which frankly was not convince but hey, worth a try and let the boss do all the talking. She was good at it after all.

She was Nessa's intern now.

Was Nessa her actual boss now? Had she just been claimed? Today might have been up and down but it was fair to say, it was in the top five best days of all time. Hang on, was this a joke or could that actually be a formal thing?

"I promise sir, it won't happen again." Alice was going to make so much nice food for them tomorrow to make up for it, really pull out the stops. Maybe a good old fashioned veg stew or something. Yeah, that was an idea. Oooo or a traditional Indian curry, those were pretty uncommon here.

Letting the goddess among women drag her out the building she was on the verge of hugging her mentor. Her amazing, pretty mentor.

Appropriate thoughts Alice, she didn't need you fawning over her after the little revelation earlier and frankly she could be an awesome friend to talk about all the gay stuff with. All of it. God knows she could do with an older more experienced voice when it came to navigated certain issues, as well as someone to squee with over cute girls and stuff.

"Nessa. You. Are. The. Best. Seriously that was freaking amazing! And don't sweat it, I should have been more aware of the situation." There was no way she was blaming her idol now, she'd just taken a metaphorical bullet for her. "You ever need a hand with anything just shout, I am totally in your debt right now."

She was going to try and be subtle but, well she was bad at that so screw it, "There anything you really like eating? I want to make something for the people in the office and i want it to be something everyone can enjoy." Mostly her, since impressing her favourite person right now was kind of important.

Nessa’s defense of Alice earned her serious points with her new favorite intern, who must have been certain she just escaped from the jaws of unemployment. She could see in the girl’s eyes that her crush was just a smaller part of a real admiration. It warmed Nessa’s heart to realize she could be a positive role model to someone she was sure would grow into a wonderful woman. Hell, she was off to an amazing start on her own.

They were going to set clear rules and boundaries, but Nessa wanted to look out for Alice during her time with The POW Block Party. The girl had great potential, and it was important for her to make a good first impression. If her internship went well enough, they could potentially even offer her a part-time role in the studio while she went to school. Plenty of the editors and marketing team began as interns because the company valued their enthusiasm and the promise they showed in their first unpaid stint with the company. Alice was a tech-head and a good gamer, so it was not hard to see a possible role for her in the company.

”You’re not in my debt,” she assured Alice with a smile. ”You helped me out today, and I wasn’t looking to let you get in trouble for that. Though, as my unofficial intern, I do expect you to run when I’m shouting for you. That’s just standard.”

Alice’s appreciation came with promises of food. She had mentioned an affinity for cooking earlier, and in an office of ravenous gamers, the ability to bring good food into the building would carry her far. The thought of good, homecooked food was so appealing, Vanessa could hear her own stomach groaning in response. She chuckled weakly, trying to play the sound off. ”Maybe don’t talk about food right now. That Pad Thai feels so long ago.” Truthfully, she only ate about half the meal and stowed it away in a fridge. She had other things to focus on after Alice dropped off her meal.

Logically, she could turn around and grab her leftovers to enjoy for dinner. Then again… ”Alice, you hungry?”

Pad Thai was a perfect day-after leftovers food anyway.

No amount of reassuring from Nessa would changed the fact she owed the woman. Because she did. And her mentor was awesome. "That's a no brainer boss, although now that I've been claimed I do hope you'll stop anyone else stealing me. Young, blue haired interns are a precious commodity apparently." Well, not in the video game industry, where dyed girls with tattoos and piercings were kind of everywhere. Which was awesome for her love life, just not job opportunities. "Just make sure my supervisor knows when you grab me for whatever and we should be good on that front."

The idea of working in the same building as her internet idol was one thing, now she was staring at the possibility of working with her directly. Could this internship get any better? Awesome people, awesome work and awesome kit to get her hands on. It was a techies dream.

Hmm, she was right, talking about food wasn't a great idea. Brought back her constant reminder of the fact she had to eat so much, and that her bar was getting a little low. Why, why did her power have a hunger bar? Like having a load of stuff in her vision wasn't bad enough, she had to eat enough to stun an athlete. Hopefully Nessa hadn't been taking note of how often she had been snacking on energy bars or the weird number she had in various pockets on her. It was a little embarrassing to explain.

Even if she didn't get fat from eating all the chocolate and bacon.

"I could eat, all the time. Ever." Even without her power, she was a teenager. They ate all the time, so it was fair to assume a normal one would be hungry after a day doing grunt work. "Although I'm not looking forward to cooking when I get back to Xaviers" Loving cooking was one thing, trying to do it after a full day was another.

"Why, you thinking of grabbing some takeout or something?"

Now that her position as an intern was no longer in peril, Alice had regained enough confidence to make jokes and talk herself up. Pretty blue-haired interns were indeed valuable, if only to the somewhat recently single resident lesbian gamer. She was a sweet, fun girl, but she had growing to do; anyone who was seventeen had growing to do. Maybe a two year difference and things might have played out differently, but Vanessa understood appropriate boundaries.

They started walking and talking. Maybe she was arrogant, but she was confident Alice would just follow along as long as she kept moving. ”Don’t make me laugh, Alice. Do you really think anyone in that building is going to cross me? I have total alpha b**** status, remember?” Nessa grinned and patted the girl’s shoulder. ”You’re in good hands, kid.”

The idea of grabbing food had been tossed out and quickly accepted. All flirting aside, it would be nice to get to know her new chosen underling. Their time at work was mostly occupied with work talk, (aka- video game talk,) and gay culture talk, (aka- inappropriate flirting.) Outside of work, they could ask some more questions over dinner so she could figure out the type of woman Alice might become.

The enthusiasm that her offer warranted made Vanessa chuckle. ”Don’t tell me you’re one of those girls that can eat anything and never see a pound.” Alice was lean. Not particularly muscular, but there was minimal extra weight on her. ”If so, my advice is to keep that to yourself. Women can be catty—even the gay ones.” She nodded sagely, imparting her first piece of “how to deal with women” wisdom on her student in the art of the gay.

”I was thinking something sit down. There’s a nifty Italian bistro right around here with outdoor tables positioned in the shade. Though fair warning; you’re not going to find much in the way of ‘cheap dining’ in the Village.” Vanessa knew the financial means of a college student could be meager, and a high schooler’s funds would be downright negligible. ”My treat in celebration of you not getting fired on your first day?”

Vanessa was not about to take no for an answer, and they were already within sight of the restaurant. Confidently, Vanessa took her seat at a table close to the window looking inside so the servers would spot them quickly.

Once they were settled, Vanessa looked at Alice like she was assessing the young woman. ”So. Why New York? Or rather, why leave England?” Everyone had their reasons to come to the city, and as a lifer, Vanessa was always curious what those reasons might be.

Vanessa clearly had somewhere in mind so she happily followed along after all she had the experience with the area and who was the newbie to argue with which way they were going. She didn't have to be back at the mansion for a while so a wander would be cool.

Alice couldn't help but laugh a little at some of the boss's quips. Nice to see her online persona was entire;y for show, there was fire there in her day to day and it was pretty refreshing to see. Too many people here were off put by swearing or sarcasm, acted a bit too polite for her tastes. Even as a supposedly 'refined' English lady she loved the give and take a friendship should have, the ability to tell a friend, with all sincerity, to f--- off from time to time.

"Then I get to learn from the best. How can I become the true b----y lesbian I was meant to be without a teacher." Not that she was one, mostly. Certain people and their backwards attitudes just tended to bring it out of her. Loudly. With a lot of swearing.

Yeah, that she knew. Some of her friends already got a little jealous of her weird ability to eat and never get fat, but most didn't actually know how bad it was. "It's not like I have much choice in it. Apparently I just have some kind of super metabolism. Makes it really hard to build muscle though." Sure, she didn't work out much, but after some attempts to get healthy with no result she just gave up. Best to stick to yoga and at least get some flexibility. "But I get it, mum's the word on the food front."

Dining in the village was kind of amazing, especially considering how big the place was in LGBT history. "Hard to not be excited eating out here, even with the cost. Heard of it back home when I was doing a little reading about LGBT stuff when I was a little more aware of who I was. And thanks, for the offer. Be a bit rude to turn down the boss after all."

Oh the restaurant looked so nice and they could did sit down without having to be seated? Sweet! "Oh, it a bit of a long story. I kind of ran away from home, a little. I'm living with my grandmother while my mums away with work and we've not exactly seen eye to eye on some stuff. Like her insistence on an arranged marriage she'd set up and stuff." God it was a bit embarrassing to say it. So many people left for real reasons, like abuse or that, she was just like a spoilt girl having a tantrum compared to them.

"It got bad enough that during one of our screaming matches she dropped the knowledge bomb that I had a long lost sister. Who'd I'd never met or even been told existed. I got an ultimatum over the marriage stuff so I left. Packed up some stuff, got on a plane and came here to find my sister." It was so damn useful her power actual;y worked, finding Serena was the major reason she was here now and able to get some many opportunities like this.

Breaking eye contact and looking down at her hands, she was still a bit uncomfortable talking about it, but Nessa was kind of awesome and out of anyone she could tell, her boss was the least likely to judge her.

Alice followed reliably, because of course she did. Vanessa was close to being worthy of a monument in her admirer’s eyes. It was endearing, because Vanessa could relate. When she was starting to identify as trans, she had the biggest crush on a trans lifestyle vlogger. It was not her typical ViewTube channel, but the woman was just confident and charming and everything Nessa wanted to be. It was a weird middle ground between wanting to be with someone and wanting to be more like them, which she found was a surprisingly common occurrence in the LGBTQ communities.

”I’ll teach you well, I promise,” she assured her new pupil. ”One day I’ll bring you through my high level course: how to pull off a resting b****-face that still conveys sexual attraction.” It was mostly a joke, but as a woman with RBF, Vanessa did have to learn to overcome her expressions so she could flirt more effectively.

It was nice to see Alice so excited to be in the New York hub of gay culture and history. The POW Block Party was her second home and it was growing more diverse by the month, but it was still a bit of a boy’s club. It was always nice to have new female blood in the office, particularly when it was someone who could relate to Vanessa on a deeper level like Alice. She had gay and bi friends, but it never hurt to grow that support system. ”It’s definitely some place special,’ she agreed with a warm smile. Some days, she considered relocating into the village and just owning herself as a gay vegetarian artist stereotype.

Taking their seats, Vanessa rested her elbows on the edge of the table, interlacing her own fingers under her chin as she listened to Alice’s story. The words “arranged marriage” caught her off guard. ”Wow… I mean, I only thought that was a thing in rich families and Eastern cultures…” She was not going to judge the people who found happiness in arranged marriages, but she could not see that path for Alice, particularly if the arrangement was a heterosexual one.

The marriage bomb did not carry nearly the impact of “long-lost sister.” It was one of those things you knew happened in the world, but you never expected it to happen to someone you knew. She could see the sister’s name—Serena. Then there was…

A third bomb. Powers. Alice had powers. She was another mutant. Luckily, Vanessa already had an excuse for her stunned, wide-eyed look, or else she could have given a hint to her own powers. ”A surprise sister… Well, that’s definitely a life-changer. And you decided to just go ham and change your whole life by coming here,” she added with a grin. ”For the record, that level of boldness is good. The girls at your college next year will fawn over it.”

A server came to their table, interrupting their conversation for a moment. She ordered the wild mushroom and ricotta ravioli along with a sangria. It was the end of her work day, after all. Once Vanessa had her ID returned to her and Alice finished her order, she realized their age disparity again. ”I hope you don’t mind,” she apologized, shrugging her shoulders.

Returned to their own conversation, Vanessa crossed her legs under the table, reclining in her chair. ”Seriously though, Alice, that’s pretty impressive. Taking your future into your own hands and making such a big leap. Keep that attitude,” she said, nodding to herself. ”I really think it’ll bring you to some exciting places in life.”

"I had not notice that, at all. Not once." Alice, you really need to get better at lying girl. Seriously she had already creeped the poor woman out with somewhat inappropiate flirting and now she was going right back to it. "But if I did need to have that knowledge, for any reason, It's good to know I have a good teacher. Who doesn't look like a b----. Most of the time." Maybe some lessons on tact would be really helpful as well, since she was still a blubbering idiot in front of Nessa.

But god f------ damnit her mentor did not make it easy, being all beautiful and flirty and stuff. This wasn't how meeting your idol should go! You fan-girl, act like an idiot for like 2 minutes max, get an autograph and maybe a selfie and then they never see you again. But now? Now she had to somehow control the crazy, let it out in small bursts until she was finally normal around her. Even in such an awesome place as the village. It was like an icon in the community, for all the things that had gone wrong and all the good things they'd achieved. The fact that some bigotry still existed just kind of proved that these places were so important, at least for the time being.

S---. Yeah It wasn't normal. At all. Right, all she had to do was keep a poker face and not let on she was in fact the same kind of spoiled rich kid she hated and tried to avoid. No one had to know she was like a step down from nobility. Ever. "Hehe, yeah it still happens from time to time, especially with the more old fashioned people. My grandmother had one and while her daughters didn't she was insisting I would. It would have been sweet if it wasn't so bats--- insane an idea. Or if the other person hadn't be a thirty year old creep." That didn't help matters much.

Worse her grandmother knew she was gay but apparently that was only a 'minor' issue. Love didn't matter and neither did sexual attraction, for the bride anyway. As long as she could be some kind of broodmare to carry on the family legacy who cared about her feelings.

Smiling at Nessa's encouragement, she was happy her teacher was as non-judgmental as she appeared. More than a couple people had called her mad for hat she'd done, her mum included. That had been an awkward phone call followed up by a very worried visit. "Yeah my sister is kind of awesome, she took me in straight away and helped me get set up at Xaviers. Can't thank her enough for that. And don't worry, with my accent and foreign mystique I'll have those poor girls eating out of my hands." Others things too but that wasn't for mostly polite conversation.

Ordering her own food, a simple pan fried salmon steak with fresh, wild vegetables, she waved away the comment, far be it for her to stop an of age woman drinking. And anyway, if she wanted some she could always try some of the less strict bars down town. "Thanks, it means a lot to me coming from someone who's done just that and it's already dropped me into a pretty great place." Like the POW Block Party HQ for instance.

"And seriously you telling me that is kind of awesome, it just proves I was right to love your content and online presence. Even with the clear alpha b---- thing you have going." Not bad, she hadn't freaked out and had just been honest. Not even any flirting. Was she actually getting better at this.

Maybe not, since it was still hard to actually look her in the eyes for extended periods of time. It wasn't fair that her eyes were just so attractive!

There were glasses of ice water on the table and Vanessa almost choked on her first sip. Alice’s thoughts had caught her completely off guard again. The blue-haired rebel was rich. Like super rich. Or at least, she came from old money. On the list of things Vanessa would have guessed about her dining companion, she would have tried “mutant” long before “rich kid.”

Vanessa understood why Alice would hesitate to let her background become common knowledge. Money affected how people treated you, and there were drawbacks to being poor, obviously, but women from rich families could have their own struggles. For one thing, Vanessa might have been less likely to cover the bill if she knew her new friend had a sizeable allowance.

It was important not to change the way she treated Alice, not only to avoid tipping off her power, but because Alice was a genuinely cool young woman who did not need to be judged based on her family. Instead, she focused on the ultimatum that drove Alice to America. She could empathize with guardians who wanted to force unwanted decisions on children.

Alice accepted her praise gracefully, and turned it around to express her gratitude toward Vanessa. The older woman smiled warmly, glad to know she helped make a difference with one girl choosing to prioritize her own happiness. ”Hey, I’m just glad I could be around to help girls like you. It’s important to put our voices out there. Who knows? Maybe one day some cute baby gay will be finding her courage watching you.” It was one of the pillars of the community: support one another. Her work gave her a platform to be a voice for all the queer girls who might feel alone surrounded with unsupportive family.

At the very least, Alice’s family was not completely without shining lights. Her sister had accepted her with open arms and brought her to Xavier’s, which allowed her an opening to ask out loud the question she wanted to voice since she read Alice’s thoughts. ”So Xavier’s, eh? You’re a mutant then? That’s awesome!” She wanted to get that sentiment out fast; when people asked if someone was a mutant, it was not always the prologue to a positive comment.

Good, the boss hadn't caught that very subtle lie. Somehow. Or she was actually just being nice and choosing not to mention it to help the girl save face. Ugh why did social stuff have to have so many unwritten rules and stuff, it was so annoying to maneuver all the weird people stuff sometimes. But she was thankful for the tact, that Nessa might be showing. Or the fact she was really unobservant. Which was also good, made it way easier to check someone out that way.

Getting rid of a crush wasn't exactly a one day thing and lets be fair, if Alice wanted to sneak a look at a cute girls butt, well she damn well was. No way awkwardness was stopping that.

"Baby gay? That is the cutest phrase ever. Having a legion of gaybies learning from me does sound appealing." Wait, was she the gaybie in this scenario!? Come on she at least had some experience! More than one girlfriend had learnt that, for some weird reason they kept thinking she was a virgin. She was no playgirl but she wasn't a total romance noob. Well, mostly not a noob, she'd at least done the tutorial and started her own adventure of fumbling feelings and awkward flirting. "I swear to God boss, call me that at work and I will never live it down. Ever. I'll be stuck as the baby gay intern for the rest of my time there."

Or longer, if she could actually impress the powers that be. Which she really, really wanted too. The idea of actually working with Nessa and the Block Party crew as a proper paid job was the best thing she could imagine. So much good stuff came out of it and they always did some really cool projects. So much amazing creative stuff too, like cosplay ideas and the like. As a young nerdling just getting into the more serious fandom stuff being able to learn from veterans of nerd-fu was mind boggling.

"And thanks, for the vote of confidence. If Nessa the hard-ass of POW Block Party thinks I have a shot I must be doing something right." Hard to not glow a little under the praise. What person didn't like being told they were doing good?

Coughing a little and blushing at the embarrassment of explaining her power to a gamer, she was sure it'd be seen as more than a little nerdy. "Erm, well it's a little weird but I kind of have a HUD. Like in my vision, all the time. Even got a mini-map which is cool but it's why I have to eat so much. The health bar goes down to empty in an hour and if I don't eat it makes me really ill." Looking back down towards he shows and taking a quick sip of water, screw it she'd come this far. Glance up before continuing, "I can also form parties of up to four people, including me and I have a skill list which tells me how good I am at any given activity, liking cooking or maths for example."

"I could show you the party thing, if you want. I just need your hand to make the connection." Bet the gamer in the boss wouldn't let the idea of being in a real life party get away from her.

Alice was going to become Vanessa’s favorite person at work. She just… got it. ”I dunno, I think gaybies might be the actual cutest phrase ever,” she retaliated. There was something endearing about young queer girls first coming to the realization of who they were. The way a girl might look at another girl and, for the first time, feel things suddenly “click.” Vanessa did not get that experience, and she envied it, but she also appreciated the beauty of it. ”Sorry, I think you’re going to have to learn to live with being the gayby intern.”

The explanation of Alice’s powers was met with wide, sparkling eyes. ”That’s so cool,” she said dreamily, picturing what life would be like with information displayed in her vision. It sounded so… handy. A quest list to sort out tasks and a mini-map to lead her to destinations. She loved her telepathy, but she might have traded it straight for a HUD if someone gave her the option.

And there was a party function! Vanessa lit up at first in response to the offer, but thoughts came creeping in her head: what would the display tell Alice about her? Would it know her gender? What if it shared her assigned-at-birth sex? And even worse: what if it shared special traits? Would she have a label smack-under her name? “Telepath.”

The idea made Vanessa too nervous to take the risk. She looked down at Alice’s hand and smiled. ”Maybe another time. Not sure I’m ready to party up and share all my precious, precious experience,” she joked, though it was more half-hearted than most of her comments.

It was time to move the topic forward from the party system. ”That’s so awesome, though. Your life is basically one big video game. If that news gets out around the office, everyone’s going to be jealous. And not just because you’re cute.” There, light teasing. Her wheelhouse. Maybe one day, Alice would be a friend to confide in. She was making a wonderful first impression. Still, it was a first impression and Vanessa was not going to unveil her closest secrets to a girl who was a stranger hours earlier.

Still, who knew what was to come? They were still young. (One was very young.) They had time.