The last couple of years had kind of been an insane boom in popularity for Serena's writing, she'd even stopped writing under a pseudonym, and re-released the previous two books under her real name. It wasn't like savvy people couldn't put two and two together to begin with, she wrote in her little nerdy corner online already, and had referenced them before there.

Since she'd gotten back to New York her editor had been bugging Serena to do some interviews or signings for what felt like forever. It had been over 2 years since she'd had the opportunity to do anything remotely like this in the city after all, and she was a lot more out in the open her writing than she had been previously too.

Her little appearance on PixelBecky's channel had... not helped.

Serena was more in the public eye than she'd ever been before, and while she was hardly a Hollywood celebrity, people recognised her. It was weird.

There came a point where her editor cornered her, and she ran out of excuses, therefore agreed to a signing and interview. She was absolutely dreading it. The ones in the last couple of years hadn't been that bad, but she'd gotten bigger. So much so. It was horrifying.

They'd been scheduled back to back. This is what happened when you pissed off your editor. The signing hadn't ended up being all that bad. The interview though. That was going to be just the worst, Serena was just picturing this middle aged dude shoving a microphone in her face and tactlessly asking her questions about her life and the X-men.

At least it wasn't on camera. She sighed and braced herself, putting on what she hoped was a smile and gently turned the door handle to the room she was supposed to be getting interviewed in.

Spencer wasn't walking into this blind. Any interviewer worth her salt did an internet search for the basics so she wouldn't waste their time on stupid stuff. Plus it gave her a few avenues of investigation: Miss Serena Rivers was rich, associated with the x-men, powerful, successful, a talented author... oh yeah. She don't get to have everything go your way. There was dirt hiding somewhere. Spence just hoped that it wasn't the mundane kind. She could go for a good scoop right about now.

And so could the paper. That's why they sent their crack interviewer. Spencer wasn't always the most consistent, but she always brought home something interesting.

Today, she was shooting for something between professional and friendly. She didn't want to look like she stumbled in off the street, Spencer did put in effort. But she hoped that the artfully tucked teeshirt paired with a pencil skirt and chunky jewelry hit that balance.

She had her pens, her paper, her phone for voice recording, a small water and coffee board off to the side where she helped herself to a latte… now Spencer just needed the good little girl herself.

She didn’t have to wait too long. The secretary didn’t bother to knock, which annoyed her, but what walked in was not the secretary...

She was blonde, possibly a great dye job but likely real. Pale in the way of perfect Greek statues and the urge to touch was just as forbidden. Tall, Spencer noted she was definitely the shorter of the two after assessing footwear.

She was already smiling openly, her natural reaction to seeing anyone she had yet to meet.

”Serena? Serena Rivers? I’m Spencer Robertson with the Wolf News Entertainment section staff. It’s so nice to meet you. Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?”

Serena hadn't done the whole interview thing before, but she had done a couple of signings. Even if this one had been larger on the scale than most of them. She'd increased in readership even before she'd signed up for the X-men, she figured there were some new people around now that had picked up her books. So, despite suggestions of how she should appear for a big public appearance, Serena opted for something comfortable , over flashy.

There was a woman already sitting, with what seemed to be a the equipment Serena pegged an interviewer might have. She found journalistic writing interesting, she'd dabbled to an extent but it was never really her thing or talent. Investigative journalism was even more interesting, a whole extra layer of talents involved.

She didn't know really what she'd been expecting. For one thing she'd automatically assumed it would be a guy, which was obviously wrong. The woman didn't immediately fit her perception of a journalist either, she didn't look prim and super professional, she looked strangely approachable. And oh boy, she was a knockout.

"Hi there, Spencer." She greeted with a much more genuine smile.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. "A coffee would be absolutely wonderful. How are you today?" She walked into the room and looked around. She was definitely glad her first interview was a little more intimate.

Ohhh even just Serena's voice made Spencer aware of her fondness for good girls and helping them realize just how bad they could be. Spencer did her best to reel it back. She had to do her job first— only after she earned the money could she be allowed to play.

Spencer was up in a flash, offering her hand for a good, firm shake first because it was polite and she had offered a drink. That meant Spencer must be the one to provide said drink. Coffee was easy enough. She just poured it out into a station branded mug and grabbed the little bowl of add ins with stir sticks, cream tubs, and sugar packets of varying caloric density. She talked and poured at the same time like a multi-tasking wizard.

"I'm ecstatic, thanks for asking. How 'bout yourself? Did the secretary get your coat or did you walk in like that? Seriously, you x-men are so badass." It had to be, what? Worse than freezing considering the wind chill.

She balanced the cup carefully so not even a single drop spilled as it found its place in front of the mutant. She was a mutant, Spencer reminded herself, and Spencer was just a helpless little human. Outside of the powers, people were just people, though.

"I won't lie, I think the powers that be are testing me with this interview so, please be kind to me, okay? I promise I'll do my best." Spencer smiled conspiratorially as she sank back down into her chair on her side of the table. She motioned to her phone on the table with a tilt of her head. "Would you mind if a made a recording of our interview? There's a lot of nuance that gets lost in notes alone."

Serena smiled even more as she shook Spencer's hand. There was something about coming back to New York and getting closure on her last relationship (Sort of) that had resulted in Serena being much more aware of the beautiful woman all around her. Maybe it was the lack of pining over something that was never going to happen again.

She would have to try hard not to let it distract her during the interview. "Thank you." She took a cursory sip of the coffee to test the temperature and set it down in front of her gently. "That's good to hear." She chirped thoughtfully before replying fully. "I'm actually quite excellent, and no. I've been around the building for a bit, I think my editor has my coat." She had definitely not needed it when signing books and chatting to fans. That room had gotten stuffy fast.

Serena tried hard to not blush at compliments, really she did. But beautiful woman were a weakness, there was definitely a rosy tint to her cheeks now. "It's okay, I think we're in the same boat there. I could only wriggle out of interviews and signings for so long, eventually excuses run out." She admitted, a little embarrassed.

"I don't know why I was avoiding it for so long, the day has been quite lovely, and in my head I think I built this up to be some paparazzi horror story, but obviously I was quite far off there." Recording? She... Guessed that made sense. Serena had recorded meetings and planning sessions with her editor before and vice versa, it helped when you got distracted. "Of course."

She thanked Serena for her graciousness and then, once they'd gotten the required pleasantries out of the way, Spencer made sure to leave her phone on the table showing as she opened up the recording app and pressed the big red button. There wasn't any reason to be secretive. She'd gone into airplane mode so there would be no distractions. The record was starting up. Once the red light came on, it was time to earn her pay.

"Let's start with you introducing yourself, if you'd be so kind. Your name and one interesting thing about you— just as they teach us in school, you know?" Spencer smiled encouragingly and leaned forward so that she could be ready with her notepad.

But Serena wasn't going to get off so easy as just that.

"And actually you've already said something quite interesting before we started recording. I'd like to start there, if you would. You said something to the effect of you wanting to dodge interviews? Why's that? You're lovely company." The x-men were nice on their face, so she was going to have to dig a little deeper than usual to find the good stuff, no doubt. Though Serena's little bout of embarrassed shuffling hadn't escaped her, she would let it slide and swallow whatever excuse Serena came up with.

She was good at swallowing.

Spencer, too, could be nice. It was best to start there, especially if Serena was eager to find a reason to bolt. She gave good, solid eye contact and did her best to encourage Serena on. Her pen naturally came to rest on her lower lip, taken away only when something of note might present itself.

The woman settled very easily into professionalism, which hardly surprised Serena. There was this habit that people had to fall into a mechanical pattern of work very easily. She was like that with writing most of the time, or with training. It had been surprisingly easy to get back into training in the danger room again too, like riding a bicycle. It was fun to do completely without super vision too, nobody could see her being a nerd while training.

The mixture of comforting and professionalism made it easy for Serena to relax. At least, she was starting to feel at ease. "Well, I'm Serena Rivers. As for an interesting fact..." She thought back to the answers she gave to group work and greetings in college. "I'm English, which should be fairly evident. But I mostly grew up here in New York, from pre-teens all the way to where I am now."

Maybe she shouldn't have said that. It was her first real interview after all. Her cheeks did flush a little more. "Thank you for saying so, if I'm being honest it's a mixture of nerves and habit. I'm not used to being in the spotlight." She admitted unashamedly.

Serena had gone through the awkward transition of being a relatively outgoing, popular teenager to very introverted, slide back out into extroversion for most of College, but the whole novelist thing seemed to have dragged her a few steps back into the introvert column, it showed to most people that had known her for several years.

The things people decided to reveal about themselves were, in turn, often more telling than the actual facts revealed. Serena, by her own admission twice over indirectly and more directly, admitted that she had her reservations, nerves, and habits. She didn’t seem to be a “sharer” by nature. Possibly more of the introspective type, if Spencer had to guess with her meager amount of information.

That was all well and good for Miss Serena. It was balls for Spencer.

”I do love the accent. I’m glad New York hasn’t stolen your shine.” Accents were absolute pantie busters. Sometimes Spencer liked to play up a Texas accent or something else she had no real right to claim. Just ‘cause.

”So, I know you’re here to promote your latest book. Why don’t we talk about that for a little bit? Is this a continuation in a series? What in your life sparked the idea for this story, you think?”

She hoped for at least a little nugget of something from this answer. Serena was far too pretty to be this boring.

Serena had definitely heard comments to that end before. She definitely had some quirky personality hang ups, the accent was one of them. "Thank you! I think I keep it out of stubbornness more than anything else, a little homage to my heritage." Funny now that she knew what her heritage actually meant, and the fact that she didn't touch a penny of her actual inheritance.

Serena had to stop and consider this one seriously. "That's actually a tough one. I think a lot of things inspired or impacted it." She paused for a moment longer, before actually deciding on her answer. "It's the third in the series. I wrote the first back in college, and I was so much more timid than I was now. The first two were released under a pseudonym. And now I'm a lot more open to the world." Some of it unintentional, sure. But it she was out there now.

"I've experienced a lot of interesting mutants, read a lot of fiction and spent time with the X-men. As a teenager, I really didn't understand the world of mutants and all the crazy unbelievable things in the world, at least until I manifested. Even now, new crazy things are shaking people's perception of the world, look at the Atlanteans, for example." She paused, taking a sip of the coffee and gathering thoughts before pushing on.

"So I figured, if powers were real, and as varied as they are. Why not write about magic? Why not imagine a world were myths had foundation in reality, a basis in our real world. That's where a lot of the ideas came from. As I wrote on, more themes from life crept in, socio-political things like sexuality and gender politics." She admitted before adding a little more sheepishly. "I'm not very good at separating my own opinions from novel themes."

Spencer was thanking all the powers, including Obama. Not only had Serena given her a lot of openings, she was finally beyond speaking in single sentences. People just took time to warm up. It always worked. Eventually. She scribbled furiously to make sure she didn't drop any of the hooks that Serena was laying down.

3rd. Series. Themes. Timid? X-Men. Psudo- ps- nom de plume. MORE OPEN. Influences? Manifestation of power. New crazy. Atlanteans at Mansion. Power, magic, myth, real life politics, sexuality, gender, identity? Personal opinions in narrative.

Whoo. It was Christmas!

"Wow. There's a lot to unpack there. Let's touch a bit more on your nom de plume, heritage, and stepping up to claim your name. You said you are quote "more open" now.

Would you care to elaborate on any of that? Maybe speaking to anyone else who might feel…" She checked back in her large bubbly script for the word that Serena used. "timid?"

She really had kind of ranted there. Once Serena worked up the courage in a situation like this she was plenty able to discuss things at length, it was just getting over that internal hurdle. She knew perfectly well how to socialise, and how to behave properly in different situations. Recent years had just piled on some extra anxiety and she was sorely out of practice.

"Well I think more open is appropriate, you are my first interview after all." She replied with a hint of a smile.

"It's quite common with a lot of younger writers, I released my first book in college as I said, and at the time the whole situation was so... surreal. It just didn't seem like something that would happen to me. Over the years I've grown more confident and as a result I'm now comfortable attaching my name to my work." She'd not thought about this too much recently, the whole anxiety over attaching her name to things seemed silly.

"I think, what I'd say to a young or aspiring writer. Is that the person most critical of your work in any situation will almost always be you. If you genuinely care about what you're writing, or if it's a topic you're passionate about and you're taking time and care with it... Don't be nervous about sharing it. You'll reflect on your behavior as juvenile or silly." People's reactions were never as bad as you imagined them.

Hmm. Very generic still and not what she'd hoped. It was a fair point, still but clearly Spencer just needed to continue digging. "That's great advice. I love seeing authors really lean in to what they believe rather than playing the politics game." Serena was so earnest feeling. If she really was boring, that would make a generic, if passable article, but Spencer's intuition just kept her thinking there had to be more.

"Let's talk a bit more about your personal beliefs. You mentioned that you can't help but insert some of your feelings into your writing. Is there anything specific you want to call out about your beliefs? Maybe something your average reader might miss on first pass?" It was only polite, after all, to give people enough rope to hang themselves or to help themselves. It'd be up to Serena to choose which.

"You also mentioned the X-men, which has been a divisive group in the past. How do you feel about being a member of the X-men team? The leadership, the structure...

Also, maybe you can put this silly little rumor to bed, but I heard that for a while there was a uniform requirement for the women that included heels and a miniskirt?" She raised one eyebrow. Surely that was just unsubstantiated rumor, though...

Spencer seemed so much more genuine than Serena had expected. She'd sort of had this image of stoic professionalism, or paparazzi tactlessness. But Spencer was... Well she was nice, she seemed to choose her words sincerely, and she was clearly looking for something interesting to write about. Serena felt inclined to give it to her, she just wasn't sure what Spencer was looking for, exactly.

"Well." She pondered for another beat before responding. "Okay. So I actually didn't pick this up myself, a reader pointed it out to me, but I definitely inserted a lot about freedom of will, the ability to choose things." How did she say this without just waving a multi-coloured flag around?

Screw it. "Freedom to love, regardless of race, gender, anything like that. I didn't even realise I was placing in subtle things about those themes, they were just there." Was that all there was to it? "I think I demonise control freaks a little with my writing too, and not in the traditional cliche way. I mean people that really try to control other people, do things that impact lives without consulting those concerned."

Her eyes flicked up to meet Spencer's, a passion in them that had been absent before, a fire. Anger too. "Nobody gets to tell me who to love, how I should live my life. It should be that way for everyone." She was thinking of a particular old hag when she gave that little spiel.

"I love the X-men. They're incredible, Becca, Mirror, Sam, Maya...." She listed off names and thought about what each meant to her. "I've known a lot of the team since I was basically a teenager, some of them were there for me during the hardest period in my life, and I was definitely guilty of hero worship for a while but.."

"They're just people. Real people, that are strong and brave, and want to do something good in the world." She admitted.

The uniform thing made her blush. Hard. "I-well-Uhm." Dear lord! That sounded like something Sam had said in an interview as a joke! "Most of the costumes are unique to the individual, some of them kind of have skirts. Like Becca's. I'm not really comfortable in miniskirts so mine doesn't.." you were not going to catch her dead in one of those.

The dawn broke. The sun smiled. And Spencer's face softened. Yessss. There was something there!

”Freedom to love who you will. That’s beautiful.” So Spencer wasn’t totally off base when she thought she might be picking up secret freak-in-the-sheets vibes. Or maybe she just always hoped. The control freak thing was interesting. Spencer made a note to come back to that, but they were on a good path for now. Especially with some intense eye contact.

”You’re damn right. Love who you want, girl.” Sometimes people needed to be heard. Sometimes people needed to be affirmed. And sometimes, people just needed a “hell yeah.” Active listening was a trained skill. One that, when applied correctly, could help people relax and open up. Spencer liked to think she was rather good at it.

Yes. Spencer had pivoted them to the X-men, but Spencer was sensing a whole different kind of love there than the previously discussed type. Nooo. That wasn’t juicy. She was being all humble and well rounded. Damn! Whatever publicity training she’d endured was good.

”I don’t suppose you have your costume here today? How do you even choose what to wear? Are there rules? Like no capes after Labor Day?” Okay, that hadn’t been in her plans to ask, but Spencer was genuinely curious. The rattled off names threw her for a loop momentarily until she realized those were real life names. Not the X-names people usually were known by.

”Becca, that’s uh- uh-" She snapped her fingers around her pen as the name refused to get off the tip of her tongue. "The electric one? Is there an electric one? No. She’s known as Lodestone. The- Sam is the uh- The punchy guy?" Oh lord where her notes!?

Spencer dug until finally she found something of use. "Ah here it is. Becca does magnetism.” She scanned over the roster she had, no doubt it was old. There was no Maya on it at all. ”Sorry, I’m not terribly familiar with your teammates and all the identity stuff, but I’m sensing a whole lot of goodwill.” Except for, maybe, when they’d hashed out costumes. ”Who is your favorite teammate to practice with? And out in the world when there’s action? Who do you turn to most on the team, you think?”

And of course, she couldn't just ask whatever. This was a book promotional interview so she had to tie things back together. ”Is there anything in your books in regards to the X-men? Do you have anything you might want to say about the team’s real world leadership?" Her roster was not just a list of names, code names, and powers. It had annotations for who was deputized, who had an alleged murder to their name, who was worth over a million dollars, and other such information.

Research was a girl's best friend.

Serena was pleasantly surprised by how well this was going. Not only was she not messing everything up right now, and the more she spoke to Spencer, the more she liked her. This was fun. "Right? Nobody likes to be shackled or judged for their life choices." She admitted, laughing.

Serena bit her lower lip lightly, a subconscious show that she was really enjoying being around another person. "I'm very glad you approve."

Maybe Serena shouldn't have used everyone's first names, but she kinda... Well she slipped. She'd need to try to stay on topic more.

"I do not. I just have some training gear at the moment, I've not decided on a costume. From what I understand there are a few groups that make them for the team, but I couldn't tell you specifics." She replied honestly. She really had no idea what to do about her costume. Maybe she should ask Mirror for help.

"Sorry, that's my fault. Using names and not code names." She nodded in agreement "Yes, Rebecca is magnetism, I think she goes by Valkyrie these days. Sam goes by Cold Steel, he's the ice mutant. Eye patch, lady killer looking gentlemen." before she could stop herself she added "He can be a very hard person to be friends with sometimes."

"Uhm... Well I've not been on the team that long, but I know most of them quite well. I think my favourite to practice with is probably Mirror, my favourite to turn to is probably Rebecca." She really did feel like she could go to Rebecca for advice about just about anything.

In her books? Well she hadn't given a direct comparison, or shout out in any way really. "Nothing specific. I think some of my own views on what makes them important crept in, them being mostly symbolic and all that." She didn't believe that the X-men fighting crime was made them important, it was what they meant to mutants, and public perception of mutants that mattered.