That turkey had almost been as big as her. With a heave. With several hos. She'd managed to shuffle the bird into the oven, roaster and all.

Aurum was acting like a drill sergeant.

Maya was there. And Sveta. And The New Girl. Kealey and Shin were scheduled to arrive shortly.

THANK GOODNESS THEY HAD ALL THIS HELP! Otherwise, she'd have been smooshed under all the turkey and dressing.

Alas, this also meant less for her. But fair is fair.

This was Maya's first Thanksgiving dinner in five years. It was going to be huge.

Being invited to Aurum's was bad enough (he really was a nice guy, but he was Ami's brother and that made him an enemy by default, especially on awkward Maya days), but they were expecting a huge crowd. And a lot of food. What could possibly go wrong?

Riley. Auntie Hookup, as she knew her. The girl who slept with Rup (ewwww) and now was dating Mirror's big brother. The girl who was also an adapted. Meh. Maya kept her distance from her.

Also, a Russian who was apparently living with Aurum, creating a weird triangle that was too complicated to follow. And she boosted powers. Maya kept her distance from that girl too. Last thing she needed was being boosted into Gawain. Bad enough that she was all dolled up for Thanksgiving.

Cooking with Ami, however, was fun. And Shin and Kealey were going to stop by. It almost felt like a family.

Wreck. Riley was a nervous wreck. She was just getting used to the whole dating thing with Aurum, and now there had to be a major holiday. Initially, Riley had been pleased with the idea, spending the evening with Aurum on Thanksgiving would be another in a long line of new rules that were being made. Then he’d mentioned the other guests.

The first thing Riley had thought of when he’d mentioned that there would be other people at dinner was that he was inviting his family. She’d panicked, and spent a whole minute trying to breathe while he explained that it was actually not his whole family. Just part of it. And a bunch of friends.

Ami was bringing her girlfriend. The same girl who Riley had seen the night of Halloween. The same girl Riley had met in Rupert’s apartment. The lack of worry she’d felt on Halloween night was nowhere to be found now…she was a nervous wreck. What if the girl said something? Riley hadn’t exactly hid her shaky relationship past from Aurum, but talking about specific events was another thing all together. The idea was abhorrent.

Then there were the others.

Aurum thought everything was going to be great, but Riley wasn’t so sure. She’d agreed to come though, because he’d asked her to. Now she was a total fish out of water in an apartment full of people cooking.

She’d tried to help, and only succeeded in being in the way so far. Aurum was in full-on coordinator mode, and Riley didn’t want to incur his wrath.

That being the case, she’d decided that she’d sit at the table and wait until things needed carried. Sit at the table and worry.

Surely that was safe.

There were so many people around. And some of them mutants. Sveta made sure she covered up every inch of skin possible, and stayed close to Riley whenever she could. Riley felt safe and comfortable. That earned her a friendly smile.

There was so much to do in the kitchen; good thing Aurum was there to coordinate everything. Sveta could cook if she put her mind to it, but she had never done a Thanksgiving dinner before. It was a lot of work. And a lot to work with. Mostly American food; Sveta silently thanked the Matchmaker for teaching her the basics and the vocabulary...

Ami was here to help; so was Ami's... girlfriend? Sveta had seen the girl around the Mansion before, she (he?...) was part of the X team. She looked nice, in her own way. She was definitely cute together with Ami.

Jude was going to arrive soon. You put a power booster, a mimic, and an adapted in one room, what do you get?
Hopefully a nice family dinner...

"Here. Hold this."

Amelia stuck a spoon covered in chocolate cake frosting into Maya's mouth. Then, she turned and skipped into the other room.

She smiled at the new girl.

"Hey, new girl." Amelia said. She jerked a thumb back towards the kitchen. "Stop being a slacker. There's stuff to do." Like setting the table or filling drink glasses. Stuff.

There was a lot going on…at least in the kitchen, and as more and more time passed, Riley felt more and more useless. The next time Aurum came out of the kitchen, she was going to insist on having something to do. Sveta was being a little clingy too. Sure sure it was the whole ‘mutant boosting’ thing that they’d talked about forever ago…but still. Riley didn’t like feeling like a buffer.

And then Aurum’s sister was there. Calling her a slacker.

Why had Riley liked that girl again? Blue eyes narrowed, and Riley hesitated for a moment while multiple retorts stumbled over themselves to escape her mouth.

Luckily for Riley, at that moment Aurum appeared.

He crossed his arms and frowned at his little sister.

"Ami. Quit bothering Riley."

Amelia gesticulated at Riley. "But, she's slacking! Bad work etiquette. Bad!"

"She's fine." Aurum replied coolly. "We're nearly done, anyways. All that's left to do is set the table."

"I was just going to ask her that!" Amelia threw up her hands in the air. With a sigh, she slipped past her brother, back into the kitchen. She'd only been trying to joke around. Apparently, new girl had no sense of humor. Why did Aurum even like her? Man. She felt like throwing something on the ground.

Aurum turned away from the escaping Amelia, back to Riley. He smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that. Like I said. You're fine."

Riley’s righteous indignation was interrupted by Aurum and she simply sat at the table watching the exchange happen as though she weren’t even sitting there.

Yeah. Sister was losing points quickly. So rude.

Finally the harridan went back to the kitchen, and Aurum turned his attention to Riley. She smiled a little and shrugged. ”I am being useless.” she said.

”But I’ll help set the table.”

Aurum offered her his hand with an understanding smile.

"Okay. Come on, then."

With that said, he helped her to her feet.

Amelia stormed back into the kitchen.

How lame. She'd been trying to help, and gotten admonished.

She snagged Maya's hand, and pulled her from whatever job she'd been doing (before being such a good taste tester for chocolate frosting). "We need to talk."

Before Aurum and Riley returned to the kitchen, they needed to sneak off elsewhere and desert their duties for a little conversation.

Uh-oh. Ami did not like Auntie Hookup. Not at all.
(So far, Maya had been resisting the urge to call her that. Her name was Riley, and she was Aurum's girlfriend. And Aurum was Ami's big brother. You don't mess with big brother's girl...)

>>"We need to talk."

"Mhmmm" Maya nodded, still tasting chocolate frosting as Ami dragged her out of the kitchen. It was probably for the best to leave people alone. The kitchen was getting crowded, and it was all getting close to the usual 'we get together and we fight' family dinners Maya never had any part of....

"What's up?" she asked, once they were alone. Ami looked annoyed...

To Aurum's office, they went.

Amelia sure did look annoyed. As they entered the office, she turned and shut the door behind them.

Aurum's office wasn't huge, but it wasn't small. Big enough for a desk. A lamp. Some file cabinets. A small couch for naps. A couple of chairs. It fit the color scheme of the rest of the apartment. It was just the right size for school projects. She knew from experience.

"What do you think. Of Riley?" Amelia asked, as she turned back to him, door sealed. She searched Maya's face for opinions.

>>"What do you think. Of Riley?"

Oh crap.
Maya blinked, and tried to stall until she came up with something that did not give away the fact that she knew Riley. Or anything about Rupert.
Damn.

"Umm..." she wrinkled her nose, thinking "She's... okay?..."

Yeah. Very smooth.

"I mean, your brother's dating her for somethin', right? She can't be that bad..."

Or she could. Anyone who earns the name Auntie Hookup... well.

"I dunno, haven't met her before or anythin'."

That was a lot of hesitation... and something about what she'd said seemed like she wasn't quite telling the truth. Maybe it was the whole 'telling her she hadn't met her before' when she hadn't met her before. Who insisted that?

Amelia tilted her head.

"That's some poker face you've got there, Maya." She said.

>>"That's some poker face you've got there, Maya."

Double damn. Maya was a terrible liar, and Ami was a natural detective. Add those two to the girlfriend factor (girlfriends always find out everything), and Maya was totally screwed.

"Umm..." she bit her lips "I might have met her before. In passing. I just... I have a problem with adapteds. They make me feel... uncomfortable. They also make me fall out of mirrors, and they screw up the shiftin'. Riley might be a nice girl, it's not her fault that I'm not happy about her being here. So."

She tilted her head at Ami.

"What's your problem with her?"