Vanessa braced herself for whatever might come after she tried to clear herself of all Chris-related charges. After their most recent experiences, she would hardly blame him for doubting her honesty. She could only hope Booker would recognize the difference between lying about her knowledge of his ex-boyfriend’s infidelity and lying about who she was to the world en masse.

Booker’s voice was still tense and there were still tears in his eyes. He reminded Vanessa that he did not care about her mutation. Every time she heard him say it, she felt silly for keeping it to herself for so long. She was surprised to hear he was not upset about the lie. If that was not the problem, where was she still failing.

Her heart sank when Booker pointed out how she was putting him and their parents on the same level. When he explained it like that, she felt guilty for putting a thought like that in his head. Her immediate reaction was an impassioned, ”That’s not true!” The emotional energy drained from her and she saw things from Booker’s side. Her shoulders fell and she sighed. ”I… didn’t mean to. You were always going to be the first person I told. I just…”

Frustration mounted as Vanessa tried to summon the right words to make her point. ”It’s like… there was a locker I needed to clean out.” A locker felt like a fresh take on the “out of the closet” trope Vanessa was constantly dealing with. ”And I kept finding reasons to not do it at first. By the time I realized it was something I needed to do, I was worried to open the door because I might have waited too long. A damp bikini coated in mildew and an old sandwich developing sentient mold.” In her head, the analogy made sense.

…Maybe it was worth elaborating though. ”By the time I knew I had to come out to you, I was worried I waited too long. So I kept putting it off. And then I was even more certain I waited too long. I thought I missed the time to tell you. It wasn’t until today that I realized I just had to suck it up. There was never going to be a better time.”

Vanessa covered her eyes with her hands, propping her elbows up on her knees. ”I’m sorry, Booker. You’re not like mom and dad. You’re not like anyone. I wish I was not so dumb and scared for so long. I kept a secret from you so I could be in denial. I don’t want to do either of those two things again.” She made such a big deal about being a proud lesbian, but Vanessa hid so many parts of her from the world. She needed to start working past her hang-ups, and being honest with Booker was the first step.

The communication was open. The truth was why he was so upset was finally out and it was something he desperately needed her to know. He wasn’t angry with the lie or the fact that she was a mutant, but he was upset with how lying to him made him feel. Whether she meant it to be or not, she essentially lumped him into the same group as their parents, the people that they had been trying to get away from all this time. Of course he would understand not telling them, especially with how closed minded they were, but lying to him? That was certainly not a good feeling and it made him feel as if Nessa saw him as no better than their parents.

As soon as the words were out, he could practically feel the defensive air circulate around Nessa. She was quick to denounce the belief, telling him it wasn’t true. But even as the words left her lips, Booker raised his gaze up to her and watched her face so very closely. Again, he partly knew that wasn’t her intention, but still that didn’t make matters any easier. She must have sensed that she needed to alter perspective to look at it from his side, because she stopped herself; a few seconds later a tear rolled down her cheek.

>>”I… didn’t mean to. You were always going to be the first person I told. I just…It’s like…there was a locker I needed to clean out….And I kept finding reasons to not do it at first. By the time I realized it was something I needed to do, I was worried to open the door because I might have waited too long. A damp bikini coated in mildew and an old sandwich developing sentient mold.”

He tilted his head. An expression of confusion on his face at the analogy that Nessa was trying to offer him. While yes, it was quite visual and could be used to display her discomfort, it was also extremely disgusting. Nessa seemed to agree (a move which would have seemed funny if the situation weren’t so serious) and she switched tactics...

>>”By the time I knew I had to come out to you, I was worried I waited too long. So I kept putting it off. And then I was even more certain I waited too long. I thought I missed the time to tell you. It wasn’t until today that I realized I just had to suck it up. There was never going to be a better time.”

He sighed. Honestly, he did understand it now that she was explaining it. Nessa had always been the one to be let things stay buried. Why bring up what would only hurt? The fact that she lied to him for so long, it did hurt, but as the years piled onto it, there was that notion of why open a closed wound? He understood...but it still left a bevy of questions floating around in his mind.

>> ”I’m sorry, Booker. You’re not like mom and dad. You’re not like anyone. I wish I was not so dumb and scared for so long. I kept a secret from you so I could be in denial. I don’t want to do either of those two things again.”

He didn’t say anything. His gaze drifted back to the city skyline, just watching it as he processed everything that Nessa had just told him. She lied to him because, as time went on, she didn’t know how to tell him the truth. After all, with everything the two of them went through, why risk it all by suddenly admitting that you have been lying about your true nature. Suddenly Booker himself was feel a bit the fool for making her cry so much, but maybe it was a pain that they both needed to endure. Wouldn’t a better brother had just understood and forgiven her with a smile and a laugh? Maybe he wasn’t as good as he thought he was either.

”You’re not dumb…” he said, finally breaking the silence. There was a pause for a few seconds before he continued. ”You’re a dumbass from time to time…” a small bit of added levity to show her that things were getting to being okay again. ”...but you’re not dumb…sis.”

Of course he would forgive her. He was still irked and he still had a lot of questions but at the moment he needed her to know that their relationship was going to be okay. In thinking things over, viewing them from her perspective, he got why she kept quiet for so long. He didn’t fully excuse it though because, really, she should have known better than to keep it from him. But he wouldn’t have been a good brother if he couldn’t at least try to understand his sister’s way of thinking.

He then glanced down to the tacos that she had placed onto the table. A small smirk. ”And those are definitely not vegetarian. Unless that was a lie too?”

Vanessa hoped what she said made sense, first and foremost. She was emotional and frazzled, so it would have been understandable if her logic was incomprehensible. More importantly, she hoped her words were enough for Booker to see, despite her mistakes, Vanessa did not lie because she could not trust him. She was not the most trusting person, but Booker was always an exception to the rule.

The one thing she was sure of was that she used the last of her words. If they did not work, she was at a loss for what to do next. All she could do was look out over the edge of the building alongside her brother, taking in the city that raised them.

When Booker finally spoke, Vanessa was still too cautious to face him. It was nice to know she was not dumb, but it was the way he teased her that caused her ears to perk up. Was he really making a joke?

Out of the corner of her eye, Vanessa caught the smirk on Booker’s lips. She craned her head slightly to get a better look at him, hoping he had not crossed over to the side of anger that prompted spontaneous laughter. Instead, she saw his eyes on the tray of tacos she brought up with her. He looked at her offerings and, sure enough, he made a joke.

She smiled, and she felt fresh tears streaming down her cheek. She knew she was not out of hot water yet; there were a thousand and one questions she owed answers to eventually. It was just nice to know Booker could still joke with her. She would have been miserable if she broke that part of their relationships.

”Not a lie. I mean, I brought the tacos up as a ‘sorry I’m a dumbass’ peace offering,” she admitted, placing extra emphasis on Booker’s previous correction. Of course, she could feel the plight of her stomach persisting, and fish tacos looked beautiful to a hungry mind. ”Then again… this has been one hell of a day…” She looked up and smirked. ”Do they revoke my veggie membership card over one fish taco?”

Booker didn’t want to feel like this towards his sister anymore. There were a lot of feelings to push through, a lot of questions that still needed answering. However, as much as he wanted to tackle everything tonight, he knew that there had to be some space so that the wound could close a little. Deep down, he understood that Nessa wasn’t out to hurt him on purpose; she was just trying to protect herself and it got to the point where she didn’t see the reason in telling him. He was still adamant that he would have taken it fine but he could understand what made her cautious.

A shaky sigh and he kept looking forward. However he wasn’t seeing the city anymore, rather he was just looking ahead, staring through the towering buildings and into an empty void of memories and thoughts. She admitted that she didn’t know anything about Chris, but had she used her abilities before? Had she peeked into other minds that she really had no purpose peeking into? How much control did she have? Did Rebecca know? Did she try to read Juliette’s mind? Those were a lot of questions, some of which he was scared to know the answers to. But right now was not the most ideal time to answer them.

Booker would still need time to process but what he didn’t need to do was leave his sister dangling on the end of a hook. She made a huge risk telling him, especially since there really wasn’t a reason for her to. But it was better than she opened up herself rather than have him find out in some other manner that was without her consent. She didn’t deserve for him to leave her questioning where their relationship was. They were siblings and they had seen a lot in their time; it would take more than two-and-a-half decades worth of lying to permanently damage that.

In the only way he knew how to show her that things were okay, Booker made a joke. A simple one, just a tease in which he got to call her butt stupid, but the added smirk should have been enough to show that things would be okay between them. He was still plenty sore but, hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

>>”Not a lie. I mean, I brought the tacos up as a ‘sorry I’m a dumbass’ peace offering,”

He snorted, a soft one, just to show her that they were okay. Honestly he found it funny that of all the prospective meals that she could have brought up as a peace offering, she made the one thing that he was most susceptible to -- fish tacos. Booker could cook a great many things but the he could never could get fish done just right. He was also surprised that, as a vegetarian, Nessa would make such a thing. The last time she made him meat it was to get him out of the house -- this time she was using it as an apology; he was sensing a disturbing trend here.

>>”Then again… this has been one hell of a day…Do they revoke my veggie membership card over one fish taco?”

He smirked as he turned to her, this time looking at her full on. The evidence of tears and frustration were upon his features, but most were dried now. Instead her gave her a small smile through his words as he nodded to the plate of tacos. ”I think it depends on how many strikes you have. When you hit three, don’t the Vegetarian Police come and sap away all your vegetarian-imbued powers?” Phil Scotsman vs the World -- wasn’t that one of just the best movies? The reference wouldn’t have been lost upon Nessa, further evidence they were good.

Booker invoked the “vegetarian-police” and Vanessa laughed loudly at the imagery. They both loved Phil Scottsman vs the World, even if Booker was always more of a comic book nerd than Vanessa. The scene with the “third evil ex” losing his powers came up often when Vanessa’s vegetarianism came up, even if she pointed out the flaw in Booker’s logic every time.

”May I remind you, those were vegan police. And as I clearly keep proving, I am not strong enough to ascend to that level of ‘better than everyone else.’ I don’t have the strength of character to be vegan.” Vanessa grabbed one of the delicious tacos, making sure to keep all the goodness contained in the flour tortilla. ”Ovo-lacto vegetarian, maybe. Or, you know, pescatarian now.” She hoped the fish would forgive her one day, but she had been doomed by a taco craving since the food trucks she came across on the Fourth of July.

Vanessa bit into the taco, savoring the complex, layered flavors as she lost her vegetarian citizenship. She enjoyed the taste and the breeze that came when one was up so high in the city. She looked back out at the city, feeling the happiness and optimism returning to the world before her once again. She told someone about her powers and, while it did not go smoothly, she did survive it. Vanessa was lucky to have a brother like Booker, and she had to make an effort to remind him of that more.

As an act of affection, Vanessa lightly elbowed Booker’s shoulder, smiling. ”Hey. Thank you.” She did not need to explain her thanks. Booker was the smart one; she was sure he knew. That did not mean she was done. ”I love you, bro.” There; the words felt more important when she was so recently worried she would never get to say them again.

”I mean, almost as much as these fish tacos, at least.”

For as cliched as it sounded, the healing could finally begin. Booker had been dealt a rather low blow this evening, even though he knew that that was not Nessa intention. Still, the secret that she had reveal was shocking enough that Booker could hardly keep his head on straight. Honestly he didn’t know what to expect from the days that would follow. Nessa was suddenly a mutant, she had lied to him for years, kept part of her a secret because she didn’t know how to let it go, that alone should have been enough to break any relationship -- and yet here they were, a testament to the notion that they could survive what others couldn’t.

It felt good to smile again, even if it was small and just a shadow of the joy that Booker would normally express. For anyone else it would have seemed like a drastic change but for these two, right now, it was just the stepping stone that they needed.

Teasing her about betraying her vegetarian ways, and explaining what happens to those who do, via movies anyways, Booker had to laugh when Nessa seemed ready to take on the defensive.

>>”May I remind you, those were vegan police. And as I clearly keep proving, I am not strong enough to ascend to that level of ‘better than everyone else.’ I don’t have the strength of character to be vegan...Ovo-lacto vegetarian, maybe. Or, you know, pescatarian now.”

He sighed and shook his head, stifling another small smirk. ”Sorry, that was a lot of hipster words thrown at me at once.”

Another chuckle and he sighed. As she reached down to take a taco, Booker took a calming breath, finally moving from his spot as he leaned down to snatch up one of the tacos from the platter. Really it did smell absolutely wonderful so, taking it in hand, he lifted it up and took a bite. A ”Mmm” rolled out from his throat between bites; it really was that good. As the siblings enjoys the amazing meal, Booker took a second think. Under all the jokes and sarcasm, he had to admit that that was a close one. Really, it could have been the last time the two of them spoke and that was a terrible thought to think.

>> ”Hey. Thank you...I love you, bro.”

Interrupted from his thoughts, he looked up to Nessa who gave him a soft smile. He nodded his head in agreement. He was glad things didn’t turn out for the worst. ”I love you too.”

>>”I mean, almost as much as these fish tacos, at least.”

He snorted between bites. ”Kidding me? If I could drop you and adopt these as my new baby sister, I would.”

Chapter Four: Giving Friends Thanks on Thanks-Friends-giving

So the Bookman’s has a particular tradition when it came to Thanksgiving. Given the fact that neither of them really spoke to their family anymore, that meant that Thanksgiving with “family” had to be a term that expanded beyond just the two of them. While it was more than fine to spend the holiday just together, both Booker and Nessa’s jobs had afforded them chances to meet with some truly amazing people who may as well actually be family. So why not take the holiday to celebrate them?

It was an annual affair that grew steadily over the years. Friends were invited to come over whenever they pleased and, for the most part, the Bookmans actually ended up with a fully house. It seemed that most of them, like the Bookmans, were somewhat outcasts and preferred the company of friends rather than family. That was fine with the siblings as they preferred to be surrounded by their loved ones as much as possible on some an amazing day.

Booker, of course, had plans to be in the kitchen all day. As much as he enjoyed sitting around, drinking and laughing with all of his friends, the truth was that on this day he absolutely loved to be in the kitchen. It was here that he was in his truest element, moving about like a blur as he set about timing and making everything as perfect as he possibly could. Of course that didn’t mean that things didn’t happen on occasion. Biscuits were burnt, turkey came out dry, or carefully prepared and sauteed vegetables would miraculously just vanish without a trace (though he had a likely suspect for that one). But, despite any of the shortcomings, it never got him down. At the end of the day, he was where he wanted to be, with the people he wanted to be with.

His day would start early. His alarm going off in the early morning hours, Booker showered and dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and padded out into the kitchen in his softest slippers (he would be standing for awhile so comfortable feet were important). Wiggling his toes in the confines of his footwear, Booker set about his day, not bothering to wake Nessa. She would join him when she was ready so, in the meantime, he would get as much prep done that he could at the early hour and it would prove fruitful for him.

Booker actually got a surprising amount done. His maple-bacon turkey was already looking amazing and he carefully set it in the oven for it to begin cooking. With that done, he could start working on the made-from-scratch biscuits that he made every year. He only hoped that their golden deliciousness (spiked with a tinge of honey as well) wouldn’t be too much of an allure for Nessa. He was doing well so far with no food disappearing and he really wanted it to stay that way.

Setting the first tray of biscuits into the oven, Booker turned and started to prep the next run when the phone rang. After he reached over and tapped the answer button, he set it in the crook of his neck and spoke into the receiver. ”Hello?” He paused and then smiled. ”Dor! Good morning! Happy Turkey day!” He chuckled. ”Of course we’re still on for Friends-giving! Come over whenever you like! We’ll be going all day.” he nodded. ”Oh definitely. We can catch up. You know, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about Nessa...yeah...yeah totally. Totally pain in the butt. OH YEAH. I would have fired her years ago too.”

Once upon a time, Thanksgiving was Vanessa’s favorite holiday. Numerous personal faults aside, her parents knew how to make a delicious spread. Booker (and, to a lesser extent, Vanessa) got their cooking talents right from their parents, and nothing beat the symphony of scents flooding from the kitchen when that magical Thursday rolled around.

More than the food, Vanessa really loved the message of the holiday: gather with the people who matter and appreciate what you have in your life. It was a heartwarming feeling when your family actually loved you, but after being abandoned by her parents, Vanessa briefly fell out of love with the day that had become a painful reminder.

She tried to avoid saying it to his face, but like many other things in her life, Booker fixed Thanksgiving. As their lives developed more stability and even Vanessa started crafting a social life of her own, they started the tradition of hosting “Friendsgiving” and, in proper Booker fashion, it was an all-day event. The boy could certainly make a shindig special. And indeed, Thanksgiving had somehow become special to Vanessa again after so many years.

Booker always took the lead with cooking, but Vanessa was not going to spend the whole day pretending she was a guest. As the resident pescatarian, she left things like turkey, ham, and beef wellington to him. Vanessa helped her brother with some of the sides and she handled some of the more oddball requested foods.

Obviously with her dietary restrictions, Vanessa would take the lead on things like baked lobster, crab cake stuffed mushrooms, and grilled salmon salad. Beyond her own tastes, they had a few special requests for the year. For Booker’s library friend who grew up eating take-out with her sister every Thanksgiving, there would be Vegetarian lo mein. For Vince, Vanessa’s foul-mouthed Jersey coworker, she would make plenty of baked ziti. The Bookman siblings went to great lengths to make sure all their misfit friends felt welcome because they knew that mattered.

People usually did not start dropping in until the afternoon rolled around, and as the one who did not have to painstakingly take care of a turkey, Vanessa could sleep in a little later than her brother. Eventually she rolled out of bed, donning black leggings and a loose-fitting forest green top. Slipping on some faux-fur-lined moccasins, she made her way into the hallway toward the kitchen.

As expected, Booker was already hard at work and the evidence was wafting through every empty space in the house. The scents were alluring, but not enough to keep her from overhearing Booker’s uncalled for conversation with her coworker. Taking quiet steps closer, Vanessa grabbed Booker’s phone-holding hand and shouted, ”Dory, if you’re gonna talk sh*t, then get your color-changing ass over here!”

Hearty laughter could be heard from the phone’s speaker as Vanessa walked toward the fridge to get to her ingredients, leaving the two men to finish up their chat. With how packed the fridge got leading up to Thanksgiving, it was nice to let Booker go first to make everything else easier to access. Life had a rhythm, and Vanessa was pretty sure she had Thanksgiving’s rhythm down pat.

When she eventually heard Booker end his call, Vanessa jokingly chastised, ”Don’t forget those are my friends, jerk. I won’t have this nonsense of you turning them against me. The POW Block Party doesn’t need a Thanksgiving Mutiny.”

Booker smirked a little when he heard the soft padding of feet that slipped down the hallway. He knew that eventually he would be joined by his sister and the telltale sounds of her slippers were a dead giveaway as to who was coming, even without him needing to look up to greet her. No, instead, in sibling fashion, Booker would say his good mornings in the best way that he knew how -- by playing up a scenario in which he and one of her co-workers were plotting the demise of her career. Honestly, was there a better way to wake up in the morning? He doubted it.

Of course Nessa wasn’t one to let such a opening move go unanswered. While she walked into the room, Booker didn’t acknowledge her but rather continued to chuckle into the phone, talking about what a horrendous worker that his sister was and how she should be replaced by something talented, amazing, and knew how bake the most stellar chocolate chip cookies in the world. Dori was sweet enough to play along -- until the phone was snatched from Booker’s hand by his loving sister.

>>”Dory, if you’re gonna talk sh*t, then get your color-changing ass over here!”

Nessa smiled, handed the phone back to him, to which Booker smiled sweetly in return and reclaimed the phone. Once again he nestled the phone in the crook of his neck and continued his conversation, chatting with Dori about when he would possibly come by, what he was allowed to bring (because, seriously, Booker was throwing himself into all the cooking), and reminded Dori to bring back his copy of Disgraced 2.

”Yeah! Yeah yeah! Of course!” he said with a chuckle. ”Yup that achievement is a bitch. But don’t worry, I’ll show you a quick way to get it. Alright! Okay! See you!” A tap of the button and Booker returned the phone to the receiver where he proceeded to whistle to himself and poured out another series of biscuit dough into the pan. While most would have engaged in conversation with his sibling, he knew that he wouldn’t have to. Nessa would take care of it in three...two...one...

>>”Don’t forget those are my friends, jerk. I won’t have this nonsense of you turning them against me. The POW Block Party doesn’t need a Thanksgiving Mutiny.”

"And a good morning to you too." he said with an earnest smile.

Booker snerked a bit, finally turning around to face his sister as she started to pull ingredients from her fridge. He draped a hand towel splotched with batter onto his shoulder as he crossed his arms over his chest. Nessa didn’t have to help out, she knew that he could handle this all on his own if he wanted to, but she was rarely the type to let other people do for her. Besides, Nessa’s particular dietary restrictions meant that she didn’t want to put anyone out or make things complicated, so she would be fixing alternative dishes to the majority of the main courses and sides. But, there was on, that Booker had silently agreed to do on her behalf.

He gave her a shrug. ”And I'm not causing any mutiny. I mean, I’m just saying, if they wanted to twice the Bookman for the price of one…” he stretched out his arms, gesturing towards himself with a grin. He was quite a bit taller and heftier than her, after all. Of course he wasn’t being serious, it was all in good fun. ”But seriously, he said he’d drop by a bit after two. Some other errands he has to handle first.” He shrugged a bit and turned back to his biscuits. Nessa would probably be looking for her lobsters, to which he had to interject. ”And, just so you don’t drive yourself crazy, I’ve confiscated your bottom dwelling sea bugs. So you can quit looking for them.”

It was nice that Vanessa’s work friends liked her brother. It was no surprise, really; everyone liked Booker. He was like a Labrador in human form. Ever since they were kids, Booker had a way with people that his little sister lacked. Vanessa wanted to blame it on not knowing she was trans, but even after starting her life over as the woman she always was, she still had roughly the same social skills. She got better at talking to girls, but her ability to cultivate friendships was limited to the right kinds of people.

Thankfully, she worked with the right people and she was not petty enough to want to keep them to herself. Booker understood that she was joking and replied to her stern greeting with chipper indifference. Booker could be friends with every person Vanessa worked with and it; she was used to it and it often gave her a social buffer when she needed it. The fact that her coworkers were trying to convince Booker to play the Dungeon Master on their upcoming D&D show was a different, more upsetting matter, but it was good to know the various aspects of her life played nicely together.

”Do you think they can handle twice the Bookman? If our exes are any evidence, it might be enough to drive someone mad.” Okay, it was more a joke than anything else. Shelby was insanely well put together, Chloe was a bit spacey and odd but sweet, and Spencer… well, Spencer was the way she was long before encountering the Bookman siblings.

Vanessa was gathering her ingredients, but one thing seemed out of place. She did not have a photographic memory, but she did know where she carefully left the lobsters in her fridge. On cue, Booker pointed out that he already had them out of the fridge, prompting an eye roll. ”What’s this? Holding my dinner hostage as some protest toward my pescatarianism? I can’t tell if this is supposed to push me to your precious turkey or back to fancy tofu.”

Booker actually liked Nessa’s coworkers. Every last one of them were the salt of the earth people. Not only because they were good people, but they treated his sister right. They took a chance on her when no one else would and they were there for her almost as much as he was. of course they had their own squabbles here and there, but Booker knew that they were the family, beyond him, that she always wanted. For that he couldn’t have been more grateful for them as they helped to remind him the world was worth it.

That was why Friendsgiving was set up. It was a chance for the two of them to meet with everyone whom they cared about, the people who they really believed to by their family. That was all the Bookman siblings would ever need.

Of course that didn’t mean that some good hearted jesting wasn’t called for. Though Booker didn’t have the same internet presence that Nessa did, he did manage to help produce a number of excellent quality videos with his sister at his side. And the number of fan emails he would get, as disturbing as some could be, were actually numerous and quite sweet. Some fans absolutely loved having him appear in special POW Block Party videos and it was something that Booker liked to toss into his sister’s face from time to time.

>>”Do you think they can handle twice the Bookman? If our exes are any evidence, it might be enough to drive someone mad.”

He snorted. ”Come on, that’s unfair,” he said, turning back to his biscuits. ”Really the only one unhinged was Spencer and that Liberty Bell was cracked long before she showed up in our lives.”

A grin on his lips, he turned away and slipped the last tray of biscuits into the oven before he moved on to the next in his long list of things to do for the day. As he set to work, he caught Nessa out of the corner of his eye, peering into the fridge, looking for something which had clearly grown legs and crawled its way out of the ice box and on its way to freedom. He said nothing at first, merely observing her looking before he finally quelled her curiosity, admitting that they were gone.

>> ”What’s this? Holding my dinner hostage as some protest toward my pescatarianism? I can’t tell if this is supposed to push me to your precious turkey or back to fancy tofu.”

Booker respected everyone, including their eating habits. but at the mention of tofu, he had to feign retching a little bit. He was willing to try most anything, but tofu was really where he drew the line. He didn’t know if it was the taste, the consistency, or what, but it was certainly not one of his favorites. However, for as teasing and joking as Booker could be, he A.) wasn’t one to waste food, and B.) did love his sister.

He sighed and shook his head as he turned to gathering the ingredients of his homemade cranberry sauce into the slow cooker. ”For as diabolical as you think I may act concerning your ‘questionable’ commitment to dietary constraints,” he said as he looked to her and then nodded to sink. ”You’ll be happy to know that I’ve actually already started prep work on your aflamed aquatic arachnids.”

Despite her introverted nature, Vanessa was glad she found a way to avoid becoming a total hermit. When she still struggled with self-confidence, it was easy to hide behind video games. It was the people in her life who brought her out of her comfort zone and they turned her into the self-assured woman she became. Booker was a huge part of that and their friends deserved plenty of credit as well, so Friendsgiving was a chance to appreciate them all.

As expected, Booker took the opportunity to defend two of their exes and absolve the idea that they were to blame for Spencer. ”Oh, true. So you’re saying I was not supposed to invite Spence today?” She chuckled, but stopped when she remembered that Spencer was no joking matter. ”I promise I did not invite Spencer today,” she added seriously. After her last entanglement, and especially with Gina in the picture, Spencer was blocked on everything. If there was a way to super-block someone, Vanessa would have done it.

Vanessa pulled out a pot of red sauce she had prepared the day before. Vince would have given her grief if her sauce was anything but homemade and, while she could very easily tell him to shove it and make his own ziti, Friendsgiving was a time for generosity and not telling friends to shove it. ”I did throw out invites to Shelb and Chlo, though. Have no clue if they’re even in state, but yeah. Hope you haven’t pissed off our exes in the last year or two?” Vanessa had no reason not to extend the courtesy to their first two shared ex-girlfriends because, all things considered, things ended amicably. To her knowledge, they were all still friends.

Bringing up tofu brought up Booker’s typical response and Vanessa did not judge, though she did roll her eyes. Tofu was not bad, but it was a weird food to look at and touch. Something about food cubes was vaguely unsettling. She was pleasantly surprised to see her lobster prep work handled. ”Look at you in the Friendsgiving spirit!”

Knowing some work was already done on the lobsters, and still a little squeamish about the lobster cooking process, Vanessa stalled by getting her other tasks ready. She had accepted that people had a certain place in the food chain, but she still had her objections about the inhumane conditions of most livestock and food industries. Lobster was a touchy middle-ground; she got them from a spot known for freshly caught seafood so there was no farm of overcrowded lobsters, but at the same time, Lobster was not one of the animals someone else killed for her. She needed to figure out if she even had it in her to make her own meal.

In the meantime, she could talk to Booker about more pleasant things! ”So, who’s coming from the library today? I feel like I haven’t had the time to drop in lately. I hope news of my new relationship did not devastate Lexi too badly.” Her delivery was appropriately melodramatic. Lexi was a bit of a screw-up but she had a good heart, so somehow Booker found it in him to keep her around. She made a habit of flirting with Nessa despite being straight, at least according to what she said. Nessa did not make a big deal of it; some people just liked harmless fun and it was not like she had never cheekily flirted with a guy before.

>>”Oh, true. So you’re saying I was not supposed to invite Spence today? I promise I did not invite Spencer today,”

He could have gotten away with decking his sister. Really he could have. Spencer was a natural disaster and while the man had managed to get a good long while from her, Nessa had been the one to last bring her into their lives. And, as predicted, the woman was a goddamn hurricane. Nessa didn’t talk about that weekend and Booker wasn’t going to ask questions. So long as Spencer was gone and, hopefully, his sister learned her lesson, he was fine with just letting that particular name stay buried. Of course it didn’t help matters that Nessa had to tease him.

Fist raised, he narrowed his eyes threateningly towards her and she admitted that she was only joking. Really it was a cruel joke and he would have to get her back for it later.

>> ”I did throw out invites to Shelb and Chlo, though. Have no clue if they’re even in state, but yeah. Hope you haven’t pissed off our exes in the last year or two?”

The threat of Spencer evaporating, Booker snorted and turned back to his crockpot. ”As much as you like to think that I burn the bridges leading away from my past amours left and right, it’s simply not true.” He gave her a sly smile as he started to mix in the orange juice. ”Shelby is still in the state. She forwards me funny memes on MyFace every now and again. Chloe I haven’t heard from since...last year?” He offered a shrug. ”She was really getting into a new relationship but I dunno what happened after that.”

It wasn’t unknown for the Bookmans to keep track of exes. Given their history with someone like Spencer, it was good to know where certain people were, especially your enemies. Of course they had their own reasons for keeping tabs. Booker was just naturally friendly and wasn’t one to ever really cut ties unless said person deserved it, but Nessa, well, she was friendly too but she was also naturally inclined to need a flirting partner time and again. Gina was changing all that, thank god, but it seemed that old habits died hard.

When inevitable the question came up about Nessa’s lobsters, Booker couldn’t help but have a little fun with her. He didn’t have a problem with the sea creatures, just Nessa making excuses as to why she was suddenly consuming animals. It was all very convenient, wasn’t it? And, every now and again, he liked to remind her of that fact.

But...the man wasn’t a monster. He also wasn’t wasteful, which was why he took it upon himself to prep his sister’s meal contribution himself. Besides, he knew she was still squeamish about certain preparations that needed to be done, namely the slaying of said undersea bug. Booker, thankfully, wasn’t so terrified of said actions and committed them with ease. Teasingly she would accuse him of being a murderer but, considering that she was going to be eating its corpse, it was clear that they were both mentally disturbed.

>>. ”Look at you in the Friendsgiving spirit!”

He rolled his eyes as he started to zest some orange peels into the cranberry sauce. ”No need to be that surprised.”

>> ”So, who’s coming from the library today? I feel like I haven’t had the time to drop in lately. I hope news of my new relationship did not devastate Lexi too badly.”

He snorted again. Ah Lexi. His special project. The girl was extremely sweet but she also had problems in working in the library. She was one of his slowest workers, frequently caught on her phone, but tended to make up for it by working extra hard in response. Now, if only he could train her to work and not keep looking at her phone and that damn forum all the time, she could be a model employee! Oh, and she also tended to flirt with Nessa, despite claiming that she was “straight”.

”Oh no worries. Lexi is being Lexi. I invited her but she’s seeing family today,” he explained. ”But…” he winced a little at this. ”...I did invite...Paula…”

So Paula was Brazilian, around Booker’s age, spoke with a heavy accent, and had a body that any woman would die for. She was always so sunny and happy and she made a perfect addition to the library. Of course the fiery woman seemed to still be having trouble with “appropriate” work clothing, preferring low cut, or blouses that were unbuttoned just one button too far. The staff dealt with that since she was an amazing librarian, but, understandable, Nessa was putty in her hands whenever she so much as spoke to her.

Booker offered Nessa a sheepish smile. ”Sorry. She overheard me inviting Agatha and...well...I couldn’t really tell her no, now could it?” It didn’t help that Paula was often seen dating both men and women. Huh...they had a lot of rainbow-aligned friends didn’t they?

Bringing up Spencer was not cool; Nessa recognized it quickly after she spoke the words. Booker was kind enough not to grill her after Hurricane Spencer blew into town, seduced her, and convinced her to visit a tattoo parlor before she left town. Nessa did not want to divulge to her brother that she was such silly putty in Spencer’s hands, she was convinced to get her nipples pierced. Some stories did not need to be shared with her brother and that was definitely one.

When she backed down from the joke, Booker put down the fist he jokingly threatened her with to focus on their other exes. They were both on good terms with Shelby and Chloe, but they were all adults with their own busy lives. ”In my defense, Shelby can be hard to pin down. With how she travels for work,” she added hastily, realizing how her initial comment could be interpreted.

While Shelby was generally focused and grounded, Chloe was anything but. ”Yeah, that girl didn’t pan out. Things started all rainbows and fireworks, but when I caught up with her for coffee last month, it was over. They tried living together and she claimed ‘their domestic energies did not mesh well,’ or something. I’m betting it’s because Chloe doesn’t wash dishes.” Why clean when there was art to be created, after all?

It was very true that Vanessa left the door open in the past for exes to… well, regress with. Nostalgia was a powerful aphrodisiac that allowed one to temporarily forget why round one failed. It had been a while since she tried that with Shelby and Chloe though; they were finally at the point where they could be adult friends with minimal flirting.

Lexi was also relegated to minimal flirting given her supposed “straightness,” but one person never got the hang of minimal. Indeed, there was nothing minimal about Paula DeAlmeida. From her body to her personality, there was plenty going on and for a long time, she was the kind of kryptonite that made Nessa weak when she visited the Library.

Nessa took a breath to steel her nerves. She was going to swoon when Paula walked in. That was inevitable, but it would be the one concession. ”No. No, I’m glad you invited her if she has nowhere else to be. I can handle a tall Brazilian goddess. I have Gina now and honestly, I think that’ll make this okay. Less weird, at least.” Being in a relationship did not make Nessa blind, but it did put things into perspective. Paula was steamy and sexy, but so was Gina, and they had something special Nessa did not want to screw up. ”I can be friends with Paula like a real, honest adult without turning into a puddle. I mean, Dori had that huge crush on you and you managed to remain friends,” she pointed out, bringing the pot for pasta to a boil.

Ah the Bookman exes. There were few families that had this problem and most would problem view it as a serious problem. However, it wasn’t done intentionally, it was just that the siblings had similar tastes in females. The only exes that Booker knew were safe from Nessa’s clutches were the few men that he had had dated, but other than that, they surprisingly ran in the same circles. Shelby and Chloe (we don’t talk about Spencer) were good people so an invite was to be expected. Of course, that is if either of them could be found. Realistically, how long do you remain friends with your ex?

A snicker fell from his lips as he worked on his cranberry sauce. Chloe was certainly the type to blame the cosmos for her lack of doing dishes. He couldn’t count on his hands the number of times she tried to tell him the same thing about doing laundry, though with food it was very, very different.

He sighed. ”I dunno,” he started to zest orange peel into the sauce. ”You know Chloe. The second she gets a whiff of free food, all the stars and planets are in alignment, presenting the perfect tranquil space for her to dine and share space.”

Chloe was a character, much like everyone who would be joining them throughout the day -- including the epitome of “Sexy Librarian” that was Paula.

Booker did actually feel a little bad about inviting Paula over to Friendsgiving. Not because she was a bad person, she couldn’t be sweeter, but because he knew the failings of his very own sister. Nessa was by no means a cheater (having gone through it herself) but she did suffer from a chronic ailment of “Foot-In-Mouth” disease that only flared up whenever she was around a pretty woman. Gina was gorgeous in her own right, but Nessa was only human and Paula, well, there were theories that she was a demigod of some kind because, seriously, no one is that naturally that gorgeous.

>> ”No. No, I’m glad you invited her if she has nowhere else to be. I can handle a tall Brazilian goddess. I have Gina now and honestly, I think that’ll make this okay. Less weird, at least...I can be friends with Paula like a real, honest adult without turning into a puddle. I mean, Dori had that huge crush on you and you managed to remain friends,”

He had to admit that his sister sounded pretty damn mature. He really did hope that she could do it. He liked Gina and while Paula probably wouldn’t be the type to get into anything long term right now, Nessa didn’t need the temptation of hot-and-heavy, one-time only weekend to mess things up with her and her gray-skinned paramour. She was better than that and now she was proving it. He would still feel bad for tossing said forbidden fruits in front of her, but he was glad to hear that she would going to handle it in a mature manner.

However, something about what she said made his pause. His eyebrow arched as he straightened up, tilting his head, and turning back to face his sister. Dori had a thing for him? While most people were good and picking up those subtle signs of someone being attracted to them, Booker rarely was. Maybe his viewpoint was too innocent, maybe despite all his intelligence he really wasn’t smart at all, but it was clearly news to him.

Eyeing his sister, he gave her a confused look as he responded to her comment. ”Dori had a crush on me?”