Winnie was either stubborn or a skeptic, or maybe even a stubborn skeptic. Vanessa laid out Winnie’s thoughts step-by-step and the Brit handwaved the display by creating the false memory of a different conversation. Winnie did not tell Vanessa about the incident because she knew it was something to never speak of for both their sakes. There was no day where Winnie “told her that story,” and she knew it.

After Vanessa outed herself, Winnie’s thoughts almost stalled. She was trying to piece together the logic of something she could not explain logically. Vanessa was not used to coming out as a mutant, but she should have expected that such a big revelation would have come with denial. It was just like coming out the first time; her parents were convinced it was not true and that Vanessa was just going through a phase. Winnie was making sense of something to pretend that her life was not being changed, and her best friend being psychic was a life-changing event.

Winnie was trying to retreat into her video game, but Vanessa was having none of her attempted deflection. She used both hands to grab Winnie by the sides of her head. With her fingers firmly locked in short dirty blonde hair, Vanessa turned Winnie to face her again. ”Winnie. Dammit. Listen.” Vanessa caught Winnie’s immediate thought in her eyes and groaned. ”And no. I’m not your senpai. Don’t make this weird.” Vanessa could already feel the heat of blood flooding to her cheeks.

”You didn’t tell me that story. I just heard that story. I wish I didn’t, but I definitely did.” Vanessa sighed and kept her eyes locked on with Winnie. Even with all the alcohol in her system, she was conscious enough to keep her voice down when talking about her powers. ”I’m telethapic. Telecatic. Telepathic.” She got there eventually, though she was disappointed that her drunkenness would ruin an otherwise serious moment. ”I can read thoughts. I’m a mutant, Win.”

Winnie was pretty drunk. Well, she was pretty all the time, but she was fairly drunk down now, which was the point that she was trying to mentally make. Whatever fantastical tale Nessa was trying to feed her was absolutely failing. Even if Nessa were telling the truth, the young photographer wasn’t going to be allowing herself to accept anything she said at face value. After all, they were in competition (for some reason) and that meant that she needed to keep on top of her game. She couldn't let Nessa's fanciful tales distract her; she was in it to win it.

However has Winnie tried to get back into her game she found she was immediately distracted by the fact that her friend had suddenly moved closer, placing her hands on either side of her face and pulling in for a deep look into her eyes. This was certainly not a move that the photographer was expecting especially not from her friend who is in a confirmed relationship. And yet here she was face-to-face, nose-to-nose staring into those deep brown eyes that didn't shut away from her. It seems that her evening had taken a turn that she in no way could have expected.

Stumblr had a meme that instantly came to Winnie mind. It was actually quite disturbing when you thought about it, the picture was a hand drawing of two eyes placed over a USB port looking terrified off into the distance. This image was only made more disturbing by the fact that when you plug the USB into the port made it appear to be gagging on something best left to the imagination. This image was further scandalized by the addition of another drawing of the USB being pulled from the port and in very soft letters the blushing port uttered the word “Senpai” very softly.

She couldn't help but wonder if this is what was in store for her; if she was about to be scandalized in a similar fashion and made a immortal and some meme that would be traveling through the internet. It was because of that when she looked into Nessa's eyes that the only thing that she could think of, the only word that would rebound in her head, was very simple word the same that she saw at the bottom of that cartoon...Senpai.

However, just as the word came to her mind, not once uttered, she was suddenly absent of Nessa's firm grasp and shunned away. Nessa blushed, couldn't meet Winnie's eyes, and yet she still managed to find a voice through her drunken haze; a voice that said...

>>”Winnie. Dammit. Listen. And no. I’m not your senpai. Don’t make this weird.”

She froze. Did Nessa really just say that? It was almost as if she reached into her mind and pluck the very thought out of her head, like a teacher snagging a note that was being passed around class. She blushed a little, so did Winnie, and the pair of them just looked over one another as closely as possible. Winnie felt her mouth going dry as the realization of what was happening was slowly beginning to dawn upon her hazy mind.

>>”You didn’t tell me that story. I just heard that story. I wish I didn’t, but I definitely did...I’m telethapic. Telecatic. Telepathic...I can read thoughts. I’m a mutant, Win.”

Winnie stared at Nessa for a bit, almost too shocked for words. Granted she didn’t know Nessa that long but she had figured that she had known the other woman long enough to be able to know certain things about her. The fact that she was admitting to being a mutant was beginning to make the fumes clear from Winnie’s brain. She stared at her for a long while before she reached up, removing Nessa’s hands from her face and leaned back.

Sitting next to her, Winnie blinked slowly, her mental capabilities slowly churning, but churning nonetheless. When, finally, she decided on something to say, she turned her eyes back to Nessa and just shook her head.

”You’re...a mutant...that can read minds…” she mumbled in a low voice. ”And...I...I TURN INTO A F**KING KIWI!?” Though she shouted, it wasn’t out of anger, just sheer frustration as she flopped back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. ”There’s no justice in the world.”

It was easy to see the moment of recognition in Winnie’s face when the reality of the situation hit. Vanessa did not need her powers to tell her that Winnie believed her, but she had them and as long as the two maintained eye contact, those powers would be on autopilot. Winnie realized the only way Vanessa could comment on her thoughts was if she could read them. After a bout of denial, Winnie reached the conclusion on her own, but Vanessa had to confess anyway. She needed to tell her best friend the truth.

For a few seconds, Winnie and Vanessa just sat there. The moment stood perfectly still and Vanessa did not realize she was still holding Winnie’s face until they were pulled away. Before they broke eye contact, she saw how Winnie considered how long they had been friends without knowing the truth about Vanessa.

Just like with Booker, it felt like the fate of a friendship was hanging in the balance. Unlike the first time, Vanessa was drunk, so if things went south there would be loud sobbing and begging. Vanessa could be obnoxious; she did not have enough friends like Winnie to squander one without a fight.

After a small eternity, Winnie looked back to Vanessa. She reiterated what Vanessa already admitted and then promptly pitched an absolute fit about her own powers. Vanessa had to cover her mouth with both hands because she knew she could still be in trouble, but the urge to laugh was too strong. A snort escaped before she stifled herself.

Winnie’s frustration seemed to be focused on the disparity between their powers, but it was still too early for Vanessa to assume there was none left for her. ”I’m really sorry for never saying anything. I should have. I’m working on it.” Nervous words were just spilling out of Vanessa’s mouth. ”You’re my best bestie and I promise I tried not to read your mind to much, it just kind of happens sometimes because you have pretty eyes.”

Winnie usually took bad news pretty well. She knew to smile and to act nice, especially if it was news that someone was struggling to share. She didn’t want to seem as crass or uncaring, so the young woman usually had a good enough rapport with people, despite the fact that she could come off as a bitch from time to time. Right now was not Winnie’s finest point; she was drunk, she sensitive, and she was hanging out with her bestie which meant that she could hardly keep her mouth under control. Really, being around Nessa just had this effect on her where she really couldn’t be bothered to keep herself under check.

After all, there were certain freedom that were supposed to be inherent when hanging out with your bestie. For Winnie, it was being allowed to have the mouth of a sailor and a slightly diminished filter.

But this was something all-together. Winnie had always prided herself on being the mutant of the two girls. Even if her powers were utterly lame, she at least could pride herself in being part of an exclusive club. Nessa was LUCKY to have a mutant bestie...even if she had been sleeping with one less than a year ago. Ahem. But that was besides the point! They were friends and Nessa was supposed to be slightly jealous of her being a mutant! Those were the rules!

And now, the rules were thrown out the window. Her alcohol addled mind wanted to make up stories, that she had already told Nessa about the incident with Booker (pridefully) but deep down she knew it wasn’t true. It was a fact that attained even more reality when Nessa plucked a few more thoughts out of her, including that infamous phrase, ‘Senpai’, which had seemingly caused both women to blush before turning away.

So it was true. Nessa was a mutant. AND she could read thoughts? Just how f**ked up was that? Not only was she not the only hottest mutant in the room, she was now the one with the lamest abilities? Ugh! Again. No justice.

It was Nessa’s poor attempts to keep from laughing. Winnie probably should have felt just a little insulted by that but the alcohol in her system was tickling her ribs in just the right spot that she started to giggle before she finally just grabbed a pillow and shoved it over her own face.

>>”I’m really sorry for never saying anything. I should have. I’m working on it...You’re my best bestie and I promise I tried not to read your mind to much, it just kind of happens sometimes because you have pretty eyes.”

”Oh f**k off,” Winnie replied with good-natured tinged with jealousy.

However, with the pillow over her face, her comment came off more as ”Mmph foomp omph,” than anything that was coherent. She really just wanted to slink down and allow herself to fall into the darkness to never resurface. BUT, there was still something that kept her going...the fact that she was going to have a hot date with a waitress after this. So, if she had to, she would force herself to live.

Lifting the pillow off her face, she tilted her head to look at Nessa was trying to be apologetic for lying to her. Winnie pouted a little, gave a little wave with her free hand so that Nessa could lean down and snuggle in close to her: a sign that her apology was accepted. But, before Nessa could lay her head down, Winnie swung with her free arm and smacked the telepath on her head with the pillow that she had used to cover her face mere moments ago.

ThumP!

”That’s for lying,” she grumbled. She then hit again. ”And that’s for trying to upstage me as ‘hottest mutant’.”

When Vanessa told Booker about her mutation, she knew it would not go well and she thought she knew what to expect. She had experience with telling people things they could react poorly toward. Coming out to her parents was painful because she could hear the hurtful thoughts in their heads, but nothing was surprising. By the time she chose to leave home, Vanessa knew she was ready to deal with the consequences of excommunicating her parents from her life.

All that did not prepare her for the hurt in Booker’s eyes when she told him the truth. Vanessa had grown distant from her parents over the years, but Booker was an integral part of her life. Seeing him so wounded was a reminder of why she could not keep secrets from the people who actually mattered to her.

Winnie was not Booker, and the girls had known each other for only a few years, but she still mattered. After barely scraping by with her sibling, the concern that Winnie could hate her or never forgive her was weighing heavily on Vanessa. Alcohol did not help.

Winnie started laughing into a pillow and Vanessa had never been happier to hear someone laugh. She told Vanessa to f**k off (she assumed,) but that was entirely in character for Winnie. She could feel tears forming in her eyes when Winnie signaled for her to get close. Happiness hit her so suddenly, she left herself trusting and unguarded.

Overjoyed naivety was met with a pillow to the head. It did not hurt, but Vanessa still replied with an, ”Ow!” on instinct. A second, whinier, ”Ooooow,” followed the second strike, which she received for the silliest of reasons.

Having taken her lumps, Vanessa cautiously found her place at Winnie’s side, cuddling up close. She would have to make a mental note to tell Gina about the night just in case some nosey fanboy decided to go to the internet with incriminating photos. Vanessa and Winnie were familiar with friendly, innocent cuddling, but onlookers would be less aware of the intent. It was going to be more difficult to tell Gina about the evening when she would have to dance around the topic of why things got so emotional. With her brother and her best friend now in the know, Vanessa had to consider where she was in her relationship with Gina.

Brushing away a tear on Winnie’s arm, Vanessa smiled. ”I mean, you could look at it as me letting you be the hottest mutant. And it’s still a close call. I think Gina’s still rocking the top spot, but I’m willing to agree to a tie for second.” Vanessa was not just telling her friend what she thought she wanted to hear; Winnie was, and would likely always be, one of the most gorgeous women she had ever known, mutant or not. ”And I think I know a certain waitress who would definitely cast her vote for you.”

She giggled at the idea that she was suddenly the “hottest mutant,” but when her laughter died down, she looked more sincerely toward Winnie, trying to avoid direct eye contact. ”So you’re still my bestie?”

>>”Ow! Ooooow,”

Nessa grumbled in mock pain. Good. She mock deserved it. Winnie was still smiling though, lying down upon the couch, staring at her friend, trying to wrap her head around what she had just admitted. Winnie had never suspected that Nessa was a mutant. Normally she would have been fine with it, kudos for coming out, but to come out and have such amazing abilities? Winnie really was beginning to feel as if she had just been soaked on the shallow end of the genetic gene pool. Really, who has the ability to turn into a freakin’ kiwi bird?!

She sighed, shaken from her thoughts as her drunken friend nestled in by her side. She wiped her tear stained cheeks on her arm so Winnie turned onto her side to face her. The two friends stared at one another for a time, before the telepath broke the silence.

>>”I mean, you could look at it as me letting you be the hottest mutant. And it’s still a close call. I think Gina’s still rocking the top spot, but I’m willing to agree to a tie for second. And I think I know a certain waitress who would definitely cast her vote for you.”

Winnie rolled her eyes. ”Well that’s not really a fair and unbiased opinion, is it?” she teased lightly. ”I mean Gina is crazy hot so we can hardly compare to that gold standard.” At the thought of being tied, Winnie sighed if false frustration. ”Fiiiiiiiiine. We can tied for second hottest…” a wicked grin pulled at her lips. ”...at least until you get a zit or I throw acid into your face. Whichever comes first.”

The two giggled against, looking very close and intimate. At least one or people passing by gave the two women an extended look. Some even elbowed one another, wondering if something was going to happen. Winnie was quick to tell them all to go screw themselves sideways before she returned to to sweet and innocent picture of a woman lying next to her friend.

>>”So you’re still my bestie?”

Giving her a warm grin, Winnie watched her look away. Leaning over, she planted a soft kiss on her forehead. She then sighed as she rested her head there. ”I guess. I mean, I don’t want to go through the hassle of breaking in another friend.” She shrugged. ”So...yeah. You’re my friend. Well, at least until that waitress comes back. Then you’re just an albatross, love.”

While the pillow thumping was, in her opinion, unnecessary, Vanessa took her lumps because she knew how much worse things with Winnie could have gone. The fact that she hid the truth for so long was going to be a point of contention with anyone who had known her for years, assuming Vanessa would tell people beyond Winnie, Booker, and Gina. There were others she could tell; a few friends, particularly with The POW Block Party. She wondered what her coworkers would say and how they would treat her for staying silent so long. Dori was a mutant, but in Vanessa’s defense, all he could do was change his hair color. If anything, he would be the most annoyed with her.

Which was also the problem with Winnie. While Vanessa found her shifting power to be the height of adorable mutations, Winnie was justifiably more annoyed that her power was useless in just about every situation besides possibly running away. Vanessa was sure she would be receiving parcels of verbal salt for a few weeks, but she could endure it because she knew Winnie was not going to let her annoyance turn into resentment. They were besties, confirmed and everything; they could get through this!

After quickly berating some pervy passersby, Winnie planted a kiss on Vanessa’s forehead. The brunette’s body squiggled as the warm fuzzies overtook her. They were getting sappy, but for one night, that was fine. It was masked by the faux apathy Winnie offered up, which Vanessa freely accepted. ”Glad I’d be a hassle to replace. That’s is what they call job security.”

Out of the corner of Vanessa’s eye, she could see a certain curvy figure coming back into view. Propping herself up, Vanessa got close enough to Winnie’s ear so she could not be heard. ”Job securitity is also being a good wingwoman.” With that, she gave Winnie one more kiss on the cheek and stood from her seat.

The waitress stopped and looked at her, ready to say something, but Vanessa had already placed cash down on the table for her and Winnie’s orders so she could more easily help her friend out. ”Oh wonderful. I need to go do a thing. It might even take a while.” She was too drunk to not be vague. ”Won’t you keep my lovely friend company? She likes to have company and she’s, like, very lovely.”

The waitress’s cheeks flared red as she stammered out a reply. “Oh! Um, I, well, I would like that, if you’re sure I—”

”Very sure. Totally tired of her sass anyway. Enjoy!” Vanessa walked away, proceeding to go off… directly to the bar a few feet away. Sure, her technique was transparent, but the waitress certainly did not seem to mind, and she would hate to miss out on shooting her friend a congratulatory wink on her way out.

Things were quite sobering now and Winnie wasn’t sure if she were ready for that. She did love her friend dearly and, with the added closeness, there had always been those odd little flutters in the pit of her stomach about trying to take things a step further. What was one night in the grand scheme of things? After all, they got along so well together and most people already assumed that they were a couple. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth as both women vehemently denied any involvement with one another aside from some slutty dance when they’ve had too much to drunk. Nessa’s co-workers were disappointed, of course, and felt it necessary to remind the two women just how hot it would be if they hooked up, but they both knew there the line was.

Still, it was fun to think about crossing it every now and again. She tried to imagine what that would look like, only when completely drunk of course, and while she could get flashes and images in her head, it was never anything sustainable. Maybe that was a good thing because the last thing that Winnie needed in her life right now was to be in love. Honestly, that only led to more and more trouble.

Waving those thoughts again, she continued her relentless teasing of the other woman, who was cuddling up next to her. Really, it would be a hassle to replace the brunette so it was a good thing that Winnie wasn’t looking to let her go any time soon.

>> ”Glad I’d be a hassle to replace. That’s is what they call job security. Job securitity is also being a good wingwoman.”

Winnie smirked when her friend whispered in her ear. ”Hah. Securi-titty.” She snorted. ”You’re stupid.”

However as he friend sat up, Winnie followed her with her eyes, and then proceeded to sit up as well when it showed that Nessa was now looking to a newcomer. Of course, it was a very shapely and curvaceous newcomer, and most certainly a distraction that the short-haired woman would love to engage in. Sitting up, she pushed out her chest a little, crossing her legs as she gave the woman a flirty smile and looked between both Nessa and the waitress she ahd been working over all evening.

>>”Oh wonderful. I need to go do a thing. It might even take a while...Won’t you keep my lovely friend company? She likes to have company and she’s, like, very lovely.”

>>”Very sure. Totally tired of her sass anyway. Enjoy!”

”Please. As if you could ever get enough of my sass,” Winnie snorted and shook her head.

She watched as her friend walked away and teasing slid aside to allow the waitress to sit next to her. With a new friend to keep her occupied, sobriety with a tinge of still being buzzed filled her lips. She would spend the next length of time charming the young woman, paying compliments, before testing the waters to see how far this evening would go. Given the smile and the careful twirl of the waitress’s hair, things were definitely looking good.