Evidently the requirements for power triggering were not as lofty or… messy as Sabine was led to believe. She had a feeling Sveta knew what she was doing. The smirk on her face said it all; she was having too much fun with this. The last time they tangled, Sabine held the power in their dynamic, and Sveta was savoring every moment of this revenge.

Sabine rolled her eyes at Sveta’s curiosity. She could have her fun; heck, Sabine could have some fun, too. The alcohol was definitely starting to loosen her up. ”Well, if I could pick any power, I would have been an adapted, but by now, that one’s not happening.” She knew enough to know the power cancelation was triggered by interacting with a mutation, and Sabine did that on a near daily basis.

Sabine was surprised at herself at what came next: she took a moment to seriously consider the question. If Sveta were to plant one on her and the worst came to be, what would she hope for? It was still a possibility, and if she was stuck with a mutation, what would she feel best about? ”…Appearance-shifting. No crazy shapes or monstrous forms. Just the ability to alter my face and body. That would at least be useful and, more importantly, would be difficult to accidentally kill someone with.”

She nodded, approving the choice she came to. If that was all she would manifest, being a mutant could be worse. ”What about you? If you could reshuffle the genetic deck and draw a new hand, would you still want your mutation? Or is there another you’d pick if given the choice?”

Everyone had their secret fears and hopes, some just hid them better than others. Sveta had to give it to Sabine, she hid hers pretty well; pokerface was probably a requirement in the secret mutant snatching business. She was getting drunk, however, and therefore easier to poke at.

>>”Well, if I could pick any power, I would have been an adapted, but by now, that one’s not happening.”

"Can't always get what you want" Sveta hummed cheerfully, sipping her drink. Honestly, Sabine was annoying enough without being an adapted.

>>”…Appearance-shifting. No crazy shapes or monstrous forms. Just the ability to alter my face and body. That would at least be useful and, more importantly, would be difficult to accidentally kill someone with.”

"But if you did, you'd get away with it. Dat's useful." Sveta admitted. Useful and creepy. The motto of every good SUPER agent.

>>”What about you? If you could reshuffle the genetic deck and draw a new hand, would you still want your mutation? Or is there another you’d pick if given the choice?”

Sveta shrugged. Her mutation was a clusterf*** in most cases, but she never really considered picking another.

"Giving other people mutations would be cool, instead of just triggering them" she smirked "I could go around giving bigoted human supremacists useless but annoying powers. It wouldn't make the world better, but definitely more fun..."

Sabine was not sure what she expected from Sveta in asking what could be construed as a personal question, but she was curious. She was still not surprised when she took the opportunity to take another shot at Sabine.

"Yes, yes, I hate mutants," she replied flatly, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, I don't hate mutants more than I hate anyone. Most of society, I'm pretty 'meh' toward. Of course, you can go ahead and not believe me. Doesn't matter." Sabine did not take her job to win a popularity contest.

She inspected Sveta over the edge of her glass. "Though I guess if you really feel like making me miserable, you can always take your shot and plant one on me. We can pretend we're sorority pledges," she teased, quietly curious if it would be something she might actually consider.

Sabine was, in the end, not a very complicated person. Not that Sveta could tell, anyway. She said what she meant, at least for now, maybe because of the alcohol, or maybe because there was no threat in it at all.

>>"Yes, yes, I hate mutants. Honestly, I don't hate mutants more than I hate anyone. Most of society, I'm pretty 'meh' toward. Of course, you can go ahead and not believe me. Doesn't matter."

"Oh, I believe you" Sveta shrugged "The others are just not legal to hunt. Bummer."

>>"Though I guess if you really feel like making me miserable, you can always take your shot and plant one on me. We can pretend we're sorority pledges,"

"The hell is a sorority pledge?" Sveta blinked. Was that a euphemism for lesbians? More interesting than the phrasing was the fact that Sabine was actually entertaining the idea of kissing. She really had to have issues about her secret dormant X-genes. Sveta smirked at her. "Would dat make you miserable? Or would you be more miserable if you continued not knowing for sure?"

Sveta was really getting hung up on Sabine’s job. It was justified, but Sabine assumed at some point she’d take a break from being bitter and unreasonable. Alas, she would press forward anyway.

Sabine’s joke missed the mark by virtue of Sveta being unfamiliar with college culture. Interesting; the woman was not unintelligent, but it seemed she might have missed out on partaking in higher education. ”College girls. Sorority initiates. The stereotype of college as a time to experiment.” Sabine sipped her drink, feeling the burn immediately. ”Sorry you missed the wild North American collegiate experience.”

It was a good question; what would be worse for Sabine? Becoming a mutant was probably the worst case scenario, but knowing would put the long-term worries to rest. Obviously if she said that, Sveta would just do the opposite. ”Well, I’m used to not knowing. Had time to get numb to that. I don’t know how I’d react to being a mutant. That could be a whole world of misery. Or I could love it, turning over a new leaf to preach the virtues of letting mutants go unchecked.” It was always possible, if very unlikely.

There were sections of American culture that still eluded Svetlana. College was one of them. Most of her knowledge came from movies, and that was shaky at best, reality-wise.

>>”College girls. Sorority initiates. The stereotype of college as a time to experiment. Sorry you missed the wild North American collegiate experience.”

"I'm not" she smirked into her drink. If they really spent time kissing each other, she probably was better off not participating.

>>”Well, I’m used to not knowing. Had time to get numb to that. I don’t know how I’d react to being a mutant. That could be a whole world of misery. Or I could love it, turning over a new leaf to preach the virtues of letting mutants go unchecked.”

"You mean letting people deal with their sh*t in peace? How radical of you. Is that also a college thing?" she arched an eyebrow. She had no idea if Sabine had gone to college. Probably. "No need to catch the mutant cooties from me."

College was a time for Sabine to delve into her studies and put herself on track to find a role with the American government. Socializing was not a high priority, but she did take the time to better understand herself, experimenting in her own way and coming to a different result than most.

In a way, that was the idea she entertained now. A little experimentation to learn more about who she is. Unfortunately, learning that required a cooperative partner, and this one could not be resolved with her understudy from the theater company backstage that one time her sophomore year. Hypothetically.

Sabine stood from her seat, downing her drink and savoring the scorching sensation as it traveled down. ”Well, I hate to deprive you of my company, but I should leave you to your depressive solitary drinking. If you’re ever in the mood to ruin my life with a lip-lock, I’m sure you’ll find me.” Sabine placed a few bills on the table and smirked. ”It’s something I’m sure you’re quite good at, after all.”