>>"I've always got your back dummy. Even if I'm not on the team, I take my friendships seriously. If you ever need anything you only need ask."

Maya smiled back, finishing up her tea as well. Serena was a good friend, and she had no doubt that she meant what she said. On the team or off, she was willing to support those who were important to her. Still, Maya was not lying: she hoped she could convince her friend to join the X-men, officially this time.

>>"Oh! I suppose we've never really talked about my power, have we? We discovered a couple of years ago that my blood can heal others, quite rapidly and quite thoroughly. You know Ghost? I helped her become more permanent."

Maya blinked in surprise. That was... that was quite the Holy Grail of powers.

"Whoa. I mean... yeah, I knew Ghost found a way to do it, but... damn, girl, you are worth your way in gold now. More, probably. How are you even handling that?"

Serena grinned at Maya. She liked seeing friends smile. She smiled a borderline ridiculous amount herself, somebody had once pointed out that she'd make a very well disguised sociopath, and she wasn't sure whether she should've been amused or highly disturbed by the observation.

Serena blinked. How was she handling that? "It's hard. Honestly, I find it hard to resist just donating non-stop to people that need it. I decided that, it was probably a good idea to keep it mostly quiet." She was pretty selective about who she actually talked to about it. The Doc knew about it, Maya and now... Maya, obviously knew about it. Outside of that circle she didn't tell many people.

"I can also turn wholly into blood, which is as F------- disturbing as it sounds, both for me any everyone around me." She actually really did not enjoy it. Even if she got a significant boost in power from doing it, and totally became immune to thinks like bullets.

"As for the blood healing... As I said, I keep it on the down low, only tell people I trust and all that." she admitted.

>>"It's hard. Honestly, I find it hard to resist just donating non-stop to people that need it. I decided that, it was probably a good idea to keep it mostly quiet."

Maya nodded. It was good to keep it mostly quiet. The government was one bad vote away from compelling mutants to register or wear collars or whatnot, and if the wrong people found out Serena could heal people with her blood, she could easily go the way that power-booster chick had gone.

>>"I can also turn wholly into blood, which is as F------- disturbing as it sounds, both for me any everyone around me."

No. Kidding.

>>"As for the blood healing... As I said, I keep it on the down low, only tell people I trust and all that."

"I appreciate it" Maya smiled, acknowledging that she had been told a very important, and potentially dangerous secret "And hell yeah, I can see why you said it's not really PG. But it doesn't make your powers any less awesome. You should... come by, do some training, if you feel up to it. I would be strange of the X-men to start picking and choosing what powers were camera friendly, when it came to saving people..."

Serena nodded in understanding, that made sense. Why would you keep certain powers out of the limelight. "I never thought of it like that. I suppose it's positive PR seeing a power that might be visually unsettling doing good in the world too." It was an interesting perspective, and it made a hell of a lot of sense, she was actually a little annoyed she'd never thought of that before to be honest.

"I think... Well, when I was younger I was so afraid of my power and how people would react, there is still a bit of that buried somewhere." She carried on before she could stop herself. "I've still not told Alice." She admitted. It was hard. She really really wanted her little sister to love her back, and she couldn't help but be terrified of freaking Alice out.

"One of my best friends used to call them awesome too." She smiled to herself. She should really look James up. "I think it helped teach me to appreciate them." She looked up, determination in her face. "I've trained plenty with Sam, and a bit with a few others. I've also been in the danger room a lot." She had admittedly not trained much with Maya, but she'd learned to work with other powers.

"You don't need to talk me into anything Maya, I had made up my mind when I came back to New York. I'll join." there was a sheepish grin on her face.

>>"I never thought of it like that. I suppose it's positive PR seeing a power that might be visually unsettling doing good in the world too... I think... Well, when I was younger I was so afraid of my power and how people would react, there is still a bit of that buried somewhere. I've still not told Alice."

"A power does not have to look pretty to do the right thing." Maya grinned "I understand why you'd take your time, though. And I'm sure Alice will say the same thing."

From what Maya knew about Alice, she was not going to freak out about Serena having a unique power like that. Well... maybe a little. But she was going to understand it later.

>>"One of my best friends used to call them awesome too. I think it helped teach me to appreciate them. I've trained plenty with Sam, and a bit with a few others. I've also been in the danger room a lot."

She did have the training that made her a good candidate for the team. Hell, if she had not left, she probably would have been an X-man years ago. Maya hoped Serena would consider joining the team this time; with their numbers dwindling, they sorely needed reinforcements they could trust.

>>"You don't need to talk me into anything Maya, I had made up my mind when I came back to New York. I'll join."

"Wait... really?" Mayas eyes lit up "That's... that's awesome!... Wait... were you just waiting me to ask you?"

Serena nodded in agreement. She sort of chided herself for not thinking of that before. It was definitely one of that factors that had held her back a little in the past. Admittedly she didn't hate her power anymore, she kind of liked it. And although she didn't think blood itself was pretty she did enjoy the blue glow she radiated, it was nice to find things about yourself you liked. And also the healing thing. That was super awesome.

She bit her lip softly contemplating. "You're probably right, I'm sure a part of me realised that already, but it's just... It's hard. I can't lose her. I just can't." Her voice was sort of pleading, mostly to herself. She would not lose family like that again, not ever.

Serena stretched out a little as they talked. As Maya responded her lips started to widen into a mischievous smirk. "Caught me." She responded with a giggle. "ONE of you is always asking me, so I figured I'd just wait to see who was first." She teased.

>>"Caught me. ONE of you is always asking me, so I figured I'd just wait to see who was first."

"Well, that's just mean" Maya grinned, wrapping an arm around Serena's shoulders "And by mean, I mean awesome! I was not kidding, the team sorely needs you."

They did. While the X-men had never completely gone away, someone always had something on their plate, and the more active members they had, the more good they could do when sh*t really hit the fan around New York City. Plus with in influx of Atlantis kids coming in, they needed all hands on deck.

"Hey, do you have a codename yet? You're gonna need a codename. And an official uniform. We got a new designer recently. He's pretty good."

Serena giggled again. "Can't blame a girl for wanting to have a bit of fun with you guys." She chirped warmly. She really did have a massive amount of respect for them, it was about time that she got around to showing that in a more significant and tangible way, and she was pretty determined to make good on that self resolution.

She leaned into the one armed hug warmly. Hugs were the best. "I'm not sure about that, you're all pretty amazing. But I figure me being around at the very least can't hurt." she admitted.

"Er... I hadn't thought of that. Do they have to be cool? The only thing that comes to mind is a little macabre." She admitted. "Are the uniforms leather? Because from the outside they totally look like leather." She added.

Serena was going to be on the team. The thought made Maya happy. She worked well with most people on the X-men roster, but having more friends at one's back in the field never hurt. And the X-men had a lot to do. Serena had enough training to jump in with supervision anyway. She just needed the details ironed out.

>>"Er... I hadn't thought of that. Do they have to be cool? The only thing that comes to mind is a little macabre."

"They have to be new, and easy to yell over the comm" Maya grinned. Those were pretty much the only two criteria for code names. Lots of them were pretty obvious.

>>"Are the uniforms leather? Because from the outside they totally look like leather."

"God, no." Maya laughed, shaking her head "And skits are not required anymore either. They are usually... dunno, kevlar, some kind of a polymer... definitely not spandex. The guy usually tailors them to what our powers are. I'll give you his contact."

Serena felt a little odd, she'd thought about this whole situation so many times before, and talked through it with so many people at this point that it had sort of felt like she was never actually going to do it. But she was pretty resolved now, and Mirror was actually talking details. That made this all much more real, and she was this mixture of amused and excited that she had not quite expected when she contemplated it.

New and easy to yell over a comm? She sighed a little. "Well as I stated it's a little macabre but what about haemorrhage?" It was a little dark sounding but hey, it fit and her power WAS super aggressive. She could cause some serious pain if she wanted to, she was especially aware of that since meeting her evil twin.

She snorted. "I wasn't thinking spandex, but now I'm wondering how many comments you've had in the past to bring up that specifically?" She quirked an eyebrow at Maya teasingly.

She contemplated. "I wonder..." Just how well could it be tailored to powers? "Er... How well are they suited to powers? Because I kind of have a problem with mine." She admitted sheepishly.

>>"Well as I stated it's a little macabre but what about haemorrhage?"

"I mean... that might give some people the wrong idea if we yell it?" Maya ventured with a shrug "But definitely fits your powers..."

>>"I wasn't thinking spandex, but now I'm wondering how many comments you've had in the past to bring up that specifically?"

"You... will have to talk to Masochist about that." Maya grinned, shaking her head.

>>"I wonder... Er... How well are they suited to powers? Because I kind of have a problem with mine."

Maya turned to tilt her head at Serena.

"He's been pretty good so far. Um... why, what kind of problem?"

She nodded. She got that. "Well I'm certainly open to suggestions, codenames aren't really my forte. Most everything I write is based on folklore or has a real name." She had a few more thoughts bouncing around her head. Maybe something rooted in folklore? She couldn't think of any pleasant creatures that revolved around blood off the top of her head.

"I'll have to talk to who now?" She chirped with the still raised eyebrow.

She wriggled a little, feeling decidedly more sheepish than she had a few minutes ago when she'd been teasing Maya. "I -uhm. -Well you see." How did one bring up the side effects of her blood form?

"When I shift into my bloodform my whole body becomes liquid, and I subsequently lose all of my clothes. So when I reform, I'm totally nude." She just blurted it out in one rapid fire sentence. And now her face was on fire. Yup.

>>"Well I'm certainly open to suggestions, codenames aren't really my forte. Most everything I write is based on folklore or has a real name."

"We can definitely look int folklore for that. I like folklore." Maya agreed. Both her names were chosen from legend and lore, so she was very comfortable with the idea. However, this was a discussion for a later time.

>>"I'll have to talk to who now?"

"Saphirus. He stuck to spandex until he didn't. Long story." And definitely a funny one, if one believed the rumors.

There was something about Serena's powers, something she felt awkward about. Maya had to admit she was curious. What could it be?

>>"I -uhm. -Well you see... When I shift into my bloodform my whole body becomes liquid, and I subsequently lose all of my clothes. So when I reform, I'm totally nude."

Maya's eyebrows rose up.

"Whoa. I mean... yeah, no kidding about not being PG-13, that is some TMI-level sh*t right there." she snickered. A superhero turning into blood was one thing, a superhero turning into a naked woman was another. One would have passed for PG13. The other definitely didn't. "Okay, yeah, he'll have his work cut out with that one. Who knows, maybe there is a solution?..."

Serena appreciated that. "Oh. Gawain. Duh." She felt silly for not thinking of that before, it was pretty obvious when she looked at it that way. She did wonder a little where the female name came from though? She'd never come across Maya in folklore. She also knew the other Maya residing at the mansion of course, Ghost was pretty awesome.

"Who is Saphirus, and why is his code name Masochist?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow. Serena thought she knew most of the X-men already, clearly she had been slightly mistaken on that front.

"Yes, I suppose we're going to have to see. Fingers crossed." Her cheeks slowly returned to their normal pale sheen. She was thankful at least that Maya wasn't the teasing kind, Rebecca probably would-

A thought struck her like a slap. "Oh my god!" Her voice rose an octave, or three. "I can't believe I've only just remembered!" She was glad that Maya didn't seem to be holding the teacup in reterospect, because she practically tackled Maya in another excited hug. "I heard about you and Becca yesterday! That's so wonderful, congratulations! She's lovely and you're lovely~" Serena was basically failing in excitement. Friends getting together was cool.

>>"Oh my god! I can't believe I've only just remembered!"

Maya blinked. Remembered what? And what warranted this much excitement about powers and uniforms? Serena tackled her in a hug, and Maya chuckled, not sure why she was suddenly so excited. Anyhow, hugs were always welcome.

>>"I heard about you and Becca yesterday! That's so wonderful, congratulations! She's lovely and you're lovely~"

"Oh. That." Maya grinned, peeling herself out of the hug "Yeah that... that happened. It's... quite the long story. Very long story, actually. But yeah, it's nice." More than nice, actually. But it was bad form to gush about one's love life right out the gate, before catching up first. "Hey, how about you? Any significant others?"