Becca looked around the living area she had grown accustomed to since moving in with Mirror and smiled. It was not exactly an apartment on the west side of Manhattan, but it had its charm. "Aye, th' staff suites are designed tae offer a wee bit mair space than th' standard rooms. After aw, it's gotta fit me, Maya, an' Kalos."

Nearly reaching for a brownie, Becca stopped and realized she should clarify. "Oh. Kalos is a girl frae Atlantis Maya sort ay adopted." Whether she was seen more as a little sister or a surrogate daughter was murky.

Finally nibbling a corner from a deliciously dense brownie, Becca watched Serena's face when Amelia's name was dropped. Yeah, maybe she should hold off on bringing up Serea's ex.

They could focus on Serena and Alice. Becca smiled warmly at the wholesome change of topic to Serena's sister. "We haen't, bit Ah pieced it together. Last name Rivers, posh Brittish accent, blonde roots. Seemed likely tae me. Sae was she jist a sister ye didnae know abit? Ur hud ye jist nae seen 'er in a lang time?"

Serena glanced around the room slowly, taking it in. "Yeah, that definitely makes sense" There was that name again, Kalos? She was not familiar with it. God, she'd missed so many different events in the last few years it was actually crazy.

Blinking slowly Serena stammered "At- wait, did you say Atlantean, as in-" That was not what she was expecting. "I'm sorry, I'd heard about that whole thing, it's just a little bit of a shock. I guess I have missed everything and been away forever." She muttered.

Mirror hadn't really brought up Kalos, their catching up hadn't really involved that. There was conversation about Rebecca, about Sam, Amelia had briefly been brought up, and then the X-men came up.

Sighing mildly Serena shrugged. "It's sort of complicated. I know I don't bring up my family much, but it's because the first time I met you I was under the impression I was an orphan, then a few years later I find out I have this crazy historical drama level insane family in the UK." Her Grandmother in particularly was Queen crazy bitch.

"Then it was a few years after that I found out about her, she found me in New York. She's my half sister, technically speaking-" Serena hesitated. It wasn't like Rebecca would judge her right? "Same dad, her mother is my aunt."

Wow, had Serena been gone that long? Life had moved so fast these past years, Atlantis now felt so long ago for Becca. ”Aye. And Ah’m here tae catch ye up! Efter we showed up an' overthroogh a bigoted telepathic tyrant, we've started allowin' some ay th' oppressed yoong physical mutants tae move haur fur protection. A fresh start fur th' puir kids.” It was heart-warming to see the gorgon children finally working through the damage that came from living in their warped society.

”Kalos was th’ first, though. Got attached tae Mirror, and noo she’s loch a… yoonger sister? Daughter? Bit ay baith, Ah suppose.” It was hard to explain what Kalos was specifically to Maya and Becca, but whatever it was, it was family.

Family was an interesting topic and Serena had plenty of family stuff to unpack. She came from a Downton Abbey-like background with all the infighting and compelling tv-level drama, and like a good tv drama, Serena was actually the long-lost half-sister estranged from her own family.

Rebecca blew out a breath. ”Wow. That’s… quite a lot. Ye find it abit yer family, then abit yer sister-- who’s a good kid, by th’ way, in case ye were worried.” Distractable? Sure. But she would take thirty Alices over some of her actual problem students. ”Soonds loch yer dad was quite th’ character, though.” Having a kid with one woman, then her sister; that really was a twist out of a soap opera.

But that did not have to be the focus here. ”Hoo are ye wi’ yer family noo? Dae ye talk t’ them, ur are ye th’ black sheep? An’ Alice? Ah hope ye two hae hit it aff noo ‘at ye’ve met proper?”

Wow. That was a lot. Every time Serena adjusted to having been out of the loop forever something else came crashing down onto her mind and reminded her that she had indeed been way for a long time. Even if good friends like Rebecca didn't blame her for it, she still felt guilty herself. This whole thing was ridiculous. If she'd faced her problems head on and just stuck it out, hell even joined the X-men like Ghost had suggested for the millionth time, she'd have known all of these things.

Heck, she was still avoiding dealing with the Ami thing. When she'd brought it to Alice by accident she'd quickly squashed the topic before she could get too emotional. This was Becca though..

"That's amazing Rebecca!" The excitement radiating from Serena was palpable. "So you and Mirror sort of already have a family, you're just adding to it?" She ventured with another of those excited little smiles where she unconsciously bit her lip.

God. Serena was a moron. Friends made the whole world better in general. "I know, I've kept in touch with her." She admitted, getting a little sheepish, before nudging Rebecca in the arm playfully. "Means a lot coming from you though, Becca. I hear she's a difficult English student." That was straight from the horse's mouth, as it were.

"Life got a bit. Well, I was overwhelmed but I didn't want her to think I was leaving because of her. Well it wasn't just her at least, I felt the need to keep in touch, I-" she was absolutely rambling, just catching herself she course corrected. "I want to be a sister she can look up to, I just needed time and space." She supplied before adding. "And yes, tell me about it." quite the character indeed.

She sighed dramatically. "My witch of a grandmother tries to contact me occasionally, I usually just ignore the call. Alice's mother speaks to me on occasion, I try to be polite with her but..." She took a steadying breath. "Controlling Matriarch or no, she knew I was here. All this time. She's just as guilty, and I just can't forgive and forget that easily. I've not told Alice, she really loves her mother and I don't want to cause any conflict there." Serena wished she'd had opportunity to have conflict with her mum.

"Did I tell you, the first time my Grandmother actually looked me up and contacted me was to try and push me into some kind of old fashioned marriage? Strengthen the family name and have babies." She laughed a little bitterly. "It's crazy right? I could write out my unedited family drama as a period piece, and get best seller."

Her thoughts and face softened a little at the thought of Alice. "Alice is, well she's wonderful. I can't tell you what it means to have lost something like a sibling and to have found one again. It's... It's changed me, honestly. The feeling is mutual."

Rebecca felt bad because she knew she should work harder to stay in touch when life got crazy. Serena did disappear to take care of things in her own life, but they lived in a globalized world. Going forward, she was going to stop letting friends vanish. You would have thought she would have learned that after Agnes.

”Aye, Ah suppose we hae started a wee family ay our own,” she admitted proudly, taking a big bite of her brownie and savoring the gooey chocolate. In Rebecca’s eyes, Kalos was already part of her life in a way any sister or daughter would be.

And much like Rebecca, Serena was learning how to be part of someone’s family. She wanted to do right by Alice, which was admirable. It sounded like they needed each other, with how the rest of their family acted. ”Ah dinnae think ye owe forgiveness fer ‘at, at least nae noo. Bit noo ‘at ye and Alice hae each aither, ye’ll make things work, Serena. Focus on ‘at first, and th’ rest, ye’ll figure it.”

After being born into a standard Glasgow life, it was fascinating and horrifying to know that families like Serena’s still existed. Rebecca laughed at what her grandmother almost made Serena do. ”She clearly has ne’er met ye. Ah say dae nae agree til she can marry ye aff tae a princess. Know yer worth, girl.”

The family thing was so wholesome and sweet. Serena was so excited that Rebecca had found one, and was content with it. Last time her and Rebecca had really discussed relationships it had seemed like her Scottish friend had been all over the place, hot mess was an apt description. But she had it all figured out. If anything, Serena was highly envious.

It was always a good sign when someone didn't retch when you handed them your baked goods. Serena hadn't baked in forever, but apparently she hadn't totally lost the knack for it. Hanging out with Alice probably helped, that girl was a kitchen ninja and her friend would be super lucky to have her as a roommate.

"You're right I suppose. I mean, of course you are. And we're getting there. I gave her a key to my apartment, not so she has to move in or anything but so that she knows if she ever needs it, she doesn't have to ask." Maybe she was pushing things a little where sibling relationships were concerned, but Serena didn't really do relationships by halves. She felt deeply and did her best to be honest and upfront about it. With friends too.

Rebecca's response prompted hearty laughter. "God. Yes. Sorry for going off on one about her, evil witches are problematic." She paused and looked up at the ceiling lost in thought before grinning. "I don't believe I've ever heard of a gay princess, and I think I make quite enough of a fool of myself around women that are not royalty." She sucked at flirting. So bad.

Becca was indeed a hot mess all of three years ago. It was crazy to look back at how far she had come, maturing into her adulthood and her new life. As far as she was concerned, Serena had a head start on her there. She would do her best to encourage good behavior from her slightly younger friend.

Taking the initiative as Alice’s big sister helped. ”Ah’m sure she’ll appreciate havin’ a place tae gae when she needs it.” Nessa and Booker, for all they bickered, clearly loved one another and were good at offering sibling support. Some days Nessa said that just meant being on the couch and decompressing with video games.

They had a low bar set by their other family, evidently. ”It’s twenty-twenty and Ah refuse tae believe there arenae some bisexual princesses, at the least,” she joked. ”And ye can totally pull it off. Yer an X-Man; ‘at’s gonna impress th’ lassies. Actually, we can aways introduce ye tae Queen Achlus on th’ next Atlantis trip,” she suggested playfully, remembering the smoky beauty she definitely did not spend her first visit crushing on.

Serena had never judged Rebecca for her lifestyle before, or the romance confusion thing she had going with Agnes so long ago, and she never would judge her for it. Everyone was entitled to make a mess every now and then, and Rebecca was still one of the most genuine and decent people in the world as far as Serena would ever be concerned.

That being said, she was still going to be riding on the high of being happy for Rebecca and Mirror for a long while. There was something to be said for stability, and they'd both definitely earned it.

"I think she does. She's getting her own place with a friend, but I know that I would have appreciated the option back when I lived here." She wouldn't have managed going back to the family apartment, selling it and moving on was the right thing to do, and she had no regrets there.

"Yes, I suppose there might be some." She conceded. She didn't joke out loud, but she was smiling. Rebecca making light of the situation had made her feel a lot better, joking helped when things were shitty. Especially when family were the ones making things suck.

"Becca!" There was that blush again. "I-" She murmured to herself incoherently. "You're teasing me." She glared.

Life moved on, and they were all getting older. Time would tell how those decisions played out, but all they knew for sure was they could not go back. Well, Agnes went back, but that was not her choice and, as of yet, was unexplained. For Rebecca, she had made her choices, and some mistakes, but she was happy with where she ended up and would go from there.

Serena was finding her own way, as was Alice, and it was comforting to know they had each other. ”Sounds to me loch Alice is makin’ th’ most ay her youth. Good for her!” And the queer community of New York, she was sure, if Alice suddenly had a place to bring girls home to.

Alice was a flirt, but her sister was not as adept with the skill. No, she was easy to fluster and was proving that three years did not chang much. ”Ah’m absolutely teasin’ ye. Ah cannae gae snoggin’ ye on garden benches anymair sae Ah gie tae hae mah fun somehow.”

Picking up a brownie, Rebecca raised it as some kind of toast. ”Tae our next chapters and tae writin’ them together.”

Hanging out with Rebecca was reminding Serena more and more of the things she loved about living in New York, and how valuable it was to have a friend that understood you. Rebecca understood her on several levels already, they were both gay, well Becca was bi, but in the same sphere. They were both from the Isles, into writing more than almost anything else, and wanted what was best for the city. The X-men thing reaffirmed it for Serena, and she was definitely more comfortable having Rebecca as a leader she could turn to.

Nodding in agreement. "She'd definitely trying to live her best life, she had a little stumble with grades and such last year, but she's rebounded with surprising tenacity. I'm proud of her, and here for her if she needs it." Serena was very glad that Alice was doing well academically, as well as being out and proud. She was probably better at it than her older sister, truth be told.

Serena cleared her throat and tried to shake off the blush and the fluster. It didn't work, obviously. She tried not to let on how much Becca bringing up the kiss in the garden made her fluster, Becca was relentlessly attractive and Serena was sure that she knew that. "I'm beginning to question my decision signing up for a team with you." She joked. She wasn't obviously, but she was now dreading the prospect of being teased a whole lot more.

Serena chuckled and toasted a brownie of her own. "I agree whole heatedly, and approve completely of the metaphor, obviously." She grinned and leaned towards Rebecca. "Now... Tell me about Mirror, spill." for the rest of the afternoon it was as if Serena hadn't been away, and she got Rebecca to spill as much of the adorable details as she was willing, Serena came away from the whole thing feeling more energised than she had in ages.