When Ranger finished, Amelia put any worries Ranger had about oversharing at ease. While Amelia had nodded along, giving nonverbal cues to keep going, sometimes people would do that just to not appear rude. Ranger of course felt better about the word vomiting when Amelia not only said it was okay but dove into giving advice, having clearly listened.

”I’ll do it.” Ranger said, feeling more confident about it after saying it.

Amelia carried on, talking about how guys aren’t complicated and that they usually just have issues expressing feelings. Unlike… Ranger. Ranger nodded along, she understood what Amelia was saying all too well having been a guy until just a week ago. She knew what Amelia said was true, but why was she finding it so easy to open up about her feelings. She couldn’t even blame the change on alcohol, she hadn’t had a single drop.

She just felt much less… encumbered. More relaxed.

Ranger smiled at Amelia, ”I’ll do it. I’ll tell him-” Ranger cast her glance toward where Noel had been not long before, an excitement in them. Yet, Noel was no longer there. Had he gone into a hot tub? Ranger couldn’t see him anywhere. With a look back to Amelia she amended, ”...Once I know where he went…”

There was a moment where she felt it and tried to keep it off her face. Noel was by no means obligated to join Ranger in her hot tub, but she had really hoped that he would. Especially… Especially after talking to Amelia. It was fine though, Ranger could talk to Noel later.

It was then that a hot piece of America decided to join the hot tub. And that thought surprised Ranger as it entered her head. Her eyes widened with surprise for a moment as she buried her face in her tea glass. Clearly, the smoothest of all covers.

It seemed the newcomer knew Amelia… and he had drinks. They appeared more alcoholic than Ranger’s iced tea. Not only that, but he was offering them. Ranger deposited her tea on the side of the hot tub with one hand while she took the offered drink with the other. ”Thank y’.” Ranger said before trying the drink.

Yup. Alcohol.

Ranger had intended to not drink so she could avoid a repeat of the wedding. Except, it was in her hand. She was nervous about talking to Noel and was still coming to terms with her realization that she was attracted to men.

When the man asked who Amelia’s friend was, she introduced Ranger to the man as Noel. Which, she was. For the foreseeable future. She was Noel.

The man introduced himself as Sam and gave a little wave. Ranger waved back with a small smile. ”Nice t’ meet y’, Sam.” Ranger said as she made a point to look just away from Sam’s eyes. It looked like he was making a point to look her in the eyes and that was dangerous territory. THough… At least he wasn’t looking at other places? Yes. That was a good thing and she was glad for that.

Although…

Ranger took another sip. And then had to look up from her drink when Amelia dropped the name Lenna. It wasn’t that long ago in Ranger’s personal timeline that he and a Lenna had broken up. It was silly to think it would be the same Lenna though. The deaging smelled of mutant magic and Lenna was an adapted.

That didn’t stop Ranger from casting her eyes across the room looking to see if Lenna was here. She still didn’t see Noel either...

Beyond just the sheer attraction and buzz going on in Serena's brain, the woman in front of her exuded an aura of confidence which was appealing. There was also just a general lack of hesitation in the way that she conversed that was endearing. Serena sometimes fretted over the way she conducted herself in conversations, and wished she'd just taken the leap in some scenarios. Experience had taught her to be more willing.

Plus, Serena had been sort of bored at the party and Melissa was cute. Beyond cute.

It was like the offer was whispered in an ear, a little shiver of electricity ran up Serena's spine and she straightened a little. "See, like I said. Interesting." She took a sip from her drink and failed to hide the grin that just wouldn't leave her lips. Sometimes you just needed to smile.

"I would love to. I might even be persuaded to share more than one with you." Funny how something so nearly disastrous could turn out so pleasant.

Niko was not one to let a good thing pass. Though she was a bit of a lone wolf and never sought the extended company of another, there were times where she too needed to appease certain urges. She was sparing with these moments, however, and only fell victim to them when the sensation was too overwhelming to ignore. She did not come into this party seeking anything of the kind -- but it suddenly felt so right.

At Serena’s side she playfully offered her a seat in a dark, quiet corner. Just so that they could share a drink and chat with a bit more privacy. This was a party, after all, so there was nothing wrong with seeing where certain options would lead her.

Interesting. Niko grinned a wolfish smile as she took the lead and started towards the booth. Everyone seemed more interested with the spas and scantily clad beauties than to even consider taking such a prized spot. It was a good thing that Niko was clear headed.

She moved ahead, her hips carrying just a little extra sway for Serena’s benefit. With a sip of her drink, she glanced back. Her eyes did not hide their interest, briefly looking over the blonde once more before she turned back around. With a click of her tongue and effervescent giggle she spoke up.

”Oooo, surely you could persuade me for more than just a drink, sweetie,” she laughed. Marching towards the booth, she turned, accentuating the roundness of her backside, and slid into her seat. She scooted deeper into the booth, setting her drink on the smooth table top and patted the seat next to her. ”Come on, honey,” she smiled. ”I don’t bite...unless you ask nicely.”

God she was forward. Serena couldn’t remember the last time she was this forward with anyone. That guy, Bernard in Stockholm? No, Eliza in Seattle in the 1980s. Yeah, she was intoxicating to be around. But this was different. There was none of that underlining fear of the Man of Shadows attacking her unprepared. Right now, the only thing on her mind was Serena and getting that gorgeous beauty to sit next to her.

In most situations, when a gorgeous woman was walking in front of Serena, she would not stare at... Well, she wouldn't stare. Or at least, she'd try not to. She felt much giddier and relaxed than normal, and Melissa was definitely encouraging her, so yes, she looked. The booths had gone relatively unnoticed before. The hot tubs were definitely the star of the show here, obviously.

The benefit to the booths being less noticed by the party goers was that there was plenty of seating over here, and a nice, quiet corner for Serena to make gooey eyes at Melissa in.

She slid into the seat next to Melissa with a smirk. "I must say, you're more forwards than most beautiful woman I've met, it's rather... refreshing." She took a sip of her drink and smiled sweetly.

"I'm not afraid of a little biting." She replied, baring her teeth.

Good lord, did she just say that?

Isolated. Unseen. Dark. This booth was absolutely perfect for how she wanted to spend her time with the lovely blonde that followed her in tow. She scooted deeper into the booth, turning her gaze towards her, smiling widely as Serena took her up on the offer to join and slipped into the booth next to her. Normally Niko wouldn’t be so aggressive, but for some reason, she just felt so relaxed and...expressive.

Her behavior wasn’t lost on Serena either. Though the two didn’t know one another (yet), she did point out something that Niko could sense. She wasn’t like this. This wasn’t how she acted with other people, even when she was in need of a bedmate, she rarely acted so forward. However, while she knew this feeling was odd, she couldn’t dedicate the brain power to questioning it.

With another glance at Serena’s swimsuit, she suddenly forgot why she was questioning herself. The hazy good feeling that coursed through her body was too hard to ignore. The enrapturing gaze of the cute blonde couldn’t be ignored. Feeling that tingle radiate from her core, she forgot any reasons she was suspicious and edged a little closer to Serena.

”What can I say?” she asked. ”We only live once. No reason to delay when you…” her predatory eyes drunk the image of the Serena once more. When their eyes met again, she whispered, ”...see something you want. Right?”

She took another sip of her drink, her smile broadening at the little nip at the air Serena took. A lighthearted giggle rolled off her tongue as she gave the girl her full attention.

”Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?” she asked. ”Are you one the deaged this benefit is for?”

The young X-team member smirked when the drinks disappeared from his hands and Ami was glad he was there. He wasn’t sure if he was interrupting but the warm welcome was nice considering he had spent most of his time there drinking and keeping to himself. Trouble was best avoided. The words ‘hero’ were mouthed. Maybe he was keeping Ami out of trouble. Sam smiled and sipped his drink glad to help where he could.

”A saint.” Sam laughed, ”I try to be, I keep finding myself in those situations though and no. I haven’t seen Lenna around. I’ve actually been avoiding her since she last cooked for me. My taste buds are just growing back and I stopped breathing fire.” Sam laughed again. He never considered him a baby when it came to food that was spicy till he met Lenna. He didn’t like it when people bested him.

”Pleasures mine.” Sam said looking back to Noel before noticing her eyes were elsewhere. Sam sipped his drink then looked to Ami and raised an eyebrow. Then back to Noel. Sam sipped his drink then added, ”So did I miss anything good? Had to see if anyone put a bid on me yet.” Sam half lied. His spot before gave him access to see it. Now it was best avoided he wasn’t nervous at all. Nope.

The icemancer found his eyes wandering again, a woman behind Ami. To Ami, back to Noel then behind her to a server who was walking away. That one was safer glance so he let his eyes linger for a moment. ”You two having a good time?” he asked looking back to the two women he was with in the hot tub, very glad he decided to stay in the city.

Oh @#$^ he punched him! Why had he done that? He'd actually just cold cocked the commander shepard dancing mass murderer he'd been trying to subtly kidnap.

To be completely honest, the smack of fist against face was a comforting and familiar sensation that had always triggered a sort of dopamine response in his head. He'd caught himself smiling a little in spite of himself as the younger man was sent hiney over teakettle, even as he rebuked himself for doing it.

And then he saw where the man had stumbled to. He stepped on someone's fingers, and Saphirus tried to step forward to secure him, but wasn't fast enough, as he slipped on a towel stack, and half fell into the hot tub where two people were soaking their feet already. One, his co-worker and the other, his ex wife. Causing a scene in a place like this was pretty ba- wait, rewind that, who was sitting there?

Andrea. @#$%^ing. Gordon. He was standing right behind her.

Oh, he wasn't ready for this.

He wasn't ready at all. Her back was still to him. He looked to the man, who was getting native real quick. A clever move completely overshadowed by the existence of the woman he had dated for five years, married, was abandoned by without explanation.

#@$^. He had to leave. He had to get out of here. He could always pursue this man later, and now he had a first name to help track him down. He turned to hurry off, but something stopped him. That something? A giant snake, casually wrapping itself around his foot.

Sloth hadn't seem him in some time. He'd decided to come in for a hug. "Oh @#$%" Yep. He wasn't escaping unnoticed. "Eh... Mikey! We were just playin around, you know, locker room stuff, yeah. Eh... Becca, good to see you here. A- Andrea." @#$%, @#$%, @#$#, God#@$%it, @#$^!

Like the sweetheart she was, Andrea doled out compliments that made Becca beam. Accepting permission, the Scot let some of the gardener snakes twist around her fingers. ”Thenk ye, though Ah’m cheatin’ coz my baby keeps givin’ me powers an’ today, muscles are th’ power. And th’ Mansion wasn’ sae much hit as we keep collectin’ strays.” When trouble hit mutants, mutants found the Mansion.

”Gawain is freakin’ it, which is silly, coz they’re gonna be a great parent. Nae that Ah’m nae panickin’ half th’ time either,” she admitted. ”Though Ah dae appreciate ye bein’ honest. Ye an’ yer powers are great, bit Ah’m already a wee bit protective of my baby.”

Wondering if her power was what made Andrea nervous in a setting like this, Rebecca moved her arm down to wrap around Andrea’s waist, pulling her into a hug. ”Bit yer jist grand, and it’s jist charity bit mair fun an’ ye gie tae show aff a little. What’s th’ worst that coods happen?” Soon enough, she would likely find out.

Rebecca was so focused on Andrea, as if on cue, she was totally caught by surprise by an unexpected arrival, answering her question from just moments earlier. A buff man in swim trunks joined the pair unexpectedly. Of the options for uninvited guests, that was not the worst in Rebecca’s book.

The young man’s name was Michael and much to Becca’s surprise, he apparently joined them after a falling out with “the punchy one,” which made Becca pout. ”The punchy one? Am I going to have to go X-Man in a bikini? Ah’m Becca, an’ if someain’s strartin’ trouble, point me at ‘im and Ah’ll whoop his ass.”

The answer to her concerns came when a snake snagged Saphirus of all people as he awkwardly reacted as though he was caught stealing from the cookie jar. Becca groaned. "Fer Godsakes, Saph, ay coorse yer th' punchy ain. Ah know ye can fly aff th' handle fer jist abit nae reason, but coods ye behave at a party? Fer me?"

Knowing Nessa dated the redheaded teacher, that made enough sense to her. Rebecca was part of the ViewTube community, and even in her day, she saw creators she followed dating within the industry constantly. Turns out, when Nessa ascended into that space, she was no different from the inter-dating movers and shakers of the early Twenty-Tens.

The way Agnes moaned was a momentary distraction, forcing Nessa to catch up to what words actually followed. It was a nice feeling dipping your body into the heated bubbling water, and Agnes’s nice hot body was clearly just having a nice dip in the hot water.

The pair of them were in a weird situation, with Miss Grey’s situation being somehow doubly weird. You would have thought a de-aging bomb went off at a meeting of her ex-girlfriends. Given Nessa and Becca’s apparent history, it was not impossible Agnes was the ex who stole Becca away, but… well, did Nessa want that to be the answer?

”I suppose if it was you, she would not have said it. That’d be a bitch thing to do; drop the weight of an affair you never had on your shoulders.” If Nessa was in Becca’s shoes, she might keep that news close to the chest.

Ultimately, Nessa shrugged at the idea. ”If it was you, then it still wasn’t you. It was the older, lamer you. And now I’m in a hot tub with the young, sexy--er, cool you. And Rebecca isn’t.” And if there was some bad blood there in her future/past, that felt like due justice.

Then again… why stop there? ”I’ve totally been laying it on a little thick. But you know… if you were the girl she cheated on me with, can you imagine the power move it would be if we just, like, made out? Like right now?” Nessa made unabashed eye-contact because she wanted to know what Agnes might think of an idea like that.

She would do it. She would tell him. Already, Amelia could see the resolve pooling in Noel. A well of resolve. Deep.

Unfortunately, the Him in question had vanished so she could not traipse off to go get some ASAP.

Amelia had nodded to Noel with a small smile. Sam has showed up. And now, she had a drink. Which she drank!

Sam hadn’t seen Lenna. Her cooking... had scared him off. Amelia laughed. And made a note to not let Lenna cook for her any time soon.

“She got you good,” she said impishly.

Introductions were made. Sam asked if anything good had happened while he was gone, for the bidding table.

“Nothing much. Just talking about girl stuff,” Amelia drawled. Giiirl stuff. Noels business was her own to share or keep to herself.

He asked if they were having a good time, and Amelia nodded. Took a sip of her drink. Lazily reclined in the tub, sinking down a little.

“Yeah. It’s nice. Warm and soothing.” She said. Then, sudden noise and commotion caught her attention. Someone had half fallen into a hot tub several tubs away. She could tell it had been noteworthy by one of the patron’s gasps. And another who had catcalled at the man.

“Why not do a cannonball?!” The catcall went.

Another man was by the tub, looking woefully uncomfortable. Was that... a snake clinging to his foot? Amelia squinted.

“What a carnival show over there...” she said. And then, a familiar woman in a lime green one piece bathing suit wandered by in the background beyond the spectacle. “Oh hey. There’s Lenna. Lenna!” She stood up in the tub, and wAved yo try and get the brunettes attention. “Over here!”

It was stupid. It was dumb. It was against her better judgement, but the curiosity. That damn morbid curiosity. It drew her, like metal filings to a magnet.

He looked familiar. She felt like she had seen him. Maybe in one of Cowboys visions? But who was he? Never could tell. Ty only shared the one way. There was no audio to go with his visual.

Her approach was cautious. She maintained tailing distance as she stalked her prey. All the while, she sipped at her glass of wine. And watched.

She was watching, so she saw the scuffle. The brief punch fail splash that put the man half in and half out of the hot tub. And the dumb guy who had been the cause of the fight. She was still a good six feet back from them, uncertain what to do, other than watch a spectacle. Then a familiar voice jerked get attention up and over, past the whole thing onto a tub a ways away. Someone was calling her name.

Her blue green eyes fell on the tub. The people. She knew Sam, knew Amelia.

In the background, there was a sound like the click of a shutter. Like a cellphones camera. She heard it, but the thought went nowhere. Just a stray thought, with no home.

Lenna dropped her empty glass off on a tray as she slipped through the party, towards her friends.

Sam has been avoiding her. She was fairly certain. He was interesting. A good fighter. A terrible flirt. She liked him, as a young girl might like a wise teacher. He was amusing, and from him, there was much she could learn. She had not heard the song Don’t stand so Close To Me
in her entire life.

Amelia was a friend. Someone to talk to, and share information with. An almost roomie, they spent much time with the “hanging out” in rooms.

The third person was a mystery. Worth investigating, perhaps.

She stopped in front of their tub. Just as a matter of fact, in between then and their view of the other tub. The one where the spectacle had occurred. Was occurring. But of course, it was purely by chance.

The brown-haired girl clasped hands behind her back, and focused on them.

Her accent was lightly Colombian. ”Hello. Yes. Hi Sam. Amelia. How are you? I am good, but tonight... has been very confusing.” Dhe shot a glance back to the man, the handsome man. She frowned, then looked back at them. ”Their wine is fairly strong.”

Girl stuff. Ranger was caught a little off guard with Amelia calling their conversation ‘girl stuff’. Never had something she had been involved in be so casually called girl stuff in a non-facetious manner. It was correct though, it was girl stuff as she was a girl and was talking with another girl and pouring out some of her heart. Which, she still wasn’t sure why she had said so much. She just felt she had no reason not to.

”Yeah... Girl stuff.” Ranger said with a nod.

Sam asked if they were having a good time. Ranger looked over at Amelia for a moment before nodding her head in the affirmative. She was. And while she was nervous about her immediate future, she was excited. All thanks to Amelia. When Ameila said it was nice, warm, and soothing, Ranger had to agree, ”Yeah… It really is.” She let herself sink down another couple inches into the water before there was some kind of commotion.

Ranger sat up tall enough to see over to the hot tub where something was happening. She was too late to see who had fallen into a hot tub, but she did see the man who had been talking to Noel outside the hot tub. Maybe he would know where Noel went. Ranger moved to get out of the hot tub and go ask, she had important business after all, when she saw her. At the same time Amelia called out to her, Ranger saw Lenna.

It was like a blast from her past. Not a very distant past though. From Ranger’s perspective they hadn’t broken up that long ago. She did look younger though. Had she been deaged even further back than Ranger and Noel had? Would she remember Ranger? Well, not Ranger as she was at that moment but Ranger from before she became a she.

Sliding back to her seat Ranger took a moment to think about it all. And then decided that was a bad idea and sipped her alcoholic drink. Deaging and body swapping added together was too much for someone to think about if they wanted to stay sane.

She was Noel. That would keep things simple. Noel having memories of things that didn’t happen to her was normal. It was also normal for Noel to not know someone she should. If Lenna knew Noel that was fine.And there was no need for her to bring up the past between Lenna and Ranger.

Ranger wiped the look of recognition off her face as Lenna approached.

When Lenna reached the hot tub she stood outside it and greeted Sam and Amelia. It seemed she knew both of them. When she commented on the wine being strong Ranger looked at the drink in her own hand. Had that been why she was being so forthcoming? No, she hadn’t had anything to drink yet. Maybe she just felt so strongly that she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

”Howdy Lenna, I’m Noel.” A sour taste. Less sour than before. Maybe she was starting to think of herself more so as Noel. She remained seated and waived. Standing and moving to offer a handshake would be awkward at best from within the hot tub. ”An’ I hear y’ about it bein’ confusion’.” Ranger said, her own confusion having been internal.

”Girl stuff…” Sam smirked looking from Noel to Ami and started laughing, ”None of my business got it.” he said as he raised the glass in a cheers, he wasn’t asking to be nosey. He was asking to keep himself distracted speaking of distractions…

Sam heard Ami call her name and then he saw her. Sam eye rolled then grinned when Lenna showed. He had only been avoiding her because he couldn’t handle her cooking. She loaded it with spices. No one cooks like that normally right? He didn’t want to bring it up or have anyone else do it. Nothing screams ‘I’m a man’ like tearing up when someone made you food that was too spicy. His ego wouldn’t allow him to bring it back up and it ignored Ami’s comment. ”Yeah, yeah.”

Apparently things were confusing. Sam looked from his drink to hers and then raised an eyebrow. ”Did I grab the wrong one?” Sam looked back to his glass and took a drink. Nope, things still made sense. He was in a hot tub, there were women and he had a drink. Definitely made sense.

Raising a hand and giving a thumbs up to Lenna he smirked, ”Doing alright. Haven’t had an issue with the pours yet so.” he shrugged, ”You here to drop a bid on me?” Sam asked sipping his drink and stifling his grin.

Looking over Noel, ”We all live together.” he didn’t elaborate. He thought it be funnier if he left it at that. ”So, you come here in a group?” he focused on her face while he was talking he didn’t want to be rude.

A week ago, if she had been asked if she was a cheater, she would have vehemently denied it. That didn’t sound like her. As a matter of fact, after her date with Jasmine, she was already entertaining thoughts about making it exclusive. She couldn’t imagine cheating on a significant other, especially after going through such awkward lengths to ask them out on a date and share such an intimate side of herself with them. Who would do that?

Still, she had to admit, Ms. Grey did look at her rather oddly now and again; a fact that was ten-fold since she walked into this party with Nessa. Is it true? What were the odds of all of this happening? Stubbornly she shook the thoughts away, trying to focus in on Nessa rather than her ex / professor.

Another shrug. ”Yeah. I guess she has that going for her,” she said. ”I mean, I don’t know if it was me. But if it was at least she kept that bit of information to herself.”

With a contented sigh she tried to relax in the water. Leaning back, she soaked the back of her head in the warm, bubbling waters and let the warmth radiate across her scalp. It was extremely relaxing. When she sat up again, her cheeks were a flush red. But not just because of the warm water, rather the slip of the tongue that Nessa just provided.

Sexier, cool you? She smiled awkwardly. Despite how it sounded, Agnes knew that Nessa had a valid point. That Agnes? That older Agnes she was told about, that wasn’t her anymore? It may never be her. Now that she knew some of the life she had led, there’s no telling if she would make any of those same choices.

She could grow to be an entirely new Agnes.

But why focus on that? A strange sensation swept over her. She suddenly felt far, far more relaxed. An easy smile came to her lips and her head lulled a little to the side. Unsure of what happened, she did know that she didn’t want to dedicate any thought to it. Not when there was a gorgeous girl in front of her offering up some amazing revenge ideas.

Wait...what? That was an amazing idea? She tried to shake the thought from her head but the idea of edging closer to the pretty brunette, pressing her lips against hers, honestly it started to make her feel warmer than the water she was dipped in. It still felt awkward, but she just felt so...relaxed about the idea.

She hazarded a glance back to where Ms. Grey was supposed to be, then turned back to Nessa. She blushed fiercely but couldn’t help the smile that came to her lips. ”That would be sweet revenge, wouldn’t it?” she giggled. ”Oh but I’m not that easy, Nessa Bookman,” her head swam a little as she spoke. ”I gotta be romanced first, you know. I’m sure that’s what Ms. Grey would tell you.”

The idea of Nessa asking Ms. Grey about dating her filled the insect queen’s head. And she snorted. What a funny thought.

Yes. The punchy one. Noel had to pay particularly close attention to the red-head's lips because the words coming out of her mouth were just South of intelligible. It seemed they knew each other. The hair? seemed to know the puncher, Saph, as did the red head.

"I- er- 'm sure you'd be an excellen' ass whooper, but-" but. BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING REALLY EGREGIOUSLY WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE. Like magnets, no matter how he tried to look away and stay alert and all that... he couldn't NOT look. His eyes just got zapped right back to the slight tummy shape... that little roundness that most people might not wear a bikini around unless it was something to be proud of, something special and ... and not made of fat.

"A man should never- neither a woman- you have- you. Wait." He couldn't ask 'are you pregnant or just holding a spare tire?' AT LEAST HE SHOULDN'T, ANYWAY. Noel held up his hands, surrendering before he'd ever even really started. "I'm all- discombobulated. Let me start again. Y'all are X-man? Men? People?" Were there X-ladies? "All a y'all?"

He would just have to stop smiling and batting his eyelashes at Saph for a moment. An X-man who hated Michael. Did that really change anything? Not especially. But with a sort of maybe potentially pregnant teammate and a woman whose hair was over friendly to leverage? Maybe... Maybe that changed something.