>>"I can wait if you want to finish up or... change?"

Sveta nodded. She needed to change. she also needed to talk to Jude and there was no way she would get to do that in the apartment, not while Ami was around. She was already staring daggers. Which made Sveta smirk.

>>"Um. We need to talk."

Uh-oh. Sveta nodded again, and glanced back at Jude.

"I'll go change. I'll be right back."

She felt better, leaving him alone with Aurum. Walking back to her room with Ami in tow, she closed the door before she looked at the girl curiously.

"What do we need to talk about?"

Jude watched them go. That was what he wanted, sort of. "How do you do it?" Women were frightening in numbers. Jude had seen Aurum turn them away with grace and poise and the women somehow thought they'd won.

"Living withs one woman would be scary enough." He huffed a sigh.

"Things," Amelia confirmed.

She looked importantly at Sveta.

"For starters. Are you and Jude dating?"

She liked starting with hard questions first.

Aurum arched an eyebrow.

"I don't live with Ami," he stated. "She just sort of... makes herself at home."

"So, this is new." He gestured to Jude's current face, height, hair, bruises, and, well, everything. "How exactly...?"

>>"Things. For starters. Are you and Jude dating?"

"Umm." Sveta said. It was a very long umm. As long as one can make it and still sound casual rather than dragging things out on purpose. "Umm."

Well. Technically. Were they?

Fact 1. He brought her flowers.
Fact 2. She slept with him.

"I guess." she admitted, still red in the cheeks, and busied herself with rummaging around for something to wear "Kind of."

If Jude had been living in his own place, he would not want a little sister hanging around. Especially if... well, no. Svetlana had said that it wasn't like that between them.

"I'm a power copier." Jude shifted. Aurum was... nicer than he remembered.

"So, how long has Ami been a mutant?"

That blush. Those words. That behavior. There was something serious underneath the face Sveta was putting up.

"Kind of?" She repeated. "Sveta. Something didn't... happen. Between you two. Did it?" Because she got vibes that something had happened. It did not take a sleuth to figure that out. Any redder and her cheeks would resemble baboon booty in estrus. Lovely image, that.

Power copier. Interesting. So, he supposed Jude had copied someone's power to get older. He always had been an interesting kid.

An interesting kid trying to throw him off topic with a curve ball.

"As far as I know, she isn't." He replied.

Aurum let that sit there for a second, then added. "Why?"

Well damn. He supposed he could let the curveball distract him for a swing. If he had another question for Jude, he'd be back.

>>"Kind of? Sveta. Something didn't... happen. Between you two. Did it?"

Well, everything happened. Pretty much. Sveta glanced at Ami, desperately trying to figure out how much she wanted to tell her, and how she should phrase whatever she wanted to tell. Ami was smart. And positively pitbull-like, when it came to questions. She knew she was already suspicious... Looking away again, she sorted through some dresses and blouses, just to keep herself occupied.

"Well. Um." she sighed. Not good at all. it just made her sound more suspicious. "He helps me practice with my powers."

He... didn't know? "Oh." Jude didn't mean to spring it on him, the grown-up-ness or the revelation about Amelia. They'd just seemed close...

"Sorry, my ability..." It was still a little new to him even if he'd been drilling to keep control. "Maybe it was Svetty zat it wanted to copy. Last time I ran into Ami, she wasn't a mutant." Jude readjusted his sungalsses. He could have been mistaken, but it wasn't Svetlana who had opened the door or who had been standing close enough to tempt his greedy power.

More shifty behavior. More aversion of eye contact.

"Practice, huh." She said. With no question mark. She was not asking. She had a gut feeling, here. "Sveta." Her lips drew thin, like a fishing line. "Look at me. Right now, you're giving me the runaround. I can tell there's something you're hiding. Spill."

Gosh. She hadn't been this suspicious since with Maya in the changing room... right before she'd risked everything on a gut instinct guess.

"How does your power work, exactly...?" Aurum crossed his arms suspiciously.

He hadn't heard stories about this kid. Ami had not shared fun time tales. So he had no reason to suspect he was dealing with a class A perv. Still. He was curious. How did the kid's power work?

Not to change the subject or anything, but Aurum changed the subject. "Have you been spending a lot of time with Svetlana?" To copy her power. And what with the whisking her off during lunch.

>>"Practice, huh. Sveta. Look at me. Right now, you're giving me the runaround. I can tell there's something you're hiding. Spill."

Uh-oh. For a moment, Sveta froze; in a strange flashback, Ami sounded just like the Matchmaker. She knew she really liked her and cared for her, but she also knew she would take no bs. Looking up, she sighed, and gave up.

"Fine. I guess I am dating him. Have only been out once, but... yes."

That one date, however... well. Long story.

Sveta turned back to her bed, and finally decided on an outfit. She couldn't leave Jude out there by himself forever... aurum was much nicer to him than Ami, but still.

"It works like..." He felt totally stupid trying to explain this to someone who had no experience feeling things outside of the norm. "Like an invisible arm or magnetic wind. It points at powers it wants. I don't know what zey are, just zat it wants zem." It had been drawn to Ami. At least, he thought it had. But Aurum could live in denial if that was what he really wanted. It wasn't Jude's place to burst that bubble.

As for Svetlana... "Not a whole lot." He was a horrible liar so it was clear that not a whole lot meant that he wished it were more. "We were supposed to work on control for her power, but we got attacked by a moose." Jude pointed at his face. Okay. So he'd skipped a part, but he wasn't one to kiss-and-maybe-more and tell.

Sveta froze.

She guessed?

Guessed she was dating him? Had Amelia heard that right? Only been out once, but she knew.

She knew.

"You guess?" Amelia tilted her head curiously. "How do you know? You never answered my question from before... did something happen?"