Cancels powers...? Jude wasn't entirely sure he liked the sound of that. "Zat must be nice for you." He tried to make it sound diplomatic instead of lame. He had worked pretty hard thankyouverymuch to have an active mutation. There was no way he would take the chance of shrinking back into a midget with his girlfriend and the future mother of his children around.

Also, the chocolate had simply disappeared from his hand. Jude traced the disappearance all the way to a ever so slightly familiar looking girl who was laughing and joking around with Ami. Well. He had brought it to appease the women.

Jude took his seat on the other side of Muse and tried not to fret about his mutation getting zapped by the brunette. He waved shyly at Shin and Kealey from across the table. With as often as they shared holiday meals, they were as close to real family as he had at the moment.

And then she was outed. Riley took a moment scowl in the blondes' direction. Who did things like that right after the introduction? Like ten of the marks Svetlana had gotten in the positive column disappeared as Riley studied the guy's reaction.

Yeah. He wasn't impressed.

Right back at you buddy...besides, who actually wears a pony tail these days?

Things were awkward another few moments, at least for Riley, and then they sat down. That was fine. Whatever. The food was going to be good, and she could just stuff her face and ignore everyone until dinner was over and they left. Svetlana was on one side of her, and Aurum on the other. They were just about to eat when the last two members of the dinner party showed up. More friends of Aurum's. Awesome.

The blond was the exactly kind of tiny, peppy, smiling thing that made Riley feel like someone had drug their nails down a chalkboard. And of course she was a mutant, that stupid grin made it obvious. Her boyfriend...something about her boyfriend was familiar, and made Riley's jaw clench a bit.

This had been a horrible idea.

"Can we eat yet?"

(( OOC: New posting order. Aurum, Ami, Mirror, Shin, Kealey, Jude, Muse, and Riley. ))

Amelia looked to Aurum. Aurum nodded.

If it had been a family gathering, they'd probably have said grace. As it was... Amelia did not think they deserved to get off doing nothing.

"Hey, wait. We need to give thanks first." She interrupted any turkey-nabbing.

Aurum agreed.

"Alright." He said. "I am thankful for all the help everyone put in to help make this meal possible." He aimed a smile around the room, finally settling on Riley. All the help, He attempted to emphasize with a look.

Then, it was Ami's turn.

She smiled simply. "I'm thankful for all the people here. It's nice seeing the people I love."

The turn order passed to Maya.

It was nice. Very nice. With everyone sitting around the table, it felt like a family, and not a bunch of random mutants who knew each other.

The said thanks. That was what people did. Maya tried to recall what she did last year this time, but she couldn't remember. Probably nothing.

And then it was her turn.

Glancing around, her cheeks turned pink, and she glanced at her girlfriend to see her smile. That made her smile too.

"I am thankful for being here."

That pretty much summed everything up.

"I am thankful..." The Asian began. "That the giant turkey we had to fight through to get here was a big ol pushover."

He did not comment on the adaptoid in the room. He hated those. So much. But this was a family gathering. And even if they'd had to fight through a horde of turkey giants just to dine with Aurum, that didn't mean he could attack the first Adaptoid he didn't see.

Seriously. She was blurry. He couldn't see the person by Aurum very well, at all. Luckily, he was just out of range of the full force of her aura. Otherwise, he'd have been blind. And that would not have been very fun for pea-passing at all.

Oh! It was her turn. Kealey thought for a moment. While the others had been talking, she'd still been looking across the table at the lovely brunette who could be none other than Aurum's date. The woman was a conundrum, and not entirely what Kealey would have pegged as a potential date for their host. She was aloof, and was refusing to meet Kealey's eyes. All in all, a rather unimpressive start BUT. The way Aurum had looked right at her...Kealey had to give the lady a chance.

Shin was thankful for the fact that the giant turkey they'd fought had been a huge pushover and Kealey agreed wholeheartedly. Still, that was no reason to be repetitive. Instead she smiled.

"I'm thankful that I'm not going to cry this year." she said with slightly pink cheeks, and the clearest head she'd had in ages.

"I'm also thankful that I get to be here and share dinner. With my family."

Jude smiled at the crying comment from Kealey. "I'd forgotten all about zat." But the roll on his plate was going to be rapidly cooling and the butter on his knife was warming. Never a good sign. He had to get his thanks in order.

"I am sankful for ze love and support I have experienced zis year." Family would have been his go-to if he knew where any of them were, but he was trying to stay positive about the whole thing. They would find them and get it all put together again.

Jude put his hand over Svetlana's. As one of his main supporters, she was top of his list. He squeezed her hand to let her know that she could go now.

Sveta enjoyed the lack of buzz all too much. She was smiling at everyone around the table, even the people she didn't know that well. It was just nice, being surrounded by friends that almost felt like family.
She had no clue what Shin meant by the turkey, or what Kealey would be crying for. But it was fun anyway.

>>"I am sankful for ze love and support I have experienced zis year."

He held her hand; she smiled at him.

"I am thankful for all the people who are helping me to feel at home" she nodded to Aurum and Ami "And the people who make me feel like family."

And the people who take her out to the park to... train. She did not have to say that out loud, though. Jude was here, and that made her happy.

Oh god. They were doing the whole ‘go around the table and share what you’re thankful for’ thing. Panic set in, cold and potent as people said their cute little pieces. Riley didn’t miss the look Aurum gave her, and she appreciated it, but this was so not her thing...

Ami and her girlfriend were thankful for...people and stuff. The Asian kid was thankful for something about a turkey, the peppy blond was happy about family, the French kid was happy about family, Svetlana was happy about family.

And just like that, it was her turn.

Riley looked around at the table of strangers and decided that at that moment, anywhere would have been a better place to be. Expectations were not something Riley was comfortable with and there were a whole lot of them staring at her while she made everyone wait to eat.

”Uh...” she said. Sure there were things she was Thankful for. One of them was sitting right next to her. That didn’t mean she felt the need to gush about it.

” I’m thankful that we’re done being thankful and we can eat all this food. Which looks great.” she said, casting Aurum a look similar to the one he’d given her.

Hopefully, now they could eat.

He caught that look. And assented. "Okay. Let's eat."

And so they did. And it was good.

And everyone got fat.