A resounding plea of "no!" shout up from several of the guessers. A plump boy about the age of fourteen plopped down and starred at her. Aedus nodded toward the boy. "This is Lene, someone that I wanted you to meet anyhow."

He looked at her. 'Mind power...you haven't met them but you have. Do you know your sword the same way you know Uncy and aunty?"

Aedus nodded.

He rubbed his fingers together."hmmmm. You know stuff from other peoples brains."

Cindy. "oh! you've seen them so many times. You can read memories, like Lene."

"Thats not quite what I do Cindy. I find the ones you forget not the ones you remember." Lene said and Aedus raised his eyebrows(or where they should be anyhow) at Noel. If she wanted to try to find her memories with his cousin that was absolutely her call. He didn't know how to bring it up or he would have.He wasn't sure how sensitive of a situation it would be, he certainly wasn't going to ask in front of everyone.

Lene was up from Flordia, he wasn't sure if the boy was coming this year and he wasn't sure how long he was staying or how his power would work in conjunction with someone who had forgotten so much.

"I can read memories. Yep." That was the absolute best way she had ever heard it phrased. Read memories. She was going to have to remember that somehow.

"You're forgetting something." Lene reminded her with a level stare that seemed more grown up than it should have been.

"Well that's nothing new. I can also erase memories."

Lene sighed. "You give me a headache."

"Whoa. You should go into, like, PTSD therapy or something. Make people forget the bad stuff."

"I don't think that would help really. The forgetting isn't always permanent and that kind of thing probably needs professional help. Healing, not forgetting. Forgetting might just lead to them jumping at shadows and not knowing why."

"I wonder if Lene's head would explode if Noel made him forget something."

"I'd rather not try, thanks." Lene and Noel were of the same opinion on that.

"What about a memory-off? See who can find a memory faster?"

Noel shrugged at Lene. "I can choose what memories to see. It doesn't seem fair if he can't."

She was getting better at ignoring them too, as evidenced by the fact that she could now finish a meal in less than three hours. Also now she could eat food and share in a conversation with other people instead of getting stuck in a comatose state watching how someone washed the potatoes that made the meal. Maybe the conversation that was totally unrelated to the memories that went into the food helped?

Rhys pointed out blandly. "it is cheating to use our powers when playing guess the power."

Lene replied."And how could I have applied my power to knowing her power."

"Oh hush, you two, you all got it wrong any how, her power is Charm."He looked at Noel to include her in the wrong guessing of her ability. Great Shamus chimed in and got up to wander off somewhere else.

Aedus scooped up some mashed potatoes and chewed them, he was obviously using Noel's mouth full of ham method...with a much less convincing food source. He went to scoop another spoonful and realized his plate was empty. When did that happen?

Lene jotted down his email and slid it across the table. " I'd like to discuss similarities sometime. It can be more common around here, but it is rare to find those with similar powers outside the family, so it'd be neat to keep in touch."

Aedus sat his spoon down and eaves dropped on Finn as he sat next to Cindy. He was eaves dropping on what dessert the man was eating.

He listened to the other discuss the faucets of memory manipulation, and waited patiently to whisk Noel away to sugar land.

Email... "I can email on my phone, but I don't actually have a computer so it might be easier to call." Still, Noel pocketed the email address and stole Lene's pen in order to write down her phone number. "I'd like to talk to you, but..." She looked around and Lene shrugged an apology. He understood. This wasn't the time or place to share the intimate details of one's mutation.

"Thanks." The guy seemed moody in general, but his thanks seemed sincere.

Their business concluded, Noel turned to Aedus whose plate was empty. That mountain had somehow fit into his belly. "Dessert?" Just that one word and the two of them were grinning like kids at each other. If the food had been that magical, how must the dessert table look?

"Please tell me you have a sugarmancer in the family."

"Sorry Teagues, but I am stealing this woman away to find a pile of sugar with her."

Hers was a smile he could bask in. A giddy nod answered her question. He rose to head to the dessert table. He looked at Noel with a sideways glance. " I have better news than that. Those women in the kitchen are all sugarmancers, not by mutation per say but you'll see."

Aedus took Noels plate and placed both of theirs in a bin. A pair of twins waited patiently as the bin filled, once it did, they began a dance of sorts that looked absolutely eccentric. The end result of their dance boiled down to recycling the objects so they were remade clean. The paper plates danced like origami the plastic rolled into balls, it all danced around the floor in front of them and began to glow, it then turned back into a stack of freshly package paper plates and plastic utensils.

They made their way toward a table that shined with sweetness, pies, cakes, cookies, various desserts that looked fantastic but couldn't quite be classified. everything made his mouth water. As they entered the line he put a finger up to his lips, signaling Noel that something was up. He then pointed to the pair in front of him. Ma and Da.

He grinned at Noel and spoke in a monotone. "Yeah, I really want you to meet my parents so we can assure them that we are coworkers and good friends. I know they are both curious to meet you."

The pair in front of them whirled around and were on them in seconds. Hugs and babbling that went over Aedus head. The pair switched and Aedus mother and was hugging Noel and his father was hugging him at the end. " You two should have found us quicker!. It is great to meet you Noel. My son has told me good things!" it was true. His mother sprung right into what the rest of the family had been up to and his father slowly guide them along the line with a tight lipped but pleased look on his face, as if he were escorting the world record holder for most words per minute spoken and he couldn't be happier.

Aedus laughed. he gave a sideways glance to Noel. " Don't worry she'll run out of breathe sometime." that earned him a playful pinch from his mother. "Oh you! So Noel, is he being good to you?"

Hugs all around! Noel wasn't usually a hugger but smell of them, the feel of them. It was all just as she remembered and it was so severely nostalgic that the brunette was smiling ear to ear.
 
"I've seen so much about you. It's an honor to finally meet." Could she crawl into Mama Teague's lap and just have her hug her all day? Noel didn't have anything to cry about currently, but she could come up with something if that meant Aedus' mom would rub her back and tell her that everything was okay.
 
That image embarrassed her and Noel hoped no brain image stealers were within range. Noel didn't have long to be embarrassed, though because Aedus' mom had her arm looped into her own and she was talking at least twice as fast as they were walking. It was a good thing Noel was prepared for this otherwise she would have been overwhelmed. Instead, it was pretty normal fare. Just like every other time she'd seen Aedus' mom excited in his memory of her.
 
"Your son has been very good to me, ma'am. He cooks like an angel and I understand that's a credit to you." Noel took a quick break to grab something delectable (lemon glazed pound cake maybe?) and then she and Aedus' mother were back to chatting. What had he cooked? Oh those pancakes were for her? No, she didn't ever stay the night, she wasn't that kind of girl. She worked security, so really, it was Aedus in danger and that's why the odd hours. He helped her with her power? The poor obsidian man might as well have not been there. 
 
It was around the time when their discussion had digressed into the 'oh your hair is lovely' stage when Noel realized that they had been corralled back to the portion of the long table where Aedus' parents had previously been sitting and neither woman had taken more than a single bite of their desserts . Well. There was no harm in mingling, right? 

Da smirked at Aedus and raised an eyebrow, and then he raised both eyebrows a couple times. A question and a comment said with two bush black brows. The pair followed along and grabbed dessert, the men listened to the comments with ease, his father knowing good and well that he would get the full report out of Aedus's mother later whether he liked it or not.

Aedus smiled and was happy to listen to all Noel had to say, he was coming up as the prodigal son. certainly not the trouble maker they sent off to college. Not that his mother wouldn't have used his trouble making days to his disadvantage. The Teague men grabbed several desserts and Da made good use of his time with Noel distracted to cheat on his diet. It was thanksgiving! if you couldn't cheat on a diet then, when could you?

"So, son, How are you? Are you considering trying to play for the team again?"

"Not really dad, I'm concentrating on my career at the moment." he then looked at his pop and laughed. "that and you know, getting used to this."

His dad nodded. "its a good look on ya, I always said you should were more black."

"Shes Nice." His father stated.

"Yeah." Aedus replied with just the right tone to tell his dad everything he needed to know with out making his thoughts about Noel obvious. They had enough conversations about women that his dad would pick up on the fact that he liked her but he didn't see it going anywhere, not due to any reasons of his own. " She is a lot of fun to be around."

Aedus didn't however think about the fact that Noel could just as easily remember those conversations if she liked.

By the time the ladies had gotten done chatting the Men were leaning back in their chairs Da Teague looking over stuffed. While Aedus wore the same posture his stoney exterior hadn't changed much at all.

They chatted, they ate and then the after turkey tiredness set in. With profuse excusing and more than a little begging, Noel and Aedus secured a ride back into the city. And Noel secured a safe place on Aedus' couch so she could snooze through the football game on the screen.

All in all, a very good day.