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When Vanessa told Booker about her mutation, she knew it would not go well and she thought she knew what to expect. She had experience with telling people things they could react poorly toward. Coming out to her parents was painful because she could hear the hurtful thoughts in their heads, but nothing was surprising. By the time she chose to leave home, Vanessa knew she was ready to deal with the consequences of excommunicating her parents from her life.

All that did not prepare her for the hurt in Booker’s eyes when she told him the truth. Vanessa had grown distant from her parents over the years, but Booker was an integral part of her life. Seeing him so wounded was a reminder of why she could not keep secrets from the people who actually mattered to her.

Winnie was not Booker, and the girls had known each other for only a few years, but she still mattered. After barely scraping by with her sibling, the concern that Winnie could hate her or never forgive her was weighing heavily on Vanessa. Alcohol did not help.

Winnie started laughing into a pillow and Vanessa had never been happier to hear someone laugh. She told Vanessa to f**k off (she assumed,) but that was entirely in character for Winnie. She could feel tears forming in her eyes when Winnie signaled for her to get close. Happiness hit her so suddenly, she left herself trusting and unguarded.

Overjoyed naivety was met with a pillow to the head. It did not hurt, but Vanessa still replied with an, ”Ow!” on instinct. A second, whinier, ”Ooooow,” followed the second strike, which she received for the silliest of reasons.

Having taken her lumps, Vanessa cautiously found her place at Winnie’s side, cuddling up close. She would have to make a mental note to tell Gina about the night just in case some nosey fanboy decided to go to the internet with incriminating photos. Vanessa and Winnie were familiar with friendly, innocent cuddling, but onlookers would be less aware of the intent. It was going to be more difficult to tell Gina about the evening when she would have to dance around the topic of why things got so emotional. With her brother and her best friend now in the know, Vanessa had to consider where she was in her relationship with Gina.

Brushing away a tear on Winnie’s arm, Vanessa smiled. ”I mean, you could look at it as me letting you be the hottest mutant. And it’s still a close call. I think Gina’s still rocking the top spot, but I’m willing to agree to a tie for second.” Vanessa was not just telling her friend what she thought she wanted to hear; Winnie was, and would likely always be, one of the most gorgeous women she had ever known, mutant or not. ”And I think I know a certain waitress who would definitely cast her vote for you.”

She giggled at the idea that she was suddenly the “hottest mutant,” but when her laughter died down, she looked more sincerely toward Winnie, trying to avoid direct eye contact. ”So you’re still my bestie?”

Awesome! Mari's excited to have a theatre buddy <3

Vanessa was in her own little world of post-coital bliss waiting for her girlfriend to return to bed. They had real time together, free from the other stresses of life, and it was everything she could have asked for. She had been long overdue for physical and emotional intimacy, and now that she got a taste, she wanted to revel in it as long as she could. Vanessa was already considering how she could convince Gina to spend the night.

Somewhere outside her glow, Vanessa was sure she heard a man’s voice shouting. One of her neighbors was a man, so she wanted to dismiss it. She had too many good things to think about to wonder what kind of argument some hot head was getting into.

The shout did dismiss some of the happy haze, so even through her door, Vanessa was able to recognize the following voice calling out. Gina was calling to her by name, followed by what? It took a moment for her next comment to process, but when it hit Vanessa, the happy clouds were gone.

Wide-eyed when she remembered that Gina decided to forgo her pants on the trip to the bathroom, Vanessa stumbled out of her bed with a thud, dragging a sheet with her to wrap around her bare body. The telepath burst through her door, with half her sheet still dragging around her feet as she witnessed what she feared had happened.

Booker had his headphones in, but the look on his face was of a man who did not expect a half-naked young woman in his bathroom. Gina was giggly, which was comforting, but it was also not the most noticeable change at a glance.

Vanessa never gave much thought to the way an adapted would affect Gina. She thought some of the non-physical aspects of her mutation would shut off and her wings and tail might become dead weight, but she underestimated the effect. Gina’s grey, dappled skin was turning to soft tones of cinnamon, spreading slowly across her body. The spreading skin tone started down her legs, reminding a stunned Vanessa why she was in the hallway in the first place.

”Oh my God, okay,” she said, figuring out where to start. ”Booker—Booker, take your headphones off!” Vanessa knew all too well how hard it could be for Booker to hear when his headphones were still on.

It was inopportune, but she realized introductions could wait no longer. ”Booker, this is Gina, my girlfriend. Gina, sweetie, this is my brother, Booker.” Her confused look faded to a more in-character annoyance as she pointedly added, ”My brother who was not supposed to be home for a while. I know because I checked.” Before things really got hot and heavy, Vanessa took a quick look at a clock so she could eyeball how much time she had before Booker returned. He could have picked a better day to finish work early, but Vanessa was starting to believe their apartment was just cursed and awkward first impressions were forever going to be the norm.

It was easy to see the moment of recognition in Winnie’s face when the reality of the situation hit. Vanessa did not need her powers to tell her that Winnie believed her, but she had them and as long as the two maintained eye contact, those powers would be on autopilot. Winnie realized the only way Vanessa could comment on her thoughts was if she could read them. After a bout of denial, Winnie reached the conclusion on her own, but Vanessa had to confess anyway. She needed to tell her best friend the truth.

For a few seconds, Winnie and Vanessa just sat there. The moment stood perfectly still and Vanessa did not realize she was still holding Winnie’s face until they were pulled away. Before they broke eye contact, she saw how Winnie considered how long they had been friends without knowing the truth about Vanessa.

Just like with Booker, it felt like the fate of a friendship was hanging in the balance. Unlike the first time, Vanessa was drunk, so if things went south there would be loud sobbing and begging. Vanessa could be obnoxious; she did not have enough friends like Winnie to squander one without a fight.

After a small eternity, Winnie looked back to Vanessa. She reiterated what Vanessa already admitted and then promptly pitched an absolute fit about her own powers. Vanessa had to cover her mouth with both hands because she knew she could still be in trouble, but the urge to laugh was too strong. A snort escaped before she stifled herself.

Winnie’s frustration seemed to be focused on the disparity between their powers, but it was still too early for Vanessa to assume there was none left for her. ”I’m really sorry for never saying anything. I should have. I’m working on it.” Nervous words were just spilling out of Vanessa’s mouth. ”You’re my best bestie and I promise I tried not to read your mind to much, it just kind of happens sometimes because you have pretty eyes.”

Winnie was either stubborn or a skeptic, or maybe even a stubborn skeptic. Vanessa laid out Winnie’s thoughts step-by-step and the Brit handwaved the display by creating the false memory of a different conversation. Winnie did not tell Vanessa about the incident because she knew it was something to never speak of for both their sakes. There was no day where Winnie “told her that story,” and she knew it.

After Vanessa outed herself, Winnie’s thoughts almost stalled. She was trying to piece together the logic of something she could not explain logically. Vanessa was not used to coming out as a mutant, but she should have expected that such a big revelation would have come with denial. It was just like coming out the first time; her parents were convinced it was not true and that Vanessa was just going through a phase. Winnie was making sense of something to pretend that her life was not being changed, and her best friend being psychic was a life-changing event.

Winnie was trying to retreat into her video game, but Vanessa was having none of her attempted deflection. She used both hands to grab Winnie by the sides of her head. With her fingers firmly locked in short dirty blonde hair, Vanessa turned Winnie to face her again. ”Winnie. Dammit. Listen.” Vanessa caught Winnie’s immediate thought in her eyes and groaned. ”And no. I’m not your senpai. Don’t make this weird.” Vanessa could already feel the heat of blood flooding to her cheeks.

”You didn’t tell me that story. I just heard that story. I wish I didn’t, but I definitely did.” Vanessa sighed and kept her eyes locked on with Winnie. Even with all the alcohol in her system, she was conscious enough to keep her voice down when talking about her powers. ”I’m telethapic. Telecatic. Telepathic.” She got there eventually, though she was disappointed that her drunkenness would ruin an otherwise serious moment. ”I can read thoughts. I’m a mutant, Win.”

Vanessa did not want to rush into thinks with Gina, but it was hard to ignore the way they clicked so naturally. Conversation was easy, affection was second-nature, and sex… well, it was safe to say they were firing on all cylinders. She did not want to jump to conclusions; for a while, she thought things with Rebecca were promising. Vanessa wanted so badly to be in a relationship that just worked and Gina was starting to feel like the fit the bill, but she had to be careful. If she ended up head over heels for Gina and ended up burned again, she would find herself back on the couch, drinking along and spiraling again.

Still, she wanted to be optimistic. Such a beautiful “first time” was not the ideal moment to panic about the future. Gina gave her no reason to think she would ever hurt her like Rebecca did, so Vanessa had to work on not letting her past experiences color new ones. She might have to accept that Gina was the perfect girlfriend until proven otherwise.

The fluttering of long eyelashes on her neck left that patch of skin tingling. ”I mean, I’m pretty sure you being perfect has nothing to do with me being so awesome. They are both true, but probably unrelated,” she joked, playfully squeezing Gina’s bottom. It was almost instinctual to be touching Gina at all times when she was so close and available for touching.

Emitting a contented sigh, Vanessa closed her eyes and grew sincere. ”I’m really serious, though. This who thing… I can’t remember someone making me happy like this. I’m just scared,” she admitted. ”I know it’s still early. I just really don’t want to think about this ending one day.” Vanessa did not want to sound like a pessimist or a clingy girlfriend, but she also learned how important communication was in a relationship and she wanted to be honest with Gina. She wanted to know she was doing things right this time.