A Very Marvel Thanksgiving

[mendndefend]

Growing up, Thanksgiving in the McNeil household had always been a grand affair. With ten mouths to feed - more, in fact, on the few occasions the Twoyoungmens had joined them, not to mention whatever extended family had made their way out west on any given year - Heather had assisted in the preparation of the traditional dinner since she’d been

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[mendndefend]

As hostess, Heather's keeping an eye on her guests more so than her plate, anticipating the worst even as she hopes for the best. It's a thin line to walk, and while she's not naively striving for perfection, she's still trying her darndest to ensure things run smoothly. Even without all of the responsibilities of home, she's forever the professional, and a good reputation has ways of paying forward in the future.

Smile in place, she circulates the growing gathering, greeting new and familiar faces alike to get them settled. There'll be time to eat later -- for now, she has a job to do.

[like_arrows]

It's been a while since I was a part of what anyone might call polite society, but there are basic rules you don't unlearn, like that it's only right to thank the hostess when the opportunity arises. I don't know Heather, but that's all the more reason to be gracious.

"Thank you for having me here," I say when I've caught her attention for a moment. "It's, um... it's really great, what you guys managed to pull together."

[mendndefend]

"Oh, it was my pleasure," says Heather with a smile, dismissing the compliment with a small wave of her hand. Grateful as she is for all the help, she simply can't deny that this dinner was as much for her benefit as it was for everyone else's. "Consider it a vacation from the vacation."

[kaleidoscopeyed]

She hasn't met Heather before today, but her opinion of her for getting all of this together is pretty high at this point. There's an awful lot of people hear she doesn't know, but she does know the sort of connection most of them have. It's kind of a weird dysfunctional company, but she sort of likes it all the same.

"Thanks for doing all of this," she says as she comes up beside their hostess. "I bet a lot of people miss home around now."

[mendndefend]

"Thank you for all of your help, Karolina," Heather says in turn with a pleased smile. She's always been the kind of woman who knew how to get what she wanted, but having volunteers certainly facilitates the process!

"And I bet you're right. The holidays are a time for family -- for better or for worse."

[kaleidoscopeyed]

She smiles at Heather, pleased. "Glad to help," she says and shrugs. "The only family I have is here too. I bet it's the same for everyone else. A little home is better than nothing?"

[mendndefend]

"My thoughts exactly," she agrees. This particular day holds no personal significance, but Heather can't deny that having family around is welcome. "I'm from a lot further behind than everyone else, so it's nice to see some things haven't changed. I never had a chance to ask before, though... What's your story? Were you one of Xavier's students?"

[kaleidoscopeyed]

Karolina shakes he head. "No. I'm not a mutant," she says, and technically it's true although to most non-mutants there's not much of a difference. "I'm Majesdanian," she explains. In this crowd, having some weird point of origin isn't exactly a secret or a surprise, so she's not too cautious. "Alien," she says with a shrug. "My parents weren't exactly on team hero," she explains "So I'm a Runaway." She doesn't know if that will mean anything to Heather, she doesn't even know if there's anyone in this room that will mean anything to except for Nico, Chase, and Kate.

[mendndefend]

"A Runaway," Heather murmurs thoughtfully, lips pursed together as she sorts through her memories to see if she's heard anything of that particular group. In the end she concludes she hasn't -- which would be unsurprising even if she didn't suspect Karolina to be from her future. The Americans have so many different affiliations. It's hard to keep track of them all.

"I'm afraid I haven't heard of them," she adds with an apologetic smile. "Or the Majesdanians, for that matter."

[kaleidoscopeyed]

She shakes her head, unsurprised and unoffended. "West Coast and we didn't get out much," she says. "Half of these guys probably have no idea either." She indicates the rest of the crowd. It was most likely true though she knew they were recorded somewhere. Getting picked up by the superhero equivalent of children's services did that.

[waltsnothereman]

"You did good, red," Wanda said, grinning at Heather as she stacked her plate with an amount of food that was extremely disproportionate to her figure. "Nobody's even gotten punched yet, we're already doing better than most Alpha Flight get-togethers."

[mendndefend]

"Yes, well, that's hardly a challenge," Heather says dryly, rolling her eyes.

Alpha is family, and she believes that with all of her heart, but that doesn't mean she's blind to their faults. It's only recently that they've all been under the same roof for longer than the duration of a meeting, after all, and if Wanda's telling of the future is to be believed -- and Heather sees no reason why it shouldn't -- the arrangement proves to be particularly shortlived.

"I can only imagine what Northstar would have to say at me cooking for you all. He already finds my qualifications lacking. This would just be the icing on the cake!"

[waltsnothereman]

"'Zis is a team, not a catering service! What next, are you going to ask ze Master to come work things out over brunch?'" Wanda offered in a truly horrible French accent before shaking her head with a scoff. "Honestly, can you believe that in my weaker moments, I actually sort of missed the little frog?"

[mendndefend]

Shutting her eyes, Heather groans as she shakes her head, lips pressed together to stifle a laugh. It hasn't been long enough for her to really miss anyone, but Wanda's been here for well over a year -- just enough time to miss most anyone, even Jean-Paul.

"I'm sure he'd be flattered. Or insufferable."

Of course, when it comes to him, flattered and insufferable are one and the same.

[waltsnothereman]

It wasn't something she particularly enjoyed dwelling on, but with Heather around now as a (very welcome) constant reminder of home, how much Wanda had been missing the team was something that weighed on her mind more these days than she'd ever let it before. "Or both," she finished the obvious thought with a roll of her eyes.