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help everything was ready long before the next knock at the door—Reed, at a minute to five, and then Scott and Kat at five after.
    “Reed, we need to get you a girl,” Kat said with a frown as we all stood around the living room.
    “You don’t like me hanging around like a fifth wheel?” He asked as he scooped ice into a red plastic cup and poured cola over it—or pop, as they called it in Minnesota. Having learned everything in my life from television, I was still adjusting to that one.
    “I just figure you’d be more comfortable with a girl of your own,” she said, prompting Scott to nod his head in agreement. “You know, maybe help you feel less awkward when we hang out.”
    “Awkward? I’m just trying to be respectful of my sister’s feelings,” he said. “I figure having one more couple hanging around being overly handsy would probably just be salt on the wound.” He turned his back on Kat and Scott, hiding a grin from the blond girl as she froze, Scott’s hand planted on her hip, her back pressed to his chest. They looked like they were glued together most of the time. I couldn’t deny that, but I never resented them for their ability to demonstrate affection.
    Kat broke from Scott self-consciously, causing Scott’s brow to pucker in a frown. He held himself awkwardly without her pressed against him, as though someone had yanked a blanket off him. She stood a foot away, shuffling back and forth on her feet with a forced smile planted on her lips. “What’s that all about?” Scott asked. “Just because Sienna and Zack can’t touch doesn’t mean we can’t.”
    “It’s fine,” I said with stifled amusement. “Really. We’re okay, honest. It doesn’t bother me if you guys are all lovey-dovey around us; I doubt I’d be that way even without my...” I let my eyes drift to Zack, who looked away, “...condition.”
    “See?” Scott leaned forward and his hand landed back on Kat’s hip. She reddened, but made no move to displace it. “Sienna’s a good sport about it.” He pulled her tight to him again. Kat, for her part, held her body at an angle from his, as though she were trying to touch as little of him as she could get away with.
    “If you two do get too frisky, though,” I said, stirring the cocktail wieners in their bowl, “I will turn loose the firehose on you.”
    “Try it,” Scott said. “I bet the water ends up going somewhere unexpected—like the front of your boyfriend’s pants.”
    “I wouldn’t bet on it,” Reed said. “I have a feeling the wind might catch it and turn your girlfriend into a wet t-shirt contest winner.” I heard a snicker from Zack and saw Scott’s shoulders shake with quiet laughter as Kat remained posed awkwardly.
    “Have you guys ever combined your powers to make, like, a water twister?” Zack looked from Scott to Reed, and I watched the silent conversation between the two of them as they both gave it a moment of thought.
    “That’s kind of a cool idea,” Scott said, and separated himself from Kat with all the effort of turning loose a feline held against its will. “Should we?”
    “Not in here,” I said, replacing the lid on the dish and putting the spoon in its rest, splattering barbecue sauce on my tablecloth. “I need a metahuman power experiment in my quarters like I need Ariadne to dock my pay for a major remodel.”
    “Outside?” Scott suggested.
    “Let’s do it.”
    The two of them went through the French doors to the balcony, Zack a few steps behind them. Kat remained behind on the sofa, her face pressed into her hands. There was a light chill as the doors opened and shut, a gust of wind as they went out and Reed held the door for Zack. When Zack shut it behind him he gave me a little wave through the glass. Even though I knew he couldn’t see me through the tinted pane, I waved back.
    “Things seem to be going smoothly again between you two,” Kat said. I noted a wet handprint on the side of her white jeans and my