Celeste was not pleased with how the conversation was going. She said quietly and sipped on her lemonade and simply watched it unfold. She wanted a clear idea of what was going on and she learned long ago that just listening and watching gave her the best understanding. There were a lot of things that people gave away simply by body language. For instance, the few people in the house that would peek out occasionally were actually more focused on Nadia than on Christopher. That wasn't all that surprising to Celeste but Nadia was headstrong. She would not admit that her separation from others was far wider than Christopher's own. What was more was that even if Celeste managed to convince her that it existed, she was fairly certain that Nadia would not care and would do nothing to correct it. Truthfully, that bothered Celeste because Rhen and herself had built a home for these wayward people. It was a community...a family. Nadia was so far removed from it that Celeste had considered speaking to Rhen about it. They'd never considered kicking someone out from the house before because it was not what this home was intended for...but it still bothered Celeste and a conversation was still warranted.<br/><br/>The next thing she noticed was Christopher's body language. As always, Christopher seemed nervous. His gaze wandered to the house and back to the conversation though he never quite met either of their gazes. They weren't entirely wrong. Celeste knew that Mary was nervous around Christopher, but Mary was new to the house and Christopher's more recent visions (and now his new power) had been far more powerful and intense. Celeste had been diligent in explaining Christopher's powers as part of her training with everyone in the house. In fact, Celeste made a point of teaching everyone about the variety of powers that were within the house. If they had a hope of remaining a strong community that supported each other, they needed to understand each other. It was another reason that the divide between the house and Christopher, and the house and Nadia, was so important to correct. Celeste could do her best to explain Christopher to the house but with Nadia, it was more difficult.<br/><br/>"Christopher, I never believed that you were insulting me but I do wish that we could get you to a point where you had at least one other person in the house that you could trust and be comfortable around. I don't expect everyone here to get along like best friends but we are still a community and in most cases, we are all each other has. I want you to thrive and I'm willing to continue working on it with you at your own pace. However, with this new development of powers, we might need to kick it up a notch or two. I believe you've been gifted with something very special." He frowned and looked between the two of them.<br/><br/>"I don't like hearing that anybody is encouraging the removal of powers. That is not what this home is about. You are who you are and you are uniquely you. I know that's cheesy as fuck, believe me, but that should show you how serious I am about this. I do not want to hear another word about removing any part of another person in this house, do you both hear me on that? I do not often put out hard rules but this is one that I will not budge on. This is not something I will allow in this house." She looked pointedly at Nadia. "Shut it down."<br/><br/>For a moment, she paused to give the other a moment to respond and although she was displeased, Nadia knew better than to argue against Celeste. It was uncertain just where Celeste's powers ended and they were powers from a side of the world that nobody fully understood. It was terrifying and not to be messed with and that extended to Celeste.<br/><br/>"Okay, Nadia. I want you to go on a mission for me. I need you to look deeper into your sources. I'm not convinced they are giving you accurate information and there's no indication that they are loyal to you. I know that we have relied on them in the past and truthfully, I have never been fully comfortable with putting blind trust in someone I do not know. I want you to provide me with proof that these people are loyal to you. I want you to go to the furthest reaches of the Earth if you must but do not return until you have enough information that I cannot argue against you." She watched as Nadia walked off and she let out a low breath. The tension slowly started to fade but there was more that she needed to do.<br/><br/>"Chris..." she looked at him, using the more familiar version of his name. Celeste reached across and took his hands in her own. "I am beyond proud of you for how far you've come since you came here. I know that you don't really talk about your history with others and I won't ask you to, either. That is not something that anybody needs to know to get to know you...it is up to you who you share that with. But I will let you in on a secret, okay? I know you have spent quite a bit of time with Nadia and I'm not sure that's been the most helpful for you...I've spoken with a lot of people in the home and most people are not afraid of you...they're afraid of her." She let that sink in. "When someone says things the way that Nadia does, it makes people uncomfortable. I've been working with her for a while to try and improve it but I'm not sure that she can change...it's difficult to change." Celeste squeezed his hands once more before she pulled back and finished her lemonade.<br/><br/>"Mary is...okay, well I'll give you that one. She's definitely nervous around you but you know how new she is to this place. And your powers have gotten stronger. I'm working with her to teach her about the powers of everyone here and perhaps I hadn't put enough effort into helping her understand you." She paused and sighed. "For that, I'm sorry...but there is<i>nothing</i>wrong with you. Do you hear me?" She looked at him and grinned. "Okay, so about this mind reading...this didn't happen until today? Think back...was there any other thoughts in your mind that caught you off guard or didn't seem like your own? Is there a chance that this happened before but you didn't realize it was happening?"