It was 8 hours since Evelyn left work the previous evening. 7 hours since that trip resulted in her return to the museum slightly bloodied and shaken up. 6 hours since Mirror showed up to rescue her and they had to play Home Alone on the attackers that followed her. 5 hours since they left and Gawain left her bewildered with his sudden praise and gesture. 4 hours since they got back to the mansion and parted ways, 3 hours since Evelyn sat on the bed in the guest room and tried to convince herself to sleep. 2 hours since she started her hunt for paper, one hour since she moved into the living room armed with a pack of pencils and a stack of papers she found in a storage room.

Oh, and 38 hours since she last slept. She was somewhat exhausted.

The floor of the living room was littered with sketches as Evelyn tried to process the muddled echoes in her head. Drawing of paintings, trees, clouds, animals. Drawings of the television, the couch, sketches of the papers on the floor. Some were fast, some were more detailed, but all were uncannily accurate. The gift of never forgetting was art took a new approach. Rather than the echo of a moment, it became an imprint of it, an etching with the smallest details noted and set into place. What made these pictures so accurate was the same thing that kept her from sleeping, however.

Because once she slept, she would have no control of which memories she saw next.

She rubbed the bandages on her arms, the skin mostly scabbed up except for a thicker cut. With the late hour she hadn't wanted to wake DocProf, and wasn't certain the scratches called for it. The claw marks on her cheek were most noticeable, red against her white hair, but while she drew her locks were a veil that mostly covered it, and she didn't worry about it much.

The clock hit three o'clock, and she rubbed her eye sleepily. Her hands were shaking, and her body was drained, but every time she started to closer her eyes, fear pushed them back awake and she kept drawing. Her echoes were quiet and murky with sleep, and she almost missed the sounds of footsteps as someone wandered into the living room.

DEAR LORD. Serena felt... shaky. Not a sickness shaky. A angry shaky. She had gotten angry at seeing that news report, at hearing the reporter, that stupid, stupid reporter , and then hearing all of the various students around the mansion talk about her, either calling her attractive, or stirring up more trouble.

Thankfully, the teachers generally put down intolerance right away. But that didn't stop it annoying Serena. She then tried to sleep and had the nightmares.

She just couldn'twin could she? No, of course she couldn't. She was a young haemokinetic, blonde teenager with exams around the corner in a city that was going mad.

On top of that, she had tried to practice earlier that day, and her mutation had activated without her meaning to. Dammit emotions must be running high.she had thought to herself. Which was true.

So here she was, wearing a pair of trousers and wearing a sleeveless shirt, she didn't even have her hair pins in. She just wanted to get up. At... 3 am.

Serena grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen and headed to the living room to relax... only to see sketches littering the floor and to see a girl... covered in cuts... with blood...

"Hello there..." Serena said, slight weary.

Evelyn was just putting the finishing touches on a sketch of the gift shop at the museum when a voice behind her caused her to jump. Blinking in surprise, she turned and faced the young teen, pushing her hair from her face.

"Oh, hello. Sorry, I can move these..." She remarked, reaching for the nearest sketches and shoving them into a pile. The movement made her arm sting, and the cut on her skin still bleeding fresh under the bandage. Her echoes sounded murky, and it was hard to pick up much from this new arrival. But she didn't need the echoes to know her companion was exhausted. The feeling seemed to be mutual.

"Sorry, kinda got here late, figured most people would be in bed, in lock-down, something of the sort." She kept the scratched side of her face tilted away, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable at her appearance. She tried to dress well, but today she looked like she lost a fight with a blender.

Or a cat mutant. Because the later was actually true.

Serena gave the white haired woman (With a hint of red) a weak smile. No don't put yourself out on my account-" as Serena noticed how wounded the woman actually was.

Her face showed a flicker of worry. "You're hurt! Has nobody taken you to see the doc yet?" She asked rather rapidly. Here she was, with a complete stranger who she had encountered at night, showing this level of worry.

She bent down near the girl. "I'm Serena by the way, and yes, I find myself often up at a late hour. as she spoke, she traced her fingers across the side of her head, pulling the hair that was dangling down near her eyes back to rest behind her ear.

She gave the woman a friendly smile. She looked like she had fallen through a human sized paper shredder, of course Serena would never say that...

Evelyn blinked in surprise as the girl's concern showed through. She realized she probably looked worse than she felt, and quickly spoke up. "It's fine, really. I was just going to wait until the morning, I didn't want to bother him at this time of night. They're just scratches, honestly." She remarked, and nervously ducked behind her long hair to avoid eye contact. She shuffled her drawings into a little pile, and shrugged her shoulders.

"The city kinda went to hell out there, kinda walked into it. I guess you could say I'm a stray the mansion picked up for the time being." She gave a rueful grin and chuckled, tapping the papers against her leg to line them up. She scanned her gaze across the teen now that she was closer, and frowned slightly.

"Something tells me that this is turning into a recent normalcy for you though. You don't seem like the type who is used to going without sleep." Evelyn remarked slowly, letting her papers rest in her lap and studying the girl more closely.

Serena still looked rather concerned. "Well, I'll take your word for it, but from what I've seen of Doc, he wouldn't mind if you got him up because you were cut all over. Serena stated with a warm smile.

The woman looked Serena over and then claimed that it was not a recent thing... Well, that was very well deduced, but also not, Serena had been staying up this late since December."If by recent you mean since December, then yes. What about you? I assume you are just trying to work away unpleasant thoughts?"

Serena smiled. She had guessed this due to the mountain of work that the woman had scattered around.

"But yes, It's only really been a habit since shortly after I arrived at the mansion. Would you care for a cup of tea?" the young blonde offered politely.

Evelyn chuckled slightly, and pushed her hair form her face when the girl responded. "Recent would be within the year to me, yes. I haven't slept normally since I was thirteen. That was when my secondary mutation developed." She trailed off, skimming over the girl once more. Something about what bothered her seemed buried, subconscious perhaps? On the surface she didn't seem very upset, but if it was enough to loose sleep over, there was something she was struggling with. Based on her age and when most mutants gained their powers, Evelyn was willing to bet it had something to do with her mutation.

"Unpleasant thoughts would be something simple enough to deal with. Unpleasant memories are a bit more complicated than that at times." She didn't speak much more into it. It was habit, really. Most people treated her odd once they realized she had voices in her head. Heck, even Gawain teased her for it, but it was mostly in good nature. Mostly.

"I'm sorry, I'm being rude. Serena, you said? I'm Evelyn." She stood. "Some tea would be nice, actually. Thank you."

Serena wondered what exactly the woman could do... She mentioned memories? Did she have some seriously bad experiences that just constantly haunted her, or was that a hint at her mutation.

Also, Serena wondered what she meant by 'secondary' mutation... Did Serena have a secondary mutation? If so, what was it... Maybe it was the whole, faster blood replenishment thing...

She smiled at Evelyn "Evelyn is a pretty name." Serena giggled. "I'll be right back then..." Serena smiled, and then returned to the kitchen.

She flicked the switch on the kettle and found some cups. She moved to where the tea was housed. She ran her finger along it, debating what sort of Tea would be best...

She decided on Chamomile, as they both could probably use a little calming.

A few minutes later, Serena wandered back in, holding a pair of tea cups.

While the girl went to the kitchen, Evelyn sat and leafed through her drawings, letting a small sigh of exhaustion escape. The drawings sent memories flickering through her head unbidden, and the scrambling of information was starting to feel like she was on re-boot. She needed to sleep; at least then she would be able to think and process. But she didn't want to remember. It was stubborn and silly, but the more things she experienced, the more frightening reliving things seemed to become. She could still feel the claws on her arms and face...

She picked up her pencil, and started drawing again to clear the images.

Before she knew it, Serena was back, and she smiled and took the tea cup with a thanks. The warm steam in her face helped clear her thoughts, and she was grateful her companion had thought of it. "These riots have really left me unsettled.... I don't really know what to do with myself here, to be honest. I'm not used to living with other people."

Serena smiled as Evelyn took the tea. She went and took a seat opposite to Evelyn. She sipped her tea as she listened to the light haired woman talk. She knew that Evelyn must have been through a lot recently, Serena certainly had this year in general.

She gave Evelyn warm and reassuring smile. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I'm still not quite used to living around so many people, for so long it was just be and my older brother. And now... This."

Serena gave Evelyn another smile and sipped her tea. Good lord the tea was delicious. Serena loved tea. Any tea.

She smiled some more. She wondered if Evelyn wondered why this weird girl was so smiley... "How is the tea?"

In fact, Evelyn was in fact wondering why this girl was so smiley. Although weird was not exactly the descriptor she was thinking of. Peculiar, perhaps. For someone who was having trouble sleeping, there was lots of smiles and laughter. Perhaps she was just one of those unquenchable optimistic sorts.

Evelyn took a sip of the hot tea as she considered it. "That would certainly be a hard change to make. I live by myself now, and it's been ok. Well, it was. The tea is lovely, thank you." She said quietly, drinking again. The way the girl spoke of her brother and coming to the mansion had almost a sad ring to it, but she tried to let it go. She was nosy enough as it was.

"So you.... go to school here?" She asked. She was out of school, so it didn't matter much, but she was still curios what the younger students would do. The mansion was something she only heard of in passing, and she didn't know what went on behind the scenes. It wasn't really general knowledge.

Serena smiled at Evelyn liking the tea. She was happy to have at least been able to bring something good to the woman's otherwise stressful evening. Serena personally didn't want to sleep.

She didn't want to be seeing those nightmares. Or rather that one nightmare and her inner demons. Well, that's how she had chose to interpret her dream.

She shook her head at Evelyn. "Most residents my age do, but I missed several months of school due to being 'displaced' and needing time to 'adjust', So I've just being studying like hell as of late so that I can still pass my exams this year."

Serena did like this woman, she seemed very perceptive and rather intelligent.

Displaced The word moved through Evelyn's head, bounced off the previous information about the girl's brother and rolled into the last phrase of adjust. From there it clattered into the girl's sleepless behavior, wandered into her surface level happiness, and finally arrived to rest with a whisper of information.

"I'm sorry about your brother." She spoke aloud, and took a sip of her tea. Watching the girls reaction out of the corner of her eye, and looked into the cup of tea for a moment, considering. "Same night your mutation arrived, I'd assume? Stress has a habit of triggering it when it doesn't arrive naturally... Which can be either helpful or frightening. That's tough to deal with. At least you found your way here." She said slowly. Her mouth was forming words unbidden, and she momentarily wondered if she was being rude.

Sometimes, the echoes didn't consider the repercussions. They only focused on the answers.

Serena froze. Evelyn was incredibly perceptive. Although Serena wasn't exactly trying to hide it, it was still impressive that she had figured it out. Her smile faded slightly.

She then gave Evelyn another smile. "Thank you, Evelyn. And yes, his death was what triggered my mutation. You are incredibly perceptive." she said it as if it was a compliment.

Serena wouldn't break down and start crying again, like she had near Jude. If her brother was around, or knew that she did that. He would slap her, and then tell her to get on with her life. She had been given the time to grieve, now she needed to resume her life and carry on with what she needed to do.

She sipped tea. "And I didn't actually find my way here, a woman named Tses found me after it happened, and brought me here when she figured out I was a mutant."

Serena gave Evelyn another warm smile. "You said your secondary mutation manifested at 13? I can't imagine what it would be like to have to experience it that young. Then again, maybe it's better if you are young because you grow up with it and have that much more time to adjust to it."

This girl...never stopped smiling. Was she really just that happy of a person, or was she covering something up? Evelyn wasn't really sure. In a way, she seemed like she was content enough in dealing with things, but there also seemed to be something under the surface. There was pain, sadness, and...

[Power manifestation when brother died. Lost sleep since mutation arrived, doesn't show evident signs mutation is to result. Possibility: death was not natural. Death possibly triggered mutation.] Evelyn wasn't so sure about those echoes. It did seem possible, but she didn't want to dabble into someones past and bring something up for the wrong reason.

She avoided it for the moment, and shrugged in answer to Serena's question. "It's been...challenging. But I got through it, and learned to use art to cope. I don't know if growing up with it really helped much. The echoes are still bothersome at times. But I think you learn to deal with whenever your mutation decides to come..."

She paused, considering for a moment, then finally her face grew more serious. She faced Serena fully, and set her tea cup down. "Serena... When your brother died, were you there?"