Evelyn had been at the Mansion for little over a day, but she was already loosing her mind. A small nap provided a little sleep, with no nightmares to wake the already frightened children, thankfully, but she was still like a lamp running low on oil. She would have to sleep more eventually, but the strange room and bed had her on edge.

Her room at home was filled with art supplies and sketches, and having something to work on at night helped relax her and clear her mind. Scrap paper wasn't enough to get her by right now. So as the night-time deepened and the quiet school slumbered, she snuck her way silently through the school, and out into the darkness.

Her footsteps were quiet, and her white hair reflected the lights of the ground. She felt like it was a spotlight, and moved quickly to avoid someone detecting her actions. Her echoes skimmed the grounds for some type of security to keep her in. With the school under lock-down, she expected something to respond to her movements. There were a few birds, some mice perhaps in the trees, but nothing dangerous. Then, she heard movement up ahead, and realized she wasn't out here alone.

That would explain the lack of sirens and 'student sneaking out' type warnings.

Evelyn froze on the moist grass, debating what to do. She could scramble back into the school and try again later, or she could try sneaking past. The fence seemed so close, and that was one step closer to home... she threw caution to the wind, and started forward, ducking behind a tree. The short glance she got at the individual made her freeze.

[Mirror.]

It was close to midnight.

Gawain still had not gotten back his Danger Room privileges after the ill-fated first meeting with Eve. Sam did a good impression of "I have been busy" and the riots going on in the city backed up his claim.
The only problem with that was the fact that Mirror needed something to blow off some steam.
Okay, a lot of steam.
...
Possibly more steam than the Victorian era and all the saunas in Finland together.

The archery gear had been left behind this time. If Mirror was going to take on rogue mutant ladies, he was going to take them on without lethal damage. Which also meant up close and very, very personal.

He momentarily stopped punching at shadows, though, when he caught a glimpse of something much more solid from the corner of his eyes.

"We are on a lockdown, you know" he told whoever was lurking around on the grounds after curfew "You shouldn't be out here."

Or in here. Take your pick.

Evelyn debated her course of action. There was the 'run like hell back to the building and pretend you have no idea what happened'. There was the 'keep walking and pretend you heard nothing'.

She opted for a third option and swept the guilt from her face. Walking forward calmly, she leaned against a nearby tree, and gave a small smirk. "Maybe I shouldn't be out here. Should you?" She said casually. Her face did a quick skim of the mirror-walker, and the echoes---her ever diligent gossips--keyed in on the tension in his stance. He had been working hard (she was quite certain the air was just quivering in terror from the punches he was throwing...) and she tried to guess how long he'd been here. It was harder to guess.

"You should straighten your wrist a bit more when you punch." She remarked lightly.

Of course it was Evelyn.
Who else could it be? The girl could not stay out of trouble to save her life. Literally.

>>"Maybe I shouldn't be out here. Should you?"

"I'm an X-man. Someone's gotta patrol the grounds."

>>"You should straighten your wrist a bit more when you punch."

The nerve on her.

Gawain was already pretty tense, and this was not helping.

"I am not trying to kill her, that's kinda the point. Taking people out without serious damage is... difficult."

Especially when you knew the person.

"What are you doing out here anyway?"

The echoes buzzed with the tension in Gawain now, and it was clear something was already upsetting him. It felt like they were back to day one, and she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Maybe you're not trying to kill her, but if you straighten your wrist you won't break it at least. Let's your arm do the work not your hand." She said, and shrugged lightly. "And unless you're like, a kong-fu master I don't think your going to snap anyone's neck with your punches."

She slowly circled him, letting the echoes sift through his body language and posture. Her... he had said her. "Got a beef with an x-girlfriend you're planning on taking care of? Current girlfriend? Soon to be x?" It was late, and the filter on her mouth was lacking a bit. If he was going to be snappy, she wasn't going to bother curtseying.

"I don't sleep. I get bored. Needed the fresh air." She responded to his question. Which was partially true. Taking a walk to find art supplies was mostly to preserve her sanity than anything else. Leaving the grounds... that was probably a gray area she's keep tucked away for now.

>>"Maybe you're not trying to kill her, but if you straighten your wrist you won't break it at least. Let's your arm do the work not your hand." She said, and shrugged lightly. "And unless you're like, a kong-fu master I don't think your going to snap anyone's neck with your punches."

Gawain realized his fists were still clenched and willed himself to relax as much as he could. Evelyn was not making it any easier. Has she even ever punched anyone, or was this another piece of her theoretical knowledge?...

>>"Got a beef with an x-girlfriend you're planning on taking care of? Current girlfriend? Soon to be x?"

He could not help but snort at that. Yeah, right. He was training out here at night to punch a current girlfriend. Pfft.

"Out of my league." he shrugged "But since she's just threatened to burn down the city, someone's gotta step up."

Half-truths were the thing of the evening.

Piece by piece, things were coming together. Evelyn had watched enough of the news broadcast to know who he was talking about and the echoes provided her with the name.

""Maxine Ralls, Wolf News."" She mimicked, and tilted her head to the side at him. "Didn't watch much of her, didn't watch much T.V. really but she certainly has her own reputation floating around. You say out of your league, but your eyes say something different. Crush? Or maybe someone you liked but turned you down. And now she's threatening the city and causing chaos so you're going to put on your hero tights and go what, punch her in the face?"

Part of her wondered if she was the one who was going to get punched in the face tonight. She kept just out of range just in case, and stopped in front of him, a thoughtful look on her face. Her eyes were gray and almost as pale as her hair in the nighttime. She skimmed his expression, trying to read what was there. "Nah, seems more personal than that."

>>""Maxine Ralls, Wolf News." Didn't want much of her, didn't watch much T.V. really but she certainly has her own reputation floating around. You say out of your league, but your eyes say something different. Crush? Or maybe someone you liked but turned you down. And now she's threatening the city and causing chaos so you're going to put on your hero tights and go what, punch her in the face?"

Gawain bit his lips and willed himself not to do some immediate punching. He wondered if Evelyn was doing this on purpose, or if she just once again could not control the flow of information in her brain.
Either way, it was annoying.
Also, crush was such a simple concept it did not even begin to scratch the surface.

>>"Nah, seems more personal than that."

Once again Gawain's lips curled up in a smirk. It wasn't really honest, though.

"You could say that. She's a friend."

The clues spun around in Evelyn's brain, and as tired as she was, she couldn't quite stop herself from letting them process. She had stopped walking, the movement taking too much of her brains function, and her right arm shook ever so slightly with the exhaustion she'd been dealing with the past few days. Living with the echoes in her head was like trying to work through an ocean of information. Sometimes she could swim, other times she just tried her best not to drown, floating in the middle of it.

She strung one clue next to the other, Gawain being the unfortunate victim of her need to process. "Friend. Your tone and facial expressions show there is more to it than that. Perhaps friend is correct, maybe something more intimate than that though... You went through something together, perhaps saved her once?" It was a guess but her echoes registered his response to it. "You do seem to have a knack for saving people whether they want to be or not... Seems like it could be along those lines. But then you save her and she's bent on destroying the world? More to it it seems..."

There was no way she could pick up on the true story though... While many people experienced the shared dream not so long ago, Evelyn hadn't been one of them for a simple enough reason: she didn't dream. The only things she saw when her eyes closed at night were images from the past, doomed to repeat through her head. If there was regret, she would relive that. If there was pain, that would be there as well. The slight irritation that flickered across Gawain's face would never be lost in those images.

Her eyes lost some of their gray quality, and she uncrossed her arms. "Sorry I got you locked out of your training room though. It would probably be a lot easier working on things when you're not just practicing against the air. Not that I'd really know. I may know how to punch but that doesn't mean I'm any good at actually doing it. I'd be lucky if I bloodied a nose." The worn expression flickered back across her face, and she felt like the dark lines under her eyes were more evident. It was probably for the best that she hadn't got far tonight. She would have been sleepwalking before long.

>>"Friend. Your tone and facial expressions show there is more to it than that. Perhaps friend is correct, maybe something more intimate than that though... You went through something together, perhaps saved her once? You do seem to have a knack for saving people whether they want to be or not... Seems like it could be along those lines. But then you save her and she's bent on destroying the world? More to it it seems..."

"You can stop now" Gawain muttered. Damn her and her accuracy. He was all for dealing with issues, but this one was a particularly nasty one, and it was neither the time, nor the place, or the person, to do it. No way, no how.
Evelyn finally seemed to catch up on some of the awkwardness in the air. She looked tired.

>>"Sorry I got you locked out of your training room though. It would probably be a lot easier working on things when you're not just practicing against the air. Not that I'd really know. I may know how to punch but that doesn't mean I'm any good at actually doing it. I'd be lucky if I bloodied a nose."

"You are lucky you didn't" Gawain sighed "C'mon you can't be out here. Let's go back inside. I don't know about you but I could use something to drink. Or eat."

Or a distraction. Yes.

They were almost at the front doors when Gawain spoke again.

"I died for her once. In the dream that everyone saw, about the future. Riots started, the Mansion was under attack... I caught two bullets before I knew it." he smirked "Good thing it was a dream huh."

Gawain seemed relieved when she dropped the analysis. For a moment, she wondered what it was like being on the receiving end of it. The only time she ever really understood was when she stood in front of a mirror, and she avoided that when she could. Or she had tried at least until she decided to become friends with a mirror-walker.

The more the echoes analyzed her reflection, the less she seemed to like what she heard. she didn't mean to be so rude all the time. Sometimes, they just got carried away. She needed to practice keeping a lid on it sometimes though. Perhaps hanging out at the school for a while could help with that.

Or it would get her punched in the face. Either one could help her keep her mouth shut.

So reluctantly, she followed Gawain back towards the building and tucked her arms against her stomach. She still sort of resented being told what to do but it seemed only fair when she psychoanalyzed him all the time.

"Something to munch on would be nice... My sleep schedule has messed up my eating schedule..." She thought about it for a moment. Had she eaten dinner? Had she eaten lunch? When did she eat last? Well she napped and then... She suddenly felt hungrier.

Her contemplation was interrupted as Mirror started talking again. She listened, and blinked with a small flicker of surprise on her face. Well, that certainly was as complicated as things seemed to imply. She had to admit for once she was very off on her guesses.

"I... never saw that dream, actually. I don't dream at all, not since the playbacks started; just memories. 'Good thing it was a dream' really doesn't work so much in my life, because it's all real... Glad you didn't get shot in real life though. Would kinda suck not having you around." She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. Suddenly she wised the topic had changed faster. The 'sorry you died for someone whose a jerk' bit seemed a little harsh.

>>"Something to munch on would be nice... My sleep schedule has messed up my eating schedule..."

Yup, he was right. He did not even need superpowers to know that Evelyn was exhausted. Add no sleep to the blood loss and the chaos of the past days, no wonder she was off her game. If she ever had one. Gawain steered her towards the kitchen.

>>"I... never saw that dream, actually. I don't dream at all, not since the playbacks started; just memories. 'Good thing it was a dream' really doesn't work so much in my life, because it's all real... Glad you didn't get shot in real life though. Would kinda suck not having you around."

Not dreaming? That was... messed up. Gawain noted the sentiment though.

"Yeah I'm glad too" he smirked, glancing at Eve "Even though it says somethin' about the good people of New York that after seeing how the world could go to sh*t in the future, it is still happening..."

Then once again they were back inside the building. It felt like being escorted back to a cage after finally managing to wiggle free. She kept her eyes sharp though, curious it the grounds would change with Mirror inside. Maybe later she could get her paper... If nothing else she'd start using the back of some of her old drawing to sketch on. She had a number of those scattering the guest room right now.

Fire hazard, Jensen would say. A pang of loneliness hit again.

"It's a little sad, really. All this is happening if you guys saw the future and had a chance to change it." She muttered as they stepped into the kitchen. Her eyes skimmed the cupboards and then she opened one to get a cup. Filling it with water from the sink, she nodded towards Gawain. "You want one too?" She waited for his reply, and thought about the riots. A chill went down her arm and she tightened her grip on the cup.

>>"It's a little sad, really. All this is happening if you guys saw the future and had a chance to change it."

"Well, it has changed" Gawain shrugged, opening the fridge to inspect what was left inside after the hordes of students finished dinner "I'm just not sure for the better."

>>"You want one too?"

"Yeah sure." Gawain emerged from the fridge with a handful of sandwich materials and kicked the door shut behind him. He didn't realize how hungry he was before he saw the food. Training would do that to a guy.

"Maxine is not a bad person." he mused, going to find two clean plates "And what happened to her was awful, just like what happened to Gina. But... when the same thing happened to her in the dream, she went off the deep end. And I wasn't there to help her."

Because I was dead.

"So... after we woke up I promised her I won't let that happen if it ever comes to... this. And I intend to keep that promise."

Based on what Gawain said about the future they had seen, it had been a dark place. If they were heading down that road, there was certainly something to fear. She took a long sip of her drink before setting it down and getting another cup for Mirror. Putting it on the island for him, she listened as he kept talking, and gave a light shrug.

"I don't think she's bad. To tell you the truth though, I don't really see much as good or bad anymore. My powers kind of force me to see the weaknesses and strengths in everyone. There is a little dark side to every light, but much the same, there is a flicker of humanity no matter the darkness. The thing about morals is they can change depending on who has them." She swirled the water in her cup, watching the way the light moved through the ripples absentmindedly. As Gawain thought, she contemplated his words, chewing on her lip a little. Then, rather than start at 'sucks she got beat up', she took a different approach.

"Most Native American tribes are known by the name they call themselves. Innu, Maklak... but what most people don't realize is that a large majority of the time, that name pretty much just means 'the people' in their own language. When you're part of a culture, you protect 'the people' hunt for 'the people', nurture 'the people'. What isn't your 'people' is something to fight against, defend against.

"You don't harm your own kind, but where someone draws that line can change what they are willing to attack. Some see just certain mutants as their 'pack', others see us all. The little shades of grey can change in people depending on what in that 'home' that central object they are willing to protect and preserve." She said slowly. She set her cup down and looked up at Mirror. "You, for instance, regard people much on the same level. You protect humans, you protect mutants, and the line isn't drawn by what they can do, but the way they do it. If someone is going to damage others, you'll fight them. Maxine, on the other hand, is loosing that form of identity. Now, there is them, and us. She has been harmed by people perhaps she once thought could be 'her people'. Now, she's going to fight those she perceives as enemies." Another pause, and she glanced back down at her cup, taking another sip. She managed to keep her hands from shaking while she drank which saved her knocking her teeth into the glass. Finally she set it back down, and gazed out the window.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, you may be able to help her, and I hope you keep your promise. But her perception on the world may just be different than yours. She may not be 'bad'. But hopefully you don't expect to make her your version of 'good'." She shot a glance at the mirror-walker, waiting for some snarky comment or offended remark.