Life had been somewhat complicated for Evelyn lately; at least, it felt that way. Sure, she still worked at the museum, and was living at the mansion, but after her squabble with her parents, her bodyguard leaving and her general way of life somewhat disintegrating, she just felt somewhat at a loss. Work wasn't what it used to be. After the riots she didn't feel like her relationship with her coworkers had got any better, and that sensation of doing something useful with her powers was fading away. Self-defense training had boosted her confidence, but it also gave her the unmistakable desire to do something more.

The idea of joining the x-men had come up before, but she hadn't considered it seriously back then. She was too much of a damsel in distress to really consider herself useful, but with training she started realizing there was more her powers could do. She wasn't bad with the sai she had trained with, and strategic analysis was something she picked up on even quicker. She felt like she could be doing more, and with the occasional trouble always seeming to brew in the city, it seemed like that could be an outlet. Mirror and Sam were both x-men, and while it wasn't always glamorous, it appealed to her. If nothing else, she could at least bring up the idea. But that felt like it was easier said than done.

Dating Mirror had it's occasional push and pull moments, and most of those hit when they came across her whole 'independence' sort of thing. Mirror was big on protecting, and it was kind of hard to do that if someone you cared about had a knack for putting themselves in danger. She wasn't sure if she should just outright say what she was thinking, or try to bring it up casually. In the end, she decided she'd try baking something. Maybe food would help.

After burning the cake, she decided she should abandon that idea. Maybe just talking about it would be safer without adding in the risk of food poisoning...

Eventually Evelyn found the mirror-walker out on the mansion grounds. It was a quiet week so at least there were no kids hovering around. It was hard to have a conversation with people staring at you. Pushing her hair from her face she shoved the nervous energy away and approached.

Someone had burned a cake in the kitchen and the entire hallway smelled like smoke the next day. Angua sneezed as they walked to the front door and even Gawain was happy to inhale fresh autumn air when they stepped outside. It had been quiet around the Mansion lately, so he let Angua run and roam while he made his way over to the archery range set up on the grounds. It was a short walk from the building, but as long as the weather was good he preferred it to the confines of the Danger Room.

Angua noticed Evelyn first and pushed her large nose forward to sniff for food options. Her puppy-like yelp made Gawain loose and arrow and look around over his shoulder. His face lit up with a smile when he saw her.

"Hey there" he waved, lowering the bow and walking towards his girlfriend "Angua, down, girl."

Some of the lingering concern left Evelyn when Gawain turned to face her. Angua helped a lot as well. Something about the dog always made her feel better. She never had a pet growing up, but the oversized puppy like behavior made her feel like she missed something. She obliged to the requested woofs for pets first, then turned back to the Mirror-walker. The arrow had landed somewhat off from it's target, and Evelyn had to stop the echoes from analyzing it's trajectory.

"Hey." She smiled, wandering over and rubbing the back of her neck. She thought through this conversation a number of times, but she still wasn't sure how to approach it. In the end, maybe it was better to just cut to the chase... "So... I was thinking... Maybe I can do more with my powers than just work at the museum. I mean, they've been pretty useful in some of the training simulations and stuff we've been doing..." Ok, maybe it wasn't the most direct approach. It was better than 'hey, since I already seem to be a target for danger, let's mark it with an X!'

Actually, that might have worked...

"I was just....I was thinking about maybe trying out for the x-men?" The question mark sort of tacked itself onto the end, as if she expected the disapproval to follow.

>>"Hey."

Gawain smiled and kissed her on the cheek, pushing Angua's nuzzling nose out of the way to get close enough. Evelyn looked awkward, which was usually the case when she was about to say something she didn't know how to say.

>>"So... I was thinking... Maybe I can do more with my powers than just work at the museum. I mean, they've been pretty useful in some of the training simulations and stuff we've been doing... I was just....I was thinking about maybe trying out for the x-men?"

Gawain blinked, his eyebrows rising in surprise. Evelyn, still in self-defense training, not to mention echoes, playbacks and information overload, wanted to try out for the X-men.

Where was Sam when one needed him?!

"Um." he said, tilting his head "I... I thought you were going for the police thing."

Gawain's body language shifted as Evelyn spoke, and she could see the flicker of emotions pass by. Surprise was most prevalent, and then there was something the echoes were assessing as disbelief or concern. Fair enough, she wasn't exactly the best candidate for this sort of thing, but her reasoning felt sound enough.

"I thought about the police thing, but, I just...I feel like I could be useful with the X-men. I mean, when stuff happens I usually end up staying out of the actual fighting anyway. But The echoes can be good strategically if they're trained right. I'm not sure the police would really know how to work with my powers like a team would. But I'd like to try." She tried keeping her sentences confident, rubbing Angua behind the ears for support.

"I mean if I suck at it I can still try to work with the police. But I kind of like how it feels when I get to use my powers for more than just organizing artwork. I feel like I am useful." There was an unintentional test in that statement. Telling her no would lesson how capable he thought she was. But she also gave an out as well with the option of trying working with the police if the x-men was just too much.

>>"I thought about the police thing, but, I just...I feel like I could be useful with the X-men. I mean, when stuff happens I usually end up staying out of the actual fighting anyway. But The echoes can be good strategically if they're trained right. I'm not sure the police would really know how to work with my powers like a team would. But I'd like to try."

She had a point. Gawain had to admit that. Being on the X team taught him a lot of things, mostly about what was useful on the field and what wasn't, and if he had not seen Eve in action since their very first meeting, he still would have had to admit that she had a point. Jorge had been scarce lately, and the riots didn't actually make good PR for mutants on the force.

>>"I mean if I suck at it I can still try to work with the police. But I kind of like how it feels when I get to use my powers for more than just organizing artwork. I feel like I am useful."

He knew that feeling. He had that, occasionally, and definitely knew a lot of people who had it all the time. The school was full of them, and for a good reason.
Had it been anyone else, he would not have hesitated the way he did.

"I understand that" he nodded finally, holding out one hand to keep Angua's furiously wagging tail out of the way "I know how that feels. It's just..."

I don't want to see you in danger.
...
Oh boo hoo, Gawain, grow up.

"You'd have to train with me." he said finally. He did not exactly say what was on his mind, but this was part of it, and as close as he could get at first try "We can be on separate teams, technically, but when we go on the field... well, we'd go together, more likely than not."

It was harder to explain than he thought.

"It... can be distracting."

Gawain wasn't exactly speaking what was on his mind, but the echoes were tuned in so Evelyn was still getting quite a bit of what he was thinking. It was probably a bit unfair, reading his body language like that, but she couldn't always help it. Sometimes the subconscious curiosities overwhelmed logic with her powers. The internal struggle for words played across his features in slow motion, then he responded.

>>...."It... can be distracting."

Evelyn fiddled with the end of her hair and nodded. Forte had pointed out the weaknesses in her powers before, and her habit of letting them get her side tracked. The concern there was valid. "That's a good point... I think I can handle it though. I mean, from a power standpoint, I've already been working on redirecting my echoes towards what I'm doing. I mean, it's not perfect, but I've made progress. Because my powers are so in tune with my emotions and thoughts, it's been like training the rest of me too... I wouldn't want to make you feel awkward or anything when you're trying to work though..." She glanced at Gawain again, wondering if it was a good idea after all. Getting side tracked and having your nose smacked was one thing. Getting distracted and getting seriously injured or killed was another.

Angua's tail continued carelessly wagging. The echoes momentarily counted the wags.

>>"That's a good point... I think I can handle it though. I mean, from a power standpoint, I've already been working on redirecting my echoes towards what I'm doing. I mean, it's not perfect, but I've made progress. Because my powers are so in tune with my emotions and thoughts, it's been like training the rest of me too... I wouldn't want to make you feel awkward or anything when you're trying to work though..."

She had really given this a lot of thought, Gawain had to admit that. Once again he had the uncomfortable feeling that had Sam been there, he would have been smacking the mirrorwalked upside the head. This was not even a question, the X-team needed more people, and above all it needed tacticians like Eve.

"What... oh." he shook his head with a small smile "I didn't mean distracting for you. I have been you in training, I don't doubt you'd be great on the filed once you are ready."

She could work hard, and controlling her powers was something that she needed to do, even if she never went on a single mission.

"I meant, distracting for me. Not you..."

>>"I meant, distracting for me. Not you..."

Ok, that was a point she didn't have a good argument for. She chewed her bottom lip though, and sent the echoes to work on the problem. They scrambled to help her organize her words, feedback on Gawain fading as they did so.

"Well, I mean, we train together already, maybe that can help so I won't be as distracting... I guess it sort of depends on what distracts you most though. I mean, if I'm not directly in the fight you won't have to worry about me getting injured so that won't be a problem like it it's been before. And with training I'll be able to stand up for myself more anyway." She redirected the echoes again, trying to see if she was on the right track at all. She was regretting not bringing something with her. At least when they talked while training there was something to mess with or focus on other than Gawain.

>>"Well, I mean, we train together already, maybe that can help so I won't be as distracting... I guess it sort of depends on what distracts you most though. I mean, if I'm not directly in the fight you won't have to worry about me getting injured so that won't be a problem like it it's been before. And with training I'll be able to stand up for myself more anyway."

She was kind of on track. Minus Gawain's sudden vision of Eve dressed in an X-men field uniform, a mental image that made his cheeks burn. He cleared his throat and turned to more practical matters.

"Well... you can train with me, but you'll have to spar with someone else." he sighed, giving up on ever talking her out of this decision, and at the same time remembering the black eyes and bruises he had gotten from Sam at the start of their training "I don't think I would be able to hit you."

The quick blush filled in the last few gaps for Evelyn, and her echoes had a mental stutter for a second before she pulled them back on track. She didn't she was really that distracting as far as appearances went. Unless Sam ever got his way with the skirted x-uniforms for girls. Although, she typically wore light colors, black would have a different look on her... If they got to chose colors...

She brought the distracted artist side of her back and focused on the conversation. She smiled reassuringly and chuckled slightly. "I think that sounds fair. I'm sure someone can help me spar." Although, last time she tried anything close to sparing Kyle nearly busted her nose. She learned a lot, but she could see the disadvantage of having that happen around Mirror. She wondered if she'd be able to spar with someone who wasn't an x-men to train... It was something worth looking into.

"Anyway, I need to get through tryouts first." She shifted so she could lean back against a nearby tree, inwardly hoping she wouldn't make a fool of herself even trying this. Her confidence wavered and returned the more she analyzed things.

>>"I think that sounds fair. I'm sure someone can help me spar."

On second thought, Gawain found he did not like that either. Not hitting your girlfriend was one thing, suggesting that someone else should hit here did not exactly feel right either...

>>"Anyway, I need to get through tryouts first."

"Yeah." he sighed, slinging the bow over his shoulder before he folded his arms "So... you want to officially try out for the team?"

Not like Mirror had not run tryouts before. He had a track record of training with his girlfriends, strange enough.

The conversation had admittedly gone over better than Evelyn expected. Especially when Mirror asked if she wanted to officially try out. Even the echoes took a second to process that statement.

"Now?" She blurted out, glancing down at her outfit quickly. Which was dumb, because she could already remember what she was wearing, but the human instinct to check was still there. Jeans, shoes. No skirt so it wasn't exactly a bad time...

"I guess so. I mean, yes. I didn't mean to interrupt your practice though." She added. She glanced at where the last arrow had landed, hand getting butted by Angua's head until she resumed petting. She tried not to let her surprise show through though. She wanted to keep her confidence in this choice.

>>"Now?... I guess so. I mean, yes. I didn't mean to interrupt your practice though."

There was a moment of confusion in which Angua looked from one to the other, and then Gawain laughed and shook his head.

"Nah, not right now" he chuckled, leaning over to kiss her on the nose "I'll have to run this by Sam, and build up a tryout program in the Danger Room."

There was really nothing else to be done. Gawain knew that he was probably more familiar with Evelyn's powers than any other person on the X-team, so Sam would have bounced the duty back to him anyway, like it or not.

"I guess all I can do is keep an eye on you, huh" he smirked, giving up resistance for now. Trying out was not even near to actually going on the field.

Relief settled, and the breathe Evelyn had been holding finally left her lungs. Not that she wasn't ready to tryout, but she was still somewhat nervous about it. A little delay had it's advantages, and she smiled, pushing her hair from her face. "Sounds like a plan then. Gives me time to train a little more at least..."

>>"I guess all I can do is keep an eye on you, huh"

"Hey!" Evelyn stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms with a shake of her head. "I can't tell if I'm flattered at this point or I feel challenge by it. Maybe both. You're just as good at getting into trouble as me. Eventually I'll be about as good at getting out of it, then we'll see who's keeping an eye on who." While Gawain had experience on her, the echoes had given her a tactical leg up on situations like these. She wasn't going to challenge someone to a fist fight, but she still felt like she should be able to hold her ground before long.