Gawain gave himself ample time (and a couple of hours in the Danger Room) to calm down. Evelyn needed rest, and if he went straight to her to talk about Forte, things would have gotten tense from all the pent up steam he still held in since he walked through the gates. By the time all the Danger Room's virtual douchebags were thoroughly beaten, Maya decided she was sufficiently exhausted to get some sleep.

Gawain woke up sore all over, and only slightly less pissed than the night before. A quick glance outside verified that the bike was gone. Gawain secretly hoped someone stole it.

Would serve him well.

With two mugs of hot chocolate, Gawain showed up at Evelyn's door and knocked.

"Eve?... Are you up?"

This was going to be a long morning.

The day before had been rough.

Customer service was always stressful. Dealing with mutants could also be stressful. Getting attacked by your favorite artwork though blew all of that out of the water, and getting attacked by medieval armor was--

Stressful. Lots and lots of stressful.

After Kyle took her back to the mansion, Evelyn hadn't been in the mood to talk. It was bad enough she got hurt what with the whole 'can take care of myself' thing, oh and the 'Can I be a trainee' bit. But Kyle having to help put a different wedge in things. Somehow, she was fairly certain it wouldn't go unnoticed. After Doc Prof fixed her up though she was too exhausted to try facing the repercussions. She made her way back to her room, crawled up inside a cocoon of blankets, and slept the afternoon off.

The next morning brought a lovely little playback hangover. Getting bashed in the head once by a shield was one thing. Reliving it in your sleep?

She should have known it was a bad sign and stayed in bed. But no, she got dressed just in time for a knock and a call at the door.

Shit....

Straightening her shirt and rubbing her forehead with an already building headache, she cracked the door and gazed out at Gawain. For someone who just slept, she felt exhausted. "Hey."

Stressful.

Evelyn did not look like someone who just got up. She rather looked like someone who just got revived.

"Playbacks?" Gawain asked, offering her one of the mugs "Hot chocolate."

They were still standing in the doorway rather awkwardly. Gawain sipped his chocolate, burnt his tongue, frowned, and braced himself.

"Um, are you on your way to breakfast?..."

>>"Playbacks?"

Evelyn gave a nod and gratefully accepted the mug of hot chocolate. Rather than taking a sip right away, she kept it close to her face and let the steam waft into her face. The scent of chocolate helped relax the tension in her shoulders.

[Burnt his tongue.] The echoes chimed, and Evelyn was further grateful she had waited.

>>"Um, are you on your way to breakfast?..."

She glanced down at her bare feet, and she was fairly certain her hair could use another brushing. For a normal person she was probably put together enough to go eat, but for her this was still slightly unkempt. "I guess. Not really feeling super hungry yet though." In fact, the playbacks had made her question how smart it would be to eat until the lingering 'hangover' faded. "Are you?" It was an invitation, if nothing else. If he wanted her to come with him she could, or they could awkwardly linger in the doorway.

[Desire to talk.]

"Or you can come in to talk..." Echoes were such tattle tales.

>>"I guess. Not really feeling super hungry yet though. Are you?... Or you can come in to talk..."

Gawain smirked a bit, sticking his tongue out to cool the burn down.

"Echoes are up to speed huh" he chuckled, walking past Eve and into the room. He was still nursing the mug as he hesitated, not sure how to start on the subject of... the person he trapped in a mirror.

"Um... we need to talk about Forte." he said finally, sitting down on the edge of her bed "I, um... talked to him yesterday."

Okay, so he was not entirely innocent in this. He had to run after the guy, after all. But the rest of it? That was totally on Forte...

One point for the echoes. Two points considering the ginger handling of the mug. As Gawain came inside, she could see the gears turning in his thoughts, and it felt like forever until he finally spoke.

>>"Um... we need to talk about Forte."

Forte....[Kyle.] Noted. As Gawain continued she frowned slightly, not liking the tone of 'talk'. There was a lot of emotion in Gawain's features. Jealousy didn't seem surprising, but there was something else she couldn't quite place. Somewhere between pleased and embarrassed---headache wasn't making it easy to understand.

"I didn't ask him to show up. Museum just went to Hell and I wasn't going to turn down help." She said, taking a sip of the hot chocolate. It was hot. A bit too hot. But the burn in her throat wasn't unbearably painful.

>>"I didn't ask him to show up. Museum just went to Hell and I wasn't going to turn down help."

"Nah, I'm glad you're safe" Gawain shook his head to show her he was not blaming her for what happened. She got in trouble fairly frequently; whatever got her out was fine with him.

... almost whatever.

"You know he lives in the Sanctuary, right?" he asked, not sure how much Forte had shared with her. It was as good a place to start as any.

"I've... met people from there. Not all of them are evil, but... all are definitely dangerous. I have... seem them kill people. This guy might not be so bad... but he's still trouble."

It was there. That little emotion she couldn't quite pinpoint. As much as she could see emotions and read clues, she wasn't a mind reader and knowing 'something' was being thought about didn't tell her what. She turned her mug in her hands, and listened as Gawain spoke though. So far, not as bad as she expected. Elephant in the room was looking a bit more like a mouse at this point.

"He may be trouble, but he's saved my ass a few times regardless. And I'm well aware of how dangerous people at the sanctuary can be." She'd been kidnapped by one of them, after all. The memory would always have a sour taste in her mouth. "People have their good and bad sides. I think you have to be aware of both." Even though she was with the x-men now, there was some neutrality to her viewpoint. She wasn't going to condemn someone because of where they lived, even if they could be a pain in the butt sometimes...

...sometimes literally.

>>"He may be trouble, but he's saved my ass a few times regardless. And I'm well aware of how dangerous people at the sanctuary can be. People have their good and bad sides. I think you have to be aware of both."

Gawain winced at 'few times.' At least Forte didn't lie about that. He liked the idea less and less, but in the light of recent events (baby), he really was not in a place to question her on that.

"I know" he nodded "And I'm not saying I'm not glad he was there to get you out of trouble. I actually followed him outside yesterday... because I wanted to see who he is. I mean, he brought you home, and the guy deserves respect for that..."

Was that his teeth screeching on each other?...

"But, it... didn't go so well." he admitted, scratching his neck awkwardly.

>>"It didn't go so well..."

Evelyn's eyebrows knitted together, and she studied Gawain more closely. Didn't go so well sounded much like how she would have described her adventure to go bring Sylar lasagna, or get her clothes from her house. Although while in her cases it usually meant she got herself into danger, this sounded more a compliment turned into a shouting match.

"Didn't go so well how?" She kept her expression neutral. He didn't look like he got in a fight, although the image of Maya taking on Forte was amusing to say the least. She wasn't sure Forte would ever be a fair fight though unless powers were involved...

Well, there was no backing out now.

"I ended up putting him in time-out in a mirror." Gawain said remarkably fast, just to get the ending over with, reassuring her that Forte was in fact still alive. Evelyn knew people would not stay in mirrors long.

"The guy was... trying really hard to pick a fight." Gawain set the mug down on the desk and stood, pacing "He was... I don't know, he was off somehow. Maybe because he knew I am your... boyfriend."

Current terms are current.

"I just didn't like the way he talked about you. Or to me. He was all 'does Evelyn like you are a chick' and 'how does she like it' and..."

Why is she dating you at all.

"It was just... nasty."

God. Terrible choice of words.

.....a time out mirror....

What the heck----

"You left him in a Mirror?" She wasn't sure what to think about that. The rest of the information was even harder to digest. "I guess I could see him trying to pick a fight but--"

>>"'does Evelyn like you are a chick' and 'how does she like it' and..."

Well, that was just getting a little personal. She rolled her eyes slightly and felt herself chuckle in response. "So you put him in a mirror... Why does it matter what he says anyway? Is he the one dating you?" She sipped her drink and raised and eyebrow over the rim of her cup. That was certainly a mental image. She was surprised the two came out from the interaction without someone getting a bloody nose...

>>"So you put him in a mirror... Why does it matter what he says anyway? Is he the one dating you?"

"Wh..." Gawain, momentarily jolted out of fuming, blinked at Evelyn. She was taking this a lot better than he expected. She almost looked amused. Gawain, half annoyed that she didn't see how her honor had been hurt, and half confused why she was looking at him the was she was, shook his head.

"No! Hell no he's not." he frowned "I just... I don't want you to train with him. I don't want him to smack you on the ass while pretending to teach you something. You are on the X-team. That guy fights dirty. I don't trust him."

[Annoyed. Confused. Irritated.] The echoes continued to list emotions as Evelyn watched. Jealousy. She was definitely seeing traces of that too. The amusement from seeing him that way was jolted with embarrassment as he remarked on something she hoped would never ever get brought up again.

"That, he, was totally not cool...." She grumbled under her breathe. Ok, so maybe Gawain had good cause to get upset with the guy. But it was a difficult line to draw when the same person that ticked her off also helped a lot. "It's not like I trained with him a lot. He helped a bit when I was working on self-defense, but I've been training with you guys now. I just...I get you don't like me hanging around him." It was hard when she wasn't the jealous one right now. She wondered if this is how Mirror felt everytime she got jealous... They were getting right back to the elephant in the room. She let her mug drop and moved over to sit next to Gawain.

If he stayed sitting. If he got much more irritated he might get back up... " K--Forte can be a jerk, and yeah I'm not happy he was acting that way but he's still not a terrible person to have on your side in a pinch. You don't have to trust him. But don't feel threatened by him. I'm dating you, and I like you."

>>"That, he, was totally not cool.... It's not like I trained with him a lot. He helped a bit when I was working on self-defense, but I've been training with you guys now. I just...I get you don't like me hanging around him."

Gawain frowned again, that was not as convincing as he wanted it to be. Sure, a guy showing up and saving your butt could be very convincing, and girls liked that in general. But there was something off about Forte and his ego, something about the way he provoked a fight, that did not add up.

>>" K--Forte can be a jerk, and yeah I'm not happy he was acting that way but he's still not a terrible person to have on your side in a pinch. You don't have to trust him. But don't feel threatened by him. I'm dating you, and I like you."

She sat next to him and he looked up, smiling a little. He lifted an arm and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"I know" he sighed "It's not... it's not like I'm jealous of him. You are dating me, not him."

Yay.

"... But, any guy saying things like that about any girl, it's just not cool. I mean, I grew up with the gender-shifting, trash talk is not going to phase me at this point, I'm used to it. But, dragging you into that whole thing... it's a dick move, is what it is." he frowned again "It pissed me off and he knew it."