Gawain watched her fumble with the tweezers for exactly fifteen seconds before he sighed and took over, one hand under her palm holding it in place, and the other picking out the shards as carefully as he could. At least he was good at this.

>>"So...you wanted to talk..."

... better than talking, anyway.

"Yeah" he huffed, keeping his eyes on the task "I just... wanted to apologize. You know, for... being a jerk, I guess. This has been... one hell of a week. And that's not an excuse, so... I guess I'm sorry, for yelling at you. I didn't mean it."

Evelyn forced herself not to flinch as Gawain carefully picked out the pieces of glass from her hand. At least the vase had been fairly thick, and the shards were easy enough to notice. It was still awkward though, and she wondered if she should have avoided asking the question. She had succeeded in trapping herself in the conversation while he worked, but at least the occasional stings of pain were somewhat muddled by other distractions.

"It's...fine. I mean, I haven't exactly been easy to deal with either. I'm sorry too, for being a pain and being ungrateful." She remarked, flinching slightly as one of the larger pieces was removed. "I mean, most of what you said was right anyway, so I guess it should matter right?" She bit her lip and glanced away. She looked at the bathroom mirror then quickly away as the echoes started chattering in her head.

"I take it you did what you needed to though..." She was careful how she worded the question this time. She learned her lesson last time about asking questions about Mirror's love life. While she was just is curious about the results of the riot in general, the whole topic with Maxine was... touchy.

>>"It's...fine. I mean, I haven't exactly been easy to deal with either. I'm sorry too, for being a pain and being ungrateful. I mean, most of what you said was right anyway, so I guess it should matter right?"

Gawain frowned as he lifted her hand to get better light for removing the shards. She did a number on her own hand with that vase. That was Evelyn for ya.

"I guess we were both out of line" he muttered, dropping another piece of glass into the sink.

>>"I take it you did what you needed to though..."

"Yeah." his expression was almost as painful as hers "I don't wanna talk about it."

He turned her hand over to see if there were any more shards before he moved on to dabbing it with antiseptic.

"I thought it was gonna make me feel better, once it's over. I guess I was wrong."

Evelyn shrugged, more with her left shoulder than her right since he was still dealing with her busted hand. "It's been a stressful week. I think a small amount of le-way for is acceptable as far as behaviors went..." She remarked. Her memories flickered back to the experiences with Talon and Sara, as well as Mirror. Gawain hadn't been the only person with a few short fuses.

>> "I don't want to talk about it."

For once, Evelyn didn't look judgmental or smug. Gawain just seemed hurt at the memory of what happened. She flinched as the antiseptic was put on her hand, but wondered if part of it wasn't just from his response to things. She felt awkward now, and wasn't sure what to say. "I'm afraid I'm not much help with advice on those sorts of things... I...don't forget, so things don't exactly get better when something is 'over'. I mean, resolution is nice, but I think resolving things in your own mind doesn't necessarily happen at the same time..."

She wasn't any more eager to waste conversation on the events that happened than he was though. Just the image of her brought back that unfamiliar flicker of emotions that made her start to clench her hand. It took effort to control herself, but the muscles in her hand still flexed ever so slightly despite her resistance.

Gawain stopped applying the antiseptic when her fingers flinched. It just occurred to him that she might have cracked some bones if she punched the vase hard enough to shatter. Maybe they should have gone to DocProf.

>>"I'm afraid I'm not much help with advice on those sorts of things... I...don't forget, so things don't exactly get better when something is 'over'. I mean, resolution is nice, but I think resolving things in your own mind doesn't necessarily happen at the same time..."

"I'm... not sure I got what you just said. But thanks." he smirked up at her for a second "Do me a favor, wiggle your fingers a bit. If you've broken something I gotta take you to Doc."

He waited to see if everything moved okay, holding her hand on his palm.

"So. What's up with the jealousy thing anyway?"

Go ahead, lighten the mood.

>>"I'm... not sure I got what you just said."

Well, at least he was honest. She wasn't sure whether she should sigh, chuckle or feel embarrassed, and settled somewhere in between. She wiggled her fingers obediently, trying to keep her face straight. Even if she had injured something, she really didn't want to go see Doc right now. Flickers of pain moved through her knuckle, and she wondered if he was good enough at reading people to read her expression when she was trying to keep it blank. She lost a little bit of her calm though when he remarked on the jealousy.

"There's nothing up with the jealousy thing because it's not happening." She looked away from him childishly, trying to keep the color out of her cheeks. She refused to look at the mirror on the wall because it would be countering her statement and she didn't need to argue with herself anymore. "Why would I be jealous...I mean, you barely even tolerate me..." She tried to keep her voice level, but it was harder to control what she said when she was exhausted like this. Maybe it was a bad time for this conversation...

Wiggling happened. It looked painful, but probably not broken. Gawain sighed and moved on to bandaging the hand.

>>"There's nothing up with the jealousy thing because it's not happening. Why would I be jealous...I mean, you barely even tolerate me..."

That earned her a chuckle, that surprised Gawain at least as much as her. The mirrorwalker shook his head softly and glanced up.

"I'm no mind reader or anythin' but I'm pretty sure that's not how jealousy works."

Even with him working on her hand he had to dip his head to try to look at her eyes. He was not sure if she was avoiding him or the mirror. Probably both. He was sure that both would make an interesting read.

For some reason, her response made him chuckle, and that forced her to look at Gawain again, eyes focusing as she tried to read him. He seemed a bit...amused, by her statement. She wished he'd hurry up with her hand so she wasn't trapped here any longer. She fidgeted a little and glanced away, then back at him. She wasn't sure if she wanted the echoes studying him right now. The mirror-walker confused her enough as it was.

"Well, I don't exactly have much experience with the whole jealousy thing, so maybe I'm a little unfamiliar with the protocol." She did the mature thing and stuck out her tongue at him, then glanced at her busted hand. "It's dumb, anyway." She grumbled, more at the echoes than at him. It was her mutation that started this in her mind. They took her emotions and dangled them in front of her, and she wasn't quite sure how to deal with them.

>>"Well, I don't exactly have much experience with the whole jealousy thing, so maybe I'm a little unfamiliar with the protocol."

"Well, I guess the idea is that ya're not supposed to tell..."

Gawain started for a split second when her tongue darted out at him. She looked confused and embarrassed, and at the same time... she was sticking her tongue out at him.

>>"It's dumb, anyway."

"Yeah, well, no argument there." he muttered with the corner of his lips curling up and wrapped the bandage around her hand. There was something soothing about the whole thing. Maybe it was just the pent up adrenaline finally leaving his system, but whatever it was, it felt good.

"You can look at me, you know."

Not supposed to tell. Well ha ha "I wasn't trying to tell. You were just determined to talk." She muttered. She didn't sound particularly irritated though. Just embarrassed by the whole thing. Everytime her cheeks seemed to loose their flush he did something that made them turn crimson again. It felt like she had a sunburn.

Another remark and the pink was back. She looked at him, then away, then tried to look back. Her echoes noted the faint smile he seemed to have, and the tension in his shoulders that was gone now. Considering they were administering first aid he seemed to be in a decent enough mood. She wasn't quite sure what was going on in his head though. "I could... I just...you make me nervous." She blurted out, fidgeting again. She was starting to wonder if he was just taking his time with the bandages. The bathroom made her feel very claustrophobic all of a sudden.

Her cheeks turned pink, then darkened to red. She looked like a character from a fairy tale. Blood on snow. She smiled a bit though, and that was a good sign.

>>"I could... I just...you make me nervous."

"Yeah, I got that" he chuckled again, glancing pointedly down at her hand. It still amused him that someone who could read the world like an open book could get so confused by... other people.

Letting her hand go he leaned closer, tilting his head again to see her eyes.

"You'll just have to get used to it." he whispered, looking at her for a long moment before he grinned.

"You should start with looking at the mirror."

He nodded his head to indicate that he meant the bathroom mirror, not himself. His grin softened into an encouraging smile.

"C'mon, try it."

The bathroom felt far too small still, and as he caught her eyes her echoes felt like they skipped slightly in distraction. Or maybe that was just her pulse. He confused the heck out of her, and she pulled her now bandaged hand close to her chest and shuffled slightly. She could read body language, but what she would have given to read minds at that particular moment. She couldn't quite tell what he was thinking. Amusement? Reassurance? His grin took her further off guard and she glanced at the him, then the mirror on the wall, expression going from nervous and nudging close to afraid.

"I don't like looking..." She murmured quietly, glancing at Gawain then back at the pane of glass. His smile was encouraging, but she still felt apprehension as she glanced at her reflection. The echoes started clamoring, picking out things to focus on. Of everyone, the person they could analyze the best was herself. [Emotionally confused. Nervous. Struggles to face feelings and hesitant with relationships involving others. Body language defensive, timid.] She glanced from her reflection towards Gawain's. For a moment she wondered what he would have thought if he could hear her echoes. Would he judge her? Would he care? No ones opinion used to matter. Somehow his did though.

"I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to it..." She was remarking both about how nervous he made her feel, and how uncomfortable her reflection made her. She couldn't keep her emotions in check around Gawain any more than she could hide from her own echoes.

Gawain stood behind her as she watched herself in the mirror. She was clearly uncomfortable with doing it, as if she could see something no one else could, and everyone knew at the same time. Mirrors were funny things, and no one knew it better than Gawain.

>>"I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to it..."

"Tell me about it" he nodded with a smirk, looking at the two of them standing in front of their own reflection. Boy did they look messy, Evelyn with smears of blood and a bandaged hand, and him with the week's supply of scars and bruises, and circles under his eyes. Quite the mismatch.

Another bathroom, very similar to this. Another wound. Another girl.

Gawain watched his own features soften at a memory, and he suddenly got a glimpse at what being Evelyn must have felt like.
One hand found its way to rest on her hip, and Gawain leaned forward, resting his chin on her shoulder. it was light as physical contact, but it felt reassuring.

"So, what's the read?" he murmured with a chuckle "'Oh look, my hand's a mess, and that's guys an idiot, but damn he looks dashing?'..."

Evelyn wasn't sure what she felt. A bit confused, a bit afraid, still a little upset, but then almost reassured. Maybe Gawain didn't know what she dealt with in her mutation, and maybe he couldn't hear the echoes. But he seemed to at least understand at least a little. At least having someone standing there with her gave herself something else to look at. The echoes shifted from her damaged hand to Gawain's rather beat up appearance from the riots, and then they flickered at the movement even before the contact. Her pulse jumped again, then settled a bit. Some of the tension left her shoulders, even as the echoes struggled to process the action.

Or maybe the echoes were processing it just fine. Maybe it was just her who didn't know what to think about it.

His voice in her ear made her laugh though, and she rolled her eyes, reaching back and jabbing him in the side. "They think you're a brat, and annoying, and somewhat confusing. Maybe not dashing, but you're charming. Don't let it get to your head." She glanced at her hand and shook her head, giving a soft smile though. "If I have to have anyone come to my rescue though, I'm kinda glad when it's you. Thanks for helping."

>>"They think you're a brat, and annoying, and somewhat confusing. Maybe not dashing, but you're charming. Don't let it get to your head."

"Ow" he winced at the jab "Too late..."

>>"If I have to have anyone come to my rescue though, I'm kinda glad when it's you. Thanks for helping."

That brought the grin back and he leaned around her, resting one hand on the sink, so she couldn't walk out of the bathroom.

"Excuse me, m'lady, could I have that last bit in writing? Just in case no one believes me. It's a shining armor thing." he explained trying to keep a deadpan face, but failing at it all the same.