Boys were confusing. Heck, dating just by itself was, but trying to figure out how best to handle this drama was like dancing through a mine field. She wasn't quite sure if there was more lurking reading to go off at the wrong moment. Considering Forte's behavior, it probably wasn't going to end here though. But the fact he was intentionally trying to piss off Gawain sent warning signs. At least, this was Gawain's side of it. She wasn't sure what Forte's side would be. 'They confronted me and I asked a few questions?' Possibly. She pushed it aside for the moment though and set her head on Gawain's shoulder.

"Well don't let him bait you. I'm glad you care, but last thing I need is you two brawling it out one day."

>>"Well don't let him bait you. I'm glad you care, but last thing I need is you two brawling it out one day."

Gawain found that he did not like the way she said that. The was she said that meant that this all was not over. There was a 'you two' and it was a 'you two' that made the hair on his neck stand on end. He pulled away to look at Eve.

"Eve, you can't be friends with that guy" it was a plea, not an order, although he could have pulled the X-team card and she knew it "He's an *sshole, he is potentially dangerous, he lives with at least one psychotic serial killer, and he talks about you as if you were a prize that goes to the best fighter..."

Which he obviously believed was a title that he owned. Gawain frowned at the thought.

Body language shifted, Gawain pulled away. It sort of stung a little bit, something Evelyn wasn't used to. She wasn't good at this sort of thing. But the requests was just hard to swallow. She didn't like any of this, and she certainly didn't like someone trying to convince her who she could or couldn't be friends with. He was asking, not ordering, although it almost was more irritating that way. Her grip tightened on her mug and she exhaled through her nose, tension from that morning drifting back to her shoulders.

"I'm not dumb Gawain. I can see what he's doing. And you know, I'm not sure it's just him you don't trust." She stood and moved over to the dresser. Pity was gone now, and she set the mug down. Chocolate didn't sound so good either.

>>"I'm not dumb Gawain. I can see what he's doing. And you know, I'm not sure it's just him you don't trust."

Ow. Gawain looked at Evelyn as she stood, his eyes wide with surprise and hurt. He was not planning on making this into a fight. He was planning on letting Evelyn know that the guy was a jerk, and dangerous at that. It was as simple as that. Why couldn't she see it?

"I trust you" he said, standing up too and setting the mug down, it was definitely not time for chocolate "I trust you enough to know you would not be seeking out trouble if you knew all that. I wanted to tell you about yesterday, so you know what he is like when you are not around. Now I did."

She could take it or leave it, although he didn't really see any reason why she would want to talk to the guy again.

Evelyn looked back at him and processed what he was saying. As frustrated as she was she knew he was being genuine and that made it hard to stay irritated. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the desk, toeing the carpet with one of her feet. "Gawain, I have a lot of friends you're probably not going to approve of. I just see people differently though. It's not just Forte. I mean, I know people are dangerous and I know it probably makes no sense, but I don't see people as good or bad sometimes. Just because someone does something wrong doesn't mean I ignore them forever." She looked up at him, then back down. She wasn't sure this conversation was going well at all.

Maybe she was the one who was wrong though. Maybe she wasn't supposed to look at things this way. It was hard with the echoes though. There were individual justices, and individual moments of right and wrong, but people to her weren't divided the same way.

>>"Gawain, I have a lot of friends you're probably not going to approve of. I just see people differently though. It's not just Forte. I mean, I know people are dangerous and I know it probably makes no sense, but I don't see people as good or bad sometimes. Just because someone does something wrong doesn't mean I ignore them forever."

Why not?...

Of course, Evelyn was still new to all this. New to the mutant world, new to the riots, new to Mansion and Sanctuary and mutants that killed for sport. Gawain, who never intended to end up anywhere near the good guys, found himself in a position where being a good guy was not enough.

"I just..." Gawain ran a hand through his hair in frustration "It's not what he does, it's the way he thinks that's bothering me. I mean, you know him better than I do."

Sadly.

"Do you think a guy who thinks he can win you over by humiliating both of us makes such a great friend on the long run?..."

>>"It's not what he does, it's the way he thinks that's bothering me."

....Mind-reading. That was a new trick.

>>"Do you think a guy who thinks he can win you over by humiliating both of us makes such a great friend on the long run?..."

"No, I don't, and that's why I'm not going out to coffee with him. He's not a friend I'm going to hang out with on a day to day basis. But I think someone who's taught me to discern what echoes to listen to, and someone whose helped keep the museum from being destroyed twice can still be my friend, regardless of where he lives. Yeah, he's a jerk, and his behavior isn't great. I'm not letting him manipulate me and I'm certainly not going to spend time over there, and you know, I rarely run into him when the proverbial sky isn't falling. But I'd rather him be someone who'd watch my back than stab it." Verbal foot was put down. Actual feet were still cold and wishing they had socks....

>>"No, I don't, and that's why I'm not going out to coffee with him. He's not a friend I'm going to hang out with on a day to day basis. But I think someone who's taught me to discern what echoes to listen to, and someone whose helped keep the museum from being destroyed twice can still be my friend, regardless of where he lives."

Gawain visibly winced at that as if he just got slapped in the face. So, the guy was telling the truth, after all. He had been training Evelyn. And she had learned things that even Mirror could not help her with. That, in itself, stung more than the rest of the entire conversation so far.

And then she topped it off by mentioning that he had helped her twice. Only one of them he knew about, and only since last night.

>>"Yeah, he's a jerk, and his behavior isn't great. I'm not letting him manipulate me and I'm certainly not going to spend time over there, and you know, I rarely run into him when the proverbial sky isn't falling. But I'd rather him be someone who'd watch my back than stab it."

I'd rather he got stabbed in the back.

"Well, let's hope the sky doesn't fall often." Gawain muttered, picking up his mug again. The whole thing, Evelyn apparently being in the habit of being helped out by a guy he didn't even know he existed while resisting to ask for help from him, it just made him feel bitter inside.

"He's not coming to the Mansion, though. That's my call as an X-man, and my responsibility to the students."

Evelyn didn't know how this conversation fell apart. Probably somewhere between the request for her to stay away from Forte and her refusal to give him the boot. But that meant changing how she treated not just him, but everyone. Even as a trainee, she stood on mostly neutral ground. But then there was the jealousy, and the frustration. Gawain had a protective edge and that was showing a bit too. Maybe it would have been better to listen... But it was early, her head hurt, and this wasn't helping with it.

>>"He's not coming to the Mansion, though. That's my call as an X-man, and my responsibility to the students."

"Fine. Next time he can dump me off at the hospital." She sat in the chair, pulled her legs up onto it and put her chin on her knees.

>>"Fine. Next time he can dump me off at the hospital."

This hurt more than the two bullets to the back. That was kind of a distant, disembodied ache, but the way Evelyn was talking to him right now, mostly because Mirror still didn't see what he had done wrong (obviously nothing) in this scenario, was sharp and bitter.

"Next time." he was still holding the mug to his chest, but now his knuckles were white "Well sure, next time he can. Funny, you know, I thought you did't like being protected. Well, apparently it's just me you don't want around when you are in trouble."

>>"Funny, you know, I thought you did't like being protected. Well, apparently it's just me you don't want around when you are in trouble."

STAB!!!

You know that hell hath no fury quote...

"You know, you're being ridiculously childish about this whole thing." She stood and whirled around, face livid as the comment sunk in. "Well I'm sorry someone else got there first and I was too busy fighting a freakin' samurai to ask you to come help me. And I'm sorry that some guy saved my neck before we started dating. You brought home a kid the other day. Let's talk about what happened before we started dating, shall we, and maybe start there! I didn't ask anyone to help me. But I was fighting two stories of artwork yesterday, by myself. I had to watch my favorite art pieces get destroyed and you're whinning because someone stepped in to do something, and you don't like that someone. Well, grow up. You're not the one who gets to relive getting smashed in the head with a medievel shield." She pushed her way past him and out the door.

Sure it was her bedroom...

But she didn't really want to be there right now.