Evelyn picked a grape and ate it thoughtfully as she considered the next question. That was somewhat tricky to answer, surprisingly.

"I'm sort of torn, to be honest. Part of me would love to visit Paris. I always wanted to visit the Louvre, and see some of my favorite paintings. Then walking the river and seeing where the impressionists worked, or just wandering the streets would really be amazing. At the same time, I'm worried the echoes would ruin it. Paris is noisy and busy, it might just feel like New York. So maybe I would rather be somewhere quiet like a forest. Maybe it wouldn't mean as much, but the silence is hard to compete with." She mused, twirling her glass in her hands.

"I'm not sure if that's a fair answer, but I'm picking both. What about you?" She send the question back, curious where the Mirror-walker would be dying to go. With the x-men, they must have gone a ton of places already...

"Paris huh" Gawain grinned, not surprised by the answer at all. Evelyn had an artistic side, and she loved museums. Another mental note went on the list, next to 'talk to Sam before taking the jet'.

"Scotland, probably" he mused when the question was thrown back at him "Or just tour the UK in general. I have visited before briefly when Kate needed a bodyguard to go home, but I wouldn't mind being a tourist for once."

Even though the X-men traveled a lot, they were usually too busy saving the world, or portions of it, to really go sight-seeing.

"Your turn."

"Scotland would be fun." Evelyn remarked with approval, and the open spaces would definitely fit into the 'quiet' sort of category. While there was never true silence, it was better than a bustling city. "I've never been outside of New York though so pretty much anywhere has an appeal." She mused.

She spun her glass again as she considered another question. "Hmm. What's your favorite thing about your powers?" She finally asked. It was harder to think of questions than the thought, but there was something entertaining about the whole thing. She was learning there was a lot she didn't know about Mirror still. One of the butterflies floated over to her hand and she froze, awkwardly torn between trying not to scare it away and listening to his answer.

>>"Hmm. What's your favorite thing about your powers?"

"Which one?" Gawain grinned, folding his arms. He had stocked up on powers in the past few years; at age thirteen he was only a gender shifter; at age sixteen, a mirrorwalker; at age almost-twenty-one, a movie-walker, whatever that was good for in the complicated mind of Mother Nature.

"I guess I like the freedom" he admitted finally "Freedom to go pretty much anywhere that has a reflecting surface. Makes it all kinds of tempting to break the law, but I managed to not do that lately... X-men and all that." he chuckled "Movie walking is freedom to go into all kinds of imaginary worlds, without real risk. And the gender-shifting... well. That's another kind of freedom." he added, fully aware that he had probably just broken the echoes again. Evelyn sat frozen with the butterfly.

Evelyn listened to the answers, looking down at the butterfly, then back up at the mirror-walker, still statue still and hardly daring to breathe. She handle all kinds of rare antiquities at work, but nothing living. There was something terrifying and wonderful about having something so fragile so close. It's tiny legs tickled her finger and made it hard to concentrate. Thankfully the echoes were doing that.

She managed not to break either on the last remark. She chuckled slightly. "Fair answer. I don't know what I'd do if I had as many powers as you did. The echoes keep me busy enough, and the playbacks just feel like part of them." She started to shrug, and startled the butterfly so it lightly moved back to the grapes. Bummer.

>>"Fair answer. I don't know what I'd do if I had as many powers as you did. The echoes keep me busy enough, and the playbacks just feel like part of them."

"You are managing them better lately" he noted, smiling at the way she managed not to blush. The echoes were not the only thing she was managing better. However frustrated he had been about her training with Forte... whether he taught her or not, she had a better grasp on her echoes than when she arrived at the Mansion.
The butterfly fluttered away.

"So, here is a question for you" he smiled and stood from the table, finishing his wine before he offered a hand to her "Do you like to dance?"

Evelyn beamed slightly at the compliment. She had really been trying to work with her powers and get better at directing them, but it was wonderful to see some confirmation she was moving in the right direction. It was a mixture of teaching, really. She worked with Saph, Mirror, Forte, Locke. She couldn't say any one person was really responsible. But she couldn't have done any of this if she hadn't left home and found a way to stand on her own too feet. Although, that was a rather ironic thought, because her break for independence still involved relying on a lot of people. But in was in a healthier way.

Then Gawain stood and offered out a hand. Evelyn chuckled at the question. "I enjoy it from time to time. I was blessed enough not to have two left feet. Although it might have been useful...If I was a crappy dancer parties with my parents wouldn't have lasted so long." She set her own cup down, not quite finished, but she was somewhat more careful about drinking after her last fiasco with it. Moderation was good. Especially with voices in your head.

>>"I enjoy it from time to time. I was blessed enough not to have two left feet. Although it might have been useful...If I was a crappy dancer parties with my parents wouldn't have lasted so long."

Gawain chuckled as he helped her up from the table. Resting butterflies fluttered up around them, disturbed by the movement.

"Well then" he smiled, leading her out of the pavilion to a little open space in the garden "There is something new I didn't know about you. I can't wait to see it."

Letting go of her had he walked over to the nearby bench that had a CD player balanced on it, and pressed the Play button. Soft music filled the air as he turned back to Evelyn with a half-apologetic grin.

"At the risk of being completely cheesy, may I have this dance?"

Evelyn watched the butterflies flutter away, mesmerized as they moved to the space in the garden. She was somewhat breathless by the whole evening. Maybe it was silly, but it was more than just a date. It could have been cheesy to someone else, but sometimes, the simple things were the best to her.

She smiled at Gawain, and listened as the music filled the space. It wasn't a song she was familiar with, but the melody was pretty. "I don't think it's cheesy. Charming, perhaps." She remarked. It was the first time she was actually excited for a dance, actually. Her heart beat a little faster as he re-approached, feeling like the butterflies were stuck in her stomach now instead of just around them.

>>"I don't think it's cheesy. Charming, perhaps."

"Well, I am a prince of Orkney" Gawain grinned down at her "... or named after one anyway. Close enough."

Taking up her right hand he put his other arm around her waist and waited for the right point in the music to start the dance. Mirror had done different kinds of dancing before, although ballroom was not one of his strengths. It was good to know thought that Evelyn was not completely lost. Him trying to lead a beginner would have been awkward.

"Close enough." Evelyn agrees with a laugh, and once they started dancing she just enjoyed the moment. She wasn't lying: she was a fairly good danger, definitely much more graceful dealing with dance steps than battle training. She was grateful, in a way. Most of her fighting made her feel somewhat clumsy at times, at least she could feel a bit more polished and together in situations like this. Dancing in a more casual outfit was a fun twist though. It was much easier than navigating around in a dress.

And the dancefloor never had an audience like butterflies before.

Needless to say, she was having an amazing evening. Although part of her still half expected something to come busting through the roof. Sometimes, it felt like nice moments just couldn't happen without something chaotic to follow. At least she would never forget this. That was something she was grateful for tonight.

Evelyn was not lying about being a good dancer. Her confidence in every movement helped Gawain not stumble over his basic knowledge of ballroom dancing, and the smile in her eyes made him feel like he could willingly dance pretty much anything if she asked him to. It didn't take long for him to get completely lost in their own little bubble of music, lantern light, and butterflies.

It was not like they had never been close to each other before. Heck, they had even shared a bed half-naked, granted, neither of them was completely sober at the time. But this time, maybe because of the setting, maybe because of the dance, was different. It really felt like a first date, in many ways. Also, he was probably holding her a lot closer than what ballroom etiquette would have allowed. When the song ended, he leaned in to rest his forehead against hers, and pulled her hand in to kiss her knuckles.

"Thank you for the dance, m'lady"

Maybe it was silly Evelyn didn't want the song to end. She could relive her memories, it wasn't like she'd loose the moment. But being here, being in it, that felt different. Magical. The fast heart beat, warm glow in her face, the music and the lights... and the little butterflies. They were like hundreds of paintings drifting through the picture. She didn't know if even her memories could capture that. She hoped they could, but she enjoyed it still as if they couldn't.

As the song ended, she wasn't quite ready to move away. He kissed her on the knuckles, and she smiled and turned her head to kiss him on the lips. "Thank you." She said, and pulled herself closer, setting her head against his chest. She could hear the quiet now, the occasional whisper of wings that was almost inaudible, Gawain's heartbeat, his breathing. She smiled and sighed.

There was definitely a lot of heartbeat to listen to. Gawain smiled into the kiss and then hugged her close. At the same time he could feel his shoulders tense up just from that, the light kiss and the feeling of her body against his. The young knight had always been one with a lot of patience, and situations like this built up a lot of emotions.

He pulled back after a few moments and cleared his throat.

"Um... almost forgot. I've got a birthday present for you."

Walking back to the pavilion with her he reached into the picnic basket once again, rummaging under the covering until he came up with the present he hoped would be one that Evelyn would appreciate.

"I had these made for you."

It was a pair of sai with blue and white handles, gleaming with a graceful silvery light under the lanterns. They were well balanced and well crafted - Gawain made sure of that - and came with a blue and white belt that could fasten them in a number of ways, including at the small of the back where a jacket could hide the weapons.

"Happy birthday."

The moment ended, but the date wasn't over, so Evelyn could deal with that. She blinked somewhat in surprise though as Gawain mentioned a gift. "You didn't have to get me anything." She remarked in surprise, then visibly exhaled with surprise as he held out the gift.

Who knew weapons could be elegant too?

"I...how did..." Her thoughts were busted again. She gently took the sai, and shifted them in her hands. She knew he thought through the gift by the way they felt in her hands. Part of her was amused that a few months ago, she never even considered fighting anyone. Now the metal felt natural in her hand.

"Thank you. They're perfect." She said, still struggling with the right response. It would definately be fun to use them sometime, although they probably weren't appropriate for such an elegant evening. She gently set them down and chuckled to herself. "You keep surprising me, I'm going to have a happiness hangover by the end of the night." She grinned, looking down at the weapons, at the dinner, at the room... It didn't feel like there was anything to complain about.