>> "Yup. Same person. I just change genders every midnight... well, sex, technically, but 'sex-shifter' sounds kinky."

Randy chuckled, it did sound dirty. Didn't make much difference to him what Gawain, and Maya, called himself... Herself... Their-selves. Mutation brought up enough questions with things as it was. All the new "gender identity" bull that was being tossed around was just making life more confusing. What was so hard about living your life and leaving others alone?

>> "My mother was a shape-shifter. I guess I inherited some of that from her. It's not voluntary though, it just happens. Dad was a teleporter. That side's more obvious I guess."

That explains that then. Inherited powers from their parents, simple enough. "You got lucky then, having mutant parents. Didn't work out that way for me." As far as he knew Randy had been the only mutant in his school. Until he got to college anyway but life was different by then. "So, back to the issue of you breaking my bar. I already had to clean it, safety issues and such. but I could use some help getting those shelves back in place. Then we need to figure out who is paying for all my liquor." Gawain might have been twenty-one but Randy wasn't sure. Randy couldn't open him a tab unless he was. He would have felt bad making the boys parents pay for it either.

>>"You got lucky then, having mutant parents. Didn't work out that way for me."

"Yeah" Gawain frowned, and he left it at that. He still had no idea who his father was, and it was not like Mom had been around a lot, although that was not entirely her fault. He was glad for changing the subject, anyhow.

>>"So, back to the issue of you breaking my bar. I already had to clean it, safety issues and such. but I could use some help getting those shelves back in place. Then we need to figure out who is paying for all my liquor."

"Uh...yeeeah" Gawain blinked. Pay for entire shelves of liquor? Sam was so not going to be happy about that. Especially when he found out Gawain didn't even drink any of it.

"I mean, I'm happy to help put the shelves back together. Falling on them was an accident, but it's not like you can blame the adapt either. Most of them don't even know they have an aura until someone walks into it. So... yeah. I mean, I can pay for some of the liquor?..."

Mirror was not extremely rich, that much was obvious.

"Or maybe I can like, work it off? I am fairly good as a bouncer."

>> "I mean, I'm happy to help put the shelves back together. Falling on them was an accident, but it's not like you can blame the adapt either. Most of them don't even know they have an aura until someone walks into it. So... yeah. I mean, I can pay for some of the liquor?... Or maybe I can like, work it off? I am fairly good as a bouncer."

Work it off as a bouncer. "Um, yeah that might take a while. Like several weeks." He was right about the adapted as well. Technically they shared some blame but he had no idea who it was even. "You missed the top two shelves. That saved us both a lot. If you're twenty one I could open a tab and let you pay it off bit by bit. Still might take a while though."

Passing his gaze up and down Gawain's torso Randy noticed some of the larger cuts had started bleeding again while they chatted. "Maybe we should get a few bandages first. Then we can fix those shelves and talk money." With what he assumed was a friendly grin Randy ported back to the bar, grabbed the first aid kit from under the registrar and ported back to where he left Gawain. The whole process took less that three seconds.

>>"Um, yeah that might take a while. Like several weeks. You missed the top two shelves. That saved us both a lot. If you're twenty one I could open a tab and let you pay it off bit by bit. Still might take a while though."

"I am" Gawain sighed, scratching the back of his neck. Paying off liquor he didn't even get to drink. Sam would have a laugh about that. But he was also not about to teleport out of there without fixing the damage. He was not that kinda guy, not anymore. Plus, it would reflect badly on the team.
No pun intended.

>>"Maybe we should get a few bandages first. Then we can fix those shelves and talk money."

The guy disappeared and appeared again, with a first aid kit. Gawain pulled his shirt up to check his wounds, and was slightly surprised at the fast return.

"Geez" he grinned "That's... pretty nifty, actually. What is it like to be... a real teleporter? I gotta touch mirrors to go through them, and I still gotta walk. Somewhat slower, not that I'm complaining... How long did it take you to wrangle that ability?"

>> "Geez. That's... pretty nifty, actually. What is it like to be... a real teleporter? I gotta touch mirrors to go through them, and I still gotta walk. Somewhat slower, not that I'm complaining... How long did it take you to wrangle that ability?"

Randy shrugged setting the kit on a shelf and looking Gawain over. The threat of his fathers belt had him learn to control his ability real quick. "Not long. My parents didn't mind me being a mutant but they didn't want the neighbors to know. Spent a lot of nights between two and three in the morning practicing out in the yard." He dug through the first aid kit for some gauze and medical tape. Note to self, organize the first aid kit. "As for being a real teleporter. There's not much to complain about but its not the most exciting either. I just think a distance and a direction and poof I'm there."

>>"Not long. My parents didn't mind me being a mutant but they didn't want the neighbors to know. Spent a lot of nights between two and three in the morning practicing out in the yard."

Huh. That was interesting. Other than manifesting powers as a kid, having both parents who sort of accepted them sounded like an interesting way to grow up. Granted, Mirror's own mother, a mutant herself, was all kinds of supportive of the gender shifting... but every family was a little bit different anyhow.

>>"As for being a real teleporter. There's not much to complain about but its not the most exciting either. I just think a distance and a direction and poof I'm there."

"Well, it beats having to find a reflecting surface" Gawain smirked, not really complaining. He liked his own powers well enough "Did you ever miss? Ended up... dunno, crashing into a liquor shelf, for example?..."

He was trying to make a joke, rather than an excuse.

"I can do this" he offered, reaching for the bandages "Believe me, I have some practice..."

>> "Did you ever miss? Ended up... dunno, crashing into a liquor shelf, for example?..."

Randy shook his head chuckling at the joke. "No, I'm a bit unique in that way." He stopped thinking for a moment on how best to explain his mutation.

>> "I can do this. Believe me, I have some practice..."

He snapped back to attention handing Gawain the bandages. "I'll take your word for it. As for me never missing my teleport. I suppose i can still miss, but I wont ever land inside something." Randy wasn't sure about the specifics himself. He ported on reflex so much that he barely thought about it.

"You said you need to touch a mirror, or something reflective. Well, I'm less restricted. I don't need to see where I'm going, or even know." He packed the rest of the kit back together while he talked. "If, for example, I would have come out in the shelves I'd just automatically move farther until there was enough room for my whole body to fit."

>>"No, I'm a bit unique in that way. I'll take your word for it. As for me never missing my teleport. I suppose i can still miss, but I wont ever land inside something. You said you need to touch a mirror, or something reflective. Well, I'm less restricted. I don't need to see where I'm going, or even know. If, for example, I would have come out in the shelves I'd just automatically move farther until there was enough room for my whole body to fit."

"Well..." Gawain smirked, re-bandaging some of the wounds with the expert hands he had because DocProf flat-out refused to treat anything non-lethal "... you win some, you lose some, huh."

Mirror was content with his powers. Some of them were more stranger than others, but all had their uses, and he had learned how to use them best. Even the gender-shifting. Kind of.

"Sometimes I accidentally walk into movies" he grinned "One time I thought it was just another mirror... and instead, boom. Sleeping Beauty. If you have never been a real, moving cartoon character... I don't recommend it. It's trippy."

Even more so when you had a journalist following you around.