Gawain was on his way across town, using the abundance of reflecting surfaces New York had to offer. Most people did not even look up when the figure of a young man slipped by in a shop window or a car door; the city was a crowded place, and pedestrians did not pay that much attention to each other to begin with.
He considered stopping for ice cream. With Rupert awol, there was no grumpy bartender to pester, even though Mirror was legally old enough now to day-drink if he so desired... but ice cream sounded nice, it sounded normal, and he had not experienced normal in such a long time, the temptation was too much to bear. Going out of his way towards where he vaguely remembered an ice cream shop, Gawain had every intention of hopping through a bathroom mirror and casually walking in to buy himself a cone.

And then they had to go and hire a damn adapted.

Gawain came to a skidding halt as he got to the reflecting surface of the counter on his way to the bathroom... and then popped right out of it, courtesy of an adapted's aura, slid off, and faceplanted inside the counter, at the feet of the guy working the ice cream orders. None of it was dignified, and people gasped at the display of mutant powers.

"Ow..." Gawain muttered, rolling to his side to look up "There really should be a sign or somethin' about adapteds working..."

It had been a pretty average day overall.

Scoop ice cream, smile at the customers, give them the correct amount of change. It was the same thing he did five nights a week after school. Sure, there was one guy who tried to pay him in Euros rather than American dollars, but really, nothing had been out of the ordinary.

That was, until a guy shot out of the scooping counter. Literally shot right out. Correction: it had been a pretty average day overall. 

Bailey had been reaching over the counter to get the last bit of the Chocolate Brownie Swirl for the little girl on the other side of the glass when it happened. His arm was forced upward, where it hit the top of the display case, causing him to drop his ice cream scooper straight into the Orange Sherbet. The scoop on the end of the metal utensil fell off the end and began to mix with the other flavour. The little girl began to cry.

Bailey was then forced backward by the guy falling off of the counter. The rest of the patrons were clearly horrified, which Bailey could understand. It was a little terrifying to have someone appear out of thin air and then land on your converse.

"Ow... There really should be a sign or somethin' about adapteds working..."

"Uh... Sorry?" Bailey frowned slightly and addressed both the interloper and the rest of the customers - most of whom were quickly clearing out. 

Unperturbed by the fact that the store was losing valuable business (in the middle of February, when it was usually dead), Bailey focused all of his attention on the guy that was lying at his feet. The only other person that had called him an adapted outright had been that X-dude, the Masochist. Since then, he'd had to explain to almost every mutant he met why their powers suddenly wouldn't work. Now, though, he was greeted with someone who knew exactly what he was without any prompting. Clearly, the dude had connections.

He glanced around at the newly emptied store and then back at the guy, offering him a hand up. "Are you alright? That looked like it hurt. I'm Bailey, by the by."

>>"Uh... Sorry?"

Gawain made a muffled sound as he rolled over, orienting himself; falling out of a mirror, especially a horizontal one, was always a dizzying experience at best. He was aware of the sound of confused people leaving the place in a hurry. Some of them were bound to have taken pictures. Great.

The ice cream guy - adapted, obviously - was nice, at least.

>>"Are you alright? That looked like it hurt. I'm Bailey, by the by."

"Gawain" the mirrorwalker answered, taking the hand and getting back on his feet. People had cleared out of the small shop, which was probably bad for business. Go figure.

"Nah, it's not your fault." he shrugged "Not like adapteds can turn their aura on an' off, right?" he hoped the kid knew he was an adapted anyway, because otherwise this encounter was bound to get a lot more awkward. Breaking someone the news that they were an enhanced human... yeah, not on Mirror's wishlist for the day.

"Sorry about scaring the customers... I'm sure they'll be back."

"S'okay, Gawain," Bailey nodded to the newcomer and offered him a grin. Sure, he had driven away the customers, but that had certainly made the day more interesting. Besides, it was technically Bailey's fault that he'd ended up on the floor. And partly in the ice cream. He... was going to have to clean that.

He cocked his head at the man, trying to figure him out a little. He had little avail. There was nothing really on him to suggest any involvement with anything out of the ordinary, but that didn't really mean much. He figured it would work better to do a bit of actual digging. 

"But yeah, we -uh- can't turn it off. So... how do you know so much about adapteds? I've only ever met one other person who knew what I am, and you knew straight off the bat." There was also the fact that he'd come through the countertop, but that was a question to ask later, when they moved off of the topic of adapteds, on to mutants.

Since Gawain was standing up just fine, Bailey decided to multitask. He moved behind him and began to clean the part of the counter that had just held up a person, making sure he got any scuff marks and handprints.

>>"S'okay, Gawain,"

Gawain looked a little sheepish as Bailey began to clean up the mess they had caused on accident. It was not the first time he had fallen through a mirror into a bar (or a pub, or a cafe), but it was still pretty awkward in the aftermath.

>>"But yeah, we -uh- can't turn it off. So... how do you know so much about adapteds? I've only ever met one other person who knew what I am, and you knew straight off the bat."

Gawain blinked.

"Oh, I know a bunch of ya" he grinned "With my powers, they are kinda easy to spot."

Falling out of mirrors, not shifting at night, falling out of TV sets... there were multiple ways to tell when an adapted was nearby, and Mirror had quite a few of them. But at least he had not run straight into a mirror yet, just to find out he couldn't walk into it.

"Plus the counselor at the school's an adapted, and it's been useful for her, working with mutant kids and all..."

"Oh, I know a bunch of ya. With my powers, they are kinda easy to spot."

"Waitwaitwait," Bailey leaned a little forward and gawked at Gawain. He knew a bunch of them? Bailey hadn't even met one other person like him! He'd only heard about stuff on the internet, and here this guy was, talking about all the adapteds he knew. Where had been when he'd been told by that X dude that he wasn't, in fact a mutant, but some other strain of human?

"You know more adapteds? I've never met another one!" He was positively brimming with excitement by that point. He needed to meet more people like him! Exchange stories! Find out that he wasn't alone! He shook himself after thinking that. When had his life become a dystopian drama? Whatever, meeting other adapteds was something that needed to happen.

He picked up his speech at an alarming pace, unwilling to let the topic pass without saying what he wanted to say. "Could you, like, introduce me, or something? It's just that, y'know, I've never met another one before, and I think it'd be really cool... but, if you don't want to, that's just fine. I wouldn't wanna impose or anything."

>>"Waitwaitwait. You know more adapteds? I've never met another one!"

Now it was Mirror's turn to blink in surprise. The kid had never met anyone else like him?... As someone who had been raised my a mutant mother, initially anyway, Mirror had never known the feeling of loneliness and isolation that many mutant kids had to deal with early in their life. Even in the age of the Internet, a lot of the information was rumors, rather than facts... And yet a teen (late teen?) who was alone, in New York, was a rarity.

Bailey looked very excited.

>>"Could you, like, introduce me, or something? It's just that, y'know, I've never met another one before, and I think it'd be really cool... but, if you don't want to, that's just fine. I wouldn't wanna impose or anything."

"I can do that" Gawain nodded with a grin, enjoying the look of enthusiasm on the kid's face "I can take you to the school and introduce you to Miss T. You'll need to be careful meeting mutant kids, not all of them like their powers nulled unannounced... but we can work around that for a visit. And I'm sure Miss T would be happy to talk to you... How old are you again?"

"Sick!" Bailey yelled enthusiastically as he received Gawain's answer. He was so pumped. He didn't even bother to listen to the rest of what Gawain had to say. "Just let me grab my stuff!"

He slammed his palm on the counter and ran into the back excitedly. The day was shaping up to be super duper great after all! He raced to the back of the store to grab his phone, wallet, and whatever other personal items he had brought to work that day. On his way, he could hear parts of a question that was most definitely directed at him.

"Uh, 18 next month," he called back. He didn't quite hear the full question, but he caught enough snippets to assume the rest of it. He didn't really know why that was pertinent information, but he wasn't opposed to telling the guy. No skin off of his back. Unless he was a... Nah, he probably wasn't.

He raced back into the room, a little out of breath from his excitement, and looked at Gawain excitedly. "Alright, so are we going?" He asked him. He was definitely supposed to wait until his replacement arrived before leaving, but there were only, like, twenty more minutes left in his shift. It wouldn't be that bad if he left. He probably wouldn't get fired.

Whatever. Bailey didn't really care. He was too excited to both finishing out his shift, no matter what the consequence would be.

The level of excitement Bailey displayed at the news that Mirror could introduce him to another adapted was truly astonishing.

>>"Just let me grab my stuff!"

"Wh..." Gawain blinked, watching the kid rush around to grab his things. Sure, the ice cream shop was currently empty, but he doubted that a student employee could just close up and walk away whenever he wanted... He was not even sure how much of what he's said registered with Bailey, but at last he did get an answer.

>>"Uh, 18 next month. Alright, so are we going?"

"Whoa, dude, slow down" Gawain grinned, holding up his hands "Okay, first off, you probably gotta let your employer know that you're leaving... when does your shift end?... Also, in the meantime, you might wanna give your family a heads up on where you're off to. You're still a minor. Technically. And given your aura, I can't teleport you there... so the trip might take a while."

"Whoa, dude, slow down"

Bailey froze in place and pursed his lips as he finally listened to what Gawain was saying. His statements were all valid, but man, were they ever disappointing. He had been really excited to go right that moment.

The teen frowned, nodded, and scuffed the floor with the edge of his converse. He was right, they wouldn't be leaving for at least twenty minutes, which was when his replacement was supposed to arrive. "Yeah, you're right. My shift change is in 20 minutes, so we should probably wait until then.

"My dad won't care, though. He's at an audition or something. Won't even be home tonight. He might not even notice that I'm gone. We could probably even take his car!" Bailey suddenly grew excited again at the idea. He hadn't gone on a road trip in a while. They could put on fun music, get snacks, shoot the breeze, and whatever other cool stuff people did on road trips! It would be great!

"Where is it?"

It seemed that Gawain had managed to cool the kid's jets at least enough that he would not get fired for closing shop. Twenty minutes was not a long wait; the mirrorwalker found himself a seat, determined to make Bailey wait out his replacement before he went running off to mutant school. They had things to talk about anyway.

>>"My dad won't care, though. He's at an audition or something. Won't even be home tonight. He might not even notice that I'm gone. We could probably even take his car!... Where is it?"

"Um, no, probably not" Gawain shook his head "I'm a teleporter, I don't do cars." As embarrassing as it was, Mirror never quite grew to like driving. He could, if forced, but it was not fun, and he avoided it as much as he could. Flying the jet, on the other hand, he had no problem with. Things were strange that way.
Also, there was no way he'd let the excitable adapted drive his father's car.

"So, it's just your dad, then?" he ventured, curious about where the kid came from, and how he had not met others like him before "Is he an actor or something? I was raised by my mom, she did that for a while..."

That, and the assassin thing. But that was not first encounter material...

Frowning, Bailey watched as Gawain took a seat at the back of the shop. He was serious; they really were waiting for his replacement. For some unknown reason, he had hoped that he was kidding, and they would be leaving right away. Unfortunately, the hope had been unfounded. It didn't look like the other guy was going anywhere fast.

"So... what? Are we just going to... walk?" Bailey asked, the corners of his mouth twitching uncomfortably. As much as he liked talking to Gawain, he wasn't all that big on the whole 'walking long distances' thing. "How far away is this place?"

>>"So, it's just your dad, then?"

"Uh, yeah. A few of my brothers live with me too, but we all just kinda come and go. My mom and some of my other brothers live back in Canada," he explained. It was a little more in depth than the question had called for, but Bailey was actually holding himself back. Parts of him wanted to just ramble on and tell Gawain his whole life story. 

>>"Is he an actor or something? I was raised by my mom, she did that for a while..."

Bailey nodded. "Stage actor. He's doing Shakespeare stuff, but he's also been doing a few commercials here and there, 'cause those pay way better."

He changed the subject after that, not wanting to seem entirely self absorbed. It made it easier that Gawain had already started to talk about his mom. "What's your mom like?"

>>"So... what? Are we just going to... walk? How far away is this place?"

Whoa, the kid was eager to go. Gawain smirked, some were easier than others - with some of the mutant kids, it took forever to talk them into visiting the Mansion. In fact, Mirror himself had only gone once he found out Twyla lived there... once upon a time. But Bailey was obviously ready and set to go, and it would have been a waste not to indulge him.

"I'll call a cab." he allowed finally with a handwave "I'll add it to staff expenses..."

Hopefully, Sam would pay up...

>>"Uh, yeah. A few of my brothers live with me too, but we all just kinda come and go. My mom and some of my other brothers live back in Canada,"

So, he had a family. That was good, at least. Not all families were great, but some were, at least in Gawain's experience.

>>"Stage actor. He's doing Shakespeare stuff, but he's also been doing a few commercials here and there, 'cause those pay way better... What's your mom like?"

"She's a shapeshifter." Gawain shrugged "I got some of that from her... dad was never in the picture. I came to New York when I was sixteen, and ended up at the school. It's pretty decent place. I work there now."

>> "I'll add it to staff expenses..."

"You get staff expenses? Siiiick. I wish we got that here. Well, we probably wouldn't be able to afford that, but it'd still be cool. You guys probably have a lot more money, eh? Does it cost money to go to the school? Is that where you get your funding? Or is it from outside sources? Also, how much money do you have to spend? Could you, like, buy a car or something? Or could we go on a joyride with this cab? Not that I want to or anything, but I'm just, y'know, wondering."

Bailey talked at an absurd speed. That was something that was well documented. Thankfully, he'd managed to tone things down to a degree in the last little while, but once he got going, there really wasn't any way to stop him. Even he didn't know how to turn it off. Word vomit was a good descriptor.

"A shapeshifter? That's cool. What'd you get from her?" He didn't look like a shapeshifter, although that didn't really mean much of anything. Maybe it was something that he just hadn't seen yet. Teleportation and shapeshifting, though? That was cool. Bailey was a tad jealous.

He glanced at his watch. Only seven minutes left. Time actually went quickly when you were having a good conversation. "So what do you do at the school?"

>>"You get staff expenses? Siiiick... Could you, like, buy a car or something? Or could we go on a joyride with this cab? Not that I want to or anything, but I'm just, y'know, wondering."

Gawain generally considered himself young; he started out as the kid on the team, and in many ways he still was considered the little brother or sister. But then, every once in a while, he hung out with actual teenagers, and he felt very mature.
This was one of those times.

"I don't think I could get away with that." he said with a serious face, trying not to think of the time when he used the X-Jet for a booty call.

>>"A shapeshifter? That's cool. What'd you get from her?... So what do you do at the school?"

"I help mutant kids train with their powers." Gawain explained, danging his legs from his seat. "And I help run the place. Think of me as a... glorified RA." At least that was what he used to be as a Mansion Greeter. God knew what he was now. Not to mention he was not going to tell the kid about the X-men right off the bat... "My main ability is teleportation. But I also shift between genders every day." he waved a hand in the air, gesturing at Bailey's aura "Unless one of you is around, that is."