Gawain was aware that he was staring, and yet thoughts were racing in his head way too fast to stop, or make any kind of a coherent sentence. God, this was awkward. The girl was not a very good actress, she was actually a person thrown here from the 19th century... and stuck?

>>"Yes, I was. Yes... I am, 'for real,' as you say."

Well, this certainly made things more awkward. Gawain felt like he should apologize for the misunderstanding... wait, did she just assume he wanted to talk to her about her story because he somehow knew she was from that train?...

>>"I'm a 177 years old."

Gawain blinked.

"No, technically, you aren't, not physically, anyway..." he paused, realizing that he was thinking of this as a science fiction problem, not as someone's life "... I'm sorry. It's just... I do like history. But traveling in time, that's... It must be difficult."

Gwendolyn stared at the man. She knew it was a crazy thing, but he didn't have to keep staring at her. She wasn't a circus freak. It was not her fault she was trapped in a future era that made very little sense to her. 

>>"No, technically, you aren't, not physically, anyway..."

She nodded, "You are correct. I am physically 22." She did not really know what else to say to that. She was technically 177 but her body was only 22. And maybe that meant she'd have a long life span like the others in this timeline, at least if she stays here for the rest of her life?

>>"... I'm sorry. It's just... I do like history. But traveling in time, that's... It must be difficult."

She nodded again, "Apology accepted." She sighed, "I ask for your forgiveness as well. I was not sure of your intentions. I thought you knew and that is why you were asking me. News travels so fast now. This thing called internet and television and radio. I just presumed you were in the aware." She rubbed the back of her neck, "Do you have any questions about my time or...?" 

So, she was 22, which meant she was an 'old main' in her own time, as she had noted. It had to be strange, being ripped out of your own time and into the future - a future that was as weird as this one, with mutants and Internet and a rip in space and time. Gawain wondered how she was doing. Did someone give her a place to stay? Was she under surveillance or something?...

>>"Apology accepted. I ask for your forgiveness as well. I was not sure of your intentions. I thought you knew and that is why you were asking me. News travels so fast now. This thing called internet and television and radio. I just presumed you were in the aware."

So, she had thought that he thought she was a celebrity of some sort. A person from the news. That's why she had been playing along.

>>"Do you have any questions about my time or...?"

"Oh, no" Gawain shook his head "I mean I do, but that's not... some museums hire actors to pretend they are people from the past, to give information to the visitors. I thought you were... one of them."

It sounded weird now.

"Are you... I mean, how are you settling in? Do you have a place to stay? Is someone helping you?"

>>"I mean I do, but that's not... some museums hire actors to pretend they are people from the past, to give information to the visitors. I thought you were... one of them."

She couldn't help but let out a laugh, "Well, in this time, that is probably the only thing I would be qualified to do. So much has changed since the 1860's... The television box, radio, planes, this internet, automobiles, even bicycles have engines on them. It is amazing what man has done - and also what horrible things it has done." It broke her heart that man didn't learn it's lesson. The Holocaust, the multiple genocides since then. It was devastating to Gwendolyn.

>> "Are you... I mean, how are you settling in? Do you have a place to stay? Is someone helping you?"

She nodded again, "I do, thankfully. I don't know where I would be at without her. Probably lost, hiding, or being experimented on by the governments of the day, maybe?" She was slightly joking, but it wouldn't surprise her if they would try. She had been keeping a careful eye out for her to be abducted in the middle of the night. She knew what they were capable of - after all, the government in her time had enslaved millions of people. 

She seemed to find the idea of actor working for museums, pretending to be what she actually was, rather amusing. He didn't blame her. It was a fun job to do, but no one could do it as perfectly as her, since she was the real thing. Maybe she'd consider it as a career option?...

>>"Well, in this time, that is probably the only thing I would be qualified to do. So much has changed since the 1860's... The television box, radio, planes, this internet, automobiles, even bicycles have engines on them. It is amazing what man has done - and also what horrible things it has done."

"Yeah..." Gawain sighed, thinking over all the pages of the history book since the 19th century. "It has been quite a crazy century..."

It had to be tough, finding out about all that after jumping ahead in time. Gawain was sure that if he did the same, he'd be reeling too. Humanity was not in the business of getting better exponentially... And that was all a culture shock issue. She must have had practical ones too. Where did she live?...

>>"I do, thankfully. I don't know where I would be at without her. Probably lost, hiding, or being experimented on by the governments of the day, maybe?"

"Good that there is someone helping you." Gawain nodded with a smile "I'm a mutant, so the government experiment thing... totally valid. Plus New York, as amazing a place as it is... is not exactly the safest.."

For a lady.

She sighed as she looked at some of the the patrons of the museum walk past them, give her a curious look, and then move past. She sighed. She needed to update her wardrobe into the 21st century, but her clothes were the only thing from her past. She could keep them, maybe hang them on mannequins so she could day dream of days past. There was lots she liked about this time, but she needed time to grieve over her family. She was never going to see them again. 

She realized she never told Gawain her name. That was a thing they did now, right? Everyone exchanged names at the beginning of the conversation, "Oh... I apologize, my name is Gwendolyn Theodosia White." Did they include middle names when introducing themselves? She probably needed to clarify that with Charlie, actually.

>> "Good that there is someone helping you. I'm a mutant, so the government experiment thing... totally valid. Plus New York, as amazing a place as it is... is not exactly the safest.."

She nodded. So he was a mutant as well. That was interesting. Maybe he knew her? Or was that ignorant to assume? She pondered asking for a moment, "Do you know Charl- I mean, Charlie Sinclair? That's my friend who's helping me. I don't know if you might know her?" Probably not, it was a big city. "Yes, it is not quite the safest place but I imagine most places are not. Sometimes governments make good decisions, sometimes they do not. Usually they do not." Her pessimism had increased greatly since learning of humanities evils over the 20th century. 

She finally remembered to give him her name.

>>"Oh... I apologize, my name is Gwendolyn Theodosia White."

"Nice to meet you, Miss White" Gawain nodded with a smile. She definitely had a 19th century name. He'd probably think of her as Gwen.

>>"Do you know Charl- I mean, Charlie Sinclair? That's my friend who's helping me. I don't know if you might know her?"

Gawain shook his head. Big city. Even mutants did not all know each other; or the name did not ring a bell, in any case. Still, it was good that someone was helping her. It would have been dreadful for someone her age to have to get along on her own...

>>"Yes, it is not quite the safest place but I imagine most places are not. Sometimes governments make good decisions, sometimes they do not. Usually they do not."

"Yeah tell me about it" Gawain muttered with a sigh "You had a lot to catch up on... and being on the news is probably not easy either. Do people recognize you?... I mean, because of the dress..." he added, pointing out her 19th century outfit.

She gave him a smile, "My pleasure, truly. You are more than welcome to call me Gwen or Gwendolyn." 

She nodded. That was not surprising. It was a large city, apparently over 8 million or something. It still amazed Gwen that there was now so many people on the planet - literally, so many. She couldn't believe they were all congregating into cities, too. Everything use to be so rural, farmland, but now it was the opposite. 

>>"You had a lot to catch up on... and being on the news is probably not easy either. Do people recognize you?... I mean, because of the dress..."

She nodded, her face uneasy, "Quite. My exit and run away from the train is apparently on this 'ViewTube.' It's... Interesting. I am a bit surprised the government has not gotten to me or something." She sighed and looked at her outfit before nodding slowly, "Yes. I need to update my wardrobe to this timelines customs... Tighter dresses, blue jeans, shirts. I need to let go of these, quite literally, old things." 

>>"My pleasure, truly. You are more than welcome to call me Gwen or Gwendolyn."

Oh, good. Gwen was gonna be easier to remember.

Gawain wondered how often people spotted her. She was walking around in an outfit that was historical at best. Not that it wasn't elegant, but it probably invited staring even for people who would not have recognized her by face. Or by eye color, which was truly memorable.

>>"Quite. My exit and run away from the train is apparently on this 'ViewTube.' It's... Interesting. I am a bit surprised the government has not gotten to me or something."

"I am too." Gawain nodded. It had to be the rip, still being an all hands on deck situation. Otherwise, people would have been all over this. Leave it to a dimensional portal to trump time travel on the news cycle... If she just got some modern clothes, she would have been fully invisible.

>>"Yes. I need to update my wardrobe to this timelines customs... Tighter dresses, blue jeans, shirts. I need to let go of these, quite literally, old things."

Gawain chuckled at the pun.

"Well, if you want... I can help you with that. I mean, I'm sure your friend does too, and I don't want to intrude or anything. But, once you got some modern clothes... contemporary I mean, modern's a relative term... I mean, once you have that, people will at least bug you less. And if you wanna wear the old ones, you can always get a job doing what I thought you were doing... Which would be awesome, by the way, learning about history from someone who wasss.... I'mma shut up now."

Her friend was a lawyer, she thought anyways, so that probably helped that deter government kidnappings. Maybe. She really had no idea why they hadn't picked her up. She didn't even have a modern identification, at least not yet. She wasn't sure what would happen if a police officer stopped her. They probably wouldn't believe her if she told her she just got teleported here from 1862 in a train car. She gave a bit of a shrug.

>> "Well, if you want... I can help you with that. I mean, I'm sure your friend does too, and I don't want to intrude or anything. But, once you got some modern clothes... contemporary I mean, modern's a relative term... I mean, once you have that, people will at least bug you less. And if you wanna wear the old ones, you can always get a job doing what I thought you were doing... Which would be awesome, by the way, learning about history from someone who wasss.... I'mma shut up now."

She perked a brow, "Do you know what women wear typically here? There is so many options... I do not even know where to begin. I might start out with the long dresses. They are most like what I am use too. Although, I would guess that the jeans and shirts are pretty comfortable..." She had some money, but not a whole lot. Maybe she could afford a week or so outfits, at least if they shopped at more low end stores. That was something new to her. Low end. Ugh.

She chuckled at the last bit of his comments - that maybe she could get a job doing this, "I appreciate the optimism. Who knows where I will end up, I am not sure myself." 

Gawain rambled a little, both excited to meet someone from another century and embarrassed that it took him so long to realize it. Thankfully, Gwen took things in stride with an elegant smile, and even if she was annoyed by the questions an assumptions, she did not show it.

>>"Do you know what women wear typically here? There is so many options... I do not even know where to begin. I might start out with the long dresses. They are most like what I am use too. Although, I would guess that the jeans and shirts are pretty comfortable..."

"They are" Gawain nodded with a smirk "You can try both and decide for yourself."

She would look good in jeans too, but he knew better than to say that out loud.

>>"I appreciate the optimism. Who knows where I will end up, I am not sure myself."

"Well, you have a place to stay and someone helping you." Gawain noted "And if you ever need another..." he pulled out a pen and wrote down the Mansion's address on the back of a museum flyer "This is where I work. It's a... boarding school, for mutant kids. But even if you're not a mutant, you are welcome to visit, or stay. We are good at helping people far from home..."

Gawain was a cute guy. He was a bit oblivious to her situation at first, but she couldn't blame him - she was dressed in 1860's attire in a museum. It would make entire sense that he would think she was an actress. She kinda wished she was just pretending - but the modern world had its perks. Warm showers, easy access to food and water (and sodas? She loved Dr. Pepper. It was amazing.) Some of the food joints seemed pretty good but nothing would ever be as good as home cooked meals. And she was a terrible cook, so it didn't happen often. Probably another good reason she ended up in this time and not a housewife.

>> "This is where I work. It's a... boarding school, for mutant kids. But even if you're not a mutant, you are welcome to visit, or stay. We are good at helping people far from home..."

She smiled and took the card and nodded, "Thank you for your offer. I appreciate your kindness. I will definitely reach out to you or this organization, if even for just a visit." She liked Gawain, so she definitely wanted to talk to him again. She chuckled though, she was definitely a mutant, "Did the eyes not give it away?" Technically, her eye color had nothing to do with her mutation - at least, not as far as she knew. It happened when she got ripped from her time. Not really sure why or how, anyways. 

Gawain liked to encourage people to visit the Mansion. Mutants, mostly, but also sometimes adapteds, and anyone else that seemed like they might benefit from a safe haven and some free room and board. And a girl two centuries out of her time, in his mind, definitely qualified.

>>"Thank you for your offer. I appreciate your kindness. I will definitely reach out to you or this organization, if even for just a visit."

"You're welcome." Gawain nodded with a smile.

>>"Did the eyes not give it away?"

"Give what... oh." he blinked "You are a mutant aren't you." he chuckled "Okay, but... if the time travel wasn't your ability, then... what is it?"

She gave Gawain a smile before looking out towards another family that had ran by. That was one good thing - kids didn't die like they use too. It was normal for a kid to die in her time, in fact, usually several. And sometimes the mothers themselves. A similar situation happened to her betrothed. 

She chuckled and nodded, "Yes, I am. In my time, we viewed people with these mutations as demons, or possessed by some manner of evil spirit." She sighed, "I am glad the world has slightly moved away from that way of thinking. It was not a good way to view the world. Lots of people who had these mutations were probably killed." She shrugged, "It was the time." Her time period did a lot of terrible things - of course, the generations ahead of her did some pretty awful things, as well.

She gave Gawain a smile again before realizing he must be a mutant too, "And yourself? You must be a mutant as well since you work at this school?"  

People moved past, but they did not pay much attention to the 19th century lady and the young guy sitting on the bench with her. Gwen was being surprisingly open about herself, her story, and her past.

>>"Yes, I am. In my time, we viewed people with these mutations as demons, or possessed by some manner of evil spirit. I am glad the world has slightly moved away from that way of thinking. It was not a good way to view the world. Lots of people who had these mutations were probably killed... It was the time."

"It got a little better than that" Gawain frowned, trying not to think of mutants being murdered so close in history that Gwen could still remember "But there's still a long way to go." In an age of META bots and registration acts, it was hard work to make sure history did not move backwards.

>>"And yourself? You must be a mutant as well since you work at this school?"

She turned the question back before she told him what her powers were. That left Gawain wondering, but he also did not mind answering first.

"Yes, I am" he nodded "I can walk through mirrors... kind of like teleporting. Also, I change into a woman every other day."

To tell the truth, Gawain was kind of curious how Victorian sensibilities were going to handle that...