Young Sam did not chase him out of the room, so Gawain stayed. He was not sure what was on the video, but unless he was told to leave (which he would), he preferred to stick around and make sure Sam was okay. Or as okay as he could be, given the circumstances, and what he was about to watch.

>>”If you are watching this then I’m dead. Like screwed dead, dead dead… Naw, just kidding. That’s another tape. I did fake my death, though. Mirror, thank you for being a good friend and not watching this before giving the drive to me. New me. And if you watched this before that time then, screw you ***hat.”

Gawain smirked. Sam had been drunk when making the video, but he still put all of his trust into Mirror. Or most of it, anyway. And he did not watch it, so he clearly wasn't an ***hat. Young Sam, however, seemed less than impressed with his old self, ready to take his frustration out on Gawain.

>>”Right or left eye?”

"Dealer's choice."

The video came back on.

>>”We had a rough go when we were young and things got good at the mansion. Great even, you found friends, you became a teacher. The best teacher if I do say so myself. Self defense for kids, yeah kids. You ended up getting a lot of them out of trouble. You might have also caused a few to get into it as well. Isn’t that right Mirror?”

Gawain chuckled again, shaking his head. Sam had been a mentor to him, black eyes or not. It was good to know he saw the Mansion as something good that happened to him. But this was only the beginning; there was a lot of the story left to go. Gawain put a hand on Young Sam's shoulder, ready to withdraw it if needed. Older Sam broke down on camera. It was heartbreaking to watch for Gawain, he could only imagine what it was like for Young Sam.

>>”in this drive are files and accounts of most of what we did. I don’t know how long the time gap was but at least there is enough for you to get started. Build something for yourself and if you decide to stick around I know there are enough people here. Good people. They might be able to help. The reason we came to the mansion in the first place was to be better. Make up for the **** we did. I don’t know what you remember but I’m a fighter. Always was. Why I’m able to tell you this.”

Bless him. Gawain sighed, sitting down on the bed as the video ended. It was strange to see Sam talk to his younger self like that. He probably did not imagine quite this scenario, but what he said rang true anyway. And now Older Sam was gone, and there was a younger, much confused and kinda pissed version of him still in the room. It hit Gawain harder than he liked to admit.

>>”So… I got rid of my memories?”

"It's... a long story." Gawain sighed. "You made that video in case you did, or got brainwashed, or... something like this happened. Look, the Sam who made that video was a hot mess. But he's still one of the best people I know. I trusted him with my life." he looked at Young Sam "So... how do you feel?"

The icemancer didn’t respond with a verbal communication when he felt the hand on the shoulder instead he shrugged it off. Gawain was too familiar with him, at least too familiar with him. Maybe older, drunk Sam was cool with it but it felt weird when people were overly nice to him. It made him think he was about to get a knife in the back.

”Okay… not the weirdest thing to happen to me.” his nostrils flared again as he shifted his gaze to the reflection walker. ”I believe it.” Sam said with a slight shrug. Maybe he should have been more skeptical but it was his life so if it could happen, it probably happened to him.

”Alright, so maybe not a black eye.” he paused only to add ”Or eyes.” it was then he corrected the reflection walker. ”Knew. Best people you knew.” he shook his head, ”Look man, as surprising as it is that I found somewhere to settle and more surprising I have friends that don’t try to kill me. I’m not him.” Sam said as he pointed to the screen ”I’m not sure I want to be.” he then answered, ”and I’m not sure. What am I supposed to do now?”