Tarin got it. Lee could tell by his expression, by the look in his eyes as she looked up at him that he heard and understood every single thing she had just said.

Lee hadn't had any worries about him not under anything about her powers before she opened her mouth. After simply hearing what her powers were and what that meant for her, how it made things different for her, Tarin had figured so much more out in mere days than Rachel had in years.

Tarin was now leaning down to whisper (as well as one can, in a bar) in her ear. Still, his breath on her ear and neck made Lee shiver.

As he pulled back, Lee gave him a grateful smile. ”Once we're outside,” she told him. ”Doing that is almost worse with so many people around, and I'm already going to be awake tonight.”

But Tarin hasn't simply suggested she turn her siphoning off, he had made sure to let her know she wouldn't have to worry about not being able to feel the people around her, because he'd be there with her. ”Thank you, though.”

Rachel spoke again, apologizing this time. Lee turned her head to look at her sister. Lee had no idea what to say, though. After saying so much, explaining so many things that Rachel should have figured out on her own with how many years they had lived together. What did once say to an apology for that?

Lee settled for giving Rachel a small smile, nodding.

Tarin noticed when Lee shivered as he spoke into her ear and he smiled down at her as she explained that it would be worse if she turned off her siphoning in the bar around this many people. Tarin just nodded, it was a learning process.

Lee thanked him and Tarin shrugged with another smile. It wasn’t like he had done anything. Lee had forgotten she could do that once before…now wasn’t any different.

Rachel apologized and Lee accepted it as gracefully as she possibly could have given the circumstances.

Things were a bit awkward now though and Tarin looked down at Lee, then over at Matt, then at Rachel.

”I think it’s one of your turns to change the subject,” he said before picking his beer back up for a drink.

When Tarin looked away from her, Lee took a sip of her beer. It wasn't going to be too long before this one was empty too.

Though, if the conversation couldn't be salvaged to a lighter topic, maybe that was a good thing.

”Oh, our turn?” Rachel asked, glancing at Matt before turning back to Tarin and Lee. ”Umm…oh! What do you have planned for the rest of the summer once Kevin's home?”

Lee shrugged as she took another sip of beer. ” Nothing definite. It's largely going to depend on how long he wants to stay at home and when he wants to go get settled in at the mansion before school starts up again.”

Rachel managed to come up with a new topic to discuss and Tarin was equal parts happy and sad that she had managed. They might have been able to leave. The night had been fine, but it had gotten heavy really quickly and whenever Lee was ready to go…

Rachel had chosen an excellent topic though and Tarin just nodded as Lee spoke. Kevin would be home soon and Tarin knew that it wasn’t going to be easy for Lee when Kevin left for the Mansion no matter how close it was to the apartment.

”He’s going to be home all the time once the novelty wears off. Hardly anything is going to change.”

“Wait, what is this about a mansion?” Matt asked, breaking his silence. “And what in the world does a mansion have to do with Kevin going to school?”

”Xavier’s Sister School for Gifted Youngsters,” Lee informed them. Because apparently only people who had been around or lived at the mansion actually called it that Lee was noticing. Though it was only in the last couple months, out of the last couple decades, that Lee was finding she had to explain what she meant.

”Basically, mutant high?” she continued with a shrug before taking a sip of her beer. ”He’ll still be taught everything he needs to graduate high school, but he’ll also get help learning how to use his powers in a better prepared environment. And he won’t have to deal with things like what happened at the end of this year. In school, at least.”

Then she looked up at Tarin with a small smile and shrug. ”Maybe. Maybe not. But at least that also means it’s close enough I can go there when he doesn’t come home to visit enough.”

Matt nodded when Lee explained where she meant. Tarin laughed a bit when Lee described it as Mutant High. It was an apt description and Kevin was going to be excellent there.

They’d been over, at length, all the good reasons for Kevin to go to the Mansion and Lee succinctly explained it all to Matt.

”You know they’d let you in too.” Tarin said, taking another drink of his beer and img down ”But you won’t have to.” he said with confidence.

Lee laughed slightly. ”Of course they’ll let me in. I really don’t think Sam would want to see me angry with him again,” she said. Especially since the first time she’d been mad at him, Lee was pretty sure she’d broken at least one of his ribs. And that was before she had started learning how to fight.

“So this place is close enough that you can just randomly go visit, but Kevin’s going to be moving there?”

Turning, Lee saw that Matt simply looked curious, trying to figure everything out. And despite the fact that there was a lot more brand new information for him tonight, he seemed to be taking it in a bit better than Rachel had at times.

Lee nodded. ”I mean, he could travel back and forth, it’s really not that far,” Lee admitted. ”But most of the students live there. A lot of them would have found their way there one way or another after leaving, or being forced to leave, home.”

Lee frowned slightly for a moment, glancing at Tarin quickly before looking across the table again. ”I know we both with we’d found something like it when we were younger.”

Tarin shook his head and chuckled. Lee liked to act like her association with the X-Men was no big deal, but the fact that she knew they’d let her in without a question simply under the threat of her being angry…

Matt asked about the school, and the living arrangements and Lee answered. Having a home to go to might not be as uncommon as it would have been a few years ago, but Lee was right. The conversation kept getting serious though. Tarin supposed that’s just how the night had gone.

A quick flick of her eyes and Lee pointed out that both of them wished there’d been a place like the Mansion for them when they’d left home.

Tarin nodded solemnly at that last statement, ”Kevin needs community. The healthy kind, otherwise it’s easy to gravitate towards someone who can establish power. It’s easier sometimes to just be told what to do instead of having to decide for yourself.” That was as much as Tarin was going to say on that matter, his reasons were not something he was going to shout about at a bar.

”Well, I’m sure he’ll make friends quickly there,” Rachel said sincerely. All of Kevin’s friends that she had met were good kids. ”But you’re already on a first name basis with the teachers?”

”Huh…I guess Sam would be considered a teacher,” Lee said, the crease back between her brows. For Lee, that was a bit of a weird, difficult way of thinking of him. ”He does a lot of power training, as well as self-defense training.” Basically, the danger room stuff.

”But what do you mean ‘already? I’ve known him, and Shin, who's now the math teacher, since before I got married.”

Rachel was frowning slightly now. ”How would you have known them that long? Was it because of stuff in the folder?”

“Folder stuff? What are you talking about?” Matt asked, looking between Lee and Rachel.

”I’ll explain Monday, Matt. This is not the time or place for that conversation. And no, Rachel. I met them before most of that stuff happened.”

More questions about the teachers that Lee knew.

More questions about how Lee knew the teachers.

More questions about the folder.

Matt wanted to know more about the folder too.

Tarin sighed just a little bit when Lee explained that this was not the time or the place to have a conversation about the folder. She was going to tell Matt about Monday? Tarin looked down at Lee as she spoke. Was it getting easier for her to talk about? Was she going to leave certain parts out like she had done with Robert? Did she want him to go with her?

Lee had been absolutely mentally drained after telling each of her siblings about the items in the folder.

Realizing he was worrying about a ton of hypotheticals, Tarin shook his head a bit. ”So much for a carefree evening.” he said, but he supposed it made a fair amount of sense considering how many revelation there had been between Lee and Rachel lately.

Matt just nodded when Lee said she'd tell him Monday because now was not the time.

Lee couldn't help but wonder why it seemed to be so much easier for Matt to hear and accept things.

”So much for a carefree evening.”

Lee looked up at Tarin when she heard this. The night had started so nice and easy. But even a question about summer plans once Kevin was back had led to questions about the folder.

”You want to go?” she asked Tarin softly.

Did he want to go?

Tarin hadn’t really meant the comment to be churlish or anything like that. It had probably come out that way though, and suddenly Tarin felt a bit sheepish. Looking out over the crowd in the bar, he did kind of want to go, but the conversation had been fine even if the topics had been less than desirable.

”Nah,” he said, looking back down with a small smile, ”Not ‘til you’re ready. My mouth is moving faster than my brain tonight.” he said with a shrug.

It really was.

Lee just stood there looking up at Tarin for a few moments after he finished speaking before glancing across the table and back.

”You know, I think I am ready to go,” she told him.

Then Lee looked across the table at her sister again. ”Already? But Lee, it's still early.”

In terms of a bar night, it was still fairly early. But Lee hadn't been out to bars much in a long time, so it didn't feel early.

”Then blame it on me being old,” Lee joked. ”But I'm ready for the rest of the night to be quiet. But it was good to get out, so we can do this again soon, ok?”

Tarin looked down at Lee, a bit uncertain now, he hoped she wasn’t leaving just because he’d brought up the fact that the conversation was heavy.

It would have been weird to argue the point now though as Lee had explained the point to her sister and Matt as Rachel complained that it was still early.

Lee handled that too and Tarin waved a little wave at Matt and Rachel as he finished off his beer and set the empty bottle on the table.

”Definitely need to do this again, soon.” he said.

Then they were making their way through the crowd and out the doors into the street. It was so quiet out there compared to inside that it was disorienting for a moment.

”Are you sure you’re ready to leave?”

It really didn't take long for them to say goodbye and make their way out of the bar. ” I'm sure I'm ready to go home,” Lee said, as she took Tarin’s hand and they started making their way down the street away from the bar. ”It didn't seem to matter what we were talking about, the conversation kept going back…”

Squeezing Tarin’s hand, Lee looked up at him. ”Plus, wasn’t there something we had wanted to do before we left the apartment?”