60 hours? And presumably that meant from about now, or whenever she'd left the airport, not from the time she'd gotten up in the morning. Might as well call it 3 days at that point. That was more than a little unsettling to think about.

Will imagined that the first time you ran into something like that, the lack of fatigue or urge to sleep for a day or two would be interesting, at least for novelty, and maybe for catching up on things you didn't seem to have the time for. But trying to balance that all the time? Getting enough to get through the day without over doing it and being up all night? And who was to say she didn't still suffer from staying up that long, even without being tired. The average human just was not built to be awake for more than a day at a time. 

Will at least, could take some amount of solace in that eventually he'd be able to sleep. Regardless of how loud or bright the world seemed, or how uncomfortable he was, exhaustion would eventually put him down. 

More terrifying too was what Lee said towards the end of her explanation, that without people she didn't get that energy. Or rather, she didn't get any energy. None. Zero. 

That was... scary. If she was running on a low battery, and nowhere near anyone else, she ran the risk of just...  running out, and having no way back up? Will couldn't imagine how careful she must have had to be to make sure she never ran completely out of energy with no one around. Lee's explanation of her abilities did shed a bit of light though, on why she'd probed as much as she did about his own troubles with controlling his abilities. Maybe she was searching for similarities in their powers... maybe there were some? Will wasn't sure. Was it strange to have poor control over the 'cap' on your energy?

The word she used though, 'siphon', implied she was -taking- energy from people, not just generating it from being around them. So, less like photosynthesis like his imagination had cooked up at first. Parasite and vampire came to mind as the next examples, but they felt rather rude, the former more than the latter, and so he pushed them away. 

"So... Sorta like the textbook definition of an extrovert, turned up to '11' then?" Will asked, sounding a little incredulous at the older woman's explanation, as though he hadn't been trying to explain about his own preternatural abilities just minutes prior. "You literally get your energy from other people?" Will hoped that 'extrovert' sounded better than calling his new friend (Acquaintance? Conspirator?) a vampire. 

Will seemed shocked by the idea that she could be awake for 60 hours. Most people were. Though, Lee remembered, most people were having serious physical and mental issues well before that point, if they could even stay awake that long.

And while part of Lee wished for the innocence of when she thought that being awake for 60 hours was a long time, she also knew if that was the case, she wouldn't be with Tarin now. She wouldn't even have Kevin because Lee wouldn't have been the person she needed to be in order to handle being pregnant.

"Turned to 11. Fifteen. Something like that," Lee confirmed Will's comparison. "I quite literally get my energy from people. Though, most of the time, people don't notice a thing. There's a reason I decided to move to Toronto, and then New York. And it wasn't because of the cost of living."

No, it had been the people. Everywhere. Even the (slightly) smaller cities and suburbs around Toronto had been difficult for Lee, especially before she had first come to New York. But here, as long as she was able to get out of bed and stumble her way outside, Lee would be ok, no matter the time of day.

"....most of the time, people don't notice a thing."

As Lee explained that, Will realized that he was probably within whatever range of effect that Lee's siphoning affected. At least, he presumed so. It didn't sound like she had to touch people like he did to have an effect on people. If she did it would no doubt be a whole lot easier to keep herself from getting too much. 

Though admittedly, it was a bit of a funny to thought imagine Lee having to 'duck-duck-goose' people for a pick me up. 

Will focused a moment, trying to see if he could notice if anything felt off and... pretty much just felt the same as normal. Well, as normal as he ever felt. He could feel the threads in his shirt scraping like burlap on his shoulders, hear the gnats buzzing outside of swatting range, felt the pebbles underfoot threatening to push through the rubber of his shoe... He felt sore legs and and the overall fatigue from the run, but... nothing unusual. For someone so used to knowing about all the things happening around them, it almost made the hair on the back of his neck rise to be made aware there were still things that could slip so perfectly past his awareness. 

"No kidding? So, you just end up borrowing a bit from all the people around you to keep you going then?" Will guessed, his words reaching for confirmation or clarification as he did. "But your powers sorta don't know when enough is enough? Least I can get whatcha mean there." Will added as he continued speaking with the older woman. There was a pause, a half-second hitch, Will wondering if he was asking too many questions before he dismissed his anxieties and continued. "Is that normal? I mean... I know normal's like, out the window with powers, abilities, gifts. But, like -- not having a handle on havin' too much? Or, well. You know what I'm tryin' to get at." Will let out a little 'pfft' of frustration at his inability to properly get his words out, but, Lee had been pretty good at parsing what he had been asking prior and he doubted he'd be misunderstood. 

More questions about her siphoning. Not that that was surprising. It was a hard thing for people to wrap their minds around. Hell, she hadn't even realized that's what she was doing when she first got her powers. There were always questions at first.

"Pretty much," Lee confirmed about what she took from the people around her. "And no, I haven't yet found a time where my energy reaches a maximum and stops building up. Though I've learned how to avoid getting too much energy in most cases. There's always exceptions, though."

Will was asking if it was normal to have issues with having 'too much' in terms of powers. Lee bit her bottom lip as she thought. Will didn't tell people that he was a mutant, so he probably didn't know very many mutants either. "Having too much energy making it hard to control one's powers?" Lee clarified. "I don't think that's very common, but most people don't have powers that are as dependent on their energy level like ours are.

"But I know an empath who can get very overwhelmed when she's around too many people. And my ex-husband had issues if there were too many spirits around." Another understatement, though not nearly as large as Lee's previous one. "And just about every mutant is going to have problems of some sort if they push their powers too far."

Lee frowned slightly as she looked over at Will. "You might never be able to change what having too much energy does to your powers. But you might be able to find ways to make it easier to deal with."

So even within the sub-section of people that made up mutants, it seemed his -- and her abilities worked in an unusual way. Maybe that was unfair to do. You could get pretty specific with that sort of thing. Neither of them had mutation that had changed them physically, for example. Nonetheless, Will couldn't help but lament the hand he'd been dealt a little. Were there really mutants out there that just... got along with their abilities? Liked them even? Seemed as much, if Lee's kid had been actively looking forward to them, but, it was a hard thing to grasp for Will.

Lee's suspicions -were- right. Will didn't know many mutants, at least not on more than a surface level. Name and a face. Frankly, he didn't know that many -people- beyond that. Arms length, always careful.

The examples that Lee provided about other mutant helped Will grasp and understand a few things though. At least bring him to understand that other mutants maybe didn't share in the struggles that Lee did, or Will did, but still had issues with their powers. It didn't make him feel better per se, but, it was also nice to know it wasn't a failing on his part. At least not exactly. However, Lee did go on to imply while he might not be able to fix exactly how his powers worked and effected him, he could likely learn how to make them easier to deal with. Will could tell she was careful not to assign blame to him. Kind of her. Lee seemed like she was exceedingly careful with the words she used.

"Guess it's lucky I caught your attention then, if it's a bit uncommon." Will commented on their chance encounter and on how they seemed to share at least a few commonalities in the difficulties with their mutations. "Even if a lot of--" The tounger man stopped mid-sentence as some of the rest what Lee had said about other people's mutations fully clicked. "Wait. Sorry, did you say spirits? Like ghost spirits?" Will's tone had shifted to almost completely baffled disbelief, with only the sheer absurdity of everything else Lee had already told him keeping him from dismissing the notion entirely.

The look on Will's face as she explained about mutations and a lot of energy, or being overwhelmed by being around too much of whatever…Well he didn't look overly happy as there really didn't seem to be an 'answer' out there for him. But it looked like he was a bit relieved that he wasn't alone.

"It's definitely hard when you feel alone, like you're the only one experiencing something," Lee said. "But as unique as your situation may be, I've found that there are people who can understand, truly understand, at least parts."

Then it seemed Will realized exactly what Lee had said, and she nodded with a slight smile. "Yes, spirits as in ghosts," Lee confirmed. "He would see them all the time. And could hear them. And if he chose to, he could speak with them as well."

Will's mouth opened to reply to the comments on spirits as Lee confirmed that, yes in fact she'd meant ghosts. He made an earnest attempt to actually say something, mouth hanging agape as he did, but found only stunned silence. 

The younger man tried to collect himself a little. Will picked up his jaw, mind buzzing as he tried to determine how to deal with this new bit of bizarre information. Ghosts. Well -- was it that strange considering he could change the way peoples senses worked, and Lee could steal people's energy and other mutants could do everything from shine line from their hands to pick up and throw a minivan like a baseball?

Yes. Yes ghosts were still weird. 

There wasn't any -proof- of ghosts. Right? There was proof of mutants. There was a reason for mutants. Science. The X gene. Plus more, probably? Will had never studied biology in any depth.

But, Will trusted his senses. (They were pretty good senses, afterall.) And those senses told him Lee wasn't lying. That as far as he could tell, she wasn't putting on a bit, nor was it some bizarre, dry humor. True, his senses also told him there weren't ghosts, but... his senses also couldn't detect Lee's siphoning, or quite catch everything. Probably a good thing anyway, with how overwhelmed he was with just the physical world -- if he had to deal with ghosts too he'd never get to sleep.

"I. Sure. Ghosts." Will finally said falteringly as he attempted to keep up with the conversation, the back of his mind trying to sort out where in the hierarchy of wild things Lee had told him tonight that 'Ghosts are Real' would fit.

"But, things got better for them? Or they learned how to handle things better, eventually?" Will asked. It sounded as though there were plenty of other mutants who lived with consequences of their abilities that just had to be dealt with, not something that could be ignored. Staying away from too many people, or certain places. Or in Lee's case, keeping a careful eye to be in a 'goldilocks zone' of people. Again, he wasn't one to relish in other people's discomfort, but it was a relief to know that there would be and were people out there who could empathize with his situation. "Jeez though... Being an empath? Don't envy them. It's hard enough just hearing everyone in a crowded room, let alone 'feeling' them. Can't imagine how tough it'd be."

Apparently spirits was a little too much for Will to take in. He tried to speak, but nothing came out and he just stood there with his mouth hanging open for a short while. Lee simply nodded, but stayed silent as she let Will have the time to try and process what she had said.

When he finally spoke, Lee simply nodded again to start. "Yes, spirits," she repeated. "Or ghosts, if you prefer. And yes, they are real." Will was having enough trouble with that simple fact, that spirits simply existed. Lee figured that now was not the right time to bring up the fact that spirits could become visible to everyone if given enough energy. Or that she now had a semi-regular spirit sparring partner, because unlike the guys at her gym, Tony didn't hold back when they fought.

Had things gotten better for them? Lee nodded again as she thought about how to explain. "Things were quite difficult for my ex when he was younger," she said, speaking generally. Just because Will would never run into him didn't mean Lee should be giving out all the details.

"But as he got older, and got more used to his powers, learned more about them, he was able to tune them out for the most part," Lee continued.

But for Kealey? Lee didn't know a huge amount about her past, and she hadn't spent much time with either her or Shin in the previous 6 years.

"It's already a lot feeling all of the energy when I'm in a crowded bar," Lee said. "I don't even want to imagine what it would be like to feel all of those different emotions. But she must have figured out a way to deal with it because I've had a conversation with her in a bar, so she must have some way of dealing with it all."

It was really easy to forget that everyone else was dealing with their own struggles when you'd closed yourself off while dealing with your own. Will was being reminded of that rather bluntly with this conversation. Sure, it wasn't as though he wasn't aware of people having issues, other mutants with bothersome powers but... As before, things were different when it was someone who got it was the one saying it. When it was a conversation about real people with real names and experiences and not just words on paper or some dismissible 'Seenit' post. 

Will faced his indefatigable running partner as he took in everything Lee said. It was, quite frankly, a lot to grapple with -- especially with the clock past midnight. Will felt relief that there were others that could relate, regret that he hadn't bothered to try and reach other mutants in order to try and support each other, frustration at himself for not trying to fix his own issues. His mind was also still reeling from the revelation of ghosts (Seriously. Ghosts.) being a thing. For better or worse, what won over everything else was simply fatigue as all the rest of it blurred together into a messy blob of vague unease that he'd have to spend the time unknotting properly when he could think a little more clearly.

"Guess people are pretty good at figuring out how to deal with their issues. S'not like we get a choice." Will gave a little chuckle at that, before letting out the rest of the breath in a low sigh, running a hand through his hair to give himself something to do with his hands. "Think I'm probably about tapped out for the night though." He admitted, wiping his sweat damp palm off on his leg. "Didn't mean to pull you away from your runnin'. Uh... Thanks, though."

Lee shrugged slightly as Will spoke. "Well, I mean you can learn to deal with your issues," she responded. "Or, you're stuck living with those issues, and one definitely seems better than the other."

But then Will was saying that he was done for the night. Lee certainly wouldn't be out here if she was feeling as tired as Will was looking. And then he was apologizing and thanking her.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Lee said, waving it off as no big deal. "Honestly, this broke up the monotony of a long run. And you're welcome."

Lee paused for a moment in thought. "Though, if you think you'll need another lecture, you might want another way to get ahold of me than hoping to run into me here again," she said.

You can live with things, or you can deal with things. Succinct. Simple. Of course succinct didn't mean quick, and simple didn't mean easy, but in the end you were living with your issues one way or the other, so why not try?

As Lee brushed off his apology and continued speaking, it took Will's tired brain a full second to catch onto what she was implying. As Lee suggested that Will may want another way to get in touch with her if he was in the mood for another lecture the younger man just politely nodded as he listened to Lee, until realization slowly dawning on him. Actually parsing what was said now, Will patted first at one pocket, then the other before he came up with his cellphone.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'd appreciate it." Will started to hand the phone out towards Lee, paused, quickly tapped in a passcode to unlock it and hurriedly swiped closed a half dozen apps and webpages before opening it to 'Contacts' and holding it out again in offering. "Chance encounters are nice an' all, but..."

It seemed to take Will a couple moments to actually realize what she was suggesting, but he did finally realize and pulled his phone out. Lee was just reaching for it when he pulled it back. And unlocked it. Yeah, that would be helpful.

Taking the phone when he offered it the second time, Lee took the phone and quickly typed her number in. "But, if I can do a better job controlling my energy levels," Lee continued Will's sentence as she handed his phone back. "These midnight runs will become rare again, so this chance encounter will be far less likely to happen again."

Because, if Lee actually remembered to turn her siphoning off when she should, the only time she would really need to run like this would be if they went out to the bar.

That's right, she -had- said she hadn't had to run nearly as much in the last few years. Talk about a chance encounter then. Will himself normally wasn't out quite this late, preferring instead to run -before- he'd tried to get to bed, but after an afternoon run recently had left him nearly with heat stroke he'd been trying to wait as long as he could for the heat to break.

"Suppose I have to thank the airport for bein' what it is then." Will commented as he took his phone back. The younger mutant took a glance at the screen, trying to commit the number to memory as well as trusting his phone to do it, before stuffing the piece of technology back into his pocket. A part of him, a larger part than he liked to admit, had the urge to delete the number, to pretend that this meeting hadn't happened. It wouldn't erase what had happened, but it wasn't as though Lee -really- knew him. She admitted herself that the chance meeting again was unlikely. Will would be able to go back to hiding and drifting and hoping things would get better. 

Or he could decide to do something. Sometimes that something was scary, and letting yourself be vulnerable. Taking a risk. Sometimes it was letting someone help. Sometimes it was both.

"I don't know when I'll try an' get in touch again, you know?" Will admitted, one hand stuffed in his pocket along with his phone, the other left dangling loose at his side as he faced Lee. "Might not be ever again... Might be every other day. Honestly, I might wake up tomorrow and try an' pretend this never happened..." 

Lee nodded when Will said that he wasn't sure when he would get in touch with her again. That was completely fair. This had been a totally unexpected meeting with very unexpected advice. Advice that Will might not have been ready to hear. Which meant that he may never contact her because he just wasn't ready to hear anything else.

Or he may be contacting her every other day.

"Well, whichever it ends up being," Lee told Will as they both continued to stand there. "You've got the option. And hopefully I'll have an answer, or at least some advice if and when you do reach out.

"But I do hope you can sleep now," Lee continued as she got her earbuds ready to be used again. "Being awake when you don't want to be is rarely fun. And if I want to a chance of getting any sleep tonight, I need to get back to my run."

"Well then, from one insomniac to another, don't lemme keep you up." The tired mutant commented half-jokingly as Lee started getting herself ready to get back to running, earbuds being readied for... Well, Will assumed music, but who knows? Maybe she liked to listen to podcasts or audio books. Though, he was pretty sure it was music he'd heard earlier when she'd first taken them from her ears.

Will pulled out his phone again, pulling up a map to get his bearings. While he -was- quite familiar with the park, it was late, his brain was packed full and he didn't want to spend 10 minutes walking in the wrong direction now that he was finally tired enough to crash. Looked like the quickest way would be cutting through the grass to the street and then straight on for home. That was good, kept things from being awkward -- saying goodbye and then walking for the next five minutes in the same direction wasn't something he wanted to cap off the night with.

"Night Lee." Will said as he started trudging across the grass, a hand raised in a casual wave goodbye. Brain buzzing with new thoughts and body buzzing with exhaustion, he knew the only trouble he'd have with getting to sleep now would be waking up to his alarm in the morning.