It had been a long week after everything that had happened at the mansion. Well, a week and a half, maybe two weeks? Lee had kept careful count of the days and hours after the museum, and as she had expected, she had crashed at some point on her sixth day without sleep.

What had been new and surprising was that she had still had energy when Tarin woke her up. Not simply enough energy that she didn't need her pot of coffee to drag herself out of bed that she had gotten used to and enjoyed over the last months with Tarin, but she had had energy. Actually felt awake when he woke her up.

For the first time since her mutation had surfaced.

It had also meant that Lee hadn't slept for another few days after that.

But things were getting back to normal now. Lee was sleeping again, the shop had been fully fixed and cleaned up.

And Lee had realized that Will and Quin had been dragged into everything with even less knowledge or preparation than Tarin had had.

After some messaging back and forth, and some initial insistence that he was fine, Will agreed to meet. While she was still feeling uneasy because there had been an adapted just outside her building when she left for the second day in a row, Lee arrived at the shop about five minutes before the agreed time and sat down at an empty table with her coffee to wait for the younger mutant.

More than a week, but less than two. Will hadn't kept as close an eye on the clock or calendar, he hadn't had much reason to, but he was certain it hadn't been a full two weeks by the time his phone had lit up with an unfamiliar, but saved, number. Lee. 

Was she allowed to actually intentionally reach out like this? The last few times they'd found one another had been entirely by chance. It almost seemed like it was breaking some kind of rule. 

Nonetheless, when the first text had come in Will had read it thorough and answered casually. "I'm all good. Bit banged up. No big." That sort of thing. But his words became less guarded and more candid as they messaged back and forth for a bit. She was -awfully- good at that. Eventually it culminated in an invitation to meet in the meat, and Will had agreed. It wasn't as though he had much to do with his workplace still in shambles. Sure, he could try badgering Quin more, but she had heaps on her plate just with her usual schedule, not to mention everything that this emergency had added. 

Plus he was pretty sure if he tried to wriggle his way out of meeting up, Lee would just find him anyway. Or at least the forces of the world would have them collide. That's not to say he was dreading it, just that everything still felt raw, and weird and scary since everything that had gone down at the museum, and the day before. Will was still trying to contextualize it all and put it into place. 

As such, he was a few minutes late, firing off a quick text a minute past the agreed upon time in apology.

>> Sry, be ther in a few

Finding the place, and Lee, Will skipped grabbing a drink (at least for the time) and headed straight for the table, slipping into the chair across from Lee. "Hey, long time no see, eh? Sorry 'bout the hold up." 

Lee was just taking a sip of her coffee when she heard her phone. Setting her cup down, Lee took a look at her phone to see that it was just Will sending a message that he was on his way. Shooting off a quick acknowledgement, Lee went back to her coffee as she waited.

Not that she had a long time to wait as Will arrived a few minutes later, sitting down across from her at the table. "Hey, don't worry about it Will," Lee replied in greeting.

Lee then just sat and looked at Will for a couple moments before speaking again. "How have you been doing?" she asked again even though she had already asked by text. "Honestly? Because I know none of us were really expecting what happened at the museum that day, but I realized that you had been even less prepared for it than Tarin was and likely didn't have anyone to talk to about it."

And Tarin hadn't been prepared for what they had faced. He'd actively avoided anything even remotely resembling it for his entire life. But at least Tarin knew about the unbelievable things that had happened to Lee in the past. And they had found out from Michael what the mystic was planning much earlier than the day before.

Will got settled, just a touch out of breath as he'd hurried to get here from the bus he'd taken, having ran a bit from the stop to try and minimize how late he was. All the time in the world the last few days and he was still tardy. Still, Lee didn't seem perturbed by his running behind. One of them had been bound to get there before the other anyway, right?

Still, Will made an effort to smooth out his rumpled t-shirt to try and be a bit more presentable after his impromptu run during the few moments that Lee waited quietly as he got settled.

"How have you been doing?" 

Ah. That was a question. Will had answered the texts from Lee that had been asking much the same with partial truths and a bit of reluctance. Complained about some bruises and that his arm still hurt. That he'd been tired. Avoided talking too much about what she had really been asking about. He went to do the same thing again, attempting armoring himself with humor and sarcasm, distance himself from what happened. But Lee followed up with another single word that stopped him. 

"Honestly?"

She continued as well, saying that no one in their little rag-tag group had really been expecting what had happened, but that Will might have been one of the least prepared. Which was accurate. 

It had been a lot easier to skulk through the conversation with half-truths when it was texts, and he didn't have Lee staring him down across the table. Will tugged at one of the sleeves of his t-shirt, fidgeting. Something about her tone just made it feel near impossible to get away with lying, or even omitting the truth. 

Fine. Honesty then. "Little less sore now, arm's still buggin' me a bit, but..."  Will started, giving his upper left arm a demonstrative tap. The still healing injury there had technically happened the day before the museum, but the events of the day had hardly helped it. "But things coulda gone a whole lot worse, so... So guess I'm still just tryin' to wrap my head around the fact I'm still standin' after everything that happened?"

Will sounded a little uncertain, as though bringing up the fact that he'd escaped from the situation might make the universe aware he'd gotten away, more or less unscathed, and suddenly try to correct it's error. There was more as well, that he was still coming to grips with, trying to adjust to. His world had -greatly- changed in 24 hours that week or two ago, and try as he might, the proverbial genie couldn't be put back in the bottle. 

It looked like Will was about to answer her question when she followed it up by asking him to be honest. And he was then silent as he fidgeted some more with his shirt.

Lee hadn't gotten a real answer from the young man to this point through the texts that they'd sent. He'd avoided the question, he'd been sarcastic, made jokes, and avoided some more. What had happened had been huge, and serious, dangerous, and Will had stepped out onto the street that day with Quin planning to go look for her laptop.

Yes, she and Tarin had been planning on just going to start cleaning up the shop, but Michael had already asked Tarin for help before that day, and with Michael knowing what she had been a part of in the past, it wasn't unexpected that she had been called for help when things were happening in multiple places.

As Will finally started speaking, and was actually answering her question, Lee nodded. And listened for what he wasn't saying.

"I know, it's a lot to try and come to terms with," Lee agreed. "All of my…lets just call them 'unbelievable situations' started off much more mundane and easier to understand than an ancient mystic resurrecting her pharaoh and an army. Is there anything I can help with?"

After all, spirit merges were just an uncommon, random Friday night compared to what happened at the museum.

Was there anything that Lee could help with? A petty, still scared part of Will's brain wanted him to snap at her, to tell her she could not drag him into situations like that the next time, to leave him well enough alone the next time a world ending threat decided it wanted to rear it's head in New York. Had it been a few days ago, when his emotions were a bit more raw and tender, he might have. As it was, he pushed the impulse down and away. It wouldn't be fair. The situation had been extraordinary, everyone had been searching for any help at all.

Besides, he hadn't been forced to do anything. Simply asked to come along, and then before he knew it he had been neck deep into everything. He could have said no, walked away. He hadn't. That was on him. 

"I dunno." Will said after giving the question a moment of consideration, the man shaking his head slightly. "I mean, it all worked out, right?" Will said lamely, knowing it wasn't really the answer to what was being asked. "Didn't even get so banged up I needed to foot a medical bill, and s'far as I can tell, no magical mumbo jumbo followin' me away from there."

Will knew, on some level, he was being stubborn. Stupid even. Trying to deflect and half-truth his way past this. If he hadn't wanted some help, he wouldn't have agreed to the meeting, instead he'd just be holed up in his room, sleeping too little and chewing his nails down to the quick as he watched and re-watched all the footage he could find of the events that had erupted across the city caused by the ancient mystic.

Habits die hard though, and Will picked at a ragged, too short nail as he felt Lee's attention still on him. "You an' Tarin manage okay?" Will said, trying to shift the conversation slightly, "S'not like either of you are part of the costume crew either, right?"

Again, will didn't really answer the question that Lee was asking him. And made the implication that since everything worked out and he hadn't had to get medical attention, everything was good. As if things couldn't be bad if those things were true.

Before she was able to say anything to that effect, Will went on to ask how she and Tarin were doing after everything at the museum. "God no, neither of us are. But I'm able to sleep again finally, so that's good."

"I decided years ago I didn't want to be in a situation like that again," Lee continue with a slight shrug. "The magic exponentially added to it, but honestly it wasn't the worst thing I've been through. Though, considering Tarin's instinct is to run the opposite way at the first hint of anything close to that happening, he's been managing alright. Probably because of his mutation."

And, Lee thought to herself, because it wasn't the worst thing that the two of them had dealt with in the last 6 months, either. But that wasn't something to be talked about. Her and Tarin barely mentioned it with each other. It wasn't something that Lee could even vaguely bring up with someone else.

"But you don't have either of those making it easier for you to deal with it all," Lee continued, bringing the conversation back around to Will. "Are you actually doing alright?"