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For a short moment, Evelyn believed if she got far enough away from the figure she could escape the sound of his voice. But it followed her, planted as firmly in her head as the echoes were. As she retreated to her bedroom and slammed the door shut, she growled as she prowled to the dresser to try and find something dry to wear.

The echoes are PART of me. They're my mutation, and just my brain's way of pointing out obvious stuff. They aren't people so stop trying to talk to them! She grabbed clothing, made sure the door was locked, enjoying the click the bolt gave. If only she could do the same to her brain. Tuning her her powers, Evelyn quickly changed before she suspected he could get close enough to attempt to barge in. At least once she was in dry clothes she didn't feel as embarrassed or grumpy.

That was, until the echoes started discussing bird poop with the telepath.

No one is getting a cup of tea with anyone. Go away. She mentally snarled, staring at the wall and forcing the echoes to take notes on the textural applications of the spackling. She could have thought of a number of more interesting things to think about, but suddenly she felt like she had to protect her privacy from the invading resident in her head.

[Cotton clothing. Distinctly cold when wet. Estimated drying ti--]

We aren't discussing this any further.

If nervous energy was something palpable, Evelyn could have made a smoothie off it. The echoes were practically swimming in the stuff coming off Aiden, from his twitches, to shuffling, to shifts in movement towards his glasses then away that made her wonder if this was a bad idea to try engaging with him further. Plus, it was clear he couldn't see any of the titles he was trying to look at, and trying to move any closer to help just increased the nervous energy.

There was no winning. Even as they put the DVD in and she finished setting up the T.V., he scooted to make room on the couch but his body language advised his lack of comfort with actually sitting next to her. Hesitating for a short second, she finally moved forward and perched quietly on the other end of the couch.

They looked like two x's being forced to sit together. This was so many levels of awkward. She should have gone to paint.

Then the movie started, and the title screen for an animated film called Howl's Moving Castle came onto the screen. Information flickered into her head about what she knew about Japanese animation, and this particular film's release date, and she pushed play before they got too technical. "Good news is, not educational... Anime."[/b] She remarked, then did her own moment of fidgetting until the film started.

Evelyn's fist met her companion's face, knuckles stinging with impact and leaving twinges of pain across her hand. But, like her previous experiments with punching, it gave a satisfying warmth somewhere inside here where she felt delighted to stand up for herself and not let someone push her around. Or embarrass her.

The delight flickered momentary however when a question followed her attack. "Percentage of what?" She found herself saying, and the echoes chimed in.

[Percentage of cotton-poly blend. 70%.] She thought about it for a moment, and realized she hadn't said anything about her shirt blend out-loud. She had heard the echoes continuing to chime it while she punched the kid, but there had been no verbal mention. He might have guessed, it was entirely likely, but something in his body language was as if he was responding to something she said.

Taking a step back and looking at the figure on the ground, she squinted at him. Then quickly re-crossed her arms. "The data of my shirt's material makeup is not relevant to this conversation." She snapped. The echoes tried to calculate how far her room was and noted how many students she might cross paths with on the way there.

She was mad all over again.

It had been a long day at work, and Evelyn was exhausted. The museum had recently acquired a new exhibit, and all staff was busy rearranging and setting up all the additions. Short staffed (a growing condition), Evelyn was removed from her usual 'be bossy and point' position, and instructed to help carry and place the various artwork. It was grunt work, which she had trouble with, but she put on her pony tail and resisted complaining until she was finally released to go home mid afternoon. While she was sore and tired, she felt satisfied to accomplish something other than just make things look pretty. She didn't even feel disappointed taking the short hike across the lawn when the cab driver had her get out earlier than expected.

Rather than dress in more formal attire like she had a habit of, today she opted for a plain white t-shirt and jeans. Easy to wash and clean, and less likely to be ruined by a stray nail or screw, she felt a little casual and somewhat disheveled as she approached. While at work, the dress was useful. Now the shirt just seemed boring and she was eager to change. Mentally sifting through her wardrobe trying to decide an appropriate outfit, she didn't notice the echoes flicker warning her of the sound of water.

Exactly two seconds later, she was squealing in surprise as the lawn sprinklers came vehemently to life, and doused her with a completely unnatural force.

Slick grass + tennis shoes + panicked scrambling brought her butt quickly to the ground and she yelped in surprise, covering her head with her hands as the water sprayed her in the face from a nearby sprinkler head. Her white t-shirt, which had been practical earlier in the day, was transformed into an all too transparent reminder of why one should never where white around water.

Thank goodness her bra was tan....

[Male, dark brown hair. Responsible for activating sprinklers.]

"What's the big idea?!!" She yelled over the water, coughing slightly as it got in her eyes and mouth.

Kyle was a fairly reserved person, and he managed to keep his emotions in check better than most people she encountered. But that didn’t stop the echoes from picking up on the more subtle reactions. He seemed surprised that she lacked control over her ability, which seemed understandable, considering their banter at the museum. She pushed her hair from her face and chuckled slightly at his comment, and lead the way towards the living room. ”I hope it will help. If nothing else, I’m trying to at least learn some self-defense. The echoes aren’t bad, and in stressful situations they focus a lot better and can get me out of a tight situation. But just running and dodging makes me feel like a damsel in distress all the time.”

The living room came into view, and it was surprisingly clean considering all the kids that hung around the mansion. The television was off, and like most of the mansion, the room was empty. ”I could always just use a broom as a weapon though. I mean, you saw how intimidating I was.” It was a light joke to help cover up a slightly sore subject. She knew she had a habit of putting herself in danger, and if nothing else, maybe she could learn to at least get herself out of it.

Then there it was. The flicker of disappointment that settled into his face. She felt odd, realizing that someone was disappointed she was dating. Up until this point, she really didn’t think anyone would be all that romantically interested in a girl with voices in her head. Crazy, mutant, freak, brat; she overheard more than one conversation about her being pretty but not worth the trouble. People were intimidated by how smart she was, and if that didn’t stop them, they were put off by her know it all nature. The fact that Mirror has asked her out had been enough surprise. The fact that Kyle was let down by it was another thing entirely.

”It has been awhile since you swung by the museum though. I honestly didn’t expect to really hear from you since you hadn’t called already. Maya honestly just asked this week…” She lost a bit of her calm demeanor, looking suddenly nervous and guilty. She was dating dumb, and felt silly trying to work through all of the technicalities that came with a relationship. Trying to recover from her clumsy sentence, she jabbed a finger in the general outdoor direction. ”We have a pool. I could show you the pool. It all sort of looks boring right now, but I think it’s just because it’s summer and the kids are out doing more interesting things.”

She jumped on a new topic eagerly, and moved back to the conversation about trouble. It wasn’t her favorite topic to talk about, but it was better than dating. ”Yeah, I was picking up some stuff from my apartment after the riots, and I heard someone wandering around in the sewers. Turned out to be a teenager, sort of a sewer monster looking kid and we had a chat about my lack of danger senses and his lack of social skills.” She shrugged in a casual manner, and reminded herself she should swing by sometime and deliver that lasagna.

”As for the x-men, really couldn’t show you much anyway since I’m not one. I doubt either the sanctuary or the mansion really lets you see all their secret rooms without the proper club pass.” She added.

Evelyn caught the pleased expression that seemed to cross Syn's features. She still had a friendly smile, but Evelyn couldn't help but wonder if she had fallen for exactly the sort of verbal trap she tried to avoid. Her brain processed the emotions of caution, flattery, and curiosity so fast, she would have been surprised if the dark haired girl caught any of it. But those little doubts were still there, even when she responded in a friendly enough way.

"Working together, uniting mutants. While I heard that sales pitch for the Sanctuary, I've seen less... pleasant ways in which it could be executed. Considering how little I've managed to sort out about what group you fall into, I hope you won't find me rude by being a little more on the cautious sides of things." A more serious tone slipped into the conversation, and Evelyn flipped over an Evanescence CD and compared the price with another nearby title.

"I appreciate your sentiments. I do. And in many ways, I wish it could be that easy. I've seen the shades of grey that people use to separate themselves. The world seems much different to me than some of my peers. Yet, I've had people who had ideas of what my powers could be used for. And I don't like being treated like a trinket to be collected. The future... Perhaps we are the future. But the problem with the future, is it's something very hard to control or predict." Her voice was quiet, and the echoes followed the last patron up to the front counter. Unless he had super human, there was no way he could catch even the faintest whisper. At most, he would hear a few women discussing being mutants, and that ability would connect him with them, if nothing else. So she was not particularly concerned about being overheard.

Evelyn set the cds down and looked at her companion. Her expression was firmly neutral. While she was flattered by the woman's remarks, she had her own reasons for being careful. Even if Syn didn't make her nervous. Even if Shade hadn't tried to kidnap her and even if she had doubts about the Sanctuary. She knew what her powers could do if she used them wrong.

"In another life, Mr. Holmes, you would have made a excellent criminal."

She may live with the x-men, but her level of understanding of other mutants often made her wonder if she really could fit in with their lifestyle. She wanted to be good. She wanted to do something positive with her powers. But she often found herself relating to the other side. That perhaps made her more nervous than the dark haired woman herself. "Maybe, in my own way, I feel a little more comfortable feeling out of place. It lets me question who I am ,and lets me decide before someone decides for me."

Evelyn let the memories replay through her mind, finding the images of the viral video. "I never knew her by name, but she was a girl, sort of gargoyle like, wings. You might have met her, it's likely." She remarked, giving a nod of her head. She listened to his following comments, and sighed slightly in agreement. "I think that's been the problem with these riots though. Some people were fighting for their rights. Some people were just fighting. Life is full of things like that though. Heck, my parents are anti-mutant and, well..." She shrugged as if that was all there was to it.

"I guess. But you know, I'm not sure I really want to fit in... I don't feel human, and I don't feel mutant. But I don't always mind. I guess it's sort of like how I feel about living at the mansion. I mean, I like being there, but I don't hate people at the sanctuary. My powers make me... understand, other peoples points of view. I may not agree with someone who kills people for a living, but the echoes make it hard for me to really judge them. I could blend in if I wanted, but that's sort of what my parents always tried to make me do. Sometimes, I don't think it's necessary to group yourself with others. Maybe I'm just me. Maybe that's just enough." She said quietly, but with a little bit of force behind it.

The trust thing took a little more thought to consider though, and she felt a shrug settle on her shoulders. It was a repetitive motion, but fitting for the conversation. "It takes a bit of effort to offend me, so it's not something to stress about."

While he settled inside, Evelyn found the first aid supplies, and set them out on the bathroom counter. Glancing at herself in the reflection, she flinched, and wandered back into her old bedroom and managed to find some spare clothes. "I'm going to clean off really quick before I bandage my arm. And... Its been hard for me to come back here. Used to be just me and my body guard, now it's just me, and alot of my stuff was ruined." She felt that familiar dip of her shoulders as she let it go, and wandered back into the bathroom. She didn't expect his pity, and few people really understood what loosing her drawings was like to her. The pile on the floor in the room was just too hard to throw away. Years of work, years of nightmares she struggled through. Things like that just couldn't be pushed aside for some reason.

She washed quickly, making sure to scrub anywhere she was cut or bleeding, and her skin stung painfully as she skittered out of the shower. She had changed and pulled her wet hair back into a ponytail when the doorbell rang, and she quickly hurried downstairs to answer the door and pay for the food. The pizza delivery guy gave her a strange look as he stared at the gash on her arm but she ignored him, then brought the pizzas up away from the windows where Sylar could eat them in peace. "Feel free to dig in. I can eat back at the mansion so don't worry about that." She went back to the painful process of cleaning and bandaging her arm, which was awkward trying to do one handed.