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Hugging. Of COURSE there would be hugging--how had she not realized it? Twyla was surprised by the hug but everything that day was tuning into a surprise apparently...like the extra twenty dollars she found in the bottom of her (worn out) purse that morning--good surprises, the kind that made your day. “It’s good to see you too!” She patted her on the back before she let go and turned attention to the young girl in front of her. “Oh, thank you, Elle. I like your bow.” A slight blush crept onto her face at the compliment. In all truth Twyla did feel rather pretty that day, at least by her standards. She’d had the day off so her hair wasn’t a (huge) mess and her make up had yet to all sweat off. The sweater covered up nicely the bare arms she would have been sporting with the strapless, pale, floral print dress that went to about knee level. Her shoes were plain yellow flats, but that was how she liked them--sensible.

Running? Yep, she’d totally called it. Connor came tearing down the hall, stopping in front of their little group with a simple and bright ‘Hi’. A moment later Lilly came into view, but she stopped mid-run to tackle the air...? What? Before the woman could process anything that was going on yet another figure appeared, this one from one of the mirrors. “Gawain...?” Was all she could stammer out, hopefully it sounded more like a greeting and less like a question than how she heard it. Surprises...today was full of them.

Twyla blinked when he knew her name. The air Lilly had a hold of turned out to be a boy. A boy named Rupert. A boy that was Gawain’s son. Gawain’s son!? “Nice to meet you!” She called before she heard him run off in his invisible form. She stared in the direction the older boy had gone for a moment and then her eyes traveled to the twins and then Murielle. She blinked again and an arm wrapped itself around her midsection. It was glaringly obvious that she’d wasted too much time in California--time she could have spent...somewhere else, doing something better...like getting herself an actual spouse or--the hand attached to the arm wrapped around her stomach clenched at the soft fabric of the huge sweater.

“I guess belated congratulations are in order.” A small chuckle and she smiled at Gawain in a way that she hoped looked like a normal smile. “I had no idea you had a son--he looks just like you.” Another smile and this one felt more natural.

Everyone had kids...it sort of blew her mind to think about but she was settled in enough that she managed to keep better together than the last time she’d seen Mirror. There was no urge to run this time. That was progress. No one knew about Kurt yet--but that was embarrassing and painful and really didn’t need to be shared. In time, maybe, but now she was healing and it felt good, awkward or no awkward, children or no children, alone or with someone else. Good.

It was good to be back in New York and that was all there was to it. Something about being home and in a familiar place after so long was just such a nice feeling. Twyla had settled into the feeling and in doing so she’d gotten a new job and started saving for an apartment--she almost had enough and then she’d really be home and not just free loading off of the kindness of others. It was a good feeling--a lonely one at times, but still good. She was starting over. Turning into someone better than she was. Things were looking up. Twyla was actually looking up as she walked almost silently through the halls of the Mansion, a book tucked under her arm. She’d gotten really good at being quiet and really good at not paying attention to her surroundings.

A knock?

Twyla jumped and then spun to face the front door, her over-sized gray sweater twirling out behind her slightly. In another swift motion she flung open the wood door without thinking--it creaked in protest. “Henri!” She half screamed, just like when they were younger. Yes, they’d met up a few times since she was back, but she had no idea that she would be at their old school that day. “Hi!” And then she looked at the tiny figured hiding behind her leg. “I see you brought Elle with you, hi sweetie.” The woman bent a bit to look the young child in the face and give her a genuine smile.

“I had no idea you were going to be here today.” She said, allowing her thoughts to verbalize. From somewhere either above or behind her, Twyla heard the distinct sound of running footsteps.

“Good.” She smiled when she saw Gawain’s smile before he kissed her forehead. Twyla hadn’t been particularly worried about not being real or whatever but she wanted a second opinion on the matter. Maybe both parties were a little biased but did she particularity care? Nope. Not at all. Sure, some of the things that they’d done thus far in their relationship were unconventional but she figured they weren’t your conventional people anyway--what was normal for them (training, fights with evil thingys, concussions, worry, planning for all nighters...) wasn’t necessarily what other couples dealt with and the blond was fine with that since she was happy...and it’s not like she had anything normal to compare them to.

“Almost anything is more fun than a haunted house.” Twyla laughed a bit and then pushed her mind to a lighter place...they were the only good thing to come out of the twins’ home. “I miss snow...” She murmured dreamily. Summer was great but nothing could compare to fluffy white glitter covering everything.

Something that sounded almost like a startled snort came from the girl when the boy suggested that he was just going to ambush her in the middle of the night and take her out. It would have been funny if she didn’t know that the Morris kid would totally do something like that. “I hear bedhead is in.” A laugh was allowed to escape but Twyla hoped that if ever that day, er, night came that she wasn’t wearing anything embarrassing to bed and that her hair wasn’t too much of a mess. A mental note was made to take special care of herself around bedtime.

The hand she’d been looking at had been momentarily forgotten while she spoke and she lifted it again with renewed interest--you could always tell so much about a person by their hands.

A trip with friends? Now that was an idea. A very summery idea indeed if they went to the right place like a campground or the ocean. Twyla wouldn’t be opposed to either option or a different one entirely but she did so looove the beach from her brief encounters with it. The sand, the ocean, the hot--what wasn’t to looove? “That’s perfect...we’ll just have to figure out where to go.” She twisted up and smiled at the boy before returning to her lounging position.

Proper date? Oh, they really hadn’t. Twyla thought about all the times they’d hung out alone--the club, the snowball fight, her (blush blush blush) room, the library, various functions that required dancing...none of that was a proper date, technically. “I just realized that now, actually. Huh...” The girl had no idea what that meant about their relationship or if it meant anything other than they were both just busy people with different agendas that ate up all the free time they could be spending with each other alone.

“Well,” She propped herself up a bit so she could scoot on her butt to the side. “thanks for warning me,now I have time to worry about important things. What ever shall I do with my hair!?” Her voice got girly and she mimicked the southern accent she’d grown accustomed to while at camp. With some wiggling she managed to get herself in a position where she could rest her head on Gawain’s chest. After grabbing one of his hands to examine she asked: “Is it weird that we haven’t gone on an actual date before or are we still legit?”

“I was an okay counselor, there were other girls who actually knew what the right thing to say was all the time. I just kinda muddled my way through it and told the girls what I thought.” The girl half rolled her eyes at herself. It had been a good experience and further solidified her aspirations for becoming a full fledged X-man...it had also taught Twyla that she’d never make it as a teacher--sometimes she had a hard time finding the line between friend and disciplinarian with the kids and that had been a problem a few times. Also, dealing with twenty of them at a time was...daunting, to say the least.

Angua attempted to lick her hand when it got close enough to pet but she got distracted by the easier to get to male ones so Twyla managed to avoid getting puppy slobber all over herself as she patted and scratched the cuddly mass of fur.

“No, I’m trying to let you know how incredibly awesome you are--I was surrounded by a bunch of mildly to decidedly attractive guys and all I could think about was you.” The last six words were said in a fake gooey accent even thought she was totally serious. The cheek kiss was accepted with a soft smile--it was legit since he hadn’t just told her that he’d been arrested while she was gone.

“It was pretty good...I actually got a decent tan and muscles I thought I lost came back.” She laughed and pulled up the bottom of her tank top a bit to admire the lack of burn on her stomach and the slight tone that had been almost non-existent at the beginning of the summer. “I would have rather been here though, you know?” All the vowels were making her accent stick through. “This is home now and I was getting homesick.” Twyla leaned back on her arms and looked at the brick building for a long moment before throwing a smile Gawain’s way. “Speaking of school--I feel like something fun needs to be done before it starts up again. Not that the dance wasn’t fun...but I mean something summery--I just don’t know what.” A giggle and then a thoughtful expression covered the girl’s features.

“Dammit.” In her rush to scurry away from the awkward and the explaining to Em (and Maya, she supposed) why she was back and everything she’d manage to drop the keys to her truck somewhere inside her truck. Now, it wasn’t like she’d locked herself out or anything but it would probably take time to find them as the cab of her truck had become like most of her private living spaces--messy. This had been a very gradual thing and it was totally justified seeing as she’d basically been living in her vehicle for around four months (since she’d left California). Not that she had to, mind you, but because she was too cheap to constantly pay for hotels and because sometimes it was so much more fun to stay in the cab or even in the back in the bed...but maybe she just liked how different the cramped quarters were compared to the spacious house she’d lived in with Kurt. It was hard to tell but in any case her swift escape plans were currently struggling not to fall to the rocks...

And then they fell and were dashed by Maya coming out, leaning on her truck (also her baaaaaaby), and telling her she didn’t have to go. Oh yes she certainly did--handling all those things at once was not in the game plan quite yet.One thing at a time. Skipping steps did not a happy Twyla camper make, no sirree.

The frantic searching stopped and the woman tried her best to think through an open mind instead of doing something instinctual and planning a better response later(something she still had trouble doing). A sigh escaped her lips and then a small chuckle before they quirked into a smirk that was a little to cold to be Typical Twyla-ish--it was something she’d learned from Kurt and hadn’t been able to unlearn yet. “I’m pretty sure that it has to be awkward--it’s in the rule book or something.” Brown eyes flicked out the window to catch hazel ones for a moment. Despite herself the smirk turned into a sheepish smile.

She said ‘we’, not ‘Em is glad to have you back’. It was ‘we’. That was weird...but then again, so would be holding a grudge for ten years when you hadn’t had any contact at all. Sure, Maya could be angry at the stupid (and it was sooooo stupid and young and foolish) letter but the sender hadn’t even called or anything after it was read...not that she hadn’t tried to convince herself to do that once or twice or a million times. Regardless of word choice nothing was changed--she was still panicking and she definitely should have called first.

“Look, maybe we should do this,” She used a dry hand to wave in the space between them. “This catching up or whatever a different time--showing up today out of the blue was like an ambush or something and...” Twyla bit her lip, trying to find the right words. Honesty would have to work here. “I’m not ready to do this.” Another hand wave. “I’m trying to figure stuff out and get over shit and I think seeing you here is going to complicate that...You might be cool and comfortable with everything but...” That’s what it looked like, but she had no idea what was going on beneath the mirror’s surface. A sigh. “I’m far from that, okay? A different time would be better, I should go now. I’ll call Em next time and I guess if she or you need me you can reach me at the Mansion.” Rifling through the clothes in the passenger seat she’d found the keys--now all she needed was the other woman to relocate to a safe distance away from her rust and Twyla would be out of there and doing what she did best.

Twyla’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment when Gawain told her that he’d understand what happened--that he’d know the fight wasnt her fault because of anti-mutant sentiment. That was the reasonable response but of course she couldn’t have thought of that--her worry and everything got the best of her as usual. Freaking out and then dealing with things reasonably was so typical Twyla it was almost a cliche.

Before she could summon the appropriate form of an apology there was hair moving behind her ear and a question. “Most of the time.” She smiled, smirked, then maneuvered her way up to his cheek to kiss it again. “You don’t have to worry about me--I run away first, ask questions later.” The girl smiled down at the boy for another moment before returning to her cloud watching position.

“I’m sorry for flying off the handle...again.” Her hand found his and she squeezed it. “I just get worried, you know, because I care about you so much and all that.” Cue more blushing, this time the kind that made her toes camouflage. “It’s good that you’re okay and that everything is taken care off. I just...you getting hurt or in trouble...and....people are scary and...it wasn’t you that made me angry or whatever...I’m sorry for freaking out--it probably wasn’t your fault.” She nestled closer as she could hear the pounding of puppy paws as Angua came galumphing back to them.