Masque was not expecting to encounter a mirror in the clearing. Masque was not expecting to encounter anything other than the brook that cuts through the clearing.

"Rae?" e asks, checking eir eyes.

"I see it," Raeli agrees, an arrow nocked now in her bow, but not yet drawn.

Masque approaches the mirror, hand resting lightly on eir sword, ready for this to be some kind of trap.

The mirror seems perfectly normal, if ornately framed, aside from its location. It reflects its surroundings as would be expected.

"...who leaves an ornate mirror in the middle of a forest?" Masque asks, reaching out to poke the frame.

"Someone who got sick of their own reflection?" Raeli suggests, moving closer, but still far enough back for her bow to be of use.

The frame seems to be wood, gilded with a silvery metal. It is cold and dry to the touch.

"...Reckon we could hawk it for something?"

"Mercenary," Raeli accuses, although she sounds more fond than anything else. "I don't know anything about mirrors. And you don't have a face right now."

There's a tiny shift in eir reflection's mask that doesn't quite match eir movement, but it could just be a trick of the light and angle.

...except Masque's always had sharp...eyes. "...I think it can hear us."

Raeli shifts, bow coming up slightly.

What? No, this is definitely a normal mirror, reflecting exactly what is in front of it. Look how identical the positions of all the things are!

"Rae?" Masque murmurs.

Raeli hums a quiet acknowledgement.

Both move with supernatural speed, Masque dropping into a roll to the side, and Rae firing a bolt at a tree- To her left, nowhere near the mirror.

The reflections do not quite keep up with the unexpected and unexpectedly fast movement.

...

Both reflections glide to a sitting position near the glass.

After a moment, Masque obeys that seeming order.

"I would like it noted," e says clinically. "That I am doing this because I'm curious, not because I can be ordered about."

Raeli laughs as she joins em, pressing a kiss to the cheek of the mask. "Love, no-one will ever assume you can be ordered about."

Masque's reflection nods, jerkily. The kiss is not imitated.

...Well, that's a relief at least.

"What are you?" Raeli asks, leaning forward slightly. "I mean...aside from a mirror?"

Raeli's reflection mouths the question in sync with her, face blank, then waves a hand around the frame of the mirror.

"...a magic mirror?" Masque posits. (The mask prevents any lips to copy, but there's a distinct head tilt.)

Eir reflection shrugs, then nods.

"Can you actually speak? Or just...mimic us?"