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?"

Her reflection mouths along, then holds up two fingers.

Masque's head tilts again. "Is it easier to understand Rae than me?" e asks.

Eir reflection nods, and Rae's waves a hand at her lips.

"That would make things...difficult. Given..." Rae waves a vague hand at Masque's mask, seems to be avoiding saying something. "Um, do you...have a name? That you can tell us?"

Head shake.

Masque goes rigid, eir own memories of that being eir state haunting em.

"...I'm not sure we're the ones to offer you this. But would like one?"

(The shoulder of eir reflection's shirt compresses slightly, for a moment.)

Both reflections shrug.

Raeli shifts closer to Masque, pressing their shoulders together.

"I'm unsure if that's a 'don't want', a 'not sure' or a 'don't understand why you should have one'?"

Two fingers held up by one reflection, three by the other.

"You're a person," Masque snarls, all fury and distress.

Raeli hums soothingly. "A name is...something people have. It can be anything you want it to be, something that...defines you. We- named Masque for eir mask. It- I suppose if you don't want one, you don't have to have one, but... a lot of people seem...unnerved if you don't have one."

Nod. Shrug.

One of the trees in the background loses its leaves, then crumbles to powder over the course of about half a minute.

"...you...had one? But you can't remember it?" Raeli guesses.

Nod.

"...I'm sorry that was taken from you."

Nod again, and another shrug.

The surrounding plants ripple, a little.

"You are here," Raeli agrees. "Although I suspect a wood is not the most thrilling of places to be. That we passed this way at all is sheer luck."

Head shake at the first part.

The plants ripple a little more, and both reflected people tilt their heads.

"We're wanderers. Outcasts if you will. We find places to rest that...people won't wander across."

Nods. Head-tilts and a vague hand gesture outward, accompanied by movement of plants near the very edge of the field of view.

"...Would you like to see more?"

Vigorous nod. Head tilt, and a hand held in front of her lips.

"May I touch you?" Masque requests politely. "I can...reposition you, and Rae can stay in frame as it were?"

...

Nod. Slow hand gesture miming picking something up by the edges.

"I won't touch the...face itself?" Masque assures, and pauses to make sure e has that right.

Nod.

Masque moves carefully, keeping emself in view of the frame until they're close enough to touch, and then gently steps around to lift the Mirror so e can shift it to see more of the clearing.

Raeli is on her feet now, and stays in the sight of the front of the mirror as Masque rotates it.

The clearing is...by and large very similar to what's already been visible.

"It's not very interesting I'm afraid, but it is out of the way, and for us, it is safe."

Nod again. Raeli's reflection smiles, although it looks a lot more like the edges of her mouth are being manually pulled upward.

Then, she waves a hand outward again, and gestures movement from her mouth.

"...You want me to talk?" Raelie half guesses.

Nod nod. Hand-wave outward.

She nods. "We can't go too far, me and Masque do, unfortunately need to rest tonight, but."

And so she talks, and moves, with Masque shifting to keep Raeli reflected in the mirror's surface. Raeli sketches an approximate map of the woods - the hunter trails that spiderweb through it and eventually lead to the main road.

The mirror watches and listens attentively. (Sometimes when a new kind of plant comes into view, its reflection is carefully pulled apart into layers.)

The lines of the reflected map neaten themselves up, and a small indentation forms on the blank space beyond the main road.

"You got the map there, Masque?" Raeli asks.

There's a pause, the mirror tilts slightly and then Raeli catches a rolled piece of parchment which she unrolls and shows, pointing out the area beyond the main road.

From the way she pauses, Masque is saying something. She smiles. "Well. We weren't going to just leave them here," she points out. "Masque's saying we can take you places. Show you the world. If you would like. Or we can find you somewhere interesting to hang?"

Mechanical smile!

The reflection reverts to a perfect copy of the clearing, then Rae's reflection's head tilts in query.

"We're constantly on the road. No place to settle down, not many places that will have us, not unless my home will accept Masque, and...they have been reluctant. And the humans won't accept me, so...we travel. The other option is more... There are places where people come and go, where you can see things."

Head tilt, followed by vigorous nodding, although it's not clear which possibility this is in response to. (There are tiny shifts and jumps in the position of Rae's reflection's skin.)

"How about we take you with us for now? And if you get tired of that, we can find you an interesting wall to hang on?"

Pause. Nod.

One of the reflected trees' trunks strains, then splits outward, until one of its high branches drops off and drifts slowly to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I'm- not sure what you mean by that?" Pauses things. "Are you- asking about the passage of time?"