Iris hesitated as a little voice she identified as Micah's paranoia clamored, and then she let the door swing shut behind Xavier as he came all the way in. She didn't seem to know what to do with his sympathy, which had a note of truth she recognized, even if she didn't understand it. Unconsciously, she shifted the shoulder that supported the arm in the sling, but it still twinged.
She shook her head slowly. "I've been here since the end of last year." It was specific and yet vague. Iris was puzzled that he should ask another question that she thought he should already know the answer to. She blinked in surprise when he spoke so familiarly, and then he lifted his head--and her mouth literally fell open.
It was hard to surprise Iris; she was sharp, cynical, endlessly prepared. Yet she'd certainly never seen anyone take a face off the way he just did. She gasped out loud, said the first syllable of his name and then reverted to the one they had agreed upon, the one most familiar to her. "Evan?"