Operation: Muffin Mix (Kealey)

The sewing machine whirred and the needle did its job, pulling thread through the fabric as the seam formed down the edge of the skirt Kealey was sewing. The skirt was part of a larger project, and if Kealey was right it was going to be one of those things that she absolutely adored owning, but never really had a chance to wear. She was accumulating a shocking number of such items, but when the ideas struck and she had the time…it simply had to be done.

The little calendar on her desk marked today as the 8th of July. Four days ago, a very important birthday had been celebrated all over New York. Today was a birthday too, but Kealey had learned that such things were unimportant a very long time ago. Nobody knew her birthday, and she honestly hadn’t thought about it…much.

The knock on her door made Kealey jump, she’d been paying such close attention to the sewing machine she hadn’t felt the approaching bundle of emotions. She looked for it now and grinned slightly when a voice filtered through her door, eliminating the need to guess at the identity of the knocker. Finishing the seam quickly and snipping the thread, Kealey draped the skirt over the back of her chair and opened the door just as Shin explained that he’d made her cupcakes.

Puzzlement mingled with the blonde’s excitement as she looked at the tray, milk, and cupcakes, and she tilted her head at Shin. He did nice things a lot, but Kealey’s mind jumped immediately to the un-significance of the day and wondered how he’d figured it out.

”How did you know? she asked, moving to the side, ”And of course you can come in…those smell delicious. You made them?”

Shin was confused by her question, and therefore Kealey was confused by his answer. It took him a moment, but then he realized what she was talking about and the confusion disappeared.

He had guessed? For some reason, hers continued.

”You guessed? Out of three hundred and sixty five days, you guessed this one and were right?”

That was a pretty good guess.

Shin asked after somewhere to set the tray and Kealey really looked around her room for the first time in a while.

”Oh, yes! Sorry the place is such a mess…I had this idea this morning and I just had to work on it…” she said, working while she spoke to clear off the table. Scraps, pattern pieces, bobbin threads, a thimble, the seam ripper, and a few pin cushions were deposited neatly in a bag next to the table. ”I’ll sort all of that out later.” she said, gesturing to the now, empty table before turning back to him.

”Now, tell me how you made this guess?” Kealey stated, there simply had to be more to the story if Shin had been able to figure out that today was her birthday. She watched as he sat the cupcakes down and moved forward for a hug. ”Thanks though.”

Kealey grinned slightly when Shin said she was diligent, then laughed while shaking her head, ”More like obsessive. When I get an idea like this I just have to use it.”

Shin really had been busy…with all the things he mentioned plus helping her with training, and helping her with her powers, and spending time with her, the blond tilted her head slightly to the side, ”Maybe there’s more I can do to help with the armor. I’ll think on it. Have you ever thought that maybe you were a little too busy? I mean, it‘s no wonder you don‘t sleep…you don‘t have any time.” she asked.

He was confused by her questions about how he’d figured out it was her birthday…and he didn’t hug her back. Kealey mentally almost-cursed then averted his eyes when he stepped back and held her at arms length.

Kealey caught her bottom lip in her teeth and looked up guiltily and shrugged her shoulders. ”Maybe….” she said, then shrugged, ”It just hasn’t been very important for a long time…”

Deflection time, ”But yeah…you definitely guessed my favorite cupcakes…let’s eat some!”

Kealey nodded her head, she’d definitely help Shin decide how to pare down his schedule a little bit if he wanted the help. He really didn’t sleep enough and that level of exhaustion coupled with classes and other work was a heavy, and potentially dangerous, combination.

Kealey almost winced when Shin got concerned, then looked at him with slightly puzzled interest when his emotions swung and he dropped his head to chuckle. He asked again, and Kealey could tell he was going to be persistent in the matter. It kind of made her want to be stubborn, to hold back to the information. That wouldn’t get them anywhere though, especially not closer to the muffins and out of the conversation.

”Alright…” Kealey said, also shaking her head and smiling slightly, ”Today actually…is my birthday. I wasn’t exactly trying to keep it a secret…it’s just that I didn’t even think about it until I switched the calendar this morning.”

Why had that been so hard to admit? Maybe it was a slightly bigger deal than Kealey had originally admitted. It had just been so long since anyone other than her had noticed.

”So…they're birthday cupcakes!”

It was hard not to be enthusiastic with the how happy her simple admission had made Shin. In fact, it was really hard to not feel absolutely ridiculous for not making it the first thing she’d said when she’d opened the door. He was really excited, the hug showed it.

Kealey hugged him back and grinned, flushing slightly when he spoke in her ear. Deserved them? Deserved them for what? Living another cycle around the sun? Kealey didn’t argue, even if the logic escaped her slightly. Birthdays were obviously another matter entirely to Shin, maybe they should be to her too.

Now Kealey was getting a little excited about the concept and when Shin stepped away and said they were go for cupcakes, Kealey beelined for the table she’d cleared and snatched one up.

Away went the little cupcake wrapper and Kealey took a bite.

”Woah….” she said, trying to deal with the mouthful of coffee-cakey-goodness. ”They’re still warm. These are awesome!”

Shin pointed out that they had a lot of catching up to do if this was the first time she’d celebrated a birthday in a while. What did she want to do? It was a difficult question for someone with so little experience in such matters.

”Something with you…” she said with a bright grin, then shrugged, taking a moment for another bite of cupcake before continuing.

”I don’t know, what do people do on their birthdays? I mean, I remember the other girls at school talking about them from time to time, and I had my little girl parties. Besides that, though, I’m kind of a Blank Birthday slate.”

Shin seemed alright with the idea that Kealey wanted to do something with him for her birthday. She smiled when he announced this and went about pouring herself a glass of milk while he sampled one of the cupcakes he’d made for her. Awesome almost didn’t cover the way they tasted, especially when washed down with cold milk.

He started to speak, making it sound like there was some kind of special family recipe that he’d followed and was going to share the key to. Kealey listened, ears perked for the special ingredient, the special method…whatever it was that made these cupcakes so good. The build up came….and went. They really had been simple cupcakes from a box. The blond laughed out loud and shook her head, thinking she should have felt the humor long before Shin finished speaking.

More cupcake eating ensued and Kealey dropped down onto the edge of her bed as they tried to figure out exactly what it was that people did on their birthdays. Shin brought up Aurum’s and Kealey winced, ”Yeah…probably not like that.” she said, remember how fun the party had been but at the same time how embarrassed she’d been later.

Kealey thought for a few moments, working on finishing the cupcake she’d started eating. They could go out, Kealey was pretty sure Shin would be up for that kind of activity, and they always ended up having the best time. Then again….

”I think what I’d really like…is something quiet. Can we maybe just stay around here and do something? Maybe a movie? We can make popcorn, or waffles, or something.” she added with a grin while in the process of snagging another cupcake.

More milk followed, and more cupcake followed that. Kealey couldn’t help but think while looking at the shrinking plate of food that it was a good thing these were her birthday cupcakes. She didn’t feel bad for not sharing with anyone but Shin.

Kealey smiled gratefully at Shin when he said she’d been adorable at Aurum’s birthday party. Her behavior that day hadn’t exactly been a point of contention, but Aurum hadn’t been impressed. Ghost had also been there, as well as her husband and adopted child, and Kealey hadn’t been pleased with the way she’d acted. Even if it wasn’t her fault. Somehow though, Shin labeling the incident ‘adorable’ helped considerably.

They were making considerable progress on the cupcakes, Kealey noticed, and when she suggested watching a movie, Shin seemed to like the idea. It did however, present the problem of picking what movie to watch. Their track record was movies and television was excellent, and it would be a shame to mar that with a bad decision on her birthday.

Kealey reached towards a cupcake, then pulled her hand back when Shin got an idea. It was another one of those things that there weren’t specific emotions for…but rather a telltale conglomeration that meant inspiration had just struck.

Nope…he hadn’t show her any of those things, and as he listed off titles, Kealey grinned and drank more of the milk. She shrugged her shoulders.

”You choose. You haven’t led me wrong yet. No reason to think you would now. If the movie is half as good as these cupcakes, we‘ll be good to go.”