Dancing Shield of Glittering Impenetrability

Was she really that transparent?

Giving Shin a wan smile, Kealey sank down on the edge of the bed as he told her that she didn't need to worry about him. Apparently this was nothing like the time that Sam had broken his arm. Really? He was comparing a bullet wound to a broken arm?

"That's the thing..." Kealey said, picking at invisible lint on the covers so she had something to look at while she talked.

"I never thought I had to worry. Until the other day..."

Thinking about the whole thing made Kealey shudder and frown.

"We weren't even doing anything dangerous Shin. If you hadn't been going to show me that armor then...then..."

She couldn't even say the words, but they were heavily implied.

"I was so scared."

Kealey sighed as Shin took her hand. At least he understood, and when he explained the ball of worry, Kealey couldn't help but run a hand over her stomach. It was there.

He'd felt that way with Kasumi...and they both knew where that had gone. Kealey scowled at the notion, and nodded her head when Shin said that she needed to take her mind off of her worrying. He was right. Dwelling on what had happened wouldn't help anyone. Nothing too bad had happened, whether it was sheer dumb luck or the grace of God. It was wrong to question such things.

Shin spoke more, about a Japanese tradition, and since sewing and sketching hadn't worked to take her mind off things, Shin's idea had a lot of merit.

"Be right back." she said, then scurried from the room, only to return a short while later with paper of all sorts. It wasn't origami paper, but there was newspaper, butcher paper, pattern paper, fancy paper napkins, leftover wrapping paper from Christmas, newspaper, and even some Kleenex. Dumping the supplies onto the bed, Kealey smiled a satisfied smile.

"Teach me." she demanded, reclaiming her seat. 1000 cranes was going to take a while. They needed to get started.

Shin started folding paper and Kealey had to smile, just a little bit at the sight.

He'd distracted her, given her something else to put her mind on so she didn't have to worry about him. Kealey had a feeling that it wouldn't ever go away completely. Not when mortality had summarily punched her in the gut.

Shin spoke, and while she continued to watch him fold, a wider smile spread across Kealey's face. It may have even been described as impish. Out she reached, grabbing a piece of paper and starting to mimic the folds Shin had already made.

"Do you want me to call you 'sensei', Tetsuya?" she asked with a sideways glance. She even managed not to giggle...at least for a few seconds.

That little knot of worry in her stomach...wasn't knotted quite so tightly anymore, Kealey decided as she continued to follow Shin's folds. He smirked and commented, and she laughed, unknotting that knot even more. Laughing helped, Kealey decided, laughing and acting normal like nothing was wrong.

"You made a good point." she said, still chuckling a little as she continued to fold.

"I can't worry all the time." One fold, then another, time after time.

"That would ruin all of this.".

"And this is pretty darn good." She finished, holding out her hand, the folded wrapping paper crane sitting in the palm of her hand.

"One...Sensei."

The crane took flight, and Kealey grinned, watching as it circled her head. 998 didn't seem like too many. Not really, when she thought about it. Pulling forward another piece of paper, convinced she'd paid close enough attention the first time around to work on her own, Kealey set to folding.

"So that's what you were going to show me." she said, "The armor? Can you do the shirt with the gloves and the sword, or just one at a time?" They'd never really had a chance to talk about it.

While she waited, she folded, occasionally laughing as the flying crane bumped her head. "And how long can you keep that up and fold."

Kealey had to resist the urge to playfully swat Shin when he commented on the benefits she was supposedly taking for granted. She wanted to point out that she thought that was in fact one of the perks...but he was still talking so she held her tongue.

He thought he could do everything at once, but it reduced the range at which he could create things. It was basically a trade-off, personal defense at the loss of a bit of functionality.

Personally, Keaely valued the defense more than anything, but she kept quiet about that for the moment too.

The crane landed on her head, and the blond looked up with her eyes, unable to see anything but her bangs. Up she reached, cradling the little bird for a moment before setting it down and starting on another.

"I like the idea of the defense. Isn't it hard for you to keep track of things at a distance without getting dizzy anyway?" she said, trying to word her point in a way that didn't simply sound like a nagging, worried girlfriend trying to be overprotective.

"And I'll be excited to see some of these, when you're better."

As to the rest. Kealey finished her second crane and cast Shin a lopsided grin.

"And what happens when the student surpasses the master?"