Cocoa is a powerful force. Hot chocolate, a drink of the gods. Good on any occasion, but notably excellent in situations where one needs to catch up over a hot drink. To catch up, and sit around. And quite possibly snack on tiny marshmallows while more tiny marshmallows melt in your drinks. Yes, cocoa is a powerful force... but it is nowhere near as potent as the request of a good friend.

Tarin's request had been simple. He had wanted Shin to stop by and visit them. He'd wanted Shin to take care of Lee while he popped out for errands, because the man was simply unable to tear himself away from his newly-regained wife on his own.

Shin had agreed. He'd been meaning to stop and visit Lee anyways. He'd heard the news, and been overjoyed about it. Stupid college classes had gotten in the way. Luckily, today there were no such classes... he'd already finished them earlier that morning, as had Kealey. So they could kick schoolwork to the curb and go to Tarin and Lee's, and eat some milano cookies and drink some hot chocolate. He'd even brought the snacks.

He knocked on the door to their apartment, and called out. "Tarin. It's Shin." The door opened. Tarin let them in. Shin smiled at him as the man thanked him, and left to do those errands that simply had to be done. Shin led Kealey into the living room. They happily greeted Lee.

Tarin had said that he needed to go check in with Slate. But, the truth of the matter, with how he was acting, at least, was that Tarin didn't want her coming with him. In fact, he seemed to be doing everything he could to keep her from even stepping foot out of the apartment.

In a way, Lee was fine with that, but at the same time it was bugging the hell out of her. She had not been rescued from a three month imprisonment simply to be locked up in her own apartment now. But at the same time, Lee knew she couldn't simply go out as much as she had always used to; despite the fact that she now felt perfectly fine sitting where she was on the couch, the truth of the matter was her muscles were still very weak, and walking around, even with a high energy level, was still more than a little difficult at times.

So while Lee was a little annoyed with Tarin's trying to 'keep her safe' in the apartment while he went to see Slate, she didn't exactly argue with him about it. Especially once he mentioned that Shin was going to be stopping by.

Even if that annoyance increased when Tarin left the apartment, after giving her a quick kiss, mere moments after Shin had arrived. Like the younger man was her babysitter or something.

Pushing herself, and her stomach, off the couch once Tarin was out the door and Shin was making his way into the living room, Lee smiled at him. "It's so good to see you, Shin!" Lee said, giving him a hug, glancing over at the woman who had walked in with him. She looked familiar, but at the moment, Lee couldn't recall her name. "Tarin didn't tell me you were bringing anyone with you," she continued, the smile still on her face.

Kealey felt a little awkward as she and Shin made their way into the apartment complex. They were there to celebrate something happy, and Shin was definitely happy about it…but Kealey felt a little out of place. The blond could still remember the night that Shin had shown up at her room in the Mansion, wine bottle in hand and needing to talk. He’d said a friend’s wife was missing. That wife had now been found.

Kealey knew Shin had been meaning to go see the woman, apparently they knew each other through her husband. Tarin had been in Romania with Shin…something they hadn’t talked about since the day Kealey had visited Maire in the prison. Kealey had a nagging feeling that there was something familiar about the two names Shin had dropped, but couldn’t exactly place them. Besides that…all Shin had told her was that they were friends. It was enough, Shin would have told her anything she needed to know. Apparently it wasn’t much.

They made it to the apartment door, and Kealey tilted her head at the emotions from inside. She concentrated…there were three people. The door opened and she gasped slightly. That was where she knew the names from.

The man moved quickly out of the apartment, determined and grim, but with a smile on his face. He barely glance at Kealey, but Kealey recognized him. He was hard to forget with that hair…and those tattoos…she could see them as he pulled a jacket on. She’d seen them once before. At a bar table. With Jacen.

Suddenly, awkward turned to slightly mortified. This had potential to be awkward. Into the apartment they went, Kealey trailing behind Shin with his cookies and marshmallows. A feminine voice greeted them, and despite the mild annoyance, Kealey met the smile with one of her own.

Still keeping slightly behind Shin, Kealey peeked around, wondering who the third person in the apartment was.

Then her eyes found the stomach of their hostess.

Oh. Kealey blinked, then her eyes widened.

”Hi.” she said with a smile…keeping her suspicions to herself for the moment, ”I’m Kealey…I think we may have met.”

Shin smiled at Kealey as she introduced herself, then turned back to Lee. "Lee, this is my girlfriend." The way he said it was enough to give everyone in the room an idea just how much he thought about the woman. He was practically beaming.

Shin didn't know when Kealey and Lee had met, but he decided to let them handle that. Stepping away from Kealey and Lee, he moved towards the kitchen. "I'm going to go get the cocoa started," He pointed. "You two, catch up. I'm glad to see you're doing well." The baby was getting big now, wasn't he? Lee would need the extra energy from cocoa and cookies for the kid. And also, for herself.

In the kitchen, Shin got to work boiling water. He fumbled with finding the pot and the measuring cups, humming a little tune to himself as he crouched down to check not-so-obvious places such things would never likely be. He shifted stuff in a lower cabinet, then checked near the oven. Finally, he found it. He held the pot up above his head, like Link acquiring the Hookshot.

"Key Item, get." He set it on the stove.

The accent, the name. It didn't take long for realization to dawn for Lee. She had met this woman before, but in a much different place, with another man. At the time, Lee had rather enjoyed the brief periods of time she had spent with Jacen, not siphoning. After what she had just gone though, though, despite the many years she had wished for that very thing, Lee did not exactly want to feel it again soon.

And then Lee was shocked slightly, to hear Shin announce that Kealey was his girlfriend.

The shock was gone quickly, though, and Lee smiled at both of them both. Shin, at least, definitely seemed happy sharing that news. "Took you long enough to tell me, Shin," Lee teased even as he seemed ready to head into the kitchen to make...hot cocoa? Well, Shin had been the one to teach her how to make Jello, so Lee wasn't overly concerned about the safety of her kitchen. It was probably in better hands, actually, than if she were the one going in there to make the drinks.

And that left just Kealey there with Lee. And while she had spoken to the other woman before, that had been a very different situation.

"Come in, make yourself comfortable," Lee said as she made her way back to the couch and sat down, again in part because while she had energy, her body, and muscles, didn't exactly want to listen to that fact yet.

But as she was making herself comfortable on the couch again, Lee heard banging coming from the kitchen. Much more banging around than she would have thought would be needed to simply make cocoa. "Do you think he needs some help?" Lee asked, tilting her head slightly as she looked at Kealey.

Yes, Lee recognized her and Kealey smiled a strange little smile at the fact. That had been a very different situation, and Lee definitely hadn’t been pregnant. Shin introduced her properly and Kealey had to beam at the way he felt when he named her as his girlfriend. It was nothing new, but Kealey loved him a little more every time. All that love didn’t stop her from shaking her head and laughing when he took himself off and to Lee’s kitchen.

It was okay though. Shin could get away with things like that.

Except now…Kealey was alone with Lee. The awkward crept back in a bit, even though Lee was doing nothing to suggest it should be there at all. Lee moved towards the couch to sit down, and Kealey’s eyes shot to her stomach again as the strange emotions surfaced once more. Could she really feel the emotions of the baby. That was weird.

Lee invited Kealey to sit down, and the blond sank onto another piece of furniture in the living area, not really paying attention as she continued to stare at Lee’s stomach. It was probably rude, but the blond was oblivious as she tried to figure out exactly what was happening. Why hadn’t she noticed that she could do this before? Kealey supposed that that there was the fact that she’d never really been alone with a pregnant woman…but still.

There was a little commotion from the kitchen, and Kealey looked up as Lee asked if Shin needed help. The blond smiled and shook her head, blond curls bouncing around her shoulders, ”I think it’s how he does things.” she said, looking fondly in the direction of the kitchen. ”He never, ever disappoints though. So I think he’s okay.” she said, her tone indicating that she wasn’t just talking about cooking.

Kealey looked at Lee and smiled, ”How far along are you?” she asked, still curious about the baby.

Boiling water took a little longer than microwaving it for cocoa, but it was worth it. Sure, you could just pop a cup of water into the machine and nuke it for one minute. That got your water to the right temperature. It didn't get your water for several people to the right temperature at the same time, though, and there was a bonus. If anyone didn't want cocoa (Perish the thought), he also had a few instant tea bags along with him. So, boil water he did.

As it boiled, he turned and got out a few plates. He opened the bag, and unloaded snack items. Cookies, marshmallows, graham crackers, and bars of chocolate. He'd packed a bunch. He'd probably end up gifting whatever was left to Tarin and Lee. They could think of it as littering, or, they could think of it as an early Christmas gift. And really, who didn't love s'mores?

A few minutes later, Shin reentered the living room balancing a tray of cocoa mugs and a large plate of milano cookies, tiny marshmallows, and macaroons. He smiled at both the ladies, and set the tray on a coffee table.

"Three orders of hot cocoa, ready for the taking. Warning: Contents may be hot."

A couple tiny marshmallows plopped into his mug. Shin picked up one of the spoons on the tray, and stirred absently as he sat down.

Kealey came into the living room and sat down easily enough, in a nearby chair rather than on the couch with her. But she simply sat there, staring at her. Or, and Lee wasn't completely sure about this, was she staring at her stomach?

But at her question, Kealey answered that this seemed to be just the way that Shin did things, and Lee couldn't help but smile. "Alright," Lee said, the smile still on her face. "It's not like I actually use the kitchen much, but I'd rather nothing end up getting broken or ruined in there, so thought I should check."

Then Kealey asked a question that took Lee a little by surprise. Not that it really should be all that much of a surprise, but the fact was that Lee hadn't exactly been around many people for almost the entirety of her pregnancy, and this was one of the first times she had been asked the question.

Shifting slightly on the couch, Lee continued looking over at Kealey as her hands came to rest unconsciously on her stomach. "About 6 months now," she said. "Maybe a little more. It's kind of hard to keep track with the time I lost..." As she finished speaking, Lee's eyes dropped, no longer looking at the other woman.

At least they were rescued from those thoughts when Shin reentered the room moments later with three cups of steaming goodness.

"Thanks Shin!" Lee said with a grin, her eyes raised again. "This is great. I've been wondering what I can drink now, since just about everything I had before has a ton of caffeine in it."

Kealey flushed slightly as Lee noticed her staring problem. It was kind of bad that she continued to stare…but Kealey simply couldn’t handle it. The emotions from….from the….baby were different from what she normally felt from people, even babies, but they were still emotions. It was so surreal.

Lee pointed out that she was about six months along and Kealey nodded her head, not even really knowing why she’d asked the question. Kealey knew next to nothing about babies or pregnancy, beyond the fact that the whole process took about nine months. That meant the baby was fairly close to being born. Lee’s emotions changed from the happy, familiar ones she’d been radiating to something darker, more sad, and more…uncomfortable as the woman spoke about the time she’d lost. Kealey cursed herself, now she’d gone and done it…she opened her mouth to apologize, and Shin reappeared just in time.

For a few moments, everyone was distracted by the hot chocolate, grabbing cups, pouring the liquid, and sipping the warm liquid. Kealey had been right, Shin hadn’t disappointed. The stuff was excellent.

Lee pointed out that she’d been looking for things she could drink that weren’t loaded with caffeine and Kealey grinned, ”It would probably be uncomfortable if the little one was feeling a caffeine buzz. If it were me, I’d drink lots of warm stuff so he felt all warm and sleepy.”

The blond realized how strange that probably sounded, and buried her face in her cup, "Mmmm, this is good."

Shin smiled at Lee as he sipped his cocoa. "Glad to help."

He really didn't know much about pregnancy. He didn't know that sometimes, certain foods became unpleasant, and certain others suddenly became as desirable as Aurum desserts. He didn't know about caffeine and babies, or morning sickness, or any of the important stuff. So... that was a lot off of his mind, really!

He sat back on the couch peacefully, and turned that smile towards Kealey. He nudged the tray of cookies her way. "These aren't quite as warm and happy, but... they are good. Eat up. There are super-tiny marshmallows for the cocoa, too. So!" He changed the topic like a car turning on a dime, and snapped back to Lee. "Do you want me to fill you in on what we've been up to, and are going to be up to soon?" He asked.

Lee smiled at Kealey's comment. "I could probably handle him having a caffeine buzz," she said with a slight shrug, not even realizing that she had identified the baby as a boy without actually knowing which sex it was. "But apparently it's not overly healthy for them to be subjected to caffeine, and since he already has to deal with my powers, there's no point in adding to it."

While, three months ago, a comment like that, even just the thought of her powers combined with pregnancy, would have had Lee worried, not any more. If both she and the baby had come through those three months with virtually zero energy to siphon relatively unscathed as they had, it proved better than any words Tarin or the doctors could say to convince her of the fact that her powers wouldn't harm the baby.

"And to be honest," Lee continued, her hand that was not holding the mug coming to rest on her stomach. "I rather appreciate the fact that he's as active as he is. Sure, it might become annoying in a couple of months, but so far it has helped assure me that everything is alright with him."

But then Shin asked her a question, changing the subject so suddenly it was almost jarring. Probably would have been if she hadn't started getting used to it when she had spent a month at the mansion a couple years earlier. So instead, she simply smiled at him and nodded. "Of course I want to hear," Lee told him. "Especially if it's important enough that you need to bring it up like this."

Kealey nodded to Lee as she explained how she didn’t mind the activity of the baby. How it helped her be sure that her powers weren’t doing anything to bother it as her pregnancy progressed. That was sort of fascinating, and something Kealey had never thought of before. If she remembered correctly, Lee borrowed energy from the people around her because she couldn’t make her own. Her powers didn’t bother the baby, it was obvious from the size of her stomach and her testimony to its movement….not to mention the emotions, as strange and impossible to name as they were. She wondered… ”Do you think that means your baby will be a mutant too? Or that maybe you just share the energy with it since he’s in you instead of borrowing it from him.” It was worth being curious about, and Kealey hoped she wasn’t being rude.

Kealey found herself staring again, and actually blushed this time. That was rude. Seriously. She was about to open her mouth and admit her reasoning when Shin changed the subject lightning-fast and Lee simply followed along. She did know Shin. Kealey didn’t know what he was getting at with his question, though she knew they were up to some super exciting things. Since she didn’t really have anything of value to add to the conversation at the moment, she simply looked to Shin to see what he was going to say.

"Well," Shin began importantly. "Ghost and I have been teaching Kealey Japanese. Because," He paused, and grinned at Lee. "I am taking her to Japan for Christmas to meet my parents."

Shin sipped his cocoa and waited a moment, to let that message sink in. Then, he added. "Do you want any special souvenirs?"

When Kealey asked her question, Lee simply leaned back against the couch for a few moments in thought. Tarin had said on at least one other occasion before this that any kid they might have would most likely be a mutant. Though, at the same time, most of the times that Tarin had mentioned that had been when he had been trying to get her to stop freaking out about the idea of being pregnant, so...

"I don't know," Lee ended up settling for. "I mean, both me and Tarin are mutants, so it really wouldn't surprise me if he ends up being one, too. I just hope that he'll have something a little easier to deal with. But regardless, at least he'll have a lot more support than either of us ever did.

"To be honest, though," Lee continued, answering the rest of Kealey's questions, a slight frown forming on her face. "I really don't know how it works. I have no idea whether it's because we share energy, if I only siphon from around, outside of myself so he's safe, or if, by chance, it is his powers doing this..."

Lee trailed off. She didn't know why the pregnancy was working so well, so much better than she had ever hoped was possible, but she was glad. Very glad.

Then Lee sat back and waited for Shin to share his news. He and...Ghost? The name sounded familiar, but Lee couldn't for the life of her place it. But they had been teaching Kealey Japanese because they were going to Japan to meet Shin's parents over Christmas?

A happy smile spread across Lee's face as memories of her own trip to meet Tarin's mother over Christmas sprang to mind. Tarin, his accent out in full force. A night out under the billions of stars in the sky. A drive up to Vegas so they could get married...

"I'm so happy for you two!" Lee said, the smile still on her face as her eyes moved between the two people sitting with her. "If it's anything like when I went to meet Tarin's mother, it'll be great and you'll have a blast."

Then Shin went on to ask if she wanted any special souvenirs, and Lee's smile faded slightly as she thought. Only to be followed by a shake of her head. "I wouldn't even know what to ask for," Lee said. Then her smile reaappeared, memories surfacing slightly again. "I'm sure that if you actually manage to think about anyone back here while you're gone, you'll do a great job picking out souvenirs on your own."

This conversation was going well. Not nearly as awkward as it had threatened to be in the beginning. Kealey wondered if Shin was going to ask her how she knew Lee, and how she was going to explain the connection if he did. Well…she knew she was going to tell the truth, but it was still going to be a little strange. At least Lee hadn’t asked about Jacen…and the conversation seemed to be veering further and further away from things that could introduce that topic.

Lee talked a bit about the genetics of the situation, and Kealey made a mental note to see if there was any literature in the Mansion library about such things. Was it a sure thing for two mutant parents to have mutant babies? Kealey didn’t know…her parents had conceived two mutant daughters…and as far as the blond knew, neither of them had been in possession of an X-gene. That chain of thought sparked a plethora of new questions for Kealey to ponder as Lee chatted with Shin about what had been going on in their lives.

At mention of Japan, the other woman smiled, and Kealey couldn’t help but smile back. Whatever it was that had been triggered in Lee’s mind, it was remembered fondly. The baby responded to his mother’s happy feelings with a surge of his own happy emotions and Kealey had to stare again. Was that how it worked? When mother was happy, baby was happy? Keaely didn’t know, but it seemed to be playing out that way now….the emotions were so strange…so strong but yet so…primitive. It was absolutely fascinating, and she simply smiled at the whole thing.

Lee spoke again, and Kealey jerked her eyes to the woman’s face again, cheeks pinking slightly in guilt for staring yet again. What Lee said made the blond chuckle, though. Lee had no idea how worried Kealey was about the trip…and for how many different reasons.

”I’m sure it will be fantastic.” she said simply, ”I’ve never been anywhere but Ireland and the states…plus, getting away from things at the Mansion and around here will be nice for a change.” If that wasn’t the God’s honest truth, Kealey didn’t know what was. Between school and X-men stuff, the library, and Shin’s job at the Full Circle, sometimes it felt like they were running circles just to keep up. Time away would be great.

“I can’t wait to meet Shin’s family…as long as they don’t mind crazy Irish girls.” [/color]