Mood Music

Wow. Just wow. Kealey had seen New York…it had kind of become the norm in her life, so the opulence and bustle of the city had stopped being anything special. So had the emotional traffic. New York was populace, and in the United States it seemed like everything was right on top of itself. That was nothing, nothing compared to this. Shin had helped her from the train and Kealey had floated in a wash of emotions while he’d gone about trying to secure them transportation to a hotel.

It had been amazing to watch him while he spoke in Japanese. Kealey had known he could, and he’d even done it on occasion while she’d been trying to learn basics in New York…this was different though and had added to the general awe of the situation. Somehow, Kealey didn’t know exactly how, he’d managed to secure them a ride and they’d made it to a hotel. More speaking had ensued while Kealey had tried to concentrated on anything. So many emotions, so much happening, so many busy people. Was this going to work? Suddenly she was worried…but she couldn’t concentrate on it long enough to keep it that way.

For the moment…it was too much and she simply let Shin lead her where they needed to go…which was the hotel room. Once they were there, and the guy who had their bags sat them down, Kealey beelined for one of the beds…there were two…and flopped face down, groping for a pillow to cover her head, just for a moment. She concentrated, looking for bubbles and working on getting things where they were supposed to be. Everything would be fine…she just needed a minute.

Something else flomped in the room a split-second after Kealey's flomp. On the bed next to her's, Shin landed on his back, staring at the ceiling. He let out a loud sigh as triangular pupils focused on the the color of paint in the room, calculating distances that did not change and need to be recalculated every few seconds. The pillow was soft under his head. The sheets smelled fresh. They still had that clean laundry smell.

"How are you doing?" Shin asked the ceiling. "When you're ready, we need to plan for tomorrow."

He was tired. It had been exhausting, and possibly a tiny bit stressful getting to Japan, to where they lay now, but... it was also kind of exciting. He wasn't squirming like Kealey had earlier, but... as he thought about the things that they just might do the next day, a small smile did touch upon his face.

This was going to be really excellent.

Kealey heard Shin flop and kept the pillow over her head. The fabric and stuffing weren’t any more effective at blocking out emotions than the walls, windows, or anything else in the hotel, but it made her feel better. Like a security blanket, and they smelled like fresh fabric softener. It was something to concentrate on that wasn’t the ocean of emotion that was swirling like a tempest inside her head. Kealey took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, then another. She could do this. She could do this well.

Shin’s voice funneled through the pillow over her head and Kealey chuckled into the cloth of the bedspread.

”I’m getting it together.” she said, removing the pillow and rolling to her back. The ceiling was well painted and so were the walls. Kealey let her eyes travel to the other places in the room and realized they were some where clean and relatively nice.

”Where exactly are we? I missed a lot of that on the way in.” she said, switching tactics once she was sure she’d separated the other emotions from her own. Now she looked for Shin’s. He was weary, but happy too…and there was a giddy anticipation present too. She couldn’t help but smile now that she was getting things sorted out.

Up she sat, slowly and stared across the small space at Shin. ”We can plan whenever.” she said, then spontaneously grinned. ”Have I mentioned how cool it was to hear you speaking all that Japanese?”

"The hotel," Shin replied. Which one, he didn't elaborate. It was close to where they wanted to go, but that was a granted. He was glad she was getting it together. He didn't need to burden her with a ton of information she didn't need. Not yet.

Shin glanced her way, and smiled.

>>”We can plan whenever.” She said. And then, she told him how awesome it was hearing him speak Japanese.

Shin scratched his cheek with an embarrassed laugh. A 'haha, really? Are you sure?' laugh. "You're lucky you didn't hear what the guy at the front desk was saying," He turned onto his back again, and spoke to the ceiling. Shin rested his head on folded arms, and stretched his vowels. "He thought we needed the hooooneymoon suite." Whoops. An honest mistake on his part. Shin was wearily amused. "I told him 'no, separate beds, thank you.' He looked at me like I was insane."

Shin was being vague and Kealey considered pushing for more information. Only for a moment though…she didn’t need to know exactly where they were. It wasn’t like she’d be able to navigate them, or go get food, or really anything. There were still enough emotions, and it was still dizzying enough that Kealey figured she’d get lost looking for the lobby. Instead she nodded her head and smiled, stifling a slight giggle, ”That’s probably good, considering I’ve claimed this bed and pillow for my own.”

Apparently the conglomeration of excitement, anticipation, and all the other things rolling around in her head had put Kealey in a playful mood. Shin responded to her compliments on his speech with his usual combination of bashful amusement and Kealey grinned some more. He explained what had happened in the lobby and Kealey’s eyes widened for a moment before she burst out in genuinely mirthful laughter. The Honeymoon Suite, really?

”I wonder what that would have looked like…” she said, thinking of garish heart shaped beds and Jacuzzis surrounded by mirrors….surely she’d seen that in a movie somewhere. A silly one, as to the rest…and the bellhop’s reaction. She giggled a little more.

”Well of course.” she said, smile stretching from nearly ear to ear, ”We wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.”

>>”That’s probably good, considering I’ve claimed this bed and pillow for my own.”

"You should plant a lil flag." Shin said, sweet as honey.

She laughed at the main desk story. Lots of laughter. Shin liked laughing Kealey a whole lot more than exhausted, annoyed, or angry Kealey. Or any mix in-between that had her less than cheery.

Shin considered the honeymoon suite for a moment, pondering the various types of honeymoon suites he was familiar with from anime and manga, or television. Images of tacky love hotels popped into his mind inexplicably. Weird. He'd never even seen stuff like mermaid-themed Vegas-style bedroom furniture and vibrating beds. That definitely would not have been the honeymoon suite here. This place was far too classy for...

"Seashell wallpaper and quarter-operated machinery." Shin finished his thought out loud. He didn't even notice her last comment, so distracted was he by strange mental imagery.

”The blond in the middle isn’t enough?” Kealey continued to tease, snagging the pillow to hug it in her lap. The mood was lightening more and more by the moment, and she grinned, ”I don’t think I brought any flags with me. Then there’s the pole…I think that would be quite a bit of work Shin. We’d be much better served sightseeing, I think.”

She could feel him thinking, amused by whatever thoughts were moving through his head, and Kealey couldn’t help but let her mind wander back to its musings over the honeymoon suite. He spoke, and Kealey’s eyes darted to his from the place in thin air they’d been staring at.

”Seashells and coin….” she started, as her head tilted to the side, mind wandering again as she tried to work out exactly what that would constitute, ”Like gumball machines? That doesn’t make much sense….”

He’d missed her tease, and Kealey’s lips pursed as she pouted slightly. An opportunity missed, but it was no matter. ”At least we’ve got plenty of blankets.”

Lights out the window drew the blonde’s attention and she rose from the bed, moving to look out the window at all the city she’d missed on their way in. She took a deep breath and let it out, still facing the clear glass, ”This place is pretty incredible…”

Shin chuckled. Better served, sightseeing?

"Maybe you need a second prospector, to help you outline your claim."

>>”Seashells and coin….”

Shin couldn't tilt his head! He was on a bed! He turned, and looked at her quizzically. She was right. I didn't make sense. "Gumball machines... wait..." Realization hit him like a feather. It tickled. Shin sat up, and laughed, suddenly energized by these silly interactions. "I think I must have said that out loud. Whoops. I was thinking of vibrating beds." Weird topic number one, today? Or had there been more? He'd lost count.

Blankets?

"Uh huh." Shin didn't follow her. It didn't matter, though. She was up and at the window before he had time to get a clarification.

Drawing his legs back, and kick-rolling off the bed, Shin followed her.

This place was incredible.

Sneakily, slyly, Shin wrapped his arms around her, and looked out the window at what she saw.

"Mhm," He smiled, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Very bright."

Lights and colors, and sounds and movement. There were so many people, so many individuals. As always in situations like this, Kealey marveled at all the emotions that were flowing through each one. It was something universal with people…no matter what nationality they were, and no matter what their genetic makeup said about what special abilities they had. Everyone felt emotions.

She was pondering on it still when Shin came up behind her. She felt him there before he wrapped his arms around her, and wasn’t surprised by the action. He commented on how bright it was and Kealey nodded her head as his came to rest on her shoulder. ”I was thinking the same thing. I’ll bet it never really gets dark here, does it?” She pondered that for a moment, a city where the lights were so bright that daytime seemed to last forever. Her mind wandered and latched onto something Shin had said earlier.

”Vibrating beds….” Kealey repeated, still staring at the window at all the moving cars, people, and lights. ”That’s as silly as a gumball machine.” she pointed out.

She grinned again, tilting her head back so it leaned against Shin’s. ”Two beds is far more practical.” She just couldn’t help the teasing…and with as much cuddling as they did at home, she was a bit puzzled by the choice.

”So. What do we do first?” she asked, wondering how they could possibly accomplish everything.

>>”I was thinking the same thing. I’ll bet it never really gets dark here, does it?”

"Dunno," Shin said. "Been a while."

She brought up gumball machines and beds again, then pointed out practicality. Shin smirked.

"Maybe you're right," he said, as if thoughtfully considering such things. Shin tilted his head to examine the sky above the city scape. Stars were blotted out by the light. It left things murky, black and gray. He lost himself in the darkness for a moment.

Kealey brought him back to the present... by bringing up the future, funnily enough.

"Well..." Shin began. He squeezed her gently, but tighter than he had been, dropping his head down to nuzzle her cheek. "This is nice." He smiled. "Maybe we could leave the thinking for the morning, and try to sleep? And you're right. Two beds are far too practical."

All the emotional turmoil from earlier had settled down significantly, and Kealey couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Sure, all the emotions were still there, and the overall effect was pretty overwhelming if she concentrated on it…but she didn’t…she let them exist in the back of her head and simply concentrated on the feelings in the warm, comfortable hotel room. It was so relaxing.

Shin pointed out that he wasn’t sure if it ever really got dark, and Kealey resisted the urge to pepper him with questions about the last time he’d been in Tokyo. There was something simply too comfortable about the atmosphere to spoil it with a bunch of silly words.

When Shin tightened his arms Kealey leaned back into him with another happy sigh, grinning as he nuzzled her cheek. What they were doing was nice, and Kealey nodded her head, mmhmm’ing as her eyes slipped shut. Could there be anything in the city this nice? She stayed that way for a moment, amused by how she could still see the lights of the city through her eyelids and feel Shin’s breath on her cheek. No, she decided, anywhere that wasn’t right where she was would pale in comparison. A lot.

It was suggested that maybe sleep was the best introductory activity in Japan, then Shin admitted that maybe two beds was a little too practical. Eyes open now, Kealey reached out and pulled the curtains shut, blocking out the city and all of its lights. Now that was practical.

Mission accomplished with the curtains, Kealey turned so she could smile up at Shin. ”You kind of read my mind.” she admitted. ”Thinking and sightseeing can definitely wait. This has to be better than anything outside anyway. ” That said, she cast a look towards the beds they’d so recently vacated. Only one question remained. Which was the surplus?

Kealey's bed. Kealey's bed was the surplus. Or, wait. No. Kealey's bed looked pretty snuggly. Snuggling Kealey and hauling her backwards, away from that window, Shin dragged her gently, like a dog with a sock, or a cat with a squeaky mouse chew toy. Across the room, right to the bed. He let go and flomped backwards, comically. Then, he snuggled under the sheets and beckoned the girl he'd left standing over there by the foot of the bed with one finger.

Yes, you. That girl. The one standing there. "Hop in. I'll steal all the blankets. All of them. Better get warm. Like irons in the fire."

He was tired. He could still wax Homestuck and be cutesy, though, with his catlike grin.

Backwards Shin drug her, and backwards Kealey went, grinning at the little shuffle they performed on the way to her bed. Apparently his was the surplus. Kealey was okay with this, and was mildly surprised when Shin released her and flopped back on the bed by himself. She turned just in time to see him burrowing into her blankets and threatening to steal them.

Irons in the fire.

”I doubt you could light a candle to all the irons I’ve got in the fire. Besides, I already gained all the blanket levels…all of them. She grinned and pounced, counter-burrowing into the blankets, finding Shin in there somewhere in there and snuggling him while snuggling into the blankets.

”I think I’m going to like Japan.” she said when they were done getting situated. Yeah. Japan was already really excellent.