"It sounds like he was important." Shin replied quietly. He looked across the table at Kealey, unreadable. "Do you miss him?"

Important? Was…Jacen…important?

Kealey nodded her head. In a way she’d asked for this line of questioning when she’d taken away the things that usually keep people from saying the first thing that comes to mind. It was almost like she owed it to Shin to answer, no matter what the personal cost was.

The lump in her throat was still there, and Kealey attempted to drown it with another drink of her chocolate martini. So much for nursing that one. A nodded head wasn’t enough, though, Shin wanted to know for a reason. The logic she had forced on him with her emotional interference wouldn’t allow anything else, ”More than I can really explain, Shin. Like I said, when I was around him, it made everything much more clear. I could think….I could make decisions.”

Kealey took a deep, shaky breath, ”I never had to wonder if I was only doing what I was doing because he wanted it. I wanted it. No thinking about what I’d done later and questioning if it was something I actually wanted to do.”

Did she miss him?

”And I still miss him every day. There’s a little part of me that is bound and determined to think there’s a reason.” Kealey ran a hand through her mass of curls, gripping them gently, and looking to Aurum, ”It won’t go away. That’s the finality Aurum was talking about.”

>> ”More than I can really explain, Shin. Like I said, when I was around him, it made everything much more clear. I could think….I could make decisions.”

He made her feel like more than a mirror. He made her feel like herself. That sort of thing was incalculable. Even in Shin's drunken haze, he could see that very clearly. Jacen was important... and now, he was gone.

Just like Kasumi would soon be gone from his life...

Kealey told him she missed Jacen every day. Shin's eyes locked with hers. That was finality, and it was here to stay.

"When I'm gone from her life... I wonder if Kasumi will miss me..." Shin bowed his face, and stared at the tabletop. "Even if I see her everyday, something is ending... and it won't be the same."

As more time passed and Shin spoke and felt and heard more, Kealey wished she hadn’t messed with his emotions. Or had a least put them back where they belonged when he was done on the phone instead of making them go away. What had started out as an excursion to cheer up her friend had ended up as her spilling her emotional guts in the middle of the table while Shin watched on with rapt interest. Aurum was still there, but he seemed to only be interested in his drink. Wise man.

Shin had more questions…and comments. In spite of her reservations about her answers, when Shin voiced his question, Kealey’s heart went out to him. Besides, this was an opportunity to turn the conversation from herself. The problem was…the blond didn’t have a clue what to say.

”Shin…I wish I could give you answers here...but I don't have any. I've only got one scenario to work with here...and you don't want my advice.” she settled on, slightly fuzzy brain grasping for something that would be more helpful and finding nothing. ”I know it’ll be better if you talk to her about it though…don’t just take off.” It was a repetition of what she’d said earlier, but sometimes, there just wasn’t much else to say.

>>”Shin…I wish I could give you answers here...but I don't have any. I've only got one scenario to work with here...and you don't want my advice.”

Shin looked up at her. He wondered what advice she would have given him that she hadn't already shared. They were both dealing with loss. Her, with Jacen. Him, with Kasumi... but, she'd been dealing with it longer, and he'd just done what needed to be done.

She kept talking.

>> ”I know it’ll be better if you talk to her about it though…don’t just take off.”

It was logical. Shin gripped his drink, and lowered his eyes to focus on it momentarily. "I won't. And maybe, I won't completely vanish from her life... maybe, it won't be like some relationships, where we never see each other again. She's in the X-men, I'm in the X-men..." He paused to take another drink. It burned going down. "But we'll move on."

Moving on was the important thing. If he kept himself stuck on this thought, then logically... he wouldn't advance.

Oh, but Kealey was stuck on Jacen, Shin realized thoughtfully. He looked up at her. "I think moving on is important, you know?"

Maybe... or maybe he was inebriated. But it seemed logical, in a hazy sort of way. Though, maybe it was a bit of a downer... hrm. He glanced towards Aurum. The guy was still brooding over his drink. A smirk slipped onto Shin's face as the alcohol took over and told him this all was getting too deep for drinks. "Hey, what's up? You've been quiet for a while now."

Kealey nodded as Shin went back to talking about his personal situation. At least they were moving away from her and Jacen…that had been a dangerous road to go down and Kealey was feeling the effects of it in the tingling warmth that was starting to spread through her body. She really hadn’t meant to end up drunk tonight. Shin and Aurum weren’t really helping either, with their respective tupsinesses spilling over to effect the blond on top of her own BAC. This was getting more and more interesting by the moment.

Kealey tilted her head when Shin explained that he would still be seeing the girl that he’d just broken up with. He might even be seeing her quite a bit. That had the potential to be either a good thing, or a really bad thing. She shrugged her shoulders, team dynamics in the types of situations the X-Men found themselves in on a regular basis were not Kealey’s specialty. Not at all. Surely their leader, boss, captain, or whatever it was they called people in positions of authority would have things well in hand. ”It’s always good if you can stay friends. It’s always sad when a person loses good friends. No matter what the cause.”

Moving on. Kealey nodded her head, eyes suddenly incredibly interested in the drink that she had gone back to nursing. Yeah, moving on was a good thing, but how could a person move on if they didn’t know what they were moving on from? It might be the right path for Shin, but Kealey simply wasn’t ready yet. Moving on was going to be a process, and it was going to take some serious effort on her part.

Shin shifted his attention to Aurum and Kealey’s followed. She’d been so focused on Shin, she’d almost forgotten that Aurum was there. She focused on him for a moment and an eyebrow rose as she realized what he was feeling. Shin asked the question before Kealey had the chance, and she smiled at their table mate. ”You did get awful quiet over there. What’s going through your head?”

Jacen was...

Aurum looked into his drink. He turned the glass, and swirled everything Jacen was with the ice. Important. Gone. Important.

And gone.

Kealey missed the man. There wasn't anything Aurum could do about that. Like he'd thought earlier, she needed more reliable people in her life. Now that... that, he might be able to handle. Maybe not dating her, but being there.

A wry thought passed through his mind. It wasn't like he could date an Empath, anyway.

Heh.

>>"Hey, what's up? You've been quiet for a while now."

>>”You did get awful quiet over there. What’s going through your head?”

Aurum looked up at them, matching Shin's smirk with a wry grin of his own. "Nothing. But since we've stopped moping around for the moment, let's keep it that way. Tonight's getting a bit heavy. I say we..." He knocked back the drink in one fluid motion, and set the glass back on the table with a clack. "Move on."

Shin was silent for a moment. He looked Aurum seriously in the eye. Neither party said a word. Then, a laugh escaped Shin. "It seems we see eye to eye. Right you are. Let's order another round, and forget all the dramatic stuff." Even if he wasn't a habitual drinker, Shin knew the appropriate timing for a rather-proper toast. He was Japanese, after all. Shin lifted the last of his drink towards Aurum for the 'kanpai.' "Cheers?"

Aurum’s words of wisdom washed over Kealey like…words of wisdom. The blond looked at her drink…it was pretty much gone…again. This had been a terrible idea. Why had she thought that she could come to a place like this, talk about relationship problems, and not walk out with a drunken stumble? The fact that she hadn’t known they’d be talking about relationship problems had slipped her mind…as had pretty much anything else that made sense…and most of the emotions in the bar too. It was an interesting side effect of drunkenness, Kealey’s powers muted the more she drank.

At any rate, she turned and nodded her head, smiling at Aurum for giving such sage advice and drained the last of her glass. Aurum followed suit and a moment later, Shin was making a toast. A toast which Kealey happily joined him in…except that her glass was empty. Not a problem, she decided, as Shin suggested they get another round. Besides…at this point, what did it really matter?

Soon enough, the waiter was summoned and more drinks arrived at the table. They were taken gratefully, and the trio imbibed…did they ever imbibe. The mood lightened considerably, and soon they were all laughing instead of brooding. There was a question looming in the dark recesses of the blondes curly-haired head, and it was just waiting for the right moment to emerge from her mouth.

That time proved to be right about the same time she stopped being able to feel her lips. Kealey looked at Shin, all kinds of seriousness written on her face and said with all the dignity wanton drunkenness can provide, ”Shin. Do you wear tights when you’re being a super hero? Or Spandex?” incredulity had slipped into the end of that statement and Kealey wanted to make it better, so she went on, ”Not that it would be bad if you do….” She leaned forward, forearms on the small table they were clustered around, serious eyes locked on Shin’s, ”But seriously…do you?”

>>"Cheers?"

"Cheers," Aurum smirked, raising his empty glass. Their drinks clinked. Shin polished off his own. Aurum tipped out a drip.

Good to the last drop.

He turned in his chair to thank the waiter as he brought them drinks. Aurum snagged his own, and nursed it. This was much better. Laughter, positive conversation, less brooding. Fantastic.

Aurum took a swig. The corners of his mouth drew back at Kealey's -hilarious- question.

Tights? Spandex? Aurum laughed. "Seriously, kid. If they've got you dressed like a Shakespearean actor, you need to find a better angle on your life. Like, college. Put that big brain to ushe, and..." He slurred, then fell silent.

>>"... Put that big brain to ushe, and..."

"Ahaha. No." Shin laughed. He set the half-full appletini back on the table. That made how many, again? "They don't make me wear any fancy tights or spandex. So ridiculous." He teased Kealey. The idea of him in spandex was far funnier now than it might have been a half-hour ago. Shin shook his head. "I get to pick my own costumes. And usually..." Usually, he laughed to himself. "I go with some sort of ridiculously shiny jacket and pants. Seriously. You have no idea how shiny. It's just... whew."

Now seemed a good a time as any for him to take another drink, so he did.

A passing thought slugged him. Come to think of it, something a bit more daring would be pretty awesome...

"It suddenly hit me. Suddenly struck me," He held up a hand for dramatic effect, pushing back their imagined interruptions. "That some sort of tuxedo would be all sorts of badass."

Like, seriously. Tuxedo Mask, up in this place. He eyed his appletini curiously. What was in this stuff?

Kealey wasn’t sure why her question was met with such hilarity from the men at the table, but apparently she’d asked something very funny. The blond listened as Aurum pointed out that if Shin wore something that like, then he needed to pick out a new career. Kealey frowned at this, she thought all super heroes wore things like that. Why would the X-men be any different? They wouldn’t . At least not as far as Kealey had really seen in the few consulting visits she’d had with their leader. Everyone she’d talked to had some form-fitting, elastic, spandex, or lycra aspect to their fighting costumes. It just made sense.

Shin spoke, though, and Kealey’s blond eyebrows rose. She hadn’t spoken to Shin yet, and she wondered how that would have gone hadn’t she already known he was an X-Man. Suddenly, Kealey was a little indignant. The problem was, she kept losing track of the conversation and couldn’t find the right place to interject. It finally presented itself, right after Shin pointed out how awesome it would be if he had a costume that looked like a Tuxedo.

”A Tuxedo?!” the blond exclaimed, ”What could your power possibly be that it would be practical to wear a tuxedo?” Kealey studied her friend for a moment, ”Not that you wouldn’t look anything other than simply dashing in a tux…but they’re not exactly meant for a good movement….or protection. The cut would lend itself to getting caught on things…or grabbed. I don’t think Sam would approve.”

The words came out quickly, more quickly than they should have in her compounded inebriated state, more quickly and more slurred. Kealey didn’t notice the slurring, she just shook her head, ”I don’t think Sam would approve. Not at all..and he surely hasn’t mentioned any tuxedo suits to me. You’re going to make my job hard, aren’t you? ”

She paused for a moment, sipping her drink and leaned back in her chair, looking at Aurum for a few moments before turning back to Shin, ”And you should look into college.”

Ridiculously... Shiny. If those weren't words for drinking, Aurum didn't know what was. He took a drink.

"Those costumes all sound pretty ridiculous. But, tuxedos..." Aurum set down his drink, and waggled a finger at Shin. "Tuxedos sound pretty dramatic."

Though, why would he wear one? Aurum shifted his eyes to Kealey's cute reaction.

>>”A Tuxedo?!”

She sounded stunned. What could Shin's power be, she wondered? Aurum shook his smug bowed head. He knew.

He'd seen the guy fling squares at Ghost's attacker. He took another drink, and shirked the memory.

Wonder if Shin got any new tricks, since then?

All kinds of badass... and dramatic. Yes. Yes, he liked this idea, very much so. Yes. And it seemed, Aurum agreed with him. Aurum agreed that tuxedos sounded dramatic.

Awesome. Shin basked in the awesome for a moment as he contemplated just how he'd go about getting a tuxedo. He grinned as he imagined it, him up on top of some skyscraper, cape fluttering behind him. He'd dress in black. No. He'd dress in white! Tuxedo Mask was so last iteration. Kaito Kid was the new tuxedo hero, and he was all man.

And what could... he do to get this Tuxedo again? He shook his head to clear it. Kealey was talking again. His eyes rested dutifully on her face. He'd tuned into the first line of her sentence half-way in. His mind did its best to construct some semblance of structure out of the mix of words.

Your power. Practical. Wear a tuxedo... Huh?

>>”Not that you wouldn’t look anything other than simply dashing in a tux…"

What was... she suggesting? Was she suggesting he... make a tuxedo out of his power? Whoa. Could he even... could he even do that? Shin's mind reeled in the possibilities, while he kept firmly seated in the present to give them no clues as to where he'd gone.

Shards... tuxedo.... how could... He imagined the tuxedo's form. It was white. It was formal. It had a cape, and it had a vest. The vest was blue. It was dashing. Kealey had said 'dashing', right? So it definitely had to be dashing... meant for good movement and protection. And cutting.

Cutting edge. Maybe he'd make the cape sharp enough to fling at people, yet dull enough to avoid cutting himself?

Shin held his chin, and looked at Kealey. Her lips were still moving. Words were still coming out in slow-motion. It reminded him of... he tilted his head in thought. What did it remind him of again? Oh yeah... Gold Fish. Rounded perfection, Gold Fish. And Gold Fish were round, but they could be... made of triangular shapes.

The image of a bow-tie gold fish swam through his mind, glub glub.

Sam would approve.

"But how could I get the math skills to make it, I wonder..." Shin's focus returned to her. His lower lip jutted upwards. "Making shard tuxedos, using goldfish principles... rounding... it would take a lot of math..." And he didn't quite know how he'd get all that number crunching power. What had she been saying before...?

Caw-ludge...? College? Or maybe, 'collage', but probably college. Well, that was decided, then.

"Maybe, if I took some math classes at NYU... "

Somehow, he gave off the feeling that his conversation differed highly from their conversation. Shin's hand dove down to grab his appletini, and surreptitiously polish off the last of the glass. "Job?" He asked Kealey. Shin gave a weak laugh. "Sorry. Think I just zoned out thar for a sec. What were we talking about...?"

He'd zoned out there... he didn't think it strange. He wasn't sure why.

Kealey waved a dismissive hand at both the men at the table. They were talking about the tuxedo being dashing. Yes…tuxedos were dashing…very dashing…but there was absolutely nothing to suggest that one would make a good battle outfit. Kealey opened her mouth to continue her rant to Shin, but he opened his first and rambled out a bunch of information that left the blonde’s head spinning slightly. Who had been talking about…shards….or whatever it was Shin had started ranting about.

”What? Who said anything about you making it…I’m the one who has to figure out how to make you a bloody tuxedo battle suit. You’re going to be the death of me….and what are shards anyway? ”

Kealey flopped back in her chair and sighed, running an exasperated hand through her curls as her intoxicated mind tried to wrap itself around the concept of a tuxedo-like battle suit. Then Shin switched gears so fast it took Kealey a moment to notice that he’d commented on the whole college thing. She nodded her head in approval of that, pushing the weird tuxedo conversation to the back of her head for the moment, ”Now that is a good idea…I love my school…it’s not college…but it’s still school. What would you study?”

Shin switched gears again and Kealey frowned at the one word question. Who was he talking to? Aurum didn’t look like it was him and Kealey struggled to remember what they’d been talking about a few moments before…it was a difficult task.

Job…job….job…was he asking what her job was? Kealey went with that, ”I work at the library.” she said, face matching the puzzled feelings coursing through her, ”And at the clinic….and I’m making the X-men costumes for Sam….” she said…the end of the statement sounding more like a question as she finished off her drink. How many was that now? Kealey didn’t know, but her numb lips and her slightly unstable seat on her chair said it was several. Or maybe Shin and Aurum had had several and it was just spilling over.

”I’m drunk.” she stated, then giggled to punctuated the statement.