((OOC: Some time in February))

A whole year had come and past, for Shin. His birthday had gone by without a single person realizing something was up. It was fine, really. He hadn’t needed anything special. He had his friends, and that was enough. But really, honestly… everyone at the mansion had skipped his birthday, and expected him to help work on their’s? That was too much!

Shin had volunteered, but that was unimportant! The Yellow Speedster (sometimes, Red) had lured him into it! It was a trap. While everyone else got roped into the easy things, like decorating, and cake-baking, and searching out the best presents for a fast-talker who had everything, Shin had been entrusted with the wiggly green.

The Yellow Speedster wanted a cup of Jello for each and every one of his friends… All 21 of them. He talked quick, and he lived fast. It was no wonder he had them. The wonder was how he expected Shin to be able to make Jello for them. 21 friends, plus 9 more cups, for an even 30… it was a lot... A whole lot. Now, normally, Shin would have been able to manage making food for the masses, but this was Jello. Halfway through the preparation details, he realized this. His eyes wibbled as he focused on the jiggly green. It was Jello.

“Eeeeeeeee…” This wasn’t good. He was nauseous. His eyes responded to the jiggling motion of the stuff like the bobbing motion of a boat on the waves… and he was seasick.

He needed to call someone to help him… he needed to call… Shin staggered to the phone, holding his forehead. He dialed Tarin’s number.

“Lee,” he cut in as he got a voice on the other end of the line. He needed to talk with her. “You’re somewhat of a Jello expert now, right?” Shin asked weakly. His eyes swung to the five cups of wobbling gelatin gingerly. “I need help. And you’re the only person to which I can turn…”

Shin had called, asking for her help. There was virtually no thought behind her answer, of course she would help Shin. After everything he had done to help her while she and Tarin had been at the mansion, it almost didn't matter what he needed her help with, she would give it.

But Jello?!?

A year ago, Lee had been at an absolute loss as to how to even begin to make Jello. She hadn't had a clue until Shin had walked in and had helped her out. Plus, wasn't there an entire mansion full of mutants there, all of whom would have been able to help Shin out with this? All much closer than she was living halfway across town.

That in itself made Lee realize that something much more serious must be going on, and so she hurried to the mansion. It always seemed to take forever to get there, but at least this time wasn't quite as bad as others, such as when Tarin had been passed out and bleeding, or when she'd been told that Tarin was there after he hadn't come home.

Finally, though, she got to the mansion, and after being buzzed in through the gate, Lee went inside and made her way to the kitchen.

"What's this about you can't make Jello, Shin?"

>>"What's this about you can't make Jello, Shin?"

Shin smiled weakly at Lee. It was nice, seeing her still up and kicking. And kicking. And kicking. He aimed a bent finger point towards his pupils. "Triangle eyes," Shin announced sheepishly. "They... apparently make me sick when they try to calculate the distances of rapidly-moving objects... or... jiggling ones. I'm getting seasick making it." Shin shook his head, and glanced towards the five cups of jello already sitting out. "I also promised to help make about 25 more cups of the stuff for somebody's birthday party. It turned out to be something I couldn't manage on my own. That's why I called," His eyes settled back on Lee.

"Help me, Lee Kenobi. You're my only hope~?"

Triangle eyes? Lee really wasn't sure what to make of that, but thankfully Shin explained it (or at least she guessed that's what he was doing) a moment later when he said...his eyes were trying to calculate distances of jiggling.

And then Shin actually asked her, in person, to help him make the jello, and Lee couldn't help but laugh. Even when Tarin had been laying in the infirmary here, in a coma that no one knew whether he'd ever wake up from, Shin had had a talent for making her feel at least a little bit better.

"I'm your only hope?" Lee asked, the laughter in her voice. "We're in real trouble then, aren't we?"

Still laughing slightly, Lee moved toward the counter where the stuff was still set up where Shin had left it. Five cups down with 25 to go. So Lee got to work, measuring water, pouring powder, mixing. "How have you been?" she asked after a couple moments. "Keeping out of trouble, I hope."

>>"I'm your only hope?" "We're in real trouble then, aren't we?"

"... Thirty cups of Jello's worth?" Shin stated meekly. A smile slipped onto his face. It sounded like she was going to help him. She moved to the counter full of ingredients, and started doing things. Shin pressed the palms of his hands together, as if in prayer, and looked to the ceiling for a second, then returned his focus to Lee, and not the jello that was wibbling.

>>"How have you been?" "Keeping out of trouble, I hope."

"For the most part," Shin commented. "I signed up for New York University. I'm not sure if I'll get in yet, but it's something. I'm feeling good about it. You?" The last time he'd seen her had been in Romania. There was certainly a large gap of time to talk about between that there, and here, now.

Lee knew that Shin had been in Romania, she remembered seeing him there during the breakout. But with everything that had happened, well, it hadn't exactly been the kind of situation to sit and catch up. Not at all.

Tarin hadn't said much of anything about his time in the camps once they had gotten home. Not that Lee blamed him. She still remembered her time in the camps here in New York, and she barely said anything about it after the fact. Even now, she had barely said anything about her time there to anyone. Even Dr. Rossi.

So while Lee knew that Shin had been there with Tarin, that's about all that she knew.

Lee blinked and turned to look at Shin when he said he'd applied to go to school, to NYU no less, but wasn't sure yet if he was going to get in. "That's great, Shin!" Lee said as she turned back to the jello. "Good luck getting in."

But then Shin asked how things were going with her. Lee's smile faded slightly as she focused on the jello. "To be honest, we're just trying to get things back to normal," Lee finally answered, her voice soft. "Dealing with camps like that is never easy, and then with everything else that happened to us over there..."

Lee paused and took a deep breath. "Though," Lee continued, glancing over her shoulder at Shin. "We are talking about possibly having kids at some point..."

>>"That's great, Shin!" "Good luck getting in."

Shin smiled at her. "Thanks." Here's hoping. Mentally, he crossed some fingers.

His smile faded slightly with hers as Lee answered his 'how are you' question. He nodded. Dealing with camps stuff was difficult. Even for him, with Kokoro, it had been hard explaining any of what had happened, and how it had changed him. And it had changed him. There was no way around it. Just like his new set of eyes had changed the way he handled certain foods, the camps had changed how Shin saw a lot of things... He skipped past the thought for the moment, not wanting to ponder it, then tripped over a land mine in the conversation.

A baby. Boom. Shin's face betrayed any 'cool' he could possibly have been 'playing it'. He was stunned. "A baby? You and Tarin? That's... big." There was no other way to put it. Shin stepped forward, closer to the ingredients, and looked at Lee's face. "What brought that on? And, can you hand me that bowl? I want to help with the mixing. Seems I can mix fine." It was just the cups, and the jello. Those were his nemeses.

"Yes, me and Tarin," Lee confirmed for Shin. As if there would have been any other answer. "There's still stuff we need to look into, make sure that we can, but we are talking about it."

By this point, Shin had come over and started to help her mix the ingredients. At least that would help speed things up a bit.

"What brought that on?"

At first, Lee didn't answer, she just kept working at making the Jello. Finally, she swallowed and started speaking, but didn't turn her head to look at the young man beside her. "I am definitely still terrified about being pregnant," she admitted in a whisper. "But I want a normal life, a normal family, and I don't want to risk not being able to have any of that because we waited."

Her and Tarin. They were talking about it. That was huge. Massive. Ginourmous. Like a planet, it had a gravitational pull all its own. He’d looked at her, and moved to help with the jello, but Shin’s mind was still fixated on the revelation. He’d never known any of his friends to have kids… well, maybe in Japan, with one or two of his school friends, the girls especially, but not here. Not with his ‘New York’ friends. He’d thought the city moved to fast for that sort of thing.

Lee said that they had to be certain they could have it. Shin wasn’t quite sure what she meant. Or why she’d decided now was the time. Had it been Romania? Or, was it just something she’d figured needed happening all on her own? Shin had asked…

Lee had come clean. She wanted it, normalcy, and, she didn’t want to put it off until it was too late. She said she was terrified of being pregnant, but Shin took it that she thought the end result was worth the risk.

“… I see.” Shin commented, after a while. He reached out, grabbed the bowl, and started mixing as he spoke. “That’s a good reason. After Romania…” His voice stalled for a second, then Shin continued. “I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I guess I’m still not. All I knew was that I wanted to move on, and do what was best for me… for my friends… everyone. I guess it sort of forced me to reevaluate what was important in my life. And that’s why I ended up signing up for college… and doing what I did.” He looked down, at the ingredients. For a moment, Shin seemed regretful. It went away. “Was it the same for you?”

"It's hard figuring out how to move on," Lee agreed with Shin, her voice soft. "And it takes time to figure out how you're supposed supposed to go on with your life. I didn't last time...just kind of existed, simply going through the motions to keep myself alive, even after I got out of the camps here..."

Closing her eyes, Lee took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. Then she looked over at Shin. Time for a nicer topic, she thought. "So, do I know who's birthday these are for?" Lee asked, indicating the jello cups as she finished mixing up her bowl.

What Lee was saying about going through the motions, Shin understood completely. In the days before he’d broken up with Kasumi, he’d been listless, depressed. He hadn’t wanted to confront his friends, deal with them, or even let them see how he was. It wasn’t until he realized that other people needed him, and that he wasn’t able to help them by moping all alone, that he moved on. Thank goodness for that jerk, Aurum. Thank goodness for Kealey… they’d shaken him into action.

“It is hard,” He silently agreed. He still missed Kasumi, now and then, but he was dealing. He wasn’t ‘just getting by’. He was living his life.

He shook his head slightly as Lee changed the subject. They were living their lives. They didn’t need to talk about the hard stuff anymore. “I don’t think so, unless he rushed past you when you were here at the mansion. He’s one of those super-fast teens, you know? The ‘must go faster, faster’ type? He likes to wear yellow… sometimes, red?” Travels in a blur. Never stops for anyone.

Shin finished mixing his bowl at the same time that Lee finished mixing hers. “Next step…”

She didn't know the person who's birthday the jello was for. Some teenager with super speed, apparently. Not that it was all that surprising, really; even though she had spent an entire month here at the mansion a year ago, Lee hadn't exactly spent time with any of its inhabitants other than Shin, Sam, and DocProf. She'd been far too concerned with the fact that Tarin had been in a coma to worry about socializing.

"Yeah, I don't t think I remember seeing him," Lee said. "Maybe someone should tell him that faster isn't always better." With a shrug, Lee set the bowl she was mixing down on the counter at the same time that Shin finished mixing the bowl he was holding.

Shin was right: next step. Glancing around, Lee saw the cups that the jello was going to go into further down the counter. "Pass me some of the cups there?" Lee asked Shin as she grabbed the three that were easily within her reach. "And will you be ok putting them in the fridge while I pour them, or would that make you nauseous too?"

She hadn’t met him. “That’s okay,” Shin replied. “All that really matters about him is that it’s his birthday, and he wants lots and lots of Jello… nobody made this much Jello for me on my birthday,” Shin added wryly. “I’ll have to thank them.”

Shin walked over to fetch the cups, and brought them back to Lee like an obedient retriever. He set them down on the counter on her left.

Would he be alright, putting them in the fridge? Shin looked up in thought for a moment. “Hmm… I can certainly try. As long as I only take one or two at a time, and I’m careful… I think I can manage.” Maybe he’d have to keep his eyes on the refrigerator ahead of him, rather than down on the dancing green. That would likely help. It was all about focus.

All that really mattered was not that Lee hadn't met him, but that it was his birthday. Lee simply nodded as Shin started grabbing the small bowls the jello was going to go into.

And he thought that he'd be able to handle taking the jello to the fridge. That was good Lee thought as she started pouring the still liquid jello into the smaller bowls.

"What are you planning on studying?" Lee asked after a few moments. "I've thought of going back to school myself, but I can never figure out what I would take."

"Mathematics," Shin stated, in response to Lee's question. "My power requires a bit of math knowhow, so I figure what better way to train my power than to train my mind? Plus, it gives me something to fall back on, if everything else goes the wrong way."

'Everything else' being code talk for 'the whole X-man thing', of course. "I'd also study other things, but mathematics, for sure. What about you? What would you study?" He imagined that, with the baby, Lee would have more free time to hit books when she wasn't sleeping.