Kealey grinned at Shin’s reaction to her comment about cooties. He looked shocked as heck that she’d made the comment in the first place and the same emotion blended with genuine amusement.

”Cooties.” Kealey agreed, nodding her head, ”I’ve been told that girls have them sometimes.” he seemed interested in the trade, though, and Kealey took another bite, thoughtfully nodding as he pointed at the screen and indicated that they were to the best part.

The trainer and his pikachu had come across a girl and a bike…the pikachu had found something amiss with the situation and fried her bike. Now the redhead was claiming that the trainer owed her a bike. Kealey chuckled, ”Something tells me it’s not going to be all that easy for him to pay off.” she said, after chewing and swallowing her waffle.

”He’s kind of a grumpy fellow, isn’t he?” Kealey said, gesturing with her waffle at the electric mouse, then turning to grin at Shin, ”So…about that food trade.”

Cooties? Girls had… cooties? Shin shook his head with a laugh. "Don't think so," he replied. How could cuties possibly have cooties? And what were cooties, in the first place? That was just silly. In his tired state, it was all the sillier. Silly Kealey.

And Pikachu, grumpy? "Heheh. Wait until you see Charizard. The big flaming dragon likes to attack Ash more often than his electric mouse does... though, after he flies around the earth, we see him less." Shin put a finger to his lip, and mused on that. "Guess, once you get the best there is, you gotta switch to the lower levels, so things are more interesting..." He shook his head at the thought. Fair play. What a novel concept.

As for the food trade... "How do we want to work this... I guess..." Shin reached over to the plate, and broke off a few uneven sections of waffle. He added peanut butter to one, and handed it to Kealey. Then, he stuck out his hand for the can of whipped cream.

"Topping, please." He beamed.

Shin didn’t think girls had cooties. Kealey grinned at the revelation, ”Then there should be no problem with a food swap.”

They continued watching the episode of pokemon and Shin explained that pikachu wasn’t nearly as grumpy as charizard. Charizard…that was the giant lizard from the front of the book, ”Evolved form of Charmander and Charmelion!” Kealey recited with a grin. She’d done her homework, and didn’t feel strange to show off just a little bit. Kealey had a strategy, she had a partner, and she almost had a costume. Right now, though, all she cared about were waffles.

Shin asked how they were going to manage the food swap, the pretty much answered his own question by grabbing a piece of waffle and covering it in peanut butter. The blond took the piece of waffle and studied it, considering again how good all the different components were separately and hoping they’d be just as good together. She didn’t eat the bite yet, though, she simply handed Shin the whipped cream when he asked for it and continued watching the pokemon episode playing on the computer. Ash had taken Pikachu to a poke center after their harrowing flight from the flock of spearows. Kealey was confident she could rattle off stats for them, as well, but held back and watched instead as Ash and his little pikachu bonded.

”Awww.” she said, still holding the peanut butter waffle as a golden bird flew across the sky and the credits started to play. ”That was a good first episode.” she commented, looking at the waffle, ”Ready?”

>>Evolved form of Charmander and Charmelion!”

Shin grinned right back. "You've been studying, haven't you?" A sleepy connection was made in his mind: That was kinda cute. Like a student in a class, waving her hand because she knew the answer. He hadn't expected her to delve that deep into the world of Pokemon when he'd shown her the books. He'd thought she would look at the costumes, and be inspired. Shin hadn't thought she'd focus on the creatures like that. It was really cool.

Maybe she'd do well in the tournament. Who knew?

He took the can as she handed it to him, but like Kealey, Shin didn't doctor up his waffle bit. His eyes locked on the screen. It was the dramatic scene, where Ash protected Pikachu from the flock of Spearow.

Shin always got goosebumps watching that scene. Something about the music, and the emotion... everything... it just made it so... "Epic..." He felt a tear in the corner of his eye. So amazing... The first episode... really was the best one.

As the episode finished, Shin wiped the tear from the corner of his eye with a smile. He turned to Kealey.

>>”Ready?”

"Let's do it." Shin pointed the nozzle at the waffle, and covered it in a line of whipped cream. He looked at Kealey, folded waffle in-hand. He brought it up to his mouth. "On the count of three, now!"

Shin took a bite. It was good! He smiled at Kealey.

This is nice...

Kealey beamed, not the least bit smug but incredibly pleased with herself when Shin pointed acknowledged the fact that she'd been studying the pokemon books that he'd given her, and she nodded, "Read them cover to cover." she said, "I have to take a slightly different approach than everyone else to the tournament, and if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it well and right." that was as much as the blond was going to say, though, at least for now. After all, she and Shin might be competitors, giving away too many secrets would be counterproductive.

Shin had shared her opinion of the Pokemon episode they'd watched together. She nodded when he called it epic and marveled a little bit at the bond the trainer had made with his little Pikachu. Kealey looked over her shoulder at Shin's dog. She'd never had a pet and briefly wondered if the relationship an owner had with their pets was anything like what they'd just seen on the television.

Shin turned to face her, and Kealey met him grin for grin, watching as he covered the waffle in an appropriate amount of whipped cream. Too much and it was simply a mess, too little and the flavors didn't meld right. Shin had done well for his first time, he counted down and Kealey waited, making sure that she took her bite at the same time as his and chewed thoughtfully.

Peanut butter being peanut butter, her bite took a little longer to deal with than Shin's, and when he grinned Kealey covered her mouth and laughed, nodding her head then giving a thumbs up as she chewed. Shin seemed content, if quite sleepy, and Kealey was happy too. She took another bite, settling into the bean bag to watch more Pokemon if Shin was up to it.

Shin was up for another episode. And another, and another. Soon, it was 4AM, and Shin had Kealey had seen many things... they'd seen the treatment for ailing Pikachus (lightbulbheaded Pika-pile), they'd seen Meowth balloons a-plenty, and fish out of water. They'd even seen Ash catch his very first Pokemon!! And evolve it in the very first episode.

Now, they were on the fourth episode.

On the lap top screen, an epic battle was commencing. Two Metapods, neither facing each other, competed for their trainers to determine which of the two bug Pokemon could attain 'Maximum Hardness'.

A yawn escaped Shin, and his eyes drifted towards the clock. This was kind of silly. Hadn't they only wanted to watch a few? But now, the waffle stand had dwindled down to a small pile, and it was past both their bedtimes.

"It's late," Shin sleepily announced. "Or possibly, really early. Weren't we gonna..." He opened his mouth, and his eyelids drooped. "Lookit my costume, or somethin'?"

One episode blended into another, which blended into another which blended…and soon, Kealey wasn’t sure which episode had been which. They’d all been awesome though, no fantastic, and Kealey had decided that she was hooked. It might have had a little to do with Shin’s enthusiasm for the series, but Kealey genuinely liked the thing she saw going on in the show. The trainer was cute and dedicated to his cause, and even if sometimes it seemed that his Pokemon had more sense than he did, they seemed to genuinely care for him…and he for them. The bad guys were…bad, but they were defeatable. It was all the best parts of suspense and danger from the real world without any of the consequences or unhappy endings. Kealey approved and she was warm and comfortable and safe. It was kind of amazing, she thought, it had been a while since she‘d ran into Roland…but the wounds from this time had healed so much faster. It was nice, really nice.

As for Shin…well, he just got more and more tired.

The fourth episode was progressing nicely, and the waffles had pretty much disappeared. Kealey couldn’t really believe she’d eaten that much at this time of night. Some had been peanut buttered and others eaten her traditional way, but the blond had definitely eaten her fair share if not more. The episode paused, and Kealey blinked her slightly bleary eyes as her brain switched from analyzing their waffle eating to figuring out what was going on.

It was probably time she let Shin try to sleep…if his emotions were any indication he’d be out like a light in no time, they could finish this episode later. Kealey was about to announce her intentions, when he spoke up.

Shin mentioned something about it being either really late, or really early and Kealey’s eyes swung to the clock…the widened. Was it really that late? Early? Shin was right, it was a confusing situation and it further reinforced the blonde‘s intention to leave. He mentioned his costume, though, and Kealey Oh’d in surprise, climbing to her feet with less than perfect grace. ”Yeah! You can either come with me and get it, or I can run and grab it then bring it back here. What do you think? Either way, I don‘t think you‘re going to have much trouble sleeping once you lay yourself down.”

It was hard raising those drooping eyelids, now. They were like lead weights on the end of a fishing line, pulling Shin under. He wanted to go with her, see his costume, tell her good night, but the pull of the sleep tugging on the end of the line was too strong.

Shin nodded to Kealey, nearly lost himself in nodding off, but recovered at the last moment. "Youcanbringithere," He smiled. "I'll wait. Just want t'tell you how awesome it is, and how much I 'ppreciate it, before I conk out."

One look at Shin‘s face and Kealey could tell that this was going to have to be a snatch and run operation if she had any hopes of actually seeing his reaction to the costume. The blond nodded, ”Okay then. I’m goin’ t’run and get it. I’ll be back in a tick.”

That said, Kealey ran from the room…literally. It wasn’t a long trip to the door that belonged to her and she’d left it unlocked earlier when she’d left for her walk. Kealey reprimanded herself for that as she entered and moved to the nightstand where she’d folded and placed the outfit that Shin had asked her to make. It wasn’t an exact replica, but despite the differences Kealey thought it would fit wonderfully and look simply smashing. Carefully bundling the jacket and pants into her arms, she whirled and sprinted back into the hall.

She was too late.

Despite the fact that it had only been a few short moments, Shin was fast asleep on his bed. Kealey slowed to a stop in his doorway and hesitated, not wanting to wake him after he’d fought so hard to get to sleep. Looking down at the bundle in her arms, Kealey smiled slightly and sighed. It looked like she wasn’t going to get to see his reaction after all. Tip-toeing quietly into the room, Kealey gently laid the costume on the keyboard of Shin’s laptop. It was still out and something he would have to deal with in the morning. He was sure to see it.

Straightening, Kealey started to move back the way she came and stopped, eyes fixed on the blanket piled on the floor next to the bean bag she’d sat in to watch Pokemon. Bending, she scooped it up and draped it over Shin’s sleeping form. After all, it would have been a shame for him to wake up cold and not get a good night’s sleep after all the trouble he‘d had getting there in the first place.

Back out the door Kealey tip-toed, stifling a yawn of her own with a fist as she hit the lights and shut the door as quietly as possible before making her way back to her own room for a few hours rest before she really got to work on her own costume. It was going to be great.