Had it really been a pirate? Kealey seemed... amused by the idea. And he wasn't certain. He laughed with her, though. "Yeah... sounds silly." Inwardly, he was racking his brain to try and come up with what this whole 'pirate' image in his head had to do with drinking the night prior. Slowly, details were returning, but...

Nope. He decided to focus on her, rather than that silly pirate.

And best aspirin in the world? Shin laughed, and shook his head. "I meant because you're here." He smiled at her sweetly.

She just couldn't get over the pirate. Something in his head clicked. Shin looked up at the ceiling and mused to himself. "It might have been Sam..."

>> ”I’m sorry I made you wait like that…I’m still not as good at figuring myself out as I am everyone else.”

And there she was, apologizing to him again. His eyes dropped back down to settle gently on her face. "You don't have to apologize to me, Kealey. I understand." He wasn't impatient about it, just adamant. He knew.

"I actually think you're pretty strong, for being able to deal with what you deal with all the time... and..." He paused, and smiled sheepishly at her. "Wanna hear a secret?"

"I don't think you need to worry about finding yourself when you're around people. I think you're amazing, just how you are. Even if it's a smattering of emotions, Kealey. There's still you in there. I'm certain. That's why I keep coming back for more."

Now they were both amused by the pirate. Kealey figured that was better than the alternative…still, how had Shin managed to find a pirate in the middle of New York City? It was going to bug her. It would simply have to bug her.

Apparently the aspirin hadn’t been precisely what Shin was talking about and Kealey’s cheeks flushed again when he said he felt better because she was there. ”Really?” she said, smiling back. ”I’m glad I could help…” It was really only fair, though, the hangover was her fault.

Shin mused that maybe the pirate had been Sam and Kealey stared at him for a minute before bursting out laughing. Sam as the pirate…it was almost too funny for words. Kealey would be glad if it had been him, though, rather than some strange pirate in the middle of the city.

Shin didn’t want her apologies though. He didn’t want them in the best way.

How did he understand so much? How was he so sure he understood? It was those same feelings, the ones that made her warm from head to toe.

Shin kept talking and Kealey just looked at him, wondering if what he said was true. Why did he think she was so strong? So special? He really believed it too. ”You make me feel lucky…” she said earnestly, with a small smile.

For some reason, she still felt the need to explain.

”I just wish I could shut it all off sometimes.” she confessed, dropping her eyes. ”When it’s just me, it all feels so easy. To just know…and to have everyone else know who I really am.”

Kealey squeezed Shin’s hand, ”Not everyone sees me as well as you do, Shin.”

>>”I just wish I could shut it all off sometimes.” she confessed, dropping her eyes. ”When it’s just me, it all feels so easy. To just know…and to have everyone else know who I really am.” ”Not everyone sees me as well as you do, Shin.”

He squeezed back quietly, looking her in the eye. "I know." It was hard, he understood. Not everyone was accepting. Not everyone understood. It wasn't sad, though. At least some people did.

Shin nudged her gently with his shoulder, to get her attention. She had her head down. She needed to look up. He smiled at her.

"Hey, could we try something?" He had an idea.

Kealey sighed slightly, she hadn’t meant to kill the happy mood in the room with the conversation, but it was something that nagged at her, and she supposed it was better to have it all aired out. Shin empathized and Kealey nodded her head, eyes still lowered.

He was still optimistic, and Kealey decided she needed to take a page out of his book and stoop brooding about things that weren’t going to change.

Shin nudged her with his shoulder, and Kealey raised her head as he asked if they could try something. Her head tilted slightly to the side, and the blond nodded, unable to do anything but smile back.

”Sure. What?” she said simply.

"I want you to try... and focus just on me. My emotions. Just mine. Can you try that?" He smiled.

Maybe, with practice, she could reel her powers in. Maybe, with practice, she could focus on one emotion from all the many? "Have you done that before? Latched on to one emotion, and messed with it? Like what you did to me at the Pokemon tournament?"

Maybe. Just maybe.

Definitely, maybe, she could get a grip on her powers. He'd try and help her.

Not every mutant was helpless with their powers. Brute force practice could accomplish a lot.

Just him. Shin wanted her to try and focus on just him. As far as Kealey knew that wasn’t something she could do. She didn’t actively use her powers like other people did, so she didn’t know if she could actually narrow the field.

She didn’t think so, but Shin had asked her to try…

Kealey nodded her head and closed her eyes as he asked if she’d simply focused on one emotion before, like she did at the pokemon tournament.

“It’s not quite like that…” she said, voice trailing off as she tried to isolate the sources of the different emotions she could feel in the mansion by something other than proximity.

”When I change things…I still feel all the others…unless I get rid of them…but then I can‘t bring them back.”

Shin was right there next to her and she could fell all those feelings that identified him as himself, but there were others around too, even if they weren’t close. Teens and adults all over this part of the mansion feeling their feelings, sharing them unwittingly with Kealey.

She focused only on Shin and tried to push the other emotions away…tried harder….and….nothing.

Kealey opened her eyes and smiled at Shin, shaking her head, ”Nothing. Thank you for thinking to have me try, though. I’d never really thought about it this way before…maybe…I can practice.”

She shrugged her shoulders, still smiling and nudging Shin similarly to how he‘d nudged her a few moments before, ”We don’t have to do that now, though…how’s your head?”

Shin watched her close her eyes, and tried his hardest to exude one specific emotion. He focused on relaxing his mind, and did his best to be one specific target. A big red X painted on the wall. He squeezed her hand gently as she focused.

She spoke quietly, projecting thoughts as she focused on narrowing her focus. He listened calmly, rolling the thoughts around in his mind like a ball of clay. He made a snake.

When she focused, she said everything else was still palpable... unless she made it go away. It didn't quite work like how he'd hoped it would. That was okay, though. They could work on it. He was willing to help her practice. Even if they failed, it was good meditation practice. It'd help somehow.

He meditated on that thought, and waited. Finally, she broke the silence, with 'nothing'. He returned the smile, said she might like to practice.

"We can," He agreed. "I'd like that."

>> ”We don’t have to do that now, though…"

She nudged him. Shin gave a playful nudge back, then a thoughtful response at her question.

>>"How’s your head?”

Shin glanced to the ceiling, searching his mind for the answer. He didn't have as much mental haze as he'd had before. Meditating, and focusing on Kealey, he'd distracted himself from the headache. Meditation was good for removing the grogginess of it all. Kealey's confession had been an eye-opener, as well. For the most part, the headache was gone. He dropped his eyes down to meet hers.

"It's better," Shin smiled, then asked his next question slowly, mischievously, as if leading her. "As for doing something else now... what did you have in mind?"

Shin said he’d help her practice, and Kealey nodded her head slowly and thoughtfully. Was it a possibility? Sure, she’d still have to ‘listen in’ on people…but if she could narrow it down to a degree where there wasn’t as much all the time. The concept itself was almost too good to be true and Kealey decided she wouldn’t get her hopes up, not yet. Not until they’d managed to do some more work and figured out whether or not it was even a possibility.

They would find out though. Just not right now. Shin looked to the ceiling to ponder the answer to her question about his headache and Kealey smiled. He did that a lot when he thought, and he was thinking pretty hard, she could tell by the level of concentration he was putting off.

Shin brought his eyes back down and Kealey met them as he said he was better, then found herself blushing slightly at the mischievous tone his emotions had taken on, that was interesting. He asked what she’d had in mind for alternate activities and she shrugged her shoulders lightly, ”I don’t know, did you have an idea?”

"Well," Shin started innocuously. "We could walk Thor, or go get lunch, or even kiss."

Was it too soon for lunch? Hmm. He didn't think so. Maybe some peanut butter and jelly? Maybe they could make hamburgers instead, with some homemade seasoned fries?

Or they could walk Thor. It was late in the day. The dog probably needed it. It'd get them out, give Shin a chance to stretch his legs and deal with the sun. He could wear some nice aviators, and walk with Kealey on his arm.

Or...

What was that last one again? Oh yeah.

Shin smirked.

>> "Well, we could walk Thor, or go get lunch, or even kiss."

Ah. That’s where the blush had come from. The first two suggestions were fairly innocuous and Kealey had thought that maybe she was overreacting a little to the mischievous feelings Shin had been broadcasting. The last, though, probably blush worthy.

It was an interesting situation, almost like he was asking, and for another split second Kealey mentally berated herself for thinking she needed time to work this all out in her mind. What had there been to wonder about? This decision didn’t require nearly as much thought, though and Kealey stopped thinking, lest Shin take the time for hesitation.

She nodded her head slowly, blush intensifying as she smiled a little lopsidedly and gave a one-shouldered shrug, ”Or…we could do all of them.” she suggested helpfully.

Hey…they were all good ideas. Why not?

"But which first?" He wondered, making a big show of looking to the ceiling. He tapped his chin with a finger, and drummed gently on her hand. Finally, he dropped back to focus on her, smiling innocently. "It's a tough decision. Do you want to pick?"

She was so cute when she blushed. So cute. He couldn't help but tease her a bit.

Maybe that innocent smile was not so innocent?

Which would she choose?

Really? It was a tough decision, was it? Kealey pursed her lips a little bit and chuckled, dropping her eyes for a moment and shaking her head as Shin pondered the “obviously difficult” decision laid out before them.

Oh, she could pick? There was only one thing to do when a person was so intent on teasing, and grinning so very innocently.

”Well…” she said softly, leaning just a little bit closer, ”All afternoon…since I left that lake, there’s been one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about…”

Just because Kealey didn’t flirt, didn’t mean she couldn’t. She’d picked up a few things since coming to New York…

Even closer still she leaned…looking up through her lashes, ”Lemonade” she said, mere inches away now.

”But do you think maybe that can wait?” she asked, smiling broadly. When teasing a teaser, one didn’t want to go too far after all.

Oh, she was good. She'd seen his teasing mannerisms, and raised him proximity.

Shin was good, but... at those proximity levels... The shields couldn't hold up to that kind of heat. He couldn't take much more of it. Warning klaxons were going off everywhere. Elevated heart rate, flushing facial features, that stupid silly grin on his countenance he couldn't quite quash. She was too close, too adorable, too...

>>”Lemonade”

... Much.

Inside his head, Shin fell back onto his bed, defeated. Around him in the room of his mind, the star ship's computers flashed and fried. The ship was plunging into the sun, and he had a sinking feeling, he couldn't stop himself from what came next.

Lemonade could wait. Definitely. He leaned forwards to bridge that final breath of space, and gave her a kiss. It was gentle, on the lips, and Shin couldn't help but smile.

Inside his mind, there was spinning. Round and round in the captain's chair, much rejoicing. Yay~!

Apparently she really had learned a few things since coming to New York, Kealey realized as she teased Shin right back. The only problem was, she could feel his emotions. For a moment, Kealey wondered if it was possible to burn to death from blushing.

The decision didn’t seem so difficult all of a sudden and Kealey realized very quickly that they were going to kiss. It was kind of a shocking realization, she’d gotten a little caught up in the teasing, but it didn’t matter.

There were so many emotions involved in a kiss, and Kealey got to feel them doubled. That was interesting, but not exactly what Kealey was thinking about. No, her brain was doing the same happy dance that had her belly full of butterflies. Overload? Maybe a little, but the best kind.

Then…it was over. That wasn’t nearly as exciting. Kealey grinned, cheeks still burning. ”Yeah…that was definitely better than lemonade.” she said.