It was... a weird combo.

Shin had tried many other combinations of picnic food in his days. Pizza and cheesecake was a bit rich. Fried rice and BLTs was heavy on the grease and bacon. Jello wobbled, and made him fall down. He'd tried spaghetti, and he'd tried deviled eggs. Spaghetti required plates. Deviled eggs required the time and energy to prepare them. Those were out. As for potato salad? That was also out. Too many cliche food choices at a picnic made the picnic cliche. No, they weren't trying for cliche'd picnic time here. They were visionaries. And true visionaries blended cultures, avoiding fried chicken with a vengeance, in favor of fatty tuna and egg rolls. Shin made a judgment call, preparing the picnic basket for Kealey. He went lunch box style. He. Chose. Sushi.

Two paths diverged in the hedge maze, and Shin? He took the path less-taken. And that, my friends, made all the difference.

As he reached the center of the hedge maze, Shin sat down the basket down, unfurling a blanket for Kealey and himself to sit on. It was a blue white blanket, with blue triangles scattered here or there. He would have made a shard blanket, but... it would have been shiny. This one wasn't shiny, no, nor was it diamond-hard. This date had been spur-of-the-moment, but that didn't mean they had to sit on hard ground.

Shin pulled the two lunch box containers out from the wicker basket, setting them in the middle of the blanket. Carefully, he hauled out the covered pie tin full of German chocolate cake, and placed that next to their containers of sushi, rice, and pickled vegetables. He set a few wrapped pairs of chopsticks out on top of the boxed lunches, along with some napkins. Preparations done, he grinned at Kealey, plopping down on bent knees on the blanket. He rested his hands on his legs.

"So," Shin began. "You ever eat sushi? I made this myself."

This date was kind of awesome. No, it was more than kind of awesome, it was super awesome. They were going to have a picnic, in the middle of a hedge maze. All around them the green walls rose, obscuring the rest of the grounds from view, apparently you could get away from everyone without going far from home.

Down the different pathways they went, and Kealey trusted that he knew where he was going. The maze was huge, Kealey made a note to herself to find who was responsible for it and let them know what a wonderful job they’d done, the walls looked nearly solid, and shaded the pathways. It was almost like being in a different world. The basket swung loosely as they walked, and Kealey couldn’t help but be curious about what kinds of food there was inside.

She’d worn khaki capris and a simple blue tank top with a v-neck and spaghetti straps, it was cool in the shade of the maze, but it was still summer and Kealey didn‘t want to get over warm. Soon enough they emerged from the corridors into the more open, flat, center of the maze. All around them were walls of green and it was quiet, in more than one way. The Mansion was out of Kealey‘s range, and she was almost surprised at the lack of emotions, had it been so long since she‘d been anywhere remotely secluded? Shin’s emotions were there, but they were almost second nature now, and it was more comfortable than Kealey had been in quite some time. This was going to be excellent.

Watching as Shin spread out the blanket, Kealey waited until everything was set, then sank to the ground cross-legged and watched as the food began to emerge from the basket. There was cake, which looked fantastic, and a myriad of other things. There was rice, and chopsticks, and vegetables, and some other things that Kealey simply wasn’t sure about. Surely Shin knew what he was doing though…and he seemed pleased with himself.

Kealey smiled back and shook her head.

”I haven’t.” she said, ”But there’s a first time for everything, right? That cake sure looks good, did you make it too?”

”You know what else? We’re far enough away from the Mansion that it’s out of my range. It’s just me and you.”

"I pestered the recipe off Aurum," Shin replied sheepishly. "He gave me some very good advice." Aurum always had been a kind of 'cake god'. Well... maybe not just 'cake'. 'Baked goods' was far more fitting. The man knew his way around the kitchen. Shin, on the other hand, was still learning. "I think I did alright, though." He poked the plastic top on the pie tin hesitantly, and smiled as it didn't poke back. "Looks very 'cake-ish'."

He'd already known how to make sushi. It was second-nature for any good boy from Japan. You learned how to make boxed lunches early on. Rice was easy. Pickled vegetables, you could buy, or make. They weren't too difficult. Fried chicken, you could easily purchase, as could you handle good fish or meat. He'd once maintained he knew only how to make lemon Jello and lime Jello, but that had been a bit of a lie. He was confident his sushi was, at the very least, palatable.

And it was the very first sushi Kealey would ever taste. That was kind of awesome. The thought made him smile. "You won't be disappointed with the sushi. I packed all sorts. It's a really good sampler. It's just too bad the store didn't have umeboshi..." Shin shook his head.

Gods, he missed good umeboshi. It was important, like the phrase 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away'. It was a food staple. It was the saltiest, sourest food staple ever, but they were good.

It turned out his hunch had been right on the dot. "I'm glad," Shin smiled. "I was hoping it'd be just you and I."

Kealey nodded when Shin pointed out how “cake-ish” the German Chocolate cake looked. Of course Shin had gotten the recipe from Aurum, who else would have something like this at hand to simply give out? It really did look like Shin had done a good job with the baking though. Kealey knew cake…and this cake looked good. ”It looks awesome…one of those things that makes you want to eat dessert first.”

Shin said she wouldn’t be disappointed, and Kealey grinned, ”I didn’t think I would be.” she said. ”You said it would be good.” Shin said something was missing, and Kealey’s eyes narrowed as she tried to repeat the word, ”U..ume…boshi? What’s that?” Whatever it was, Shin missed it, Kealey could feel that in his emotions as he thought.

He was happy that it was just the two of them, and Kealey nodded her head in agreement. ”It’s always nice when that happens…rare as it may be.” she said, then picked up the packaged chopsticks that Shin had laid on the blanket next to the rest of the food.

”So, how does this work?” she said, ”Do lessons come with the food?”

>>”It looks awesome…one of those things that makes you want to eat dessert first.”

Shin smiled. But of course if they ate desert first, they wouldn't have room for sushi, and he was proud of the sushi. Kealey's first sushi, so... no skipping that.

And she didn't even know what umeboshi was?

"It's pickled dried ume... that's basically a type of plum, kinda more like an apricot... they're really sour, and really salty, but they're great." Shin explained. They really were.

As for chopsticks... Shin nodded, and picked up his pair. He demonstrated splitting them, then how to hold them. "You use them like this, and..." He grabbed a piece of sushi from out of his box, and held it up for her to see. "There. It's that easy... unless, of course you have freakish-man strength, in which case, these things just snap like 'wow'."

So it appeared that dessert-first would not be the order of the day. It was an unspoken decision that Kealey didn’t dare challenge, they were going to have sushi. Truth be told, she was pretty excited about the whole thing. Considering how seemingly secluded they were in the maze, it would be a good opportunity for her to decide she actually liked the stuff instead of having input from everyone else around. The cake could wait, it wasn’t going anywhere.

Shin was surprised that she didn’t know what the Japanese fruit was and she tilted her head slightly to the side as she listened to his explanation. Salty and…sour. The blond made a slight face, honestly the combination sounded like it would be a little rough on the palate. ”I guess I’m going to have to take your word for it if they’re not obtainable here.” she said, then snapped her fingers, ”Darn…it sounds so tasty too.”

A chopsticks demonstration came next, and Kealey watched Shin closely, pulling apart her own set and fumbling slightly to get them set right in her fingers. It was not as easy as her teacher made it look. Shin picked something up from one of the containers with ease, and Kealey attempted to follow suit, succeeding only in shooting a little piece of food into the grass a few feet away. She ‘heh’d’ a little embarrassedly. ”Tricky little thing aren’t they?” she said, trying again and managing marginal success when her food item merely fell right back where she’d gotten it from. This was going to take some practice, but something Shin had said stuck in Kealey’s mind.

”So you really were Abyss?” she said, in response to Shin’s comment about strength. ”Not one of the brothers?” It made a difference, and Kealey was curious. ”I still can’t get over what a shock that must have been. Those guys feel things so strongly…”

>> ”I guess I’m going to have to take your word for it if they’re not obtainable here. Darn…it sounds so tasty too.”

Kealey snapped.

Shin chuckled to himself. "Guess so."

Hey, if salty and sour weren't her style, who could blame her? They were like candy to him. Everyone was entitled to their own opinions, especially Kealey.

One of those opinions seemed to be... 'Chopsticks are hard'. She missed her mark a lot... and shot food like a spider shot web. As she fumbled and failed, Shin bit his lip sympathetically. He'd never had that problem, but... poor Kealey. Shin shook his head and smiled at her comment. "They sure are."

Did she have freakish strength to cause all this chopstick fail? ... Maybe he'd have to help her hold them...?

Her next question batted off that train of thought. Not one of the brothers? Just Abyss. "Uh huh," Shin replied slowly, setting his chopsticks down in the container. "I was Abyss... heh. Funny story, that." And a long one. "You want to hear the whole thing?"

As she struggled with her chopsticks, Kealey could feel the sympathy from Shin. ”Now don’t you start feeling sorry for me…” she said, dismissing the urge to wag the chopsticks at him in an admonishing way, ”I defeated a zombie horde…I can use chopsticks.”

Easier said than done. A few moment’s more work had Kealey concentrating on the use of the utensils as hard as she’d concentrated on anything for a long time. Her eyes were locked on her target and she bit her bottom lip as she struggled to work the two pieces in tandem. Success! Kealey took a bite.

”Yum!” she said, wondering if the reason the Japanese used chopsticks was for the feeling of accomplishment that came with managing to take a bite.

Shin confirmed Kealey’s suspicions about the time he’d spent as an Abyss…rather the Abyss. He offered to tell the story, despite the fact that it was apparently long, and Kealey went to work on getting another bite. It was easier this time.

”Tell me everything you want.” she said with a smile, ”I’m in no hurry. Besides, I know some of the Abysuss….Abyssi…whatever…and I’m curious what it was like.”

>> ”Now don’t you start feeling sorry for me…” Kealey admonished him. ”I defeated a zombie horde…I can use chopsticks.”

The sympathy vanished, replaced by a small smile. "Mhmm," He said. He'd let her fend for herself. And fend for herself, she did. It took a while, but in the end it was better she learned to use them on her own. He couldn't baby her forever. She seemed to like the food he'd made for her. He was glad.

Now came the hard part. Sharing the Abyss story. How to begin?

"Well..." Shin started slowly. "All stories have a beginning... some are fantastic, some are sad, some are action-packed and dramatic... some are boring: I woke up." That was it. "That's the story's beginning... and then... hrm..." He strained his mind, trying to recall the memories. They were still a hair sketchy with the later things. "I took a little bit of time figuring out my own strength. Called the police on myself, reporting a missing body... mine... never heard back... broke Abyss's phone on accident... then, I heard Kasumi..." This was hard to piece together. What had happened next? "She was... Jaxon... a girl I'd met once before, at a fight club... the same one I fought that giant dude at... and she was scared... I did my best to cheer her up... she rode out of the sanctuary on my shoulder, and... we rode off to the Full Circle book store on some motorbikes from the garage... I dropped her off."

Kealey listened aptly as Shin started his story, pleased that he’d stopped feeling sorry for her lack of proficiency in chopsticks. Learning things on her own had always brought Kealey unparalleled satisfaction, and this was no exception. As she figured things out, it became easier and easier to eat and the blond got more and more proud of herself. Shin’s story was definitely interesting and Kealey was torn between the urge to laugh at some parts and gape at others. The whole concept was still completely mind blowing to Kealey and again she tried to figure out what it would be like to end up in someone else’s body.

”It sounds like you handled things alright once you figured them out. Did you end up finding yourself? How did you get back to your right body?” she said, one question flowing into another as Kealey’s curiosity on the subject boiled over.

”Again I say, you should be glad you ended up switched with Abyss himself. Some of the other brothers aren’t nearly as even keeled.”

A moment’s more thought on the subject and something occurred to Kealey, something she’d been curious about since their meeting with Luke in the hallway of the mansion.

”So what kind of trouble did Abyss get you in? Besides hitting on random females and permanent body art, that is. Speaking of which…” Kealey trailed off there, looking across the picnic blanket expectantly.

>>”It sounds like you handled things alright once you figured them out. Did you end up finding yourself? How did you get back to your right body?”

"I dunno," Shin shrugged. "After I dropped Jaxon-Kasumi off at Full Circle with swapped Ghost, things kind of get hazy... I stopped by the mansion, and dropped Abyss and Kasumi's motorcycles off in the garage. Shawn babysat me, with a watchful eye. I accidentally broke something... paid out of Abyss's pocket... then, on the way back to Full Circle, something happened..." Shin grimaced, and put a hand to his forehead, trying to recall things. "People were glaring at me, then there was gunfire... I think I was shot at. I ran across rooftops, down fire escapes... then, I met this guy, and... got hit by something hard... I must have gone with him... I dunno. He was the kind of person that could get you to follow him. Kind of goofy, kind of fun... the next thing I remember, I'm waking up somewhere unfamiliar, with barely any memories of the last few hours. I... went back to the Full Circle, and spent the rest of my time with Kasumi. I guess the body swap eventually wore off..."

It was a strange story... he guessed it wasn't as long as he'd thought it was. Shin had skimmed over the rough parts. Dealing with Shawn, stealing motorbikes, Abyss's closet.

Kealey told him he should be glad it had been Abyss, and Shin shrugged. "I dunno..." There was a lot of stuff Abyss had probably done in his body that Shin still didn't know about. It didn't seem like anything else had been out of place when he'd gotten back, but who could tell? It was disconcerting. He could understand how worried Luke had been about potentially having a tattoo. Who knew what else Juka had been up to?

"Abyss hit on Sam's girlfriend... and ran around the mansion as me, with a broken arm... and..."

Kealey brought up the inevitable. Shin played dumb. "And...?"

Kealey shook her head as she took another bite of sushi, then set her chopsticks down. ’You seem to get shot at a lot Shin. I’m not sure I like that very much. No matter what kind of body you’re in.” It was true, the idea of someone taking shots at her boyfriend…with bullets was just unpleasant.

”Partial amnesia too, huh? The whole thing is so strange, and you weren’t the only one. I wonder what the common factor is. Sam never thought it would be a good idea to look into this? What if it happens again.” Kealey shook her head, ”I’ve been trying and I can’t even imagine what it would be like to wake up in a different body. I don’t know what I’d do with myself.” Shin felt…weird about the whole thing, of that Kealey was sure. It was an uncomfortable topic though, and she was glad he felt comfortable talking about it with her.

Shin wasn’t sure when Kealey pointed out that he was lucky he was Abyss and she rose an eyebrow, ”If Venus had ended up in your body…chances are tattoos would have been the last of your worries when you got your body back. He’s…a bit of a lech. Then there’s Mars…he’s a very intense fellow, I think he might have started snapping limbs off if I hadn’t relented the time I met him.” Kealey paused to think, then nodded her head, ”Yes. Abyss was definitely the one you wanted to switch with…though I’m going to have to have words with him for breaking your arm…even if everything healed alright. That was rather irresponsible, how did it happen?”

Shin was playing innocent, and Kealey rose an eyebrow in his direction and grinned, ”You know that doesn’t work on me. Tell me about the tattoo.” He wanted blunt. Well, he got it.

>>’You seem to get shot at a lot Shin. I’m not sure I like that very much. No matter what kind of body you’re in.”

"It's kind of my 'thing'..." Shin replied sheepishly. "But bullets don't stop me. Remember?"

>>”Partial amnesia too, huh? The whole thing is so strange, and you weren’t the only one. I wonder what the common factor is. Sam never thought it would be a good idea to look into this? What if it happens again.”

"Maybe I should bring it up, now that Luke's back. Somehow, I get the feeling it won't happen again, though..." And if it had happened to Kealey. Yeah. It was definitely a strange topic. "Pretty much the only thing I could do in that situation was stick with Kasumi... if it happened again, I'd stick with you." It wasn't cheesy, just honest. That was the best way he knew to get through the situation. It had worked before.

Kealey commented on alternatives, and Shin stared at her. "And... how do you know Venus? Or Mars...?" A lech and an intense guy. Was one of those the one who'd smashed Sam alongside him? And, wait. Kealey thought Abyss had broken his arm? "Hold on. Abyss didn't break my arm." Shin corrected her. "Sam did. Right after I stabbed him with a giant drill of shards, and one of the clones punched him... and his girlfriend shot arrows, and... yeah..." He trailed off. "Big fight. Something about 'future memories' and some crazy thing that made a bunch of mutants go super-powered and insane. I honestly can't explain it. Just... yeah..."

How had that happened again? "It was on the news... after that, Luke went blind. Like, fully. He seems alright now."

As for the tattoo... yeah, he didn't want to bring that up unless she wanted to.

She wanted to. Complete with a raised eyebrow and grinning. "Um. Well." Shin laughed with embarrassment. "You'll never guess where it is... Go ahead. Guess." If she wanted to know, he wasn't going to come out and say it. It just wasn't fun that way. It was like ripping off a bandaid. You had to peel it off slowly, or else the pain would be over in a snap...

”Why can’t your thing be…getting feathers thrown at you or something…” Kealey said, then smiled ruefully and heaved an overdramatic sigh, ”I know, I know…occupational hazard. Just make sure it stays that way.” she added, smile turning slightly more serious. It was true, in Shin’s line of work, there was going to be danger. Kealey stopped for a moment…that was her line of work now too. At least when she wasn’t in school. Yeah, one of the occupational hazards was definitely being shot at.

Shin went on with his story, though, and Kealey had to nod his head at the wisdom of staying close to someone he trusted when everything had gone wrong. ”When things like that happen, the smartest thing you can do is stick with someone you trust undoubtedly. I’d stick with you too.” Kealey took a moment to muse over the thought, ”I wonder what it would be like to be someone else though…even if it was only for a little bit.”

Apparently the broken arm hadn’t happened when Shin was body-switched with Abyss…apparently that had been before. Shin had been at that big fight…the one Kealey had seen part of on TV when she was still staying at Jacen’s. He’d been there too. ”I saw some of that on TV…” Kealey said, it didn’t look like fun." I’m glad Luke ended up alright…and you, of course.”

Shin wanted to know how she knew Venus and Mars and Abyss and it was Kealey’s turn to hmmm thoughtfully. ”That would mean it’s my turn to put on story time…and it’s not the prettiest story ever.” she warned. It wasn’t…certain parts would most definitely be awkward to say the least.

Speaking of awkward, Shin didn’t seem to want to be completely forthcoming about his tattoo and Kealey tilted her head and peered at him. Did he really want her to guess. ”I’m just going to leave it to my imagination, since you don’t seem to want to say.” she said with a sly grin, ”and I’ve got a pretty good imagination.”

>>”I know, I know…occupational hazard. Just make sure it stays that way.”

"Count on it." Shin met serious with serious. "And the same goes for you." He added. He didn't want her getting hurt.

He let her muse about being a different person. It'd be interesting... but he definitely wouldn't want something like that to be permanent. Kealey was Kealey, after all. He liked the whole package. Even the difficult things.

And that right there was sentimental.

The Venus comment replaced it with questions. Questions Kealey didn't want to answer yet, because it was still Shin-story time. Hmmmm... "After we're done sharing my stuff?" He asked. He was curious, even if it wasn't the prettiest story. He sure knew his Abyss tale wasn't, all romanticizing aside.

Shin met her sly grin with a mischievous smirk and a joking laugh. "Heeeey. What exactly are you imagining?"