Kealey thought more about what Shin had shown her. Sometimes it was neat to be different. Neat to show off the special things they could do. The things Shin could do. All those things made simply with his mind. Speaking of minds, hers was starting to hit that slightly fuzzed state that indicated that more than one glass of wine had been consumed. Lovely. She smiled.

They changed the subject, and instead of showing off more Shin told Kealey she could show off too. She smiled some more. She always got to show off her clothing talents. Shin had his jacket, didn’t he? And every time they saw the X-Men in action her work was on display. Then there had been the dress for the Mansion dance that summer…and several other things. Nobody ever wanted to see her show off her powers. It was too uncomfortable.

She nodded her head though, ”I’ll keep that in mind, but remember you offered! By the time all this is over, you won’t want to see me in another stitch that I’ve sewn.”

It was true…she made a lot of clothes. Anyone would get bored after a while.

Shin asked how much wine was left and Kealey hefted the bottle, tipping it to fill his glass, then look at the bottle.

”Little less than half.” was the response, then she looked at Shin thoughtfully for a few moments.

”Though….” she said, taking a sip, ”I could show off my powers too…you know. I do more than clothes.”

>> ”I’ll keep that in mind, but remember you offered! By the time all this is over, you won’t want to see me in another stitch that I’ve sewn.”

"I am fine with you without a stitch~" Shin snuck in a 'comment' behind a subtle smirk.

Was he getting a bit fresh now? Maybe the wine was working. Heh. Or maybe not... How much was left of it? He asked.

Less than half. He sipped his refilled cup carefully. It seemed they'd have to make this last.

Kealey made a suggestion casually, taking a sip. "That's true," Shin replied, still feeling just a little bit cheeky. He tried to consider her suggestion seriously though, tilting his head to look at her thoughtfully. "I suppose you could. I'd be willing to let you practice on me."

Shin was being cheeky. Kealey just grinned back and wagged an admonishing finger, ”That, I believe sir. But…you might just get sick of all the stitches.”

She could feel it, the subtle relaxation rolling through Shin as time passed. Kealey knew that it was probably the wine, and that some of what had bothered him would come back as it wore off. For now, though, they were simply going to play a little bit. Play and drink wine.

Kealey pointed out that she could show off too, and Shin pointed out that he wouldn’t mind playing the training mannequin. She took a slightly bigger gulp of her drink and then set down the glass, studying Shin for a few moments. That hadn’t been exactly what she’d meant…but the idea had merit.

”Are you sure?” Kealey said, mind drifting back to the few times she’d actually used her powers on Shin. Both times had ended oddly. She was kind of excited though, the concept was interesting. There hadn’t ever been anyone willing to simply let her play around inside their head before.

”You know it’s strange, right? The way it feels? Once I start messing around, you won’t be able to fight it.” she paused, the warm fuzzy wine glow making her smile again.

”I’m not trying to scare you…just trying to make sure you know. You’d really let me try?”

>>”That, I believe sir. But…you might just get sick of all the stitches.”

Shin only grinned.

He made the offer. Kealey studied his face. "Are you sure?" She asked. He nodded.

"You have my permission."

>>”You know it’s strange, right? The way it feels? Once I start messing around, you won’t be able to fight it.”

"I am fine with that," Shin replied.

"I trust you," He finished, after she'd said her part. He set his drink down in a safe place, then looked around her room. "Where should I sit?"

He was fine with it, he trusted her, where was he supposed to sit? All those answers made Kealey about a hundred times warmer than the wine. Even when he was having his own problems, he knew the exact right things to say and do to make her feel like a million bucks. "I love you." she said, just to punctuate the point...even if Shin didn't know what it was.

She looked for a comfortable, safe place for him to sit. Kealey didn’t know exactly what was going to happen, she’d never tried anything like this before. She jerked her head towards the bed.

”Sit there. I don’t know if I could actually make you fall over or anything…but just in case…” she realized she wasn’t necessarily doing a great job of instilling confidence in her abilities, but the fact was that they needed to be safe.

”Now, once your sitting…I don’t want you to think. I just want you to feel.”

"I love you too," Shin smiled.

Kealey suggested the bed. Shin's mouth curved slightly like a '3'. "Alright," he replied, making his way over to the bed. He plopped down amid the plushies and made it his home. Shin leaned against her wall, resting a Shin plushie on his lap, and looked at her.

"No thinking?" He asked. "I'll try..."

He sat and focused. Focused on not thinking.

"You know, the hard part about thinking about not thinking is... it's hard not to think about it..." He commented idly after a minute. Really, his mind kept drumming up the most inane of thoughts. Nothing evoked any emotional responses. The main thing was the focus, and the focus on removing the focus, to focus on the void... too much focusing... yet, absolutely none at all. Every now and then, a funny thought popped up to interrupt him. The comment had been one of 'those' interruptions. Those ones amused him. It really was hard focusing on not focusing, wasn't it?

Shin redoubled his efforts and tried again.

He pictured a blank slate. Then, he fanned his mouth in a yawn. The Shin plushie flopped off his lap to land face-first on the bed.

Did wine make people sleepy? Maybe he'd focus on that...

He plopped onto the bed, as instructed, and Kealey had to shake her head and laugh a little at the way he arranged the plushies. Shin with a Shin-plushie on his lap was almost too much to handle, and Kealey just watched him for a moment, shaking her head slowly as he got comfortable.

He focused, and Kealey almost laughed again. While he tried, Kealey grabbed her desk chair and swung it around, sitting so she could look Shin straight in the eyes. He tried to focus…she focused.

Concentration was paramount, and a bit of emotional exhaustion. Kealey’s brow furrowed slightly as she continued to stare intently, neither of those were things that she necessarily wanted to make worse. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, she could get rid of that part.

It was a delicate matter, they weren’t working on full-scale wiping here, and Kealey started slowly at first. Away went the emotional exhaustion, along with anything else that may have been lingering from what had happened before. It was as temporary as the wine, but he’d feel better for now.

Shin was comfortable, and as he sat there, amused and happy emotions flickered through his mind. That was something Kealey could work with. The next time one floated through, she grabbed it….and up it went. Slowly but surely.

Needless to say, happy Shin would definitely be happy.

He wasn't tired anymore. It was a bit like imbibing a heck of a lot of caffeine, only without the buzz. He was simply awake, alert of everything in the room. His eyes opened a bit wider. His triangular pupils dilated. He felt better, yeah... and also, amused.

As the happiness and elation cranked up, the smile spread like wildfire across his face. It caught. He scooped up the Shin plushie again and spun it end over end in his hands as he grinned at Kealey. "Whatever you're doing, it's working." Shin stated, just a bit high on emotion. "Don't stop."

The Shin plushie came down on the mattress to sit next to Shin. Shin crossed its little plush arms and bowed its head sagely. It was ridiculous how good he felt. He had to be serious, in Shin's absence.

Happy Shin was…happy. Kealey couldn’t help a responding grin from spreading across her features when the emotions started to kick in. He looked so much better than he had a few minutes ago. Something tugged at Kealey’s conscience though. It was a fake emotional high, not really any way to deal with problems.

Shin told her not to stop what she was doing, and fiddled with the plushie for a few moments. It was now crossing its arms. Part of Kealey wanted to stop the whole thing, and wondered why she’d thought this was a good idea. This unnatural happy was making her uncomfortable. Shin really didn’t seem to mind though…not at all. Most of the misgivings she had went away.

”It’s kind of neat isn’t it?” she said, still focusing so the happy wasn’t fluctuating, ”I get the spillover too…so you feeling that way makes me feel that way.” It really did, why had she been worried again.

She took a closer look at the happy. It was actually a conglomeration of several other, more subtle feelings. Had she always been able to pick those out?

”It’s so strange…messing with something I can’t see or touch…but I still know it’s there. For example? You’re not laughing right now…but I think if I said something funny…this would happen.” she tweaked a couple of emotions, hoping for the appropriate response. If not…well, this was practice.

>> ”It’s kind of neat isn’t it?” I get the spillover too…so you feeling that way makes me feel that way.”

"Good," Shin replied cheerily. There was nothing about him making her feel happy he didn't like. The plushie saluted Kealey. Shin made it wave. This wasn't bad at all. It was actually kind of fun.

Her next comment made him look up uncertainly. He was still amused. It was a happy uncertainty. "Heh? What do you mean?" The plushie did a backflip. It took the brunt of Kealey's meddlings, absorbing all of Shin's amusement and attention. He dropped his eyes to look at it, then held it up at Kealey, Shin-arm pointed boldly. "Heheh. Don't know why you don't just try and tell a joke to make me giggle. See? Shin Jr. is even calling you out on it~ He's saying 'learn to manipulate emotions on a more creative scale'," She made the plushie pout, and did a deep voice when it talked. "Maybe think outside the box for something you want to accomplish?" Shin grinned.

” "Heh? What do you mean?" “

A blond head tilted for a moment, trying to piece together exactly what it was Shin was asking her about. She assumed it was what she’d said about the emotions.

”I can’t see the emotions…or touch them…I can’t even name some of them, or the more subtle things that make them up. I can still change them though.”

She explained, but more and more she got distracted by Shin’s antics with the plushie. Apparently her tweaking hadn’t done exactly what she’d hoped. A few more moments and Kealey couldn’t help it, she started laughing. That wasn’t how this was supposed to be working! She was supposed to be the one manipulating emotions! Shin was simply too good at what he was doing though, and when he made the little doll speak, she dissolved into giggles.

There was no way this was going to keep going. Kealey turned and grabbed her glass, taking another drink as she released her hold on Shin’s emotions. The false high would last as long as the mood persisted, but she wasn’t doing anything to hold it now.

”This might be something to play with another time.” she said with a grin, still watching the little plushie show that was going on. ”And how would Mr. Plushie-head go about this grand idea of his? This, ‘thinking outside the box‘. ” she asked curiously, then looked at the ceiling for a moment as she thought.

”I’m not even sure I know any jokes outside of the chicken crossing the road.”

Kealey laughed. Shin grinned. She asked him what he meant. Shin thought for a second.

"You know, I don't really know how your power works, actually. Just that you feel emotions, and you can affect them. Heh. You should probably tell me how your power works if I'm gonna give you tips on how to think outside the box with it."

The plushie sat on Shin's head as he said this. That was a prime seating location, up there.

Shin's emotions weren't being held down by any Kealeys right now. He was happy, he was calm. Truth be told, it was less-so done by her powers, more done by her proximity. It wasn't going to go away any time soon. Shin didn't know how to word that, and he didn't know how Kealey's powers worked exactly. If he had, he might have been able to share that tidbit as an example of how she manipulated emotions without forcefully doing anything.

But he didn't, so he didn't, and the words went unsaid. He only smiled at her, pleased with where he was sitting and who he was sitting with. The plushie lost its balance and fell to his lap, end over end. Shin's eyes dropped to the stuffed Shin.

"Whoops."

The plushie balanced on Shin's head and Kealey grinned, wondering just how much she'd managed to do to Shin's emotions. She'd loosed her hold, but they weren't changing at all. The plushie took a nose dive off his head and Kelaey actually laughed when Shin said whoops.

"Now, how is he going to guard my bed if you beat him up every time you're in here?" she said, voice full of humor as she worked her mind around Shin's question.

Kealey tilted her head and gave Shin a considering look. He said he didn’t know exactly how her powers worked. The blond frowned, trying to work it out. How did she explain it? A few more moments thought, and she had it.

Leaning forward, Kealey sat down her wine and rested her forearms on her knees like she had earlier, looking Shin in the eyes. ”That’s pretty much what it’s like.” she said. ”Right now, I focus on you and it’s like I’m in a warm bath of happy. That’s almost always how it is with you, and most of the time it’s almost not like feeling someone else anymore...I didn’t know that could happen.” she added with a smile. How could she make it more clear?

”Think about how you feel, right now.” she continued, ”Then double it…whether you want to or not. That’s how I feel, all the time. It’s not always so nice though…if I’m happy, and someone else isn't…I feel their sad, or their angry....everything. If there's more than one person, I feel more than one set of emotions. Sometimes it's a lot. Sometimes...it's amazing. ”

She was still happy, but a little more intense. Suddenly it had become so important for Shin to understand. ”As for the other…how I can change things. If I think about what I feel…I can push it…kind of like those sound systems…with all the sliders? I can move the sliders on each emotion up or down. “ she smiled, pleased with her description.

”If there’s no slider though…I can’t move it. The emotion has to already be there.”

>>"Now, how is he going to guard my bed if you beat him up every time you're in here?"

"Getting rid of the competition," Shin smirked. He waited a second, then added with a laugh. "You know, we can make more of him. Multiple outfits. An army of Shin."

All joking ceased as the warm and fuzzies began. Shin smiled at Kealey as she described how it felt to be around him. Was it really that pleasant? He wanted to say 'me too', but he let her finish what she was saying. Some of it sounded good, and some of it sounded hard. He understood that side of her mutations well enough. He'd thought it before, and he'd think it again. Kealey was amazing. In more ways than one. He nodded slightly, still smiling in understanding. She was opening up to him about it, and he was doing his best to get everything she told him down in his happy-addled brain.

Kealey was amazing. Kealey = amazing, she felt lots of emotions, but she could still handle her own. Sometimes, it was hard. Sometimes, it was amazing. They needed to aim for more amazing. And when she felt those emotions, if she focused on what was there, she could intensify or weaken it... but only if it was there.

"I see," Shin said softly. "So, only if it's there. Well then, that's the thing to do to think outside the box, isn't it?" He smiled at her. "Make it there. You don't need your powers. Sometimes, you just need to be clever."

Kealey laughed and shook her head when Shin pointed out that he was simply eliminating the competition. Then he contradicted his comment by pointing out the fact that they could make a whole army of plushies. Kealey merely grinned, ”We can do that…but I think I’d rather have the real thing.” she said sweetly.

While she explained, Shin listened raptly. He’d always had a way of making her feel like she was the only person in the room, and Kealey realized it was because he really listened when she spoke. Was that such a rare thing? She didn’t know, and she was too busy floating in a lake of happy infused with a fair amount of wine. For a while, she just stared, and then she breathed in and exhaled in a happy sigh.

For a moment, she wasn’t even sure what Shin meant when he spoke. Thinking outside the box. Oh! Her power. Shin was suggesting that she needed to make the emotions be there if they weren’t already. She frowned.

”How can I do that?” she asked.