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He felt everything…two ways…but Kealey was only feeling it one. She nodded her head and complied with the cat’s request, scratching behind its left ear and wondering what it would be like to have a pet like this.

”I only feel it one way.” she decided triumphantly. ” Apparently a shifter’s shifted forms are immune to my powers.”

Shin spoke again and Kealey listened with interest, he seemed to be familiar with Calley, or someone a lot like him who could heal, who saved people and rode unicorns.

Blink, blink. Unicorns?

Kealey opened her mouth to comment on that one, but Calley interjected before she had a chance

Apparently he had a brother.

”Oh, you have a brother.” the blond said, still scratching behind ears that demanded to be scratched simply by virtue of their existence.

”Does he go to school here too?”

Rooted to the spot. Too scared to move. Kealey couldn’t have described the feeling if she’d tried because at the same time she was so terrified, so panicked, she was probably more frustrated than she could remember being in recent history. It was so angering to be so helpless. At least, the blond supposed, she knew what her own feelings were underneath everything she was getting from the crowd. That seemed to be getting easier, even if the other emotions were still constantly there. Practice made perfect, but it didn’t help the situation here.

Shin moved into her line of sight and Kealey stared back at him as he put his hands on her shoulders, trying so hard to just focus on him like they’d practiced. The proximity helped, Shin told her to stay calm and he was concerned, and determined, and a little frightened, and then he was kissing her….

Well. That made it easier to concentrate on him.

For a moment, Kealey forgot everything else. She was blinking when he pulled away, trying to get her head sorted out when he pressed a cell phone into her hand and told her to call the police. The blond nodded her head as the other emotions started creeping back in and looked down at the phone, quickly dialing the Police.

The shards started to appear and Kealey just stared as they formed around her in a solid little box. There was only one question on the blonde’s mind, though. Why was Shin on the other side? Oh right, X-Man, honorary NYPD, this was what he did. Kealey was worried for him, though, but she trusted that he knew what he was doing.

The dispatcher answered and Kealey quickly rattled off the details Shin had instructed her to give, then ended the call despite the woman’s suggestion that she stay on the line. Shin was walking towards the gun fight, with his badge out, instructing them to put down their guns.

It was the first time Kealey had seen Shin act in any sort of official capacity, and she was impressed…until a bullet ricocheted off the shield he’d made himself. Someone had shot at him? That hadn’t just happened…but it had. Not okay. Not okay at all. If he hadn’t had that shield…before she’d been scared and confused. Now she was scared and angry. Two very different things.

Up Kealey went to her knees, settling back on her heels and staring at the group by the lake. Two broke off towards Shin and Kealey stared at them through the solid wall of shards. She could feel them now, all of them, all their emotions sealed into little pockets of individuality, the anger, the adrenaline. She used it, bringing their feelings into sharp focus, each and every one of them.

Then. In the blink of an eye, they were gone. It wasn’t something Kealey usually liked to do, but she knew what kind of effect it had on people. The two thugs running at Shin slowed, then stopped, simply standing in the grass with their arms at their sides.

The others, who were further away, slowed as well, guns lowering as they lost all motivation to use them. It was a lot, and it was hard work holding all of that down when it had been so violently strong a moment ago. Their adrenaline had helped, now without it, Kealey didn’t know how long she could hold on.

”Hurry!” she yelled, wincing slightly at the echo of the sound and wondering if it would carry at all. What she wanted Shin to hurry with, she had no clue…but it needed to be something.

So sad. Kealey frowned as she walked, wondering if the other women even knew how sad she was. There was a little bit of hope there too, though and Kealey resisted the urge to amp it up. Meld was so suspicious, Kealey didn’t want to do anything to hurt the tenuous pleasantry that had sprung up between them. The blond was naïve, but she wasn’t stupid and more and more she was getting the impression that Meld knew these things first hand.

The darker-haired woman agreed that violence did indeed change people, and Kealey nodded her head at the certainty in her voice and her emotions. There was something else that tickled at Kealey’s mind, a mild flash of…contempt when she’d pointed out that humans weren’t meant to hurt each other that way. She didn’t comment, and again she felt the desperate need to keep a hold on this acquaintance, to improve it.

Meld questioned how Kealey knew the way violence changed people, and it was the blonde’s turn to sharpen slightly. Who was Meld to question her convictions and knowledge? Kealey realized she was mirroring the other woman’s defensiveness and shook her head, taking a deep breath.

”I know because I can feel it.” she said, turning her head to look at Meld as they walked. ”It’s not an emotion so much as several together, but they’re still there.”

It was a difficult thing to explain to someone who didn’t know first hand, and Kealey struggled with her thoughts to organize them in a way that Meld would be able to understand.

”I don’t know long term…but I know how destructive the force is. I know what just thinking about those things does to a person’s psyche. I read somewhere once that the moment you stop hating a weapon is the moment you should get rid of it.”

Kealey shrugged as they walked, ”I don’t need to know first hand, because I see it and feel it all the time. People do bad things to each other…but it doesn’t help any of the parties involved.”

Kealey realized she’d been monologue a little and stopped talking with a shake of her head and a rueful chuckle, ”I’m sorry…I should be rambling. I also do know, first hand, what violence on a grand scale can do to a child. I hope I haven’t put you off…”

(Continued for Kealey in Thinking Things Through )

So suspicious. Kealey studied the woman more closely as she offered a hand and the blond took it. It had been a long time since something like physically manifesting mutations had surprised Kealey in any way and there was no hesitation in her actions. ”Nice to meet you again.” she replied, hoping the suspicion was simply from being in strange place and not the result of any actions she’d taken.

Meld explained that the little girl’s name was Kaitlyn and that her powers had a tendency to cause things to explode. Kealey’s heart immediately went out to the little girl and as she let herself and Meld through the gates she studied the woman thoughtfully.

”Are you thinking of getting her enrolled here? The mansion is equipped incredibly well to help young mutants learn to control their powers in an environment where misunderstandings are kept to a minimum.” It was the truth, the world was a big, scary place full of big, scary people. Powers like this Kaitlyn’s which could potentially be considered overtly dangerous had a tendency to cause a lot of misunderstandings.

”It would be such a shame for her to grow up thinking there was something wrong with her, or to accidentally hurt someone.”

Long walks were something Kealey had taken a definite liking to. Sometimes she borrowed Thor from Shin so that she had some company, but most of the time she just liked to walk alone. The grounds of the Mansion were expansive, and there were times when she almost felt alone in her head. Even the more isolated location of the School was too urban for complete silence to be reality though, and Kealey was used to sudden interruptions of her thoughts while she walked. Today was no exception.

Her walk had been even longer than usual, and Kealey had found herself outside the boundaries of the Mansion’s property. It was interesting how that happened when one’s mind was occupied with other thoughts, and Kealey had just been making her way back towards the front gates when the most peculiar set of emotions beset her.

Whoever was feeling them was definitely conflicted, a bubbling cauldron of emotions, toiling and troubling its way through existence. Desire and regret, need and fear, determination and confusion, all mixed together. It was nearly enough to make the empath’s head spin a little. Whoever was feeling all of that definitely had a lot on their mind. Maybe they were a new student, or an old student who’d gotten themselves in some kind of trouble. Kealey’s mind drifted back to Calley and her brows drew together. It wasn’t exactly like that. There were violent feelings here, barely suppressed in fact, but they weren’t as out of control as the animal shifter’s had been.

Kealey wandered, searching for the source, and found it in the form of a vaguely familiar woman approaching the gates from the street. The woman walked up, and Kealey could feel the mild recognition from her end as well.

”Hello.” she said, head tilting slightly to the side in her signature indication of mild confusion. ”Can I help you with something?”

Shin said that he thought everything was fine. Kealey nodded her head, he was mildly amused, and she was a little confused. Shin pointed out the stage and Kealey ’ohhh’d’ in understand just a little bit sheepishly. She was a bit prone to paranoia in crowds, though, so she didn’t dwell on it for too long. After all, if someone really had been hurting that poor creature, she’d have been ready to leap to its defense.

Shin suggested that maybe there’d be a knight and Kealey couldn’t help but laugh a little, ”Maybe if there is, you can get some ideas for the joints in your shard armor. I’m not sure traditional seams are going to work….”

Kealey moved with Shin as he grabbed her hand and he searched for the best place for them to sit. The blond had never seen a play in a park before and the children really did look like they were having a good time. Down she sank onto the ground next to Shin, leaning slightly against his side and already absorbed in what was happening on stage.

The dragon who had been on the stage suddenly leaped back to its feet and Kealey found herself giggling with the shared delight of the mob of children as they feigned terror and huddled on the far side of the stage.

The dragon really was quite good.

Out came a knight and Kealey grinned, the child, while seemingly older than the others was still young enough to be nearly bursting with confidence at his role. He waved his sword and declared his intentions towards the hapless reptile. As sorry as Kealey felt for the dragon, she clapped for the young Sir Knight.

The boy’s vorpal blade went snicker-snack, and while he was denied the pleasure of galumphing back with a head to proudly display, the dragon stumbled off stage.

The scene change ensued and Kealey turned her head to smile at Shin, ”This is lovely. Do they do things like this often in the park?” She didn’t know if Shin would know the answer, but it was still a question worth posing. A series of pops rang out in the park and Kealey was among the people who turned their heads to look for the source. Nothing stood out. Kealey focused her powers in that direction but didn’t find anything incredibly out of the ordinary when there were large crowds around.

”Huh.” Kealey stated, ”That was odd.”

The scene had changed now, and a young princess completely decked out in princess gear was flouncing around stage and trying to pretend like she wanted to ignore the young Knight as he tried desperately to impress her. Kealey awww’d and went back to watching, trying to ignore the nagging feeling of unease that was stuck in the back of her mind.