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Ken heard it. "Talk to me, baby." he whispered. "Tell me about this jewel, and why you think it'll cause you to go crazy." he requested. He wanted to know all about it, so that, if by some rare chance it did happen to her, he could help her.

"You're not going to leave this world." Ken assured her after she spoke. He reached up and put a hand on her cheek, and moved her head to look up at him. He looked right into her eyes. "Got that?" he said with a small smile. "You and I are going to grow old together, alright? When you leave this world, you're going to leave it at a ripe old age, after having made this village the best it can be." he assured her. "What can this jewel possibly do to stop that from happening? It's just a jewel." he said, not knowing the power behind it.

Ken closed his eyes and shifted his arms a little so they were around her stomach. "Even if it does do something...it won't hurt you." he promised in a soft voice. "You're strong...much stronger than me. You can fight against it if, by some impossible chance it did do something bad to you. And I'll always be there when you need me, you know that...always there to help." he said. He opened his eyes. "That being said, it won't do anything bad, I'm sure of it. It was probably something else that affected Ukiyo."

Ken smiled softly. She had calmed down at least. "I am right. Remember what I said about strength?" he asked. He had told her once that she was only as strong as she believed she was: if she thought she was weak, then she would be.
"It applies here...if you believe nothing will happen, then nothing will. If you dwell on it, you might get sick from the stress, and you'll blame it on the jewel, which will just cause a horrible downward spiral. So cheer up a little...give me a little smile, and tell me, confidently, that nothing will happen." he said.

Ken smiled down at her, listening to the words she said. "There you go. That's the spirit." he said. He brushed some hair out of her face and behind her ear, then gave her a quick kiss on the tip of her nose, smiling warmly down at her. The more a person obsessed over a bad thing, the worse it got, and usually it happened. So, if she was confident about it, as she seemed to be, she'd be fine.
After a moment, he spoke. "You know...I've been meaning to ask you...how did you know Ukiyo was injured like that, in the hospital?" he asked. She had left the bed rather quickly, and gone immediately there, or so it seemed to him.

Aoi? Ken frowned...he'd sworn he'd locked the gates to the compound to make sure no one interrupted them. Maybe he'd been mistaken.
"No, I didn't...I must have been so amazed by what just happened I was kind of out of it." he half-teased with a smile. He had been on that point between falling asleep and still being awake, and her getting out of the bed quickly had woken him up properly.

"Huh." Ken said, shrugging. He didn't remember saying they were going to his house around Aoi. Oh well. Maybe his mind was playing tricks with him again.
"Well...eh, no matter. I was just curious, that's all." he said. He kissed her on the cheek with a smile. "You gotta stop running off on me without telling me like that." he teased. He knew they'd have to stop cuddling here soon enough and find that boy again, but for now...this was nice.

Ken chuckled. "I'm just teasin' ya." he said, smiling at her as she stood up. She thought aloud, and guessing the subject of the thought being the boy, he nodded. "Kid's a dumbass if he doesn't find any food or water first." he said. The kid looked like he was at death's door when he arrived, and Ken hadn't payed him too much attention...until he ran out of the room and dropped a note. "I wonder why he didn't stick around and let us get some for him." he wondered. Maybe he was afraid of...what? That was what Ken couldn't figure out.