I Will Follow You Into the Dark

He smiled at her, bright as the sun, before eating up the food. When he was done, which was much quicker than it should have been, he toddled over to her with the plate... and a kiwi.

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"Why, hello," Lulu said, kneeling down again to take the plate. "Is that for me?" she added, looking to the kiwi.

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He nodded and gave her a bright smile before lifting up his arms.

The kiwi smelled of chocolate as well as kiwi.

"For Mommy!"

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Mommy. Oh. It was going to be one of those weekends.

"Thank you!" she said, smiling and taking the kiwi from him. "I'll have this with my breakfast, I think." She noticed the chocolate aroma coming from the kiwi, and began to wonder. "Can you tell Mommy your name?"

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He nodded but bounced on his toes. Why wasn't she lifting him up? Was Mommy mad at him?

"Bell."

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"That's wonderful, Bell! And can you tell me Mommy's name? And Daddy's name?" She noticed the bouncing, and scooped him up into her arms.

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He gave a silent giggle before he cuddled right up to her like he'd never left.

"Mommy's name is Lulu. Daddy's name is Liir."

He fluttered his fingers.

"Magic."

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Liir. Good and merciful Heavens.

"Magic, indeed," Lulu said, softly. She had no idea how she was going to bring this up to her favorite student. Still, he did feel very nice, almost natural, snuggled up to her in this manner. "Would you like any more breakfast, Bell?" she asked. "Or perhaps some juice?"

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He shook his head and smiled as he leaned against against her.

"Love you, Mommy."

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"And I, you, Bell," she replied. Perhaps she didn't love him yet, but if she was any judge, she must love him in the future, for he was very clearly loved, when and whence he came.

She really should call Liir.

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The little boy smiled once more before, quite content and full of good food... he decided to doze off.

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Well. That was unexpected.

Lulu continued to bustle around the kitchen, holding Bell against her.

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There was a very quiet, but very quick knock on the door.

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"Come in!" Lulu called. She rather thought she recognised that knock.

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Liir slipped through and closed the door behind him. His mouth opened to say something when he saw that there was a small boy in Lulu's arms.

He looked... natural there. And happy. Comfortable. Peaceful. He was all the more glad he hadn't been loud.

"I see you have one of your own," he said carefully.

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Lulu smiled, nodding. "You have another?" she asked, unconcerned with volume. There were Joanne and Jean-Luc in the other room, after all, and she'd been working in the kitchen. She didn't think Bell was likely to wake up any time soon. "This is Bell," she added. "He's, ah." She paused. "Ours, I believe."

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He leaned against a convenient wall.

"And he's... not green."

He recalled what he'd told Inoue earlier, that he wasn't green because he was a boy. Apparently, it seemed to be gender-related.

"Ours?"

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"No," Lulu said, "but now that you mention it, his eyes are rather similar to your own."

She smiled softly, chuckling internally. "And yes, ours. At the very least, he claims that I am his mother and you are his father. And he made me a kiwi." She gestured to the countertop with her free hand. "It smells of chocolate."

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He actually blushed.

"A chocolate kiwi?"

...it certainly sounded like him. Er.

He stepped forward, slowly and carefully, and looked at the boy.

"He looks much like you," he said quietly as he squatted down to look at the child. "What's he like, if you don't mind me asking?"

He wasn't green. His daughter was green. His daughter was green.

"My daughter is green," slipped out thoughtlessly.

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"It seems, then," Lulu said, "that the green trait expresses itself differently depending on gender -- green skin in the females, green eyes in the males." She smiled. "He is... very young, yet. Quiet, and polite. He came right into the apartment and sat under the table, amusing himself until I noticed him."

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"Yes," he said to the first.

He shook the rest of it off. He didn't want to think on it. Not right now.

"I'm glad he didn't give you any trouble."

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"None at all," Lulu said. "He ate some breakfast, and then made me the kiwi, and since then he's been asleep." She considered. "I should probably put him down at some point."

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"Probably," he said with a small, faint smile. "Will you need help with him? Only... if he's mine, I don't want to shirk my responsibilities."

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"If you'd like to spend time with him," Lulu said, "then you're more than welcome to stay a while. And... I'd appreciate it, if you could offer some help, yes. I've another child arrived, with Jean-Paul, and he has another young girl of his own. It's... a bit of a full house today."

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