Disclaimer: Nope, I'm just borrowing.
A/N: I was working on a Kuki POV chapter of 'Fateful,' when this idea popped up. I know the S.L.U.M.B.E.R. episode is pretty old, but this has been kicking around in my head for a while. And no, the dialogue from the episode is not exact.
She had never thought about it before that night, but now it was a silent lurker in her mind, popping to the forefront in her unguarded moments.
"Do you like… Numbuh Four?"
"Of course I like him, we're in the same unit!"
Hadn't that been the obvious answer? In some ways it still was. Of course she liked Numbuh Four. But…
"No, do you… like like him?"
"Like…like like?"
"Mm-hm!"
"I… uh…"
She still didn't know what else she could have said.
Like. Like-like. Jeez, what did that mean anyway? Alright, she knew what it meant. Every girl knew that. But what she didn't know was whether it was a term that could be applied to her. Specifically, to her and Wally.
"Do you…? Do you?"
Obviously he was her friend. Maybe he was her best friend (next to Mr. Huggykins and Snugglebottom). Would she like it if he cuddled with her? If he took her out to La Ball Au Shane? If he… kissed her?
No, Numbuh Four would never do any of those things! He didn't like girls. He couldn't like like her.
"Do you?"
He couldn't like like her the way she… maybe possibly… probably like liked him.
She shook her head. Why think about it now, when she could be having a tea party instead? She was too young for that stuff anyway.
But still…
"Do you…?"
A/N: Although there has been evidence that Kuki wants a boyfriend (the Lizzie episode), I think she seemed confused for the most part when confronted with the question of liking Numbuh Four as more than just a friend. Oh, well, this is just my interpretation of her reaction.
NOTE: La Ball Au Shane is the restaurant that Nigel took Lizzie to in the episode with the boyfriend helmet. Kuki said that she would like to go there if she had a boyfriend, so I slipped it in ;)