"Why hello, hello, hello!" Shinigami-sama hopped towards the two as they entered the Death Room. "How's it going, Spirit-kun? And is this little Franken-bō?" Large white hands unfurled from the things sides and Franken took a hesitant step back.
"Franken, say hello to Shinigami-sama." Spirit said warmly, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders.
"Hello." To his credit, Franken didn't flinch when those oversized hands ruffled his hair.
"I've heard so much about you from Spirit-kun! It's great to actually meet you!" Shinigami-sama hopped over to a table that appeared and picked up a plate, holding it out to Franken.
Franken looked up at Spirit, who just nodded. The boy cautiously advanced, looking at the contents of the plate. There were cookies of all types piled on it, and Franken's face broke into a wide grin as he took one.
"You can have more than one." Shinigami-sama said kindly.
"Mama says one at a time or you're being greedy." Franken said as he took a bite of his cookie. "And if I'm greedy, Izzy gets all my cookies."
Shinigami-sama looked up at Spirit, "That would be your daughter, yes?" Spirit nodded.
"Izzy's my sister!" Franken said suddenly, turning to look at them.
"Yes, she is. She's rather fond of you, isn't she Franken?" Spirit asked.
The boy grinned. "She calls me Fray! No one else does, so it must be because she likes me a lot!"
Shinigami-sama laughed. "So, could I call you Fray?"
"No."
Shinigami-sama tilted his head to the side and looked at the boy. "Why not?"
"Because you don't know me, and I shouldn't even be talking to you because Mama says not to talk to strangers, but Daddy said that I could talk to you, because you were special. But I still don't know you and only Izzy gets to call me Fray." Franken sounded like he was explaining something incredibly simple to understand to someone who couldn't be made to understand.
He sounded a lot like Stein.
A smile flitted across his face immediately afterwards and he looked at the plate, a mischievous smile crossing his face as he looked sideways at his father. "I might let you if I can have another cookie though."
Both adults burst out laughing. Franken grabbed a cookie off the plate as Shinigami-sama held it out to him, taking small bites of it, cautious of crumbs.
"Spirit here tells me that you can see people's souls, Franken." Shinigami-sama said offhandedly.
"The circles around people?"
"Yes, those are people's souls."
Franken stared at Shinigami-sama for a second, his forehead furrowing. "Then why don't you have one?"
Shinigami-sama's mask changed into what was obviously a smile. "I do, Franken, it's just so large that you can't see it because you're standing inside it. It surrounds all of Death City."
The boy looked up into the sky, his cookie forgotten. "Why is it so big?"
"Because I'm not a normal person, I'm a grim reaper." Shinigami-sama said quietly.
"Then you can bring people back to life? Cause if you're a grim reaper they get to choose who lives and dies, right? And Daddy said that he had a friend that died way back before I was born that I was named after, but no one called Franken except my Mama and everyone was sad when he died." Franken's eyes were wide when he looked back at Shinigami-sama. "You could make them all happy again!"
Spirit looked shocked, but Shinigami-sama answered smoothly, "I can't break the rules, Franken. If someone dies, then they have to stay dead."
"But you could if you really wanted to. Daddy said that rules were meant to be broken once. I don't think he knew I was listening to him when he did though. He and Mama were playing a game." Spirit's face turned beat red and Shinigami-sama suppressed the urge to laugh as Franken smiled.
"I can't, Franken, even if I wanted to."
The boy huffed, obviously unsatisfied with the answer. "Alright," he said as he looked around the room. "If you can't though, why do you keep all of the souls in the ground?"
"Because I speak with them sometimes. Being dead is a lonely existence for those who refuse to move on."
"Has Daddy and Mama's friend moved on?" Franken asked, stepping down and amid the crosses.
Shinigami-sama turned to look at Spirit for a moment, and found that the death scythe was obviously interested in the answer as well. Taking a deep breath, Shinigami-sama answered truthfully, "I'm afraid that their friend hasn't."
"Why not?" Franken was moving further and further out and amid the rows of crosses.
"Franken, come back up here." Spirit said.
"Let him go, Spirit." Shinigami-sama said quietly before answering the boy, "I believe that he hasn't because he is worried about your Mama and Daddy."
The boy stood from where he had knelt beside one of the crosses and said proudly, "I'm going to protect them, so he doesn't have to worry about them anymore. Mama said he was very brave, and since I'm named after him, I'm going to be brave too."
Spirit smiled as Franken came back up onto the platform. He ruffled the boy's hair and picked him up, letting him sit on his shoulders.
"Do you have a real name?" Franken asked suddenly, lacing his fingers together and setting his chin on top of them on top of Spirit's head.
"My name is Shinigami-sama."
"Sama's a title!" The boy giggled.
"So it is, but it is also my name."
Franken just smiled. "I want a title for a name!"
Spirit chuckled. "You have a name already, Franken. Your Mama and I gave it to you when you were born."
"I like my name. Maybe someday I can have a title and a name." Franken said, obviously in thought.
"Say goodbye to Shinigami-sama, Franken." Spirit said.
"So soon? I like it here. There are people talking constantly and Shinigami-sama is so nice," the boy pouted as Spirit turned around.
"Yes, so soon. We have to get back to your Mama and Izzy."
Franken twisted to wave goodbye and Shinigami-sama just smiled behind his mask, waving back. He waited until the pair had left before retracing the boy's steps. He shook his head when he reached the grave marker Franken had stopped by, the boy's footprints obvious in the dirt.
It took little concentration to call forth the soul that was quivering in the grave.
"I told you to not reach out, did I not?"
The apparition stared blindly at the death god. "I did not."
"He came straight to you. He ignored the others, and came straight to you." Shinigami-sama said quietly.
A long moment passed as the apparition gained from and substance. Smoke from an insubstantial cigarette drifted towards the ceiling before disappearing, a smirk spreading across the apparition's face. "He is my son, Shinigami-sama."
"He is Spirit's son now, Stein-kun."
The apparition sighed. "I know that. It was good to see him though. He looks so much like I used to."
"Are you ready to move on, Stein-kun?"
"No. I want to watch, to wait," the apparition said, twisting the screw that protruded from its head.
"Very well. I will grant you that."
It bowed as he released it, the apparition's final words echoing, "I thank you, Shinigami-sama. Find a way to let Spirit know I appreciate him taking care of them."
"I will, Stein-kun," he promised the empty air.
A/N: :) I don't own Soul Eater.