It didn't take long after their reconciliation in the desert for Patty to become wonderfully comfortable at Gallows Manor. Eventually, once the girls completed their tenure at the cafe and began to transition into training, Liz noticed her baby sister changing as well. She was finally putting on weight- filling in her gaunt cheeks and keeping her rough spine from being visible from beneath her t-shirts. The eyes that had once been daunting and inhuman became expressive and warm. She slept soundly in her own bed now, without any night terrors or insomnia. But most impressive of all was the change in laughter- one day in particular, when Kid was making a peculiar, disgusted face, where his nostrils flared and his eyes twitched- Patty was suddenly laughing jovially, from the gut. As opposed to that obscene chuckle, this was the shrill giggles of a little girl trapped in a teenage girl's body. Liz, through her own hysterics, saw in Patty's laugh a desire to make up for lost time. Specifically, for a lost childhood.

Which was reason enough to permit Patty to retreat into coloring books and dolls as far as Liz was concerned. She wasn't sure when exactly her and Patty had given up on school completely- whether it had been after their father had walked out, hurling a beer bottle against the front door as he left, or before their mother kicked them out on her last mental and emotional straw on account of their "gun trick"- it didn't matter. What mattered was that Patty hadn't really learned anything after pre-Algebra (if she had even bothered to learn that), so if she wanted to sit with children's books where each word was typed out in giant font, then that was her method of making up for the years of living with a poker face. All that mattered to Liz was how much Patty's whole body lit up when she offered to take her to the library on lazy Sunday afternoons, and she was impressed with how voracious Patty became for information.

It didn't take long for Kid to notice Patty making herself accustomed to this state of mind, and quickly responded by taking the girls to get their own library cards so they wouldn't need to borrow his. He went into his own personal library at the Manor and picked out a few that he had enjoyed as a child (who would've thought that the future Grim Reaper had loved Magic Treehouse books as a toddler?). And when she began to display particular interests, Kid brought it up to Lord Death, who told everything he knew to Patty, as if having it come from him was some sort of confirming end-all, be-all for a topic. Well, every topic except for giraffes.

"Kid, did you know that giraffes can swallow 12 gallons of water in one sitting?" Patty would ask.

"No, I didn't, Patty," Kid would say, with the air of a school teacher, and Patty would continue talking, and Kid would listen without displaying whether or not he was bored.

If this had come any earlier, Liz thought to herself, she might've been jealous of the brother-sister relationship Kid and Patty were quickly forming, and how dependent they were becoming on the squeaky-voiced 12-year-old. But since their last month together had been (more or less) harmonious, and Liz found herself warming up to Kid as well, she let herself smile when she found the pair reading together, or when Kid had to excuse himself when Patty had drawn something asymmetrical. They were closer in age- Liz supposed- of course they would become closer sooner than her and Kid would. And besides, the trio spent their whole day together, which meant sooner or later, her and Kid would be just as tight. The daily routine depended on it.

They would wake up, get something to eat, make sure the house was in order (which varied based on the day), train in the gyms by Shibusen, come home, make sure they were in order, and roam for the rest of the day until Lord Death returned for supper. It was the consistency Kid needed, along with the freedom the girls needed, and it worked.

One day specifically, during the hours that Patty had to herself, she fancied herself a tour through Gallows Manor, as she usually got lost, and could be found in the same few rooms. It seemed that at every turn, there would be two more corridors to go down, and at every door, an opportunity to explore. Most doors were utility closets (because if Kid needed to clean something immediately, then he wouldn't have to go over to the other side of the house to grab it), although one led to a giant ballroom with an upper balcony and piano, and a few more led to various bedrooms, bathrooms, or the occasional boudoir. It was all just a simple guessing game, sliding up and down on the black wood floors in her socks, until Patty stopped at a door with a name plate on it.

Death's Study

It didn't even occur to her that she could be snooping, or that she could get caught- Patty took hold of the door and whipped it open. As far as she was concerned, this was just another opportunity for Patty to learn about some of her favorite things: Lord Death and Kid.

What greeted her almost disappointed her: another long corridor. What was special, however, was that the walls were painted a deep black. Kid had said, when Patty asked if she could paint her room, that none of the rooms in the house were painted anything other than shades of white (but perhaps he could permit a pale yellow). But here she was, looking down some endless abyss, hesitant until she took a step and a set of lights flickered on- illuminating the first six feet in front of her. Now, on the walls, were pictures, all in black and white, hanging in slate picture frames of various sizes. Patty giggled with delight, running up and down the corridor, making all the lights turn on, so she could see every picture. In some frames were the annual Shibusen staff photos, full of people Patty didn't know. In some, were Lord Death and various other unrecognizable, although unique faces. There was a monkey and a giant teddy bear in one. A candid with Lord Death and a laughing couple on what was presumed to be their wedding day was close by. Some were of various young people who looked like they were from the 1800's, with their fancy dresses and dapper ties. But Patty's favorites to find were the ones of Kid, which with the color scheme, blended in with all the others. The first one she thought was of him was of a little baby, where he had the same piercing eyes, but on a chubby, precious little body. This illicted a loud guffaw from Patty.

There was another of him, only slightly smiling, beside an old, grave woman, with long braids and a patterned dress. It was funny to Patty, that he didn't have his hated lines on his hair yet, so she laughed a little bit more.

Finally, she came to her favorite- where Kid had his hair grown fairly long, hanging past his ears in disarray, sinking in one of his rare t-shirts. He held up one of those bottled ships- which he should've been justly proud of- smiling a big smile filled with braces.

Death the Kid had braces. The son of the Grim Reaper needed braces. Braces.

Patty was rolling on the floor when she was discovered by Kid and Liz.

"Patty!" Kid squeaked, as it had suddenly begun to do when he yelled. "What are you doing in here?!"

Through fits of laughter, Patty said: "The door didn't-hic- say-hic- that I couldn't come in!"

"It's implied, Patricia," Kid said, furrowing his brow and rubbing his temples. "This is my dad's quiet place- one does not just barge in..."

"Let it go, Kid," Liz shrugged. "She seems to be having a lot of fun."

"I can see that. What is it you're laughing at, Patty?" Kid asked petulantly. Patty just pointed from where she was on the floor. When Liz picked out the picture in question, she herself lost it and began to crack up too.

"Oh my god- you had braces?!" Liz cried, as Kid's normally pale face abruptly turned a vibrant red.

"...my teeth were becoming uneven. I needed to get them straightened so my jaw wouldn't..."

"You had braces! Death the Kid had braces!" Patty squealed. Kid just sighed.

"Yes," he said dryly. "I had braces. Happy?"

"Hey Kid," said Liz. "In this one, you're next to this old woman- who is she?"

"Oh, that's Mira. She was the nanny I had for a long while. I usually just called her Grandma. That's what she felt like, I suppose."

"You don't have grandparents?"

Kid raised an eyebrow, as if the answer was obvious. "No. Just my dad."

"No mother?"

"No. He didn't need one to have me."

Liz had to keep herself from cackling, as she thought that might be rude, but she reminded herself to ask Kid one day how exactly Shinigami were born without a mother. But instead she pointed to another picture with Lord Death and a very young Kid in a room full of clouds. Patty giggled when she saw.

"That's the Death Room at Shibusen. It's like my dad's office at the school."

"Why do you call Lord Death "dad" when you're with us, but you call him "father" to his face?" Patty asked, lying like a starfish on the floor.

"Um. I'm not sure. I didn't realize I did that..."

"He's your only family?" Patty continued.

"Yes, Patty."

"But he works everyday."

"He does."

"So you grew up in this giant house all by yourself without an older sister to play with you?"

Kid fell silent for a moment. "Yes, Patty. That is true."

"So if Sis and I are here now, and we're kind of like sisters to you too, then do we get to be on the wall too?"

Kid raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the sharp turn in conversation. "I'm sure," he said. "In time, probably once we start picking up missions and I make you two Death Scythes."

"Hear that Liz? We get to be pictures too!" Patty squealed. "Pictures! Pictures!"

The trio went through the numerous photos hanging on the wall for the next few hours: Liz asking thoughtful questions, Kid answering each one, and Patty appreciating that the two noticed her absence and decided to come find her together, leading to this fun time between the three of them. After all, her beautiful sister, Kid, and Lord Death were easily Patty's favorite topics.