It has been a long while... LOOOOOONG while. lol.

Kids, little children are so cute aren't they? With those wide puppy-like eyes and adorable puffed cheeks. When they giggle and their cute laughter which you will hear every time you make funny faces or weird sounds. The small little efforts they do to impress you, and when they act all cute just to get your attention. But they're specially cute when they just sit still on one corner, watching your every move, and laughing at you as you entertain them.

Not crying because of your face.

I don't like children crying. I hate children crying. They're not cute when they're crying. They're… frightening? It's like they're gonna eat you or something. I had just finished my own business when I heard Lovi shouting and a kid crying. Since I like kids I immediately drifted down and found out he's having a hard time calming the kid down, and every time he would pick her up, she would start wailing and throwing her arms to grab his hair and pull it. Thus making her untouchable.

"Oh come on please stop!" Lovi shouts at the kid which causes for the little girl to cry some more. "Damn it! Alfred I thought you're gonna help me with this!"

"I've tried to make the kid, she just won't!—ah stop scaring her!"

"I'm not scaring her!"

"You're making weird faces!"

"I'm trying to be funny!" Lovi clenched his fists, his teeth grinding against each other. I sigh for like, the hundredth time, when the crying gets louder. I hear Lovi curse under his breath as sat on the ground with defeat. "Damn, this kid is holding me back. I have another soul to fetch within a few minutes!" I scratch the back of my neck and sit down on the other side of the crying child. She looked at me still with tears rolling down her cheeks, small hiccups escaping her tiny mouth. When I thought she had stopped, I smile at her, but then she begins crying once more. What to do?

"Hey Lovi, how old is she by the way?" He brings his palms together and lazily moves them apart again revealing a white scroll which contains the list of people assigned to him. His eyes move further down and he scowls.

"Maria Alexandra Guevara, Spanish tourist, 2 and a half years old, died from-"

"Okay that's enough thanks." He shrugs his shoulders, clasps his hands together, hiding the scroll again. I glance at her again and it doesn't seem like she's ever gonna run out of fluids for her tears.

"2 and a half years old, girl, what do they usually like?"

"Dunno. Toys perhaps?"

"And where are we gonna get some toys?" I look around the area and when I see a small plastic bottle, I crawl to it and wave it in front of the crying kid. "What are you doing idiot? That's not a toy! Do you really think-"

"Ssh! I'm trying to convince her this is a toy!"

"It's a freakin' bottle for goodness sake Al-"

"Then why don't you go and look for a real toy then!" When he sighs, I know that he's not gonna speak back, at least for a few minutes. I look at the kid and sit across her with the bottle on one hand. Her hands are fast though, but luckily I am able to dodge her hands or else she would be pulling my hair to death. I sigh and try to bring back my smile, and then I begin to tap the bottle on the ground forming a simple beat.

She immediately stops, her eyes now on the empty plastic bottle, the hiccups are still there though. But at least she stopped throwing tantrums. I smile wider, and this time I accompany the tapping with my own voice, singing with the very simple lyrics of 'lalalala'… After a few more minutes she begins to smile, her own hands clapping. When I glance at Lovi again, his frown had disappeared, and he looks relieved right now.

I feel a tug on my hand, and when I turn I see her trying to pull the bottle away from my hands, so I happily give it to her. She giggles and begins to hit the ground with the bottle, her own mouth trying to produce words which I find cute. Then I stand up and Lovi carries the child in his arms with ease.

"Never underestimate plastic bottles." He laughs and I nod my head. "Well, better get going now. See yah." With that he takes off, and without waiting for his image to disappear I unfurl my own wings and fly off towards the other direction towards Arthur's home, as usual…

I skip down the hallway happily, and then stopping on that one special door. Why am I happy? Well I'm always happy, but today I'm going to invite Arthur out for a walk. It's nearly sunset, and it would be fun watching it with him! I've never watched the sunset with Arthur, because it's always raining.

The moment I land on this special door, I check my white shirt for any stains or dirt; I also straighten some of the wrinkled parts. My shoes, white also in colour are clean as well leaving me satisfied.

The door suddenly opens though at the same time I raise my hand to press the doorbell.

"Alfred!"

"Hey Arthur!"

"You're here!" I flash him a wide smile as he quickly recovers from surprise. Why is he even surprised? Oh yeah, I guess I'm a little late? Usually I drop by around the morning or noon where the sun is striking everyone on rare days.

"Yep I'm here! Anyway, do you have anything to-" I stop in midsentence when a small head suddenly pops out from behind Arthur's thin legs. Oh great, another kid. Wide dark brown eyes look up at me innocently as if curious to who I am. As she pokes her head forward more, her long equally brown hair fall to the side of her shoulders, her bangs not blocking her eyes because of the cute rabbit shaped clip. I guess Arthur notices me staring at the small child behind him and he chuckles. "Oh, this little girl here is Aiah. She's 4." He pulls her arm gently forward making her walk right in between us. She looks at Arthur and then she looks at me with so much innocence and stays silent. Now that's a cute kid. "She's my neighbour's daughter."

"Ah… Why is she with you?"

"Her mom is in the hospital and her dad didn't want to bring her with them, afraid she might catch some sickness in there or something."

"I see." I crouch down face to face with her; she steps back and clings to Arthur as I did though. But her head is still turned and she's looking at me. I smile and wave my hand a little. "Hi there! I'm Alfred!" She looks up at Arthur and blinks. How cute is that?

"It's okay dear." He pats her head gently, careful not to mess her hair. "Alfred is a good guy." I smile wider if that's still possible for my already stretched lips. But my happy face doesn't seem to convince her though, because of she didn't smile at me and her arms try their best to wrap around Arthur's waist. Which I wish I could also do. I sigh and stand straight up again.

"So, are you heading out today?"

"Ah, yes. I was about to take her for a walk…and… since you're here maybe you would want to come?"

"Of course!" I notice Aiah cling to Arthur tighter as he took a step back. Maybe I said that with too much excitement? I swear I heard my voice echo along the hallway, so I glance at both sides to see- oh is that a man peeking? Naturally I smile at him, but just like the kid my smile doesn't have any effect on him and instead clicks his tongue before slamming his door shut. Was I that loud?

"You were that loud…" I glance at him and see him looking at the same direction with a slightly amused face. Wow can he read minds? "No I can't read minds Alfred." But he just did! I blink at him and he chuckles. "It's easy to read your face lad."

"It is?" Arthur nods. Is my face really that readable, or maybe he is just as amazing as ever?

We end up on a children's park, not the usual one where Arthur and I often go, with the romantic atmosphere and all. This one is bigger and there are fewer trees to keep you from the sun's rays during the noon. Good thing it's just an hour I think, before sunset. There are no harsh rays to think about or mind.

As Arthur and I sit on one of the nearby benches from the playground, Aiah would occasionally wave back at us, or maybe wave back at Arthur only since I don't think she likes me yet. Of course, he would wave back; I'll do the same just to make myself appear a lot more likeable. I hope she does notice me though.

I would glance at Arthur often too as we speak about different things. Though I would always be the one to start the conversation and most of the stories would come from me, and he would listen. He's such a good listener. The kind of person who is willing to listen until the end of your story without ever interrupting it.

"Look at me!" Aiah waves at us again and of course we wave back, and she runs along with the other kids she just made friends with. She rolls over the sand box and Arthur would click his tongue, muttering about giving her a thorough bath. When she climbs up the monkey bars, Arthur would gasp and sometimes he will bite his lips and never let his eyes dart away until she lands safely back at the ground.

"You are so much suited to be a father you know?" He turns his head to look at me. "I mean, it's not that you look old, you don't look old!" I add quickly. I don't want him to get the wrong idea now do I! "Your specs doesn't make you look old I swear and in fact you look…" What is the word? What are the words?

"Are you going to describe me like some pretty woman again?" Arthur raises a brow, hopefully he doesn't look offended or anything like that. He actually is smiling at me.

"Woman?"

"Yes. With the words beautiful, elegant, sublime, and more. It's like you're describing the queen you know?"

"So, you actually remember the things I say to you?"

"Of course I do. I'm not old enough to forget yet." He chuckles.

So he remembers, every word. That is nice! If he doesn't forget the things I say, what more myself? He'll never forget me at least. "Trust me on this though, everything I say is true, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart!" I poke a thumb on my chest with a proud face on because I really do mean everything. "When I tell you you're beautiful, you really are beautiful, when I tell you're nice, you really are nice, when I tell you you're—." His hand pushes my face to the other side, breaking my gaze towards him. I'm making him all red again from embarrassment hah! Such a cute sight!

"Okay fine I get it!"

"Your face is red."

"Shut it! It's not!" He's denying again. "Damn Al, just save those words for your lover!" He removes his glasses and begins to wipe them clean again. I just sigh and stare up the sky.

"You know I don't have any Arthur."

"Still haven't confessed huh?" I nod my head. "I see."

I close my eyes for a while and let the wind mess with my hair. Arthur becomes quiet again. As usual he will not tell much since he's the quiet type.

"Look what I got!" I hear Aiah exclaim and when I open my eyes, she's already sitting between me and him, a small stone in her hands. Well I think it's a stone. She raises her hand more towards Arthur's face and he laughs.

"Yes, yes. What is that?"

"It comes out then it won't when it sees people!" She stands up and puts the stone down and crouches behind it. "Watch!" Arthur and I look at each other with questioning looks before lowering our backs down to observe the unknown creature. For a few moments it is still, but then slowly, arms begin showing on both sides and a head pokes out the front. Both of us laugh then. "See! What is it!"

"It's a turtle!" I exclaim happily, Aiah looks at me with a blank face though and looks at Arthur. So, I've been ignored again huh? Kids…

"It is a turtle dear, just like what he said." She looks at me again and I try my best to smile my friendliest smile. She pouts at me. Will Aiah ever like me? Will Arthur ever like-…. Nevermind that. Arthur laughs and pats my shoulder as he mouthed the words it's okay.

"Tutu?" She tries to mimic.

"Turtle."

"Tutu?" Arthur sighs and nods his head in defeat.

"It's okay Artie! She'll get it someday!" I give him a thumbs-up and he smiles.

"Of course." He straightens up again and relaxes his back against the back-rest.

There's silence once again between the two of us, but it doesn't feel uncomfortable at all. Quite the opposite actually. The atmosphere is peaceful, very peaceful. With the dry and fallen leaves rustling under the children's feet. Come to think of it, lately I've been allowing myself to be seen by others. Before I always was careful around people, and never did I let myself be visible to the eyes of others, only Arthur. But right now I could only care less about that. Besides, being seen by humans isn't a really bad thing. It feels good, quite fine really and I never thought that I would think this way about the matter.

"You look like an idiot." A finger pokes me on the cheek as I turn my head towards Arthur. I blink my eyes in question. What does he mean by that anyway? I look normal as far as I know. He sighs, and smiles. His eyes return back to the kids playing across. "You were smiling…"

"But I always do smile."

"You look weird"

"But I always do look-" Wait… Arthur starts to laugh. Oh… Then I smile once again, and it doesn't take any more seconds before I join in the laughter. Well, I am weird after all.

The sun is beginning to set now, casting a mixture of yellowish gold and orange all over the place. It's during times like this that I soar the sky and feel the wind kiss me coldly just below the clouds. And each time also I will attempt to reach the sun and see how far my wings will take me. But for this afternoon, this sunset, my wings remain behind my back, folded and hidden. I don't intend on using them today because right now I'm completely contented with just walking side by side with Arthur, and of course the little girl Aiah who's now busy finishing up her ice cream cone- oh, she's finished. Haha.

In the middle of me and Arthur chatting, she pulls his sleeve catching his attention to her. Her eyes looking up at Arthur's as she rubs them lazily with one hand. "Are we there yet?"

"Just a few more blocks sweetheart." He smiles and holds her hand. Seeing both of them like that, ignoring their physical appearance of course, you would think their father and daughter. Then you will think maybe she looks like her mother more that's why he doesn't look like her, or resemble her or, yeah, those thoughts.

"You look weird again." My eyes blink back away from my own thoughts. I chuckle and give him a smile.

"I know and always will be." He joins me laughing as well. "You know what, I've heard people tell me that countless of times already. Over the years, as in, years, I've heard that so many times that I lost count. I never bothered counting actually."

"Counting would only make you weirder Alfred."

"Really? Then at least I'm still a percent normal then!" For some strange reason, my heart jumps. I suddenly feel my happiness meter punch up. Is it because I know I am still normal after all? Even being entirely different, I am normal. Like, humanish normal. Is there such a word? "Hey Artie, is humanish a word? I mean it sounds like a real word to me like, real! Like it's a word used daily, everyday and everytime. Humanish is a word right? Artie? Hey- " When I glance back to look at him again, Arthur's attention isn't on our conversation anymore. His head is turned and seems to be looking at something behind us making me turn my head back too. My eyes search for anything weird but it fails though. So I nudge Arthur's shoulder just to get his attention back. "Hey! What got your attention?"

He looks back at me with questioning eyes, take a quick glance back again before returning his sight on me and shakes his head with a smile. "It's nothing… I thought I just saw…"

"Saw what?"

"I don't know what it's called."

"If you say so…" A part of me is telling me it's a lie. But I decide to just let it go. Arthur has poor eyesight and is wearing glasses. Whatever he could have seen might just be some tricky image caused by the sun's rays reflecting on his glasses. "Anyway, as I was saying, is humanish a word?"

"Weird question asked by a weirdo. Of course."

"Weirdo? Isn't asking questions normal?"

"It is normal." I smile again. I'm enjoying the word too much. "But then, the question asked, and the questioner itself is not."

"But I AM normal!"

"Of course you are… Just not completely though. And to answer your question, it's a no. Humanish is not a word. It doesn't even exist."

I shrug my shoulders. "Fair enough."

And then I begin babbling again. Talking and talking, and him, laughing and calling me weird, then calling me normal, then git, then whatever he could think of to make fun of me.

But in the middle of each conversation I would always stop only to notice him looking back with the same confused and questioning look. Every time I would what's wrong he would shrug his shoulders and just smile. That convincing smile he keeps flashing me stops me from asking further questions. I'm so weak.

The sun is already half covered by the hills, the seas; the buildings when we arrive back safely at Arthur's home.

Aiah fell asleep right after she jumps on her bed which if I remember correctly, was Peter's. Yeah right. It's Peter's room she's using. Her hair is scattered all over her face as she lies on her stomach, a pillow under one arm. When Arthur sees her like this, he shakes his head but still he keeps his smile on. Slowly, he removes her shoes and covers her with a blanket. What a caring person he is. Not that I never knew it, it's just really a sweet thing.

"Would you like some coffee?"

"Sure!" Why not? It's gonna make my stay here longer!

We walk out of the room with me following behind me. I shut the door gently as to not make any noise that might wake the little darling inside the room. Come to think of it, she ignored me the whole day. Tsk, kids. Am I not likeable like Artie here?

I walk beside Arthur. Gosh we are at the kitchen again. For the past experiences I have, all I could do is hope nothing awkward or unlikely happens here. Embarrassing things always happen everytime both of us are here at his kitchen. But it's not stopping me from standing beside him though.

He opens the cabinet's glass door just to get a cup; he shuts it carefully back and begins to prepare my drink. And as much as I don't want to bother him, I do not ask him to stop since I'm enjoying myself just by simply watching him. He may be bad at cooking, but he's a nice drink maker even if it's just a simple coffee. "You know, I always do wonder how you can be so good at making my coffee." He chuckles.

"You mean to tell me, I'm a talented coffee maker?"

"Yep. And I'm not lying okay?"

"I never said you were." He rolls his green eyes. "Thank you though… for appreciating."

"You don't need to thank me Artie! It's just that what I'm saying is really true. You make coffee brilliantly! I've tasted coffee from other shops and well, gotta admit they're not as tasty and homey as yours."

"Right."

"I'm not kidding!"

"I never said you were!" Arthur laughs as he hands me the coffee. "Here."

"Thanks."

"I'm hungry." I open the fridge and my eyes immediately are fixed on the bunch of eggs and some white cheese on the side.

"You can't trust me to cook."

"I can manage Artie! No worries!" Cooking is the simplest things in life you know?

Boom.

"ALFRED! WHAT-"

Boom.

"Are you okay!"

Boom.

"Yeah I'm okay!"

He kneels beside me with so much concern and… is that irritation on his face?

So, apparently I screwed up. I didn't really mean to! I just wanted to save some time! Boiling eggs in water would be a waste of water and gas… and time. Surely the microwave would make things easier and—

"You're bleeding." I turn my head to look at my hand which is supporting all of my weight. I never will realize that it has been resting on top of crushed glass if Arthur didn't point it out—

Wait… I'm bleeding. There's blood… This is bad.

I quickly bury my hand and hide it inside my white shirt, staining it with red. "I'm okay!"

"No it's not! Show me!"

"I told you it's fine! I'll just wash it away!"

"It's not fine you git!" He pulls my hand with force, but still I try my best to clench my fists hard. "Open your hands."

"It's not bleeding Arthur!"

"I saw it. Now open." And to my surprise he had my fist open. Arthur can be strong- Damn. Now's not the time for admiration! Ah what to do? There's red all over my hand. It has been a while since I cut myself. And you know what happens after? "See I told you it's….it's…" Arthur trails off.

Now what?

"It's… not bleeding…" Green eyes went wide at the sight he's seeing. My wounds, the cut from the glass shards are slowly, slowly and weirdly are closing. Mu cuts are healing, the skin, my flesh is returning back to its own healthy state.

And it's not normal.

He looks at me. I know now's not the best time to smile but…

"I… I told you Artie…"

.

.

.

"Alfred… What are you?"

OKAY! WOAH IT HAS BEEN WHAT? WEEKS? O.O

I'm sorry for the laaaaaaate update. College is eating me, my history professor is eating me.. ALIVE. I have a report due this week which was given on the 1ST DAY AND MEETING so of course... hah expectations.

And well... That's college for you. -_- But hey I tried my best in writing this chapter so please no violence! woo! And thank you for all those alerts/faves/reviews/support! I love you all! :D

dun dun dun~ University party on Friday!

It's going to take another long while before I could update again... Pray for me!