Xed shuffled under the sheets slightly, only partially awake. Something bumped into her. She groaned mildly, confusion clouding her sleep addled mind when she realized that whatever was hugging close to her was warm - and wrapping around her waist. She let out a small sigh. "Fatal..."

The skeleton child had climbed into bed with her, cuddling close. He gripped at a stuffed toy they had gotten on one of their first outings - a small, simple teddy bear that he had instantly named Fuzzington. There were more elaborate dolls and toys - but he had stared at the small bear for several minutes before looking up at her and saying 'all the other kids on TV are happier with a teddy bear.'

Well. She couldn't argue that logic.

With Fuzzington snuggled to his chest, his free arm was wrapped tightly into Xed's pajamas, his head snuggled against her stomach cozily. He was sound asleep, dead weight against her, and she carefully moved her hands under his arms to pick him up closer. An unconscious whine of protest escaped the child, but she pulled up to settle on her chest, content to lay down and cuddle for a bit as long as it was comfortable for the both of them. After a minute of adjusting, she found herself laying down on the soft pillows, blanket huddled up around Fatal's shoulders as he subconsciously nuzzled into her. She couldn't help smiling just a bit. He had gotten a little clingy...it had only been four weeks but he followed her around everywhere. He was quiet - sometimes too quiet, she noted - so it wasn't a problem. She wondered how such a well-behaved child was overlooked for so long.

At the same time, the quietness worried her a bit - but it could just be how he was. She had never had children before, and the decision to adopt had kind of been an odd one, even for herself...but she couldn't help feeling that even just recently, her life had been more full than it had been before.

Fatal yawned, stirring slowly as he blinked himself awake with a soft groan. "...Aunt Xed?" He questioned with a soft, sleep-ridden voice. The name was what he had settled on after a couple weeks. She wasn't quite sure what she expected him to call her, but 'Aunt Xed' was as good a name as any. His free hand moved to rub at his sockets.

"Morning sleepyhead." She smiled softly at him, hugging him tightly for a moment before pausing, and brushing a soft peck on his skull.

"M-morning..." He sighed in content, snuggling low.

"Waffles?" She kept her voice low, and he hummed a soft agreement, his fist digging into her nightshirt with a severe clinginess. "Okay." She brushed another soft kiss at his skull before moving to stand, cradling the child in her arms as he was completely content to be moved as needed.

They walked through the house, both quiet as the adults slippered feet practically slid over the carpet all the way to the kitchen. It became their morning routine. Wake up cuddles, quiet good mornings, and a walk to the kitchen. She placed the quiet child in his seat, his stare blank and neutral as ever, but his one hand tightly clutching the bear dubbed Fuzzington to his chest as he waited patiently for food, tilting his head again at the look of the table. He traced the grooves, the only sound in the kitchen becoming the noise of Xed mixing batter and soon the sizzle of the waffle iron.

Minutes passed, and the delicious smell of cooking batter made his stomach growl in impatience. He didn't acknowledge it though, waiting until the clack of a plate placed in front of him made him look over. It smelled delicious, and a pat of melting butter was already spread over the meal. He reached for the syrup almost automatically -

"Here honey, lemme help you - " Xed interjected with caution, placing her hand over his as he gripped at the syrup bottle. She guided his hand to pour the sticky liquid without making a mess, until she decided there was definitely plenty there. "That's enough - don't drown it." She half teased, and Fatal just gave her a mildly disappointed look, but nodded.

"Okay..."

"Can I cut it up for you?" The question was gentle, and he nodded slowly, chin dipping low. He watched as the waffle was cut into safe, bite-sized portions, then took his fork and ate hungrily. He went through two full plates before pushing back from the table, the chair scratching against the floor a bit.

"Go get dressed, okay? We're going out today - oh. And brush your teeth please!" Xed said as she watched him hop down from his chair.

"Okay." Came the neutral response, and he half-jogged to his room. He didn't bother to close the door - the small dresser was heavy, and he tugged hard at the drawer that held his neatly folded shorts. There were only a few, but...he only needed a few. He changed out of his soft pajamas, placing Fuzzington on the bed before pulling his new shorts on and walking to his closet. He paused a moment, looking up at the clothes in mild confusion. They were out of reach...he turned and ran out of his room, making his way back to Xed who was rinsing dishes in the sink. Quietly, he made his way up to her and tugged on her shirt. "Aunt Xed...?"

Xed spun, slightly startled. Fatal was eerily quiet in his approach - he was a very quiet child overall. She exhaled carefully, which caused his face to grow strained in worry. "What i - Fatal - " She blinked as the half-dressed state of him, and realized her mistake a moment later.

"I can't reach my shirts..." He explained on an oddly neutral sounding whine, and she nodded, taking his smaller hand in hers as they walked back to the room to pick a shirt. She sat him on the bed and helped him get some socks on, and wrapped his scarf around his neck. He grabbed at the comfortable but worn material, his face breaking into a small smile. "Thank you." He sounded like he was fighting to not mumble, but looked brighter, for the moment anyway.

"You're welcome dear." Xed said with a pat of his hand, and she watched as he hopped down from his seat and trotted over to where he kept his shoes by his door. He paused, staring at his shoes a moment before fidgeting with his scarf.

Xed frowned. He had did that...stared at his shoes. She had just taken it as another odd habit, but for some reason he seemed more hesitant than usual. Like he wanted to say something. She went over to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Is something wrong...?"

He glanced up at her, then back to his shoes, then up at her again, then shyly glanced down to the floor. "Um...th-they hurt my feet..." He mumbled in embarrassment.

"They - oh." She blinked in heavy surprise. She had not expected that. His footwear wasn't exactly new though...she wondered how she could have overlooked such a thing, but Fatal was so quiet and didn't hardly complain - her brows knitted together in worry. She would have to be more observant. "Here honey, sit down."

Fatal followed the instruction instantly and without question, sitting on the floor as Xed leaned over to grab one of the worn shoes and place the bottom up against the childs foot. Sure enough, it was definitely about half a size too small.

"Oh, dear you can't wear these! You should have said something - " She stopped talking when Fatal's face went from neutral to the mild look of worry.

"...I'm sorry..." He mumbled into his scarf again, and she shook her head, reaching a hand out to tilt his chin up to look at her.

"No, don't be sorry. I don't want your feet to hurt - but I won't know what's wrong unless you tell me things - okay?"

Fatal paused, his expression falling back into his neutral, blank stare for a moment. But then a soft smile cracked over his face, and he nodded. "O-okay Aunt Xed..." His arms started to move towards her, but he paused, hesitant.

"C'mere." She took him by the hand, helping him stand to pull him into a deep hug and sighed. "Good thing I planned to go out today..." She paused to think. "But I can't put those things back on you..."

They parted, Fatal tilting his head in curiosity. "Slippers." He stated flatly, as if the answer was entirely obvious.

"Slip -" His sudden conclusion threw her off guard...but he did have a pair of brand new slippers sitting at the foot of his bed. It wasn't exactly good walking footwear but... "It'll have to do for now. We'll go get you new shoes first, then we can browse. How's that sound?"

He smiled, a small nod half hidden under his scarf.

Seeing as it was Saturday, the mall was decently packed. Xed helped Fatal out of his seatbelt, taking his hand almost instantly as his feet hit the pavement of the parking lot. The child had a tendency to pull off in strange directions. He peered curiously over the lot, the pull on Xed's hand already a little harder than she would have liked. "Fatal, just wait a moment, okay?"

"Oh. Okay." Instantly the tug went slack, and he stood patiently and in silence as Xed adjusted her bag over her shoulder and closed the car. She looked down at the child's slippered feet though, and bent low to pick him up.

"How bout I give you some help - just until we get you some new shoes."

"...Okay." He agreed with a mild shrug, and curled into the adult's chest tightly. Xed just giggled, he was plenty light that it wasn't a problem to carefully carry him across the lot and into the mall. It was fairly full, and she ignored some of the glances she received.

Fatal spun his head around, looking with interest. There was alot of activity and colorful things to look at - he tugged at the adults shirt. "Aunt Xed. Books." He stated flatly, tugging and pointing all at once towards a bookstore that was just at the entrance.

"Shoes first." She reminded him, nuzzling a cheek against his skull.

"Oh." He withdrew, but looked aroud anyway, waiting quietly as they made a couple of turns and walked into a large shoe store.

"Okay." Xed sighed, finally feeling comfortable enough to let Fatal walk on his own slippered feet. "Let's go look!"

"Um...okay." He let himself be tugged along, his curious gaze running over the colorful kids section as they moved along.

"Let me know if you see something you like, okay?" She encouraged, watching him as he scanned the rows of shoes. His hand slipped from hers and he slowly walked along the aisles as she watched his every move. He paused at one point, tilting his head in confusion as he stared at a set of shoes that had...something in them? He reached for the shelved item, looking it over curiously, and shrugged. But when he set it back down, he stared with large sockets as the bottoms lit up brightly.

"...These are cool..." He said with a turn of his head.

"Do you want to try them on?" Xed asked, already looking for the right size.

"Mm..." He frowned. They were cool, but they were very dark - a weird green stripe running across them. "Not really."

"Well. Do you like the lights? There's lots of shoes with lights."

"I like the lights!" He said quickly, and Xed had to turn to him in surprise. He showed a rare spark of enthusiasm, and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped.

"Then we'll find a pair you like with lights." She confirmed, and they hunted. The store was large, and there was alot to look at - and they tried on a few different ones that, to Fatal, were okay, and they'd do just fine - he looked at the two 'most likely' options they had set aside and smiled a bit. They were cool shoes - but he still had to pick between the two. He stared at the options, his brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to decided which ones had the neatest laces -

"Fatal, I found another pair - " He snapped his head up to Aunt Xed, sitting patiently on the stool as she brought yet another box into his view. "These are a little odd- there's another shelf of older styles I guess..." He half-payed attention to the mild chatter she was making, and watched with interest as she opened the box.

He stared, drawing in a long breath that could've qualified as a gasp if he had the ability to be louder. They were clean white with colored laces - he watched almost automatically as Xed helped get the shoes over his snug socks - they were cozy.

"Okay, try walking now - "

He hopped up, feeling a strange level of energy as he hopped down the aisle in the new shoes a bit - one shoe flashed red while the other flashed blue. He couldn't help himself. He ran to Aunt Xed, grabbing at her hand and shaking it with fervor. "They match."

"...Match?" Xed repeated curiously. They certainly did not match - they were opposite colors - one shoe themed red and the other themed blue. But he was obviously excited about them, he hardly moved until now. She looked at the child, feeling like she was missing something -

"They look like me." He stated plainly, and she stared in surprise, the statement clicking. Fatal's pixilation syndrome was purely cosmetic, but his looks were...off. His dual colored sockets, the 'floating' parts that seemed to 'glitch' off - and she did notice when he grew upset it would get worse.

"...Are those the ones you want?" She wanted to make sure. Getting them was no problem, and he did seem genuinely excited over something.

"Yes!" A legitimate, broad smile widened over his face, a childlike blush that matched his sockets rose up on his cheekbones. "Yes please! I like these!"

"Oh my - " She couldn't help herself. It was the first time he smiled like that. She leaned low and drew him in for another hug and kissed his head. "You didn't tell me you could be THIS cute."

"I'm...cute?" He repeated, his flush deepening mildly out of excitement and praise.

"Of course you are." She assured, and double-checked to make sure the shoes were on properly. Satisfied with the size and fit of the footwear, she cleaned up their area as best she could, putting the slippers in her bag as she stood. "Okay. I have to go pay for them now, okay?"

"Okay!" He gripped at her hand tightly, letting himself be led blindly as his eyes were now glued to his feet, giggling each time the colors flashed. Which was every second at the moment. He happily tapped his feet against the floor, standing in place as his hand slid from Xed's again.

"I - yeah, he's wearing them out." Xed assured handing her credit card over and sighing when the machine didn't take it for the third time.

"Our readers have been acting up - " The cashier tried to explain apologetically, but she just waved her hand in dismissal.

"It's fine - " But she let out a sigh of relieved annoyance when the machine finally beeped in approval, the cashier gathering the receipt for signature and pushing the box on the counter.

"And just sign...and you have a wonderful day!"

Xed smiled politely, pushing the receipt in her bag as she started to turn. "Thank you, we - Fatal?" She froze when she realized the small child wasn't directly under her, and her head snapped up suddenly to look for the little skeleton. He was nowhere in the immediate vicinity - "Oh no." Before the cashier could even offer assistance, Xed was poking her head out the store into the walkways of the mall - he couldn't have gotten far - "FATAL?!" She cried as mild panic was starting to make her chest tight. No no, calm down, panicking will just make it harder to think...but she had to find him!

Fatal didn't look up until he bumped into something hard and cold, and he winced as he was thrown to the floor with a thud. He calmly rubbed at his forehead, he had walked straight into the glass window of another store. He frowned, confused. What store was this? Where was this? He stood, noticing the stares of some people that were walking by. Wait. Where was Aunt Xed...? He looked around. This wasn't familiar at all. The shoe store wasn't in immediate sight. There was a counter selling cookies of some sort not too far away...and a shop full of...movies? He tilted his head, and made his way to the cookie counter with hesitancy. There were lots of people there, buying things. They looked busy. Just as one of the counter ladies noticed him, he decided he would probably get in trouble for disturbing them, so he turned and left.

He stared, looking around for something - anything. He kind of wanted to hide. He had managed to get 'lost' again. Aunt Xed had never seen him get 'lost' before...would she be mad? He didn't want to get in trouble...he wandered how he had gotten away from her. He was just looking at his shoes...that wasn't bad, right?

He stared down, feeling guilty. She was so nice, and he wasn't being good.

"Kid...?" He spun, startled as a voice that was too close seemed to address him. A worn-looking woman with a stroller and two small children clinging to her skirt paused to kneel down to him. "Hi honey...are you lost?"

"I- I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Fatal stammered, leaning back as his shoulders started to tremble. "S-sorry! I don't - mean to get lost-!" He tried to hold back a growing onset of tears. It was difficult, but crying always made it so much worse.

"Oh, it's okay! It's okay...where's your mom? Do you have a mom...?" The woman asked gently, and he shook his head.

"Um...I want...Aunt Xed..." He mumbled into his scarf. By now the woman's own children were tugging at her.

"FATAL!"

Fatal tensed at his name being called so harshly. That wasn't good. He shuddered desperately trying to hold back from crying. He glanced over, Xed had just caught sight of him and was bolting over. The mother backed away a little, letting Xed practically dive for Fatal as he stood stock still, trying to brace himself for whatever was coming -

But he didn't expect to be hugged.

Xed clung to him, a hand pressing his skull tightly into her shoulder. "Why did you wander off like that you had me so scared Fatal - don't walk away from me! Okay?! I thought you were lost -" She spoke quickly, her voice cracking as her composure broke, and she felt hot tears roll down her cheeks.

Fatal froze, completely taken aback. "W-wait - no - d-don't cry Au-Aunt Xed - I - I'm sorry - I'm s-sorry - I - I got - I don't know - please don't cry - please don't - " Why was SHE crying? It was a strange feeling - and he didn't like it. It made him sad. She didn't have a reason to cry. Did she? He didn't like it at all. He started to sob. "Please d-don't...cr-cry...ahhh..." He repeated, thick tears rolling down his face freely as Xed gripped at him too tightly. His arms were starting to hurt, but he couldn't move and he didn't care to say anything about it.

Xed pulled back, just enough to look at his tear-streaked face. "You SCARED me!" She stated harshly, causing him to flinch. "I don't want to lose you, okay?! Stay with me okay? Oh what were you..." She stopped when she realized he was holding back strangled sobs between his nods. Her own panic was starting to ease, and the message had gotten through. "Okay..." He stood still, sockets shimmering with thick dews of saltwater as strained noises continued to emanate from him. She sighed, half of relief and half of something else, she wasn't quite sure what it was, but she moved to pick him up, looking around a moment. The lady that had been talking to her adopted son had started to walk away, her own children anxious and staring.

Fatal was dead weight in her arms, and she walked quickly, moving them to a rather empty corridor with some vending machines. She pressed her back to the wall and let themselves be slid to the floor. Fatal was hiccuping with held back sobs and groans and she rested him against her chest with soothing strokes on his back. "...It's okay now. But you can't go wandering off like that."

His shaking was growing violent, and he was still suppressing his cries.

"Fatal...honey you're gonna make yourself sick, try to calm down..." She soothed, growing more worried over his state of being rather than what had just happened.

"I-I'm sorry...I'm s-sorry - " He hiccuped, his chest was heaving in hard, uneven breaths, and she sat him up, alarmed.

"Shhh, shshsh, easy - easy - catch your breath - " Her concern deepened. He was flinching away from her skittishly, everything trembling and shaking. He wasn't just upset - he was terrified. "Fatal - Fatal shhh...it's okay now...you just need to be more careful."

He nodded, pulling back slightly in fear, still having trouble catching his breath as tears continued to flow thickly down his face. But she pulled him closer, peppering his forehead with light, loving kisses. "Shhh...it's okay...it's okay honey..."

"...Y-you mad?" He squeaked, his tone thick in confusion. First he was scolded then he was hugged? This...was odd, right?

"...I'm not mad." She assured, stroking at his head as he looked up, clearly confused. "I was scared. Upset. ...Why did you walk away like that?"

He turned quiet, struggling still to catch breaths between his sniffles. "...I - I dunno. I was j-just - l-looking at m-my shoes a-and n-next thing I kn-knew - y-you we-weren't ar-around and - " His breath hitched as his upset feeling renewed, and she stopped him.

"Ok - well - listen to me. Fatal. I don't want anything bad happening to you - okay?"

He blinked, wiping at his face with a sleeve. "B-bad...?"

"Like. Let's say you got lost - and hurt. And I couldn't find you, and you needed me. Fatal that would make me very sad - " She explained as evenly as she could, hugging the child close to her chest in sudden feeling of need. "Or if you got lost in a place where nobody could find you - and we would never see each other again."

"N-no!" He cried suddenly, curling in on her. "I - I want to see you again! I WANNA!" He wailed, grip tightening on her suddenly as small hands fisted into her shirt, his head buried deep in her chest as he cried loudly.

"See? I don't want that either...so we have to be careful..." She soothed, happy to have gotten the message across for sure. She hugged him tightly until he finally began to settle, which took a few moment. Taking a tissue from her bag, she helped dry his tears and gave him one more light kiss on the top of the head. "Okay sweetheart. Do you understand?"

He nodded, sniffling still. He had looked up at her, but his grip hadn't loosened at all. Now he seemed afraid to let go -

"Here...you want to go look around still?"

"...Where we gonna go?" His voice piped softly as he adjusted a bit in her lap, still rubbing at his face.

"Well. There was a really neat looking bookstore..." She stated mischeviously, carefully drawing one of his hands from her shirt to one of her own.

Through his flushed and streaked face, he gave the tiniest of smiles. A pause of silence kept her waiting, but he nodded. "...I like books..."

"Let's go find some books you like then." She said on a breath, moving to stand. Fatal clutched at her hand needily, his whole body huddling close now. She was still a little worried about his extreme reactions, but at least now - he'd be a little safer.