VI. Barter
Shinigami had almost forgotten his son's presence, he was sitting so quietly on the floor next to the mirror in the Death Room. Kid had begged to come and be allowed to participate in his father's work, and promised to stay out of the way as Shinigami's most trusted group of weapons and meisters bustled around, trying to anticipate the next move by a trio of witches terrorizing the East Coast. Teams had been dispatched and all that was left was to wait for them to arrive. The god stole a moment to fold his tall frame down next to the boy. Seeing the pensive expression on the boy's face, he prompted, "What are you thinking about?"
"She's only wearing one eye patch," Kid twitched, looking at Marie.
The Reaper sighed a bit. "If she wore two, she wouldn't be able to see at all, would she?" he pointed out. "Kid, are you sure you don't want to be at home instead?"
Kid shook his head. "I want to be here with you, Father," he said earnestly. "All these people listen to you, don't they?"
Shinigami was about to answer when a shadow fell over them, and Kid's expression puckered into something between alarm and disgust. Stein was leaning against the mirror, a lit cigarette dangling loosely from his lips, looking down at them with a sly smile. "Hello little Reaper," he purred, and Shinigami didn't like the eager gleam in his eye. Stein's experience and skill made him invaluable, but some of his habits... well, he remembered the tales Spirit had recounted.
"Hello," Kid replied, still glaring at Stein. His eyes traced over the crooked zigzags on his shirt and shivered just slightly.
Stein's grin widened and he reached up to spin the screw in his head, its gear teeth clicking. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
Yellow eyes darted between the meister and his father, and Kid raised his narrow face up to Stein boldly. "Father's work is important. You should pay more attention to it." A pause, and then plaintively, "You're horribly uneven. May I fix you please?"
"Depends," Stein said silkily, spinning a scalpel that had appeared from nowhere. "Would you exchange that for a couple hours in my lab?"
"Yes!" Kid looked relieved at being granted permission and reached for one-sided row of buttons.
"No," Shinigami intercepted quickly, sending Stein away with a quick chop and patting Kid atop the head. "Now Kid, you'll just have to live without that, I'm afraid." The boy risked a sulk, though it didn't last long as Azusa announced that the teams were engaging the witch trio. Despite his best efforts, Shinigami couldn't completely focus on the mission at hand.
After the crisis was averted and the corrupted witch souls reaped, the death god pulled Stein aside and informed him cheerfully that his son was off-limits for dissection, and that to ever again imply otherwise would be very, very unwise.