Disclaimer: the usual, don't own code geass, what not, yada, yada, yada.

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Orange. It was orange. Possibly the brightest orange he had ever seen, short of Shirley's bright orange hair.

And it was starring at him, just as he was starring at it.

"Are you having a staring contest with a fish Lelouch?" came the familiar British voice, breaking him out of his reverie.

Lelouch looked up at Leon to see him smiling kindly at him.

"What is it?" Lelouch asked, suddenly feeling full of childish curiosity.

"It's an orange Garibaldi."

"Orange is right." he muttered. "That thing is bright and he looks kind of funny."

"Yes well how do you know that he's not looking at you and thinking you look rather funny yourself?" Leon asked kindly.

Lelouch said nothing, he just shrugged as he continued looking at the fish.

"Or maybe it's a girl fish and she finds you somewhat cute."

Lelouch suddenly turned red. "That's awkward." he grumbled, making Leon chuckle at him.

"Well at least you're acting human Lulu!" Shirley giggled, pouncing on his back.

"I'm acting childish." he admitted with a sigh.

"There's nothing wrong with that." she told him. "At least your not acting like Roderick over there."

Lelouch turned to see Roderick standing with Kit making faces at several fish that were sitting and watching them.

"Good point." he admitted. "Why is Roderick so childish anyway?"

"I think it's because his father made sure he had a sense of humor." Leon admitted. "Considering Mr. Spencer was a part time comedian anyway."

"Or maybe it's just to balance the two of you out." said Shirley. "Think about it. You're grouchy and dark, and he's cheery and happy."

"Day and night, my point exactly." said Leon with a smile.

Lelouch just smiled as he walked over to another tank and searched for another fish, leaving Shirley engaging Leon in a friendly banter.

"What is this?" he wondered starring at the strange slimy looking creature.

It couldn't be an octopus, it didn't have eight legs, but it had several strange tentacles in front of his face and strange little skirt like bit around it as it swam up to the glass.

"Well aren't you the strangest little thing?" Lelouch said watching it in awe as it changed from a near opaque white to a vibrant purplish color.

"It's a cuttlefish Uncle Louie!" said Kit, hopping around beside him.

"A cuddle fish?"

"Not Cuddle! Cuttle!" Kit giggled.

"Oh. I was going to say, he doesn't look very cuddly."

"I like cuttlefish! My Uncle Jake has a whole bunch at home! He catches them when he goes diving overseas!"

"Why would he do that?"

"Cause he thinks they're cool." said Kit.

"They're something else, that's for sure." Lelouch admitted.

"He's like you Uncle Louie!" Kit said grinning.

Lelouch starred. "I'm not a slimy sea creature Kit." he said.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Kit giggled. "He's like you cause he's really different, but he blends in with what's around him. Like you're really different from some of the others, but you blend in with the family anyway."

Lelouch couldn't help but smile a little. "That's interesting Kit. I never thought of it that way." he admitted.

Kit just giggled some more before he ran off to go look at another tank.

But Lelouch stayed behind watching his aquatic counterpart.

"I guess we do have a bit in common don't we little guy?" he shrugged with a smile. "You hide behind your color, I hid behind a mask, yet we still blend in with our surroundings."

He paused, then shook his head with a sigh.

"I'm talking to something that looks like it's related to a squid. What's gotten into me?" he mumbled. Then he looked at the cuttlefish again.

The cuttlefish just fanned out it's tentacles as it watched Lelouch with almost as much curiosity as he had watching it.

"I think it likes you." Euphie giggled.

Lelouch jumped a bit, not even realizing she was there.

"And why would it like me?" he asked her.

"I don't know. Maybe there's just a special connection between the two of you." she shrugged.

"Yeah, with my luck it will be a connection like the one Suzaku had with Arthur." he said with a tiny smile.

"Oh Suzaku just has trouble with cats."

"He told me that you once said you liked the way he had trouble with cats."

Euphie blushed a little.

"Well it's just like how Shirley loves you despite your lazy attitude."

This time it was Lelouch's turn to blush. "She said I had a lazy attitude?"

"Well you do." Euphie said with a smile.

Lelouch just sighed and looked around realizing everyone else was gone and they were the only two left in the room.

"Oops! We better catch up!" said Euphie. Then she ran out of the room leaving him behind.

Lelouch looked back at the cuttlefish who was still regarding him in curiosity.

"Sorry little guy but I better do the same. Nice meeting you." he said with a small smile. Then he walked out of the room, joining the family and leaving his unexpected new friend behind.

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Ginger: Don't ask where the cuttlefish idea came from. It just came out of nowhere like every other idea I get. Anyways! The usual thanks to my new found friend Digidreamer, and of course one sided pancake. Thanks guys!