A/N: Sorry everyone for not updating as quickly as I usually do. I got a little busy. This chapter is a bit of a filler chapter... I'm sorry.

Right now, I feel that I'm dragging this on a little too long. However, I figured that a transition now would be a little too soon. In any case, I hope you continue to read and enjoy this story.

Chapter 6: Conversations

"Hello," a voice on the other line said.

"Hello, Roger. This is Quillish Wammy," Quillish said calmly.

"Quillish? Is it really you? I haven't heard from you in ages! How are you?" the man on the other end, Roger Ruvie, cried excitedly into the phone.

"I've been doing well, and you?"

"Fine, fine! Quillish, I heard you adopted a kid."

Quillish leaned back in his chair, "How did you know, Roger?"

"Oh, I heard from a couple friends we have in common," Roger said easily, "So… all of those things you were spouting about all those years ago… you actually acted upon them. I don't quite understand it."

Quillish shifted, putting the phone in a more comfortable position, "Well… I wanted an heir. All of my things will go to waste without one."

Roger laughed, "I see, and your family is completely batty, so you can't trust them… is the child the reason you're not back yet?"

"Yes, American adoption laws are absolutely horrible," sighed Quillish, "I promise that you'll meet him sometime. Anyway, the reason why I called was to ask you about the school. How are your students lately?"

Roger growled, "The brats are fine, I suppose."

"Now, now, Roger…"

"Quillish, honestly, I have no idea why you voluntarily agreed to take one as your own," Roger mumbled, "Children are absolutely horrible."

"Then why did you agree to run the school?"

"Money?"

"Of course."

"Well, I can't live completely off of grants, can I?" sighed Roger, "I want to, though. Insects are far more fascinating than these children… smarter, too."

"You don't mean that," Quillish said.

"I do," Roger sighed, "The only reason why over half of the children are here is because their parents are rich."

Quillish sighed, "That so?"

"That is so! You haven't been here in a while, have you?"

"I suppose not. I have been rather busy…"

"I noticed. You see, Quillish…"

The school in question was a private boarding school that Quillish had founded when he was an idealistic youngster in his late twenties. Its official name was Wammy Institute, and its purpose was to groom children of superior intellect into important members of society. Quillish had hoped that it would populate with aspiring inventors, scientists and engineers: the people that would build the future. For the first few years, it seemed on the right track.

However, as time went on, as Roger informed him, politics began sticking its much-unwanted hand into their affairs. Most of it had to do with funds from donors. Money became the first priority; the ideals upon which the school had been based were thoroughly ignored. It didn't matter how intellectually gifted you were, just who you knew and how much your parents were willing to pay. Quillish took this news in stride. It was bound to happen someday. All people given forms of power liked to abuse it. That's why he reserved the final say. He could go ahead and replace the entire staff if it pleased him… and it did.

"This has just sprung up?"

"Well, it was always around, but it really picked up the years you were gone," Roger said.

"I see." Quillish said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Is there anything else happening over there I need to worry about?"

"None that I can think of," Roger said, "But if you're wondering about me, I'm itching to receive another research grant…"

"You and your ants," laughed Quillish.

"Ants are very fascinating," Roger said defensively.

"I know, I know," Quillish smiled, he then sighed, "It's been nice talking to you. Take care of yourself, Roger."

"Hey, good luck with the kid, Quillish. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Quillish hung up the phone, then proceeded to stare at it. He certainly was busy, wasn't he? He had spent far too much time away from the school to not notice the petty politics until they had already gotten that far. Quillish felt horrible, as though he had failed the school and its students. Well… all of the deserving students, anyway…however many there were. Then again, Roger was rather biased against children; the situation possibly wasn't as bad as he made it out to be. Quillish supposed it was time to do a little research.

I wonder if Laurent would do well there… Quillish pondered as he got up from his seat. Quillish had wanted to enroll the boy from the beginning. He was definitely a smart one.

"Okay, watch very closely," Alice said, flattening out the small square of paper on the desk in front of her. Laurent, who was sitting next to the caretaker, was staring intently at her hands.

"First, you fold the paper like this, open it up, then fold it again like this, and then like this…" Alice mumbled, her fingers pressing and flattening the paper expertly, "You move it like this, pull this here…" she continued in concentration as Laurent watched, completely entranced.

"Ta-da," she said after a short while, showing off a perfect origami bird, "What do you think? You can have this one."

The little boy took it in his hands and gazed at it, causing a little squeak of happiness to well up in Alice's throat. "It's beautiful…" he said softly.

"Watch, if you pull its tail, its wings move," Alice said, pulling the bird's tail slightly. The boy's eyes lit up in excitement as he began to play with it. To think that Alice made this as he watched… it was absolutely amazing.

"Look at that!" the little boy said excitedly, examining it from every angle.

"It's really nothing," Alice said, grinning, "Come on, now you try it. There's a lot of steps, but I'm sure you can do it. What color paper would you like?"

Laurent glanced over the colorful origami paper, his hands still protectively cupping the little bird. "Hm… could I have the gold piece?" he asked, his eyes trailing on the single sheet with a metallic sheen.

Alice smiled as she passed the paper over and grabbed another sheet for herself, "Now, do what I do. First, you fold it like this…"

"Okay…"

It had taken a while, but Alice had found a way to be around Laurent without frightening him. He was very wary of her for the first week; as soon as he saw her he would head in the opposite direction, no matter where that other direction happened to lead. He was not at all looking forward to another forced hug, nor did he enjoy being petted or squealed at. Since these were the only things Alice seemed capable of doing, he was quite certain to stay away from her at all costs. That was… until he noticed that she made paper animals.

It was actually on accident. Alice was bored one night after doing all of her chores, so she pulled out her origami paper, brought it to the den, and began making random animals. Laurent peeked in a little while later to see what she was doing, and was amazed at what he saw. Of course, he was still cautious about getting too close, because the last thing he wanted was for the girl to attack him because she deemed him "cute."

Alice noticed the boy's fascination after a while, and in time they had come to an agreement. He would sit near her and watch her fold, and she wouldn't do anything like squeal or try to hug him. In the end, he was able to observe origami folding up close, and she was able to observe him up close.

"…and there we have it," Alice sighed, showing off her bird, "How's yours coming?"

The little boy held up a lopsided bird a little embarrassedly, "It's not very good…" he mumbled.

"Oh, give it time. You'll get better at it," she took the bird from his hands and looked it over, "It's really not bad at all. Do you know how many times I tried before it even came close to looking like this?" she pulled on its tail experimentally, "Look, I can even make the wings flap, I had the hardest time with this part." she looked at him and grinned.

He smiled back, "Thank you."

"So, anyway… how's school been going?" Alice asked conversationally, taking up a piece of paper to begin another little animal.

"It's fun, I guess…" Laurent responded. Laurent had begun attending the little elementary school in town just recently; he came in right as Christmas break had ended. Laurent wasn't sure what to think of it. The people were friendly enough, he supposed. He much preferred it to be back at his house, though.

"Learn anything new lately?"

"Adding numbers in the tens place," Laurent said distractedly. He was rather busy watching Alice's hands and trying to guess what she was going to make next.

"That's always fun…" laughed Alice.

Laurent nodded, his eyes not leaving the paper for a second. After a little while, Alice presented him with another paper masterpiece.