In their quantum superposition Elizabeth and the Luteces had access to everything they could ever desire. Before Elizabeth's arrival the Luteces had established their own little place which resembled Emporia, minus the entrance to Comstock House. After Elizabeth's arrival it changed daily: one day a pirate ship, the next a luxurious Indian palace, and the day after that it would be a spaceship. The Luteces were amused by her imagination and she always left the lab alone, so they didn't feel too bothered by Elizabeth's alterations. One constant, which the Luteces had grown to appreciate, was that she always wanted to be reading things. She would pull books out of worlds seemingly at random just to examine them. Her curiosity was as boundless as their power and every day she grew smarter and just a little less naive.

This particular day the universe was a fashionably utilitarian loft apartment from the beginning of the twenty-first century. The Luteces shuffled out of their bedroom to find Elizabeth was still in the same spot they'd left her when they went to bed. She was engrossed in a book of dubious content. It had a barely clad man on the front holding a woman in a fancy bodice of some kind. Robert coughed lightly and began looking for things to make coffee.

Rosalind looked after him, as though he was abandoning her to some kind of heavy task. Robert made a shooing motion toward Elizabeth. Rosalind frowned at him but she did approach the girl, clearing her throat softly.

Elizabeth bolted upright and snapped the book shut, hiding it behind her back. She also threw her leg out over a neat line of books to by her side on the black leather couch. Rosalind coughed again, unable to keep her unease from her expression. "Good morning Elizabeth. How are you feeling?"

Elizabeth blushed a little and the women looked away from each other. "Fine. I'm fine. I just. . . reading."

Rosalind nodded, smoothing wrinkles that didn't exist out of her skirt. "Of course. A fine habit. I read quite a bit when I wasn't working at your age. I was extremely fond of. . . well, a certain kind of book which my father likely wished I had not found or appropriated."

Elizabeth stared at Rosalind, trying to discern what the older woman was saying. "Uh, these might be a little. . . what's going on?"

Rosalind fretted with her skirt for a moment, taking a deep breath. The last time she was this nervous she'd been alive and asking Comstock for more funding. Why this subject and conversation should be so nerve wracking she did not know. She had never anticipated being on this end of this conversation. Her parents had more or less left her to discover things on her own. "You're a young woman, quantum superposition or no. You still want. . . what the body wants and thinks it needs."

Elizabeth blushed brightly but she didn't look away from Rosalind. the older woman was the first to look away. "I've never-"

"No, of course not." Rosalind said quickly, before Elizabeth could finish the thought. "You haven't had a good opportunity to. . . but you must have in some universes."

Elizabeth blushed and nodded. "Anna has husbands most of the time."

Rosalind nodded. "It's not the same, is it? There's a defining line between Anna and yourself. For all your likeness you are not truly the same person."

Elizabeth nodded. "I want. . . I think I want what you two have. Which is weird, I guess."

Rosalind chuckled. "Robert and I suit each other well. We would each be lost without the other. That didn't come from nothing, though. We didn't awake one day and realize we would be together for the rest of time. When we first spoke face to face I was quite terrified he'd belittle me."

Elizabeth shifted a little, then opened a tear. It showed a man in a white sweater surrounded by little girls outside the lighthouse to Rapture. Rosalind nodded and examined the man. "Is this who you've been thinking of? He's mute, it would make communication difficult."

Elizabeth blushed. "We wouldn't argue like you two do."

Rosalind scoffed. "Arguing with Robert is my favorite hobby. Come, let me see one of these books. I'll bet you anything that there's at least as many pages devoted to arguments as sexual relations."

Rosalind moved to grab one of the books that Elizabeth was hiding under her leg and skirt. Elizabeth moved to stop the older woman but the redhead was used to doing this to Robert who had much faster reflexes. Once she had the book in hand she disappeared and reappeared across the room, blushing brightly. She coughed at the book and moved to hand it to Elizabeth without a word. The thing about their current state was that Rosalind could experience hours of time without missing a thing the others experienced. She'd had more than enough time to read the book cover to cover.

"I just. . . I mean it's not like it ever really happened. I haven't read it yet. Don't spoil the end for me." Elizabeth blushed as she tucked the book back under her leg.

"It's anatomically impossible and a tyrannosaurus would have no interest in mating with a human being, no matter how delicious her body." Rosalind noted, making a slightly disgusted face as she remembered the story.

Robert poked his head out of the kitchen, frowning deeply. "What in heaven's name are you talking about?" He looked at the women, taking in the fact that they were both blushing brightly.

Rosalind brushed invisible wrinkles out of her skirt and turned to Robert. "A novel. Perhaps you would be best at explaining why arguing is not only essential but somewhat pleasurable when one is in a relationship such as ours."

"I don't find it that pleasurable. You're a smug know it all and I usually have to concede or suffer your wrath. I can count on my hand the number of times that I've ended an argument in frustration and you were correct." Robert held up a hand with the thumb and first two fingers extended to illustrate.

Rosalind rolled her eyes. "That's a lie. I concede to you in much larger arguments and I cannot count on all the stars in the sky how often I have been right and you've been wrong."

Robert frowned at Rosalind and retreated back into the kitchen. Rosalind huffed and turned her attention back to Elizabeth. Her apparent annoyance evaporated like mist under a bright sun, replaced by her normal stoic expression. "See? It's an important part of communication and misdirection."

"Is misdirection important?" Elizabeth asked.

"It is if you don't want Robert to know that you intended to read dinosaur pornography." Rosalind said, this time speaking so only Elizabeth could hear.

Elizabeth frowned. "I guess I don't. I didn't want you to know, either." She rubbed her face, giving Jack one last look before she closed the tear. "I don't know if he'd like me, anyway."

Rosalind moved to Elizabeth's side, stroking her face softly. "You won't know until you try. Why don't you meet him and see if you two hit it off? With all those girls he'll need all the help he can get."

Elizabeth looked up at Rosalind and nodded. "Okay, maybe I will." She paused to glanced at her book. "Later. It was just getting good."

Rosalind laughed softly. "It's better in fiction than real life. Enjoy your unrealistic daydreams while you can."