Chapter Text
Kai heaved a sigh as he dusted off his hands, staring at his hard work. Truly, it took hours but he did it. He moved some boxes of supplies instead. Lilyacinth's bed and miscellaneous supplies. It would barely fit in the corner of the apartment, but the young alien girl seemed quite happy with having a space at all with humans. She hugged her little plush -gifted to her by one of the scientists who asked to run some tests with her- and watched as Kai worked on building together her stuff.
"What the hell is a scruw?"
"It's a human tool to help support various things together!" Lilyacinth proudly explained, as Kai shook his head and turned the instruction screen to her.
" That's a screw. This is a scruw, which, is a dumb name by all means." He frowned, hands crossed, "And there isn't even any in the bag! Stupid cheap sh-" He paused, clearing his throat, "I mean, this is why you don't buy cheap human things if you have a choice, Lil."
She nodded, absolutely buying his explanation, "I see. Prime knowledge to remember!" and picked up a hammer, tilting her head. "It's so small..."
"Ah yes, every kit has to come with a hammer now after the Venus Bed incident."
"What's the Venus Bed incident?" She gasped, curiosity at full percent.
"...I'll tell you when you are older."
"Aw!" She pouted, shaking her fists. "Not fair! I'm mature for a plutonian!"
"And I'm quite the party machine. Be patient, kid." Kai scoffed, a small smile on his face as he ruffled the young girl's hair. She crossed her arms, sitting on the floor with a soft thud.
Eventually, Kai was able to put together the bed. It… looked like a bed? He was certain he followed the instructions.
“Looks like a tent, Mr. Kai.” She giggled, “I think you just need to turn the frame.”
“Oh.” He flushed, embarrassed, “Right. Of course. I was just testing your human knowledge.”
“Oh! A human test! I loved doing those!” She exclaimed, “So I passed?” Lilyacinth turned her head as the Detective nodded, turning the frame around to save whatever little pride he still had left.
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“I need to get back to doing my job soon. Often, I am able to stay home and do it, but…” He looked at the young girl tiredly staring at him, rubbing her eyes. It seemed she was not used to a human sleep schedule in the slightest. “...Don’t worry about it. I won’t make a sound. Keep sleeping, okay?” Kai ruffled her messy hair, as she whined, triedly refusing.
“Nooo, I wanna hang out with…” She yawned, “Mr. Kai…”. The man turned away with a frown. He had long concluded from Lilyacinth told him that the spores that caused the issues months back helped Plutonians sleep and regulate a sleep schedule similar to humans, but it must have been hard for the young girl to try to adapt to an actual human one without it. Bending down to gently pick her up, he carried her over to the bed, tucking her in.
“I’m sorry I can’t help with… your sleep issue, but the most I can do is try to comfort you until you are able to rest what you can.” As the detective offered a small smile.
Lilyacinth stared at him confused. “I mean, I’m groggy Mr. Kai, but I’m not exhausted. I’ve already slept 12 hours…”.
“You mean you haven’t been suffering from… a lack of sleep?”
“Nope!” She giggled, sitting up on her bed to pat the man on the head. “Thank you for the concern though!”
“Right…” He trailed off, covering his face. He needed an instruction manual for this girl, or something. “Either way, I trust in you enough to leave you here for a few hours. Leftovers are in the left corner of the fridge as always, and stay away from any fires or hazards I taught you. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!” Lilyacinth grinned and mock-saluted, as Kai gently ruffled her hair and went to the door, lifting up his face mask.
“I’m off, then.”
“Take care!” The little alien girl waved, before closing the door and locking it. “Okay! Time to behave and prove Mr. Kai I am responsible!”.
She, however, didn’t stay put in a spot. After grabbing the leftovers, she looked around the humble home, curiosity paired with a temporary freedom. Looking within drawers, she found pictures. Someone her height, in what looked to be a uniform with other humans. Was this… Mr. Kai? Yet, the hairstyle and the uniform style… Well, she didn’t want to pry. Carefully, Lilyacinth set the picture back, and closed the drawer. She could always ask him later, she was certain. She kept looking around, however, curious as what else she could find.
There wasn’t much to begin with, now that she looked at her finds. A weird tank-looking shirt, an old cracked cell phone, some empty bottles of medicine. She did find a few more photos crumbled and hidden around, but with those she felt a sense of uneasy taking from their spot. They looked… personal. She was curious, sure, but she respected her gut feeling about things. It’s how humans survived anyways, right? By gut feelings and quick thinking. She didn’t even notice when the door opened and Kai stepped inside, until he was standing right in front of her and she froze.
“Well, I see someone went treasure hunting…” The man sighed, crouching down to pick up the empty bottles. “Although this is a nice reminder to clean up the trash in those drawers.”
“You… aren’t mad?” She looked up, tilting her head. Kai gently ruffled her hair, a small tired laugh escaping his lips.
“No. I understand the boredom. Besides, this is just random things. An old binder, my first phone… I forgot how badly damaged it was.” He laughed as he picked it up, eyes glazed over with nostalgia.
“Um,” Lilyacinth began, looking at Kai cautiously. “I do have a question though. About some old photos I saw…”. She noticed how he froze, shoulders tense.
“Ah, those.” He sighed, scratching his neck. “I… wanted to get rid of them, but I couldn’t bring myself for some reason. I do have photos that are organized in their own album, but those I… genuinely wish I could forget. Unfortunate photos of my youth, you could say.”
“That was you…?”
“Indeed. Class photos, picture days… My mother always wanted me to wear the uniform ‘correctly’ for those and to do my hair in those horrible pigtails. I hated those pictures, even more now. I wanted to burn them, rip them to shreds but…” The detective sighed, covering his face for a moment to take a deep breath. “I also know that it costed money, a lot of money, that she saved up and pinched any penny she could so that I would have pretty school pictures like she wanted. I can’t say her actions have always been the best, even now, but she has tried in her own weird way.”.
“Oh…” Lilyacinth frowned, before reaching forward to gently pat his knee. “You don’t owe her anything though…”
“I’m aware.” He forced a smile, “Thank you.”