black bats flying round and round

[colorshapes]

They're not really colors or really shapes, but Addy's tastes aren't really tastes, so Kerron thinks it's okay to call them like that anyway. Addy does too and they talk about colorshapes every week. He likes Addy. She has simple colorshapes that are easy to understand and he can help with lots of them. Other people have more complicated colorshapes but he's getting better at reading them while they fly through the air.

He's on his way back to the quarters he and Mummy and Daddy share, and he's just pushed open the door that usually leads to the right building in the Forks compound.

It doesn't.

Kerron has only opened this door twice before in this direction, but he sure remembers where it used to go. Probably Mummy or Her Majesty did a magic here. He wants to see what kind. He goes in and lets the door swing shut behind him.

Comments

[colorshapes]

"Magic!" says Kerron. "And just my mummy, nobody else's. I don't have any little brothers or sisters so far. But that's okay 'cause lots of people in the coven have kids my age so there's Henry and Brandon and Lily and everybody to play with."

[pythbox]

"That's... nice," she says tightly.

[colorshapes]

"Yup!" says Kerron, who is good at goals and not so good at tone of voice or facial expression.

[pythbox]

She sighs.

"...What's she like? Your mother," she clarifies.

[colorshapes]

"Mummy's fun! She does magic a lot, she makes magic coins for the Empress all the time but she keeps some and she makes stuff appear or she sometimes is a he and she makes stuff be more fun than it starts out being. I thought she made this door when I found it but now I'm not sure, I think maybe it only happened."

[pythbox]

"Your mother did not make this door," she confirms.

[colorshapes]

"Oh well. I bet she'd like it! There's all kinds of stuff here. Mummy mostly likes stuff," Kerron says, nodding sagely.

[pythbox]

Despite herself, she laughs.

"Is there any stuff she doesn't like?"

[colorshapes]

"She doesn't like stuff that makes me or Daddy or our friends sad," says Kerron thoughtfully. "And she doesn't like being stuck in one place or being lonesome. One time a lady who is like the Empress but not put her someplace lonesome that she couldn't leave and it made her really sad but then Daddy fell in love with her and asked nice and the Empress asked the lady who's like her to let Mummy out to come live where we live and she did." Kerron nods smartly. That is the end of this story.

[pythbox]

"I used to know your mother," she murmurs. "Or... maybe 'know' is the wrong word. I met her, anyway." She smiles wryly. "We didn't get along."

[colorshapes]

"That's sad," says Kerron frankly.

[pythbox]

"Yes," she sighs. "Yes it is."

[colorshapes]

"How come you didn't get along?" Kerron asks. "Most people can if they try! Esme says that. She's Lily's mummy. And also some other people's mummy, like the Emperor."

[pythbox]

She closes her eyes.

"Because," she says finally, "he did a lot of things that upset me and people I care about."

[colorshapes]

"Oh. Huh," says Kerron. "Was it a long time ago? Most grownups did some bad things a long time ago and then stopped." Pause. "Most of the grownups I know, anyway."

[pythbox]

"About six months," she says. "For me."

[colorshapes]

"Oh, that's way before I was born," says Kerron unconcernedly. "Okay then."

[pythbox]

She gives him a quizzical look.

[colorshapes]

"What?"

[pythbox]

"How long ago were you born?"

[colorshapes]

"It was March seventh!" says Kerron obliviously.

[pythbox]

"And," she says, smiling despite herself, "what's the date today?"

[colorshapes]

"May sixteenth!" Kerron nods. "I know dates."

[pythbox]

"Yes you do," she agrees. "Is magic involved somehow in how fast you're growing up?"

[colorshapes]

"Not especially. Even half-vampires who aren't witches or ingots grow this fast," says Kerron. "Wolves are slower, and humans, but I like growing this fast, it was boring not being able to talk. I'm gonna learn to read soon. It's not fair that Henry can already."