fandomhigh | Library [Sunday, March 23]

Edgar's elaborate build-up to crying was cut short as she noticed the faces that Lee was making and she stopped, mouth hanging a little open, and she just stared, wide eyed, as if not sure what to make of him.

Adah just shook her head lightly, and grinned. The staring kept Edgar still, too, which was a small blessing. "What are you doing?" she asked, quietly, not wanting to distract Edgar too much with the sound of her voice.

"My brother used to like it when I did this when he was a baby," Lee said just as quietly, still making faces at Edgar. Said faces included sticking out his tongue, squinting his eyes, demonstrating an exaggerated over and under bite and wiggling his nose at Edgar.

[I'm crashing out early. Pick up in the AM!]

Edgar was still staring, taking her time in deciding what to think. It didn't help that he kept switching thing son her just as she was about to giggle or pout or smile or perhaps just be gassy.

"Oh, go back to that last one," Adah said. "You should keep that one, it might be an improvement." She, as it was, was not nearly as indecisive as her fake child in giving the Eel a smirk.

"You're just jealous I don't make these faces at you," he said and wiggled his nose at Edgar again. "I know how you feel about me and my face."

"Jealous?" Adah asked. "If anything, I'm grateful for it; it's giving me two seconds where she's quiet and not trying to pull my hair out of my scalp."

"Because I'm that good," he said and wiggled his fingers at Edgar while sticking his tongue out and making quiet noises. "Zak used to love this game."

Edgar moved her hand, lifting it, but tentatively, once finger wiggling started to get involved; she made a small noise back as her wide eyes seemed to try to decide what to pay more attention to, the faces or the fingers. She could grab onto fingers better. She was definitely a grabber, and she wasn't seeing much hair, and that was her favorite.

Meanwhile, Adah arched a slight eyebrow at the clear indecision in the robotically lifelike eyes and smirked a bit. "Was it that Zak used to love this game, or that you can use that as an excuse for the fact that you love it?"

"I think it was a mutual thing," he said and puffed out his cheeks at Edgar. The fingers wiggled again, slowly though. "He liked it because it entertained him, I liked it because it got me cookies and my mom liked it because it calmed Zak down."

The droid baby's attention went entirely to the fingers now, catching them carefully; Edgar's own fingers curled out in preparation for when she finally, leaning forward in the sling, made a little sound as she reached out to grab one of them.

"Careful," Adah warned the Eel, "once she gets a hold of something, she doesn't like letting them go, and it would be a shame for her to start crying again after all that."

"It's okay," he said and let Edgar have one of his fingers, testing the grip by tugging lightly. "She's strong. Where'd the name Edgar come from?"

Edgar babbled something nonsensical and tried to pull Lee's finger closer, little fingers clinging to it as best they could.

"For Edgar Allen Poe," Adah explained. "I feel disappointed that you couldn't pick that up, for how much I read him. So she'd named after a drunken poet. I actually didn't think Karal would be so receptive to it, but..." she shrugged a shoulder. "It was going to be Ruth May if not that. Edgar fits her, I think, though I'm not sure why."

"That's why I asked," Fraser said, letting Edgar pull his finger closer. "I didn't know if it was a family name for this Karal guy or something. Has she been good besides the hair pulling?"

And Edgar promptly went to put the finger in her mouth, with no small amount of slobber and a little bit of babbling.

"I hope you washed your hands recently," Adah commented idly. "And, besides the hair pulling and slobbering over everything like that, she's been good, as far as babies go. I don't know; I was old enough when Ruth May was born that I should know, but my mother lorded over her, so I didn't pay much attention. She's smart, though. Very. She figured out how to open Bob's cage, even if she wasn't so quick to pick up on the fact that Bob isn't so playful and cuddly as I think she assumed her to be."

"She's cute," Lee said, amused at the finger biting and pulling. "I'd say she looks like you but I bet that gets me a glare. Maybe she looks like Karal before I punch him in the face."

Adah smirked again. Edgar toothlessly nibbled away. "No glaring, I promise. If anything, it would help me feel like I'm not insane for thinking the same. They're robotic, so, clearly, they could have been programmed to have been adapted to certain traits of their supposed mothers and fathers, but I'm honestly reluctant to give Skywalker that much credit in how much effort he puts into this particular assignment. I think he just does it because he wants to make us squirm."

"I don't know the guy but I can see that," he said, smiling at her. "Most teachers here seem to enjoy making people squirm. How long do you have this little bundle of joy?"

"She was assigned to me Thursday," Adah said with a small nod, "but I've had her since Friday afternoon. I'm a little surprised I'm still standing today."

"If you get too attached, you might just wanna keep her even after the assignment's over," Lee said and winked at her.

Okay, now he was definitely getting a glare. "If anyone's attached, it's her, because half the time I can't get her to let go of my hair. Believe you me, I'm counting the days until Thursday. Strapping a seventeen year old crippled girl with a robotic baby is not an alternate exercise in learning, it's a cruel and inhumane torture. At least he didn't slate me as one of the single parents, although he may as well have."

"Karal's that bad of a fake father?" Lee asked, frowning now.

"He was supposed to come get her at the clinic yesterday," Adah said, shoulders stiffening slight with a lift of her chin, as if fighting off any indication that she'd been even remotely bothered by this, "and he did not, and I still have her well past halfway through Sunday."

"Let me know if you want me to take her," Lee offered, wiggling his finger in Edgar's grasp. "I can if you need a break."

Adah's eyes shifted a little to the side in consideration of this offer. "We'll see how I feel after tonight; she's gotten a little easier. I don't know if it's just me getting used to her, or her tiring herself out, but she hasn't been as difficult today. If anything, though, I wouldn't dump her on you. You could be a terrible parent for all I know, and just dumping my kid on someone else isn't going to help my grade. But, if anything, help would be nice. I wouldn't turn that down. In this case."

"I'm always willing to help," he said, nodding. "I helped take care of my brother, after all and he didn't turn out bad, I promise."

"Well, it doesn't so much matter how this one 'turns out,' as she's likely to just be dismantled for parts once the week is over," Adah commented, "but I would be interested in talking to your brother and see if he would say the same about the effect of your care."

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