[Jaykobell]

On the other side of the line, Richie's boss grinned with satisfaction. "Good. I'm gonna get started on all that, then."

"Wait," Richie called out quickly, getting his boss' attention before he hung up on him.

"What now? You're going to rank that hospital's phone bill up its ass."

Richie ignored his boss' ridiculous comment, considering they weren't even paying any fees to talk to each other. "Isn't what we're going to do... wrong? Aren't we supposed to be upholding the law, not going around it?"

"I told you not to hesitate, dimwit."

"I'm not, I'm just... I'll feel guilty." He didn't want Denzil to end up in jail for a crime anyone could've committed. If Eunice had been alone, maybe she would've turned on those farmers, too. If Richie himself had been a small child, alone in the whole world, sold to those farmers by his parents, he probably would've done the same. Still, anyone knew that basing their reason for murder on emotions wasn't an excuse. You couldn't start killing everyone because you hated all of them.

"You do what you feel you have to do, Richie. If you're positive this kid isn't a heartless killer, then we'll make it happen. The law is a structure to keep society from falling apart, and from turning into madness and chaos. Like everything, the law is flawed, Richie. Would you prefer that the kid didn't kill those farmers, and instead still be stuck with those abusive dipshits?"

"I... Of course not."

"Exactly. You're saying he's gentle, and you haven't lost your marbles yet, to my knowledge. I trust you can judge his character well enough. I may be a jackass, Richie, but I stand by the side of justice. What happened is unfortunate, and I sure don't condone murder, but anyone can get a gun and pull the trigger. That kid was abused like fuck, and that shithead threatened to kill him off. I'll go with your gut feeling and say that if the kid hadn't been involved into all those circumstances, nothing would've happened."

"I'm... I'm grateful. Thank you. I don't want that unfortunate boy to suffer anymore," Richie replied gratefully, feeling a little better. In a way, this whole thing was like an unfortunate turn of events, a bit like someone being used as a scapegoat. Knowing his boss was with him on falsifying the file — despite it being illegal at its core — made the officer feel better about his choice. A choice that, he knew, would pay off in the future.

"You're such a sissy," his boss said, literally just destroying whatever atmosphere they'd had going. "By the way, you didn't answer my question earlier. You gonna adopt the kids, or what?"

[Jaykobell]

Richie was satisfied and about to leave the conversation at that, when his boss actually asked him about the adoption topic again. "Wait, you were serious earlier?" he asked, a bit baffled that his boss had actually been serious.

"Uh, yeah? The fuck did you think? I don't know, Richie, you sound pretty damn attached to those kids, staying at the shitty hospital for that kid's sake and all. I can imagine you filing out those adoption papers and all that shit throughout your sleepless nights over there," his boss answered, and Richie heard the man's chair squeak and turn as he started fiddling around to get everything started on the final report of the case.

"I, well... Sure, I like them, they're cute... I guess," Richie answered a little awkwardly, unsure what to say or even think about a question like that. "I... don't think I'd go so far as to consider adoption. Maybe one kid, but two sounds a little... daunting." Even if they were nice, quiet kids, and that they got along with each other, the fact remained that taking care of two kids wasn't easy. Schooling, food, clothes, toys, and so many other things had to be considered. Richie was a single man, so instead of caring for himself, his money really didn't go towards anyone — or anything — else.

"All I'm trying to say here is that you sound like an okay candidate. When that girl is dispatched, they won't have anywhere to go. You get that, right? And sticking them back into the adoption system puts them at risk of getting adopted by some crazy fucker like those farmers."

"How did we even start talking about adoption?" Richie questioned, his ear starting to burn from being on the phone for such a long time.

"Hey, think about it. Until we officially hand over all the documents, the kids are under our juridiction. If an officer wants to take them, then we won't submit them to an adoption agency. Anyway, if we keep talking, I'll fucking go deaf in one ear." There was a pause before the boss grinned on the other side of the line. "Still don't want that sleeping bag?"

Richie could only agree on the first part of his boss' answer, but he sighed at the last one. "If I got a dollar every time I got such a smart-ass answer, I'd be rich," he replied somewhat irritatingly as he heard his boss laughing wholeheartedly on the other side.

With that, the two officers left their conversation at that and Richie walked back into the room, thanked the nurse as he usually did and then plopped down into his chair, exhausted. His mind was still going a few miles per hour from their phone conversation, but there was a certain sense of relief, as well.

[Jaykobell]

Richie was just relaxing in that chair when he suddenly heard someone coming closer to him. Still a little wired from his conversation with his boss, the officer jumped a little and immediately became alert. "What?"

But it was only Denzil, whom blinked and seemed a little confused by Richie's defensiveness. After realizing that, the officer smiled a little sheepishly. "Oh, Denzil. Sorry." He was expecting the kid to say something, but Richie got curious when the boy didn't say anything. "What's wrong?"

With his head down, Denzil was fiddling a little with his orange overall that he was, of course, still wearing. "Richie... Am I evil?" the child asked quietly without making eye-contact still.

Surprised by the sudden question, Richie raised an eyebrow. "What? Why are you asking all of a sudden?"

Still looking down, Denzil continued to fiddle with his overall, until he eventually glanced up a little at the officer. "Am I bad? I did something really bad..."

It took a few long seconds, but Richie eventually caught on that Denzil was referring to him killing the two caretakers. What was he supposed to answer to the child? How much did Denzil understanding, in terms of good and bad? "Why... Why are you worrying about that?" Richie asked sheepishly, unsure what to answer the child or even where to begin.

"Eunice says murder is bad... The dictionary also says it's bad, Eunice told me... And I know it's bad, too," he answered in his typical quiet voice, looking back down and fiddling more intensely with his orange overall. "Am I bad?"

[Jaykobell]

How was the officer supposed to answer that? They were going to dive into a long conversation if Richie started explaining everything or if he even tried to debate the whole thing. "Ah, Denzil... No. I don't believe you're a bad boy. You... You and Eunice shouldn't have suffered through what you did to begin with." He slowly reached out to the boy and put a hand on the child's head gently. "It... might be a little strange to say that, but your actions don't always dictate what kind of person you are." His boss bitched and swore like a whole boat of sailors, but that didn't keep the man from being kind, despite his intolerable mouth.

At the touch, Denzil slowly raised his head to look up at the officer. The question had been tormenting him for a long time, but Richie was always reading a book or being busy, and so, Denzil hadn't bothered the officer about it. He'd been talking with Eunice about it, and the more they talked about what had happened, the more Denzil felt guilty and terrible for having murdered the two caretakers. "I'm not evil, then...? Even if killing is bad?"

"Yes, killing is bad. It's... it's a touchy subject, really." Richie scratched the back of his head. How was he supposed to explain that, in Denzil's case, the means had justified the end? Like overthrowing and executing a dictator, the end justified the means. However, Richie, obviously, did not condone murder in any way, shape, or form. How could he explain the difference to a boy like Denzil without confusing the boy, or without potentially telling him the wrong thing? He didn't want the kid to assume that anything could potentially justify something as extreme as murder.

Instead, he figured he could maybe get a few answers out of the boy. "Denzil, when we spoke last time, you said you didn't feel any regret for killing your caretakers. Do you feel regret now?"

Denzil blinked slowly at the question, and once again, he looked down and avoided eye-contact. "I... I feel bad because killing is bad. I'm scared... I just wanted them to leave us alone. I didn't... I didn't think I would kill them."

"If you do understand that killing is bad, then that means you wouldn't do it again. Is that right?" Only now did Richie realize that he should've asked this question before telling his boss he was agreeing to falsifying the documents. He started feeling uneasy, despite knowing, deep down, that there was no way the boy would admit to wanting to kill again. Still, after everything, Richie wouldn't be surprised if things turned even weirder than they already were.

"No, I wouldn't kill anyone!" Denzil replied right away without hesitation, raising his voice just a little bit. "I don't... I don't like what I did." He stopped fiddling with his overall and looked up at Richie with those blood-red eyes that were so contradictory to his personality. "Are you upset? Will you punish me?"

[Jaykobell]

Richie didn't know what to answer the pleading eyes the child was giving him. Under normal circumstances, yes, murder was something the authorities punished a criminal for. In Denzil's case, the officer strongly believed the end had justified the means, but he didn't know how to explain it to the child correctly.

He eventually set his hands on Denzil's shoulders and smiled a little at the boy. "If you understand what you did is wrong, and that you won't do it again, then that's all that matters. If anyone wants to punish you, it's not something I'm going to do. That's up to the other police officers."

At those words, the boy started to tear up a little, and he latched onto one of Richie's arms tightly. The boy wasn't used to kindness. While Eunice was an exception, the only other people he'd ever known were those two heartless caretakers. This police officer had been nice to him, where he'd driven him all the way to the hospital to see Eunice, and whom had stayed at the hospital so Denzil could stay with Eunice. He had come to invest trust into the officer in the same way he'd put trust into Eunice when they had first met. Anyone who bothered to be kind to him earned his trust almost immediately.

While a little taken aback, Richie didn't try to push the kid away from latching onto his arm. Eventually, Denzil looked up at him again. "Richie? Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Taken aback some more, Richie was surprised Denzil was asking that, all of a sudden. "Why don't you want to sleep in Eunice's bed with her?" They were so close, why was he actually let her go, so suddenly?

And then the boy's face changed to a grimace. "She's eating a lot... she's fat. And she moves a lot. She keeps kicking me," Denzil replied with a straight face, sticking his tongue out. "But I guess you're kind of fat too."

"F... fat?" Richie echoed, unsure whether to be insulted or charmed by Denzil's innocent honesty. Eunice — and Richie himself, for that matter — was far from being fat, but she had certainly gained some weight since being admitted at the hospital. Of course, both children had had very little food, so it would be easy for them to get a lot of weight quickly. Richie just smiled sheepishly at Denzil's comments. "You can sleep with me, sure, if you can squeeze into the chair with me... but trust me, I'm not fat at all. My weight is perfect for my height," Richie defended as Denzil immediately started to get on the chair and started squeezing in-between one of the thick armrests and Richie himself.

"You're funny," Denzil replied quietly as most of Richie's words went completely over his head. Almost right away, he started dozing off into sleep next to the officer. There was barely enough space for the both of them, but the boy was still so thin that it was somehow possible.

"Well, I do prefer funny to a lot of things," Richie mused to himself as he let himself relax. Fortunately, he managed to sleep a relatively good night.

[Jaykobell]

Richie was amazed how the two kids never got tired of talking with each other every single day. He figured they would eventually run out of things to say or talk about, but they always managed to think of something. The two of them could read, so the hospital had lent the two a few children's books — and at Eunice's specific request, a dictionary. The officer was amazed that the girl could find enjoyment in reading about words, but Denzil seemed to have a mild interest in it as well. Richie had to admit that even he learned some new words out the girl reading that dictionary.

Still, neither child had something a little more child-like, like dolls or miniature cars. It wasn't surprising considering their up-bringing, but he did remember Denzil mentioning that they used to have a few broken toys back on the farm. Still, besides reading, the two kids couldn't really do anything else. Even if they asked for toys, they would be the hospital's and the children wouldn't be able to keep them.

Leaving the two kids to their literature, Richie left the room, this time without bothering a nurse to come over. It would be a quick phone call, so bothering a nurse for five minutes, quite literally, would be pointless and a waste of their time. He warned the two that he was going out to make a quick phone call and left the two together in the room.

He dialed the number of the station, and as per usual, he didn't need to tell the receptionist who I wanted to talk to. He waited as the phone rang and rang, until eventually his boss picked up on the other side. "My favorite sissy officer," his boss greeted him with his usual deep and raspy voice. "What do you want now?"

"And you're my favorite smart-ass boss," Richie replied, this time being the one coming up with the smart-ass remarks.

He heard his boss laugh loudly. "Sorry, Richie, but I don't swing the homo way. So, what do you want now? Get on with it."

"Since we're clearing the kid of any accusations, do I still need to watch over him twenty-four seven?"

There was a short pause before his boss answered him. "Guess not, I suppose. If you're sure he won't turn into a homicidal psycho."

"So if I want to leave the hospital for a while, I don't have to drag him along?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Great. That's all I wanted to know. See you, then," he finished with as he put the phone back on its base.

[Jaykobell]

As he hung up, Richie found himself changing his mind. His plan was to leave the hospital to go get the kids something to play with, other than books. What was he supposed to get them, though? He wasn't married or even dating, so anything pertaining to children was a bit intimidating. What did kids like, and specifically, what did little girls like? Anything he would find for girls would be too girly to him, so his judgement wasn't really helpful.

And so, instead of going alone, he figured the boy might be able to help. Denzil had been with Eunice all this time, so maybe he had a better idea of what she would enjoy. The thing was that he had to convince the boy to leave his friend behind at the hospital, considering Eunice hadn't received her release yet. It was for his friend, though, so maybe the boy would be convinced?

Stepping back inside the room, Richie noticed the two kids will reading, with Eunice more focused than Denzil. He could see the boy sometimes looking away and just spacing out as he stared at the wall or the window, or anything he happened to look at. "Denzil? Want to come here for a minute?"

The boy looked like he hadn't heard at first, but he eventually blinked and turned to the officer. "Uh, okay."

Richie sat down in the chair and brought the boy closer to him when Denzil had made his way over. "Want to come with me? I'm going out to go buy something."

A little confused, Denzil tilted his head. "Buy what?"

"When someone you know is in the hospital, a lot of people buy them gifts or cards to help them get better."

"Oh! So, we'd buy something for Eunice?" Denzil asked, catching on with Richie's idea and seemingly agreeing with it.

"Exactly. You know her better than I do, so you can pick something she'd like. So, you want to come?" The idea was to also buy something for the boy, but he could tell the boy that later.

The boy looked away, a little timid, and started fiddling with his orange overall, before looking up again at the officer. "O-Okay." Since they were going to buy something for Eunice, they were obviously coming back here after, right?

"Okay, then. Eunice?" Richie called out to the girl as he got up from the chair. "Denzil and I need to go out for a little bit, but we'll be back, okay?"

Eunice looked up from her book and blinked at the officer, and immediately Richie could see that she seemed a little insecure about Denzil leaving. It seemed the boy had picked up on it long before the officer, because the boy was already back at her bedside. "It's okay, I'll be back, Eunice. He won't hurt me," Denzil assured her, knowing exactly what he needed to say to make her feel better.

At the mention of her friend being safe with the officer, Eunice nodded. "Okay."

[Jaykobell]

While in the car, Denzil got fascinated once again by the radio and how it played music. Richie could appreciate music for what it was, but it seemed like the kid had never really been exposed to it, because the officer had had to explain it to the boy. He also showed the kid how the radio had multiple channels, all with different themes and musical genres, how the radio itself had two different types — the more informative, discussion-oriented radio, and the music-oriented radio — and how to work the knob on the car's radio to change the channels.

Despite Denzil understanding there were two different planes of radio, the boy never strayed from the music-oriented channels. He would listen to a few songs, or maybe listen to the channel for a few minutes, and then he would change to a different channel. Richie could only assume that the kid wanted to listen to as much music as he could, and that he wanted to hear as many different genres as possible. Richie was focusing on driving the car, so he didn't mind the kid playing with the radio while they made their way to the closest shopping mall.

When they got there, Denzil looked up at the interior shopping mall with big eyes. Basically anything that was banal to Richie was a completely new experience for the child, and it seemed like the mall was bigger than what Denzil had seen before. "That's a shopping mall. There's a whole bunch of different stores in it, so we'll probably find something nice for Eunice."

"Won't we get lost?" Denzil asked quickly, looking up at the officer, a little worried.

Richie smiled and chuckled a little at the child's concern before putting a hand on his head. "Don't worry, every mall has a map you can refer to so you know where you are and where you're going."

Denzil blinked at the mention of a map. "Map?"

"Yes. A map shows you everything that's around you. If we look at a map in the mall over there, we'll be able to find out where certain stores are so you don't have to look for them," he tried to explain as clearly as possible as they made their way towards the mall in question. He had to admit he'd found Eunice's interest in the dictionary rather unusual, but Richie could only guess that the girl would've known, at least in theory, what a map was.

[Jaykobell]

"See? That's the mall's store map," Richie showed Denzil once they'd stepped inside the mall. With so many people walking around and coming in and out, Denzil had soon found himself latching onto Richie, intimidated by being surrounded by so many people at once. The officer assumed the hospital transition had been tolerable for him because Eunice's room was a private room and so, only the occasional nurse and Richie were inside the room. "Don't worry," Richie said in an effort to try to reassure the boy, "nobody's going to hurt you. A mall is a public place, so there's always a lot of people that come here."

While he still looked a little intimidated, Denzil nodded slowly at the officer, although he refused to let go of the officer. While he was doing that, Richie was trying to look through the list of stores to find out what store sounded like the best one to shop at. What did he like as a kid? He remembered little car toys and fake weapons made out of foam, although Richie often ended up being beaten up by those foam weapons by the others. He also remembered video games and computer games, but he figured that was way too complicated to set-up for the kids at the moment.

Something else he could also vaguely remember were stuffed toys, but he had never been a big fan of those; he didn't dislike them, but he didn't love them, either. All things considered, however, Richie figured maybe stuffed toys would be the best option for the kids at the moment. "Okay, I have a good idea where to go," he told the boy whom was still latching onto him. Urging the kid forward, the two started making their way deeper into the mall. "The store is on the second floor, so we'll need to go up the escalator."

Richie wasn't surprised when Denzil questioned that specific word. "Escalator?"

"One of those," Richie replied as he pointed towards some of the moving stairs a little ways ahead of them. "They're stairs, but they move you up or down, so you don't have to go up or down yourself." And again considering his upbringing, Richie could only imagine both Denzil and Eunice had a very limited knowledge of modern technology.

[Jaykobell]

"It's not dangerous," Richie insisted as he tried to make Denzil feel comfortable at the idea of going up the escalator. The boy seemed to be a little edgy due to the fact there were so many people around, and because he was in a completely different environment to begin with. "See all the people going up and down? It's safe, don't worry."

When they reached the escalator, he noticed Denzil hesitating before finally getting onto the moving stairs, literally latching onto the railing to keep himself from falling or tripping. He wasn't usually this insecure, but with so many people around, he found himself to be a little unnerved. The ladder back in the barn had been easy enough to get used to, but this staircase actually moved on its own. It was a completely different story. Denzil couldn't deny that he was relieved when they reached the top of the escalator.

"Well? That wasn't so bad, right?" Richie asked when he stepped off the escalator as well, so used to the concept that it was like second nature to him. "We'll use the other one later to go back down," he added as he pointed at another escalator, this time going down instead of going up.

"It's so weird," Denzil commented as he immediately got closer to Richie the moment he had a chance.

"You'll get used to it; escalators are almost everywhere now. If it's not an escalator, then it's an elevator. You'd probably like those better. It's like a small room that you get into, and it moves up and down for you," Richie explained, foreseeing that the boy would ask him what an elevator was. Of course, the officer wouldn't have been surprised to hear the kid going, "Well, I know what that is".

"That does sound better," Denzil agreed as they started walking towards the store Richie wanted to go to. "Is it far?"

"If I remember correctly, it wasn't all that far from the escalator. Keep your eyes open for any store with lots of colors." From what the officer understood, that particular store was like a small toy store that catered specifically towards children.

[Jaykobell]

Richie had to admit he was rather proud of his successful assumption. The store he had had in mind was, indeed, a store that specialized in children's toys, from figurines to stuffed toys. The shelves sported countless bright colors and a multitude of toys that would make any child squeal with excitement and the desire to own every single thing on the shelves.

Denzil was staring at all the colors and the toys with wide eyes, seemingly unable to figure out where he was supposed to look first. Richie grinned at the child's indecisiveness and tried to steer him towards a particular aisle. "I have an idea what we could buy for Eunice," he told the boy as he started walking towards a specific aisle, where he could see a whole bunch of stuffed animals sitting in boxes and shelves.

"Stuffed animals are usually a favorite. They're really soft and cuddly," Richie explained once they'd gotten closer to the rows of shelves holding a seemingly endless amount of stuffed toys, ranging from cute items to animals to even a few human ones that seem to depict specific characters from specific shows or movies. "Here, what do you think?" he asked the child as he picked a random plush from the shelf closest to him and handed it over to the boy.

Denzil took the stuffed animal in his hands and immediately noticed that Richie was right: the toy was fluffy and soft. He went on to pet the stuffed toy and turning it around curiously. "It's all soft," he commented, echoing Richie's words from earlier.

"Isn't it?" Richie agreed as he picked the toy back from the child to put it back on the shelf. "Do you think Eunice would like that? Do you want to pick one for her?"

At the mention of Denzil being offered the chance to pick which plush they could buy, he stared at Richie with wide eyes full of disbelief. "I can... choose?" he echoed, just to make sure the officer was just pulling his leg.

"Well, you know her better than I do, so I figure you'll know what to pick out of this entire place." He wasn't surprised by Denzil's amazement at the fact he was letting the child choose the toy. The caretakers hadn't even given them anything, really, and if they had, they would've picked what they wanted instead of letting the children choose for themselves.

[Jaykobell]

When he was really given the go to pick a stuffed animal for Eunice, Denzil started looking through all the shelves and rows of plush toys.

Richie kept an eye on the boy to make sure he wouldn't stray from his side or do something you shouldn't do in a store — like being too rough with the items, or trying to smuggle them out of the store. To the contrary, the boy did the exact opposite of being too excited or rough with the toys. He looked through the rows and picked up only the ones he seemed to be the most interested in, mostly the cutesy animals like cats, dogs, and rabbits. He would pick one up and would then observe it as much as possible. He would turn it upside down and around, he would pet the animal, and he would also hug it for a few seconds to test it out. He would always put them back on the shelf once he was done testing, and then he kept moving down the shelves to find more potential candidates.

Every time Denzil would pick a new toy, Richie was amazed at how meticulously gentle the boy was. The officer also noticed the boy liked the stuffed animals that had something added onto them, like a fluffy mane or a different fabric for scales or markings.

At some point, he noticed the boy stopping abruptly at a certain stuffed toy. Denzil reached out for the toy on the shelf, which turned out to be a sheep. "I know what this one is," he whispered to himself, a little surprised to see a stuffed toy based on one of the animals he'd worked with on the farm. He later noticed that there were horses and chickens too, but the sheep stuck out like a sore thumb for him. He could remember the soft white fur they had and how he loved petting it back on the farm, since it was so soft and comfortable. The fabric used for the stuffed sheep's wool wasn't real wool, but Denzil found it soft and cuddly nonetheless.

Satisfied with the sheep, Denzil walked back to Richie, whom had been waiting by the start of the aisle. A little hesitantly, the boy showed his choice to the office, hoping it was okay. It's not like his decision-making skills had ever been encouraged by the caretakers, so anything remotely resembling a decision in the presence of someone with a higher authority than him unnerved him.

"So you want this one?" Richie asked when he saw the child showing him the sheep, and the boy nodded slowly, looking down at the toy. "Okay, then we'll buy this one." He paused for a little bit, giving the child enough time to change his mind if he wanted. "What about you? Do you want one?"

At the mention of him getting one too, Denzil looked up at the officer, again with disbelieving eyes. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. I'll buy you one too if you want one. Here, I'll hold onto the sheep, and you can go pick your own." He wasn't sure what the boy's reaction would be, seeing how he looked amazed at the fact that he could get to pick one, too, but he soon found himself holding onto the sheep while the boy started running off down the aisle. "Ah, Denzil, don't run, though!" he called out sheepishly to the boy, whom he figured couldn't contain his excitement at the idea of getting something for himself.

[Jaykobell]

Richie watched Denzil go for a specific shelf that he'd seemed to ignore earlier while trying to pick a stuffed animal for Eunice. Out of curiosity, Richie walked down the aisle to see what particular kind of stuffed toy Denzil seemed to be interested in.

He noticed the kid staring at the particular row, trying to make up his mind. When he got closer, Richie noticed the boy was looking a large selection of dinosaur and reptile toys. He grinned a little, if only because he wasn't surprised to see a boy being fascinated by arguably "gross" or "scary" animals like dinosaurs and snakes. "Do you want one of these?" Richie questioned the boy, whom hadn't even tried to pick one out to test it.

Denzil tilted his head and frowned a little at the dinosaurs. "I don't know what they are."

"These ones are all dinosaurs," Richie said as he showed the boy which ones fit the description of a dinosaur. "They used to be on earth, but they died many, many years ago. There's a whole lot of them, so I'm not sure what they're all called, but they're dinosaurs." The only one he knew about was the t-rex, but who didn't, right?

Denzil seemed intrigued by the dinosaurs, but he was also curious about the reptiles. He decided to pick one out from the pile that had a lot of colors on it, long and without arms or legs. The child thought he wouldn't see the end of the toy, until it eventually did slip all the way off the shelf. "What's this one?"

"That's a snake."

Denzil narrowed his eyes and turned the snake toy around. "It doesn't have arms or legs," he commented, curious as to why this particular animal didn't have any while almost all the other animals had arms and legs.

"Some animals don't have either, or some of them don't have arms. Birds have wings instead of arms, though."

But despite that, the boy wasn't sure which one to pick. He was curious about the dinosaurs and the reptiles, but he wasn't sure if he wanted one. But at the same time, he didn't want to take too long, to avoid Richie getting upset with him being too indecisive.

[Jaykobell]

Seeing as Denzil had really no idea what plush toy to pick, Richie figured maybe he could help the boy pick one. "How about a rabbit?" the officer proposed as he picked a small bunny with long, floppy ears.

Denzil blinked and turned to Richie, still holding that long plush snake. The boy didn't say anything and instead just shook his head at the offer of the bunny.

With the bunny denied, Richie put it back on the shelf. Maybe the boy was looking for something a little more impressive or unusual? Richie took a look around all the shelves, until he noticed one particular shelf had aquatic animals on it. "How about one of these, Denzil?"

The child put the long snake back on the shelf before joining up with Richie at the other shelf. The fish and other water-based animals seemed to get his attention as he started craning his neck up to look at all of them. Richie was about to pick out a fish when Denzil beat him to it and went for a completely different aquatic animal. "This one is funny!" Denzil said with a happy curiosity as he started observing the rounded, eight-legged animal.

Richie blinked at his choice, out of all the others. "An octopus?" It was a plain orange octopus, with no other colors. With so many different fish on the shelf, all with many different colors, Richie had thought the boy would be more interested in one of those.

"That's what it is?" the child mused passively as he continued to turn it upside down and all around, finding the overall look of the animal fascinating. "It has a whole bunch of arms and a huge head."

Looking at the octopus getting turned this way and that, Richie had a flash. "You know what you can do with an octopus?" Without giving Denzil enough time to reply, the officer took the stuffed octopus and put it on the boy's head, small enough to fit just barely on the child's head, the eight legs dangling all around Denzil's hair and face. "It becomes a hat."

It felt like the child hadn't caught on at first, but after a few seconds of having all the legs dangling over his face, Richie heard the child giggle and laugh at the octopus-hat sitting on his head. Richie couldn't help but to grin himself, somewhat proud of his impromptu joke. "Can I have this one?" Denzil asked as he held the octopus on his head to keep it from falling.

"Then we're buying the sheep for Eunice, and we're buying the octopus for you?" Richie summarized, still holding the sheep Denzil had picked for Eunice, and when the boy nodded enthusiastically, the two made their way to the cashier in order to buy them and bring them back to the hospital.

[Jaykobell]

"We're back."

With Denzil being so meticulous and indecisive about the stuffed animals, it was almost dark when the two finally got back to the hospital. Eunice was just done eating, and a nurse was taking the food tray away. "Denzil!" Eunice greeted as she waved specifically at the boy. "I saved you some!"

Richie nodded to the nurse as she politely excused herself from the room to leave the three together. The officer had managed to convince the boy to keep the octopus in the shopping bags so that it would be a surprise for Eunice once they got back to the hospital. Denzil had played with his octopus a little in the car, but agreed to put it in its bag before walking into the hospital.

Denzil was already at Eunice's bedside and eating the leftovers she'd kept for him. Remembering what the boy had admitted the night before, Richie put the bags on the chair and grinned at the child. "Denzil, you'll get fat if you eat too much."

Denzil stopped eating for a moment to look back at the officer before shaking his head and eating some more. "Eunice is fat, so I don't mind being fat too," the boy replied innocently once he was done chewing.

Hearing her name, Eunice didn't react at first, but her brain eventually decoded exactly what Denzil had just said. "Wait, what? I'm not fat!" she complained as she turned to Denzil, pouting a little.

Denzil blinked, food in his mouth, as he turned to her too. He then started poking her stomach, which made the girl squeal with surprise. "See? Fat."

Eunice turned away and crossed her arms, pouting just a little. "Humph. Then I won't save you anymore of my food."

"Ah?" Denzil replied, a little perplexed at her reaction. "But then you'll just get fatter."

Richie had to admit he was half-expecting Eunice to slap the boy square on the cheek. If he said that to any woman, that would be his reward for commenting on their physical appearance. He figured that Eunice probably didn't care enough about that to be really insulted, or that she just knew Denzil well enough to know he was just saying whatever came to his mind.