Go fish. Those words were on the tip of his tongue. Anyone else, and he would've said them. Anyone else, and he would've lied. But she looked at him with the same sort of reverence that Lucifer once felt toward his Father. She trusted him implicitly to tell the truth.

Grudgingly, Luce pulled out the two sixes and handed them over. Squealing excitedly, Nicki formed a book, putting all of the sixes in front of her. She was winning now, two to one.

"Does you have any queens?" she asked, going again.

Luce didn't have to look at his hand. "Go fish."

Nicki drew a card from the pile.

"Give me your kings," Luce said.

Nicki didn't even think before saying, "Go fish."

Luce pulled a card from the pile and was arranging it in his hand when she spoke. "Does you have kings?"

Luce froze, no part of him moving except his eyes as they darted to her. "What did you just ask for?"

"Kings."

"That's what I asked you for," he said, tone clipped as he glared at the girl. "You said you didn't have any."

She shook her head, steadfast. "Nuh-uh. I do have them. See?"

She held up a king to show him.

It took everything inside of Luce not to snatch it from her hand.

Un-fucking-believable. He detected nothing but innocence inside of her, no sort of benevolence beneath her skin, even though she'd just lied right to his face. He hadn't had a creature baffle him so much since Serah. Children, to him, were an unknown entity. Children didn't go to the pit.

This tiny mortal felt no shame for manipulating him, had no remorse for lying to win the game.

That was his M.O.

He had to admit, he was impressed. Carefully, he pulled the kings from his hand and wordlessly passed them over to her, letting her, for the moment, get away with cheating him.

The game went on for a few more minutes before Serah stepped into her living room where they sat, Luce on the couch and Nicki cross-legged on the floor on the opposite side of the coffee table.

"Who's winning?" Serah asked casually.

"Me!" Nicki exclaimed.

Walking over, Serah plopped down on the couch beside Luce, sitting so close her body brushed against his. She leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder as she glanced at the cards in his hand. Luce tensed at the contact, largely trying to ignore it to focus on the game. Her touch felt stronger with his shield down, making himself visible.

The things he did for her...

"Does you have fours?" Nicki asked.

Luce turned a four over to her, although he was pretty damn sure he had asked her for those not long ago. She asked for another king next and drew a card to go fish, as Luce cleared his throat. "Give me your twos."

As soon as the words were from his lips, Serah elbowed him in the side. "Geez, you can't ask?"

Luce cut his eyes at her. "What?"

"Give me your twos." She mocked him, the words low and gritty as she tried to emulate his voice. "You sound so demanding... so mean."

Mean?

If only she knew who she was talking to…

"Fine," Luce said. "Do you have any twos?"

"Go Fish!"

The game went on for a few more rounds before Luce gathered enough matches to pull ahead. They were two books away from completion when Nicki suddenly jumped to her feet, throwing the rest of her cards down. "I'm done playing now."

Luce gaped at her. "You can't be done."

"Why?"

"Because I was about to win."

Nicki shrugged, turning her attention to Serah. "Can I go outside and play? Please?"

Serah hesitated before smiling. "Sure, just stay where I can see you."

Luce stared at the little girl as she skipped away, disappearing out the front door. She'd been there for less than an hour and Luce was already frazzled because of her. His gaze shifted to the discarded cards. No one had ever just quit on him before.

Mostly because they couldn't, he wouldn't allow it, but still…

Reaching over, Luce gathered all the cards from the table and started shuffling them. He shifted his body slightly, turning toward Serah beside him. She was staring straight ahead, watching out the large window at Nicki running around the front yard.

As if she could see his gaze, a small smile lifted her lips, her cheeks flushing slightly. "So strange," she whispered.

Luce certainly agreed with that. "Children are strange creatures."

She turned his way. "I was referring to you."

"Ah, I'm not so strange," he said. "I'm not much different than you."

"People think I'm strange," she counters.

"Do they tell you that?" Luce asked curiously, defensiveness prickling inside of him. He knew humans could be cruel. He wasn't always around to hear what they said to her.

"No, but I know they do," she said quietly. "I can sense it."

Her answer surprised Luce.

"I know what you're thinking," she said right away, continuing. "That I'm crazy, thinking I can sense it, but I do. I sense a lot, and maybe it's all in my head… I don't know. But I get feelings about things that I can't shake."

"What kind of feelings?"

She sighed. "All kinds. I know things, things I shouldn't know. I can tell when someone's being genuine or when they're just humoring me. I can walk into a crowded room and automatically be drawn to someone, one person among dozens, and I just get this overwhelming urge to talk to them. I walk down the street and find myself somewhere I hadn't planned to go, like some force lured me there. It's like I have some kind of radar."