Laura seems nice enough, as do Lila and Cooper, the kids. Little Nathaniel, the baby, is adorable. I never knew babies were so cute. Especially their thoughts; even I can't make sense of his mind, I can only really pick up on his childlike wonder and curiosity. He was inquisitive and excited about everything.

"Do you like babies, then?" Laura asked me. I must've been staring at Nathaniel for too long. "From what I have seen of your baby, I suppose so," I say. "He is the first human baby I have seen."

"Really? If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you?" She quickly covers her mouth. "I'm sorry, that was really rude." "It is fine," I chuckle. "I am not sure what exactly I am anymore. Within the past hour things changed, actually. It is a long story as to what I am, but I am some kind of siren."

"As in the kind that lures sailors to their..." She lowers her voice to a whisper after a brief glance at her kids. "Deaths?"

"That is a common mistake," I reply. "There was a fleet of ships that were lured to their deaths by a school of sirens, along with a single, much larger ship, but they were both accidents. Sirens used to hypnotise people by merely singing, though we evolved to be able to control our hypnosis much better. All it took was one careless siren to sing while too close to a ship and the sailors would be entranced. Once it occurred, even silence was unable to break them free. Like I said, we evolved to be able to control it much better. I can choose whether my voice hypnotises others, who it hypnotises and what my hypnosis causes those effected to do."

She nodded. "Well I feel happier about Clint being around you if you can control it." "I am glad you think so dearly of him," I say. "It is always nice to see mortal love. It is the one part of them that shall always remain even after death."

She didn't know what to say, so I changed the subject. "Your children seem to have taken a liking to Rune," I look at where the wolf cub is enjoying a good pet. Laura chuckles. "Looks like it. Lila loves anything to do with animals. If it's fluffy and it's alive, she wants it. And Cooper is really into all this alien stuff, so an Asgardian animal is pretty much a dream come true to them both. How long have you had her?"

"Actually, only an hour," I state. "She was disowned by her parents and Thor needed to find a new home for her. He gave her to me as a Christmas present. Speaking of which, I made sure I had something for you and your children." I shook the two boxes in my hands slightly. "I apologise, it is not much. I did not know what you would like."

"You didn't have to get us anything," she insists, though she's secretly flattered. "To use Natasha's words, I overdid the Christmas shopping," I smile. "I might as well share it with others."

She smiles at me. "I'll take them to the Quinjet," Clint offers, taking the boxes from me. "But thank you, Lexis." "Any time," I reply. "Well, any time around Christmas, at least."

They chuckle and then Clint leaves. "It was nice of Thor to let you take care of Rune, then," Laura sets us back on topic. "It was," I agree. "She is very sweet."

Hearing the compliment, Rune trots over to us, looking up at Laura and Nathaniel. Tell her I say hi, she broadcasts her thoughts. "She says hi," I translate for Laura's benefit. "You can understand her?" She asks.

"I can read minds," I correct. "She can think loud enough for me to hear without reaching out to her mind, but if I wish to know what she is truly thinking, I put my own mind in sync with hers. It is the same for any creature with the ability to think."

"Wait... are you... reading my mind?" She asks, a little nervously. "I have reached out to your mind, but I have only established enough of a link to sense major things, such as strong emotions or prominent thoughts. It is simple precaution for me, nothing personal. I find Nathaniel's thoughts more intriguing, anyway."

"Nathaniel?" She looked down at her baby. "His thoughts are mostly incoherent, but I can tell he is bright and naturally curious," I say. "He loves to learn. Everything about the world interests him. He had a world of good headed his way."

"Really? That's great! What about Cooper and Lila?"

I shake my head with a sad smile. "They are too mentally developed to predict as I did Nathaniel. The key at their age is to look out for how many questions they ask and what those questions may be. Uncertainty leads to doubt, doubt to self-doubt, self-doubt to weaker attempts to learn more and weaker attempts to learn more to a weak knowledge. Uncertainty is caused by not asking enough questions or not getting answers you understand from asking said questions."

She nodded. "I guess so. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but the kids are human."

"How did curiosity kill a cat?" I ask, confused. She blinked. "Uh..." "Lexis is from the 1800s, Laura," Steve paused long enough to explain. This time he stayed. "She doesn't understand expressions. She's worse than I was."

"The 1800s?" Laura is intrigued. "What was it like?" "Well I grew up in Victorian England," I answer. "It was very formal. My parents were of high status during their lives. We lived well, formal events were somewhat customary. I was taught all the airs and graces. The witch hunts were what truly tore us apart."

When I realise Laura is interested, I tell the story of how the witch hunts were the main cause of death for Stone Sirens, though I intentionally leave out many of the details. She doesn't need to know the personal aspects.