Happy Father's Day my home skillet biscuits (It's a phrase I like to use...don't judge!). Tis the season for Six and Rex fluff, no? Oh, and I'm NOT talking about the "Sex" pairing! *shudders* Graverobbing much? No, I'm referring to the awesomeness that is father/son Six/Rex! You all know you love it! It's just too dang adorable! Anyway, this little piece of fluff takes place when Rex is younger (because young Rex is SO CUTE!). Holiday is held up in the office and Rex won't go to sleep until someone reads to him. Contains some bits and pieces of The Neverending Story. Enjoy! ^_^

SIX'S POV

Where was Holiday? Six rolled his eyes. This was ridiculous! She was never late like this! The kid was starting to get impatient! He glanced back at Rex, sitting on the bed, clad in light blue dinosaur pajamas. His eyes were wide and hopeful. A large book was sitting next to him on the bed.

"Where is she?" He chirped for the thousandth time. Six took a deep breath, trying to clear his agitation, before replying.

"I already told you, she's probably being held up by some extra patients." He noticed that Rex's eyes were starting to droop. "If you're tired, you can just go to sleep you know."

Rex shook his head stubbornly. "No way! Atreyu just left on the Great Quest! I gotta know what happens next!"

"Why not read it on your own then?" Six asked, glancing back down the hallway. 'Come on...'

"It's not the same! I like it when people read to me! It's kinda like having parents." Rex replied, stretching his limbs and yawning. "At least it's what I think it would be like..." The statement wasn't self-pitying. It was stated as if it were the simple truth.

Six groaned a little to himself. Did the kid have to talk like that? Despite years of training to master his emotions, words like those always sent a pang of empathy through the stoic man's veins. He never showed it of course! Still...

"Did your parents read to you, Six?" Rex asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Don't remember." Six replied curtly, looking once more down the hall.

"I guess that's something we have in common." Rex ran his finger along the corner of the book, watching the pages flip as he did so.

There it was again! He knew the kid didn't mean to do it but it still made him feel bad. Six glanced toward Rex again. The kid was yawning widely by this point and he was shaking his head in order to keep from zonking out. Breathing an inwards sigh, Six walked over. "What page are you on?"

Rex's eyes widened with astonishment. "You wanna read to me?"

"If it'll get you to go to sleep." Six sat down on the bed next to Rex and picked up the book, The Neverending Story. 'Huh...at least it's not that awful vampire novel...' He started to read. He was only in the fourth paragraph, where Atreyu was stopping to eat, when Rex interrupted.

"What's a grass-seed cake, Six?" He asked.

"Hm?"

"It says that Atreyu was eating some grass-seed cakes. What are they?"

"Cakes made out of grass-seed." Six said before going back to reading. He got to the part where Atreyu was starting to have his dreams when Rex stopped him again.

"Are buffalo really purple, Six?"

"No. They're brown."

"That's boring..."

Six continued reading about Atreyu's travels but was soon stopped again at the point where the glass people of Eribo, who made artifacts from starlight, were being described.

"What can be made from starlight, Six?"

"Nothing. Starlight can't be molded." Six replied. 'Does he always ask this many questions?'

Rex was unusually silent when Six read through the next few pages that described the broken bark trolls and the Nothing. He was staring off into space. 'Probably trying to figure out what absolute nothing looks like...' Truth be told, Six himself couldn't even picture it! He continued to read before suddenly stopping. He remembered what happened in this next part: Atreyu's horse, Artax was going to sink into the swamp during their search for Morla the Aged One. He glanced at Rex. "Want to stop here?"

Rex shook his head vigorously. "No! Keep going! I wanna see what Morla the Aged One is!" He said eagerly. That was when Six noticed that Rex had moved closer so that he was leaning against him. Part of him wanted to push him off and tell him to sit up straight. The other, more dominant part of him decided to just let him be.

Just as Six had predicted, Rex was sniffling and wiping his face by the end of the part with Artax. "P-Poor Artax..." He murmured.

"You know it's not real." Six said, surprised that Rex was actually crying over a fictional talking horse.

"I know...but it feels real!" Rex replied, wiping his face once more before snuggling up against Six again.

Six watched Rex's eyes widen slightly when Morla the Aged One was described as a giant tortoise.

"Hey, Six! Can I have a pet turtle?"

"No."

By the time they got to the end of the chapter, Rex was almost completely asleep. Six stood up and put the book on the table next to the bed. He'd never admit it out loud but...he had kinda liked reading to Rex. It had been ages since he had read anything simple and fictional, and somehow Rex seemed to make the whole idea complete. He started toward the door.

"Could you tuck me in?" Rex called after him drowsily. "Holiday always tucks me in..."

Six hesitated for a moment before walking back over. Rex laid down on the bed and Six pulled the covers over him. He didn't ruffle his hair or kiss him goodnight. That would have been stretching things a little too much! He just nodded a farewell and walked toward the door.

Six couldn't be sure if what Rex said next was because of sleep-induced stupor, some weird split-second idea, or if he really meant it. All he knew was that Rex called out, very clearly: "Night, Daddy!"

Six froze in mid-step, his eyes widening under his shades. Did Rex seriously just... He spun around and gaped a at the almost-asleep kid. It took a few moments to fully compose himself. He took a deep breath and replied, in a much softer and gentler voice than he usually used: "Goodnight, Rex."

As he walked down the deserted hallways, Six just couldn't shake that warm feeling that was spreading from his chest throughout his body. He even allowed himself a small smile. 'Daddy...' He never would've thought that he'd be called that... It felt kinda...nice...

Why use The Neverending Story? Well, that's the book I'm reading currently! I haven't heard the story since third grade when my teacher read it to us and recently started it again. LOVE it! ^_^ I dunno, it seems like a good story to read to your kid before bed because it's just so good. Anyway, I hope Six wasn't too OOC. Again, I believe that the barrier between sap and serious is a VERY thin one so I think I got him pretty nicely! Any flames will be used to burn Van Kleiss the pedophile. Happy early Father's Day!