No Need To Be Human

"I wike Zewda," Louis smiled and he sat on the couch, beaming at Cody. He could sense something was different about his new friend and as a child, he wasn't going to be shy about asking. "You not wike me and momma are you?"

"He can enjoy the liquor and not feel guilty about it I guess," shrugged Dia. She was hurt by his comment and hung her head, "I didn't know what it was with you and I had no one to turn to. The only other succubus or incubus that I had known my entire life was my father and he was dead by the time we met. I cut off all ties with that sort of life when I was in Chicago, Colt."

"Zelda is always good." Cody smiled, turning back around to look for the game, pausing as he was about to put in the game. "Um, what do you mean by that?" He asked curiously, slowly putting in the game as he waited for an answer.

Colt rolled his eyes, sighing before hinting at what was really bothering him. "You let someone you barely know watch Louis..." He frowned. "How do you know he'll be okay?"

"Wew mommy needs to take peopwe's souw's to be aww bettew." Louis replied, shyly and as if he was afraid to tell Cody this. "I...I can see papa but momma says that papa isn't hewe no mowe. I...I fink youw not the same as me ow mama."

" I fed on his soul Colt, I know he's a good person," replied Dia softly, "Don't worry you don't have to deal with the son you didn't want."

Cody frowned as he listened, not commenting on what Louis said about his father, worried he'd say the wrong thing. He stayed quiet for a minute after Louis finished speaking, hesitant as he answered, not sure how much the boy knew about other supernatural beings, if he knew about them at all. "No...I'm...I'm not like you." He said slowly, his voice quiet.

Colt looked away, a guilty look on his face. "I know I didn't...but it's different know, I just can't do anything about it besides watch him like I do."

"Awe you a wampiwe wike Mistew Wade? Mamma says Mistew Wade's a baaad man, but I know you not a bad man," Louis grinned as he hugged Cody, "ow awe you a puppy wike Mistew Justin? Ow an angew wike miss Nowee."



Dia was silent for a moment, not wanting to meet Colt's gaze. "I'm sorry for the way things turned out between us but they did turn out that way and we can't fix it. I know you love me and want to look out for him, but it's time to move on. You can't be happy seeing people live life and knowing you no longer have one."

"Um..." Was all Cody said at first, surprised Louis knew about the others. "I don't think Justin's exactly a puppy..." He hesitated before actually answering the question. "I...I'm like Wade, I guess."

"No...but I can't." Colt said quietly. "At least I don't think I can..."

"Mistew Justin a big puppy," giggled Louis, "cept mama says I can't pway wif him wike I'd do a puppy. So you a wampiwe?"


Part of that made Dia happy. "Well why are you here? Just to tell me to be careful with Codes?"

"Uh no...it's probably not a good idea to play with Justin when he's a puppy, he gets in a bad mood sometimes..." Cody said. He'd spoken to the Werewolf breifly a few times during a full moon, so he knew a little about what it was like. "Uh...yeah, I am..." He answered quietly after a minute, looking away from Louis.

Colt raised an eyebrow. "'Codes'? You're already giving him a nickname when you barely knew who he was until now?" He asked, avoiding the question.

"Why you not happy?" Louis frowned, "Momma says it's otay not to wike what we awe. She says that sometimes we have to weawize that being different is good."

"It's what I've heard Nols call him before," Dia replied, rolling her eyes as she changed into her red and black fire twirlers outfit, "And I'll repeat, why are you here?"

"Being different is good, sometimes..." Cody sighed. "Your mother may not like wha she is, but at least she can go outside during the day..." He added quietly, looking up at the covered windows.

"I'm always here." Colt shrugged. "I don't have much of a choice."

"Mistew Bawwett use wotta sunscreen so he can go out in the day," Louis said, getting sad because he was feeding off of Cody's sad energy. "Pwease don't be sad, I cwy when peopwe awe sad. I can't hewp it."

Dia turned to him, staring him in the eyes, "Do you think I like knowing I'm the reason you're gone? Everyday I wake up and I curse the fact that because of my damn powers, the only man who ever loved me ended up dead."

"He does? I-I didn't know..." Cody said quietly, never having seen Wade out during the day because his paranoia made him avoid the light. "I'm sorry..." He sighed, trying to relax so Louis wasn't upset.

Colt frowned, looking away. "No, I don't think you like it; I know you don't, I can see that..."

"Don't be sowwy," Louis smiled softly, "you and I can be fwiends and you my momma's fwiend and we can pway Wii!" he hugged Cody like any child would do to someone that they trusted.

"Well you still come around," Dia said, a few stray tears running down her cheeks, "and you think that by telling me to 'watch out for' Cody that you're doing the right thing. You don't have any say in my life anymore Colt! That ended a while back!"

Cody smiled and hugged Louis close, relaxing as he did so. "Yeah, we can do that." He said, smiling.

"I should still be allowed a say in things concerning Louis' safety though." Colt pointed out.

Louis grinned and picked up his controller, "I've been stuck on dis. Momma don't pway games as much wif me because she gotta work but I been stuck on dis."

"You should be but you can't help take care of him. You're a ghost. What if he gets hungry when your around and there is no one else to feed him? He's gonna go hungry until I get back later that night Colt. If I remember correctly, you didn't trust Nolee when she first started coming around either," Dia replied.

"What are you stuck with?" Cody asked, trying not to smile when he realised how easily Louis had distracted him from what had been bothering him. He turned to actually turn on the game, not having actually done so when he'd set it up, wondering if Louis had purposely gone back to the game or if it was just simply his childish attention span.

Colt went to argue, but knew Dia was right and stopped himself, sighing quietly instead. "Right..." He said, frowning. "Sorry."

"Its a boss," Louis pouted, "Wink not so vewy fast if he can't even beat this. I don't want him to die no mowe. I wanna win."

"So what do you want me to do?" Dia asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, I see." Cody nodded. "The bosses are always annoying. I might be able to help." He said, holding his hands out for the controller.

"Just be careful..." Colt said quietly. "Cody is a Vampire after all, I have a reason to worry about him being around Louis even if there was no reason to worry about Nolee."

Louis grinned, feeling like he did something awesome since he was able to cheer Cody up. "So, you gonna be my new babysittew?"


"Colt, I wouldn't leave a hungry vampire alone with my son. In fact, the fact that you believe I would do such a thing kinda angers me. Cody fed on me and in return, I got to feed on him." Dia replied, like she was speaking to a child.

"Uh, maybe?" Cody said, not having actually thought about it. "I guess it depends what your mother says."

"I didn't mean it like that..." Colt started before realising he probably did, hanging his head afterwards.

Louis smiled, "I wike you. Miss Nowee sad a wotta da time."

"Am not," Nolee chuckled from the doorway. "Nice to see you around people Codes."


Dia turned to Colt, a few tears in her eyes, "Why can't you materalize like Bonnie and Clyde? Why can't you just do that once so I can hug you and tell you how much I miss you?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Cody suddenly looked up at Nolee. "What are you doing here?" He asked, a hint of paranoia in his voice.

Colt frowned, slowly shaking his head. "I don't know..." He said quietly. "Maybe because then I'd never want to let go...?"

Nolee frowned, "I'm usually here to babysit at this time. You know, I do look out for Dia and Louis." She sat on the chair next to the couch, "What about you? Care to tell me why you aren't where you usually are?"

"He momma fwiend!" Louis beamed as he hugged Nolee.


Dia teared up, putting a hand next to his cheek. If he had been solid, something she could touch and feel, she would have placed her hand on his cheek. "I wouldn't mind that..."

"I know you do..." Cody said, relaxing a little before sighing. "It's uh...kind of a long story..." he mumbled, not wanting to explain.

Colt gave a small smile, though he had a sad look in his eyes. "I know."

"Totally understandable," Nolee smiled as she brought out her backpack, rummaging through it, "brought granola bars if you boys want one."

Louis grinned, "Cocowate?"

"You know it little man," Nolee smiled handing him a chocolate and peanut butter granola bar, "you want one Codes?"


Dia sighed, "One day, we'll find a way to cheat death..."