Hmm, he was unsure for a moment how to answer her question. "Version of ourselves. It is a way to talk about making ourselves better. Each day better than the last. It is philosophy stuff. You should look it up." True the little one probably wouldn't get all that much of it today or even tomorrow, but seeds had to be planted early so they could be harvested before winter. People weren't all that different in that regard. Seemingly small things tended to affect young people in strange ways.

The tangent about cows and milk was.. unexpected to say the least. Even a bit amusing and cute for one so teeny. Oh boy.. here came a future leader of PETA if he ever heard one. How the heck was he going to explain this one? Her attitude towards him had changed somewhat since receiving what was a birbe in almost every sense of the word and followed her to her hidey hole. Looking it over he nodded appreciatively and sat down on the ground with a laugh before attempting to close them both back in as best he could with the curtain. 

"If you hadn't noticed my everything is kinda big." It wasn't a technically wrong statement so he couldn't correct it without seeming overly sensitive and let it drop. "You do know the whole cow and milk thing does not work quite like that? Sure a baby has to be born first, but they let it grow up before they move it to milk production. Besides when your my size and eat as much as I do.. well you can not afford to be that picky of an eater." Looking around pointendly and trying to throw her off by changing the subject he continued. "This is a very good secret spot. Did you find this yourself or did your friends help you?"  

Perhaps she wouldn't even notice his little interrogation. Fat chance of that.

Versions of yourself? So... liar copies? This poor, poor man was just all twisted around. At least his liar copies were supposed to be better than he was.

Kalos set herself onto the small window ledge and pulled her feet up, careful not to scrape the wood with her rough coral toes. She clearly knew how to navigate in the world

"You ARE all big. Nones of you could squeeze on here, but especially not even sitting." She hadn't meant to call him out on his derriere especially. Just that her ledge was Kalos-sized. She wasted no time in cracking open the cocoa cereal poofs, either. One big hand full went into her front pocket. One big handful went into her hand. THEN she allowed her giant Red pal to have a handful too. Since he wasn't a picky eater, she was sure he'd want some, too.

"I know a cow could probably beat me up." She crunched on her cereal. If they were as ferocious as dogs, that was triply true. "I know that where I came from, there were goats for milk. And not for having cereal. It was for yogurts and cheeses." No cows in Atlantis. She was glad of that.

> "This is a very good secret spot. Did you find this yourself or did your friends help you?"

"Yesh." Hmm. She took a moment for an extra large wad of cereal to be crunched through. "I need sunlight or I get sick. Chase and Toby are good hiders." She hadn't seen them in almost a week, that's how good a hider they were when their homeworks were overdue.

"I am ready to teach you now. You can be my student."

No especially not even sitting. That sort of poor life choice most likely end up with the little one needing to find herself a new eating hideaway for a bit after his bum left it much less coherent. Musing mostly to himself as she stuffed her face full of poofs. When she offered he smiled and nodded and held out a big ole red hand for her to pour some into and munched away. 

He wondered just where she was from to have enabled her.. bovinephobia? Or if it was just a general dislike for large animals in general. "Nothing to be ashamed of for that. Most people sized animals can beat up most humans pretty good if they get the chance." Not that he wasn't convinced most cows  just left people well enough alone. "They do make good yogurts and cheeses. Do you get much of that here? Don't think I have had much of the cheeses but the goat yogurt IS good. Where are you from?"

The spot was probably less secret with his legs and butt sticking out from underneath the curtain. If his was a place of mutants like it was advertised it to be he didn't expect someone to just randomly start trouble. Gears turned slowly and he wondered if there was more to her self imposed isolation then just disliking homework. 

"I have never been sick before." He replied plainly. The bits of coral on her body really didn't give much away as far as what her particular mutation required or even did. The declaration of master to student did raise both of his eyebrows in mild surprise. A little chuckle rumbling out from his mouth and looked her square in the eye with amusement. "Oh? Just what would I be a student of?" This should be good.

Why would she be ashamed of being afraid of giant butt-kicking cows? Everyone in the right mind should be terrified, in her very sane opinion. Kalos did not bother to dignify any of his cow-confidence despite wanting so badly to poke holes in his folly. It was fine. She would teach him in time.

He asked about yogurts and cheeses which was a weirdly adult thing to do. Kalos was already ten topics ahead of him and he wanted to talk dairy? But Red did throw in a token question that turned out to be an actual, good pivot. Where was she from?

”I used to live under the ocean. In Atlantis only demigods get to yogurt, duh.” Was that smugness? Kalos shoveled a bunch of poofs into her mouth to set herself back to humility. What pride was there in being from a place that was awful to her? ”We were all ruled by the mad king and the x-men beat him up. And now I live here.”

> "I have never been sick before."

A poof fell out of her mouth. Kalos nabbed it and destroyed the evidence of what had almost escaped.

”Is that why you’re red?”

> “Just what would I be a student of?"

”Uhm, how to not be evil? You have struggling self doubt about how to make your choices. I know all about doubt, and I’ve seen up the nose-holes of evil. I was that close to it. I made good choices even when it got me... even when it wasn't easy. So I am good at it.”

Atlantis? So it was a real place? This was what he got for not watching much of the news. Books were far more interesting. Or punching bad guys in the face. That was also very much therapeutic. Confusion plain to see on his face as he assimilated all the completely new information. 

"Demigods and a mad king?" He really needed to get out and smell the roses more. Were their gods now too?! He would have figured some sort of theological Armageddon such as that would have had a far more profound impact on things as far as society went. Giving people weren't running around screaming bloody murder in the streets for their god to show up told him it was probably a moniker of some sort.. probably.

"It does keep me from getting sick." Confirming her suspicions as clearly as he could. It wasn't an outright lie or outright truth, but it was simple enough for a stranger and a kiddo. 

"Nose-holes huh? That is pretty close. Nothing to do with whatever evil cow your afraid of I hope?" He considered her offer and shrugged. "I do not see how it could hurt. The choices I make never seem to turn out the way I intend them too. Even when they are difficult as you say to do. I would be honored to learn what you are willing to share." 

Erik munched on the poofs he had been allowed to get and tried ot think of what a kid could teach him on the subject. The mystery was half the fun! 

Demigods and a mad king was what she had said. Was he not listening? Kalos leaned over to see Red's face. He looked a little more confused than usual. Sometimes people got stupid about learning that Atlantis was a real place. Apparently someone had the smart idea to call them all fake in story books.

So yeah. She sassed him about being evil. Maybe not a smart thing to do to a giant color-of-anger man, but he was so far gentle.

"Yes. Nose-holes. They're on your face too, and I don't... think? I can see any evil hanging out there." But he had the cow thing ALL WRONG. Silly giant man. She crunched more poofs to gather up energy to explain how wrong he was. "I don't know any cows up close. All you have to do is know they are big stompy animals to know they're bad. news. You never know what they are thinking in their heads." Evil creatures. Full of malice. She shivered at the thought of them.

> "I would be honored to learn what you are willing to share."

She was so honored that Kalos squeaked. She had never, EVER had anyone say yes to that before. But where to start!?

"As my student, I espect... uhm..." what did the teachers say? Man, this was already difficult. "I eggspect you to tell me when you have a hard time thinking about what is right. Like, I mean, there is a dog I don't like and there is a dog here. I know Angua is a nice dog, so I don't be mean to her like the mean dog. That's a good thing, right?" Right. Of course it was.

"Okay. Now it's your turn. Tell me something that's hard for you and I'll tell you what's right."

Red tried not to look too confused, but failed. Mostly the spiraling out of control corkscrew way his mind was going from whatever the heck demigods were supposed ot mean and if she meant real evil or just boogers. Both? Both. He wondered just how much the little one got out. From his earlier musing she probably had a past that she didn't like and was hiding out in the relative safety of the mansion. That simply wouldn't do. 

Then she squeaked. Whoops perhaps he used a bit too strong of language. Kids often had a way of finding insight so he was willing to give it a shot even if it meant dealing with the adorable pink mutant girls inflated ego. "Hmm, I will try. It sounds like you are trying as well. We shouldn't try to be mean to anything. Past experiences can make that difficult though." Giving her a bit of a sad smile at that. Some people he knew certainly had a punchable enough face.

"Hard for me?" The big red man reached up to scratch a chin and it was clear he was thinking. Thinking HARD. Then he sighed and shrugged as he looked back down to her. "Nothing comes to mind right this second. I do think you should go to a petting zoo or something to learn that one bad experience doesn't mean all of that sort of animals are evil. Almost all babies are cute." Sure he put a qualifier in that. Some babies were god awful ugly. Like geese. Geese were evil. What a hypocrite he was. "Ok maybe not all animals. Geese are awful creatures. They don't even taste particularly good when you eat them." 

She was trying. Sometimes. Sometimes Kalos was hiding instead.

> "We shouldn't try to be mean to anything."

"Shouldn't is a promise word. Not an action word. Don't promise if you don't mean it." And by Kalos' reckoning some people did deserve meanness.

"What about bad guys? Don't they deserve a mean?" Bad guys who were not reforming, so clearly not her minion bad guy Red. He was exempt by the nature of his attempts at becoming good. So. He wasn't bad. He was just... middle?

It was funny to watch him think so completely with his face and his body getting into the thinking as well as his brain. And even after a hard think, Red did not come back with an answer. The poor dear. He was just a bad guy, after all. Thinking would be easier when he got more middle-to-good. Instead he tried to make this about her. Ha! The fool.

> "I do think you should go to a petting zoo or something to learn that one bad experience doesn't mean all of that sort of animals are evil. Almost all babies are cute."

"People babies are helpless. And animal babies are still bity sometimes. Maybe not all one type of creature thing is in the same way of biting, but... do you know this Chiuaua dog? Yeah. All those are bad." She rested her case. Angua was the gentle giant dog that was an exception to the "dogs are bad" rule. She was raised by kind people. So she was kind. She still spooked Kalos by her very size and the nature of how she moved, though.

"What's a geese?" An inferior creature if it was an eaten one. Though people ate cows, too...

This conversation was getting far too deep in red's opinion to be done in basking in a window eating chocolate puffs, but he doubted anyone climbed a zen style mountain to converse on hard topics anymore. Chocolate window basking it was. 

"You can correct a bad person's actions without means. You can fight someone bad without ever being cruel about it. It is hard to say what sort of meanness is acceptable which is probably why so many people fight. No one can agree everything. Personally? I just punch the really bad people and let someone else take care of it." That was a bold faced lie, but she didn't need to know that. Not many people agreed with his all or nothing approach to true evil.

Whew this adulting stuff was too hard especially when trying to set a good example. Casual visits to the X-mansion were slowly coming off his list of stuff to do or perhaps he would just have to maintain a more casual aloofness instead of caring about random people. Inwardly he suppressed a sigh knowing the chance of that was about as good as his chances of going to the moon. 

"Well some baby animals bite or nip because that is the only way they know how to play." He attempted to explain. Then he tried to find an objection to her dislike of those little demon yapping dogs and couldn't really. Crap. Then a brainwave hit and he smiled some. "Not fond of those little yappers either, but just like this Angua is a nice dog exception there are bad exceptions to. The kinds of animals that eat plants are usually safe to be around, but their are bad exceptions to that. Just like how Angua is a good dog there are good types of other animals that are usually bad to be around." Man that was a task in itself.

"An awful creature. Kind of like a turkey, big bird that is black and white with an annoying sound and big flappy wings that poo everywhere and attack people for no reason. I can't think of a worse creature on this planet then a goose. Then when they get together they are even more fearless."  

Ohhhhh boy. Red started in on a lot of grown up words that didn't actually work in the moment, but at least he fessed up to punching people. She'd been ready to be a brat to him. She felt it bubbling up and ready to pop out, but she was incredibly mollified to hear that he was a puncher. Though she did give his big hands a serious inspection. It would be hard to see blood on red skin, wouldn't it?

So of course, he couldn't refute her chihuahua truth so he went back to dancing around with his words.

"I think you're a better puncher than explainer." But this goose things sounded interesting. Kalos brushed crumbs from her person, not caring where they fell. In fact, seeing them in stark contrast with the perfect, clean floor of the eating area brought her great joy.

Crumbs meant DJ Roomba would appear.

"When I grow to be as big as you, I think I will be a goose."

Ah so she was one of those sorts of kids. Full of mischief and intent on driving every adult around her insane. At least she didn't act all spoiled. Spoiled kids were frankly worse. Still he did a terrible job of explaining things to a kid and she called him on it. Oh well.

He gave a rumbling chuckle and shrugged causing a bit of the wall he was leaning against to lose some paint. "Can't argue that pinky, definitely a better puncher then explainer." Levelling her with his friendliest adultish staredown.

"Please don't. Pretty sure you have more potential for things besides pooping everywhere and being annoying, plus unless your a shifter of some kind impossible. Anything you like learning about? What you want to be when you grow up and all that jazz?" He shook out some more chocolate puffs for her to munch on and enjoyed the view of outside.

Kalos almost lost it when Red said "poop." She covered her snorting start of a laugh with her hand. Adults simply did not say such things. They said... well, they didn't say. They just tried to say all the words around poop without actually saying it.

Except not Red. He just said it.

"I don't want to do my business all over every place. That's gross. I just mean I want to be a boss. I want to walk in a room and people are think 'oh no. we best do as she commands.' and the like."

>"Anything you like learning about? What you want to be when you grow up and all that jazz?"

That made Kalos quiet in a thinking retreat. She accepted her cocoa puffs seriously and held them in her lap.

"Maybe to bake? In the oven? I think it is science and exact measuring and little changing can make big differences. I never did a bake before here. And sweet things make people happy." She'd almost never seen someone say no to a baked treat. Almost because... well, there was that one time when she'd experimented a little too much and her cupcakes had turned a blobby gray.

"I don't think I want to grow up. It'd be better to just keep hiding here. We got cocoa puffs easy. And tht's not bad."

At the little display of immaturity he realized he was perhaps a.. not bad influence necessarily, but a different sort of influence then what she was used to. Not that most people ever really grew out of poop jokes. Poor sweet summer child they were sheltered. He supposed he was just used to kids at Sanctuary that had 'seen' things they shouldn't or even did some of them. He felt sorry for the former and connected entirely too well with the latter.

He hmmed and thought over what she said. The age old conundrum of how best to level practical expectations vs harsh realities. In this case it was pretty easy.

"I don't see any reason why you couldn't be that person some day. It does mean learning things that you don't think are important or even.. fit your idea of what you want to be at the time only to find out it is useful later. Nobody likes working for a boss that is a dummy." Smiling with his almost too white teeth. "Being a baker is a fine profession. Their are whole shops that sell nothing but sweets and stuff. You could do something like that? We could even go check it out now if you like? I will protect you so you don't have anything to worry about at all! I will even let you ride on my shoulder so you will be able to see over everyone else." 

Nodding sympathetically as he let a bit of his happy energy drain away. "Growing up is hard. My mom used to have to hide me from the bad people all the time until I got strong enough to protect myself. If you ever want to go anywhere and don't feel comfortable asking any of the people here let me know. Uncle Red will keep you safe! You do know how to use a phone right?" Not everyone did.