Or, I would have, had my mana not been stretched so thin I was basically just a floating piece of string.

It hurt a bit.

It felt as if, were I to stretch just a bit, I’d metaphorically dislocate myself from Allan, which probably isn’t a very good idea.

However, looking outside…

I almost felt tempted to try and stretch further anyways.

The golden sun was just about to set beyond a blue horizon of water(this place must be right beside a lake or something) and Arthur, along with Marlene and… a dussin or so kids of all sizes and ages, were all entirely naked, swimming about in the water and splashing each-other.

Looks pleasant.

Wait just a moment!

A dussin or so kids??

What was that melodramatic “Marlene might not be able to sustain you” speech about then??

This is…

This is just the sort of happy family Allan should grow up in.

I’m going to do everything I can to make that a re-,

“GAAAAAAAAAAA-”

I almost instantly used the tension my body had already built up to pretty much slingshot myself back into the room where Allan was.

Shhhhh, don’t cry Allan, mommy’s sure to come feed you soon…

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAA-”

I hate doing this since I really don’t want Marlene to find me again, but…

I gently rocked Allan back and forth in my arms.

But he kept crying.

I nervously placed him back in his crib.

Come on Marlene, your kid is crying for god’s sake!

WIth speed I had no idea I could muster, I returned back to the door leading down to the lake/sea to see if Marlene even cared.

She didn’t.

She was occupied with some other kid, 5-6 years old by the looks of it, who desperately didn’t want to wash her long, brown hair.

M-, Marlene! Hey!!

“G-, gaa…”

Allan gave out a final, defeated scream before giving up entirely on getting his mother’s attention.

Th-, that isn’t the normal reaction, right?

He should be crying as if hell broke loose, right?

Allan…

You poor, poor kid…

Well, if she won’t give you anything to eat, perhaps I can?

I soundly retreated from the doorway and back into the dining area.

Let’s see… cupboard, cupboard…

There!

Cautiously opening a mysterious door, I found a small room filled with wares of all kinds.

Dry sausages hung from the ceiling along with dried and salted meats, on the many shelves along the walls were countless rows of pickled goods, including pickled herrings, various vegetables and preserved foods of all kinds.

The star of the show being the two glass jugs filled with milk.

Great! Good good!

I snatched one of the jugs from the shelf, hoping desperately it wouldn’t be missed, and immediately returned to Allans room.

Waitaminute.

Houston, we have a problem.

Problem one: I think Allan wants his milk warm.

Problem two: I don’t really have a bottle for him to suckle on, so…

Solutions?

Well, I think I know how to solve the first one, but it’s going to be a doozy…

Heat is mostly like, friction, right?

So, if I were to rub the jug intensely…

It would heat up, right?

Well, no point in dilly-dallying about, let’s give this a try!

Rub rub rub.

Rub rub rub rub rub rub rub.

Rubrubrubrubrubrurburbrubrurburbrubrurburburbrubrurburbrurbubrubrub.

…

I don’t think this is helping, do you, Allan?

Allan looked at me with big, blue eyes.

I gotcha, I gotcha.

Alright.

How about this.

I think the reason it isn’t working isn’t because I rub too little, but instead because I just don’t have any inherent warmth? Like body-heat?

So, the idea is that, since I am a sort of intangible, phantom-ish creature(I don’t know either), I should be able to, instead of simply rubbing the jug, actually make my molecules, like, move faster?...

I have no idea, but it can’t hurt to try?

This…

This is hard.

And wierd.

But I think it might be working?

My otherwise slightly blue-tinged body became slightly reddish as I exerted myself to the movements, and when I held the bottle, I could definitely feel it growing warmer. I have no idea how I could register heat since I’m pretty much a gas, but… I did it. Somehow.

Now, onto problem two…

Well, since I’ve now got confirmation that not only am I noticeably in-human, I am also more of a gas. So, I don’t necessarily have to have this human form…

Couldn’t I just make a bottle out of… myself?...

Gosh, that sounds weird, but…

Yup.

Could work.

Only one way to try out.

…

This is…

Surprisingly hard…

Taking a human form was easy, but this is like…

Twisting my body out of its natural shape and into something strange…

But, on the other hand, I think it just might be working…

Just gotta create the general shape…

The hard part is the cavity inside, but…

I think I did it.

Now, all I have to do is pour the heated milk inside the container and feed it to Allan.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Hey.

Allan.

Wakey wakey.

Come on.

Poke poke.

“Gu gu?...”

Theeere you aaaare…

I gently put the nozzle of the bottle into his surprised little mouth and he immediately started suckling.

This.

This is extremely weird.

I don’t like how this feels.

But I have no choice!

Come on Allan!

You can do it!!

Five minutes and one bottle refill later and Allan is fast asleep.

What a sweet child.