Safe from the sting of Phi's gaze, Sigma's shoulders sag in relief as she accepts his answer. He urges himself to believe that he has made the right one - and with enough repetition, one could be convinced of anything. Unlike Phi, he's lost his appetite, and finds himself content to sample what he has on his plate. It always amazed him how much a girl her size could eat.

Her next question is somewhat blindsiding, but hardly offensive. Chewing on some shrimp, he lifts an eyebrow. "Of course I raised him," he answers flatly before swallowing. He wonders how Kyle's origin has anything at all to do with his upbringing and can not come up with a relation. "He was removed from his culture at the appropriate developmental milestone for a newborn. I was on my own at the time and babies lack the capacity to be self-sufficient for several years." Sarcastically, as though that much should be obvious. It has not occurred to him that she may have been asking if he'd been there Kyle's entire life.

Remembering Phi had once disclosed a fondness for babies, a mischievous thought gleams in his eye. How many could boast of knowing the secret soft spot in her steely persona? "You might be interested to know that he was quite cute," he teases, but behind his ribbing is a deep affection for the child he brought up from the cradle. A paternal boast, of sorts, and he forgets for an instant that he is also flattering himself. "Even- perhaps especially- in his infant-sized armor. I believe you would have liked him." In spite of himself, Zero is proud. In the days of little sleep or work he'd often brought the baby to the treatment room and asked aloud, in his insomnia, what his friend sleeping in ice thought. Most of the time, he came to the conclusion that she'd pass him off as soon as he needed care. Typical.