Walter was putting away the boxes of sugar and tea after fixing Integra the last cup she would require for the night when she walked into the kitchen. He turned to smile at her after closing the cabinets and noticed a rather desolate expression on her face.

"What seems to be the problem, Sir Integra?" He asked. She said nothing until she had taken a cookie from her 'secret stash' in the pantry and sat at the end of the bar. She finally looked up at him, a tired and vaguely childish look in her eye.

"Officer Victoria said that I acted like an old man." She said, poking at the cookie on the plate before her. Walter smiled to himself. She looked like the little girl he had helped watch over.

"What caused her to say such a thing?" He asked, just a tiny bit of the false outrage coloring his voice. It was enough for her to pick up on, but not enough to feel like he was just coddling her.

"I failed to accurately squeal and giggle in delight when she returned from shopping and tried on everything to show me... And unfortunately, I do mean everything. I had to drag Alucard in to get her to get her regular uniform back on and leave me the hell alone."

Walter bit the inside of his lip to keep from laughing as Integra glared a hole into the cookie before her.

"Well, I must say, Sir, you were raised by old men, Alucard included."

"I suppose you are right..." She picked up the cookie and took a delicate bite. Then she pondered the missing crescent for a long moment before asking, "But then what explains her behavior? Was she raised by a pack of overly perky cheerleaders or something equally ludicrous?"

What made Walter laugh the hardest was the fact that Integra sounded entirely serious.

"I am willing to bet that the sparkly demeanor of our newest recruit is simply a factor of her personality." He said, handing Integra another cookie.

She sighed.

"The cheerleader bit could be beaten out of her... I like my explanation better."

Walter smiled.

"Have Alucard tamper with her brain then."

"I'd rather deal with her glittering happiness rather than another sadistic monster."

"So you prefer Officer Victoria to remain the same?"

Integra sighed and took a bite out of her cookie, eyes narrowing as they landed on the edge of her plate. Walter smiled and set a glass of milk beside her plate and left her silently battling with the images of Seras as a serious killer, and the more familiar giggly little ball of undead sunshine. Neither image was pleasing or settling. Integra took another vicious bite out of her cookie and looked for all the world like a pouting six-year-old.