derailing | Little boy blue and the man in the moon

[That will get you a bit of a sharp look, Monobear, but he doesn't snap at you, at least.]

She might be. After what happened to Kalos, it's possible, but she was also our Champion - the most powerful trainer in the region.

Her whereabouts are currently unconfirmed, which is either very optimistic or decidedly not. You know how it is.

I do! Like that little girl the Professor's so fond of - she's a missing person too, isn't she?

Shame about her mom, though.

[He tosses the yarn ball high in the air and catches it.]

But! That wasn't what I wanted to talk about!

[Right. Serena's mother...her name was Grace, wasn't it? He doesn't remember, and he doesn't like that he doesn't remember, but he imagines it'll come back to him eventually; if it doesn't...well, so it goes, perhaps.

That said, he's grateful for the topic change.]

Oh, indeed? Well, what is it you wanted, then?

[Instead of answering with words, Monobear lobs the yarn ball to Lysandre in a gentle underhanded toss.]

It's been a couple weeks since you played with me.

[Lysandre catches the yarn easily, through reflex, though it seems to take a moment for the actual request to sink in.

...And then he just sort of smirks a bit and gets up. All right, you, why not.]

You know you can ask me, if I'm not particularly busy. But it seems you've been finding new people to play with anyway.

[He arcs the yarn up high; it should come down more or less straight in the general direction of Monobear's head.]

Do you like that, by the way? Having friends to play with?

[Monobear bounces excitedly from foot to foot when Lysandre gets up. He is ready for this he is so ready for this.

Bonk! He headbutts the yarn gracefully back to Lysandre.]

Yeah, it's nice. Fleischer-kun did really well in DDR, I was surprised! And Bito-kun plays a mean game of hide and seek.

...You're not mad at me, are you? I know they're in the student role, but... They can be nice to me sometimes.

[...he is a grown-ass man and he is about as pumped to be playing with this stupid yarn ball as you are. This is saying something, and it's probably not anything flattering.]

I'm not angry with you for it. I just think you have no right to talk to me about being partial to any of the students.

[Have another one, then!]

[The light in the bear's red eye dims a little at that remark, but he doesn't say anything.

The second toss doesn't bounce quite as high on the return - still high enough to catch, but not as energetic.

He mutters something too muffled to pick up.]

[...Okay, come on. Surely you don't think you're going to get away with that.]

What was that, mon petit? I didn't catch it.

[...You know what, no, he's actually mad enough to answer straight.]

I said, at least I didn't leave the cameras unattended to go play.

That...!

[Oh, here we go - ]

That was entirely different and you know it.

You're right, it was.

Because I didn't almost tell the people I was playing with all of our secrets.

"Almost" hardly counts unless the move covers the field.

The fact is that I told him nothing.

And you just happened to know how to angle your body to block the paper so that the camera couldn't see what you were writing.

So I guess I gotta take your word on it.

[He huffs and jumps up and down.]

Throw the ball again!

Old habits die hard.

[That insistence seems to relax him a bit, however, and up goes the yarn again.]

I just wanted to see him again in person. I promise that's all it was.

[This time there's a little bit of anger behind the headbutt and it goes slightly wide (still not out of reach, but he'll have to exert effort to catch it.]

You're really attached to him.

That's not gonna get in the way of the plan, is it?

[Oh, dammit, let him just...nearly miss that but he's got it. Have another one.]

If I weren't prepared to lose him, I wouldn't have put him in there in the first place. It's possible that he could die tomorrow because someone got it into their head to kill him and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

You have nothing to worry about.

[Boop!]

...Do you think they can win?

[And once he's caught it, he hesitates before throwing it again; the pause is brief, but it's noticable.]

Weren't you just telling me a while back that our odds are something terrible?

Well, yeah, but that was back when half of them were just blindly stumbling about like idiots.

They've...changed a lot since then. They're more determined.

They are, yes.

Does that concern you, then?

[The bear shifts his weight and makes a noncommittal noise at that.

Feel free to take that as a 'yes.']

[...Ah.]

I said when I returned that I wasn't interested in abandoning you again. I'm not helping them win.

[Another noise, this time more impatient and directed at the ball of yarn.]

...Good.

I'm not particularly in the mood to die myself, you know. If they want that, they're going to have to earn it themselves.

[Yes, yes, more yarn for you.]

Until then, you can continue to play with the others; I see no harm in it.

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