Ice Bear wanted to facepaw the moment he saw the face of Chloe's new programming mentor.
Or take the nearest taxi to Yana's workplace and voice a complaint-whichever worked for him—because seriously, the fates must have had a warped sense of humor to let Chloe's mentor be... this guy.
Why was that a problem, you ask? Oh where oh where could Ice Bear begin?
"You must be the bears she mentioned the other day! I'm Moony; it's a pleasure to meet you!"
And yes. For your information, 'Moony' was a moon bear: vaguely square-ish body, dark-dark brown with a pale crescent on the chest, a tuft of hair running over the top of his head like a small mohawk, and standing in between Panda and Grizz in terms of height.
Speaking of whom, their eldest brother barged into greeting the Asian black bear, carefree as ever, as he extended a paw for Moony to shake. "Oh yeah, man! Totally! Name's Grizz!"
"Panda," the monochrome middle brother returned with a more restrained yet still excited smile as he did the next handshake, "Chloe told us a lot about you. I had no idea we'd get to meet another bear!"
Just for the summer, Ice had to remind himself with mounting dread, it's just for the summer.
"Ah, and you must be Ice Bear! Nice to finally meet you!"
Yep. This was gonna be a long summer.
XXX
The moment Grizz, Panda, and Chloe left to check the menu did the pleasantries drop at last.
"Ice Bear wants to know why you're getting involved with Chloe," the bear's voice came soft yet swift, "and Ice Bear's brothers."
An innocent smile slipped onto the bear's coffee muzzle. "What? She's a good kid with a promising future in programming. All I'm doing is showing her the ropes. As for your brothers, who are we to decide which people they can and can't like?"
Ice Bear only glared in hopes the cold of his eyes would make this fool take the situation seriously (and also take away the sting of the truth in the smaller bear's words). Instead it only made Moony sigh in fond exasperation. He lay back with his forepaws behind his head.
"Okay fine, if you want me to be honest," Moony closed his eyes. "Remember that annoying daddy's boy that stole your Roomba a while back then kidnapped Sis a little less while back? I found out that his dad's company was the one of the sponsors for the internship...aaaannnnd that he might also be aware of how often Chloe hangs out with you."
Sensing the white bear's eyes widen at him, Moony peeked open an eye and noted Ice's hackles were raised in clear alarm. "I thought that might interest you. Anyway, I talked with Yana and we agreed that a good kid like that doesn't deserve that kind of nonsense, so I pulled some strings and landed myself a spot as her mentor."
Well, that was as good an explanation as any. Ice Bear breathed deep. "Ice Bear sees and is grateful, but Chloe is Ice Bear's responsibility."
"And providing backup is mine," Moony coolly retorted. "Besides," he leaned down and lowered his voice into a whisper, "if you wanna make sure this business stays hush-hush from your bros and Chloe while keeping them safe at the same time, you're gonna need more than a bunch of axes."
The two bears held a stare-off, one stern and the other chill, until Ice sighed in reluctant defeat. As much as Ice Bear hated to admit this, Moony was right. The last two times, brawn and good tossing skills had been enough to thwart Barry.
This time, the situation required more tactical thinking.