The air was sweet here, the day cool and bright.

She had to visit Lumiose a lot lately, called in for work on Pokedex research and updates on Team Flare by Professor Sycamore. Though she was still ardently working on becoming the Pokemon champion, she also wanted to help the kind Professor. Serena wouldn't admit it, but she did perhaps crush a little on the man, who seemed a little rough around the edges with his constantly sleepy eyes and five o'clock shadow. Admittedly, she knew half of Lumiose also admired him.

Serena traipsed into the building where the Professor resided, briefly greeting his assistants as she walked into the elevator to his office. As the elevator climbed to the top floor and opened, she heard Kalosian being spoken as she delicately walked around and past the barrier to Professor Sycamore's office.

Professor Sycamore sat in a chair opposite of the red-haired fellow, Lysandre as they both spoke somewhat quietly and intently, but they both turned their attention to her as she walked in.

"I'm sorry to bother you!" Serena said as she nodded.

Professor Sycamore smiled as both he and Lysandre stood, walking toward her. "Ahh, non, mon ami, I was expecting you."

Lysandre nodded to both of them, "I suppose I should leave you two to work."

"Oh! Well, it was nice to see you, Lysandre!" Serena chirped, waving swiftly.

Lysandre nodded to her. Smiling warmly. He took her fingertips in his gloved hand and kissed them, his deep, blue eyes meeting her slightly surprised ones for a long moment. "It's always a pleasant surprise, Serena. Feel free to drop by the cafe sometime, yes?"

"Ahh- Absolutely!" Serena said, her cheeks flushed a little at the attention, since it felt like he was being a little more than courteous with the gesture.

"Augustine, I will see you later," he said him and the Professor exchanged waves.

Professor Sycamore smirked at Serena and clapped her on the shoulder as he led her over to the desk. "He likes you."

Serena's face reddened further, "No way!" she said as she assertively shook her head, instead opting believing that he was just joking with her.

"Well, he isn't that nice to girls he doesn't like," the Professor said as he shrugged to the side carelessly, his dark hair bouncing slightly at the motion.

Serena still snubbed the notion. She'd rather the Professor like her. Moving on, she spoke, "So I brought twelve more Pokemon."

"Ahh, yes! Let's see them," he rubbed his hands together, excited to see what information they would uncover about these new Pokemon.

They quickly got to work studying the Pokemon Serena had gathered, taking them to the lab and examining each of the species. They worked long into the afternoon and, by the time they had finished the sun was low and orange in the sky.

"I'll talk to you later, Professor," Serena waved.

He smiled amicably as they both stood at the doorway of the office, "Yes, and let me know when you find more interesting ones like that! Our research is definitely getting up there."

"I will! Have a good night!" Serena bid him as she walked swiftly to the elevator, heading downstairs.

Her stomach grumbled at her… For some reason she didn't think the research would take this long, and she hadn't eaten much for breakfast. "Eeehhhh… Good job… I guess now would be a good time to take up Lysandre on that food…" She spoke out loud to herself.

Serena turned to walk off to the east toward Lysandre's cafe, making her way up the cobble streets to the little shop front, a red-orange glow settling on the city as she approached.

Lysandre stood at the bar of the cafe, his brows furrowed as he talked furtively to the man standing on the other side, and she wondered to herself briefly if he was always here or what else it was that he did… In any case, she walked up to the bar as well, meekly waving. The barista turned his attention to her, as did Lysandre following suit. "Welcome, what can I-" The barista started to greet her first before Lysandre interrupted, his expression changing to that of delight, "Ah! You decided to visit after all, ma cherie. So good to see you. How are you doing?"

"I'm great, pretty hungry, but great. I know you mentioned food a while back and I wondered if I could take you up on that offer?" Serena said to him, smiling politely.

Lysandre smiled kindly at her, a hand brushing back his hair and crossing his arms. "Well, of course. If I treat you to dinner, may I join you, also?"

To say that Serena was not flustered by his charm and attention would be a lie, despite her thoughts of refusal. She acknowledged him as, most definitely, an attractive man and initially she thought he was just this charming to everyone, but if the Professor says otherwise…

She wasn't going to muse about that right now. Instead, she accepted his offer. "Absolutely! I think it'd be rude to not let you. I mean, you're giving me the food."

"Ahh, yes, but if I am not welcome in your company then I would still have to go elsewhere and be disappointed all alone." The light played at amusement in his eyes, crows feet gracing the corners as he smiled.

Serena giggled at the idea. "What should I eat?"

Lysandre guided her over to a seat. "Well, the bouillabaisse is very good." he said as he pulled out a chair, walked around to the other side of the table and sat himself.

"Isn't that really rich, though?" she asked curiously.

"Well, if you are talking in terms of taste, it is, but do not worry about the price of it. Just know I recommend it."

"I'll have that, then," Serena obliged, excited to try something new.

Lysandre called one of his servers over, ordering the meal for the both of them. Serena thought he was rather stern toward them, but only in passing. After ordering, he turned his attention back to Serena, removing the half gloves and settling his hands together in front of him on the table. "So, how have your travels been, ma chere? It has been a while since I've seen you."

Serena smiled, "They've been good. Finding new Pokemon for the Pokedex research has been fun and I'm almost to the League. How have you been?"

"That's great to hear. I have been good, my lab has been working on developing new… devices." He paused for a moment. "Just trinkets and machinery for use in battles."

"Oh? I'd love to know more about that," she said, interested to hear more about what these would entail and what he did with his labs.

He smiled, "Perhaps another time I will show you, but right now Lysandre Labs is still quite private."

Serena was curious, but put it aside for now. She knew little about his company, but she would pry for information another time. She thought for a moment, quiet until she glanced up at his face, half intent on the surroundings, but he kept flicking his eyes back to her.

She breathed in, taking a leap. "So, why?"

He looked confused, "Why what?"

"Why do you like me?"

Lysandre made a face somewhere between horrified and indignant at her. He started, "I don't-" but stopped short, as he crossed his arms and looked skeptically at you. "Why do you say that?"

Serena smiled, amused at herself. Lysandre was clearly flustered at the question. "The Professor said you did."

"I am going to hurt him," Lysandre said coldly, at he scowled at her.

She waved her hands frantically, "Wait, don't! I'm sorry, I just-"

He put up a hand, scoffing as he looked off in a different direction, "Calm down, mademoiselle, I'm not really going to hurt him. He is my very best friend. I might make him feel some pain, though."

Serena was a little relieved, but still pressed on. "But that didn't answer the question."

Lysandre scowled again as he looked at her, his cheeks quite red at the sudden interest. "Well," He started and stopped again. "It is sort of," Starting again, stopping again, he couldn't figure out how to say anything without incriminating himself. "I guess you could say…"

"You're digging yourself a hole, Lysandre." Serena smiled at him again, mischievously entertained, but her cheeks were also pink, though they didn't quite match the blush that rose on Lysandre's face.

He put his hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay. I lose, you win. You are… enchanting, Serena."

The pink turned several shades more red for her as she giggled, trying to brush it off. "Thank you…" She looked down at to the side, trying not to attract attention to the redness.

Lysandre leaned forward on the table looking at Serena's face and squinting at her, trying to regain his composure. "Why the sudden interest in me? Is there something you want to say?"

It was Serena's turn for surprise, holding her hands up, "That's not what I was trying to get at, I-" Her blush matched his, "Not that, I mean, you're very attractive, andandand charming, it's just-"

Lysandre threw back his head in a sudden hearty laughter, startling a couple of the nearby patrons. "So the truth comes out, eh?" He grinned wide as he looked back at her.

Serena whined, helpless.

Lysandre grabbed one of her held up hands, pulling it to his lips briskly as he looked into Serena's eyes, "I do like you. You're a very beautiful girl."

She smiled, defeated, flustered, flattered, a mix of so many emotions her head was spinning now. She let her hair fall over her face trying to hide her face behind the curtain of her golden hair.

"Hey now, you cannot hide now that that's out!" He reached across the table and pushed her hair out of the way of her face with one hand, smiling at her. Serena face burned hot, she didn't want anyone to see how embarrassed she was. "What are you thinking, petite chatte?"

"I'm thinking about how I don't want to be here right now!" She said as she looked at him, though she still had a smile.

"Awwww, but we still have dinner to eat! I can always take you somewhere that isn't here afterward." Lysandre smiled devilishly.

"That's not what I was trying to say," She stopped short and sighed loudly. That approach definitely backfired on her and it was only getting worse! "Oh, Arceus! You are evil!"

He still held onto her hand at her fingertips, tugging at them. "That's what they say, but please, tell me more."

Serena thought maybe he was getting a little too fresh for his own good. She tried to pull her fingers back, but he gripped them, questioning her, "So there must be something you think of me to be this distressed."

She covered part of her face with one hand, looking up at him sheepishly. "You're… Handsome."

"Is that all? I feel so uninteresting."

"And charming and alluring and mysterious." Okay, maybe she could admit to liking him at least a little. "Fine, I do like you. Besides, you give me free food!"

"That… that is more like it." He smiled, closing his eyes and kissing her fingertips for a long moment before opening them to look up at her through his lashes.

Serena blushed a little more again and lightly squeezed his hand as he held hers. He's definitely had an amorous air about him with the way he talked to her and made contact with her, now that she thought back about it.

As they sat in heavy silence for a moment, the server came with the food. Lysandre let go of her hand finally as the server set the bowls out in front of them, parting with a simple "Enjoy!"

"Aaahhh, this is really good, thank you." Serena enjoyed her food, hungry enough to eat it straight away.

"It's my pleasure, ma petite chatte." They both ate quickly, sitting in the hefty quiet together, enjoying the fish, shells, and soup they ate.

Lysandre set his spoon down in the bowl as he finished a bit before her, watching the somewhat ungraceful way she ate, smirking subtly.

When Serena noticed, she covered her mouth as she ate, "Am I doing something? Is there something on my face?"

He shook his head, "Not at all, you are just…" He struggled to find a word to describe her, "It's cute the way you eat."

"You can't possibly compliment everything I do," She said pointedly.

He raised his eyebrows, "I could."

She kept getting flustered at every turn. He seemed to like getting this reaction out of her, but she couldn't help but admit she was enjoying the chase.

As they finished up dinner, she said, "I guess I should probably get going."

Lysandre nodded. "I am sure you have somewhere to get to, but please, come with me for a moment."

Serena tilted her head curiously as he stood and took her hand, leading her out of the cafe. He led her to the courtyard outside, which was quite private by itself off of the main roads. There wasn't anyone else here right now, since it was getting late.

He brought her hand up to his lips again, asking her, "So, now that we know all this, does this make tonight a date?"

The questioned he asked were like claws digging into her, and Serena just blushed nervously. smiling, "I guess it could be."

Without hesitation Lysandre wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close enough to press his lips to hers for a long moment for a single, elongated kiss. Serena melted a little bit at the motion, sinking into his arms and resting against him as she felt his warm lips. Well, she couldn't say it was wholly unexpected, but she definitely wasn't prepared for that. As Lysandre pulled away, Serena wobbled a little bit and he had to wrap his arms around her to keep her from falling over.

"Hey, don't fall," he said mockingly, a smile on his lips and pink on his cheeks. She noticed he wasn't completely at ease with his actions, as his hands shook a little as he held her in his arms.

"Well, um, I should… get going…" Serena was light-headed.

"I do hope you'll call me, at least. If not, I guess I will just have to live with my disappointment." He frowned playfully and squeezed her gently before letting go, making sure she was standing on her own feet.

Serena smiled, "I will. I'll be back in Lumiose before long."

"When you are the champion, I am sure." He smiled, rustling her hair. "Bonne nuit, ma fleur. Be safe."

"Good night, Lysandre." She wobbled off into the night, streets lit by golden street lamps as she made her way to a hotel to stay for the night.

Serena thought to herself, Oh jeez, I'm in trouble. I totally fell for that… He's so sweet, though… She couldn't help but entertain thoughts of Lysandre the rest of the night and the coming days, being entirely distracted during her travels. She'd have to think of a reason to come back to the city soon...