A/N: Hey! I'm back with a new chapter! Creepier this time, dropping hints to what Robert's intentions really are. Also, I would like to mention that I may take longer to upload since I have a few tests coming up. That being said, let's roll wit it!

Chapter 4

Despite his fragile appearance, Robert was actually quite agile. This pleasantly surprised all toons, as they had seen people in their thirties who could barely move. But this guy was another thing completely! For someone his age, he played volleyball really well, was a good swimmer and had a good sight, spotting the prettiest shells on the beach.

But, his most important quality was that he knew how to behave with children (unlike most elders). He let them choose what they wanted to play, did not try to act superior, did not seem annoyed at or made fun of their preferences, his jokes and stories turned out to be funny (clearly the time spent at the WB had helped develop his sense of humour and social skills) and he came up with lots of ideas that their mentors would have probably viewed them as too dangerous to practice (like jumping of a rock that was a little too high, right into the waves, or swimming with them a little too far than it was normally acceptable).

Now, dear reader, you mustn't get the idea that the kids didn't like being around the Looney Tunes, because that's not true. They enjoyed their company a lot and the adults were fun to be around. Well, most of the time anyway. But they could also be very strict and protective. Scoldings, interdictions, punishments, threats of confiscating their belongings if they didn't obey and rules atop rules, all of these were part of the everyday agenda.

Robert, on the other hand, was much more fun than that! Actually, they had such a good time with him that they even forgot to keep track of the time. Even Buster, who was usually the one responsible of that, had forgotten all about it. His suspicions had also exited his mind and now he felt silly for ever having them. The man was a really nice guy! Why had he even been worried? Everything was alright, they were alright.

Eventually, extenuation kicked in, so they went back to their sunbeds and towels laid on the sand, collapsing on them, ready to take a nap under the midday sun.

Buster laid on his back, his eyes closed and his brain half asleep. Babs was already snoring peacefully near him, as were the rest of his friends. This day has been the best so far, the bunny thought, as he was slowly trying to fall asleep. Maybe we could do this tomorrow as well! Wait, no. Robert said he's leaving this evening. What a pity. Well, at least we got to see him now. Perhaps he can come with us at the hotel! I'm sure our mentors would love to meet him again after all these years. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I'll ask him after- what's that noise?

Eyes still closed, Buster perked his ears a bit to hear better, and realised that what had interrupted his thoughts were two voices. One clearly belonged to a man and the other one was very girly and baby like.

"Here you go, Elmyra." Robert said, extending her a bottle of cold lemonade.

The girl thanked him in her usual childish way, then drank it all. "Gee, Mr. Robert Taylor sir, this lemonade is really good. But shouldn't we give the others some as well?"

"Nah, they'll drink some later. For now, let them sleep. They look really tired." There was a pause before he looked at her and jokingly added, "But you aren't tired at all, are you? Doesn't surprise me. I think out of all your friends, you're the one that has the most energy."

The girl giggled. "Yeah, people have told me before that I talk too much or that I can be tiring and annoying sometimes, but I just can't stay still, even for a few seconds. It makes everyone – even Elmer – go crazy." She let out another small laugh, not looking a bit bothered about the fact that others saw her as a nuisance.

"I think that's why I like you Elmyra." Robert added after a few seconds. "You're so full of life, so giggly, so careless of what people say or think about you, and ever since I met you this morning, I didn't see you stop smiling for once. Even when you had to jump of that high rock, you did it laughing, enjoying every second of the thrill. You were very brave, by the way. You truly impressed me." He smiled warmly in her direction. "To be honest, I think you might be my favorite out of the Tiny Toons."

Elmyra looked shocked for a few seconds, then, blushing hard, she buried her face in her hands. "Oooh, that's so nice of you to say, Mr. Robert! I never got so many compliments in my life! You really are a good guy and I can see why my mentor cared for you so much."

The man chuckled a bit, then his expression turned thoughtful. "You know," he said after a while, "speaking of your mentor, it's a little strange how you perfectly resemble him physically, but when it comes to how you act, you're nothing like him."

Elmyra looked at him like he was crazy.

"Here's what I mean," he said and grabbed her by the arm to pull her closer to him. "When I look at you, I see Elmer. You have his bone structure, his nose, his eyes, his lips, his cheeks…" he caressed her face as if to make his point clearer, then lifted her chin up a bit, closer to his face. "And of course," he went on, "you also have this adorable red hair that adds to your prettiness." He ran his fingers through it, playing with it a bit.

Elmyra, flattered at the beginning by the man's praise, now felt a tad uncomfortable. She didn't know why, but something about Robert's tone when he said all of those things and the look in his much too blue eyes made her uneasy. Not to mention that she was so close to him now, that she was almost sitting in his lap…

Don't be a silly-willy, she told herself. He's just being nice, that's all. You should thank him, not be mean. But, despite trying to calm herself down, she couldn't stop the anxiety from growing inside her. Although Robert's touch was gentle, something felt very, very wrong.

"Uh, thank you for the compliments, Robert," Elmyra said after a while, when it almost became unbearable to sit like that, and slowly pulled away from him. The man looked disappointed, but didn't say anything about it. Instead he continued:

"On the other hand, when it comes to behavior, you're almost the exact opposite of him. Like I said a few minutes ago, you're so energetic, so free-spirited, unafraid of the world. Elmer, however, was always kinda mellow and anxious. He lacked the enthusiasm you have." Noticing the girl's frown, he quickly added, "Don't take any of this personal! I'm not trying to shame your mentor or anything, God no. I liked Elmer a lot. It's just that these are some things I've noticed about him, that's all."

Elmyra's anger vanished from her face and her expression became neutral. She lowered her gaze to the ground, remaining quiet.

"Also," Robert went on, seeing that the girl wasn't saying anything, "I've seen that your relationship with animals is different than his. Elmer hunts them, while you'd rather hug 'em and love 'em. You must like animals a lot, mustn't you?"

At this, Elmyra's eyes lit up with unbelievable happiness and her lips curved up into the brightest smile possible. All of her negative emotions forgotten, she began rambling about all the 'cutesy' animals that she had had in the past:

"I had a bunny once! A cute bunny-wunny. But Elmer said I couldn't keep him, 'cause he was making a mess everywhere. Then I also had a kitty and an adorable puppy, but they both ran away when I tried dressing them up and having a tea party. I was a little sad after that, but it was no biggie in the end."

Another pause. Elmyra looked at the man, waiting for him to say something, but that didn't happen. Robert was staring into space with an unreadable expression on his face. He looked like he was deep in thought, maybe debating something with himself, but she couldn't tell what it was.

After a while, the girl got annoyed and opened her mouth to ask him why he wasn't responding. But before she could utter a single word, Robert beat her to it.

"Would you like a puppy, Elmyra?"

The redhead stared at him incredulously, not understanding what he meant by that question, then nodded, since that was the truth: she did really want a puppy.

"Well it's your lucky day then!" Robert exclaimed, back to his friendly tone. "I just happen to have found a puppy a few days ago. He was dirty, full of flies, fur was missing in some places… Poor creature. I took him to the hotel, gave him a bath, cleaned him, my wife helped me, of course. But now I don't know what to do with him. Keeping him is not an option… So, do you want him?"

Elmyra couldn't believe what she just heard. A puppy?! For her only?! How could she refuse such an offer! She nodded eagerly, now more hyper than she had been all morning.

"Oh yes, Mr. Taylor, sir! I would looove to have a cute puppy-wuppy to love and squeeze and hug and smoother with kisses- Oh, wait no, I can't."

"Why not?" Robert asked, confused.

"Elmer would never let me keep him. He says that I'm not ready to take care of one properly. I tried asking him before, but he always said no."

She had expected Robert to be disappointed, but instead, much to her surprise, he laughed. "Is that all? Because if it is, then I have the solution: Don't tell him."

The girl blinked. "What?"

"Exactly. Don't tell him for a while. Hide the puppy and take care of him for a few days in secret. And when he finds out, he's gonna see that you are responsible enough to keep a pet. Also, he won't be able to say no if you have already settled it. So what do you say?"

Elmyra nervously twirled a lock of her hair on her finger. "I… I don't know… I mean, I do want a puppy and you are very kind for offering me one, but lying to my mentor… I really don't think it's a good-"

"Oh, come on, Elmyra!" Robert interrupted her, his tone full of amusement. "It's not like you're hiding something huge from him. It's just a puppy. Plus, every kid does this at least once in their childhood."

"They do?" she asked, sounding shocked.

"Of course." He added with a laugh. "The one that doesn't is probably a chicken. And you're not chicken. If you were, you wouldn't have jumped from that rock now, huh?"

"No, I guess not… But what if he gets mad?"

"So what? That's part of being a kid. You come up with ideas, you get into trouble, it's fine!"

Elmyra considered this. Although she was a master at getting into trouble, she had never EVER done something like lying, especially to Elmer of all people. Her mentor trusted her, and that was something she appreciated, since she wasn't exactly the most trustworthy toon out there. Betraying that trust sounded horrible… On the other hand, hiding a puppy was, like Robert said, not that big of a deal. And if every child did it, then what was the damage? Not to mention, this could have been the chance to prove she was capable of being a responsible pet owner. How could she miss it? Also, puppies were so cute and hard to resist!

"Ok," the girl finally agreed. "I want the puppy! And I'm going to show Elmer that I'm grown enough to take care of an animal!"

"Excellent!" Robert exclaimed full of enthusiasm. "That's the spirit! Now come on, we gotta go. We don't have the whole day after all!"

He got up and started walking off. Elmyra was about to do the same, when she realized something. "Wait… Where are we going?"

Robert turned around and looked at her with a face that read 'What the hell, girl?'.

"To get the puppy, where else could we go?" He asked as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Both of us? I thought you were going to your hotel, get the puppy, then come back here and give it to me."

The man looked at her as if she said the craziest thing ever, then added exasperated:

"Come on, Elmyra! We don't have enough damn time! No one's gonna notice your gone! And I need someone to help me hold the puppy while I drive back. My wife can't cause she's in town along with my son, so who's gonna do it if not you?!"

The toon flinched at the harsh tone he used. "But I'm not allowed to leave with strangers."

"Really, Elmyra? Really?" The annoyance was clear in his voice. "I'm not a stranger, I'm your mentor's old friend! Don't you trust me yet?"

"Well, I do trust you, but-"

"Then what's holding you back? Didn't you say you wanted to be a responsible pet owner?" Elmyra nodded. "Well here's your chance to prove it! Now let's go, we've lost enough time already!" He then grabbed her by the arm, not very gently she noticed, and dragged her after him.