SEVEN

Serena woke up to the sound of Augustine's gentle, rhythmic breathing. She soon realized that her head was resting on his chest, and one of his arms was draped around her shoulders. Both of them were still wearing their clothes from the previous night, although she dare not think of what her hair looked like now, and neither of them had bothered to peel back the covers on his bed and tuck themselves in. The last thing she remembered happening, they were watching the third film in the series, and the pirate crew had discovered a giant Tentacruel - the same one that had caused problems in the second film - washed up dead on Lilycove Shore.

Sunlight was streaming through the curtains closed over the window in Augustine's bedroom. She raised her head slightly and saw the time and day on the clock on the nightstand. Eight-thirty AM, Monday.

"Dammit," she muttered as she hastily sat up. Her post-midterm break from school was over, and classes were scheduled to resume that day.

She swiveled her body around and hopped of his bed, finding her shoes lying haphazardly on the floor.

"Serena . . . ." Augustine said groggily as he sat up.

"It's Monday. I have class in thirty minutes," she explained.

"Oh? . . . ah, I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Once she finished putting her shoes on, Serena dashed to the bedroom door. "I had a great time. Really. I'll message you later."

She arrived to her first class of the day, Physiology of Dragon-Type Pokemon, three minutes after nine. There was enough time to go back to her apartment, change clothes and shoes and tie her hair back, and fly straight to campus.

Her usual seat next to Shauna was empty, and Shauna herself was seated already, looking around impatiently at the lecture hall, which was filling up as two dozen more students entered. Some students noticed Serena and would either give her an acknowledging smile or turn to whisper amongst themselves. The instructor had not arrived yet.

"Hey," Serena greeted Shauna as she sat down. Shauna smiled, and then her face changed to curiosity and scrutiny.

". . . You usually don't wear makeup to class," she observed.

"Oh – no, this isn't for class. Um, last night –"

"I don't want to know." Shauna interrupted her, trying to hide how uncomfortable the idea made her.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Nothing happened. Honestly."

At that moment, a harried-looking woman carrying a laptop and a stack of papers walked into the classroom and placed those items on a desk at the front.

"Hello class," she said to her students. "Today's lab section has been cancelled. Over the break, agents from the Department of Environmental Sustainability had the university relinquish many items we use in our labs – apparently they're too energy-costly. Our Evolution Simulator is too energy-costly? Really? Have they seen the setups down at Sycamore's lab?"

Serena looked down at her notebook, tapping her pencil on it. At the beginning of the semester, this professor had made it clear how she was no fan of Augustine or his work – the reason why had never been clarified.

"Anyway, we'll just have lecture today . . . and we'll just have lectures until we figure out what to do about lab, I guess. Now everyone get out your books and turn to Chapter 5."

Since it was an overcast and blustery day, Serena and Shauna opted to spend their free time in the student union, in their usual table off to the side. Neither of them did much talking; while Shauna sent text messages to Calem on her Holo Caster, Serena reviewed her notes from the day's classes. On occasion, students would pass by, glance at Serena, and started to whisper amongst themselves.

Shauna eventually put down her Holo Caster. "So, um . . . how'd your date go last night?"

"Oh! Uh, it went okay. We just went to dinner and then stayed up late watching movies. Nothing extraordinary." Serena replied as she suppressed a yawn.

"Nothing extraordinary? Calem just told me that he saw a news item about you yelling at a guy in Restaurant Le Wow," Shauna commented knowingly.

Serena huffed. Of course her little tirade would get media attention. Everything she did got media attention. Half of the people in her Physiology of Dragon-Type Pokemon class were in there because of her, and they all wanted her as study partners.

"That guy was really rude to us, I'll have you know." Serena's tone was defensive.

Shauna didn't respond. Her Holo Caster beeped, and she looked at its screen to read Calem's latest message.

"He's reading the story and telling me about it . . . apparently this journalist is really confused, because you're always so gracious to your fans. There's no good reason for you to snap, according to this guy."

"Please. That jerk at the restaurant was no fan," snapped Serena. "Perhaps I should have taken up his challenge for a battle right then. That would've made him shut up."

Serena's Holo Caster began beeping. Hoping that it wasn't someone who wanted to discuss her latest appearance in the tabloids, she took it out and pressed the "Answer" button. Augustine's holographic image appeared before her.

"Serena! How are you? I hope classes are going well. I called because some new equipment was delivered to the lab today by the Department of Environmental Sustainability – sacre bleu that's a mouthful, I'll have to shorten it to DES or something – anyway! These machines will be perfect for my new research projects, and I thought you'd find them fascinating too, so swing by the lab when you have a chance. À bientôt!"

When the message finished playing, Serena checked the time: two-thirty. Her next, and final class for the day, was at three. She could be at the lab by five.

"That right there sounds like the most romantic thing I've ever heard," said Shauna, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Please, Shauna. This is purely for science," Serena protested, although she didn't entirely believe what she had just said. Her face was getting warm again, and she fought to keep herself from smiling.

"Yeah. Sure it is."

When Serena arrived at Augustine's office later that evening, she walked in to find him dancing by his desk to a pop song playing on the radio. On the opposite end of the room from his desk was a large boxy metal machine with a panel of buttons and blinking lights. His movements were as adorably awkward as they had been the previously night; and as he was facing his desk at that moment, Serena watched his backside as it moved back and forth slightly off-beat from the music.

"WHAT DOES DELPHOX SAY?" Augustine rapidly turned around, holding a pen in his hand as if it were the stick Delphox utilized in battle. When he noticed Serena standing by the partition, he jumped back in surprise, and his face turned redder than his socks. Serena held her hand up to her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"Serena – hi!" said Augustine, still slightly embarrassed.

She walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "How's my favorite dancing professor today?"

"I'm sleepy, but feeling good. You?" he asked before bending down and giving her cheek a kiss.

"The same . . . Is that one of the machines you wanted to show me?" asked Serena, pointing to the one across the room.

"Yes – yes it is!" Augustine put an arm around her shoulder and guided her across the room, where he gestured at the machine with a grand, flourishing motion of his free arm. "The other two are an Evolution Simulator and an MRI machine – standard things, really, but they're from the Université de Kalos and much newer than what we have. I can use this one to measure energy output from any source, as well as store it." His face practically shone with enthusiasm, like he was a child showing off his new favorite toy.

"Where'd you get this one?" She looked up and down the machine, seeing that next to the panel of buttons were two long cables with electrodes on their ends.

"The Department gave it to me. It was developed by a private company for use by the government. Tomorrow I'll be meeting with Teleurac and some other scientists about an upcoming project investigating new sources of renewable energy."

"That's exciting!" Serena beamed.

"I know! Maybe I was wrong about Teleurac. He came off as an arrogant connard during his campaign, but he might just actually care deeply for Kalos's well-being," said Augustine. The two of them maintained eye contact for a few seconds before Serena broke it by glancing back at the machine next to them.

"You got the other two from the university?" she asked him, thinking about how lab sections for her classes had been cancelled indefinitely.

"Yes, why?" Augustine looked puzzled.

"My Dragon-type Physiology class . . . we're not having any more labs this semester because the Department took some equipment. Said it was too 'inefficient.' And it's all sitting downstairs right now, isn't it?"

Augustine sighed. "I don't know if it came from your class specifically, Serena. I'm sorry if this is indirectly hindering your education."

"It's not, really," said Serena, "but we're writing term papers instead, on any topic we want related to Dragon-types. I'm going to talk to my instructor to see if she'll let me write about how and why my Charizard becomes a Dragon-type while it's Mega Evolved."

"Fascinating . . . You're welcome to use any of my resources for this paper – perhaps the notes and data we have on your Charizard would help? They're on that shelf right there."

"Yeah, I'll take you up on that . . . ." Serena walked over to the shelf Augustine indicated, and found the red notebook that contained all the data and observations that the two of them had gathered on her Charizard and Mega Evolution over the years. She then found herself distracted, thoughts drifting into skepticism about Teleurac and the Department of Environmental Sustainability.

"But Augustine, don't you think it's weird that you've gotten all this new lab equipment after being rated the second largest drain on energy usage in Lumiose City?" she asked as she stashed the notebook in her bag.

His demeanor fell as he contemplated her words. "Perhaps," he said, "but I'll be doing important work for the government."

"And that's a good enough excuse?" She took a step closer to him.

When he didn't respond, Serena sighed. "You don't think anything weird is going on, Augustine? A man is arrested and brutalized for disagreeing with the police, food and water is being rationed randomly, and then the government seizes lab equipment from a university for its own use in a lovely display of bureaucratic hypocrisy –"

"And two people in red suits load up a van and drive down an alleyway. So Team Flare must be back."

"No – well, I'm not saying that for sure. But I think there's a chance," said Serena, growing flustered. Of course, now that she vocalized her thoughts, they sounded ridiculous to her. Perhaps Augustine was right this time.

"You're basing all of this on circumstantial evidence. Just because there are policy changes we disagree with doesn't mean that a criminal organization is behind it." Augustine said in an attempt to sound reasonable.

It was quiet for a moment.

"Serena . . . please don't stress over this. Focus on your studies. Spend time with your mother and your friends. Spend time with me." Augustine spoke soothingly while he brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "And if you turn out to be wrong, you'll feel so silly for worrying so much."

Serena shook her head. "I'd rather stress out and be wrong later than keep on living and not realize something's wrong until it's too late, like you did with Lysandre."

Augustine's face turned white, and Serena felt a pang of guilt after realizing what she had just said. She stepped back and watched as his face fell into a lost, sorrowful expression.

"I'm sorry – I didn't mean to say that–" she stammered, trying to think of ways to finish those sentences but coming up short. In a way, though, she had meant to say that – it had always irked her how Augustine was in denial about Lysandre's involvement with Team Flare, right up to the fateful Holo Caster broadcast where he had announced his plans for eliminating the human race.

She couldn't find a way to salvage the situation. "I- I should go get started on that paper. I'll leave you to your work," she said hastily before turning around and dashing for the elevator, ignoring Augustine's fingertips brush against her elbow as he tried to grab hold.

During the walk home, she replayed that conversation in her head, thinking of things she could have said instead and the more pleasant outcomes that could have resulted. She alternated between crafting a proper apology in her head and resolving never to speak to him again to spare both of them from embarrassment. In the end, though, she spent the evening watching documentaries on television to block out any thoughts she had about Team Flare or what she had said to Augustine.