Mono seemed to be taking it quite seriously, and he really was quite excellent at slipping by the notice of adults. In some ways, it was a little easier, because things were very different here. It was safer, for one, and for another most there tended to be unnaturally drawn to him with a rather single-minded determination if he wasn’t careful. People having fun and enjoying the atmosphere was a different matter.

When Mono arrived at the table where Nida was, of course, already waiting given his direct route, the child drew to a halt a few steps away from the chocobo chick and looked up at Nida expectantly. “How’d I do?”