At least Mono didn’t find the fear that strange, although he realized that a lot of adults around here probably would think otherwise… So, instead, he was glad to put her worries to rest and to avoid her having to bring it up with people that might make her feel weird for having such a fear.

Her question, though, got his attention again. When was a good question, and… Well, the boy had time now since he wasn’t working that afternoon and no climbing lessons with Nida scheduled. So he offered her another clumsy attempt at a smile and tilted his head slightly. “We can start now if you want, or I can explain how I think we’ll do it and then start… Yeah, I think that kinda sounds right. First, I’ll explain stuff, then we can start.” Mono was rather new to the idea of teaching other people’s stuff. Most kids had to learn to fend for themselves in his world. Team ups like the one between him and Six had been kind of rare, and it had been a long time since he’d even seen another real kid before she met her.

So teaching? This was new.

But a good new, because making sure his new friend would be safe would be a good feeling.

So the boy proceeded to launch into an explanation once she agreed. Animatedly explaining how the ‘game’ would work and drawing out examples in the dirt with a stick. They had a lot to do ahead of them that afternoon, but Mono was determined to do a good job…

ftb...