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~~((National Yo-Yo Day - page 1 of 20))~~
'...I changed my mind,' came Pauline's voice again. 'I don't want to do this, after all.'

"What?" Roman's grin only widened, however. "You finished it, didn't you?"

'N-no...'

"Yes, you did! I can tell! I'm psychic, too!"

'You most certainly are not.'

"Just show it to us. We won't be mean. If anything, it'll help endear you to us."

'Is that really true?'

"Of course it is."

'What do you think, Lord Goffe? Is Mr. Fullister telling the truth?'

Oh shit. "Uh. Look, I don't know. Maybe."

'Hmm...'

"Here. Hector will put a little barrier around us so that other people won't be able to see. Won't you, Hector?"

Hector was beginning to see a pattern with Roman. "Sure." He materialized a waist-high iron barricade.

'Fine, I'll show you. But you better not be mean.'

"We won't. We're the nicest guys you'll ever meet."

'Oh, shut up.'

And right before their eyes, a cluster of lines appeared in midair. They were all rather disjointed and rough, as if hastily scratched with a pen on paper.

Roman's first prediction had been spot on, Hector realized. It really did look like a 2D drawing, though Hector couldn't really tell what it was supposed to depict.

Roman was barely containing his laughter with a hand over his mouth. His chest and shoulders were trembling with each breath. "It's great!" he barely said.

'Mrgh...'

Hector couldn't stop himself from asking what was probably a rude question. "What is it supposed to be?"

'A dog!' she said. 'You said you wanted a talking dog, didn't you?!'

"Oh, ah--yeah, I see it now," said Hector.

Roman, however, just exploded with laughter, drawing attention from everyone else in the cafeteria. "That's great! It's so good! Thank you for showing us!"

Despite his words, those didn't actually sound like compliments, Hector felt.

And perhaps so did Pauline, because her avatar promptly vanished into nothingness again.