farawayplace | [in which the rich brat has to work for the first time in his life, probably]

Gold blinks in surprise at the question.

"Too?" he asks, not sure what other trainer Trip is referring to. "Well, yeah, but... Oh, are you a Pokemon Trainer too? That's great." The little Trip loves Pokemon after all, so it's nice to see he's grown up to become a trainer.

It never even occurs to Gold that Trip might assume his mom was a Pokemon Trainer.

~~If only Trip voiced that worry, he might get an answer!~~

Trip nodded. "Yeah, I am. Made it to the league on my first journey..."

Still looking down, but now with a little wry smile. "Lost in the first round, though."

"So... even if you go back, you can just stay on the road and not have to go back home, right? Or is she keeping tabs on you?"

He didn't quite think that she was a Pokemon trainer, but he was wondering if it was possible for him to avoid her!

"Really? Wow, that's great!" Gold claps, genuinely happy for him. Little Trip's gotten so far! ...He's absolutely not going to say that out loud, but it is hard to not think of the little guy when he sees the bigger Trip.

"Oh, nah, I'm never going back there again. I've got another place I can return to after my journey's over," he says, a bit of a soft smile reaching his eyes. "And I dunno if she really cares enough to keep track of me. So I'm fine!"

Fine except the constant, irrational fear that she'll show up anyway, that is.

Edited (posted too soon) 2022-12-30 21:22 (UTC)

Clapping? What is he, five? Trip felt like it should be something he'd feel patronized and condescended to for, but... he rarely ever got praise and hearing someone be happy for him like that... and it was someone who did know him, or at least, a younger him...

Rather than annoyed, he felt touched?

Someone congratulated him... someone applauded his efforts, not just his accomplishments or his being a prodigy, even though he hadn't even been all that successful, but did he even really deserve this praise?

He didn't know how to respond, his vision seemed to blur with unshed tears, but he kept as stoic an expression as possible and said nothing, lost in thought.

The reply his question brought him back to the conversation, albeit with a small delay as he parsed it and found his voice, somewhat weaker.

"... I'm glad. For your sake, I hope it's true, even if... it probably won't change how it feels. Like you still have to keep moving to avoid being found."

Ah, caught off guard with genuine feelings breaking through the facade you mask yourself with every day? Gold knows exactly how that feels, so he pretends he sees nothing.

Speaking of which, he's struck with some of that with what Trip says. He blinks, scratching the back of his neck and looking away awkwardly.

"I... yeah. I guess."

He really can't bring himself to say anything else on that subject. Spotting the flyer on the wall, he clears his throat before changing the subject.

"So... exorcism? What's that about?"

A change of subject is very welcome, especially as he’s already quite hungry and tired to begin with, so the overwhelming emotions make him feel more drained and tired.

“Yes. You’re one of the first to ask—just the second, actually. My Lampent feeds on spiritual energy, burn it away as fuel, it can also open a portal to the spirit world… although I haven’t tested the latter here. So, if someone’s having trouble with a malicious spirit…”

"Huh, neat. I guess if I see an evil spirit I'll know who to ask."

But more importantly, Trip's looking pretty tired suddenly. And if he's anything like the little Trip - which he probably is - he's not going to just admit he's tired if Gold asks. So Gold's going to have to do this in a roundabout way. Even if it means spending some extra money.

"Hey, I'm kinda hungry. Wanna go grab something to eat with me?" he asks, pointing a thumb at a nearby convenience store.

"Yeah!" he said, so eagerly, his voice jumped an octave higher and the brisk motion of nodding also made him even dizzier.

In case Gold needed any more proof the stoicism was an act, he just got so excited about an excuse (that'll spare his pride) to eat free food, he became light-headed, his vision briefly went black, and he lost balance.

As much as Gold joked about Trip becoming his mom, he's the one with parental instincts, thanks to knowing little Trip. So the second he sees Trip lose his balance, he surges forward on instinct to support him.

"Whoa! Careful there," he says, gently holding Trip from falling with one arm. "Don't trip, Trip. I mean, Icarus." He lets out a small laugh, trying to keep things lighthearted despite his worry. He can tell it wasn't just tripping, he knows the symptoms of hunger himself, but he won't say a thing if Trip won't.

He couldn't complain about being caught, he was too exhausted to even tense up, he really did need the support... he had fully expected to hit the ground, maybe kneeling at best, but Gold kept him steady enough to regain his footing. It took a few seconds longer for his vision to come back.

Yeah, the joke wasn't lost on him, what he did manage to hear of it, anyway.

"... it's fine, I got it."

An awkward little pause, before he whispered a very quiet 'thank you.'

That's so ridiculously worrying, Trip! Gold's heart is aching, wondering how that happy kid ended up in this kind of a shape. He stays calm on the outside, though, and lets go of Trip as soon as he seems like he can stand up himself.

"It's no big deal, man," Gold replies to the thanks with a smile. "Come on, let's go eat."

And he heads to the convenience store, glancing at Trip along the way to make sure he's following and all right.

As an Unovan and a snob, Trip may have never checked out the Kanto-style convenience stores Ultern has, with a variety of meals that can be heated in the store. Gold heads to the counter with the faked confidence of someone pretending he's done this a thousand times before.

"Excuse me! I'll take oden with one of everything!" he says, pointing at the dish in the glass display. The clerk nods with a smile and grabs a cardboard bowl, then starts filling it as Gold requested, which gives Trip some more time to look over his options.

[~~That's just the Trip experience, how did that happy kid end up like this...~~

Right on the money! He hadn't been in here. He genuinely seemed confused and a bit wary of the place, staying close to Gold because he didn't really know what to do and was wondering if things were sanitary or if they might upset his stomach, but also, not really caring, because that smelled good.

Hunger is the best chef, truly.

Trip seemed to pick everything that wasn't fish or meat for his, although he did pause at unfamiliar words.]

What's... konjac?

More worrying behavior... Well, Gold's fine with Trip following close to him, and won't pay it any mind.

"I dunno," Gold replies to the question with a shrug, then addresses the clerk. "Hey, do you know?"

The clerk reads off a product description (konjac flour, water, limewater, seaweed) and assures Trip it's vegan.

"Huh, I woulda thought it's like a mushroom or something," Gold says. "Anyway, you want anything else, Icarus?"

Gold hates spending money, but for Trip's sake, he's willing to spend some more. And if Trip's not going to pick anything else, Gold will get something for him just in case. He's got a weakness for younger kids who need help, and Trip counts for that in his mind, even if he's taller and maybe even older than Gold right now.

"Thank you. I'll have that, then."

He still clearly had no idea how to handle money, he picked everything! On someone else's budget, which didn't seem to occur to him until after Gold pays.

"... I'll make it up to you."

...That is a bit more money than Gold was expecting. He can't help a bit of a cringe when he sees the amount, but pays for both of them anyway.

"It's fine, it's fine," Gold says anyway, waving Trip off and grabbing the oden bowls and the chopsticks, and giving Trip his, along with the receipt. "Just pay me back when you can."

Once they leave the store, Gold asks "So, where do you wanna eat? I'm fine eating here, but if you wanna eat somewhere else that's cool." As long as they don't go too far, since he's not sure how far Trip can go in his condition. Gold then takes the cover off his bowl and takes a sip of the broth, before putting the cover back. "Mm, tasty." It's nice and hot too, perfect for a cold day like this.

Actually seeing the price made him cringe too. He just had no idea how much things costed... he's never had to think of it before.

"I will, I promise."

Being asked where he'd like to eat just made him feel guiltier.

"... anywhere's fine. Here's good. Listen, I'm sorry."

He set his own bowl down on the nearest surface and pulled up his sleeve to take off a blue-accented black watch of some sort. "Here, my Xtransciever. I don't want you think I'm some scummy guy who took advantage of your kindness. If I don't pay you back in time, you can sell it. It might not be as popular here as it is in Unova, but it's still good tech, and you can still make calls with it. access the internet..."

It's probably not the smartest thing to give up right now, when it was one of the ways he listed to contact him, but parting with his camera's unthinkable, so... pawning off the Xtransciever.

Gold stares at the offered device with surprise. That looks pretty expensive, and way more advanced than Gold's Pokegear. He's really itching to accept it and keep it, but...

"Isn't your phone number on those flyers you put up?" Gold asks, looking dubious. "So if you give me that, I'm just gonna get calls from people looking for you. No thanks."

Since Trip did say it's fine to eat here, Gold sits down on the ground with his back leaning against the store wall, the bowl in his hands. He puts his disposable chopsticks away in his pocket since he never did learn how to use them.

"Let's just eat before you worry about paying me back, alright?" Gold says, brings the bowl of oden to his lips, grabs a daikon slice with his teeth, and bites into it with a satisfying crunch.

"You're... right," Trip said, bringing it back closer to him, frowning.

Why didn't he think of that? A little cold and hunger shouldn't make it this hard to think, should it?

"... sorry. I couldn't think of anything else. I just have my camera and my Pokemon and I can't give up either..."

Gold's suggestion sounded best, so he took up his soup again and leaned against the same wall.

The smell from Gold's bowl was really good (or at least, what he could pick up from it with the wind blowing much of it away), so Trip was eager to dig in too. He wasn't the best at using his chopsticks either, but when Gold put his away, he pouted in disappointment, but said nothing.

He really thought he could mimic Gold and learn to use his better... well, he'll just have to do his best. The nicest thing you could say about him is that he split the wood neatly and at least seems to understand the basic concept of fixing the bottom chopstick and moving the top one against it? But the chopsticks are criss-crossing aaand he just somehow lost an entire chopstick in the soup...

He didn't want to eat directly out of the bowl! The soup's delicious, but he'd rather only drink the broth directly from a bowl, he wanted to pick everything else up.

"I don't really want your Pokemon or camera either," Gold says. But Trip really seems like he wants to give him something, huh? "If it means so much to you, maybe gimme something cheap but important? Then when you pay me back, I'll give it back." He'll leave it to Trip to decide what it'd be.

While eating, Gold keeps glancing at Trip's difficulties in using chopsticks. Yep, he knows how that feels. He lets out a little laugh when Trip's chopstick falls in the soup, but tries to hide it by blowing in his soup afterwards.

"Try stabbing them with the stick," Gold advices. "That's what I do when I gotta use those." All the ingredients in oden are big enough that he figures it should work.

He made a face, trying to retrieve the fallen chopstick with its brother.

"... you know that's the wrong way, right?" he asked, still pouting a bit, but fine.

He pushed it out enough to retrieve it, although he made a face at touching the wet chopstick. Unpleasant... but it wasn't really as bad as all that, especially as it was warm and the weather was cold.

"Hmm... well, I suppose it'll be fine this one time, since I don't have any other choices."

He did! He absolutely wanted to give him something!

"Cheap, but important..."

He set down the food a moment, feeling invigorated, even having just this much of the food. "Alright, I have just the thing."

He pulled off his backpack and began searching inside of it.

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[glad Gold saw through it! ^o^;; ]

[icon for mental state, he's actually smiling on the outside]

[Gold's so kind! ;~;]

[Gold would claim to be an asshole, but...]

[a caring softie in reality!!]

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[Trip 🤝 Gold: failing at chopsticks]

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