serperiority | [S1 Trip and younger Gold, closed to gold

The warm colours of autumnal leaves and the crisp, cool air of the changing season was similar, but not the same as it was in Unova, but even if it was, without him here, it simply wasn’t going be the same. The festival, too, for all the nostalgia it invoked in him, if it wasn’t going to lead him any closer to Alder or defeating him, it wasn’t something he should concern himself with now. He needed to train.
Things like eating sweets or enjoying the sights and sounds of a festival was for children and had no place on an adult’s world, Trip decided, and walked on.

… even with these thoughts, he still paused, briefly, here and there, to take photographs. The beauty of this season was ephemeral and while he no longer had any place here, he couldn’t ignore it or the way it made him feel, even as pursuing his goal overtook anything else…

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From:

gold_drum

Gold blinks in confusion when Trip laughs. Mistake? Oh, right... People don't usually eat the shells. Still, he feels kind of defensive about it, like he should say something in defense of eating egg shells, but... it's not like he even likes them. It's whatever. He can let it pass.

"Okay," Gold says, pouting a little, as Trip leaves. Once Trip's gone, he turns to Mycen.

"Egg shells are fine to eat, okay? They're edible, and it's a waste to throw them away!" he rants, and Mycen pauses in eating and stares at him. Gold looks at Mycen with a pause, like he's imagining a response, and then says "If you wash them properly it's fine!"

Mycen just looks at him with an unreadable kind of expression and offers him a piece of his Pokemon food.

"Huh? Can I have that?" Gold asks. Mycen nods with a chitter, and Gold accepts it. "Thanks," he says, and eats it. It tastes... fine by Gold's standards. Mycen offers him more, but Gold says "Nah, it's fine. Trip's bringing me food soon, so you can keep that, okay? But that's nice of you."

And that's how they bond. By the time Trip returns, Gold's fallen asleep, sitting on the bench. Mycen's finished his food, keeping watch and glancing at each passerby that walks past. When he spots Trip, he waves a claw at him.

From:

serperiority

That... that isn't safe!

Trip hurried back, feeling frightened that Gold could so easily fall asleep in a public place like that.

"Gold!" he may have been a bit too loud and it wasn't kind to wake the boy so harshly, but he was scared.

He set the bags of food down beside him and felt immensely grateful they caught a Pokemon before this, but still looked very much on-edge.

"Good work, Mycen..."

From:

gold_drum

"Huh?" Gold blinks slowly. He didn't notice falling asleep, but it was at least a better awakening than back in the cave. He rubs at his eyes. "Hey... What's wrong?" he says as he slowly notices Trip's looking agitated. He glances around, looking for whatever might be making Trip look that worried, but sees nothing.

He wouldn't have fallen asleep in public that easily normally, but having Mycen watching out for him made him feel safe. Also, well, he hadn't slept for more than a couple hours at most last night, so...

"Yeah, good work, Mycen!" Gold might not know what Trip was talking about, but Mycen probably did a good job. Mycen makes a gesture with his claw, something probably equivalent to a thumbs-up for a human.

From:

serperiority

"It isn't safe to sleep in public like that," Trip said, trying to calm down, but his voice still sounded shaky. "... it's not like being in a Pokemon Center or hotel or even a tent out in the wilderness... people can be worse than wild Pokemon. Much worse."

That said, Gold seemed to be safe and his Paraspor was protective, so he should calm down soon, but for now... still a bit shaken up. He had two close calls in one day! How do parents even handle this?

"It's a good thing you had your Pokemon with you, but it's still best not to sleep in places like this. I'll book a room, I know where the hotels are. First, we'll eat, then... Conkelderr can carry you the rest of the way, okay?"

That seemed like a good idea, Trip decided, as he opened the bags and offered Gold a covered meal. This foil-covered meal was a fish and rice dish. Besides that, Trip also handed Gold a box of colourful French sweets and frosted cupcakes.

From:

gold_drum

"Well, yeah," Gold says with an air of 'obviously' in response to 'people can be worse than wild Pokemon'. "But I had Mycen watching out so I'm fine. Um, but sorry I scared you." Gold looks a bit guilty as he says the last part. He doesn't want to be a bother to Trip, but clearly he did something wrong again.

"Okay. I'll try not to fall asleep before we go to the hotel. Conkeldurr?" he asks, not knowing what that is. Probably a Pokemon though, he assumes.

But before waiting for an answer, Gold gets distracted by the food. The foil-covered thing smelled amazing, so Gold rips it open. Fish and rice! Gold digs in with pleasure, but then spots the other box. Huh? Gold stares at the box, then looks at Trip, like he's not sure what he's supposed to do about it. It looks too fancy for him, so it's got to be for Trip, right? So he just continues eating his meal, ignoring it.

From:

serperiority

"Mycen is still small and needs more training, you haven't tested its strength much in battle yet. But you're right, it is easier when you have a Pokemon on hand, particularly a large and intimidating one... Conkelderr is like that. He won't let anyone near."

He was genuinely adorable digging in like that, despite the nervousness and fear, Trip couldn't help cracking a small, lopsided smile at that.

"Those are for you too, you know. They're dessert. You can save them for later, if you like... but I already bought other sweets for later."

Oh, he was going to spoil Gold. At least with things he could buy.

"Don't forget how to use your utensils, like the knife and fork, okay?"

((Like so. Big scary Pokemon, ffff.))

From:

gold_drum

"Hmm..." A big, strong, intimidating Pokemon that won't let anybody near? That sounds nice. Gold wonders if Mycen will evolve into something like that. Speaking of Mycen, now that he no longer needs to be on watch, he hops down from the bench, so his mushroom reaches the ground, and curls up to take a nap.

Gold's eyes go wide at hearing the sweets are his, but, remembering what Trip taught him, he finishes chewing and swallows his moutful of food before speaking.

"For me? And there's more too?" He's utterly awed. That's so much food for him. And it's fancy food, too! He thinks he could live for like, a week or two just off the food Trip has already bought him, and he has a feeling Trip's going to keep getting him more. He doubts he can eat his entire meal and still have room for dessert, so he has to stash all of them somewhere, with the sandwich and trail mix he already stashed away before.

"Oh, right!" Gold had forgotten the knife, so he hustles to take it and start using his knife and fork properly to eat. "Umm..." he says hesitantly, while using his knife, "When we go to the stores, can I get a backbag?" He wants to store his food and carry them with him, and he's starting to realize that it's okay to make requests like this.

From:

serperiority

“A backpack’s basic for a journey, so yes, you should absolutely have one. That’s a good, smart choice.”

Then, Trip won’t have to carry both their snacks! When Gold isn’t squirreling them away in odd places they stopped at, anyway.

Well, now that Gold was going to be part of his life and it seemed possible that, in spite of Gold’s best efforts, he might not be accepted by anyone else other than Trip… hiding sweets because he didn’t feel they suit an adult and especially nor a strong one…. no longer seemed so necessary.
Trip fished out the mochi he’d saved from the Pokemon Center to eat now. He didn’t seem to pick a proper meal for himself. Maybe he wasn’t very hungry yet?

From:

gold_drum

Gold feels a swell of pride at being complimented. He made a smart choice! A good one! He finds himself smiling as he continues eating happily.

But then, when Trip takes out some mochi, Gold pauses. He looks at his own big meal, then realizes for the first time that Trip didn't bring any food for himself. ...Trip didn't eat much for breakfast, either. Gold's eating slows to a crawl and then stops completely, as he stares at his food.

Was he... eating too much? Or was Trip eating too little? Which one was it? And why?

But no matter which one it was, Gold feels like his appetite is gone.

"...You can have the rest of this," he tells Trip, pushing his food to him.

From:

serperiority

Trip blinked, then shook his head, pushing Gold’s food right back to him.

“No, thank you. That food is yours. I bought it for you. If you feel full, you can always eat the rest later, but I’m not eating right now because I want to have my lunch at the hotel. They’ve got a restaurant I like better than these. Been there before.”

Trip wondered what prompted this. Maybe he was giving Gold too much at once? Maybe Gold was simply overwhelmed? Or maybe he was still full from his big breakfast? Or…

“… if you are hingry, you should eat. Don’t try to copy me, at least, not in this. Like how much I walk, how much I eat is different too, because I’m used to travelling. You aren’t yet. Besides, you’re still small. You’re growing a lot faster than me, so you’ll need to eat more. It’s the same way with Pokemon… if we see any baby Pokemon, you’ll understand. They spend a lot of their time eating and sleeping.”

Trip realized he could use his camera for this and found some pictures of different Pokemon: nesting Flying types eagerly being fed, Liepard with many sleeping and nursing Purrloin (pictures taken in the same alleyway at night and day)…

From:

gold_drum

"Oh, okay..." Gold nods, a bit reassured! Still, he's not really hungry anymore, anyway. "Um, can I eat the rest at the hotel too? I'm fine for now."

(And really, this much food is a bit too much for him at once, and it's probably better for Gold not to try to finish his meal right now. He's been living on small portions and eating once or twice a day for a while, after all. Not that Gold consciously realizes that, but he'd probably make himself sick if he ate as much as Trip's offering him.)

"Really? I thought people who are bigger need to eat more," Gold says. He's learning a lot today, even if it kind of irks him to be compared to a baby Pokemon. He's not a baby! But he leans in to look at the photos Trip's showing him with interest. Baby Pokemon were cute, after all.

(Meanwhile, his Paraspor slept by the bench, being a baby Pokemon.)

From:

serperiority

That's understandable, Trip absolutely hated being called a child... so a comparison to a baby would be even worse! He just couldn't think of a better metaphor at the time.

"Sure."

Trip packed away the rest of the food to carry.

"To a point. When you aren't growing so fast anymore, you don't need to... come to think of it, teenagers also eat a lot, because they grow pretty quickly."

So, maybe in a couple of years, they'll both eat a lot? Something like that.

(And yes, baby Pokemon are very cute.)

"Don't forget to carry Mycen with you. Speaking of carrying... meet Conkelderr."

Trip sent out his Conkelderr, which looked quite menacing, with its unpleasant smile and wielding two concrete pillars.

From:

gold_drum

Gold just nods. People and the amounts they needed to eat were complicated, apparently, and Gold just takes Trip's word for it. He can't really imagine far enough in the future to imagine himself in Trip's age or Trip as a teenager, nor does he think he'll still be with Trip by that time, so it doesn't feel relevant to him.

Conkeldurr is menacing, indeed, but Gold just stares at it blankly, before picking up Mycen, who stirs from his sleep, and also stares at Conkeldurr. Mycen screeches in surprise, raising his claws defensively.

"It's fine, it's Trip's Pokemon," Gold says to calm Mycen down, but he's not sure what to think himself. It's Trip's Pokemon, but it looks kind of scary. Not to mention it's carrying pillars. "Um, that's gonna carry me? But its hands are full," Gold says, pointing at them.

From:

serperiority

"Like a sword, Conkelderr's pillars are an extension of its body," Trip said, gesturing as if wielding an imaginary rapier. "... it doesn't put those down, it's used to their weight. It can carry you two easily, that’s basic, isn’t that right?"

Conkelderr's expression softened considerably, and it gave a hearty little laugh before spinning one pillar to hold it side-ways, before gently lowering it.

“Conkelderr’s saying you can sit on the pillar and it’ll lift you gently.”

Almost like a swing! A very hard swing. Concrete pool noodle?

From:

gold_drum

Oh, well, that's a nicer smile. It eases Gold's worries a lot.

"Okay, that's fine then. Right, Mycen?" Gold asks the Paraspor. Mycen's still a bit rattled, but nods, since Conkeldurr seems nice enough.

And so, Gold carefully gets on the pillar, sitting down. He's a bit worried about whether he'll be able to balance on it okay, since it's round and smooth, and there's no real handholds. Actually, now that he's there, it's really scary! He can't even hold on with two hands with Mycen there to take care of! So Gold tenses up and slides down off of the concrete pillar the moment it seems like Conkeldurr's about to lift it.

"I-I can walk, actually," he says hurriedly, trying to look like it was a casual decision, but his shoulders are still tense. Trusting his life in somebody's hands while he can't do anything is still too scary.

(Trusting Mycen to keep him safe while he was sleeping was different, for reasons Gold can't articulate or comprehend. It just was.)

From:

serperiority

Conkelderr looked a bit disappointed, but also understanding, and followed beside them, but staying closest to Trip. It gave a questioning growl and Trip gave a calm, somewhat dismissive answer, before walking over to Gold, offering a hand to hold instead.

“It’s alright. Conkelderr would have kept you very close, so you don’t fall off, but you can walk or do anything else, if you want to. We’ll get there soon, so just stay close.”

Maybe there wasn’t enough trust yet between him and Conkelderr? Mycen and Gold already have a good bond growing.

From:

gold_drum

Gold nods and accepts Trip's hand, relaxing a little at the touch.

"Um, sorry," he says, but doesn't elaborate. He feels like he wasted Trip's time and effort, not letting himself be carried, just because he freaked out. He doesn't mind Conkeldurr walking by them at all.

Trust was a difficult thing. Gold doesn't even fully trust Trip yet, so trusting his Pokemon isn't going to happen easily. Not when he's only just starting to believe Trip won't leave him behind.

From:

serperiority

“You can’t rush some things… you don’t have to be sorry about them. It’s better to know sooner rather than later, right? So I won’t do it again, unless you want to try.”

Thinking of another way to include Conkelderr, Trip shared some bags with his Pokemon.

It’s not too far at all!

From:

gold_drum

Why was Trip so understanding and patient? Wasn't he ever going to get mad at Gold? Well, he did when Gold tried to steal from him, and when Gold called him prissy, so he did have limits. But all this kindness was starting to make Gold anxious. Something has to go wrong eventually. Sooner or later he'll probably do something wrong and that'll be the last straw before Trip loses his patience.

Gold stays quiet and anxious all the way to the hotel, not even responding to Trip, kind of lost inside his own thoughts and worries. Of course, it might look on the outside like he's just tired, and that's not incorrect either.

From:

serperiority

That was what Trip assumed it was so he didn’t resume the conversation when Gold went quiet.

When they reached the hotel, he went to speak with the receptionist and make a reservation, letting Gold go, with the advice to wait in the lobby—it’s spacious, there’s a cafe, restaurant, a fancy fountain, comfortable couches, clocks, flowers, and ornate light fixtures.
“You can look around, just stay down here so I can call you when the room’s ready.”

From:

gold_drum

"I don't wanna," Gold mutters stubbornly. He follows Trip, clinging to him, barely even glancing at the surroundings. He wants to sit down somewhere, but he knows if he does, he'll just fall asleep, and Trip doesn't like that. He doesn't want to disappoint Trip! Even if he thinks not doing what Trip told him to might also disappoint Trip, but if that happens then it happens!

Gold's maybe starting to be a little cranky from his lack of sleep. Not to mention everything else that's been going on. The sudden change of environments, the long walk through the cave, constantly trying to figure out how to act around Trip, and taking care of Mycen too... It's all taking a toll on him. Not that Gold really thinks about all of that as being difficult. As far as he's concerned, he's just kind of feeling angry for no real reason. And if he glares at random passersby while clinging to Trip's leg, that's just normal.

From:

serperiority

Oh, boy…

Yeah, that makes sense. Trip could tell the kid was probably cranky and maybe if he were a more affectionate person, he could carry him, but… he’s not.

(That poor, random lady wondering what she did wrong to earn such a harsh glare!)

It’s a lot of talking before they get the chance to go up and see if the room is to their liking!

From:

gold_drum

An ordinary kid would probably be throwing a tantrum or constantly yelling at Trip to hurry up at this point, but Gold wasn't comfortable enough with parental figures, or his relationship with Trip, to do that. So he just stews in his crankiness and keeps glaring at people silently.

It's making Mycen a bit uncomfortable, so the Paraspor decides to climb up and try to crawl into Trip's jacket pocket and sit there. Sorry about the big bug climbing on you, Trip, but Gold's doing nothing to stop it!

From:

serperiority

"G-gah!"

Trip dropped the key he'd just received at the sudden sensation of the crawling Bug type on him. "M-Mycen, down! Get off of me!"

Mycen has a good five seconds to hop down, while Trip yanks off his backpack, before he throws his jacket off!

From:

gold_drum

Gold just stares, kind of surprised, but grabs Mycen off of Trip quickly, and then stares at Trip flatly. Kind of judgemental, but he doesn't say anything. He respects Trip, really, but he's kind of done with everything right now. Quit the shenanigans and bring us to our room, you prissy boy, he doesn't say.

Mycen's a bit shaky, surprised by Trip suddenly moving around like that, so he clings to Gold, making little sad, complain-y chitters. Why wasn't he allowed to climb? And he saw such a good place to hide too! The world is so unfair to little baby bugshrooms.