[S1 Trip and younger Gold, closed to gold_drum]

[serperiority]

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…

Comments

[serperiority]

It's perfectly safe to sleep with Serperior, Mycen, and him around, yes.

He can rest until they get back home for a meal, Gold can have what's left of his meal from yesterday heated up, but Trip also brought some more food, so he'll have something a little more substantial than just the rice.

He decided to wake Gold after that to have some food. If Gold's still not eager to eat anything too heavy, there's bonito fish flakes he could add to his rice. If he's interested in eating something else, there are sandwiches, made with vegetables and various kinds of cheese.

He also picked up some teabags, since they also last a long time, so if Gold's interested, there's a cup of tea ready for him too. Still hot and steeping!

Trip likely won't discuss anything until Gold's fed, unless Gold wants to talk to him about something. He didn't feel like ruining the meal with a heavier topic, but he did feel he should apologize for what he had intended to do earlier, or he'd just feel perpetually guilty about it and might shy away from Gold.

[gold_drum]

When Gold wakes and finds there's already a meal waiting for him, set out and all, he's amazed. He takes some tea, and adds some bonito flakes to his rice, and grabs a sandwich too. So much variety! And he's never had tea this good before!

But while he's eating, he notices signs that Trip's in a heavy mood, which makes him kind of anxious.

"...Did you eat yet?" Gold asks carefully. Maybe Trip's just moody because he hasn't eaten enough?

[serperiority]

"Hm? Yeah, of course, I ate," Trip said.

Maybe he should have known Gold was too astute to miss it, even if he hadn't said anything at all. Maybe he should have kept eating, even if he wasn't hungry anymore, not to draw attention? He couldn't do that once it was already noticed...

"There's just something I wanted to tell you—once you're done," he said, trying not to rush him.

He wasn't any good at this, was he?

[gold_drum]

Well, that's ominous. The fear of abandonment spikes up, but by now, Gold is pretty sure Trip isn't going to just dump him. Not after spending so much money on clothes for Gold. So what else could it be? If it's something he can only tell onse Gold's done eating, it's got to be something serious, or maybe something that'd make Gold lose his appetite.

Something like 'I killed someone and hid the remains in the food you just ate' or 'I've actually been a robot this whole time' or 'I spent too much money and now we need to rob a bank together'?

Gold muses on that as he keeps eating, staring at Trip with mild curiosity. Well, Trip is basically perfect as far as Gold's concerned, so it'd make sense if he had a big secret like that. Everybody's got some flaws, after all.

"Did you kill somebody?" he asks. "If you did, I'll keep it secret." And he takes a sip of tea.

[1/2; GOD, Gold, wha...]

[serperiority]

He just—

"I what—?!"

[serperiority]

"I'm not a murderer," he protested, sounding quite offended. "... I admire the loyalty, but seriously?! My Lampent might feed on spiritual energy, but I only have it feed off the dead, and I certainly don't let it eat whole spirits or anything like that..."

That's one way of breaking the ice, I suppose... but he really needed to get back on track.

"... no. That's not even remotely what this is about. You're... sure you want to stay with me? Even if I might lose my temper sometimes? I really felt awful, because... I really was going to hurt you that time. I feel like I shouldn't be the one to take care of you, so I thought you'd be happier... being taken care of by someone else. So, I thought..."

'—to leave you somewhere for someone else to find,' he couldn't bring himself to voice; instead, he left it hanging in the air and watched Gold with a scrutinizing gaze, anticipating his reaction.

[gold_drum]

Huh, kind of a funny reaction. Well, it's not like Gold really thought Trip was a killer. But if he did kill someone, he'd use Lampent? Good to know. Gold finds himself giggling as Trip keeps protesting.

But when the topic turns serious, Gold does too. So Trip has been worrying about that all this time? He thought he wasn't good enough? That's just not true. But just saying it's not true probably wouldn't help at all.

"You didn't hurt me, though," Gold says, with a gentle frown. He pauses to try and gather his thoughts into words. "You, um... You feel safe. I've never really met anyone who feels safe, and who wants to keep me too. And, um..." he hesitates, not sure if he wants to say the next thing. "You're... mean sometimes, but that's good. Because it means you're not just pretending all the time. So I want to stay with you and not somebody else! Because with somebody else it'd be different. I'd have to..." he frowns, trying to think of how to say it. "I'd have to start all over... trying to figure out if they're safe and how to act... and stuff. So it'd be scary."

Now Gold's the one watching Trip and seeing how he reacts to that, fidgeting slightly. He's not good at words.

["good to know" ......... GOLD. ^^;;;; ]

[serperiority]

No, it probably wouldn't, Gold.

Even just hearing Gold's explanation made him look more conflicted, then, resigned. He sighed.

"I'm sorry she made you feel like this is as good as it gets. There's definitely better than me out there... people who are kind, to everyone, to the point it feels fake, but they'd do whatever they can for someone else. There aren't that many people like that, that's true, and it's hard to trust and figure them out from people who are faking it and hiding something worse... and the ones who are that kind can't understand us... they're usually very naive, living in their own worlds, where things are a whole lot simpler. Not like ours."

He might be thinking of someone in particular, saying this.

So, maybe it really was best for them to stick together, like they said before?

"It'd be scary, huh?"

He thought for a moment, then got up to come closer, awkwardly putting a hand on Gold's head to pat it. "I won't leave you. I'm sorry for thinking about it."

If he gave hugs, he would right now.

"It's just... if you ever find someone better, like, maybe when you're older... I promise I'll let you go. You deserve it. I won't get in your way unless I've got a bad feeling about it or they seem like they're up to no good, okay?"

[yeah, he's like that ^^;;]

[gold_drum]

It's kind of nerve-wracking seeing Trip make those expressions! But Gold figures it's probably fine even if Trip looks a bit sad.

Gold slowly nods to what Trip says.

"Umm... There's probably good people like that, yeah... But even if there's better people, I think I like people who are like you better."

He nods in response to Trip's next line, fingers tightening around his shirt's hem. It would be scary.

Gold's comfortable enough with Trip by now that he doesn't even think to be wary about Trip coming closer and reaching out to him. He idly wonders what Trip's doing though, before getting headpatted. That's... new. Kind of nice though.

"You should be sorry," Gold says, with no real bite to it. "Don't think about it again, okay?"

He considers Trip's next words with a bit of a frown, hesitant. His first instinct is to say he'll never find somebody better, but... This seems important for Trip. And maybe it's more comfortable for him to keep Gold with him if Gold's the one choosing to stay with him? Yeah, now that he thinks about it, this is important for them both. And you never know what might happen in the future. Still, something worries him...

"Um... I probably won't find somebody like that, but if I do, can I still keep Mycen... and all the stuff you got me?" Gold asks. He's pretty sure Trip would be fine with that, but he can't just go with just an assumption.

[serperiority]

'You have terrible taste,' he wanted to say, but didn't, while secretly feeling a bit happy that someone chose him over others, even if he knew it probably was only because he didn't know any better.

(Even if he knew that, he wanted to feel wanted, even preferred. It was nice.)

What a sweet little voice, even when he's reprimanding him. How could he think to leave Gold behind?

"Of course," Trip said, feeling a little bit hurt that Gold would think he'd take any of this from him. "... it's yours. I'd never come between a trainer and Pokemon. Everything else I bought you is yours forever. I won't take any of it away. Not unless you were like, I don't know, hurting somebody with it... what I mean is, unless there's a very good reason, I won't touch your stuff without asking."

He's getting all tangled up in what-ifs and tangents, he really should focus on answering the question!

"Yes. If you go anywhere else in the world, alone or with someone else, you keep everything I gave you. It's yours to keep, Gold, and you're free to go anywhere."

[gold_drum]

"Okay." Gold nods seriously, satisfied by these conditions, even if Trip got kind of confusing in the middle there. What, he'd take away Gold's shoes if he kicked somebody with them or something? But the important part is that Gold's stuff is Gold's stuff even if he leaves Trip.

"Then, I promise." Gold straightens his back and looks Trip in the eyes. "If I find somebody I'd rather stay with than you, I'll go with them. And if you think that somebody I'd go with isn't good enough, then you'll take me back... Um, promise?" Gold's confidence wavers a bit at the end. Trip mentioning that chance that somebody Gold could want to go with could be bad has him kind of worried, so he wants that to be an official part of the promise.

(A part of him may be imagining some scenario of a cartoonishly evil villain trying to kidnap him and Trip coming to his rescue. Possibly while they're all standing on top of a moving train.)

[serperiority]

"I promise. As long as we're both still here, as long as I can... I'll look after you, until you find someone better," he said solemnly.

Promises were something Trip took gravely seriously. He hated the idea of breaking them, more than anything else.

"Shake on it?" he asked, extending his hand, as if to seal the deal, even if the gesture reminded him a bit of Alder.. but he won't be like him.

He intended to keep this promise, no matter what... unless something completely out of his hands separates them, he won't abandon Gold.

(... we appreciate the imagination, Gold, but Trip's unlikely to be able to balance atop a moving train and, hopefully, no one will kidnap you!!)

[gold_drum]

"If I find someone better," Gold corrects, and reaches to take Trip's hand.

He shakes Trip's hand, holding tightly. He's determined to keep this promise too. Even if the promise seems so easy to keep on his side, because he can't imagine finding someone he'd rather stay with than Trip. But since he promised Trip, he'll try his best to think about it if he meets someone he gets along with!

(It's always a possibility! It's important to prepare for future possibilities!)