victory_road | (no subject)

Who: Min-Gi Park [

outofsynth], Riz Gukgak [

nightyorb] & Ryan Akagi [

chickenchoicejudy]
Where: Saffron City
When: 3rd February
Summary: Min gets stuck with a feral possum for the day. Riz and Ryan finally meet. It's all way too stressful.
Rating: Idk, PG-13 probably
Log:

[Today has not been a good day. From the moment he'd woken up to being forcibly repelled away from his tentmate it had been obvious it wasn't going to be. Sorting that mess out in the still too-cold weather had not been fun, and neither had travelling the remaining distance to Saffron without any of their usual closeness. By the time they reach the city Min-Gi honestly just wants to be away from Ryan completely. Contact comes so easily to them. It's not as though he's unaware of how physical they are, but he doesn't normally have any reason to think too hard about it. Having it taken away just feels cruel. It doesn't help that Ryan keeps trying to test the boundaries of it. Sometimes it almost seems like he's having fun with it, something Min decidedly isn't.

He waits until they've sorted a room, but once things are squared away and their belongings are safely stowed in the room he doesn't waste much time hanging about. He makes some excuse about how he "feels like a walk", something that likely Ryan does not buy given how bitter the weather still is even in Saffron and the fact they've already spent most of the last two days on foot.

Even so, it feels better than sitting around in a room with Ryan pretending he isn't bothered. At least until Riz brushes past and he finds himself dealing with the exact opposite problem. Nothing they do seems to be able to separate them, and given it's a city... it doesn't take long before the pair of them start drawing eyes. Suddenly being back in the room doesn't seem like such a bad idea after all.

Having Riz in tow makes fishing the keycard out of his wallet a little trickier than it would be normally once they do get back, but he manages without too much difficulty and unlocks the door. He only opens it partway to start, wanting to give Ryan a heads up they have a guest before just barging in.]

Ryan? Are you still here?

[He turns to glance at Riz with a frown, dropping his voice.]

Don't be weird, okay?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ryan has no idea what to make of that. Goblins aren't real where he and Min are from, but that's probably rude to just blurt out. Still, Ryan looks like he's trying to imagine what Riz being a goblin would look like, trying to see him how he's supposed to be seen.]

Oh. I...had no idea this place was doing stuff like that? Sorry, man.

[There's a lot wrapped up in Ryan's identity, from his ethnicity to just how he presents as a person, and he knows he'd be so frustrated if he couldn't look like something he recognizes as himself.]

--Wait, that's what was going on when I got here?! Some kind of...what, magic glitch?

[Honestly, he didn't put too much thought into it once it became apparent they weren't actually back on the train anymore, and since then he's been a little distracted by adjusting to Pokémon life anyway.]

[Riz sees that look and on a successful insight roll--]

I'm normally about this big, [He gestures about half a foot lower than the top of his head.] green skin, big ears, tail. You can ask him, he saw me before.

[Here he nods at Min. Tell him, man.]

[Min nods his agreement, but doesn't particularly want to elaborate more than Riz has. He's already told him that goblins face discrimination, and the last thing he wants is to offend him. At least about something like that. His smile is nervous as he repeats back Riz's words exactly, as though that might still be the wrong thing to say.]

Green skin, big ears, tail... [He shrugs, giving Ryan a look to try and discourage further questions.] You'll probably get to see what he looks like for real the next time one of those weekends happens.

[Sometimes, Ryan has an ounce of tact. Just an ounce, but enough. He gives Riz an enthusiastic thumbs up.]

Cool. Can't wait to see the real you, dude.

[Later he will lie awake wondering what it's like to only physically be yourself twice a year and imagining how much that would suck if he were in Riz' shoes, but for now he'll leave well enough alone.]

[It sucks. It sucks pretty majorly. Fortunately, Riz's dislike of mirrors means he doesn't have to face it too often, but sometimes he still catches sight of his reflection from the corner of his eye, in the window of some shop, and he always, still, thinks it must belong to someone else, that Riz must have been made invisible and if he'll just turn around he'll see the person that reflection truly belongs to.

But that is not really a feeling he feels interested in discussing with two guys who won't know what it is like that all. From what Riz knows, they have always been human, in this world and in their own, and he just doesn't think they'd get it.]

So.

[Because now that they have sorted what they can do about their problem (not much, just wait, and research), Riz is realising they (well, he) has run out of things to say. And he is so bad at small talk.]

What are you guys doing in town?

[He's not wrong, in fairness. Min can try to picture what it's like to be stuck in a body that isn't his own all he wants (and he doesn't want to), but he still wouldn't get it. He has no desire to pry too deeply into that subject, especially with someone who already confuses him as much as Riz does.

He's glad to take the change in subject, even if their answer is boring.]

Just visiting. Ryan hasn't had chance to see much since he got here. The weather still sucks, but it's not like we could stay in one place forever.

[Ryan is generally pretty good at small talk, because he tends to just let things flow naturally - unless he's trying to ham it up, but then it works for different reasons.]

Yeah! I need to get those warp things so we can zip around to different places, especially since Min-Gi's already got a bunch.

[The obvious implication being that they usually travel together, and that they would like to still be able to do that without camping so much.]

It'll make doing shows way easier too.

Show-- oh right, you guys perform, don't you? I saw something about that online.

[Yes, their viral fame has even reached Riz.]

It was pretty good. Fig'd probably ask you guys to open for her.

You liked it? I didn't think you were into music.

[He's. Assuming Fig's someone he knows from home. He can't remember if Riz has ever mentioned her specifically, but he talks a lot about his friends from before the Poké World.]

[Riz is always talking about his friends because they are, in fact, the coolest people in this and any world.]

Not much, no. But I recognised you and got curious.

[Even after the Torchic Debacle, Ryan still really likes getting recognized. He perks right up, as if they don't have any other problems right now.]

Nice! Glad you like it. Bet your friend Fig's got cool music too, if you think she'd let us open.

[Anyone who would let Chicken Choice Judy open for them is probably a pretty cool person with good taste in music, in Ryan's not so humble opinion.]

[Min is more neutral about recognition. He knows it's good for the band. He just feels weird about being perceived. From Riz it does feel like a genuine compliment though. He's not exactly the type to say things he doesn't mean.]

If she ever shows up here you'll have to introduce us. It'd be cool to work with other bands.

Oh, if Fig ever shows up here, you'll know. [Riz shakes his head for a moment, but it is a rueful sort of smile and a warm lilt to his voice. He really loves his friends, okay.] She's-- everything is a stage to her, you know? She'll put herself in the spotlight. And if there isn't one, she'll make one.