Welcome to Gaia! ::

The warmth of the spring day, the blueness of the clear sky, and promise of birdsong and blossoms could do similarly little to lift another's mood, though for far less grave reasons. Luke stretched his arms before tucking his hands into his pockets and proceeding forward. There were people... everywhere. He hadn't known there could be so many people in the world, let alone in a single city, let alone in a single area. The ferry had been crowded enough, but this was just ridiculous.

What would have been incredible wonder at the size of the masses, however, was converted into complete irritation by a gnawing hunger. The fare on the boat had been completely unpalatable, and he wasn't having much luck in the city either, despite the numerous accounts of what appeared to shops stocked with all manner of food. Finally the hunger had gotten to him, and Luke had decided to go with the first edible thing he found - an ice cream stand, as it happened. He stopped a ways off, separate enough from the crowd not to get shoved accidentally (because they obviously weren't familiar with common courtesy, jeez!) but far enough from the shopfront that he could survey it subtly.

The redheaded boy thusly initiated a staring contest with the unsuspecting desserts, fixing a scrutinizing glare on the tubs and their contents as well as on the stack of cones beside them. A pocketed thumb rubbed against the edge of an equally pocketed coin. He wasn't familiar with purchasing his own food. Not that he'd never done it, of course. Not that he didn't know how, of course. Not that he felt like he'd mess up, of course. Not that he was afraid of making a fool of himself, of course. Doubts piled on doubts and questions on questions, and finally, after a full five minutes of fidgeting in silence, Luke uttered a frustrated growl and turned abruptly, moving away from the stand.

He wasn't that hungry anyway.

Luke had seated himself on a bench opposite the one Rosie took soon after, the girl arriving with an ice cream cone that she... didn't even eat? What, was she just going to stare at it? Was she taunting him? Arceus, how spiteful could someone be! ...Ugh, he really was hungry.

The more taunting and spiteful he wanted her to appear, though, the less she seemed it. Actually, she almost seemed kind of tired, or even sad... Wait, no, what did he care? He didn't. Of course he didn't.

Come to think of it, didn't he have a Flareon that always had too much energy? Maybe Mieu could do something about her apparent mood or... No, he didn't care. He'd just let the stupid thing out of its pokeball and it could do whatever it wanted. If it chose to go say hi to some sad-looking girl with melting ice cream, then that was none of his business.

On that thought, he turned so that he was no longer facing the pink-clad stranger and casually tapped the release on the luxury ball at his belt, the resulting flash placing a teal and white Flareon at his side with an enthusiastic "faaa!"

Luke gestured the thing away with a wave of his hand and a vague command, "Go do something." The eeveelution tilted its head slightly and turned a brief circle to take in their surroundings. His trainer had explained that they would be in a new place, but wow, this really was new and different and oh, who was that over there? Taking note of Rosie, the Flareon closed the distance with a few short bounds and gazed up at her with blue eyes, a bright smile, and an energetic greeting.

He couldn't help the quiet huff of triumph when he noted the girl's reaction out of the corner of his eye. Not that he cared if she was feeling better or anything.

Mieu's fluff of a tail waved back and forth excitedly when he was addressed, dancing around briefly before nuzzling into her hand. Attention was always loved, especially in the form of pettings! He gave a small hop when she crouched, placing his small paws on Rosie's knees and lifting his nose near her own, uttering a small "fieu!" in his excitement.

One of the girl's words in particular caught Luke's attention, and he blurted a response, "He's not lost." His gaze remained steadfastly turned from Rosie. It wasn't his fault the stupid thing was so friendly. Not like he sent it over to her or anything. Jeez.

"Well... Yeah. He's mine." He instinctively turned towards the girl, though only slightly. Wait, he'd been planning on denying all connections to the stupid thing. Damn. Too late for that now. There was still time to cover himself, though. "He may act that way, but he's a real pain in the a** too." Like it or not, though, Mieu was the only familiar company he had in... wherever he was. He hadn't been paying very close attention when he boarded that ferry. Probably a bad choice retrospectively, but damned if he was going to admit that.

The Flareon turned towards his trainer with a coo of disappointment at his phrasing. Oh well. Better not to dwell on it! He returned his attention to Rosie instead with a contented sound as he was wrapped in the girl's hug.

Luke didn't pay the pair much mind. It was good that she was feeling better or whatever, but he had more important things to think about. Like food. Or where he was, or where he would stay for the night. Or food. "So do you live around here or something?" He consciously turned away as he spoke, feigning complete disinterest. Subtlety, nonchalance. He wasn't in a tight spot, he was just curious.

He gave a brief hum in consideration of her words. Being overly friendly was preferable to being belligerent and blood-thirsty, he supposed. He couldn't even imagine Mieu with such adjectives applied to him, especially not when he was cuddling with a girl dressed in pink. "I guess it's all right," he ceded. "I was hoping he'd grow out of it, but... Whatever." Maybe the Flareon would grow out of it yet.

He stretched slightly and folded his arms behind his head. Arceus, he was so hungry! "Yeah, I just got here today. Is it always so damn crowded?" There were just too many people, and none of them were helping him get food nor were they helping him find a place to stay the night. Thus, they were a monumental waste of space.

Kodo and Camphoreon... They were both completely unfamiliar words. Putting names to the strange places somehow made them so much more intimidating. He had stranded himself in a land that he was only just knowing the name of, and he was hungry. It was probably better to focus on the less terrifying of the two matters. Or maybe focus on that girl and Mieu - there wasn't anything particularly unpleasant about them, right? Sure.

"Thanks," he said offhandedly, averting his gaze once more with a slight narrowing of his eyes. For introductions, however, he turned his full attention to her, "Name's Luke," he said, a proud grin spreading on his features. "Luke fon Fabre." He failed to take into account that the chances she would recognize an obscure last name from an even more obscure nation were slim to none, erring on the latter. "Anyway, I guess if you don't have anything better to do..." He folded his arms, continuing to feign complete disinterest.

The pride in his grin diminished somewhat when she didn't respond as expected to his last name, not even after repeating it herself. Well, there was no helping ignorance.

"That's... Mieu." He was much more reluctant to share the Flareon's name than he was to do the same of his own. It was a childish name that he didn't even remember choosing, but it was all the fire-type would answer to. The eeveelution didn't notice his hesitance, though, turning to his new friend with a sound that mimicked his name.

So Rosie, huh? It seemed to suit her, with all the pink. She was nice enough, he supposed. Seemed to like pokemon, but then a lot of people did. He could appreciate her offer, though, even if he didn't understand just how useful such a tour would be. Maybe they'd even find someplace to eat...

"Well, all right. I've got nothing better to do." He leaned forward on the bench, stretched, and stood. Totally nonchalant.