chasing the sun // [vertigo]

[king]

addi stepped out of the library, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. rondo's tail was almost a blur, making excited barking noises. she smiled, glancing over to J. "sooo... lead the way?" she wasn't exactly sure where the male wanted to go. instead, addi bent down to occupy rondo, who was now excited and awake beyond belief. 

vertigo continuation of iris?

[vertigo]

proserpina city was bustling with life, presumably because of the new wave of trainers and people of other jobs alike swarming the region. for once, J felt choked; too many people around, and he wasn't fond of them at all. he waded through the crowds, rather unhappy, but kept his feelings and thoughts to himself. he didn't notice addi bending down to tend to rondo, and plodded on sullenly, hands in his pockets, stomach rumbling, mind thinking of going somewhere where there was something decent to eat.

(yea)

[king]

There wasn't much to do besides follow behind J. Addi made sure that rondo followed diligently, knowing already that the houndour may just run off in search of something that smelled like meat. There was a street vendor that smelled particularly nice, and addi gently nudged J in that direction. "How does that smell?"

[vertigo]

J turned according ot the direction of the nod. despite having been up and about for a good while now, the crowd had not serve to improve the trainer's mood. for all addi could see, he was still borderline murderous. "it smells okay," said J eloquently. he watched as the vendor served a few customers and whipped up more food, and considered buying some.

"okay," the trainer said again, and glanced at addi. she was the one interested, wasn't she?

[king]

... well, it was like walking around with a slightly functional box. she stepped up to the vendor and flashed a charming smile, linking arms with J as she glanced at the menu board. "i'll take a deluxe box please." the vendor took her money and ushered her to the side, another beginning to cook. at last, she was handed a box.

addi opened it, pleased with the two large rice balls wrapped in plastic, accompanied by several sausages, along with a section of stir fried cabbage. impressive for a street vendor, but worth the price. "let's find somewhere to eat." she grabbed two packs of chopsticks, leading J to a table down the sidewalk.

[vertigo]

J allowed himself to be led by addi to a table by the sidewalk, and planted himself in a chair. he stared at the box of food; he'd seen the vendor around but never bought anything from them. strange how addi seemed to know them well, and as he took a pair of chopsticks from her, he wondered if addi had been eating these all along.

he took some cabbage and ate it.

"okay."

[king]

the cabbage, really?she tried a little bit of the cabbage, nodding to herself at the flavour. it was pretty good, but there was something else she wanted. addi unwrapped a large rice ball and used her chopsticks to split it in half. her eyes nearly lit up at the inside, taking a large bite from one half. the other half, of course, she offered to J.

rondo jumped up onto the table and grabbed a sausage, gulping it down whole.

[vertigo]

J watched the rice ball get split in half and took the share he was offered. normally, he would have reacted to rondo's actions rather violently, but he did nothing and instead ate the rice ball. he took a second bite after much thought, and glanced at addi.

"is this rice? :l"

[king]

is this-- what. addi raised an eyebrow, finishing what was in her mouth before swallowing. "well, yes. there's stuff inside though, like egg and meat and some dough stuff." addi took another bite, showing the inside to J as if in explanation.

maybe he was what those psychologist called the opposite of supertasters. "try a sausage?" she picked one up with her own chopsticks and popped it into her mouth. "mmmmmmm."

[vertigo]

J refused to touch the sausages, and instead chose to finish off the rest of the rice balls. it wasn't because they were particularly suited to his palate or because he was hungry. it was because he didn't favor eating something rondo had simply invited itself to eat.

[king]

addi finished eating, setting down her chopsticks. rondo settled down again, content with the food. "full?" she asked, wondering if conversation would be limited to mostly one syllable words on J's part.

then again, she did get a sentence out of him before. it was an accomplishment if nothign else.

[vertigo]

J could use some more food, but he nodded. it took significantly less effort to agree than to disagree, just like how smiling used less muscles than frowning. "okay," he said, rising from his seat, "we could get more. something else." he didn't know what else was on sale in the crowded marketplace, but considering the crowds, there wouldn't be less than five or six stalls about the place.

[king]

"okay." addi chatot'd J's usual response, standing up and discarding the finished lunch into a trash can. rondo perkily settled beside addi's ankle, ready to follow wherever they go! "lead the way." rather than finding food that she enjoyed, hoping that J would reciprocate, this would be easier. and a time saver. and a money saver. ah, reality, thou art a heartless bitch. addi was curious though where they would go, some say a person's food taste says a lot about them.

not exactly sure what it says about them, but welp.

[vertigo]

J wandered the marketplace, stopping at some stalls long enough to perhaps deceive addi into thinking he wanted to buy something, before moving on. the trainer seemed to never settle on something to eat, and when he came to the end of the road, he stopped and sighed.

"sorry," he grunted, for seemingly no particular reason at all. "i think the library had better food."

[king]

RAISE EYEBROW. ohhhh addi was lucky she had patience. "want to go back and grab something to eat there, then?" she questioned, mentally filing away the fact that J apparently only ate the most elusive of foods. she wasn't even sure the library sold food.

"wait, doesn't the library only sell hot chocolate? that's not very healthy to just live off that. not much nutrients in there." well, addi assumed anyway.