[ti]private[/ti]done a concern [s][c]

What Alkaid would see would not be a younger man walking into the restaurant; he would see a young boy, and a short one at that. That he comfortably fit on the back of a Liepard showed just how short he was. "Hey, Alkaid !" the blonde greeted him in a higher-pitched voice than the redhead was perhaps used to. He took a seat at the table, finding its height uncomfortable for him.

For as many benefits as there were to being small, there were just as many drawbacks.

When the waitress came back with his friend's drink, Josh ordered his, too. "Can I get a medium vanilla milkshake, as well?" he asked. "And would it be possible for you to bring a bar stool here? This chair's a hit too short for me."

The voice may have been familiar, but it was at a higher pitch than Alkaid was perhaps used to. As the redhead loudly cursed, one of the waiters approached him and quietly addressed the outburst. "Excuse me, sir, but we do ask that you lower your voice. We do have children present." It took everything Josh had to avoid laughing; being a child meant that adults had to mind their manners around him. It also meant that he probably shouldn't curse, either; it would be strange hearing expletives come out of a child's mouth.

"I went to the Identity Parlor in Briarbane," Josh explained. "It's the only place in UNOVR I've seen where you can change your avatar. With me being a Pokémon rider, I felt it would be a good idea to make myself as small as possible. I set the height slider all the way to the left... and I mean all the way." Even for a child, he was tiny; at just barely under four feet tall, he would have approached world records for shortest human being of his age. "So no, Midas had nothing to do with this. I did this on my own terms."

The child shook his head and closed his eyes. "Nope. Only at character creation. And if I want to change it again, I'll have to show them an even bigger wallet." He wasn't planning on changing his avatar like that again, but if he did, it would come with a 4,000 BYTE grind. With that kind of money, he might as well just rush to endgame.

"There's a lot of benefits to being small, too!" the blonde chimed back. "You ever seen anyone ride a Liepard before? They're fast!" Luna was one slippery cat to handle, but when they were in sync, there was little they couldn't escape from. "There's also crawling around in spaces I couldn't fit in when I was bigger. I already ran into one in a dungeon in Birchwood. Might go back there and explore the rest of it now that I'm small!"

As Alkaid 's meal arrived, Josh had realized he had completely forgotten to order food. "I'm sorry, but can I also put in an order? Let's go... two scrambled eggs and a waffle." With the bar stool brought to his table, Josh climbed up it and sat on it. Now he could see the redhead clearly. "Thanks!"

After the waiter left, the topic turned to something more somber and serious. "I have. She's gone through... really hard times of late. And not just once. Do you remember that trick her Bayleef pulled in the big race?"

It was not long before Josh's milkshake arrived, and it was a cold one. The taste made Josh smile, reminding him of the shakes he got every time he want to Beef-a-Roo, a local fast food chain in the area. They weren't cheap, but they were high quality. Plus, he loved keeping money local, not supporting some billionaire shill's international business.

"Just treat me as you always have," Josh tried to express his maturity to the redhead despite his apparent age. "I may have the body of a child, but I possess the mind of an adult. You know how many old folk wish they could be kids again with what they knew now?"

The blonde sighed, taking another big drink out of his shake before recounting his story. "Ever since she and her Bayleef returned from the Everworld, she's got the spirit of a Miraidon in her. She can drift like one. It makes me jealous how fast they can go. But it's not worth the trauma. That might be why she... went berserk at Midas Corp."

Such violent behavior was unlike Alicia. Josh had known her as a sweet, if a bit timid, individual. Had MIDAS CORP really changed her that much? "Come to think of it... ever since then, I've noticed she'd been a lot more... brave than she used to. Willing to throw herself into danger more."

Was the ledger he had acquired from MIDAS CORP part of that tome? Josh had known that there was a sinister power emerging from it. He would have gotten rid of it if he could, but he seemingly could not remove it from his inventory; the "drop" command in his item submenu had been greyed out with every attempt. Was what Alkaid knew about that tome inside his, as well?

"What was in it?" the curious child asked, turning quiet as he saw his main course was on the way.

As Josh feast eyes on his food, he spread the thinnest film of ketchup upon his eggs and a layer of strawberry jam upon his waffle. "If it's that bad, it might be best to hold off until I'm done," the blonde answered. He wanted to enjoy his food, not hurl it back up his throat in public.

"In the meantime, what else happened in the immediate aftermath?" he asked the redhead. "I really didn't want to stick around." Who would want to? Ultra Beasts were no joke; with the care he raised Izoni with, he wondered if he would be able to communicate with her like the rest of his Pokémon... and also the day he would be able to fly with the sticky poison-type. He would only have one shot at affixing a saddle to such a creature -- better make it count!

"Do you blame me, though? I do have a sense of self-preservation. Sometimes it might not seem that way, especially if [tangent=320 km/h for the ill-familiar with Imperial]two hundred miles an hour[/tangent] is involved," he couldn't help but shoot the other a grin.

Josh accelerated the pace at which he ate his food while he was listening to Alkaid 's story, since it would clearly leave a sour taste in his mouth from his friend's description. "I'm just trying to carry on a conversation is all," he jabbed back as he downed a piece of egg. That ketchup, spread thin as butter, was the perfect addition.

"And do you blame me?" Josh retorted, remembering the horrors within the dilapidated skyscraper. "Both my Pokémon are gone. I didn't want to log in and find myself in some... Invasive Species jail for weeks on end. I bought the game to... you know, play the game." He wondered how his two horse Pokémon were doing.

Once Josh was done with most of his eggs, he gave the approval for the hot-headed Kindler to continue. "Alright, go ahead," he gestured with his right hand before picking up his fork and attempting to finish his waffle before the account got too gruesome...