Where The Rich Folk Live [Julian + one other]

“Ahh, back at the place of rich people. I really need to stop coming here, it’s not like I can afford anything. “ Today was a pretty hot day at Penecia Island, but Hyde did ask one of his new friends to come hang out with him. It was Julian from school, but he wasn’t sure if Julian was going to show up.” Hmmm…” Hyde was eating a banana as he threw quarters inside of a wishing well. He didn’t really bother with making a wish, due to the fact that he had nothing grand to wish for as of yet. “Hmm…”

    Julian let out a light yawn as he walked down the street, glancing around for that guy Hyde. The redhead had invited him to Penecia to hang out, and, since he didn't really have much else to do, he agreed. Besides, Julian was meeting his dad after work, which was conveniently also in Penecia. He really couldn't have asked for a better set-up. Maybe Lady Luck was taking pity on him for everything he'd been through lately, and this was her way of trying to cheer him up.  

    Oh, there he was. The teen saw Hyde standing next to a water fountain, throwing coins in one after another. Was he bored, or trying to make wishes? Julian really hoped it was the latter, because otherwise he was throwing away a lot of money on nothing. Which was kind of sad. "Hey. Sorry, you been waitin' long?" The dark haired teen approached Hyde, a grin lighting up his face. He stopped at the underclassman's side and peered into the fountain for a moment before looking back at Hyde's face. "So is this what you had in mind for us to do?" From his lopsided smile and lilting tone, it was easy to tell Julian was only teasing.

Kibin wandered the streets looking around with a somewhat interested look crossing his face. His headphones were pulled over his ears and his music was just barely audible to those he passed. It was a nice place alright but Kibin quickly found out it was also a bit pricey. Not exorbitantly so and defiantly not outside of the range of his generous pay but still the boy was reluctant to spend too much here.

Kibin's wandering eventually took him to a fountain where he spotted what he thought was a familiar day. He scratched his chin and shrugged at his self and wandered toward the boy he was sure he knew and the new stranger. "Hello sorry to bug ya but Im pretty sure Ive seen ya some place." He said frankly announcing his presence.

Hyde looked up from his bored period of quarter tossing and smiled. “Well, I honestly thought that it’ll increase your chances of making your wish come true if you gave the fountains more quarters. It’s kind of funny though, I wonder where all the quarters go at the end of the day? Are they collected and put in someone pocket or something? What happens to all of the wishes of the people that come here?” Hyde stands up from his kneeling position and dusts himself off. “That’s a little unfair to the masses, don’t you think?”

Hyde would then fold his arms with a cheerful smile. “Actually, a good walk around the
island sounds pretty good. The arcades along the way as well, if you’re into video games. Comics too, there’s plenty to do. Though, sometimes I like to come around here for the fresh air. You know how the pollution is in other cities? Deep breathing never felt so satisfying before Julian, it’s great to be in Azores. But watchu been up to lately?”

Before Hyde could continue to engage Julian in a conversation, he was stopped by a familiar individual he met before. “Ahh! I recognize that accent! Though, you never told me your name. Once again, I’m Hyde. This is my friend Julian; we were going to hit all the fun spots on Penecia island that weren’t wallet breaking. Want to tag along?”

    ...Hyde was walking a fine line between being logical and being childish. A long time agoo, Julian remembered asking his parents what happened to the coins people threw into fountains. He was pretty curious himself when he was younger. But the wishes...did he really think that tossing a coin made a wih come true? It was a bit naive, but Julian wouldn't say anything against the idea; if the redhead wanted to believe in that stuff, that was his choice. "I don't think taking up the coins affects wishes. I mean, people make wishes on stars and birthday candles, but the star moving away or taking the candles off the cake doesn't affect it, right? Same thing goes for wishes on coins, I'd wager." Smiling reassuringly, Julian glanced into the fountain again and whistled at the number of coins Hyde had already thrown in. "You know, I heard that if you throw in a penny, you get one wish. A nickel is five. So a quarter is 25 wishes. Geez, how much stuff were you hoping for?" The teen chuckled lightly. He better not say "money", or else the whole situation would be too ironic.

    "So walking and arcades? Sounds good." Julian nodded, smiling easily. "I haven't really done anything interesting lately. Still trying to adjust to the school year, y'know?" That was all he dared to say on the subject. He couldn't exactly tell Hyde that he'd been kidnapped or sent to an alternate dimension. Because that conversation would go over like a lead balloon.

    Hm? Turning at the sound of someone walking up to them, the teen saw another guy. Wow, he was wearing headphones too. Was that a popular trend in Azores? There seemed to be lots of people with them nowadays....huh. He stayed silent for their little exchange, only offering the new arrival a bright grin as Hyde mentioned his name. He wasn't against having someone new tag along; this outing might even be a more interesting being with a bigger group.

OOC: Ok hes being skipped now, its just us again.

Hyde continued on leading the way as he continued to listen to Julian’s answer when he asked how life was treating him. “Hmm, well that’s a lot of adjusting. Though I could of sworn that you was a senior or something? Shouldn’t you of gotten used to the whole school routine by now?” That was just an assumption by Hyde, but it could be true that Julian moved here. “ Well, this hot weather is practically kicking my butt. Oh look, an ice cream stall. “ Hyde then points out to the open ice cream stall with small tables all around it, it looked like it was pretty popular. “They are selling floats! You know those soda with ice cream things they used to do in the 80’s, or was it the 70’s. Anyway, wana give it a try? It’s a good way to beat the heat while we’re on our way to the arcade. “

    Seems like this guy didn't want to join them. Oh well. Julian waved slightly before following Hyde down the street, listening to him talk. He chuckled lightly at the irony of that statement. "Dunno what schools you've been to, but usually it's because someone's a senior that it's hard to get used to the school year. Y'know, you're the oldest students, you have college to think about, jobs to get, things like that." If he was worried at all of the thought of being a full-fledged adult or a college student, Julian didn't sound like it. His tone was light and a light smile stayed on his face. Maybe it was kind of daunting to have to think of it all, but the best plan was to take it all in stride and deal with everything one at a time. If he got stressed out this early on, no telling how the rest of the school year would go.

    Julian tilted his head and grinned at Hyde, mildly amused at his behavior. He was like a kid, jumping from one thought to the next and being easily distracted. The dark-haired teen wasn't really jazzed on the idea of eating ice cream--just thinking of the tons of saturated fat in it made his skin crawl--but he didn't object. "Sure. Why not?" He didn't really want to start this day off wrong. Besides, maybe the sugar would kick-start his brain. If not, then at least he was getting consolation food for the weird week he'd had. Walking over to the stall and glancing at the different kinds of ice cream they had, Julian tilted his head and pursed his lips. There certainly enough choices. "What are you getting?"  

“Oh, college? I see, well maybe I was blowing everything out of proportion, I didn’t ask what you wanted to do with your life yet. So what is it? What’s the plan Julian? Is it anything medical, like becoming a doctor someday? “ Hyde was showing genuine interest in Julian’s life and it always helped to hear about the dreams of others. That was because Hyde himself  didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do with his life yet. He had two more years to decide at least, but it didn’t hurt to think about it.  When Hyde walked over to the ice cream cart, he ordered a Strawberry Ice Cream Soda. “I’ll be ordering this , looks pretty tasty huh? I’ll find us a table to sit at.” It wasn’t really packed, just a few people enjoying the weather and a fun treat, Hyde found a table with two chairs and waited over there for Julian.

Picture of my treat

Spoiler:

    Hadn't someone asked him that a while ago? Funny how the world runs. "Dunno yet. I'm thinking about working in Vegas. Or maybe I'll get into engineering or the medical field, like my family has. Dunno yet, really. There's so many options and I don't want to rush and make the wrong one, y'know?" Julian shrugged lightly. Why rush everything? That would just make for a seriously unhappy life. Why not just have fun while you can and enjoy life? Maybe then there wouldn't be so many grouchy people walking around.  

    "Ahaha, yeah, looks pretty good." Julian nodded, smiling at the redhead's choice of sweet. It kind of suited him, in a really weird way. But something that big would have way too much sugar in it for Julian's taste; maybe something half that size would be better. "Excuse me, could I get a vanilla frozen yogurt? In a cup." He handed the money over to the person as the register as their coworker quickly scooped up his order and handed it to the teen. "Thanks!" Julian dropped the change the cashier gave him into the tip jar at the counter before walking over to the table Hyde had claimed. The chair rattled against the ground as he pulled it away from the table and took a seat, spooning a bit of ice cream into his mouth. Huh...not bad. Not bad at all. "This was a pretty good idea." Julian grinned as he popped another glob of yogurt into his mouth. It really did take the edge off the heat.

    "So what've you been up to lately?"

“Me? Just some quality time with a few friends, I’m supposed to be starting work soon actually. I’m working as a waiter at a really nice sushi restaurant; you should totally check it out sometime. Trust me, I wouldn’t recommend anything that was bad. That would be dishonest of me.” Hyde would say briefly as he took a sip from his ice cream soda, he reached over for his small plastic spoon and took a piece of the ice cream that remained on top. “Mmm, this is really good.” This was Hyde’s first time experiencing these kinds of sweets; he only imagined having a taste of all these different things. “But you are right about one thing, there are too many options in the world to narrow it down to one. We can be whoever we want, or whatever we want. It’s one of the perks of being young, having the ability to make our own future.” With that being said, Hyde continued to munch on his treat. “ How’s your frozen yogurt tasting? There was a Pinkberry at the Ueitawa region, but I never had a chance to go there. Then again, you didn’t have to get it so plain; the fun part is where you get to put all kinds of toppings that you want. I guess that’s the only think that the little ice cream cart is missing. “Hyde would say briefly as he went back to sipping the soda and looking around the place. “ There sure is a lot of posh people living around here.

    "Maybe I'll check it out sometime. Where's it at?" He'd never been big on aisan food, but maybe he'd drop by sometime if he was in the mood for something different.

    Julian listened as Hyde brought up a point he'd made earlier about future options and such. He wasn't sure exactly how that fit into the current conversation, but he was slowly strting to understand that Hyde's brain worked a little differently than most people's. What an odd character. At least he was interesting. "It's good." he said simply, smiling at the redhead as he his head curiously. "Ueitawa? Where's that?" The teen had heard lots of odd names before, but never that. It sounded foreign; was it in Asia or Africa or something? Hyde said "region", so it couldn't be a country. Maybe a providence or something? ...Eh. He never claimed he was a geography expert, so his guess was as good as any.

    "This island is mainly for tourist stuff, right? It'd make sense if it was a little more tricked out than San Malarus or the other islands, y'know?" Was this place really "posh"? To him, everyone looked pretty normal. Just people out enjoying themselves. But he wouldn't argue against Hyde; the guy was entitled to his own opinions, same as everyone else.

“To be completely honest, it’s somewhere on this island. This place attracts the most business, so think it’s some kind of strategy to have a lot of shops here. However, the business would have to be pretty good, because the rent is amazingly expensive. People like the ice cream truck driver can just pack up his tables and fold up chairs in his truck and drive along, it’s definitely some smart thinking. “Hyde would say this as he finishes his ice cream, only leaving the soda left for his enjoyment. “Ueitawa was a weird place, I wasn’t there long. I kind of ran very far away from the place once the strange events started happening. I won’t explain much of it because you might think I’m crazy, but I saw monsters. It was horrible; it was like nightmare believe me. There was a lot of areas guaranteed and red stuff…” Hyde simply shook his head and drank some of the soda. “Never mind, that place was just strange. As for the tourists, i get your point on that. “ After finishing his soda, Hyde made a brief stretch as he pushes the table in. “Ready to go to the arcade?”

    ...Monsters? Seriously? Hyde had to have been exaggerating. Monsters didn't exist...well, he'd been saying that not too long ago about gods, and he'd ended up being proven wrong. Maybe the redhead wasn't making this up. Or at least some of it. But for now, Julian would place all that he heard into the "skeptical" pile. "Sounds like a pretty freaky place, man. I'm suddenly really glad we live here." with that said, Julian popped the last spoonful of frozen yogurt into his mouth. Wow, Hyde sure finished fast; the gy had almost three times as much ice cream and soda as him, and they still managed to finish at about the same time. Hyde must be a fast eater. ...He'd have to remember later to warn Hdye about that and the havoc it could play with his digestion.

    "One sec." Crumpling the small cup and spoon into something that looked reminiscent of a funny looking oval, Julian threw it overhanded into the nearest trashcan. As it bounced inside with a satisfying thunk, Julian turned back to his schoolmate and smiled. "Now I am. C'mon, let's get going." He'd wait for Hyde to get rid of his glass before walking down the street and shoving his hands into his pockets. "You come here a lot?" he was referring to Penecia, of course. If Hyde knew the area, then it was alright to follow him. If not, Julian figured he'd have to take the reins; this island was basically his weekend/after-school/free-time spot, so he knew the layout pretty well by now.

Hyde took the glass and walked over to the owner of the ice cream cart. “It was pretty delicious, thanks for the treat.” Hyde would say this with a smile as he continued to walk side by side with Julian. “To be honest, I am here a lot more than usual. I wonder why, since this isn’t even my favorite island. I like Lunapa a lot more. However, that’s just a personal opinion; there aren’t much nature lovers, though there was a point in my life where I had to live off the agriculture of the wild. But that’s off topic…” Hyde would say this as continues to lead the way. “Besides the fact that I work here now, the arcade is one of the places that the other teens like to hang out. If you are a big fan of workouts, there Is this cool game that I want you to try. “ Hyde would say this as he continues to lead for five minutes. “And here we are, the arcade is on the left. Let’s go inside, I’m sure they have that game in there somewhere.

    The more Hyde talked, the more Julian realized this kid was kinda weird. Who needed to learn to live out in the wild? Unless he was one of those guys who liked to tough it out in the wild and, frankly, he didn't seem like it. Judging from the way he changed the topic super fast though, Julian figured that the redhead din't really want to talk about it. Might as well drop the subject for now, then.

    // Like to workout...? // Was this game that Hyde wanted him to try one of those arm wrestling machines? ...Wait...Hyde couldn't possibly be talking about one of those Dance Dance games, could he? Not that he didn't like them or anything, but they weren't exactly what the teen would call a workout. Ah well. "What game is it?" Julian questioned as they stopped at a building and pushed the door open. Immediately children's squeals of frustration washed over him, accompanied by dings, beeps, buzzes, and the occasional note of an obscure rock song. Arcades were definitely loud. But Julian couldn't help the shimmer of excitement present in his eyes; now this was a place he could get into. What was better than a place full of games?