Unluckily for Claude, Vic didn’t know not to engage in idle chit chat. Quite literally so. Meeting new people was one of his favourite things to do, and having just moved to a new region where he barely knew anyone, he felt particularly compelled to do so.
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Especially people who looked like they weren’t having a great time, because Vic was a nice, helpful lad.
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And see, that’s where Claude made his fatal mistake: he sat nearby and all on his own, and to be completely honest here, to Vic he looked like he was rather annoyed. Admittedly, he also looked vaguely familiar, but the Unovan didn’t bother with dwelling on things like those.
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He also didn’t dwell on if he should talk to the guy or not, offering a friendly and honest smile just as he uttered words that were so often uttered in places like those: ”Hey! Do you come here often?”
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Now, in Vic’s defense, he had said it in a 100%, totally, absolutely, non-flirty way. It was just that the guy seemed familiar with the bartender. But, of course, who wouldn’t assume someone was trying to flirt when saying something like that? Especially if the person saying it was a tall, smiling, casually dressed, and perhaps even considerably good-looking young man (if one happens to be into pink hair and all that).
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This was also something Vic didn't dwell on, obviously.
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+ claude anderson

This guy didn’t talk much, huh? A different person would have probably acknowledged that he maybe had no interest in meeting people and was better off being left alone, but by Vic logic: if that was the case, then why would he be at a bar?! He could have just as easily grabbed a drink at home all on his own! Did people really do that though? Ugh, that sounded sad, he hoped they didn’t actually do that…
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”Oh, great! I’m Vic, nice to meet you,” he introduced himself, beaming – a perfect and joyful smile of pearly whites that could have belonged in just about any toothpaste ad. And, with it, also came a rather obvious Unovan accent that coated his every word; not too heavy and slightly altered thanks to the years spent away from the region, but still filling his words with harshly pronounced syllables.
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It wasn’t like he intended on forcing the guy to talk to him, that went completely over his head. But, the thing was that for some reason, to Vic he really looked like he could use a friend.

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+ claude anderson (I will just assume Unovans sound American LOL)

So… No name.
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No worries, Vic could work with that! Some people just didn’t like talking much or sharing things about themselves, and that was alright, because everyone had some stuff they were comfortable with, right? He didn’t mind carrying the conversation if that was what this guy preferred. At least he had gotten a question, and that was great!
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Some optimistic people could really find the silver lining in everything, huh? And, in case it wasn’t completely obvious by now, Vic was high up on that list.
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”Yeah! Guess it’s probably kind of obvious with the accent and all, huh? I’ve been told as much before… I’m from Mistralton, but I’ve kind of been all over.” A bit of a generalization, but it was true nevertheless. He had travelled all over Unova, and all over a couple of other regions as well. He could have ranted about it, sure, if Vic had been prone to talking in detail about himself. But, he preferred hearing about others, although apparently he wasn’t going to get much from this stranger.
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He still could try though!
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So, he grinned at him, his lavender gaze meeting that of his nameless new friend. “What about you? Ever been to Unova?”
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Naturally, he had forgotten all about his drink by this point, the cold class remaining untouched on the counter.

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+ claude anderson

Why did Vic bother when this guy was barely giving him anything and probably had no interest in talking to him? Well, for starters, it was doubtful that he would ever realize that sometimes people just didn’t want to chat, because he himself just loved it so much. Who wouldn’t want to meet new people and make new friends?! He barely even knew what an introvert was, much less an anti-social person.
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’Why do you travel?’
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Well, that was a bit of a complicated question. Would he give the short answer or the long one?
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”Why? Hmm... I was challenging gyms and stuff back then. It was fun.” He shrugged with a faint laugh, because as little awareness as Vic may have had, he did realize that this guy probably had no interest in hearing every detail of his life – specially considering he was barely sharing anything about his own life. But, that being the case, what in the world could they talk about!?
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As he pondered on that, he had a sip from his drink for the first time since it had been placed in front of him. It wasn’t all that cold anymore, but of course, that was Vic’s own fault.


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+ claude anderson

The question took him by surprise, and for no more than a mere moment, there was a glimpse of something sad and hurt in his eyes.
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How was he supposed to answer something like that?
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With family and friends it was easy to just smile. To laugh about it and tell them that there were other things he wanted to do with his life. But here, at a bar with a stranger who hadn’t even told him his name, it was difficult to bring himself to tell those half-truths he usually only told for the benefit of those he cared about. The half-truths he told because he didn’t want to disappoint them more than what he already had. The ones he told because they had all believed in him and told him he would get far, but in the end, no matter how much faith they had had in him, it had not been good enough. He had not been good enough.
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“Hmm…” Vic looked down, slowly taking a sip from his glass as he attempted to figure out exactly what he wanted to reply. He didn’t want to lie. So, when he looked up, he met the stranger’s gaze, and faintly, he smiled one more time. “I guess those are just the kind of things you can’t do for the rest of your life.”
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He had had to move on. He had chosen to. He had given up. But… the truth was that even now he wasn’t sure if all this was what he really wanted to do with his life.
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”That’s not why I’m here, anyway.” Did he mean Hoenn, Lilycove, or the bar? Not even Vic himself could have given a proper answer to that.
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+ claude anderson

”Hah, I guess that’s a good point.” Vic couldn’t bring himself to disagree, watching the other as he talked to the bartender and told him to bring them something stronger to drink. He had never been the type to rely on that sort of thing. With how much he had always cared about playing sports and staying in shape, he had always been cautious about not drinking too much, and even if he hadn’t been, he didn’t even enjoy it much other than socially.
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The person in front of him was different, and honestly, Vic wasn’t judging him for it. Everyone had their thing. Although… he did hope the stranger would know when to stop, because it wouldn’t be good if he ended up drunk while they were drinking together, no?
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Had he just winked? Vic couldn’t help but let out a short laugh at that, raising his glass as he looked at the other man. ”Thanks… You seem like a good guy, you know?” He meant it. He really believed it, even if he had barely learned anything about this nameless stranger. Actions speak louder than words, after all.
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”What’s the occasion?”

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+ claude anderson