"what kind of people do you date anyways? or at least, the last one."

the question comes out without missing a beat after noah gives him a go ahead. it shows him that the thought has been lingering in his head since it was mentioned. he shows no signs of it besides the timing, keeping the composed look he has on the outside.

"like, are you into things like that?"

the inquiry was more of a safety concern with being around noah. this was just a date, but if they're having it, it just means noah wants to take it to the next level. being acquainted with the elite four wasn't enough for him, and it gets kyle nervous from that thought alone.

he starts to scratch his head as they head to their destination, starting to wonder if he sounds weird in noah's perspective for asking that.

kyle did not expect such a well thought answer for a simple yes or no question.

"i, uh, haven't done it so i'm withdrawing my opinion on that." it sounded respectful, and kyle was proud of himself for that. "but, uh..."

he tries to find the right words for this. the last statement has already taken most of his vocabulary for being proper, and it feels like he's making an automatic response if he keeps repeating his words. he swallows and takes a deep breath, before speaking.

"what are you talking about? is this still related to sexually assaulting each other in public?"

deciding to take his words straight to the point should help, he suppose.

embarrassed noah was the best kind of noah he has seen for a while. with his head on his chest, kyle places his hand on top of his head. his legs starts to move forward regardless, his pace much slower to make sure that noah wouldn't trip while walking backwards.

he briefly lowers his head, whispering words that only noah could hear. "okay, okay. not looking, then."

kyle proceeds to walk further towards his apartment. perhaps it was better for noah to be like this so he wouldn't know the exact location of his apartment. he could see him busting in at a moment's notice, or something crazy like that.

"so? tell me what the last person was like?"

he wasn't sure why he keeps on asking. he doesn't particularly care about noah's history, but he supposed his curiosity makes him such. perhaps it was a subconscious thought of being in the same trope as whoever noah liked before was, and he'd like a general description of it.

"different from kind and funny... so, ruthless and bland then? gotcha."

he stifles laughter as he makes a rushed assessment of himself from noah's words. while he's sure that noah doesn't think of him that way, kyle sees where he's heading with what he's saying.

they turn to a corner and into the deeper residential parts of the upper district. the noise starts to lessen. with most of slateport's population at the festival, there's little to no people left in the streets.

kyle tilts his head downward, where noah still clings onto him. "did they run away cause you're so into me?" he snickers in his attempt of humor, unable to hide the smile from thinking of himself as funny.

yeah, he was funny. noah was wrong about him being different that way!

he looks down at noah, rubbing his chin from having a headbutt injury. he raises a brow as he meets eyes with him, the curve of his lips turning to a smirk as he challenges him.

"or else what?"

his hands go to his shoulders, unlatching noah and then following it up with a quick flick on his forehead to disarm him temporary in case of surprise bites. as soon as he is free, he sprints straight away from him.

legs pace straight to the road. without the judging eyes of the neighborhood, he feels like he owns the place. he feels the wind as it blows to his hair. the kyle plushie remains safely secured on his arm as he escapes noah.

kyle makes a sudden sharp turn as soon as noah decides to jump. he twists his body, and in a split second, manages to catch the sight of noah from his peripheral. instinctively, his arms move to catch him, and in the most cliched way possible, the two of them fall to the ground.

the kyle plushie rolls to the side of the road. his head turns to it from the ground, staring at it, unable to move with noah's weight pinning him down.

"aww, you got mini kyle dirty. i guess you'll have to pay instead."

he turns back to noah, getting red all of a sudden with the distanced closed in between them. the smile turns awkward as he shifts his attention away. "o-oh, right. we're here." his head swivels to the direction opposite the kyle plushie, where an apartment complex lay. it wasn't anything extravagant, something befitting a lower to middle class citizen of hoenn.