Something about babies and candies

Qiān was a great Pokémon, there was no denying that. Míngzé wouldn’t know what to do without him. Throughout the day he helped him numerous times. But he had a mind of his own and was sometimes just as stubborn as his owner. When he’d asked the pokémon to bring him to a stall where they sold sweets, he refused. First they ended up at a stall where they sold toys, then one with only drinks and now he could already smell the fries.

“Just what do you want?” he asked the Inteleon with a hint of desperation. He kept tugging at his sleeve, no matter how many times he tried to pull back. “I asked for a waffle, not fries.” It made his nose wrinkle just speaking about it. But Qiān grabbed his hand, pulling him towards somewhere, not even giving Míngzé time to struggle.

All Míngzé knew was that they were still at the same place, the overwhelming scent of fries not leaving his nose. Qiān had brought him towards a table where some girl sat with her pokémon and fries for the both of them. He looked at the girl, trying to get her attention by waving before pointing to himself, then the fries on the table, next to Míngzé and at last to the stall. It was simple. He wanted fries too. “Acreus, Qiān, stop bothering people.” At times his pokémon was too social and shameless.

It would not take long for his stomach to start grumbling. After walking around for a few hours he got hungry and now he desperately wanted food, but he was not alone. Qiān was also hungry but had an appetite for something else. Míngzé couldn’t remember when his pokémon had become rather unruly all of the sudden, but sometimes Qiān forgot why he was here.

Míngzé really hoped the stranger wouldn’t mind Qiān’s behavior. Maybe a ‘it is fine’. But no. He grabbed the Inteleon by his arm and tried to pull him away from the other table. “I think he has forgotten what respect means,” Míngzé sighed. Again he tried to pull the pokémon with him but it was no use. Qiān pulled his arm free, leaving Míngzé momentarily speechless.

This behavior was definitely not normal for a pokémon that was well trained. “If you think this is how you’re getting fries, you’re wrong.” Míngzé crossed his arms and gave his pokémon a stern look, but Qiān only waved at him dismissively. He stood next to the young woman’s table and made no effort to move away. Mingze turned towards the other. “I’m truly sorry, I don’t know why he behaves like this,” he admits with a hint of desperation.

Míngzé was slowly getting worried by his Pokémon's behavior. Ever since he got him, Qiān was well behaved and did exactly what he was supposed to do. This only started recently and out of nowhere. It was driving him mad, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He shot the girl an annoyed look when she started laughing, but sighed deeply. To an outsider this must be hilarious.

“I don’t think fries are very good for him,” Míngzé muttered. It was clear that he had lost this fight. There was not much he could do against the pokémon. He was also hungry, he also really wanted some food, but was he getting it? No, not at all. “You’d almost think I’m here helping him.” For a moment Míngzé thought about it. Surely Qiān was not tired of his job. That would really complicate things.

The young woman offered to buy fries for Qiān in exchange for beer. If he denied it, he would not be going home soon. “Fine.” The inteleon made a happy noise, glad he won this battle. “Help me sit down first,” Míngzé said to him and now the pokémon was happy to help. He led him to the bench the other was sitting at and he swiftly sat down. Out of his pocket he grabbed some money and placed it on the table. “I’ll need the change back.” For this amount of money, she could buy herself at least four beers.

No matter what he said, his pokémon was getting fries. They were ‘healthy’.  He highly doubted it was good for pokémon, but it would harm no one from eating them once. The girl left together with Qiān and Míngzé was left behind. He cupped his cheek as he went to lean on the table and took this chance to look around. There was too much going on for him to really make sense out of everything. It was tragic that his pokémon was about to have food, while he was the one who was hungry.

Míngzé looked up when the girl finally returned and a beer was pushed in his hands. This was unexpected. Most people would be delighted by this surprise, but Míngzé looked more lost than anything else. Their bottles touched each other and he still sat there unmoving. Slowly he brought it to his nose and sadly enough confirmed that it was indeed beer. “I don’t like beer,” he eventually said as he placed it down on the table and pushed it over to her. “Looks like you now have double the amount of fun.” It was rude of him not to accept something that was free, but it was her own fault for not asking. In exchange for the beer, he grabbed his money back and put it away without checking if it was the right amount.

Qiān had joined them at their table, happily munching from his fries. “Did they sell more than fried food?” Míngzé decided to ask. WHile frying everything was popular, it was one of the few things he did not like.

Mingze huffed when she boo'd him for not drinking the beer she ordered. "Maybe if you'd asked me before ordering beer—" he started but did not finish his sentence, he did not have to. If she'd asked hi, he would've told her he wanted something else. Instead he shook his head. "I don't drink," Mingze explained. Not that he would drink beer even if he did drink other things. It is disgusting.

Qian was sitting next to him and he just knew the pokémon was enjoying himself. Hopefully he did not discover a new taste. Mingze was not planning on buying him fries daily. The pokémon had his back slightly turned towards the houndour, protecting his precious meal.

"French sounding pancakes?" Those he'd never heard of, but it was better than whetever they had. "Don't like the taste, that's all. People go craze for them, but there is something about them that I really can't stand." And he wasn't even a picky eater. But the smell of food made his stomache grumble. In an attempt to quiet down the sounds, he placed a hand on his abdomen, but it was futile. Her comment about Qian made him roll his eyes. "You are right, a bad taste is still a taste." A very bad one in this case.

The pancakes — or more like the french kind of pancakes — didn’t sound too bad. He hummed softly as he thought it through. Nothing could go wrong with something sweet. He should also get something to drink, because he was not touching that beer.

One corner of his mouth pulled into a smile when she could laugh at his comment. Good, she did not take it personally. “Have I ever stated otherwise?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. Míngzé would never deny it.

Míngzé wrinkled his nose when he could reek the disgusting smell of one of her fries. Using the back of his hand, he pushed hers away. “That’s a difficult question,” Míngzé said as if he was already deep in thought. “I’m afraid starving is the lesser of two evils.” Now he was simply being dramatic for the sake of it. If he really had to, he would eat that, but there were so many options to choose from here.

When he looked over his shoulder, all he could see were various colors of blobs all moving around each other. There were simply too many people for him to be able to navigate. “Qiān, can you stop eating for a second and help?” he asked the pokémon, but he only made a sound which meant ‘no’. Mingze blinked a few times as he gaped at his pokémon. Meanwhile, the large reptile offered one of his fries to the Houndour.

“Pokémon, they are worse than children,” he sighed as he let his shoulders hang. It’s fine, he would wait until his pokémon was done. If he’d brought his cane, there would be no problem, but he simply refused.

For a moment he was taken aback. That was not something he heard every day. “The posh type? You should see my apartment, nothing posh about it.” But that did not matter, he was happy to have a place to live in that he could call his own. Even though it was a shithole apartment.

Míngzé pretended to really weigh out his options. A humm rolled over his lips and he slightly narrowed his eyes. “No, starvation still sounds better,” he decided jokingly. No, if he was very hungry and there was no other option at hand, he would have no problem eating some fries. He was not that spoiled. But right now there was another option and it was just out of reach. Mostly because Qiān was being a little bitch lately. And this girl also noticed.

A frustrated sigh escaped. “Correct, they trained him to help people.” Years ago his family had bought him once he could no longer go outside without his stupid cane. He was perfectly well behaved then and Míngzé had no idea what had gone wrong. “It might be, at least that would explain things.” Míngzé looked at Qiān who continued eating from his fries, unbothered by the fact that they were talking about him. Every now and then he tossed another one to the Houndour.

"Honestly? I have no idea, he started acting this way recently,” Míngzé sighed. It was rather frustrating, especially since the pokémon seemed to listen to everyone but him. “Maybe he got tired of me, who knows.” For now he was not worried. He could always go back and ask the people who trained him for advise, but for now he didn’t think that was necessary.

Míngzé couldn’t help himself from rolling his eyes when she declared to side with Qiān. All because he liked fries too. “Obviously the wrong side, but you made your choice.” The Inteleon made a happy sound and even gave one of his last fries away to the girl. It was ridiculous how easy the creature made friends with everyone.

“Me? A butler?” Míngzé repeated as he looked at Qiān who acted as if they weren’t talking about him. He couldn’t help but shake his head. “Then he has horrible taste in butlers too.” A butler who had trouble pouring a drink was not one that was very desirable. Just like fries were also not very desirable.

But then the other offered to help him. With a raised eyebrow Míngzé looked at her questionably. “It’s fine, you don’t have to,” he told her, but too late as she was already standing on her feet again. Looks like he has no other option. With a soft sigh he stands up from his seat too. “It all depends on you being a good butler.” If she was, then maybe she could have one very small bite. A little one.

His newly found butler introduced herself as Mindo. “Míngzé,” he said in response as he held out his hand. “It’s best if I hold your elbow.” That way he had more stability and it was easier to follow her.  

It was only fair after he paid for her two beers. Míngzé hummed in agreement. That was true. Giving it a second thought he decided he deserved this. Still, he’d hoped his own damn pokémon would do his job, but that seemed impossible. The stupid thing. Apparently she did not like his reaction. “Too late, I already accepted your offer.” As if that meant anything. She did not have to and if she decided she did not want to, that was fine by him. But she went through with it.

“A match made in heaven,” he said dryly after she commented on their almost matching names. Míngzé was completely unaware of Mindo’s inner conflicts that followed. All he did was calmly wait until he could gently place his hand against her arm. It was a light touch, but enough for him to be of help. In this position however, it was impossible to keep his distance from her. Luckily for him, it was something he’d made peace with years ago. As she started moving, he followed suit.

Her sudden question made him look to the side with a cocked eyebrow.  “Yeah, more towards the city. It’s a big building, but the prices were cheap and the inside is not too bad.” Míngzé wanted to live alone, take care of himself, but he had to start small and that is why this place was perfect. “And so far the neighbors are quiet.” Especially at night. He really preferred not to listen to their nightly activities.

As they walked he was extra careful, not trusting her as much as he would Qiān. He could not expect her to be as thorough as his pokémon. “How much was it?” Míngzé asked while taking the change she’d given back earlier.

Míngzé was right not to fully trust her. There was a sudden rougher pull that surprised him, but she continued talking like nothing happened. He quickly looked to the side, vaguely seeing someoneés figure walk by. So they almost crashed into someone. So far not the best ‘butler’ he’s had. “It is close to Silverton Square and it is definitely not a new building. I’m pretty sure some of the local youth likes to smoke whatever it is they have near the dumpsters in the back.” It always had a very interesting smell over there and if he left his window open at night he could sometimes hear them. Luckily it was further away from his apartment and did not bother him at night. “You know it?” Míngzé asked while he looked at her. The place had a certain reputation, which is why people told him not to move into that apartment. Yet he did anyway and was still alive. So all good.

Without giving him the chance to object, Mindo decided she would get it and grabbed his money. Míngzé knitted his eyebrows and was planning on saying something about it but ended up swallowing his words. No matter what, he was still capable of doing a lot himself, but he figured she just wanted to be helpful. “One of those french pancakes you talked about.” It would be enough to ease his hunger and once he was back home he could make something better.

He remembered what she’d said earlier. “Make that two,” he said with a shrug. If she wanted to take a bite, he might as well buy two. “Do you have enough?” If she didn’t he always had some more. While he would not enjoy any of the attractions, he still came prepared.