Well, Pride was about as exhausting as he'd anticipated it'd be. More fun than he'd expected, but exhausting all the same. Not that he fancied himself an introvert or anything, but there was only so much 'party' one could take in at once. So, not long after they'd gotten back to Cassiopeia and returned to a sense of normalcy, Kaleo had made an excuse to sneak off down a side road within Route 1 with the intent of avoiding human beings for the rest of the day. He probably wasn't getting any points for good behavior constantly ditching his cameraman like this, but Varland had his number. In case anything particularly urgent came up, he'd try to make sure he remained in the area, at least. 

Besides, there was still a matter concerning him that needed to be addressed privately before anything happened on set again. Shoving his hands into his pockets as he stood before the expanse of the lake stretching across the area before them, he paused in his steps for a moment to glance at the fighting type trekking along beside him. Perhaps puzzled as to why they'd stopped, Hibi glanced up at him for a moment, but quickly averted his gaze the moment he'd found himself the subject of his trainer's focus. Kaleo frowned, glancing ahead to look at the lake again.

When he'd been thinking about the events of Pride on the ride back, he HAD sort of made a rush decision based on his own interests... in spite of the fact that he'd asked Hibi to suggest what might have been better to pick instead. He didn't kick up a fuss or anything after, but the Meditite had been acting... noticeably more strangely since the event. Considering he'd headed off in the first place mostly for his sake, that was... sort of a dick move. Though how in the hell did you address THAT?

"...All right, fess up. You were mad 'bout gettin' the rock, weren't you dude?"

Probably not that way. The question gave the Meditite a bit of pause, but he shook his head.

{...No.}

"Then why you so quiet? Usually you'd be bustin' on me for bein' a dumbass by now." 

{I don't always have to point out the obvious, do I?}

"Ouch." Kaleo grinned, albeit somewhat halfheartedly at how... icy, his tone seemed to be. It was faint; he was growing accustomed to the Meditite's usual habit of opting away from showing much in the way of emotion, but that just made it all the more prominent when there WAS something lingering within that typical deadpan. Nevertheless, it seemed pretty clear that he wouldn't be getting anything out of him right now. Which was fine, he supposed, it wasn't like he could MAKE him do anything, though it still left him with that same unpleasant feeling in his gut. Out of curiosity, he took a few more steps ahead, moving towards where the path began to circle around the lakeside, before pausing to glance over his shoulder. Much to his relief, Hibi was still following him dutifully, albeit a bit slower on his little legs. Unfortunately, being the subject of focus, that meant that his gaze didn't exactly go unnoticed. 

{...What?}

Kaleo shook his head. "Nothin'."

He had, however, made a note to slow his steps a bit in turn as they started their stroll around the lake.
It was a nice enough day, at least; if he wasn't suddenly inspired by the scenery to loosen whatever unknown grudge he was sitting on, maybe being stuck out here for a few hours in silence would eventually prompt some honesty out of him. Or maybe some damn courage out of his trainer. Either would be slightly more effective than the walk of shame they were on at the moment. 

638 Words ● --- ● anything is fine!