Steven crossed his arms in content. He eyed the pale boy in front of him, taking in closer inspection. He noticed that Ruby looked a bit uneasy, and he was sneaking a few looks at Steven's face. Steven smiled slightly, and continued.

"Well, Ruby, I heard you're starting your adventure soon?" Steven asked in a polite manner.

Ruby nodded as a response. His mother eyed him, looking a bit annoyed that he didn't go more into the topic. She was excited Ruby was becoming a trainer, because then he would be out of her hair! She wished he would be a little more excited about it. She nudged Ruby with her elbow slightly, and he bolt up immediately.

"Y-yeah! I'm thinking about getting Mudkip, because its a water type, and that's my favorite, so..."

Steven stared for a moment, then continued, "That's interesting. Isn't your father the gym leader in the first town you're visiting?"

Ruby nodded yet again.

Steven waited a moment before starting off again. "He seems like a very content man. Very strong, too. I was a bit surprised when I saw you, you both have the same look in your eyes."

Ruby looked away from Steven. He tried to be cautious of where he looked, whether it was down to his lap or staring at the cup of tea on the table. Anything to keep him from thinking about the beautiful man in front of him. Ruby twiddled his thumbs and began,

"So... Uhm... how's everything been going?" cutting off the topic of Norman. Ruby didn't really like talking about Norman, just personal reasons. People always compared Ruby to him, like they were brothers, and it just annoyed Ruby to no end.

Steven closed his eyes.

"Well, honestly, I haven't been doing much recently. But, in a few weeks, I'm supposed to go to Mossdeep city to move in, since I got tired of the other small house I was living in back at Lavaridge. If you want, you can come help me unpack, that's ony if you want, though."

Ruby looked surprisingly at Steven.

"R-really? Uh... That'd be okay, I guess."

His mother looked at him approvingly.

"Yeah, since he's starting his journey soon anyway, he'll probably just meet up with you while he's training or something."

Steven nodded. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Well, Ruby, what do ya say?"

YEAH I KNOW STEVEN DIDN'T LIVE IN LAVARIDGE TOWN BUT LET ME HAVE SOME IMAGINATION GODDAMN jk yall can judge im batshit cray.