[PRP] Winding Down

[TawnyAngel]

It had been a busy lunchtime followed by a quiet afternoon and then a busy dinner shift again, he wouldn't normally have done both shifts but somebody hadn't come in and he really needed the money so he'd volunteered to stay on. His feet were killing him and he was starving but despite a couple of nasty tables a good tip at the end of the dinner rush had lifted his mood, and it wasn't all that long now until closing! There'd be another couple of tables properly, late diners, but not too many. Home stretch.

Taavi wiped down one of the Good Ole Rustic Wooden Tables and fussed the menus and the salt and pepper back into the ordained order, keeping an eye on the door at the same time. Outside of rush periods there weren't any prescribed greeters to seat people so whichever server spotted the new guests first could grab them and so get the tip from their table. Taavi wasn't really very good at competing with his fellow servers, it all got way too nasty and aggressive for his liking but it was so late now that he suspected most of the others would be keen to finish up the tables they had and go home. Taavi was keen to go home too come to that especially after a double shift but he was even keener to make a couple of extra dollars if he could.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

A young man yawned and automatically put a hand over his mouth as he entered the restaurant. One green eye was visible as he peered around, but the other was hidden behind bangs that were half silver-gray from the roots and half brown from the tips. His hair was long, but it was pinned up at the back and he wore a green polo shirt with khakis and sneakers. A thin cord connected his earpieces to the top of a music player which was visible from his pocket.

He didn't look like much more than a minimum wage worker himself, but his behavior was peculiar. Akira's childlike wonder seemed just a tad bit unusual for a fellow in his twenties entering a place called Meat Palace, but he seemed enchanted by it all the same. He acted for all the world as if it literally was a palace made of meat. He craned his neck upward and all around as he took out his earpieces to get a better sense of the atmosphere minus his music.

It was then that he noticed Taavi and blood came rushing to his face. "Oh...hi. Sorry, I was distracted."  

[TawnyAngel]

Hu! Interesting hair choice. Taavi smiled and shook his head to the apology. "Hi there, no problem, welcome to Meat Palace! My name's Mark, I'll be serving you tonight." Taavi indicated his name badge which indeed declared 'Mark', it stung as much as ever but it was what it was which was a requirement for having a job and so getting money. "Um, so can I show you to a table? Will you need extra chairs for anyone else joining you, or any pokemon?"

This guy sure seemed interested in the décor of Meat Palace, which was nothing to shout about to Taavi's mind; barbecue joint vibe, deliberately rough and ready tables, chairs that were comfy but easy to wipe down, and half of the kitchen visible so that people could see their meat cooking on the big stove thing. It was the music that Taavi liked the least, while it wasn't too loud the cheery country tunes ate right into your bones by the end of a shift and that went double for a double shift!... As you might expect.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"Hi, Mark," he answered automatically. "I'm Akira." Wait - was that what people did at restaurants? He couldn't recall. Or were only the servers supposed to introduce themselves? Oh well. It would have felt weird to have not done the same. Akira absently reached up a nervous hand to tug on his bangs, as if to pull them down over his heated face.

"Oh, uh, yes please." Extra chairs? He could eat with his pokemon here even though it was inside? That was neat. It took him a minute to remember that Happa wasn't fond of the indoors and Uri, if not too large, would have made him sneeze without Happa to clear the air of the allergens from her thick hair.

Silly, though...normally Silly wasn't likely to behave himself, but if Akira wasn't going to give him a chance, how would they ever improve their relationship? Besides, this was in public and it was a restaurant of sorts, so perhaps the serpentine pokemon would be pleased enough to act civil; at least for the meal. "Er, do you think a Serperior would be too big to eat here with me? I completely understand if it wouldn't be allowed."

He stared at a table as he spoke, fixated on the crude look it had to it and wondering if this place was really so poor to not be able to afford anything better or if it was just style. Probably style, right? After all, it went with the rustic feel of the restaurant's music. But what a weird taste in style, to want to downgrade one's furniture...no, wait. He couldn't talk. He had purposely downgraded his whole lifestyle for the novelty of a 'commoner life', hadn't he?

Still, to have the kitchen exposed and the stove visible...Akira hadn't experienced anything like it before. That was what he got for not trying new things much, though, he supposed, even after having lived in Kodo for over two years, now.

"Are all restaurants like this...?" he murmured to himself, not thinking about the chance that Mark might hear him.  

[TawnyAngel]

Are all resturants like this?... What? Okay that was a weird comment, one to report back to his coworkers for sure.... Then again this guy seemed nice so he'd feel bad making fun of him even though he'd never know about it.

Despite his internal confusion and moment of conflict Taavi's smile remained in place. "Nice to meet you then Akira! As we're quiet this evening a Serperior would be fine, I'll take you to one of our booths and your friend should be able to coil up comfortably there. This way!" Taavi led the way a little way towards the kitchen where there was indeed a large booth with a large round table set in the centre of it and comfortable padded seating running all the way around. "Will this be alright for you?" Taavi asked with a small gesture to it. "You're welcome to have out as many pokemon as comfortable fit in there with you. Small pokemon can go on the table if you like, or I can fetch over booster seats for them."  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"Oh! Thank you very much," he said, grateful for the offered accommodation. He followed the server to the booth, intrigued by the layout and seating, and nodded vigorously. "Yes, thank you. This should be perfect." Even picky, spoiled Supercilious couldn't complain with this much space to himself. Taking out the Luxury Ball, he looked up and smiled. "Thanks; you're very kind. But I think this guy's going to need all my attention and as much space as he can get. He doesn't play very well with others."

In fact, Akira was a little reluctant to take Silly out in front of the tall, dark aquaintance, but he knew it was pointless to wait until Taavi had left. He would be coming back anyway, so it was probably best that Silly meet him while he was here to establish that he was off-limits for attacking. Pressing the ball's button, he tossed it up into the air.

The Serperior appeared in the flash of red light along the curve of the booth's padded seating. Upon being summoned, the pokemon at first seemed annoyed before realizing he wasn't outdoors. Nor was he in his trainer's cramped apartment. And there was the smell of food permeating the air. Hmm. This could have been good.

"Mark, this is Supercilious," Akira said, hoping the waiter wouldn't find the introduction too strange to go along with. Perhaps he should have warned him ahead of time...but to warn someone about one's own unruly pokemon that he was taking out in public? As if he hadn't already been embarrassed enough. "Supercilious, this is Mark. He's going to be our server for this evening. You'll be polite and courteous to him, won't you?"

Silly looked Mark up and down for a moment, gazing at him with his slanted, serpentine eyes before eventually giving a slow nod. Akira's sighed in relief. "Thank you. I know you don't like being taken out of your ball and when you are, it's usually for battling or training. So I thought this time you deserved a treat." Glad the Serperior seemed to be settled, he made a move to sit down at an end of the booth seat himself.

Something struck his backside, suddenly, and he bit his lip to avoid yelping. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw Silly's tail resting leisurely behind him and quickly looked over at his pokemon's face. Silly didn't look at him directly, but instead gave him a sideways glare as if to say, 'just because I'll tolerate him doesn't mean I'll do the same for you'. Akira sighed again and hung his head. This pokemon...  

[TawnyAngel]

"Supercilious? Wow that's quite a name! A regal name for a Regal pokemon hu?" Taavi said with a warm smile to the Serperior as it appeared; having never heard the word supercilious used before he though it was just a fancy name, and one he happened to like the sound of. "Very pleased to meet you Supercilious, if you need anything please just give me a wave." He did like it when Customers had their pokemon out with them, they were usually a lot less trouble than their human companions and the fact that he liked them so much seemed to flatter a lot of trainers which made them more friendly to him. Taavi was possibly one of the least manipulative people around but that didn't mean he couldn't recognise when something he did naturally tended to lead to positive outcomes for him; being polite, loving pokemon, paying attention to detail, all that sort of thing made it easier to get through the day at Meat Palace without complaints against your name.

Taavi had been about to go into the script about the menus and ordering when he saw Akira flinch slightly, he hadn't spotted the cause though and a look of concern crossed his face. "Um, are you alight sir? Ah, Akira?" When Customers introduced themselves by name it usually meant they wanted you to use it rather than a formal term of address, though he had been tripped up by that once. Who went around giving you their name and then had a go at you for using it? Fat white middle-class middle-aged men who ate a whole rack of ribs to themselves with a side of waffle fries drowned in mayonnaise, that was who.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

The Serperior drew himself up a little at Mark's comment, glad someone seemed to appreciate him for the majestic creature that he was. Akira kept his head down to hide his smile. It had been a good idea not to introduce the pokemon by his shortened nickname after all.

"Thank you," he said, speaking on both his own and Silly's behalf. He was tempted to add how he certainly thought the serpentine creature was haughty enough to suit his name, but with that warning tail behind him, he decided against it. Instead, he said, "Sometimes if it's too much of a mouthful, I just use 'Silly'. Since it kind of destroys the 'regality' of his full name, though, he hates it."

Surprised by Mark's sudden concern, Akira raised his head in astonishment, emerald green eyes meeting olive green. He hadn't thought he'd have noticed. Had he seen what Silly had done? Well if he was asking, probably not, right? Time to think fast. "Oh, sorry. I just realized I don't know what kind of human food would be suitable to give a Serperior."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Hehe, well I'll stick with your full title then shall I Supercilious?" Taavi said with a small nod to the Serperior, it was one thing for pokemon and trainer to tease one another but quite another for him to go around calling the grass-snake 'Silly'.

"Oh! Well Serperior are pretty flexible in terms of diet," Taavi continued, turning back to Akira with a smile. "They're omnivorous in the wild but they can actually survive just fine on an entirely plant based or entirely meat based diet so long as they get sufficient sunlight! The um, photosynthesis kind of powers their gut so they can break down whatever nutrients they take in, and what they lack they can then 'build' from that. So long as it's not rotten or toxic basically they're all good. Ah, that's not a very scientific explanation I'm afraid but I can't remember quite all the specifics of the chemical reactions and things. So um, in short pretty much whatever he fancies should be fine! The menus are there on the table for you," he gestured to the laminated sheet, "and our special deal this week is free upgrade to Royal Toppings for any meal. Can I get you any drinks to start with?" He hoped he hadn't rambled on too much there but he was always keen to pass on knowledge about pokemon to other people, especially their own pokemon companions!  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Silly cocked his head ever so slightly at Mark. Now here was a human who seemed to know how to give him his due respect. His own trainer would do well to learn from him.

Though glad that the Grass-type seemed like he was going to behave himself, Akira now began to worry that the serpent would end up being spoiled by Mark's treatement of him and end up more haughty than ever. He supposed those concerns would be awkward and weird to voice, though. As a trainer, such a worry shouldn't have been a problem. Perhaps he was overreacting.

Mark's knowledge of Serperior astounded Akira. His lips parted slightly in astonishment as he listened to the server's elaboration on the species. Part of him wondered if he should get out his phone or something and be taking notes, but he was too stunned and busy trying to wrap his mind around what was actually being said to do such a thing.

"No, no, that was amazing!" he said when the dark youth began to apologize. "If you were any more scientific about it, I'm afraid it might just go over my head. Are you a scientist or maybe a pokemon researcher specializing in Serperior? Or Grass-types in general?"

Though he, too, was impressed by the young man's extensive knowledge on Serperior diets, Silly wished Akira had more dignity than to act so stupidly in awe. His dumbstruck expression and ignorance regarding his own pokemon reflected badly on him as a trainer. Normally Silly wouldn't have cared about this since he felt Akira was an awful trainer anyway, but here in public, he felt that being associated as this trainer's pokemon reflected badly on him too.

Silly looked to his trainer and once more used his leafy tail to instruct his naive human. He swat Akira's chin, implying that he stop gawking and close his mouth, before nosing toward him the menu that Mark had indicated. Then Silly tapped the sheet with another of his leafy limbs to gesture to the Royal Toppings upgrade. Why didn't a pokemon as important as himself deserve a meal with a 'royal' status, even if it was only a commoner's idea of royal food?

The swat of the tail brought Akira to his senses. He quickly drew his attention toward the menu, which was what they were here for in the first place. "Oh, right, sorry. Um, just water for the both of us, please...and...I suppose I'll get that special deal if it's alright." He cast Mark a sheepish look. "Since I've never been here before, may I just order whatever you might suggest? With that Royal Toppings upgrade for him, but maybe just something small for me. I have to head back to work in a little while."  

[TawnyAngel]

Okay so acknowledgement wasn't why he did anything but it was still really nice! Taavi grinned and shook his head. "Ah, no sir- Akira! Um, I was a Ranger before I came here so knowing a lot about the practical side - though not really the chemical equations - was my business! I, um, I'm glad to help! And we're slow tonight so if you feel like it I can hang around and answer questions or shoot factoids at you?"

Right though, food! Food was the priority. "Hummm." Taavi frowned thoughtfully. "Well.... I would suggest either a burger, a half rack of ribs, or a steak. With any of those you get a small salad. The Royal Toppings mean you can either upgrade to a higher grade cheese or other garnish on your burger, get a sauce on your steak, or get a small side of wings with your ribs, or alternatively instead of normal fries with any of them you can get waffle or curly fries. Personally I would maybe pick a burger topped with brie cheese and Palace Salsa with fries, but we've also got the ribs and things I mentioned a pri pri grilled half chicken that's awesome, or the ribs, or if you want something lighter there's a chicken strip salad?"  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"A Ranger?" Akira repeated, even more amazed by this information. "Wow...I've only ever heard of them before. That must mean you must have worked with all kinds of wild pokemon before, right? I can't even imagine..." To get wild pokemon to work with you...it was tricky to even get his own pokemon to work with him. And a Ranger probably had to know a lot about all sorts to know which to ask for help from and for what purposes. No wonder Mark knew so much.

"I'd really appreciate it if you would," he responded at the server's offer to hang around. "Er, am I allowed to buy you something? If you haven't eaten already, of course. I know it's getting awfully late and I don't know if you might get in trouble if I ask you to sit down with us..." How stupid of him. This waiter must have thought he was nuts. Asking him if he wanted to share a meal while he was on the job? Who did that? Maybe people who didn't consider that others had work to do... Akira began to tug on his bangs again in embarrassment.

This time, Silly actually had to take the menu to swat his incompetent trainer with. Mark was giving them options for food at Akira's request and Akira wasn't paying attention. And he had asked the Serperior to behave himself. Typical.

"Wha- ?! Oh, oh, yes! U-um, could I get that meal you mentioned with the burger, cheese, and Palace Salsa with fries? That'd be for Sil - er, Supercilious. And I'll just go with the chicken strip salad, if that's alright." He paused again and eventually managed to look Mark in the face without tugging his bangs. "Um...is there anything you want?"  

[TawnyAngel]

An invitation to eat with him? Akira was strange; Taavi decided he liked him and smiled warmly. "Oh, wow, um, really? I have a couple more tables to clean down but after that I'd love to join you. It'll only take a few minutes." He'd be an idiot to turn down a free meal, he'd not have to try to find the energy to make something when he got home and what he would have had he could save for another day.

"But yeah, I've worked with all kinds of Pokémon, a real privilege," he nodded as he noted down Akira's order. "And what can I get you both to drink?" He wasn't saying anything about his own preferences until Akira confirmed he'd really meant his offer.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Chancing a peek through his bangs with a ruddy face, Akira was rewarded with Mark's warm smile. "You - you would?! Thank you very much! Um, can I help you clean those down so you can be finished faster? And you must be tired."

He stood to help, but Supercilious shot him another glare and Vine Whipped his belt, slicing the material and rendering it useless. The young man had to sit down immediately to keep his pants from sliding down his waist.

Not in my presence and not in public as my trainer. It's disgraceful,> the Serperior hissed at his trainer, even knowing the human couldn't understand his words. At least the attack on the belt would probably get the point across.

That didn't keep Akira from giving the Grass-type a contemptuous, 'what the hell' look before turning back to acknowledge he was listening to Mark and to answer his question. "Just the water I mentioned for Silly and I before should be fine. Unless you would prefer something else for yourself? On me, of course."  

[TawnyAngel]

Gah! What was it with people being nice and offering to help with his job lately? Not that he wouldn't love the help but; "Heh, that's very kind but Supercilious is right," Taavi said with a grin and a shrug, having assumed (incorrectly) that the Serperior was simply telling his trainer that you couldn't go doing people's jobs for them. "I'm not allowed to let customers help with my work, I'd get in big trouble if I did! Right though, I'll bring a jug of water for the table then and glasses." He was grateful for a free meal already and not going to push his luck; what he was doing at the moment fell within the line of 'give customers a memorable experience' but asking for more than the initial offer definitely felt like heading towards 'getting into deep s**t' to him.

"I won't be long," Taavi promised with a flash of a smile before turning to hurry into the kitchen with the order for the table. With that done he headed back out to finish cleaning his tables, took the bills to the last two tables other than Akira, cleaned those down too and then his beeper altered him that an order was ready to go out.

Probably less than ten minutes after Taavi had hurried off he returned to Akira with a tray of food and a jug of water, all of which he set down into front of the correct people. "Back!" he stated unnecessarily, closely followed by; "Would either of you like any sauces or anything else?" For himself he'd opted for the same meal as Supercilious was having, except on his there was extra hotsauce because there was almost nothing that Taavi wouldn't add hotsauce to.