[Fin] Table for Three

[Shaddaling]

That was just so cute! Lex cooed slightly at his boyfriend as Taavi went full ranger mode. He shifted slightly to take Taavi's hand, curling there fingers together.

"I'm thinking Sangria solely because I recognize it from songs," Lex replied, "Though I'm sure it is because it easier to rhyme then Verdejo." And Sangria sounded pretty. Verdejo made him think green sauce from tacobell.

"If you want to meet a Zoroark, we could arrange something? I don't have Yoketron's pokeball with me today, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping out in the raising of one of his own kind."  

[TawnyAngel]

Sasha's boyfriend was rather adorable; apparently Sasha thought so as well judging by his light cooing and the way he reached over to take the dark-skinned young man's hand.

Zevran quirked a slight smile at Sasha's following comments about the drinks and shrugged his shoulders. "Ah, that is true! I can't think of any easy rhymes for Verdejo, at least not in English. Sangria it is then, a nice light start to the meal." He wasn't trying to get anyone drunk, not even himself, so the lower alcohol content was neither here nor there.

"And that would be excellent, thank you!" he continued with a broad smile for Sasha. "All of this evolution business," he gestured expansively, "it is still a little foreign to me, pokemon are not common where I come from; Fereldens are known for their dogs but most of us see few of them." What were those pokemon called again?... No, he had no idea. Oh well! "And thank you for identifying it so quickly Taavi!" Zevran turned his brilliant smile onto the taller man. "A ranger is a pokemon expert I am assuming?"

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Well, nobody seemed to mind; good! "Um, yeah I guess we are!" he agreed with Zevran, giving a little laugh and smoothing a hand back over his hair. "It's our job to um, sort of look after wild pokemon populations? And trainers who get themselves lost or in trouble. Um. Maintaining balance is our thing I suppose, making sure pokemon don't get over populated or depleted. I think it would be a good idea for you to meet a Zoroark and...." Eeeeegh, he didn't want to be critical but... but nice as Zevran seemed the idea of a brand new trainer raising an egg worried him a bit. "And maybe we can keep in touch?" he added a little uncertainly. "I mean, um, in case you have any questions about looking after it? It's not always obvious what you should do for pokemon so, um, I'd like to help if I can." Oh crap, how many times had he just said 'um'? Why did he have to be like this? It wasn't like Zevran was going to take offence!... Probably.  

[Shaddaling]

"They were rather common place when I was growing up, but it is certainly understandable. They are migrating to other places, but it is slow and sometimes I wonder what the affects are on the native animals." Pokemon certainly were much more intelligence then say your common house sparrow and larger too. The competition over food and space.

"I'm sure you'll get a handle on incubating your Zoura egg, mammalian eggs are on the easier side of Pokemon breeding. Other species are much more complicated." Lex had hatched a few.

"In an other note? Should we consider an appetizer to go with the wine? Or skip straight towards the meal portion?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Um..." Taavi squirmed interally the thought of speaking out against Sasha but... well it wasn't strictly true that other kinds of pokemon were more difficult, wasn't true at all actually and saying so sort of made it sound like 'mammalian' pokemon were no problem at all, they were so varied! An egg was an egg essentially, so long as you didn't drop it and kept it fairly warm (or fairly cool for ice types or fish pokemon from cold waters) it was generally fine; it was when it hatched you needed to worry!

"It's um, it's all a matter of what you're used to with pokemon, eggs are alright but once they hatch you'll have a handful!" Taavi said eventually with a slightly tense smile, not exactly agreeing with Sasha but not disagreeing with him either. "But, um, as you're not used to anything it'll be a good idea to read up a lot! And as I said I'm happy to answer any questions you have! Ah, the weather is nice and warm at the moment but you should still make sure you keep it wrapped up at night if your house isn't warm. Err, starters though? I- I don't mind!" Aaaaaah!

______________________

Taavi was a very nervous sort wasn't he? Zevran gave an encouraging smile and nodded along with the ranger's slightly stilted speech. "Ah, I see! Well it came wrapped up in a warm basket and is still there but I will make sure it stays warm through the night. As for starters!" Zevran laughed lightly and gestured to the menu. "This is tapas my friends, everything is a starter that you share! Why don't you pick two or three dishes each? If we are still hungry after our first order we can call for more. I think I shall order the gambas al ajillo, escalivada, and las almejas con paprika. That's prawns with garlic, a dish of grilled vegetables with olive oil, and clams with paprika. Humm, and some bread as well I think? Yes."  

[Shaddaling]

Lex gave a gently amused look at Taavi and shrugged. "Ooh they are right little terrors when they come out, but then most babies are." Grimlock has been a chewy, fire spiting, little rocket of death and mostly had grown out of it. Now she was a moody teenage that spat fire. Glit has been subdue right out of the egg, sprawling in the sunlight and lazily blinking.

"Oohhh, lets see then." Lex pulled the menu in close, looking over the offerings. "Though part of me says what you are ordering but hmm, lets see what we have to be adventurous. Is red meat alright? " He questioned Zevran, knowing Taavi was food? Yes.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Red meat is fine," Zevran agreed with a nod and a slight smirk. "I think you will find that I too am easy, Sasha." It was true, in several senses of the word! "As I say, it is usual for everyone to share the dishes around the table," he reiterated, assuming that his phrasing hadn't been too clear before. "You can keep a dish all to yourself if you wish but everything comes out in little dishes to be set around and you will get an empty plate. It is an excellent way to eat! Sociable, communal, varied, and nobody gets too much or too little. If you're not sure what to choose a tortilla is always a good thing, there are various croquettes which sound nice- oh! They have cured tuna, that you must try!"

____________________

Well, he wasn't going to contradict the Spanish guy at the Spanish restaurant! He was however going to ignore the slightly out of place 'easy' comment; was he being teased? He wasn't sure.

"I'll put in a shout for the tuna then... that's with the mushrooms? Mo...jama?" He looked at Zevran uncertainly, that was how it was written!

"Mo-ha-ma," Zevran pronounced with a friendly smile and a slight nod.

"Right! Mohama," Taavi repeated carefully with a thankful smile, "so... that, and Tortilla Es...espanola? And- ooh! Patatas bravas with chilli! I know I like patatas bravas and, um, spicier is pretty much always better in my book!" Phew! Ordering success!  

[Shaddaling]

"Hmmmm, well that is always nice to know," Lex murmured, focusing on the menu. "Croquettes de jamon, and hmmm do you have any suggestions for a beef dish?" he questioned. "I have to admit when I'm unfamiliar with the food, I have such difficulty choosing what to order."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Beef? Humm...." Zevran scanned quickly down the menu. "I myself would go for the flank steak on toast with goat's cheese. It reads; Thinly grilled flank steak melt in your mouth with creamy goat cheese, crusty bread and roasted red pepper and roasted fig and onion jam on the side. Or perhaps the albondigas with the spiced tomato and wine sauce, if you are a fan of spices as much as Taavi? Ah, albondigas is meatballs, specifically beef in this case. So! It is whether you would prefer a dry dish or another saucy one to dip into? With the bread that is." Ah language, would it ever cease to be fun? He didn't think so!

____________________

"Ooh, those both sound nice!" Taavi said enthusiastically. He then turned with a grin to Sasha and shrugged. "Hey, if you can't pick why not toss a coin or something?" He knew that Sasha sometimes got a liiiitle distracted when there were a lot of things going on so suggesting an easy way for him to make a decision might be helpful?  

[Shaddaling]

"Those both sound delicious, I think the flank steak on toast with goat cheese, I do enjoy cheese and am not as much of a fan of spices as Taavi." He admitted. He liked them, but he wasn't as much spices as you could jam into one dish. "Thank you, Zevran."  

[TawnyAngel]

"De nada; you're welcome," Zevran replied amiably before flagging down a waiter to put in their order with olives and nuts added as an afterthought because he'd hardly eaten all day and thus was starving.

While they waited for the food and drink to arrive Zevran settled back comfortably in his chair and regarded the pair before him with a little smile, such a contrast this couple was! Light and dark, outgoing and anxious, but despite their differences they seemed very affectionate. Perhaps the old adage was true and opposites attracted!

Zevran had been about to start up conversation when he felt something in his pocket start wriggling. It wasn't a phone vibrating it was definitely something moving about; looking rather confused and mildly perturbed Zevran dug in his pocket and pulled out a shaking pokeball. "Oh, Amigo!" he said with a laugh, that explained a lot! "I didn't know pokeballs could do that!" he explained to the pair of experienced trainers as he let the Caterpie out onto the ground nearby.

"Um! They can do but not if you put a lock on them!" Taavi explained with an eager-to-please smile that Zevran was already getting used to. "I can show you how to do it if you want? It stops them popping out whenever they feel like it which sounds mean but it's pretty important for safety."

"Well I can't argue with that, it's important to be safe," Zevran agreed seriously with only a faint glimmer of wickedness in his eyes as he passed over the pokeball and then lent down to scoop his Caterpie up and onto his shoulders. "You captured one too, did you not Sasha? How many pokemon do you have exactly?"  

[Shaddaling]

"They do, some of them develop a trick to it. My Seperior is very good at popping out of her pokeball, she likes to know what is going on and ooh, hmm." Lex paused, calculating how many pokemon he had. "That is a good question actually." He admitted. Slip, Tron, Glit, Howl, Nautilator, Strika, his yet of unnamed Caterpie, Sides, ooh and Nickle of course. Was it just nine that he had introduced to Taavi? "I want to say nine."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Haha, you should lock it Sasha!" Taavi admonished playfully. He then blinked and gave another little laugh. "You've lost count?" Nine sounded about right but he wasn't completely sure.

"Oh, um, but it's like this," Taavi held the pokeball over the table so that Zevran could see and fiddled with it. "It didn't use to be a standard feature but most pokeballs have it now! And if they don't you can buy add ons, kind of like seals but for function not form! And you take the lock off again like this," he demonstrated and handed the pokeball back to its owner. "Now you try! Also, um, hi Caterpie! Amigo was it?"

__________________

Aww. Zevran smiled in return to Taavi's warm open expression and, after frowning thoughtfully at the pokeball for a moment, copied the motion the ranger had made. "Like so?"

<> Amigo trilled. <>

"Yeah that's it!" Taavi nodded. "And nice to meet you! Amigo is a good name."

"Good!" Zevran nodded. "I will leave it like so for now then- ah! And here is our drink."

The waiter poured out three glasses of the sangria and then set the jug down on the table along with the olives and nuts. Zevran picked up his glass and raised it to his companions. "Where I come from we say; 'salud!' when we raise a glass with friends; join me?"

"Oh! Cool! Salud!" Taavi offered enthusiastically.  

[Shaddaling]

"Pffhs, I hate numbers," Lex replied cheerfully. "And I lock... sometimes, mainly if I'm flying or if they are very large, and I am in a small space." Safety first during those moments. Didn't need anyone popping out of their ball when he's 500 feet up, or having a Lapras pop out in a car. Accident!

"Thank you," he said, taking the glass of wine and lifted it. "Salud," he replied.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Mmmh, this is great!" Taavi supplied after a sip of the drink. "I like the ah, the floaty bits of fruit." It was very very drinkable, he'd have to be careful not to have too much.

"And I like cities but I like wilderness too! I'm not sure about farms though," he grinned to the Caterpie. A moment later it occurred to him to add; "Oh! Um, I understand bug types and Sasha understands dark types right Sasha? Do you have a type yet Zevran?"

_____________________

Zevran chuckled softly and waved off Sasha's thanks good naturedly. "You are welcome, I hope the rest of the meal is to your tastes too! As for a type," he grinned at Taavi, "I have many types! But you mean do I understand any type of pokemon? No I cannot say that I do, it still seems very strange to me that anyone can at all! You really understand Amigo?"

"Yep!" Taavi confirmed. Amigo made another trilling noise then, which made the ranger laugh. "He says he'd like a green olive please."

"Hu!" Zev's eyebrows rose slightly but he nodded acknowledgement and passed a fruit up to the bug on his shoulders. "That seems like a very useful gift to have, though I must admit that beyond the very obvious I have no idea what type is what." Zevran took a few nuts and started to crunch on them thoughtfully. "They really talk just like people? Think like people? Are they so intelligent?" he wondered aloud.  

[Shaddaling]

Lex took a slow sip and caught a piece of fruit, chewing slowly and relishing the taste. He might end up drinking a bit more then he should, but ehh, he'll manage. It was good.

"Mmh, dark types. My Weavile and Zoroark act as guide pokemon of sorts. Though Slip can be hmm.. bitchy." He admitted. She could be cruel and a pain but he loved her.

"Ooh they can be very intelligent but not so much in the same way as people, they have trouble with associations? ehh," was that teh right word? " I was attempting to teach 'Tron sign language since with illlusions he would have the right amount of digits but it is something he has trouble with. He can learn a word, but putting those words together in a phrase is behind him. Or substituting words in a phase he learned, it doesn't connect." Lex took another sip. "On the other hand, one of my earliest Pokemon is a total ditz and permanently lives with my mother."