[FIN] Local talent [Lex & Taavi]

[TawnyAngel]

...Well! Okay. Questions once again answered.

"I... think I need a minute to process that," Taavi admitted. He took another drink of his cider, which seemed to help a little.

Okay so... so.... Okay. What did he want? He was still kind of struggling to get his head around the blunt proposition(s) but.... Sasha thought he was hot enough to have a fling with - a bit past making out in some dark corner! - and that was pretty flattering, Sasha was attractive and worldly and he'd been kind... and he was tired of being lonely. On the other hand was it really a good idea to go with somebody he'd just met no matter how nice they were?

"Well.... Um." Did he want to go back to his dark, stuffy little apartment? No, he didn't. He didn't want to be lonely. "We... could dance? And... well, if you... well if you felt like kissing me that would be fine? Um. Good. Um. Right? But um, I'm not sure about dark corners.... Unless they're really dark." With a door! But he didn't want to seem like a prude or something, maybe people got half naked in clubs like this all the time? He hadn't noticed anything going on in corners last time he'd been here but then he hadn't really been looking.  

[Shaddaling]

"Mmh, I just find it easier to be upfront about things then to go in for a kiss because you think things are going well and find out the think you are a friend, or are not comfortable with it." Most men didn't let him buy them drinks right off the bat after just meeting him either.

"We'll see how the night goes," Lex raised his glass, tipping it slightly to Taavi before taking a drink.  

[TawnyAngel]

That sounded... that sounded good? Exciting, a bit... a bit intimidating but exciting? He felt utterly out of his depth with all of this - he was pretty sure he'd never been overtly hit on by another guy before - but... but Sasha liked him, and he was having fun right now. Things could be more than one thing at once. "Um, yeah! Okay then!" Taavi tapped his plastic glass against Sasha's. "Ahah, clink?" Well the glasses hadn't made their own sound effect. "So um... looks like they're about to start?" Was this the bit where they went and danced?  

[Shaddaling]

"Clink," Lex replied, giving a small tap of the cups. "Nice, lets see what they sound like then." He shifted, giving the band more focus. "You can't always really dance to metal. It can end up more of a moshpit and well, those can get dangerous. Lots of energy, though."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Well then we can mosh," Taavi replied with a grin and a shrug. "I hear it's like dancing but you bash into each other more and sometimes somebody gets a concussion. Exciting right? Heh, and it can't be any worse than being in the middle of an exited group of Machoke! Those guys are a real handful when they let loose."  

[Shaddaling]

"Wasn't sure you were the type to mosh or not, and I guess? I have never been in the middle of a group of excited Machoke to know." Lex admitted and looked at Taavi. "I am sensing a story, do tell."  

[TawnyAngel]

"I'll try nearly anything once. Some things I'll try several thousand times," Taavi replied with a brief laugh and a shrug. He wasn't the type to mosh, or he hadn't been before, but he could be anything here right? It was a bit heady, the opportunity to try anything without people he knew raising an eyebrow at him in disapproval, or was that the cider? Well who cared, right?

"Story time again then! Okay so this was back when I was a volunteer so while I went places to help out it was never meant to be anything too dangerous and always with a qualified ranger. So I was going along on a call with Ron to help a Poochyena that had its head stuck in some railings, which was easy with some grease. We gave it a quick potion spray and sent it on its way but then we heard this big commotion from down the street and went to investigate. Turned out a bunch of Machoke working for a construction firm, who'd been doing some work renovating a bar, had started drinking the wine and decided that it was time to have a big friendly brawl with one another." Taavi paused to take a drink of his cider, waving his free hand to indicate he wasn't gone talking. "And that would have been fine but they smashed up the bar and ended up in the middle of the street so Ron and his team and Valour and I went in to try to calm them down along with a couple of trainers. Ron and I ended up in the middle of the pack somehow and one of them hit me in the face, didn't break anything but it really hurt so I yelped. Then the drunk Machokes realised 'hey, there's humans here and we're damaging them' and they calmed down. They were very apologetic. I don't know what happened with the damage they did to the bar, but I guess insurance covered it or something? But yeah, that's the time I got punched by a drunk Machoke."  

[Shaddaling]

"I.. really... pfssshh," Lex laughed, warm and cheerful as the story wrapped out. "That had to be a volunteer day to live for, the day you got punched by a drunk Machoke who were in the middle of a street wrestling match." He shook his head, sipping his cider.

"Heeh, that is just fantastic. Not so much as you got injured but just a construction crew of drunk Machoke." Lex might have imagined them in hard hats and vests.  

[TawnyAngel]

"It was great!" Taavi agreed enthusiastically. "I mean, I couldn't open my eye for days but - heh - I contributed to solving the situation and the one that punched me was really sweet, she let me win an arm wrestling match with her afterwards and gave me a Poké Puff. The rangers were pleased with me too so that was great, and I got really good mileage out of the story. As demonstrated now, right? Heh." Thank Arceus he had a nearly limitless supply of stories about stuff that had happened to him, often involving some level of injury but oh well!  

[Shaddaling]

"That is wonderful, and now I really hope you got a picture of that arm wrestling match. How many people can say they won an arm wresting match with a Machoke even if they were letting you win." Lex sipped his drink. "Things like that never happened in the grooming business, we just had stupid clients, easy clients, and clients you wish would die. "  

[TawnyAngel]

"I have! It's on my 'gear somewhere I think, I can show you later? Um, rather not get it out in a potential mosh situation. And yeah, I bet," Taavi wrinkled his long pointed nose, "Trainers can be difficult, working with just pokemon is a lot easier if you ask me. I mean I like people? Most people. But some people... ehhhh... well yeah, you really wish you didn't have to deal with them. The number of stupid trainers I met who just plain didn't know how to look after the pokemon they were with? Or just wanted them to be like," he scowled and waved a hand, "like machines to do what they wanted them to perfectly every time. Egh. Yeah, I miss my old job a lot." Tomorrow he was going to see if there were any jobs he could apply for that sounded better than Meat Palace.  

[Shaddaling]

"Later it is then," Lex nodded and sighed. "Mmhm, well, good luck getting a better job so you can work with Pokemon and yeah... I met a few people who just expected their Pokemon to give, give, give and skipped the entire relationship aspect."

"Don't give me started on trainers and Pokemon, specially ones that are carnivores." Lex finished his cider and set the cup inside the first. "So, care to dance?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Sure!" Yep! Tonight was a good night to be... to be... something more interesting than he really was, and not by himself. Taavi finished off his cider and set the cup aside. "And right? Vegan diets. I swear to Arceus, some people are just too dumb to live. If they like their carnivorous pokemon so much, but don't want to be cruel to other creatures, how about they be dinner themselves?" Taavi suggested, scowling briefly at the thought that such idiots really did exist but soon smiling shyly at Sasha again and rubbing the back of his neck. "Um, after you? To the dancing."  

[Shaddaling]

Lex chuckled and sauntered out towards the gathering of people, nodding along to the music and found somewhere close enough but not within elbow range. "So, dancing, it just movement to express what you feel."  

[TawnyAngel]

Express what you feel? Express what you feel? Like, vague panic and uncertainty combined with the excitement of the forbidden and also cider? That was not what Taavi wanted to express. He probably needed more cider. "Well yeah," Taavi gave a little laugh, "but uh, easier said than done right?" Still, the beat was good - fast, kind of tingled down your spine - and they were surrounded by other people dancing. If he kind of copied that it would probably be fine, and fun too! Just... just relax and try not to worry about how you looked, that was probably the thing. Dance like nobody's watching, and also like you're not trying to impress the person you're with while vaguely feeling like you shouldn't be doing any of this. Right?

Sasha had said he over thought things, he was probably right there. Taavi tried not to think too much, tried not to worry, tried to just... just live in the moment. He felt more than a bit awkward at first - i.e. really, really awkward - but it got less so. If you just listened to the music, and maybe looked at the person you were dancing with, and didn't think it seemed easier. This was why people liked this kind of thing he guessed, you just moved and listened and responded to whoever you were with while you forgot about the world outside. Escapism.