( closed ) tell me why the dark side just captures my eye

[geophile]

Who: steven ( geophile ) & rideaux ( pr159 )
When: IC 8/11
Where: a classy little bar in the pleasure district.
What: in an attempt to see if he has any basic social skills, rideaux has invited steven out for drinks. things escalate.
Rating/Warning: 14A for alcohol consumption, some heavy drunken flirting, and a morning after, but nothing worth locking.

---

[ it isn't that steven is nervous about this meeting in the slightest - when rideaux has asked him out for drinks, it was in a snarky, borderline malicious way that steven understood. this is nowhere near a date, and he intends to hold his own and prove the other man wrong about whatever silly assumptions he had made about him thus far.

still, he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't anticipating whatever interaction was going to come out of this. he can't say that he likes rideaux very much, but he seems like an interesting person. if he's the kind of drinker that finds himself to be loose-lipped upon having one too many, he might learn a thing or two.

of course it doesn't occur to him that he himself may be the first one to get tipsy, but that's a bridge that will be crossed later. for now he's sitting at the bar, finger swirling around his glass of whiskey (neat, no ice) as he waits for his "companion". ]

Comments

[geophile]

[ good god, that drink looks sickeningly colourful. it's definitely not steven's style, but somehow it seems like fitting for the man next to him.

he looks at him with an amused look when he proposes the toast, but lifts his glass in response. ]

To what, exactly? A budding friendship?

[ yeah. right. ]

[pr159]

Oh? Whose?

[ ha. he shakes his head and brushes his hair back over his shoulder. ]

Let's keep it to something simple that we can both agree on. [ to how fucking good I am at coordinating my drinks with my outfits. ] To a -- hopefully -- uninterrupted happy hour.

[geophile]

I can drink to that much.

[ yep, that's what he thought. while optimism sure is nice, realism (and the fact that he himself doesn't particularly like rideaux) are triumphing over it all. he's here to prove a point and satisfy curiousity, not to be chummy.

he'll properly click his glass against the other's before taking a sip of his drink, meeting his eyes with an inquisitive smile. ]

You have me here, so I'll be properly sociable. I'll answer any question you have - within reason, of course.

[pr159]

Good.

[ he takes a sip of his own drink and smiles back, though as usual, there's nothing warm about it. "answer any question"... what does he think this is supposed to be, a game of truth or dare? ]

And what topics would you consider to be outside of the realm of reason?

[geophile]

[ how else is he supposed to start a conversation??? geez, way to make this difficult from the get go. ]

Let's just say that you won't get much out of me if you try to get too personal.

[ for the most part, he's a fairly open book without too many deep, dark secrets. besides, he doubts that rideaux cares that much. ]

[pr159]

That's implying that you actually have personal details worth protecting.

[ of which he's a little skeptical, but if there actually are any, he might as well get to work on goading him into revealing them. ]

[geophile]

Of course I do. Everyone has something interesting about them - even you, I'm sure.

[ his aren't terribly interesting, but he's a private person to begin with. but his intuition says that the man sitting across from him has an intriguing story behind him. ]

[pr159]

[ even him? please. ]

Most things about me are interesting, actually. [ he takes another sip, and tilts his head slightly with an expression of mock disappointment. ] It's a shame that's not what we're here for.

[geophile]

I'm very sure about that.

[ he'll say it in disbelief as a little act of rebellion - he doesn't want to be a passive party in whatever this is. ]

I'm afraid you've lost me on why it is you invited me here at all, then. I'm starting to get a bit bored.

[pr159]

[ setting his drink down with a chuckle, he rests his cheek in his hand. ]

So in other words, even you find it boring when you're the subject of focus.

[geophile]

I never said I was an exciting person; I find it boring when a conversation seemingly has no point. You're not doing a very good job of keeping me interested.

[ he takes a sip of his own drink. don't make him regret saying yes to this more than he already does, rideaux. ]

[pr159]

I invited you out so that I could observe your human interactions in a casual social setting.

[ he didn't challenge you to not be bored, he challenged you to not be boring. ]

If you'll recall, I never actually said that those interactions had to be with me. Strike up a conversation with a stranger if you'd rather. Pick out an attractive woman and invite her back to your place.

Of course, if you're truly that eager for me to entertain you...

[geophile]

I wouldn't categorize myself as a social Beautifl- [ wait ] butterfly. Putting on some sort of performance for you would be just the kind of pointless conversation I just mentioned. My heart wouldn't be in it.

[ and he's not about to disrespect an unsuspecting woman just to prove a point. that's not to say that he couldn't - he's attractive enough that some eyes in the bar may have given him a double take already. ]

I know next to nothing about you, but I still know you better than anyone else here. Would it really be that repulsive of an idea to talk to me?

[pr159]

[ rideaux raises an eyebrow at that slip -- a social what? -- but he lets it go, assuming it's probably some monster crap he doesn't care about. "social butterfly" is a ridiculous enough image already given how aggressive those things in rieze maxia can be, but for him, maybe that's appropriate. ]

You know you're really not proving your case here if your idea of competence with personal interaction is sticking with someone you don't like who you claim is boring you because you don't want to talk to anyone else.

[ he raises his head, straightening back up a little. ]

But all right. How about this -- we can each ask each other anything we want, but then we have to answer the same question ourselves.

[ that way he can get at least a little of what he came here for, and there won't be any risk of the conversation getting boring because half of it will be about him. ]

[geophile]

I think that the marker of being adept at personal interaction would be the ability to change all of that. I just need a hook.

[ he's almost done his glass at this point, but won't hesitate to signal the bartender smoothly to order another round once he is. ]

That sounds fair.

[pr159]

Excellent.

[ he gives a bit of thought to his first question as he takes another drink, and deliberately settles on something pointed that can't actually be turned around on him while still qualifying as "the same question". ]

What was it like to grow up with all that money?

[geophile]

Unless you are from the same situation, I believe you're already breaking your own rule. But I'll still answer, if you're willing to ask something so specific.

[ he doesn't know about rideaux's past, but he has a feeling that he didn't have as affluent of a background as him. ]

It was comfortable in terms of having to not worry about things, but at the same time... isolating, I suppose. I was raised to be ready to take on my family business when I became of age; there wasn't much time for other things. I took refuge in my passions whenever I could.

[pr159]

[ he has to scoff at that answer. ah, yes, the classic story of the lonely rich kid. he can't find even an ounce of sympathy for that kind of thing. the "poor but happy or rich but lonely" dichotomy that the world always seems to latch onto is complete bullshit as far as he's concerned. ]

Oh, I can still answer it myself, so I'm not breaking any rules. My answer is just "What money?"

Your turn.

[geophile]

[ it's not something that he'll comment on. he knows that he was born into privilege, and he isn't asking for sympathy for it. he spent the majority of his time running away from his affluence when he could, be it through travelling or pokemon training. ]

I wouldn't be able to tell that from a glance. You've made quite an image for yourself.

[ he'll take the opportunity to give him a quick once over with his eyes. barring the weird feather boa, that suit isn't half bad. moving on... ]

You never struck me as a botanical researcher. Is that really what you did in your own world?

[pr159]

It's amazing what talent and hard work can get you.

[ and being taken in and given a job by the president of the most influential company in your world, but that part doesn't have any place in the story he likes to tell about himself. ]

I did research to develop medicines and medical devices, but no, I didn't focus on the potential for plants in that development like I'm doing now. [ he finishes the last of his drink, and sets the empty glass down with a sigh. ] Given the state of nature in my world that would have been a little difficult.

[ until the schism had been dispelled, anyway. of course, after that, he'd had other things to focus on. ]

[geophile]

Indeed.

[ he knows that much. his own position was something that he had earned from years of training - the champion title wasn't something that could be bought, and he never expected it to be.

that sigh makes him raise a brow, though. ]

Was it scarce?

[pr159]

[ he holds up a finger. ]

Hm, I don't remember making follow-up questions a part of the arrangement.

[ not that he cares, he wasn't the one who wanted to make this into some kind of trivia game in the first place. ]

Are you really that curious about Elympion vegetation?

[geophile]

I'm admittedly interested, but I suppose that can wait for another day.

[ or never, with how their relationship is going thus far. but whatever, that's fine. he can hold back. ]

I'm not a geologist by trade, as you know - I only collect rare stones as a hobby. My main profession is as the Champion of the Hoenn region's Pokémon League.

[ he won't mention that his title was recently usurped by a 12 year-old girl, seeing as that wasn't part of the question. he's still the incumbent champion while she travels around, after all.

he takes another drink. ]

Your turn.

[pr159]

[ to be fair, the medical part of his job is secondary to the dimensional affairs part, but that also was not really part of the question.

before moving on, he pauses to catch the bartender's attention and order a second drink for himself, opting this time for a simpler vodka martini now that he's already made his fashion statement for the evening with the first. ]

Let's see... Do you have any sort of superhuman ability of your own, or does whatever power you have come strictly from the monsters you command?

[geophile]

[ he'll be sticking to his whiskey, thank you very much. it's something he's developed a taste for over the years, and the aesthetic of a gentleman's drink just isn't something he can pass up. ]

Unfortunately, no. I'm as human as they come. [ though he'll bring a hand up to his chin in that icon pose. ] Though now I'm interested to hear if the case is different for you.