If Avarice had anything even remotely resembling awareness that he was bothering this guy, he sure as shit didn't show it. At the pleasant response, he cleared his throat like a suburban mom about to ream out the manager. His tone, at least, was kept somewhere pleasant.

"Cool! Alright. Do you know if there's like, events 'round here that are more for Pokemon? Everything I've seen seems more like it's for like, people." He frowned a bit, half prepared to go on a full tirade about that particular aspect alone. He folded his arms, steadily beginning to get to the point where he was talking more to himself than this kindly stranger as he continued. "Even most of the games require ya got a good throwin' arm, which a lot o' non-fightin' types don't got. That's kinda, like... Pokephobic, ain't it? Like, Pokemon can be LGBT too, why make shit inaccessible to 'em?"

If this entire ordeal was a sitcom, the Meditite accompanying him looked as though he'd be staring at the camera by this point, exhausted. Avarice paused, briefly, looking as though he were going to continue, but he shook his head a bit and refocused on the innocent he'd just talked the ear off of.

"Anyway, yeah. Events f'Pokemon specifically, you know of any? Askin' for a friend."

219 Words ● 🌺 inari 🌺 ● im so sorry rishi

"Huh, really?" With no apparent respect for personal space, Avarice slid a bit closer to get a better look at the pamphlet himself. Pokemon speed dating?... That sure was a concept. Was it, like, people who actually cared about their Pokemon's orientation, or, like, was it a spot where really aggressive breeder allies had gathered and were looking to make some business deals? It was hard to say. Still, it might have been a good place for him to make a couple of friends, if nothing else. Kaleo rubbed his chin, glancing sidelong.

"How about it, dude? Want to meet hot singles in your area?" It wasn't entirely clear who he was talking to in that moment, but the Meditite on his shoulder seemed to understand it was more than likely him. He responded with a small shrug.

{I guess?}

"Hm." Was all his trainer had to say in response. On second thought, maybe it was too early for something like that? The fighting type HAD said he'd wanted to fall in love, maybe, but would doing something long distance be too troublesome? Was he still reeling from the betrayal of the Hitmonbottom? None of those seemed like things that were appropriate to ask in the presence of a stranger, however, so he'd kept his mouth shut for the time being and looked back to Rishi curiously.

"....Ya think that's it?"

231 Words ● @inari ● i am : ( he just wanted a peaceful evening

No doubt, this man mumbled what he did under his breath with the desire of not being heard, but with due respect to his proximity, it would have been more difficult for Kaleo not to have picked up on his apparent... desire. Huh. Well, perhaps that was something he could help with, once they'd shaken him down for information. He was quiet as the other listed off a few more things, and he had, with a bit of squinting, vaguely taken note of their locations and times on the pamphlet. He hoped. Crafts, huh?... He'd never really been the sort - too much detail work- but maybe Hibi would have an interest?

And then, as if on cue, the Meditite spoke up. {What's a color run?}

Kaleo shrugged gently. "Sounds like a race? Except... uh, more rainbow-y maybe." He... couldn't really imagine how that'd work, really, but if it was for Pokemon only... maybe it'd be more like a surprise? If the Meditite was interested, he could probably check out the book stand in the meantime to see if there was anything he'd like there. He might not have liked reading, but he supposed he could pretend for a little bit for his sake. Once he'd satisfied himself with the options, however, he'd slid back a bit, looking satisfied.

"Anyway, thanks man, this's a huge help. We'll look into some o' these."

This probably would have been the part where a normal person would have walked off, but Kaleo wasn't the sort who liked leaving a good turn unpaid. Instead, he'd glanced around somewhat conspicuously to make sure that no one was paying attention before speaking up again, a bit quieter this time;

"...An' between you n' I, if you're into live music and lookin' for that 'meet cute' kinda shit, go to the town square 'round 8. The third band on the setlist's sound has that kinda vibe."

Most of the more upstanding people wouldn't be soused by that time either, which probably would have made it a bit more proper, given the atmosphere. This guy seemed like he'd like 'proper'. But... maybe he was wrong, and the encounters with hot singles this guy wanted were more direct in nature? This WAS Pride, after all.

"Oooorrr, if you're more about the business, I heard tonight's headliner practicing somethin' that sounded kinda risque. Couplea drinks, n' you'll have more ass than ya know what to do with."

He threw in a wink and a thumbs up in a vague sort of emphasis before, finally, turning and moving to walk off.

429 Words ● 🌺 inari 🌺 ● hot tipz (tm)

"Heh! I'll hold you to it, man." The thumbs up switched to a lazy wave as he and Hibi stepped off to find some of these things, in spite of how... well, lukewarm the Meditite seemed about some of them. Maybe seeing them in action would stir something closer to enthusiasm in him? Words could only do so much, after all.

But honestly, in all the excitement of the day, Kaleo had completely forgotten about the guy who'd given him directions. Or, at least he had until several hours later, after he had finished his own part on the setlist that night. It was a small thing, nagging in the back of his mind once he'd finished up his final song for the night; the longer the thought lingered, the more it started to concern him.

Because during that song -- well, it was more of a gently altered retelling of a particularly disastrous hookup from his date's perspective -- that the incident happened. That being, near the end of the second verse, one of the backup dancers had tripped while passing in front of him. In the heat of the moment, Avarice had shifted gears to make the fall look intentional - he'd slid out of the way and faked a stomp over the other man's throat, stopping a few millimeters before contact. Thankfully, that was something the dancer had been kind enough to play along with, and they'd moved past it smoothly enough after the man had rolled to his feet as Avarice pretended to kick him to the side. It fit astonishingly well thematically for the chorus, all things considered, but was still pretty unprecedented. The audience had loved it, but he had a feeling he probably owed the guy his weight in beer.

But that could be handled after he finished here, he decided, once the applause had started to die down a little.

"Thank yoooo--ooou Inset! Y'all're tight as hell. Not that I can really check from up here." He offered the audience a little shrug and a wink as some of them bubbled up in laughter. "N'eeway! Enough o' my ass, you're stuck with me all night long. We got The Super Effectives up here next -- give 'em some love!"

He backed offstage to cheers, clapping himself as the band that followed after him took their places. It was only after he'd stepped backstage and was putting his jacket back on to cover his bare torso that he recalled recommending the concert specifically to someone earlier, at which point the lingering feeling of regret just exploded. While the improv worked well enough for Pride, given that most of the audience was already a little buzzed by this hour, it was still sort of... unprofessional? And after he'd invited a guy personally to attend the show following his own... Tapus. Hopefully the man was the sort to show up late, if at all.

Lingering around backstage for a little bit, he took a moment to thank the people he worked with that evening, accepted some (reasonably) justified roasts to his personal character in return, and clipped his Pokeballs back to the chain on his belt before heading out as quietly as he was able into the audience. Which... perhaps wasn't entirely necessary, given that the music was blaring and most people were plenty distracted, but most of the openers had about 30 minutes and he didn't want to lose the fifteen minutes he had left before he had to go up to introduce the next act. He still had the sort of shame on his mind that only a brisk drink would truly conquer.

Which meant, naturally, it only made sense that he would run into someone on the way to the bar.

625 Words ● 🌺 inari 🌺 ● local man continues to cause problems