Cap silently cursed that he'd been willing to work at the Ritual stall for so long. There was no way he was going to be able to see the entirety of the festival before it got too late—or, rather, he got too drunk. He'd wasted too many hours doing something as frivolous as making money. Ah, well, at least that meant he had money to spend. In with one hand, out with the other, he supposed. He meandered his way from stall to stall, his third pint of beer in hand, sampling any free foods. Or ones that came with a five-finger discount.[break][break]

A voice caught his attention and he turned, catching sight of Alexei after a moment. A grin spread across his face and he lifted his beer in a sort of hello toast.[break][break]

"Well, well, look who's taking a break from cleaning out dusty old closets to come slum it with the rest of us. You need more blackmail to fill up that phone?" He gestured to the surrounding crowd. They weren't getting rowdy yet, but the night was still young. Cap was sure there would be more than a few people making fools of themselves before everyone turned in for the night.

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+ Alexei Ivanov[break]mission: festival fantasies

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Cap made a mental note not to do anything stupid. Not that it was a habit of his, mind, but he didn't need anyone wandering around with video proof of his shenanigans. Especially not a gym leader.[break][break]

Alexei offered up a dango and Cap graciously grabbed a stick. He pulled one of the chewy treats off with his teeth and hummed. "Oh those are good. I'm a sucker for anything sweet, though." A weakness, to be sure. Cap nodded when Alexi suggested he might hit the dango stall again. "I haven't had a chance to eat today, so I'm down to wander the food stalls."[break][break]

As if on cue, he gave his beer pint a swirl and grinned. "Hey, I'm a bartender. I never stop drinking. It's basically part of the job description. Speaking of," he paused to gesture back the way he came. "If you're in the mood for a drink, the bar I work at has a stall right back that way. Slate makes an okay cocktail, I guess." He winks.

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+ Alexei Ivanov[break]mission: festival fantasies

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Cap followed the gesture with his gaze, looking across the stalls that lined the road with a discerning eye. He did, however, perk up at the word taiyaki. His head whipped around and he pinned Alexei with a faux-wild-eyed stare.[break][break]

"I love taiyaki. I will fistfight everyone in that line." He giggled and started to lead them down the path. Maybe the line for the taiyaki place wouldn't be that bad. Or maybe he would just cause a scene and ut the line. Cap wasn't above something devious to get a delicious cake in the shape of a fish. His eyebrows popped up when Alexei mentioned bartending "Oh yeah? I've been doing it for forever. Since before I was old enough to drink, if I'm honest. I work over at Ritual in Slateport. You should come by sometime." He sucked a breath through his teeth and rolled his eyes a bit. "Incessantly," he admitted. "Shit that sounds kind of arrogant, doesn't it? But you know how it is." He had no doubts Alexei's tips had been very good.

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+ Alexei Ivanov[break]mission: festival fantasies

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[attr="class","credit"]milky

"New to me, at least," he said with a shrug, eyeballing the various treats they passed. "Seems like it's been there for a bit, the clientele has just kind of fallen off. I'm trying to get some more interest in it." Cap couldn't help but join in Alexei's cackling. "No shit, you too? Granted I was in Johto at the time. But I must've been sixteen, seventeen." Hopefully I won't be doing the same thing forever, either. The nightlife was fun, but he saw a strange and bitter future every time he talked with Slate.[break][break]

Cap cackled at the fake boyfriend stories. He'd had to pull that trick himself more than once, though the angry partners of people he'd flirted with rarely took it quite as graciously as he'd hoped. Still, the risk was worth the reward every time. He reached over and grabbed another dango from Alexei's plate, wrinkling his nose and smiling.[break][break]

"Well who wants to live all the way out in Fortree?" He took a bite of the dango and winced. That sounded shitty. "No offense! I just couldn't imagine living somewhere so rural. I've been in big cities all my life. The hustle and bustle is necessary for my survival at this point, I think." What did people do all day in towns like Fortree and Oldale? Sit and watch the grass grow, he supposed.

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+ Alexei Ivanov[break]mission: festival fantasies

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"Oh yeah?" He was always curious where others had come from. There were a lot of transplants to Hoenn, he'd discovered. Plenty from Johto and Kanto, but even more from places he'd never even visited. Unova, Alola, Almia. There was a faint hope he could travel one day. For fun, not because a boss sent him somewhere. All thoughts of far-off places were erased when he saw the line to the taiyaki stand. He groaned dramatically.[break][break]

As they filed into the line, Cap patted his pocket. "I made some good tips. I will not shy away from spending every cent of it on taiyaki." It was true, too. He'd done it before, he'd do it again. Cap was a man with no shame when it came to tasty fish cakes.[break][break]

He eyed Alexei with a lopsided grin, nudging the other with his elbow. "Together, huh?" He waggled his eyebrows as the line crept forward. "That's one way to hook a man. Well, spill it. What's his name? How long have you two been together?" He craved the gossip.

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+ Alexei Ivanov[break]mission: festival fantasies

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Cap leaned out sideways, eyeballing the extent of the line. How could he make these people vacate his queue? The wheels were turning, ideas rumbling around in his head. His fingertips tapped the top of one of the Pokeballs on his belt. What were the chances he'd just get kicked out? Alexei asked if he was really planning to spend all of his money on fried cakes and he clapped his hands together with determination, looking the other man straight in the eyes. "Who cares about ramen when there's taiyaki?" He could only hold the expression of disbelief for a moment before he grinned again. "Anyhow, Slate will probably spot me a couple of bucks for sushi. He knows how broke I am."[break][break]

The line crept forward again, Cap bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet. He could smell the little bean-filled cakes. They smelled so good. Alexei leaned over and showed him a picture of the partner in question, and Cap was distracted from his taiyaki mission. He tilted his head, grinning at the picture on the phone.[break][break]

"Oooooh," he cooed, bringing a hand up to his mouth. "He's cute. Good catch, Alex." He resisted the ever so slight urge to swipe on the picture, see if anything incriminating came up. "You said you're from Unova, huh? What city?"

[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov[break]mission: festival fantasies

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[attr="class","credit"]milky