Klaus's strained expression does not change as his surname and occupation are listed, his constricted voice piping out a "Yup," in response; his grip meets Yoshiro's with a surprisingly firmness before his fists ball together in his lap.
[break][break]
At the directive of his phone, however, a muscle pulls taut in his cheek. Who the hell was this woman? A plains clothes cop? His anxiety morphs into something else entirely, his magenta-rose eyes narrowing subtly as they take in the sight of Yoshiro - a street thug given the tattoos, or a gym rat given the clothing?
[break][break]
"No, thank you," Klaus answers, the warble in his voice replaced with a faint undercurrent of warning. His hands unballing, he straightens his shirt's collar, displaying several of his now-chipped blue painted nails, and moves to stand.
[break][break]
"It was a pleasure meeting you," Klaus intones as he moves to leave.

[break][break]

+ yoshiro shioda

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"I'm pretty sure it's going to kill me," Klaus shoots back sarcastically as to the fresh air, his eye visibly twitching from lack of sleep and stress. He groans dramatically, his hand lifting to rub at the side of his face and specifically his eye in an attempt to sooth the tightened muscles as Annie soundly ignores him and continues speaking.
[break][break]
Klaus stops briefly in the road at the news Trig is apparently in Hoenn, a softly hopeful "Really?" spilling from his lips before he clears his throat awkwardly and glances away, the pause in his step barely noticeable as he continues onwards. He only listens half-heartedly as his friend babbles about the reason for her family's appearance in the Region, the young man's thoughts drifting to Annie's twin as he supplies half-hearted and distracted 'yeahs' where appropriate in the conversation.
[break][break]
He jumps into himself when Remington appears from the grass with a whole damn Impidimp in his maw, the Furfrou's barking and Impidimp's shrieking causing the young man to wince deeply. Huffing in annoyance at Annie, Klaus sips at his coffee once more before releasing Dhelmise from his pokeball. Grumbling beneath his breath, Klaus points with his index finger from around his coffee cup, "Go fuck it up," at a second Impidimp which wanders onto the road.
[break][break]
A rather vicious scuffle reveals the second Impidimp to instead be a Ditto and Klaus throws a pokeball before continuing on their walk. His mouth opening and then closing, Klaus musters up the courage to ask, "Why is Trig going back to Kalos?"



[break][break]

+ @annieoakley

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Klaus flinches at the sound of his name, his magenta-rose gaze sullenly drifting towards Barnaby's features; his brow furrowed and lips pursed in a thin line, Klaus's attention is distant at best. He tilts his head faintly as he tries to parse the other man's words, a soft "What?" spilling from his lips.
[break][break]
Silence falls over Klaus anew when the pokeballs are produced and three Eevee are revealed, his eyes widening noticeably at the introduction of the adorable pokemon. Pepin's appearance between his legs earns a constricted, uncertain laugh that grows as the little beast wriggles into his lap and is followed by two more Eevee, all prancing and dancing upon him.
[break][break]
His self-loathing fading to a dull thrum, Klaus idly runs his fingers through the Eevees' soft fur as the opportunity raises, his hands occasionally lifting to shield his cheeks from wayward kisses. An audible exhale of breath fills the air before a half-smile quirks onto Klaus's lips, his expression beyond exhausted but decidedly eased from is panic attack.
[break][break]
Fiddling with the edges of the towel around his shoulders, the words, "I - thanks. You didn't. You could have left. Thanks," tumble from Klaus's lips when he finally looks to Barnaby again.



[break][break]

+ BARNABY FINCH

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Klaus blinks rapidly as his date is pushed aside, his face slowly turning ashen when Yoshiro seats herself without a word; he quickly begins to fidget beneath her heavy gaze, a startled, "What the fuck?" spilling from his lips at the sudden development. His hands clamp down in his lap, the young man shrinking back in his chair.
[break][break]
Casting a hopeless look at his date who has promptly abandoned him, Klaus looks timidly at Yoshiro, his face a brilliant scarlet and his anxiety flaring anew. Mouth opening and closing, a soft squeak sounds from the depths of his throat, the words caught there stubbornly. Closing his eyes a moment, he takes several breaths before looking at Yoshiro again, somewhat disappointed she remains and is not a figment of his imagination. Klaus briefly considers flagging down one of the volunteers for the event, but Yoshiro's heavy gaze pins him motionlessly in his seat.
[break][break]
He swallows audibly, Klaus's voice barely audible as he whispers a constricted, "Can I h-help you?"
[break][break]
As if it would diffuse the situation, he extends a visibly shaking hand and pipes out with entire too much forced cheer, "I'm Klaus. It's nice to meet you?" A strained smile is splashed across his face, too many teeth displayed for it to be anything other than forced and terrified.
[break][break]

+ yoshiro shioda

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Feeling the anxiety loosen its grip on his emotions, Klaus moves to collect his next card, his magenta-rose gaze flitting over the name. Murmuring it to himself, he pauses at one of the many tables laden with food and picks up a few macaroons to chew through on his way across the Contest Hall to his next table.
[break][break]
"I'm Klaus," he greets his partner with a touch more confidence than he's had all day, his hands dusting together to rid them of any crumbs before extending one in offering. "This is Hansel," he supplies as to his trailing partner Dhelmise.

[break][break]

+ yoshiro shioda

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"Y-yeah, sure," Klaus mumbles as to the usage of his Lapras. Anwhistle usually wasn't thrilled about riders other than Klaus, but could be bribed with the promise of extra fish well enough.
[break][break]
He then falls silent as Amber speaks a mile-a-minute about her photoshoot plans, a shy smile touching his lips; relaxing back into his chair for the first time all day, Klaus is content to let Amber carry the conversation - the young man actually relieved that for all of her chatter, he couldn't embarrass himself if she provided the bulk of the conversation.
[break][break]
The buzz of his phone immediately after Amber picks hers up draws his attention. Swiping open screen, a blush overcomes Klaus's face once more at the little heart emoji, his gaze lowering to the ground as he gathers himself. "It was - really nice to meet you," Klaus whispers bashfully. He gives a quiet laugh at Amber's ridiculous punch of the air, his grin turning crooked. Cute.
[break][break]
He waves at Amber's retreating form, still feeling run over, but a comfortable warmth of feeling accepted for once settling in his chest.

[break][break]

+ Amber Lenoir

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Klaus swallows audibly as Ceri Glynn appears in his peripheral and offers him a bottle, a weak, wobbly smile touching his lips in response; unwrapping one arm to hold up his hand, he gives a little shake as he murmurs, "I'm fine, thanks." Turning his attention back to his own misery, he bites down on the mint in his mouth and swishes the remainder of it around before spitting the residual out into the trash can.
[break][break]
He then spares an appreciative look for The Fixer at his advice; he jumps when the man's hand settles heavily onto his shoulder. Hands trembling for a bare moment, Klaus gives a little nod to the much taller man before he steps away from his bucket of shame and inhales deeply, his face yet scarlet but at least his throat, still raw and burning, was no longer constricted from his nerves.
[break][break]
The appearance of Elisabeth Fiorelli distracts Klaus from his own thoughts, her gentle voice a balm of security. Someone he knew - security in the midst of this storm. Her Aromatisse's ministrations work ease the knot in his stomach, his pulse steadying, though Klaus's blush is nonetheless present as he assumes - rightly so - that the blonde woman had seen his embarrassing display. A wobble still visible with his hands, Klaus nonetheless reaches out and lightly grasps Elisabeth's forearm with his hand, a slight pressure of thanks offered for the unexpected kindness before his hand is then withdrawn.
[break][break]
Klaus looks up sharply when the announce speaks, his jaw setting as the unknown voice filters over the airways. A momentary look of confusion touches his expression as he finally realises what this gathering is for, his gaze flicking back upwards towards the observation gallery. Understanding reveals itself to be a bitch when Klaus pieces together his invitation was surely the result of Martín del Mar. Inviting the Admin to the lighthouse. The picture of himself just now. That fucker.
[break][break]
Stewing in a riot of conflicting emotions, Klaus hesitates when the Porygon-2 appears before him with the FOCUS BAND; his hand clenches and then unclenches, his jaw doing the same. Nose wrinkling, he then swiftly snatches the band, slapping it over his wrist. If these granted no disadvantage for taking them, then why not? The flickering images glitching through the air draws Klaus's attention next, his eyes widening momentarily when a lighthouse manifests for a brief instance.
[break][break]
His brow then furrows at Elisabeth's sudden timbre of death to follow her and a dumb little nod is Klaus's answer as he wordlessly trails after her. Elisabeth then proceeds to administer an ultimatum to some unknown man roughly his own age and Klaus blinks once before stuttering out a bewildered, "Uh. Yeah, sure. I don't..." He coughs softly, his gaze flicking around the room as he admits, "Know anyone else down here."
[break][break]
Klaus bounces on his heels where he stands, expelling nervous energy without drawing too much attention to himself - unlike earlier. He didn't know these other people but Elisabeth seemed to, for what it was worth. His earlier display had surely put him on the back-foot when it came to expectations from the Admins, but Elisabeth at least was resourceful, and likely these two before them were as well or she wouldn't have demanded they all pair together.
[break][break]
Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all?



[break][break]

+ Participating [break]
+ Pokemon: Dhelmise, Skrelp, Lapras [break]
+ ACCEPTS the Focus Band [break]
+ Joins a team with Elisabeth Fiorelli, Izydor Baranowski, ana fell [break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Uncertain where to look, Klaus's cheeks are dusted with a blush as Amber chatters away, his head nodding absently without really parsing her words. He blinks once as he comes into himself, a little "What?" spilling from his lips about a photoshoot.
[break][break]
"I mean. Uh. Not really," he tries and fails as Amber is off on her phone sending myriad texts. Hand lifting to rub awkwardly at the back of his neck, he tries to speak again only to be cut off by Amber questioning if he wants the photo she had snapped of him, his magenta-rose eyes turning impossibly wide. Klaus blushes deeply at what is presumed to be an overtly forward pass at him. Oblivious to his trainer's embarrassment, Dhelmise's appendage phases out as Luci goes to lick it, something akin to a snicker filling the air from the anchor-like pokemon.
[break][break]
Voice cracking as he speaks, Klaus stumbles of his words as he replies, "Y-yeah sure. Um. Yeah, here," he reaches out with a shaking hand to motion to Amber's phone and then taking it. Navigating to her contacts, Klaus taps in his information and hands her phone back, his face now a brilliant scarlet.
[break][break]
"I can - let you use my Lapras if you want pictures on the water," Klaus tries through a constricted voice.

[break][break]

+ Amber Lenoir

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Good Lord
[break][break]
Klaus stares blankly for a moment, feeling as if a freighter had drug him through the ocean by his ankles. "It's my name," he answers dumbly, his brow furrowed in confusion until the animated woman before him gushes about her modelling career. That explained the photo, he muses fatalistically, something to laugh over later with her friends.
[break][break]
Hands shaking, Klaus wrings them together in an effort to give himself something to do. His voice meek and uncertain, he supplies, "I've never been to Johto. Lived in Hoenn all my life." Glancing down at his hands, Klaus presses his eyes closed a moment, his swallow audible.
[break][break]
"I'm a lighthouse keeper over in Lilycove," he offers lamely, his foot beginning to bounce with nervous energy. He watches silently as Amber discovers the event's supplied desserts, his mouth dry and stomach churning. He regretted having a cookie earlier.
[break][break]
Meanwhile, Hansel the Dhelmise peers with his one eye at the Umbreon, the fraternization attempt thoughtfully weighed. Eventually, the Dhelmise extends one tendril of ghostly kelp towards Luci in greeting.

[break][break]

+ Amber Lenoir

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

His expression slipping into uncertainty as he collects another card from one of the event's organizers, Klaus exhales an audible breath he hadn't realised he was holding. What a day so far. His gaze casts askance at his Dhelmise, an eerie moan sounding from the ghostly anchor which pulls a snort of amusement out of Klaus.
[break][break]
"Absolutely not," he answers, his attention flitting back to the card in his hand. Amber Lenoir. Right.
[break][break]
Klaus turns on his heel and moves to the indicated table, a nervous if bright smile touching his expression; hand raised and mouth opening to greet her, he freezes immediately as a phone comes up from nowhere to snap his photo. Flushing a brilliant scarlet, a strangled noise sounds from Klaus as he stands there dumbly, his magenta-rose eyes flitting nervously from the phone to Amber's face.
[break][break]
Did he look that awful? Was he that much of an embarrassment?
[break][break]
"H-hey. Amber," he greets through a constricted throat. "I'm. I'm Klaus. And this is Hansel," he manages a jerky motion towards his Dhelmise by way of greeting, the young man's knees practically buckling as he slumps into the chair opposite of Amber.
[break][break]
"What.. Uh. What do you do?"
[break][break]
Why had he come?

[break][break]

+ Amber Lenoir

[attr="class","pokeclass"]