"that is mr. and mrs. spencer, they buried their grandmother last week."

with a polite smile that's very unlike his usual blank expression, he turns and gives them what appears to be a friendly wave. they wave back, and the girl turns to mumble to her man who immediately rolls his eyes, but she's squealing.

"they're friends of my mother's," he doesn't realize that's a bad thing. "she's rather eccentric, he's rather mellow. they balance each other well."

maybe knox didn't need to know that, he was mostly just reciting the information about them that he knew from when his mother had mentioned them last. he digresses, and shakes his head.

"at any rate, i refuse to accept them as my soulmate. and the notion of soulmate as a whole does sound rather restricting if you construct a modern box around it. i prefer to think of soulmate as something less like a sex partner, and more like... a person who just, gets you. inexplicably."

knox prescott

marcy comes back over to clear what she can to make room for their main course. and knox watches a body-snatcher inhabit sam for a few seconds as he waves with a smile towards the couple in question. knox raises his napkin to his lips to hide his laughter. 

"mm, they sound like someone else we know," he says when sam describes their relationship. 

well, that's far less exciting than what knox wants out of a soulmate. pity, and here i thought we could be. he quirks a smile and then their food comes and it's just so ordinary. he's used to fever and passion and feeling so much his heart threatens to explode. 

"i don't think you get to decide who your soulmate is. isn't that like, the whole shtick? 

samuel carter

☉

"oh... i'd never considered that." sam's a dolt, it's fine. "i just assumed you have a choice in the matter, but i suppose you're right. traditionally, there isn't a choice."

he's back to his usual stoic self, save for the fact that when the meal comes, his face lights up a bit. a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, excitement show in his eyes.

he's never been wined and dined before-- not that he knows that's what it's called. it's beginning to show.

"i'm really struggling to accept this evening." there, its out, he's said it. "i'm not used to these sort of encounters-- erm, dates." knox had called it a date. "i'm used to business and odd-jobs, not ... dates."

he looks to his food and begins to pick it around, cutting it into bite sized pieces.

"this is my first."

knox prescott

knox has been on dates before. knox has dated before. he's been someone's boyfriend (and consequently fucking hated it, but i digress). he's been to the moon and back so many times, he's just assumed that everyone's at least left the stratosphere. even sam. 

because don't most dateless virgins sam's age live in their mother's basements? 

he cocks a brow. "well, maybe it's for the best i left out the third thing." except now he's wishing he'd said it, just so he could see that dumb flush. the realization would come much later, surely, because sam wouldn't look up sixty-nining at the table. 

he sets about portioning some of the food for himself, helping some of it onto the share plates marcy had provided.

"i know i'm a bit biased, but i think it's going pretty great."

samuel carter

☉

"this date is going much better than most dates i'd either read or heard about."

granted his sources aren't the most reliable or faithful people, but, whatever.

he holds his share plate out and takes the food offered with a small polite smile of gratitude, it's ironed into him, had been since he was small and his mother scolded him for having 'ghost face.' telling him to 'look more alive' or people'd mistake him for a corpse, or creepy decoration.

"my mother warned me i'd be nervous on my first date, so i was prepared for that, and i'm relieved to say the second i saw you my nerves disappeared. i'm comfortable around you in ways i didn't realize i wanted to be. conversation comes very easily with you, and you're very charming. you make me feel flattered."

he looked up to knox with a soft smile, worry in his eyes.

"i only hope the same is true for you."

knox prescott

"you think i'm charming?" he says while batting his lashes and faux fanning himself. he doesn't want to say, well, of course because he's learned his ego can sometimes get in the way and shift him from charming to narcissistic asshole. so he leaves it at that, at a jest, and feels all the better for it. 

because he thinks sam is charming too. "well, let's hope all your nerves didn't disappear." he winks. he could have taken sam back to his motel room after this, but ew, a motel room. sam is not just here for a romp in the hay and knox is on his best behavior so he can make a good impression. 

if sam invited him up to the mountain to spend the night, he's still not sure what he'll say. because he wants to. obviously. but the whole 'first date' thing and him talking about his mom so much has him a bit reeling. 

maybe he's just into kinky shit? no dates, just straight fucking. 

"i can't stop thinking about you, dumbass. i'm a terrible texter. i've even set reminders in my phone to make sure i've replied to you and i haven't needed them." is that enough to get rid of that worry in his eyes? 

he takes a bite, makes a noise. "okay. no talking. this is so good."

samuel carter

☉

i can't stop thinking about you, dumbass.

for whatever reason that has sam smiling. he's either a narcissist, a masochist, or it's nice to know that somebody enjoys being around him for once in his fucking life. well, somebody other than his mother, anyway.

it's refreshing and seeing knox enjoy his food has sam keeping his mouth closed. because he was once told not to thank people for their kindness, just to encourage it. so he moves a foot forward to touch knox'.

hopefully that's encouraging it well enough. because the way he'd touched knox' foot wasn't on accident, it was purposed. he'd calculated the distance between their feet earlier in the evening and wanted to put his foot next to knox' when he felt confident. being told he was thought of so much?

he felt confident. confident and happy.

"oh, this is really good."

knox prescott

yes, definitely enough to get rid of the crinkles by his brows. with sam relieved and dutifully staying silent so he can try the food, knox takes a couple more bites. he's chewing on the meat, tasting the truffle, when sam accidentally knocks into him under the table. 

knox looks up, a comment on his tongue, but the look in sam's eyes shows this was no accident. is he trying to play footsies with me? 

amusement graces his smile. not in a mean way, but more bewildered. he knocks ankles gently and shakes his head with a chuckle. "yes, it is," he says, but he's not just talking about the meal. 

"i'm glad you could meet me. it's nice to take a break. we've been busy planning the party and jobs have been a bit wild since..." sootopolis. well, maybe they shouldn't talk about his 'jobs.'

samuel carter

☉

"i'm happy i made the time as well." which said to knox that he'd made him a priority. and his tone suggested that it wasn't a burden. in fact, it suggested that he'd happily made the arrangements.

the foot against his, ankle on his, had sam relieved. he kept his ankle close, enjoying the touch, the attention. it was odd for him, and new. he only paid this sort of attention to his pokémon and most of the time only out of knowing that he had to, like a chore.

but with knox, it didn't feel forced, and it was certainly different that 'pets' to his pokémon. no, it was so much more than that. and he'd dive into those emotions when he wasn't sitting across from knox having a conversation.

"do you live in sootopolis?" he wasn't sure, he hadn't asked by this point.

knox prescott

"nah, we're down in mauville." but he doesn't think he can really say he lives there anymore. after all, he's been shat out on the street for the last time, but he doesn't want to mention that to sam, considering that's where their party will be hosted soon. 

"but i travel a lot. it's hard for me to stick in one place." not a lie, really. he still doesn't have a super reliable means of transportation; flying taxis tend to get on the expensive side. so mostly he travels where his jobs slowly take him, where the cargo needs to be delivered. 

one of these days he'll get a mount. or maybe he'll look into procuring a psychic type like sam has. teleporting does seem to have its perks, even if it makes him feel a bit sick every time. 

"i'm headed out to mossdeep early tomorrow and then i'll be taking the route up near fortree to get back to mauville. exciting stuff," he says. 

samuel carter

☉

"i'm headed to fortree as well. a gym challenge, though i'm not entirely sure why i signed up for it. i am holding my own on the mountain well enough without it..."

with that, he shrugs, thinking it over.

"i visit mauville for work, and i've been to a few of the cafes there, but i've never went for luxury. do you enjoy living there?"

it was a simple enough question that sam didn't think would be a difficult one to answer. but then again, for a guy who's always thinking, he doesn't think from the right perspective and it usually bites him in the ass.

knox prescott

sam doesn't ask him about his work and he's glad about it. he's never thought that what he does defines him, per se, but it's not easy to nonchalantly say 'yeah, i steal and smuggle pokemon and drugs for a living, isn't that neat?' in the past year, he's learned some interesting coping mechanisms, which is to say he doesn't quite associate the knox that smuggles with the knox sitting before sam. 

"it's a city that never sleeps. there's always something to do. haven't gotten bored of it yet." he takes a couple more bites and then has to throw in the towel there, too. 

"i'd offer to show you around, but i don't think my mauville scene is yours," he says with a laugh. 

he's actually a bit surprised to hear that sam is challenging the gym circuit. "fame? fortune? bragging rights? although i feel like maybe the gym leaders should just be handing over their badges to you, oh mister strong-enough-to-fight-groudon-and-live."

samuel carter

☉