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There are so many butterflies filling up his stomach that there won't be any room for his dessert! He ducks his head, uncharacteristically shy when he catches the reddened ears and blushing cheeks of his friend date.[break][break]

He'd signed up for 'platonic only', but the reason for such hesitations was now sitting across from him.[break][break]

"Allo, William," Florian says fondly of the Wooloo, leaning down to give it a pat. Joli offers his own friendly chirp from his position in Florian's lap. "Ah, who's the little black sheep?"[break][break]

He chuckles nervously at the comment, rubbing the back of his neck.[break][break]

"H-Haha, yeah, who'd have thought?" Certainly not Florian. He'd kind of hoped Alexei was... well, it was a naive hope, wasn't it, to hope he wasn't looking? Florian was known for being forward when he decided he liked someone, but the other man seemed so shy that he didn't want to scare him off! Doing his best to test the waters without being completely obvious, he asks, "Have you been having fun so far? Met many people? I-I came in late, so I'm a bit behind."

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"The Safari seems to house many strange-coloured Pokemon!" He's visited a couple times now, and each time had come across at least one in particular. "I found my Borealis there as well."[break][break]

Perhaps Alexei would remember the graceful ice fox from the Winter Ball, where Florian had sent her out to aid in the excavation efforts.[break][break]

Was it bad to find relief in the other's dates not going to well? With the exception of the second, during the explanation of which Florian feels his jealousy rear up again, it seemed like he'd swooped in at an opportune time.[break][break]

When he's asked of his own experiences, his cheeks turn pink.[break][break]

"Oh, um." Arceus, how to make this sound less like he was fangirling? "W-Well, I met Dawn Grandier. He's really famous in the coordination scene and he was super nice. Then I had a lovely conversation with... Kazimir, was his name. He asked my advice about fairy-types, mostly."[break][break]

The back of his neck feels as if it's on fire. He is a forward, direct individual, and if he doesn't spit it out in the next couple minutes, someone else is going to have their chance to sweep the young gym leader off his feet.[break][break]

"I signed up to this to make friends, but that was when I did not know you would be here." He's blushing like mad, but he's sure to meet Alexei's gaze. Forward, direct. He's done this before. Ignore the fact that his previous relationships have not ended well. "We are already friends. But that is not the only reason people come here, no?"[break][break]

He'll be more direct if he has to, but he hopes that his words in combination with his anxious smile convey the hint while still leaving Alexei plenty of room to derail the conversation if he's not interested.

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There's a certain hesitation in Alexei's voice when he makes a comment on Florian's 'dates', and the young professor doesn't want to jump the gun in making any assumptions for what it might mean.[break][break]

Instead, he simply presses on until his point is made, burning cheeks and all, and reaches for his bottle of water like a lifeline — it's empty, of course, from earlier, and it crinkles in his grip. He wants to look away, lest the second-hand embarrassment from Alexei's flushed cheeks eat him alive, but he forces himself to maintain eye contact and his gentle smile does not falter.[break][break]

Florian laughs softly, part relief and part release of tension when Alexei finally stammers out a response.[break][break]

"Good!" he gushes, excited. He laughs again, ducks his head. "That's — great, yes, I-I'd love to—"[break][break]

Ding![break][break]

His giddy expression quickly gives way to surprised annoyance: how were you supposed to get anything done on these stupid dates if they didn't give you enough time to offer much beyond a name and an expression of interest?[break][break]

Brushing it off, he smiles at Alexei and reaches across the table to squeeze his hand. His heart flutters like a trapped bird. "I will meet you outside, once this is over, no? Then we can talk. About everything."

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