The Dance Floor [Cecilia/?]

Doug found his gaze wandering towards the watch on his wrist more often the longer he worked the counter. It was unfortunate, but serving alcohol was a rather boring job towards the child, even with the... 'interesting' results it tended to cause.

Bored as he was with the scenery and the regular patrons of the bar in general, it didn't really take him long to spot the tiny figure making her way towards his counter through the mass of youths.

Pink hair was an interesting color for a hairdye. Ah well, it looked good on her he supposed.

"We have whatever you want, ma'am." Was the boy's response as he reached underneath the counter and grasped some lemons and the rest of the ingredients, his hands beginning to make the lemonade swiftly. 

"It's not my place to ask, but... should someone as young as you be here, ma'am?" He asked her, rather mildly concerned. 

The hypocrisy of the question was lost on him.

"Ah, regardless. What brings you tonight to our..." His words were interrupted by the sudden whooping and chanting of a group of youths on the other side of the club, the boy clicking his tongue and rolling his eyes irritably shortly after. "respectable establishment, ma'am?"

---

"Yeah, I don't get it either." He replied as he placed the girl's lemonade in front of her. He hadn't really expected to keep going, to be honest. Usually the clients weren't eager to chat up the 13 year old behind the counter. Then again, usually the clients were at least 3 years older than him.

"So your pokemon got held back outside." He supplied the rest of the context bluntly, reaching for a glass and beginning to wipe the inside with a handkerchief. 

It wasn't exactly hard. Pokemon outside their pokeballs were the only thing in the bar's 'no no' list.

Watching her take a glance towards the dance floor before telling him she was 'warming up', he snorted, reaching under the counter to produce another menu. 

If she was waiting for someone worthwhile, she would be warming up for quite a while.

"You get one on the house, for the inconvenience our rules caused." He said simply as he held out the new menu towards her. Not a list of drinks, but of dishes and 
He considered her question as he waited for her to order something else, leaning against the counter while reaching for another glass.

"Cash." He supplied bluntly shortly after, shrugging his shoulders. "The pay was specially good, all things considered... at the time. I can see why now." He said, reaching for his ear with a hand and grimacing.

"Not too sure it was worth all this, I'll admit." He finished with a sigh, before shrugging. "Are you from Nair City?"

---

"There's only so many things that can keep you out of this place." Replied the boy simply, setting down a now clean glass on the counter. It would serve its purpose later; nothing stayed clean for long in that club,

"If it's any consolation, it's not about being 'civilized'. The owner is just more afraid of drunk pokemon than drunk teenagers." That said, she wasn't wrong. Her pokemon probably was more civilized than the neanderthals inside the club. 

He simply smirked at the thanks. "Just trying to keep my one civilized client around a little longer." He wasn't even shocked that the one person his age had been the only one with a  modicum of decency.

"Vegetarian, Vegan, or just on a diet?" Asked the boy at her question, tilting  a brow. "I like to think of myself as a connoisseur." He supplied cockily, shrugging his shoulders before citing one of the items. "There's the caprese pasta salad with hemp pesto. A favorite of mine." When meat wasn't available anyways. "If dairies ain't your thing, there's the kale caesar salad with pepper garlic croutons as well." 

Those were some of the few salads he had mastered; mostly because he liked their taste. Though he was a chef, he didn't know about salads as much as, say, his dad.

He could only grimace at her worse, offering a half smile in response. "I dunno. I considered quitting three times just two hours ago. This people wear you out quick." He bemoaned, before reaching for an empty glass and filling it with beer, sliding it over the counter all the way towards an approaching youth. "And if you don't know, don't look too hard into the dance floor. You don't wanna see how 'rowdy' they can get."

He had seen things while working in this place.

"I was just guessing, since you are here in Nair and all." He excused, shrugging at her. "I'm from Shaula Town. Just passing by Nair, really. Thought I would scout the gym, get some cash and then keep on my way. This should be my last job before I leave for the next city." Thankfully.

"What about you?" He asked, leaning forward slightly, cocking his head. "What brings ya to Nair City? Beyond your raw, uncontainable,  party animal spirit, I mean."

---

He supposed he should have been counting his lucky stars. Though conversation's topic was relatively mundane, Cecilia had given him the most conversation the boy had gotten throughout the entire night.

He didn't really care much for the club's policy on pokemon, not being the kind of child to ever think much about such things, but he did think it was a dumbass move regardless.

"Unfair, but mostly dumb, I would say." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. His father had done a very good job, if he did say so himself, in homeschooling his kid to be a self sufficient Chef, a part of it being one's own advertiser and marketer.

"Barring pokemon cuts out a large segment of the possible target audience." Not something he would have done, personally, but he wouldn't have allowed people such as the majority on the dance floor in either, so whatever.

"It's always nice to know I compare favorably to those dudes." He said with a wink as he grabbed at another glass and began wiping at the inside with a handkerchief. He set down the clean glass on the counter, grasping at a few bottles of different alcohols and whipping up a swift drink before sliding it off to the side to another client that had been gesturing at him from afar.

"Vegetarian then; Should be easy to whip something up." He said as he reached under the counter and began to grasp regular cooking tools and ingredients for the girl's meal. 

As he began working on the meal, he gave the girl a smirk when she echoed his previous words, wondering if she was following the joke or taking him seriously.

He was a chef, yes, though if he could be considered a connoisseur in some type of meal, salads would most definitely not be one of 'em.

"I see. Well, guess even the soul of the party must take a break from the dance floor once in a while." He said with an amused grin,

"Anyway, if that's what you seek Nair is a good starting point; been to Rana myself before. Pretty small town." A City like Nair was probably a large shock to the system to country bumpkin like her. It certainly been to one like him.

"I've not been around that much. Explored a bit of eastern Stellara before moving North, though. It's where I caught a large number of my little dudes." He said as he reached for his waist coat and tugged it to the side, revealing the tiny, minimized Net Balls inside. 

"I am just a humble, multi talented Pokemon trainer, Chef, Martial Artist, awesome dancer... Oh, and future champion." He said facetiously(?). The delivery had been so straight faced that it was hard to tell, though the words could not possibly have been serious. Surely.

"After this I may make way to the Western side of Stellara. I hear the beaches are nice. Port Cities are full of tourists too; pretty good for business." Some of his favored dishes sold specially well near beaches; people just seemed to get in the mood for that special kind of craving it seemed.

"Say; will you be trying the gym challenge?" He asked after a second, looking at her. 

---

Doug couldn't disagree with her. The city lost its charm quickly after you spent a few hours in it.

"Shaula was fine. Bit old fashioned and kind of sleepy for a town of Martial Artists and Dragons, but still much better than these concrete jungles." He replied. "The city has its charms, but I just can't deal with how noisy it is."

He wouldn't have changed much of his town; maybe their obsession with keeping technological advancements at bay. Some of the tech in the city was so convenient... It was still a big maybe, however, If technology meant becoming like one of the big cities, letting Shaula stay as it was would be the better choice by far.

As for recommendations... Honestly, he hadn't really been around that much. He could make a few recommendations off the top of his head, though.

"Eastern Stellara has Irra Beach, if you are into that kind of stuff. I prefer Kaxyl Forest myself; been going there since I was a little kid. Perfect spot for bug catching, or just bug studying in general, really. I used to draw a lot of the Bugs I saw there." Before he graduated to actually capturing them.

His slew of self congratulatory titles was met with a giggle and what he was fairly sure was a playful barb. Maybe she was actually being serious? He couldn't help but snort at the thought. 

He reached into his pocket, producing his contact card for her. It had a simple, black matte surface with a neon green spider web dipping into the lower left corner. His PokeNav contact info was written onto it, as well. It also read: 

'Douglas Freeman, Future Pokemon Champion'.

Well, now she knew if he had just been kidding around before.

"If I ever forget, just show me this and smack me upside the head. Should kick off my memory." He said with a playful wink, not able to keep character for long and breaking into a snort shortly after.

He could not disagree with her; Beaches were so much better than these damn clubs.

"Yeah! There's literally nothing you can't do at a club that isn't better at the beach!" Dancing? Check. Hanging out with friends? Check. No creeps approaching you and putting the moves on you? Eh... Well, it was easier to deal with them during the day while surrounded by a lot of people than in the dark night club, at least.

"Like I said before, Irra Beach. I took a jog in the morning over there a while back; real nice." He wondered what Squall was doing these days...

His thoughts were interrupted when Cecilia dismissed the idea of ever challenging gyms.

"Really?" He asked, blinking at her as if the concept flew over his head entirely. "How come?" He had to ask. There plenty of reasons for people to not like pokemon battling, mind you, but every time he met a person who didn't like it, he just needed to ask. 

"You know I'm just here for the money." He said with a smirk shortly after. "And to scout the Nair City Gym." He remembered shortly after, before glancing at his wristwatch. "My shift should be nearly over soon, actually."

His substitute couldn't get there quickly enough.

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