[SG]

Table 17, Date 1

Jason Smith & Juni Savage are seated at the table.

Three optional icebreaker questions are offered:
1. If you could be granted three wishes, what would they be?
2. What is the cheesiest pickup line you have heard?
3. If your friends compared you to a Pokemon, which Pokemon would it be?

Feel free to discuss any of these or use your own icebreaker!

[Juni Savage]

Juni wasn’t sure how she felt about this. It had sounded so reasonable and professional on paper, but now that she was there, it felt chaotic and awkward. She felt small, uncomfortable, and a little on edge— despite the fact she hadn’t said a damn thing to anyone yet. Breathe… just breathe…. Don’t have to match with anyone… could just be like… making friends even… She didn’t have a lot of friends, though, so that didn’t help either. Ok never mind. Worst case scenarios here…. Uhm….

Her fingers drummed the table Juni had found relatively quickly before she flipped up the card again to read the name of the person again. Jace— Well she hoped they hadn’t been paired just because their names both started with a J— not that she actually thought that but still— it was random though wasn’t it? Right right…. Right… Another deep breath was taken in— only for a motion to catch in the corner of her eye. Juni immediately glanced over. To someone who…. Looked terribly young. Uh. Oh boy. “Uh… hi….”

[Jason Smith]

So young Jace pretty much had no idea what was going on. The teen had only recently departed the ferry from Plum and, in a bit of a panic after spotting a passing police vehicle, he'd ducked inside the resturant hosting this event. The over eager hostess had greeted, him took his name, and before he'd realized it a name tag had been slapped on his blue hoodie, a table number thrust into his hands and he'd been sent out into the sea of tables and couples.

At least Zag was with him, perched atop the male's blond head, the shiny zigzagoon gazed wide eyed out over the random couples dotted about the room. Jace chewed his lip looking very lost when he stumbled upon Table 17 where the redheaded woman, and very much a mature woman, not a girl, sat now staring back at him.

His cheeks flushed and Jace stood there rather awkwardly as he was slowly getting the idea of what this whole thing was. "Oh... oh wow. Um, hi." The teen wasn't exactly sure what to do now. As his mother would say, it would be quite rude to walk out on a lady. Plus he spotted another wave of police cars whipping by, lights and sirens flashing. Sure they were probably on their way to something much more important than tracking down a runaway but at least in here it was warm, dry and he was just one in a sea of faces.

Zag of course was much more inclined to make the introductions himself and the orange zigzagoon hopped down from the teen's head and onto the table, more than happy to make the researcher's acquaintance. The naive little raccoon dog thrust his nose toward the redhead, sniffing her for all the interesting smells people like her carried but also wanting pets as few could resist the adorable orange ball of fluff.

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[Juni Savage]

Juni bit the inside of her mouth. She didn’t even know what to say or do or anything. Should she go up to the front and mention this kid looked way too young for her or was this just a thing and if so what did she get herself into and—

Uh, what?? Juni’s thoughts cut themselves off as a particularly cute Zigzagoon jumped on the table, and a sudden involuntary smile pulled across her face. Oh a baby…. Growing up in Hoenn, Juni had come across so many of these sweet (and crafty) Pokemon, and when she was younger, she even had one of her own. He was long gone now, but tender memories remained.

“…Hello sweetheart…” Juni spoke softer reaching up to ruffle both hands through the shiny fur. “Oh you’re so soft and shiny!” she leaned forward and rubbed her face against the Zigzagoon’s mane briefly before sitting back up. “He’s a shiny isn’t he?” she asked looking up at Jace again with something refreshed looking. “I’ve only ever seen that coloration in books.”

[Jason Smith]

If there was one thing in life Jace could count on, it was Zag's ability to break the ice. The zigzagoon was more like a big puppy and just loved attention. The teen gave a small sigh as he took a seat and ran his fingers through his mussed blond hair. He was pretty much still wearing what he'd worn the night he'd run away, jeans, off white sweatshirt under a blue-green hoodie and tennis shoes.

The mature woman across from him seemed suited to the environment while he very much did not. The hotel restaurant was rather posh and Jace felt even more uncomfortable just being in a place so nice. Zag leaned into Juni's pets and let his tongue loll obviously enjoying himself and not caring at all about their surroundings. The teen nodded slowly and grinned a little.

"Yea, he was a bit of a surprise that's for sure. Zag was my first pokemon. He pretty much goes everywhere with me." Jace figured it was probably better if he didn't go into details on how exactly the orange zigzagoon had come into his possession or that the acquisition of the racoon dog was a big part of what had lead to him spending roughly three years in juvie. Those sorts of things weren't something one discussed on a 'first date'.

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[Juni Savage]

Juni breathed a little easier. Even if she was pretty sure she’d never want to date someone so young, she was at least aware that she was comfortable enough to at least…. Be around them. Or at least be around this cute fluffball with them. Shiny Pokemon were so rare even with things like Shiny Powder being available, and Zigzagoon were already cute so an orange Zigzagoon? The cutest.

Red eyes pulled up and away from Zag for just a moment to survey the Zigzagoon’s owner again. He looked…. Very out of place there considering what she had already seen. She had to wonder if the free food and drink was what lured him in there in the first place— or if maybe there was just a younger population on the whole and they were on either sides of the bell curve.

“I grew up in Hoenn where these little guys are very common,” she replied, ruffling the Zigzagoon’s fur a little more roughly for a moment. “My first Pokemon was a Torchic named Flare.” He was long gone now too, but at least she had a son of his still. "Did you get this one at the lab or did a trainer catch him for you or?” She knew of plenty of ways people acquired Pokemon— and wouldn’t inherently consider illegal means right then.