@silverformed cont.
🔻 “ Aw shucks, for silly me? You shouldn’t have.” Said with a mock bat of eyelashes and a hum of laughter. The “disheveled look” goes two ways with his mop of silver and black flowing however which way. It’s a rite of passage for Pokémon professionals. Too many data, reports, pokemon, students and research to chase down to keep hair and outfits tidy. But he couldn’t help but particularly like the way Jacq’s look fell in place. A weird detail to fixate on, but they’ve just spent enough time together. Casual for once with a friend instead of professional while he’s stationed in Paldea. If Jacq had time after his classes he’d pop his head in to hang out or maybe go out for a churro and chat. Hopefully the other didn’t think his impromptu hangouts were too frequent or a bother. Friendship was a little odd when a solitary infield ecologist emerges from some deep woods or high mountain months in and gets social again. But Jacq seemed to tolerate or even like his quirks. Like getting distracted by some random plant or Pokémon on walks, or the way he can go off on tangents while talking, or talking too excitedly or loudly, or— “What? Really?” Back in the moment. Practically beaming. “I’d love to go with you! Even better if I can crash at your place. I don’t think the city will appreciate my quite bulky camper lab taking up a city block.” Wilderness ready but not quite meant for city streets. Saves him a nearly five mile trip back and forth on foot to the city outskirts.
“ Well I mean if ya dont really don’t mind…!” Suddenly sheepish. Where’s his manners? “ Sounds like it’s a big event for Paldea if you’re already going with someone else or meeting people there.” No one likes a guest that doesn’t know when to stop invading spaces. Was he still considered a guest even if it’s been awhile?
And just like that, most of the nerves that had been bundling up tightly in Jacq's head unwound some. Just the mere asking of the question had been eating at him most of that week. They'd missed out on a handful of times prior that he could have told his friend about that weekend's activities but it had just never felt like the right time.
A part of the educator knew that it should not have been such an awkward question to pose, yet the underlying reason behind asking Willow was a tad more delicate than simply asking him to hang out as friends. It probably was not a big secret to some of his colleagues who'd witnessed them interact together, but Jacq had a fairly decent sized crush on the Pokémon professor.
To many people's surprise, Jacq was actually fairly natural and even smooth or charming in his own way when it came to romantic endeavors. But it was always easier when pursuing someone more directly romantic from the start. Developing a crush on a friend brought all sorts of nerves and what-ifs about ruining a friendship if his feelings were either not reciprocated or flat out unwelcome. The last thing they wanted was to make anyone uncomfortable. In truth, it hadn't actually happened in any sort of detrimental way before but the anxiety surrounding such possibilities came at them pretty loud.
"Wizard," Jacq grinned with a nod. "I thought so too. Just made more sense for you to stay over. Honestly I'd been meaning to offer that whenever you're in the area. You're always welcome at my home," he said earnestly.
"It is a pretty big event. The festival starts out here in Mesagoza and travels around to a handful of other cities in the region over different weekends before returning to finish up here. There will be a lot of food, showcasing local cuisine, games and sometimes rides. A few contests and of course Pokémon trainer battles. Then once it gets dark enough, people light lanterns to signify the dreams and hopes they want to put forth into the world in hopes they come true. A lot of people make really neat lanterns that look like Pokémon and when there are fireworks set off at the same time at the end, it almost looks like there's a giant battle in the sky!"
Jacq seemed rather excited as they explained. Ironic because most people assumed by his appearance and demenor that they were more reserved and introverted. In truth, Jacq enjoyed experiencing --- well all sorts of things. "If you want we can go check out some of the latern kits available for purchase? It would be fun if you had one to work on and launch before the end of the weekend. They have all sorts of neat designs and we can work on it while we watch some of the contests or shows."