A Slice of Life

Great Catch

Only a few more steps and two more eggs would hatch - two Eevees for two more evolutions so he'd complete the full set. And, there was a strong gym nearby - Aleksei remembered from the last time he was in the park. He frowned at his screen in concentration as he walked, barely paying attention to his surroundings.

There were some pretty tough Pokemon to beat in the gym. But if he managed to get in the gym and stay for enough hours he would get some coins. Since he was done working for the day, he had plenty of time to spare, especially because the coins should be enough to buy another set of incubators. He noticed a couple of familiar nicknames in the gym, knowing he had plenty of time to beat them. They only played during the weekends anyway.

Aleksei was focused on fighting the Pokemon in the gym, not aware of his surroundings. He was surprised when a dog suddenly came running towards him. The dog enthusiastically jumped around him, barking to gain his attention.

Aleksei blinked, looking away from his screen. "Hey there," he said to the dog, crouching down and patting his head because he looked friendly enough. "You smell pizza, huh? At least someone thinks I smell nice. What are you doing here? Where's your owner?"

Samuel hurried around a bush, finding Rex jumping around Aleksei happily. He wanted to call out for Rex to come back, but in the same time, he didn't exactly mind that Rex had decided to run towards a cute boy. He hadn't expected to ever see him again, since he didn't recall ever seeing any of the other delivery guys after they once delivered food at his doorstep. But in this case, he was glad he did see him again. There was something about the boy that he liked—though it wasn't the moody attitude from the day before.

Rex betrayed his presence, however, when he looked up at Samuel and barked.

Samuel felt his face heat up, since he almost got caught staring thanks to Rex. Luckily, Aleksei hadn't looked up yet, so he decided to pretend he was just walking towards them. He surely didn't want Aleksei to notice he had been staring at them from a distance. What if Aleksei would think he was a creepy guy for doing that? That would be awkward.

Aleksei didn't notice the dog's owner until there was a shadow cast on him. He immediately looked up, realising there was someone standing there.

And not just anyone. Aleksei's heart skipped a few beats when he noticed it was the hot jerk he'd delivered pizza to. The guy he thought he'd never see again, Sam.

Sam noticed Aleksei was playing Pokemon Go, by the looks of his phone screen, and for some reason he didn't find it geeky. It was nice to see Aleksei do what he wanted, even if Pokemon Go wasn't that popular anymore. It wasn't so much the fact he didn't think the game wasn't geeky, because let's face it; it was a little. But somehow Aleksei made it seem casual.

Aleksei quickly stuffed his phone in his pocket when he saw Sam's eyes on the screen, feeling a red flush crawl up to his cheeks.

"Did you try to catch my dog?" Sam joked, trying to get a smile or laugh from the boy, grabbing Rex' collar to prevent him from jumping around, or worse, run off again.

Shit. Busted. Sam had definitely seen him play Pokemon Go like a total geek. No, worse, like a total geek who didn't even keep up with the latest trends.

Sam looked like the type of guy who was popular in school and would pick on him for still playing an old game. Or playing games like this in general. Then again, Sam hadn't picked on him yet. Not really.

"No," Aleksei replied sheepishly.

Samuel had noticed the blush on Aleksei's cheeks, and he obviously didn't get that Samuel was just joking about catching his dog. Besides, he really wanted to see Aleksei smile again, so he decided on lightening the mood a bit more. "Good, because I caught this one already," he told him with a smile.

"So," Aleksei said, lowering his gaze to Rex rather than looking at Sam. "Your dog's cute," he quickly changed the topic. Thank God for dogs, they were always a safe topic. And so was food. "He likes pizza, huh?"

Samuel scowls in response to Aleksei calling his dog cute. His dog wasn't cute! What guy wanted to hear that his dog is cute? "He isn't cute, he's a strong fighter." Samuel told him while patting his dog proudly. "But yeah, he loves pizza. Especially with pineapple. No cheese, though."

"Oh, I see." Aleksei looked at Rex, who was happily wagging his tail with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Yes, he looked like a dangerous fighter, absolutely.

Samuel was glad he could stay busy with keeping Rex in place, because he really didn't know what to say anymore. Aleksei was hard to entertain—he didn't laugh over his jokes and he didn't smile a lot either. On the contrary, Aleksei took it all a little too serious. "Soo..." Samuel drawls, getting the impression Aleksei didn't really like him, or his humour.

"So," Aleksei parrotted dumbly. There were no other words coming to mind. No English words, at least. It was already hard for him to express himself sometimes, and the nerves because he was talking to a very good-looking guy weren't making this any easier.

"Well," Aleksei tried again. His eyes fell on Rex.

Rex, the ultimate saviour of the day.

"I should probably go." Aleksei jutted a thumb over his shoulder. "Apparently, my pizza scent attracts dogs, and while yours is cu— a strong fighter, I should go change."

Sam looked back and forth between Aleksei and Rex, holding the dog close to him. He did feel disappointed that Aleksei needed to go, but then noticed the time on his watch. He realised he needed to get home in time for dinner. "Yeah, uh, I should go too. My dad will kill me if I come home late." And he was already running late, but he couldn't help it. He liked talking to Aleksei.

Despite the awkwardness.

Aleksei immediately wondered what was up with that remark about his dad. Then he reminded himself, again, that Sam was a stranger. Running into him again was super coincidental and he doubted it would happen again. Sure, he knew where Sam lived, but using that knowledge was just... stalkerish. He knew that, even if he now felt a disappointed pang in his chest as he watched Sam walk away.