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all too soon, the pastoral image is broken by suits and dress shoes. dahlia detaches herself from the two bodyguards who remain, standing still as trees among the verdure.[break][break]

a humble hand rests upon her breast as she advances into atkins' arrangements. another hand clasps a small, yet tightly sealed box.[break][break]

"ah hello!" she comes closer, glimpsing the gold on comb and finger. "willow, i presume? and greyson of the elite four! it's nice to see you outside of the pokemon league for a change."[break][break]

the commissioner clasps her hands together over her box.[break][break]

"sorry to intrude," she says, still eyeing the honey, "but i believe i have possible business venture for you."

"incredible," she says with a grin as she watches him sink a finger into the gooey, viscous liquid. she has a few crackers sitting around somewhere, she's sure of it, but the sticky golden nectar is good enough to swallow down on its own. 

"this is about the yield we expected, actually. i'm honestly kind of thankful summer's almost over. it'll be a couple more weeks before they slow down still."

gretchen caterwauls and willow turns her head, eyeing the blonde stranger walking her property. it takes her longer than she'd like to admit to put a name to the face, but dahlia's colloquial manner with greyson is the last piece of the puzzle.

that and the bodyguards hanging around her. 

"ah, no intrusion at all. it's nice to meet you."

Greyson Connors dahlia goode

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"nice to meet you too." the commissioner offers a polite smile. "i'm here to propose a deal. one that may involve you too coincidentally enough." she says to greyson.[break][break]

her gaze flickers to the box in her hands. [break][break]

"oh right. let me... quickly dispense of the suspense." [break][break]

she opens the box and a bright magenta glow spills forth: a dynamax crystal.[break][break]

"we were wondering if atkins' arrangements would like to be involved in the development of max honey."

wait, she's here for me? willow looks up at greyson and then at the commissioner. a deal doesn't sound so bad, but they're already busy enough as it is. if it's anything too -

dahlia opens the box and willow flinches. the only exposure she's had with one of those things had not been kind. it had devastated grace's farm and hurt grace herself - not to mention the damage it had inflicted on a neighboring vespiquen population. 

"is it safe? i'm going to be honest with you, miss goode. we have our hands full here and if doing this can put my family in danger at all, i have to say no." she frowns at greyson. it's a sticky situation. they're a joint venture, yes, but it's her property. 

Greyson Connors dahlia goode

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i understand both of your concerns, but—"[break][break]

dahlia snuffs the ominous light with the click of a closing lid. however, she attempts to sweeten the deal before offering a plan b(ee).[break][break]

"—if atkins' arrangements is willing to collaborate with the league, you would be offered a special business grant. quite the generous one, mind you." [break][break]

the commissioner looks to greyson then willow, each glance weighted with personal purpose.[break][break]

"if danger is your worry, personnel can be assigned and dispatched."[break][break]

a generous, special business grant. an assuaging of her worries with the promise that she'll put bodyguards on the premises. willow's mouth falls to a flat line and she shifts from side to side. 

they could use the money. their margins are razor thin as it is and she doesn't have enough time in the day to manage the flowers, her grass-type patients, the bee hives, the livestock, and the shop. and ophelia's only eighteen, balancing her already overloaded schedule with schooling. 

if she could have afforded to hire someone else, she would have by now.

"okay," she says. "but i'll need some time to prepare some land." she looks at greyson. "i don't want all of our hives making it. we can have a dedicated space."

shrewd businesswoman she is, she says to dahlia, "if i provided the blueprints, could you have some of your folks make more boxes on the other side of the property?"

Greyson Connors dahlia goode

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with every decision, dahlia attempts to secure the future. each offer, each contract, sealed and signed on premium multipurpose creates foundations, but stacks no block. for how can one build properly when the future knows no shape?[break][break]

but she must try. inaction is a more grievous wound than a mistake is.[break][break]

"of course." the commissioner says to willow. "whatever you need."[break][break]

and whatever greyson requires.[break][break]

"we have discovered that dynamaxed vespiquen are able to filter dynergy into a more digestible form: max honey." the commissioner says. she wonders if she is becoming too verbose. she clips her enunciations tight in case she drones and dribbles. "even more peculiar is that certain pokemon, when fed max honey, are able to assume their mega evolved forms when dynamaxed. we call it the gigantamax factor."[break][break]

dahlia presses the box against her belly, keeping it balanced between it and her palm.[break][break]

"i understand your vespiquen are quite healthy and well-trained?" she says to the elite four member.[break][break]

she looks gratefully at greyson. grant aside, the most invaluable part of this deal will be the security. there hasn't been any follow-up yet, not that boruta maher has shared with her at least (and she trusts him, with her whole heart, to tell her), since the red-painted R on the side of his townhome. 

but after meeting jayden cross, after realizing where roman was, after Elisabeth Fiorelli's disappearance, she hasn't exactly had the best peace of mind. 

and they'll be careful. greyson wouldn't do anything that could endanger the farm; his queens and drones are, in all actuality, the most well-behaved residents on the property. 

so when dahlia asks, she interjects and says, "they are. we're still working through our surplus of honey from last spring."

dahlia goode Greyson Connors

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