The sound of marker screeching against the clear glass scratched at their ears as Felix slowly etched out the location, time, and amount for each jar.

"I had fun, too." For once his response acts quick, lacing itself immediately after Mint's mini confession. He didn't want the man to keep misunderstanding his feelings-- despite his lack of words, he had truly begun warming up to his vibrant colleague. Somehow, his endless supply of energy wasn't always tiring to be around, and sometimes (though rare) he even preferred it.

"ana fell ?" His voice echoed back the unfamiliar name. For a second, he wondered what this woman looked like. How she battled like. The standard for beating Mint was already pretty...low, but he still grew curious about exactly how low it was. "Huh."

When the conversation finally shifted the spotlight back onto Felix, he only stared back at Mint and frowned. Something fun? Between work and training, was that even a possibility? He had helped August with some of his Algebra homework, which was a nice usage of bonding time, but somehow he expected that that wasn't the type of answer his companion was digging for. "I reconnected with an old friend of mine, I guess..."

@tag

Despite the impassive expression he continued to wear, the mercenary felt a zap of shock course through his system..

Him? Promising?

It was a compliment he hadn't expected to receive, much less from an admin he hadn't even spoken to up until now. He half expected most of them to do what his colleagues used to do back in ANVIL-- peer down and bet on the rookies they already vetted, leaving the faceless to seep further into obscurity.

"Goals..." His eyes drifted to the sandbag. Somehow, for the first time in his life, it was actually hard to articulate his objective. As it went far beyond fulfilling the objective of his higherups, and far beyond his own meager objective of simply being able to support August Gallagher .

"To hunt down the league's Avatars, I suppose." His gaze returned to THEO BECKETT , "As long as SPECTRA allows it."

THEO BECKETT

With an easy lift, Felix slugged the unconscious over his shoulder and carried it to the storeroom. A solid thud could be heard as he roughly dropped the body in its closet, followed by a series of soft footsteps as he returned back to the fellow rocket.

"hm?" His eyebrow raised with confusion. "Around a year ago. I came in with ANVIL."

The answer came with the assumption that Jayden recognized his company's name or the fact that Rocket even associated with the underground mercenary corps.

"...How about you?"

Jayden Cross. The familiar name could still be felt on the back of his tongue, stuck on like an insistent piece of taffy. Where did he hear it from again?

jayden cross

This time he turned to the woman, eyes both dull and at the same time, lightly interested. Maybe it was because of alcohol, or maybe it was what she had said. It didn't matter. Either way, she had managed to capture the rarity that was Felix's attention after a particularly draining afternoon.

"I agree." He nodded, voice gruff and strained. Lifting his cup to his lips, the sour liquid worked wonders on his throat, burning it just enough to spark a hint of life back into his body.

An eyebrow quirked upward, Felix's eyes slowly took note of the woman beside him, giving her a long, curious look before eventually deciding to inquire further. "Is that what you're looking for tonight? Some company?"

Summer Atreides

She was right. There were too many people here. But, fortunately for them, Felix's stature had allowed him tower over most of the crowd relatively easily, which made navigating through it a breeze. Not only that, but not many people felt too keen on blocking the path of a 6'7" scowling man.

When they had finally settled into that clearing, his eyes darted around them for a moment and his lips dipped into a thoughtful frown. "hm." Then, without discussion, he had let go of Illeana's hand, placed both of his hands onto her shoulders, then softly redirect her in a way that placed herself closer towards the side of the crowd with less people, and his back towards the bulk of the attendees.

Once he was satisfied with their position, he nodded, then retracted his arms back to sides.

"i'm a little surprised you said yes. i was prepared to get on my knees and beg."

He chuckled, amused. Was it really that surprising?

"I don't mind attending as long as you're with me." He answered honestly, "And I owe you for helping me out."

illeana reyes

"Got it." He nodded.

Grabbing the permanent marker and jars, the mercenary silently peered down at Mint as he worked away at the bloomings, lightly curious about how the process even worked. He knew for a fact that if he were the one doing the collecting, nothing would get done.

Unfortunately, while staring down at his hands at work, the harder part of this job revealed itself: answering Mint's instant questions. "I don't know." Was Felix's natural response. "I went out with you?"

mint frost

Observant eyes peered down at Jayden, carefully watching as he pressed his ear against the cool door. When he pulled away, Felix nodded.

Footsteps...

It made sense, given the time of day, and was only expected to pick up.

"Good enough," He answered, gruffly. Inching forward, the skilled mercenary took the place of Jayden and pressed his own ear against the door.

Tap...tap...tap...

With each click of the heel, Felix tapped his knee, counting, ever-so-slowly. The image of the hallway took shape in his mind, stretching and meshing into a 2D projection that he could precisely pinpoint the audible movement to his right. And, when that said movement made it passed their door...

Silent and deadly, Felix's trained arms swiftly stuck out the door, wrapped themselves around the guard's neck, and pulled him backward into the control room. He tried escaping, of course, but his flailing could not loosen the mercenary's tight grip.

In time, his body would move no longer.

@tag

Felix offered a slow, understanding nod as he narrowed his gaze to patching of glowing blooms.

"I do see."

When Mint went and sent out his Pokemon, Felix followed suit, releasing his staraptor from its ball with swift ease. "Do the same," He ordered the flying-type briefly after his partner had finished giving off his commands.

After the two had departed from their trainers, Felix glanced at Mint. "We're just here to retrieve it, right? Seems simple enough."

mint frost

"Sure."

The answer had popped out faster than he had thought it would. But, to be fair, it had been a long day, and a chance to relax with a cold beer sounded better than trudging immediately back home.

Felix went and quickly finished up tending his seedling. Then, with that matter settled, he'd go and saunter back over to the man, wearing a frown itching for some beer.

Reaching out his hand, he accepted the welcoming drink and slowly plopped himself into the spare chair. "...how long do you stay here," He asked before taking a swing of the drink.

paxton concordas

Felix naturally found himself shifting the rhyme of his stride to match illeana reyes 's, allowing him to hover only an inch or so behind her. When she turned back to him, his lips slipped into a similar small smile, and his eyebrows raised with interest.

"I haven't."

The idea of entering a distortion was far too complex for him to grasp, nor did he care to do so in the first place. It was something he'd just have to experience firsthand, he had thought, and with the way things were heading, he wouldn't have to wait too much longer for an answer to that question.

Though...

His heavy gaze cast downward at her, a glint of concern hidden beneath his eyes. It didn't seem like she held the same solace he had. "People always exaggerate things, Illie," Felix murmured. Lifting his hand, he gingerly rested on her closest shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "I doubt it's anything terrifying. "

illeana reyes

A dragapult, huh? Felix gave the ghastly pokemon a short stare as it easily spat out a portal for them to venture into. It was a useful tool to have, he had thought, and reminded himself of his own desire to capture a similar Pokemon.

"Be careful," He whispered to his Gardevoir, stern with care. Gallade would kick his ass if he allowed her to get hurt. With words of caution flatly stated, he held out a hand to the pokemon, then went and grabbed jayden cross 's. Soon, the group was able to fall into the portal, instantly transversing to the insides of the storage room. The actual transporting itself felt strange-- like his organs were flipping in on themselves, becoming bags of twisted flesh. It wasn't a terrible feeling.

When they finally settled into their new reality, Felix took a moment to readjust himself before looking at Jayden. With a hushed voice, he asked, "Can your Dragapult scout out the area?"

jayden cross