[attr="class","seratest2text"]

Seraphine flipped through the contents of the classified file, mouth turned down in a slight frown as she concentrated. Francis Belmont looked like he had gone through hell. Which, of course, he had. The final photograph was a depiction of the particularly gruesome aftermath of Mr. Belmont's most recent interrogation. Unfazed, Seraphine closed the file with a decisive flick of her wrist, and met Gavin's gaze.[break][break]
"Tragic, for a man to die at such a relatively young age." Her eyes flashed with a hint of devious confidence. She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. "Is there a family? Family always complicates things." Though her tone was businesslike, she couldn't help but think of her own family and what they might think for her to mysteriously show up dead one day. Her sisters would be heartbroken, and her mother distressed. Would her father care?[break][break]
She didn't bother to let that train of thought waste even a second more of her time. Instead, she pulled her briefcase onto her lap and clicked it open. Inside were several important document templates - a will, a power of attorney, a death certificate, a cremation and autopsy report. Though Gavin had been somewhat discrete when he'd contacted her about this job, she had come prepared. This was Rocket, after all. And they were quite adept at making people permanently disappear, one way or another.

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Mission: A Deadly Job[break]
+ Seraphine's Outfit

ORIGINAL TEMPLATE BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","seratest2text"]



Seraphine couldn't help but smile at the sight of her burly handyman sniffing the delicate lavender flower; the contrast between Bishop's ultra-masculine tough guy demeanor and the small flower made for a striking, if oddly tender, image. Seraphine found herself suddenly desiring to draw Bishop - with or without the flower. Some other time, she told herself, blushing a little. She'd dragged him all the way out here so she could draw fields of wild lavender, after all.[break][break]
She immediately turned her attention to the picnic Rouge was laying out before them. To Bishop's question, she answered, "I've purchased several artisan sandwiches from a local shop nearby to Galerie Mirage, as well as containers of potato salad, three bean dip, and hummus. There are baby carrots and pita chips for dipping. We've got fresh watermelon, too. Oh, and of course, the dessert!" She pointed at the small layer cake Rouge had just finished preparing. "The cake is from a bakery I recently found out about; they were serving it at an event I attended at Slateport Art Gallery."[break][break]
Something gold glinted amidst the sea of purple around them, and Seraphine's equally golden eyes widened as she noticed a Lunatone drifting lazily towards their picnic area. The Pokémon was beautiful, its crescent moon shape glistening in the mid-afternoon summer sun.[break][break]
"Rouge, darling," she murmured to the Smeargle, who looked up from where he was now dutifully laying out her art supplies in an organized fashion. She quietly pulled out an empty Pokéball from her purse and pointed at the Lunatone. Rouge nodded in understanding, and leapt to her side. With a wave of his colorful brush-tipped tail, he SKETCHED the Lunatone's Hypnosis ability. With a second tail swish, he then used HYPNOSIS to put the Lunatone to sleep. Seraphine threw her Pokéball, pleased.[break][break]
"My, that was fortuitous," she said to Bishop. "I've always admired Lunatone and Solrock. Those Pokémon have such lovely celestial symbolism." She didn't attempt to explain herself further; it was an art thing.

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Duo Wild (Psychic/Normal)[break]
+ Seraphine's Outfit[break]
+ Seraphine is catching LUNATONE

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","seratest2text"]

It did not take Seraphine particularly long to render an exact likeness of the esteemed dahlia goode on her provided canvas; in fact, she was nearly finished her sketch when the ridiculous hoard of extra "Dahlia models" entered the room, a comical exaggeration of tonight's muse. Not even the obnoxious pop music that had begun blaring from a nearby Rotom could distract the master artist from her task: a few moments later, and the sketch was complete.[break][break]
She stretched, intending to take a short break before she began painting, and turned to @nikita again. "My, that cake does look good," she commented, but before she could wave over a Mr. Mime to deliver her a piece, she noticed MADAME MAGNIFIQUE standing nearby and beckoned the rather eccentric woman over to her easel.[break][break]
"My darling woman," she purred to her peer, "I was just thinking that perhaps you'd be willing to feature my portrait of the Commissioner in your gallery once it is complete, as a favor?" She waved at her in-progress masterpiece, the body language of a woman who knew she was the best in the room - better even than the party's host. "Cross-promotion between our galleries could be most fortuitous indeed. I would be happy to send over several of my other recent works, as well. I did a Splashfest series I think you'd love." She paused, remembering Nikita's earlier complaints about the wine. Sure, the Mr. Mime had brought a delectable-looking cake, but perhaps she could do these women one better.[break][break]
"Oh, and Mimi? You wouldn't happen to have any of those bottles of Kalosian champagne I know you love? I think this occasion calls for something especially celebratory, wouldn't you agree?"

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Seraphine's Outfit[break]
+ TLDR:

• Seraphine is using her popularity to encourage Madame Magnifique to agree to feature her in-progress Dahlia portrait - and several of her other works - in the Slateport Art Gallery after the party.
• She has also made a rather strong suggestion that better wine be provided for the ladies...

ORIGINAL TEMPLATE BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","seratest2text"]

Seraphine had heard about this "Paint, Sip Wine, and Get to Know the Girls!" event through the grapevine, and she had almost not attended, as her presence at such an event would, naturally, be extremely unfair to everyone else in attendance. After all, she was a master painter, and most of the women around her were decidedly not.[break][break]
But when had she ever been one to care overly much about flaunting her talents? If she made anyone else feel bad, that was their problem, not hers. She simply could not pass up the opportunity to gain a little more face time with the esteemed Elisabeth Fiorelli, as well as potentially overhear some of Slateport's juiciest drama. Drama meant divorces, affairs, and any number of reasons one might be in need of a forgery. She was doing more than simply showing off tonight.[break][break]
The seats nearest to Elisabeth were taken by the time Seraphine arrived (fashionably late, of course), but a woman she did not instantly recognize nearby to Elisabeth caught her attention. Sliding into a seat next to @nikita, she inclined her head to the sophisticated looking woman, making note of her prosthetic arm without outright staring. "I don't believe we've met," she said politely. "My name is Seraphine D'Aureville." She had brought her own supplies of course - these tacky painting socials might provide decent wine, but they were always so cheap about the actual brushes and paints - and began to casually unpack them.[break][break]
Dahlia Goode was the collective muse, it seemed. Perhaps if her portrait was good enough - which, of course, it would be - Dahlia might want to purchase it. The woman must be quite stressed as of late, she thought, thinking of the meteor hurtling its way towards Hoenn. Perhaps I'll give her a discount when the time comes.[break][break]
Shaking her head in refusal as a Mr. Mime offered her some cheese, Seraphine began to sketch out Dahlia's facial features, listening idly to the chatter around her. Was that famous pop star Melody Miro over there? Seraphine would have to greet her. Next to Elisabeth, a young blond (ana fell) burped loudly, and Seraphine's mouth turned down in distaste.[break][break]

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Seraphine's Outfit

ORIGINAL TEMPLATE BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","seratest2text"]



"Here," Seraphine declared, stopping so suddenly that Rouge nearly ran into her from behind. She inhaled deeply with an audible sigh of contentment, the rich scent of wild lavender filling her with a sense of profound triumph. The particularly vibrant field of purple flowers extended into the distance before them, as picturesque as a postcard, exactly what she had hoped to find.[break][break]
About thirty minutes prior, Seraphine had forced her traveling companions off the main road of Route 116, insisting that the spot she wanted to paint was through a thicket of trees...several thickets of trees later, and they had found it. Good thing Bishop agreed to this, she thought, unfolding a delicate pocket handkerchief and blotting the sweat from her brow. She stole a glance at her handyman, who she had charged with carrying all of her art supplies, a blanket for sitting on, and her small travel easel. She, of course, was in charge of the picnic basket. Well, Rouge was. She'd handed it over to him the moment she'd finished packing it that morning.[break][break]
"This is exactly what I was looking for," She explained, victorious. "There's a small microbrewery out this way, too. I've been there once." She'd made some art for it a year or so ago. "Anyway, let's set everything up."

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Duo Wild (Psychic/Normal)[break]
+ Seraphine's Outfit

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","seratest2text"]



Even if you weren't.[break][break]
Seraphine couldn't help recalling the sound of her father's pathetic begging the night she'd learned he'd lost their fortune in a string of gambling disasters. Addicted to the cage fights, the casinos, the horse races...the disgusting man had bet the deed to their ancestral home, even. Seraphine had had to seduce that particular business associate of her father's in order to buy them a little more time before losing the estate. Her sisters, thank Arceus, did not know the details of their current situation. And they will never have to know, she resolved, not for the first time. She'd been able to protect them this long; she would keep doing so, paying back her father's debts one forgery at a time.[break][break]
"That's right," Seraphine smiled at Bishop, hoping he could not see the distaste she felt upon recalling such unpleasant realities. "I will always be an artist, regardless of my financial situation." It occurred to her, then, that he had actually listened to her - something not all of the men in her life had been decent enough to do - and she could see the hint of a curious look to his expression, as if he were trying to work out the answer to a fascinating, if difficult, riddle. She reached out on a whim and put her hand on top of his in a subtly intimate gesture. "It's okay that you don't understand," she murmured softly. "I don't mind, as long as you stick around."[break][break]
After a pregnant pause, she cleared her throat and pulled her hand back, blushing slightly. She finished her salad as Rouge hungrily gobbled up all of his fruit and walnuts. "When you're ready, we can head back to the mural," she said to Bishop in her usual business-like tone. "I'm ready to paint."

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Mission: I Relicanth Thank You Enough[break]
+ Seraphine's Outfit

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","scommscredit"]

[attr="class","seratest2text"]

Sootopolis Prison was both a fascinating and intimidating structure. Built into the side of a massive cliff face, outside of the crater that was home to Sootopolis City, the majority of cells were extremely high up and had outward-facing open windows that offered spectacular views of the ocean. The bars that had once been built into these windows when the prison was controlled by the League had been more recently removed to better allow inmates to hear the siren call of escape - which, of course, was a lie. There was no safe way, without the aid of a Pokémon, to descend the jagged rock wall into the raging depths of the sea.[break][break]
It was a Rocket intimidation tactic that Seraphien found most impressive. If anyone did happen to miraculously survive a climb or jump, the regularly timed Rocket patrols would catch them, of course.[break][break]
There was no true escape.[break][break]
Seraphine's heels echoed sharply as she strode into the Sootopolis Prison, two security guards flanking her on either side. A man awaited her inside, one Cillian Quinn. Dressed in all black and carrying a sleek leather briefcase, Seraphine approached her patron and nodded her head to him in respect.[break][break]
“I received your message,” She said to him, golden eyes sparkling. “I brought the requested materials. ”

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Mission: A Deadly Job[break]
+ Seraphine's Outfit

ORIGINAL TEMPLATE BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","scommscredit"]

[attr="class","seratest2text"]



Seraphine picked out several walnuts from her salad, and idly handed them to Rouge, who took them eagerly. They were one of his favorite foods. He'd also wanted a fruit cup, which she'd purchased for him, and he sprinkled the walnuts on top like an ice cream topping. She smiled fondly at him and his somewhat eccentric tastes, then turned to Bishop as he inquired about how she started getting into painting in the first place.[break][break]
Once more, she felt a small, pleasant thrill of surprise - she hadn't necessarily expected Bishop to care enough about her to ask such a personal question. Zev Harcourt never used to care about my art, why would Bishop? She thought, her most recent serious ex coming to mind all of a sudden. And yet, it was becoming clear to Seraphine that Bishop and Zev were nothing alike - criminals, yes, but entirely different men.[break][break]
Zev was - is - an asshole, but it does me little good to dwell on it.[break][break]
"I grew up in a large estate in Laverre City, in Kalos," Seraphine explained to Bishop. "The eldest daughter of three, the inheritor of a great fortune, it was my parents' wish that I become skilled in all of the areas young noble ladies ought to be skilled in: riding, archery, embroidery, music, history, fine arts. Out of everything I was made to study, I loved painting the most. It wasn't a chore, like the other hobbies I was forced to take up - it was truly enjoyable." Her expression glazed over slightly as she remembered setting up makeshift easels in hidden spots in the gardens behind the D'Aureville mansion and painting for hours at a time, skipping all of her other lessons, until a servant would find her and drag her back inside. Eventually, the adults in her life realized that she was actually quite skilled at art - and that perhaps there was more to be gained by enrolling her in a fine arts academy than there was in forcing her to continue with her other studies. Except father, She thought bitterly. He wasn't home enough to notice.[break][break]
"In any case, painting has always been a great passion of mine. It has kept me sane through hard times, and it has helped me get to know myself better." She paused, considering her words. "I also experience a different side of the world when I paint. I get lost in the beauty of every small detail - not just the physical way things look, but the emotions they are able to evoke. A flower isn't just a flower, it's the feeling of being remembered when someone sends you a bouquet, or of getting married to the love of your life, or of the first signs of spring after a long winter."[break][break]
She blushed slightly and took a bite of salad. It was unlike her to ramble so much, but for some reason, she had been quite eager to answer his question.

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Mission: I Relicanth Thank You Enough[break]
+ Seraphine's Outfit

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","seratest2text"]



The man's verbal praise was sincere, but so was his knowing smirk. Seraphine met his gaze as another rumble of thunder passed overhead, less deafening this time (the storm must be fading), and understood that while Martín del Mar might be a genuine fan of fine arts, it was time to move on to discussing her other talents. She smiled back at him, golden eyes shining with a bold confidence, then turned to walk in the direction of the spiral staircase leading up to her private studio. She noticed Rouge out of the corner of her eye hurrying over to the table where she had prepared the Kalosian wine. Good thinking, dear.[break][break]
"Please follow me," she suggested, though it was more of a command. "I would like to show you where I do all of my work. I think you will find the process quite fascinating."[break][break]
It was not a long journey to the second floor of Galerie Mirage. She held the door for Martín and Rouge as they entered the cozy studio and clicked it gently shut behind them. Rouge immediately offered the bank CEO a glass of the deep red Pinot Noir. There was a half-finished painting on an easel by a window, and several papers laid out neatly on her primary work table. "This is where the magic happens," Seraphine waved her arm, presenting the space. "Where I create art," She nodded at the easel. "And where I create new identities." She nodded at the papers. "Let's be frank, now, Mr. Del Mar. I can tell you are a man with an eye for artistic beauty, but the later is why you are here, is it not?"

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Mission: Rocket Recruitment [Act 1][break]
+ Seraphine's Outfit

BY GUNSMILE