[break]
As silent as Vic tended to be, the silence within the shop was suffocating. Was the customer casing him? Was he really just here for flowers? Was he waiting for him to make the wrong move and accuse him? Vic's eyes slowly wandered over to Lily, who had gotten him into more trouble than he would have liked considering he was not her original trainer. She was off in her own world, humming as she watered some plants and twirled into a patch of sunlight to soak it up. Even the pokeball on his belt that contained Oyabun did not pop open in order to shield him from this customer. Perhaps Vic was putting too much thought into the customer and not enough into the requested bouquet, contrary to his own work ethic.
[break]
"Good. Glad you like it." The customer's appreciation came off a litte terse but as Vic wasn't about to reject it. "That'll be 35 pokedollars." A fairly simple bouquet wouldn't cost the customer much, and even then, Vic surmised that the customer wasn't in it for fancy embellishments like some of his other customers were.
[break]
Just then, Lily toddled over with a sprig of her own, which she carefully tucked into the bouquet. When she finally pulled her leaves away, in the middle of the bouquet was a sprig of lavendar-colored gardenias just for the customer. "Oh? I think Lily likes you." Vic remarked, regarding the customer with a small, albeit cautious, smile.
[break]
ever blackwell

pain

Pain.

[break]

Oh Arceus. This customer really was too cheery for his own good. It had taken Vic a moment or two to realize what was going on with his own emotions, why he was feeling hot under the collar when he saw that cheeky ass smile of the eccentric customer...
[break]
It had been a long time since he last felt this way around someone. A sensation he thought he'd never feel ever again.
[break]
Focus. Focus. The man is here for flowers. For his friend. Vic shook his head as though to place himself back in the right place mentally before he returned to the conversation. "That's fair. It took me a lot of studying and researching to get to where I'm at now with all these flowers. And even then, there's always something to learn." Vic shrugged casually as he looked down at Lily with a warm smile.
[break]
However when he looked back to the customer, he soon realized that his earlier thoughts about the customer's ass definitely proved true. Damn it. Vic pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut to keep himself focused and centered. It really didn't help that he was still wearing that stupid grin of his. No. No. No. No. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." Vic said to both himself and to the customer. "Let's start with this then: does your friend have a favorite color? That would help him narrow down his options, and what he could use as accents within the bouquet.

[break]
Xiaoyang Long

[break]

Vic carefully listened to the customer's explanation of telepathic links, his brows furrowed as he tried to make sense of it. "So if I'm getting this right... It's a culmination of your friendship with Eos?" He was glad that there was a way to create a link, but it would never happen with Team Rocket. Efficiency was always the name of the game, at least when he was in Johto. "Ah sorry, I don't mean to take so much of your time. Did you want to smell some of the other flowers I have? I could also offer you a potted plant if you'd like to have something a bit more permanent in your room."

[break]
opal garcia

[break]

The pokemon's face mirrored her owner's look of disenchantment as they stared at the customer; it seemed that Lily too was enchanted by the customer, only for both their expectations to fall flat on their face... Much in the way the customer had almost fell on his. "Yeah I can do that." It seemed that it was difficult for Vic to leave his discontentment out of his voice.
[break]
Lucky for the customer, Vic's immense and overwhelming disappointment soon washed away as he began to brainstorm on what sort of flowers he could use in his requested arrangement. It was further fortune that Vic was too engrossed in his thoughts, even if Lily had caught the customer's gaze though it had lasted for mere, fleeting moments. Unsure of what to make of it, she began to tug at Vic's shirt to break him out of his stupor. "Hmm?" Vic sounded a little dazed when he responded to his dear pokemon before he returned his attention to the eccentric customer.
[break]
"'Make bank', huh? I'm not too sure if I have a flower that speaks so casually but peonies are what come to mind first. Perhaps purple in color?" He returned to his thoughts. "But if you want something a bit brighter than that, I could also offer you gazanias. They aren't called treasure flowers for nothing." Vic flashed a confident smile that faded ever so slightly at the cheeky grin the customer gave him. No. No, remember, this guy almost broke your door trying to get his ass through it, and if that ass matched the rest of him--
[break]
No. No. Focus. Flowers. He's here for a friend and wants to congratulate them. "If you're looking for a bouquet, I can intersperse some carnations... I'm thinking maybe white?" Vic hummed to himself, trying to build the arrangement in his head.

[break]
Xiaoyang Long

[break]

"Right... Right. Sorry." Vic quickly pulled himself together. Lily would be okay, especially now that Elijah was here. "Normally I do some basic apothecary work with her nutrients, just to make sure that everything is balanced out. I'm really glad I picked it up in Goldenrod when I uhh..." Vic cleared his throat awkwardly. He had been part of the Rocket takeover in Goldenrod, doing surveillance around the city before the takeover proper.
[break]
Right. Now wasn't really time for the past. Not when Lily was still in such a fragile state.
[break]
"Anyway, even that didn't help when I tried to give it to her." He carefully watched Elijah work, just the scent of the serum alone seemed to perk Lily up... Even if Vic was probably just imagining things. "I know I can trust you but... I lost a lot of people when I moved here. Lots of my life choices probably weren't the smartest ones." Goldenrod, for example. He let out a heavy sigh as he knelt down where he wouldn't get in Elijah's way. It had been a long time since he last saw Lily like this, when he first inherited her and took her for granted. Now... She was practically his lifeline.

[break]
elijah gardner

"That's fair. I think Oyabun tends to get a little ahead of himself whenever he meets new pokemon." There was absolutely no doubt that the massive Kommo-o would give his Pangoro a run for his money, but similar to Shalin, he wasn't one for pokemon battles... Or at least not anymore. "I've never considered the gym challenge before. I'm the same as you if I'm being honest." He never wanted anything more than to run Zinnia and just live out the rest of his days as peacefully as possible... But with a rowdy Fighting type like Oyabun, it was sometimes hard to keep in line with that decision.
[break]
Vic fell silent as he looked down at his waist. Just as it was before he got on Starr, there was nothing around his waist save the belt with his pokeballs on it and yet... He slowly put his hand on his waist and realized there indeed was nothing there and yet he couldn't help but feel secure in Starr's harness. "This is pretty amazing." His voice was low yet full of awe as Starr began her way forward; not once did he feel unsteady on her back. There was a sense of serenity that settled over him when Starr began to communicate with him, mentally asking her to increase her pace to a steady trot before slowing back down to a simple walk. "Sorry. This is the first time on my ride pokemon... as well as communicating with a Psychic type pokemon. She really is a sweetheart though." He flashed Shalin a warm smile as his hand gently stroked Starr's head before returning it back to his side.
[break]
At the mention of the Type: Null, Vic's brows knitted in thought. He had heard vague rumors about such a pokemon created in the region of Alola during his time in Team Rocket but to know that it was actually real... Perhaps it was during his time in prison that their research finally bore fruit. "That's reassuring to know, actually. I'm glad you're in here with me or else I'd probably be toast."

[break]
Shalin Nariya

• player/ooc name: Kohri
• character tags: Victor Ranallo
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable): N/A
• ic posts for characters:
  Vic: Into the Unknown
• are characters in directories?: No
• any notes/comments:

[break]

Yup, that was him: the storeowner employee of this place. Vic still wasn't sure to make of the ditzy customer but simply offered a nod. "That's me. How can I help you?" Lily kept her curious eyes on the customer from the safety of Vic's back, entranced by his animated mannerisms.
[break]
He listened to the customer ask for some flowers with some meaning behind it. Easy enough, but why was his manner of speech so strange? Vic stopped himself there. You know what - if a customer came in like that and didn't speak in a strange manner, he probably would have found himself to be somewhat disappointed in the lack of consistency in his eccentricity. "I can do that. What sort of message are you hoping to send?" Vic couldn't believe that he was secretly hoping that the customer wanted to send some sort of zany message to his friend, already bracing himself for what sort of request this... unique customer would have.

[break]
Xiaoyang Long

[break]

It was always a slightly sick joy for Vic to see customers squirm when they realized how much the cost of a good bouquet really was. After all, Vic put a lot of work into his flowers and he knew they were priced fairly and competitively compared to what someone could find in Slateport. He listened to the customer talk about this beautiful, pissed-off lady, thoughts already formulating in his head about what the bouquet should look like. "My silence costs extra." Vic informed the customer before he broke into a small smile.
[break]
"Just kidding."
[break]
He was fairly certain that this member of Orthus really was just here for a nice bouquet. Well, if he wasn't about to cause any trouble, Vic wasn't about to give him a reason to start trouble. He walked over to the flower coolers at the side of the shop and took a look through what he had. "If you don't mind me saying, it certainly does sound like you love this girl." It was hard to pick a red flower that didn't mean 'I love you' or some other variant of romantic affection, but Vic supposed that if the woman really did love red as much as the customer said she did, it wouldn't matter what the flowers said so much as their color.
[break]
"You mentioned you had other people you wanted to buy for? Why don't you tell me what you're looking for." Vic said as he began to pluck stems of gladiolus and red hibiscus, and interspersed them with stems of soft creamy magnolia so that the whole thing wasn't just an explosion of red.

[break]
Lucien Durendal