The turn signal and the sudden turn that followed made the thief brace herself against the seat. She looked over towards Roach with the eyebrow above her scarred eye pinched in confusion, “Back to the bar?” she echoed, glancing out the window, “Well, why the hell did we get in the truck in the first place?” there was a hint of annoyance in her voice fueled by obvious confusion. Roach was a hard nut to crack for Lex which only added to her mild frustration.

He seemed surprised by the business she brought up. Which, in her mind, shouldn’t be a surprise. What other business could there be? Her gaze narrowed and turned cold. Didn’t peg you for that implied he had made an assumption about her she probably wouldn’t like. Lex took her work seriously and was proud of her track record. It was a sense of pride in her identity and being judged by him didn’t settle well with her, “What did you think I meant?”

virgil roach

Her amber eyes grew wide and her jaw nearly hit the floor when he responded. There were a few beats of stunned silence as the intoxicated Lex fought with urge to rail on him. She was drunk, but not drunk enough to cause an accident, he was driving after all. Instead, she settled for one, swift punch on the shoulder closest to her, “What the hell, Roach?!” she growled in frustration, “Ugh!” she couldn’t fucking believe this.

“I don’t fuck for money,” implying she fucked for regular reasons, like curing suffocating loneliness or just for the pleasure of it, “Damn it, Roach,” she didn’t know whether to be pissed at him or be flattered in a sad, pathetic way that an attention-starved Lex would, “I don’t care if you wanted to fuck me, but fuck you for thinking I did it for money,” A mix of both, she decided.

“I’m a thief, not a hooker,” she clarified, a narrowed gaze cast in his direction as her arms crossed and she leaned back into the seat.

virgil roach

It was an honest profession, and you didn’t work in Lex’s world without knowing a few of them. There were several she would have considered friends back in Johto. It wasn’t so much that she was angry for being thought of as a hooker, but more so for not being thought of as having other talents.

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose before repeating herself, “I’m acquiring a shipment of pokemon. Obviously, not legally,” she was stealing said pokemon, “Galarian Slowbro, I hear they’re . . . desirable right now, and I don’t have a buyer or a way to move them,” she looked over at him with interest and make sure he understood where this was going. After all, she still wasn’t sure the rumors were entirely true about him. Was she barking up the wrong tree?

virgil roach

Well, they were back at the bar, right where they started. Leaning an arm against the door she glanced back over to him, meeting his gaze as the engine went silent. Blame the booze, but she was still having a hard time reading this one. Or perhaps it was just the rugged handsomeness that was throwing her for a loop. Lex frowned, apparently she would have to be crystal clear with this one, “I’m seizing an opportunity,” she explained, “I’m stealing them,” she spelled it out, “Well,” she sighed, resting her head in her hand that leaned against the door, “I want to steal them but it wouldn’t be worth it if I couldn’t move them,” she sat back up straight, motioning to their current situation, “So here we are,” she flashed him a grin, “It’s a business opportunity. This won’t be the last time I need something moved,” woven within the words was the implication of a blossoming partnership. Lex was falling nicely into her own little niche here in Slateport. With time can knowledge, and with knowledge came more opportunity. And there was a lot of opportunity for Lex to take advantage of.

virgil roach

This wasn’t how Lex normally worked. She wasn’t a ‘spur of the moment’ kind of girl when it came to her work. But being new-ish to the region, she hadn’t set up a reliable business relationship with someone who could move her product. It probably came off as a bit reckless and unprofessional, but she didn’t really have any other choice.

“I was supposed to get it tonight,” she sighed, looking back out the window. Her brow pinched in annoyance, “But the ship couldn’t dock in this weather,” Now she had to slightly adjust her plan but that’s wasn’t a deal breaker, “I’ll have ‘em by tomorrow night, morning at the latest . . . weather pending,” As long as the weather held, the ship would reschedule its drop-off for the following day. She’d have to pay attention to the change, but she had someone on the inside that would keep her in the know.

virgil roach

It was all happening quite quickly but that’s how Lex worked: fast and effective. Roach didn’t seem to care for it, “Well, I guess I can hang on to them for a bit if you won’t be ready,” it wasn’t something Lex enjoyed doing. She liked to do her part then get the heck out of there, not linger long enough to get in trouble. Considering the circumstances, she was willing to make exceptions. She was putting a lot on the man all at once: A near stranger talking illegal business behind a bar; She’d be sketched out too.

Lex took a minute to sift through her slowly sobering mind, “I think the manifest had about two dozen on there,” as for price, she threw her hands up, “I don’t know what they’re goin’ for now-a-days,” she frowned, looking over at Roach, “I steal ‘em, you sell ‘em, I get a cut. I like to stay out of the money part,” Perhaps she was spoiled back in Johto, she always had Killian to take care of that part of the business for her but now that she was out here on her own, she needed to foster her own relationships.

virgil roach