Was it weird to say you missed the smell of a place? In the months Cap had spent outside of Hoenn, he swore the one thing he missed the most was the smell of Slateport. Which was odd; much of the city didn't smell particularly great. Still, he found a comfort there that he hadn't known since he'd left Johto. Comforting or no, he still needed money. And he needed a place to work that would allow him to talk to people if he was going to bring anything of use to Team Rocket.[break][break]

That was why he was sitting in Ritual, staring through the dim lighting at the bar's owner: Virgil Roach. This particular establishment wouldn't have been his first choice. Cap wanted a place a little more lively, one he could slip into and start wheeling and dealing information right away. But word around the Rocket water cooler was that this place had a more nefarious side. Not having to hide his real job from his boss would only make things easier on Caprice.[break][break]

"Of course," he said, shrugging. He moved behind the bar, looking for all the world as if he belonged there. After all, he'd basically lived behind bars since before he was old enough to actually drink what he served. He took a beat to acquaint himself with the particular setup here before grabbing a pint glass. He angled the glass and opened the tap, letting the beer flow. As it neared full, he straightened the glass up and finished the pour, leaving a nice head on top. Cocking an eyebrow, Cap set the beer down in front of Virgil. "One perfect beer."

[break][break]

+ virgil roach

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

roach watched, seated in one of the bar stools across from caprice, elbow leisurely laid across its edge. when the beer was placed neatly in front of him, its foam rounding nicely like a cornea on the top, he eyed it and nodded approvingly.

”that’s a good sign,” he noted. lime green readers, much too small for his head, angled down at an paper as he took a sip, froth catching on his dark mustache. he set the pint back down. ”we’ll continue.”

squinting, despite lenses, he cleared his throat. ”tell me ‘bout yer work experience. you ever work in the lower district b’fore?”

Caprice Isaac

☉

He watched Virgil take a sip of the beer with no small sense of pride. He'd probably poured thousands of beers in his life, but watching someone enjoy their first sip never really got old. He placed his palms on the edge of the bar, leaning forward as his interviewer scanned his papers.[break][break]

"I can do some of that flippy-bottle shit, too, but that tends to foam up the beer." Half-joke, half-brag. He tilted his head at the next question, leaning back some to busy his hands with straightening the cups and bottles behind the bar. "Well I've been in bars—working or otherwise—the majority of my life. I actually worked at the Murkrow Bar a few blocks down from here. I had to take a few months away for other work purposes." He cleared his throat, using a towel to wipe a smudge from a glass. "They weren't too understanding about that when I got back, so here I am."

[break][break]

+ virgil roach

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

roach looked up, judging his joke with a smile. ”yeah, maybe don’t do that.” he adjusted kendra’s readers on his face. ”we’re not really much of a… what’s the movie? cocktail? … all the tricks ‘n sheit…” he trailed off and shook his head, cleared his throat, looking back down at the papers again. “you can do that with the wells if you need to get it outta yer system.”

he was polishing already, roach then noted out of the corner of his eye. that was good.

a pen flicked lightly next to murkrow bar’s title. as if he would actually reach out, though… never. still, the gesture tended to be enough to scare people into fessing up more about their leaves.

”here you are,” he agreed. then, after a moment, ”you still do other work?”

Caprice Isaac

☉

Got a smile, that was always a good sign. "Ah shit, you saw Cocktail? That movie made me want to be a bartender. 'Course, I was already working in bars by the time I saw it. Reignited the passion, let's say." He hazarded a glance around the nearly-empty bar. A little showmanship might get them more customers. But that was a conversation for later.[break][break]

He had a vague hope that Virgil wouldn't look too far into the Murkrow Bar. He'd worked there, it was true, but his employment had ended with a no-call no-show when he left suddenly for Rocket work. Not exactly something he could divulge to his old boss there. So he'd been rightfully fired and barred from working there ever again.[break][break]

Ah, and there was the other work topic, right on time. "Nothing that'd interfere with my duties at the bar," he said. Or, at least, if it did interfere with his work, Virgil was more likely to be sympathetic. He hoped. Cap cast one more glance around the bar to assure they weren't being spied on. In truth, he would've felt more comfortable if it had been livelier; people tended to lose threads of conversation when there were a hundred different things being said. "Actually, my other work would probably be a benefit around here."

[break][break]

+ virgil roach

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

”m,” he grunted. ”i’m glad.”

moving on, roach listened, cutting eyes a little and beginning to put things together. caprice was being vague, suspicious as he looked around.

he liked it when people could put it all out on the table. it made things easier.

”yeah?” he reached out to take the beer he’d been poured again. ”and why’s that?”

though some patrons hung around smoking cigars in far corners, out of earshot, they were virtually alone in their bubble. it was safe to speak, more or less.

Caprice Isaac

☉

Cap scratched at his chin for a moment, seemingly focused on facing the liquor bottles. Finally, he shrugged a bit and turned to Virgil again.[break][break]

"I'm an information broker. Bars are good sources of information." That was putting it mildly. It was like going straight to the faucet, so to say. Get people just a touch inebriated and they were ready to tell any halfway charismatic stranger about every detail of their lives. A lot of that information wasn't useful, but there were diamonds to be found. And identifying them was the difference between a gossip and a professional. "Plus, I do some acquisition and offloading from time to time," a pause while he searched Virgil's face, "Stealing and smuggling." Moment of truth to find out if his information about Ritual was correct.

[break][break]

+ virgil roach

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

”that they are,” roach agreed, inclining his head a little curiously. but he let caprice continue, otherwise uninterrupted.

stealing and smuggling. so, this was the other work, and presumably, he was for hire on all fronts if he was exposing himself this easily.

roach nodded.

”ah. alright then. how do i know i can trust ya?”

Caprice Isaac

☉

Cap continued to search Virgil's features as he spoke, looking for any hit of concern or aversion. But he found nothing there. Just the rugged face of a man who, Cap guessed, had seen too much. Still, Cap kept his composure. His expression was loose and comfortable, nothing a passing bar patron might read as disreputable. After all, they were just having a regular old interview.[break][break]

Virgil asked how he could trust Cap, and the man gave a shrug. "Trust is always a leap of faith, even when you think it's guaranteed. It's not like I have references—at least, not any that would appreciate to be named." He grinned. "But you and I do run in the same circles."

[break][break]

+ virgil roach

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

his attention was sharp. he wondered about which circles.

the way he saw it, so long as someone wasn’t law enforcement, there was little anyone could do to him that he couldn’t take care of. however, a sense of security in a relationship was always good.

”mm,” he hummed vaguely. ”alright. well, at least tell me this. how do i know you ain’t a copper?”

Caprice Isaac

☉

How do I know you ain't a copper? Cap had to stifle a laugh. He was fairly sure that was the first time anyone had ever asked him if he was a cop. Still grinning, he said, "I guess, legally, I'd have to tell you if I was." But he knew a joke wasn't going to be enough to satisfy the question. So Cap rolled up his sleeve, showing off a long scar that traveled up the outside of his forearm. "Got this one running from the cops when I was eleven. Jumped wrong over a chain-link fence. Assholes didn't catch me, though. This one—" he tugged up his shirt to expose a circular scar on his midsection "—I got when I was fourteen. I tell people I got shot, but really the taser wound got infected. Actually, this one—" he pulled up a pant leg, balancing on one foot, and flashed another round scar on his calf "—is the bullet wound." There were more, littered across his body in a myriad of ways with a hundred different stories of escape and capture. Most of them blended in with the scars from his work in Kanto and Johto, though. Sometimes it was hard to remember where one ended and another began.[break][break]

"I've been running from the police since I was old enough to stand." His face grew serious, then, his tone dark as he met Virgil's gaze. "I'm no fucking cop."

[break][break]

+ virgil roach

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

”hm.”

roach looked down, eyes following to the places where caprice pointed. this guy definitely had a few bites taken out of him.

sure. good enough.

with one last discerning look at the man’s eyes, roach nodded, ”alright. i believe ye.”

then, after another moment, he clicked his tongue.

”can ya start tomorrow?”

Caprice Isaac

☉