it was difficult sometimes, keeping track of the adventurous egg. stressful, even, knowing that such fragile luck was at stake. the thing was, at least as far as nina could figure, now that she had decided to take care of this togepi, she was bound to it. abandon, or displease it in some way, and the sky might just fall on her head.

it was quite a commitment, owning a togepi. ”they’re a handful,” she cautioned.

‘night life’ was vague, but inherently fun-sounding. nina had never worked in bars or clubs or any of the casinos that she had frequented, although she had always wondered, even fantasized about it. what was a real job like?

”what do you mean by night life?”

Jessica Manner

”so you’re a dancer?”

nina could think of some instances. what about the strippers stuck with the tuesday afternoon shift? somebody had to do it.

she had personally spent too much of her time making men feel good about themselves. such a life had been a consideration, briefly, but GABRIEL BLACK had helped her down a slightly different path.

”i mean, you probably make tons of money, right?” which was important in a job. ”is it fun?”

Jessica Manner

”yeah.. it is, i guess.”

nina smiled wide at her. ”i mean, i go dancing sometimes.” not really much lately. lately, things had been stressful. ”maybe not how you dance.” she giggled lightly. her smile muted but lingered, at ease.

it sounded a little awkward, but she was good at shrugging off discomfort. all she had to do was get into character. become someone else.

”yeah, sure. teach me.”

Jessica Manner

it would be fun. jessie didn’t seem so bad. definitely less intimidating than THEO BECKETT , or KING WAYLAND , or the other few rockets she’d met but hadn’t caught the names of yet. jessie seemed sweet, nice. friendly.

”what, today?” she’d had plans to go home and eat a pint of pecha berry ice cream over yet another rewatch of scarface before a long bath. plans changed, sometimes. her smile widened more. ”okay.”

she considered the possibilities as she idly watched their pokemon at work. ”we should get a bottle of wine or something.”

Jessica Manner

”nope.”

she smiled.

”works for me.”

so, they’d finish up the job. the ice-types were rounded up and towards the cool air of shoal cave, and nina recalled her scorbunny, who still didn’t seem to be out of energy somehow.

nina agreed to get the bottle, and after an exchange of numbers, she’d go to change into something more suitable, pick up said wine, and meet at jessie’s apartment in verdanturf.

Jessica Manner