Maeve sized up the man as he settled beside her, but she'd never been the best judge of character and she knew that wouldn't magically change. She tried not to seem too tense as he greeted her. "Maeve," she answered, offering a hand, "Maeve Malandra. The pleasures all mine. It's a nice establishment you run here." There was no point in trying to use her cover, not when she was there to develop trust and hopefully a... professional relationship.

"I'm not good at subtlety, so I'll just get right to the point if that's alright with you." She swirled the mini paper umbrella as she measured her words carefully. "I'm looking for a buyer. High-end, hard to come by merchandise of course. I heard you might be interested... Or would know someone who would be." She glanced around the bar, looking for prying eyes and ears.

"Perhaps we could talk shop somewhere a bit more private?"

Maeve followed with ease, once again admiring the taste in décor. There was sultry, sophisticated aura to it, and Maeve felt out of her element even though she wished she didn't. Compared to her shabby, rundown apartment, the office seemed a luxury. She would wait for him to sit first and then follow suit. If he remained standing, so would she.

"This a lovely office. I'm a fan of darker woods myself." She cleared her throat. "Thank you for your time, uh, Sir. I'll be sure to make it worth your while. I have, in my possession, several Slowbro. Not of the Galarian variation, but that, of course, can be changed if so desired. I'm willing to do the de-evolution myself if the buyer wishes it."

Maeve took a moment to steel herself before continuing, "I'm also open to selling at a lower price than my competitors in the event I'm hired for a more... permanent position." She hoped that she sold herself well enough. She already liked this man, he didn't seem to react to her scars or treat her any different for being a woman. She couldn't say she'd had many past employers who met even that bare minimum.

She knew it would've been better to have de-evolved the slowbro first, so why hadn't she done it beforehand? Her head told her she was useless in business, and her heart told her, much more softly, that she still had a soft spot. She shoved the voice down with a gulp.

"Ah, of course," her mouth quipped into a small smile at the man's crack at his bartenders, "There's not much reason to trust me, but, at the very least, I am punctual."

"Alright, you got me. You are the better business man here, I guess it would be futile for me to try and haggle. I'll be frank and say that making money wasn't the intention I had for making this deal with you anyway," She extended a hand at his offer. "Name the price you think is most reasonable and I'll return tomorrow with slowpoke."

The offer had been better than she expected. She'd at least be able to take care of this month's rent, a small blessing considering her last paycheck had been bounced. Unconsciously, Maeve smoothed the front of her shirt in satisfaction. "We have a deal, then."

At the man's next question, she knew she was being tested. Information was gold in Rocket, if she'd learned one thing in her time with them it was that prying or sharing the wrong secret could get your throat slit. Don't question things and keep all your cards close to your chest. She didn't have to be able to read people to follow that simple rule.

"I'm not at liberty to share that information at the moment. I'm sure you understand."

Maeve inwardly patted herself on the back at the man’s praise. The only outward expression of this feeling, however, was a slight quirk of the corner of her mouth. She was about to let out a breath that had been stuck in her throat, finally feeling that she could relax a bit now that at least part of her goal was accomplished, then he asked about her drink. Her eyebrows raised slightly, not having expected a personal question. Maybe it said more about her that she thought of such a benign, harmless inquiry as personal. It was then that she realized she hadn’t been asked of her opinion on… well… anything, in a very long time. Part of her thought this might be just another test, that she should praise the product in front of the owner to further their good graces, but something about the way the atmosphere seemed to shift had her answering truthfully despite herself.

“Honestly? Could be better. But something about the umbrella really pulls it all together.”

"Certainly not a tiki bar as you said," Maeve met the man's grin with a small one of her own. "Just after years of ordering the most sugar-filled drinks on the menus, I think I must be a Blue Hawaiian aficionado."

At the question of what could be better about the drink, Maeve took a slow slip and regarded the taste a moment before speaking. She hummed in thoughtfulness. "It's all very high quality stuff, but I can tell the rum used is coconut-flavored. Personally, I would use a coconut cream and a separate, classic rum." Maeve thought of the many tiki nights at clubs she had bounced for and how she often wished she could drink on the job when some poorly costumed patron got too handsy. Sugar was certainly a gift from Arceus.