seems nina's not as keen on the job as parker is. ah, well. they're stuck with each other for now anyway. she lopes after nina and ducks into the room with her, closing the door behind her with her hip. the vulpix looks around curiously, but it's probably not as interesting in here as it is out there with the smells of caramel and candy. 

parker goes to a filing cabinet in the corner of the room. a slip of paper, stained yellow with age and thumbprints, scrawled with the number six, labels the middle drawer. parker opens it and grabs a folder from it. 

she tosses it onto the table in front of nina. "mkay, so here's the plan. i'm gonna steal the engine and then you're gonna steal it from me. howzat sound?"

nina larson

☉

parker twists a chair around and plops into it, arms crossed over the top. she drops her chin down on her arms and then lazily points to the folder, flicking it open with a skimmed finger. 

"'cause while you were grabbin' sal's cut, i was makin' a big fuckin' deal 'bout stealing it. it's a hot commodity, y'know, but most o' these fuckers are scared to do anythin' about it. but i steal it? i get a real big target on my head."

she grins, stretching a still-healing split lip. "snatch it out from under me? li'l miss nobody? they ain't gonna know where to look." she nods and then shrugs her shoulders. 

"less ya got a better idea, partner. i'm all ears."

nina larson

☉

she tilts her head, smirk rolling on her lips, as nina reads the file. she thinks it's a damn good plan herself, but really if nina had something to bring to the table, she'd at least give her an audience. after all, while nina's green with this neck of the woods, parker can't say she's stolen something like this before. 

nina sets the folder down and parker scrapes it up with a "whoop!" 

there's a polite knock on the door and then sal's withered face pokes in. he smiles when parker gives him a thumbs up and then he opens the door wider, gesturing for the two to follow him. 

"sal's been kind enough to open up his garage 'n let us stash it. gonna keep it here 'til race day." the blue raspberry pop clicks as she shifts it to the other side of her mouth. "how are ya behind the wheel, by the way," she adds as she opens the back door and flicks the lights on in sal's storage garage. 

nina larson

☉

"fan-fuckin'-tastic," parker says and her enthusiasm is genuine, downright up to no good. she pokes around the garage and paces a little bit, nodding to herself. it'll be a squeeze, but they'll manage to get whatever she needs in here. and bax'll be here waiting and ready to work on the car with her throughout the night - there's no doubt about that. 

all of this actually coming together really does put some energy in her. 

"sounds peachy. well, take a nap or do whatever the fuck ya wanna for the next few hours. be at the warehouse on third 'round one." she snickers. "and make sure to throw a few good punches at me, eh? gotta put on a show."

nina larson

☉

parker watches her go, gaze lingering a few moments longer than it ought to. she grabs a couple more pieces of candy and pockets them before waving her way out the door, calling to sal to be ready by two. old coot's a light sleeper, but that doesn't mean she wants to have to bang on the garage door and make a scene when it comes down to it. 

while nina peruses the bookstore and goes about the rest of her day, parker spends a few hours skulking the warehouse. remus and faustus do a bulk of the work; the former's aura reading abilities give her some insight to how much heat she'll have to pack to get in there. the latter helps her with positioning. 

when night finally falls, she tugs on her jacket, pulls her hood over her head, and goes in. 

amulius stays low for now and the rest of her team rests on her hip. with remus at her side, she's able to dispatch the guards by the side door quite easily. with extreme speed, even the mightyena one of them manages to send out gets socked in the head before it can properly alert anyone else. 

remus' eyes flicker and she releases her chokehold. both lackeys fall to the ground. the lucario neatly steps over his and paws open the door, appendages rising slowly as he scans the interior. 

meanwhile, around the front, amulius and faustus have begun their distraction. several more guards holler and go to help while the grunts out front are knocked around by parker's birds. she snickers and follows remus inside. only two are left in front of their prize and they startle when they see her. 

parker and remus could incapacitate them, but they don't. instead, she draws her hood down and snickers, and the battle begins. 

nina larson

☉

color parker real damn impressed. and not by the terrifying golden-scaled snake that slithers alongside nina. no, it takes a lot for her to keep her curled smile off her face - her brows pull instead, anger settling in the square of her shoulders. 

she stumbles at the wrench nina throws at her, cursing when it smacks right into her calf. she slouches to the side and looks between her two pokemon and the slack-jawed stare of the grunt nina's snake had managed to immobilize. 

perfect. 

amulius and remus prepare to attack, but parker raises a hand. 

"hey there, babes, but uh, what the fuck? this is my steal." the grunt makes a disgruntled (ha) noise in the back of his throat, fingers twitching. the weight of the arbok's stare keeps him down. 

nina larson

☉

parker wonders how much of nina's aggressive throes are an act, but whichever way it is, she certainly doesn't mind. it takes all the willpower in the world to keep the rowdy laughter deep in her belly when nina slaps her with a bitch. dirty talk? definitely, definitely not a kink.

the pendulum swings and oh, boy is it a sight for sore eyes. with the arbok thoroughly focused on the task at hand, the ensnared grunt starts to recover his senses. parker tackles him to the ground and gives him a good bash on the head. 

amulius looks toward remus and the lucario shakes its head. there's no more audience for them to act in front of. so parker flees. with her pokemon flanking her, she jogs around the building, using remus to keep an eye on nina's whereabouts.

and if trouble starts to head their way, parker'll step out of the shadows to protect their prize, but she prays they won't have to.

"we didn't make too much of a racket, did we, mul?" she says breathily. the blaziken gives her a so-so wave of his hand.

nina larson

☉