Obstinate indeed.

Zev had suspected the worst when the power suddenly cut out in the front area of his bar. The back half with its kitchens and air conditioning unit was unaffected, thank Arceus, but it wouldn't do to have customers sitting in the dark. At least it was still late afternoon and sunlight could still pour through the windows.

After checking the breaker and confirming there were no problems inside, Zev stepped out onto the sidewalk and looked up at the nearest utility pole. Perhaps a capacitor had blown? But no. To his utter astonishment, a particularly fat Pelipper rested on the powerline directly above him, causing the cable to sag significantly.

"You motherfucker," Zev swore at the bird, scowling. Then, raising his voice at it, he shouted, "Hey, Pelipper! Shoo!"

The Pokémon didn't move. In fact, it seemed to ignore Zev completely.

With a sigh, Zev looked around, hoping to find something he could use to scare the bird away. If all else failed, he supposed he could have his Gengar attack it. A flash of pink caught his eye instead, and his gaze fell upon the young woman standing a few feet away, a small palette of beer in her arms and a Sylveon at her side. Then Zev saw the label on the beer bottles, and his eyes widened with recognition. The woman had to be Naomi Sato, the brewer from Verdanturf Town who he'd been in contact with about her craft beer. He'd been impressed with the sample she'd sent him to try and had proposed a business deal to sell her beers at Howling. They had scheduled her first delivery for that day, but he hadn't expected her to be so young-looking. Or to be dressed head-to-toe in pink.

"Miss Sato?" Zev ventured, fully in his role of a friendly, normal bar owner.

Naomi Sato

[break]Note: Howling's Interior

“Naomi Sato, that’s me,” Nomi replied with a sunny smile. “But you can call me Nomi, if you’d like. It’s what Granny called me, so I’m used to it.” Realizing her arms were growing quite tired - and not particularly known for her physical strength - the young woman gently set the palette of beer down on the ground with an air of reverence. Her Sylveon swiftly moved in front of it, as if to protect the precious brews from an oncoming attack. Nomi absently patted his head fondly. Ever vigilant, Val was.

She didn’t need to ask the tall, dark-haired man before her for his name - she knew it: Zev Harcourt. For surely only the owner of Howling at the Moon would be acting so obviously irritated about the potential loss of power the Pelipper might be causing by roosting on the bar’s closest powerline. Zev was a handsome fellow, she noted, and he seemed friendly enough, though she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Val was glaring daggers at him. She hoped her Sylveon wouldn’t cause a scene…there didn’t seem to be any actual danger present, after all. The Pelipper was likely harmless.

“Have you tried asking the Pelipper nicely?” She inquired pleasantly. “If it will move, I mean.”

CUCKOO IN THE NEST | Naomi Sato + Zev Harcourt

[break]Nomi's Outfit

"Ask it… nicely," Zev echoed, staring with incredulity at Nomi, who smiled as it if were the most obvious thing in the world. Of course he hadn't. Pokémon were things. He never had to ask his own for anything; he gave commands and they obeyed, and when they did well, he praised them so they would keep obeying. If only the same thing applied to people, but they did often have to be cajoled or persuaded into compliance.

He glanced down at the Sylveon who stood between them and eyed him with suspicion. Deciding to ignore it for the time being, he shook his head at Nomi. He allowed his irritation to deepen in that moment; it was only natural considering the situation at hand. "No, I haven't."

Naomi Sato

For the first time since meeting him, Nomi really looked at this Zev Harcourt fellow. There was a hardness to his expression - cold blue eyes that reminded her of the very depths of ocean not far from Howling at the Moon itself, in fact - that went deeper than mere irritation, like fault lines of mass destruction hidden just beneath the surface of the earth, obscured by rock and soil. What's really bothering this man? she wondered, but she did not speak her inquiry aloud. Instead, she casually approached so that she was standing even with him, and looked up at the Pelipper. It met her soft ruby gaze with its own determined stare.

"Hello! I suppose it's quite comfortable up there?" she called out pleasantly to the flying Pokémon roosting above them. "I understand that you'd like to stay, but it's inconveniencing Mr. Harcourt, so we were wondering if you'd be so kind as to move? We would very much appreciate it."

Deftly, she slipped a hand into her skirt pocket and pulled out a small caramel, one of the hard candies she liked to carry around in case of emergencies. One never did know when one would need a little sugar, after all. She held it up between two fingers so that the Pelipper could see it. She sucked in her breath slightly in anticipation, but then noticed the rotund Pokémon lean ever so slightly forward - clearly intrigued with whatever she held.

"Like I said," she continued casually. "We would be quite appreciative indeed." She flicked her fingers so that the light of the sun, low in the sky now, would catch the edges of the metallic candy wrapper, making it that much more appealing to the beady eyes of the Pelipper.

Come on, she silently urged. I know you lot love a shiny object.

CUCKOO IN THE NEST | Naomi Sato + Zev Harcourt

[break]Nomi's Outfit

Typically, 'asking nicely' didn't mean bribery, but Zev kept his mouth shut as he watched Nomi entice the Pelipper with the plastic-wrapped caramel candy. He crossed his arms over his chest and raised a skeptical eyebrow at the bird. Much to his shock, however, the candy did catch the Pelipper's eye. As Nomi waved the candy back and forth with her fingers, the Pokémon's gaze followed the movement intently.

Then, in a sudden flash of white-and-blue feathers, the Pelipper dove at the young woman. Zev instinctively ducked, but when he looked again, Nomi was unharmed. The only thing missing was the candy, wrapper and all. Zev twisted, looking for where the Pelipper had flown. He spotted it flying away from them, toward the ocean.

"Thank Arceus," Zev breathed, relief washing through him. Then he smiled at Nomi. "Thank you, I should say. Let me help you bring this inside."

Without waiting for her response, he bent down and picked up the small pallet of beer she had set on the ground. He led her into Howling and saw that power had indeed returned. One of his bartenders noticed his entry and gave him a thumbs up, a confirmation that everything was back to normal. Zev made his way behind the bar, set down the beer on a section of counter that wasn't littered with ingredients, and started unpacking it.

"What's that, boss?" the bartender asked him.

"New craft beer from Miss Sato over there," Zev answered, gesturing to Nomi. "She sent me a sample a while back and I was really impressed by the complexity and richness of the flavor. You have a remarkable talent for brewing, Nomi," he told her, still smiling. "I assume you have the rest of my order somewhere?"

Naomi Sato

Nomi gazed thoughtfully around at Howling at the Moon's cozy interior, the traces of a triumphant smile at her success with the Pelipper still gracing her lips. It wasn't what she had expected, she had to admit to herself. But what had she expected? Something darker, more predatory? A scene befitting of the bar's somewhat ominous name? But here she was, standing in a wide space with the remnants of the day's natural light streaming in through the high front windows, rustic exposed brick walls, a charismatic spiral staircase, and several friendly looking faces. She decided she liked this bar, and she was pleased for her beer to be sold here.

She turned her gaze to Valerian, then, and noticed that he at least seemed more at ease than he had out on the street, though he kept stealing glances - glares, really - at Zev. What's he on about? She wondered of her Sylveon, curious. He was an especially discerning Pokémon, but he was also prone towards judgement, pickier than any human she'd ever known. Perhaps this was merely one of his moods. She chuckled to herself, but realized suddenly that Zev was addressing her about the rest of the beer.

Yes, of course," she answered the owner of Howling at the Moon. "It's in the back of my truck. Shall we unload together, then? Afterwards, maybe you'd be so kind as to offer me a drink?" She grinned angelically. "I did get rid of that Pelipper for you after all."

CUCKOO IN THE NEST | Naomi Sato + Zev Harcourt

[break]Nomi's Outfit

Zev laughed good-naturedly at her suggestion. "Sure, happy help unload and then pour you a cold drink after all your hard work out there," he replied as he finished unpacking the pallet behind the bar. Hefting the empty case with one hand, he followed Nomi back out of Howling and down the street toward her parked truck. He waited as she opened the doors, revealing a small stack of pallets holding three different types of beer.

"Before you leave, I'll show you the back entrance. That way, the next time you make a delivery, it will be a quicker trip to the fridge."

Not that it would take many trips with what she'd brought that day. In fact, with him carrying two pallets and Nomi carrying one each trip, they both unloaded the truck in short order. Zev made sure to express appreciation of Nomi's patience while he sorted the unpacked beer on appropriate shelves in Howling's massive walk-in refrigerator. And on their last trip back out of the kitchen, he did as he promised and took her on a detour to show her the back entrance.

"Now, let's get you that drink," Zev said with a smile. "What would you like? Probably not your own beer that you've tasted a thousand times, I'm guessing?"

Naomi Sato

"I do have to taste everything I make," Nomi chuckled. "But I rarely tire of experimenting. Brewing is just another form of chemistry, and the combinations of various flavor profiles and ingredients are practically endless!" She clapped her hands together in delight as she remembered her most recent burst of creativity, combining chamomile flowers with a particularly heady malt.

They walked together through the back entrance of Howling and into the inviting main room. The sun was much lower in the sky now, the splashes of pink and orange currently gracing the horizon would quickly fade into an inky blue dusk. The bartender who'd spoken to Zev earlier was animatedly rehashing a story to two laughing patrons sitting at the bar counter. The rest of Howling was still somewhat empty, Nomi observed - it was early evening on a weeknight, the regulars would only just now be arriving, she figured. Just in time to put some of my beer on the menu? she hoped.

"Zev, I must say, this bar is fantastic," Nomi commented, turning back to look at the dark-haired man, eyes shining with appreciation. Valerion huffed softly, unimpressed, but she ignored him. "It's got a welcoming, cozy sort of feel to it. Nothing here feels too audacious...what Howling lacks in sophistication, it makes up for in character. I hope this can be the beginning of a wonderful partnership between us...at least until I find different work." She didn't elaborate on her ambitions to work in a lab; no need to bore her new business partner with the details of her scientific dreams.

"Anyway, my drink!" She grinned. "Does Howling have a signature cocktail, by chance?"

CUCKOO IN THE NEST | Naomi Sato + Zev Harcourt

[break]Nomi's Outfit

Once they had returned to the main area of Howling, Zev slid behind the bar again. Though he did not bartend often himself, he made sure to maintain the relevant skills. After all, both his staff and his regular patrons appreciated a bar owner who could also pour a good drink. He idly browsed the selection of liquors on the shelves as Nomi chattered on about chemistry and finding a different job. Unsurprisingly, he felt neither interest in those topics nor disappointment in the notion that she might stop brewing quality craft beer. There would always be others to replace her.

"Thank you," he said instead, focusing on her compliment and flashing her his most practiced smile. "I hope so too."

At the request for a cocktail, Zev selected a few ingredients: gin, strawberry liqueur, elderflower liqueur, lime juice, bitters. He mixed them together in just a few minutes and poured the concoction into a tall, thin glass for Nomi's enjoyment, topping it off with a thin, dehydrated orange slice.

"We don't exactly have signature cocktails here, but we have a small selection of cocktails with wolf-themed names," he explained as he put down a square white napkin in front of her and set the glass on top of it. He grinned. "This one's Blood Moon. Enjoy."

Naomi Sato

[break]Note: Blood Moon cocktail