She was late. It wasn't a common occurrence, but somehow she wasn't feeling so terribly hurried to steal from a bunch of swine. Kuru was flying ahead, anxious bird chirps because unlike her he didn't enjoy lateness. Oh no, she had to have a timely corvine. 

Another job, another partner. This time though she wasn't entirely certain yet who it was to be until she got there. It seemed to be a last moment sort of thing, so it only felt right that they had to wait a damn second for her to show up. Only they hadn't, of course. She grumbled a curse under her breath, alerted by the dark looming form of the avian as it circled the place her soon-to-be partner was. 

Catching up was simple work, she muttered a groan, catching sight of the red head. "Parker." The only offering of salutations she ever dared to give, certainly no apology attached or explanation for her lateness, screw that. "So... we're swine catchers." Thrilling.

parker jones

☉

for all parker knew, her partner's already here and halfway up the mountain by now. while she's sure rocket's more organized than the league, some contact information about her cohort would have been nice. but she doesn't have much time to think about it because amulius is reaching an arm down towards her and hauling her up a steep side. 

she's fit as all hell, but she can't scale a mountain like a pokemon. so she's breathing hard when he pulls her up and she's wiping the sweat from her brow when someone calls her name below her. at the same time, amulius looks up and cocks his head at the corviknight. 

"motherf - " she starts and then crouches down, landing with a thud and a grunt back down where she'd just come from.

"swine catchin' for the glory of rocket," parker says with a sigh. "'m assumin' that's ya bird?" raising her voice, "mul, c'mon back down." then: "think it can find the bastards for us?"

Marza Volchitsa

☉

It seemed she'd interrupted the woman's climb. Not that she felt guilty for her lateness. In all likelihood, they both could climb all over this mountain and still turn out without a single pearl in sight. Nothing like losing a whole day without any profit, but she was thinking like a pessimist. For the glory of Rocket, she hoped the woman wasn't one of those types.

"Yeah." She nodded, looking up and whistling sharply for the corviknight. Kuru adjusted speed and direction, coasting on the breeze farther along the path. It took a few moments of pronounced silence. Marza followed along after the shadowy bird. 

Just as she was beginning to grow impatient (it didn't take long), the bird swerved in a circle. It did not reply with a cry of its own, but the message was clear enough without alerting the pokemon to its presence. "There we are, simple enough." For now.

parker jones

☉

seems her companion here's not interested in chatter. that suits parker just fine. gives her some time to size her up. there's a certain presence that comes off her - authority in that she could just look at someone and get them to piss their pants before doing exactly what she tells them to do. but, and here's the key thing - she sure as fuck doesn't seem authoritative. 

which is kinda relaxing, to be honest. 

parker can also certainly appreciate the set of her jaw, the busty waist, the absolute certainty that this woman would be one hell of a match if they started exchanging blows. 

"eh, maybe our luck'll hold," parker says in response to the lead in her tone. "y'ever messed with one of these things? can't say i'm a fan of the psychic types." amulius grumbles his displeasure as well. 

Marza Volchitsa

☉

Her partner it tolerable, which is fairly close to high praise from Marza. Unlike her usual partner, she's not chatty. In truth, she wished she could fight her, but this was a job not a vacation. "Yeahhh, had to a couple times. Can't say the last time went well." She too wasn't a far of psychic types. If it wasn't steel or fighting, she didn't really care to devote much time in training it. Though she knew that having a rounded team was ideal, she just couldn't take weaker pokemons seriously. A flaw of hers, for certain.

"Kuru," She said, whistling sharply. The bird took the intended order by swooping down on the group of swine, lashing out at the group with BRAVE BIRD. Marza readied the bag on her back, hoisting the flap aside before tossing pokeballs at the stunned pokemon.

parker jones

☉

her sister, on the other hand, loves little fucks like this. she'd be crowing and fawning over them if she were here right now, so parker can appreciate marza's technique all the more when the corviknight sends half of them into oblivion.

amulius, not wanting to be left out (or shown up), leaps over a couple of boulders. fire-wreathed fists and feet have a handful of spoink rolling on the ground. even if they're creepy as fuck, they certainly smell damn delicious after being singed medium-rare. 

not realizing marza's approach to the mission, however, amulius stoops over one of the spoink and wraps his talons around the pearl on its head. the pig cries out feebly as amulius plucks its psychic focus from it and moves on to the rest, gathering them up to present to parker. 

parker sighs. "you do a lot of this shit? these odd jobs?" 

Marza Volchitsa

☉

Being a smuggler and poacher in trade, she was more inclined to take more rather than less. Capturing the whole pokemon felt more advantageous than simply the pearl, but she could certain appreciate the brutality in ripping the pearls off their heads. She was surprised to see that even Kuru was restrained from not making a meal of the spoinks. He was a terrible glutton in these situations. Though seeing the way Blaziken was handling the swine, lit a certain spark in the Corviknight that wasn't there before.

She ignored the rat with wings, let him go about whatever sadistic thing he wished. It would keep him from bothering her later about being hungry. Instead, she went to collecting the pokeballs and pocketing them. "Not as much anymore, it keeps things interesting mostly. I do what I'm good at and that usually means getting this shit done the right way. " She regarded the other woman, "Why, you not a fan of fried swine? Goes well with a glass of bourbon."

parker jones

☉

"i hear ya," parker says while amulius continues with his brutality, zoned in on his task and out from the rest of the world. the piglets squeal as their power is taken from them; most are silenced by the heavy thudding of the blaziken's footfalls, talons ripping through flesh. 

"so you're good at beating the shit outta pigs, eh?" she jokes, kicking it back while their two pokemon blow off some steam. 

parker makes a face. "i'm more of a piña colada gal myself. but y'ever been to KING WAYLAND's place? his fuckin' fight club wannabe shitshow of a bar?" she laughs. "y'ever stop by, i'll getcha that bourbon."

Marza Volchitsa

☉

"Pigs is a broad term so yeah, suppose I am." Admittedly, she was beginning to enjoy this mission. It helped to have someone who wasn't entirely a pain in the ass to work with. She'd grown used to working with her usual partner fern delaney , who talked because he seemingly hated the silence between breaths. Though, even he wasn't the worse to deal with (not that she'd ever admit to that).

Kuru seemed to be enjoying the opportunity to act without getting yelled at, which would probably bite her on the ass later when he got sloppy about stuff.

That made Marza laugh, "Really? Damn, I wouldn't have figured that. That shit kicks strong too so I'll try not to make too much fun of you over it. Not sure I have but now I'm fuckin intrigued." It wasn't a bad proposal, usually she'd be inclined to say no and leave it at that. She wasn't antisocial exactly, but she didn't really know how to be around people without the pressure of working. "Alright, won't turn down a free drink."

parker jones

☉

marza gets it. makes parker almost regret being a lone wolf. almost. partners don't always hold you down (see her previous experience with beastie Alexandra Briarwood ), but it's easier not to get too attached in this job. people die. or they fuck up and you gotta be the one to break their face. 

harmless banter, though? she can do that. 

"look, i like 'em sweet." she shrugs her shoulders. "what can i say?" 

most of the men who've laughed in her face when she told 'em that, well, they walked away with more than a split lip. and parker still usually got the drink. 

"eh, let's not go as far 'n say it's free." she sizes her up and throws a mock punch in the air. "i wanna see ya throw a few punches." 

amulius walks over to to the two of them, arms bundled with swine pearls. parker nods at him, makes a face at the blood staining his feathered legs, and regards marza. "next friday. show me whatcha got."

Marza Volchitsa

☉