normally, maki wouldn't be caught off guard so easily. but as the petals slowly drift down, she's struck by how familiar the scene feels. there in the middle, a figure of a pretty girl and her pokemon... fragments of pink fluttering as they make their journey to the ground... she realizes now exactly what the image reminds her of, and why she's so taken aback by it. when momo introduces herself, maki barely even seems to take notice.

"it reminds me of..." the snowglobes she bought today, and the ones back home, too. she collects them, as a tether to her one single childhood memory that could possibly be called 'warm'. momo's performance brought those feelings to the surface, which is why maki stands there so dumbly for a moment.

then she shakes herself out of it. "...i'm maki yukimura," she says, recovering smoothly. she offers the other girl a smile and a little dip in her head of greeting. "you must be a coordinator, then. i can see you've trained your pokemon well." the houndoom at her side regards both of them as if a fight could break out at any moment. his body language is stiff and uninviting, eyes keeping watch on momo's pokemon.

maki angles her head slightly, expression kept pleasant and calculatedly warm. "i suppose you could call me that," she says. she's never thought too much about how to label herself, but in the eyes of most people, she'd be considered a 'trainer'. she does train her pokemon, after all, primarily for battle and obedience. the houndoom at her side was personally reared by her mother and given to maki as a gift on her eighteenth birthday. it was kept on estate grounds until she set off for hoenn, choosing it as one of her companions for the trip.

she smiles at momo's tinkaton. steel and fairy... if it came down to it, it would be easy to take in a fight, though i doubt it'll come to that. few people know of her family's ties to rocket, and fewer still are aware maki herself was given as an offering to help the regional takeover go faster. "i've never considered contests as a career path, to be honest. are they fun?" there's the tiniest, barest hint of genuine curiosity there. kanto wasn't known for its contest scene even before rocket took control... maybe this is another thing maki should look into. new experiences can help sharpen your instincts, her father always says, shortly before her mother's glare shuts him down.

thankfully, maki's houndoom isn't easy to provoke. he stares the tinkaton down, not moving a muscle from his position at maki's side. even when momo convinces her to let up, he doesn't budge. it's impossible to tell what's going on in that horned head... maki lays a gentle hand on his head, and he relaxes just a little, barely perceptible to the naked eye.

"aesthetics, huh...?" she's never given much thought to her appearance. her long, dark hair is unbound, falling in waves over her shoulders. her clothes are neat and practical, though expensive. her skirt alone cost more than most people make in a week's work. it's not that she doesn't know she's pretty-- she's been to enough social events to be aware of how other people perceive her-- it's more that she's never seen much value in modifying the way she looks.

despite this, she does hesitate here. "i wouldn't even know where to start," she admits. she can't help being curious, even as her mother's voice in her head tells her not to waste time on unnecessary endeavors.

maki is an attentive listener. she's been taught to pay attention to everything and everyone, so that she can pick up on the subtle intricacies of other peoples' behavior. she's navigated a world full of lies and subterfuge since she was a child. everyone has ulterior motives, and everyone will take any chance to screw you over if it benefits them. that's what maki's believed her entire life, and it's the modus operandi behind her family's involvement with team rocket. there is honor between thieves, sometimes, but only if you're powerful enough that you can never be used without your knowledge.

momo seems to be an open book. she chatters away with reckless abandon, and maki just stands there and listens. she tries, and fails, to determine if the other girl is hiding something. has she realized who maki is? it would make sense if she wanted to be 'friends' with a yukimura, given their money and status.

maki doesn't find any reason to believe anything is hiding behind momo's smile, and somehow, that's more disconcerting than if there were. when momo asks if she can have maki's contact information, maki blinks, pulling herself out of her musings. "you want to...?" her voice wavers, and maki curses herself for her hesitance. she shakes herself out of it, pulling her phone out of her handbag. "alright. here." she pulls up her contact information and shows it to momo.

why am i...? she doesn't really understand it herself. she knows a million ways to politely refuse or deflect unwanted questions. this is a waste of my time... even so, she doesn't budge.

momo is the first maybe-"friend" maki's made here as well. she gets along fine with the other rocket grunts, but for the most part, they seem to keep their distance from her. she's a lone wolf here, without anyone other than her younger sister to occasionally keep her company. she's never been so far from the influence of her family before. would they think she's already going soft, looking at her now?

maki smiles. "maybe i'll cheer for you in your next contest," she says. connections are important, she reminds herself. they're people you can use. though it's beyond her right now how she might be able to 'use' momo, which leaves the question of why she will allow them to remain in contact. the best she can say is that the other girl has piqued her curiosity about the contest scene.

she nods. "...keep me updated on when your next contest is," she says easily, smile still pasted carefully on her porcelain face. "i should be going, though. i hope your training goes well." the practiced pleasantries fall easily from her lips. with her bag rustling at her side, she and her houndoom walk off. they both keep pace with each other perfectly as they leave.