The warm mocha staved off whatever chill there was in the air. The little wind still issued her cheeks a rosy red. Considering her placement on the bench, she was in the perfect position to people watch. She saw Julien Demassieux coming from a fairly good distance, giving her some time to straighten up her posture and greet him with a warm smile.

“Good afternoon, Ambassador Demassieux,” she curled over to reach a gloved hand down to pat the Houndour on the head, “And hello to you too, little lady,” a quiet laugh showed her appreciation for the pokemon’s cute, little, nubby, tail wags.

After a proper greeting to the canine she sat back up straight to look up at the Kalosian ambassador, “Yes I am,” she stood up this time, taking a step towards Julien, “They make the best peppermint mochas in the city, in my humble opinion,” her hand waved towards the little coffee cart, “May I treat you to one?”

---

Julien Demassieux
Festive Flirts

Eva’s fingers curled around her own warm cup like a little fireplace. Just the ritual of sipping a warm mocha staved off the unusual Hoenn chill. They waited patiently for Julien’s and Eva thanked her favorite barista again before they stepped away to wander down the icy sidewalk.

Having cooled down enough, she sipped her beverage carefully before glancing up at Julien with a small smile, “I’ve been well, busy as always,” the holidays never brought any ‘down time’ to a position like hers. The grind never ended, “A few new, exciting things have surfaced,” her smile turned into a somewhat playful grin, “Nothing I can really talk about though,” all the exciting stuff was buried under ‘classified’ labels. He would understand, being someone who held a certain level of authority, “Are you planning on returning to Kalos for the holidays at all?”

---

Julien Demassieux
Festive Flirts

Eva smiled genuinely, deep than the usual cordial smile she offered nearly everyone in her company. Family was an important pillar in her life, one she let weaken for far too long, “That sounds lovely,” she hummed in response, “I’ve never been to Kalos,” she commented, a bit more absentmindedly as if she was coming to the realization for the first time. Unfortunately, she really hadn’t been offered the opportunity to be a world traveler. Other things had taken priority most of her life.

“Oh, I don’t have any exciting plans. Can’t really visit family. Kanto isn’t very welcoming for people like me, you know?” she doubted she'd ever be welcome back as long as Rocket kept its firm hold over the region. She supposed Julien wouldn’t know. His unique position offered him a certain political amnesty, she assumed, “My brother is here though so I’m sure we’ll do something.”

---

Julien Demassieux
Festive Flirts

To be frank, Eva was happy not to deep dive into the depths of that conversation. Therefore, she was grateful and appreciative when Julian smoothly transitioned the conversation to something else. No wonder he was a public figure. Finesse like that was hard to come by. Unfortunately, her standards for what constituted a pleasant conversation outside the lab was set quite low. Most men in Hoenn lacked cordial social skills.

“Free time?” she repeated, her voice rising to a sarcastic pitch, “Now whatever do you mean by that?” her cheeks flushed under her wide smile to emphasize the sarcasm, “Is that where you’re from? Snowbelle?” she shrugged her jacket a bit tighter, “I’m not used to the cold. Don’t quite care for it but the snow is pretty,” it had its perks and a quick visit was doable.

Eva hummed in agreement, “Yeah I’ll be sad when the season is over but probably best I go back to black coffee,” too much sugar in these but her rare sweet tooth greatly enjoyed them.

---

Julien Demassieux
Festive Flirts

The subtle interruption prompted Eva to glance at her own watch. It was starting to get close to time for her to return to her lab to continue the day’s work. No meeting for her, at the moment, but something always tended to pop up on her schedule that she wasn’t expecting.

“Yes it was -” she looked up with a smile that froze and twitched at the corners when he leaned in. She was familiar with the customary Kalosian mannerism but it wasn’t something she was expecting. The soft brush of his cheek against her left them flush with color. The deep red could have just as easily been from the kiss of the cold wind but she knew better.

“Yes, great bumping into you like that,” the words came rather quickly as she gathered herself, “That’d be great,” she smiled, her lips pulling tighter in preparation of upping the ante, “Yeah, we should do dinner, or something,” she suggested, planting a seed, “Looking forward to it, Mousier Demassieux.”

---

Julien Demassieux
Festive Flirts