honestly, now that she's thinking about it, she probably could have texted nomi for a ride on the back of kfc. but also she's busy and parker needs to prove she can handle herself. she's gotta prove she's not deadweight; that she actually brings something to the table. 

she takes one look down the chasm and thinks fuck. 

oooooooooh, first name basis? some of her trepidation goes away. some of the alarm bells start ringing. she thinks, can't let my guard down, but then she realizes she doesn't really gotta. defection? all thought of it gone. happy life being a happy-go-lucky league civilian? gone. 

nomi bleeds rocket so parker bleeds rocket too. 

"yeahno," she says honestly. "i mean, 'less ya count when that bigass popsicle made this place or whatever. i fell in here an' beat the shit outta a weird metal bull. you see those things?" she uses her hands to make a terrible likeness to iron crown's horn. 

"nice ambiance," she says as purple flames flicker in front of them. amulius doesn't seem very impressed. he does look a bit floofier than usual though.

the delphox puts him on edge.

Cillian Quinn
UhcBUsQm

☉

embers whistle past his feathered beak and he turns his head away, nonplussed. he wasn't there when it all happened, but the man's stench had lingered on her festering leg for days afterward. amulius knows what he did. 

unlike cillian, parker's flying pretty high. well, all things considered. it makes sense, putting face time in with the boss, but that doesn't make it any less stressful. what puts her off, mostly, is that he's being so...civil with her. 

she thinks it probably has to do more with nomi than anything. 

here's the thing. she's all about her callouses and her rough edges, but parker jones' whole job is measuring someone's fear. it's knowing when to put the pressure on and when to pull the punches. it's reading the way blood drips down an unlucky schmuck's face.

it's peeling back the layers of bravado and overconfidence and exposing weakness. 

his hand goes to the rock. his steps falter, in just the slightest, and his pitch changes. and here is the man who still haunts her nightmares, who is the embodiment of everything she fucking hates, who is the one to kill her, right before she wakes up. here he is and he is so...human. 

and nomi loves him. 

she nods to amulius and the blaziken darts forward to investigate while parker splays her palms out, still a bit too off-put to put her hands on him, but concern knits her brows. 

"y'good, boss? i i'n't hear nothing. but shit's creepy. i get it."

Cillian Quinn

☉

no, she absolutely does not fucking want to know what that sound is. this time she definitely heard it and usually when you hear crazy crying or screeching coming from a fantastical land of superpower crystals, one does the sane thing and says, fuck this shit i'm out. 

but cillian quinn isn't just anyone. cillian quinn isn't even himself. he is fucking rocket and what he wants, parker wants. what he needs, parker needs. if he says jump, parker does not say how high - she looks over the ledge and she swallows the bile rising in her throat and she gives a thumbs up and says, "fuck yeah, i wanna."

and then, more realistically, "i don't got a sygna suit. or a pokemon that can fly. or teleport. or, like, okay nomi's been getting on my case a little for it. i got a kommo-o though and he can prolly carry me bridal style, but i don't think he's happy with me right now 'cause i gave his extra treats to maisey."

she talks when she's nervous, okay?

Cillian Quinn
JCBC2wVB

☉

she resolves, almost instantly, to get a flier or a pokemon capable of teleporting. probably the former. teleporting still gives her green gills, even if she's done it over and over with nomi. she rubs the back of her neck awkwardly, keeps up the wry smile, and says, "with hard work 'n determination."

yeah, cill, she uses her fists. 

"but t'be fair, all i was doin' before nomi was beatin' the shit outta low lives who owed us money." the colloquial us tastes sour in her mouth, but she's proud she didn't say something dumb like 'who owed fuckin' rocket.' 

so here's how she finds herself caught between a rock and a hard place. honestly, she's kinda surprised he's giving her the choice at all and waiting, while he's all wrapped up in seaweed and the monster that wants to eat them waits down below. granted, the options are both shit. 

she wouldn't mind watching him get gobbled up, but then there'd be emotional baggage and nomi would probably be upset. he's also - fuck, all his fangs and devil horns have started to disappear. it's easier to say 'you're bad and you suck' when she doesn't have the guy shaking in his boots from paranoia and talking to her like a normal human being. 

back to both options being shit - 

1. get slimed by seaweed and go into the waiting jaws of death OR
2. kick it with cillian's shadow pokemon, which are presumably made of the same miasma he used to fuck up her leg way back when. 

and they don't like people.

and parker isn't so sure how much control he really has over 'em, especially if he's not here.

she stalks over to the edge and recalls amulius, but keeps his ball firmly in the palm of her hand. the other goes out towards the dhelmise. 

"bondage it is," she concedes. 

Cillian Quinn

☉

look, parker! the big scary rocket boss can relate to you. he was there once. now look at him, as you hang from your waist by some sentient seaweed. look at him and think about how one day, sweetheart, that could be you!

she thinks of Isaac Merlo then and envy twists hot and raw in her intestines. makes her go all squirrely. she twitches and her breath comes short. she's glad the dhelmise is doing all the work 'cause she would have lost her grip for sure. 

that dream of hers about getting out has been shot dead now, lain to rest with blood and tears and some of nomi's c - well, the specifics don't matter. she made a promise. she told her she's 100% in. no wishing for anything else. ends of the earth, end of the world. 

how cruel that in hoenn, the dead don't stay dead. 

steel-toed boots find the ground. she crouches there, shaking away the rest of her anxious sweats, and looks up at her boss. 

"yeah," she says, unconvinced. "maybe it won't be so bad."

Cillian Quinn

☉