a laugh huffed under his breath, caught a little off guard by her question.

”makes ya look like ya got taste.” a matter of opinion, maybe, but again, it was a passion of his.

he took the cigar and pulled back out his cigar case, extinguishing it and then sliding it away and pocketing it once more. as many cigars as he had in his possession, he never wasted a good one half-smoked.

when they had made their way inside, and too their booth, his sat and waited, not needing to peer at the menu.

”yeah, it’s pretty good,” he assured. ”damn good when yer as lit as you seem to be.” he smirked up at her, teasing.

@jessica

☉

roach watched, seated in one of the bar stools across from caprice, elbow leisurely laid across its edge. when the beer was placed neatly in front of him, its foam rounding nicely like a cornea on the top, he eyed it and nodded approvingly.

”that’s a good sign,” he noted. lime green readers, much too small for his head, angled down at an paper as he took a sip, froth catching on his dark mustache. he set the pint back down. ”we’ll continue.”

squinting, despite lenses, he cleared his throat. ”tell me ‘bout yer work experience. you ever work in the lower district b’fore?”

Caprice Isaac

☉

betty’s head turned at nearly a ninety-degree angle, unblinking eyes not leaving him even as he left in the other direction towards her trainer.

roach looked vaguely confused as danny approached, but nodding.

”good t’meetchya. i’m roach. this’s boomer. your new friend over there’s betty.”

well. now that introductions were done…

he gave a lightly sweeping gesture back in the direction danny had just come from.

”shall we?”

DANNY HALL

☉

no one ever seemed to do it quite right their first time, and, at least in roach’s experience (but maybe it had more to do with his environment), most people’s first cigars were also drunken ones.

he eyed her attempts with amusement.

”it takes practice.” his smile curled back. ”looks good on ya, though. not ta be a bad influence…”

they were nearing the glow of the diner, now, and he took a long stride to grab the door for her.

@jessica

☉

people rarely lasted long. while his senior bartender slate had taken over downstairs, ritual's public bar had been a revolving door of faces, to the understandable complaints of his dwindling regulars.

ritual was becoming less a favorite bar, and more like the very obvious front that it was. the upstairs, an empty wasteland of leather and mahogany, while its even fancier hole in the ground hid a crowd he wasn't always so proud to claim. he was watching it happen, rather helplessly, and by now, he'd pretty much resigned to it.

still, he had to keep hiring bartenders, with only the hope he might score a good one to bring them some legitimate business.

he would start with the same question as always, "can you pour a beer?"

Caprice Isaac / mission: employment act i.

☉

a loud squawk ripped through the air before a mandibuzz landed on a rock nearby, eyeing danny intently, as though he were a scrap of meat.

”betty, be nice,” roach called ahead, boots scrunching in snow at a leisurely pace.

he still made no effort to hurry up once he'd made himself known. his cubone waddled along beside him without difficulty.

eventually, he asked, ”how’s it goin’?”

DANNY HALL

☉

they weren’t far, now. burgers were nigh.

he handed off the cigar. they were a passion of his, and he was ever-curious and amused to witness someone’s first.

”nah, it ain’t like a cigarette. ya jus’ puff on it. suck, ’n let the smoke sit on yer tongue, but don’t inhale, ‘ll make ya feel like sheit.”

@jessica

☉

his stomach growled out of almost nowhere. ”hell yeah, it does.”

they’d be on their way in that direction, then. he puffed more on his cigar, small clouds left to dissipate like winter breaths behind them.

he looked over at her question, smiling at her curiosity, before handing it towards her.

”does it taste good..” he repeated, as though it were a ridiculous question. roach’s bar doubled as a cigar lounge, importing them from all over. this was one of the best cigars money could buy.

he handed it towards her.

”ya ever smoke one before?”

@jessica

☉

thick, warm, and spicy—the air. fitting, maybe.

they entered, and his smile as he shut the door behind him was crooked, hitched up at the side with imperfect teeth. despite his impressive fortune, he remained rugged, nearly an excess of grit about him.

her seduction hit like good whiskey, hot on the nose and lingering. not too sweet, but undeniably pleasant all the same. his eyes did a pass over her, guessing a few things for the hell of it.

”ain’t never had a problem before.” he approached, the roguish look on his face only curling more. “you’ll be surprised what i can do with a tight space, darlin’.”

Remi Cassel

☉

a good burger sounded better by the minute, despite the vaguely appetite-numbing scent of tobacco and burning chemicals.

he smiled back down at her a bit crookedly, raising an eyebrow. ”that right?”

she went ahead of him several steps, seeming to have successfully found her legs again. he chuckled, watching her curves as she went and reaching into his pocket for a leather cigar case.

”good,” he responded, as he paused to light. a sweet, peppery aroma overtook the previous stench of nightlife.

”let’s go t’ that diner down the road. they got damn good burgers ‘n some other shit.”

@jessica

☉

he might have shown the same bemused interest in whatever she’d happened to show him, really. rocks. rubber bands. spoons. it didn’t matter. she had her fingies in his britches.

just as well, regardless of perception, of the utter confusion that might’ve flashed in his eyes, the choke of his lust was nonexistent, for one could most certainly be very confused, and still hopelessly horny.

mercy.

with the topic successfully rerouted again, he felt the comfort to grab his drink and wet his lips with heat, still eyeing her. ”yeah?”

his teeth clinked lightly against his glass as her hip rocked against his own, pulled upon at a belt loop. her aggressiveness should have maybe made him think twice, but his thoughts were already narrowing too much.

he grinned, standing up taller with a primal essence focusing his stare as he leaned in, close enough to breathe warmth down the crook of her jawline. his hip obliged to her pull and then some. ”right this way, then, remi.”

reaching down, he felt her fingers and gently unwound them with a quiet smile, before grabbing his cigar for one last puff. then, hopefully, he'd lead them upstairs and to the office.

it was a small space, in the back of an ornately carpeted hallway, and right across from the stairs. a large desk made it feel somewhat cramped, but there was still plenty of room for activities.

he opened the door and ushered her in, ”ladies first.”

Remi Cassel

☉

the woman was like a wolf. her eyes didn’t run away. she didn’t blush. just stared back, deadly, and even dared closer. when he felt the skin of her fingers in the waist of his pants, the corner of his mouth curled deeper. there was a rumble of a hum under his breath, an appreciative growl, but it was cut off by her question about…

”chia pets?” he echoed, bewildered. his brow wrinkled, and his eyes shifted in thought.

she pulled out her phone, and he looked. blinked, and gave a small chuckle. ”that’s a… shaymin plant, ain’t it?” he was at a momentary loss for what to say, before eventually concluding, ”it’s nice.”

?

his eyes began to wander down the elegant slope of her neck as he attempted to will himself past the moment.

”so. you wan’ go up to my office, and see if we can’t find you an application?”

Remi Cassel

☉

he watched her mouth disappear into the glass. warm eyes then reached hers again.

she was playing with him, and he was truly eating it up, as much as he tried to deny himself. for one, money and the sanctity of business. for two, he preferred not to stick his shit in trouble. women in the underbelly… not really worth it—but he was impulsive by nature.

”well, i can’t say i’d turn it down.”

he licked his lips, wondering about the course of things.

Remi Cassel

☉