Cillian Quinn

narrowed eyes catch the crimson orbs staring back at her. she feels the lugia's PRESSURE as it bears down like the weight of a boulder. breathing becomes more difficult; each inhale like sucking air through a straw. the change is noticeable. impossible to hide. but natalie doesn't let it change her expression. her piercing glare remains fixed for a moment longer before returning to gavin. as she was, challenging such creatures would be a fatal.

but make no mistake, soon it would be the god's fearing her.

"of course," she concedes, nodding her head once in his direction. supplication satisfied those in power. she would give it. at least, the illusion of it. after all, gavin was a man in a position where the threats, and orders, were nearly always one-sided. she understood his need to establish dominance. she expected it.

"unlike others, you'll find i care for more my results, than crediting myself for them. i also suspect i'm as disposable as nearly everyone else here." her eyes flash, aware that not even gavin himself was untouchable. "but i'm here to do a job. and i will get the answers i'm looking for. that much i do know."

"so, mr. merlino, appointments or no appointments. i believe it best if you cleared your schedule for the rest of the day." a pause, to catch her breathe. annoyance towards the shadow-pokemon only furthering. "i have a feeling we will be very busy."

Cillian Quinn

natalie dismisses the threat with a wave of her hand, emerald eyes scanning the offices interior. it was nice. to be expected of one of the senior executives of team rocket. still, it could use a woman's touch.

"he has high expectations of you, as i am no doubt you are aware." she says, turning her pointed gaze back onto gavin. there's something there, in his actions; his tone. something she can't quite place.

yet.

"he's expressed onto me similar expectations." natalie says, smoothing out the hem of her skirt as she continues. "in fact, it's so important to him, he's offered me anything, or anyone, i may need to accomplish my research." her lips pull back into a dangerous smile as she waits for the words to sink-in.

natalie was confident she needn't wait long.

Cillian Quinn

natalie watches the door patiently, the tip of her nail circling the wood on ellis's desk. the corner of her lip still curled in a devilish smile. as if she knew something the rest didn't.

which, unfortunately for gavin, was the case.

when the vault-like door finally opens and gavin reveals himself, natalie feels her pulse quicken in excitement. she looks to ellis, mischief in her eyes. "told you. appointment." with a casual disregard, natalie tips elli's nameplate over with a simple push of her finger and moves to enter.

"he's been talking about me?" she mused, sliding past. "and here i thought the 'blank' wasn't capable of gossip." she'd coined the pet name for theo after their brief encounter. she thought it suited him. she sits, tossing a leg over one knee and looking entirely too comfortable.

"i've heard a lot about you, too, mr. merlino. from our mutual friend upstairs."

Cillian Quinn

natalie's heels echo through the hall as she approaches. her movements are methodical; purposed. she saunters up and towards the desk that acts as a checkpoint for the underbosses office, narrowing a dangerous gaze onto the man's name tag.

"ellis," she purrs, her voice lingering as if practicing the best way to say his name. her nail draws an invisible line on the desk and emerald eyes slide towards gavin's door. the slightest curl of her lip tells she's amused. but about what?

"i believe i have an appointment."

Lulu Flint | MISSION

DISGUISE

it was surprisingly easy to become an entirely different person. add a little hair dye, some contacts, a handful of hair extensions and a smidge of blush. and wah-la! you're someone who people actually find approachable.

it disgusted natalie.

already a half-a-dozen people had given her friendly smiles, hellos, and the occasional wave. their constant need for human contact was a stain. but she had a roll to play. and that meant smiling.

natalie, in her rocket given persona of "casey farris", sat alone on a wooden bench. the sun above was uncomfortable on her pale skin and she had to resist scowling. the given instructions were precise. maintain your given persona at all costs and wait at this location.

she had been told that not just any person was going to accompany her here today, but an executive. the mission was important and required oversight. she was vague on the details, only, one of their own had been captured by league operatives. he had been taken here, to slateport, in one of their temporary bases set-up after the cities near-destruction.

the words still clear in her minds eye. eliminate at all costs. there will be no extraction upon failure. no wonder rocket had fallen in this region. they weren't exactly creative.

still she waited.

still she smiled.

this was going to be a long day.

with Lulu Flint

natalie continues her walk, attention consumed by the theoretical. she flits through thoughts like a single man swiping right on one of their dating apps. utilization of the new venonat's poison would likely take up a number of days. she would need to document her findings. figure out a use. the poison was stronger in the coats of their young. a natural defense mechanism that grew less required as they aged. at worst, it could paralyze a fully grown human in less than a minute.

not bad.

her focus was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of syfus's GUNK SHOT. a cold stare followed, landing on a wild pokemon in mid leap. the branch where it was formerly cat-napping was in smoking shambles. the liepard gave natalie an aggressive hiss, splittle flying from between it's teeth. but, it's instincts took over and soon it disappeared.

"nuisance." she spat, eyes snapping to the arbok. "don't interrupt me again unless you're dying.. understand?"


notes + avoids battle. natalie is lazy.

THEO BECKETT

natalie flips and rolls the simple card between fore and middle finger before placing one of the corners on her lips.

simple and effective. she pitied theo and his lack of any flare. but, the perk of working with someone like theo, especially in moments like this, was efficiency. natalie respected that.

"only one," she says, hanging up her white coat and replacing it with a dark green longcoat. she moves to the door, the snake slithering onto the cold tile and moving to join her. "it's doctor fairchild." her lips curl into a knowing smile that fades as she turns to leave. natalie's voice echoes back.

"let's meet again." a pause. "oh, and turn out the lights when you leave."

THEO BECKETT

ah, the root of the problem. did theo really expect natalie of all people to rise to the bait? if he was here personally in the dead of night, trolling through a dank and slightly decrepit morgue, all in search of her...

well, if that didn't speak of desperate.

"mm, you could be." she agrees, unconcerned for the not-so veiled threat of his words. "there are a number of people that could fill your quota." natalie reaches up and removes the cloth mask from around her mouth, depositing it in the bin shortly behind the gloves.

"i know of a few, actually, if you're interested. i remember hearing rumors of two decent scientists in your very region. i believe their names were dahlia goode and Eva Morales ?" she intentionally leaves out a few names, such as illeana reyes and amalia samson , unsure of their moral ambiguities.

natalie stops and ponders for a moment, finger resting lazily against an upwardly tilted chin. "now why wouldn't you go to them first..." she asks herself aloud.

"ah! because they probably wouldn't be okay with the how of you conducting your business." not many people were, in fact, okay with it. natalie simply didn't care. it was all a means to an end. "so do quit the quite tiring over-masculine wrapped posturing of yours and get on with it." natalie bit her lip, eyes narrowing. "what subjects have you gathered for me already?"

if theo thought he could bully her. he would be dead wrong.

THEO BECKETT

natalie watches the man's chest sieze for a moment. normally it'd have slid by her notice- a harmless twitch in the infinite complexity that is the human condition- but up until that moment his composure had been ice. natalie was confident there was something there, but said nothing.

"limited?" she echoes, biting her lower lip in one smooth motion beneath the medical mask. somehow she doubted that. "didn't anyone ever tell you that 'good things take time?'"

natalie moved away from the table, the toe of one of her heels applying the pressure to open a biomedical disposable bin. she disposited the bloodied gloves inside.

"so far you've made this out to be solely for my benefit." she turned a frosted glare onto theo. "what is your benefit in all of this?"

THEO BECKETT

she could write entire medical journals on what she'd do to them, should she be given the chance.

"i suppose that would be depend if they were dead or alive," she coos.

both life and death offered different conclusions. different answers. both she'd need in the end anyways.

"which would it be?"

THEO BECKETT

vertically slitted pupils never leave the man. there's a hunger there. a hunger only held back by a single word.

meanwhile, a thousand questions go through natalie's mind. some that have bugged her for months, others entirely new. she sorts and files away the irrelevant. she was impatient, but needed to play it right.

"do you have any available for study?"

what she would give to get her hands on one one of them.

THEO BECKETT

natalie's movements are efficient, and in moments, she's fishing down with both hands to retrieve the organ. taking a step to her left, she drops it in a lifted pan, watching the meter dance left, and right, until it finally settles onto a weight. the skuntank's organ was twice the size of the average human heart and, unsurprisingly, weighed nearly four times as much.

"i have heard rumors. nothing concrete, however." from the corner of her eyes, she watches him. "everyone seems to be incredibly tight lipped about them."