"Blackjack it is, love."

She smiles, her expression predatory and sneaky. The woman knocks back the rest of her drink, feels it warm the surface of her cheeks and the end of her nose. She follows after him, setting her glass on the bar to be left behind. Along the way, stolen glances and unspoken agreements are made.

It wouldn't just be Remi getting lucky this evening.

mission: rigged gacha rolls

Felix Gallagher

☉

His question gives her dry-mouth. The sound of her name on his tongue leaves her agitated and afraid.

"I don't know."

But she loves him, in some manner of the word. He had been her partner, her best friend, the most important person in her life outside of Roman and Calla. He had been kind and patient and attentive where the others had been cold and calculating and unforgiving.

"Why did you do that?"

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

Even better, the bartend was cute.

She smirks as he reaches for a bottle of top-shelf bourbon. It excites her, even if she knows in the morning she'll regret it.

The crackle of the ice wilting with the sudden temperature change is thrilling too, as is the spice of the booze as it splashes up the side of the glass.

"What can I say? Business is good."

Remi leans into the bar, closer to him and to her glass. She lifts it, swirls it, tilts it toward him with a curious smirk pressed against her cheek.

"I haven't seen you around before, have I?"

Caprice Isaac

☉

This woman was so strange.

But Remi humors her by sticking around - well that and she'd like to get paid. Why was she even still here, anyway? Was what she was doing dangerous, or something, and Remi was the brawn?

'Cause she certainly wasn't the brains, here.

"Shame."[b/]

Being turned down didn't bother her even a little bit. She turns her attention back over to the stone and the Pokemon, and her eyes widen in surprise as the Slowking undergoes what looks like an evolution-- only for there to be a younger version of a Pokemon in it's place, and without a crown.

"What's the point?"

Evelyn Vespera

☉

She says she's sorry, and this time, the words don't seem so hollow. It doesn't sound as if they are being mechanically spelled out by people who don't actually give a shit, or people who've never experienced pain in their life. No, from her, it feels genuine.

Perhaps that is why it comes so naturally to cry, openly weeping and sharing with this perfect stranger-not-stranger her pain.

Two warm hands reach up to caress either side of her face. She is pulled down, but Remi doesn't fight it. Her silent tears keep spilling, touching against Luka's thumbs for her to brush away. They begin to cry together, though Remi convinces herself she's far more contained about it.

But as satin lips press gently against either cheek, settling near the corner of her eye, Remi begins to let go. She leans into the woman, knees buckling, probably bringing Luka down to the ground alongside her. Her chest heaves with heavier sobs, and she leans her temple against the woman's cheek, seeking out her comfort more than she cares to admit.

"I don't know what to do. I miss him so much."

mission: dream eater

luka chêne

☉

Remi stares back at him as a pokeball whistles past her ear. She doesn't flinch though, just stares in mild disbelief at the boys audacity. No warning, either, he had just thrown it and sucked up some unsuspecting Igglypuff. Maybe she should thank him though, as it probably had been up to no good tying her hair up in knots or something.

God, she hated babies.

Okay, well, not her babies. Other people's babies. Unsupervised babies. Babies who didn't belong to her. Babies who didn't have two cute ears and sharp claws and baby-doll eyes.

"Your chicken scratch needs work."

He pulls the journal out of her grasp roughly, and normally she'd be insulted if it weren't for the fact he was clearly writing in some sort of code and he didn't want her to see it. Fortunately for him, she isn't a quick study, and she had literally no idea what gibberish he'd jotted down.

"Poop smear is a pretty weird code word though. But whatever works for you, I guess."

She smirks. He redirects the conversation.

"The tree's been the talk of the town lately, I was curious to see what the fuss was about. Sort of looks like a regular tree to me, though. I heard it sprouted overnight? That's kind of wild."

bryan delarosa

☉

"Oh, fantastic."

Sarcasm drips from her tone as her expression pinches into feigned glee at the sight of yet another dragon. She had to wonder if this guy was a flying-type specialist or a dragon-type one. So far, she'd seen more scales than feathers.

No matter, she could handle it. Dragons were a pretty hot commodity in the smuggling field, too, and she always made it work.

She could already see a disadvantage, though, and that was the fact the little flying apple dragon was, well, flying. In the air, above Dratini and out of reach. This would be interesting, given she had never seen a Dratini fly and was pretty sure they couldn't.

"First move, right, yeah. Okay, Qi'ra, put up your defences."

Maybe not the most ideal start, as she could have started offensively, but.. it was definitely a relief to see the SAFEGUARD go up to protect the little Dratini.

Alexei Ivanov

☉

She isn't sure if he's feigning ignorance to pry answers out of her, in turn, or if he's genuinely out of the loop. If he is, it's certainly a surprise for her, given how everyone and their mother seemed to know about her and her brother.

In fact, she is so surprised by his question that her drink falls away from her lips and she stares at him for a moment before answering:

"My brother ended up in Hoenn looking for information on avatars and legendary dragons. Seems he found some, and now he's dead. I came here looking for him and got a rude awakening."

mission: recruitment act. 1

THEO BECKETT

☉

Remi quirks a brow, unconvinced, but unwilling to push her. If the woman said she would be fine, far be it for her to say otherwise. She didn't really care, honestly, she was more concerned about what might happen if her only partner for this evening froze to death.

What confuses her more, but what Remi quickly overlooks and avoids staring directly at, is the way the woman's fingers move to her stomach as if to lift it. What, was she just going to strip down to her skinny's altogether?

Please don't.

"I will, yeah, because I don't trust a lizard to do a bear's job."

She releases a Beartic, and the Pokemon side-eyes the Garchomp and huffs. And then it crosses its arms over its chest and stares straight ahead, confident.

The woman taste-tests her name, and, admittedly, the sound of it on her tongue is quite a delight. Remi glances back briefly to take a second look at the woman when she turns to walk away. She trails her fingers against the wall, and she prompts a laugh out of her with her final statement.

"Oh, trust me, I will."

But she shoulders her backpack and follows, leaving behind the Beartic and Garchomp to watch the entrance.

katja weiss

☉

He had a baby face, therefore, he was a baby, therefore, age was irrelevant. Besides, it was rude to ask a woman how old she was, so for all he knew, she was an ethereal, ageless angel godsend, and he was a puny pipsqueak.

Yeah.

"Name's Remi." Bear Woman, Remi laughs out loud. The noise is similar to a bark, and she glances at him with a raised brow from the eye left uncovered. She offers a crooked smirk and an amused shake of her head. "Bear Woman works too."

Once inside, the rattling, slamming, bellowing of a trapped beast draws their attention. It prompts another barking laugh out of the woman, even in spite of the danger they are likely investing their lives in.

"Think you can handle it, kid? Make sure not to get too close, it'd be a shame if it fried you."

There appear to be handles on either side of the crate, and her bears seem large enough to help carry on either side.

BARNABY FINCH

☉

Remi crumbles to the floor, holding her own nose to make sure that she hasn't just broken herself on the invisible wall. Fortunately, everything is still intact other than the ringing in her head and the throb in her nose.

"Wow, that's an insane ability. Felt like a real wall."

She shakes her head, rises to her feet with Melody's help, and offers the girl a small smile.

"Spinda always look a little stunned. I think they're made of jello, they just bounce right back."

As she says this, the three bears are already picking themselves back up and seem oblivious to the fact they had even fallen down to begin with.

mission: coordinator choreography

Melody Miro

☉

Non-traditional challenges? How bizarre, how drastically Pokemon gym challenges had changed. What happened to the good old days of a simple one on one until either side faints? Riding Pokemon in the air while battling?

Remi squints.

"No wonder you're using a cane."

Shit, had she said that out loud? Thankfully, the woman has little to no sense of shame, so she makes absolutely no indication of guilt on what she's said. She merely brushes it aside and pretends she's said nothing at all. It helps that Alexei goes on to explain the rules and whatnot.

"Cool."

And then, with a disgusted expression on her face, she unzips her jacket in front of the man as they step outside. It might seem inappropriate, and probably was given her lowcut black tank top beneath her black leather jacket-- but she's revealing a Dratini, not her cleavage.

The little Pokemon, now exposed to the cooler air compared to the compact heat of Remi's skin and the closed jacket, blinks her eyes open and shifts to resettle on the woman's shoulder to peer around. The small Pokemon stares at the gym leader first, and then the Salamence- twitching in surprise as Remi takes an abrupt step back at the giant dragon's arrival.

Fear flickers across Remi's face, but she holds it together.

"He seems.. friendly."

She doesn't sound quite convinced. But she pulls the Dratini from her shoulders and sets it down in the grass in front of her. It glances back at her, bewildered by the change in environment and temperature, but Remi gives the Pokemon no more mind before zipping up her jacket again.

Alexei Ivanov

☉

The door clicked shut and the grin he offers her is crooked, charming. It draws her in more than she'd care to admit, the ruggedness about him tempting.

It helps that his eyes never stray too far from her frame, that his smile twitches and changes as he commits her image to memory. His enthusiasm is encouraging because her clothes haven't even begun to come off - and yet he holds fast and approaches anyway.

"Is that right? Well then.. let's see what you can do."

The closer he gets, the closer she leans against the table. Her waist presses against the edge, she her smile stretches the closer his warm breath brushes against the tip of her nose. Fingers curl to tempt him closer, her other hand reaching out to tug on his belt loop all over again.

virgil roach

☉