She'd expected a yes. She'd expected him to get angrier because she'd called him out for what he really wanted, gratification with intimacy for the good he'd done for her.

She hadn't expected him to back off and bluster and blush.

"You are blushing. What the fuck?"

Remi bursts into laughter, snorting and nearly doubling over. Her bad mood and dark cloud of angst melts away immediately, replaced with the repeating image of Julien's face.

"You should have seen your face, holy shit. So.. you're saying you don't want me to do that?"

mission: feast or famine

Julien Demassieux

☉

"Uh-huh... something got you nervous, pal?"

She squints, suspicious. They were in a pretty obscure place, unrecognizable, unaccessible. Which probably meant no bathrooms. Maybe, honestly, she didn't know. She took care of bathroom business before coming to important underground operations like this one. Just one less thing to worry about.

His stuttering frustrates her too, but she tries to let it slide. Water off a Ducklett's back, so to speak. She worked with someone with a speech impediment and a nervous tick. Shit like that couldn't be helped.

"Delphinus-- you're.. being serious?"

She begins to doubt him more and more, up until a familiar name slips past his lips. Remi exhales, pulls her shoulders back while she crosses her arms over her chest. With a tilt of her head, she sizes up the man.

"It does indeed, Delphinus. What, he just picking up any old mutt off the street?"

And here she thought virgil roach thought she was special. Figures.

mission: future sight

mint frost

☉

"The fuck?"

She's heavy with alcohol, not thinking straight, still stuck on a life she should have had if she'd just played her fucking cards right.

But she hadn't.

And that's why her knees bump the underside of a bar, why her fingers are wrapped around a beautiful crystal glass. The setting was right, but the circumstances weren't.

She sets her glass back down, listens to the creak of her chair as her weight shifts to turn and face the source of the voice. But of course, she already knows exactly who it is, because.. it's always her.

"How did you get in here? Wait-- don't answer that."

She exhales, her breath warm, and she remembers the brush of skin from their most recent entanglement. What had once been faded memories came crashing back into reality. Even from across the room, even with inebriation effecting her judgement, she can feel the way her fingers trail up and down her spine.

"Are you following me?"

calla mccoy

☉

She exhales a laughing note. Her lips curl up into a lopsided smirk, and she watches him carefully as his fingers brush against her skin.

Men were so predictable.

"Hmm... I haven't had a problem handling it before."

NIKO MANNER

☉

His response prompts something in between a scowl and an eye roll. But his frustration fades and redirects into something else. She almost laughs, if she knew it wouldn't kill the mood.

The fire blazes behind them, but his attention is wholly on her. How's that for romance?

"In general? Or is it just because I said it."

He comes closer, and she doesn't keep the distance. Remi smirks, offering wickedness in her expression as she sizes him up. She purses her lips and tilts her head to look at him.

Its a challenge.

"Did you miss me, Niko?"

NIKO MANNER

☉

She should have just walked away, but picking a fight is her specialty and, while normally a hell of a lot more fun while drunk, seems to entice her even while hungover. Maybe if she'd just picked up one more spoonful of soup, they'd be in a different mindset.

Too late.

He steps closer to her, evidently trying to use his size to intimidate her. She doesn't budge. In fact, she, too, steps forward, and although her face doesn't meet the tip of his nose, that's the impression she'd like their closeness to make.

"What, did you want me to get down on my knees for you? Give you a little thank-you under the table? Is that it?"

She tilts her chin up, challenging him.

mission: feast or famine

Julien Demassieux

☉

"You're welcome, by the way."

She crosses her arms over her chest and stares him down. But even she can't resist the man's chuckle and grin. Seeing him brings a mix of emotions, some good, some bad, some ugly.

"You'd like that. I see you're still trying to perfect the big tough guy act. Convince anyone to call you the 'big bad wolf' yet?"

Her eyebrows raise, a challenging smirk is offered.

Is she flirting?

NIKO MANNER

☉

"Of fucking course you are."

Remi's lips pull back into a smile and then a barking laugh. She shakes her head, looks away and nods along to herself. It made sense, it felt like the natural thing. Who else would drag a legendary Pokemon around behind them as if they were tied to the end of a leash? That was the most reasonable thing in the entire world.

While he busies himself drowning a Palossand, Remi tuts around and discovers a Gible.

"What, do regulars not do a double-take when they see a legendary?"

She rolls her eyes, refocuses on the Gible. The small, clumsy Pokemon tugs at her heartstrings, but not in the good way. Though she hides it well, just the sight of the Pokemon catches her off-guard. Its beady eyes and little grabby hands and sharp teeth are a reminder, a painful one.

In order to avoid the elephant sitting on her chest, she makes short work of the baby dragon by allowing her Sneasel to wear it out. Around and around and around they go, with a little bit of ICY WIND to speed up or.. slow down the process. It confuses her momentarily why a dragon is in an ice cave.

Whatever.

capture attempt on gible

MATIAS SILPH

☉

She doesn't relent because he stares back at her with contempt - or that's what she sees. He's mocking her, taunting her.

"What the fuck?"

She knew Rocket was a crime organization, but psychopaths? Okay, maybe she should have assumed that much, too.

"Are you mad at me right now? You've got to be joking."

Something stupid? Like what? Dread fills the pit of her belly and it threatens to drag her to her knees. What did he mean by that? Had something happened to him? Where was Roman?

"No."

She is breathless, filled to the brim with a flash of grief. It passes quickly because disbelief and adrenaline refill the tank. His frown sets her aflame, like a tank of gasoline held too close to an open flame.

"And what's your job, exactly?"

Blinded by confusion, she forgets the reason she's even been called here.

Killian Decker

☉

"Should be?"

Incredible confidence in this one.

She might think she sounds confident, and maybe she is, but Remi's own fear of Beedrill - yes, it's developing quickly and suddenly - is shaking her own.

But it's okay, because Freddie is right, and suddenly six more are on the ground all because their two Pokemon are perfectly capable of handling themselves. Because they're strong, powerful women, and these are just a bunch of creepy, ugly bugs.

"Huh."

That noise soon turns into laughter, rushed and only slightly hysterical. The rest of the Beedrill scatter just like she tells them to, which is by and large incredibly impressive, and then Freddie hits the dirt. She shouts, pulling Remi's attention back to her, and the woman's laughter continues into a genuine belly-laugh.

"What the fuck. No wonder the League abandoned this shit- they might be the only sane people."

They should have been sent in here with an entire army, and they'd sent just the two of them.

"Well, how about that?"

@winifred

☉

"Sure."

God, she hated rangers. So pretentious, holier-than-thou, and oblivious to everything and anything around them. Mostly. They picked up on shit related to Pokemon, sure, but barely. They saw what they wanted to see, at least from her experience. Maybe there were good ones out there, rangers who genuinely cared and gave a damn about their job.

Honestly, she was getting the impression she'd just met one.

"Oh, my dear, it'll work."

And then she crosses her arms over her chest and leans back, amused and intrigued to see what would happen.

"This is gonna be good."

She's so invested in what this girl and her Krookodile would do that she doesn't even think twice about the orders she's been given. She's happy as an Alcremie to sit back and relax and 'wait here'.

Oh, and she laughs when one Krookodile with a mouthful of teeth turns into ten or twenty. Hilarious, truly. This was comical.

"That was... terrifying."

She's lying, but she makes it sound genuine. People disperse, begrudgingly, but the looks on some of their faces had been priceless.

"You're welcome."

Kaida Adachi

☉

The truth was, he hadn't done anything at all. People were allowed to talk, about literally whatever they wanted. His words, his conversation, his soup had been harmless.

But it was the sincerity and the way it was so easy for him to speak about his mother that prompted such violent, aggressive negativity. She was.. insane, really, and completely inappropriate.

Unfortunately, his tone and his question don't help the situation at all.

"I just don't give a shit about how much you love your mommy."

She laughs, a sarcastic, mean snort. It's unattractive and unlike her- or is it? She hates herself right now, truly, because she knows. She knows. She knows. She knows.

"Are you a momma's boy? Cause you sure fuckin' sound like it."

mission: feast or famine

Julien Demassieux

☉

God, watching him with that cigar made her crave one even more. What's worse is the way his eyes linger and it leaves her wanting.. something.

Fuck.

Maybe her hangover is worse than she thought.

She licks her bottom lip, pulls her gaze away from his suspicious eyes and the puff of smoke that obscures them, and back to the balls on the table.

"I'm afraid I'm much better equipped to work outside than behind a bar or waiting your tables."

Clunk.

She sucks in a breath and leans back, frustration leaking through a bit as the ball bounces off the corner and floats away. Remi shakes her head, twists the pole and tucks it to her chest before stepping aside to let him in.

"A little bird told me you move merchandise. I happen to have experience."

virgil roach

☉