"Excuse me? You can shove it up your ass."

Remi scowls, staring up at him. The closer he gets the more itchy she feels, like she's missing something.

It comes to her when she realizes he said her name. She hadn't shared that with anyone, anonymity was a goddamn blessing in this line of work.

"How do you-- Niko? Niko fucking Manner... no goddamn way."

NIKO MANNER

☉

"Do you need to drink a little faster to get some balls up under ya? Cuz you're shaking, and I don't work with pussies!"

Stress clips her words and makes her curt and sarcastic- and dare she say it, a complete ass. But urgency reflects in the hard stare she offers, and she is relieved upon seeing Freddie step up and send her Graveler after the Beedrill. Thank God.

Even if it were false bravado, it was working. That's all she needed to see, and all she needed to witness in order to get her own ass in gear.

With Mandibuzz above providing the team a TAILWIND, they move just a bit faster. It helps them give the drop on the wild Pokemon, mostly, and they beat back their opponents with ease-- for now.

"Slice em up!"

AIR SLASHES cut through, slicing through low-hanging branches and swooping up to catch Beedrill off-guard. They drop like flies, twitching violently on the ground.

"How many more of these fuckers are there?"

@winifred

☉

There is something distinctly familiar about the way his breath exhales in the form of a verbal reprimand.

'Tch.'

It makes her squint, makes her second-guess. It makes her take a second look to watch him duck out of the burning barn. But from here, with the flames illuminating his back and casting his face in shadow, she can't tell. That and he's pissed her off shouting at her. Warranted, but still.

"The place was a deathtrap anyway."

And for a smuggling drop-off point, it was a shitty one. She'd only been here a few days and she'd been warned off of showing up to the spot in case too many League official eyes were watching. Apparently more and more lately, they were stepping in to assist farmers.

One less barn to worry about, frankly.

NIKO MANNER

☉

"Damn, you're tellin' me a gay man can't figure out how best to stroke it? That's sad, champ."

She's being inappropriate, but he definitely started it with the teats joke.

"And you don't stroke a woman's breast the same way, either, totally different situation. Do mine look anything like that old girls? No, so don't even go there. Actually, don't even answer that."

But she rises from her seat and approaches anyway, because Arceus damn well knows one way or the other that one of his girls is in dire need of gentler hands. Ironic, coming from Remi.

"Remember, you gotta be gentle."

Rowan Wrynn

☉

She definitely wasn't shying, but she also wasn't telling the truth. She genuinely wasn't interesting, not in the slightest. Her parents were deadbeats, her dad a waste of sperm who'd left at the first sign of trouble. Her mother was an addict, hooked on gambling and too many bottles of vodka.

She was boring.

But she did have something interesting about her, and apparently Killian already knew about it. He fishes it out with a hook, tearing her wide open as he pulls it to the surface. Remi's reaction is immediate and defensive, with bared teeth and nails sharpened.

"Do you know where my brother is?"

Her tone is accusatory and violent, charged with agitation and fear. Roman had never gotten involved in anything criminal. He was alwas straight-laced and perfect, kept his chin above water and fought like hell to stay above the grime. There was no fucking way he'd end up down here with someone like this guy.

Killian Decker

☉

Perhaps it should scare her, the knife pointed at her chest and the thoughtful pause while he toys with changing his mind. Perhaps it should scare her more that it leaves her more interested than she had been a moment ago.

The guy was interesting.

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

His new addition to the broth allows its flavourful aroma to rise. Admittedly, it smells incredible. It even encourages her stomach to groan in anticipation, though she gives that reaction no attention whatsoever.

"Must be your secret to keeping in shape."

With a tilt of her head, she observes the man with an amused, only slightly predatory smirk on her face. He reiterates his earlier question, and she purses her lips.

"Do you want me to join you?"

mission: feast or famine

Julien Demassieux

☉

It is bizarre how easily emotions become confusing and muddled, how easy it is to fall into old habits and weave your thoughts into your false reality. In the waking world, Remi's heart is bitter and closed. Here, gazing into the soft, kind eyes of a perfect stranger- but one whom brings feelings of familiarity and nostalgia with no clear reason why?

Her breast swells with affection and intrigue.

It is as if she's known this woman forever, and it should be her tell that this is a dream.

But being aware is difficult, and Remi has never been aware of anything.

"Is that right?"

She feels breathless, and the feeling worsens as warmth spreads up her arm. The woman's hand slips through the bend in her elbow until both of their arms are looped. She is stuck, but does not feel trapped. Instead, at the slightest touch she somehow feels lighter, and her sense of urgency retreats. Whoever it was she had been looking for falls to pieces, to be replaced with the softness of this girls perfect complexion and wide, loving eyes.

"... Okay. I'd like that."

mission: dream eater

luka chêne

☉

With a slow blink, Remi watches as this guy explains how his Pokemon and species like it are mostly harmless, only for said Pokemon to immediately launch into the deep dark of the cave and beat the shit up out of a Skarmory.

"Sure, buddy."

Fortunately, it seems the Magnezone has interrupted what was a pretty poor feast a whole flock of Skarmory had been having on a bunch of Stunfisk. Now, by this point, most of them were probably already picked apart. But one in particular was left flapping about in the dirt, desperate to either be released from its torment or be thrown back into the water.

Or wherever they came from, actually.

"Sure. That's where I'm comin' from."

And it was, probably, she just didn't care to think too much about it or give this weird dude the time of day. She tosses a pokeball at the remaining alive Stunfisk before glancing back at the mean metal machine that had just single-handedly taken out a metal bird.

capture attempt on stunfisk

paxton concordas

☉

"Young ones usually follow the direction of their elders- or violently choose to go against. I feel like what we're seeing here is rebellion and desperation from the way they were raised."

But she shrugs, because really, she doesn't give a damn.

The mention of the takeover draws her attention back slowly. Her expression is lazy, bored, purposely hiding the spark of interest in her cold gaze. Her lip quirks, but she's sarcastic and indifferent even then.

"What sort of monsters?"

Resentment makes her throat itch, and the twitch in her fingers urges her to fish for a cigarette. She refrains, forcing her chin to turn away from the girl and the answers she wasn't sure she wanted.

"I'm just passing through, kid. They showed up after I did, and I could really give less of a shit what they do so long as they don't bother me."

Kaida Adachi

☉

"Uhh, well I just meant even a real flamethrower. Or a lighter, or something. Literally anything."

Damn, people really rely on Pokemon far too much.

Her first response was 'I'm a rock-type trainer'. Congrats, lady.

But at least she has the sense to lower her voice. Remi doesn't think about it nor care, and continues to speak at the same volume. The buzzing grows worse, and she slowly turns her cheek back around to face the vibrating trees. Leaves shake and she begins to wonder where the hell she put her peach-bum cheek pouch change purse she carried. It had a lighter in it.

"Shit."

There was no leaving without a fight, and no getting to the treehouse to eradicate the swarm without a fight. She's given a seconds worth of warning before her partner charges. Her Graveler volleys a bunch of dirt, knocks down a few cocoons, and sends the world into a dizzying array of yellow and black.

Quickly, she reaches for a pokeball. It pops open to reveal a less-than-enthusiastic Mandibuzz that quickly becomes enthused by the dozens of Beedrill coming with stingers pointed. The bird cries, summons a TAILWIND that whips up air and speeds up both she and the Graveller.

It didn't stop the violent buzzing though.

@winifred

☉

At some point they need to call it quits. The fire is blazing out of their control, becoming very much the bonfire that she's described it as. The building is a lost cause, and they're about to be too if they don't get out of there.

But instead of running for safety, the guy continues to berate her with accusations.

Okay, maybe he just asked her a question- but it was the implication behind said question that turned her defensive.

Okay, hostile.

"I don't really think it matters at this point, dickhead."

He's bigger than she is, but she's not the least bit intimidated. He reminds her of her Pangoro, Bane- actually, he's shorter than Bane. From behind Niko, the Pangoro looms. The tip of the bear's chewing stick seems to be smouldering, glowing faintly with a warm ember from the heat in the barn. He glares down at Niko, as if begging him to try something.

"I'm getting out of here before we burn along with the barn. Dunno about you, pal!"

She tosses the bucket to the side and wipes her brow of sweat. Her cheeks are rosy with the heat and exhertion. The cool night air is an immediate relief as she jogs to catch up with the Beartic and his herd of Miltank.

NIKO MANNER

☉

Frustration builds slow, like a poison, drawn out and painful. It starts with sharp glances over her shoulder, a feeling of anxiety and anticipation. Her skin crawls as she rounds what she is convinced is the same fucking tree as the last three she's walked past.

In fact, it has to be, because at some point she carved her initials into the bark and there it is. 'R.C.'

God, what a sickening feeling that gives her to see it now. It echoes in her brain, over and over again like ominous thunder. R.C.

Roman.

"How is it possible that I keep going in circles? This is ridiculous."

Is she going insane? Her head does feel foggy. But is it just because she hasn't eaten in...

"It's been three fucking hours?"

Wait, no, doesn't that say the exact same time as when she first got here? She really is going insane. This was supposed to be a quickie, an in-and-out quick and dirty trick. Petalburg forest was full of rare Pokemon ripe for the taking, and she had taken exactly what she needed.

But now she was lost, even though the trek in had been straight-forward.

mission: cle'fable in the feywild

Antoinette Spina

☉

Remi wasn't the type to take anyone seriously, really. Especially not someone who dried their vegetables after washing them. That required a sense of lunacy that not even she had - though she was the one fishing for hot pockets. And she was the type to microwave that shit too, for efficiency sake.

"It's an efficient dinner, you mean. Cheese, meat, breading, it's the whole shebang."

He stops paying her any attention, and it amuses her further. He was unenthusiastic and socially boring- and yet.. sarcastic and participating in conversation with her anyway.

She liked that.

"Very. Most men I'm familiar with survive on booze alone, microwave meals second."

She would know.

mission: feast or famine

Julien Demassieux

☉