the only thing stopping her from blowing her gasket and shouting, you slept with me on the first date! is that nomi is there. and arceus, this is not the time or the place or the way to tell her that. so she grimaces and swallows her anger, though it's visible all over her face, and she nods curtly, and walks away. 

the acid leaves an awful taste in her mouth and on her skin. she desperately wants to throw a punch somewhere, but all she can do is shove her hands into her pockets and simmer. 

nomi's completely absorbed in her work. the tree gets watered and they're presented with another option, which parker's more than happy to take. 

she leaves the glade, wishing she were anywhere else.

Yumi Hasegawa Naomi Sato

☉

oh, he is cruisin' for a bruisin', this one. the sound of parker's teeth grinding is almost audible. if someone touched her right now, she might just snap all the way in half with how tense she is. the person behind her has even taken a shy step backwards. 

she just keeps on staring at that zaatar, watching that grimy old coffee soak slowly into the bread. forever ruined. and it'll end up in the trash, probably get feasted on by rattata in the dumpster out back. she could go dumpster-diving. fuck, she's had to before. 

but no, there will be more zaatar bagels. and she's not going to go scrounging around in the dumpster on account of rat boy. 

with the situation under wraps, for the most part, the clerk rings angelo up. to his credit, he tries to hide most of his distaste as parker barks out a frustrated order for an asiago egg and cheese with triple bacon. she orders a cold brew with extra room in it and fills it with nearly a whole miltank's worth of cream and ample sugar on top. 

so then there's just waiting, and sipping her coffee, awkwardly to the side, next to rat boy, while their orders get worked on. 

angelo vestri

☉

to be fair, parker said she would eat anything. not that she could drink anything. so that first sip is bitter and almost like that one time she tried to taste fruity perfume because it smelled so nice (she was, like, five, okay?) and it's near impossible to keep the recoil off of her face. 

but this moonlight - MOONBLAST - matters a lot to nomi so she politely sets it back down and offers her a stretched smlie, saying, "best damn beer 've ever had."

which isn't exactly a lie. ciders don't count. yeah, ciders don't count. 

the steaming plate of nachos floats closer to them. underneath is a determined and silly-looking totodile. parker snickers, making an amused chuff in the back of her throat when he gets on a little stepstool to deliver the goods. oh, yum. 

the lechonk, at least, looks divine. she icky, smelly clamperl, though? blech. nomi can have all that for sure. 

she snatches a chip with a glob of oozing cheese on it, topped with chili peppers and sour cream and a nice chunk of meat, and pops the whole thing square in her mouth. her cheeks puff. she goes to wipe her greasy hands on her pants, but thank the gods they're new, and she remembers that's probably a gross thing to do. 

while on a date.

while on a date with nomi. 

"hey, little dude. you make this?" she says around her mouthful, gesturing to his ensemble.

and then she nudges nomi, nods to isaac. "so, how long have you two known each other?"

Naomi Sato Isaac Merlo

☉

nomi looks at the glass a little bit longer than normal and parker wonders if maybe she's nervous about germs? scientists probably worry about that stuff, right? but she recovers and then tries very hard to keep a polite look on her face while the sugar blasts every part of her tongue. parker's own lips twist upward in a grin, chuckle rumbling in the back of her throat. 

she keeps up with the charade, wanting to save face, but there's no need. parker thinks it's adorable. 

she's saying, "what, not gonna show me -" but looks like she had the same idea to talk right as nomi does. her riff on a i showed you mine, now show me yours falls to the wayside as she shuts up to listen to nomi. 

an awkward silence as her brain catches up. 

parker's spice tolerance isn't exactly baby, but it's not like she can handle eating alolan reapers by the mouthful. it's probably safe to say the nachos aren't going to be shit-your-pants spicy.

"sounds good. whatever y'want, nomes. i'll eat anything."

nomi looks up at her through her lashes and there's absolutely no way parker is intimate enough with her to know she's nervous and she's scared of ruining it, but she does, and it only feels natural to bump her shoulder against hers.

"can i try though? your super special beer."

Naomi Sato

☉

parker's near immediate response is, no, you didn't because that's an insane thing to claim when a bottle of beer is dropped off in front of you at a restaurant. and then nomi explains and parker doubles down on the, you sly dog thought process regarding isaac. she even shoots him an incredulous look over the bar.

she wishes she could share in that same rapturous fondness nomi holds for this bottle. she chatters about it, the brewery, and parker thinks, but isn't it moonlight? but she doesn't say this because it doesn't make any sense and fuck, she's never been this nervous on a date before.

nomi's still talking. about her grandma and it's sweet - really sweet. old granny sato stooped over a little nomi teaching her about beer...plants. does beer come from plants? she could probably ask nomi.

abandoned.

now entering the danger zone. sympathy is a weird look on parker and she is thankful for the sudden change of topic because that is a territory parker is not sure she's ready for. emotional availability? what's that?

"a hurricane," she says and takes a sip. her eyes widen. is it a hurricane? "nevermind, this shit's witchcraft. try it." she nudges it over to nomi with a grin and realizes she never answered the dang question about what she might want to eat...

Naomi Sato Isaac Merlo

☉

isaac doesn't exist. the bar doesn't exist. the man to their right parker kind of thought looked like a frog doesn't exist. it's just nomi's skirt twirling and the stunned, giddy look in her carmine eyes as they zero in on her. she's blurting something out, but parker's brain is short-circuiting because she's thinking no one's ever looked at me like that. 

like she's the best thing to ever walk in a room.

and then there is silence, and the moment is gone, and suddenly the date is real. not fantasy. they have to get to the next part and parker should say something or do something - does she hug her? shake her hand? no, don't shake her hand. that's not - 

thank the gods for isaac. 

parker looks gratefully at her friend and then smiles tentatively over her menu at nomi. "wait, you know isaac?" she says. nomi crows over a family brewery and suddenly everything clicks.

"you sneaky sunovabitch," she calls down the bar at him with a wolfish grin. a couple patrons look their way. she doesn't care. 

"an' here i thought homeboy was wing-manning for me tonight. looks like we're bein' two-timed, cupcake." she looks her own menu over and tries to decide whether she wants to attempt to impress nomi by ordering a beer, but then figures her inability to choke it down will certainly not impress her. 

'sides, she's got a feeling she doesn't even need to order a drink from isaac. he'll deliver. 

"so you get your beer. what's good eats? anything off the table?" is she vegetarian? vegan? only carnivorous? is that a thing? can people only eat meat?

Isaac Merlo Naomi Sato

☉

nomi blushed and parker looks away sheepishly. if she doesn't, she might do something stupid. sleep-deprived, with nomi in that cute skirt, will only amount to something disastrous happening if parker isn't careful. and man, that would extra, extra suck to push nomi's buttons and risk getting pulled off bodyguard duty. 

now that her life's on the line and all. 

"a drawing of what?" she asks. nomi flips to the page and parker's brows furrow. a cupcake? one of parker's favorite pet-names? it's a weird coincidence. it has to be. 

and what if it's not? something in her aches. she's struck by deja vu, an itch in the back of her head, an exhaustion so profound she almost feels twenty years older.

"i dunno how you do all this thinking all the time," she says with a sigh, closing the journal for her own sanity. none of it makes any damn sense. but she does know one thing. nomi offers to send her home and every fiber of her being screams NO. 

"couch would be killer. nah, though. i'm already up and betcha fifty bucks, i leave ya and i wouldn't be able to sleep." she scratches her cheek. 

"so all this madness aside, how's your other research? the eyeballs and shit?" she could give two fucks about the eyeballs. but nomi likes them. and more importantly, she likes talking about them. 

Naomi Sato

☉

nomi examines both handwritings with an intensity parker doesn't quite know what to do with. so she idles, picking at scabs on her knuckles. otherwise, she'd be staring moony-eyed at the scrunched-up frustration on nomi's cute face while she looks at something that vexes her. 

did they all just inhale crazy dream mist? but that doesn't make sense. parker's been around nomi's science shit long enough to know where the dream mist comes from, and there had been no signs of it on the battlefield.

she remembers the cat. the funny-looking deer with the bowl on its head. the anger and then the hollowness. the ground rumbling. 

and flickers of a field littered with black petals. a king almost gone, nearly forgotten. another half to her, a part she's missing now. and this one she chases. she smells hearthfire - cold, crisp snow. blood. sweat. tears. cu - 

huh?

"a few days?" she repeats, hand going to her head. she feels dizzy, all of a sudden, and almost drunkenly plops into an uncomfortable metal stool. 

"'ey, not your fault, cupcake. i like spendin' time with ya. but somethin' fun sounds good." she grimaces and reaches for her mug of coffee. "damn though. this insomnia keeps up and i might have to start takin' narcotics."

Naomi Sato

☉

the whole 'scenario' shifting around reminds parker of teleporting. she does not care much for teleporting. so as they flee and the world folds over in on itself (hasn't she seen that happen before...?) and then rebuild, she looks a bit green around the gills.

she walks through the kneeling bodies of pokemon. after a moment's hesitation, she wanders closer to yumi. there is a tugging in her chest towards the tree and her gaze shifts from the woman and over to the bark.

but she's still here. she's still present.

"i'm sorry," she murmurs lowly. "y'wanted a friend and i was shit. an' i'll respect that an' leave ya alone, but i'd like to try again. the friendship part." her lips quirk. "kinda bad at makin' em, not gonna lie."

Naomi Sato Yumi Hasegawa

☉

the howling. she knows it's rocket-run and quite frankly, that's about it. she's never been for that very reason. parker isn't known for playing nice with others and she takes her solo act seriously - well, took. she even bought an outfit for the occasion.

and immediately feels silly and overdressed and not at all like herself and yet still immeasurably underwhelming compared to nomi in that adorable baby blue dress with those flowers and her hair isn't up in its normal work ponytail and - 

i'm just standing here. i can't just stand here. and wait, why is she talking to isaac? holy shit, is bro already wingmanning it for me?

damn, he's good.

she waves as she nears, smiling nervously while nomi's back is to her.

"sorry i'm a bit late. forgot to take the tags off the pants." WAIT, NO, DON'T TELL HER YOU JUST BOUGHT THIS!

Naomi Sato Isaac Merlo
hehe :)

☉

it kind of feels like it. parker stares at nomi's back after her muttering and has to take a breath. and another one. she didn't ask to be upset. she didn't ask for this. she could have apologized to yumi properly, and sooner, if she weren't so damned ashamed of herself. 

but that doesn't matter now because nomi has flung her and yumi and their cufant all into one room. and, it seems, parker's the only one feeling bad about it. nice. cool. incredible. she loves this for her. 

oh, and after following them through the simulation, she gets her ass handed to her by psychic force. she winces and then freezes; dozens of nomi's creepy eyes open up and parker thinks, when the fuck did you get this many? but then she remembers they're in a simulation and these are not, in fact, nomi's eyes. 

it doesn't make them any less creepy. especially when they start to talk.

with only one option, parker dusts herself off and does as their floating little prompt says: flees. but she doesn't stray too far from nomi and yumi. she's here, after all, to protect them.

well, protect nomi. 

Yumi Hasegawa Naomi Sato

☉

she's so confused and she's drunk and she's angry and that's not a good place for parker to be. later, after this, she'll take her anger out on the punching bag in wayland's gym. he'll let her get it out 'til the ass crack of dawn. he gets it. 

but now, in this moment, she is bursting at the seams. and her teeth are grinding and she can't stop feeling. 

"then why the fuck'd you ask me out? all you had to say was fuck off. i'da preferred that 'stead of whatever this bullshit was."

Yumi Hasegawa

☉