"yeah, and you look like you just crawled out of bed, princess." what, rocket not keeping her as busy as they are parker? granted, a lot of the missions she'd gone on lately had been completely optional. nothing wrong with a finished quota and a few extra bucks in the bank. 

"either that or a fuckin' vampire. can't decide." 

she stretches her arms over her head and sighs contentedly when her shoulders pop. then she shakes 'em out and nods to rhea. "hope you're 'wake enough to teach shithead a thing or two. 'cause rhea and i sure as hell aren't."

cila

☉

amulius and remus pull their punches, but there have still been times where they've broken parker's ribs in the heat of their sparring. her abdomen is one of steel and so she takes the hit full-on, with a confidence that might very well spell her demise. what parker isn't aware of is the fact that captain skyler dross isn't entirely human and it's with the ocean's rage that she slams into her. 

the breath whistles sharply out of parker's lungs, right past skyler's ear. as much as her reflexes scream for her to curl inward, to cover the pain, training and a million and one too many fights keeps her standing. 

she pivots with a grunt, finds her balance through the black spots in her vision, and trails her tongue along skyler's neck. hoping to catch her by surprise and buy herself some time to recover from that fucking blow, she sweeps a leg out to the woman's ankles. 

skyler dross

☉

it's just another job. it's always just wake up in her dingy apartment, throw on a threadbare shirt and jeans, and check her assignments. she's not so much a work horse as she is a work addict. woman doesn't know how to relax. but her demeanor wouldn't tell you that, not with the way she walks up to her partner with half a scowl, all business. 

she looks them up and down, sizes 'em up. they're new here. that's all she knows. parker's done beat jobs with plenty of rockets in her district. enough to know. 

"parker," she says by way of introduction. "and this is remus." she tilts her head to the lucario behind her. said lucario dips his head in acknowledgment and folds his arms. 

"we walk the block, do our rounds, and we'll be home before two." she shrugs her shoulders and starts walking. "so how long ya been here? saw ya's a transfer."

atlas able

☉

she ducks under the ropes, one hand extended to lift it a smidge. the stretch makes the muscles in her back twinge and she runs her tongue over her teeth, whistles out a breath real soft like. she'd run herself ragged and her body hasn't quite forgiven her for it, but ain't no way she's walking away from this. 

look, even if she goes down, least it'll be to a pretty dame like this one. seems to be the same kinda mentality 'round the ring, 'cause everyone's crowding around them now. men are hollering and jeering and parker's rolling her eyes, tuning 'em out and putting her earbuds back in. 

"think i win either way," she says with a grin.

she hops on her feet, draws her arms back tight, and jabs at the air. the crowd around them surges, but she can't hear their laughter. good. 

she crows with laughter though, at the finger, and decides against going in at her like a snake. nah, instead she'll wait 'til her focus is really on her. let her bristle. let her prepare. 

"it's just you and me, girl." knuckles tighten, muscles ripple, and her first punch is thrown.

skyler dross

☉

ah, struck a nerve there, did she? she runs her tongue along her teeth, tastes metal and salt and a little bit of phlegm. skyler's looking her up and down and she's pretty fuckin' sure the dame is taken, but people aren't themselves all the way down here. they turn into monsters when the sun has set, bristling with claws and rage and all the ugly little things that seem so out of place in the sun. 

she reaches down to the ground and grabs her water bottle and her towel. she tosses the latter over her shoulder and takes a swig from the former, shifts her weight to one hip and returns skyler's look, but she's a little less casual about hers. 

"you're lookin' for fun 'n all the wrong places." she grabs the towel and wipes her shoulders. and then she reaches out a hand just as one of the bouncers walk by. 

"tell those fuckers 'round the ring we're next. show 'em a real fight." 

he moves off with a roll of his eyes and parker winks. as she stalks past skyler, she tosses her soiled towel at her and grins. bites her lower lip. "see ya on the other side, sweetheart."

skyler dross

☉

people aren't always working 24/7 and when they're not, they're usually doing something other than what they do for work (a concept parker's a little unfamiliar with herself). so she goes huh and just shrugs her shoulders. mostly she's trying to piece together if the treat evelyn's talking about is a little sugar in her bowl. 

"poison-types are part of your hobby?" she says with brows raised. remus turns at that moment and points into the bushes, nodding first towards parker and then evelyn. 

"well, looks like you're in luck. remus found somethin'."

and something he did find. the arbok slithering in the grass towards evelyn is of some concern, but the lucario is mostly interested in the absol that watches them from afar. remus' eyes burn blue and, unfortunately for it, the absol takes this as a sign of aggression. 

it leaps, claws out to slash remus' side, but his fur is as thick as steel, and it glances off of him with ease. he retaliates with a punch to her side, taking the fight to close combat quarters. she weaves backwards, but he follows quickly, uppercutting and then knocking her down. 

he looks back to his trainer for approval, slightly winded. parker grins and unclips an empty ball at her hip. 

Evelyn Vespera
catching absol

☉

yeah, she's seen her around, but they're like ships passing in the night. this one had popped up shortly after hoenn had really gone to shit. and parker's watched her since. girl can certainly hold her own, though she's fairly certain she's never tried her hand at KING WAYLAND . 

parker throws another couple punches at the bag. lips parted, breath coming out in rasps, and music still blaring in her ears, she doesn't hear what the blonde says to her. but she gets the gist, what with that smile on her face and the way her fingers curl. unfortunately for her, parker's got a thing for girls like her.

"sorry, sweetheart. i don't throw punches at girls with pretty faces." though she does, at least, give her a courtesy by taking one of her earbuds out. 

skyler dross

☉

music blaring in her ears. sweat slinging from her brow. she punches, one-two, one-two, 'til knuckles bleed. hops from foot to foot, punch. undercut, forward jab, step back, and slug that shit. the bag umphs with every hit, leaves criss-crossed stitches of red over her skin. 

left behind, but that's not a problem, really. all of rocket's off lolly-gagging into some whacked out tree. left the rest of 'em, the rats, in a pseudo-vacation. 

with her jobs finished and no new assignments, you'd think she'd take some time not to hit shit. 

but she's right back at it, sparring with a bag when amulius and remus grow too tired. you need hobbies, her sister'd probably say (cila ) but here she is. 

ring's full for the night, but it's full of pussies she's knocked already. nothing interesting on a weekday. even KING WAYLAND 's elsewhere. least he's not here to yell at her for spitting on his floor.

she rolls her neck, raises her fists. 

skyler dross

☉

you don't often forget a face like evelyn's. it's why parker never caught her name. she's a spore spot for ladies with gentle hands. but she shrugs her shoulders now, gives evelyn a bit of a toothy smile at the remark. she would also rather avoid getting knocked around like she does, but that's the job. 

amulius doesn't take part in the shenanigans with the other pokemon. he looks on, nonplussed at the pair, and shifts from side to side while parker chats. 

they'd come out to stretch and smash faces, not lollygag and chatter. 

"evelyn. i'll try to remember next time you're stitchin' up my face.

"what you doin' out here then? on your way to a house call or somethin'?"

Evelyn Vespera

☉

amulius stands by her side. they're in between jobs right now, but there's no time like the present to train. besides, if she doesn't get her workout in, she'll feel bad tomorrow and if she feels bad tomorrow, her 'clients' tend to do a little bit of complaining. not that there complaints don't end up in the trash eventually, but still - she's a brute, but she's not supposed to mangle her targets. 

she doesn't quite recognize the woman by name, but she knows sure as shit that the person sharing the road with her has patched up her face on more than one occasion. 

parker gets herself in scraps, even when she's not on the job. 

"hey," she says, approaching. amulius watches carefully. "you're, ah, shit. what's your name? i've seen you 'round hq before."

Evelyn Vespera

☉

slateport for me too. she's surprised. sure, security's gotten a little lax since their forces have had to stretch to sootopolis, but most of the port town is occupied by family names or someone who knows someone. the corruption runs deep and the fact that she doesn't recognize him means he's either done his due diligence with crew taxes or he's a civilian that hasn't had the pleasure of having parker knock on his door. 

the cabbie, quiet after she'd snapped, pipes back up at xander's remarks. 

"try not to ask questions, you know, but you two ought to know slateport still i'n't the safest. and i'm not talkin' 'bout the storm. i hear there's still a whole lot of shady work bein' done down there. not often i get passengers goin' there on their own. ah, still, might all be hearsay."

parker's glare in the rearview coaxes him back into silence. she props an elbow up against the edge of the door. remus shuffles a little closer to her, looking at xander out of the corner of his eye. 

"got a problem with my attitude and you can hop on out," she says dryly. 

"oh, i wouldn't advise opening the door there, sir. we're gaining altitude and unless ya got a flying-type on ya, you'll be lookin' at hospitalization at worst. not to mention, it's a whole lot of paperwork for me and -" 

parker pinches the bridge of her nose. "so what brings you to slateport?" she says, speaking over the cabbie. her conversation starter effectively quiets him; seems he's as keen on learning about his passengers as she thought. a possibility crosses her mind and she muses on it for a bit, tucks it away for later.

Xander Belmont

☉

no, not really. it had been a rhetorical question and she's not sure if he's an asshole or just plain stupid. she's leaning towards the former, however, when he clambers into the seat and asks her if she's skipped kindergarten. fingers tighten on the doorframe and she's about to slam it shut and look for another cab when remus crawls in. 

the riolu looks at her expectantly and, annoyed, she returns the blaziken behind her to his ball and hauls herself up into the seat. 

"slateport," she says to the driver before her companion can get a word in otherwise. wherever he's going, he'll have to tag along with her first. she has business to attend to. 

"alright," the cabbie responds. "got wind of a storm comin' up from that part o' the region so we'll head on over 'ere first." he drones on a little bit longer about the weather changes, about how hoenn's been changing and it's not like the 'good old days' and taxi drivers ought to be compensated for the dangers they face until parker snaps, finally, and says,

"take it up with the union, alright? not your passengers." 

and because she likes to pick a fight, "ever heard of first come, first serve?"

Xander Belmont

☉