this was a mistake, is her first thought. her second thought is, he looks good. and not in a weird way. in the way that she finds it in herself to stare right at him and even though he looks scared shitless, his face looks whole. unblemished. handsome in a masculine way.

she holds up her hands, palms out, presses her back against the wall and tries to make herself look as unthreatening as possible. but she slides her foot in front of the door too. just to get the point across.

"i ain't on duty," she says. "just gimme - just... i'm here 'cause of Naomi Sato."

GIDEON GRAVES

☉

Naomi Sato misses him. she misses her life. and yeah, there's not a whole lot she can do about it. that either of them can do about it. because she's got a godsdamn warrant out for her arrest for one, but also because there are so many other things on her plate - like saving the world.

but see, parker? bodyguard duties are superfluous when your girlfriend is gods' favorite little chosen. it doesn't bother her so much anymore, but there are instances where it can get a bit lonely. saving the world isn't exactly a part-time job. 

so rather than twiddle her thumbs on her day off and brood about the oncoming end of the world, she thinks, i want to help. she wants to do this for her. she wants to do something for her. 

getting her arm's skin sloughed off sucked major fucking ass. losing her godsdamned mind when nomi was taken also sucked and she's really, honestly, stupidly tired of everything just sucking.

so maybe, just maybe, she can make it better. she can take a page out of nomi's book and try for peace. and that means she's here, at the museum, looking like a lost puppy, unsure how to ask for a man whose name makes her head go kind of squirrelly without really knowing why. 

her hood's up, hiding her shock of pink hair, but there's not much can be done about the tattoo on her cheek and the scar on her lip, or her general unforgettable hotness, but whatever. maybe he didn't get a good look at her when she was beating his face in; who's to say?

she asks around to see if he's there. he is. when asked if she needs something, she pretends not to hear, waves and mutters something about an appointment, and tries not to look like a thug when she goes to the door, turns the handle, and barges her way in. 

quick to say, "ayo, remember me, gids, giddy, guhhh," she says, eyes drifting, sticking not right to his face but to the pieces of paper she recognizes but also doesn't recognize. a collage of images bursts behind her eyes, echoes of lines and colors overlaying the ones right in front of her, script eloquent and familiar and so stupid painful. 

she blinks rapidly, sits in a chair against the wall, and wildly slaps her hand on the door to lock it. "can we talk?"

GIDEON GRAVES

☉

to the tub they'll go, but first parker wants to savor every moment of this. she's had some belongings in her life, but never like this. never something that is truly and wholly and absolutely hers. some of the paint is peeling on the wooden railing; the stain is out of date, but it's perfect, because she sees herself out here when the weather's nice, nomi sitting pretty on the railing while parker buffs and sands and paints. 

maisey runs ahead, trailing her leash behind her. she barrels through the front door and parker chuckles, stepping in to the side so she doesn't hit her precious cargo on the way in. 

the floorboards creak a little; the house welcomes them home. 

all their shit is in here. still in boxes. parker agreed to teleportation, but she doesn't trust the unown's sense of feng shui and anyway, she wants to put everything together with nomi. she wants to see her paltry collections (comics, mostly, and old, pressed candy wrappers) next to nomi's. 

but also she wants to see her naked in their tub. she grunts, flexes, and grins doggedly as she carries her up the stairs, promising with cheek and forehead kisses that she's safe. she won't drop her. never, ever. 

until she maneuvers into the bathroom, nudges maisey out despite her pleas, and says, "oh gods, wait, we can finally use those bath bombs."

Naomi Sato

☉

does it make her a bad person, forgetting bax so easily when nomi is kissing her back like this? the intermittent beeps fade away to background noise, far, far behind the sounds that accompany tongue on tongue and rumblings of want. 

she wants her. she wants her so badly. because none of this matters without her. her sanity, her humanity, all of it's wrapped up in this fragile, beautiful woman, and by ravaging her, by stripping her, she can feel closer to the parts of herself she's given away. 

one hand settles on nomi's hips and the other moves roughly between her legs. she drapes a wet kiss against the side of her neck and says, "yeah. yeah, tell alphabet soup to take us home."

Naomi Sato

☉

biggest baby doesn't actually make the biggest mess, which is a little disappointing, but to be fair, parker hasn't really worked with the thing all too much. it's at least calmed down enough to listen to her (but fuck if she knows why), but 'go get 'em' probably isn't as effective as, you know, knowing its moveset and strategically sending it after someone.

maybe she should do what she's good at and start throwing fists. 

an ice beam comes down hard near biggest baby and parker looks up, but gets a nice slap of sand in the face instead as someone calls a sandstorm around them and what the fuck is happening!!!

"bb, i said, MOW 'EM DOWN," she snarls and biggeest baby tumbles into a roll, metal plates all over its body spinning and spinning, faster and faster until it tears through the center of the battlefield with a giga impact.  

SPECTRA - GAUNTLET
e_SLMp5t + 61 + 28 = 143 TOTAL

parker is not made for battle, both she and crow realize.
iron boulder uses giga impact (gay)

☉

they stand in front of this house. this house with its four corners and its cute little yard and its perfect space for a gym. no more living in a cardboard box. they have a dishwasher and laundry machines. and an ice maker in the freezer. 

but most of all, they have it and it's theirs and she's holding nomi's hand so freaking hard right now that she's almost afraid she's gonna crush it. maisey whines, slobbering, and rubs parker's calf.

parker pivots on her heel, grabs nomi's face, kisses her and says, "i'm gonna pick you up now, cupcake," because she'll be damned if she doesn't carry her bridal style through THEIR front door. 

Naomi Sato

☉

"'cause six ate nine," she yells, even though he didn't ask why is seven afraid of six? and anyway, she realizes halfway through the swing that she doesn't really have to be the one to slap someone around and oh, shit, he's being nice to her.

wait, oof. she stumbles a little and magma rolls under their feet. her lunch - three hot dogs and a cliff bar - sloshes around in her stomach and her face goes green, then white as a sheet. phantom pain shivers over her arm and she scratches at it, completely missing the fact that remus overcomes his opponent. 

until the bells are ringing and she hears that she's moved forward. 

"okay, okay," she says, wrangling her heart under control. she yanks out the wolf's ball and then reaches for another one. if they're gonna walk around in magma, might as well do it right. 

"c'mon, baby, let's go find someone else to beat up." biggest baby doesn't seem to mind the magma and barely gives parker enough time to clamber on its back before it grates out a growl and starts off to the next contestant. 

"oh, this looks like a good time to third party." she recognizes some of them from the holiday party in sootopolis, but she's fucked if she's asked for any names. which is fine by her. 

she tumbles off biggest baby's back, watches the moves fly, and then slaps it on the rump, demanding that it go, go, go fuck 'em up. 

and then it takes off like, quite literally, a raging bull, cleaving a path as it rampages forward.

SPECTRA - GAUNTLET
QnctdhxL + 61

swaps to raging boulder
sees fighting at the center, a la the gamers who have posted already and just tells it to yeet in there with mighty cleave

☉

finding a spot to settle in is not difficult. all she has to do is jeer loud enough and throw out her elbows wide enough and people inevitably move. give her an inch and she'll take a mile. so that's how they end up with a nice table to themselves (if nice were grease-stained wood with hundreds of initials carved into it). 

she doles out the food and chows down immediately, stuffing fries in her face with one hand while she shakes out ketchup and mustard with the other. 

her eyes go briefly to nomi when she mentions the gay dog, but she doesn't have any bigger of a revelation than that and anyway, she tries not to think about isaac and nomi's subsequent treason by continuing to talk to him. nope. no, sirree. 

fries, yum yum.

her throat does strain a little bit when nomi asks after what avery does. you'd think being in a crime syndicate long enough would teach you not to ask questions like what do you do when the thing you do is curb revolutions and stick bodies in the ground.

"she just got back from kanto," she says around a mouthful, "so the world's 'er fuckin' oyster, right, sis?"

Naomi Sato avery jones

☉

"no, i think just the screams of the damned," parker says with a wolfish grin, kicking them off of the docks. the ghimmighoul looks up at her with what could only be defined as contempt and parker sticks out her tongue. what's it gonna do? throw her overboard?

actually, maybe, and from the scritch-scratching under the deck, she's fairly certain she doesn't want to go in the brackish water. no thank you.

"so, you don't have like a usb port or something in your pinkie you could just jam into the machines? get all the pop ya want?" she touches her finger to her nose. "my idea. patent pending. now you gotta share whatever you steal if ya use the idea."

the water laps at the sides of the boat. somehow they move even though they have no sail. or rows. or anything. 

"whatcha lookin' for out here anywho?"

ana fell

☉

she asked nomi this: nomi, some chick named aurelie just requested me for bodyguard services. she a cool one or a crazy one?

and in return, she got this: aurelie? oh! yeah, she's great! smarter than she gives herself credit for. she makes swords! isn't that cool?

so that is why she is here. even though nomi didn't technically tell her if she was a cool one or a crazy one, but she does agree that swords are cool. the math makes sense in her head. 

besides, she needs to get out and make herself useful. she loves nomi. she loves their adorable, silly little house, but she also loves kicking ass. and doing bad bitch shit, and feeling butch. 

the latter is well-maintained right now. dark joggers, cinched nightly at her trimmed waistline, a black muscle tee, and a slick leather jacket make for the perfect breaking in and getting away garb. her black boots are a bit heavier than they should be and she's a stomper, but eh, pobody's nerfect and all that. 

she shows up without the bird or the wolf for now, wanting introductions to go smoothly and without a hitch. there will be plenty of time for mayhem later, hopefully. 

she tries the door. a little bell chimes and she pokes her head in, blue eyes sweeping over rows of different old-timey armaments. 

"okay, yeah, this is sick as shit."

Aurelie Lefevre

☉

she's kinda used to that. to not being enough. to being told she's not enough. she tries her best to get by - always has - but there are days when she still has to stoop to cover her debts. people she's gotta bruise. good people who don't deserve it. 

but the wheels need to keep turning and she's destined to remain the grease. 

she wants to say, you have others, but those others are mr nightmare one (Cillian Quinn) and mr nightmare two (Zev Harcourt) and all the varying degrees of crazy in between. why this side, nomes? why'd ya pick this side?

at least with their side, you know what you're getting. nothing like the councilwoman and her goddamn burning hands trying to burn down the world, one person at a time. 

she might be too close to the situation.

"then, cupcake, we're fucked." she kisses her. hard. rough. sloppy. and when she pulls away, she says, "but we'll give 'em hell before that anyway."

Naomi Sato

☉

"oopa," she mutters and crosses her arm over her body, fingertips to toes, "doopa." and repeats, back and forth, but the next round is, "oopity" and "doo." and then she's all stretched and consequently bored, but also too high-strung to be bored. 

remus' ears twitch to the crackle before mr nightmare number two tells them to begin. then the lucario falls into his natural rhythm and makes a small noise when another rocket baddie walks right on near them. parker winds up and then lets out a pained exhale when she realizes she recognizes the face. 

they had fun together avoiding those donphan shaped metal beasts. he's got another beast by his side and judging by the lava that makes up a decent portion of his body, it puts them at a disadvantage. 

she gives remus a look that says trust me and then stumbles out into view, going, "hey, buddy, why was seven afraid of six?"

and remus emerges opposite, fists swinging towards the heatran.

Alba Evovae
SPECTRA - GAUNTLET

parker is an oompa loompa and lucario tries to close combat heatran

Fg87U6qS +10

☉