Cap slid the cup from the counter to the bin beneath the bar, smirking at Remi's comment. His hand drifted over to the cocktail glasses when she finally answered him. His attention whipped around at her face contorted. He looked as though he'd been slapped.[break][break]

"Cheap and di—cheap and dirty?" Cap scoffed, waving a hand in front of his face. "No, no, don't try to distract me from the nonsense you just said. Hold on." He sifted through the glasses, a man on a mission, before placing an Old Fashioned glass on the bar in front of Remi. Deftly, he placed ice and bourbon whiskey into a shaker glass. To that, he measured out sweet red vermouth and striking ruby Campari. He popped the lid on the shaker glass, looking up to meet Remi's eyes, and shook that damn cocktail. Popping open the lid, he strained it into her glass. From beneath the bar, he produced an orange and a box of matches. He sliced off a sliver of orange peel and, holding it between thumb and forefinger, brought a lit match up to it. A quick squeeze and the zest exploded into tiny flames before dissipating into the concoction. He rimmed the glass with the peel, dropped it into the drink, and slid it over to her.[break][break]

"The Boulevardier," he said, nodding as if giving her permission to drink it.

[break][break]

+ Remi Cassel

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

She righted from her bow and it was only then that Cap got a chance to look his assailant in the eye. The burn scars that ran across her face were stark, even in the strangely-thrown shadows of the night market. Neon and fluorescent weren't kind to the ruined skin there. Cap blinked. At least it wasn't my infamous uppercut. A momentary confusion, a brief hint of hesitation, before he realized ah, she's joking. It was enough to pull him from thoughts of what must have happened to her, enough to make his stare a little less awkward. He gave a stifled laugh.[break][break]

"Hey, I might need that uppercut one day," he said, drawing a line across his neck dramatically. "Just unalive me right then and there." Sarcasm was a strong suit of his, but he laid it on extra thick. You know, just in case.[break][break]

In no time his counterpart was back to business, trotting out a code phrase Cap was more than familiar with. Ugh, he hated those things so damn much. Necessary in their line of work, sure, but Arceus were they stilted as hell. He tried to break the tension, flashing a wide grin and saying, "Only if you buy me dinner after." He waved a hand as if to erase the words he'd already said. "Sorry, couldn't help myself." A pause to clear his throat and he delivered the proper response phrase: "Certainly, I don't need to go far." The pomp was too much, though, and he held out an elbow as if offering to walk arm-in-arm through their nefarious deeds.

[break][break]

+ maeve[break]mission: poke-trafficking

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Jobs like this were his least favorite. There was too much risk of exposure, too many variables. There were other people much more suited to smuggling jobs and Cap preferred his place behind the bar, gathering secrets like some blonde dragon creating his horde. But he was just a grunt, after all, and money was money. He didn't have the luxury of choice.[break][break]

So he pulled up the hood of a dark jacket and stuffed his hands into the pockets, walking through the streets of Slateport as if he belonged there. That was how you avoided attention. If everyone you passed thought you were meant to be there, they wouldn't give you a second look. Just walk with confidence. He rounded a corner to the snapping and crackling of a firework and, somehow related, a stranger's elbow square in his gut.[break][break]

"Oof!" What a way to greet your partner. Cap recoiled a couple of steps, hand flying up to gingerly touch his stomach. "Hey, easy easy, I'm walkin' here!" He sucked in a breath through his teeth, winced, and surveyed the block. His suspicions were correct: this definitely looked like the place he was supposed to meet his contact. "Hell of a right hook you got there, though."

[break][break]

+ maeve[break]mission: poke-trafficking

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Sitting there on that dried-out log, Cap found himself disappointed that he hadn't thought to bring a beach chair. Not that he owned a beach chair. But he had to have something in his apartment that would have made for comfortable seating. Grunting, he scooted down until he was sitting in the sand, back against the log. That wasn't so terrible. The breeze coming off the water was chilly, but he snuggled down into his jacket and was surprisingly cozy. So cozy that, in a matter of minutes, he was dozing with his head leaned back against the log. And the world turned on around him.

[break][break]

+ skip.

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Cap's body relaxed, his face softening again into that easy smile as Virgil spoke. He gave a little sheepish tilt of his head. Maybe that had been too much. People didn't like war stories. They liked something they could relate to. He was a breath away from asking if he'd overdone it—of explaining that he wasn't always so intense—when Virgil spoke again. Cap's eyebrows rose in momentary surprise before his smile spread.[break][break]

"Hell yeah I can."

[break][break]

+ virgil roach

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

The beach—still chilly though it was—was a welcome reprieve from his repeated trips to Shoal Cave. Cap couldn't get into the water and that vexed him, but he had to admit the sound against the waves was comforting. He found a downed log that had rolled out onto the beach and took a seat on it, digging his shoes into the sand. Work had been going well, and he loved the hustle and bustle of working at Ritual—well... as much hustle and bustle as there was at the moment. He'd see to that. Regardless, it was nice to get away from the noise and the tasks and the people and just exist for a little while. Alone.

[break][break]

+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Truth be told, Sekhmet couldn't care less about whatever bizarre ritual the humans were doing. She was only here because she'd been given free rein to light things on fire—if "free reign" meant was explicitly told not to. She figured she couldn't quite remember anymore. Not that it mattered, Cap wasn't here to stop her. She had a job to do. And that job was lighting things on fire.[break][break]

She slunk through the city streets, not really bothering to hide in the shadows; her white scales were much too bright for that. Sliding up to incense holders and candles and bonfires alike, she lights them all with the same fervor and excitement, staying only a moment to survey her good work before moving on to the next. It's through sheer luck alone that none of the shrines themselves catch and go up in flame, though in the morning some will surely prove to be more singed than they had been the day before.

[break][break]

+ kyle lopez, Katherine Fairburne, Amber Lenoir, MATIAS SILPH, Henry Driscoll, @hunt, Thomas Benoit[break]job: verdanturf bonfire

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky