"oh!" mari blinked in surprise when her idea worked. hurriedly, she scrambled to catch up to the other girl and her pokemon.

[break][break] "y-yeah, i'm coming!"

[break][break] mari didn't know how much help she'd be — after all, she was barely a pokemon trainer herself — but she was far from saying no to someone who asked.

[break][break] especially to a pretty girl.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] marilee beaufort

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

"If you like to ice skate, we should go in the wintertime when the rinks open to the public. What do you say?"

[break][break] startled, she looked to him.

[break][break] "i -"

[break][break] she should have said no. she really should've. she couldn't ice skate. she hadn't been since —

[break][break] "o-of course," she said instead, cheeks warm. mari opened his mouth to say something more, but then it was time for their food to arrive.

[break][break] plus, how could she have explained it to him?

[break][break] 'hey, sorry, i haven't ice-skated since that accident because i was terrified something might happen but i can't say no to you because you're my mom so i'll go for you!'

[break][break] so instead, she just said yes.

[attr="class","ooc"] Julien Demassieux

☉

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

"oh, you're from snowbelle!" mari said, cheeks warm. "i've been there a few times. it is breathtaking in the winter. i used to ice skate there often."

[break][break] there was a wistful quality to her voice. back then, when she'd been a professional ice skater, she had done many competitions there with Ciprina Fisk too.

[break][break] "i'm from ambrette," she said, smiling wide. it always made her happy to talk about her hometown, even if it wasn't where she'd spent the most of her time. "the seaside is beautiful, and our aquarium even moreso. have you been?" her eyes glittered like sapphires — the archeological museum was, of course, the highlight of the town, but personally, mari had always enjoyed the aquarium.

[break][break] watching the small fish swim around in their tanks... they had always reminded her a little bit of herself.

[attr="class","ooc"] Julien Demassieux

☉

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

'!'

[break][break] Surprise widened in eyes of lavender blue as the waiter returned suddenly. Mari had to bite her tongue from making an explanation of surprise, her cheeks dusted a ruddy red.

[break][break] She hadn't been intending to ask the waiter. She'd been trying to make idle conversation with Julien Demassieux —

[break][break] 'But why are you doing that? He's your boss!'

[break][break] The resulting embarrassment made her cheeks even redder, even as she listened to the waiter prattle off the menu expertly, just as any of the Beaufort chefs would at her home manor.

[break][break] "I'll take the fish," she said a bit meekly, offering a pleasant smile to the man as she could muster. Fish reminded her of the sea, which reminded her of Ambrette. It was as comforting a thought as any.

[break][break] When they were alone again, her eyes flickered to Julien Demassieux and then away. Her anxiety clawed in her throat, aching to fill the space.

[break][break] "Um... have you been here before?"

[break][break] As an afterthought.

[break][break] "Sir?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Julien Demassieux

☉

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

"You know me?"

[break][break] Surprised dawned her expression, before trickling into a gentle blush.

[break][break] 'Of course she knows you! Beauforts are known everywhere.'

[break][break] Maybe not as presdigous as the Silph name, of course the Beaufort name would be one that transcended seas.

[break][break] Mari felt her cheeks redden at the thought, the realization that she had gotten a little too thrilled for a second — that this beautiful women would have known her and not just for her family name. The disappointment that dawned a second after was only short of mortifying.

[break][break] "A-ah, yes!" She blurted, grateful for the switch in topic. She clung onto it like a lifeline, the same way she gripped at her clipboard. "Nana - I mean, my grandmother sent me to Hoenn to work for the Kalosian Embassy here. My career - " Her ice skating career, the one that had gone down in shambles. "I needed a change."

[break][break] Clearing her throat, she said, "I work for Mr. Julien Demassieux ."

[attr="class","ooc"] Delilah Silph [break]

☉

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

In reality, she'd never gone out to dinner before. Not in this capacity. Not... one on one.

[break][break] Even when it came to mint frost, her literal fiancee, everything had been orchestrated by their respective families. Almost every event in Mari's life had felt that way. Nothing had ever felt so intimate, not like this, except that one time she went out to dinner with luka chêne...

[break][break] Wait. She was getting off-track.

[break][break] This wasn't a date. This was a work meeting with her boss. Right. Right.

[break][break] Mari waited at her desk, hands hovering anxiously over her keyboard as she double-checked and triple-checked the last of Julien Demassieux's clients for the next week. Her eyes flickered every so often at his door, wondering if he was going to come out. Had it been all in her head? No, no. He'd definitely asked her to dinner. Demanded. Something something.

[break][break] "N-no worries, sir!" she squeaked, chair spinning behind her, as he abruptly exited. Her cheeks were flushed. "It was no wait at all."

[break][break] Her heartbeat rocked in her chest, and continued to do so the entire ride to the restaurant. Her hands brushed over the center console when they stopped at a light, glancing upon Julien Demassieux's angled features. His sharp jawline, his serious expression. Heat spread over her cheeks once more, and she looked away, staring stubbornly at the red sedan that had pulled up beside them.

[break][break] It felt like a dream, all the way until she silently followed him into the restaurant. Ironically, it was this part of the evening that felt the most familiar to her. Nana had brought her to similar establishments a number of times.

[break][break] She flushed when Julien pulled out a chair for her, seating herself properly and folding the napkin over her thighs. She pleated it anxiously, again and again, as she watched the waiter pour wine into their identical glasses.

[break][break] Mari reached for it, hoping that a sip of it would take a bite off the edge.

[break][break] It didn't.

[break][break] When the waiter left, Mari's eyes flicked up to the ambassador's.

[break][break] "D-do you come here often? What's on the prix fixe menu?"

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Julien Demassieux

☉