"please don't misunderstand, this wackjob is not my partner - let alone my boss ... officially, anyway," alecis started as she washed out the dye that had been setting in the customer's raven locks. the undertone had taken effect quite easily - a simple job to finish the onslaught of people who wished to be taken care of by capable hands. this little spot didn't seem to have much of a need for a stylist or two and having both alecis and jesse spawn themselves in with the promise of makeovers was apparently overwhelmingly popular with the people. alecis did little to resist the way the word had spread like wildfire and merely gave herself a pat on the back for the good idea and for being at least some help in a realm of expertise she knew little about. practice would make perfect, she assumed, and she had a lot of time to spend at the shop considering jesse was basically a center of work for her already - most customers being there for either of them and sometimes even both of them.[break]
"all set," alecis sounded off, saluting in a playful manner at jesse as to sign off the day as the last customer bounced off with a new pep in his step. "for someone who just has a little bit of green in their hair now, he seems really happy," the rocket member judged out loud once the man was out of earshot. "do you get a lot of these kind of people?" she asked as if she didn't know already, being a parasite who would not pull itself out of the shop even if jesse wanted her to.

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

the kid was a small fry idol, but one nonetheless. his disappearance would indeed be noted by his trainer, let alone his concerned father. even if the kid's 'mother' didn't seem to give a rat's ass, it was still important to get him back to where he rightfully belonged. "visitation ... or you could talk things out - you know - like adults, instead of committing a crime." painfully blunt, alecis made it clear that she wasn't amused by this situation. it was all just a small ordeal at the end of the day, but it could have been a lot worse if the aunt had been some whackjob and hurt the child in the process of trying to keep him from the woman unfit to be his mother.[break]
"if you don't want some kind of protective services called and put into the mix, i recommend talking to your husband and the father of the kid." these were two separate entities and alecis wasn't cute with the way she made that obvious by holding up two different fingers as she called upon them respectively. the child huddled under one of her arms with the biggest 'no thoughts, head empty' expression, the lavender-haired woman frowned deeply at the embarrassed woman. what a fucking pathetic excuse of an individual.[break]
"let's go," she grumbles to jesse as she starts penguin waddling with the child between her legs, trying to match her gait.

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

"right," alecis responded almost robotically. truthfully, she was an introvert but her line of work made her a functioning extrovert so it wasn't difficult to start razzing up the person before her - focusing solely on this woman as if she was the center of attention. it started with some compliments to her choice of color which started them down the typical 'oh, do you not dye your hair?' question alecis got more often than not when meeting new people. a freak of nature and genetics, alecis admitted her hair was naturally the color it was and she shared some more intimate stories about how it ran in her family which got some family stories in return. knowingly, alecis pressed for more about the customer's family since it was all too easy to go down that rabbit hole as she washed, dried, and assessed her work. the bleach had taken hold well and no patchiness or streaks were present so she gave a 'papa bless' really quickly before going to simply dry the customer's hair. while she wasn't trained in doing hairstyles, she figured she could at least leave the hair faintly moist for what jesse would want to do with her next. seeing her start conversing with jesse made her feel like her job was done for the time being, so she pushed on to the next individual - a younger man who seemed to be settling in the region due to it being quiet and peaceful.[break]
"must be nice having peace and quiet. i can't say i have much of that with this guy following me around," she teased out loud, obviously referring to jesse as she started the dying process - the man simply wanting to have a teal undertone to his black hair. this got a laugh out of the customer which made it easier to joke about, following up with some gossip about jesse himself though it was all in good fun and nothing that could tarnish his reputation when they were there, meaning to promote the shop.

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

"you're a strange one, you know? what are you thanking me for?"[break]
truthfully, this was nothing he needed to thank her for coming to. this was a vacation and a gift and he was thanking her. no, no. this would not do. "if anything, thank you for letting me come. it was a hell of a trek up here, but it was worth it," said the rocket member, her body letting go of all the stress it had as she dipped herself fully into the water up to her neck - looking out towards jesse idly but with a calm smile that showed appreciation and patience. "that sounds like a good time. i'm hanging around you all the time anyway, so earning some more money for us both would be a good investment as well," she mused out loud - already imagining the financial benefits they could both get alongside some social benefits since the two were attached at the hip recently. although alecis had always imagined herself as an introvert, socializing with jesse was always a fresh shot of caffeine straight to the vein - energizing without a crash, strangely enough.[break]
"if it means we get to spend more time together, i guess i can find time in my day to do that," she offered back with playful pompousness. "though look at you," she paused, pulling herself out of the water partially to lean towards jesse with a shit-eating grin. "it looks like you are getting quite cozy with me to the point of even wanting to see me at work. what does that imply, jesse?" her laugh right after saved him from having to answer. "jokes aside, i'd love to spend more time with you. it seems to be the most enjoyable part of my days recently."

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

it was nerve-wracking how little impact her playful jabs at being charming made. alecis was kept on her toes by jesse despite rolling with his punches and even throwing some back, obviously the more flustered of the two time and time again. really, she needed to get it together and stop being such an easily flustered high schooler ... but god, she couldn't help it. jesse was someone she genuinely cared about - perhaps the last of his kind, really. having made and burned too many bridges to count, it was hard to find something or someone that lasted in her life - let alone comfortably so. with a faint blush on both of her cheeks, alecis sighed and nodded in defeat though there was no opposing force.[break]
"i'll buy some antidotes and potions real quick," she confirmed as she did so - coughing up the money from her wallet while her baby ditto hung off her arm as if to stop her, feeling guilty for the money being used. alecis smiled as she pocketed the medicine and scooped up the amorphous blob with both hands - nuzzling it happily. "keeping you safe is worth my entire life," she cooed to it before letting it join the troupe of her dittos who started roughhousing with the little one, obviously showing their concern with some tough loving and nudging which the little one responded with warbled laughs.[break]
"you know, i don't know if dinner will cover the expenses of what happened today," alecis started as she bounded back towards jesse. her posse was still a few steps behind while she leaned forward and gripped jesse by his hair, pulling him towards her lips by force in a heavily appreciative kiss. having paid for favors with her body in the past, she knew what this was like - to take initiative and return joyous moments with such trifling actions. even so, it wasn't like that. alecis wanted this genuinely and she was happy to kiss jesse with the remainder of the air in her lungs, making a scene in the middle of the pokecenter before she pulled away with a goofy, toothy smile and a coy: "let's go."

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

almost as if caught in a shoujo anime, alecis was frozen in time - one hand to her cheek. what exactly had happened? jesse left her asking that question a lot, really - even moreso lately now that they were spending more and more time together whether it be by force or choice.[break]
"ah -!" alecis called out, almost toppling over jesse in a clumsy attempt to regain her consciousness by catching her ditto, instead wrapping her arms around his waist to catch herself from falling as she collided with him gently. "ah," she repeated, slowly pulling herself away after making the same damn noise a peanut-covered baby made on a viral video. rubbing her face with both hands now, alecis pulled herself together fully and sighed deeply. she was greatly embarrassed at showing just how touch starved she was, though she wasn't exactly so in the way that she was looking to be touched or given any kind of attention. when it did come to her, however, she was left hopeless just like that moment, laughing softly as she hooked an arm into jesse's own and started to parade them away as she called her other dittos to follow along. the amorphous pokemon trickled down onto the ground like water, reforming and following their trainer with happy chants of their name.[break]
"have you ever had magikarp? if you avoid looking at the face, it makes it a lot easier to eat - it's good, really." there were other options, but this one came to mind first. rattling off some other foods like curries and the like, alecis found herself eager and excited, leaning into jesse with a wide smile on her face - one grateful for his company and patience.

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

"so we're going with someone else? who is it? don't tell me it's linda. you know how much i hate that bitch," alecis started, obviously focusing on the smooth line he had delivered and reflecting it with some playful banter as if it would hide the way her face was glowing red like a christmas light. "if your dad's anything like you, i'm sure it'll be a good time." a sideways compliment came jesse's way as alecis made quick work of the dirt underfoot - wiping off her ass and backs of her legs that had come in contact with the ground while they were idle-simming and watching their pokemon play around them.[break]
"come back already!" alecis demanded of her ditto and the rest of the gang that was made of her pokemon and jesse's own. if she wasn't trying to keep it pg-13, she would have called out a 'come out of hiding, you sluts!' but it seemed inappropriate for the fact that she so keenly kept treating her one ditto like a baby. when the gelatinous blobs came out with various sticks and leaves in their bodies from roughhousing with the morpeko and co, alecis knelt down to pick them clean while the last ditto emerged with a large trademark ditto smile and the gengar in tow. it seemed to take initiative with their movement now, obviously feeling proud that the gengar had given it even a bit of time out of the day.[break]
"there you are," alecis said softly, putting the dittos on her frame as opposed to letting them return to their pokeballs. the gelatinous masses clung to their trainer with happy vibrations. "we should head out then, right? got a lot of packing to do," the rocket member said with a grin as she extended a hand to jesse to help him up and out.

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

alecis was shocked by how easily the woman cracked under jesse's pressure. although the two of them hadn't really done things like this before, it seemed they were a natural duo and the rocket member took note of this for if she would ever need his assistance with more serious matters again. when jesse was looking at her, alecis immediately picked up the baton and started running off with it.[break]
a wipe of her face marked her annoyance and impatience, finding purchase in the 'bad cop' routine quickly. "look, ma'am. it's obvious that you have some kind of interest in the missing child so why not just be upfront about it?" translation: cut the shit and tell us what we need to know. "if you impinge on an investigation, we have due cause to search your home without a warrant and also take you in for getting in the way of the law." empty threats, but who would argue with someone who had a cop badge? most people weren't even versed in their basic rights so alecis took the risk. [break]
seeing the way the aunt's face fractured seemed to show it worked.[break]
"thank you for your cooperation," alecis said with a shit-eating grin as soon as she saw the aunt give the most begrudging 'i understand, wait here'. it wasn't like a mother would suddenly pull out a gun and make two people wait for her to go get it, right? alecis wasn't worried, kicking back in the couch and looking to jesse with a smile that silently said 'good job'. "i think you found out what's going on before i did, huh?" she asked, looking directly at the drawing on the fridge that denoted possible children in the household. while the aunt was indeed a mother, it was a bit of a shot in the dark that somehow landed to show that she could be holding the child, herself. this much was confirmed when the missing child came out - sucker in mouth and finger up one of his nostrils as if nothing was happening.[break]
"if we return him now, there won't be any legal issues coming your way," alecis started, nodding at jesse as she went to go gather the child.

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

alecis could feel a vein near her eyes throbbing in slight anger at what was said to her, but this only made her smirk in a crooked manner and squint her eyes a bit before nodding. she was the assistant for the day and she knew how to play the part a bit too well, following orders fluently without too much of a question despite the closeness she had with the ‘employer’. this day was about jesse and his business so she decided to play nice, unloading the supplies and turning around to let the next client forward while she tried to recall the last time she had done any professional styling of her own. while her hair was naturally the color it was, she couldn’t really contribute its upkeep to herself. she knew how to do basic highlights and things like that, but she feared being shoddy in comparison to a true blue stylist like jesse. while she spent a lot of time at his shop, she didn’t really know how to do his job. sure, she knew how to ghost his movements and knew the tools he used but it wasn’t like she was hirable in the least.[break]

the pressure was building in her mind and she could only smile as she let the next customer forward. some older woman had come forward, asking for a new hairdo as well. it seemed this ‘lila’ was to come later and alecis made a mental note of this, preparing herself for when she would have to step up to the plate.[break]

not wanting to waste time with questions, alecis took initiative to set up another chair - one for basic things like hair dying and washing/drying. soon enough, she had a customer in her chair and she took to work, bouncing off a ditto from jesse’s workstation to use for herself as means to hold clips in place while she got other ones and wraps to section hair. things seemed to be going smoothly enough so she let the customer sit while her hair was bleaching and alecis let out a small ‘please don’t fuck up’ to the world as she did so.

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse

“mmm, you blind? can’t see other people?”[break][break]

they weren’t really what you call a cat-and-mouse duo, but they did like joking around a lot. surprisingly, the two were like jesters playing rings around each other, though jesse was far more generous with the way he threw himself out there for alecis to tease. appreciating such, she bit on the line he threw out - without even rolling her eyes! “whatever, maybe i am a bit jealous. it’s just not fun thinking some other person could take you away from me. then what will i have to do? find someone else to hang out with? that’s more bother than it’s worth, by far.” this was largely true, mixed with some hyperboles. alecis wasn’t jealous of the company jesse kept, but she did find her time with him precious enough to consider the start of letting such an emotion spring forward. [break][break]

to her, jesse was special. he knew it, she knew it, and the world likely knew it with how often they saw them together in public.[break][break]

the heat of the springs also helped alecis unwind, letting herself let jesse hear what he would want to know. [break][break]

“you’re just not someone i can replace, really, so don’t go running off on me. well, at least warn me first. i know things can get dicey and sudden so i can at least try to help you if i can.” this was said in a genuine manner - an extension of a free call to action, should the need arise, though jesse should already know she was just a phone call away when it came to him.

⚰︎ divider made by milky!

@jesse