she sips at her drink, an unsweetened iced tea. she usually tries to stay away from any drinks that are too sugary, not wanting them to color her teeth over time. a smudge of lipstick remains on the glass after she puts it down, but the rest of her makeup doesn't budge. "i have to want something?" velvet jokes. "can't i just be doing it for the sense of community...?" she bats her eyelashes, and then laughs, shaking her head. yeah, there's no way he's going to buy that. you don't get in such an important position by believing everything you hear.

she crosses one leg over the other and leans back in her chair. "i just want to win," velvet explains. "that's all, really." and nobody wins by playing nice. she learned that lesson as a child, and she's been making sure other people learn it from her ever since. she considers it a gift, from her to them.

their waitress arrives at the table with a salad, placing it in front of velvet and leaving, assuring her that the rest would be out soon. velvet nods, and looks at amor with interest. "and you? what are you hoping to get out of it?"

[ Amor Rose ]

the woman on the ground is trying to claw her way out from under velvet's foot. velvet is not particularly heavy nor particularly strong, but she can make this work in her favor. give them a little bit of hope, and then crush it as soon as they think they've escaped... that's the way she works best.

so the woman under heel manages to wriggle out, velvet keeping a smile on her face. but before the traitor can get to her feet, velvet snaps her fingers; there's a skittering sound as her salandit comes out of hiding, and then it's coughing up a glob of poison from its throat. the venomous substance-- venoshock, specifically-- lands on the woman's outstretched hand. it scalds and bubbles as she lets out a shriek of pain, clutching it with her other hand as she falls back to the ground. velvet crouches down, and her salandit snickers nearby. clearly it takes after its master in the sadism department.

"p-please! i had no choice...!" the woman cries.

velvet jabs her in the back. "you have no choice now, dear," she chides. "you're welcome to continue trying to run away, but..." she tilts her head. "i have always wondered what would happen if you used toxic on a person..."

her target sobs incoherently.

[ Cillian Quinn ]

Nikita Sokolov

i think something with nikita and nikola could be fun!! i don't think they'd seek out help right away (they're still very loyal to the professor and not... very aware something is wrong), but it's not hard to meet them and just immediately know something is off with them. it could be more of a gradual thing with various other factors at play before nikola kind of accepts they need help.

(their pronouns are they/them only, btw!)

and for velvet and biscotti, i think that would be fun to play with! i've been meaning to put up a wanted ad that includes just general existing characters to be fans of her work, so it'd be awesome for them to meet just casually and velvet to probably play up on that angle a bit and be EXTRA SUPER NICE (and manipulative)

let me know what you think!

velvet cants her head to the side. there's no need to give a fake name here, and she supposes she should show some respect to her higher ups so she doesn't get the boot purely for insolence. "velvet," she says as she leads him over to her table. "velvet asch. don't forget the name, m'kay? you might just about break my heart." she releases her grip then, satisfied that he's not going to book it. the time to escape would have been much earlier, but for now, he was playing along. maybe she wasn't the only bored one here.

velvet takes her seat again and crosses one leg over the other. "sorry to drag you over," she says, not sounding sorry at all. "you have to understand... it is so humiliating to be eating by myself here." she waves her hand, and one of the waitresses comes by to refill her glass. oh, that's not what i wanted, but... oh well! she takes a sip. "i'll owe you one after this. dunno how useful i can be with the science shit, but i have my ways." her eyes sparkle as she leans in, cat-like smile on her painted lips. "and anyway, we're both a little... new to our positions, right? it can't hurt to get to know people a little better."

a little shmoozing never hurt anyone. probably. most of her connections are outside of rocket, so she's eager to get to know people on the inside a little better.

[ Amor Rose ]

"ooh, i love shows!" her grin curves wickedly. "can ya just wait over there at the other end of the alley so you can block the way if she tries to get away? i can handle the rest!" she gives him a cheeky salute, and ushers her salandit into the alley as well. it's not a good idea to give away all her cards, after all, and if their target sees a pokemon she might see trouble coming as well.

once that's taken care of, it's time to wait again. thankfully, they're not waiting long; after about seven minutes, a woman exits the building. she looks nervously around, but before she can scuttle away, velvet steps out in front of her. "excuse me?" she asks, pitching her voice up beyond its natural pitch. "umm... i dropped my glasses over there... would you mind helping me find them?" she gives the other woman a pleading look. velvet is shorter, and seemingly defenseless. it almost seems like she's done this sort of thing before, with how disarming she's being.

the woman-- the traitor-- hesitates. "well... i guess i can help for a moment," she says, finally giving in. velvet hurriedly grabs her by the arm and leads her over to the alleyway.

when their target turns her gaze away from velvet to look for the glasses she'd supposedly lost, velvet strikes. she lashes out a foot and hooks the other woman's leg with it, bringing her down onto the grimy ground. the other woman lets out a yelp. velvet plants a foot on her chest, grinding it in.

"...looks like i stepped in some trash." the innocence and warmth is gone from velvet's voice, leaving it frigid.

[ Cillian Quinn ]

it's been a slow day. slow days are the worst, in velvet's book. she'd had an appointment with her hair stylist, and then an appointment to get her nails done again, and then a recording session that lasted for an hour longer than it was supposed to... she drums her fresh new acrylics on the table in front of her, waiting for her order to be brought over. how lame is this? she's sitting in a restaurant, about to eat all by herself, because all her so-called "friends" were too busy to meet up with her. what could possibly be more important than being seen with velvet asch herself in public?

she heaves a sigh, like a dog looking for attention without wanting to be too obvious about it. that's when the door opens, and she glances up in a brief bout of curiosity. velvet squints. do i know him...? where do i know him from...?

then it hits her. she lets out a gasp of delight and stands up, practically skipping over to where amor is standing, waiting to be seated. she hooks her arms around his. "you're finally here!" she trills, as if they planned this. "over here, the table's over here!" hell no. she is not going to be a loser sitting alone with no friends. "just play along," she hisses in his ear. "mr. head scientist."

[ Amor Rose ]

waiting is hard. there's a woman in a baggy hoodie and a hat pulled over her head furiously tapping her foot, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. she's wearing sunglasses that obscure her eyes, and thanks to her less than flattering outfit, the only thing of interest about her are her long acrylic nails. next to her sits a salandit, looking almost as bored as its presumed trainer.

when cillian approaches, she pulls her sunglasses down and winks at him. "about time, boss," velvet says cheerfully. being a public figure and a member of team rocket means she has to hide her identity on missions such as this. gone are her usual theatrics, with her impossibly long white-and-lilac hair and her noticeably bodacious figure. her voice, however, is something she's not bothering to disguise-- yet.

her salandit thumps its tail against the pavement, eager to get started. "i followed her here," velvet explains. "we can prob'ly just lure her into that alley and get the jump on her without anyone knowing any better." there's no sense of apprehension in her. she exudes her usual confidence, and she's clearly not at all concerned with the morality (or lack thereof) of what they're about to do. in fact, she seems almost giddy, a grin plastered on her face.

[ Cillian Quinn ]

taking with Cillian Quinn ! <3