before the photographer had even begun to talk, shigure began flipping through pages on their clipboard, ready to search for his name if necessary. he pauses momentarily to watch the interaction between his sprigatito and the stranger, shrugging their shoulders when she looks up at him for confirmation. do you think he'd be okay? she seems to ask with her wide stare, shigure only gesturing for her to indulge herself in her curiosity. no bad guy would be patient enough to let a pokemon get used to them, and that alone has them allowing for his pokemon to do as she pleases. [break][break]

with shigure's allowance, sprigatito meows in greeting, nuzzling her face against the stranger's palm. after she's had her fill, she simply sets her chin there, staring at him in expectancy. she wants scritches and head pats! the sight has shigure rolling his eyes in amusement. [break][break]

at the other's statement though, the clipboard is set down and his arms wordlessly cross. they appear lost in thought soon enough, body leaning back upon the counter as he looks up at the ceiling. on one hand, exposure was good. he and the rest of the grunts were aware of that. more customers meant more sorry folks to steal from. on the other hand... too much wasn't. ugh. [break][break]

"... i can't make that call," he replies earnestly, head shaking. and then they pause, glancing over at the phone on the wall and sigh. he'll probably get scolded for this. he can already hear the higher up's voice on the other line. you're callin' for a stupid reason like that, uruha? can't make decisions on your own? [break][break]

contrary to their dreary appearance, shigure is quite helpful. the photographer came here for a reason, after all. it'd suck if this was his, like, tenth turn down (a hypothetical, but shigure doesn't know. what he does know is that if @idris found out that he helped some rando again, he'd hear no end to the teasing). [break][break]

"gimme a sec..." they mumble, wandering over to the corded phone. "i... uh. you can take pictures of my pokemon. for now. while you wait. i guess," they add on awkwardly, turning their back on him as he inputs a number. at his words, pichu and pancham look up at the stranger, each raising a paw to say hello.

[break][break]

+ riley maddox

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

behind their face mask, shigure's lips press into a thin line at the usage of the nickname. not like they'd argue against it though, and like any other situation, they simply sigh and follow behind. his new bisharp settles down after a little wiggling, probably too exhausted to force its way out of its new confinement. ah. relaxation. for the time being.[break][break]

velvet knew how to work shigure though. they really thought they'd walk out of here empty handed, but with his inherent kindness... he has to wonder just how many troublemakers he's going to add to his already mischievous team. the thought seems to tire them out, though the rustling nearby catches their attention soon enough. [break][break]

"... wonder what this'll be now." they say it so monotonously, it's clear they're expecting another fight to break out. lo and behold, a stunky appears. it stares at the duo, shigure meeting its gaze blankly. it blinks at the pancham at his legs, watches at how said pancham punches his fist to his other paw, lets out a toot and scurries away. [break][break]

talk about anticlimactic. [break][break]

"... okay then."



[break][break]

+ VELVET ASCH [break]
+ skipping stunky!

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they rub at their eyes in attempt to adjust to the lighting change, arms stretching above their head once he's deemed his eyes have sufficiently been cared for (though, it's clear they weren't in the way shigure continues to blink, even closing their eyes momentarily to really prepare his vision). he feels the weight leave his lap and his side, hearing his pichu and pancham practically argue about who knows what (most likely about pichu's feigned bravery, but oh well). [break][break]

eyes still closed, a tiny amused smile spreads across his lips, shoulders shrugging. "i'll watch it alone and tell you how it goes." which they would! because shigure always tries to keep their promises with momo, and if she wanted to know if that poochyena was okay, then well. that's just another thing on their 'to do' list. of course, shigure can be normal and simply search up some spoilers, but where's the fun in that? they were surprisingly invested in the story, no matter the cheap jumpscares. [break][break]

eventually, they meet momo's vibrant gaze, a thoughtful hum reverberating in his throat as he's already reaching into his jacket pocket for his phone. shigure doesn't roll too well in any free gacha pulls the games the duo play give, but it was still exciting nonetheless. for one of them anyway (it's momo, by the way. because shigure just blankly stares at the screen since, somehow, they always get majority single 4* pulls while momo enjoys multiple 5*s. shigure had no hopes, and yet their disappointment is always immeasurable. momo seemed to enjoy the gamble aspect though which was a little worrying). [break][break]

their lips part, only to be interrupted by THUD, THUD, shigure's mouth forming a straight line as he looks up at the ceiling. "..." their usual sleepy gaze becomes sharp with alertness, gaze scanning their surroundings and doing his own headcount. everyone was present, and despite momo's plethora of new pokemon, she didn't look like she was expecting anything to be up there. her fearful reaction alone has shigure rising from his seat, pichu automatically climbing up his body to settle on his shoulder, a very clear what're we gonna do? in his head tilt. [break][break]

"cham!" [break][break]

looking down, pancham pats his chest reassuringly in an i'll go check! way, but shigure shakes his head. he deflates at that, arms crossing and foot stomping. [break][break]

"i want you to stay with her," shigure says simply, and that seems to pacify pancham for the time being. turning to momo, he puts his hand reassuringly on her shoulder, gesturing in the direction of the stairs with his chin. "i'll go see what it is, okay?" their voice is leveled and calm, attempting to keep peace. even before she responds, they're already on the move, hands nonchalantly in his jean pockets. to momo, they simply look nonchalant, though in reality they grip the switchblade they keep in their person in confirmation of it being there. [break][break]

be it pokemon or person, shigure has some form of self defense. if it were a spirit... the thought has him pausing, body turning slightly to the coordinator. "... do you have candles, by the way?" they ask it cryptically, not wanting to worry her more with the possibility of an exorcism. "... uh. in case the. lights somehow go out or something." smooth. [break][break]

+ Momo Sakai [break]
+ OH FRUIT SIBS WE'RE IN IT NOW...

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

shigure doesn't take too many things seriously. or, more specifically, recreational activities in which he wasn't very talented in didn't require too much of his effort. and yet, here they were, sitting with a focused stare on the screen. a part of them stops caring about being polite to the npcs around him (which is a weird thing, considering they're just pixels on the screen) and they start colliding into other cars. his frown radiates stay out of the way, but in the end? it didn't even matter. the race concludes with the master of faster himself in first and shigure sighs, flopping back in to his chair, arms dangling at his side. [break][break]

they slump into the seat, chin meeting chest, staring at the insert credits to continue! message flashing across his screen. shigure thinks not though! what, they're just going to waste their credits and then get outraced by josh devlin again? nah, he's good. still, shigure glances over at the other, face mask fiddled with as he sits back up. [break][break]

"... good game." at least they aren't a sore loser. a frowny loser, sure, but not a sore one. "... you play this a lot, huh. i didn't even know some of those shortcuts were there." and tickle shigure impressed!



[break][break]

+ Josh Devlin [break]
+ MISSION: ALL NIGHTER

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