“I thought safaris were supposed to be, like, hot and dry,” Avery whined, as sucking mud schlepped at her boot. “This blows, man. Why did we come here?”

Dinner Plate floats stoically over her shoulder, unanswering.

“Yeah, easy for you to say,” she snaps, even though the Bronzor did not, in fact, say anything, “fuckin'... floaty mcfloaterson! Ugh. Uuuuuuuuuuuugh.”

premium safari spawn 1
4/4

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“Ding-dong, the witch is dead,” Avery sings, stretching out her arms, hypermobility causing her shoulders to pop and flex in odd ways. “You know, if the witch was a hot gay guy.”

She knows little of strategic thinking, only ever getting to place where she can think ahead when she’s up to her elbows in murder. Something about the snuffing out of life calms her frantic, racing brain.

“What do you think, sis, wanna go home?”

parker jones
mauville

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Eventually the sound of thwacking bone and squishing meat slows to a stop. Something wet squelches underneath her boots as she re-enters, having stripped off her uwu baby girl cover.

The mark spills what he can, as best he can, with a mouth full of broken teeth.

Another day saved, thanks to the Jones sisters. Or something.

parker jones
threaten

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Avery feels herself crumble a little bit, but she keeps the mask up, sort of.

Had this been her trying to turn over a new leaf? Had this been her trying to be good?

She doesn’t know if she’d recognize that moment when it happened, or that feeling, if she felt it.

Externally, she lets her shoulders slump and sighs heavily.

“Yeah, fuck it.”

She stands up so fast the chair scooches back with a horrendous squeak. Before she turns to go-- almost as an afterthought, really,-- she hikes a knee and plants her booted foot directly overtop of the man’s testicles, pushing down until there’s a satisfied crunch.

“He’s all yours, Six,” she says (she likes how it almost sounds like sis) patting her sister on the upper arm as she leaves.

parker jones
threaten

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"I wouldn't let her do that!" she says, shooting an alarmed look back at her sister that morphs, for a blink, into a knife-wide grin, only to be smoothed back over into girlish softness when she resets. "But I might not be able to stop her." She sets a small, gentle hand on his forearm. "I really, really don't want to hurt you. I want us to all get home tonight, safe. But I need you to work with us."

parker jones
persuade

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Nomi takes the news-- a correction, really, like dogs scrawling around a carcass, not wolves, more like feral hounds, snapping jaws and lolling tongues, all body language and learning, pushing boundaries and flashing teeth back and forth-- quite well. Like she knows that’s all Rocket is, all it will ever be, murderers and criminals and war, staunch-ribbed beasts clamoring for cadavers.

“Ah, don’t worry ‘bout it,” she says, hoping to smooth over all the troubled waters, all the little incurrents and burbling shallows that want to wind and pool together to become some maelstrom tidal wave. She doesn’t grasp the height of Nomi’s providence in Rocket but she doubts she has enough sway to make things better for the cast off bits and pieces like herself. “It’s all find in the end, right? I got here. Back here. Eventually.”

Her hand snaps up and, in a motion that perhaps hinted at the instincts and reflexes that Kanto beat into her-- or it was just something she’d never be able to do again, ever-- catches the chicken nugget in the palm of her hand and stuffs it into her mouth. Her palm is salty with sweat and fry grease.

“Maybe! Nomi is an INSANE pull. Sorry, I know that’s weird to say because you’re sitting right there, but one hundred percent there’s no way in hell I ever thought either of us would end up with someone… good, you know?”

parker jones Naomi Sato

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Avery shrugs into a pullover and pops her contacts out, leaving magenta irises abandoned on the table. She watches her sister deck the dude in the face and says, “Hehe, nice.” Counting to four, she scrubs a hand down her face and bursts in through the door with a wonderfully articulate look of despair.

“Hey hey hey! You can’t do that!” Flapping her arms, she shoos her sister away, establishing safe space between Parker and the guy, before turning back to him. “I’m sorry-- shit, she got you good, huh? Here.” She daubs up blood from his split lip on her sweater. “Look, all we want to do is ask a few questions. Do you think you could be amenable to that?”

Something in her willing voice or slightly alarmed gaze softens him. Or maybe it was the suckerpunch to the jaw.

parker jones
persuade
peepobigsmile

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This, unfortunately, plays against their strengths.

Sort of. Parker could beat the shit out of the guy but somehow Avery doesn’t think that would be what they need.

Still, she tries to come up with a plan.

“We can good cop bad cop it,” she suggests. “I’ll cover up my tattoos. You go in there and be staunchly anti-male, and I’ll follow up with the goo-goo eyes. I’ll even take my contacts out. No one can resist the barely legal teen asking for help look.”

parker jones

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