the drink was marvelous.

mar was so invested in it that she initially missed the kiss cam, only catching it at the last moment. she laughed at his response, good-naturedly. "not a problem; yer a little on the, ah, manly side fer me." she was far more attracted to femininity, though she did enjoy the company of masculine women when the opportunity presented itself. even still, she was pleased to hear he valued that relationship of his; for all the unsavory characters rocket gathered, she had to admit there was something about infidelity that would never sit right with her.

she swallowed the rest of her drink. then, she satisfied herself with watching as he made something fruity for Calpurnia Kubrick, though she wasn't sure was curious enough to ask for one herself. grinch, however, was quite the evocative name. she raised her glass as he slid the grinch drink to the other rocket, echoing his "ho, ho, ho," with unveiled amusement.

"a great drink and a great party. i love being on the winning team."

dorian westcliff Calpurnia Kubrick

☉

mar was pleased with his response. a man that was quick to anger was untrustworthy. one that rolled with the punches was patient and considering. that kind of man could cause far more trouble than an angry one, but it was also the kind that mar could work with. she followed his gaze to the pokemon as the race started.

toxel had nothing going for him, but as she'd hoped, azurill tore ahead. bonsly only matched her pace for a few steps before she bounding away, leaving both baby pokemon in the dust. the crowd grew loud and of mixed opinion, and mar brought her attention back solely to him. "i ain't been to the embassy, but i hope they get ye some authentic pastries. these hoennites can't make a savory cheese danish to save their lives." her voice was heavy with bitterness. indeed, she'd had to trouble herself with baking to have any worth a damn.

"well, i hope it ain't too borin. the seas can get a little quiet. been tryin to trouble myself with that kyogre sightin, but it's hard to get close." her grin was sharkish. "i can forgive the bad pastries for all the excitement this place has." speaking of: azurill pulled right ahead, crossing the finish line first.

"i might just have to make time for ever grande and bring ye some real food. maybe smuggle ye a real kalosian red wine, too." smuggle being used in a fun and provocative way, of course. no other meaning. she pulled out her phone and airdropped her number, unconcerned with what anyone else might do with it if they were interested.

28RQoNDx

Julien Demassieux

☉

they were two of a pair, betting on azurill. she felt more confident with his vote likened to hers, though she would have been willing to rig the game if she thought things would go sideways. it was the principle of winning far more than the money involved. she was happy to have piqued his interest enough he asked for her work.

"i run my boat just bout anywhere. been everywhere." she leaned in close, and in a low, humored voice, she added: "don't recommend galar." then she straightened up, a big grin on her face. she hadn't offered kanto. but galar was fun to take shots at. "came to hoenn more seriously last year, though. i haven't left it since. i like long trips, but it's good to ship things round these parts. i feel like there's always something going on here."

she would've been fine shipping legal things, too. plenty of money in that, and she wasn't negatively impacted by the poor work-life balance of long trips since she lived for the ocean. but. there was far more glory in crime. far more chances to find the hidden. and she wanted a shot at the secrets embedded in hoenn's dirt and sea and sky. she wasn't going anywhere til she had its treasure in hand.

she turned to look at him more fully. he looked pretty serious, more regular joe schmoe than she did. "and what is it that ye get up to? ye strike me as a comedian."

Julien Demassieux

☉

mar grinned at the offer of a brandy alexander. "sounds good. nutmeg'll be interestin." she leaned in as she looked over the various liqueur and plentiful debilitating elements. "probably the most classy thing i've had this year." her amusement was clear. "wonder if next year'll be an improvement... but i know some swashbucklers that make a mean moonshine. put hair on yer chest in an instant."

she meant to spill more about the company she liked to keep -- and man, were they a partying bunch -- but her attention was pulled away at the sight of presents being handed out, the random recipients determined. mar was approached with something unmistakable, as even a child could see a wine bottle from a distance. but, to her delight, closer inspection revealed it to be a galarian cabernet. she'd had little opportunity to try anything in galar besides beer, so she was pleased to see the fancy labelling.

"ah, maybe it has a contender already, at the eleventh hour." she had no intention of mixing wine and brandy, though if her dear bartender had any interest in it, she'd happily open it to breathe and share it between them. any rocket that knew their way around a bar was a friend of hers, no doubt.

dorian westcliff

☉

mar offered a sharkish grin. "marguerite. and ye, mister?" she looked back over the the babies on the starting line, getting ready to go. "i used to be a pro at this kinda stuff in me teens, though i manipulated the odds to be in me favor most of the time." it was past delinquency, so she had no issue bringing it up now. more cheekily, she added: "'course, now i'm a very by-the-books woman. learned me lesson and all that." the glint in her eye suggested anything but.

she waved the man taking bets over, sizing him up as he approached. "what're the odds?" she asked without preamble. he answered, with azurill having a decent return but the toxel being the most favored and least rewarding. she schooled her expression to prevent expressing doubt in the toxel's success. he had arms and legs to propel him unlike the other two, but he looked like he'd been coddled his whole infancy.

she pulled a 100 pd from her pocket, handing it to the man. "bettin on azurill."

Julien Demassieux

☉

mar had arrived at a decent time to put her contribution, kalosian pastries, with the rest of the food items, but then she had disappeared for a while to get fresh air before being stuck inside for a minute. capsakid had appreciated the downtime too, but they both had to put their game faces on. socializing at large events wasn't a strong suit of hers, as she was far more charismatic one on one than with such a considerable audience, but it was important to network given how fresh she was to hoenn.

she started with picking a drink to help loosen her up, finding many pleasantly shady-looking individuals on her way to the bar. "what do ye recommend?" she asked dorian westcliff, feeling no strong inkling for any specific beverage just yet. she didn't indulge in alcohol often, but it was frequently of the strong, homebrewed variety when she was sailing the seas, so she hadn't developed a good palette or eye for more refined drinks.

dorian westcliff

☉

mar perked up at the voice of the man beside her, pleased he agreed and even more pleased that someone else seemed to be spectating with an emotional distance like her. not from mauville, she assumed, given he did not fall over himself for racing like all of the natives here.

"aye, azurill will give 'em a run fer their money. small feet, but toxel's got nothing. i'm sure everyone's thinkin bonsly will bring things home, but i'm pretty sure those things are heavy an clunky." a sliver of movement caught her eye and she turned from her conversation partner to look past him, catching the unmistakable visual of hands exchanging money.

"ah," she said as she wised up, "it appears there's more of a gamblin scene than i thought." she hoped the bets were in bonsly's favor so there'd be a greater payout for azurill. turning back to the stranger, she asked: "are ye a gamblin man?"

Julien Demassieux

☉

either mar was deep in thought or the kid was the stealthiest thing on the planet, because she nearly jumped out of her skin when they appeared beside her. she didn't cover her reaction well, but at least her partner's comment gave her a moment to gather herself. "not long," she confirmed, trying to sound nonchalant. "it's good that yer here." she knocked on the door in an odd pattern. after a moment, it opened, and they were immediately looking at a lackluster storage room that had a few boxes of marked pokeballs, though all contained a pokemon.

"perfect," she said, watching the backside of the paid-off clerk that left them to their devices. "we load these up and we've just got to be careful of any uniformed goons on our way to the shore." before loading the first box onto their push-cart, she inspected a few of the strips of tapes on the pokeballs on top, looking to see what pokemon was stored inside. "aron, zubat, diglett... where's anything good?" no one would notice if either of them swiped one, but she wasn't seeing anything particularly tempting yet.

sage morgan

☉

the home stretch.

"let's bring it home," mar said, sharing a determined look with her capsakid. then, she gathered the ingredients she would need for a cocoa-heavy boba with peppermint syrup. the duo worked in tandem. "this winter stuff makes me miss ice fishin," she confessed as she mixed the drink together. "haven't been in a while but yer in need of a little vacation, too, aye?"

she poured the drink in, decorating it with a mint leaf before sealing the boba. "this is our finest work yet." she might have gone a little too heavy on both flavors, but she wanted something strong and impactful.

kHk3KfTg

☉

"leave it," she barked as the skrelp bee lined for the chinchou. skrelp loved to beef with other sea pokemon, though she preferred to fight surface-dwelling pokemon over those that roamed the same depths as her. "chinchou's minding his business. let's just go." skrelp seeme to weigh his options in terms of listening or not, but he did relent.

skipping

☉