dominic watches samuel secure a capture, thinking over his response for a moment.

"it was going to happen eventually, i can't imagine it came as a surprise to anyone unless they haven't been paying attention." he says with a half-hearted shrug. "walsh will provide us with the leadership we need."

he doesn't comment on the darkrai because that's a subject he's not sure how to even broach.

Samuel Boothe
skipping!

marcel, he thinks, has a propensity for this; some kind of masochistic introspection that he can’t follow or fathom. dominic catches it, flickers of melancholy, in almost every motion, under the very thin veneer of humour. he finds that he’s studying marcel’s expression through narrowed eyes when he rests a hand on the man’s shoulder, his touch feather-light.

"great. let’s keep it that way," he says slowly, tone dropping into that which he reserved for scared new recruits; distant but superficially pleasant.

dominic pretends to not notice the way his shadow momentarily distorts, as though he were being run through with a dozen spikes.

marcel maeda

dominic’s concept of ‘dance’ doesn’t quite line up with billie’s but that’s fine too; it may not necessarily show in the harsh angles of his frown, but dominic is used to working with all types of people. they’re a united front as long as they have a common goal in front of them, and in this instance, billie is more qualified to lead than him or, it looks like, iris.

placing the gengar on the floor, dominic watches as it eagerly joins the mawile and marshtomp. the gengar watches the screen intently, bopping along to the music and following some of the moves with the other two. dominic blinks slowly and crosses his arms across his chest, nodding very slowly.

"nice," dominic says. "just loop it and let them figure out the timing themselves," he adds, jerking his chin toward the trio of pokemon.

@iris Billi Marsh

"you, perhaps," dominic drawls, laconic and at ease. he blinks slowly, a ghost of a sneer lingering. "but the company you keep…"

it’s not precisely a threat, but dominic never makes these types of statements lightly. he has to make a conscious effort to loosen his muscles; his anger nothing more than a brief vicious glimmer in his eyes.

"i should pray you’re just ignorant, or it would give me a very, very big reason to doubt you."

it’s a possibility gavin really is unaware; the period following immediately after the events at navel rock tower cast rocket into turmoil. there was no time for reports and retribution when he and desmond did what they did, but dominic still carries the shard of contempt in his chest, embedded deep like shrapnel.

and besides, REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD.

Cillian Quinn

the PSYCHED UP sylveon joins in smashing planks and rock with reckless abandon, chips of wood and stone flying in all directions. dominic was smiling along idly, somehow too lazy to comment.

alcohol, he found, made his tongue feel heavy.

apC8osNo + 60

post 8, total 842

marcel maeda priam conrad Samuel Boothe

dominic's altaria flutters over near marcel, its wings soft fluffed up by another COTTON GUARD. the pokemon is likely a more reassuring presence than its trainer ever had been.

swaying near the edge of the platform, dominic very literally felt like he was AT DEATH'S DOOR. he glances up at his team a little too quickly and nearly stumbles.

"we've got you, mon chou."

he doesn't sound convinced.

zMyS6UI7 + 60

post 8, total 803

marcel maeda priam conrad Samuel Boothe

having been PSYCHED UP, the sylveon's flurry of QUICK ATTACKS upon the obstacles comes swiftly and with a bizarre power behind them. dominic follows along behind his pokemon, and after a while, the physical exertion required to keep up distracted him from the screaming. it was nice.

Mcq3E2ZN + 60

post 8, total 880

Remiel Calcifet kyle lopez Laurence Anderson

dominic’s smile is back now, smaller and distant as though remembering an inside joke. he can still see it all so clearly; flames around him, flames above, ocean below, a dead man, emma, boris.

he raises his hand to his lips to take another drag, unflinching gaze still locked on gavin.

"my, well you’ve reassured me," dominic says after a short moment, his words punctured with another flash of teeth. "i don’t know, i think it went smoothly. declan trusts you too. that’s nice."

Cillian Quinn

the truth of it is that the countdown to this promotion started the moment he stepped down in the first place. it felt empty because it was; the rank of underboss had melded itself around his throat like a chain to be handed over between others.

dominic’s mouth curls into a smile with too many teeth and when he speaks there’s a low, sing-song lilt to his drawl, "thank you, gavin."

he leans against the railing, exhaling a plume of smoke slowly as he scrutinises his counterpart.

"you and your girl didn’t look too happy at the little induction earlier, huh?" dominic cocks his head sideways; the smile widens briefly and then disappears entirely.

Cillian Quinn

when dominic holds marcel's gaze, his vacant, searching stare lacks any heat. he reaches fingertips behind his ribs trying to clutch at something but he comes out empty-handed; and he knows that the absence is worse than anger, worse than fear, worse than guilt.

in moments like these, it always feels like he's sliding a blade through marcel's chest, digging a little deeper and twisting the knife a little more.

"fucking hell, marcel," dominic exhales eventually.

marcel maeda

dominic snatches his hand back from the ice and groans. he hadn't even had enough time to finish his popsicle. furrowing his brow, he sits up on the sofa to feel around his belt for his pokemon's capsules.

"i'm not moving from his spot," he grumbles, barely audible around the popsicle as he greedily rushes to finish it.

as the door cracks open, the resident of the apartment will come face-to-face with marcel's dragonair and dominic's magnezone, its magnet-like limbs LOCKED ON the newcomer threateningly.

"hello," he calls out to them. "really kept us waiting in this fucking sauna, didn't you?"

marcel maeda

one corner of dominic's mouth quirks into a smirk at samuel's words.

"interesting thought. hey, if they die, they die. i'd just say it was a test or something." the amusement in his tone indicates that he is, in fact, explicitly joking, and does not actually think so little of his colleague's lives.

dominic catches movement somewhere in the depths of the cave but it doesn't pique his interest enough to pursue the wild pokemon any further.

Samuel Boothe
skipping

"my car?" dominic echoes, his brows knitting into a frown. priam would not have his fingers still intact if they hit a spheal and "other things" with his car. the mention of a magby does bring him back to a time and place - very vaguely, he thinks he remembers the specific incident priam is referring to.

"okay, yeah, and that is precisely why you're... not allowed to do that again. at least until... okay, at least wait until everyone else forgets about it."

an already injured scraggy topples out of the gross and dominic tosses an empty pokeball at it almost impulsively.

priam conrad
capture attempt at scraggy