the corner of dominic's mouth briefly quirks into the ghost of a smile. "we both know you're wrong about that," he murmurs as he accepts the cigarette pack and pockets it without objection.

"huh. sounds like a looker," he comments idly, gaze sweeping across the grassland in a half-hearted search for his pokemon.

marcel maeda

Characters: dominic sinclair[break]
Request: 5 gacha please, i'm killing raz if they're bad[break]
Thread: here ty![break]
Moderator: staff completes this field

as they draw close to the ship, a HYDRO PUMP bursts up at them, though the hydreigon avoids being hit by veering violently to the side. the pokemon stills its hovering wings and drops to the deck of the ship, sending the steel below shuddering under its weight. as dominic slides off its back, two more capsules in hand, the hydreigon swings its three heads around, each one CRUNCHING at both pokemon and human alike. dominic can hear the sound of wet masticating, of bones yielding and snapping in the hydreigon’s jaw.

dominic ducks behind one of the hydreigon’s wings for cover as he releases his houndoom. the pokemon takes shape, its face already a twisted snarl at the water underneath its paws, his head lowered and the vicious curve of its horns glinting in the gloom. dominic steps from behind his pokemon to a stack of crates, covered from further attacks but close enough to all three pokemon to issue orders effectively.

sweep the deck clean, break through the lower floors, sink the ship to the depths, leave. it’s so simple that when he reaches for the mega-accessory for his houndoom, balancing between his fingers idly, dominic feels something akin to disappointed boredom settling on the back of his tongue. his eyes flicker to gavin’s position momentarily.

glancing up to his coasting togekiss, dominic whistles to catch its attention and jerks his chin toward the houndoom. seeing its canine ally below, the togekiss will recognise attempt to offer it some support - the pokemon’s METRONOME will react positively with its SUPER LUCK as a SUNNY DAY is executed over the ship. in the night, the sunlight cast from the togekiss has an eerie hue - the lustre brilliant and so artificially warm that it sears at dominic’s skin just like the real thing. driven by the burst of heat, the houndoom rounds on a clustered group of pirates and their water-types and unhinges its jaw to blast them with an immediate and potent SOLAR BEAM.

against the blinding glare, dominic can see the houndoom’s muscles shift as though intending to lurch forward to finish its targets with its teeth and he has to yell out to him to call him back - too early, not yet.

Cillian Quinn

he smiles thinly but doesn’t comment - there are a dozen reasons why circe would not last in his apartment for longer than a day. briefly, his gaze lingers on a SUN TANNING couple.

dominic doesn’t react when circe’s hand comes up to the tray - her fingers will be able to close around zacharias’s tequila sunrise should she still want it after the next revelation that he is about to deliver.

"that will also be coming out of your paycheck," he says slowly, eyebrow arched.

fortunately, circe doesn’t comment on his own absence from the region, though perhaps “making arrangements in kanto” and “keeping a low profile after fallarbor” are still better excuses than hers.

"yeah? so i can expect you to report back in with one of the admins within the month, then?" dominic says with a scoff as he takes a seat on an adjacent beach chair, taking a careful sip of his own drink.

circe crowley

the beach is studded with umbrellas, towels, suntanning bodies. dominic exits the SEASHORE HOUSE with a little tray of drinks in hand - a tequila sunrise for himself and @zacharias and orange juice for priam conrad (it had a bit of grenadine in it, but he felt it was still appropriate for the kid).

dominic’s trek across the sand came to a pause when he sees a familiar figure reclining in one of the beach chairs. he inclines his head sideways and approaches the woman, sliding his own sunglasses down to survey her when he’s close enough to do so.

"hey stranger," he drawls, his mouth twisting into a faint smile. his otherwise flat tone is tinged with recognition.

"a fee? maybe we’ll be taking that out from your paycheck."

circe crowley

a ghost of what could be read as a smile flickers across dominic’s features. "i like your energy, keep that up," he comments. "mawile is a good pick."

dominic uncrosses his arms from his chest to reach for his own set of pokeballs. he had a handful of pokemon that could be “cute”, it’s just the majority of them weren’t able to dance either.

he sighs again and releases a gengar as an answer to iris’s question. "this is the best i can do," he admits. "i think he’s… he’s cute right?" dominic asks slowly, glancing between his two partners for reassurance.

the gengar grins, twirls on the spot and snaps to a halt with its stubby arms spread as though it were striking a pose.

"hey, show us what your pokemon can do. blue, right?"

@iris Billi Marsh

dominic’s mouth is twisted into a cheshire cat smile when he pulls back from leaning forward to murmur into marcel’s ear. he fixes the woman with a stare, and though his eyes crinkle at the corners, the smile doesn’t quite reach them.

"my, my, won’t you look at that," he drawls. "kalosian and perfect hearing?" dominic’s tone drips with sarcasm and if he’s impressed by either fact his features don’t betray it. very briefly, his light grip on marcel’s shoulder tightens and then he lets go entirely.

dominic turns away from the pair, his lack of interest in the rest of the conversation made explicit by the way he laconically leans against the bar, glancing over his shoulder to scan the crowd of bodies with latent interest. his gaze lingers on one or two people - pretty.

when the drinks arrive, dominic downs his in a single smooth motion and keeps his hand curled around the other two. perhaps they were originally intended for his colleagues but they managed to erode his goodwill at record speed.

marcel maeda mclaren mcflurry

marcel's choice of club really speaks volumes, and dominic isn't sure whether to be surprised or not. he slinks behind the pair at a calculated distance - close enough to watch the trainwreck unfold, far enough that he could slip away with ease.

inside, his eyes scan the roiling crowd with latent interest, but dominic remains close to his colleagues - at least for now. he joins marcel and mclaren a few moments after they reach the bar. his mouth twists into a sharp grin, vaguely reminiscent of that of a gengar, and he leans close to marcel's ear to speak.

"puis-je t'acheter un verre?"

dominic doesn't wait for a response, waving the bartender over to order for the three of them.

marcel maeda mclaren mcflurry

he already knows his contribution will be minimal. dominic leans against the barre, arms crossed, gaze sliding from his former underling to the stranger. dominic tries - and fails - to not sneer, one eyebrow arched.

dominic had little love for CODENAMES, and using his faux ID felt almost farcical at the best of times - even more so with iris right here in the room. in short, dominic offers no name to identify him by.

"morning," he says, in lieu of introduction. "our given theme is..." dominic interrupts himself to sigh. "it's... cute."

@iris Billi Marsh

dominic lets the information rest for a moment in order to process kyle's words. it doesn't really change anything, or at least, not in any significant way.

"huh," he says eventually, grateful only for the fact that his default face is expressionless. dominic straightens and offers the poketreat to the chubby houndour. "i've heard that he and his pokemon were crazed."

kyle lopez
skipping

"what the fuck," dominic mutters under his breath as the swarm of pokemon surge through the streets. their screeching vocals may pierce the eardrums of a lesser man, but dominic's experiences have long since left him with permanent hearing damage.

he ducks into an alleyway to watch the obstagoon and their progeny parade down the streets like horde of happy children. were an opportunity to arise he may toss a pokeball - or he may not, dominic isn't sure he could handle all the yelling on a constant basis.

FitcFchx

dominic makes an unhelpful and vague gesture in the general and approximate direction of the kitchen. it’s when marcel moves and calls for his pokemon that dominic props himself up with his elbow to watch with some thinly-veiled curiosity.

he can’t help but scoff at the attempt at marcel’s attempt at COOLING OFF the pokemon, though he can’t exactly blame him. if memory serves, that species dwelled primarily in frigid caves. his own pokemon are probably best kept in their capsules for now - the thought of his houndoom’s very fur emanating more heat made dominic recoil.

hindsight really is 20/20 or he would have brought along an ice-type. dominic narrows his eyes at the airconditioner and the paltry amount of cool air it provided, wishing for an ICY WIND to be blasted at him.

"is there room for two fully grown men in there?" dominic says after a long moment.

marcel maeda