❧

mcflurry shoots dominic and marcel a look, her eyebrows furling for a millisecond as she glances at dominic.

she doesn't know what unsaid relationship they have. she doesn't know what this silent conversation is between them -- she's never been good at reading minds, after all. but one thing is certain.

"...thanks. i, mm. hope so too."

if the dominic guy's gonna leave now, then she really wishes he'd do it faster. what a fucking dick, honestly. who sits in on a meeting just to be an ass?

mcflurry can't say that, though, so she keeps the conversation on her future employment.

"i, uh. i think i'd mclike that -- and i'd be good at... mccollecting info and stuff. i don't know how many mctranslators you have..."

so on, so forth, about business nothings. but a lady in red passes, and mid-conversation, mcflurry's eyes trail in front of her, at her, behind her, going to the dance floor.

"--hm. why'd you... choose this bar?"

marcel maeda dominic sinclair ● ...

❧

secret genius? mcflurry genuinely laughed at that one, holding her fork full of food away from her mouth. that's the first she'd heard of that particular compliment.

"n-no. i just... i mclike learning it. it's a good way to, to mcpass time."

as the conversation continued, mcflurry kept close attention to how skyler was taking her flirts, and how she was doling them back. it was... refreshing. not many people would be as smooth or as willing to humor mcflurry's horniness like this, especially on the first date.

which only got mcflurry to staring at skyler's hands, then at her skin, then at the way she licked her lips. and good fucking lord, it did things to mcflurry's body.

"lil'... lil' bit."

with a blushing giggle, mcflurry looked pensive for a moment, before downing her glass of wine and wiping her mouth with her napkin.

"...i mean. we've mcpractically been on two dates now, and you did save my life, mm, so."

mcflurry gave skyler a smile, holding up two fingers. she tapped one.

"two options. one, we keep mchaving dinner and try to stay normal -- for, uh, whatever reason."

she tapped the other.

"two, we mcgrab a box now and... start being honest with ourselves. at my hotel room. and maybe... maybe, mccatch another date later?"

skyler dross ● HERE WE GO

❧

mcflurry frowned as sebastian started his next sentence, but was left with just a passing concern as he dismissed it. nevertheless, she could appreciate the sentiment -- when he wasn't blasting pokemon sky high.

honestly, that kind of -- kind of concerned her. even if they were wild pokemon, she didn't like the idea of hitting them so hard. it just --

some of the residue attacks from the blastoise bounced off of the very-defeated snubull's body, and nearly hit a nearby pokemon. without thinking, mcflurry jumped in front of the attack, shielding the pokemon even as her back stung like crazy.

"ow, ow, ow, ow! are you -- are you okay? i'm really sorry you almost got mccaught in that..."

she looked down at the pink puffball she'd just protected, which gazed up at her with stars in its eyes. mcflurry hissed in pain as she tried to stand up straight.

"i'll, uh. look you up for that mcfood. i guess i should mchead home, though."

with that, mcflurry started getting up and walking away from him, giving him a small wave goodbye as she cringed from the pain.

and sebastian only caught a glimpse of the shiny pokemon's shining green eyes as it floated behind mcflurry, eager to catch up with its savior.

about an hour later, after several attempts on mcflurry's part to dissuade the wild pokemon and urging it to return home, mcflurry was forced to get into a small kerfuffle with it. after a bug buzz from her wormadam, the jigglypuff would find itself in mcflurry's poke ball.

Igor ● catching jigglypuff!

❧

"i know... about, mm, ten or so. it's, uh. pretty useful."

her array was fairly colorful as well. from the eastern to western regions, she could pretty easily account for most of the more popular regions for pokemon trainers to populate.

but as they converse, mcflurry sort of felt the connection between her and skyler. not love at first sight, nothing crazy like that, but skyler was a pretty agreeable person -- cute, nice, a good person, and a good flirter to boot.

so, really, mcflurry was blossoming into her element at the moment. or maybe that's the white wine talking. but still, this was a good time. -- as opposed to high-stakes missions with a metaphorical gun to her head.

mcflurry took a bite out of her own dish -- delicious, almost made her jaw stop moving just to appreciate the food more and hold it in her mouth longer.

the next bit of conversation nearly got her, though, but mcflurry was quick on the draw.

"only the ones... who could mc-fold me in half, captain dross."

and holy shit, the verbal tic worked in her favor for once. mcflurry was getting into the zone, and she started forking her food very deliberately.

"si vous êtes libre ce soir."

the "r" in "libre" rolled as mcflurry leaned forward, and holy shit, that kalosian ws smooth. the entire thing was an invitation for skyler to lose her goddamn mind tonight.

skyler dross ● translation: "if you're free tonight."

❧

mcflurry wondered if this guy was already drunk, or if he was just like this. she decided to be nice and pay no mind to it, only chalking this particular interaction up to "no dice".

"i, uh. have a mcspeech impediment."

on second thought, though, maybe mixing drinks wasn't such a bad idea. so mcflurry decided to try compounding her hard drinks together like her dad used to.

soon enough, mcflurry was two out of three sheets to the wind and somewhat woozy on her seat, holding her body up through manual concentration.

but either way, billi was still there, so she -- she thought she'd humor him, in her drunken state.

"you're pretty -- pretty mcgood lookin', mcbilli. uh. but i don', i don't know if we really... mcvibe. if ya take me home, you -- you ain't mcgettin' my number."

mcflurry, what the fuck.

Billi Marsh ● just vibin

❧

Remiel Calcifet , kyle lopez , marcel maeda ● BOOM BITCH

❧

the difference in approach is palpable. one of them is trying to be nice to her, the other one clearly just doesn't want to be here. a small part of mcflurry wonders why he hasn't left yet. maybe he just thrives on shitting on people.

in any case, her fingers reflexively reach for a drink, but because of mr. sinclair's objections, there is none. so mcflurry just spins the coaster between her index and the table, nervous.

"i, uh. i didn't mcknow about that. sir."

mcflurry swallows the dryness of her throat. they had an intel division? hell, they had divisions? she never understood the deeper workings of rocket. ever. so she repeats what she always repeats when she learns something new.

"nobody -- nobody mctells me these things. they just, they just send me to mcdo field work. i'm... i'm just a mcgrunt."

and then the second question comes, and mcflurry actually has a little zip in her tone, because this guy's been like this all fucking night.

"mm. nobody ever suspects the mcstuttering idiot with a speech disability to... to hurt people."

marcel maeda dominic sinclair ● your third mistake: idk at this point

❧

Stormy Silph Ruby Walker Adrian Malcolm FERNANDO SILPH Remiel Calcifet Cillian Quinn Katherine Fairburne

❧

well, it was good that skyler was picking up on the whole flirting thing pretty quickly. mcflurry sometimes didn't feel comfortable flirting with -- people who were, maybe uncomfortable. but this is super fine.

more than fine, actually. especially with how skyler's really getting direct about it. mcflurry's not an easy woman by any means, but --

-- well, keep this up, and skyler might just get her to break the "not on the first date rule".

really, all of it was madness. this was all crazy, she just met this woman on a life raft made of ice after fucking up a mission. but mcflurry can't deny the good time she was having.

"i'll, mm, get the, uh. white whine, mcthen."

the verbal tic inevitably came out, but mcflurry knew the best way to work around it was to just be confident with it. so she pressed on.

"well, i learn mm, languages. i... play a little piano, too. for my mcjob, i'm sort of a, uh." mcflurry remembered that yes, admitting to crimes was bad, "odd-jobber who does music."

now, mcflurry's turn for questions.

"how'd you mcfind this place? this usually where you take, mmm... sunburnt girls you find on the mcbeach?"

skyler dross ● hey baybee

❧

mcflurry's arctozolt does not decline in its anger, even as the sandslash proves to be a one-man army against the incoming wild pokemon. as a blizzard leaves half the cave frozen, the arctozolt only continues to CHARGE.

without a trainer, it doesn't know what to do other than attack blindly. with a stomp of its feet, the ground rumbles once more, before debris, rocks, items, and all start rising with an ANCIENT POWER.

soon enough, the entire salvo was hurled at the sandslash, enough to flinch it out of its fury -- a frozen-over PHANPY is hit by a stray poke ball, one of the objects caught in the telepathy, and is captured within as though mcflurry herself through the ball.

but that doesn't matter. the arctozolt puts up a fight as the mega steelix fills the cave with blistering sand. shooting without vision, the arctozolt froze the cave over even more with its own BLIZZARD, even encapsulating some of the sandstorm in it --

-- before a barrage of rocks crashed into its torso, one of them hitting its tiny head and incapacitating it.

all that is left is a number of pokemon forcefully returned to their poke balls as their newfound trainer grows accustomed to a pool of red.

❧

elijah gardner ● can end here!

❧

mcflurry only shrinks further as she's met with smugness and disdain simultaneously. really, every little action these guys did... just intimidated her. made her feel weak. made her not want to talk anymore.

it feels like being in a classroom with a teacher that hates you. or trying to reason with bullies. there wasn't -- there wouldn't be any interaction. it's just one-sided suffering.

even more so when mcflurry's drink gets stolen. not even downed, at that. the guy's just holding the drink from her like a schoolyard boy holding her lunch away from her. this is just -- this is just fifth grade all over again.

at this rate, it's obvious that mcflurry will only speak if spoken to. she's curling up on herself and keeping her eyes away from anywhere near the other two men.

"i'm, i'm mcfluent in -- ten. twelve if you -- if you mccount dialects. fifteen if you count dead mm, languages."

she already knows the next question to come, so she preps the reply before they get the idea to ask.

"kantonese. hoennese dialect, specifically associated with draconid. kalosian. ambrettais dialect. galarian. fiorelian. almian. oblivian. alolan. holon. poketopic. ferric. the dead mclanguages are -- are ancient regi and unown."

she has a dark look on her face as she tries to keep herself together.

"i'm -- i only know the mcbasics of others, like phrases and letters. my ransei-ju is rusty, a-and i, uh. i don't have a mctelepathic pokemon or else i'd, i'd practice more of my DTP..."

she needs to be good enough. she needs to be good enough. she needs to offer more...

marcel maeda dominic sinclair ● your second mistake: asking mcflurry her languages

❧

hm! in the back of her mind, mcflurry figured that skyler likely hadn't gone on a date in a while. a long while. not that there was anything wrong with that, but there were signs.

still, mcflurry did mean every word she said -- skyler was very pretty tonight. she happily went hand-in-hand with the captain to the restaurant.

but then skyler ripped away her hand from mcflurry's and tried to look smooth, which only made mcflurry giggle.

"you have really mcwarm hands... captain."

as mcflurry looked through the menu and seated herself, her eyes peeked over the pamphlet and looked over skyler's face. ah, she was really pretty. that never changed.

"that's, that's fine. as long as i can mccall you skyler. and, well, mm. other names later."

now that was an innuendo, but before skyler could do anything about it, the server came up and asked what they'd like to drink. mcflurry started asking for what drinks they have.

skyler dross ● hey baybee