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[Well, if you were hoping for someone that...wasn't Kimblee driving this thing, then you're about to be sorely disappointed.

He's wearing black rather than white and he seems to have lost the suit jacket, though the ever-present button-up and gloves are still being worn; the gloves are likewise black in color, and though he has his collar fastened clear up, there's a light white edging just beneath it that's visible if he moves just so - bandaging over the scars there, covering those jagged trails across his throat.

He's leaning idly against the counter, however, his stance broad and one of his forearms braced against it for balance; his other hand is playing a bit with the floral arrangement set up in a vase on the counter, running his fingertips over the petals a little.

Yarrow, hollyhock, lobelia. A declaration of war through flowers, if such a thing can exist.]

And a good afternoon to you as well, Archer.

[Archer likes to pretend he's classy; it doesn't always work, but usually he can control the urge to facepalm at something like this.

He fails miserably in that attempt now.]

Oh my god.

[He would have preferred anything over this, Kimblee.]

Why.

[It's not so much a question as it is a demand.]

Oh, believe me, I didn't like it either at first. But it's income, and I do have a horrible gambling habit to support.

[...]

Or at least, Maes Hughes does, as that's what I've told them to call me. It's a bit of a long story.

Oh my god.

[Well his face is just going to be buried in his hands for the next ever if you don't mind!!]

Come now - if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're a bit flustered by all this.

[His tone is light, however, and incredibly flippant.]

Shall we? I was able to negotiate for some time off today, and I believe we have a good amount to discuss.

[...hopefully, not all of it is going to be confined to "Why in the good fuck are you a florist."]

[That's going to be most of it...]

So you told me to come here just so I could see you working here, is that it?

[God, sometimes he really hates you. This is not funny.]

Part of it was for the sake of your reaction, admittedly; part of it was also so that the one relieving me would have proof that I'm actually leaving with someone from out of town and not just making that up so I can skive off.

Why they think I'm the sort to do that, I haven't the vaguest.

[...jesus, he's being self-deprecating. he must be in a good mood.]

You certainly haven't done that before, have you?

[Well, he's willing to let it go for the time being, smirking at Kimblee.]

I believe we have a good amount to catch up on, so hurry it up.

Of course, Archer.

[Well, from there it's just a matter of signing out and...taking that war declaration of a bouquet with him? Right, apparently that is a thing he's going to be doing. And we are leaving now, thank you very much.

At the very least Pallet is tiny and the inn isn't too hard to find, if a bit convoluted in the way small-town streets tend to be.]

I imagine you had no problems with Alekhine?

[Archer quirks an eyebrow but says nothing about the flower arrangement for the time being, instead following Kimblee.]

I had no problem receiving him, no. Getting him to use Teleport was an entirely different matter altogether. He spent a solid hour refusing to cooperate.

[Either he was really bitter that Archer left or he was trolling. Archer has no idea which one it was.]

[Oh, Archer...]

Well, he really must be displeased with you, then; he's been a great help to me lately.

...Perhaps not here, but back in Johto, anyway. He's likely been bored out of his mind here.

Oh? What were the two of you doing in Johto?

[He just smirks a little at that.]

We had a busy week in Olivine.

[Let him get his key out and unlock the damn door to the room; this is a discussion best not held in public, after all.]

Indeed?

[Archer waits until they're inside the room with the door shut before pressing.]

Well? What were you doing in Olivine?

I believe I told you about Seth, and what he did there; surely you don't think that one person could pull off all that on their own without being seen by someone? Such a thing takes time to set up.

He and that Gardevoir I named for you assisted me rather well, all things considered.

I thought you were opposed to that sort of tactic?

[He doesn't sound accusatory, just curious.]

I won't abandon my own principles while on a mission; if this violated that, then I wouldn't have done it.

Opposition based on preference and not principle is another matter. Consider it another facet of my work taking priority over my personal life.

...I see.

[No, he really doesn't.]

So you weren't captured or killed during this attack, were you? You fled here afterwards and you've been working as a... a florist since then, correct?

I was found, but not captured; someone managed to track me down, but they didn't see my face - I had the mask on, as always when I'm dealing with situations where the general public might see me, and he didn't get close enough to take it off.

[...]

He let me go, actually.

He let you go? Why would he do that?

[That seems to amuse him, actually.]

He made the mistake of talking to me.

He...? Oh, so you managed to convince him it would be a good idea?

[Well he certainly can't say he's surprised by that.]

Something like that; I think it was more that I planted an idea that he couldn't disagree with. Things like that have a nasty habit of playing tricks on the mind, and they tend to stay with a person for quite some time. Forever, in some cases.

I doubt he'll be much of a problem for me from now on; I've been furthering that idea every time he's spoken to me since then, whether it's as Seth or myself. In different ways, of course, but it's gotten his attention just the same.

Excellent. Perhaps he'll even join us someday.

Would you like me to try to see if he'll be useful?

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