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Post by Jay on Nov 17, 2019 19:12:50 GMT
It was said that over a million people walked through Victory Harbor a day. Ottie never believed it. She tried to count one day when she was very little, before she left the orphanage and before she met Jamison or Indie. It was a lot, but a million was a different breed, a number invented just to make peoples' heads explode. She counted twenty joggers before she got bored. Not one stopped when she called out to them.
"Maneki-meowth dolls!" she shouted, holding up a small ceramic statue. "Magikarp imported from Kanto, said to climb a waterfall in sixty seconds!" She patted a cooler beside her. Her wares were anything Jamison gave her, or anything she could steal. She eyed an assortment of I Love the AI t-shirts and name-customized keychains that she had stolen from a tourist shop. Who leaves the back of their kiosk open?
Indie sat on a barrel next to her, swinging her legs and smiling. What few people looked at them only showed the smallest amount of kindness because of the blond girl beside her. Her face was soft and optimistic, told a story of a few down-on-their-luck teens trying to live in the big city. It was vital to have, as Ottie's face was pessimistic, her brows thick and always turned downward like she was sneering. Her hair was choppy and angled like a brutalist house. It was harder to cut her own hair than it was to cut Indie's.
They got some business from a family of tourists, sold a few postcards with too-smudgy ink. But they needed more customers.
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Post by Wild on Nov 19, 2019 17:21:31 GMT
Starly was perched on Myles head as they walked together through the harbor. The boy almost paid no attention to the two girls selling knick-knacks by the water, but his pokémon had other ideas. The bird flew over to the two girls and began chirping happily at them. "Starly what are you doing? You can't just go bothering people!" he said, following the Starly. He smiled at the girls, embarrassed that Starly had just flown away like that. "I'm so sorry about him, he usually knows better than this."
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Post by Jay on Nov 19, 2019 18:46:48 GMT
Birds were common in the open areas of Huanglu City, swooping anywhere they could beg for food. Ottie waved her hand at the bird, sure it was wild. "Shoo! There's nothing for you, get out of here!" she cried out. Indie saw the boy before her partner did, and quickly tugged on Ottie's shoulder to alert her to Myles. A brand new, sparkling customer.
"You mean this cute little thing is yours?" Ottie's face softened at the Starly, and she held out a finger as if to offer a perch. "It's no bother at all. I have to say, however, its feathers are looking rather dull."
It was one movement, as if she pulled it out of thin air: Instant Bath, a miniature spray bottle with a gaudy little neon label. "Surely your Starly deserves feathers that gleam like Carbink!" Ottie spoke in her best sales voice, an entirely different one from her own. Indie leaned forward where she sat, nodding along with wide, enthralled eyes.
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Post by Wild on Nov 19, 2019 23:05:24 GMT
Starly chirped happily as he hopped onto the finger of the girl, giving the best smile it could at her. Myles smiled nervously but that quickly dropped as the girl commented on his Starly's feathers. Both the boy and the bird tilted their head in sync at the bottle being magically produced. "They're not that bad are they? Right?" he asked, putting the smile back on best he could. Starly chirruped in response as if mock offended by the girl's comments.
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Post by Jay on Nov 19, 2019 23:14:07 GMT
"I don't mean any offense." Ottie smiled as innocently as she could. Indie always did it better, but she could pull it off while she still had her youth, the poor unsheltered orphan look about her. Even she didn't know whether she was speaking to the trainer or the bird. "I just want to help out, you know? They could definitely look better." She tried not to be too nervous about the Starly on her finger. It was heavy, and her hand was shaking, yet she continued to smile.
"It's rather expensive, but one bottle lasts most people a whole year." She tapped Indie barrel with her toe, and her blond companion raised a sign that had been sitting behind her with a smooth movement of repetition: We are not legally culpable for any inaccurate estimations. By the time Indie lowered the sign again, Ottie was gently pushing the bird back towards its owner, and with it the bottle.
"How about you take this--the bird, then the bottle--"and this as well, for only 5,000 Poke. They sell it for 10,000 in Kanto, but I know a guy." Ottie winked at the end of her sales pitch, a habit she had picked up from Jamison. I always flirt. I even sell shirtless if I can, the old man once said, and she wished he was kidding.
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Post by Wild on Nov 19, 2019 23:24:47 GMT
Myles laughed, completely unaware that he was being scammed. As the girl reached out her hands, Starly hopped off her finger and back onto his perch atop Myles's head. "Oh, even at that excellent discount, I don't really think I can afford that. I'm terribly sorry," he admitted. "I could maybe afford one of those little keychains, though. Got any for Myles, spelled M-y-l-e-s?"
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Post by Jay on Nov 20, 2019 1:43:52 GMT
Her face fell from that of a cunning businesswoman to that of a disappointed, Noctowl-eyed street girl. Perhaps she was too hopeful on that amount. She always had better luck shooting for the moon.
"Uncommon name," she said rather aloofly. She leafed through her stock and frowned to herself, all the muscles in her forehead creasing to a reality she was too afraid to admit to. A customer roped this far was a customer she could not afford to lose. The voice that emanated from her throat sounded foreign and hopelessly pathetic. "I've got one with an i, if that's good enough."
In what world was that good enough? Indie crouched down next to her and squinted, as if two pairs of eyes would magically change their outlook. Ottie popped her head up and smirked at Myles, sliding over her makeshift counter to slap the ruddy plastic of her industrial-sized cooler. "Could I interest you in a Magikarp instead?" she asked. "What about some poffins? I've got a guy from Sinnoh--he's really generous, you see--he knows a guy who knows a factory owner--er, small business owner, really, mom and pop kind of place--who distributes high-quality poffins. I think he said flying types like 'em best." She glanced at the Starly, scratched a nervous itch from her cheek.
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Post by Wild on Nov 20, 2019 2:15:05 GMT
It was pure politeness that he offered to buy a keychain so it wasn't the biggest blow that they didn't have his name. He was used to it as well; she was right about his name being unusual. He almost jumped in surprise when Ottie popped back up and slapped the cooler next to her. Magikarp? Imported from Kanto? What made them so different than the ones here? "You have poffins? What place? I'm from Sinnoh, I might know them." he said excitedly. Starly gave an appropriate chirp of delight, clearly wanting some poffins.
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Post by Jay on Nov 20, 2019 2:23:55 GMT
Ottie froze. Of course he was from Sinnoh! She sometimes hated the diversity of Huanglu City's pedestrian base, the kinds of people she encountered that could call out her bullshit. "I don't remember," she said with a dry laugh. "Many layers of separation between me and there. I have never been, but I trust my suppliers, and I hope you trust me." Her best I'm a pure little street kid face. Indie bundled up a plastic bag of poffins, red and blue and green pastel puffs, and handed them to Ottie.
"What are you willing to spend?" Ottie asked. She spun the bag's top into a tight bundle, tied it up without once looking down. "I'm flexible. You seem like a nice person, I don't want to hassle you with anything you can't afford."
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Post by Wild on Nov 20, 2019 2:41:31 GMT
He thought for a moment while he rationalized spending money on poffins. They reminded him of home. Starly hopped impatiently on his head, clearly wanting the pastries. "I can maybe spare like, 500 poké?" he suggested, shrugging. He had no idea how much they went for; he had always made his own with his family. But he had forgotten his cooking equipment back home and was waiting for it to be shipped.
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Post by Jay on Nov 20, 2019 2:51:01 GMT
"Sounds like a deal, then," Ottie said. It was not a lot, but she would take what she could get. It didn't cost her much money to home-make poffin-shaped marshmallows from the corner store and dip them in food die. Profit was profit. She handed out a bag filled with the foodstuffs. "Hand my friend the money and you can be on your way."
Indie had half her eye on their wares, and seemed preoccupied with the containers she was closing up. She turned and gave Ottie an uncertain expression, and Ottie changed her tune. "Or you can just hand it to me."
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Post by Wild on Nov 20, 2019 3:08:31 GMT
Myles fished the money from his pocket and hesitated for a second, unsure of which girl to hand the money to. He gave the dollars to Ottie after a brief second and grabbed the "poffins." Starly tried to peck them out of his hand but he shooed the beak away. "You can have some when we get back to the tower," he told Starly. "Thanks for the poffins, they really remind me of home, back in Sandgem town." He smiled, turning to leave. He turned back pretty quickly. "I, uh, don't think I caught your names, if that's not too invasive."
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Post by Jay on Nov 20, 2019 4:18:22 GMT
Ottie took a moment to register that the boy had already returned. She was busy where she kneeled behind the counter, and popped up as she saw him, resting an elbow on the wooden surface that Indie was cleaning out. "Oh, um..." A subtle whisper of flush came across her nose, her cheeks, uncertainty dancing across a stanza of scattered syllables-- um, uh, well...
"We don't usually give our names to customers," she settled on. "We don't usually develop, um, personal relationships. We want to keep everything fair." She looked down to Indie, who stopped what she was doing to nod. She obviously hadn't heard a word. Ottie's previous confidence slowly returned to her, the sales voice that had for a moment been displaced. "I'm sure we'll see each other again, though. I'm... positive."
She disappeared again behind the counter, helping Indie close a stuffed box of t-shirts with a struggle.
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Post by Wild on Nov 24, 2019 3:05:00 GMT
Myles nodded, not pushing it further. It made sense to him. While in his moment of distraction, Starly swooped and scooped the bag of poffins from him and landed on a pole that was too high for the boy to reach. "Starly get back here! I told you you could have those when we got back home!" The Starly, of course, didn't care. He pecked open the bag and grabbed a poffin and began trying to eat it. Immediately the starling spat it out and chirped irritatedly. "What's wrong?" he asked, bringing out his arm for Starly to perch on with the bad pastries. Myles decided to try and taste one, and he quickly realized why his pokemon didn't like them. "Hey, these aren't real poffins.." he said, turning back to the two girls.
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Post by Jay on Nov 24, 2019 3:56:43 GMT
It was like a perfect storm of bad luck for Ottilie. By the time the boy had discovered the ruse, the shop had been packed into a compact collection, a few bags and a cooler, the counter raised to reveal the wheels of a cart. Myles' immediate complaint was the first offense as the girls prepared to roll away. The second was from afar, a crude shout from a group of men who materialized from the burgeoning afternoon crowd: "Those are the girls who sold me that weakling Magikarp!" The men wore black jackets and intimidating face masks, their hair in vibrant, slicked-up colors.
Ottie froze as if a violent Dragonite stood in front of her. Indie stepped forward, looking ready to fistfight the next person to speak, but Ottie grabbed the blond girl's hand, and waved towards Myles. "Let's go! Those guys mean trouble, and they think you're with me!" Without waiting to see if he understood, she took off down the harbor, her sneakers thundering across the boardwalk. She and Indie ducked and weaved and sprinted through the crowd, joined together at the hand. They turned to the nearest flight of steps that took them up to the city proper and raced down the sidewalk, delving into the jungle of skyscrapers that backdropped the harbor.
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