nostabbing | 008 | Goldenrod City

[So as is frequently becoming a habit for Parker these days, this afternoon she's got her Gear out and the camera function working as a means of surreptitiously snapping pictures of things to look at — where "things" is synonymous with "really expensive jewelry because she's standing in a jewelry store in Goldenrod City browsing the wares" — and that's the reason the following brief bout of No-Context Theater makes it onto the Gear Network; evidently, the shopkeeper saw her ~~casing~~ looking at the particularly expensive pieces and decided to come over and make a sales pitch, and Parker opted for just shoving the Gear into her back pocket. She was aiming for the off switch, but in her haste, the record function got bumped instead, and as a result, the whole video is dark but the sound of voices come through reasonably clearly.]

They're very lovely, aren't they? Is there something I can help you with, miss?

...No. Nope, just looking.

Ah, you've been looking at our Shooting Staryu selection. You have excellent taste! That one there with the blue stones would look magnificent on you, you know. Were you hoping to take one home with you today?

[Anyone who truly knew Parker would understand the somewhat uncomfortable reason for the awkward pause here — because presumably she was, albeit not in the way the shopkeeper was presuming — and uh-oh, ohgod, what is she supposed to say here.]

No. Nope, no, just looking today! Just looking.

Well, I hope you'll keep us in mind for a special occasion, then! Our wares make wonderful gifts. I don't suppose you have a birthday coming up?

[There is a long pause.]

Uh, miss? ...Hello?

...Yeah. On Saturday.

Saturday! Well, here, you just come right along here with me and I'll get you one of our cards, and you show it to some handsome young man you know — I'm sure they're beating down your door! — and tell him to come right on down and ask for Felix and we'll have you wearing that piece yet! Just come right alo—

Wait, what? No! What? Hey—

[And somewhere amid the hustle and bustle, the Gear gets bumped again and switches off.]

[OOC: Responses from Parker will come shortly after this post is concluded; she's the pink text, whereas the NPC shopkeeper is orange!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Headtilt. Is this what spies do? It sounds kind of suspicious, but he's never talked to a spy before, so...]

That's pretty fucking cool. Well, I mean, not the stealing itself, but the fact that you know all about this shit. Would've been pretty handy if I'd known more about it back home!

[HE GOT THROWN IN JAIL ONCE IT WAS TERRIBLE]

[Fun fact: Parker has canonically never been caught. She is also the only member of the team who has never been caught.

#thief swag]

Yeah, it's...you learn how to do it. And then, you know, to stop the bad guys you have to be better than them at it, right?

[Beat.]

I went undercover on a diamond case once. Stolen diamonds.

[...Also technically true, though admittedly that was the case where she got stuck grifting in Sophie's absence and Hardison got kidnapped by Russians and...yeah.]

Holy shit, really? It sounds like you've had a lot of interesting adventures! You'll have to tell me about 'em!

[PARKER, PARKER YOU ARE THE COOLEST]

...Really?

[...Wait, is she allowed to...well, then again, it's not like the rest of her team is here, and there aren't any laws or anything, so...]

I mean...yeah. Yeah, they're pretty cool. We do stuff.

Well, yeah, I imagine you would!

[But he grins, clearly not trying to tease her too badly.]

Sounds like you've had a lot of fun with 'em!

Some of it's fun. Some of it's not as fun.

[She shrugs a little]

Talking to the people we help, that's...that's not really fun.

What do you mean? I guess they'd be pretty upset if they lost their diamonds or something; is that it?

...

[She's just going to shift to someplace a little quieter for this, and leans up against the side of a brick building as she talks.]

Our last big job? The guy we were helping out, he was a part of a resistance movement fighting for freedom in Iran. This bad guy was selling software to the Iranian government that was making it impossible for the resistance movement to communicate and coordinate — surveillance stuff, you know? This guy, he lived in America, he was part of the resistance from overseas and he hadn't seen his family in a couple years, and the Iranian government managed to track him down and wreck his equipment and nearly killed him so he couldn't keep helping. So we went in to disable the surveillance system. So he could see his family again. So they'd stand a chance.

I see...

[He doesn't really, but he's trying!!]

It sounds like you guys do a lot of different types of jobs, huh? Did that guy manage to get back to his family eventually?

Yeah. It turned out okay. We got the system shut down and everything.

That's great! But I guess all missions don't turn out that well. You must've seen some pretty shitty stuff.

Our leader got shot once. Our hitter gets beat up a lot, too, but he's our hitter, so.

[And then she kind of hesitates, but finally seems to reach a decision.]

Right before I came here, I was on a solo mission that went bad, and I...got trapped. My team had to come bail me out.

[Mondo doesn't interrupt her, waiting for her to speak again. When she does, he winces.]

Shit, that must've sucked. But you did get out of it alright?

Who puts laser trip wires in a ventilation shaft?!

[Okay, Alice, that was legitimately hilarious, just let him try not to laugh...]

That's... a really fucking good question, actually... someone who's really fucking paranoid?

Or somebody who installed a Steranko.

[Which is basically the same thing.]

What were you sneaking in there for anyway?

...

[...]

They were going to hurt my dad's family.

[......]

His real family.

[Mondo almost asks what she means by his real family, but he stops himself. That's none of his business, and she probably doesn't want to talk about it. Hell, she probably doesn't want to talk about this either.]

Shit, I'm sorry. So did you complete the mission before you came here?

[It might be easier to talk about it like that? He's not sure.]

Yeah. He's okay. The bad guys got caught and we stopped their plan and everything. Another day, another world-saving, right?

[She gives a weak laugh here, and while it's not particularly convincing, it's also notably not her usual forced HA-HAH rictus laugh either, so regardless of what else may come with it, at least it's genuine.]

[Mondo relaxes a bit on hearing that, offering Alice a smile.]

I'm glad to hear it. Sounds like you guys do a lot of good for a lot of people.

Yeah, I guess. We do pretty good.

008 | Goldenrod City | Video / Action;

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