Welcome to Gaia! ::

Skye is one of the handful of lucky people in the world who get to wake up to the sound of their own voice blaring out of the clock radio.

As she lay there, bleary-eyed and muddy-brained and mildly shaken from the sudden awakening, the final minute of the number tailed away - to her mild annoyance, the last few climactic seconds were drowned out by the intruding voice of the DJ.

"And that's the hit single from the soundtrack of 'The Trio of Sinnoh,' released earlier this week and straight to number one. You know, Brian, I heard that the success of this album has 'The Trio' set to be the Wings of Altaria's highest grossing musical extravaganza to date-"

On a note of her own triumph, her day had begun. Beep! Whatever Brian had to say on the matter, Skye never got to hear, as she rolled over and muted the radio, cutting his partner off. Just five more minutes...

No dice. Something that felt like it may have been a miniature tiger suddenly bounded onto the covers, hitting her square in the rump and nearly knocking her head-first out of bed. Ah, that's what she'd been waiting for. Her real alarm clock. "Yipe! Okay, okay, I'm awake, I'm up!"

With a sigh, and now fully awake, she pulled herself back onto the bed and sat up, smiling as she chucked her Espeon, Sophia, around the chin and proceeded to rub behind her large, fluffy, catlike ears. "Good morning, you. How you doing? You had your breakfast?"

"Espy!" Sophia replied, nodding her head once in agreement.

"Where's Loren?"

If Sophia could've rolled her eyes, she would've. Instead, she tossed her head backwards, nodding in the direction of a large basket in the darkened corner of the room. A pile of light blue fur was visible, mainly because of its equally large ears sticking up, breathing gently - still asleep.

"Ah well, that's men for you, lazy beggars. Let's let him have a lie-in. We haven't got much interesting stuff to do today anyway."

One quick, cool shower for the both of them later, Skye was rinsing out her mouth and just beginning on her hair, the whirr of the automatic dryer blasting the water out of Sophia's fur filling the ensuite bathroom. Outside the small, open window, dawn had given way to a clear morning over Nimbasa, fresh April air whisking the steam up and away from the hot bathroom. White buildings lined up in the distance: a gleaming regiment which was echoed throughout this city of light, modern lines and neverending entertainment - the tourist capital of Unova. Electronic billboards sat high in the sky, advertising the amusement park, the latest line of fashion modelled by Elesa, the battle subway and, from time to time, brands endorsed by Skye herself.

Skye's house was much like all of the other homes in Nimbasa, except it was larger, detached and boasted three floors, a balcony and an enclosed, zen-style garden with water and a softwood patio. It seemed to occupy its own space entirely - the paving of the streets gave way gracefully to sunken gravel; a stepping-stone-style pathway led to the glass front door, and two conifers positioned strategically provided a harmonic, natural contrast to the bright, man-made edifice between them. Her home wasn't quite a mansion, and it definitely wasn't Beverly Hills, but it was large and sumptuous and markedly, purposefully elegant.

Her morning rituals done - body dried, hair in place and underwear of choice firmly on, Skye pressed a button next to the sink on the pale pink marble countertop. A panel opened a couple of inches above it, revealing a long plate of conductive metal, set with several round orbs like jewels embedded in a crown. Activated, they began to glow, and rose upwards of their own accord until they were hovering, gravity-defiant, a few centimetres above the tabletop.

She looked at them all as if weighing them up. One of them was pink, with undulating purple blobs swirling around in it. One was blue - one was white, and so on and so forth in a rainbow of swirling colours. "Let's see what Johanna's put together for us today."

Reaching down, her pointer finger hovered above them each in turn for a moment, as if she were choosing a delicious chocolate but wasn't quite sure which contained her favourite filling. Actually, this analogy is entirely correct, as she never knew what she was getting in the mornings until she took a metaphorical bite. Eventually, she tapped the white orb, and was immediately clothed in a white two-piece skirt and halter top, complete with boots and matching long white fingerless gloves. The neckline of the shirt was edged with a demure ruff of grey feathers - that explained the feathery grey marks that had been spinning in the center.

"Hmm!" she said appraisingly, viewing herself up and down in the mirror. "Very nice! Now, let's take a look at our to-do list for the day. Mirror, do your thing," she said, more to herself than anything, but Sophia still jumped up primly onto the countertop to take a closer look as Skye ran a finger down the mirror's surface. Her reflection immediately blinked out of existence, replaced by a dark screen onto which a homepage appeared, not unlike an overgrown wall-mounted iPad.

Tapping an icon brought up a download bar - it quickly zipped to the finish line, and then the screen was dominated by Skye's updated schedule, including notes and extra instructions from her assistant. 'I've told each of the reporters to be there and be ready half an hour early, so if you get done with one quicker than another you can just move straight on to the next.' Johanna always knew exactly what to do to keep things moving smoothly. All the same, Skye frowned as her eyes moved down the packed list, her lips puckering in distaste. Her eyes slid from the long itinerary to the menu at the side, containing quick access links to her email inboxes. Her heart lurched. The brand new "Fanmail" folder contained over thirty five thousand emails.

Inwardly, she felt an uncomfortable creak of defeat. She'd have to tell the PR management to stop forwarding her fan mail after only three days of trying to read it all.

All she could do was ignore the bloated folder and tap the screen over Business instead. With only ten unread emails, it was a baby - no, an egg - compared to the Fanmail section, but a quick glance at the new items made her creaky insides groan.

"Damn it," she mumbled, quickly tapping on each one and skimming them through. They were all from the writer and lyricist for the Wings' upcoming show, and they'd all been sent to her over the last four hours. From 3:15 a.m through 7:25. Didn't that guy ever sleep? No wonder he was always so highly strung, he was probably so hopped up on coffee his brain was permanently dyed mocha.

She couldn't really understand what all the fuss was about, but it seemed to be complaints, steadily growing more frantic and rambling as the emails drew nearer in time, over the director, who he believed was planning to cut sections of his script and order reworks of the main numbers.

'Calm down, Terence. He hasn't mentioned that to me, and if he did, I'd turn him down,' she typed hastily, 'The script and songs are fine as they are. There are only two I can think may need reworking, and we'll be talking about them in just an hour's time. Come to the meeting this morning and we can sort this misunderstanding out.'

After sending it off, she commanded the hi-tech computer to print off her schedule and snatched it up from the thin slot at its base before heading out of the room. "Right, we'd better get going, don't want him and Lawrence to rip each other's heads off before we get there."

"Is that you, dear?" called Alma, her elderly live-in housekeeper, as Skye bounded down the stairs.

"Yes, it's just me! I'm off!" she called back, kneeling down to file away her schedule in the bag of work materials she kept by the door, then picking it up and slinging it over her shoulder. "See you tonight - I'll be back around eight!"

"Espy!" Sophia barked - Skye turned to see her standing beside the archway to the kitchen, glaring at her. "Espy!" she repeated, her large eyes narrowing in chastisement. Skype just laughed.

"You know I think breakfast is the most unproductive meal of the day!" she replied, grinning, before opening the front door and heading outside. "Drifblim - let's head out!"

Summoned from nowhere, Skye's Drifblim, her favoured mode of transport, appeared. It crooned a sigh of greeting to her, arms waving happily in the morning breeze. She took hold of two in each of her hands and suddenly her body felt lighter than air - Sophia bounded out of the house and into her open bag just as they began to rise off the ground.

Skye rose up like a bird, and the three of them nudged their way over the rooftops and towards the city center. Time for another day at the office - Nimbasa style!

"You want to rework all of the musical numbers?" Skye repeated, her blue eyes wide and staring. "All of them?!"

Hunched over the meeting table across and to the right of Skye, Terence Cooper, writer and lyricist, gave what sounded like a small, pitiful sob as he buried his face in his hands. "I told you! I knew it! I could see this coming from his email!"

Tyler Lawrence, director of Magical Meloetta, their main upcoming Summer show, seemed the only unshaken person at the meeting table. In fact, the reaction he'd produced made him visibly even more determined, as he leaned forward towards Skye and gestured extravagantly with his hands, eyes boring into hers. "I know this seems sudden, but I think we should be taking the show in a different direction. Don't you think the current script is a little bit, you know, mundane?"

"'Mundane?'" Cooper moaned, reaching shakily for his third cup of coffee. The director ignored him.

"Think about it - the legendry surrounding Meloetta is bound up so tightly with the history of the region, and Nimbasa, and the development of the theatre. It hit me last night - we shouldn't be TELLING the story, we should be allowing the audience to FEEL it. So, we cut the script -" Cooper made another little pitiful noise in the corner "Cut the lyrics, cut everything, rework the songs into orchestrated numbers - I'm thinking smoke and mirrors, I'm thinking dancing suspended in the air. Oh, and we should cut 'Magical' from the title - alliteration is just so trite!"

"'Trite?!'" wept the writer. It all suddenly became too much for him, as he burst into hopeless tears over his papers and buried his face in his arm.

Skye got up from the table and shifted into the seat next to Cooper, putting her arms around him comfortingly. He immediately stopped, going very still. Where no one else could see it, his heart was beating faster. Skye's heart was thumping, too, but in a different way. "How could you even think of springing this on us weeks after the final script got approved?!"

"I told you, the script won't matter in my vision of the play. There won't be any script. Well - maybe some of Terence's introduction and epilogue, I thought that was rather beautifully worded and appropriate."

"Oh!" Skye snapped at him, "I'm so glad at least a little bit of it was good enough for you! I'm sure Terence appreciates your enthusiasm for his hard work too!"

Lawrence frowned. "It isn't the fact that it isn't good enough - it's just I want to take the production in a direction that wasn't originally intended. I don't see the problem in that."

"Oh, don't you?!" Skye fumed, still consoling the writer with a hug, "You've just reduced one of your co-workers to tears, and you didn't even bat an eyelid! I'm sorry that our ideas - my ideas - are not good enough for your creative vision, but you could at least be a little more tactful about it, rather than just springing it on us like this at the ninth hour!"

"Hmph! I'm very sorry taking the play in an altogether more artistic direction is so offensive to you both!"

"Okay, first of all, we're meant to be providing entertainment that the whole family can relate to and enjoy, not some pseudo-contemporary ballet with interpretative dancers rolling around in the sky," Skye said cuttingly, "I like the idea of focusing on the legendry and how it shaped humanity, but you're going about it in all the wrong way, if you ask me."

The director just scoffed at her, leaning back in his seat and interrupting her as she tried to get her point across. "Oh come on, entertainment for all is going to make you money, but it isn't going to get you remembered."

"Remembered?! Oh! I ought to point out to you as well that we are all artists here, including this poor man whose work you're suggesting we just veto and throw out as if it doesn't mean anything, and the last I looked he had more successful independent work to his name than an upstart just out of university I took on as a favour to an old colleague of mine!"

For the first time, Tyler looked shaken. His face flushed angrily. "H-how-! Are you saying this just to take me down a peg?!"

Outside the large, wall-sized window of their meeting room framed with airy white curtains, a trainer riding a bird pokemon swooped past on their way to some other destination, oblivious to the conflict just metres away.

"You know, maybe that is exactly what I'm trying to do. 'Director' is a big title for someone who needs to get their priorities straight and their head out of visions of fame and recognition. And I'll remind you!" she said, as he seemed ready to interrupt, "That you are speaking not only to the founder of this company, but your boss, and so you'd be very wise to choose your words carefully before you carelessly destroy another of my employees in my presence!"

He seemed to take her advice at least, because though he opened and closed his mouth several times, he said nothing further. In the silence, Skye patted Cooper gently and asked him, equally kindly, if he was alright. He nodded, and so she moved back over into her original seat. "Now that I've made myself clear on what will and will not be tolerated, we can have a proper discussion on the rewrites. Terence, I believe you have some revisions I asked you to prepare for today? And Tyler, you have a list of proposed revisions?"

Lawrence sulkily fiddled with his work folder in front of him, before pulling out some stapled-together sheets of paper which, when Skye glanced down them, seemed to detail every measure for his newfound vision in detail. She nodded, reading them through. "Okay. Good. In case I didn't make myself clear before, it isn't your ideas I had a problem with, it's your attitude. I think we should adjourn for today, though we've only been here half an hour at the most - I'll take these away and take them into consideration, and then maybe we can make a compromise that will benefit everyone and the show."

The men agreed - Cooper through large, racking sobs.

"Terence..." she said quietly, reaching over to pat his arm. "I hope you feel better soon."

"Thank you, Skye..."


~~~~~


Skye took an early lunch that morning to prepare herself for the long afternoon of interviews and press meetings. In the cafe she often frequented, she'd taken up a whole four-seater table to herself, tablet and papers spread out on top of it around her half-eaten plate of salad and vegetarian lasagne, which was fast growing cold as she scratched away at a spare copy of Lawrence's revisions with a pen and typed away her own ideas in a document titled "Revisions for 'Meloetta'" and sub-titled "RE Meeting 15th May." Anything she took directly from the director's revisions, she put in purple - anything from Cooper's, in blue. The rest of the text was all in pink. Well, why not? She loved pink.

She'd been at it for around an hour and a half, most of her lasagne lying forgotten in its dish, when Johanna, her PA, a young red-headed woman who always dressed smartly in black and white, came in through the door of the cafe looking harrassed and worried. "Skye!"

Skye looked up from her work as she heard her name. Johanna came straight over to her table without even glancing at the service bar. "Jo...! What's the matter?"

"It's terrible, terrible news - Cooper and Lawrence have dropped from the project."

The blonde woman's mouth dropped open. "They've dropped out?! You're kidding me. No, no, no. They can't have."

"Apparently they decided they can't work with each other after all... Cooper left first because he was still upset and then Lawrence said he felt insulted at you taking his side and could find 'better things' elsewhere," she explained, her long hair falling forward slightly as she looked at her employer with sympathy. "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Skye."

"No, it's fine. It's my own fault for threatening Lawrence, but I thought he'd man up, not go ahead and call my bluff!"

She looked down at the work in front of her - only a tiny fraction of the total work that had gone into the script and the staging and the music and everything else. She felt a tiny edge of fear. "Oh god. Maybe I did a bad thing..."

"No, Tyler was a menace. He was always making unreasonable demands. There are better directors than him. You were very good to take him on as a favour to his father," Jo pursed her lips, "I'll drop his daddy an email to let him know what his son's been up to."

"Is it worth getting him into trouble with his family, too?" Skye sighed, "Great, though... just great. What on earth do I do now? Do I get replacements, or do I take up the mantle myself? All these rewrites are going to mess the schedule up completely... we're meant to have another three weeks of pre-production and then two of full-cast rehearsals. The choreography's ready to go, the cast are all assembled, the orchestra have been going at it for a while now. It's just this throwing a spanner into the works... no director... and I don't have time..."

Sensing that Skye was tailing off into worried rambling, Jo interrupted, placing a hand on top of hers. "You know, I could easily get in touch with Simon from last year. Wonderful vision, that man, and so dedicated. He could take all of the work you've done and turn it into something totally polished!" she nodded at all the work surrounding Skye on the table. "I've never seen you so disorganised, hon. If it's all too much for you, I could compile everything you three have worked on and drop him a line..."

This didn't have quite the effect she'd been hoping for. Skyle, already frazzled, seemed to take the offer of help as a criticism. She began to garble. "It's not like I can't do it myself. Up until two years ago I designed all the concepts AND wrote the script AND the lyrics AND directed the acting and choreography. It was hard work, but it was good work. But back then all I had to concentrate on was the shows... I didn't have to keep running interviews with reporters or meetings with broadcasters and record label execs and brands and the PR management," she paused, looking concerned, and a little surprised, as if she hadn't thought about where she'd been going until she ended up there. Then, she laughed - a little sadly. "When on earth did I become a business? I never noticed until now, somehow. I never even have time to teach any classes these days."

Johanna paused gently, squeezing her hand. "Maybe you could do with a break, doll. I could see if there are any flights available this week to... well. Wherever you'd like to go. I'm sure you'd feel much better after a holiday."

"And if Lawrence were still here, would I just leave a bozo like him to run the show?" she snapped. "Ugh... sorry. I know you're just trying to help, like always, and I trust you to make the right decisions. But what would happen to the Wings if I took time off? I can't let anything bad happen..."

She trailed off, looking down at her tablet, which had just emitted a loud beep. The Personal folder on her email had pinged with a new message.

From: Ginga
Cc:
Subject: Castelia City, aweeeeeeigh! 8D
Message:
Hey there!!

Two words: Fed up. Need to get out, so I’m going to Castelia City. Don’t know for how long. Meet me there if you can!

Call me when you get this. Have I got news for you.

BFF,
Ginga

Her spirit soared with relief. Amazing timing on Ginga's part! A day in Castelia with her best friend sounded better than a relaxing soak in a hot tub followed by a deliciously tanned hunk massaging lube forcefully into her back. To make things even better, at that moment Jo spoke up tentatively: "There's no reason you have to do the interviews in person. I could tell them all to email you their questions instead, and you could answer them tonight. As for the press meeting, I could go and handle that myself. I mean... not to insult you... or suggest you can't do it... what do you think?"

Skye looked at her as if an angel had just dropped her right there in front of her. "That... sounds GREAT!" she grinned. "I just so happen to have gotten an invitation for a girly afternoon in Castelia right this second! So yes - call it all off!"

Jo looked surprised, but then smiled too and craned over at her tablet for a look. "Oooh, Ginga's invited you out! And it looks like she has big news! I wonder what it could be?" her brown eyes took on an impish twinkle, "A boyfriend, perhaps?"

The two women contemplated this with glee for a few moments, but then, giggling, Skye shook her head. "I think she's gonna complain to me about that douchey boss of hers some more - well, good! I can complain to her about my douchey too-big-for-his-boots director who's gone and walked out on me. Oh, but why did Terence have to go too?! He's such a poignant writer!" she wailed, "Depressive, cant keep his head together, jittery, but so damn good at what he does!"

Jo patted her comfortingly. "Don't worry, don't worry! I'll sort it all out for you if you tell me what to do... boss," she grinned, eyes twinkling.

Skye sniffed, petting Sophia gently on the head where she lay, curled up and snoozing on the chair next to her in the sun streaming in through the window. So much for being up bright and early. "Okay... alright. I'll need another hour and a half to put together a full list of instructions for Simon. You know - an overview of the direction I want it to take, the themes I want him to focus on, all the parts that need redoing or are unfinished, and so on and so forth. I'm already mostly through with the revisions we were planning just now anyway, so I can work from there and use most of this. I want you to gather together a resource pack with the full score, script and main numbers, the costume and set designs and get it all ready to send to him when I'm finished. We'll see what answer he comes back with and then go from there," she said. "Oh... and tell everyone the title's been changed to just Meloetta. Lawrence was right about that, anyway - Magical Meloetta is pretty trite. Make sure the art division knows before they go mocking up any posters. Good thing this happened before the press release today, really..."

"Righty-ho! And then you'll be heading to Castelia this afternoon?"

"Yeah," Skye replied, pulling her phone out of her bag as she spoke, opening up the Messages function and beginning to tap away. "I'll let Ginga know what's happening..."



Heya sexypants!! Just got your email. What's going on?! Had another bust-up with the boss-man? dramallama LOL! Poor you! I've had a day like you wouldn't believe, too. UGHHHHGHHHHHGHHH. Sophia's slept right through it in my bag, lucky her. LMFAO!

I SO need to see you, meeting up in Castelia would be like opening the gates of paradise for me right now!! A bit tied up with work for a couple of hours, but I'll meet you in the cafe across from the alley at about 2.30 pm? Sorry in advance if I'm a bit late, never know what kind of weirdness is going to crop up next these days. BE PREPARED FOR WINDOW SHOPPING!!

Rockin' Dem Double-Dees,

Skye! heart heart xxxxxxxxxxxx



Just typing that text and sending it off felt like boxing up a massive toothy beastly burden in a crate and sending it a very long way away. She was grinning and laughing to herself by the time she reached the last kiss at the end of it. She and Johanna sat opposite each other working for some time after that - Johanna had her own little compact smartphone out, tapping away messages to the reporters and then making a phonecall to Simon their previous director to let him know what was going on and how much they needed his help.

Meanwhile, Skye threw herself into her work, determined to get everything that needed to be done done and done well before heading out to kick her heels off with Ginga. She smiled whenever she thought about it. It was gonna be fun.

Finishing the file took a bit longer than expected. Skye fired it off in a hurry to Johanna, eager to get up and go, but then reread her work on an impulse and noticed several corrections she wanted to make, causing her to send a second version over half an hour later when her nitpicking was done. By the time she'd commanded her computer at home to print the file remotely for her work documents she was strung up by anticipation of leaving, nearly dropping her tablet when she switched it off and picked it up. She slid it inside its pink protective case with a little more care, then took equal care to arrange her papers properly, but her eagerness to do things properly was conflicting with her eagerness to sprint out of the cafe, so she ended up compromising by sorting things properly and leaving at a brisk pace, her mind racing ahead of her.

Her intention was to hurry home and dump her work stuff and change, but things were still not quite going to plan. She got stopped for a while by a pair of little girls and their mother, who desperately wanted an autograph and a few photos. Then, as she was trotting down the street with her house in sight (it was quicker to run home than to rely on Drifblim in a pinch), a man called out to her. "S-skye!"

She turned around. "Oh-!!" she gasped, "Terence!"

"Hi..." he said, visibly flushed.

Skye didn't know what to do. Should she beg for him to come back on the production team? Should she apologise to him for Lawrence's carelessness?

"I... um", she hesitated. "...How are you feeling now? Do you feel any better?"

His face seemed to blanch slightly beneath the blush. "Oh... well, no, actually. I feel worse... because now... I've left you in the lurch... by leaving..." he said sadly, tailing off.

"Oh, don't feel bad!" she said, "You do what's best for you, okay? Tyler walked out as well soon after you left. I mean, I'd love to have you back, you're a brilliant writer, but if you have to do this for yourself, by all means, it's alright. You'll still be getting your full wages."

Cooper looked at her as if he'd never been offered so much kindess on a silver platter in his life. "I... that's... so nice of you..."

Thinking he was referring to his undocked wages, she waved her hand dismissingly. "It's nothing - you deserve every penny!"

"No... I mean... well..." he answered quietly. Then, eyes averted, he pulled out a small bouquet of beautiful blue and white flowers and handed them to her. She beamed at him, surprised but delighted. "Here... I was going to get chocolates, too, but I didn't know what kind you like."

"Oh... oh my goodness! These are beautiful! You didn't have to...!"

"I know! I know... um... I'll see you around, okay? You... have my number, if you want... to..." he trailed off again. "Uh. Anything."

Then, giving her a small, shy nod and smile, he backed off down the street a few steps, before breaking into a run.

"...Thank you, Terence!" she called after him with a smile. She considered shouting after him that he needn't worry, she wasn't a fan of chocolate at all, though she was partial to fruit muffins and pies, but decided it might not be best to broadcast her confectionary preferences to the street at large.

As she turned around to head the last hundred meters to her home, she came face to face - and I mean face to face - with another man, who'd obviously been standing directly behind her for an uncertain amount of time. "OH GOD, CHILI!! GOD!! FOR GOD'S SAKE, I'VE TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT-!"

Chili, leader of Striation Gym, founder of Skye's most fervent online fan forum and unofficial president of her fan club, her number one fan and her most obsessive stalker, blinked at her outburst. "I'm sorry, Skye! I didn't mean to-"

She looked at him in disbelief, and her blue eyes fixed on his caused him to clam up almost completely. "Um... um... um... I.... oh god," he whispered, "She's talking to me... I can't believe this is happening...!"

"Is there anything I can do for you?" she said, fatigued with this routine. It happened every single time they came into contact, which was roughly four to five times a week. He seemed to believe he'd get over his nerves every single time and stride up to her confidently, when not pulling his crazy ninja stalker tricks like he had just then, only to fall apart once she started to speak to him.

"I - I - I - I...." he stammered, "Um... um.... um - um.... I... I..."

Skye raised her eyebrows at him, placed her hands on her hips and gave a little sigh. "I'm kind of in a hurry, so go ahead and spit it out or come back and try again tomorrow, alright?"

"I - I - UM... I just... wanted... to.... UM..."

Like a horse bolting from the starting gates, he finally managed to overcome himself all at once. Dropping down violently to one knee, a bouquet of flame-orange blooms four times the size of the one Terence had just given her appeared from behind his back. It obscured his scared and sweating face from view as he held it up to her, it was so large. The fact that he'd managed to hide it behind his back was a baffling defiance of basic physics. "F-F-FOWERS... I MEAN, FLOWERS... F-FOR YOU..."

Skye hesitated. She'd learned long ago not to give him any form of encouragement - it only led eventually to violent explosions of tears, and not her own. So, after contemplating a moment, she gingerly accepted the bouquet from his shaking hands and said, as neutrally as possible, "Thank you. They're very nice."

He hadn't moved, and didn't make any reply to this. Perhaps he'd short-circuited himself and would remain frozen on one knee for at least half an hour. That had happened a couple of times before. She took the opportunity to sidestep him and make a break for her house - she'd reached the front path when he suddenly snapped to his senses and realised she was gone.

"W-WAIT!! I w-wanted to ask you--!"

"Not today, sweety!" she called without turning around, fumbling with the lock on the door, impeded by the vast amount of flowers and prettily arranged plastic wrappers in her arms, "I'm busy today! And probably tomorrow, too! In fact, I'm busy this whole week!"

The door opened - she tried to hurl herself through, but got stuck in the doorway thanks to the gigantic flaming bouquet. Push - she was through! - but before she could clumsily slam the door shut, an arm, a leg and part of a shoulder came shooting in through the gap. Gah!

"I w-wanted t-to ask you...!"

"I'm busy, Chili! Maybe some other time!"

"B-b-b-b-b-but-!"

"Glace-!" came a small yap. At once, Chili fell back from the door, knocked off balance by a powerful hit from a flying ball of blue fur the size of an overgrown fox.

"UWWAGH!"

"Now!" Skye shouted, taking her chance - she slammed the door shut, a millisecond after Loren rebounded off her stalker and leapt gracefully back inside. "Phew!" she said, dumping her unwieldy flowers down onto the floor, "Thank goodness for you, Loren! Good job, boy! I hate to think what would've happened if he'd gotten inside and realised he was standing inside my house... last time, he collapsed of shock and we had to call the paramedics. Poor guy's a danger to himself more than anyone..."

Loren, Skye's Glaceon and counterpart to Sophia, originally one of the two Eevees given to Skye as her starter pokemon at sixteen, wiggled his tail happily and wound around her ankles like a very large house cat. Meanwhile, the movement during the struggled finally seemed to have disturbed Sophia, who poked her head sleepily out of the bag. "Py...?"

"So good of you to join the land of the living," Skye said, petting her on the head, "You might as well hop out and get in your pokeballs - we're heading down to Castelia for the afternoon!"

Putting her bag down on the floor, she looked up, and her eyes met a pair of feline, yellow ones. She smirked. "Oh, and where were you when I needed you just then? Couldn't care less, I suppose?"

The early-retired Liepard, Fantasie, blinked at her lazily and seemed to smirk right back at her - they had an understanding, they did. He'd fought for her tooth and nail years ago, he'd been the first member of her troupe, he'd had his days of fame and now he led a lazy existence sleeping on all of the comfortable pieces of furniture in the house, and occassionally occupying the warmest spot of sun on the patio. He flopped onto his side as she called Sophia and Loren back into their pokeballs, stretching his paws luxuriantly on the squashy white chaise longue next to the kitchen archway.

Skye felt something tapping at her leg. "Mincci!"

She looked down to see Delia, her old Minccino whom she'd given as a gift to Alma after her beloved old Herdier passed on, wearing an apron and gesturing at the flowers she'd just discarded. "Mincci?"

"Oh, yes!! Thanks, Del - take them into the kitchen if you can manage it. I suppose Alma's gone to meet her friends for lunch?"

"Chi!" Delia squeaked her assent. Then, she gave a little curtsey and grabbed the oversized bouquet first, dragging it off across the carpet and out of sight through the archway. "Chi-chi!"

Skye dashed upstairs for the quickest change ever - not literally, seeing as the quickest change ever would've been utilising the dresspheres Johanna prepared for her every morning. Those things were lifesavers for quick costume switches backstage! Whenever Skye went out with friends she liked to dress herself from her own wardrobe - it was just part of the fun. Dressed like a rockstar in a black minidress that hugged every curve, knee-high boots, dark sunglasses and a cropped black leather jacket, she headed out of the door with car keys in hand. Stowing her pokeballs on her belt, she was soon in her car, leather handbag in the passenger seat, zooming off onto the highway. As she wended her way between the lorries and commuters in her small but snappy car, the desert miles below the elevated road gave way to the towering skylines of Castelia. It wouldn't be long now. Just wait until Ginga heard about the day she'd had...

Skye shifted her weight from side to side impatiently in the lift down from the parking garage. She pulled her phone out of the side pocket of her slender handbag - which was bulging rather a lot more than it should've been, though she thought nothing of it - to check the time. 14:40. God damn it! She was already ten minutes late! She reread Ginga's texts, wondering whether or not she'd be there waiting for her when she got there. The other girl had to rely on public transport, which, as everyone knows, couldn't possibly be any less reliable. Then again, she'd left much earlier... but then again, she also had a longer journey to make.

Heading out of the lift onto North Street, she pushed her way through the crowds of people, snatches of conversation reaching her. The streets were so busy and buzzing with activity, the sound of her own high heels tapping against the pale concrete was dulled to her own ears. On the side of the street as it joined onto the main square, a busking trainer was performing acrobatics with a large dog-like pokemon which Skye recognised (thanks to her father) as an Arcanine. He was attracting quite a crowd - people were always curious to see foreign pokemon. She herself tried to feature unfamiliar pokemon in her shows as much as she could. It was a novelty, and one that provided such a draw that people would sometimes pay for VIP tickets just to be able to come and meet the exotic pokemon backstage afterwards.

Hurrying straight through the central park and past the fountain to save on walking distance, she crossed the busy main street and ducked into Narrow Street, dodging past the dumpsters and fixing her eyes on her destination - Cafe Sonata!

As she reached the lit entryway, she heard a low wolf whistle from the shadows by one of the dumpsters. "Woah! Hey there, pretty lady!"

She didn't acknowledge this. Heading in through the door, she took off her sunglasses and hooked them on her belt to scan the room for another blonde-headed woman... YES, there she was at the bar!

"GINGA!!" she squealed, bouncing across the room and, arms flung wide open, catching her from the side in a big leathery-and-booby bear hug. "OMIGOD am I glad to see you! It's been WAY too long!"

Giggling, Skye released her and slipped onto the bar stool next to her. "It has, it has!" she repeated. Then, her attention drifted over to the bartender, who reacted too slowly to avert his gaze and pretend he hadn't been watching the new woman with wide-eyed interest. She smiled at him broadly. Her demeanour became lazier - her posture, more careless and relaxed... in a very carefully posed way. "Hello!"

He blushed. "H-hi! Can I get you anything... S-Skye??"

Nothing like having a good-looking man nearby to put a flirtatious woman into predator mode. Indeed, her voice and her posture took on the languid deadliness of a feline on the prowl from the moment she set eyes on her would-be prey. Her fingernails on the counter might as well have been claws.

"Well, I've barely had half a lunch today..." she said coyly. Her big blue eyes roved around the menu on the wall for a moment before she smiled again. It was a look that was just for show, as she'd been to the cafe enough to be familiar with the items on the menu, but it seemed to work, as he never took his eyes off her even as hers left him. "Bang one of those flaky lamb and mint pies down here, would you, darling?"

She winked at him - he snapped to it, pulling the pastry out of heated display case and putting it in front of her. "And I think I'll wash it down with a Death in the Afternoon and a soft ice cream sundae."

"Ooh," he said, referring to the poetically-named cocktail, "Not many people order that one. Now that's a drink that'll put hair on your chest!"

She laughed sweetly, arching an eyebrow at him cheekily as she leeeaned in onto the countertop. "I certainly hope not - my chest is part of my business, after all."

He blushed again - having come face to face with the buxom, blonde luminary whilst she was wearing the lowest-cut dress he'd ever seen in his life, he was more than a little inclined to take her literally. He disappeared under the counter for half a minute... when he returned, he'd composed himself. The blush had vanished, and he was wearing a smile just as bright and playful as hers.

"Absinthe - the drink of the bohemian," he said, gesturing with the small green bottle he'd pulled from below the cabinet. He poured the tiniest possible measure into the bottom of a champagne glass. "Do you consider yourself a bit of a revolutionary, Skye?" he laughed, teasing her, a little flirtatiously, to pay her back in kind for her teasing him into awkwardness.

"Ahh, but when mixed with enough champagne, it becomes the drink of the overpaid celebrity, and I doubt anyone would argue whether or not I'm one of them!"

He pushed her drink towards her and she gestured at the expensive bottle in his other hand. "Leave the champagne! This is a day for celebration! Ginga, you'll have a little lunch too, won't you? Keep me company? Champage in your lemonade, mah friend?~"

Skye took a sip of her own cocktail after offering her the champagne, and when she lowered her glass her expression, though still smiling, had lost some of its lightness. Her eyes looked serious and meaningful. "And I'm sure you don't want to hear about my silly day. Tell me all about your big news! What happened with you at work?!"

When the barkeep had his back turned, she looked pointedly in his direction as a warning to Ginga. Anything she said was not safe with the prying ears of an outsider nearby. If word of a double walk-out at the Wings of Altaria reached the pens of journalists, the scandal would be unimaginable. It was a story that was just going to have to wait a little while longer.


(( Doesnt matter to me at all! Embolden away >D ))

"You WHAT?!" Skye gasped, jaw dropping open. Then, she beamed at her best friend, surged forward and gave her a big hug. "OH MY GOD!! I'm SO pleased for you!! I hope you gave that douche what he deserved before you left! He... well... deserved it!"

"Oh man, no kidding. I bet they have better healthcare and pay. Not to mention paid vacation time!" she laughed, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, I am SO glad you did that. That's one nasty chapter behind you. Good riddance!"

"Hey, wait, isn't your family from Fortree City...? Have you ever thought about going back there for work?"

Skye reached out and gripped her friend's hand. "What's stopping you?! It's never too late to start training. And you'd be a great trainer! I'd help you! I could call my dad if you wanted - he'd hook you up with anyone in the world, get you any pokemon you wanted as your starter," she hesitated, continuing with a slight crinkle of her nose, "Or my mom I guess. She's involved in 'competitive breeding' these days... could get you a League-winner for sure."

"...But you're interested in doing it the old fashioned way, aren't you?" she smiled sympathetically, "You wanna go home and work your way to the top. Am I right? Am I reading you correctly? Do tell me to shut up if I'm talking nonsense."