Mitsuko grins and clings to Looker tightly while he sweeps her off her feet in a rather parental hug. She’s confused for a moment at the mention of “we” but remembers after Looker clarifies. “Oh that! Ahh, I gave it away didn’t I?” Wincing, she smacks herself in the forehead, exasperated at the mistake. “Anabel asked me to send you a message while she - uh, while she was occupied. Man, I was really hoping for it to be a complete surprise… Oh well, it’s great to see you again no matter the circumstances!”
She considers accepting the coat, but decides to turn down the offer. “We’ll be in the car soon, right?” Hopefully with a working heater. “I can manage. I don’t want to deprive Anabel of her coat, besides. Thank you though!” Despite the refusal, she finds herself hugging her arms around her midriff to keep warm. “Yeah, I was at the ball! The founder, Gladion, invited me and I bumped into Anabel there.” The Chief herself had caught up to them now, so Mitsuko prompts, “Here, she can probably explain it better than I can.”
Shivering now, Mitsuko grabs a PokeBall from her belt and calls out her Growlithe. He barks happily, chases his tail for a moment, hops up on both Looker and Anabel, and finally jumps into Mitsuko’s arms. Much warmer.
Anabel is just in time to hear herself volunteered for explanation. She shakes her head and touches her gloved fingertips to Mitsuko’s arm. “You needn’t feel badly about taking my coat,” she says, assuming that was the reason for the younger woman’s refusal. “I am wearing more layers than you are.” But it is cold, and she hopes the growlithe helps, at least until they can get to the car.
She turns her attention to her subordinate as the little fire-dog jumps up against her leg. “Good, ah, morning. Yes, I ran into Mitsuko at the ball… We talked for a little while and she expressed an interest in seeing Sinnoh…so I took matters into my own hands.”
She offers him a smile and lets go of Mitsuko’s luggage, leaving it upright, so that Mr. Looker can help her into her coat—not that she needs his assistance, of course, but she learned long ago that to argue about something so trivial with him is a waste of her time. If it makes him feel useful, there’s probably no harm in it.
“It was short notice,” she continues, coat on properly now, “but we managed well enough.” She turns again to face both of them, fingers fumbling a little with the zipper before it catches. “My thought process was something along the lines of: if she is interested, it could not hurt us to have a strong trainer and ally close at hand… Anyway, I will take care of everything.”
He raises an eyebrow at the chief’s words, eyes flickering over to Mitsuko for a moment, just long enough to see her cuddling with her fluffy canine friend. “I see.” There is no reason to dwell on it, though he can’t help but wonder if she really believes they’ll need the help…or if she’s just trying to do something nice for someone else. She’s always been a little awkward about showing affection…like she thinks the actions have to be somehow justified for work-related reasons. He’ll leave it alone—at least for now.
“Well, let us not wait around in the cold,” he says, quite cheerfully, and reaches for the luggage before Chief’s hand can make it halfway to it. He grins triumphantly at her and puts his free hand on her back, turning her slightly in the direction he’s about to head, and then turns his delighted smile on Mitsuko. “I am quite fortunate today, I think—getting to travel with not just one amazing woman, but two.” He can almost hear Anabel’s eyes rolling behind him, and tries not to laugh, a bit of one escaping anyway. Offering Mitsuko a conspiratorial wink, he takes the lead, glancing behind him only once to make sure both women are keeping pace. “Heh…! I take it this luggage is yours, then,” he says, head tilted slightly in Mitsuko’s direction. “I’m glad I emptied the trunk of the car earlier. So, who is your little friend? Does he have a name? A story?”
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