#harmonysgambit

[ask-philippe]

Harmony stepped from his shadow, tossing a pokeball up and down in her hand. “Please boss. Leave small fry like them to me,” she stepped in front of Philippe, undaunted by the two large men who had picked a fight with him. She glanced over her shoulder, a playful twinkle in her eyes. “That’s what a bodyguards for, right?” -harmonysgambit

@harmonysgambit

Philippe quirked a brow curiously, a chuckle leaving him.

"You're my bodyguard now?" Philippe asked, smiling fondly at Harmony. "You're definitely strong enough to be... but wouldn't you rather take these losers out together?"

[toxicorvus]

🕳️ harmonysgambit

The unending night of hyperspace stretches above, ghostly coloured buildings illuminated by street lamps and Pokémon's attacks.

A small, dark head of hair and amber eyes poke out from between two buildings for a moment, slightly torn hood of his jacket pulled tight. He's holding a Venipede in his arms tightly.

He watches both battling sides with equal caution.

[toxicorvus]

“I don’t want to be your underling,” Harmony sighed. “You know I’d come flying in to help you if you needed me without working for you. Isn’t what we have enough?” -Harmonysgambit

"You're not-- an underling is simply the incorrect word!" Ugh, why is he so bad at this at such a delicate time?!

"If Philippe is my right hand, then I'm asking for you to be my left. As an-- an equal. Would that be acceptable to you?"

[toxicorvus]

“That’s the second time you’ve asked,” Harmony chuckled. She turned from the night time scenery they had been gazing at together to face him. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll join you,”

Before he could say anything she held up a finger to him. “But only if you can answer this question correctly. ‘Why do you want me to join you?’

There’s an insecurity she’s asking him to soothe. One born from a realization she had not so long ago.

Urbain would have asked anyone to help him if they were strong. It didn’t have to be her on that roof. All this time she’d deluded herself into thinking she was ‘special’ to him. It was the second time in her life she’d made that mistake. She wasn’t looking for a third. “It doesn’t have to be me does it? Philippe is bigger, more more intimidating than me, stronger than me. You have an entire fleet of trainers at your disposal. Urbain is just as good a trainer, you could’ve asked him,” Harmony took a step toward him, searching his expression. “Why me?”

It was rare for her to say the quiet part out loud. Embarrassing. But that was proof of just how serious she was.

“On an unrelated topic. I’ve been thinking of going home sometime soon. I might stay. If I had something to tie me here,” or someone

In short, if he answered correctly, she’d join the Syndicate just as he’d always wanted. If he answered wrong, she’d leave the city, possibly forever.

"Idiot. Of course it has to be you."

He turns over the Mega Stone that's hidden in his jacket pocket, trying to look as calm as he can be given how hard his heart is thundering. The stone in the pin was Greninjite, an exceptionally rare specimen, the deep blue color cut with a slash of red and black.

"Listen, everyone has a role to play here. Philippe is the one who holds me back, stops me from losing my cool when I'm not thinking clearly. My grunts all work as a unit and prop each other up, and their strength is the Syndicate's strength. The base that keeps us solid. I'm the one who has to make the tough decisions when it matters most, pushes the others forward and gives direction to my men who haven't found theirs yet. But what I want-- what I need--"

A bit of color rises to his cheeks, and he adjusted his glasses as an excuse for a brief pause.

"What I need is someone who will push me forwards when I hesitate, who will help me make the difficult decisions. A secret weapon." The corner of his mouth twitches. "Do you think that I never doubt myself? That I take any of this lightly?"

He removes his hand from his pocket, the Syndicate pin between two fingers as he brings it up to her, stopping just short for permission to pin it to her lapel.

For her answer.

"I need a chessmaster, Harmony."

[missmarzi]

It was all so easy for Marzi, wasn’t it. So effortless. She didn’t look over her shoulder when she moved from topics of battle strategy, to talk of dresses and lace. She didn’t doubt herself, didn’t consider for a moment how others might change how they viewed her.

It didn’t look like she’d care if they did.

How Harmony dressed was just as important as her skill and in her eyes? the way Marzi had strode onto the battlefield, dressed to the nines was as suicidal as bringing one Pokemon with their HP in the single digits. It was the kind of bravery she could only dream of.

Harmony felt her chest ache in a mix between admiration and jealousy.

When Harmony struggled to find the words to express something, more often than not, the image of Urbain came to mind.

Without much more thought than that she found herself emulating a gesture she’d seen him do not too long ago. She gently lifted a couple strands of Marzi hair to her lips with two fingers. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you look to me right now,” Harmony said softly, angling her gaze upwards to meet hers. -harmonysgambit

@harmonysgambit

…eh?

Marzi can’t help the way she blinks incredulously down at the other, her picture-perfect mask slipping out of place for just a beat — yes, she’s been on the receiving end of many such gestures before (obviously, absolutely, not lying in the slightest), but she certainly didn’t expect it here. Not from this little lady standing before her; though, next to Marzi in her heels, almost anybody could be considered little…

A clearing of her throat, minute and subtle, and she straightens. “Oh, sweetheart, you have such a delightful way with words,” she hums, tilting her head in amusement. “But I certainly hope you haven’t been saying that to every person you come across, mm…?”

She’s terribly endeared by Harmony already, eyes narrowed and eyebrows furrowing in a strange sort of awkward-fondness — though she’s certainly not fond of being touched. Others of Marzi’s ilk would be stepping away, putting swift distance between them and this sweet little trainer, but Marzi finds herself intrigued. “Are you trying to rattle me before a challenge, maybe~?”

[toxicorvus]

☂ harmonysgambit

[Hey, Philippe. Least, think it's you-- phone's busted... can't see a thing-- don't know if this is-- hhk-- gonna get through.] The voice on the other end of the phone is tight and thin, like he's talking through his teeth, and there's odd pauses here and there, punctuated by shuddering breaths.

[Fucked up... I guess. They got the drop on me. M' in an alley... in Magenta District. Behind the substation.] The voice trails off.

[...Hope you get this. Phone's dyin'.]

Click.

[toxicorvus]

Harmony groaned as she pulled herself up in an unfamiliar bed. At least it felt that way. No amount of rubbing could dispel the sleep from her eyes. The air stung with the scent of an incense she had smelled before which filled her in on the gaps her sight couldn’t provide. Judging from the familiar ache in her body she’d taken one too many hits from a Pokemon but her memory was as blurry as her vision. She heard movement in the corner of the room and she reached for her pokeballs. “Corbeau?” She called cautiously. The name felt alien in her mouth. It might have been the first time she’d ever said it out loud. “Is that you?” A throb of pain coursed through her and she pressed her hand against her forehead. “My head…,” -harmonysgambit

"Stay. Down." A snarl, then a firm hand pushing her backwards. "You've done enough," he continues, quieter.

"We don't know exactly what transpired in hyperspace, but when the portal closed and dropped you in a Arceus-forsaken Wild Zone, you failed to respond for an extended time, and your position didn't change. Philippe and I came to retrieve you." His voice is dangerously soft, as though he wants to start screaming, but doesn't for the sake of not aggravating her headache.

The icy surge of absolute fear he had felt at the sight of her prone, battered body, seemingly savaged by some unknown Pokémon, was likely to haunt him for the rest of his days. He didn't feel terror like that anymore, the kind that made his stomach sick and his knees weak.

Except, apparently, where this insufferable trainer was involved.

He pours out a glass of water, and offers it to her along with two painkillers. "I apologize that this is all I have at the moment. Philippe is out sourcing something a bit more... powerful."

[toxicorvus]

Harmony twisted her body this way and that, admiring the way her new coat draped over her. In the privacy behind the Rust Syndicate, a rare smile grew across her face as she progressively took flashier poses,many of which were borrowed from the old hero shows her father had shown her. A back door she hadn’t noticed suddenly opened and she quickly tore off the jacket and attempted to bite back the smile she had been wearing and replace it with something more casual. “What seems to be the matter,” she said, almost comically calm after her rather dramatic display.

He's pinching the frame of his glasses between two fingers as though annoyed, but in reality, it's to conceal his face, because he's actually trying very, very hard not to laugh.

"...I take it you are unaware that these are not tinted glass windows, but rather two-way mirrors?" Everyone in the syndicate lobby has been watching this for some time now, himself included.