If asked, Archer would claim it was all entirely by accident that he'd stumbled across the Frontier Brain at the Christmas party thrown by Hoenn's best and brightest but, in truth, that would be a lie. He had secured an invitation through various not-entirely-legal channels under the guise of a benevolent but otherwise ordinary business man who had made a rather sizeable donation to one of Hoenn's most prolific charities. He'd come to the party dressed to kill and had spent most of the evening mingling with the faceless strangers also in attendance, all while covertly watching the Frontier Brain from afar. It took time and patience but, eventually, while hardly noticing her surroundings, she waltzed beneath an awning near the entrance to the venue. When she did, he struck.
Turning from around the corner, he knocked purposely and bodily into her, halting her steps entirely. He made a small, polite scene as he staggered back, hand pressed to his chest as he went. His other hand extended gently to catch her by the elbow to steady her on her feet. Blue eyebrows softened slightly as he met her gaze, equally blue eyes searching her face to gauge her reaction.
"Ah! Forgive me, Miss; I didn't see you there. I hope you're not hurt." His eyes glittered mischievously a moment. "How I managed to miss such a lovely young woman is beyond me. I--"
He glanced upwards, stopping intentionally at the sight of the sprig of mistletoe above them both. His face paled momentarily-- though it was all for show-- as he looked back down at her and cleared his throat.
"My, my. It seems we've managed to catch ourselves in a bit of an awkward situation here. If I may..."
The hand that rested on her elbow to steady her mere moments before gently grasped one of her hands and drew it up towards his mouth.
"You'll forgive me, but I'd hate to ignore tradition and conjure up bad luck this time of year..." He ghosted his lips against her knuckles, meeting her gaze steadily as he did so. "Merry Christmas, Miss."
This ask is 3 years old but answering it was a matter of pride
For someone so serious and businesslike, Anabel was surprisingly festive, so she took that holiday party as an opportunity to metaphorically let her hair down (she actually styled her hair in an updo) and take a rare opportunity to enjoy her night casually without worrying too much about her many duties. It was a classy gala and she brought one of her best dresses, but as it turns out, she just wasn't much of a party animal, so she was content to stay in the outskirts and occasionally talk to people she already knew.
She may be a natural at improvising in battle, but for social situations Anabel prefers to stick to what's tried and true.
So, of course, as she made her way to a place with less people, she ended up bumping into some guy she didn't know. Or rather, he went out of his way to bump into her and started playing innocent right afterwards, making a show of faux politeness to lower her guard. To anyone else, Archer would look innocent, like someone who just didn't look where he was going in a crowded room, but Anabel was perceptive. It was too rehearsed, too calculated to be just a mere accident.
Was this guy trying to start a fight? Her eyes were focused on his expression, trying to gauge his intentions. His words were that of genuine remorse, but that cheeky smile on his face didn't seem very apologetic at all. He definitely wants something, but he's going through a very roundabout direction to get there.
Then, his gaze turned upward, and he pretended to be surprised at the sight of the mistletoe. Once he turned his attention back to Anabel, asking to maintain the holiday tradition, she couldn't help but scoff.
“All that and you just wanted to kiss my hand? You could've asked.”
She saw no point to hide that she knew he was just pretending, even as he left a demure, gentlemanly kiss on the back of her hand. Clearly, that strange man had to have known he wasn't actually fooling her, so she expected him to show his true colors after being directly called out like that.
“And here I thought this party was starting to get dull. Since you want my attention, meet me outside at your earliest convenience.”
“We'll settle the score with a battle.”
