[PRP] Flipflop Coffeeshop

[Tori Honoo]

It was interesting, she thought, as she twirled her spoon in her tea just outside the little cafe at the edge of town, how things changed over time. It had been more than a year since she had arrived in Kodo, and her entire life had been flipped and spun and turned and tossed. The air had grown cooler again, as fall settled over the small island. Her birthday had come and gone, though she wasn't even sure it was the celebration of the same woman. Her homecoming, both to Sinnoh, then back to Kodo in the past week, had been interesting, one much warmer, much more enjoyable than the other...

During her stay, she had done things she before would have never wanted to admit. Feelings had been hurt, mistakes had been made, lessons had been learned, some gently, some forcefully. Plans had been made she never thought she would have dreamed of, let alone decided to follow through on.

Relationships had changed, some more than others, careers had been cast aside, roles had been reversed, and as she finally let her journal fall shut, she sighed, looking across the table as she settled back in her chair, her gaze fixed down the road, her expression blank, her mind reeling.

A heavy sigh escaped her chest.

A small blue eevee lay curled over crossed legs, comfortable in the girl's still pose, another curled at her feet, one paw draped across the bridge of her foot, watching idly as leaves chased one another down the street under the clearness of the sky.  

[Suudonym]

Major life events, such as the relocation to a new place, typically catalyzed thoughts of days passed, but Rosalie had no intentions of wasting her energy on idle nostalgia, deciding instead to busy herself in her free time. The cafe's door opened as a customer exited, holding the door open with her elbow - one hand was occupied by her recent purchase, a stack of bound papers tucked under her arm, and the other with a phone to her ear - as a vaguely foxlike pink and white pokemon passed by and headed towards one of the nearby outdoor tables to hop up into a chair.

"Mm, right. I think it'll be fine," the pokemon's presumed trainer said, pulling out an adjacent seat and carefully setting down her coffee, a pastry bag, and the papers. "All right, well I'm going to let you go, okay? I'll text you the address later. Mhm, love you too, Mama. Bye-bye." With a light sigh, she removed the phone from her ear and tucked it into her bag, seating herself and removing the little fruit danish from its wrappings.

"Mama said she'll send some puffs next week, you needy little thing," she told the pink pokemon as its blue eyes expectantly watched its trainer's movements. "Unfortunately, having pecha in it doesn't make this less fattening, so let's just make this a one-time treat and be patient about the puffs. Here." She divided the danish into halves, placing one portion on a napkin and pushing it across the table for the pokemon that gave a pleased "fiiiaa" in reply before happily partaking of the pastry.  

[Tori Honoo]

Preoccupied as her mind was, when the door of the cafe was opened and the girl emerged, talking on her phone, Dove snapped back to the present, blinking as she looked around for the source of the sudden, busy talking, her eyes widening a little at the sight. A strange familiarity settled over her shoulders, and suddenly, she found herself staring. The clothes... the way she held herself... the busy talking and gestures, even the way the girl's hair fell all reminded her of a younger version of herself, and focusing her gaze a little more at the bundle of papers, she quietly wondered if the girl was even carrying a script, before dismissing it as a nostalgic trick of her mind.

Lovey, on the other hand, immediately focused on the pokemon accompanying the girl, rising to her feet and drawing Dove's attention across from the girl as well. A sylveon?! Well, borders had been opened to Kalos... She shouldn't be too surprised, given she had been at the ceremony herself; there would be plenty of travelers, she was sure, both from Kodo and the 'new' region.

Her curiosity furthered as she noted the pastry the girl divided for herself and her pokemon: pecha berries?! A slight smile, laced with disbelief, pulled across her face, and she shook her head before speaking up, hoping the girl would realize, given the closeness of their tables and the lack of others around, that she was being addressed. "I'm so sorry, I don't mean to bother you, but... that wouldn't happen to be an audition script, would it?" she asked with a slightly apologetic smile, shifting her own pecha berry bread to the side to clean up her table just a bit.

Lovey, not impolite enough to ignore the girl entirely, but much more interested in other ventures, waved her tail and offered a quick greeting bark to the girl, then turned to look up at the Sylveon. <>  

[Suudonym]

Whether or not she immediately recognized that she was being addressed, the sound of someone else speaking drew her passing attention, and finding the stranger's eyes on her cleared up any doubts of who she was talking to. Her gaze fell briefly to the bound papers before returning, smiling, to her apparent conversational partner. "Close!" she said, her tone cheerful. "It's a full script; I have the great fortune to have passed the audition already." She rounded her shoulders slightly as she gave the visiting Eevee a smile and wave in greeting, a subtle enthusiasm permeating her demeanor as she spoke again to its presumed trainer, "Are you interested in screenwriting?"

One of the Sylveon's ribbonlike tendrils curled around toward her front, brushing a crumb from the corner of her mouth before offering a polite smile in reply,  

[Tori Honoo]

Dove's eyes lit up a bit at the girl's correction. "Oh! Congratulations! Which role? They've already given you a shooting script?" she asked, genuinely curious, and assuming the girl would explain the part and production alongside her answer. With a lighthearted laugh, she shook her head a little at the second question, mentally setting aside her questions about Kalos for later, in favor of career. "No, I'm afraid not. I just dabbled in acting a little back in my hometown. I've never gotten a 'big' role at all, but the few tiny things I've done were a lot of fun."

Lovey took a seat a comfortable distance away from the other pokemon, her eyes bright and amiable. she replied, meaning both her trainer and the kit in the girl's lap.  

[Suudonym]

"A lead part, for once in my life," she replied with a laugh. "And a role as an adult-aged character at that, miraculously!" A hand strayed idly to the cover sheet of the script as it was mentioned, "Not quite 'already;' shooting is starting in a couple weeks. I just try and review the script whenever I've got a spare moment." She gave a passing shrug to separate her thoughts. "I see! I mostly did little roles myself for a long time, but then again most of my recent work could probably be called little roles too. Was it something you were pursuing?" She assumed not from the use of the word 'dabbling,' but there were plenty of people in the world who would sooner dismiss prior exploits as 'dabbling' than admit to having failed and given up.

Evie gave a light nod in reply,  

[Tori Honoo]

Her smile grew brighter. "Oh, the lead role! That's exciting!" She tilted her head a little, curious about the girl's age. "An adult character? I can understand that... I'm guessing you look younger than you actually are...?" she asked tentatively, very obviously cautious, even playfully so.

A nod. "I see. So it's not marked up yet? I guess that makes sense if shooting hasn't started... How is it going? What's the rest of the cast like?"

The girl's enthusiasm was nice, and she laughed a little, tucking back her hair again. "Oh, no, no... I've modeled up until the last few weeks, so they used me every so often for smaller roles, most of them silent," she explained, shaking her head. "I had a lot more commercial slates than anything, though I guess as an actual actress, it couldn't really be considered 'acting' at its fullest. I played the lead's best friend's cousin for a few episodes once, but...that's about it, really." Acting had always been something that had interested her, but as her career as Dove had already taken flight, she hadn't had the time, nor seen the need to pursue another occupation.

Lovey smiled brightly, and nodded.  

[Suudonym]

"Mmm, a fair bit," she replied coyly, lacing her fingers against her cheek. "I'd say I'm at least five years older than I look, give or take depending on what you're thinking. Men ventured to the ends of the earth in pursuit of eternal youth, but I don't think they quite knew what they were getting themselves into." She shrugged lightly, a smile on her lips.

A sound of confirmation followed by a thoughtful hum, "It's going all right! A little bit frantic, with all the last minute checks and whatnot, but that's to be expected. The other two leads-- Well, the lead leads; I'm pretty much just the token female presence, you know, for the sake of inclusion." She rolled her eyes briefly with a shrug that dismissed the passing annoyance. "They're both gentlemen, very sweet. They both have more experience than I do when it comes to bigger productions like this, so it's a little intimidating, but I'm looking forward to working with them."

She nodded as she listened. "Aw sure, you could call that acting the same as anything else!" she said. "I mean, I understand the feeling; things like commercials and transient roles can be kind of disheartening if you're trying to break into the business, but it's still a line on your resumé." She gave a bright grin in encouragement, replaced by a polite inquisitiveness, "What happened in the last few weeks? Oh-- Sorry if that's a nosy question. I've always been kind of curious about the modeling industry."

The Sylveon nodded in understanding,  

[Tori Honoo]

Dove grinned a bit, relieved that her question hadn't been taken as terribly intrusive or rude. "I understand-- I was trapped as a teen model for ages. I was actually really surprised when I got a call for La Perle last year, to be honest," she laughed softly. "It's not so terrible, though. You'll work longer, that way, if you can stand having to be younger than you are. And really, what do men need to know about eternal youth?" she asked in the same coy tone. "They've not a clue."

She nodded. "That's great! I'm sure everything will calm once filming has started. And yes," A playful shake of her head, her expression slightly distant as she pulled at memories. "I know how that is as well." Not that being the 'token female presence' was a bad thing every so often. It was a lot less pressure, and sometimes a lot more fun. "Gentlemen, hm? That's good... Especially if they have more experience. I've come across a lot of Talent that are far 'too good' for everyone else. If they're kind, I'm sure there's no reason to be intimidated," she assured her, smiling warmly.

Another soft laugh, with another shake of her head. "Oh, I never really had the time to even think about trying to seriously break into film," she explained, waving her hand a little dismissively. "It's always been fascinating to me, but given my family's scheduling and my own, it was just never really anything I could very actively pursue. But yes, the few small jobs I took on certainly did boost my resume a little. It's nice to have a few lines of variety here and there.

The question tacked at the end of her encouragement took her a little by surprise, though she supposed she should have expected it. "Oh, no no, it's alright. Um..." she paused a moment, shaking her head as she tried to gather the thoughts and put them in an understandable order. "I've... just had to change my plans. I found a lot more to work toward here than I thought I would, and some of it has been....pretty disastrous." She rubbed her arm, grateful for the sweater hiding the fainter lines of the scars. "I've been in quite a few accidents, and the lasting damage just..." Why couldn't she word it correctly? At this point, it shouldn't have been nearly this difficult, given the time she had been allotted to cope, but talking with someone in such a familiar industry, just breaking in as she was preparing to leave it was strikingly more difficult than she would have imagined.

A slightly awkward laugh. "Long story shortened, my friends and I were attacked a few months ago at a competition in Kanto and more recently, we got caught up in a battle I wasn't one hundred percent prepared for. Both incidents left..." A deep breath. "...absolutely hideous scars, and while my agents assured me I could still find work because of my resume and known image, I just... can't bring myself to be as confident about it anymore." A slight shrug. "I'm getting closer to what most women see as the end of their career anyway, so... I've started investing my time in other things."

She paused, blinked a little, then tucked her hair back, her gaze falling to the journal on the table in front of her as her cheeks flushed. "Sorry. That was probably a lot more than you asked for..." she apologized quickly, hit with the intense desire to disappear. A perfectly foreign stranger, and she had spoken far too much, more than she had explained to even those she was close to. "Or... not at all what you asked for. I can tell you about modeling if you still want me to..." she offered, inwardly squirming a bit.

Lovey let her tail curl around her as best the fluffy fur would allow. She smiled, fluffing her ruff a bit before looking up at the other pokemon again. The eevee had absolutely no idea how long ago the other had chosen to evolve, or been forced to, but the idea of an evolution she could employ that she had no knowledge of still baffled and fascinated her, perhaps much more so than her trainer had caught on.  

[Suudonym]

"I guess," she said, pouting mildly. "I shouldn't complain about longevity, but I wasn't exactly looking to get into children's television when I started out." In fact, when she started out, and now still, Rosalie had been pursuing a much more specific and significant goal. She had no intention of stagnating in child roles. She leaned forward conspiratorially, a smirk on her lips, "What they don't know is that we've already got our fountain of youth - a little something called the magic of makeup."

She nodded her understanding, "My only concern is if they'll still be so nice if I mess up, you know?" A laugh, and a shake of her head to dismiss her own negativity; she sat up straight and clenched her hands in determination. "I've just got to not mess up then! No problem!"

She laced her fingers under her chin as she listened, wearing an expression of polite attention and nodding intermittently to denote her comprehension. Her warm nonchalance faded to a more serious awareness of what was being said, nodding again, slowly, as she finished speaking. She inhaled to speak, paused in consideration, and then offered her response, "I have a bad habit of not knowing when to shut my mouth, so I hope I'm not going to say something offensive," she lifted her head from her hands and tented her fingers thoughtfully on the tabletop, "but I personally hope that you won't let it end because of that. I wouldn't advocate forcing someone to do something they aren't comfortable doing, but what kind of message does it send, you know? That a scarred body isn't beautiful? That it's a reason to hide?" An apologetic smile was in her features, her eyes on her hands. "I know it's just entitlement on my part, saying things like that without having one mark on my own body, but I think you should try not to give up. Don't let the world say you aren't beautiful just because your body is different from everyone else's. Everyone's body is different from everyone else's."

Evie nodded mildly in understanding; Kalos certainly was large, and Lumiose was the largest city there. There was simply no shortage of opportunities for explanation. At the question Lovey posed, she tilted her head with a thoughtful sound. she countered rhetorically. She paused, reaching her feelers around to divide the pastry portion in two, offering a half to her conversational partner.  

[Tori Honoo]

Dove only smiled and nodded in slight apology, then laughed at the other woman's final comment. "Ah, yes. I don't wear much often, but I adore being made up and over the top for special events," she admitted. "Some of it really is magic."

Another assuring smile. "I'm sure you'll be great," she laughed, nodding. The girl certainly had the energy, and came across as very professional. Surely she would hold her own.

What came next, however, threw her off, and she found herself listening more closely than she had to anyone else, still feeling guilty for bringing it about in the first place. When the other was finished, she sighed, then stayed quiet a few moments while she considered everything that had been said. Everything made sense... most of it had passed through her mind at least once, aside from the actual hope that someone wished her to continue other than her agents and the few followers she had accumulated over the years.

Shaking her head a little, more in disbelief than dismissal, she lifted her eyes to the woman again. "Thank you... I've considered it, but given everything that's happened, I just... I don't know. The level at which I worked before coming here... I guess I could still find work, but the time commitment alone, and the competition is enough to make me wary. I'm just not comfortable with myself yet, not as I was." Another pause. "I don't think I can see myself giving everything up all at once, but I certainly won't be what I used to be."

A deep breath, and a smile. "I've found other things that I've gathered interest in, and while half of my heart will always love my career, I just can't bring myself to push myself into it as hard as I once did. Other things have presented themselves as much more pressing needs, and for now.. I think I need to work on those before I can spread my wings again as 'Dove'." What she had said was true, each excuse important, but the root of it had been already addressed. There was no need to go further into it, as what Rosalie had said enough, and every word had been taken to heart.

Lovey nodded in understanding herself after looking away in contemplation. she said, bowing a little. When offered the pastry, she smiled brightly, then accepted it politely. Her favorite! she answered. A fairy type...  

[Suudonym]

Rosalie nodded her understanding, glad that she apparently hadn't spoken out of line. "We're never quite what we used to be," she offered with a mild shrug. "I'm already a little different today than I was yesterday, because today I've met and talked to someone new." She renewed her smile, reaching for her coffee as she remembered its existence; it had cooled off enough by now to drink comfortably.

"My personal philosophy is that people have two main responsibilities," she said, extending a pair of fingers indicatively. "One, a responsibility to your own happiness, and two, a responsibility to the happiness of others. The former is the most important, of course, but I think people should use their skills and abilities to promote the happiness of others as much as possible. For me it's helping to make movies and television shows for people to enjoy, which is very different from, say, a police officer who protects people's peace and safety, but I think they're both very important. But it's hard to make others happy if you can't make yourself happy, so that's really the priority. If that makes sense." She sipped at her coffee somewhat awkwardly, realizing that she was probably rambling by now.

the fairy-type said, sympathetic. She paused to take a dainty bite from the sweet-tasting pastry.  

[Tori Honoo]

Dove offered a half smile, staying in pensive silence for a moment as she mulled over the other woman's words. "That's more true than I ever thought possible," she agreed, "And I'm sure I've never been more thankful for anything in my life." She lifted her tea for a sip, her eyes flaring for a moment as if to emphasize her point. "Sometimes it's hard to look back, but the future, I guess, can always hold promise if you... look closely enough. It is a bit uncertain though...I suppose that makes it more of an adventure in the end, hm?" Uncertainty was certainly nothing she came up short on.

Her smile widened a little, paired with a nod as she set the tea down once more. "It makes sense, but what of the situations in which your happiness must be denied for the happiness of another?" she posed, curious about the girl's take on the question itself. "I agree with you, absolutely. That's actually similar to what I used to tell my friends back home when they asked why I modeled. Every role is different, but needed." A pause. Her eyes drifted toward her tea as she stirred its contents. Maybe that meant a lot more to her than what she had intended... hm.

A soft laugh and a shake of her head broke her from the thoughts. "So have you moved to Kodo, then? It's quite a transition." she ventured, assuming that if the girl was to be so heavily involved with shooting that she would have to take up some form of residence on the island. If it was to be shot here, anyway.


Lovey smiled as the Sylveon stepped through each eeveelution and gave her take on each. she admitted, realizing she might be a bit too pressing for general conversation, especially with a pokemon she had just met.