This world is inhabited by creatures that we call pokemon. People and pokemon live together by supporting each other, but now the scourge threatens the safety of the entire region. Kohaku has become a dangerous place, where children stay at home and only brave souls go adventuring.
Welcome to KOHAKU. Come for the nightmares. Stay for the tea and crumpets.
The season is SUMMER. It is easy for survivors to forage for food from the land, as there are entire abandoned farms ready for harvest. On the downside, you can smell the corpses.
swarms
GRAND OPENING !
Welcome to KOHAKU REGION's grand opening! If you're interested in joining, come check out our grand opening giveaway!
she pushes through shiny double doors into the casino, where smoke spiraled through the air from long pipes with thin necks and sank into the leather upholstery; where lights reflected off of bright crystal glasses, sending prismatic light in every direction; where people came to forget all of their problems in the clatter of chips and the thrill of gambling.
it isn’t a place that she enjoys, even back when she lived in nerio -- to her, the casino is nothing more than a den of starving beasts, ready to tear the innocent apart at any opportunity they can get their polished, gloved little hands on. she sees it happening all around her; money flows like water from the unsuspecting into the hands of the ever-pleasant dealers and criminals.
those to watch for are not the ones of whom you are suspicious, but the ones of whom you are not.
as such, the pink-haired woman who is moping and losing and clearly reeking of alcohol does not trigger any warning flags; instead, delilah feels only pity. (and disgust.)
the woman puts on her mask of sympathy, however, and takes a seat beside irene. "hello there, miss."
Irene is laughing to herself despite the fact that she is losing horrendously at the poker table. Anything to take her mind off the impending Scourge threat. Anything to keep her mind off of that, even if it is tossing hard-earned money she won through battling to the wind. That's okay. She figures that she'll earn it all back eventually, eventually when Bacchus was beautiful again.
Who was she kidding.
"Hmmm?" the woman drawls, pushing back a lock of pink hair from her face. "Who are you?" Her eyes are hazy with intoxication, though this is also the first time that Irene has seen Delilah face-to-face. She has probably seen Delilah running around Bacchus. It's a small town, anyways, and her pink and purple hair would probably stick out a lot.
The man at Irene's side takes half of the woman's chips.
delilah smiles at irene, placing her own chips down on the table. this isn’t what she wants to do -- this isn’t what she should be doing.
she should be giving irene a taste of what the scourge can do, is doing; she should be yelling at the woman and beating sense into that pretty little head of hers.
but instead delilah plays nice, casually tilting her head. ”i’m just wondering if you’d like to be my ... companion for tonight?” it helps that irene is still a very pretty woman, she supposes -- even if her supposed personality has taken a turn for the worse.
Luckily, Irene is not quite clear-headed enough to realize that Delilah is gritting her teeth as she speaks kindly. The woman blinks blearily. "Companion?" she asks. "Oh, here? If you'd like, I suppose." The woman waves the man at her side away, who scurries away with his poker chips, perhaps to cash his winnings from the intoxicated woman. Drunk people seemed to be excellent for earning a pretty penny.
"Come then," she says. "Keep me company, will you?"
The card dealer slides a full hand across the table to Delilah and Irene.
(btw:
1 - 10 high card 11 - 30 one pair 31 - 40 two pair 41 - 50 three of a kind 51 - 60 straight 61 - 70 flush 71 - 80 full house 81 - 95 four of a kind 96 - 99 straight flush 100 royal flush)
irene smells. what happened to her, delilah wonders. as she grew up, she had listened to stories of the ever-glamorous irene, the famed gym leader and idol of bacchus; forever elegant and poised, composed in every situation -- even battle ... yet the woman before her, the alcoholic and gambling addict, is anything but.
she receives her hand, glancing at her cards. "what's your name, pretty miss?"
One pair. Not bad, Irene figures. She hopes that her hand is better. Her luck hasn't been in tonight, not that it ever was, it seemed. Those Bacchus days were over. She's done, or so she figures. Instead, the disheveled woman's eyes peer at her hand. All she needs is a hand that had better than a single pair.
She crosses her gloved fingers with her free hand.
"Pretty miss? I like the sound of that," she muses, mostly to herself. "You can call me Irene though, dear." Her pet name for everyone is back, which is a good sign. It means that she's in a better mood. Why shouldn't she though? It seems that Delilah likes her well enough.
delilah laughs. the sound is slightly forced, but not enough so that irene would notice. (if she pays attention to anything but alcohol and money at all.) she shakes her head. "it seems you've bested me in this round, miss." she forks over more chips.
"it's nice to meet you, miss irene." she smiles. "shall we try again?"
Irene appeared to be in a better mood after winning the round. That had been her first win tonight. "Yes, dear," the woman responds. "I'd very much like that." So Irene hands the card dealer her hand, and the man shuffles the cards back into the deck. The cards are a blur in his hands, and only streaks of red are visible Irene's hand flies over to her.
well, if her hands are any indication, this is the reason why she does not gamble. delilah laughs once more. "you have quite the luck, miss irene." delilah places more chips on the table, shrugging. "maybe this round will be my win, hm?" the woman tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
Irene thinks she's going to win. Irene thinks she's really going to win, probably because the person rolling for Delilah is Tuyet. But alas, this only means that Irene's happy to keep rolling wins, so now she has to speak with the girl.
"I try to beat the others here at the poker table," the woman says with a sweeping gesture of the hand. "Oh, but sometimes, I take my grass Pokémon out for some fresh air. The smell in Casino Aurora... it isn't the best, did you know, dear?" Of course, she remembered her days as Bacchus Town's gym leader. Those days were long gone, and she nearly preferred the cigarette smoke of Casino Aurora. At least the Casino would still be left standing each day.
you still are! delilah wants to scream; it's still irene's responsibility to take care of bacchus -- it was her job to keep the town safe, instead of fleeing with her tail between her goddamned legs to drown herself in poison and vice.
she had looked up to irene.
"why aren't you still?" she says instead, continuing their little gambling game. irene has been winning the past few rounds, but if the woman wins enough ... perhaps she can be persuaded to return.
delilah isn't sure if she truly wants that, though.
Irene beckons for a waiter, who pours more red wine into her glass. She takes a sip, suddenly setting the goblet down a little too hard. "There is nothing left in Bacchus for me," she states. "There is nothing left in Bacchus for anyone, dear." Bacchus Town is a wasteland to Irene. In her head, it is best to move on. Best to keep the cards coming and the alcohol flowing.
"There isn't much left in Bacchus."
She peers over her hand at Delilah's cards, wondering if she's won again.
another loss. delilah wonders if irene is as bad as they say -- she certainly seems to be beating delilah in every hand they've had so far. she listens to the woman with careful apathy (she can't give away her cover; not yet, not yet) and puts her chips down once more -- a little too viciously, but it can't be helped.
she just wants to crush irene's gorgeous face.
"what makes you say that?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. "have you gone back yet, miss irene?"
Irene gives Delilah a thoughtful expression, as if trying to wrack her brains with an answer. Realization dawns in her emerald eyes, and finally, she shakes her head. "Oh no, I have not, dear," she says, words taking a little longer to come out as she takes another sip of her red wine. She no longer notices the slightly stale taste that it the burgundy substance gives off as it slides down her throat. "Bacchus is... quiet. There is no life there anymore for anyone."
The woman peers at her own hand, though whether her hand has beaten Delilah or not, she does not give away. Instead, she sets the cards down, and finally utters, "I think I've had enough."
yes, i won. not something that she should be celebrating at the moment -- not with this mess of a woman in front of her, anyway -- but she revels in the small victory nonetheless. she turns away briefly to compose her face, and faces irene once more.
"what about the people who used to live there?" she asks innocently, her violet eyes wide -- before shaking her head. "no, nevermind." better not to press the woman. "would you like to talk about it?" remember: be nice, be polite, be attentive. maybe then irene would get her ass in gear.
shameful.
