6

Jessie easily threw aside her awkward feelings as she entered the auditorium. Sure, she normally may feel weird entering such a casual event with such a formal, though fabulous-looking outfit, but 'she' would certainly be used to it. So Jessie channeled her current character's feeling and entered with her head held high, her 'fiancé' and new 'parents' behind her. She had pride not just in the act but also in actuality. Convincing them to pay attention to Team Rocket affiliated scientists was what her job was, and turned out the regard of the parents probably wasn't just lip service if they were able to come all the way out here.

Eyes briefly pointed toward them as newcomers as they walked farther into the room with the tall ceilings, though everyone maintained attention to their work for the most part. Men in khakis, some with lab coats, directed well muscled fighting types to move around various equipment. Jessie recognized some as actual Team Rocket agents. Some others weren't familiar at all, though that didn't mean they were clean. It could be assumed that this was a fairly well controlled little group, serving as an important asset in Team Rocket's plans for world domination, so Jessie knew she could be doing her job by pushing the rapt attention of her 'parents' to any one of them.

"You're curious?" Jessie caught a blip of the conversation her would-be father-in-law had gotten into. "This one we've measured to raise strength of pokemon by five times. Maybe they'll pay for it when the potion wears off, but if you're in a pinch, anything goes, right? And this thing-"

"Father," Jessie began in a sing-song voice, grabbing the man's arm to lead him away before the agent could explain how the prototype pokemon mind control device worked. "Wouldn't you like to see something more beautiful?"

"In time, Jessebelle, I was just listening to this fellow's pitch. What's this then?" the father poked his cane toward the device.

"It's, uh, still in the works." The agent peered toward the ground, apparently noting his mistake.

They moved on to various other displays, some of them with more appetizing yet useless displays, such as a potion to make water type pokemon appear glossy. Certain alternately colored pokemon could be created easily with another device that enhanced the color. They concentrated more on that pretty show than the nasty side effects, and the parents were soon enraptured in another display of indoor fireworks provided by fire types.

Jessie liked it, but she's seen it before, and wandered away to screen whatever was next. She tensed up as she met eyes with Mondo, whose eyes went wide with recognition before he grinned and ran up to her. "Miss Jessie!" he began. "...belle," he continued, tensing up as James stepped next to them. "Miss Jessebelle, it's good to see you again."

"Oh? You know each other?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Mondo said, providing only the obvious affirmative as he was caught off guard.

"James, this is Mondo," Jessie began the standard polite introduction. "He's a lab assistant. And Mondo, this is James, my fiancé."

"Oh?" Mondo's grin went wider in a weird way. "So you and Miss... Miss Jessebelle, you're going to be married?"

"Yes," James confirmed.

Mondo laughed, his face tinting red. What kind of thoughts was he having while he was blushing like that? Jessie bit her lip, knowing it would break character to try and set him straight. And what was with James? How could he stand there and speak so casually about something he'd been so opposed to before?

In fact, instead of fighting against the concept, he grabbed her hand, squeezing it and smiling her way before he turned back to Mondo. "Sounds like you have an interesting job. What have you been working on?"

"Hey, Mondo." Meowth appeared at Mondo's feet, pulling at his shirt. "I-" Meowth paused, noting James staring his way. "I-I-" Meowth went down on its four paws. "Meowth! Meowth!" it called.

"Master Meowth, I'll be with you soon," Mondo said. "As you can see, Miss Jessebelle is here."

"That's strange," James said.

"What's strange?" Jessie asked, forcing a laugh.

"Didn't that Meowth just speak?" James said.

"It did. 'Meowth', didn't you hear it?" Mondo said.

"Yes. I mean in human speech," James said. He put a hand to his chin, his brow furrowing. "And did you call it 'master'? Shouldn't it be the opposite, if you're the trainer?"

"Of course, you must have misheard," Jessie said, now speaking coolly as she glared Mondo and Meowth's way. They were really making her job more difficult.

"Right," James said.

"Yes, that's it. Mas- Ah, Meowth might call me master, if it could speak," Mondo explained quickly.

Meowth frowned as it looked back up at Mondo. As James looked down, studying it, its head went back to the default position, raising a paw. "Meowth!" it declared.

James stared a moment more before he spoke. "I suppose," he said. "But I'd be careful of any meowth that seems to speak. I've heard one was involved in some crimes."

Jessie glanced at Meowth's face, and she could tell it was getting more and more annoyed. "A talking meowth! How funny! Wouldn't you like to meet it?" she said to distract.

"Well, maybe," James said.

"Thanks for chatting, Mondo dear. I'll see you a different time perhaps," Jessie said before tugging at James's hand, taking him away. She dropped it as they were by the door, far from the Team Rocket members she happened to be closest to. "Ah, sorry," she said. Even though he hadn't seemed to mind, she had definitely touched him pretty suddenly there.

"It's alright," James assured, beaming her way as his hand traced down her forearm.

"Is it really?" Jessie asked. Besides it being more uncomfortable to enjoy his attention while she was on the job, there had to be some reasons he shouldn't be forgiving 'her'.

"It is," James said, then took her hand, squeezing it again. "Mother and Father are enjoying themselves. Why don't we go somewhere else?"

Jessie glanced toward where her would-be in-laws were looking at a flashy visual show. They'd gone around the entire convention, so they'd probably be leaving soon. Why not go take a break from the act and spend the time with James?

With a nod to James's mother who had peered their way, they walked out of the door, James linking arms with her. Nearby, there was a small fountain, which appeared to be at an entrance to the park. James loosened his tie before taking it off. He smirked at Jessie before he sat down on a bench. "It seems like we were dressed too stuffy for there," he commented.

"We looked nice," Jessie pointed out. "Maybe it was weird, but no one cared."

"Maybe not, except for me," James said. He closed his eyes, then opened them again as Jessie sat down next to him. "Sorry. I didn't bring you here to complain," he said.

"Did you have a reason?" Jessie said.

"Yes," James confirmed.

"Just to leave, right?"

"Maybe, but I could have stayed." James paused, glancing away. "It's just, you've been so kind to me."

Jessie tensed at the compliment. He'd been dropping those more and more. Even though she knew she should be wary and keep him at arms length, a happy feeling filled her at the same time.

"...Lately," James added in a soft voice.

Confusion lasted only a moment before Jessie realized of course it was only lately, since 'she' had done some pretty unforgivable things. Jessie couldn't even be comfortable with the fact it wasn't her, since she was lying to him of course. The idea normally wouldn't bother her too much, but she'd gotten to know him uncomfortably well, even sympathize with him a bit, like he was a character in a story. Of course, he was really another person, interacting with her.

"I wanted to do something for you as well," James said. He looked around. "Taking you here doesn't seem like enough."

"It's fine," Jessie said. "You don't have to do anything for me."

"No, here's something else," James said, taking a piece of paper from his pocket. "That Mondo is very helpful. He insisted I take this, before you even introduced us."

"What's that?" Jessie asked.

"Here." James handed it over. "Would you go with me?" he asked.

Jessie studied the paper, seeing an invitation to a ball, sponsored by one of Team Rocket's aliases. Meowth had probably insisted on Mondo giving it to him. It hadn't discussed the idea with her, but Jessie had gotten the message. Of course she had to say yes. She just wished it was more professional, not looking at a man who glanced away, hand on his head before peering back at her. He seemed nervous, like a boy with a crush, waiting for her response.

But why would he want to bother? He'd just been talking about how stuffy getting dressed up was. "Are you sure this is your thing?" Jessie asked without thinking.

James laughed. "You could tell? I've really grown to hate these kinds of things. But I'd still like to go... If you would."

And with her careless question, giving the response was even more difficult. "Alright," she said. "I'll go."

Even with her less than enthusiastic response, James let out an exclamation of joy and stood up. Did he really think there was a possibility she'd reject him? Well, they had been talking about their time apart. Jessie hadn't been prepared for him to pull at her to coax her to her feet.

With him standing so close to her, Jessie's face grew hot. She stepped back, glancing toward the park, trying to subtlety move away from him. "Well, let's go find Mother and Father," she said in a high voice, trying to adapt her persona again.

"Alright," James said from behind her. "Jessebelle," he called from closer as she took a step away.

"Yes?" Jessie said, then felt his hand on her face, coaxing her to look at him. She complied.

"This is alright, isn't it?" James asked.

He wanted to kiss her, Jessie realized quickly. He had moved closer to her, brushing her curls away. "Yes," Jessie answered.

James moved close and brushed his lips against hers, quickly completing the kiss before he replaced his closeness with stares her way. It almost seemed innocent, but still sent Jessie's heart racing as she realized she hadn't answered as 'her', but instead herself.

This was a major problem. For him of course, though he didn't know it, but also for her. She knew this guy well enough now to know she shouldn't be falling for him. Not to mention since she wasn't herself, it would be one-sided.

"James."

Jessie and James both noted the person calling was his mother, about ten feet away. Both parents peered back with approving expressions. As they did, James's loving exterior disappeared, and he completely tensed up.

"What is it?" Jessie asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," James assured as he pulled away from her. "Let's go."