title: hello, sunshine
summary: N once warned her about this. — rosa, black, white
+standard disclaimer
The main hall of the League building is crowded with people and long tables draped in expensive tablecloths with foods from the faraway Kanto region. Women in dangerously short black dresses twirl their way through the crowds, and Rosa thinks that it's a shame Caitlin doesn't like parties all that much. The blonde woman stands in a corner, eyeing her work meticulously. Rosa watches as Grimsley leans down and whispers in her ear, watches as Caitlin turns to him and shoos him off, promising to join him later.
She turns her head, looking for a mop of brown hair, and instead finds herself watching White's heels clack against the floor, her hips swishing side to side. The brunette stops, holding the arm of Sinnoh's Cynthia, and laughs—head tilted back, mouth open wide.
Black is standing by the Kalosi food, carefully filling his plate with croissants. Rosa feels her heart flutter a little, but by the time she's close enough to start a conversation, White makes eye contact with the brunet and starts over. People part for her like she's an ethereal being, and her lips are pulled into tight smile. White's lips are bright and red, and her hair is pulled up into a mess of waves.
Rosa can smell the cigarette smoke clinging to her as she stops. Touching Black's shoulder, she says apathetically, "I didn't think Caitlin would pull out all stops for us. Darach certainly seemed surprised when I told him. Then again, he seemed surprised that she's working with Grimsley, of all people."
Rosa blinks once, twice. She's only heard of Darach from scraps of Shauntal's stories and arguments between Caitlin and Grimsley, but the name is familiar nonetheless. She soon catches the sight of a man in an odd purple suit. His hair is black with a thick stripe of blond, and when Caitlin catches his gaze, she glares and makes her way towards the stairs to Grimsley's room.
"Of course," White continues, "I suppose Shauntal was very convincing; she's always loved these things. And Marshall—Marshall probably hasn't gotten a proper challenge since we left."
"White," Black says, "he's still got the rest of the League. There's a champion."
Rosa coughs at that, a tiny little thing that catches White's attention as she smirks towards Unova's newest champion. It's the first time Rosa's seen the silver chain hanging around White's neck, an old pokéball hanging from it.
"And you must be Rosa," she says. "Black and Iris have told me about you."
"I'm sure," Rosa says. As far as she knows, Iris is a serial gossip and Black—well, according to the stories, White and Black are pretty much attached at the hip. She remembers meeting him—he was shit-eating grins and old, old eyes. Caitlin had been in one of her moods, and the sight of the boy flying in on a braviary had sent Grimsley's glass of cheap wine flying into Marshall's face.
"It's nice meeting you," White says, her voice raspy, her hand extended. "A little bird tells me you saved the world. That's adorable."
Adorable is not the word Rosa would use to describe it, but at least she now knows N was right—White is queen of the jaded. She responds with a, yes, that's me, and White looks at Black and says, "I hear Cheren's a gym leader. Bianca's here, somewhere." Dragging Black off to find Bianca and Cheren, White shoots her a sarcastic grin, and she can almost hear N laughing now.
Black's hand is curled around her waist.
a/n: aaaaay i'm not dead, nor is this tale! in any case, caitlin/grimsley is my reason for existence, so. reviews are much loved.