This had to be a joke, right?

Out of all the people who could've been on this mission...Out of every single person in this damned region...Why the hell was he here?! Really, she would've been okay with Frederick - hell, maybe even that one wimp whose 'girlfriend' she punched oh so long ago...But Azad? Just remembering her time with him in that damn cave to his annoying-as-hell cocky ass smirk...Very, very quickly, the girl's attempt at a smile became an irritated frown, her arms crossing across her chest, her internal struggle not to snap painted clearly over her face. Even as he directed the question back to her, her lips were drawn into a tight, flat line. She wasn't saying shit until he spoke first - nope, nada.

Now, despite her obvious frustration that he had singlehandly managed to make this mission far worse than it had to be, Vivian was...curious. Azad...he didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be interested in stuff like this. Maybe because he was a nerd or something, but, honestly, she never took him as the type to go on dates. Kinda sorta like her - but in a less cool and more 'no one finds me worthwhile,' sort of way.

At his excuse, she stared at him with a rather deadpanned look. So, he was in it for the money too? His excuse didn't sound all too convincing but...who cared? At least they were both in it for a similar reason and not looking to make this...'serious' or anything like that. Ugh, just imaging this date being anything remotely serious with him of all people was enough to make the young woman nearly gag.

"...A good reason." She soon grumbled out, deciding to ignore his obvious little slip up with a scathing glare - the feeling was definitely mutual. Ugh, this couldn't have gotten any worse, could it? Despite her desire for the money that was being offered, it wasn't worth the mental strain that being around this guy caused.

About to suggest that he 'fuck off' and the mission be cancelled, she paused when the man began to speak, her eyes slowly widening as she realized just what he were saying. Did he...did he still want to continue this obvious shit show? Why? He didn't like her - she didn't like him. And she sure as hell didn't want to go on a date with him, fake or not. The idea of having to spend a 'lovely afternoon' with him made her feel ill, and she had half the mind to reject him right then and there.

...And yet....

'I need the money. Dammit.' She nearly groaned aloud, settling for just...glowering at him for a moment. "Don't tell me what to do." She opted to stubbornly, and childishly, grumble under her breath, trying to retain some of her dignity - but, the sigh she gave indicated that she'd otherwise follow through with this stupid, stupid mission.

The smile he offered her made her want to roll her eyes, while his words made her sick to her stomach. Right, right, lovey dovey crap. Perfect. Resisting the urge to laugh her ass off at him, she gave a tense, very forced smile. "Of course....honey." The words honestly sounded threatening more than anything - especially because she glowered at him all the while smiling.

"....You're fucking kidding, right?" The whisper was a bit louder than she had planned as she stared down at the hand he offered towards her. After staring for several long moments. an audible groan escaped her lips as she took his hand in her own in some...awkward sort of hold. His hand was pretty big compared to hers - warm too....God dammit, this was awkward. She tightly squeezed his hand - almost painfully so, and likely on purpose. "You look pretty stupid, by the way." She couldn't resist uttering these words in a low, quiet whisper, snickering slightly. "Like, more stupid than usual. I think I want to punch your face even more than I typically do...honey."

Just because they were trying to play the part didn't mean she wasn't going to attempt to make him miserable all the while. No, she was going to get some form of joy out of this.

Trying to ignore the fact that she and this geek were holding hands, Vivian tried to focus on...other things. Like how nice today was - or that she'd get some good training in tomorrow...given she didn't throw herself over the dock after having to swallow down her pride like this. Any time the man looked over and their eyes met, he'd immediately be met with a hostile glower that lingered, refusing to look away in bashfulness. Although, her smug look of 'victory' at her taunting words towards him quickly faltered as he mentioned she looked...beautiful?

"...What?"

....She wasn't used to this. Someone complimenting her rather than saying how much of an ass she was - this was odd and she didn't like it. What the hell was that supposed to even mean? How was she supposed to respond to that? Was he...serious? Her thoughts began to grow a bit...frantic the more the comment echoed in her mind.

How the heck was she supposed to respond to that? She was...uncertain. Uncertain as to whether or not she should threaten him or maybe curse him out, or maybe just stay silent. However, her confused thought process was abruptly halted when the man spoke up once more with that familiar, annoying-as-hell smirk.

Ah. That was better...Although, it didn't make her any less pissed off though, not at all.

With a scary, tense smile, her grip on their held hands tightened considerably as she resisted the urge to dig her nails into his hand. "You're lucky we're on a damned 'date'. Otherwise, your face would be broken right now." She told him in a low whisper without taking her eyes off the path ahead of them. It was hard not to frown afterwards, and the only thing that prevented her from doing so was images of wiping that smirk off the man's face...If only she could've done it in real life.

Thankfully, she did manage to lighten up, if just a little, when the fluffy furred body of the eevee was soon perched upon her shoulder. Ugh, this damn thing was just too cute for its own good...Not that she'd ever admit to such a thing. She had an image to uphold....and this god damned date was ruining it with each moment she had to act nice to her pretend 'boyfriend'. She found herself, once again, glaring at him from the corner of her eyes as she struggled to reign in her slowly flaring temper, and she was only snapped from her 'trance of anger' when he spoke up.

For a moment, she quirked a brow, having a rather sharp, judgmental look as to just how he was suddenly so knowledgeable of the 'popular couples places' all of a sudden. Before she could question him about it - or more like taunt - it seemed as though he had some excuse for himself. The girl only let out a slight 'tch', but, otherwise didn't question it.

Completely oblivious to the subtle gleam of glasses in the shadows, Vivian...didn't immediately catch on to his sudden tone change - in fact, it only proved to trigger that sharp temper of hers as she gave him a rather hostile glower. "...Best behavior my ass, go suck on a-" Her aggressive, slightly violent words were abruptly cut off when she finally realized why he had suddenly shifted his voice.

....Mission stuff....Right. Fuck.

"I-I mean...a-aha..." She stuttered, trying to correct herself and 'smile', but, it looked more like she were attempting to growl at him or something. With a grimacing half smile she cleared her throat, "dessert sounds...great....Sugar...plum?" The hell did couples even say to each other? Why was this so damn difficult?

It didn't help when some woman with an annoying voice and an even more annoying face was stepping into her 'no no space'. Vivian bristled slightly, resisting the urge to snap at the woman to 'get back' or just go ahead and deck her in the face. What the hell was so hard to understand about not getting in people's face? It didn't help that the woman had the nerve to call her and that idiot 'cute' - they were not cute together. It was more of an insult than anything. The brunette couldn't help but slightly glare at the lady, but, did thankfully hold her tongue...Well, until she mentioned being a newspaper writer...and wanting to interview them.

Oh...Oh no. No, no.

Vivian glanced over at Azad quickly, giving him a pointed, glaring look - perhaps almost a bit desperate for him to say something. Why him? Because she was positive the moment she opened her mouth at this moment, she'd say something that'd otherwise ruin this mission. When the white haired male said nothing to stop the crazy lady - not that either of them could really fit in a word to her - Vivian silently groaned. Why her?! She wasn't that horrible of a person for Arceus to condemn her to this sort of fate, right?

"W-wait, wait, n-" The lady's question about her made her weakly sputter out, about to wave her hands and make up some poor excuse that they didn't 'want their business' to be put out to the world. But, she was a moment too late - the damned traitor started talking, and it took everything in her not to glower at him or mouth threats under her breath.

Staring at him as he spoke, she found herself feeling...quite the range of emotions. Most were just varying levels of anger and irritation, but...somewhere deep, deep down. She felt a bit...glad? To be honest, this was far from the worst thing people had to say about her. If anything, it was almost like...a compliment, sorta? And despite their obvious resentment for whatever this 'date' was supposed to be, there was no denying the slight genuineness of his words....

And the he ruined it.

Whatever shock or even slight softness that came to her eyes was promptly snapped up quicker than a munchlax in a buffet. It didn't help that he smirked as well - oh man, did he know how to get her blood pumping. With a shaky smile, the girl faced the interviewer, trying her hardest not to flip out and say 'fuck it,' nor end up babbling about nothingness in her slight, tiny bout of nervousness. She wasn't really used to situations like these. "Stud? I think you might be a little bit too generous with your wording!" She gave a forced laugh, trying not to twitch or smirk.

"He's..." Oh, crap. What should she even say? Handsome? No - that'd be a lie. Fun to be around? She'd end up laughing her ass off. Did he even have any redeemable qualities? Realizing she'd been simply staring at the emerald eyed man for several seconds with a rather intense look, she soon cleared her throat. "He's strong. It's something I admire about him. I know that, in a pinch, I could probably rely on him, even if it kinda embarrasses me to admit it. I'm not just speaking about his pokemon either. He's kinda cocky sometimes - and sometimes, I just want to kick-" She stopped herself, biting her lip to stop herself from blowing their cover before continuing, "he's a strong person in the inside." She corrected, a bit gruffly.

"He'd be that dumb magikarp that keeps latching onto your fishing rod regardless of how many times you kick and punt it back out to sea. Strong-willed, and unyielding, even if annoying." She finished with a nod, giving a grin towards the interviewer, a bit proud of herself for not screwing this up...

That didn't mean that she didn't risk looking over at Azad to briefly frown and blow him a raspberry before turning her attention back to the woman though.

Of course, Vivian was painfully oblivious to the effect her words had on him. She didn't compliment people often - if ever. But, she was...somewhat serious about what she'd said. Sorta. She didn't call people strong if they were weak - no, that was just cruel. And, as annoying as the man was, and as much as she wanted to just...push him off the side of the boardwalk, there was something about him. Something that stirred feelings of awe in her - and feelings that she really didn't want to think about. All she needed to see him was as an obstacle - a target she'd take out when she was strong enough. And she wasn't about to let this damned 'date' change that. And yet, even through her blatant, perhaps even harsh taunt towards him, she caught sight of his emerald gaze fully staring at her, and, for once, her glare towards him seemed to falter - if only slightly.

The interviewer opened her mouth to speak again, and the brunette bristled, likely on the verge of telling the lady to 'buzz off' and go bother some other stupid couple. Thankfully, her 'date' was much more mild-mannered than she was, and handled the situation with ease. Vivian only huffed, resisting the urge to either glower or secretly flip off the woman as they walked away. It was because of her now that things were awkward and a tense silence had settled upon them. She'd rather them be screaming and threatening each other than this. This just felt...awkward. And it allowed her thoughts to wander - and for her to realize that he was holding her hand. Again. Wasn't this just great?

When the man spoke up, she couldn't help but feel a bit grateful - not that she'd openly admit to it though. What she supposed was meant to be a compliment only made her glower at him from the corner of her eyes, appreciative of the familiar feeling of irritation rather than just...whatever the hell that had been back during the interview. "Tch. Don't underestimate me, idiot." The words were stubbornly stated with a hint of a warning...despite how true his statement had been. It was hard not to blow their cover back there when all she wanted to do was scream at the woman that this 'stud' was not, nor never would be, her boyfriend. Just the thought of it made her sick to her stomach. She was way outta his league anyway!

Almost immediately, they had fallen back into a silence that was...mildly uncomfortable. With each quiet, passing minute, she became aware of things. Like, for example, that his hand was actually pretty warm - and not in a completely horrible way. As well as the fact that she was way too close to him. Several times, she found herself staring up at him in what seemed like a mixture of a glare as well as a look of curiosity. When he suddenly spoke up, she was, once again, grateful...Until she registered just what he was saying. His antagonizing words that just begged her to flip out were appreciated - it'd make her get rid of ever possibly thinking of him as anything more than an irritating threat but...at the same time, why did she feel a bit...disappointed?

Either way, the young woman's eye twitched slightly as she struggled to maintain the 'fake' smile on her lips, the one she had practiced making for hours. What the hell was his problem all of a sudden - was he trying to get decked in the mouth?! For a moment, she felt her free hand clench, forming a fist as she glowered up at him, struggling not just...erupt into a frenzy of colorful, creative curses. 'I'm doing this for the money. I'm in it for the money. I need the money.' She had to remind herself several times as she could feel her blood beginning to boil.

...And then she snapped.

Letting go of his hand and coming to a stop, Vivian faced him. She perched herself on her tippy toes, hands roughly grabbing at the collar of his shirt and yanking him forward to where their faces were on a similar level, foreheads nearly pressed to one another as her fiery violet gaze bore into his own. To any who passed by...they merely looked away, probably thinking they were spying on a couple being a little bit too intimate in public. But, for Vivian, it was anything but. Her grip on his shirt tightened - trembled even, mostly out of restrained anger. "You have any clue how hard it is for me not to punch the shit out of you right now?"

She continued to glower at him, mentally contemplating how bad would it be if she just...elbowed him in the gut? Okay, okay, what if she tripped him...over the boardwalk? Despite the millions of terrible things she could do to him to make this day the worst of his life, she instead only gave a frightening glower. "You might be strong," she started, recalling her previous words towards him, "but I'm stronger," she was quick to add, making sure he understood just who was pissing off....Even if she knew she was bluffing. Not that she'd ever admit to that, of course!

"If you think you've got the balls to take me down, you better not disappoint. 'Cause you'll only get one chance to do it before I show you how strong I am."

She gave a victorious smirk, as though happy to finally get some of her usual meanness off of her chest. "You got that, old man?" 

Hard to deal with? Tch - she'd show him how 'hard to deal with' she could be, in that case. Vivian didn't bother hiding her wicked smirk and harsh laughter when the swirl of sand partially swallowed up the man, covering him, from head to two, in sand. By the time the whipped up sandstorm died down, the poor man had it everywhere - and finally, Vivian felt sweet, sweet revenge. "Now that I can barely see your face, you actually look kinda cute." She taunted, letting a hand rest on her hip - and trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of sand being in every nook and cranny of her clothing.

She had expected that to be the end of it now that he'd receive a taste of his own medicine - and she was quite looking forward to holding at least some sort of victory over him...But, of course, it wouldn't be that easy, now would it? "E-eh?" She blinked slightly as the trainer issued his eevee yet another command, and the adorable bundle of fur came bounding back over. Except, not towards Asta, but towards her. "Wait- don't you fucking dare-!" The girl tried to threaten, not keen on getting a mouthful of sand again, but, it was too late. Another torrent of sand washed over her, covering her, once again, in warm sand. She spat, trying to get the disgusting grits of the mess out of her mouth and she shook her head, trying to get the stuff out of her hair.

Fucking great - it was in her bra too.

"Damn you!" Vivian hissed, coughing slightly as she glowered daggers at...Wait - where did he..? Her eyes flickered about before landing on the man that charged towards her now, having lost sight of him in the blur of sand. Before she could possibly issue out a command to Asta, who looked quite amused at this whole thing from where he went to sit next to Fai, her stupid 'date' tripped forward, running straight into her and sending them both falling. It, thankfully, didn't hurt much due to the softness of the sand, but, they could've landed on a bed of feathers for all Vivian cared. No - she was over this.

With both of them laying on the sandy ground in a slightly...suggestive position, the laughter and even the cooing 'aws' of those looking only fueled the girl. She was going to make him pay. He wanted to play in the sand so damn bad? Then fine - they could play in the god damned sand! She scooped out a heavy amount of sand, beginning to pelt the man with it. Sure, it was a bit childish as opposed to her just...punching him or something, but, it was honestly a bit funnier, and strangely, satisfying. And, if anything, she could just give him a black eye once she was done with this or something. And so, Vivian continued to try and smear sand in his face, smirking viciously.

"Hah! Fuckin' choke on it!"