A Complex Plan That Requires Precise Timing (Lay the Very Best - Chapter 433)

Morgan clapped her hands once, hard enough to make a little gust ripple through the nest of cushions and ruffle everyone's hair.

"Alright, alright, calm your libidos for five minutes," she said, wings flaring just enough to make her point. "We're planning a heist, not hosting an orgy."

"Why not both?" Sparky mumbled, sprawled in a lazy sprawl of pillows with her head in Calcine's lap. The Rock-type's stony fingers were combing through her hair, setting off tiny sparks that danced and popped in the air. "Seems like we've got too many hot people here to waste it."

"She's not wrong," Heatstroke said, lounging back on Hustle. The Salazzle's black scales gleamed like glass, her tail flicking with lazy satisfaction. "Hustle's got plenty of energy to spare."

Hustle grinned beneath her tilted hat, looping a thick arm around Heatstroke's waist to pull her close. "I am not the insatiable one of this pair," she said, voice low and husky. "But I put in the effort for you."

Heatstroke's tongue flicked out, tracing a slow, deliberate line along Hustle's jaw. "I'm the good looks," she murmured, smoke curling from her lips. "You're the muscle, and you satiate me plenty."

Morgan pinched the bridge of her nose. "Brandy, a little help?"

Brandy froze, caught mid-mime halfway across the cushion pile, hands still making exaggerated grabby motions at imaginary fox ears.

Elira raised an eyebrow, tail flicking with quiet amusement. She wasn't about to save her.

Brandy straightened up fast, trying to look like she hadn't just been caught flirting with the new foxlike Pokémon she'd been introduced to. She crossed her arms, cleared her throat, and puffed out her chest.

"Heists," Brandy said confidently.

"What about them, Brandy?" Morgan asked, slowly raising a pillow. Brandy knew that was a loaded warning. "They don't seem interested."

Asking for help, then punishing her for trying, the nerve of this bird. Well, if that was how she wanted to play, Brandy could bend the rules.

"I'm an expert at heists," Brandy said, rising and sauntering through the scatter of cushions. Her hips rolled with deliberate sway; the murmuring room stilled as heads turned to follow her.

Morgan tried not to watch, but her eyes betrayed her. She had a weakness for wide hips, and Brandy's were practically weaponized.

"Brandy," she said, voice steady but feathers fluffing despite herself. "You've never done a heist in your life."

Brandy didn't slow. She came close enough that Morgan's thighs brushed hers, then tipped up Morgan's witch hat with one teasing finger so she could meet her eyes.

"My parents were obsessed with heist movies," Brandy said, tone low and confident. "I've seen them all. The good ones aren't just about stealing things…"

Her hand slid along the base of Morgan's wing, tracing the joint and making Morgan shiver at the careful touch. "They're about getting inside where people feel safest and stealing something precious before they even realize they've given it up."

Morgan's grip tightened on the pillow. "You're just trying to distract me," she said carefully, as if saying it out loud might weaken the effect.

Brandy only smiled in response. Her fingers dipped lower through the feathers, brushing the soft fuzz underneath. Morgan's breath hitched sharply.

Morgan tried to glare, but Brandy's red eyes held fast, full of playful challenge. She didn't need to push harder; Morgan's will faltered all on its own.

"Charmer," Morgan sighed, quieter now, wings twitching under Brandy's touch. "You've gotten better at that than we give you credit for."

Brandy's breath ghosted against her ear. "Guess you'll all have to start giving me credit, then."

Morgan exhaled slowly, lowering the pillow in defeat. The fight was gone in her face, replaced by something that might just be a bit of admiration.

Brandy felt she'd earned that, so she had no shame in feeling good about it.

"Is everyone paying attention now?" Morgan said, wings folding around Brandy's waist.

"I was already paying attention to you both," Elira said serenely. "This is just some delicious cherries on top of the sundae."

"I'll pay attention if Brandy keeps touching you," Heatstroke said, and most of the room nodded like that was a perfectly fair trade. Even Dani, drowsy in Calcine's arms, mumbled agreement.

"Elira?" Morgan asked weakly. "Common sense, please?"

"It'll encourage you to keep it short," the fox whose ears Brandy was going to munch before this heist was over murmured, "I'll fill in any gaps if you get too distracted."

"Go on, then," Brandy said, voice honey-smooth. "I'll keep the focus on you, Morgan. Explain the plan."

"This is the team I chose." Morgan shook her head. "I pay for my mistakes. Alright, the heist is tomorrow. We're sleeping here tonight. Brandy's parents, Wren, Maple, and a few others arrive in the morning. I'll brief them separately."

"Why?" Sparky asked, all four arms waving for attention. "Can't handle a room full of ladies?"

Morgan stiffened as Brandy slowly ground her thigh between her legs, just enough to make her voice catch.

"Even if I could," Morgan said tightly, "Elira made a good point."

Elira inclined her head. "Morgan told me you saw a Gardevoir at the Casino. If there is one, she'll be able to read your minds. Splitting the plan means she can't get it all at once. Morgan and I are the only ones who know the full thing. Dark Types are hard for Psychics to read, and I can handle any upstart Psychic in my city."

Heatstroke raised her tail lazily. "Hate to tangent twice, but what do you mean if there's a Gardevoir? Either she's there or she isn't."

Morgan turned her head and pressed a kiss under Brandy's chin, then tipped her face back up with a firm push. "Brandy, why do you think she said that?"

Brandy blinked. There was a Gardevoir, sure, but the last time they'd been there, they'd put the heat on Vivienne, and the Casino had briefly glitched like Odile's arcade. Someone had blurred reality.

"They've got an illusionist," Brandy said slowly. "And if it's the Dark gym-"

"Then it's probably a Zorua," Morgan finished. "Good girl."

Brandy's lips parted in a smile. She pressed closer, chests flush, eyes burning. "Say that again."

"Earn it," Morgan snapped, feathers ruffling. "We know two of Delia's Pokémon: Vivi, my old gangmate, a cocky Honchkrow who I'm eager to pluck, and either a Zorua or Zoroark. One of the best illusionists outside the Legendaries."

"Ohhh," Sparky said, clapping. "That's why the tokens have a red flame and a feather! Zorua's hair looks like fire, right?"

"That's right," Morgan said. "I suspected the moment I saw it. I just had to confirm it."

"No, you didn't, you worked it out later." Sparky snorted.

Morgan shrugged and didn't admit a thing. "It's still impressive you worked that out, Sparky."

"Nice. Call me a good girl."

"Never happening."

Sparky blew a raspberry, but Morgan ignored her. Brandy bit into her lip as a tiny punishment for being mean to the bug, and Morgan had to pull her lip back, breath shivering.

"This heist would be impossible normally. Elira has Future Sight," Morgan said quickly before Brandy could do anything else. "She's looked ahead for us."

"You fail the heist when you try it," Elira said cheerfully, pressing a paw to her chest as her eyes glowed a bright pink. "Sorry. But the good news? Future Sight isn't immutable. I can only see the future without my interference, and I intend to interfere."

"So why do we fail?" Brandy asked. "We're bringing a lot of people."

"You cause quite a scene, but Vivienne was expecting it, and Delia is far more capable of handling chaos than you'd think. They keep you from ever finding out their secrets, and slowly wear you all down with illusions and games."

Calcine rumbled out a laugh as she petted Sparky and Dani's heads. "You're saying our issue was we didn't cause enough of a scene?"

"Correct."

"Even with my parents there?" Brandy frowned. "That can't be right, they're nightmares."

Elira flicked her tail and put her hands behind her back. "Vivienne has some nightmares of her own. Which I can't tell you about."

"Because they could read our minds?"

"Because they could read your minds." Elira nodded. "For this plan, you're going to need to pull off three different things. I can give each group my best guess at how to achieve their part."

Brandy tried not to show the panic on her face. It wouldn't look good to the others. But she had seen a lot of heist movies, and if there was one thing she knew about heists for sure, having a complicated plan with multiple parts was a sure-fire way for everything to go wrong.

Maybe it wouldn't be like the movies? Brandy listened in carefully, just in case she needed to read between the lines later and try to pull victory from a messy disaster.

That was their usual way of winning a gym anyway, so at least they had experience doing that.