ah, just her luck. she meets another person from her past. [break][break]

abso-fucking-wonderful.[break][break]

she knows him, but only through her father (that seems to be a trend, nowadays). father never liked getting his hands dirty, and oddly enough, wasn't someone who took joy in watching the life leave ones body - or, that's wrong. he loved nothing more than watching the life leave their eyes, as they went limp from exhaustion, fatigue, struggling against the restraints and belts tying ones arms, legs and stomach down against the metal counter. [break][break]

very few people know about what her father did with victims, and bodies, but those who did know usually wouldn't approach her about her identity. so call her surprised when she realizes that a man's recognized her, from ages back. call her surprised when he confronts her, and when she reluctantly agrees to join him to pick up the trash. [break][break]

were this two years ago, she'd be panicked in her mind, wondering how he's recognized her. nowadays, she's maintaining an indifferent expression as she stabs the little pole through a can tossed on the ground. "you can say i had an epiphany." she narrows her eyes, jabbing the spike through some crumpled paper, that time "copious amount of self reflection does that."

Asahiko Hakuryuu

☉

”...As it tends to do, yes,” he murmured, flatly, while eying her for a while longer.[break][break]

Whether knowingly or absentmindedly, his eyes narrowed faintly in thought as she continued along with the specks of trash and other debris that she seemed intent upon. After several more moments, he inhaled deeply before sighing within a similar manner, gazing along the sands beneath them before taking care to skewer a smaller number of waste, himself.[break][break]

”I’m sure you’re aware I meant something a bit more in depth in terms of an answer goes, though.”

MARISOL SIMONE[break]
mission: life's a beach

☉

it never works to be vague; not with him, when he's dead set on it.[break][break]

it's a good trait, but endlessly irritating, and troublesome. she's tempted to say nothing, and tempted to leave it as is, until she skewers another can with her sharp pole. "i can't say the details are pleasant." nor something that he'll want to hear, or he'll like to hear (she knows how pitiful it might make her seem, a woman's identity cracked and crumbling at the seams). [break][break]

it's troublesome, knowing that he's so good at looking through, and looking past her stoic facade (maybe it takes one to know one she knows that's certainly the case on her part when she's seen how a part of him has been lost since the last time she's seen him). ".. i cracked, and left rocket two years ago." her jab into the can has a bit more aggression behind it "i simply took the woman i was, and i strangled her."[break][break]

such a nonchalant way for her to confess to a murder.

Asahiko Hakuryuu

☉

”...Still rather vague, but I suppose it’s better…” he hummed, glancing along the sands in her direction from the corner of his eye. He thought upon the response he’d been given before reaching over to take another piece of debris.[break][break]

He tapped his finger upon the handle of his pole idly once he’d transferred it to a bag as it floated by, eying the Kadabra that sent it over for just a moment before bringing his attention back to his partner.[break][break]

”...It’s a rather aggressive way of putting it, though.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: life's a beach

☉

"if i didn't, i wouldn't be like this." [break][break]

a simple problem pleads for a simple answer, with no tricks or twists or play on words. wendy has been long dead, and marisol has no intention to bring her back, nor restore her to her former (childish, naive, stupidly optimistic) glory disappointment. [break][break]

contempt can't even begin to describe it. [break][break]

"why?" another piece is pierced, a smile on her lips as she lets out a soft hum "is the change too jarring?" of course it was "have i changed too much?"

Asahiko Hakuryuu

☉

”...I wouldn’t quite say it’s jarring.”[break][break]

Spoken in nothing more than genuine truth, as idle and flat as his tone had always been. His gaze lingered upon her for a while longer as the smile stretched upon her lips—whether true or not—before he merely shifted his attention towards the shoreline once more.[break][break]

”...If anything, it’s a relief, to some degree,” he mused on, quirking his lip with half narrowed eyes as they scanned along the sand. ”It simply shows that you’ve grown and developed in your absence. …I’d say that’s a good thing.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: life's a beach

☉

grown? no. changed? certainly, and not for the better. [break][break]

"i think you're giving me too much praise." frost coats her fangs as the words bite the air. there was nothing good about this change. nothing good about this development. nothing good about what she's done. [break][break]

"are you sure you aren't thinking of someone else?" there's nothing good about this, marisol knows. she's stained her hands with too much blood to be redeemed. "because i wouldn't exactly call the surrender to despaira good thing."[break][break]

a dramatic telling, and the rise in a tone laced with sarcasm pushes it.

Asahiko Hakuryuu

☉

”You’ve quite the dramatic and pessimistic mindset if that’s how you’re viewing it,” he murmured, furrowing his brows.[break][break]

He watched the sands beneath his feet for a small while longer prior to shifting his attention towards his own Pokemon as they scuttled about. Bicolored hues met those of brown as a familiar, golden fox met his gaze, and though the look they shared had been silent and wordless, there seemed to be some minor conveyance as the creature floated towards him upon noting the pensive expression upon his face.[break][break]

After being nudged a couple of times, the man breathed a soft sigh, handing his bag off to the Kadabra to tend to. He returned to his thoughts as the psychic type floated away, as if to give him space.[break][break]

”Let me ask you…” he mused on, quirking his lip while finally bringing his eyes upon her once more. ”What do you think is necessary for personal development?”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: life's a beach

☉

it's realistic. [break][break]

it's what she'll tell herself. [break][break]

another jab in the same direction. the job doesn't require a lot of movement, which is good, considering their casual conversation. she never remembered him to be the talkative type, nor does her memory recall him ever being this nosy, or so willful to pry into her business. into her mistakes. [break][break]

her eyes follow the kadabra as it floats off. maybe he was starting to feel uncomfortable with the sheer amount of ghosts around her, though most of them were in their pokeballs. not much can be said about the mummy a few ways away, using her ghostly appendages to pick up the trash. [break][break]

"some degree of self-awareness." his gaze isn't returned when she pauses, shortly after the crunching and crinkling of tin. "although that's not the answer you're looking for, is it?"

Asahiko Hakuryuu

☉

”It’s one of the things I wanted to hear.”[break][break]

With a soft sigh, he narrowed his eyes towards the spaces further by his flank. He eyed a couple of seats and the like laid out—likely by the beachfront and its primary caretakers—before pacing towards them, taking a brief reprise in the form of a seat.[break][break]

”Self reflection is another thing,” he went on, ”with self-actualization being another.”[break][break]

He lifted his arm with his picker in hand, stabbing it into the sand to stand for itself before leaning forward with his hands folded betwixt the space of his knees.[break][break]

”...You’ve had ample time to do the former, but where do you think you are in terms of the latter?”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: life's a beach

☉

does she have to answer? [break][break]

"fairly far." it's a lie being spoken through peach lips. a frown is on them as she throws the collected debris into a black plastic bag. "i'd say i've grown plenty," the sun is beating down on her, she doesn't need her thoughts to start doing the same. [break][break]

"and grown into the ideals and morality i've been raised with" into the conflicting views that she's been brought up with. "even so," her lips curl into a smile "isn't self-actualization the final step to everything?" her head tilts. the beam doesn't reach her eyes. "i've plenty of time in this life."

Asahiko Hakuryuu

☉

He hummed in thought, narrowing his eyes.[break][break]

”...Yes, but in that case, let me phrase it differently.”[break][break]

He tapped his fingers against one another within their loose embrace, eventually resting his atop atop the both of them throughout the continuous guise of pensiveness directed towards none other than the nurse accompanying him.[break][break]

”You agreed. You said you felt like you’d come far.”[break][break]

He sat up a bit straighter, furrowing his brows with a faint purse of the lips.[break][break]

”If that’s true, then that implies you’re happy with who you are. …Are you happy with who you are?”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: life's a beach

☉

Are you happy with who you are?[break][break]

seven simple words that don't sit so easily. does she feel like she's accomplished anything? yes, she's accomplished much under the tutelage of her parents, but she can't say the same on her own (nursing school doesn't count, the amount of people she's saved with her knowledge doesn't count, none of it counts). [break][break]

when he looks at her, the gaze lowers as her lips press thin. the thoughts are weaving together, frayed and scattered, but attempting to form a string. "no, i'm not." it's cold and cuts through the air, but it's the truth. three words to encapsulate her response, cruel and hate-filled as they are. "i hate it, and intend to kill it." to strangle it, to hold it down by the neck as it gasps for air. she hates it. [break][break]

no need for dissection.

Asahiko Hakuryuu

☉