[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]"thank you," she murmurs, stepping closer to take the water bottle from his grasp. she flashes a warm smile before her eyes drift toward cornstalks.

there's too much to cover from just the ground, really.

behind her, a flygon watches with, perhaps, an overprotective stare. her tail swishes slightly, careful to not smack the foliage.

"might be quicker to look from above first," she turns toward him, then. "we'll be out here for the whole day otherwise." unless he'd prefer that. who knows?

MATIAS SILPH
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"is that a bad thing?"

probably, because they both have lives to live and other things to do. but the thought of spending the entire day with her isn't as bad as it sounds.

he smiles, doing a quick swaperoo before his charizard appears.

"i'll follow your lead."

illeana reyes
mission!

☉

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]the question makes her stop, pause, consider. and then, an almost knowing smile rises. it had, truthfully, been along the lines of something she wanted to hear.

"no," she murmurs. "not at all."

she turns, then, to drift to her flygon. the dragon lets out a soft rumble from deep within its throat, growing louder when she raises a hand and runs fingers along scales. she'll climb onto adyta's back in one fluid motion, a stark contrast from her first time riding a dragon. the memory is still fond.

"ready?" she looks over her shoulder toward him, a wide grin beginning to take hold.

MATIAS SILPH
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just like her, he climbs onto his charizard's back in one fluid motion, clearly familiar with this sort of thing. he gives his charizard a good pat on its neck before looking back over at illie.

"ready."

and just before she does, he takes off into the air, spiraling up and up and up.

illeana reyes
mission!

☉

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]her grin is wide, bright, warm. she nods once in response and her flygon begins to shift beneath her. and yet, before wings can begin to flap, matias is already off.

he flies up in a spiral and she's fighting off the scowl that wants to rise. how rude.

turns out, her flygon is just a bit competitive. the dragon huffs in irritation and takes off without hesitation. they catch up relatively quickly, adyta being the more agile flier of her two flygons. and when they do, illeana's almost smug when she looks over to matias.

"gonna keep doing spirals or are you gonna look?" she quips with a laugh, wind gently billowing through her hair.

from this height, they could probably see the whole field of crops. she's guiding her flygon a little lower with a gentle tap of her fingers into the dragon's left side. and once they're at a comfortable height, the scientist begins sweeping her gaze across the field below.

of course, knowing her luck, it won't be this easy.

MATIAS SILPH
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his charizard is equally competitive, and it's also a bit of a show-off, hence the spirals. when they finally level high up in the air, he's chuckling, peering over at illie atop her flygon as they join them.

"took you long enough to catch up."

smug, just like her.

but his gaze shifts away, sweeping across the fields below. he doesn't see anything out of the ordinary yet, but it's a large field, and they've got a ton of ground to cover.

illeana reyes
mission!

☉

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]she rolls her eyes, moving to stick her tongue out at him before getting back to the task at hand.

so far, there's nothing of great importance... ah, wait!

she spots an odd sort of... charred stalks? is that a symbol?

her flygon drifts closer and illeana, despite probably knowing better, leans over the side of her flygon to get a closer look.

unfortunately for all parties involved, the incoming flock of unfezant do not enter her line of sight until it's too late...

her flygon tries to right itself but it does little to help a now falling illeana. the scientist screams as her body plummets, the dragon rushing after her with little arms outstretched.

fucking birds.

MATIAS SILPH
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goodbye, illeana.

matias turns and leaves.

jk!

"shit—"

charizard immediately tucks its wings in as they dive down, following after her. thankfully, charizard's weight proves to be the difference as they spiral down at a much faster rate.

soon, charizard's closing in on illie, and matias reaches a hand out for her.

illeana reyes
mission!

☉

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]simply :sparkles: perish :sparkles:

jk!

his charizard beats her flygon to the punch, pulling ahead of the dragon just as stalks on the ground get closer and closer. she's struggling to not flail now, limbs beginning to grow frantic. god, is she gonna become a pancake?

she sees matias pop into her line of sight first, his charizard and her flygon becoming faces in the background. and when his hand stretches out, she's putting all of her strength into lunging for it.

fingers wrap, lace, and grip a little too tight for comfort, her body now dangling. her flygon rushes to catch up.

MATIAS SILPH
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if there's one thing matias learned from watching the amazing spiderman two (spoilers alert), it's to not simply tug her back up. instead, they level into a glide, allowing her flygon to catch up before he lowers her onto her dragon, safe and sound.

a dangerous situation now defused, he grins, looking over at her as they continue flying.

"watch where you're going!"

illeana reyes
mission!

☉

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]her hips settle smoothly onto the back of her flygon and a relieved sigh flutters out.

and as they continue flying as if she didn't just almost pancake on the ground, she glances toward him. her grip is now tighter than it was, thighs squeezed to stay put. no more leaning over for illeana. nope, not today.

she rolls her eyes. a grin rises anyway.

"not my fault those birds wanted to kill me."

a pause and she shifts gears, dipping her head in gratitude.

"thank you for not letting me fall, by the way."

MATIAS SILPH
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"of course."

his head dips in return, but a chuckle soon escapes.

"the paperwork would be horrendous."

he winks, then turns his gaze down to the field below. an odd patch of land exists, and it's there that he tugs his charizard towards.

illeana reyes
mission!

☉

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]right, paperwork. a scoff escapes.

not like her dying wouldn't have sucked or anything?

"insufferable," she mumbles.

his charizard dips and her flygon follows. they drift apart, illeana preferring to gaze from a different angle. she takes the left where he takes the right.

"it looks a little familiar."

the symbol itself itches at her brain and not in a good way. irritation slowly settles between bones until it bleeds into facial structure. whatever piece she's missing from this puzzle, she looks to him to help find.

MATIAS SILPH
mission