she doesn't mind taking a dive. in fact, she's done quite a lot of this with the family when they were all still safely living in hoenn. the problem arises when she's put between a job, and.. that. [break][break]

... that, being a man who stood tall in a suit that very much complimented his form. hell, she found it hard to look away, and would have gotten lost in a trance of admiration, had her empoleon not nudge her with a steel flipper. [break][break]

focus, daphne.[break][break]

not even his words are enough to snap her out of it, so she shakes her head gently, recounting his words then nodding her head. with that, she turns to have her back face him, golden locks tied into a braid, then hooked across the bottom of her head into a bun. "yes, please. if you don't mind."

Calix Nikolau

☉

He noted the faint daze she seemed to be in before all reason and awareness flooded back into her form and function.[break][break]

Although he would have preferred not to be so outright with it, he couldn’t help but smile widely and laugh at the sight of it all, catching it just a second too late and rubbing his chin in what could only be assumed to be both embarrassment and amusement, alike. ”Stare at me any harder and you might just burn holes right through me…” he laughed, walking over regardless. Reaching out towards the penguin by her, he gave the dual type a quick and gentle pat on the head before reaching for the zipper.[break][break]

”From what I heard, the Luvdisc shouldn’t be too far down beneath the surface,” he hummed along, gently drawing the zipper upwards while glancing over her shoulder. ”Between Gold and Euterpe, too, I’m pretty sure we’ll find them pretty quickly…”

DAPHNE STONE [break]
mission: luvdisc dive

☉

get a grip on yourself, daphne.[break][break]

you're here on a job, not to admire and gawk. it's obvious enough for him to notice your eyes, so learn to restrain yourself better - is what she's telling herself time and time again, but she finds her verdant gaze naturally gravitating back to him. it's only at his words, and another nudge from her empoleon, does she put more an effort into actively glancing away. "i-i apologize." a hand raises to cup the side of her neck, and the heat rises to her cheeks and the tips of her ears. how shameless of her. [break][break]

she'll focus more on the task at hand, and not how he's helping her with the zipper on her back. it's a blessing in disguise, rally; now he can't see the crimson hue on her cheeks (though that won't save her from the tinge over the tips of her ears). attempting to turn her attention away, she narrows her eyes and ponders over the luvdisc. "at worst, they're trapped at the ocean floor." when he finishes with the zipper, she pulls out a pokeball to call out a kingdra, who floats suspended over land. ".. mmn. three water types should make this a swift recovery~."

Calix Nikolau

☉

”Don’t worry about it,” he laughed, ensuring the zipper was pulled as far up as it could be before gently patting her shoulders, signaling that he was done. ”It’s honestly flattering, if anything. Just a compliment and nothing more~.”[break][break]

His gaze shifted towards the tips of her ears, and although he nodded the reddened hues almost immediately, he merely masked the knowledge beneath a smile as he watched the Pokeball fly out, waving at the sea dragon in greeting before reaching over for the remainder of his masks and gear. ”I’ll go ahead and scout first, then~,” he said, briefly adjusting the goggles hooked firmly over his face as he tossed a Pokeball of his own out, catching it as it bounced back and released a certain, pink nosed water type into the water. Soon after appearing, she gave a couple of chirps before diving down with her trainer in tow, briefly glancing over his shoulder as he briefly sat upon the edge of the boat.[break][break]

”Meet you down there~,” had been his last choice of words before he dropped down, breaking through the surface and promptly following after his Pokemon.

DAPHNE STONE [break]
mission: luvdisc dive

☉

god have mercy.[break][break]

he's kind enough to.. at least put her at ease. so she smiles, slightly, at his response, and turns her attention back to the empoleon and kingdra who both take it upon themselves to drop into the water first. both pokemon gaze up at the trainer, who tugs her own headwear over her face and starts to walk until she drops into the water. [break][break]

she's not the best swimmer, but her kingdra leads the way as she keeps a holds the hard tuts that come from the penguin's neck, back stomach against the back of the pokemon as they navigate through the waters - though the deeper they go, the darker it gets - until the kingdra comes to a stop over what.. looked to be rocs collapsed over an underwater cave. "test" she speaks into the communication device put in their headgear "can you hear me? i think.. my pokemon found something?"

Calix Nikolau

☉

He swam after his own water type to begin with, vigilantly peering throughout the waters and taking care to shine his light along the surroundings as he reached further depths and encountered other structures and the like. His gaze shifted towards the surface at the muffled sound of his companion and her Pokemon descending, and as he heard her voice and what she had to say, he trailed his gaze after her and gave a call to his Pokemon before beginning to swim over.[break][break]

”Here ya loud and clear~,” he hummed, quickly beginning to make his way towards the area pointed out to him. He looked around for her Pokemon to begin with, and soon after, descended upon the aforementioned rubble. Reaching forward, he gently and carefully examined the cracks and crevices before pausing at the faint sight of pink.[break][break]

”Ah, yeah— I think I found one right here…! Look around the cracks! If one of your Pokemon can blow the rubble away, too, then all the better.”

DAPHNE STONE [break]
mission: luvdisc dive

☉

"mmn.." she hums in response, though only needing to point at the rubble for the two, larger water pokemon to understand. at the gesture, both empoleon and kingdra rev up a HYDRO PUMP with beak and spout respectively, then shooting the powerful jet of water at the fallen rubble. it's enough to blow the rocks away from the opening, revealing a small school of luvdisc, huddled and frightened in the dark. [break][break]

"it looks like they really were stu-- whoa!" she's cut off by the luvdisc swimming up at her, and right past her, with daphne raising her arms to try and shield her from the flying fish. they seemed happy, being able to come free from the little hole they were trapped it. [break][break]

"there's-- there's quite a lot of them i--" she's careful, clinging onto her empoleon in an attempt to keep herself from being swept away with the group.

Calix Nikolau

☉

Ah, well, that was easier than he thought it’d be.[break][break]

After calling out, he’d glanced over to catch her reactions, and upon noting the commands she gave to her own Pokemon, he took care to take himself and his own companion further away from the rubble for safety’s sake. With several broad, strengthened strokes through the water, he swam over to meet her some ways away, turning slightly to look just in time for the rubble to be blasted away, holding a hand up to wave the bubbles formed from the impact away from his face in attempt to keep a visual.[break][break]

Following that, he gazed about the waters with a content hum (though not without taking care to reach out in attempt to help her as the swarm rushed out, all while returning his own Pokemon to her capsule, momentarily, for her own safety) once the closer vicinity was clear. He looked over his shoulder to eye the numerous water types as they swam further off.[break][break]

”Huh. …That took a lot less time and effort than I expected~.” He turned his head, eying her before peering back towards the bottom of the boat in the distance, speckled darkly and faintly against the sunlight far above. ”Guess all that’s left is to go back and report, now, yeah~?”

DAPHNE STONE [break]
mission: luvdisc dive

☉

as the swarm dies down, her pokemon find it safe enough to return to the trainer - who finds herself pulled, closer than probably intended - to calix. she doesn't know when, but maybe she's absentmindedly tugged herself closer to him, clinging on, thinking that he was her empoleon (it's shameful and embarrassing to admit, but he was built well enough for her to make the mistake). [break][break]

"a-ah.. yes.." she's kept herself close, but once again, snaps herself out with the slight nudge of her empoleon, who gives her an unamused, narrow of his eyes as the kingdra swims not too far ahead to scout the way. thank god the gear covered enough of her face, and it was dark enough down here. [break][break]

and so the empoleon has both trainer and companion hold onto him, guiding the two divers up to surface, with a small luvdisc scale between the woman's fingers.

Calix Nikolau

☉