it was bright. [break][break]

blindingly so, and a dulled, violet gaze squints at the endless expanse of blue. there's no need for her to go under the water, as she has her own corsola (a variation of it, white and ghostly, yet still a corsola as far as she can tell) splash into the unfamiliar waters. last she checked, the white ghost pokemon was able to navigate fairly well, although it wasn't all too happy to be poked at y the other pink pokemon. [break][break]

a single gaze maintains itself upon the sparkling surface of the water, and the ocean breeze blowing feels soothing. she's never been so far out at sea, and thinks that maybe she can get used to the water that chills her fingertips as she leans over to curiously dip them into the water, breaking the surface. [break][break]

"... no," slightly damp fingers rise from the water, back onto the boat, and she flicks them slightly, hoping to rid of any excess droplets "i think that this is my first time out on a boat, too." her gaze moves to the little speck of white beneath the water's surface. a small smile comes to her lips. [break][break]

"it's refreshing, though."

Leonidas Stone

☉

”It always is, in my opinion~.”[break][break]

With a broadening grin, the man inhaled deeply while beginning to shift within his seat; the musk of the sea clocking clear within his senses as he settled and pressed his back against the inner linings of the boat, once more. Lifting his arms against the edge of the boat behind him, he crossed his legs before opening his eyes once more to gaze upon the distant hues of blue and white far above them in absentminded admiration.[break][break]

”Should see if you could at least take a sail or two more in your life. It really is a nice experience~.” His head tilted down in order to gaze upon the Corsola once more as they passed through (all while keeping a careful eye for the predators they were there to keep tabs on, of course) before faintly shifting his gaze upon the woman accompanying him again. ”Lots of people get antsy with the ocean, whether it be ‘cause of seasickness, or just a fear of what’s out here. …Being able to just take it all in on your own is a really tranquil experience I’d recommend to everyone, though~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

marisol never went out, much. [break][break]

and watching the water up close (and not behind a screen) is still a little foreign to her. at his words, she merely takes another gander through the sparkles created by the rippling waters upon the horizon. it only smells slightly salty, but the air is generally fresher. her lips curl into a slight smile as her eyes lower again, looking past the reflection and into the depths of the water where her corsola sticks out like a sore thumb. [break][break]

"maybe, if my nursing work doesn't keep me too busy." a hand raises to the patch kept over her left eye, fingers prying beneath it to tug the white string away. dual coloured hues of dulled violet and grey-blue pensively eye the water. "... i'd like floating on my back in the water, more." she reaches over to dip her fingers again "something like.. losing myself to the waves, even if it might be a little dangerous with all the pokemon swimming about."

Leonidas Stone

☉

”You say that like you wouldn’t be able to do that right now~.” Leisurely, hues of strayed far towards the schools of Corsola for yet another time, and then towards the horizon line further within the distance. Within an absentminded manner, he briefly eyed the shimmering whites within the outer reaches of his line of sight before closing his eyes again. ”We may be here on a mission, but at the same time, you may as well just enjoy the experience for what it is, otherwise.”[break][break]

With a deep sigh, he began to hum softly, sinking further into the smaller bench he sat upon, all while tapping his fingers lightly against the outer form of the boat.[break][break]

”It might be easier to spy any approaching Pokemon that way, anyways,” he mused in addition soon after. ”If you need a moment to change into your gear, I could just turn away for however long.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

she's about to say that they're on a mission, he shoots it down before it can even leave her lips. "i--" she starts, turning her gaze back to him, who seemed to be more taken by the pokemon and the sea. "i'd.. rather not." she narrows her eyes, leaning into the bench across from him. her gaze falls to the suits that are folded up next to them, but she shakes her head, as though to reaffirm her stance. [break][break]

"i.. guess i won't really have a chance otherwise?" .. how does she say it made her feel exposed? even though it's literally laying in a star position in the water. so instead, she grumbles and raises a hand to gently ruffle the bundle of bangs that cover the greyish eye. [break][break]

she hums, then she sighs. [break][break]

then she leans over, picking a suit up with a defeated smile to her lips saying "don't look, okay?" she removes the suit from the pack, unravelling it as she puts the patch down next to her in the seat "i'll dunk us both in the water if i catch you~."

Leonidas Stone

☉

By the time she’d said and threatened as much, he’d already been seconds into a hum, flicking his wrist softly as if wordlessly saying, ’Go, go,’ before chuckling and actually voicing himself, going, ”Of course, of course,” and simply allowing himself to hang slightly against his side of the boat.[break][break]

He watched the rippling blues beneath and before him all the while, resting his cheek against his shoulder as he leaned limply against the form of the boat. Before long, he shifted his hand over in favor of dipping it into the waters with a soft hum, running his fingers to and fro within a leisurely manner.[break][break]

”Just to make sure, though, you are able to swim, right?” he mused, quirking his lip in amusement to none other than himself. ”I’m just saying, aside from my Garchomp and I, I don’t really have any strong swimmers to save you if needed~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

seeing him casually wave his hand and turn his head puts a small smile on her face, slightly out of appreciation, mostly out of amusement. she thankfully makes somewhat quick work of her clothing, and changing into the wetsuit (considering that all she was wearing was a t-shirt and a pair of shorts for the warm weather), although she does have to move just a little bit while putting the suit on properly, and it rocks the boat a little. [break][break]

and when it does, she quite literally freezes until the boat stabilizes, and she goes back to rocking it very slightly as she tries to get her legs through the damn thing. "mm.." she hums, slipping her arms through ".. it should be okay as long as i hold onto the edge of the boat?" she tilts her head, bunching her hair so it's not caught under the fabric. [break][break]

it's form fitting, and makes her feel a tad awkward since it's so skin-tight. ".. one sec." she sighs, grunting softly as she tries to reach for the zipper. "just-- mm... one.. sec..!"[break][break]

curse you, zipper.

Leonidas Stone

☉

Ah, the sounds of a struggle.[break]
Delicious.[break][break]

As the boat began to rock to and fro, the man merely wove his fingers through the waters surrounding them within a continuous manner, closing his eyes with an idle smile of amusement. He was a man of his word, after all— and even then, he had full faith that she would be able to tackle the task of sealing a zipper on her own. She was smart enough to have an interest in various sciences, after all.[break][break]

It’d just be plain embarrassing for her to be foiled by an inanimate object.[break][break]

”You can do it~,” he hummed, his smile broadening faintly to none other than himself. Hazel hues opened once more to gaze upon the passing, rippling waters and lighter waves. ”Don’t freak out over it too much, though. If you somehow make the boat tip over, you’re gonna be the one that does the explaining.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

though she's smart enough to easily have a doctorate or two under her belt, that changes nothing about the zipper, nor does it diminish her struggle, thank you very much. [break][break]

with her hands behind the back, she tries to pinch the zipper together so it's at least easier to tug it up. unfortunately, arms don't work that way, and she can only barely reach the dangling piece of plastic (metal?) that taunts her so, just sitting there on her upper back. "and yet here i am, on the verge of throwing a riot." she scoffs, slightly, tilting and arching her back. maybe if she plays with angles enough, she'll actually be able to reach the damn thing. [break][break]

curse you, human anatomy. [break][break]

"i'd like to see you try to tug a zipper that's just out of reach." she sighs, parting her hair from behind to have ashen-blue locks rest over her shoulders. "the suit is on me, and i'd appreciate some kind of help?" a leg rests over the other, and she leans her elbow against her knee "before i try to figure out new ways the human body can move to reach the bloody top of my back."

Leonidas Stone

☉

”Yes, well, that’s exactly why wetsuit zippers go down instead of up~.”[break][break]

Such a matter-of-factly tone— and not without a broadened smile of amusement as he continuously gazed upon the waters, nonetheless. With a wistful and ambling sigh, he rested his cheek against his shoulder with a hum, shutting his eyes again as the sun shone down upon his face.[break][break]

”Tug the suit as far up as possible. Take the zipper leash—because if you use your eyes instead of flailing, brainiac, you’ll see the zipper head should have one—and just…pull it down once you join the zipper head to the actual zipper on top~.”[break][break]

He opened his eyes yet again, glancing vaguely towards the waters closest to the edge of the boat.[break][break]

”Not rocket science. Not hard,” he hummed. ”Literally just the same thing, but just…in a different direction. Leash is there to help. If it wasn’t possible to do it yourself, they would’ve designed the suit differently~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

"riots are being thrown, i hope you know that." [break][break]

she sighs, straightening her back as she attempts to grab onto what was supposed to be a longer piece - the leash that he was talking about, though it was still short enough to be annoying - and she can finally tug it up properly. she'd be relieved if it weren't for how tight the wet suit felt. at least she can breathe in it. "so you say, but apparently not all wet suits were manufactured the same" her eyes narrow, and she shakes her head. "i heard from somewhere that the zipper was in the front" she groans, lifting herself on the boat to slowly dip her foot into the surface of water "needless to say, i feel cheated." [break][break]

the words are followed by a soft 'splash' into the water, and gravity is cruel enough to dunk her underneath a little while until she surfaces back up, properly, thanks to her fingers clinging onto the edge of the boat for dear life. her other arm raises up, holding close to her body, and she narrows her eyes down to the corsola below.[break][break]

and after a bit of gandering, she opts to gather the floating locks of ashen hair to rest against her shoulder, lest they spread out over the surface of the water and obscure their vision. "cold--" she curls into herself shortly afterwards "jumping in all at once was a mistake--"

Leonidas Stone

☉

”Aaaand yet, you did it all by yourself— riots be damned~.”[break][break]

After what had more or less felt to be a smaller eternity, the man inhaled deeply before quickly and comfortably breathing the breath back out, a smile lingering upon his lips as he shifted himself around. Shaking his hand free of the remaining specks of water that clung upon it, he rested his back against the bench, once more, eying over the edge of the boat opposing him and into the waters.[break][break]

After some thought, he leaned across the way to take a seat closer to where she was, leaning an elbow against the edge beside him and leaning his head against his knuckles with an idle amusement.[break][break]

”Did a lot more complaining than problem solving, though— I’ll be honest about that~...” he hummed, eying down at her fingers as they clasped the boat. He blinked, furrowing a brow. ”...Aside from that, though, you…can swim, right?”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

her response to his amusement is spite, although that feeling doesn't exactly take her anywhere.[break][break]

eyes narrow beneath messy, damp bangs. at his words, she only grips the side of the boat a little more tightly, with her legs calmly.. flailing a little, underneath. she can tread, at least. slowly, she moves to raise her other hand, clasping on the side of the boat (like her life depends on it, because it most likely does). [break][break]

"see, that's the funny part.." she tilts her head, though this time purposely to avoid making eye contact with a man's gaze "... no, i can't. i don't know how to swim." hence why she lets go to very gently knock on the wood of their boat "like i said before," she starts, lips curling into a small smile "it should be okay so long as i hold onto the edge of the boat?~"

Leonidas Stone

☉