”Uh huh. Yeah. Say ‘oops’ again when you end up drowning. Man~...”[break][break]

Another sigh of exasperation left his lips as he shook his head, briefly shutting his eyes and rubbing his face while lowering himself back down upon the bench by him. Stretching an arm across the edge of the boat, he crossed his legs while allowing himself to lounge back with a softened, secondary sigh of what seemed to be relaxation, that time around.[break][break]

”Nurse or not, again, a big part of your job is to be safe.” He clicked his tongue in faux disapproval and disappointment, glancing over his shoulder towards her, and then towards the waters. ”If a nurse can’t take care and caution, then damn— the rest of us probably have no chance whatsoever~...”[break][break]

His eyes trailed further along the water’s surface, eventually settling upon what seemed to be a blur traversing some ways beneath. It seemed to be a decent distance away from the flock, in any case, but he paid it little mind.[break][break]

He knew it wouldn’t be too detrimental, in any case.

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

one hand on the edge of the boat, the other holding onto the top collar of the life vest to keep herself afloat. even though the waves are pushing her, she should be okay - so long as the boat stays where it is. and nothing tries to come up at her. that would be pleasant, too. [break][break]

"here, let me correct myself, then" she clears her throat, feigning the matter-of-fact tone that he's probably very much familiar with "a nurse in training~" another chuckle from her lips, slowly starting to lean and lounge back into the water, as well. just so she can take a little break - and she doesn't have to worry about sinking with the life vest on. [break][break]

".. on another note" she sighs, head leaned back into the water to stare up at the clouds, that time around "the water's still cold but.. this isn't too bad."

Leonidas Stone

☉

”Yeah? That so?” he snickered softly, leaning his head along to rest his jaw against the rise of his shoulder yet again. His eyes continuously trailed after the blur in the distance before settling upon the woman as she began to seek comfort within herself. ”I mean…blatant disregard for your own safety aside, it is pretty nice, right~?”[break][break]

His eyes shifted into the distance for yet another time as a figure broke the surface of the water, sending several smaller waves careening along the water’s surface in ripples. Despite the suddenness, he merely eyed it with a lazy demeanor as the sight of a Gyrados breaching the surface registered within his senses.[break][break]

He hummed as it roared, seemingly sending what seemed to be a familiar looking fin jetting far away from where they resided as the Corsola continued along their own ways.[break][break]

”...I’d recommend learning how to swim sometime,” he added in addition, only shifting his attention away from the distant fin once it became little more than speck within his sight. ”The ocean’s scary at first, but it’s beautiful. …It’s fun to just kick back and explore every so often~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

ah, we'll pretend that he didn't say that. safety for herself was never something high up on her priorities, anyways. what was higher up in them, though, was the view of the clouds aimlessly drifting ahead, all as her body rocks and raises with the waves that so carefully carry her. a deep breath, and the scent of the sea fills her nose, then she exhales and gradually falls deeper into her lull. [break][break]

"mhm... how do i put this?" she mulls it over, closing her eyes slightly. her chest raises and falls as her fingers gently graze along the surface of the water ".. this feels familiar." and she wears a smile, leaned back against the water and the life vest. curious, isn't it? how something she's never experienced could be comforting or familiar. she chuckles at her own words "a shame that i can't really say how something i've experienced for the first time feels nostalgic~." or rather, maybe she does, to some degree. it's the comfort that feels familiar, and the chill of the water is an afterthought. [break][break]

she would have kept floating idly there, until she hears the sudden burst of water from a gyrados breaking the surface. whereas her friend here was unfazed, her reaction was to suddenly flail and gasp from the shock, legs back under water, and the sudden struggle makes her all the more damper. she has to raise a hand to hold over where her heart was as she lets the.. harmless gyrados process. [break][break]

when it's calm, she narrows her eyes, then slowly tries once again to lean back into a resting position. "me? scared?" she nearly scoffs at the notion. like sh wasn't startled just a moment ago.[break][break]

"perish the thought."

Leonidas Stone

☉

With a thoughtful hum being his initial response to her prior speech, he soon stared at her again, though less in concerned disbelief that time, once the shock had settled.[break][break]

”Uh huh. Says every person that’s gotten scared shitless~.”[break][break]

A chuckle left his lips as he eyed the Gyarados from afar, from the moment it submerged itself once more, to the moments it sped beneath the ripples within a blur, and then the one in which it broke the surface once more. He craned his head up and over the boat a little bit, giving a smaller, almost growling grumble as he nudged what would then be clearly seen to be his trainer.[break][break]

The smile upon said trainer’s lips broadened as he reached a hand out, gently one of the beast’s monstrous cheeks.[break][break]

”Good job, Pisces,” he hummed, pulling his hand back. ”Just protect us a little while longer~. I’ll get you a treat for your hard work after we’re done, just like I promised.”[break][break]

Another roar before the serpent vanished beneath the water’s surface once more, leaving the Stone, himself, to lazily gaze over his shoulder for yet another time.[break][break]

”...He’s actually really gentle once you get to know him~,” he mused on, raising a brow towards the floating nurse by him. ”Cross my heart. Only a threat if you make yourself a threat~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

"i. was not. scared~." she cracks an eye open, and she'd say it again, because she wasn't. startled, maybe, but she wasn't scared. certainly, she wouldn't be terrified of.. the depths below. "laughing at my misery, some acquaintance i have~.." she sighs, and closes her eyes again. what a person to know, someone who has zero faith in her courage (although it's valid and expected, considering who she once was. though bravadoes and shows and fronts can be put up, it was also so difficult trying to beat and kill off the woman she once was). [break][break]

though she isn't looking at the gyrados who cranes his head over the boat, hearing the low growl is enough to put a small, and brief, smile to her lips. she's blind to their exchange, although listening to it can give her a good idea of the attitude. enough to make her smile to herself, let it be in amusement or at the sentiment. when the serpent returns under the water, marisol hums softly. she lets her body float across the water, once again. "... i don't doubt that." the salty air from the sea fills her lungs "although it could be bias~" a small smirk cracks her lips "he sounds taken to you."

Leonidas Stone

☉

”Mmn... I guess you could say that, yeah~.” Another chuckle escaped his lips as he gazed past the one who’d spoken, instead peering beneath the water’s surface once more within the unseen trail that the aforementioned Pokemon had left within his midst. ”He’s been with me for a while, after all— back when he was still a Magikarp~.”[break][break]

He smiled at the memory, breathing a soft, absentminded sigh under his breath upon remembrances long passed. Though he knew that those of his specimen—his current specimen, that was—had been far from new or unseen within the world, he would have lied if he claimed to know many that had enough patience to nurture such a feeble fish to its full potential.[break][break]

He knew the rage that his own Pokemon was capable of.[break]
He always figured that it was the kindness that earned him the reprise.[break][break]

”..I definitely assure you, though,” he continued on, closing his eyes to bask within the sunlight shining down, ”that it’s not just the bias~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

and as she lays there, listening to his words, she lets out a soft sigh, paired with a hum of pensiveness. [break][break]

"ah, that would explain it~.." she says, though with time, the disingenuous smile shrinks as her eyes scan the clouds that so slowly move. just as calmly as the waves. "i guess i'll take your word for it. a sweetheart gyrados~" not something that she hasn't seen before, anyways. they're like.. giant dogs. giant, serpentine, dangerous dogs. [break][break]

memories of a day past fill her head; memories that she thought she's trampled over, and locked away into the abyss. memories that she would rather not swell on, and yet-- [break][break]

".. i'm a little envious." her voice is soft, and she hopes that the calm waves can cover up what she says (it doesn't).

Leonidas Stone

☉

Regardless of whether or not the words she’d spoken had been genuine, or whether they had simply been spoken as a means of conversation and to play along, the Stone merely gave a soft nod as he continuously leaned back against the inner makings of the boat. The tips of his fingers danced upon the distant makes of plastic and other material composing the parts in which his arm dwelled upon, and before long, he opened his eyes, narrowly, to gaze upon the hues of blues the like lingering far above.[break][break]

And then he noted the quieter words amidst the waves.[break][break]

He thought for a bit. He hummed. ”...Envious for a specific reason~?” he asked idly, raising a brow as he lounged back.

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

"nothing important." [break][break]

it's not a lie; the person she used to be is irrelevant. hell, she wasn't even supposed to speak her mind. maybe it's the soothing waves getting to her. she chuckles, though it's in disbelief with herself. a moment passes with her silence and she tilts her head, slightly, though careful as to not let her eye be touched by the salt of the sea. [break][break]

she can't see the corsola, but she imagines that she's being anxious, and withdrawn, from the other pink creatures. exhaustion manifests as a sigh. ".. i guess envious of the fact that you're so close to your pokemon?"[break][break]

she was like that, once.

Leonidas Stone

☉

”Nothing important,” she told him.[break]
Somehow, he couldn’t help but doubt.[break][break]

Nevertheless, he had always been one to be prideful over his social cues throughout all the time he’d honed them within his absences from home, so he hadn’t quite dwelled upon it for her sake. Rather than that, and rather than anything else of the sort, he merely continued to eye the passing hues strewn upon the heavens above them before shifting within his seat.[break][break]

He leaned on his arm while glancing over again.[break][break]

”And you’d say you’re not the same with your own~?” he hummed, raising a brow in equal parts amusement and curiosity all the same. ”Yours seem to be pretty taken to you, too~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉

did they?[break][break]

he asks her, and she chuckles in disbelief. "honestly..?" she trails off, her smile falls off as she contemplates, quietly "i think they're more scared of me?" she hums, then lets out another winded sigh. [break][break]

"i'd be a little concerned if they were taken to me~" she says, with another smile across her lips. her voice rings so clearly, though the silence that follows is of doubt. [break][break]

and maybe a bit of regret.

Leonidas Stone

☉

”...And why would you say that, mmn?”[break][break]

A valid question in of itself, given the lack of context he had within the midst of a statement that obviously needed it. A touch of both confusion and concern, alike, alighted faintly within hues of azure as they continuously gazed upon her, though only found themselves straying towards the much more distant Corsola as they seemed to be nearing the extent of their travels within the regional borders.[break][break]

He hummed.[break][break]

”Is there, like…some history I’m missing, here?” he asked quizzically. ”’Cause correct me if I’m wrong, but it kinda feels like there is~...”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: corsola conservation

☉