ah, that's it. [break][break]

she can draw as many differences as she'd like between them; she'll line them up neatly in a chart, where her faults and shortcomings will be laid bare. it's a blessing that he's someone she's met after the debacle with rocket, but he's still someone she'll need to stay cautious of; if only because of his roots, and his heritage[break][break]

(oh, she knows what monstrosities she and her father have caused; and while her father was generally better at hiding his tracks, marisol fears for the lost daughter wendy; she's lucky that the news never ran rampant). [break][break]

he has the resources, and he's ambitious, and would be smart enough to check her background were he ever interested enough. thus, it's better not to divulge in the details - to spare her having to fabricate another lie for her ongoing one. and yet "struggles are a part of life" she says, and she should hold her tongue, but there's something about that hope and optimism from him that leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. it reminds her of someone ".. but some struggles are too cruel, and unreasonable." maybe she's talking about herself. maybe she's talking about the people she's come across. [break][break]

who can say?[break][break]

".. but i'll think about it. she glares out, eyeing the cubs who continue to paw and play fight "if you're really alright with listening, then i'll consider it" she won't.[break][break]

"i just don't want to bother or burden you."

Leonidas Stone

☉

Lies and truth, alike, had always been equally susceptible to the same responses in his past.[break][break]

”That’s true,” he hummed, the tug upon his lips softening all the while, ”but I’d personally argue that just means it’d be better to talk about it~.”[break][break]

Though fainter and smaller in comparison to before, there had been some aspect of the remnants of his former glee that remained enough to allow the smile donned upon his face to still linger by the eyes. Hazel hues found themselves dwindling upon the passing whites and blues of the skies above them as he thought to himself for a little while longer, and after some time, he simply took another, deeper breath in before shutting them within an idle manner.[break][break]

”The bigger the burden, the bigger the need to offload it— properly~.” Narrowly, his eyes opened once more to gaze upon the passing clouds far above.[break][break]

”...It’s not a burden to talk and listen, anyways. The actual burden is taking the weight of the world alone, in my opinion~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

"has anyone told you how optimistic you were?" suffocatingly so. [break][break]

it's a different kind of insufferable, compared to another ghost trainer she so loves to hate. but by this point, she should know that's just how he is; and she wonders how quickly it would take for him to crack under the pressure of it - if he even could. maybe he could, and there's a part in her that'd like to see that. there's a sick, twisted, sadistic part of her that even goes tot think about that. [break][break]

there's a disgusted, tired, fearful part of her that tries to push the morbid curiosity away. [break][break]

but there's a saying; a saying that we're attracted to people who are opposite, because they're so new and because they're so different. though in this case, she wouldn't say attraction is the best word; curiosity would suit her intentions best. curiosity as to why he's so optimistic and proud - like a hero in a book she's once read. at least.. that's the impression he gives her. [break][break]

amused and fatigued, her gaze cuts back to him at the tail end of his words. "so you say.." her eyes narrow, though this time she raises her hand to rest her chin against her palm "i'd argue that i'm not a good person to offer your hand to." [break][break]

her gaze stays on him, although now it's to gauge his expression and his reactions ".. especially because it is quite heavy to talk about."

Leonidas Stone

☉

”Enough to the point I’d have an empire on top of my empire if paid for each time it happened, yeah~.”[break][break]

Another had woven himself within the words that escaped his lips, and as if further, absentmindedly venting the amusement that came with the thought, he simply tapped the foot of the leg atop his knee within the air just a couple of times. His lips pursed as a hum followed the laughter that escaped him, and he narrowed his eyes idly while bringing his gaze to look upon the scenery before him.[break][break]

”...Say what you want, though— I’d always argue that everyone’s worth listening to at least once~.” The smile upon his lips softened as he spoke as such, though inherited what only seemed to be more of a leisurely softness within its void. ”Good people are good people. …Most bad people are just good people that haven’t found the right people to support them, as far as I’m concerned.”[break][break]

He tilted his head against his shoulder with a lazy, casual touch, all while hues of amber met hers with little worry or hesitation.[break][break]

”Heavy topics don’t matter to me, anyways,” he added, shrugging. ”I’ve already said how I feel about them, anyways~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

.. how does she speak to people like this? [break][break]

it's dangerous for them to be this kind, and this open, and this welcoming. there's admittedly a bit of judgement in her gaze, watching him laugh and casually smile so warmly; it's so foreign to her. it's sudden, especially when she knows that there are no ulterior motives behind it. she tries to reason with herself, tries to think logically - but conjuring up an excuse is far from it. it's exhausting. it's tiresome. she's so tired. [break][break]

the silence that follows her gaze is deafening, with only his words to fill the silence as she stares. a dulled violet eye maintains a slightly widened stare, until the expression fades when they meet eyes, and her old habit of breaking it when she feels the pressure (or threatened) resurfaces. the sharp turn of her head towards the ground is his response, and her brows lower, slightly. [break][break]

"you.." her brows furrow, that time, creating a crease above the bridge of her nose "... have too much faith in people."[break][break]

and unlike him, she has an air of anxiety as she glances back to meet the hazel eyes with the sheen of her muted, grey-violet. "i'll take the offer, only if it's mutual." she grunts, turning her attention back to the ground. there's a tinge of pink to her cheeks (from the embarrassment of asking, and speaking up, and she was never used to verbally expressing consideration) "i don't want to feel like i owe anything, or indebted" she hums, then takes a quick sip of her drink ".. and consoling is part of a nurse's job."

Leonidas Stone

☉

”Someone has to when it could be the only difference between a villain and an innocent misunderstanding~.”[break][break]

Despite the aversion of gaze that she offered him, his own merely lingered upon her for a while more within the wake of silence that followed his words. It strayed away before long, instead finding itself dwelling upon the two cubs for yet another time in idle interest.[break][break]

”I’d take you up on the offer if there were things that weighed on me,” he started off with a slightly broadened, yet absentminded smile, ”so the best I can do is bring you up to speed on new things as they come.”[break][break]

He glanced towards her again, raising a brow.[break][break]

”...I hope that’s good enough~?”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

he's too understanding, maybe she's too pessimistic. [break][break]

the result will remain the same, but the reaction will be different. it's only a matter of time for him to meet someone who will be beyond saving, or beyond faith, and beyond any hope of salvation (she's met many people who fall into that category; the shunned who fear nothing are the most dangerous ones to date). what will he do when he's faced with someone who genuine cares little for others? when he meets someone beyond saving, or helping, or understanding? [break][break]

ah, what a spectacle that would be. the pain and betrayal would be something to watch and gawk at, but the idea of it doesn't play as pleasantly in her head. why is that?[break][break]

it should. [break][break]

'don't think too hard, you'll get confused and start to soften' an icy exterior is needed to keep those at arms length. [break][break]

her response is to squint, slightly, and she wonders if this man has ever had a low in his life. ah, no, he's a stone. he has. she'd be a fool to think that he hasn't, and that his bravado comes from privilege alone. with a pensive hum, she soon rests her knuckles against her cheek. [break][break]

".. alright." the word leaves her lips, though it took a while for it to finally get there. but now she's left in her head, eyeing hues of hazel for a little longer before the words leave sooner than she can filter them:[break][break]

"does this.. mean that we're friends?"

Leonidas Stone

☉

…Such a simple question that caught him off guard.[break][break]

All in all, it had more or less due to the fact that it had been the person in question that asked him as such, given her common, often aloof demeanor from the number of times he’d interacted with her in the past. Even from the first day he’d tried to make small talk with her, there always seemed to be a sort of…difficulty? Barrier?[break][break]

Something of that sort.[break]
Nevertheless, however, he simply gave her a shrug.[break][break]

”...That would mostly depend on if you see me as a friend, I guess~.” He chuckled. ”You’re enough of a friend to me, but it can really go both ways if it—... Well, if it goes both ways~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

is he a friend?[break][break]

she's thinking about this more than she should. she's thinking a bit too deeply; friends are hard to come by. there are people she once knew, and people she's known, but there's never anyone who she could call a friend. not now. [break][break]

her eyes narrow as she lowers her cup, turning her gaze back to the pair of cubs who now seemed to be rolling around the stone ground. ".. i'll think about it." a smile creeps onto her lips, how ever slight it may have been. it's warm, though. maybe she's just amused. [break][break]

"carci would have words to say, though." the dulled violet gaze turns back "her assailant's trainer is friends with her trainer. she'll have a strong opinion."

Leonidas Stone

☉

He stared for a moment, mulling over the words he’d been offered. He processed them all properly, as far as he was concerned. Heard them properly. Accounted for them again properly.[break][break]

And yet, he tilted his head with a small raise of the brow.[break][break]

”...’Assailant’s trainer’...?” he murmured at first, only catching on as soon as the words left his lips. ”Ahhh… Wait, you mean—”[break][break]

He stifled a smile, curling his lips in as an auburn hued gaze drifted to eye a particular little bat in the distance.[break][break]

”...I honestly forgot that happened—”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

"yes, between him, and--" she points to the two cubs wrestling each other. it's good that they never run out of energy "him. that time he bit carci thinking that she was food." [break][break]

it was a spectacle. "her trainer being friends with the trainer of two of her assailants?" she tilts her head, slightly, this time wearing a smile on her lips as she takes another sip from her cup. only a little bit left. "she'll never let me hear the end of it. something about the betrayal." she hums. [break][break]

she chuckles, for once. it's a genuine one that reaches her eyes as she watches his pokemon run around and about. though, she does catch the.. slight caution from the noibat. huh.

Leonidas Stone

☉

He laughed, brows raising and eyelids relaxing upon noting the two assailants in question once pointed out.[break][break]

”Honestly? Fair,” he chuckled, hues of hazel drifting back towards his beloved little bat as the little thing began to fly over. Though he noted the somewhat intense and intentful squint directed towards the woman by him, the Stone simply noted it with little mention at all. ”I hope she knows it’s nothing done outta harm, though~...”[break][break]

He side eyed the Noibat for just a moment longer before glancing towards his own cub again.[break][break]

”...He’s still just a little guy, after all,” he mused on, a softer smile taking his lips. ”I’m pretty sure he’ll grow out of it when he’s older. Evolved.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

"she knows." and the trainer sighs. carci was always a sensitive one, since she's picked her up and off the coasts. corsola like that should have been seen in the shoes of galar, so she wonders how this one turned up here. they should be extinct. "she's just a crybaby." [break][break]

a smile forms on her lips, watching as her own little cub wrestles more. her eyes then gaze towards the.. suspicious bat, and she doesn't know what his problem is? she'll skeptically eye the bat.. but she won't say anything. [break][break]

"still." the woman hums, the smile still on her lips. "... carci isn't as much a crybaby as a few other of my pokemon." for example "my riolu is a bit of a scaredy cat." a chuckle escapes her lips, followed by her pulling a pokeball out to toss. a small, bipedal blue pokemon appears, then immediately hops onto the bench to hide behind his trainer, intently eyeing a man. [break][break]

mari sighs, raising a hand to pat the top of the riolu's head. "... i hope he'll grow out of his shyness when he evolves."

Leonidas Stone

☉