ah, graveyards. truly, the one place she can find some kind of refuge in (and though many would beg to differ, she know there's at least one more person who can sympathize with the sentiment. whether it be due to personal connection and ties, or appreciation for the somber atmosphere). [break][break]

is it a surprise when marisol can put her nursing proficiency to work? no, not at all. especially when she's specifically brought four (plus one) pokemon to act as her little.. therapy team. while he was using aromatherapy to calm the majority of absols, she was already at work with her milcery's sweet scent and aromatherapy to do her own work. to her leg is a small riolu with it's ears raised in the air. [break][break]

at least, this makes things targeted. [break][break]

in her arms was the milcery who lets out a cheerful little cry, and marisol periodically rests her hand on top of the little.. cream drop's head. "mhm.. you're doing a good job. just a little longer, okay?" she give a smile to the little fairy pokemon, who all the more enthusiastically releases a little more. [break][break]

she only pauses when a familiar voice rings in her head (or her ear). her steps come to a slow stop, and she gazes back - though at nothing in particular. "not too far" she responds, gently rubbing the top of the milcery's head "we should be able to meet half way."

Leonidas Stone

☉

”Sounds like a plan, then,” he hummed, taking his fingers from the earpiece before averting his attention towards the path directly before him.[break][break]

He followed the sight of the specks of white he’d seen just moments prior, slowing down into a careful, calm stride upon seeing the Absol properly. With his Hattrem in tow, he gave a sigh before instinctively softening his smile as his eyes met those of the horned creature’s, all while another Aromatherapy began to emanate from his own Pokemon.[break][break]

”I gotcha, buddy. You’ll be fine~...” he said simply, nodding softly towards the beast as he continued on within his steps. He noted the look of stress and disdain upon the dark type’s expression, as well as the manner in which it softened as the move did its work. ”Cooome on. C’mere—”[break][break]

Getting closer in itself was an easier task.[break]
It was the sudden pain he felt that made things all the more difficult.[break][break]

There were no words spoken—there could be no words spoken, as far as he was concerned, between man and Pokemon—and yet the moment his palm rested firmly against the Absol’s shoulder, an aggressive shock registered within his mind, and with an abrupt scream, he pulled both hand and arm back while clutching his elbow.[break][break]

Needless to say, the calmness imbued within the beast only served to diminish upon hearing the sheer volume of the scream.

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: absol absolved (bws)

☉

there's no sense of urgency to pick up the pace - until she hears a loud scream that echoes even a few ways down the mountain. it's the nurse impulse to perk up and furrow her brow, enough for her to immediately recall her riolu and milcery to swap for her gengar. the large pokemon phases halfway through the ground, and she immediately mounts the top of the ghost pokemon's head body. "necrosis, pick up the pace." she doesn't bother to use the ear piece. [break][break]

thankfully, travelling via shadow is more convenient than by foot, so she makes it within moments of the scream. the gengar moves at a speed until the trainer jumps off her ride, staggering a little, but maintaining her balance well enough. there's a hint of concern as she rushes over to a man. "what happened?" she asks, dulled eye finally processing the scene of.. a man and an absol. [break][break]

a man with no visible injuries, it looked like, and it leaves her a little confused.

Leonidas Stone

☉

She arrived. She asked him a question.[break]
He hadn’t realized right away.[break][break]

Despite his own outburst, another dose of Aromatherapy had seemingly been all that was needed to further console the Absol before him— though he, himself, had been a completely different story as he remained there, clutching onto himself. With breath ran ragged, and with lingering shocks of residue, falsified pain scoring clear across his mind, his fingers dug desperately into his skin as if cradling it so would make the pain subside.[break][break]

It burned beyond anything he’d have dared to imagine, and yet as he stood there, gazing upon his lack of injuries, he knew that all was well.[break][break]

”I-I—...” he started off, instinctively, to the tune of a voice he hadn’t even properly recognized at first, only bringing himself to gaze towards the side towards a seemingly confused woman some time after. His breath remained hitched. It shook. He breathed out again, curling the fingers of his hand before turning his head to gaze down upon them again.[break][break]

He glanced towards the Absol again, watching as his own Hattrem began to ferry and escort it away before scoping out the nearest rock.[break][break]

”I—... That Absol…” he muttered hastily, and in confusion, and with either fright or shock, all the same. With the bend of his arm still held within the hand of the opposing, he sat himself down with a mild grimace as he slowly began to move and flex the fingers of the seemingly affected hand. ”I—... I-I touched it. I-I just…touched it to try getting it to follow me once it calmed down—same as the others—and then I—... M-My arm—”[break][break]

He gazed down for a bit longer, furrowing his brows before giving the woman another glance from the corner of his eye.[break][break]

”I…don’t know. As soon as I touched it, I just…felt this fucking pain shoot through my arm…” he murmured, his chest and shoulders rising slowly and heavily in attempt to further steel and compose himself. He shut his eyes as the lingering sensations dwelled and began to taper off, hissing a soft sigh through his teeth. ”I don’t…think anything happened? I-I can’t describe what it felt like, though, a-and I just—...”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: absol absolved (bws)

☉

marisol's seen a lot of things. [break][break]

she's heard a lot of things, too. screams of pain are no different, and at some point they blend together to make an amalgamation of white noise. at some point, pain all sound the same; let it be expressed in the form of screams, soft sobbing, restrained crying, slurs or otherwise. between a child scraping their leg and an adult breaking a bone - she's heard and seen it all. it's because of that maybe she's become a bit desensitized to it all, but also why she still, in the back of her mind, knows the degree (when you hear things enough time, you learn to put it on a scale of one to ten). [break][break]

shock is common, too, shortly after the pain. what she's heard wasn't the sound of a man hurting his arm, or breaking an arm; it was the complete, bloody mutilation of one (she would know, would know the sound of that all too well). and if she's going to be honest: the concern is slightly feigned. call it desensitization to an extreme. "phantom pain, then." a mental thing, one that she's very familiar with. she's familiar with phantom pains and limbs, and it always takes a moment. [break][break]

her response is to move over and help guide a man to be seated, seeing as though the phantom pain has yet to cease. she's the mind to lower herself onto a knee in front of where he sits, more so to examine the arm experiencing the.. excruciating pain. then she quirks a brow, when he's finally able to get the words out from his lips. and that's what piqued her interest. ".. the absol?" she narrows her eyes, from him, down to the arm he held. she narrows her eyes, then reaches up to gently take his arm into her hands. her right hand rests further up to his elbow, whereas her left rests closer to his wrist. then the nurse lowers her gaze and begins to gently circle and massage along his arm. at least, after she's sure the pain has tapered off. [break][break]

indeed, there were no physical injuries, but knowing absol.. "deep breaths. just take deep breaths and focus on recovering from the shock." she continues to move her hand around his forearm, hoping to loosen and ease his muscles.

Leonidas Stone

☉

Deep breaths.[break]
With or without the advice, he was already trying his best to do just that.[break][break]

Though the pain and discomfort had thankfully already subsided, there had been some smaller part of him that instinctively jolted his arm away upon initial contact, but after eying her and realizing what he’d done, he sighed softly before righting himself just as swiftly. The jolt in itself had been minute enough, after all, and for the sake of averting his attention and calming his own headspace, he shut his eyes while allowing her to take his arm with ease.[break][break]

”Yeah… Yeah, I know…” he murmured, nodding more to himself rather than to confirm and acknowledge as the words left his lips. Another, heavier sigh escaped his lungs before he finally opened his eyes, glaring down at his arm for yet another time as she began her own motions. ”I just—...”[break][break]

He trailed off, furrowing his brows. Although he was no professor by any means, there was a fair amount he knew about Pokemon and their mythos, demeanor, and other rumors. To some degree, it was his job to do so in order to ensure accuracy in the things he took part in creating.[break][break]

…It was that knowledge that found him lacking words.[break][break]

Lacking from thoughts. Lacking from assumptions.[break]
Lacking from a hunch that already imbued a sense of paranoia within the lingering shock.[break][break]

”...Were the other Absol already safely accounted for?” he asked with a dull tone in attempt to curve his own thoughts away.

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: absol absolved (bws)

☉

he isn't a kid, there's no use treating him like one. [break]
maybe it's her nursing instincts. [break][break]

it's foolish if she wants to ignore the complications, but at the moment, maybe it was best to push it into the back of her mind. it's none of her business, anyways. it seemed like he was starting to get better anyways, even though he flinched at her touch (she was sure she was being careful; though he had no injuries, she's taught to treat the pain all the same). [break][break]

her eyes bounce back and forth, between his expression and his arm, gauging the pain as he takes his time to compose himself from the lingering aftermath and the initial shock. considering what absol resembled.. she doesn't need to hear the rest of the words that he trailed off from, and in response, she only shakes her head, slightly. [break][break]

"the absol are okay." she's trying to reassure him, though it's in a slightly flat tone (marisol's never been good at comforting, you see) "there shouldn't be any more that need to be tending to." at least, not from what she could see. there were others, she imagined, taking care of the other areas anyways. [break][break]

she's tempted to leave it at that as her hands pause, though she finds herself glaring, pensively, at his arm. "... are you okay?"

Leonidas Stone

☉

Was he okay?[break]
…He hadn’t been entirely sure.[break][break]

Not for the present him, and not for future him— but the truth that he saw simply enforced that dwelling upon the matter for any longer would be useless and unnecessary unless his sole goal had been to stress himself out. Her gaze lingered upon his arm within a similar manner as his, but rather than accounting for much else, he merely inhaled slowly and deeply before nodding.[break][break]

He took her response into account.[break]
He nodded soon thereafter.[break][break]

”...I’ll be fine enough,” he murmured at first, finally shifting his gaze just enough to give her his own attention. Though a sense of pensiveness lingered within his eyes, he glanced towards his arm for just a moment more before ultimately pulling it away. ”It’s just…shock. …Shock that’s more or less worn off, now.”[break][break]

Not really a lie in itself.[break][break]

With an idle eye, he watched as he curled his own fingers into a loose fist, holding them together as such prior to relaxing, and then curling, and then relaxing once more. He quirked his lip and began to roll his wrist, slowly, afterwards, but only for a shorter amount of time before pushing himself back to his feet.[break][break]

”...Worst case, I’ll get it checked out. …No big deal~,” he added on lowly, a small smile tugging upon his lips in equal parts instinct and self soothing, alike. ”I’m…pretty sure that was the last Absol, though. …Better to go back and give a report instead of lingering on it and wasting time~.”[break][break]

Even if the sensation would be something he wouldn’t forget for a while, if at all.

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: absol absolved (bws)

☉

she doesn't buy it. [break][break]

marisol was never neive, although nowadays she knows better than to push or press (though she'll insist that's because she's changed, and it isn't because of fear anymore. otherwise she'll ask herself: what is there to fear? and proceed to kill the part of herself, slowly, gently, lovingly). so she loosens her hold and lets him pull his arm away, with herself pulling her arms back to her sides. [break][break]

that doesn't stop her from pensively watching as he opens and closes his fists, as his own reassurance to himself. in her head, she debates on saying something - but maybe saying something will only make it worse? or rather, saying something about what just happened would make it worse. [break][break]

he's smiling, but the smile isn't returned as she watched on, with an expressionless glare. frankly, it's somewhat unsympathetic, and a little distant, but neverthelss, for a moment, she wears a small, faint smile to her lips again (out of politeness, as she usually does). ".. mhm. come on, then." she turns her back, walking towards and down the mountain. still, she's in thought as they walk, and she lets out a soft sigh from her lips. [break][break]

".. just be careful." she speaks softly, and her words are still hollow. [break][break]

absol only brought about misfortune when you see one.

end

☉