he's straight forwards, and she'd be ill-prepared if she hasn't met enough people like this. people who were more blunt, and to the point, and more open with what they expected from her. she'll remind herself that not everyone is as wishy-washy as her father, not everyone is as crafty or manipulative as he is. but when she looks at him, and at how open, and how kind he can be, and is, she'll narrow her eyes and sigh. [break][break]

trust is earned, but she doesn't know how it's earned. [break][break]

she doesn't know how to trust at all. [break][break]

and she wants to try, she'll have you know. it's when she doesn't know where to start, and it all jumbles up in her mind, and she's trying to grasp at the pieces. "well.." she'll start, with her legs against her chest, and her body leaned forwards, resting the side of her cheek against the top of her knees. she's not exactly looking at anything in particular; maybe she's keeping he gaze fixated on the glow behind him. how does she sugar coat it? [break][break]

maybe it's better not to. [break][break]

"da--.. father was a killer." her tone falls, thinking back on it. but she'll speak about it all the same. "he was crafty, and manipulative. he'd lure people in, or he'd hire thugs to kidnap people off the streets." then her voice hushes, softly, and the grip around her legs is getting a bit tighter. [break][break]

"most of the.. "breakthroughs" he's made were.. something he found out while experimenting with bodies, both dead and alive. he'd work backwards until he found an ethical way of researching it." and sure, maybe it's done so much good. maybe it's helped so many people. it's killed many people, too. "... father was never interested in medicine, or research, or saving people" now there's a slight bite in her tone. [break][break]

"he was only ever interested in his own research, and sick experiments."

Leonidas Stone

☉

…As much as he meant every word of what he’d said, he had to admit.[break]
Nothing would have ever prepared him for something like what she’d just told him.[break][break]

A silence overcame him as the words met his ears, and as she kept speaking ever onward. A finger tapped idly against the respective temple of his head as he remained leaned over, pensively, with his head cradled and supported by naught more than his cheek. By no means had he any personal favor that would lead him to think neither for nor against the words she’d spoken, nor had he seen any reason for her to bother lying about something of such gravity.[break][break]

After all, the person he’d known until those moments had been one that spared herself the unnecessary, in any case.[break]
He hadn’t seen why she’d try then.[break][break]

”...And you?”[break][break]

He finally opened his eyes once more, albeit faintly, as they began to dwindle upon the flame before him.[break][break]

”What about you, then?”[break][break]

She still seemed to be speaking about someone or something that wasn’t her, after all.

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: hot summer nights

☉

"scarred." [break][break]

though maybe that's not the right word, because she participated in his sick experiments. when she looks over, she almost expects that reaction; although she expected something a bit more.. taken aback. granted, this is him we're talking about. he's been good at maintaining his composure. [break][break]

"i wasn't a physical experiment until i got older." and her eyes glance down to her arms, littered in tattoos of meaningless designs that she never wanted to get, but still did, so she never had to use bandages to cover them up. there was a lot to go through, where does she start?[break][break]

"i lived with him, so i had to help him with the experiments." and that's when things started to go downhill. i she had to sum it up shortly, she'll say "i dissociated, and tore myself apart trying to come to terms what was happening." though the memories are fuzzy, and she doesn't try to focus on them. [break][break]

".. a lot of it is fuzzy, but i can remember a gist of it." [break][break]

thinking about it makes her body curl, knees tucking in closer to hr chest in thought. suddenly, it's starting to get colder, and the flames of the bonfire are falling short from reaching her.

Leonidas Stone

☉

”But that implies you were involved in everything later on.”[break][break]

The flames before them danced continuously within his gaze as it focused upon their tongues of sparking warmth, an idle sense of deliberation proving to a far cry from the common, welcoming front that so often dwelled within it. Only when she, herself, had shifted in favor of scrying the scars both literal and not upon her skin did he shift his attention towards her, though only subtly so from the edge of his vision.[break][break]

His eyelids remained relatively heavied all the while, the flickering hues of amber beneath them visible beneath a narrowed guise as he tapped his thumb softly and barely against the trail of his jaw.[break][break]

He eyed her for a while longer before looking towards the stones aligning the flames once more.[break][break]

”And from what you can remember,” he began once more, his tone low and deliberating, ”I assume that it’s nothing to reflect fondly over? Nothing much, at least?”[break][break]

Lapses in memory were often associated with some form of hardship, after all.[break][break]

”Do you miss any of what happened? Anything you’d hypothetically done?”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: hot summer nights

☉

make no mistake, [break][break]

her actions were done willingly. all the pain and suffering she's caused her pokemon were deliberate, at one point, though she'd never remember until after the deed was done. for a while, she thought there was a demon possessing her, wearing a sick grin as she ran the blade of a scalpel through plump flesh. maybe she'd still do the same if she let it run rampant. nowadays, its listening, and sated with knowledge. it's happy to read and research - and she's happy to see it gone. [break][break]

her lips curl into a frown as her fingers gently rub against her arm, tracing one of the lines of the meaningless tattoo over an old, nasty scar. it's a good thing she can't see it anymore. [break][break]

.. what's with that look in his eyes? the deep gaze that stares into the near distance? he's thinking so intently with a faraway, pensive expression, and the rubbing of her arm turns into self soothing as the long, old friend anxiety starts to nag and whisper sweet nothings into her other ear. [break][break]

though you could hardly call them whispers when it's the anticipation breathing down her neck. [break][break]

there's no use lying when he asks, but she's almost surprised to hear it. people who knew her were worried, she knows - but she always expected disgust from the people who didn't. the last time got her shot in the leg, after all. [break][break]

"no." she still remembers the ecstasy she felt as a child, and the image of herself still haunts her like the ghost she lost. this time, with the benefit of hindsight, she'll speak truthfully: "i don't miss it, at all." [break][break]

"i hated it." [break][break]

but now that she's thinking about it, they're stating to flood back again - or the days where she knew she was missing something would come back, and all she'd see is the disappointed gaze, or the smile of a man as he wiped a girl's tears to have blood stain her cheeks instead. her body curls in a bit more, and she takes a shaky breath as the bangs fall over her eyes once again. [break][break]

"every second of it."

Leonidas Stone

☉

A silence enveloped him throughout her response, however short it may have been.[break]
He eyed her through it all. Watchfully. Attentively.[break][break]

As if a foil to the tensity she held, the same, albeit softer smile he so often wore had been slow to present itself upon his lips again.[break][break]

”...I don’t see what you’re so worried about, then~.”[break][break]

As simple of a statement as it could ever be, and one spoken with nothing less of genuine honesty, at that. He inhaled deeply in thought, closing his eyes while shifting, faintly, in favor of cradling his jaw against the warmth of his hand, all while its elbow rested against his knee.[break][break]

”You’re worried about lying, but all you were doing was leaving the past in the past for the sake of moving forward,” he hummed on, quietly, while closing his eyes lightly. ”You’re worried about this, and you’re worried about that… Sure, the things you did and were affiliated with were horrible, from the sound of it— but you’re judging yourself on who you were, and not who you are.”[break][break]

He opened his eyes slightly, gazing idly upon the flames once more.[break][break]

”You’re still flawed, but that’s because everyone always is. All anyone can do is work on making progress on themselves for the better— and if you know you’ve come far from where you were, there’s no point in lamenting the past, ‘cause the past is who you were— not who you are.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: hot summer nights

☉

Pessimism is met with the stark contrast of optimism, and it’s no surprise that it comes from him. [break][break]

She has to wonder: how does it come so naturally to him? It’s baffling, really, and she can’t tell if it’s foolishness, naivety, or experience that made him this way. Doesn’t it concern him that he’s associating with someone dangerous? Isn’t it concerning to him, who plays the hero under the mantle of a businessman, that one of the people he’s gotten to know would be considered the textbook definition of a villain? When she thinks of it this way, there’s something that nags at her mind and plagues her heart with uncertainty - the kind that’s afraid of staining someone with the ink she’s muddled her way through, neck deep, gasping. [break][break]

Though if she told him this, he would likely repeat what he said, and hold his stance. So instead, she sighs, body turning onto her back to gaze up towards the sky. Her fingers brush her forehead, pushing the ashen locks from dual-colored eyes. “... Not who I am..? Maybe you’re right.” she’ll admit that much, knowing that he isn’t speaking from a place of ignorance. It’d be cruel of her to brush off his words now, after he’s spent so much time tonight listening, trying to understand her. When she takes it to heart, she takes in another deep breath of air, and if you look carefully, you could wear that the gaze has softened.[break][break]

“Thank you.”[break][break]

Two words she used to have trouble saying, and still feels awkward saying now, come out more naturally after just the right amount of thought. “... For listening, and saying that.” but it isn’t her if it’s not a little bit clumsy, as her tone clammors to follow up. "I'm.. still trying to accept the fact, and believe it." her eyes narrow, and she finds it difficult to say, altogether, without stuttering "B-But.. Thank you, for having faith in.. me.." her tone trails, quietly, as though she's lost the words she wanted to say.[break][break]

She can take baby steps - she’s already made a few with the new pokemon she surrounds herself with. Though when she thinks about the pokemon from back then, the lighter air around her lowers again - it’s just not as heavy this time. [break][break]

“... Erm.. actually,” she clears her throat, softly, and slowly raises up on her elbows as her gaze falls back onto him. Her brows lower as her shoulders raise, and she shifts her weight to let one hand press its knuckles against her lower lip “I have a request.”

Leonidas Stone [break]
don't mind the long post oops

☉

Despite her normal skepticism, she was quicker to accept and acknowledge everything he’d said than he thought she would be. Good.[break][break]

”You’re welcome~,” had been the words to leave his lips.[break][break]

Short. Simple.[break]
Genuine.[break][break]

And so did he listen to the flicker of the flames set ablaze before him for a little while longer, weighing heavily, yet thoughtfully still with the words spoken. Genuine. Genuine, genuine, genuine… It was what he was, and what his words had conveyed— but even within the midst of his understanding, even he had to take more time within the silence to fully absorb and comprehend the gravitas of it all.[break][break]

Yet, he found it would come another time as her voice rang through the air once more, and so with an instinctive shift of the head had he finally allowed himself to glance her way, once more.[break][break]

”What’s up, though? Another, juicy bit of lore~?”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: hot summer nights

☉

It’s always jarred her, you know. [break][break]

How genuine he was with his words, and his meanings, and how he was so upfront and honest with himself to others, despite the omittance here and there. Frankly, it’s refreshing, especially in a world where she’s surrounded by villains posing as saints. It gets exhausting, trying to snuff out the evil that plays behind a martyr’s mask. [break][break]

But skeptical as she is, and cynical as she is by nature, she’s starting to get herself accustomed to him and his demeanor - and she’s not sure if that’s a good thing. “Maybe a little” she says with a smile all the same, soft and brief, but it’s there.[break][break]

She breathes in a huff of air, the lingering scent of firewood being burned not so far away filling her lungs. “If you come across an Eevee, may I visit it?” dual colored eyes gaze into the distance, before she turns once again to her side to gaze up at the man who lays, leisurely, beside her.[break][break]

"I used to have a Sylveon," she continues, knees slowly raising again as she curls, slightly, in on herself.[break][break]

"... And I miss her."

Leonidas Stone [break]
a.

☉

”...An Eevee?”[break][break]

A repetition of words, formed differently only faintly enough to imply inquiry. A small touch of curiosity and confusion lifted within his tone as they left his lips, though as his gaze shifted towards her once more between his voice and hers, he couldn’t help but note the reclusion (he would assume it was as much, anywho) within her form as she tucked further into herself. The next words following her own dwindled within the air as he mulled them over. Shortly.[break][break]

Needless to say, it hadn’t taken long for him to properly process them.[break]
A gentle sigh escaped him in light of it all, coupled by none other than a smile that had been equally as soft as it had been amused.[break][break]

”I see~,” he chuckled, shrugging. ”...Of course.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: hot summer nights

☉

Why does she curl? [break][break]

Out of fear? Reclusion? No, it's her shivering and shielding what warmth she has left in her ice clad heart. Though the fire burns near her toes, her heart churns, and festers, and twists at the memory of ribbons nuzzling against her hands, and her face. What she did can't be changed, but that doesn't make her any less regretful. [break][break]

She would have resigned to it, had it not been for the quicker response. An aimless gaze nearly snaps, with a familiar spark. Her arms quickly press against the ground as she lifts herself up, slightly, gazing down. The clutching, twisting, tightening feeling her chest is starting to pound. [break][break]

"R-Really?" her lips are separate as her mouth falls slightly agape, before her shoulders raise and a smile comes to her lips (genuine and bright - not the kind she'll wear for a patient).[break][break]

"Thank you, Leo."

Leonidas Stone [break]
last post round then we e n d

☉

”Of course, of course~...” he hummed, his lips curling upward a tad more. ”Really no need to thank me for it.”[break][break]

His eyes strayed towards the flame once more following those words, though after a faint rustle within his pocket caught his attention, they followed along with the hand he reached down towards it with. Within a simple moment, he gently placed his fingers against the form of his phone, reeling it out and leaning the screen back to gaze upon the notifications.[break][break]

He noted the time soon after, sighing while beginning to stand back up.[break][break]

”Ah… Everything aside, though, I really lost track of time~.” He gave his phone a soft shake and gesture before returning it to his pocket. ”Meetings tomorrow. Stay safe if you’re staying longer, yeah?”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: hot summer nights

☉