perhaps going to the beach is a bad idea. her most recent tussle with that damned sea witch has left her with another split lip, swelled nose, and scab on her temple. most of the swelling's gone down now, but the salt water still hurts like a bitch when it greets her face. 

amulius tries not to look as amused as he is when parker comes back up from the water spitting and cursing. she snorts a glob of seawater out from her nose and trudges back up to the beach, muttering about taking a walk instead. 

fuckin' avery blew her off again. 

she tries not to be pissy about it, tries not to think about how frustrating it is to connect with her sister, but at the end of the day it's not fair that she's the one stewing over it after being stood up. 

blue eyes lift and scan the beach, watching happier people with happier lives splash about in the surf. her wandering stops, however, over the body of a silver-haired fox she can't help but admire. and she's about to keep walking (i swear) but the girl in the surf goes rigid. goes not right. 

parker hesitates and then ambles closer to the waves, about to call out and make sure she's cool, but then they lock eyes and she yelps. 

uh, okay. 

she makes a face and then plunges into the surf, coming up only a short distance away from the spool of silver hair in the water. strong arms grip illeana and drag her up to the surface.

"yo. hey. hey, you good?"

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]oh. right...

she's still in the water.

the reverie breaks with hands on her skin. real, actual hands. they haul her up and she blinks herself into awareness.

for a moment, she simply... stares.

and then, a sparse cough or two escapes as she feels the beginning of a burn in the lungs. there's more than likely some stray water, breathed in through the nostrils and left to be expelled through a cough.

"sorry."

it comes mumbled out. and for all purposes, illeana reyes looks like a drowned cat in this woman's hands. she flushes with embarrassment.

"i -- that wasn't a good idea."

facing her newfound fears by submerging herself in them? yeah... her newly found therapist will be hearing about this one.

"thank you for, uh, yanking me up."

parker jones

the woman looks like a drowned glameow and parker feels like she has to cease her shaking or she'll knock her out herself. but after a couple of coughs, the woman gets her bearings and parker raises a brow. she nearly staggers as a wave comes over them, fingers tightening around her, but when she finds her footing (and is sure the woman has too), she releases her. 

"not a good idea? what, ya can't swim?" she says, bewildered. 

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]a wave comes, goes, and she finds herself enough to plant both feet firmly into sand.

the woman releases her, then, and she feels the lack of warmth on her shoulders instantly. it's cold enough for her to shiver, wet clothes adding to discomfort in spades.

"i can," she murmurs softly, as if it's an excuse for what she's doing. it isn't and she's not even sure what the game plan was but it's quickly escaping her realm of control.

"i was trying to... face my fears?"

that probably doesn't help much either but it's all she's got.

parker jones

alright, so homegirl's just insane. or maybe she's tripping? parker's been around her fair share of tweakers. but despite her vague responses, parker's leaning towards the former. most everyone has a little bit of crazy in them these days. 

she notices her shiver and parker feels bad keeping her hands to herself, but rather than try to envelop this complete stranger, she just waves a hand. 

"well, uh, that can wait. 'fore ya freeze to death. c'mon. let's get ya dried off."

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]drying off... sounds nice.

she's cold, wet, and not having a very good day.

the woman waves her along and she bleakly follows. her arms wrap around her midsection to keep her own body heat in. it barely works.

and as they wander back onto the shore, with sand between their toes, her head turns to flash a small smile at the woman.

"were you, um, enjoying swimming?"

good... attempt of conversation, she hopes?

parker jones

she looks sideways at the woman. her skin is still pale as all get out, but the sun should do a pretty decent job of warming her up. hell, if parker takes her back to her set-up, amulius could make quick work of putting some color back into her cheeks. 

"nah," she says with a shake of her head and points at her split lip and still-fucked nose. "they say salt's good for shit like this, but damn if it doesn't hurt like hell."

she runs her fingers through her hair, shaking out some of the wet strands. "facin' your fears then, eh? if ya can't swim, prob'ly not the smartest thing to do alone."

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]oh. she's injured?

some life sparks back into her eyes long enough for concern to bubble up in the spaces between. with a slow movement, she raises a hand and outstretches it toward the woman.

tendrils of pink, swirling mist begin to coil around her fingers.

"here," she murmurs. "this might help the pain."

the warmth of the sun begins to eat away at the cold. eventually, the shivering fades into once in a while before stopping soon after.

"there wasn't much use in learning to swim back home so i never really bothered much."

her small smile is almost amused.

"everything was always frozen."

parker jones

parker isn't sure what she's expecting from the woman at this point, but fairy-tale magic shit isn't it. she almost backpedals, but the loose sand under her only makes her trip over herself. she stumbles with a grunt, rightening straight into illeana's outstretched hand.

the mist spreads over her nose and the pain dulls. blinking, she raises a hand and finds smooth flesh.

"uhhh."

and then she just carries on the conversation. so parker just decides to shrug off the weird and think about it later.

"'kay. still. ocean probably ain't the best place t' start. gotta getcha in a pool or something." she grins. "maybe put some lil' floaties on?"

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she flashes a small, almost warm smile as the injury begins to heal. within moments, skin is smooth and painless to the woman's touch.

only when she's certain the discomfort is gone does she lower her hand. the pink mist fades a minute later.

"floaties, huh?"

the ghost of a chuckle follows.

"that's probably the safest option," she murmurs. her smile widens. "can't keep you around as my lifeguard forever, right?"

parker jones

"hey, if the pay's good enough," she jokes and pokes at her own face again, still kind of awed that there's no pain. that there's no nothing. except, y'know, normal skin. she almost gaslights herself into thinking there was nothing there at all. 

"but if i get benefits like this, hell, maybe pay doesn't matter." 'cause arceus knows she gets in enough damn scraps to warrant some occasional mystical patch-ups. 

"so...is it the ocean then? that scares ya?"

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]a light, tinkering laugh escapes. does she make enough to pay what the woman would consider good? perhaps...

her head tilts curiously, however, at the thought of her pearly pink mist being considered a perk.

"is the mist enough to warrant the possibility of low pay?"

and for a moment, she's quiet. the ocean draws the eyes back and they mindlessly begin scanning for a familiar face.

"not necessarily the ocean but what it holds."

it's cryptic, she realizes, yet she doesn't quite elaborate. her hesitation persists beneath an nda signed in her messy cursive.

parker jones

parker thinks about it. she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the freshly blistered pain on her knuckles from punching sand bags and breaking noses. but a cut like the one on her cheek? she's a fucking baby about those. burns from when she's cooking? yeah, fuck that. 

having a magical little fairy on hand that can poof those away would be stellar. really.

so she snorts and says, "i think it might. y'ever need someone roughed up, i'll take it as an iou if my shit gets real fucked." she's only half-joking. she keeps her head down, but she's not an idiot. the region is in literal shambles right now.

but then she's quieted when her companion quotes poetry from somewhere - right? that's what that has to be? her brows furrow and, confused, she looks out into the water. 

"i think the scariest thing in there's probably sharpedo." a beat. "nah. kyogre." and its fuckin' master. 

illeana reyes

☉