“Gotcha.”[break][break]
There is a flutter of triumphant success when she feels his footing slide on impact. It almost makes up for the remark about being a wet cat, and the rowdy laughter. Though the latter isn’t necessarily a terrible sound to hear, she decides.[break][break]

She’s too concentrated on knocking Uriah over that she doesn’t think about how she’ll get out of it. So another shriek is let loose when arms snag around her again and she’s forced down along with his gravity.[break][break]

Though this time, there’s a distinctly garbled mingling of laughter that twines with the surprised noise. Until the water silences it and she’s forced to hold her breath.[break][break]

When they pop back up, Cal looks up at him—somber for all of two seconds before her cheeks puff out with a pffft of sputtered sound before she too is laughing. Too caught up to register how close they still are, her hands pressed flat against his chest from the initial push.

[attr="class","ooc"]URIAH BLACK [break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-bulbasaur"]

uriah's not really great with situational awareness so the fact that they're that close together doesn't even stick out to him. he simply laughs, accepting the moment for what it is.[break][break]

"i can't believe you'd tackle me."[break][break]

face lit in a smile, he finally lets her go, though he doesn't drift away.[break][break]

"i'll get you back for that."

[attr="class","ooc"]calla roth[break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-machamp color-shiny"][attr="class","pkspr pkmn-mudkip color-shiny"]

“Well you asked for it.”[break][break]

Normally Calla isn’t known for her playfulness. It’s something that is rarely, if ever, coaxed out into the light of day. But it’s nice in the moment, isn’t it?[break][break]

It begins to sink in, when she registers the fact that his arms are still around her waist. Heat lifts to color her face, and burn at the tip of her nose, but as if on cue, Uriah lets go.[break][break]

Calla lingers in close space too. At least until he speaks again, and then she is floating back. But only just out of arm's reach as she treads water.[break][break]

Another bark of laughter, incredulous. “Prove it.”

[attr="class","ooc"]URIAH BLACK [break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-bulbasaur"]

prove it?[break][break]

uriah doesn't even hesitate when he pushes his hand forward to send a wave of water right at her, much like a water-type would with SURF but smaller.[break][break]

it's meant as a distraction, really, as he's quick to lunge forward and attempt to bring an arm around her to lift her out of the water.

[attr="class","ooc"]calla roth[break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-machamp color-shiny"][attr="class","pkspr pkmn-mudkip color-shiny"]

Hubris was gonna be her downfall.[break][break]

Challenging him proved to be a bad call as a surge of water was sent in her direction. Cringing away with her hands lifted, she yelps despite the smile stubbornly fixed to her lips.[break][break]

“Uriah!” she tries to reprimand him when he darts toward her. Trying to scoot away is a little difficult for her, given that the water comes up higher on her than him, and the heavy fabric of her soaked sundress slows her down.[break][break]

Doggy paddling away…also ineffective.[break][break]

So it takes little time before she’s being lifted up again, goosebumps prickling across her skin when the air hits it. She bites her tongue on telling him to put her down because then he’ll just dunk her again. Aquamarine eyes dart to his, obviously trying to put together what his goal is.

[attr="class","ooc"]URIAH BLACK [break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-bulbasaur"]

with her now on his shoulder, he pauses, looking around as if contemplating what to do exactly.[break][break]

"what now?"[break][break]

feeling merciful, he doesn't dunk her. instead, he turns and walks over to the deeper parts of the water until it comes up to a bit below his chest. there, he lowers, letting her go once she hits the water.[break][break]

"i decided to show you mercy, cal."

[attr="class","ooc"]calla roth[break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-machamp color-shiny"][attr="class","pkspr pkmn-mudkip color-shiny"]

“Huh. So this is what it’s like to be tall.”[break][break]

Hoisted up over his shoulder, she doesn’t attempt to wiggle free. Instead, she goes limp like a sack of potatoes because she’s pretty sure if she tried anything she’d just fall off which has the same exact result as being dunked.[break][break]

She almost asks where are you going? but it’s sort of obvious, right? There’s only the shore and…more water. “Oh wow, you’re so benevolent.”[break][break]

Cal sinks and pops back up like a buoy when she’s carefully released, arms fanning out to keep her floating since she’s definitely above her head in depth now. The knowledge prompts a slight flicker of uncertainty because with a bad leg she’s not an exceptionally strong swimmer beyond the basics. So though he lets her go, she hovers. Just in case.[break][break]

“Wonder how Chad’s faring.” Almost sort of easy to forget they’re supposed to be working.

[attr="class","ooc"]URIAH BLACK [break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-bulbasaur"]

"oh, right. the bake sale."[break][break]

uriah's forgotten, honestly, and he has no intentions of going back now. well, he supposes he has to eventually to pick up chad and to clear the stuff. later in the day, perhaps.[break][break]

for now, he remains mindful of cal's bad leg and hovers close as well, offering support where she may need it.[break][break]

"you think they've sold out the stand by now?"

[attr="class","ooc"]calla roth[break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-machamp color-shiny"][attr="class","pkspr pkmn-mudkip color-shiny"]

Calla can’t help but laugh at his forgetfulness. “Yeah, we were here for publicity reasons, if you recall.”[break][break]

Or rather, he was. She’s just there to assist.[break][break]

Her hands rest on his arm in a balancing act to keep herself afloat without having to kick her legs quite as frequently. Tucking her hair behind an ear, she glances back over her shoulder toward the tents down the stretch of beach.[break][break]

She squints, but she can’t make out the Pokémon they’ve left things to. “Dunno, but I have only the most confidence.”[break][break]

Twisting in the water, she turns to face him again. “Do you actually like doing all this?” A pause, before she clarifies. “Running Akura, I mean.” It might sound a bit nosy, but it’s genuinely asked.

[attr="class","ooc"]URIAH BLACK [break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-bulbasaur"]

uriah doesn't find it nosy at all. it's actually quite thoughtful and it's something, surprisingly, very few people actually genuinely ask.[break][break]

"it's, uh, something new."[break][break]

though he had gotten his degrees in business and finance, he hasn't actually worked in the industry until recently. in sinnoh, he'd been traveling around battling, and when he first arrived in hoenn, he enlisted in the military, then the slateport police department, then become a detective.[break][break]

but cfo seemed like a step in the right direction for both his future and the future of his family.[break][break]

"but i like it so far. it feels rewarding, in a way, to be able to shape akura into a company i always thought it should've been."

[attr="class","ooc"]calla roth[break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-machamp color-shiny"][attr="class","pkspr pkmn-mudkip color-shiny"]

“Is it what you thought you’d be doing now?” she asks in follow up.[break][break]

It would be a lie to say she doesn’t consider her own benefit in the conversation—how learning his responses will allow her to align her own ideals to improve her work. But Calla also genuinely wants to know.[break][break]

Her business mind isn’t always the sharpest, but she does her best to keep up, and Calla likes to think she does a decent enough job of it. Obviously it’s enough to keep her employed there, even if she’s mostly handling his affairs and agenda.[break][break]

Still— this is interesting to her. And she only knows the work in progress that Uriah has already started to mold. “What sort of company is that? How did it differ?”

[attr="class","ooc"]URIAH BLACK [break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-bulbasaur"]

"ha! definitely not. i thought i'd be champ by now, or something, honestly."[break][break]

but such were the dreams of a young boy in sinnoh who wanted to travel the region to become the best there ever was. he never quite made it, but he did get close. kinda.[break][break]

he drifts a little closer just from the way the waves move past them.[break][break]

"we were profiting a lot before i joined but i noticed our turnover rate was really high, so i got in touch with a few people that left to get their thoughts and feedback."[break][break]

which was a thrill, to say the least.[break][break]

"basically, i've been trying to create a better environment for us."

[attr="class","ooc"]calla roth[break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-machamp color-shiny"][attr="class","pkspr pkmn-mudkip color-shiny"]

“Don't think you could hack being champ now, huh?”[break][break]

Cal winks as she teases him. All the power to him, really. She’s never been a very proficient battler. But then, she was also always too focused on making sure she and Kieran could get by to really have any lofty trainee aspirations.[break][break]

Her hand lifts up out of the water, stretching up and up to push some hair back where it had matted to his forehead from when she’d tackled him. “Was bugging me,” was the only muttered explanation offered.[break][break]

As she retreats somewhat, she listens to his explanation and a small smile pulls across her mouth. “Oof, that sounds harrowing.” Fielding former employee feedback sounds like an ordeal even she wouldn’t want to undergo.[break][break]

“That’s an admirable goal, though. A considerate one.” It definitely makes someone at her own rank feel valued.

[attr="class","ooc"]URIAH BLACK [break]
mission![break]
valor: helping hand[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-bulbasaur"]