saskia is here on important ranger business and she is taking it very, very seriously. oleg, on the other hand, is not, and she has had to pick him up and wrestle him away from the baby tirtouga six times now. worse is she thinks the tirtouga actually kind of enjoy being puttered (slowly and safely, so at least there's that) through the sand. 

but the rangers had been strict! the tirtouga are supposed to make it down the beach and into the water on their own. it's like a rite of passage or something. (saskia had not paid very much attention.)

she is in the middle of wrangling oleg once again when a glaceon hops past her. "morena?" she says, dumbfounded, but realizes morena is still safely tucked in the ball at saskia's side and there is a such thing as other glaceons. 

"oh, hi there! yeah, these little guys just hatched. the rangers are out here making sure the wingull and pelipper don't get at 'em," she says. 

oleg beeps to emphasize saskia's proud claim.

marilee beaufort

☉

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

when caspian kicks ups sand into the air, mari realizes that they are not alone. there's another girl on the beach, and she is cute.

[break][break] a fierce blush fights it's way to her cheeks as the brunette introduces herself.

[break][break] "ah — um —"

[break][break] she forgets all words, suddenly, in favor of stuttering like an idiot in front of saskia volosenkova. it's only when eric wraps his ribbons around her ankle as a gentle reminder, that she's kickstarted into motion.

[break][break] "i'm sorry! i didn't mean to interrupt! i can go..." she swallows thickly, blue eyes flitting up anxiously to the other. "i don't want to get in your way."

[attr="class","ooc"] saskia volosenkova [break]
heroes on a half-shell

☉

"oh, what?" she says, suddenly worried she may have made the girl feel like she wasn't supposed to be here. maybe that's why her face is so red? 

so saskia is quick to wave her hands, which oleg mimics, and laugh. 

"no, no, you're fine! honestly we love it when folks come around. helps us keep some of the pests away, but i promise you're not in the way! at all!"

she grins down at the sylveon's ribbon and immediately crouches, holding her hand out with a pspspsps. "i've never met a sylveon in person! they're so pretty. what's your name, little one?"

marilee beaufort

☉

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

this is mortifying.

[break][break] she had just wanted a nice walk on the beach, but she hadn't really thought about what kinds of interactions she might have had. the last thing she wanted to do was inconvenience someone else, especially someone as cute as that, and how could she ever hope to be a useful cadet in society if she —

[break][break] mari swallows, looking wide-eyed at the ranger, as she says that mari wasn't being a trouble. at all. she still didn't know if she believed it, but the other girl was so enthusiastic it was hard to deny her.

[break][break] "i-if you say so..."

[break][break] she was glad for the distraction when the other leans down to pet eric, and her cheeks are flushed when she looks down.

[break][break] "his name's eric!" her glaceon stepped up towards saskia volosenkova, nosing the other's knee, demanding attention. a laugh bubbles to her lips. "and that's caspian."

[break][break] "he's a bit needy, sometimes."

[break][break] the glaceon shoots her a look, and a smile dimples mari's mouth in reply.

[break][break] "what? don't give me that look."

[attr="class","ooc"] saskia volosenkova [break]
heroes on a half-shell

☉

"eric? that's a funny name for a pokemon," she says with a chuckle, but her tone is teasing more than anything. the sylveon doesn't seem very affronted by the remark, but then again, sasky's not very good at reading pokemon. she's careful to avoid the ribbons as she pets. 

her crouch turns into a full-on sit when the glaceon steps around the girl's legs. "caspian...oh! aw, that's so cute! you're little princes, aren't you?" she scratches the underside of caspian's jaw. morena loves getting that spot pet. 

oleg somersaults in the sand and falls forward onto his front nubby hands. it looks like he's trying to mimic the sylveon and glaceon, but his head's too dang heavy. so really he just falls face-first in the sand and struggles to right himself. 

"this is oleg. he's...very special."

she blinks. "and i'm saskia! what's your name?"

marilee beaufort

☉

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

'eric? that's a funny name for a pokemon.'

[break][break] her cheeks dust pink.

[break][break] "i-is it? i named him after prince eric in the little mermaid."

[break][break] she bites her bottom lip, heart beating in her chest. was that a stupid thing to say? an embarrassing thing? yes and yes.

[break][break] but then the girl leans down, scratching caspian under his chin. the glaceon purrs, flourishing with the attention, his tail swishing back and forth.

[break][break] mari looks towards the elygem, giggling as it's silly gestures as it falls to the ground and gets back up. "he seems cute."

[break][break] at the question, she blinks.

[break][break] "i-i'm mari! i'm not from around here, but i've heard slateport's beaches are nice so i always wanted to visit. are you from around here?"

[attr="class","ooc"] saskia volosenkova [break]
heroes on a half-shell

☉

"yeah! that's why i said they're like princes." she gives them both more very affectionate pets. "but oh my gosh, no, it's not weird. it's super duper cute. cuter than oleg even."

the oleg in question does not agree with this, but he can't do much about it, as he's currently flailing about in the sand after another poor attempt at walking like a dog on all fours. saskia giggles and rights him again. 

"MARI! that's a cute name too. okay, that's it. we're all just cute here."

she chuckles. "no, no. i live in oldale so i'm usually stationed there. they just needed some extra help with these little guys. i almost forgot my swimsuit, actually. up until the past few months, i've been in snowpoint, so let me tell you - the hoenn heat is killing me."

oleg finds part of a dead krabby's claw and starts jamming it in the sand. saskia looks on fondly. 

"we're almost finished up here though! you wanna stick around and then maybe we can go swimming together?"

marilee beaufort

☉

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

mari's milky skin flushes strawberry-pink under saskia volosenkova's compliments.

[break][break] 'cute? we're not all cute. you're the one that's cute.'

[break][break] "y-yeah, i guess we are..."

[break][break] the mention of a swimsuit makes mari realize that saskia is in a swimsuit. and more importantly, that mari is in one. she had not cared at first, when she had been the only one on the beach with her two eevee evolutions enjoying a fun summer day. but suddenly, in the presence of this too-cute girl, she felt even more embarrassed. she pressed the bundle of beach blanket closer to herself, throat a little dry.

[break][break] "it is really hot," she agreed eventually. "but kalos has really warm summers so i'm used to it."

[break][break] arceus, at least saskia wasn't looking at her. she probably would have combusted if that happened.

[break][break] 'maybe we can go swimming together?'

[break][break] mari choked.

[break][break] "s-s-s-swimming?!"

[break][break] she was so bright red she might as well have been sunburnt.

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] saskia volosenkova [break]
heroes on a half-shell

☉

saskia is already thinking about how she's got to introduce this girl to sven korolev. they can all be peas in a pod together and she seems just super sweet, which is the most important thing when looking for a friend. and 'sides, she made a promise to herself that she was gonna help sven get out there more!

"i've never been to kalos! that's where your accent is from, huh? it's cute. where in kalos are you from? did you have a beach there too?"

saskia hears a whistle and looks over her shoulder. there are plenty of volunteers combing the beach now and some of the groups that got here the earliest are getting relieved of their duties, which includes her. her supervisor gives her a thumbs up from near the shoreline and sasky gives one back. 

"and just like that, i'm o - oh! do you need some sunscreen? i have some in my bag. c'mon, i set my stuff up just this way."

marilee beaufort

☉

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

mari is so flustered that she doesn't even notice the other people on the beach. or maybe it's just that she's so enamored by saskia volosenkova that she can't see anyone else but her.

[break][break] but her face is still red when the other girl replies to her supervisor, only to get embarassed again when the question pivots towards her.

[break][break] 'sunscreen?'

[break][break] "u-um y-yes!" even though she doesn't really need sunscreen, but it's not like she's in a position to say no. she follows the ranger towards her things, her heart stuttering with each step.

[break][break] "i didn't know i had an accent," she said after a minute, though her tone still lilts with that same Kalosian accent. then, her face brightens at the chance to mention her hometown. "i'm from ambrette, so yes! it's a little seashore town, and it's beautiful. there's a wonderful beach and fossil museum."

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] saskia volosenkova [break]
heroes on a half-shell

☉

how could she not know that she has an accent? it's so soft and it's like some of her letters run together, but in a nice, cozy sort of way. she doesn't know how to explain that, which she thinks about while she goes digging around in her bag for her sunscreen. 

"that sounds so cool. a fossil museum? do they have fossils from pokemon like anorith and lileep?" she knows a couple more fossils that have been found in hoenn, but she'd never much cared for her history classes...

saskia had applied sunscreen earlier, but looking at mari has made her think it might be a good idea to slap some more on. she squeezes the found bottle in her hand and slathers some on her face and her shoulders. then she quickly sheds her khaki uniform, kicking off her pants, and swipes some extra on the parts she'd sweated in. 

then she holds the bottle out to mari. "oh, if you need me to do your back, it's no prob. what did ya bring? i have towels we can lay out on, but i think there are some chairs the rangers brought too. i can steal some for us."

marilee beaufort

☉

[attr="class","maritop"]

[attr="class","mari"]

"y-yeah!"

[break][break] her face brightened as she began telling saskia volosenkova about her hometown.

[break][break] "it's actually, like, really cool. they've got lileep and anorith, and i think they were going to get some new titouga too. do you like museums? they're super cool. and i think there was going to be a new exhibit on - " realizing that she'd been rambled, she cut herself off. "sorry. i get - um - a little carried away sometimes."

[break][break] mari couldn't help but stare at saskia at the speed at which the other girl shucked off all her clothes, flushing slightly at the question.

[break][break] "oh, um, okay!"

[break][break] she takes the bottle from the other, squeezing some of the creamy liquid onto her hand and slathering it onto her pale arms. she'd sprayed some on before she'd arrived but enough time had passed that it'd probably be good to do another layer.

[break][break] "i - um - i brought a book! and a polaroid camera... i was going to take some photos and then maybe write a letter back home. but! um - didn't you say you wanted to swim?"

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] saskia volosenkova [break]
heroes on a half-shell

☉

"never apologize about being excited about things!" saskia crows with a big smile on her face. she slaps lotion hurriedly on herself, smearing it without really rubbing it in, and then hops behind mari. she'd said y-yeah to wanting lotion on her back, so saskia doesn't wait for the go ahead. 

just rubs her palms together and then starts at her shoulders. at least, with mari, she's a little bit more considerate and careful about making sure she's covered. her hands wander over every inch of skin that's exposed to the sun. 

the last thing she wants is to let her new friend down with a terrible sunburn later tonight. 

"ohhh, a camera sounds fun. and writing home? maybe i should do that! i mean, not to oldale. my deda lives in snowpoint still and gosh, i haven't talked to him since i moved back here. he'd love a letter. could i borrow some pen and paper? 

"oh, but we could swim too, but maybe we should wait for the sunscreen to dry."

marilee beaufort

☉