With a furrow of the brows, he narrowed his eyes at her as a gentle purse of the lips met his expression.[break][break]

”I mean, yeah, obviously,” he hummed to begin, ”but that ain’t, like—... That ain’t exactly what I meant…?”[break][break]

Though she hadn’t been able to see it, he’d instinctively lifted a hand to tap against the edge of an emerald eye, though paused immediately afterward upon noting his mistake. The purse upon his lips disappeared as they curled inward in realization and pensiveness (and also as if stifling a sudden grin and snicker in irony) before he clicked his tongue.[break][break]

Needless to say, he lowered his hand back into his lap.[break]
Idly.[break][break]

”...When I said, ‘same,’ I honestly meant, like…more with the whole eye stuff. Y’know. Bein’ able to see?”

ARIADNE MAUCH [break]
mission: slumber party

☉

”Gee, I wonder why ya’d say that.”[break][break]

Sarcastic and insensitive as ever, yet in contrast to the tone he’d laid to bare, there had been a touch of thoughtfulness within his gaze as he allowed it to linger upon the vast expanses of stars and starlight far above them. A bout of rare silence overcame him both throughout her recollection and after it, with the silence, itself, being broken by just the faintest of hums after some minor amount of time.[break][break]

He turned his head towards her once more, eying the smile upon her lips.[break][break]

”...If ya had a chance to make it the same again, would ya take it, then?”

ARIADNE MAUCH [break]
mission: slumber party

☉

He gave a groan of exasperation while leaning further back, lazily stretching his arms upon the log behind him while also allowing his head to hang back.[break][break]

A hum (a pensive groan, more accurately) left his lips as he narrowed his eyes against the stars once more. His lips pursed in reflection of the thought and effort he put into the question, regardless of the fact that he’d known his answer straightaway.[break][break]

”Exact same place you just mentioned,” he mused, absentmindedly tapping his hands against the wood behind him. ”Specifically the city beach, though. …Always loved goin’ to the festivals and stuff whenever they were held— even took part in the fire dancing, too, whenever we stayed for longer~.”

ARIADNE MAUCH [break]
mission: slumber party

☉

”Nah, not really,” he responded with a touch of leisureness, offering her an instinctive, natural grin as she took her seat. ”Just a minute or two, but it ain’t really shit to call home over.”[break][break]

With those words, he gave the back of her chair a soft tap before beginning his way along the side of the table once more, pulling his own chair out with a degree of fluidity compared to how he’d prepared and waited for her. Without missing much of a beat, he sat himself down with a soft sigh, pulling himself closer to the table before leaning back in his seat and crossing his legs within a comfortable, instinctive nature.[break][break]

”So,” he added on soon after, shifting his fingers along the table to take a menu for himself, ”whatcha do and all? Not gonna lie, I kinda thought something like fashion at first.”[break][break]

He quirked his lip a bit, offering her a more playful smirk and a wink before glancing down to the menu within his grasp.[break][break]

”It’s a real nice fit. Ten outta ten~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
mission: sleepless in slateport

☉

”...I know what you mean, but fuck, dude— your phrasing needs work…”[break][break]

Either that, he was the one at fault for needing to wrap his brain around the first statements she’d made more than once— but he personally believed in what he’d said aloud. An idle hum followed the remark altogether, however, with hues of viridian lingering upon the vast expanse of stars and moonlight located above them as he listened to her go on.[break][break]

He nodded, nevertheless, despite how she’d never have been able to tell as such. ”But yeah. Direct family and I are from Sinnoh; everyone else is from a couple other regions— one of them being Alola.” His eyes narrowed as his mouth opened widely, and he gave a pause as a longer, unprompted yawn left his lips. ”Visited all the islands a lotta times in the past. Always liked Akala a lot more than the rest, though, honestly.”

ARIADNE MAUCH [break]
mission: slumber party

☉

A few minutes passed.[break]
He lowered his phone. Spun it in his palm a few times.[break][break]

Rinse and repeat, really. A few rounds of spinning and perusing, not too long after the umpteenth time of beginning to raise the screen to meet his eyes, his gaze strayed towards the side at the note of a voice. Blinking, he raised his head faintly in an attempt to better trace the source, instinctively setting the device down as he quirked a brow with a smile.[break][break]

”You could say that, yeah~.” He eyed her for just a moment before standing up, nodding across the table before taking a couple of paces towards the seat opposing his. ”Mari, I take it~?” he went on, taking care to pull the aforementioned chair out before nodding down towards it.

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

A sound of annoyed disdain resonated within the back of his throat for a moment, and though a smirk of amusement persisted upon his lips in betrayal of it, he went on to swipe a moderate amount of sand at her as he cast his eyes above, once more.[break][break]

”It ain’t offense, ya dumb bitch. It’s surprise.” He clicked his tongue within an ongoing sense of exasperation, leaning further back in order to allow his head to rest idly upon the log he rested against. ”Like…it’s a good surprise, if anything. My family and I are from Sinnoh, yeah, but a lot of my relatives are from Alola— specifically Akala.”

ARIADNE MAUCH [break]
mission: slumber party

☉

He blinked, widening his eyes slightly and raising his brows while still eying her.[break][break]

”...You’re from Alola?” had been his first choice of words; an inquiry, however instinctive it may have been. He thought on it for a little while longer before giving a soft hum, leaning back onto his hands as the selfsame brows that rose just moments before began to furrow in gentle thought. ”Huh… Y’know what, I guess that makes sense with how you name your Pokemon…”[break][break]

He pursed his lips, tilting his head to rest against his shoulder, leisurely, while directing another glance towards her.[break][break]

”So…what part of Alola, then?”

ARIADNE MAUCH [break]
mission: slumber party

☉

”So, like…what even is your story, by the way?”[break][break]

Through all the time he’d known her since arriving in Hoenn, it had honestly been a question he’d pondered a number of times, yet never quite dwelled upon enough to bother asking at any time. All in all, his standards for the people he spent his time with hadn’t been too high. For the most part, all that really mattered was whether or not he meshed well with them, and whether or not he could have fun as himself with them— which was something he thankfully got to do with her, even if they each tended to get on one another’s nerves a lot of the time.[break][break]

Knowing a personality never really equated to knowing an upbringing, though.[break][break]

Never really was a good time to actually ask about that sort of thing, either, until he realized just how quiet and peaceful the night was. Though she shouldn’t see it, the bonfire he’d put together in a slapdash manner crackled warmly before them, and all the while, he’d cast his eyes towards the tide afar as it applied beneath the expanse of the moonlight above.[break][break]

He hummed for a moment more.[break][break]

”Like…you, I mean. Your whole origin story, I guess,” he added, turning his head to glance towards her after the waters. ”Like…were ya born and raised in Hoenn? I assume nah, right?”

ARIADNE MAUCH[break]
mission: slumber party

☉

See, it wasn’t every day that he actually decided to go on a date for the date aspect of things?[break][break]

If anything, he’d confidently and shamelessly admit that, more times than not, he normally went out for the other reasons people would go out to do stuff like this. Take a whiff of the air around you, baby, because everything was always very well seasoned, as far as he cared and wanted to shoot for. Fuck the sugar.[break][break]

All he cared about was the spice, for the most part.[break][break]

And yet...from recent conversations with his family, he figured that they had a point when they said that he couldn’t live the bachelor life forever— not unless he wanted to completely forego the shit he wanted to do in the future, at least. All things considered, he was a family man. Born as one, raised as one, aspired to be one.[break][break]

So, he just waited as he sat there, clad in nothing more than a button up (specifically loose and with the buttons opened at the top, since that was important) and his sleekest pair of white slacks, as well as a darkened pair of dress shoes for contrast.[break][break]

There was time to kill, though, so he just scrolled along his phone while waiting.

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

Though the goal of the test had been simple, the answer bestowed upon his ears brought a coy, creasing smirk to his lips as he remained turned and leaned towards her. ”That’s my girl~,” he chuckled, nodding and giving her hand a small pat before leaning back once more. ”I’ll leave it up to your judgment as to when or when not to add another card. Just double tap on the table if you do.”[break][break]

He made another moment’s worth of eye contact with the dealer before them, exchanging a subtle smirk with him before leaning into his other hand a bit more, idly tapping his fingers against the bone of his cheek. ”And just so ya know, the dealer’s on our side~. Coworker of mine,” he hummed lowly, closing his eyes briefly. ”We’ll both spot you when we can.”[break][break]

His eyes opened again at the sound and feeling of others beginning to take the remaining seats by them.[break][break]

”...Aside from that, though? Let’s get this show on the road~.”

ARIADNE MAUCH [break]
mission: rigged gacha rolls

☉

”Uh huuuh, that’s on the money~.”[break][break]

Taking a quick glance around the table as other players gathered, he quirked his lip in thought and observation before turning his head towards the side, leaning very faintly closer to her while lowering his voice a bit more. ”All things considered, it doesn’t matter if ya win or lose— but if you do win a big round or two, that’s just all the better for us~.”[break][break]

He leaned his jaw upon a hand propped above the table, all while the remaining nudged one of her hands softly from below. ”Here’s the deal, though— you take my hand, and I’ll eye your cards whenever I can when you make it look like you’re eying ‘em. Keep track of how many taps you feel. The first taps mean the number in the tens place; the second taps after the pause mean the ones place. You don’t feel any taps over the first few seconds of a round, just assume I wasn’t able to see you cards without looking sus and wing it.” His gaze briefly shifted between other nearing people before he went on.[break][break]

He tapped a finger once against her knuckles, and after a brief pause, tapped five more times in rapid succession.[break][break]

”Now, just as a test, what number did I just give you?”

ARIADNE MAUCH [break]
mission: rigged gacha rolls

☉