He shrugged, offering her a more broadly quirked tug of the lip as the smile he wore widened to one side. ”Y’know…what about you~?” he repeated, laughing in light of the confusion he seemed to incur from her. ”The family situation and stuff, I mean.”[break][break]

Inhaling the day air in, he held the breath within his lungs while closing his eyes for some time, all before he gave a humming sigh.[break][break]

”Figured I may as well ask, too, since you brought family up, and all~.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

He blinked, staring for only a moment before he found himself pulled along.[break][break]

Nevertheless, the energy was appreciated, expected, and welcomed, all the same. Though he stumbled a little bit at first by virtue of being caught off guard, he quickly found a stable step soon after his arm had been taken and tugged along, and as he clicked his tongue in faux judgment, a chuckle escaped his lips in betrayal of the aforementioned judgment, all the same.[break][break]

”A place you wanna take me to, huh?” he mused, side eying her with a touch of amused curiosity. ”Somewhere newer, then, I assume?”

@brody [break]
notes

☉

Loud, huh?[break]
…Not quite the word he’d use, but still applicable. Sometimes.[break][break]

”...Yeah. I guess you could say that, in a way~.” Another chuckle escaped his lips as he took a deeper breath, briefly casting amber hues forward to gaze upon the varied paths and greenery settled before them. His fingers tapped against the wood beneath them within an absentminded manner. ”Wasn’t exactly much of a rowdy household from what I remember, though~...”[break][break]

He hummed lowly in thought, eventually glancing towards her again.[break][break]

”...What about you?”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

He felt a bit more at ease knowing he wasn’t alone.[break][break]

Hues of an amber brilliance lingered upon the rippling tides for an indefinite period of time as he listened to the others voice their thoughts aloud. As his own drake soared circles above head before landing by his side, the man, himself, absentmindedly narrowed his eyes as a hum escaped his lips, and as his gaze eventually fell upon the whirlpools lingering and swirling afar.[break][break]

After some debate, he glanced towards the others present, initially intending to speak a word of his own before a voice—his own, oddly enough—caught his attention.[break][break]

”Whether through the dark of eventide or the light of dawn, the only way is forward.”[break][break]

A thought publicized as part of his company creed, yet also a thought all too personal and private in the form of his own motivations and core beliefs. Self made and tenacious; two of many qualities he had always striven to become, and two of many qualities he had always felt he’d achieved by sole virtue of of the motto, altogether.[break][break]

The only way was forward.[break]
He hadn’t intended to let the situation at hand be the first exception.[break][break]

”I think she’s on the right track. Might be a bit of a, ‘leap of faith,’ sort of thing,” he mused with an idle, uncharacteristically flat and pensive tone, nodding at Andrea Vaneau . He glanced towards the Noivern by his flank, giving him a quick whistle and a nod in wordless questioning; an inquiry that he’d found a response from in the form of a growl in affirmation as the beast shifted in front of him.[break][break]

Leo stepped forward and secured himself upon the dragon’s back, holding on as the selfsame dragon flapped his wings to lift the both of them into the air with a gust.[break][break]

”If you really wanna stretch it, they might lead to different places depending on the direction the current goes. Stretch it another way, and they might have weird time stuff happening if you think about that other riddle,” he went on, briefly glancing at the others. ”All theoretical spitballing, though, so…it might just be better to take a closer look before we go diving~.”[break][break]

And with that being said, he reached down to tap the Noivern’s head, prompting him to begin flying, cautiously, towards the whirlpools from above.[break][break]

---

[break]

TL;DR

• arrives with his noivern and listens to the others' thoughts
• hears himself saying his own company and life motto basically oop
• agrees with Andrea Vaneau
• flies atop his noivern to do some recon; tries to see more about the whirlpools from above

@cc[break]
notes

☉

She was as lively as ever, by the sound of it.[break]
No complaints from him.[break][break]

As her voice traveled across the clearing, the Stone lifted himself from where he sat, returning the grin with a continuous one of his own as he began to jog over. He met her salute with one of his own as he set off to meet her, and after stopping just a foot or so in front of her, he placed a hand upon her shoulder as the remaining reached out to grasp her forearm in greeting, giving it a brief shake as he eyed her.[break][break]

”Had me waiting ages, man. Thought I was gonna kick the bucket soon, honestly,” he chuckled, glancing over for just a moment as the sounds of his Pokemon following in tow met his ears. He peered back at her soon after. ”Really took your sweet time, huh~?”

@brody [break]
notes

☉

He blinked, letting the question sink in for a moment before smiling and laughing in embarrassment.[break][break]

”Ahhh… Sorry, I guess I was so caught up in your routine that I just…completely forgot that part~...” the Stone mused, scrunching his nose faintly and clicking his tongue at none other than himself. ”...Leo, though. Leo’s just fine enough~.”[break][break]

He eyed the Vivilion as it fluttered by before gesturing at the woman, herself, and then towards the rest of the room around them.[break][break]

”I’m actually the person sponsoring the…other person. Like, the one you’re here for,” he went on, tilting his head and crossing his arms. ”Uh…on that note, sorry he’s apparently a no show. …I’m kinda surprised you still stuck around despite that~.”

AYAME FUJIWARA [break]
mission: coordinator choreography

☉

He shook his head, giving the boxes he’d taken off of her hands just enough of a shuffle to properly align them. ”No apologies needed! It’s the effort that counts, honestly,” he mused, chuckling before nodding off to the side and beginning to walk in the gestured direction. ”C’mon, though— there should be a place for you to set up not too far from here…”[break][break]

He scanned the nearby tables while walking along at a brisk pace, though the scents wafting from the containers he carried hadn’t gone unnoticed.[break][break]

”Ahhh… These smell amazing, by the way…” the man added soon after, sparing the woman another glance as he strode along. ”Are you helping a friend set up, or did you make these yourself?”

mielle [break]
mission: the great hoenn bake off

☉

It’d been a long time coming for so many things.[break][break]

In the case of the given day, ‘things,’ had meant nothing more than sightseeing and reintroductions. He sat upon the one of the many, familiar benches of an otherwise faintly unfamiliar park whilst waiting for a particular person, watching as his own Pokemon darted about as usual while doing so.[break][break]

Before long, though, he found himself looking along the clearing, and with a grin upon catching sight of the aforementioned person, he lifted his fingers to his lips and gave a loud whistle in her direction.[break][break]

”Yo! Over here~!”

@brody[break]
notes

☉

He gave a single, scoffing laugh in mock offense. ”Mister Workaholic, huh? Man, I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration~...” he chuckled, clicking his tongue softly to further drive his dismay home. Despite that, however, he simply shrugged while lounging back in a more comfortable manner. ”But, I mean…all things considered, this is my home~.”[break][break]

He spared a glance towards the two cubs as they wrestled with one another, quirking a lip in amusement at the note of their sheer vim and vigor.[break][break]

”...Childhood home, I mean,” he added, humming. ”Obviously, I live in Mauville, now, but it’s just…nice to come back here to take in the sights.”

MARISOL SIMONE [break]
notes

☉

”Hooooly shit, Okay. Oookay, uh…”[break][break]

Swimming was always a beloved pastime of his, but judging from the amount of…noises, he could only say? Cries? Really, really drawn out sounds— dude, he didn’t know how to describe it, honestly. All he knew is that the closer he walked to the shoreline the louder everything got, and the more obvious the situation at hand seemed to get.[break][break]

Y’know.[break]
Kinda hard not to see a bunch of Wailords and Wailmer washed up.[break][break]

After some time, he’d forgotten about his original plans to take a swim out in the tide in favor of doing his best to help the poor beasts out, and by some major miracle, he actually did end up being able to help a couple of the big boys alongside his own Pokemon.[break][break]

This guy, though? The one he was trying to help at the moment.?[break]
Immovable. Impossible.[break][break]

And to make things worse, his little one ended up getting sidetracked. He and the rest of his bigger Pokemon were already doing their best to start rolling the whale back to the ocean, but after absolutely no avail, the man looked off towards the side just in time to see his own Litleo repeatedly tapping and slapping at the bubber of the poor creature in front of them.[break][break]

”Oh, son of a—... Regulus! Regulus...!” he shouted, immediately starting to jog over. ”Stop, buddy…! He’s already having a bad day, man— don’t touch the butt...!”[break][break]

But of course, he kept touching the butt.[break][break]

Inhaling deeply, he just stared for a few moments more before just…taking a free Pokeball out and tapping it against the Wailord in an attempt to spare it further issue.[break][break]

VVnlOc1e

@swarm[break]
n o t e s

☉

And just like that, the nerves returned to him.[break]
…Or maybe nerves hadn’t quite been the right word.[break][break]

Awkwardness, maybe. He had been more than aware that it was a topic that was…heavy, to say the least. Just like with others, thinking about the sort of possibilities regarding responses made him a little bit tense, so truthfully speaking, there was a sense of relief that came with such an honest answer.[break][break]

Relief that had only been balanced by the tone of her voice.[break][break]

”...Right…” he hummed softly at first.[break][break]

He swirled his glass gently with a pensive eye.[break]
His turn to gather the right words.[break][break]

”Was there a…reason why...?” he went on, only vaguely uncertain as the words left his lips. ”I always assumed it was from…discomfort? Grief? How it would’ve made being there unbearable?”[break][break]

After all, he had no way of knowing the happenings of people he hadn’t been in contact with.[break][break]

”...'Cause if I gotta be honest, I’ve…always wondered if something happened between you two,” the younger Stone continued. Quieter. Unsure. ”Obviously, I would’ve rather not considered it to begin with, but…”[break][break]

…It was just something he couldn’t help but think of when even family had chosen to be absent.

ANA STONE [break]
n o t e s

☉