OFF THE HOOK!

"Def' will let ya know if I go!" A determined nod. "And yeah, I get whatcha mean. It's all important, but I feel a bit like a robot sometimes, sayin' the same stuff on repeat."

His own posture had been relaxed from the get go. Seems like he was just a laidback type of guy. Would probably take a lot to grind his gears.

"I think yer answers are plenty interestin'!" A grin, pulling out his Nintendo Switch from his fanny pack. "An' I dabble in gamin'. Rox gave me her old one along with some game recs. Took me a bit to figure it all out, but I can totally work this thing now!"

THIS  WAS  GOING  WELL.  it  seems  almost  like  their  minds  worked  the  same  way,  and  they  cared  about  the  same  things.  could  this  be  a  strong  start  to  a  friendship?  (  she  sure  hoped  so!  )  she  nods,  looks  back  at  him  from  where  the  sky  had  stolen  her  attention.

"  yeah,  i  totally  get  what  you  mean.  it's  good  to  have  a  script,  though,  it  makes  it  easier  to  see  when  you  need  to  switch  up  certain  parts  of  your  spiel.  sometimes  people  care  more  about  one  thing  than  another.  "

not  that  marlon  needs  to  be  told  that,  anyways  —  he  probably  knows  the  feeling  well  enough,  if  he's  done  similar  jobs  as  she  has.  there's  something  fascinating  about  the  way  choosing  different  words  could  appeal  differently  to  different  audiences.

his  reply  makes  her  smile,  a  grin  to  mirror  his  own.  but  she  shrugs  …

"  thanks.  i  don't  know.  i've  had  people  tell  me  i  should  get  hobbies  that,  y'know,  are  more  creative  or  whatever,  but  i  don't  really  care  about  that  kind  of  thing…  i  think  i'm  plenty  creative  in  everything  else,  y'know?  "

she  turns  her  head  down,  now,  to  the  sea  below  them.  the  wailord  that  they  are  lounging  on  absorbs  the  impact  of  the  waves,  there's  no  rocking  or  motion  to  it.  it's  a  strange  feeling,  to  be  so  still  on  top  of  the  ocean.

she  shakes  her  head,  chuckles  a  little  bit.

"  no,  thanks.  i'd  be  too  afraid  i  would  break  it,  or  drop  it  somehow.  i  have  a  bad  habit  of,  um,  dropping  devices  into  the  ocean.  "

just  ask  her  last  three  pokénavs…  oops!

Kennie's words did reassure her enough to get her usual cool back. Breathe... Okay, she's good now.

"...Come to think of it, I'm not sure what you enjoy eating."

Elesa tilts her head slightly. "Mind walking with me to the kitchen to see what you enjoy the most out of the snacks I have?"

"  I  DO  SAY  SO.  "  she  teases,  her  tone  as  lighthearted  as  the  words  themselves.  her  eyes  track  her  movements  as  she  takes  her  phone  out,  and  she  tilts  her  head  away  as  a  smile  comes  to  her  lips.

something  about  being  around  elesa  makes  her  a  little  bit  self-conscious,  worry  about  if  her  jokes  push  too  far.  "  it'll  be  okay.  between  you  and  marlon,  you'll  get  the  tank  full  in  no  time.  "

her  focus  has  been  successfully  won  away  from  the  tank  to  the  other  woman.  she  can't  help  a  little  laugh  from  escaping  her  lips,  a  noise  that  she  moves  to  cover  with  her  hands.  still,  she  follows.

"  sure.  i'm  pretty  easy…  only  thing  is  i  don't  eat  meat,  'xcept  fish.  "  thanks  to  her  island  upbringing,  she  had  quickly  learned  she  wasn't  a  fan  of  anything  else.  she  leans  against  the  kitchen  counter,  smiles  up  at  her.  "  what  d'you  like?  "

( * @seabasins: continued. )

ㅤ sesil lays opposite kennie's back, sprawl across the length of the dinghy with a paw languidly over the side. they've smelt something else for a while⸻ something like autumn. in the beginning of spring, autumn long shed its smell; for it to bare itself so deep into another season perked their ears forward minutes ago.

ㅤ a light flickered, barely there. sesil's tail lashed⸻ they wondered if kennie could feel it against their back earlier. once kennie moves, it retreats. their ears press back. "a while," their gaze turns to the reflection of their paw distorted by the ripples of kennie's curiosity, "it was just watching us. it wasn't a person."

ㅤ i'd have taken care of that guy a while ago, sesil stews, if it was a guy. their jaw gapes in a yawn, sesil lays their head further down into the wooden seat without prey to monitor. "what autumn plants are there? it smelt like one."

KENDRIA'S  WORRY  IS  QUICKLY  EVENED  OUT  BY  SESIL'S  COOL.  although  the  threat  has  disappeared,  at  least  for  the  moment,  her  eyes  are  still  scanning  the  verdant  grasses  for  any  signs  of  life.  it  doesn't  hurt  to  be  alert.  although  she  had  never  been  threatened  or  attacked  while  fishing,  she  had  heard  other  stories  from  her  fellow  anglers…

"  you  think  it  was  a  pokémon,  then?  "  those  creatures  that  took  a  similar  shape  as  humans  often  sent  chills  down  her  spine  -  especially  when  they  moved  and  acted  like  them,  too.  she  liked  her  pokémon  with  fins  or  with  all  limbs  touching  the  ground,  thank  you.

her  attention  has  settled  back  on  her  line,  though  she's  still  unsettled...  hopefully  her  getting  startled  hadn't  startled  away  any  potential  bites.

"  uh..  what  autumn  plants  are  there?  "  she  repeats  the  question  in  hopes  it  will  summon  an  answer.  her  brows  furrow.  "  like,  a  katsura  tree..?  or  a  maple  tree?  "

Namielle as a whole were passive beasts -- as far as calamitous, weather-altering dragons were concerned -- so Deluge approached more out of idle curiosity than any kind of malice. She tilted her head upwards and spread out her writhing wings just a touch, though, when called big and beautiful, still quite the prideful beast. Indeed, it would have been difficult for anyone to not be in awe upon witnessing her abyssal splendour.

Prismatic hues trailed along four long whiskers in rhythmic, almost hypnotic patterns, and along the segments of her wings. Coated from head to tail in lovely blue shades and adorned with orange accents, it all made for a stunning display. Her near countless fangs left something to be desired, however, long and needle-like; perfect for biting down and never letting go. Her small, beady eyes were also chilling to behold, bordering on appearing soulless.

Deluge's pair of wings, so vast they might as well block out the heavens themselves, ended in tips reminiscent of spiked tentacles belonging to some kind of nightmarish squid. Completely ignoring the Lapras, one of those tentacles snaked from the salty water and into open air, slithering towards the human. Closer, and closer, and...

ZAP!

A poke to the nose followed by what could have only been described as an especially painful static shock. Deluge cackled, an ugly and high-pitched noise sounding like a throaty, choppy hiss. Still there was no malice to be sensed, however; was it an unorthodox "thank you" for the compliment, then? Perhaps a simple acknowledgement? Or maybe even a small experiment to see if this human was made from sterner stuff, so to speak?

The dragon may have cackled, sure, but was it really a laugh...?

MASSIVE  SEA  MONSTERS  DO  NOT  FRIGHTEN  KENDRIA.  after  all,  so  many  years  of  their  life  have  been  dedicated  to  capturing  one  in  particular.  though  that  mission  had  failed,  the  extraordinary  abilities  that  kyogre  had  put  on  display  had  only  served  to  inspire  and  amaze  them.  what  power  and  beauty  that  the  ocean  could  create!

this  creature…  whatever  it  was,  it  was  just  one  more  example  of  the  awesome  power  of  the  briny  depths.

they  are  enraptured,  mismatched  eyes  wide  and  attentive,  as  colors  pulse  through  outstretched  wings.  that  glow  reminds  her  of  a  lumineon,  only  on  a  much  larger  scale  and  in  far  more  colors…  if  this  is  a  pokémon,  it  isn't  one  that  they've  seen  or  even  heard  of.  perhaps  it  rarely  surfaced.

while  there  is  no  fear  or  hesitation  regarding  the  mighty  beast  itself,  the  limb  that  emerges  from  its  wing  startles  both  kendria  and  her  typically-stable  steed.  serendipity,  with  no  outright  command  from  her  trainer  to  flee,  does  begin  to  move  in  the  opposite  direction…  however,  lapras  are  not  particularly  known  for  their  speed.

"  fuck,  that  hurt!  "

kendria  recoils  from  the  ZAP!!  to  their  nose,  hands  flying  up  to  nurse  the  wound.  a  gentle  touch  diffuses  the  static  decently  enough,  but  it  still  stings…

"  that  was  not  very  nice,  miss  beautiful  sea  monster.  "  they  reprimand  the  creature  with  the  same  tone  of  voice  that  they  might  reprimand  a  primary  school  child,  complete  with  a  furrowed  brow  and  a  pointed  finger.

the  only  response  they  receive  is  the  rocking  of  the  waves  as  the  beast  turns  its  back  on  them  and  dive  beneath  the  surface  of  the  water.  of  course.

silence  falls  over  them  for  a  brief  moment  as  kendria  contemplates  their  next  move…  they  glance  towards  the  shoreline,  and  then  back  out  to  the  direction  that  the  monster  was  heading.  turn  back  to  safety,  or  sate  their  curiosity  into  the  unknown..?

"  c'mon,  sere.  let's  follow  it.  "

with  a  pat  on  the  transport  pokémon's  neck,  they  are  on  its  tail.

" ... oh, right. " yeesh, thirteen bucks for some klawf sticks, and that's after a discount? she resists the urge to make a smart comment, something about how she could have sailed to paldea and caught them herself for cheaper, but she holds back. her face, she's sure, says it all.

shuffle, shuffle... begrudgingly, her bag is slung around to her front and she pulls out her wallet, counting her bills before handing them over the counter. they're crumpled up somehow and kind of gritty, but it's money! " cash. there ya go. "