walsh's office has become darker. ever since his retainment of darkrai's full blessing, the glow of lamp and screen have begun to disturb him. no worry. he will adapt.[break][break]

he is a man of disguises after all. THEO BECKETT knows this well. knows that he wears too many faces.[break][break]

"head scientist anya fowl." walsh greets her at the door.[break][break]

in the gap provided between the open door and the frame, she would be able to see the ominous glow of a gliscor's yellow eyes. like horrible beacons that warn vessels of rocky crags before the shore.[break][break]

"come in."[break][break]

a beat.[break][break]

"you look nice."

[attr="class","ooc"] anya fowl[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon gliscor"]

there is a cloud that hangs over this place. lulu's sudden disappearance has given her reason to believe walsh's connection to darkrai has grown stronger. if she cared more, she may have chased after the frayed threads, but she's no use for poking around in this sort of business.

she offers him a pretty smile in the low light; her icy eyes absorb light better by a fraction so after a couple of blinks, she is more or less accustomed to it. that does not make the somber atmosphere any more inviting. 

"you're not so bad yourself," she says with a purr, cold gaze steadied on him. unease prickles as the gliscor behind him stares her down. 

"i hear our operatives were successful in retrieving the seal stones." 

declan walsh

☉

"that they did. i had utmost trust in them."[break][break]

the boss says. in the dark, his words fall like dustox wings. there is no light they flutter to, only dust to texture the murk.[break][break]

"just like i had trusted lulu before she left and before she retrieved you." [break][break]

his gliscor chirps; it is more of a clicking sound, like a cable being pulled through a manual winch.[break][break]

"where were you before she invited you back?"[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] anya fowl[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon gliscor"]

"it is so difficult these days, to trust," anya says carefully. it's not so much reading between the lines as it is staring straight up into the blackened hammer of judgment. declan walsh had never trusted her (why would he?) and lulu had been her only saving grace. 

curse that silly little girl. 

"sinnoh," she says next and leans back in her chair, knees crossing while she languishes.

"for a time. and then i returned to hoenn under the guise of molly fouller in lilycove. i still have a studio art gallery under that name, as well as an apartment on the northern side." she tilts her head and reaches into her jacket to retrieve a folder. 

"i continued what research i could, but underestimated my ability to procure the resources i, ah, grew accustomed to." her fingers lift from the folder, now on his desk.

declan walsh

☉

it was never easy to trust. not then. not now. in kanto, walsh spearheaded deception. like a creature, he slid through the slits left between layers of trust and resided in shadows hidden. only when the timing was right did he emerge from the crevasse.[break][break]

"and so you ran back to us?"[break][break]

it is more of a statement rather than a question, but walsh's arched brow primes the line with the color of amused inquiry.[break][break]

"you needed us then. for what purpose, hm?"[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] anya fowl[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon gliscor"]

"it was not a move borne of cowardice," she says with a brow raised. she is no mewling kitten, running back to its mother's teat when the world gets to be too much.

"we find ourselves in a new golden age and these laboratories are the heart of the renaissance. dimensional pockets, new forms of energy, the manipulation of dreams."

her nails tap against her knee. "and so these hallowed, darkened halls are my purpose. i care for little in this world save for its discoveries. cadis knew this. silas knew this." how many others can say they've stomached rocket's changes - its evolution?

declan walsh

☉

"speaking of dreams," walsh says, "i am sure you are aware of lulu's absence."[break][break]

like a phantom, darkrai emerges from posterior shadows. its blue eyes are set within its pitch like cracked moons and its limbs drape downward into blackthorn claws.[break][break]

"know that i am no silas. no cadis." he says, framed by darkrai's shape, "and if all you care for is discovery in service of the self, i'm afraid your very station is in peril."[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] anya fowl[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon gliscor"]

she is still, at her core, human. while emotions cannot afflict the meat in her head, chemical reactions still fire. her sympathetic nervous system flickers. goosebumps rise on her arms, the back of her neck, and a cold sweat forms over her brow. her foundation and her powder hide the sheen; the darkness may hide her flesh. 

darkrai looms behind him. she takes a measured breath. it may very well be her last.

her expression has not changed. her voice is unaffected, cool and calculated. 

"a shame to have lost such a brilliant mind at a time like this." her hand stills on her knee. the implication lies unspoken, in the slight tilt of her brow. shame to lose another.

"must i care what you do with my research? does a pen care for the ambitions of its writer?"

declan walsh

☉

"a pen will inevitably run dry," the rocket boss speaks as if sharpening his teeth, "and you've been writing too freely."[break][break]

he perceives the breath she had taken. recognizes its quiet shape. its brevity. its defiance of fate. it is one he has taken several times before.[break][break]

"accordingly, we are limiting your access to our resources." the rocket boss says. "until we can substantiate your credibility, we are keeping you under close watch. does this make sense anya fowl?"

[attr="class","ooc"] anya fowl[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon gliscor"]

the accusation comes swiftly, bitten around the edges. the shadows warble. his own is stretching around him, around her, though perhaps that's only a trick of the light. her brain's synapses self-imploding and looking for a reason to kickstart her flight response. 

her name is acrid in his mouth. no matter. if he goes digging, he will find nothing but molly fouller and this identity she's sculpted around her curves and her smile and her wicked wiles.

only one other lives to remember rosalie monet and they will never fall in rocket's hands.

"indubitably," she says, each syllable carefully laid bare.

promptly, she stands, tracing fingertips over the back of her chair. "take care not to blink, darling."

declan walsh

☉

"oh, i would not worry about me." the boss says.[break][break]

on cue, the darkrai seeks anya's gaze with a single cerulean eye. the stare is as cold as the coldest winter moon.[break][break]

"when my eyes are closed, another is open." [break][break]

he dismisses her with a waft of shadow.[break][break]

"do take care."[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] anya fowl[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]