the change in weather was alarming, until he realized it was just the work of a group of water pokemon. he was there to spy, as he was new, and his face wasn’t terribly recognizable yet. he kept his eyes peeled, his heart racing, not for fear, but for excitement that he might turn a corner and run into his brother at any moment. he was there alone. there was no telling what might happen to him if he were to be caught, but his sense of reason had left him a while ago. he was obsessed by his goal.

he looked out at the children playing, devicing a plan in his head on how he might inconspicuously enter the building. he looked convincingly at ease in the open. his gaze continued to travel, until it landed on none other than fernando silph. his guard briefly fell. he didn’t want to be CAUGHT STARING with nothing to say, so he tried to put on his best act. the veil over his shock was still hopelessly thin. “fernando.” he forced a grin, despite his panic. “it’s been a while.” it’d been years since he’d seen him. once upon a time, growing up, they’d been decent friends. strange how things panned out. they never knew some of the differences of their families, evidently. and as of yet, silph presumably was still unaware of his loyalty to team rocket. he preferred to keep it that way.

fernando echoed him and despite his own convincing expression, there was an awkwardness that hung over them a moment. then, a generic, predictable question. they were ‘catching up’ now. “oh,” he started. “well, my mother and father died, and then daga decided to disappear kind of.. inexplicably.” he looked around a moment, seeming to survey the fun happenings. he seemed unaffected by his own dark updates, still smiling, fake as fuck. “this is fun.” he tried, genuinely, to manifest that.

this was the first time he’d smiled in a while really, and regardless of how ingenuine it was, it felt nice to use the muscles. he’d become so icy. REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD, after all.

“and what about you, fernando? how’s the silph dynasty holding up?” he turned the questions on him, away from rocket, away from the league, to the thing that they could still relate on: money.

maddonis had no use or desire for condolences. he said nothing.

recalling back, maddonis had briefly heard about something happening in the silph family, but he’d never investigated. seeing the man in front of him made him curious. “your parents.. ?” he did sympathize for a moment. while he was numb to his own trauma at the time, he had a deep understanding of the strange sensation of such a close loss.

“what happened?” it was maybe a bold question to ask, and perhaps he wouldn’t have if he’d realized fernando still didn’t recognize him. also, there was a tone in his voice that was strange for him. his blue eyes asked ’ARE YOU OKAY?’ and it was uncharacteristic. perhaps even more bizarre to someone who didn't remember him, he had a look of someone who had known his parents. feeling himself soften, he checked himself. they hadn’t known one another in a long time, and silph was now the enemy.

upon hearing the cause, maddonis felt himself choke a bit, but he let fernando carry on without interrupting. he did note that his old friend seemed utterly unaffected. curious.

“well, aren’t you impressive, now. big dreams and everything.” a bit snarky, if it hadn’t been for some genuine affection in his smile. “i am sorry to hear about your loss.” better not to act totally indifferent to team rocket’s cruelty. it would be less suspicious to act soft.

he waited a moment, recalling something pleasant. “do you remember the parties at all? such a simpler time.” the sun peeked out. cute.

“i think i know what you mean.” well, positive wasn’t the right word. his anger kept him going. he at least knew what it was like to be driven to go on by a feeling despite suffering significant damage. indeed, the world did move on, always.

the corners of his mouth twitched again, touched, fooled. then, silence. “well, i best be off. i have a meeting to attend to with an old friend.” he nodded, trying to sound matter-of-fact. there was some semblance of truth to his words if you looked hard enough. with that, he pulled a door open behind them and disappeared into the enemy's lair. he'd be going straight down the hall and out the back door to escape. his nerves were shot. fuck this.