[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]eva's greeting echoes against once pristine walls, made into a messy collage of colorful sticky notes and various projects.

and illeana, in her frantic search for some research documents, catches the tail end of the greeting. by then, eva's already stepping into the chaotic atmosphere of her office and she's flushing hot with embarrassment.

"hey!" she calls, stilling long enough to offer a cheerful wave. her brain processes the scene a moment later when her head turns to give her colleague the full attention she deserves. and the noise that escapes is, perhaps, more embarrassing than her office's current state. it's a half gasp, half squeak that all but sounds like a squeaky dog toy being slammed against a wall.

whatever she had been searching for is abandoned for eva and rightfully so.

"what's this?" a soft coo follows. she crosses the distance to help, guiding eva to place the basket onto a nearby table. mew joins them within seconds, announcing its arrival with an excited mewl before shifting to settle atop eva's head.

Eva Morales

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]a light laugh escapes as eva plucks at the bow and ushers a gentle lie into the air.

"nothing, huh?" another giggle escapes and she's stepping closer to inspect the basket. it's carefully constructed, filled to the brim with goodies. and really, it's enough to lift a burden or two off her shoulders for the time being.

hopefully it lasts.

"you're so sweet!" and as mew settles onto eva's head, illeana steps forward with open arms. "thank you, i'm honored to be your co worker."

this is the part where they hug because they're cutie science pals <3

"how have things been?" she settles onto the corner of the table, careful to not knock into eva's adorable basket. "we haven't been able to catch up with everything happening." despite it all, the recent events of the last aqua assembly still weigh on her mind, existing in shadowy corners even now in the face of eva's brightness.

mew coos out happy excitement, head lowering for more chin scritches out of eva. the pink mythical is, perhaps not surprisingly, an affectionate lovebug. and maybe that's why it likes the two women so much... they're always willing to give out the good pets.

Eva Morales

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]science sisters squish together in a warm display of affection. mew joins the hug happily, adding the cherry on top of the cuteness. seriously, they need a picture of this...

illeana releases eva after giving her one more affectionate squeeze. it's touching to be welcomed back into the fray so warmly and it's difficult to stop the smile from widening. it hurts after a little while but somehow, she can't bring herself to drop the expression.

she flushes slightly beneath the question. it's awkward and uncomfortable but... with eva asking, the words are almost compelled to leave her throat.

"uh, good," she starts and it's only half of a lie. her back squirms in mild discomfort. she pushes on despite the sensation. "my back has healed enough to get back into the thick of it." an awkward laugh escapes as if she can dispel any memory of the injury with laughter. she can't but it's a nice sentiment anyway.

eva passes her stethoscope over to mew and the mythical practically buzzes with excitement. loud rumbling purrs escape its pink body before it's floating between them, listening to eva's soothing heartbeat. once it's satisfied with the song, it shifts over to illeana. she flashes a fond smile and her own hand rises to beckon the mythical closer. a happy coo escapes mew before it's pressing the bell against her chest. after a moment, another round of rumbling purrs rises between them.

"start any new projects while i was away?" her eyes drift up to meet eva's and upon finding green, she grins. the thought of collaboration between the two makes her giddy, turning her into an excited child all over again.

Eva Morales

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]while they're adorable science sisters, their opinions differ on the subject of the meteor.

dahlia goode's proposal finds solid reasoning in illeana's mind. multiple instances of danger and a budding mistrust have led her to the simple conclusion: sea hoenn is a threat that must be neutralized. the losses some of them suffered at the hands of hostile doppelgangers... they're elephants in the room.

logically, the reasoning isn't shared amongst the masses but she's firm in her belief for now. and if she ever sees her sea hoenn counterpart again... the bitch is perishing at her own hands.

illeana grins, leaning closer as eva starts discussing her research. primal energy, unowns, the odd distortions, and the changes in pokemon they're seeing... each topic is a shared interest between them. there's little differences between what their work has been focused on and illeana knows two bright minds are better than one.

"i'd love to! i collected a sample or two from a pokemon of my own as well that i can give you to add to your research," she murmurs. and when eva shifts the spotlight away from her research and onto illie's own, she flushes slightly. there's something thrilling yet intimidating about sharing your work with another scientist.

she pushes through the topics nevertheless.

"i started looking into the creation trio from sinnoh recently, actually! i think palkia or dialga have been here in hoenn recently and i'm -- uh, i'm trying to find them." she shifts on the corner of her desk, fiddling with her fingers. "i haven't had too much success with that yet but the distortions make me feel a little hopeful for a breakthrough."

and as mew coos and floats back toward eva to hear her heartbeat again, illeana grins.

"oh, and i looked into mew's genetic code a little! here, let me find the paper." she rises and turns, sorting through papers next to the basket. within a moment or two, she finds the analysis and hands it over to eva. "i found that mew's dna is similar to both ditto and eevee's dna."

Eva Morales

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]"perfect, thank you!"

she's certain JAMES BAKER will be of some help, too, after he drops off the samples. more hands are better than just her own, right?

"extinct?"

a hum escapes as she mulls over the possibility.

"that would mean... the distortions are not only affecting space but time as well?"

it bleeds into her own research on the creation trio, perhaps more than she thought. but... how, exactly, is that possible?

"dialga is time and palkia is space."

there is the factor of the renegade, too, but she has yet to find evidence it's involved.

mew coos, pink head peering over to look at the paper. it can't really read but eva's excitement is enough to make it giddy.

"some even say you're the origin point," she murmurs with a wink in the pink mythical's direction.

"i was planning on conducting a little more research into why they're so similar but i haven't gotten that far yet!"

Eva Morales

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]"i wonder if it's due to the anomalies hoenn keeps experiencing or something else."

there's no way for them to know. not yet, anyway.

perhaps with enough research -- and enough distortion attacking -- they can peel back the veil to unearth more.

for now, it's another name on a long list of research topics to bite into.

"it always seems to get bigger rather than smaller," she muses with a laugh. she suspects eva faces the same obstacle: a constant list of things that pique her interest that simply can't be invested in yet.

with growing instability within the region hanging over their heads like the shadow of a guillotine, she supposes it may never end. some things are, unfortunately, more important than their own interests.

maybe if she took that to heart here and now, she wouldn't have to face dahlia goode's wrath in melody's elite four chamber later down the line. hindsight is not always 20/20, unfortunately.

Eva Morales