he was sorry, he said. she blinked, unsure what to say. every word that rose stopped, and she wanted to wheel back and hoist the half-empty bottle of tequila out of her desk, but refrained.[break][break]
finally, after a long moment of silence, she replied plain, tired, and almost soft in volume despite her prickliness, ”okay.”[break][break]
sorry was a great sentiment, but it was also plain.[break][break]
she said nothing else, but didn’t return to her work, still sitting there, cold attention commanded by his presence. he would say something else or leave, eventually. probably. 

[attr="class","ooc"]THEO BECKETT [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

the eye. she glanced towards it, recalling the moment with something like a shiver through her heart. she could taste the blood, and hear his screams still. she hoped the vividness would never fade.[break][break]
but that was a lot to say, and it sounded a bit… off. she kept it to herself, mostly.[break][break]
her dull stare fell back on him.[break][break]
”good.”

[attr="class","ooc"]THEO BECKETT [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

was this his job now?[break][break]
she gave a heavy sigh, her aggravation growing audibly.[break][break]
”you know what happened at the tree.”[break][break]
certainly more than she wanted to explain, especially after previously having been so deep in her work before he’d knocked.

[attr="class","ooc"]THEO BECKETT [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

lighting a cigarette in her office was a privilege reserved for people on her good side, and even then, a small few of them.[break][break]

and, apparently, underbosses.[break][break]

begrudgingly, she pulled an ashtray from her desk and slid it to the edge.[break][break]

”it was dark. i didn’t see much, for most of it.”[break][break]

that was it for a pause.[break][break]

”…”[break][break]

”then there were shadow pokémon, and necrozma, killing everything they could while pokémon were transformed into giants. z-moves all fired off at once in close proximity. more legendary pokémon than i can recall ever seeing in one place, and some we’d never seen before. it was chaos.”[break][break]

”and then there was the red chain. i’m sure you’ve heard about that.”[break][break]

she didn’t mention the part where she’d fallen off her owl, or the deaths of her own pokémon.

[attr="class","ooc"]THEO BECKETT [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

sounds chaotic.[break][break]

”does it?”[break][break]

she stared.[break][break]

”darkrai fought them. everything we had fought them, but no one was handling the necrozma, theo. no one was handling anything.” with a tired breath, she pacified herself, and lamented quieter, “this world is being ripped apart, and monsters are fighting for the pieces.”[break][break]

and she was one of them.[break][break]

the darkest day had been such a powerless moment. she didn’t want to recount the forsakenness, the weakness she’d felt and experienced—especially not to him, of all people.[break][break]

”one of my noctowls were killed. another one had its wings shattered. it won’t fly again.” as far as the swoobat went, its absence had gone unnoticed. the bats were too difficult to keep a count on, but lulu’s owls were favored above her other pokémon, much like her houndoom. this was something she was mourning.[break][break]

”and i broke my wrist, but it’s fine now,” she concluded.[break][break]

all in all, it hadn’t been that bad, except for the trauma of narrowly making it through compounded, insurmountable disasters with death happening all around her. just another day in hoenn.

[attr="class","ooc"]THEO BECKETT [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

he was still looking towards the shadows. did he assume that she would try to attack him? she watched, eyes still there waiting when he looked back.[break][break]
she didn’t immediately react to his apology—not on the outside. on the inside, however, there was a roar of conflict. a large part of her wanted nothing more than to be in his arms for the first time since before that day, but the more stubborn half insisted on staying angry. she felt betrayed. it was a fatal slight.[break][break]
what kept her from snapping again was recalling his forgiveness, the last time she’d threatened him while believing he was an alien imposter.[break][break]
”…”[break][break]
no, she still loved him, she decided. but she would still be angry for now.[break][break]
”tell him i said hello.”

[attr="class","ooc"]THEO BECKETT [break][break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]