[attr="class","oliver2"]

he picks up in a single ring.

[break][break] not for any particular reason - of course. he'd just been getting read for bed when he saw his phone light up with his best friend's name: willbear 🐻🌿.

[break][break] "hey!" he says cheerfully, still toweling his hair dry. "i'm glad you called. actually, i was just about to text you. today we saved the most adorable turtwig twins, abandoned by their mom. i bet leila would get along great —"

[break][break] a pause.

[break][break] "everything okay, wills?"

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins

☉

thank the universe he answers. and it doesn't take him very long at all either. she grips the phone tighter, smile breaking out over her face, and for some reason that does it. she's always been good at hiding her crying, at being as quiet as possible, and this too she holds in, letting only the tears slip rapidly down her cheeks. 

she wants to ask him about the turtwigs, ask him about his day, ask him about how he's been. ignore everything else for the moment, but one unstifled sniffle gives her away.

"bo came back today. just...just walked right on the farm and - " she sniffles again, swallows. "am i - is this a good time?"

ollie morales

☉

[attr="class","oliver2"]

the bed creaks as he lowers his weight onto it, his fingers grasping more tightly around his phone.

[break][break] there's just something about hearing a girl cry, something about hearing willow cry, that sends his heart up in knots.

[break][break] "who is it? i'll beat 'em up, wills, i'll —"

[break][break] oh.

[break][break] he pulls a leg up onto the bed, leaning onto his knee. it's boruta maher , her ex. he isn't sure how to feel about the man, considering they've never met, but the way that he walked out on the kid and her all the time...

[break][break] "of course this is a good time!" he says, quick to reply to the easier of the two options. "you're my best friend, wills. any time is a good time." he picks at a torn thread in his comforter, unsure how to respond to the rest.

[break][break] he clears his throat.

[break][break] "want me to beat him up?"

[break][break] his voice is soft, mouth curled into a smile, as he gives a light chuckle.

[break][break] even if it's not a funny joke.

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins

☉

she could stand not talking about it. she could stand to talk about anything else. all she needs is someone on the other end of the line, someone saying exactly what ollie's saying - that he's here. that any time she needs him, he's here. and the gravity of it makes her flush. 

she drops down onto her day bed, the very same one she'd lugged bo onto not five hours before. knees tucked, she curls up against a swanna down pillow and holds the phone tightly to her ear, cheeks pinching. 

"no," she says through a sniffle. "my gloom knocked him out actually." a smile breaks over her face, despite it all. her fluttering heart starts to slow. 

"he apologized. for everything. and i just - i played it over in my head so many times, you know? but i never thought it'd happen. and then it did. and now it almost doesn't feel real. 

"i don't know how to tell roman. i...told him - bo - he had to wait."

she idly tugs one of the feathers out of the cloth and bites her lip. "i wish you were here. none of it makes sense, olls, and i don't know what to do."

ollie morales

☉

[attr="class","oliver2"]

"actions speak louder than words, wills."

[break][break] his words are soft, carrying through his loft. he stares out at the view from his airbnb, where he can stare out at the ambrette ocean. it's something his mother had said to him, as a kid. he remembers pushing another boy from school into a mudpile and then apologizing, the way his mother tsk'd at him as she tended over a scraped knee. 'actions speak louder than words, honey. you need to mean it.'

[break][break] ollie turns away from the window then, and back to the conversation.

[break][break] when she finishes, he releases a soft laugh. "and you think i would? you think too highly of me, wills." something that he'd told her time and time again, mostly in jest. he pauses again, thinking how to word this, before he speaks:

[break][break] "don't tell him. not yet. the kid's probably not ready - what does he think happened to his pa anyhow? kids like that - " he remembers what it was like for him, hearing the news of his mother. "they might not be ready for something so tough."

[break][break] he leans forward on his knee again. "you know what to do, wills," he says. "you're just afraid to do it."

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins

☉

they do, she agrees. which is why she feels better about the decision she made. the decision she's going to make, over and over again. give him a chance. let him have his actions. because the step he'd taken was already huge, something she'd written off for years. 

but why now? because he came into some money? that can't be it. it can't be the whole truth. 

"you don't think highly enough," she sighs, annoyed, and rolls onto her back. the phone slips from her grasp and she flounders with it, then taps it back on and sets it to speakerphone. that way she can just lay it on her chest and stare up at the beams above her. 

"he's not ready. but he's so angry, ollie. it was okay when he was younger. not okay, but it was easier. i never lied to him. i told him things were hard, that people can make difficult decisions sometimes, decisions that hurt people, even if they don't mean for them to. i never wanted ro to hate him, but i think he's spent so long holding out for hope that..." she cuts off again as that lump nestles back in her throat. 

she cries now, audibly. "what if i let him in and he leaves again, ollie?"

boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","oliver2"]

he leans back, head falling into a soft downy pillow. was this made of swanna feathers? maybe he and penny should buy some before they head home...

[break][break] "all boys are angry when they're at that age," he argues. "isn't he on the cusp of his teens? angsty teenage boys - or something. angry at the world, wanting the world to burn."

[break][break] ollie had never been quite angry but he'd been emotional. he could remember all the times that he'd been goaded into an argument and let it control him, no matter how many times pa had told him specifically not to do that very thing. he never knew how eva had done it, how she'd handled herself so well.

[break][break] "he won't hate him. he's his dad."

[break][break] that didn't mean that ollie couldn't. not that willow needed to know that.

[break][break] it was just that ollie had no cards with boruta maher; if there was ever sides, he'd choose his best friend. the fact that the man had hurt her this much, had made her cry and was still making her cry is enough.

[break][break] ollie sits up as he hears his friend break into a cry. it breaks his heart that someone would hurt her this way. "you'll survive. you survived last time - and you will this time. you're strong, wills."

[break][break] "and ro - he'll be ok too. kid's made of stronger stuff; he's your kid, after all."

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins

☉

"mom always said i was too tough for a girl," she says, but the weak attempt at humor doesn't really amount to much. with her phone on her chest, she picks up her arms and presses her palms against her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks, fingertips digging into her hairline. her chest is tight and she's convinced the only thing stopping her from losing it right now is ollie. 

"i don't feel strong right now. i feel so, so...lonely."

she wishes he were here. sitting, even laying, beside her. holding her. and she feels lonely for that too, because she'd be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it before. but he's with penny and her life is always so out of whack, she can't keep up. 

"it's just so much right now. mom hasn't been well since dad passed and it's so hard to wake up some days, ollie. to get out of bed." nevermind tend the gardens and her son and her plants and her shop. 

her face scrunches. "ugh, i'm covered in snot right now."

ollie morales

☉

[attr="class","oliver2"]

"mom always said i was too tough for a girl."

[break][break] normally, ollie would laugh to break the tension. but there is just something soft about the way that willow says it that sobers him into silence. he says nothing to her words, listening to her tears through the phone. she doesn't have to be making a lot of noise for him to notice - they've been friends for far too long.

[break][break] "don't be lonely," he chides. "you've got me."

[break][break] and she had, ever since they had met. she'd had his back, helping him due his mandatory ranger work and budding to a quick friendship that ended up being one of his first real friends on hoenn. and she had his, no matter what that meant.

[break][break] foul ex-boyfriends, disappearing baby daddies, angry toddlers ...

[break][break] "we'll come visit you when we get back," he says, sitting up. "don't worry, wills. we'll go to all the fun cafes and take row to the park, and it's gonna be great."

[break][break] and it's only then that he laughs.

[break][break] "gross. you should go get a napkin, or something."

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins

☉

you've got me. and she does, really. not many others know her like ollie does. like he always has. their friendship was always easy as breathing and even now, miles apart, he knows exactly what she needs to hear. he knows he doesn't need to try and convince her that everything's okay because she knows it is. she'll get through this heartache. she always does. always has. 

she's done it before, hasn't she?

"he asks about you, you know. says he wants to grow up and 'kick ass like a ranger like uncle ollie.' i don't know what you've been telling him."

she laughs alongside him and sits up. the phone clatters down to the floor and she makes a chuffing sound as she leans to get it, checking anxiously to make sure the call hasn't dropped. and when it's clear it hasn't, she rummages around in her little desk in the corner for a packet of tissues. 

"can you tell me about you? i just...want to hear you talk."

ollie morales

☉

[attr="class","oliver2"]

he can't help but laugh at the news. "he does?" ollie snickers at the thought of the little tyke saying something like that, but he can't help but feel a little bit of pride at the thought. he's always liked willow's kid, because he's always like willow, but there's just something about her kid talking about him that makes his heart warm.

[break][break] "i don't know what you mean," he teases right back. "just telling him the truth. that i kick ass."

[break][break] if she was in the room with him, she would see his smirk. it's a sobering moment later that makes him realize how much distance there is between them now — both metaphorical and not.

[break][break] "i just...want to hear you talk."

[break][break] it's these words that settle with him the most. something uncertain crawls into his gut, though he's not exactly sure why. she's just asking to hear him talk, so she can avoid her problems.

[break][break] "me?" he laughs, though it feels a bit forced. "you know everything about me, wills."

[break][break] he leans forward.

[break][break] "what do you wanna know?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins

☉

she's known him long enough to tell that something's just a touch off when he responds to her. so she pauses, still in the middle of straightening after finally finding a small plastic bag of wrapped tissues. she straightens slowly and unwraps the tissues with one hand, taking a moment to dab her nose while she debates on whether or not she should ask him what's wrong. 

but her neck warms and she swallows and decides better not, especially when he's offering her an out. 

"i don't feel like i do anymore," she says and her voice sounds small as she climbs back into the daybed. she hugs a pillow to her chest and holds the phone away so she can blow her nose. 

"what's it like, really being a ranger? out there. how are you and penny? and tofu? is he adjusting well?" she breathes out. "see? lots to talk about."

ollie morales
mentions of PENELOPE LIVY

☉

[attr="class","oliver2"]

put it up to willow to know to fill in the spaces where he can't. she's practically the only one.

[break][break] "you're right," he laughs. "you got me."

[break][break] he hums as he leans back against the bed, staring up at his spinning ceiling fan.

[break][break] "being a ranger's great. it feel so good to help people, wills. i can't believe i used to feel so lost back in the day — you shoulda seen me with lars! we were a mess." it was true. back then, wearing bright orange cadet uniforms with Laurence Anderson, it was a surprise that willow and her family had even let him work for them as long as he did. "you ever think about being a ranger too? i think you'd be great."

[break][break] "and tofu's great too — you know him, he's always — hey!" there's a crackle of noise as ollie gets up from his bed, pulling the pikachu up by the scruff where he's digging into ollie's backpack. "dude. those are days old." to the phone, he says, "one sec."

[break][break] ollie walks into their cozy little kitchen, pouring the pikachu a bowl of poke-kibble. to which tofu promptly dives his face into. geeze, when was PENELOPE LIVY gonna be back with their groceries?

[break][break] "sorry. lil guy was getting his face into days-old crackers."

[break][break] "anyway — penny and i are great! she's great —" his voice pitches softer this time when he thinks about his girlfriend. it's mushy and gooey, and he can't help it whenever he thinks about her.

[break][break] "she's amazing, wills. she's super pretty and smart and cool, she just —"

[break][break] his pauses, fingers curling into a bag of fritos.

[break][break] "i'm really lucky."

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins

☉