[attr="class","calliemoontop"]

[attr="class","calliemoon"]

after her meeting with blythe rosewood , and the subsequent duties that followed, callie was beginning to realize that pd work in hoenn was not at glorious as it was in kanto. then again, it wasn't as if she'd expected anything different.

[break][break] part of why she had come to hoenn was to work with paxton concordas again, and as long as she was doing that, why bother? plus there was something relaxing about not having to constantly fight war and crime.

[break][break] but still, there was something dreadfully boring about cleaning shrines. couldn't they have the rangers do it? what were they for anyway?

[break][break] callie and her lycanroc trudge towards route 120 as prepared as they could be, but what she wasn't prepared for was seeing a ghost of her past.

[break][break] her eyes widen with shock at seeing the familiar figure.

[break][break] "blue?!"

[attr="class","ooc"] blue murtagh
[break] sanctuary safeguarding

☉

She’s poking absently at the bruise that’s bloomed under and around her eye when the voice calls out to her. Gauging the tenderness of the pain there while she waits because she’s got nothing better today and it keeps her alert. Keeps her from dozing off under a nearby tree as she’d like to.[break][break]

She can’t afford to be dinged or chastised for shirking her job, or caught blatantly slacking off.[break][break]

Blue?![break][break]

Older, but an unmistakable cadence. It’s like a bolt lances straight through her. That voice. One she hasn’t heard in years, and was certain she’d never hear again. (She’d done something to make her go away. She didn’t know what, but she had done it.)[break][break]

At first, Blue freezes in place, then turns slowly to face CALLISTA MOON, finger still pressed lightly to the angry violet spill around one wide, rose eye. “Callie..? You’re in Hoenn?”[break][break]

Since when? How? Why is she here now?

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] CALLISTA MOON     | m: sanctuary safeguarding[break]


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

[attr="class","calliemoontop"]

[attr="class","calliemoon"]

a life that she's tossed away, that she's tried her best not to remember. but it seems the the region's curse is consistent, once more.

[break][break] she thinks of all the people she's thought to left in johto or kanto, who have somehow crept up on her still. paxton concordas. Eva Morales. Soleil Frye.

[break][break] looking at blue murtagh in the flesh before her is like looking at a ghost.

[break][break] shock is then replaced by joy and a wide grin as callie closes the distance and sweeps the other up in a tight hug. "yeah! i'm in hoenn." she's almost dumbfounded that the other is even asking. isn't that what she should be asking her?

[break][break] "what are you doing here?" a thought crosses her, suddenly, and she pulls back. her brow furrows.

[break][break] "is... this where you've been?"

[break][break] is this where blue murtagh had run away to?

[attr="class","ooc"] blue murtagh
[break] sanctuary safeguarding

☉

Something pleased and happy filters over Callie’s expression, and it confuses her. Her brows furrow slightly, as if not understanding because really, she doesn’t. Was she missed all this time? Was that even a possibility? Blue had never thought so.[break][break]

To her, that childhood had been something she left in the past even though the truth is that she carries it with her every day, along with the rest of the awful baggage accumulated on her shoulders. And so, she had thought that Callie had done much the same— left her behind. Because after all, Blue is always the one left behind.[break][break]

Before she can process it, Callie throws her arms around her and Blue flinches under the sudden contact before going stock still. She’s grown to loathe touch in most capacities. The rigidity in her limbs forces a fight or flight instinct that itched under her skin to break loose.[break][break]

But because this is Callie, she finds herself slumping into the contact. The ache is equally as relieved as it is nervous. She’s missed her friend. When people touch her, she lashes out. But when it’s Callie, her eyes feel like they’re starting to fuzz and burn.[break][break]

What is she doing here? “Uhm, working?” she says feebly, like that response really fills in all the blanks.[break][break]

When the other woman retreats, Blue frowns and confusion lights her face again. “Ah…I guess so. Well. Slateport until Recently.” Not that Callie needs to know all of the messes she’s tangled herself in.[break][break]

“I…didn’t think I’d see you again.”

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] CALLISTA MOON     | m: sanctuary safeguarding[break]


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

[attr="class","calliemoontop"]

[attr="class","calliemoon"]

an only child born to an absent father and a less than stellar mother, callie's childhood had always been lacking. it was why she latched onto people like Soleil Frye and blue murtagh , creating family wherever she could.

[break][break] it was a constant ache in her chest, a reminder, to know that not everyone saw things the same way.

[break][break] working?

[break][break] "what - are you a gravekeeper?" she laughs, the sound bursting out of her without meaning to, before her brow furrows. "wait. you're not a gravekeeper, are you?" oops. had she offended her old friend already?

[break][break] the answer slateport gives her all the relief that's needed, and her eyes widen. "slateport! that's so close. how come you didn't say hi?" she teases — but it's short-lived. "just kidding."

[break][break] a woof sounds in the distance, and callie turns away to see skoll chasing away a murder of crows. the distraction is enough that she misses what the other says, and she turns her head back.

[break][break] "mm? sorry, what'd you say?"

[attr="class","ooc"] blue murtagh
[break] sanctuary safeguarding

☉

“Huh?” Her nose wrinkles. A grave keeper..? “No, I’m patrolling.” Her head shakes side to side. You couldn’t pay her to do something boring like tending to a resting place day in and day out. Though maybe there was a peace in the act that she was sorely lacking.[break][break]

“Fortree PD.” She jerks her thumb back over her shoulder down the route that eventually leads to the city at the other end in simple explanation. “I’m just on shrine duty.” As punishment, she doesn’t add aloud.[break][break]

Her brows pinch together as she takes her friend’s questioning seriously, “But I didn’t know..” A nervous laugh follows, embarrassment flaring in her cheeks at the addition, “Oh, haha.”[break][break]

She feels way more stilted and awkward than she was as a child, though she’s always had rough edges. She lacks her old, childish innocence about the world now, though.[break][break]

Callie turns away, and Blue thinks that maybe she should repeat herself, but suddenly she finds herself shaking her head, “Nothing important. Do you like it here?” More than where we came from?


[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] CALLISTA MOON     | m: sanctuary safeguarding[break]


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

[attr="class","calliemoontop"]

[attr="class","calliemoon"]

patrolling?

[break][break] as callie's mind puts two and two together, blue murtagh is quick to fill in the gaps. she blinks, then blinks again. then —

[break][break] "oh my god, you're a police officer?"

[break][break] so the lilycove pd had sent her as back-up to fortree to meet someone and blue was the someone she was supposed to meet. what were the odds?

[break][break] "that's fucking insane. i'm from the lilycove pd. i'm your back-up!"

[break][break] as a child, callie has always been a bit of spit-fire to deal with. where blue comes in as a cold winter storm, callie rages on like a forest fire. "like it?" she says, propping a hand on her hip. "yeah, i guess so. it isn't so bad. better than kanto, that's for sure." she smiles wide. "but i kinda miss johto. maybe when the barrier comes down, we can go back. i know the orphanage would love to see you, blue."

[attr="class","ooc"] blue murtagh
[break] sanctuary safeguarding

☉

Her go-to is quiet observation. In the wake of her remarks, she watches Callie add it all together in her head without offering any supplementary info. But that’s par for the course with Blue.[break][break]

“Uh, yeah?” She blinks rapidly, “I mean, yeah. Yes. Fortree PD, just over a few months now.”[break][break]

But just as quickly, it’s her turn for surprise. “Oh? That’s you? Well shit.” Her head quirks to the side as if she can’t quite believe it, because she can’t, of course. Who would’ve predicted this turn of events?[break][break]

Suddenly, she remembers what she actually is, though, and any enthusiasm she felt quickly sours in her stomach, though she does her best to continue mirroring the excitement she sees in Callie—in her own, terser way, of course. Callie can’t know that the actuality of her job is a sham.[break][break]

She’s no more than fraud, and suddenly this whole gig just got a whole lot harder. It’s easier to be removed about handing confidential information away when she’s not tied to the people she works with.[break][break]

Though she asked the question, the sudden turn in her thoughts makes her tune out some of Callie’s answers. She’s scrambling. But rose eyes snap back to her old friend at the mention of the orphanage. “Oh, uh. Yeah, maybe. Are you sure about that?” She combats the uneasy feeling with a dry laugh. She never did make it easy for the directors there.[break][break]

“We should actually get to the shrine then, yeah?”

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] CALLISTA MOON     | m: sanctuary safeguarding[break]


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

[attr="class","calliemoontop"]

[attr="class","calliemoon"]

blue murtagh is lucky. because when callie places her trust in someone, she did so forever. she would fight to the ends of the earth for those she cared about.

[break][break] sometimes literally.

[break][break] "of course i am!" callie says, flashing a smile, even though she does notice the way the other scrambles for an answer. the officer assumes that it's just because they haven't seen each other in years, and it's a bit hard bringing up the past sometimes. "i still send them money sometimes, when i can."

[break][break] "huh? oh yeah. good idea." she brings her fingers to her lips in a sharp whistle, and skoll comes running towards her. he barks and yips, and then callie looks back to blue murtagh. "looks clear for now, but let's get in closer."

[break][break] with a nod, the lilycove officer begins walking towards them.

[attr="class","ooc"] blue murtagh
[break] sanctuary safeguarding

☉

Who knows how long she will be in this job. Blue certainly doesn’t. It’s not exactly what she had in mind when she agreed to join Rocket, and playing it lowkey isn’t exactly her strength (already the Fortree captain has had her evaluated by Shinra Moro.)[break][break]

But these are the orders she was given, so they are the ones she’s follows.[break][break]

She doesn’t know why Callie apparently trusts her so easily, or is so happy to have found her. It runs contrary to everything Blue has told herself in the subsequent years. Her smile is an awkward thing, head tilting. “That’s a nice thing to do.”[break][break]

And she does mean that, at least. Even if Blue feels little to no affection for the place they’d grown up. Callie had been the one good thing, and she had left.[break][break]

“Yeah, I think it’s more busy work than actual necessity,” she says with a shrug. And with a wave of her hand, her Lucario, Fang, leans up off the tree he was resting against and lopes after them.[break][break]

“Maybe needs a clean up.” Again, veritable busy work.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] CALLISTA MOON     | m: sanctuary safeguarding[break]


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

[attr="class","calliemoontop"]

[attr="class","calliemoon"]

even though blue murtagh denies it, callie merely thinks she's being humble. as far as she'd known them, blue was a trustworthy person. why wouldn't they want to see her again?

[break][break] "i guess we could clean it up."

[break][break] the old shrine was dusty, and against it lay a single broom, as if it was meant for them. reluctantly, the sergeant reaches for the wooden handle and begins to dust parts of the shrine away.

[break][break] "i'm not saying i miss kanto - " she mutters under her breath. "but this is kind of lame."

[attr="class","ooc"] blue murtagh
[break] sanctuary safeguarding

☉

Callie doesn’t know the bitter feelings stored up inside Blue’s chest. Doesn’t know the resentment she holds for where they grew up no matter how nice and how good the orphanage might have been. She doesn’t know how far Blue’s fallen.[break][break]

It’s better that way.[break][break]

All the while, it makes Blue’s self-distaste burn something awful in the pit of her stomach. She doesn’t deserve the kindness offered. And yet, she’s too selfish to deny it when it’s sent her way.[break][break]

“Well, once it’s done, more free time, I guess.”[break][break]

Blue can’t say she sees much appeal in sweeping and tidying, either. From a back pocket, she grabs a rag she’d stuffed there. Then begins wiping at higher surfaces halfheartedly.[break][break]

“Could always ditch.” Yeah, that’s a good way to keep your cover, Blue.


[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] CALLISTA MOON     | m: sanctuary safeguarding[break]


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

[attr="class","calliemoontop"]

[attr="class","calliemoon"]

always the practical one. it curls a smile inside her cheek, totally and entirely unaware of the conflicting emotions rising up in her old friend. to callie, blue will always be her childhood friend. to callie, blue will always be the logical, sane, and coordinated one.

[break][break] "ditch?"

[break][break] her brow arches, and then a gleam of mischief enters her eyes.

[break][break] callie abandons her broom and then reaches for blue's hand, offering hers in return. she grins wildly.

[break][break] "i've never heard anything more beautiful - i could fall in love right now. c'mon, let's go."

[break][break] "let's play hooky."

[break][break] callie may be on the good side, but no one ever said she was a good girl.

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] blue murtagh
[break] sanctuary safeguarding

☉