honestly, he's surprised that she invited him at all. almost every interaction that they've had since meeting on hoenn had been vicious on her part. he almost half expects her to not show up when he makes his way to mt. chimney on the wings of his dragonite, or for her to leave when they're half-way up the walk.

[break][break] at her question, he blinks with surprise.

[break][break] "you mean, you don't remember? we —" he falters, before shaking his head. it shouldn't surprise him. it's been years, after all. "yeah, i've been."

[break][break] he flashes a grin, though it's a bit weaker than usual due to the awkwardness and tension in the air, but he figures it's a little less since the events of mt. pyre. after all, that kind of experience bonds a person — even if their connections are thread-bare.

[break][break] "don't worry, we won't get lost." he jabs his thumb in his chest. "you can trust me."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

"Can I?" The words slipped out without a second thought. Despite the years that separated them from their past selves, the memories of what was was still burned into her brain, leading responses like these to be automatic. A way to bury before being exposed.
[Break][break]
Shoving her hands into her pockets, Penelope forced herself to cool down. There was no use in berating him here.
[Break][break]
Silence fell over them again. Only the occasional sounds of twigs breaking would manage to squeak through, creating soft breaks of tensity whenever they would come. Finally, Penelope looked to break the silence, surprising even herself with her choice in words.
[Break][break]
"I never got to thank you for, uh, back there."
[Break][break]
She kept her eyes set forward. No use looking back.
[Break][break]
"So thanks for that."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales [break]


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

he winces. "i guess not."

[break][break] "but well, i would like you to. one day." he knows that there's nothing he can say that can amend the actions of the past, but he can damn well sure try.

[break][break] as the silence stretches over them, he can't help but feel the tension tighten around his shoulders. it's almost enough to make him want to leave — want to run. but that was the young, stupid side of himself.

[break][break] he was older now.

[break][break] when she thanks him, his gaze snaps to hers. or the back of her head. he's so startled that she'd even offered that it takes him a moment to catch up. what was she talking about? the wingull? mt. pyre? the excursion?

[break][break] instead he says, "thanks for inviting me." a pause before he says again, "i really meant it, you know."

[break][break] "i want to be friends again, penny."

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

"No, I meant-- nevermind. No problem."
[Break][break]
Friends?
[Break][break]
Was that even a possibility for them?
[Break][break]
"I don't know if we can be friends," she admitted. The ice in her voice had thawed to it's natural warmth and her lips fell to a frown. "Not after everything."
[Break][break]
Even when it didn't hurt, just the sight of him forced her dizzy. It felt like, even down, he was the one and only person that could push her to the edge.
[Break][break]
"Coworkers, maybe, but friends? I dont know."
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


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

he can't help it, the way disappointment coils in his gut. penny had been his everything, once upon a time. he missed her.

[break][break] but he knew better than to push the topic, not when everything was so fresh.

[break][break] "i can do coworkers," he says cheerily instead, expression shifting. only she would be able to see the way that his gaze changes, a little filtered from his normally happy expression, but also she would also be the only one who wouldn't care.

[break][break] "speaking of — can you tell me what we're doing up here? the league have any fresh intel on those - uh - ghost things?"

[break][break] tabs hadn't come back to life. at the time, he hadn't cared much about it. but now that time had passed, some of the pain had healed, and he could at least try to think about it.

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

Penelope's eyes glanced back only for a second. But it was enough to catch a glimpse of the shifting of Ollie's expression and the dip of his voice. It was so like him to filter himself like this. To pretend everything's okay, even when it wasn't.
[Break][break]
She gnawed on the bottom of her lip, too stubborn to admit how much it truly bothered her.
[Break][break]
"Good."
[Break][break]
Eventually, the question subsided as their attention took flight back to the original purpose of their meeting. Mt chimney.
[Break][break]
"Mm. Kind of."
[Break][break]
The four wisps were still a mystery, and the V's had taken up a mind of their own. It'd take a while for either to be discovered.
[Break][break]
"We have reason to believe, if those souls were all revived, one might be here."
[Break][break]
It was a stretch though. With everything that happened up there, she wouldn't be surprised if that figure she spotted was just illusion. A vision in the skies to keep pushing forward, but nothing more.
[Break][break]
"Moltres."
[Break][break]
The word echoed out, weighed down by it's implications.
[Break][break]
"It's a shot in the dark though. We might see nothing up here."
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


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

it wasn't a solution, but it was a start, and it was all ollie could really ask for.

[break][break] reason to believe, huh? she was elusive as ever.

[break][break] "'those' souls, huh?" he repeated, murmuring under his breath as he mulled over the thought. he wondered why the ones who had been revived was chosen — the thought of paxton concordas being stiched back together right in front of them... it was jarring, and probably would've been more alarming, hadn't there been more insane things going around that day.

[break][break] "do you ever think — " he cuts himself off, lips pressed together. he pushes the discomfort away, the memory of how he'd lost tabs. "do you wonder why those souls were revived?"

[break][break] he blinks as she brings up moltres, and he can't help the way his brows arch. he'd heard rumors of moltres before — it would've been crazy not to, considering where he'd grown up.

[break][break] "moltres? isn't..." he'd never met her in person. Stormy Silph . "... you think the drk triad has something to do with it?"

[break][break] if moltres was alive, did that mean the former elite four was too?

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

"I have no idea."
[break][break]


To any of it. She was no Eva Morales or illeana reyes . Hell, even taking the science out of it, her intuition strayed far from the levels of her coworkers, like FERNANDO SILPH . But just sitting back at home, or in the office, where it was warm and without danger just didn't sit well with her. Not after Mt Pyre, or mirage island, or any of the other fucked up events that's been plaguing her home for the past several years.
[break][break]


"They might be behind it, or it could be Arceus himself intervening -- I really don't have any clue."
[break][break]


Her career is based on just simply following the trails laid out for her, not piecing them together herself. That was for the analysts to decrypt.
[break][break]


"I just...can't sit back anymore, though. Even if nothing comes from going out here, it'll be more than submitting some bullshit paperwork."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


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

"i could ask my sis, if ya want."

[break][break] though he might've been the older brother, it was obvious to anyone who looked at them that Eva Morales was the smartest in their family. or at least, pa had always seemed to think so.

[break][break] he nods along with penny as she speaks, kicking a piece of pebble down the path.

[break][break] "i know what you mean. i was like - in the hospital for two days before i broke myself out." he flashes a cheeky grin. "knowing people in high places has it's rewards."

[break][break] "but yeah." he sobers. "being antsy - i get that. it's why i became a ranger — why you convinced me to become one."

[break][break] his voice is a bit softer at the end, brokering with affection, as he casts a sidelong glance at her.

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

"No thank you. I can ask her myself."
[break][break]

Eva Morales and Penelope weren't strangers either. She would be just fine requesting her assistance without the interference of Ollie. And, besides, the fewer favors she owed him the better.
[break][break]
[break][break]

"Wait...sister?"
[break][break]

But, before the question could settle down in her head, he spoke again.

Penelope's face scrunched in on itself, forming into a scowl rivaling none other than a pokemon's SCARY FACE. As much as she hated to admit it, the curl of warmth in his voice made her want to lower her guard. It made her want to open up and accept him despite all the wrong and hurt and pain he's caused her.
[break][break]

It made her want to forgive.
[break][break]

"A decision I regret."
[break][break]

It wasn't true. But it had to be.
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


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

"yeah?" he blinks, confused at her confusion. "Eva Morales — my sister —"

[break][break] it's been years, so maybe she's forgotten. if he's honest with himself, that hurts more than he'd like to admit, that she might have forgotten the time that he'd spilled his heart out to her. it's not something that ollie actually really, truly does all that often — leaving himself raw and open for those to inspect — but the trauma of his sister's death, and the resonating guilt that he had around those experiences, are one of those things.

[break][break] before he can question her more, however, she bites down on another bullet. it sears through his heart, panging him.

[break][break] "you don't think i'm a good ranger?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

In truth, she hadn't forgotten. Those days he'd spent pouring himself to her -- they were all still there, burnt into her memory, like a scar she couldn't cleanse herself from. She'd simply forced herself into ignorance. Dissociating the name to the man, until the word 'morales' held no meaning beyond the scientist who wore it.
[break][break]

It also helped that, back when he spoke of her, she was dead. A figment of memory.
[break][break]

But that conversation had passed.
[break][break]

"I do."
[break][break]

He was a painstakingly good one. Better than most, she'd say. But...
[break][break]

"That's why I regret it."
[break][break]

Because, for as long as they lived, a piece of his identity was forever tied to her. And, for Penelope, whenever the mention of the organization came to mind, ollie morales was the first man she thought of.
[break][break]

Ranger and ollie morales -- the two words held a joint meaning that even surpassed the name 'Morales'.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] @charname [break]


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

"i do."

[break][break] he blinks. the split-second moment just enough to pitch his heart into hope, only for it to come crashing down again. confusion whirls around him, a turbulent wave of stormy-green eyes.

[break][break] "i don't understand," he says, steps slowing as he tries to piece it together. penny could be frustrating and confusing at the worst of times, but even this was a little bit much.

[break][break] "you didn't want me to be a ranger, because i'm a good one?"

[break][break] he frowns.

[break][break] "would you rather i be a bad one?"

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]