no, they really don't do this. she can think of a million and one other things she'd rather be doing than dancing under the watchful eye of dozens of other people. the mask helps - the earthy, floral scent that comes off of it makes her feel somewhat at home. and ollie's arms around her, close like they hadn't been in a number of years but familiar all the same, help her forget about everyone else. 

their height difference is laughable, but she's used to being dwarfed by everyone she knows. her chunky block heels are only a couple of inches tall - old fashioned, as they're eleanor's, and they're the tallest she could manage without stumbling. 

"you know, i think you're right," she says with a laugh. and she'd hardly seen ollie out of his ranger uniform. 

her dance moves, however, are fluid and elegant. she'd grown up dancing with her mother and father in the kitchen, listening to the static crackling on his old radio. dishes after dinner had taken hours, but none of them minded.

she takes the lead, compensating for his ankle, and rotates in a manner to help him take the weight off of it. "you look better since i last saw you," she says dryly. 

ollie morales

☉

he smiles brightly.

[break][break] "i do? thanks!"

[break][break] kalos was one of the most romantic regions, and it made sense that there were no shortage of places to learn how to dance. even still, though, one of his favorite memories are the ones born in the afternoon light of willow atkins's kitchen, static radio filling the air as their music. she was one of the first people to teach him how to dance.

[break][break] he grins.

[break][break] "i've been practicing."

[break][break] ollie leans forward, grasping her hand as he leads her in a twirl just as the music rises to a pitch behind them. a violin sings in the distance, accompanied soon after by the hum of a cello.

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
MERRY MASQUERADE [break]
+ wearing a suit and stantler mask

[attr="class","notes"]

his cheeriness is infectious, like always, and she feels the last of her worries melt away. her chin tilts up and she finally looks, really looks into his eyes, heart swelling when she finds that same mirth swimming in the green eyes behind his stantler mask. it makes all the rest of it easy.

"it's a shame," she says with a laugh, drawing away from him to twirl. her dress lifts slightly and she breathes in shortly, feeling a rush of warmth bubble up in her. it comes out as a giggle as she clasps his side again; she squeezes again. 

her own greens are playful when she finishes with, "i miss ollie with his two left feet." and then, wrapped in nostalgia: "remember when we knocked into the vase? dad was so mad, but mom couldn't stop laughing at us while we floundered." 

ollie morales

☉

he snickers.

[break][break] "i still feel bad about that! but maybe the vase i got him afterward made up for it..."

[break][break] even as he says it, though, it's a fond memory. warmth swells in his cheeks as he thinks about it. it was almost unfair how easy things were with willow, how easy things had always been. especially since the premise of their first meeting had been because of work.

[break][break] he wondered if the other rangers had always gotten along so easily with their first assignment as he did. he wondered if they too were able to make a life-long friend the way that he did.

[break][break] 'she's not your friend, ollie,' PENELOPE LIVY had once said to him.

[break][break] but she was.

[break][break] "how are they doing, by the way? and roman?"

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
MERRY MASQUERADE [break]
+ wearing a suit and stantler mask

[attr="class","notes"]

it's been long enough that the pang isn't as painful, but she's faced with the consequence of never having told him. several years ago, she had stood with her head in her hands, looking past her fingers at a small list of names. ollie's had been decisively crossed through.

no reason to make him leave kalos to attend a funeral. 

"dad passed, actually," she says somberly. it's most certainly not a topic for dancing conversation, so she moves to brighter things. "mom's doing fine, though. forgets things sometimes, but she's healthy as an ox. and roman's roman. growing up. it's wild to watch."

her smile dimples. "i still have that vase, by the way.

"how's hoenn? being back and all? y'know, now that the world isn't about to end."

ollie morales

☉

"he — what?"

[break][break] ollie starts, stilling to a stop for a moment as he stares down at her in astonishment. but there are people dancing all around them, and if he pauses for too long, one of them might bump into them. he picks up the pace soon enough, squeezing her hand once as he leads her.

[break][break] "god, i'm sorry, wills. i didn't know." his chest feels tight, squeezing at the thought that he hadn't known. how stupid was he? to know know about his best friend's dad? his lips purse. "i would've come home, you know. if you'd told me."

[break][break] but the conversation switches to lighter things, of which ollie is grateful.

[break][break] "we should meet up sometime. i miss them."

[break][break] it's the least he can do after not having been around for her husband's passing.

[break][break] "honestly, it's pretty crazy." he laughs, a little breathless, as he pulls back and then pulls her close when the song swells again. "i didn't know you guys — like — dealed with so much shit. did i tell you i saw actual legendaries?"

[break][break] he'd joked once about it with wren rourke, but now the kid was in the hospital.

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
MERRY MASQUERADE [break]
+ wearing a suit and stantler mask

[attr="class","notes"]

expecting the hurt doesn't make it sting any less. it helps that he has a mask on - if she'd had to bear witness his entire expression upon the news, the water in her eyes may have spilled over. but she blinks it away, stumbling over his feet because he suddenly stops. her fingers tighten reflexively and she gets closer than she means to. 

her neck grows hot. "i know you would have," she says, "but i didn't want that for you."

they find their groove again, all too quickly, and her shoulders start to relax. she gives them some room, but stays just a little closer than before, sighing into his familiarity. 

"legendaries?" she repeats, awestruck. "man, and here i was thinking i was cool for wrangling some big vespiquen." granted they had been 'infected' by what Greyson Connors called 'primal crystals' so it's not that laughable. 

"i worry about you, you know. you and bo. and lance. ranger work just seems so...scary."

ollie morales

☉

willow was always so nice. too nice.

[break][break] of course she'd be thinking about him, even in her time of crisis.

[break][break] it almost makes him want to sigh, but he doesn't. instead, he gets caught in the rhythmic beat of the music, leaning back to twirl her, before they meet again.

[break][break] a laugh bubbles out of him.

[break][break] "hey, vespiquen are pretty cool."

[break][break] even behind his mask, willow would be able to see the grin break across his face. teasing.

[break][break] "but ranger work is so fun, wills. you don't need to worry about me." he can't speak for boruta maher, and he certainly can't speak up for LANCE VOLLANS. it's still so recent that willow told him that they were dating, that ollie isn't quite sure how to bring up the name. it feels awkward.

[break][break] he pushes them back and then together again, hand curved around her hip.

[break][break] "without ranger work, i would've never met you."

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
MERRY MASQUERADE [break]
+ wearing a suit and stantler mask

[attr="class","notes"]

"they really are," she agrees. even in the face of the impossible size and anger that had radiated off the queen she and Greyson Connors had fought together, she still has a healthy and unshakeable respect for them. the ones on her farm are docile, but they're so interesting. she could probably babble on for hours about their communication methods alone. 

her brows dip, though, when he urges her not to worry. when he says fun, she can't help but think about the state she'd found him in when retrieving him from the hospital. how she hadn't slept well that night because ollie in that bad shape made it real for her: bo and lance did dangerous work. 

she sucks in a breath and wills herself to think more positively. they're here and they're dancing and they're talking and it feels almost like old times again. her hand in his and nothing but laughter between them.

"yeah," she says softly, very suddenly acutely aware of where her hands are. where his are. her grip tightens. she opts to ignore it. stop overthinking things. 

"i'm glad you're back. i missed you, dummy. but you know that." they texted enough during his time in kalos. especially after bo came back into her life. gods, she owed ollie so much.

ollie morales

☉

if he notices a shift in her mood, he doesn't say anything. ollie's smile is warm and kind as it's ever been, as it always is whenever he looks at willow.

[break][break] "i do," he says cheerfully. "but i missed you too."

[break][break] he steps back, pulling her against him as they spin on the dance floor.

[break][break] "so where's he? your date?" its funny referring to LANCE VOLLANS, since they both know that he actually knows him. "it's not very date-like that he hasn't asked to cut in yet." he lowers his head as the music swells behind them, a chorus of violins and cello that strike deep in the chest. "i can beat him up if you want."

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
MERRY MASQUERADE [break]
+ wearing a suit and stantler mask

[attr="class","notes"]

it sends a trill through her to hear that - i missed you too. just another kindly reminder that she wasn't, and never really had been alone all that time. she surrenders to him, allowing him the lead as he pulls her closer, and she marvels again at how suave and put-together he is. still warm and sweet, but he's lost that gawky awkwardness he had when he was a teen. 

her lips purse. it's the only hint of emotion ollie's able to read from her otherwise masked face, and she's glad for it. her gaze wanders from him now and back to the spot she'd first seen them - and sure enough he's still talking to bo. 

it's impossible to distinguish their facial expressions, but it doesn't take her more than a glance to know bo looks uncomfortable. or angry. 

"looks like bo might beat you to it," she says and gestures with her chin towards where they're standing.

"and please. i'm glad he didn't," she adds, tapping him playfully on the chest. "i needed a dance with my best friend."

ollie morales
(LANCE VOLLANS boruta maher)

☉

at her direction, he glances to where she's pointing.

[break][break] unlike willow atkins, he's not fluent in boruta maher. he doesn't understand those silent bo-isms for barely contained anger. in fact, they're far away enough that ollie could arguably say that they're just blots in the distance.

[break][break] "they're standing next to each other?" he asks, unable to help the laugh that rises. what, did they go looking for each other, or something? "do you think they'll dance?" he teases.

[break][break] "alright, alright."

[break][break] he huffs.

[break][break] "but just say the word, and i'm there."

[break][break] he smiles anyways, both glad to hear willow call him best friend and also in agreement. it was nice spending time with her again. with his new job, it made it hard to get the time with her that he would've liked, but he knew that she led a pretty busy life too. his eyes dart towards both LANCE VOLLANS and boruta maher in the distance again. 'dramatic too.'

[break][break] "did you know... PENELOPE LIVY is here? actually, i heard she organized the gala."

[break][break] he seems a little sheepish — guilty almost. like willow atkins would be able to see something in his eyes that he was trying to hide.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
MERRY MASQUERADE [break]
+ wearing a suit and stantler mask

[attr="class","notes"]

unfortunately enough for the two hotheads, willow opts to turn her attention back to ollie. because she's having a nice time and she's sure she's reading the signs wrong. so she takes the opportunity to sway in ollie's arms, to turn him so they move to the center of the dance floor. back into their own little bubble. 

the topic shifts to something arguably more bitter and her awkward nervousness shows as much in the furrowed brows, the jut of her lip. she gives ollie another squeeze and gives a cursory glance around, but can't spot the mentioned councilwoman. 

"yeah?" she says cautiously. ollie hadn't told her much when they'd broken up, but the entire situation had been a bit of a sideways mess. and willow always had the strangest feeling PENELOPE LIVY didn't particularly like her. 

not that willow ever had the heart to say that to ollie. 

"how are you doing? are you...talking again?"

ollie morales

☉