it's only after he reaches the balcony, left to the privacy of his own anger and shame and guilt (what little of it) does he realize he's wet from the champagne being tossed at him. knowing it was flung by willow made it more bearable. less frustrating.[break][break]

he cools off in the silence, not really making eye contact with anyone. not until she joins him by the heater.[break][break]

"hey."[break][break]

he nods, reaching out for the mask but not slipping it on.[break][break]

"we, uh, chatted a bit. made small talk and eventually got to the topic of his past."[break][break]

his hands smooth over the material of the mask; an idle gesture to help coax the words out.[break][break]

"i called him out on it, one thing led to another, and here we are."

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

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

willow wishes she had another glass of champagne in hand - one, to settle her nerves and two, to have something to do with her hands. she places them on the iron railing, but that's a mistake. it's cold to the touch and her fingers stick so she pulls them back again and hugs herself, bracing her back against it instead. 

guilt crawls through her (but it's not as much if she had gone to the slice with bo...). 

"called him out? lance, the past is the past. he's a different man now." she thinks of those glowing, smoldering eyes, far-flung somewhere else. she shivers. "you're both captains so it's not like you even work together very often, right?"

granted, she has very little understanding of how the ranger hierarchy works.

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

"the past isn't in the past, though, not when the mahers have been a big fucking thorn in rocket's side."[break][break]

he doesn't mean to swear but it slips out in the heat of the moment. he bites his tongue a little too late, sighing after in an attempt to calm down.[break][break]

they do work together very often, actually, but he's not about to correct her.[break][break]

"i'm just worried about you and roman."

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

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

it's coming from a place of worry and she can forgive that, but only after a couple of heartbeats. only after she searches his face and remembers their first date, remembers that he lost his own. her hands are cold, despite the heater, but she raises them anyway. 

gently cups his face, avoiding the cuts and bruises from bo's fists. a shiver runs through her. 

"i know you are, but we can hold our own. the truth is out there now and there's nothing we can do to change that. all we can do is grow - like bo has."

she bites her lip. "my life is messy, lance. especially right now. he's roman's father and he has to be in the picture. and if you want to be part of this with me, you have to be okay with that."

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

the sting from the cuts and bruises is bitter though it does fade a little under her touch. as tense as he still is, he finds himself leaning into her hand, sighing as he does so.[break][break]

"i do want to be part of this. i do want to be with you."[break][break]

but does he truly want that? or is he simply choosing this because it's familiar? because it hides away the hurt and pain from his own loss. maybe that's why the situation with boruta maher upsets him this much. because it deviates from the vision he had in his head.[break][break]

"when did you find out about his past? did he tell you?"[break][break]

or was it from cian's interview? he wonders.

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

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

it warms her and despite the downturn the night has taken, despite his bruised face, she finds herself smiling. i do want to be with you. spoken plainly and earnestly with no room for doubt. she could kiss him for it, if she wasn't afraid of opening up his split lip. 

here and now she knows she did the right thing by walking away. now she won't have to skirt around the truth, explain away the accompanying thump-thump-thumping of her heart. 

"he told me last week, before i saw the news." she shifts, fingers curling and dropping to his chest. blue-green eyes glance away, out over the balcony. "i took lou out to stretch his legs and went to rustboro. some dumb kids painted graffiti on his house and, well, it all kind of came out."

and then you cancelled on me for dinner, she thinks unbidden and she knows she's not being fair. so she doesn't say it. 

"but it's okay. like i said, we atkins hold our own. you don't have to worry about me, alright? i'm more worried about you. first a meteor and now all these rifts everywhere?"

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

did bo know, then? about the news that his own brother was about to break? surely he did. they are brothers, after all. which would mean that the only reason bo told her then was that she would've found out otherwise.[break][break]

saved his own ass. selfish.[break][break]

unselfishly, lance lets the topic pass.[break][break]

"ah i'll be fine. i've survived worse."[break][break]

his hand raises to hers.[break][break]

"i'm, uh, sorry. i know this wasn't the night you had planned."

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

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

"it's alright," she replies with a sigh as his hand covers hers. as annoying and shocking as it was, as much as it changed the trajectory of their night, she at least had a pleasant time beforehand. 

she also opts not to tell lance about her dance with ollie morales. 

instead: "i'm just sad we never got a dance together. i was looking forward to it." there's no way she's traipsing back onto the dance floor after fleeing the scene. hell, she doesn't know if she can face bo right now.

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

there's no way he's traipsing back there either when he's most likely now banned from the event. in fact, he wonders why he hasn't been kicked out yet. maybe they lost him and now can't find him?[break][break]

either way, the suggestion comes easily.[break][break]

"well, it's not too late."[break][break]

he turns to face her, and with his other hand, he reaches out to her hip. the song is still audible even from this far away but how soft it is just adds to the scene.[break][break]

"will you dance with me, willow?"

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

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

it's not the dance she wanted. it's not the dance she should have had. she blames herself for not finding him sooner, for taking ollie morales's hand instead of his and tugging him away from a fight before it could have been fought. 

but here he offers her a hand, despite the bruises on his face. he is here - he is accepting her, despite everything that comes with her. breathless, feeling a fool, she takes it and finds a comfort in the way she fits against him. a remnant from their dances in her kitchen.

"sometimes i wonder why you stick around," she says gently, suddenly. "i just...it's a lot. and i know it can be hard for you."

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

"i wonder the same thing about you sometimes."[break][break]

it does not come from a place of self-doubt or any insecurities. just simple logistics. he works a job that is dangerous, one that puts him at risk every time he goes out on the field. he lives in lilycove while she lives in fallarbor, and neither one of them have made any plans on moving.[break][break]

sometimes, he feels as though their relationship doesn't sense on paper. but he's overcome worse odds.[break][break]

"i know i'm not the best partner, will. i work a lot and we barely see each other."[break][break]

he sways to the music.[break][break]

"but i am trying."

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

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

she's been alone for so long, maybe that's why it's alright. she's comfortable with solitude. her isolation is a paradise when she's amidst her flowers and her pokemon. and they don't really have their ups and downs. it's easy, despite their conflicting schedules. it's comfortable. it works. 

it's something to ground her in the rest of all this crazy and for that, she's thankful. 

"i know you're trying," she says and she twirls in his arms, drawing them around herself as she presses her back against him. hip to hip, cheek to neck (he's tall, damn it). 

"that's why i like you so much. that and you're pretty easy on the eyes." she peeks up at him with a smug smile.

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

for the first time tonight, he feels content with her in his arms and them dancing to a song he swears he only hears at events like this.[break][break]

"you're not so bad either, atkins."[break][break]

he returns the smug smile easily.[break][break]

"i'll fly out to fallarbor more often. spend more time with you and ro. take him out hiking, maybe. would he even like that?"

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

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