Penelope wore guilt like a freshly cut coat. Warm and luscious, it wrapped over her shoulders, beaming with elegance loud enough to suffocate the hurt that'd gone into its creation.
[Break][break]
She had already destroyed CIAN MAHER emotionally.
[Break][break]
MATIAS SILPH had destroyed her.
[Break][break]
And now it was a fight to see who would tear into who.
[Break][break]
The clicking of Penelope's heels closed off at the door to ollie morales's hospital bed. It was with a soft knock that she made her greeting.
[Break][break]
"Hey," there were no smiles behind her words. Only the harsh reality of their entanglement. She heaved a soft sigh. "We should talk."


[break][break]

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


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

most people knew ollie as a happy and easygoing person. a ball of sunshine, some might say, who wouldn't so easily be eclipsed by another's shadow. they would've never guessed that he was the kind of person to beat someone up, wasn't the kind of person who was even possible of feeling the sort of rage and betrayal that he had showed to PENELOPE LIVY and MATIAS SILPH that day.

[break][break] he carried upset on his shoulders like water droplets off a raincoat; it was why months of hatred-filled stares from PENELOPE LIVY didn't bother him. it was why he smiled, and smiled, and smiled.

[break][break] it was why they made him evergrande ranger captain, because they could trust that he was the kind of man to lead the capital city with confidence and hope.

[break][break] but when PENELOPE LIVY walked into the room she would see something different. would see the man that she had once knew and loved, even in his darkest, brooding moments.

[break][break] because PENELOPE LIVY knew him. just like he knew her.

[break][break]

[break][break]

when penny walks into the room, his eyes lift up towards her. emerald green catching upon shards of amber.

[break][break] but when he looks at her, there's no happiness or love to be gleaned from his expression. none of the thrill that had once accompanied him whenever he'd looked at her, eyes full of endless hope.

[break][break] "i'm surprised you came. shouldn't you be with your boyfriend?"

[break][break]

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

Penelope knew ollie morales better than she knew herself at times. Which is why, even upon her arrival, no surprises greeted her beyond the hospital's wooden door.
[Break][break]
This Ollie - the Ollie hunched over in bitterness, emptied out of all the happiness that would normally swell inside - was just as much as the ollie morales everyone knew and love.
[Break][break]
"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I came."
[Break][break]
Even while distant, her voice melded with warmth, as clouds could never fully obscure the peaking sunlight of a summer's day.
[Break][break]
She stood at the foot of the bed, arms hanging at her sides.
[Break][break]
"First: have you received any tests back? No broken bones, right?
[break][break]

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


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

he's bitter.

[break][break] PENELOPE LIVY's the only one who's seem him like this that wasn't family. not even willow atkins, who had known him for years, who had been his best friend for the length of his adult life. it was because this was the version of himself that ollie liked to hide from the world, liked to pretend that he wasn't.

[break][break] ollie's hurt, so he's bitter, and when he's bitter, he lashes out. when they were younger and dating, it had led to awful fights, one of which had culminated in the ending of their relationship.

[break][break] but this penny doesn't take the bait. this penny knows better.

[break][break] at least one of them did.

[break][break] "does it matter?" he sighs, with a huff, and then shoves a binder at her. it's his patient file, one that the nurse had left in the room and that he poured over and over again because he wanted a reason to hate himself, so he didn't have to hate anyone else. it hadn't worked. "but no. nothing really."

[break][break] "just a rib."

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

Just a rib?
[break][break]

Just a rib?!
[break][break]

A heavy breath is swallowed as emotions are forced under control. This wasn't the time, nor did she hold the luxury of relinquishing such control over herself to him. She'd done it once before, and look how that turned out.
[break][break]

Grabbing the binder, Penelope gave its pages a quick flip through and skim. Scans for more egregious words overtook her thoughts. After a minute more, she flipped the binder close.
[break][break]

"You're not planning on escaping this time, right?"
[break][break]

He had a bad habit of doing that. Restlessness, he called it. Stupidity, she called it.


[break][break]

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


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

"escaping?"

[break][break] he echoes, and then it's only moments later that he recalls what she must mean by it. as it turns out, maybe the concussion that MATIAS SILPH had given him was worse than he thought.

[break][break] "you knew about that?" he asks, grumbling only slightly as he reaches for his cup of ice chips. he winces for a moment, before popping one into his mouth.

[break][break] the crunch sounds loudly in the room.

[break][break] "wils took care of me just fine."

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

She knew more about ollie morales than she'd ever like to admit.
[break][break]

From his favorite color, to his favorite foods, to his bustling childhood back in pallet town. It was information she had often cursed at herself for knowing, but in times like these, it came to some benefit.
[break][break]

She kept her distance, arms folding across her chest.
[break][break]

Wils.
[break][break]

What a grating name.
[break][break]

"I'm sure," she breathed, frustration obvious in the way her eyebrows twitched, "but she isn't here right now. So I'm asking you not to try escaping again."
[break][break]

A pause.
[break][break]

"Even if you hate it here."

[break][break]

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


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

he was petty.

[break][break] ollie hated to admit it, but at his worst, he was petty. he'd wanted PENELOPE LIVY to hurt, just a little, and if he admitted it to himself, there was a sick pleasure drawn from the way that she kept her distance. frustration broiling in her eyes, the same way that it used to, because she used to care —

[break][break] he looks up at her slowly, green eyes meeting amber.

[break][break] "are you asking me as penny, or as councilwoman livy?"

[break][break] crunch.

[break][break] "or the girl who fucked my sister's fiance?"

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

"all the above."
[Break][break]
There was no hiding from her actions. Only facing them, head on, and accepting the consequences that came from them.
[Break][break]
Even if it broke her heart to do so.
[Break][break]
"Mainly as penny, though."

[break][break]

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


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

she didn't take the bait.

[break][break] his eyes narrow for a moment, watching her, before he billows out a sigh.

[break][break] penny knew him best, after all.

[break][break] "if that's all you're here for," he said, pushing himself up with a wince. "you can go. i don't need a babysitter."

[break][break] he gestures with the bandages around his waist.

[break][break] "it isn't like i can go anywhere."

[break][break] right now.

[break][break] "but..." he hesitates, one more time, rolling over the thoughts in his head. how much would he love to prove her wrong, to lie to her like she had to him, and just —

[break][break] "i won't leave. you have my word."

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

Good.
[break][break]


At least there was solace in that.
[break][break]


But-
[break][break]


"That's not the only reason why I'm here."
[break][break]


A small step breached the space between them. No-man's-land had been impeded on, and without care, she looked to continue her journey across its withered borders.
[break][break]


"Ollie," care bled from her words. There were no hints of doubt or inflictions of hesitancy. "I know, I know. You must hate me. But, if I could explain, maybe,"
[break][break]


She let out a slow, shaky breath.
[break][break]


"Maybe you could hate me a little less?"
[break][break]

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


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

ollie.

[break][break] the care that bled into her words was unmistakable -- so much so that he could feel the closed bits of his hearts start to open once again, peeled back like a flower near bloom. he swallowed, gaze following her movements.

[break][break] bitterness brimmed on the surface, but beneath that was —

[break][break] "you think i hate you?" he said in disbelief.

[break][break] frustration broils in his gaze, turning leaf-green forests to crackling jade.

[break][break] "i don't hate you, penny." i could never hate you. "i'm hurt."

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

She paused, stilled by the sharp retort. Surprise cracked through the mask she'd delicately placed on, leaking out in the flinching of her precise expression. Her eyes widened.
[break][break]


"Oh, I--"


[break][break]


Words tangled themselves in her mouth. This wasn't what she'd planned for him to say. This wasn't like the script running through her head.
[break][break]


This was different. This was painful.
[break][break]


Her fingers curled at her sides, finding a home between the wrinkles of her pants.
[break][break]


"I just figured..."


[break][break]

She had forgotten - this was ollie morales , not MATIAS SILPH .
[break][break]


Hate didn't mark his words the way it did hers.
[break][break]


"I'm sorry."

[break][break]

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


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