Silence was a burden the isolated must bare. Whether it be through choices of their own, or of another, there are little defenses one might shield themselves behind, as no plate of steel is impenetrable against what travels between these hours of quiet.
[break][break]
When Ollie first entered Penelope's apartment, he would see the stark differences in the slow crawl of pouring light. The crushed cans that once coated the coffee table were now littered across the floor. Clothes had been flung all around, and even a few pieces of shattered glass could be seen sparkling across the kitchen tile.
[break][break]
However, only one thing would be unmistakably familiar out of the tornado of ravaged furniture and wrangled clothes—a yellow smear infused with burnt memories of embarrassing realizations and forgotten promises.
[break][break]
Only then would he see the cracked open bedroom door. Inside, hidden in the shadows of the dark room, the mess only extended further, claws ripping apart its previous sense of order. Clothing, both dirty and new, blanketed every surface, the sheets of the bed were wrangled and disorganized, and in the corner, where the vortex of chaos centered, a curled body rocked against the bed frame. Vivid ravines of red trailed down its side, swaying with each push forward and back.
[break][break]
Like a rose confined to a glass cage, the woman looked wilted. Each leaking whimper was another petal falling to the ground.
[break][break]

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


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

anxiety thrummed in his veins. part of him expected to see the same disasterous set-up that he did last time, so he was a little more cautious upon entering.

[break][break] but curiosity begged him to push forward — and so he did.

[break][break] the scene of the crime was clear. it brought back a ripple of memories that he'd rather had left tucked away — the would-be peace of the apartment was splintered by the sight of a broken coffee table, clothes strewn across the floor, and a burnt smear that still ravaged the carpet.

[break][break] a reminder of his mistakes. of theirs.

[break][break] he nearly backed off, but worry forced him to stay. alarm bells rang in his head as he noted the changes in the apartment — the destruction of it all was nearly ruinous. the mess was not the thing that surprised him, but it was the eeiry silence of the apartment that bothered him, that had him stepping forward and through the crack of her room.

[break][break] darkness splintered him into place, verdant green eyes searching —

[break][break] "penny? penny!"

[break][break] discarding his feelings, ollie sprinted over to his ex-girlfriend. his hands go over to her wilted shoulders, trying to pull her back to the present day. a beam of sunlight that filled the room slowly but surely, percolating through the spreading dark.

[break][break] "penny, are you okay?"

[break]

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

Penelope was a piece of trampled earth. Ghastly and wan, no color lit her cheeks or eyes. Only the dull aftermath of snuffed-out candlelight. Under her skin, which looked taut and pale, life remained stilled to a silent confession of surrender.
[break][break]

She doesn't move immediately. Like an animal making steps against its predator, she took time in swaying her head back toward him. Each movement came and went with the loud pop of snapping joints locking into place.
[break][break]

"Ollie?"
[break][break]

Realization came onto her slowly.
[break][break]

"Why...are you here?"

[break][break]

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


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

there was something different.

[break][break] ollie couldn't put his finger on it, but whatever it was thrummed itself through his veins, lacing like nettles through his skin.

[break][break] "c'mon, penny. sit up."

[break][break] his throat was thick, his eyes full of worry. with large hands, he tries to steady her into an upright position.

[break][break] "are you okay?"

[break][break] she looked... like a mess. like she hadn't eaten in days.

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

There was no moving frozen ice. Not without shattering it.
[break][break]
"I'm...argh!"
[break][break]
Pulsating pain struck the corner of her forehead. Curling forward into herself, she gripped her head, fingers digging into her hair.
[break][break]
It hurt. Everything hurt.
[break][break]
Foreign agents diffused into her thoughts, crafting warfare in land previously isolated to oneself. The more she fought, digging into the quagmire, the more their fangs dug.
[break][break]
"I'm fine."
[break][break]
Her voice was ash. Quiet enough to be forgotten, but loud enough to cement this moment as reality.

[break][break]

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


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

when sun touches ice, it melts.

[break][break] "penny? quick - tofu, get some water."

[break][break] the pikachu darts away at his trainer's command, and ollie sits on the edge of the bed. hands go over to her side as pain pulses through her, wrapping around her shoulders to try to steady her. his brow furrows with concern as he looks over her, wondering what it is that he could do for her, what it was that was wrong with her.

[break][break] "you're not," he murmurs, only looking when his pikachu leaps to the bed with supplies. ollie shakes the bottle of pain pills open and unscrews the water bottle. "here - take this. it should help."

[break]

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

There wasn't much fight left in her bones. When Ollie made a command, she'd follow it slowly, helplessly, until his whispers became nothing.
[Break][break]
Inside, a war had erupted. There was no describing its intricacies, or the way it held her heart howling in pain.
[Break][break]
Only that she felt it all.
[Break][break]
Following her trip back from League HQ, these feelings first manifested in a small stream of consciousness. There were never words for how it felt, just that people, especially those she knew, had been triggering something inside her.
[Break][break]
Like a latch being lifted, doors creeked opened the moment Ollie's touch cradled her senses, and from its hidden depths a new feeling unfurled inside it.
[Break][break]
'do you even know what you want,' the voice wasn't meant for her, but the one set beside. Penelope still felt its vibrations, though. 'everyone else does.'
[Break][break]
Her body shook.
[Break][break]
Her eyes squeezed closed.
[Break][break]
"Why are you here?"

.

[break][break]

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


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

'why are you here?'

[break][break] ollie blinks, suddenly pulled out of his trance. for a moment, his hands stop shaking her, stop moving over her skin in attempts to calm her down. she causes him to pause, pulling forest-green summer light to a stand-still.

[break][break] "i - "

[break][break] why was he here?

[break][break] but then it's all in motion again. sunlight sprawling onto forest floor, leaves resuming their memento as they slip off their branches and onto the forest floor.

[break][break] "it doesn't matter," he says quickly, sitting beside her and pulling her against him. "i'm here now, and that's what matters. come on, take this. or drink something."

[break][break] softly, he adds, "you're not yourself, pen."

[break][break]

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

There was little to be done about the sickness that spreads. Arms tightening around her chest, she strangled herself, words mumbling out from her muffled lips.
[break][break]
"Why are you here," she repeated, "wouldn't you rather be at home, or with willow atkins? "
[break][break]
There was no stopping the words that spewed out from the depths of her mind. The helm of her body's control no longer rested upon her shoulders. Rather, a new presence had assumed claim onto her burdened soul.
[break][break]
"So just go."
[break][break]
Her voice was ash. Small, withered, and without the means to replicate what had already been lost. If only she hadn't burned too brightly.
[break][break]

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


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

"with willow?"

[break][break] it's such a surprise to hear her name that ollie pulls away for a moment, distracted from his mission to try to get her to eat or drink something. his brow furrows.

[break][break] "why would i? i'm here because i want to be, penny. i'm here for you."

[break][break] honestly, ollie hadn't seen willow atkins since she'd dropped him home. sure, they texted, but they'd both been busy and now that she had boruta maher living with her, there were less and even less moments for them to spend time together. but that was beside the point.

[break][break] if he'd wanted to see willow atkins, he would have been there. not here.

[break][break] "do you want me to go?"

[break][break]

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

"Don't lie to me. Everyone else already does."
[Break][break]
Embedded insecurities manifested into soft whispers in the back of her thoughts. Doubts that sent shivers down her spine, and admissions that left her curling further into herself.
[Break][break]
There was no escaping its insistent pounding on her door. Like an unwanted house guest, it demanded to make its presence known.
[Break][break]
Ever since she became council, that's all she ever heard. Lies of trust. Fake promises of loyalty. Of friendship.
[Break][break]
MATIAS SILPH, the one who promised her the world, only to turn his back to her.
[Break][break]
Greyson Connors, the one who'd abandoned what they had to turn the point of his knife at her throat. Just like everyone else in this god damn world of theirs.
[Break][break]
Their names burnt holes through her.
[Break][break]
"Do you want me to go?"
[Break][break]
Finally, her chin tilted upwards. In the skinny beams of light, amber rose to meet the lush forests up above. And thus, wildfire was born between them. Within them.
[Break][break]
"No!" Her hand lunged out at him, grappling into his arm. Desperate dug into his skin. "Please. Don't leave me alone"


[break][break]

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


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

"lie? i'm not - "

[break][break] he would never lie. at least not to her. sure, he could lie for her - when she asked, because she asked - but not to her. at least he didn't think he would, didn't think he could.

[break][break] ollie was a morales. morales didn't lie.

[break][break] he thinks about Eva Morales that day in kanto. how she'd said MATIAS SILPH had left her, how she'd said she was hurt. how she said she was ok.

[break][break] did that count as a lie?

[break][break] before he can finish his sentence, however, she reaches for him. charred amber meets forest-green, and the two are swept in a wildfire. she reaches for him, and her nails dig into his skin. painful, like embers flared against his skin, but intoxicating in a way that only PENELOPE LIVY could be.

[break][break] immediately, his arms wrap around her and he pulls her towards him in a fierce hug.

[break][break] "i won't," he promises. "i won't leave you, pen. ever." he presses his face against her hair, holding her to him for long enough that he hopes she can feel the conviction of his words, before he pulls back. he looks into her gaze, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

[break][break] "just tell me," he murmured. "how can i help? what can i do?"

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

"I feel like I'm going fucking crazy, ollie."
[break][break]
Admission is released behind a muffled gasp, all the while her fingers wrung themselves between the wrinkles of his shirt, pulling him closer, until no space was left to exist. His warmth was the only thing left to ground her.
[break][break]
"Like I've been fucking crazy, but it's all coming out, and I don't know what to do to stop it."
[break][break]

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


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