willow is juggling a few things right now. three croaking little bulbasaurs, all their buds a sickly brown and yellow. the damage is hard to look at and she's not in the best of moods by the time she's headed back upstairs to a wailing mother, calling for a husband long gone. 

she soothes her and tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear. roman is home and in the doorway, complaining that he's hungry and where's dinner, mom? he doesn't ask if he can help. 

the promise of pizza placates him. before she can call, though, there's a knock on the door. she looks frustrated, brows drawn, mouth a sour pucker, when she opens it. but that melts when she sees ollie. and then brightens when she reads the badge. 

"oh my gods?" she throws her arms around him and pulls him in for a hug. "this is good, right? of course it is! congratulations! come on in; i was just about to order pizza."

ollie morales

☉

was it good?

[break][break] her words ring in his ears even as she pulls him into a hug.

[break][break] the expression ollie's wear is one that is starstruck, as if dahlia goode had pulled him to the side and told him that he was going to be commissioner. head ranger is much different from that, but for a person like ollie, a person who had for the better for his life
running away from things, it might as well have been the same.

[break][break] "i - "

[break][break] he hugs her back and then steps into the threshold of her home, distracted momentarily by the sights. it is warm and inviting and nostalgic and calms him more than a blast of aromatherapy.

[break][break] "pizza? god, that sounds great."

[break][break] ollie, who usually feels right at home at the atkins residence, stays in the threshhold. discomfort rises on his face.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
post-gg

she turns and actually makes it up a couple of the steps before she realizes ollie isn't following her. she pauses and turns, leaning against the railing. a slip of hair falls over her cheek. she gives him a once-over and notes the emotion on his face, but...

"ollie? what's wrong?" she leans forward and stretches out a hand for him, as though that can coax him inside.

at the top of the stairs is gretchen. the cat harumphs as she plops down the stairs one at a time, bones aching. she rubs her cheek along willow's leg as she goes down and then stops in front of ollie, meowing roughly. she rubs her cheek against his leg too, in an unusual display of affection, and then continues past him out the door.

ollie morales

☉

willow could always read him.

[break][break] maybe he just wore an open book on his face, or maybe she was just good at reading people. or maybe, just maybe, she just knew him in a way that no one else ever would — not even PENELOPE LIVY.

[break][break] his lips press together as he looks at her, his expression somber for a rare moment.

[break][break] but then gretchen harumpphs, breaking his concentration. he lets out a little laugh as she rubs against him, the back of his hand stroking her, as he leans down to take off his shoes.

[break][break] "nothing," he says, a brief smile on his face before properly enters the atkins home, tucking the sneakers in the little shelf by the door right next to ro's. he walks past her, towards the kitchen. "pizza, huh?"

[break][break] "that sounds great. i'm starving."

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
post-gg

her withering look says it all - i don't believe you - but he comes back down from wherever he went to tuck his shoes away. will goes back to dialing the pizza joint and climbs the stairs, knowing ollie will follow. 

eleanor is sitting on the cushioned reading nook that overlooks the front lawn, staring quietly out at the flowers. she does not turn when ollie walks in or when willow starts giving her order (after a few casual pleasantries and how do you do's, of course, because marcy's a sweetheart and will likes to know how she and her furfrou are doing). 

elisabet shifts in her pot, shaking off dirt so she can hop out and greet ollie with a wave of her leaven arms. 

"mhm, yep. a large meat lover's pizza and a small veggie delight. can you throw in a house salad as well please? extra croutons? thanks, marcy."

from the other room comes a shout: "DID YOU GET MOZZ STICKS?"

"crap, no. i forgot, ro. call marcy back and ask."

"you have the phone."

"and you have your own phone."

"i dunno the number."

"look it up."

silence. willow tilts her head. roman starts talking in a more normal tone in the other room and she grins, pleased.

"okay, mister head ranger. i'm gonna need you to tell me what's up," she says and moves to the fridge so she can pour him a glass of lemonade.  

ollie morales

☉

being in the atkins household is always an adventure, and it brings him a sense of nostalgia as he watches eleanor, ro and willow all interact.

[break][break] it brings him back to his days when he'd started as a ranger, when he'd first gotten to know them all.

[break][break] he watches as tofu leaps off his back and dashes into the other room, likely to leap into ro's lap as he calls back for mozzarella sticks. maybe if he looks real nice at ro, he'll be able to get an extra treat for him too.

[break][break] ollie blinks, however, when willows calls him back. her face wears the sort of no-nonsense look that makes his lips press together, and he huffs a laugh:

[break][break] "what do you mean? nothing's up. i'm fine."

[break][break] he smiles.

[break][break] "i'm just hungry."

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
post-gg

willow pours another glass of lemonade for herself and goes to plop down into a chair at the wooden kitchen table. there are coasters on the table, but she doesn't bother with one as she slides the lemonade over to ollie. she's given up on salvaging the table a long time ago. 

annoyance flickers and even more concern wells up, but she can't force him to talk. maybe a better friend would push, but after the day she's had, she just can't. 

"mkay, well, food's on the way. so what's this mean? i know bo was compensated a bit more when he became captain, but a hell of a lot of responsibility came with it too."

ollie morales

☉

willow atkins doesn't pry, and ollie doesn't expect her to.

[break][break] it's part of why he's always felt like home in the atkins household, but especially with willow. it was why they were best friends. she knew when to push, and she knew when to not.

[break][break] it was what a near decade of friendship did to two people.

[break][break] "it meaaans," he elongates the last of the words, as he thinks of what to say. he sips on the ice-cold lemonade for a bit more, before placing it down. he smiles, with a look that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "it means you're going to be seeing a lot less of me."

[break][break] "and i'm going to have to be in a lot more meetings. ugh."

[break][break] he places his head in his hands, dragging his fingers down his cheeks.

[break][break] "wils, they can't even be in the same room."

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
post-gg

oh, she wants to pull the weeds from his mind, to shoo away whatever pests are nibbling on his happiness. she's not convinced - that much is clear - but she lets the issue rest. sometimes, among friends, you need to know when to back off. 

"noooo," she exclaims, "i already feel like i don't see you enough!" truth be told, she got kind of used to having him around the house. even though he was hopped up on pain meds for most of it, it was nice living with him. easy and painless. 

even if roman was a little shit about it most of the time.

her brows furrow and she tilts her head. "huh? i mean, i know they don't get along well, but it can't be that bad."

ollie morales

☉

ollie laughs in response, wincing only because it makes his bruised ribs hurt. the smile that adorns his face is bittersweet.

[break][break] "i know."

[break][break] he wished it wasn't this way. he wished he could just forego all his responsibilities — wish he could just run away to kalos or kanto, or kick his feet up on will's table and play video games with ro. he wished he could help boruta maher clean the shed and set up scarecrows in the fields with him until the sun set.

[break][break] sometimes, he wished he could go back in time. back when he was a budding ranger, just helping the atkins around the house.

[break][break] when things were easy.

[break][break] "ugh," he groaned. "you don't even know the half of it. we've been meetings all day every day, and i feel like it's pulling teeth to get them to talk to each other. you know i'm good with people, but it feels so much deeper than just pettiness — you know?"

[break][break] he sighs.

[break][break] "and we need to get them to work together if we're gonna make any real headway."

[break][break] he pulls his top lip between his teeth, looking at wils.

[break][break] "plus - i miss her. anna, i mean. things aren't the same without her."

[break][break] his heart gave a painful tug. ollie had already told willow atkins about it and he was sure that Greyson Connors had too. they hadn't seen anna since the ultra deep sea; and the league had made sanctions in pursuing anything. it was beyond frustrating.

[break][break] and ollie could be stupid, but he was not stupid enough to go against dahlia goode's word — especially now that he was head ranger.

[break][break] 'but maybe that was her goal all along?'

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
post-gg

it was easier when they were kids. when they didn't have things like responsibility and family and jobs. well, that's not entirely true, really. hell, the rest of her childhood ended abruptly the moment roman came into her life. she still feels like she should be a kid sometimes, as old as she is. 

"oh, i think that makes sense, as much as it pains me to say it." bo had punched lance in the face during the masquerade. and then she'd thrown champagne over him...

"do they though? i thought ranger captains work in their towns."

but that doesn't matter. he mentions ana and she softens, waving away whatever distance remained in the air so she can gently lay a hand over his own. she didn't know annalise henderson personally, but she was a close friend to ollie, so she must be a good person. 

PENELOPE LIVY is just a special exception in ollie's history.

"she'll be okay," she says, though she lacks conviction. it hadn't sounded good the last time ollie had talked to her. "look, you know i'm always here to talk about it if you need."

ollie morales

☉

"huh?"

[break][break] ollie blinked.

[break][break] "yeah, you're right, but the head rangers still need to work together sometimes. which is impossible, when the two of them barely want to be in the same room together."

[break][break] Raziel Beckett had told him why and ollie still didn't understand why they couldn't let their differences slide. he sighed.

[break][break] the topic changes to annalise henderson and ollie's expression goes dim. he frowns.

[break][break] "i know," he says, with a soft smile. "thanks wils."

[break][break] he gives a great, big sigh.

[break][break] "honestly, i don't know if i can do it, wils. it seems like so much work. and you know me — i never, i was never supposed to be this person. this guy."

[break][break] when he'd run away to kalos, he knew as much. he was an independent person, he wanted to fly off on his own wings.

[break][break] "but now everyone's relying on me, and i don't know what to do."

[break][break] most importantly, PENELOPE LIVY was relying on him.

[break][break] and he hated to let her down.

[break][break] the words that MATIAS SILPH had once said still sunk a knife deep into his chest, never having been taken out.

[break][break] just hidden.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins [break]
post-gg

she gives him a look like really? and doesn't laugh only because he really seems perplexed by his newfound responsibility. he's growing up, she realizes, and it's frightening. she almost envies him as much as she is annoyed by it - she, who'd had to let her own childhood go when she was so, so young.

"you keep doing what you're doing. take it from a woman who got pregnant at sixteen, ols. you'll learn fast because you have to and you'll figure things out as you go."

she takes his hand, squeezing hard, smiling brightly. "and your friends and family are gonna be right there with you to support you when you need help. i'll always be here for you."

ollie morales

☉