MARCH UPDATE

POSTED ON Sept 13, 2023 16:48:43 GMT

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Barely twenty-four hours had passed since the battle at the Ancient Tomb. Dressed in a suit, with his HBIC ID card hanging around his neck on a lanyard, Gunner felt like he was walking through a dream.[break][break]

The halls of the Bureau's headquarters were so familiar to him and yet so foreign at the same time. Everything was exactly where he had left it, including the paperwork in a neat pile on his desk.[break][break]

Yet it was absurd that nothing had changed when it felt that twenty years had passed for him.[break][break]

Eventually, Gunner found himself outside the door of PENELOPE LIVY's office. He hadn't seen her since the fateful clash on Route 120. When he tried to recall their interactions in that memory of Galar, however, his mind could only conjure hazy images. But he knew she'd been there.[break][break]

She'd been his friend.[break][break]

Knocking to announce his presence, Gunner let himself into the unlocked office. "Penny? Are you in here?" he called out without thinking.[break][break]

That was the name she'd told him to call her by. Not Penelope. Not Miss Livy.[break][break]

Penny.

[attr="class","ooc"]

[attr="class","tag"]PENELOPE LIVY

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Post Goodbye Galar

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

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Captain

Penny, the coveted

She/her

September 25

Petalburg

heterosexual

HBIC Director

Council

5'6" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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POSTED ON Sept 27, 2023 6:56:53 GMT

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Time's arrow neither pauses nor moves backwards. It always marches forward, unrelenting in its consistent stride over the barriers that seek to cause disarray. This was never more telling than the hours following Galar.
[break][break]

First there was the initial confusion. The 'what happens' of life, drawing her to take note of the stories that unfurled around her. Then there was the realization that followed, filling the gaps with bits and pieces of knowledge better left in the memory they'd escaped from. Finally, when all was settled and the newly polished sun made it's arrival to the zenith, there was the dread.
[break][break]

Because the clock kept ticking. Life kept moving.
[break][break]

Seconds, minutes, hours - there was no stopping the push forward.
[break][break]

That was why she returned to HQ. That was why she was there to hear Gunner Graves call her name - her real name.
[break][break]

"In here."
[break][break]

No reactions starched her words. It felt all too natural, no different than an old friend reaching out.

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[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves[break]

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September 5

Fallarbor Town, Hoenn

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POSTED ON Sept 27, 2023 16:09:43 GMT

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Gunner closed the door behind him. Like the rest of the building, Penelope's office looked the same as before. She looked the same, too: youthful, red hair full and bright instead of fading to gray with age.[break][break]

The surrealness only intensified.[break][break]

Her unfazed reaction to him using her nickname was a reassurance. At least she did not scold him for crossing that line of professionalism.[break][break]

"How are you feeling, after yesterday?" Gunner asked as he crossed the room.[break][break]

Instinct told him to ask about her feelings first; she was as human as the rest of them, despite her position. As he drew up beside Penelope, he searched her face for the truth.

[attr="class","ooc"]

[attr="class","tag"]PENELOPE LIVY

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Post Goodbye Galar

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

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played by

Captain

Penny, the coveted

She/her

September 25

Petalburg

heterosexual

HBIC Director

Council

5'6" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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TAG WITH @penelope

POSTED ON Oct 3, 2023 16:14:01 GMT

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"I'm..."
[Break][break]
Her eyes lifted to meet his.
[Break][break]
The truth was fickle thing, possibly lost within the void of time Galar had snatched from them. Her expression laid somewhere inbetween; a pure mixture of what was and could be.
[Break][break]
Familiarity bled from the way Gunner spoke her name, from the way he joined her at her side. Yet, the expression he wore danced with fantasy itself, taking inspiration from the dreams that haunted and the ones that comfort.
[Break][break]
"Okay."
[Break][break]
The ends of her lips lifted into a smile.
[Break][break]
"But, unlike some of the others, I fail to remember much of what happened. So I guess that helps."
[Break][break]
Now it was his turn to confess.
[Break][break]
"Are you doing alright? "
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves [break]

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"Lancer"

he / him

September 5

Fallarbor Town, Hoenn

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POSTED ON Oct 4, 2023 12:51:26 GMT

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[attr="class","gunner2"]

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Relief swept through Gunner at Penelope's admission. Lacking memory of the events that happened seemed, to him, to be a blessing. If he could, he'd prefer not to have the same feelings of displacement that haunted him, like some kind of existential VAMPIRE.[break][break]

At the same time, he was grateful for what he could remember, even if the memories brought pain to his heart. His difficult relationship with Summer Atreides and the miscarriage…[break][break]

Knowing what to expect made it easier to say goodbye, in the end.[break][break]

Gunner looked away, through the window of Penelope's office. Ever Grande City spread out before them, still waking up to the new day.[break][break]

"I wish I could put how I feel into words," he admitted, strangely feeling no awkwardness from being so vulnerable around his boss. "But I've been here before, I think. Not physically, but I mean in this emotional state."[break][break]

When Sayori died.[break][break]

"Right now I'm thinking that the best thing to do is to keep moving forward, as much as I can."

[attr="class","ooc"]

[attr="class","tag"]PENELOPE LIVY

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Post Goodbye Galar

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

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Captain

Penny, the coveted

She/her

September 25

Petalburg

heterosexual

HBIC Director

Council

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i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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POSTED ON Oct 6, 2023 7:32:44 GMT

spiral and shiv's baby likes this

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That's all they could do, right? Move forward. Push past the ghostly specter that clings onto their wrists, fingers digging into skin. Even though no memories rapt around her, the implications, the what-ifs, were just as tight around her neck as the collar Chi-yu had used to claim her.
[break][break]

"And how do you plan to do that?"
[break][break]

She cocked an eyebrow, a small smile softening her expression. Between them, a small candlelight still burned, just as bright as it had within the castle walls and luminescent fungal kingdoms. Shadows of the figures they once represented danced in the wayside. A queen and a guard. Two friends melded, by duty and choice.
[break][break]

"I'm sure you have plans other than returning to work?"
[break][break]

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"Lancer"

he / him

September 5

Fallarbor Town, Hoenn

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i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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POSTED ON Oct 9, 2023 13:32:36 GMT

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Gunner laughed, the sound hollow, weary. He felt like a shadow of himself there, standing next to Penelope in her office. Though he couldn't remember what transpired between them during the long memory of Galar, his presence next to her felt right.[break][break]

He could imagine their DOPPELGANGERS standing together in the same way, overlooking a war-torn, poison-soaked landscape. But as quickly as that image entered his mind, it washed away like ink with water.[break][break]

"If only I did. But you know me."[break][break]

Gunner fell into a pensive silence, feeling no great need to elaborate. Because of course Penelope knew.[break][break]

Then he turned to her. "What about you? You can't bury yourself in work, either." A pause. "Maybe we could resume what we discussed before… before yesterday."[break][break]

He frowned. The weeks before the battle seemed like a lifetime ago.[break][break]

"About Chi-Yu, I mean."

[attr="class","ooc"]

[attr="class","tag"]PENELOPE LIVY

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Post Goodbye Galar

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[attr="class","credit"]

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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played by

Captain

Penny, the coveted

She/her

September 25

Petalburg

heterosexual

HBIC Director

Council

5'6" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

awards

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DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @penelope

POSTED ON Oct 11, 2023 9:44:41 GMT

spiral and shiv's baby likes this

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"What about you? You can't bury yourself in work, either."
[break][break]

"And you know me"
[break][break]

She smiled, but it never reached her eyes.
[break][break]

They were kindred spirits in that way. Different sides to the same coin. Workaholics who only found solace in the shared understanding of their own twisted method of coping.
[break][break]

It was something not many could understand. CIAN MAHER never did. MATIAS SILPH only understood when it was convenient. ollie morales always supported her where he could, but her time as a reporter is night and day to the politics that now policed her life.
[break][break]

Her attention snapped back to reality at the mention of Chi-yu.
[break][break]

"Mm."
[break][break]

Lips pressed together, her gaze flickered, kissing the wall behind Gunner, as if running from the memories his words provoked. While it'd been only 24 hours and several minutes since the last time she contacted her god, in her bones, it felt like decades. Like the time within galar had stretched their connection thin, leaving this deep seeded hunger just below the surface.
[break][break]

"While I'm not opposed," she brought her eyes back to his, "I'm curious why you mention it?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves[break]

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gunsmile

"Lancer"

he / him

September 5

Fallarbor Town, Hoenn

pansexual

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lieutenant

6'1" / 185 cm height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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POSTED ON Oct 11, 2023 19:35:06 GMT

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Gunner flashed back to the fire at POG Bank's headquarters in Slateport City. Some civilians had suffered burn wounds, but not enough damage had been sustained to categorize it as a catastrophe. And in the public's eyes, the incident had nothing to do with the Director of the HBIC.[break][break]

But that wasn't the reality. Penelope had caused the fire with Avatar powers not yet under her control. And Gunner knew—now better than then—that she could be plenty insecure about her own inadequacy.[break][break]

He met her gaze with a cool, even stare. He would not let her run away.[break][break]

"Well, first, because it would be a good break in between the stress of day-to-day work," he said. This his tone and eyes softened, just a fraction. "And second, because we need you, Penny."[break][break]

Appeal to logic first, then to emotion.[break][break]

"As our director and leader."[break][break]

Terastallization, MEGA EVOLUTION, rare Pokémon… None of them compared to the power of an Avatar and their patron.

[attr="class","ooc"]

[attr="class","tag"]PENELOPE LIVY

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Post Goodbye Galar

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

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played by

Captain

Penny, the coveted

She/her

September 25

Petalburg

heterosexual

HBIC Director

Council

5'6" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

awards

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DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @penelope

POSTED ON Oct 16, 2023 19:35:40 GMT

Greyson Connors and spiral and shiv's baby like this

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He thinks your unstable. Unreliable.
[break][break]

A voice snarled into her ear. It took purchase on her shoulder, no different than a small bird or yowling house cat. She tried to ignore it. To keep her attention solely rapt around the man before her - the man who stood by her side, through the heavens and hells of Hoenn's theatrical game of chess - but galar had forced her weak.
[break][break]

"Are you implying I'm unable to meet to those duties now?"
[break][break]

High strung, her voice nearly evaded the quiver that threatened to break loose.
[break][break]

Would everyone come to doubt her the same way Greyson Connors had?
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves[break]

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played by

gunsmile

"Lancer"

he / him

September 5

Fallarbor Town, Hoenn

pansexual

paralegal / special agent

lieutenant

6'1" / 185 cm height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

awards

1,302 posts

DOLLARS

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TAG WITH @gunner

POSTED ON Oct 16, 2023 20:06:28 GMT

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[attr="class","gunner2"]

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Gunner shook his head, hearing the defensive snarl in her tone. Normally, when someone pushed him, he pushed them right back. But with Penelope, he knew he had to remain calm. The last thing they needed was a fire in the HBIC headquarters.[break][break]

"Not at all. I'm implying that we're more than a little rattled by whatever just happened. Me, Concordas…"[break][break]

He paused and glanced down, allowing more vulnerability to reveal itself. When he looked back up into Penelope's eyes, he hoped she saw it in his face.[break][break]

"And we need your strength. The more strength you have, the better we will rally in the wake of," Gunner waved his hand in a vague gesture, "that dream. The better we'll recover."

[attr="class","ooc"]

[attr="class","tag"]PENELOPE LIVY

[break]

NOTES

✦ Mission: Post Goodbye Galar

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[attr="class","credit"]

MADE BY GUNSMILE

close tab

played by

Captain

Penny, the coveted

She/her

September 25

Petalburg

heterosexual

HBIC Director

Council

5'6" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

awards

2,714 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @penelope

POSTED ON Oct 16, 2023 20:19:43 GMT

spiral and shiv's baby likes this

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The vulnerability of his soft spoken words drew at her like nothing else. They hushed the frantic screamings of her own anxiety, in a way that was so simple, so easy, a surge of foolishness and shame acted as the only repercussion to her words.
[break][break]

Gently recoiling, the councilwoman took a moment of pause to recollect her thoughts and reengage with what was being presented to her. If this had been any other time, either before galar, or weeks after it, Chi-yu might've held a seat at the table. A pedestal to which it could proclaim it's own stake of the conversation.
[break][break]

But even gods need their moment of rest.
[break][break]

And so this patron was left to decide on her own. A terrifying realization that wouldn't come to fruition until years later.
[break][break]

"I'll think on it," she relented, "hard to make any solid decisions right now. "
[break][break]

She mirrored his vague gesture.
[break][break]

"Given everything."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Gunner Graves[break]

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played by

gunsmile

"Lancer"

he / him

September 5

Fallarbor Town, Hoenn

pansexual

paralegal / special agent

lieutenant

6'1" / 185 cm height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

awards

1,302 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @gunner