she watches him go and her eyes betray her, but only a little bit. it's not fair, really, for her to think that at the end of the day, he's still walking away. not when she hasn't given him a chance. not when she hasn't given him a choice. but after all these years, she's still every bit lost as he is. 

and here is lance, someone who left abruptly too, but comes bearing a gift and a smile on his face - all he has to apologize for is a month of radio silence after whatever they had sort of fizzled.

except, maybe it hadn't?

she finds herself smiling back up at him and at the mention of her training, offers a sheepish shrug. "i'm not, really. things have only gotten weirder in hoenn since you left and, well, i wanted to be able to protect myself. and roman."

boruta maher LANCE VOLLANS

☉

and, surprisingly, that secures her the win. she gets a little too into it, falling over bo and pushing a blind palm out to slap at his squirt gun in order to distract him. by the time his demise is clear, she's giggling too much to be of any use herself. an eight year-old that had taken up the race at the other end of the booth ends up beating them by a landslide. 

so both of them remain prizeless and she turns to apologize to roman, not realizing her hand is still lingering on bo's arm, and roman is just beaming. 

"suck it, dad! mom's got balls." and then he points to the next shiny thing he sees and scampers off, crowing for them to join him. 

boruta maher

☉

"oh, you're not interr - " she starts at the same time bo answers lance. she shuts up to let him finish and shifts to the side, wishing she could dart between the two of them and into her greenhouse. among her plants, where things make sense and men aren't stupid. 

"oh, uh, okay," she says, habit having her tuck that lock of hair back behind her ear. she looks up at bo and says, "sorry," but then thinks wait, why? and hastily adds, "i mean, well, i'm glad you found time. i'll talk to you this weekend? when i drop ro off?"

boruta maher LANCE VOLLANS

☉

she expects all of bo's flexing to have the opposite effect on their sour sore loser of a son, and he certainly tries to keep up appearances of being upset, but she knows that twinge on his lips. she can tell he's trying not to laugh. and it's why she plays along with such exuberance, why she grabs the squirt gun even though her hands are feeling clammy for some reason. 

"please," she says with a roll of her eyes. "we're competing with squirt guns, not our egos."

she hands over a couple more tickets and takes the unfamiliar weight in her hand. and when the buzzer goes off, she does try to take it seriously, except when she spies roman watching with that not-quite-smile still on his face, she winks at him and playfully jabs her elbow against bo to try and throw him off balance.

boruta maher

xnaL|1TW

☉

he's as pleasant as ever, smiling at her like he hadn't abruptly ended things and disappeared with little reason to another region. not that they'd been together long enough - or at all? - to warrant such an explanation, but that doesn't mean it still didn't hurt. and it's only made more complicated by the butterfree in her stomach when she spies the neatly wrapped package in his hands. 

she can feel bo looking at her and that only makes her blush deepen. she runs a hand through her hair, throwing that curtain between the two of them while the two men exchange awkward pleasantries. 

LANCE VOLLANS boruta maher

☉

roman does not take kindly to losing. right before it's made clear he is absolutely going to get decimated, he shakes the squirt gun and slaps the side of it, complaining that 'bo's was rigged and that's the only reason he lost.' willow sighs irritably and goes to ruffle roman's hair, but he shrugs her off. 

"these games are stupid." willow crumples up her snow cone container and looks pointedly down at him. 

"being a sore loser is stupid," she says and he glowers up at her before thinking better of it. maybe because making a scene could end their happy family day? she doesn't know. only that he mumbles something resembling an apology and pushes her back towards the tent.

"okay, then you try and beat dad." she shrugs and looks mischievously up at bo, brows raised. 

"only because he asked so nicely."

boruta maher

☉

if she'd been expecting elisa's company, she may have gone so far as to put out a little spread for them at the bistro tables. although the thought does remind her that she has something better to show her. so it's almost as soon as she sits down that she stands back up, hands out in front of her to tell elisa to keep talking, that she's listening. 

"oh, i heard about that. i think a few of the neighbors got a few sent to them from relatives in petalburg," she says over her shoulder with a smile. one, a lovely barista at the coffee shop fifteen minutes down the road, looked mortified when she casually mentioned it to willow, as though she were cheating on her. 

she finds a bottle under a couple of rags on her workbench. though it's not as nice without crackers or cheese to smother across, like she'd christened it with Greyson Connors, the half-full bottle of honey still looks as tantalizing as ever. 

she unscrews the lid and pushes it to elisa. without a fork or a spoon or anything else, all that's left are the florists hands and willow apologizes for it with a chuckle. 

"if you're really against dipping a pinkie in, i'm sure i could find a spade somewhere.

"but i'm envious. boruta maher took us out a few days ago. i've just been so busy, i haven't really been able to participate in most of the festivities," she says wistfully. "though clamperl diving sounds fun."

she tucks her hair behind her ear. "i can't remember the last time i've been to the beach either. do you ever miss it? kalos?"

Elisabeth Fiorelli

☉

"with a teacher like you," she says appreciatively, green eyes teasing as she butts the side of his arm with her shoulder. get a grip, will, she thinks as she puts a bit more space between the two of them. she has to take two strides for each one of his, but they fall into step together easily.

taillow twitter in the undergrowth; overheard, the shrill cry of skarmory can be heard every so often. there's no ashfall today, but there are enough clouds to will away the most of the oppressive summer heat. in short, it's a lovely walk, and she finds herself almost wishing she didn't live so close.

"tulip's doing well," she says. "her horns are coming in. i'm, uh, sure she'd love to see you. if you wanted." she looks up, smiling. 

and then when she's working up the courage to ask bo if he'd like to do just that, someone standing outside the flower shop distracts her. her brows furrow with confusion and a nervous flush colors her cheeks.

"lance? what are you doing here? i thought you were in sinnoh?" her tone says, you gave me the impression i'd never see you again.

boruta maher LANCE VOLLANS

☉

"there'll be hell to pay if you do," she says teasingly as she lopes beside him. samuel gives them a wave when they exit the greenhouse. willow fiddles with the herb bundles a little bit more. it's spring and many of the atkins' flower pokemon are milling around the property. many of them dance alongside ollie and willow while they walk the stepping stone path back to the flower shop. 

they love showing off for ollie. 

when they're back inside, she's surprised to see roman on her mother's hip. he sleepily looks over her shoulder and brightens when he sees willow walk in, hands reaching out to grab for her. 

as she takes him, trading the herbs for her son, roman's sleepy smile beams wider because ollie walks in behind her. 

"ohllie!"

ollie morales

☉

for all his trash talk, roman actually looks a little nervous. willow can see a little bit of red poking out from under his collar. it could just be the summer heat, but she recognizes those hunched shoulders, the determined look on his face. more than beating bo, he wants to impress him. 

willow gives both of them a wide enough berth so she can't be blamed for swaying either side. her gaze follows the streams of water as father and son vie for supremacy over painted popplio. 

boruta maher
_ub51gHY

☉

with the patience of a saint and enough knowledge of grass-types, willow isn't ruffled in the slightest by thwackey's actions. it had been in the heat of battle and bo had spent most of it holding the creature back. but that's the thing about them. they thrive off momentum and as soon as willow and bo had lost their focus, well...bottom line is she blames the two of them more than the impish pokemon itself. 

and she shows as much with a shake of her head. "please, he'll be fine. i think his pride was wounded more than anything."

but she shifts, looking up sheepishly at bo. "it's...different. i can't say i like it myself - not yet anyway. but we'll get there."

you could come around more often. she thinks it but she doesn't say it. instead, she sticks two fingers in her mouth and whistles. the rest of her pokemon collect themselves and join their side, more at ease now that thwackey is in its ball. 

"i know we're close, but care to walk us home?" she asks. it's a start. 

boruta maher

☉