[attr="class","littleollie"] his eyes widened.

[break][break] she was crying?

[break][break] "hey, hey, hey - " ollie immediately reached for her. despite the fact that they weren't that close - well, at least not in comparison to anyone else - the head ranger pulls her to him. hands reach out to hold her cheeks, thumbs brushing away the tears that form. "don't cry. it's going to be okay!"

[break][break] of course ollie's first impulse is to comfort her — any person with a heart would've reacted the same, seeing someone like yuina cry right in front of them. however, his movements still at her words.

[break][break] a lie?

[break][break] he blinks.

[break][break] "a lie? what are you talking about, yuina?"

[break][break] his brow furrows, lips twisted into a frown.

[break][break] do not lie, FERNANDO SILPH's words came back to haunt him.

[break][break] "what could've you possibly lied about?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Yuina Higashi [break]
ZERO TO HUNDRED

☉

[attr="class","littleollie"] "oh! you were working with navy?" ollie smile is warm as he refers to the newly-pledged elite four. he is unbearably proud of the other man, even though some days he still wishes that navy had accepted his offer to join the rangers all those years ago. "oh wow, and kyle too! you've been busy."

[break][break] but nothing all that strange, considering everything that he'd heard of her.

[break][break] of course Yuina Higashi would be the one to draw their attention. she was just that kind of person, after all.

[break][break] ollie is easy and willing to continue onto the restaurant, to delve in the casual and the ordinary, until yuina stops in her tracks. the way that she looks at him — he can already tell what she's going to say before she says it herself.

[break][break] "oh. well."

[break][break] a hand reaches out behind to rub at his neck sheepishly. she caught him, hadn't she?

[break][break] "yeah, 'course she did."

[break][break] he blinks, reaching out at her arm for concern.

[break][break] "... you okay?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Yuina Higashi [break]
ZERO TO HUNDRED

☉

[attr="class","littleollie"] Erg. This wasn't going to be easy.

[break][break] Ollie could already imagine how much easier this would've been a year ago. Because it wouldn't have been him having to come in her and talk to the CEO of Silph Co. and current seated Councilman FERNANDO SILPH about this. It would've been someone else, someone more important, like Laurence Anderson or Raziel Beckett.

[break][break] But instead the responsibility fell onto his shoulders.

[break][break] "Just more resources in general. Like I said, the amount of defectors have increased a lot since last quarter, which means that in general the funds that are used to keep the program afloat - general expenses, advertising, protection services, salaries, you name it - are running short."

[break][break] Ollie sighed, hand on his hip, as he slumped one of his shoulders in thought.

[break][break] "I know budget's tight, and I'd totally get it if you said no but - "

[break][break] He frowned.

[break][break] "These guys are really trying, and I'd like to help them as much as I can. We're trying to revamp the program too, including working their hours into projects like Pokemon Home, but also pushing them into categories to support the other Rangers so they can see that they're a path forward for them."

[break][break] He thinks about what Isaac Merlo had to say to him.

[break][break] "If not, they'll just run back to the thing we're trying to save them from." Rocket. "And can we really say we're trying our best if we don't pull all the stops out?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH [break]
sleepless in slateport

☉

[attr="class","olivertop"]

[attr="class","oliver"] ollie doesn't notice - at least not right away - bo leaving. he is so frought with worry, with the tightening of his gut and the memories that are burned behind his eyes, that all he can focus on is how he's supposed to word this. how he's supposed to explain this.

[break][break] god. he is so embarrassed.

[break][break] he is so mortified.

[break][break] but wils is the only one he can talk to. he can't talk to eva about this, god no.

[break][break] "her - what?" ollie blinks for a moment, initially caught off-guard by willow atkins's words. her sisters? she only has one -' "god, no."

[break][break] as if the thought is absolutely abhorrent to him. and maybe it is. but that's not the point.

[break][break] "no, i just - i got really drunk. like, absolutely blasted. god, i. i need to sit down. fuck." ollie scurries his way into the atkins living room - a place that he'd always found comfort in. the couch that he'd slept on for weeks after his ribs had healed after palkia absolutely smashed them and also where he'd burrowed after he'd tried to hide after his fight with MATIAS SILPH.

[break][break] the couch creaks when he plants his weight onto it, his head burrowed into his hands. his voice horribly muffled.

[break][break] "ikissedadude."

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","littleollie"] '"...You can go on ahead, Annie. Let's connect again tomorrow and follow-up on today's meeting."

[break][break] The low and deep voice of GIDEON GRAVES is unmistakable. Ollie looks up immediately at the sight of his friend (were they friends?) standing a little out of the way with a woman, murmuring something to her. Green eyes follow Marianne Lovelace as she scurries off. She was cute.

[break][break] As the Museum Director approached, Ollie stood up, brushing the dirt off his knees and also coincidentally leaving the picked-apart petals onto the floor as well.

[break][break] 'Ollie.'

[break][break] Ollie did know better. He winced at the serious, perhaps dehatched nature of the other man's words. But just like he did everything else, Ollie brushed it off. He pretended to be blasé about it, lips quirked into his normally charming smile as he regarded Gideon. As if nothing was ever wrong in the first place.

[break][break] "Course I am!" His eyes glanced back towards the direction that the girl had disappeared to. He joked, "Sorry - did I catch you on a date or somethin', Gids?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] GIDEON GRAVES [break]
canon connections

☉

[attr="class","littleollie"] "from what i hear," he quipped. "you're doing great."

[break][break] there was a thing to be said about the paperwork, of course, but networking was also just as much about how fast word traveled. and within the rangers, as close-knit as they were, it was hard to escape the eyes and ears of those who watched over her, who then reported back to him how sweet or kind or studious she was.

[break][break] just as he had known it back then, on her first interview, ollie had always known yuina to be a shining star. somebody who would hopefully one day embody all the good things that meant to be a ranger — he had that hope for her, at least.

[break][break] "awesome! let's go. biscuit!" he whistled, calling the jolteon back for him. the pokemon loped towards him as ollie headed towards the exit, holding the door open for her as they stepped into the cold winter air.

[break][break] "so," he said, trying to sound casual. "what kind of works have you been doing with the other officials?"

[break][break] ollie, of course, had his own reasons for coming which wasn't exactly only because he missed her. after all, that phonecall he'd had from freya morningstar a few days ago still weighed pretty heavily on his mind.

[break][break] 'but i should let her tell me first,' he thought.

[break][break] because that was simply the way ollie did things. never pushing too hard, but just simply letting his rangers do what they wanted and being there when they needed him to.

[attr="class","ooc"] Yuina Higashi [break]
ZERO TO HUNDRED

☉