» SPLIT ME LIKE A GEM/INI ! [ malori + miles ]

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A frown played on her lips, reflected back at her in the silver spoon that lay next to her small plate of sphaghetti. She spent seven hundred and fifty Pokèdollars and this is all she got to eat? Malori felt her stomach rumble just looking at the meager portion. Hoping it would be more filling than it looked, she grabbed her fork and dug in, practically having to force herself to slow down and take her time.

She was distracted by a trill at her side and glanced down to find her vaporeon Warden looking up at her expectantly. "Really, Warden?" she sighed heavily, rolling her blue eyes. Malori forked a meatball that was on her plate and pushed it off onto the ground for the water-type, who wound himself around her legs before plopping down between her feet, clad in pink flip-flops, to munch on the meatball.

The day was almost unbearably hot outside, and beads of sweat rolled down her bare neck, but she didn't mind it. She liked the heat - it reminded her of summers days spent tanning and swimming, nights partied away until dawn. It was her favorite season of the year, but she could tell her men were far from thrilled to have to pull off this heist in this kind of heat. She didn't blame them. Even with her high tolerance of the heat, it was beginning to get to her a little.

"Malori, it's supposed to start soon. You need to hurry up," her lucario, Stanley said. The dog-like Pokemon sat in the chair next to her, his dark eyes shifting around at the people around them suspiciously. Stanley had always been an incredibly suspicious creature, not trusting anyone. He found it better to be safe than sorry. In a way he acted like the older brother Malori needed, replacing the void in her life that her twin used to fill. Stanley was the one person she could trust in life, but he would never truly be able to understand human emotions. It wasn't quite the same.

Malori chuckled quietly under her breath, finishing the last of the sphaghetti with a slurp and looked up at him, sitting so stiffly upright in his seat, perched like a warrior sent to protect her. "Relax, Stan. We got plenty of time. Plus, they can handle it themselves. It's not a big heist so I'm not really needed anyway. I'm just here for... backup." She smiled, picking up her glass of water and taking a sip. Today would be a good day, the meager portion of sphaghetti forgotten, she was sure of it. Malori was a hundred percent confident that the heist would be a success, and she would be able to enjoy a day off from running the gym in the city. Ah, yes. The Viridian City gym. After Giovanni kicked the bucket, that was left to her as well. Of course, she could always put someone else in charge as the gym leader, but there was no fun in that. Plus, she had yet to meet a trainer she deemed worthy enough to take it over, though there had been a few times she had tried but failed.

She leaned back in her seat, made out of uncomfortable iron. Lovely to look at, but a literal pain in the ass to sit on. Her blue eyes looked up at the sky, a matching blue with not a cloud in sight. The sun beat down on Viridian City unmercifully with a certain midday intensity that made Warden crawl under her chair and trill at her every now and then. Malori turned her attention to the bill that had been left on the table and picked it up, distractedly doing math in her head while she waited for the waiter to come back.

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It had been years since Miles had visited Veridion City but to the young man, it was like nothing had really changed. The streets were busy and there were people just about everywhere. Sitting outside of cafe's eating, moving from one shop to the next and going inside if there was something that caught their fancy displayed in the window. Miles himself rarely went anywhere this public, but today he was incognito, blending in to the crowd. He was dressed simply in jeans and button up, white polo shirt, though the first couple of buttons were undone.

He tilted his head slightly and glared up in annoyance at the sun, rolling his shoulders as he walked in order to keep his shirt from sticking to his shoulders. He hated the heat, in fact, Summer was his least favorite season. He much preferred the quiet falling snow that hushed even the most busy of cities to the heat that seemed to draw everyone out. Give him the winter any day, he would gladly take it over this. Maybe he would travel to the mountains after this, it was bound to be cooler in the higher elevations.

He glanced over to the Luxray that was walking beside him, also looking uncomfortable in the heat. He rested a hand on the broad back of the cat-like Pokemon, smiling apologetically at him. He normally had Aura or Asteria out with him. However, everyone seemed to recognize him with either of them, Lucario's being pretty uncommon and Aura being a shiny. Today he just wanted to be part of the crowd, not noticed by anyone. It was like seeing the town through the eyes of just a normal person, something he hadn't been in a long time. It was so much nicer this way....he hated people gaping at him.

"Want to get some lunch?" he asked the Luxray. The creature turned his large head to Miles and blinked, his tail swishing appreciatively at the thought of food. Miles gave him a small smile, ruffling the fur on his head before returning it to his pocket and rounding a corner. Almost immediately, the Pokemon at his side stiffened, his eyes staring across the street and something or someone. His fur bristled slightly, and his ears strained forwards on his head as his tail whipped about behind him. Angry cries from hit pedestrian's brought Miles head turning around as he frowned. "Sorry, sorry about him!" he said quickly, resting his hand back on Titan's head in order to calm him. Instantly the Luxray went still, looking up at Miles before looking back across the street.

Miles followed his gaze, eyes narrowing as he tried to spot what had upset Titan. His heart froze when he finally caught sight of what it was. There was a girl sitting outside a cafe, a girl who looked exactly like his sister. The slender frame and tousled golden hair was enough to make Miles' mind go completely blank. It had been....close to seven years since he had seen his sister. It had to be her, the Lucario sitting with her and the Vaporeon at her feet were a dead giveaway. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Titan's pokeball, quickly returning the creature to it before replacing it. Without a second thought, Miles stepped into the street and crossed it.

There was a iron railing around the outside patio of the restaurant in order to create the illusion of separation. That those dining were somehow away from the bustle of the street while sitting right out along the edges of it. Luckily, Malori was seated at the table closest to the railing, her back to Miles as he strode up behind her. He crossed his arms and leaned on the rail-top, allowing a small smile to spread over his features as he bit back the nervousness he felt.
"Out of all the people to be seen here, my baby sister was the last one I expected to see." he said, his tones soft but with a color of teasing in it.
God, how he had missed her. Even now it took all his restraint to keep from jumping the railing and hugging her. She probably didn't want that though. There had to have been a reason she cut Miles out of her life, stopped trying to talk to him. He didn't know if she knew how much he still loved her and cared about her. There had hardly been a day where she hadn't crossed his mind. How could he tell her that though he hadn't seen her in seven years, she had always been close to his mind and heart? He didn't think he could, not in a way she understood anyways.
"How have you been, Mal?" he asked her, glad for the sunglasses on his face. He was having a hard time keeping the sorrow and joy from his gaze. She looked...beautiful, just like she always had.

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A familiar voice from behind her sent a shiver down her spine. No, no way it could be him. Her mind was playing tricks on her. She hadn't seen Miles in seven years, seven damn years. The last she had heard of him was from the Grapevine when he became the Champion of Kanto. Oh, yes. She kept tabs on everything that happened in her region. The moment her twin beat the league, she knew about it. Malori could still feel her heart swell with pride towards her twin. There was something incredibly exciting about seeing her big brother become such a success, especially when it came to being a trainer. Back when they were kids, he had always seemed so cautious to battle his Pokèmon, in fear of hurting them. It was amusing to Malori to see him become the league Champion of all things.

She turned around in her chair, the white and yellow fabric of her dress moving with her. Oh, hell. It was really was him. About a million emotions flashed across her face. Joy, sorrow, relief, pain, resentment, longing. Finally it settled into a fond smile and she shut her mouth, shaking her head slightly as if to bring her back to her senses. "You know, I wasn't really expecting to see the Pokèmon League's Champion today either," she said teasingly. It had been so long since she had seen him, and wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms and cry like she hadn't done in years. Seeing her twin, all grown up, brought up all kinds of feelings she didn't know she still had.

She swallowed. How was she doing? Not even Malori, who portrayed herself as completely in charge and put together in front of her team, knew the answer to that question. She knew she was far from okay, but she wasn't sure how to tell Miles that. "I... I have a daughter," she suddenly blurted. Well, that outburst alone probably clued him in that things were less than fine with her. Malori blinked, swallowed painfully, then closed her eyes for a moment. "But other than that, I'm fine."

She ran her hand through her hair, a familiar, ingrained gesture so much like her father's. It always used to drive Jordan crazy when she did it, but Malori couldn't help it. It was just a bad habit she couldn't break. She didn't even notice when she did it anymore, but one glance in the mirror was more than enough proof that she had messed with it. Malori's hair was always sticking up every which way. Her own natural curls did not do much to help, either.

"How have you been, Miles?"