Don't let the past steal your present(s) || Morty ♥ Elise
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Trudging his way through the many pile ups of snow that littered on the pavewalk, the small smile that stretched across Morty’s lips didn’t quite match the festive air that danced around him. Unlike the various shining decorations strewn throughout Lumiose City — making the already illuminating city even more bright and alive, if that was possible — it was like a flickering candle; a small gust was all it took to snuff out its existence and yet, it still fought valiantly to stay alive. It was oh so easy to admit defeat and yet, he refused to succumb no matter how he felt. In the deepest pits of his mind however, he knew he was desperately clutching at straws about this.
Being alone during Christmas was one thing but to be in an unfamiliar city at that?
No matter how unfair it seemed, no one was to blame for his loneliness on the one holiday of the year where being around family and friends was the whole purpose for such a celebration. Morty had always spent Christmas in Ecruteak City for as long as he could remember. The everlasting fall scenery so synonymous with the ancient city was often blanketed by fresh powdery snow during this season. His fellow townsfolk will find this as an excuse to stay within their warm homes all day with a cup of hot chocolate or within the loving embrace of a loved one as they sit in front of the fireplace. The Leader, on the other hand, was always on his own.
It wasn't like he didn't have anyone to celebrate with. Morty always received invitations to spend Christmas with his closest friends but he always declined -- politely, mind you -- as to him, it just doesn't feel the same with another person's family. Sure, the cheery mood would keep his spirits afloat but once it died down, the crushing realization of being alone once he returned back to his cold home would be too painful to dwell upon. His own parents were too busy with their obligations to properly celebrate the holidays and the blonde didn't really want to burden them so after a lengthy phone call followed by well wishes, he would leave it at that.
After several Christmases of the same lonely routine, Morty decided he needed a change of pace lest he'd be feeling down until the New Years. The first thing that came to mind was to visit Nixon in Lumiose City. Although they had grown closer over the years, leaving in different regions really limited any contact aside from calls and text messages. Spending time with the Cohens was a thousand times better than being alone so with his mind made up, the blonde cleared his schedule for the whole week and booked a flight to Unova several days before Christmas.
His desire for some quality family time was dashed the moment he received a call from Nixon. His half brother profusely apologized for the unexpected change of plans. An important dinner with the head of another company pulled Nixon's family away from Lumiose until a couple of days after Christmas. Morty honestly felt devastated at the news but made extra effort to keep his tone light so his brother wouldn't feel too guilty about missing Christmas with him. Since he had already arrived in Lumiose when he found out and the blonde didn't want to stay in a large, empty mansion, Morty took refuge in an apartment that Nixon had graciously bought for him if he ever felt homesick.
The small room was decorated with various ornaments that reminded him of Ecruteak and Johto. A low table and several cushions with traditional designs etched on it sat at the center while several paintings depicting Ho-Oh and the Legendary Beasts lined the walls. His brother also hired a maid to keep the place in tip top condition so when Morty entered the place after being absent for eight months, it was dust and grime free. Keeping himself entertained was very difficult after several hours of meditation and when the mind numbing boredom started to grit his nerves, the blonde head out into the city, despite the heartache it will give him.
A soft sneeze jolted Morty out of his saddening thoughts. Oh great, not only was he going to spend the holidays on his own, he was starting to get sick from the chilling temperatures. His immune system had always been pretty weak due to his abilities so this was to be expected. Passing by another group of cheery carolers, a small sigh escaped his lips. People always spoke about Christmas miracles and all that. I wonder if I'll get one of my own. Amethyst optics flicked upwards, a wry smile adorning his features. How about it Arceus? All I ask for Christmas is to not spend it alone. Not too difficult of a wish, eh?
In all his years of being a thief, Xander had only been caught one other time, and that was years ago; since then he had become a much wiser criminal, growing into his abilities almost as naturally as a fletchling learning to fly.
Though he certainly was not a model student, the rocket grunt was a master of his own art and took every precaution to ensure success and, when necessary, escape--but no amount of preventative measures could guarantee that he wouldn't eventually get caught. In fact, the odds were always against the criminal, but those were simply the rules of the game for those who chose to play it.
Still, something was off.
The silence was unsettling as the blonde looked around the room. The walls were stone, as was the floor. The chair in the center of the room, where he sat, was aluminum, the same as the rectangular table in front of him, and the handcuffs which bound him to the table.
It looked like an interrogation room. But Xander had not seen any police officers or lawyers around. In fact, he couldn't even remember how he had gotten there in the first place.
There was no clock or window on the stone walls, so there was no telling what time it was or how long he had been in the room. All he knew was that it felt like hours.
Finally, the door in front of him opened. The sudden loud noise made him jump as a woman with long, blue hair joined him in the cold room.
"Ya s'posed to be a cop?" he asked incredulously, giving the woman a doubtful stare. She wore what appeared to be a uniform, although it wasn't like any uniform he'd seen on any authoritative official he'd ever seen--then again, Xander didn't know much about the justice system in Kalos. His eyes traveled down to the weapon sheathed at her waist. "Is that a sword?"
Summary: In which Morty's dimples unknowingly becomes a very effective weapon -- whether it be to catch anyone's attention to saving his soul within school grounds.
Characters involved: Steven, Elise
Notes: Lame title is lame. Silly excuse for Hana to write something about hc that Morty has very cute dimples. Probably would write more in the future
Steven doesn't really know what to anticipate once he -- barely -- skims past junior high. Given his reputation as the captain of his junior high basketball team, he half-expects, half worries that the other first years would think he's that kind of jerk that will flaunt this fact over their heads. The truth is far from that and once everyone sees how sociable -- and a total goof ball -- he is, this irrational fear swiftly dissipates.
Steven does not expect that the first time he meets Morty, he thinks he's really sort of very attractive. During warm-ups within the large gymnasium, a real eye candy of a teammate catches his eyes, and asks mid stretch, "So, what's your name?"
Oh dear Arceus he has dimples, Steven thinks faintly. He has freaking cute dimples. "The name's Steven Stone," he says, trying very hard to not make his obvious staring so, well, blatant.
He does not know if the twinkle within those very pretty amethyst gems are a sign of good will or amusement at his rapidly flustered state. "I'm Mortimer Matsuba," Mortimer says, and dimples. Steven's thought process screeches to a halt.
"You look more like a Morty to me," Steven exclaims before his brain can filter anything and he feels like dying. "Wait, no," he says hastily, trying to come up with some half-assed excuse. "Just, it look--"
Mortimer's laughing now, the sound deliciously pleasant in his ears and he doesn't look indignant at all. "No, it's alright. A lot of my friends call me Morty." The killer dimples return and with the slight pink tint dusting those smooth pale cheeks, Steven can't decide whether this is shaping up to be the worst or best experience he has ever had in a team.
The sharp blow of a whistle signals the end of warm-ups; it's tryouts now. Although he has absolute confidence in his athletic prowess, Steven finds himself really psyched, like he just can't mess up right now.
He gulps in a huge intake of air to calm down his twitchy nerves.
"Hey," Morty says, tone lacing with concern. "You alright there?"
Steven shifts his gaze upwards where he finds a stare befitting of the previous pitch. The silverette has to pull back his attention when imagination takes the overhead bright fluorescent light casting upon the blonde haired beauty as something akin to an angelic aura. He beams widely and accepts the offered hand as Morty hauls him up in one swift movement.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just pumped to show everyone of my awesome skills." The lighthearted humorous tone tempers down any hints of arrogance to that statement. Steven swears his heart did this weird jolt when Morty's dimples made a reappearance as he nods firmly, like he knows that he's not all bark and actually has the skills to back it up.
"Right," he says, lilac pools sizing up the smug looking seniors in front. Like a switch, something within that gaze just flickers to life. Steven briefly finds himself mesmerized by the sight. "Let's show these seniors what we've got."
Yup. Best experience ever.
----
If there is one thing that Elise absolute loathes, it's the feeling of not knowing just what the hell is happening. Since she's the founder and head of the disciplinary committee, The White Knights, it is very easy to maintain the peace and generally be in control of the pathetic students. She rules with an iron-fist, yes and everybody in the school, from her weakling peers to the cowering teachers, that disobeying any of her rules will ensure adequate punishment.
It is very satisfying to know that she is in complete dominance over everything and anything that happens within her hunting grounds but the appearance of a purple eyed blonde haired male actually throws her off-guard, something that has never had documented proof before. The incident occurs after the shrill bell echoes within the closed building. Students and teachers alike scampers like terrified mice -- which is a very accurate analogy, given Elise's deep cerulean eyes swept through the halls like a hungry feline.
Now, let's see if there's any fools around that needs disciplining. With a cruel smirk on her full lips, Elise's heels clacks sharply upon the smooth tiled floors, drowning out the jingles of several handcuffs hanging from her sleek black belt. Beside her left hip, the wooden blade she borrowed from the kendo club -- no matter how much leeway she is given by the school board, a real weapon will ensure an arrest by law enforces -- is a comfortable weight, reassuring her authority further to the general public.
Just when she assumes it's going to be a boringly slow morning, her sharp eyes spots the retreating figure of a male student. The malicious tilt of her lips morphs into something far more sinister. Ah, fresh prey. Elise cackles gleefully silent, strides lengthening so she could catch the poor soul that has broken Rule 27: No loitering within the halls once class starts. She doesn't care that her sharp heel clicks gives the ignorant fool a sign of her arrival. All she cares about is the upcoming morning entertainment.
The student pauses in his steps just when she reaches cuffing distance and Elise's slender gloved hand falters on the shoulder clamp when he whirls around. The first set of information that immediately enters the large file cabinet that is her memory is the deep indents on unmarred cheeks. Sunshine kissed tresses enters next and large innocent amethyst optics follows soon after. For the first time in a very very long time, Elise is at a lost on the next course of action.
Of course, punishing him has been the agenda all this while but -- a pulse of something sickeningly warm beats within her ice cold heart -- that bright smile presented at her has the prefect... hesitating. What are you doing? A voice hisses. He has clearly broken school rules and that calls for disciplining. Yes, it does and yet she finds it very difficult for her trained hand to flick out the handcuffs. Why?
"Um... are you alright?" The male murmurs, eyes flickering with worry at the sour expression that took over her features. Elise snaps back to attention, midnight blue pools narrowing menacingly as she looks down upon the slightly shorter male. Confusion swiftly traps her within its clutches as she only receives innocent blinking for her intimidation technique. Why is he not cowering like all of those spineless fools?
Elise is once again taken by the surprise at the positively sunshine reincarnate beam that fully shows those deep -- cute, the heavily buried feminine side of her impulsively remarks, much to her horror -- dimples that has saved its owner before when his gaze shifts to her tag -- the one that has both her name and title. "Am I lucky to meet a member of the disciplinary committee!" The perplexing student sketches a polite bow, to which -- astonishingly -- Elise automatically returns. What the hell is going on here!?
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elise-senpai!" The befuddlement just keeps piling up. No one has ever graced her with that title -- no one ever dared to. "My name is Mortimer Matsuba and I'm a new freshman here. I was supposed to go to the principal office to get my schedule but it seems I have gotten myself lost." Once again, this very weird rush of warmth pumps in her heart and very slowly creeps up to her pale cheeks at the sight of the sheepish grin Mortimer sends her.
"Since you're a disciplinary member, can you please guide me or at least give me directions to the principal office?" The freshman asks politely, once again flashing those winning dimples at the prefect. Before her mind could process anything intelligible, the directions had already passed through her lips.
"Turn left at the cafeteria and walk straight ahead... I think I got that!" He performs another polite bow. "Thank you very much for your help Elise-senpai! May we meet again another time!" Mortimer exclaims, presenting to her once final dimpled smile before he heads to the principal's office. Elise's eyes follows his movements till his lithe frame disappears from view. She stands there, completely silent for the first several seconds before a stream of colorful words dirtied the once again empty hallway.
What the fucking hell just happened? Did she, the tyrannical ruler just acted civil to a student, one that broke -- unknowingly, her mind unhelpfully supplies -- her rules and let him leave unscathed? Her sapphire gems briefly slid shut but snaps open once again when the image of Mortimer's smile replays itself. And this... this weird tingly sensation. What is it? How did the male cause such feelings to occur within her?
This is all just too much for her to comprehend right now. An animalistic growl rumbles deep in her throat as she sharply twirls on her heel, the loud clack clack clack effectively conveying her current rage. [Let up pray for the unfortunate souls that are unlucky enough to cross Elise's path at this moment].
♫ ;; Taking a steady bow as she catches a sitrus berry skillfully on her head, Lacuna's thunder is brought to an abrupt end by an urgent tugging on her sleeve.
With the steady click of heels on pavement she doesn't even have to lift her head to guess what is to follow.
"I see. Thank you, Medicham."
Well, looked like the jig was up. It went without saying that most patrolmen didn't take kindly to her "soliciting" inside of the park without a permit. During the long summer days, however, it was entirely too nice to be frying like an egg on the sidewalk!
There was also much more business to be had where the citizens of Lumiose weren't too preoccupied with their daily grind to live a little; as most of her audience consisted of excited children and their hostage parents, as a token of their generosity she was able to gather a significant amount of Poké in her efforts.
Handing the fruit to a little girl in the fruit row, the performer twirls on her heel and gives on last look at Elise over her shoulder.
"That's all for today. Have a wonderful day and a spectacular night Lumiose City!"
Something about this woman struck her the wrong way and it wasn't just her uniform. In any case Lacuna wasn't about to stick around and find out!
The surrounding temperature rapidly dropped on an already bitterly cold day and the heavens threatened to open as grey clouds loomed overhead. Morty had left the luxurious Cohen Estate half an hour ago and yet there was a dramatic change in the weather; one that not even the weather forecast predicted so the clairvoyant male was excused for the lack of proper rain gear. The sedate pace of before quickly increased as the blonde tried to head back home before the impending storm hits. Though, by the looks of the rapidly darkening sky, he had no such luck.
The least I can do is find some sort of shelter. I can’t risk braving through a heavy shower since the chances of myself falling ill is considerably and the last thing that I want is to get sick on my vacation.
For the last couple of months, Morty had suffered through several bouts of pain. It often came unexpectedly and those moments had lowered his winning percentage. Not to mention it often scared the hell out of the surrounding mediums and his current challenger whenever the Leader clutched his head mid battle before doubling over in agony. Oddly enough, the pain always seemed to trigger discomfort in his hands as well. The teeth gritting migraine was often accompanied by a tingly, sometimes numb sort of sensation from his hands.
He had been to various medical professionals - despite his dislike for hospitals - but each diagnosis came up clean. Physically, his body was as healthy as any other young man. In the end, the blonde had been given advice to relax as the most logical assumption was that the migraines stemmed from being overworked. Honestly, Morty had figured out the real reason the day he returned from the hospital but hey, how often did he received a chance to take a vacation per the doctor’s orders? He figured a little rest time wouldn’t hurt and what better way to spend it than with his family?
So, long story short, Morty had left his humble abode to stay with his family in Lumiose City for a week or two. The lack of activity today - Nixon and his parents were busy with a busy business meeting - prompted the bored male to explore. The sight seeing had been fun as the weather was relatively pleasant but now, he wished to return to the large mansion as soon as possible.
The streets were empty except for the cabs that searched for customers and the woman on the other side of the lane that had caught his attention. It wasn't because of her beautiful looks, oh no. Morty focused more on the hovering being behind her. Years upon years worth of experience screamed to him that this was not your everday wandering spirit. This one easily entered the poltergeist category simply from the amount of negative energy that rolled off from it in waves. And judging from the close proximity between the living and the dead...
Don’t tell me its going to… The moment amethyst optics caught sight of the malicious gleam swimming in those endless dark pools, Morty sprang into action. The sudden hard shove evidently stunned the woman as she lost her balance and fell. Aside from a few scrapes and bruises, this wouldn’t have caused too much harm but the fact that this fall will land her in the direct path of a speeding cab fueled the blonde’s long legs with high quantities of pure adrenaline.
Arceus, move faster! I’m not going to let someone die!
With one final burst of speed, Morty shot forward like a bullet. Everything around him - the blaring horn, the pitter patter of water droplets that descended from the gloomy clouds - seemed insignificant at the moment; his entire concentration focused on the task at hand. Saving the woman’s life. Briefly the world around him slowed down to almost a complete halt. His own movements felt odd within this realm where the laws of physics didn’t seemed to be applied but this didn’t deterred him. If possible, it pumped more energy into his legs.
Lanky arms shot out to grab her fallen form from the gravelly road and as the world rapidly sped up, Morty had managed to save her from an attempted murder with only a few seconds to spare. Reeling in from his adrenaline high, the blonde’s knees buckled as all the burst of needed strength started to seep away from his limbs. Collapsing to the ground, the clairvoyant male tried to calm the erratic pace of his heart by taking in deep breaths.
Once he succeeded in mastering a bit of his composure, Morty deemed it right to ask of the ex-victim’s well being. “Are you alright, Miss? You’re not too hurt from the fall, are you?”
