The Twins At Paldea Univeristy (Pokemon Scarlet and Violet)

Black Hole

Another day, another exhausting return from work.

Penny's life for the past couple months has been nothing but trying to up the Pokemon League's cyber defenses following her breach and theft of League Points. It was tough work, but considering the alternative was jail, she had her hands tied.

From morning to late afternoon it was just work. At least she was getting paid for this. Sort of. She roamed the evening streets of Mesagoza which were always full of people, thinking about just going back to her new small dorm since she wasn't studying anymore.

But just as another exhausting day of work couldn't get any worse, it did.

Florian got into another fight again.

Giacomo was the one to tell her. It involved Florian and Eri of all people. It was odd to her since they were actually the ones that got along the best, well, relative to the rest of Team Star at least. As the months passed by things just didn't seem to get any better between the two, with the five of them always against him, or rather him against them. There've been picnics and hangouts before but there was an aura which relayed for her a message she didn't want to receive. The idea that they were never going to get along.

She loved her friends, and she loved Florian too, and as she used the latter to rope them all back into better standings and all of them back in her life again, it turns out none of them were going to match with Florian's self-assured yet aggressively self-determinant behavior. None of the stars were ever brave enough to tell them about it, they believed in making her happy, but it was clear to her that she was at a crossroads.

Penny walked on over to the pond at the southeastern portion of the city. The one with all the swimming magikarp. There she saw Florian sitting on a bench, feeling the cool night air and watching the magikarp swim about. He was the only person there, the usual afternoon goers were absent, and those that roamed this place in the evening were likely still at work or school. She gripped the sleeves of her hoodie, and it escalated to her putting the hood over her head, which caused her glasses to be pushed down her nose. She couldn't help but pull at her hoodie as she thought about the stress and bravery it took to reach this point, to just grow and blossom through the crippling anxiety of life.

Penny took another deep breath, pulling her hood back and then pressing her glasses up her face. She silently walked on over to Florian. Her heart beat crazily much like that fateful day when she stood in front of his door, or when he stood in front of hers, or when she said he was taking her to the dance, or the time- enough. Penny moved forward despite the chilling shadow of what it is she'd want to say. She didn't even really know either, she just wanted to see him again.

"Flor..." she called out, and he turned to her, giving her a smile.

"Penny," he said, walking towards her. They embrace, and they kiss as well. It was funny how that worked. Back then kisses were electrifying portions of life, but now they were as regular as anything else, done many times before, yet somehow feeling more romantic than the last. "Hard day at work, huh? Want to go get a bite? You must be hungry."

"No... no... I don't really have much of an appetite right now," Penny waved her hands. She felt as if bolts were screwed into her joints or something, paired with a crick where her neck met her shoulder, a headache as well as she felt as if she was seeing triangles after gazing upon a computer screen too long. "I just want to go to bed. I just... urgh..."

"Penny? What's wrong?"

"Florian.. Flor... I.." Penny sighed. This was it, the crossroads. An opportunity, as sudden and fleeting as everything else. Call it ephemeral if she must, but this was it. She'd loved him and yet the world changed.

"Florian, I love you. But I don't think this is going to work out."

Florian was silent, his eyes not so much. They widened in an expression Penny could only describe as terrified, perhaps the first time he'd ever seen it expressed on his face.

"It's just... Florian, I can't anymore. I've done nothing but slave away and as I am I'm reminded that I'm here because I gave you those BP points. I've struggled against Nemona's antics and all I can think about is whether you were worth it. I answered yes because I did believe it, but now you have me at a place I can't follow you down," said Penny. She had no real sentence in her mind, she just said the words that did come. If she had a plan she'd have done it in her condo or some place more private, but as the stinging pain in her head kept buzzing the only thing she wanted to do was say it now. She's done enough stalling in her life. "I know you and the five have never been on the best of terms but... I have a feeling none of you ever will. I didn't want to see the writing on the wall but..."

She could see a twitching on Florian's face, as if his body was a machine trying to process a shredded motherboard.

"Damn it. Arceus, this is hard" Penny sighed, taking a seat on the bench. He sat beside her. She gripped on the edge of the wooden seat, any harder and she'd get splinters. "Florian. I love you. I always have. But I don't think I can be with you anymore. You'll always have a place in my heart, but I don't think I can keep up with you. I understand if you want to be angry with me, want to hit me, do all of those violent things that I know you can do but..." she could feel the tears now flowing down her eyes, the growing unsteadiness of breath impairing her speech, "I can't do it anymore, Florian. I..."

Once again, Florian doesn't answer. He looks solemn, as if processing her words as he sat by her, listening to what she had to say. There wasn't a tear on his face, instead he appeared blank, like a ghost or perhaps a machine attempting to find a file that could not be located.

"Florian, I owe you so much. I wished the two of us could be together... forever, but I can't. I didn't realize how daunting forever could be, or rather, how far it could reach. I... I have to walk my own path. I have so much work and things and... sometimes I felt as if you just became a.. a-" she sighed again, "a problem."

Penny couldn't bring herself to even see Florian through her peripheral vision, so she looked away from him even more. She pulled her glasses up to wipe the tears off her face with the long sleeve of her hoodie, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. That's not what I meant... Florian, I don't think I can handle our relationship anymore. I'm sorry. I hope we can still be friends... somehow... I hope we can still look at each other... I hope... I hope you find someone better than me."

Penny forced herself to giggle at that last comment. "Funny isn't it? Find a girl better than me. You can probably find one a minute after all of this. I'm the easiest girl to rebound from. You won't even remember me. Honestly... I'm still in awe that we ever became a thing to begin with. All the deceit and the tension. You didn't have to be my friend the way you and your sister did, but you did, and you only ever seemed to see the best in me..."

Penny turns to face him again.

"Florian, what do-"

She was greeted by nothing.

Florian had disappeared, and Penny was alone in the deafening silence of the night.