foolishwren | 99. [Text/Action for travel group]

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Current Location: Saffron City hotel

99. [Text/Action for travel group]

_{[SO YEAH, UH. IT'S BEEN. A FEW DAYS. SINCE... YOU KNOW.]

[Since the whole thing on the weekend that they all remember now.]

[In those few days, Heather has been holed up in her hotel room like a dysfunctional pop star hiding from the paparazzi. What's she been doing in there? GOD ONLY KNOWS. Actually, the people IN that hotel room know and it's mostly being quiet and sleeping a lot, but there you go.]

[BUT LO AND BEHOLD: a text!]

[A text with a request.]}

SUP PEOPLE

I have a mission for all of you


send me funny shit

any funny shit

I don't care if it's a joke or a story about the time your drunk uncle bill mistook your annoying aunt sally's drink for a spitoon or a video of that fat Meowrth that likes to get in boxes i forget his name it's like Maroo or something

1 2 3 GO

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_{[A few hours ago Coop would have been, in all honesty, too riled up to make this call. But he's calmed down - mostly - and he doesn't want or believe he can put this call off for a lot longer.]

[It's a call Heather will probably have expected, really.]}

Are you alright?

_{[The moment she answers, it's that. Not even the usual introduction.]}

_{[It's been maybe a day since the weekend ended and everybody found themselves in the possession of a load of weirdly coherent memories but no physical sign of any of the things that made them.]

[Heather has not left her bed since then, except for a few trips to the bathroom (and one incredibly vigorous shower that she'd hoped would help but hadn't at all) and maybe one where she'd dragged herself to a TV tray to eat something under the orders of her father (because takeout noodle soup and eating in bed don't go too well together).]

[She's blaming something ELSE for the reason she's been staying curled up under a nest of blankets, but she knows why she's really there.]

[IN ANY CASE... that's where she is when Cooper's call reaches her.]

[After a second or two spent recovering from the adrenaline rush that had surged into her at the sudden sound of the ringtone next to her head, she slowly reaches over to pick up the 'Gear.]

[... Cooper.]

[She's not surprised he's calling.]

[What does surprise her slightly is the slow well of dread building in her gut at the thought, because six months ago, the call would have been received with relief. ... But things are different now, and the thought makes her sick.]}

... H'lo--

_{[Oh man. No hesitation, even.]

[There's a pause on her end, because man, her brain just had not prepared itself to launch into denial (even though she's rehearsed what she was going to say if asked-- because she KNEW he was going to at some point-- over and over in her head.]}

... Yeah, m'alright.

Just uh.

I was asleep.

_{[Because hopefully that's a good enough explanation for the croaky sound of her voice and the fact that she can't sound convincing right now to save her life.]}

Edited 2012-12-06 06:09 (UTC)

_{[It isn't. It's not a good enough explanation by a long shot. Because even though Coop can't know with absolute certainty that something happened, everything is pointing towards that it has, and that makes him see through her tone to what it actually means.]

[What's different this time around is that if she pays attention, she might hear something similar in his voice, too. A kind of raspy defeat, a weary edge; still, though, he's got most of his composure back and what he presents is less upset and more urgent.]

[Still, there's a certain relief at the answer. That she can try to fake it means she's still (hopefully) herself, after all.]}

Did he come for you?

_{[... Yeah. Yeah, he's absolutely right.]

[And HIS tone isn't lost on her either, although... everything from that weekend is still swirling around so horribly and incoherently in her head that it's hard to figure out just what that might mean.]

[For all she knows, maybe he sounds that way because of how awkward this all is. That he has to ask after her welfare for reasons they're both horridly aware of now, even though things had changed so much between them.]}

No...

_{[Yeah, if the FIRST one didn't sound convincing...]}

_{[Kind of funny how it isn't awkward to him at all, not right now. Yes, things changed between them, and they changed a lot - but they've changed yet AGAIN, and he'll be sure to let her know. Just ... right now, he doesn't think he can even begin to start.]

[He just needs to know this one thing.]

[And she might normally be quite a convincing liar, but right now? Far from it.]}

The truth, Heather. Please.

_{[It's true, and to be fair, their little problem (whether or not it's ceased to be one) pales in comparison to the ones they faced over the past few days. He's right not to address it right now, because MAN, so not the time.]

[Buuut Heather doesn't know that-- and to use a somewhat odd metaphor, if her thought process is normally an off-kilter but still-sensible knitting project, right now it's just a giant tangle of yarn. It's hard to know what to make of ANYTHING.]

[And not to mention... her family and friends are nearby. Which is why she lowers her voice when she answers-- quite frankly another incriminating sign in and of itself. There's even a rustle of what can only be blankets as she curls up tighter, tugging them more firmly over her head in hopes they'll muffle what she's saying to the outside world.]}

That is the truth!

Just-- ... m'fine, okay?

Don't worry.

Please.

Edited 2012-12-06 06:51 (UTC)

_{[A sigh, and something more impatient in his tone.]}

How couldn't I worry? Heather.

_{[... and that impatience only signals his own distress a bit clearer. It's obvious what he means, too - that he knows something happened.]}

_{[Cooper...]

[The question sends a pang through her heart, because it's blunt and it's honest and therefore everything she isn't being right now. And it sends a little flare of FRUSTRATION through her, too, because... god DAMMIT, Coop, why can't you just NOT care for once?]

[The fact that he's worried about her even after everything and the fact that (at least as far as she knows) he may still be undecided on whether or not she's a monster somehow just makes it even worse.]

[So she swallows hard with a dry throat before changing her answer.]}

... I don't want you to worry.

Not till-- not while we're still-- you know. Okay? You don't have to.

_{[Yeeeeah, something happened, all right-- and aside from her flat-out lie regarding whether or not BOB had come for her, now she's moved past denying it and instead just is determinedly not saying anything about it, which isn't much better.]}

_{[And that has Cooper frustrated, in turn. The evasion is understandable, but he hadn't exactly expected it, and it bothers him. But when she finishes speaking he realizes again where a major part of the problem is.]

[Monsters- and to think he'd almost forgotten them until now. He's quiet for a moment, then says softly,]}

Well, I still do.

_{[He still cares, doesn't he?]

[But he has to let her know, too.]

[He breathes out slowly, lets the memories come back before he speaks again, but without giving her room to interject.]}

You're still in town, aren't you? I'd rather speak in person.

... _{[She's silent for quite awhile, although the muffled sounds of television from the other end of the line will let him know that she hasn't hung up.]

[But she finally does speak up, reluctantly.]}

... Yeah, m'still in town.

_{[A pause, then,]}

There's a café by the Center. My treat.

_{[That's about as unthreatening as he can make it, right?]}

_{[... A cafe. Inviting her to a cafe.]

[Almost immediately, her thoughts fly back to the tiny Ecruteak diner where they had first spoken about BOB. It's a memory that makes her heart ache, after everything that had happened in between.]

[It's also one that's a little confusing.]

[But can she refuse it? Hell no, she can't.]

[Not when he asks.]

[Still, there's a moment of uncertain silence before she speaks up again, almost quaveringly.]}

... Um... now?

I ... I'll leave that up to you.

_{[Tomorrow works. Right now works, even if he hadn't thought that far. He's not sure which option he prefers, either.]}

_{[UH OH, A QUANDARY.]

[Heather wasn't totally expecting the choice to wind up in her hands, and at first she's not totally sure what to do with it.]

[Because, well, despite her reluctance, it's pretty clear that this ... talk, or whatever it's gonna wind up being, is going to happen at some point. HAS to happen at some point. Because Cooper won't take no for an answer, even if she sort of wishes he would.]

[And there's a couple of options... her first impulse is to say 'Tomorrow', because putting off the unpleasant inevitable is human nature. And she'd have a little more time to mentally compose herself.]

[But then, on the other hand... a cafe is public, and tomorrow there'll be people. ... Well, more people, anyway. If they do this right NOW, there'd at least be a little more privacy.]

[... And hell. Maybe... maybe it'd just be better to get it over with.]}

... I can...

... I can be there in like... half an hour. I guess.

... Y- ... you said it was by the, uh, Center, right?

Yeah. Follow the street on its righthand side.

_{[Right now, okay. He can do that no problem. He takes a breath and starts looking for his jacket.]}

See you soon.

_{[THEY'RE DOING THIS. THEY'RE MAKIN THIS HAPPEN.]}

... 'kay...

Uh.

... Bye...

_{[And then with that devastatingly uncharacteristic farewell, she hangs up, a hollow feeling ironically filling her from head to toe.]

[Well... better steel up ...]}

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99. [Text/Action for travel group]

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