032. Video

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Beep beep! What's that, Lassie? An incoming message?! Oh, looks like it's coming from one Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich's PokeGear! How lovely. What does the nerd have to say toda-- .... HEY, THAT'S NOT OTACON!]

[The screen blips into life on a face that's bruised, scraped, and... freckled?]

[Once its owner is sure the thing is on, she withdraws-- making herself a little easier to identify. Sheepish smile and all.]



[Behind her appears to be a standard little camp set up in the woods-- nothing... really fancy. But she's not the only one there-- somewhere behind her, there's.... some shirtless guy wandering around and his indistinct bitching about something or other can be heard.]

[The mat-furred, sleepy Growlithe in her lap just looks content to be there, although it's obvious he's had it as rough as his owner.]</sub>

So. Uh.


_{[Her voice is a painful-sounding croak-- hardly more than a shadow of what it is normally.]}

Apparently I'm a wanted criminal.

... Anyone know what I did? ... Was it awesome?

I love that mugshot. It's so majestic.

<sub>[Yeah, she's making light of it, but her heart's not... really into it. Though it's sort of hard to tell the difference between that and the plain old exhaustion that's obviously leaking into her every movement and word.]

[... Meanwhile, in the background, Liquid has noticed that the camera's on and has started flexing his manly man-muscles at it in true Photobomb fashion. Heather doesn't notice yet.]</sub>

Uh... anyway... I'm not... sure how long I was gone, and my 'Gear is uh... pretty thoroughly broken-- Hal's off in town getting stuff to repair it with, so... if anyone... like, tried to contact me, m'sorry, I probably didn't get it...


I uh... really hope everyone's all right.

_{[She probably doesn't need to clarify that she's talking about that fog. Now that she knows what had happened wasn't real, and that others had experienced their OWN nightmares... well, let's just say she's really hoping she didn't knock anyone's skull in. ... And the question "DID I knock anyone's skull in?" is implied at the end of her statement.]}

......

_{[And around that time, her Heather Senses pick up on Liquid's trolling behind her, so she reaches out to turn the camera off while looking over her shoulder.]}


Liquid, get the fuck out.

_{[End feed.]}




[Locked to Kaito and Rise]

[Another video feed, a little later than the first one, but not by too long. Otacon apparently was able to fix the 'Gear enough that Heather could receive those two messages that had been waiting a good week and a half to be received by this point.]

[And... judging by her hardly-disguised guilty expression, she's more than feeling the weight of guilt for worrying her friends. Especially since she saw Rise just the previous day and hadn't... even known how ... candid a message she'd left days before.]

[After a couple seconds, she breaks into a sheepish, crooked grin.]

Uh... hey, guys...


... I got your messages...



[Locked to Harry, James, and Mary]

<sub>[This one's in text, because she knows good and well that James at the very least will be freaking out over how she looked in that video feed, and she's not sure she can take his quiet concerned expressions.]

[But she can't avoid sending this-- if she saw Silent Hill in that fog, then she's... pretty sure that they'd have seen something similar. ... Well, she's not sure about Mary, actually, but given the connection... better safe than sorry.]</sub>

are you guys alright

(typing is hard, sorry for no caps)_

-heather

Comments

[video] ffff I can stare at your drawings all day long

[puzzling]

[Oh man, finally some word from Miss Mason. Good Heavens, the Professor was starting to think that she got lost or kidnapped somewhere. He got over his own nightmares just about a week ago and he recovered pretty well, especially since the person that died in his dreams was now in Johto with him. But Jesus, Heather, you look like you got beaten by the mafia or something. Hershel is actually having a bit of a hard time not to go a;slkfjs mode.]

Miss Mason...It's good to see you safe...Are you holding up well?

[video] IS IT A CREEPY STARE?

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Yeah, about friggin' time! Up till now, she'd been missing for over a week-- more like a week and a half, really. And she hadn't done a whole lot of recovering in that time... even if she's really good at grinning and bearing it.]

[The Professor gets a tired grin.]</sub>

Well as can be expected, Proff. _{[Yeah she called him 'Proff'. What are you going to do about it.]}

You?

_{[She doesn't even know that he spoke on her behalf to the police...]}

[video]

[overthedratini.livejournal.com]

--!!

You're [he pauses, then, what the hell] You're okay!

[video]

[foolishwren]

Relatively, anyway.

How you been, man?

_{[She might be battered as all hell, but she's alive and that's what really matters.]}

[voice] I want your pencil skills ;_;

[shellderkillder.livejournal.com]

Were your wounds treated properly?

[Yes. This is how Shelly shows concern.]

[voice] They betray me more often than not. 8(

[foolishwren]

Otacon patched me up, yeah.

_{[If it had been video, she'd have gestured to the band-aids and stuff littering her face.]}

[text]

[pwndby-pillow.livejournal.com]

Heather?

Dear are you alright?

[A pause.]

You're running from the law!? Oh...I had no idea Heather sweetheart! I'm so sorry!

Please, let me know if there's anything I can do!

[text]

[foolishwren]

i'm ok

but apparently im super dangerous

thats true enough so i guess i cant fault them for saying so haha.


you dont need to do anything, i just wanted to make sure you were ok.

i saw the alert for james too, is he all right???

[action] oh god cujo i want to cuddle you so bady

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

[And once he got back, Otacon set to work; using Kotai's coils as a chair and tinkering with Heather's obliterated Pokegear. Luckily the doctorate wasn't just to make his name sound cool, and MIT sure as hell didn't turn out a graduating class of amateurs.]

[So he'll be over here whenever Heather decides to approach, hands remarkably steady despite how visibly exhausted and less visibly shellshocked he was.]

Have to admit, you take a pretty good mugshot. [He managed a smile, focusing more on the Gear as Kotai rested her head on top of his.] I didn't see Liquid listed--probably a good thing, really. Still, all three of us should stay low for a while.

[action] HE ACCEPTS CUDDLES FROM ALL SOURCES <3

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She doesn't exactly keep her distance-- for whatever reason, she's been... a little clingy ever since getting back. Not... needy, but... it's almost like she's worried that if she's not THERE all the time, everyone will disappear again. Though Liquid and Otacon are the only ones RIGHT THERE at the moment so they just have to deal with her.]

[So once he's back and tinkering with the 'Gear, she's right there next to him, knees to her chest and chin perched upon them.]</sub>

I'm super glamorous in my mugshots. I have standards.

... But yeah. I'm not particularly eager to get tossed in jail.

_{[She paused for a moment. As much as she blew off the 'dangerous' part in that video, it... stuck with her.]}

... Hal... what... exactly did I do?

_{[She hadn't said anything too specific about just what she'd seen yesterday-- having... well, wanted to be supportive for Rise at the time. But there's a hint of worry in her voice now that wasn't there yesterday either.]}

[ video - locked ]

[restardom.livejournal.com]

[ since she's seen Heather already, Rise is considerably less OH MY GOD than most responses will be. She will smile, however. ]

Don't grin like that, you look like you got caught doing something totally suspicious.

[ WARRANT OR NOT. ]

But I'm glad you got it!

[ video - locked ]

[foolishwren]

_{[The grin gets a LITTLE less suspicious-looking.]}

Well 'pparently I already did!

Did you see that police notice?

I'm like... totally Johto's Most Wanted.

_{[Then she sobers up a little and adds, rubbing the back of her neck--]}

I uh.... I just wanted to say, what you said... it was real nice.

I... wish I'd gotten it sooner. 'Cause... yeah.

_{[ELOQUENCE? WHAT IS ELOQUENCE?]}

[ video ]

[imthe-shit.livejournal.com]

[ About to speak but he pauses a moment, watching Liquid flex and troll. That... was really disturbing. And kind of annoying. He kind of wanted to reach through the video somehow and punch Liquid's face.

But enough about that, Heather was in a wreck it looked like. He tries his best... concerned voice... But also at a low whisper because he really doesn't want to get interrupted by BRRRRRRRROTHERRRRR or something. ]

Heather... [ Then he realizes he doesn't know what to say. 'Are you okay' seems pretty stupid at this moment. ]

... Ah... Are you going to be okay? Do you need anything...? [ a pause. ] I'm heading to Azalea right now...

[ video ]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's okay, Snake. Your brother is just an attention whore. It happens.]

[When Snake's voice comes through the speakers, Heather first tilts her head a little-- it's one she hasn't actually heard TOO much, considering the general brevity of their conversations-- but it's too distinctive to not remember.]

[And then the accompaniment of the video? Yep. Her brows shoot upwards-- then, with a glance over her shoulder, she gets up and um... surreptitiously moves to the other side of camp. She does NOT want to deal with a Liquid temper tantrum going on behind her if he catches a glimpse of who's on the screen.]</sub>

Heeeey.

I'm always okay. ...Eventually. Not gonna lie though, it's kinda a bummer.

But Otacon's got me pretty well-covered. He's a resourceful guy.

_{[She offered a smile and a thumbs-up. She wasn't okay, but... hey, she made a living off of forcing cheerfulness in the face of darkness.]}

You're comin' to Azalea? ... It... seems like a nice place... um... Liquid's here with me and Hal. But I don't think he'll be.. y'know... leaving the camp much...

_{[Even if Liquid hadn't been listed as a fugitive, she was willing to bet he'd gone more than a little batshit during the fog, too.]}

... So you'll be able to see Otacon.

_{[.... and her, too, but she didn't say that, because... she wasn't about to go and admit that she was never gonna be able to force herself to sit tight on her butt for two weeks. He'd probably run into her in the middle of a failed sneaky visit into town.]}

[video | 1/2]

[bakaitoukid]

He-- [MAN IS SHE A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES]

[video | 2/2]

[bakaitoukid]

[relief washes over his expression and twinkles in his eyes, and his grin turns sheepish as he tries to follow her lead and make light of the situation as well]

-- you look like you've been to hell and back. [there's a small, joking tone in his voice, but it's obvious he's just so glad to see her alive and... well, beat up. But alive]

[video]

[useddragonrush.livejournal.com]

Heather! What happened to to you?! Are you okay?

[video]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[There was a blink, and then she tilted her head a little. Who....?]

[She'd talked to Chris once before, but so much had happened between then and now that she... honestly did not remember.]</sub>

.... Depends. Who's asking?

_{[The paranoia following the police transmission didn't help. S-SORRY CHRIS. IT'S NOTHING PERSONAL. Heather's pretty shaken-up.]}

[usedsuitup.livejournal.com]

[On the one hand, relief, because you know, Barney isn't the type of guy to actually wish terrible fates on most people. On the other, how the heck do you disappear for a week and ended up wanted by the police/]

That's some bandage you got there. Is it why you're wanted?

[foolishwren]

_{[DAMMIT, IT'S BARNEY.]}

Don't diss the headgear.

I'm a dangerous fugitive, remember?

[video]

[itsthebutz.livejournal.com]

Jeez Heather, you look like you've seen better days.

[A pause.]

I'm just glad you're okay. That was one crazy weekend...

[video]

[foolishwren]

... Yeah, I can definitely say that I have...

N'I'm in one piece, that's what really matters.

_{[... Somewhere deep down, she was intensely amused at the way that description could just as easily apply to a weekend of wild partying. She chose not to laugh, though-- it hurt her throat.]}

I'll say...

... I don't even remember what the hell I did to be 'wanted'...

[oharas-child.livejournal.com]

[A very VERY worried Robin face pops up on the vid]

If you're wanted, you shouldn't tell people.

[Quieter]

Or let them see you.

[Oddly, it looks like she knows what she's talking about.]

[foolishwren]

_{[Heather shrugs.]}

I'm not anywhere they'll be able to find me.

Besides... considering the sheer number of people who seemed to think I was dead... I'll risk a little to put an end to their worries, thanks.

I'm not scared of the police.

_{[... She sort of wishes she could remember whatever the hell she did to get a warrant on her, though.]}

video

[her-mouse-jesty.livejournal.com]

Oh, Heatherrr!

[OH LOOK SHE'S JUST READY TO BURST INTO TEARS you poor poor thing ;A; ]

video

[foolishwren]

<sub>[W-whoa, sudden Minnie!]

[At first Heather looks a little shocked, like she's been confronted with a sudden dilemma she's never had to deal with before, and that's... more or less true. NO MINNIE DON'T CRY AAAAUGH. D8]</sub>

Uh-- h-hey!

You okay?

I'M okay.

Just-- for the record.

_{[P-please don't cry. <8)]}

action

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

[God, Heather, ruin his fun why don't you.]

action

[foolishwren]

_{[Heather sat and glaaaared. She'd perked up a little since yesterday, but she was still in a pretty sorry state.]}

God, I was trying to let everybody know I was alive.

They don't need to see you flexing your... your boob muscles in the background to get the point!

[video] Awesome drawing!

[justicereigns]

Tch. Idiot pirates. Heather, it's no laughing matter. They want you for assault.

[video] Aww, thanks <333

[foolishwren]

An assault that I can't even remember.

Anyway, if they weren't able to catch me while I was running around like a lunatic and seeing things that weren't there, I doubt they'll be able to when I'm actually, y'know, sane.

_{[And she's possibly misinterpreting Smoker's reasons for telling her it's not a laughing matter.]}

What do pirates have to do with it?

[Text]

[pillowichooseu.livejournal.com]

[She's lucky this was through texts, because James was more than worried. Sure he was freaking out about himself being a wanted criminal, but Heather was one too, not to mention the condition she was in.]

Am I Alright? I think the better question is are you alright?

Seems we are in a similar boat and all. Wanted criminals... I don't even know what happened.

[Text]

[foolishwren]

you and me both

i had no idea id done anything until otacon told me

_{[There's a pause-- she's relieved that wherever James is, he's in one piece enough to be texting her. But there's a bigger question to ask.]}



... did you think you were back there too?

[video 1/2; oh god these two dfhlgflj]

[cheapblusuits.livejournal.com]

[--!!!]

[video 2/2]

[cheapblusuits.livejournal.com]

[WHAT HE MEANS TO SAY IS--]

Heather!

Hey, good to see you back!

[And, no, he's not going to mention the orgin of the ugly bruise on his cheek. Not right now, at least. There's no hint of any kind of grudge or the like in his voice -- he just seems relieved to see that Heather hasn't been mortally injured or something.]