IC Contact

[foolishwren]

ffzzbrrttzzckssshhhh

"Yo, it's Heather. I'm probably asleep or Godzilla ate my 'Gear or something so I can't answer you right now. But feel free to leave a message or something. I'll probably get back to you. ... Probably. Peace out."

BEEEEEEEEEEEEP.
[Need to send Heather a private message but don't particularly wanna spam up your friendslists? Feel free to leave it here! Please include the name of the game and IC date of the message in your comment to help avoid confusion. For OOC contact, feel free to send a PM or IM the mun at Phantastus! peace out yo]

Comments

[Voice]

[foolishwren]

I only do it 'cause I love ya.

[foolishwren]

_{[Swinging her legs off of Sunny and then sliding down to stand on the lawn, Heather nods.]}

Yep.

Don't be too impressed-- I don't own the place.

I'm basically just couch-surfing.

Not entirely necessary, but it beats payin' for a hotel room.

_{[If he'd ever wondered how much it cost her to stuff those Christmas care packages for him and Mimi full of so much stuff, it was a lot, and the reason she could afford it was because her budget had suddenly gotten MASSIVE after hotel costs had been removed. She'd gotten so used to factoring them in that she'd barely noticed over the years, but that shit added up!}}

[wing_attack]

Yeah, that gets pretty expensive. I sleep at the Pokemon Center a lot. I'd sleep outside of town, but it's way too cold.

[Voice]

[quickattackjack]

_{[He lets out a lengthy, dramatic sigh.]}

If you say so, Miss Mason....I keep pinching myself, thinking I'm dreaming. Do you think Other Father might return as well?

[foolishwren]

Yeah, I got sick of sleepin' in the Centers pretty quick. Free's great, but you get what you pay for.

_{[Once they're both off, Sunny leans over with a soft twitter to gently nip at Tobias's hair with her beak.]}

[wing_attack]

Yeah, true. I need to challenge more gyms, but... I feel a little bad just crushing them rather than using type advantages.

[He smiles a little bit and gives Sunny an affectionate pat.]

[Voice]

[foolishwren]

_{[Oh yeah... the Other Father. She remembers him. He'd been a little odd, but...]}

I dunno.

You never know.

No harm in hopin', I guess, right?

_{[Snake and Otacon had come back, even if only for a relatively short time. And others, too.]}

[Voice]

[quickattackjack]

You're absolutely right! I'll get started on that then!

[foolishwren]

HEH, don't feel bad. It's fun to crush 'em.

<sub>[Says the girl who Sabrina explicitly warned to stop relying on her level 100 Growlithe to stomp things if she didn't want to end up in hot water somewhere down the line when a REAL battle happened.]

[She starts to head to the door, with Sunny waddling along behind them to make sure that Tobias follows.]</sub>

[wing_attack]

[He does follow along, shrugging a bit.]

I also don't have any fighting types, so I might as well train one up anyway to fight Whitney with. You never know when we're going to have a repeat of those red and blue weirdos, just with different types.

[foolishwren]

Yeah, good idea.

I've only got one fighting type, but he's damn tough.

<sub>[Once they're in, she allows Sunny to waddle in behind them before shutting the door and shrugging off her coat to hang up.]

[While people conk out late in this house, there is usually a point in the night where everyone retires off to their own spaces to wind down, so the place is fairly quiet.]</sub>

Livin' room's this way. You want some hot chocolate? ... Or tea? You look like you might be a tea kid.

[wing_attack]

Oh... wait, I guess Marco's a fighting type. And Nacho is too... huh.

[He shrugs his coat off and hangs it up next to hers, shaking his head.]

... I haven't had hot chocolate in a long time.

[Even living more or less freely... it's weird. A lot of the more 'normal' things are still strange to him. It's not like he had the most normal upbringing. When was the last time he had hot chocolate?]

[He pulls a Pokeball out of his pocket and looks over at Sunny. So it's okay for Pokémon to be out here. He opens it and Regal pops out. He leans into the bird, who wraps a wing around him gently.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Pokemon more or less have free run of the house-- well, to an extent. With six people living there more or less full-time, if ALL the Pokemon were out ALL the time, there wouldn't be a house, there would just be a smoldering crater. But the well-behaved ones are allowed out of their balls whenever they want.]

[Sunny waddles over to take a perch on the arm of the couch, where she towers like some kind of puffy white monolith-- if Regal hadn't been there to embrace his trainer, she probably would have done that for him. Instead, she'll just let out a pleased twitter and squint her inky black eyes until they're slits. She'll be here if she's needed!]

[Heather nods and disappears into the kitchen, giving a thumbs-up over her shoulder as she goes.]</sub>

Hot chocolate it is, then!

[wing_attack]

[Regal chirps at her in a friendly manner. Hello! Tobias just flops down on the couch, and Regal settles down in front of him, leaning his head against his trainer's lap.]

Thanks.

[He gives Regal some scritches on the back of the neck, before pulling him up a bit so he can bury his face in the Braviary's feathers.]

S'not fair...

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It really isn't, Tobias. And it doesn't ever really get any easier.]

[After a couple of minutes, Heather comes back with two steaming mugs. Stepping carefully around Tobias's Bird Barrier (tm), she holds one out to him.]</sub>

Here. I put extra marshmallows in yours.

[wing_attack]

[Regal shifts to get out of her way, and he reaches up to take the mug.]

... Thanks.

[He blows on it a bit and then takes a sip, pulling his knees into his chest.]

... Losing people sucks. I don't... really... know what to do.

[foolishwren]

_{[Once he's got his hot chocolate, she sits down next to him, just warming her hands on her own mug for the moment.]}

You just keep going.

It's tough, and by all means, it's okay to grieve... but time'll pass, and you'll make more friends.

N'heck.

She might come back someday.

I've gotten people back here, before.

[wing_attack]

... Yeah. I just... I don't...

[He shakes his head a bit.]

I'm not good at... making friends, I guess. So for them... to leave... it's...

... People have left me all the time. Aside from the last two years...

[... He's never really let anyone get close.]

[foolishwren]

_{[She nods. There's nothing about his feelings that she can refute or explain away. They just are.]}

... I'll be straight with you, Tobias.

The longer you stay here... the more people you'll lose.

That's the worst thing about this place, and none of us have a damn idea why it happens.

All we can do is try to make sure we have as few regrets as possible.

I'm sorry Mimi's gone. I know you cared about her a lot.

[wing_attack]

[He opens his mouth to say something, but then just closes it again. Right. People leave all the time. Gamzee did. But he had more time to get to like Mimi.]

[... He tries to keep calm, but he just sets his mug down and wipes his face. It's not fair. It's not fair, and it's also not fair that human faces show emotion so well. He's forgotten how not to again, and it's that realization that bursts the fragile shield he'd built up and he starts to sob.]

[Regal immediately grabs the back of his shirt with his beak and pulls him onto his back. Tobias shifts and presses his face into the feathers. He can't help crying, but he doesn't like it that Heather's seeing him cry. It just feels weird to have someone see.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Yeeeaah, Heather knows THAT feeling, too. She doesn't do much crying in front of other people. It's just... uncomfortable.]

[So she kind of looks away, taking a big long drink from her own mug to try and give the kid some... privacy's not exactly possible, but dignity? Maybe.]

[Of course, it's pretty much impossible for Sunny to ignore a CRYING CHILD so unlike Heather, she moves right on in to twitter low in her throat and gently groom his tousled blond hair. SHHHH CHILD DON'T CRY, OWL MOM IS HERE.]</sub>

[wing_attack]

[He shifts a little uncomfortably at the grooming but it's... nice. It feels familiar, and he sniffles a bit before looking up. His voice is hoarse when he speaks.]

... Sorry.

[He reaches up and gives Sunny a gentle pat. He's okay. He'll be fine.]

... I used to hug my cat Dude when I got upset, before... everything. He was kind of feral but he would let me hold him.

[foolishwren]

You have nothing to apologize for.

_{[She reaches out to give his shoulder a squeeze, now that the brief emotional outburst has ebbed.]}

And that's one thing about this place that DOESN'T change.

The Pokemon never go away.

[wing_attack]

[He leans into her touch, smiling a little bit.]

Yeah. It's... nice. I mean... we're not the same species, but we understand each other, and we need each other. It's nice that this i sa place where that's even more true than at home.

[foolishwren]

_{[It's true. This world is like a tree-hugger's DREAM.]}

Yeah.

If nothing else, no matter what people come in and out of your life, there's some friends who'll always be there.

_{[Did it make up for the way you could lose people you cared about at the drop of a hat? Well... probably not. But it's something.]}