56. Video/Action for the Violet City Pokemon Center

[foolishwren]

<sub>[This is the last place Heather wants to be. And when the feed blinks on, it shows.]

[There's the usual busy murmur characteristic of a Pokemon Center lobby on a Monday morning. It's been awhile since Heather's been under these fluorescent lobby lights, and she looks a little washed-out and pale. Sleepy, too-- and blinking in irritation at the bright lights. She must have rolled out of bed not that long ago, and her cheeks are still flushed from the cold walk between the hotel and the Center.]

[Judging from the pink plush cushion she's leaning on and the colorful Poke-care posters splashed all over the wall behind her, she's sitting in the lobby. There's a small (say, less-than-a-football-sized) dusk-colored egg in her lap-- but weirdly, none of her Pokemon can be seen. Normally at least one or two of them are present in her transmissions, either chillaxin' in the background or (in Cujo's case) doing something derpy, but none of them are there.]</sub>

Hey, guys... uh...

I just thought I should letcha know, Phoenix is... um, he's in the Pokemon Center here in Violet. He went yesterday to get somethin' for his cold and didn't come back, and apparently he uh... collapsed.

But they said it doesn't look like it has anything to do with him being sick, it's like...

_{[She rubs at one of her eyes with the heel of her palm, grimacing.]}

... Those faints that people've been going into lately.

So, he's... um... he's doing okay.

_{[Around this point, a familiar (to some) shiny blue head pops into the frame-- Phoenix's Quagsire partner, Butch, is clambering up onto the seat next to Heather. ... And onto Heather.]}

Ooff-- Butch, jeez, hang on-- _{[She hastily grabs her bag (the smaller, owlless one) and slips the egg she was holding inside before it gets crushed under the giant amphibian's weight.]} Anyway, uh-- I'll-- ... I'll be taking care of his Pokemon till he wakes up, I guess. But yeah, I just thought I'd give people the heads-up, in case anybody was... I dunno, worried.

_{[Weirdly, Butch looks as stupidly happy as ever (as he curls into a ball that's like twice as big as the lap he's trying to sit on), so Phoenix can't be in that bad a state. But for some reason, Heather still looks very uncomfortable-- and she's not the sort to worry unnecessarily about somebody when she knows they're more or less fine.]}

... Anyway. So, uh-- hey, Kaito? _{[She addresses the camera.]} You guys gotten to Violet yet? I thought maybe if you were here, we could all-- I dunno, meet up for lunch or somethi-- hey! <sub>[The camera jostles wildly-- looks like Butch is batting at it playfully. It shakes around a bit before the view steadies again-- upside-down and facing in the opposite direction, towards the front desk.]

[Two Nurse Joys are standing behind the counter and looking in Heather's direction very conspicuously. One of them has an expression darkened by consternation-- the other looks a little confused. The first says something quietly to her under her breath, and upon hearing it, the second one's eyes widen and she claps a hand over her mouth.]

[The camera jerks again as Heather grabs it back from Butch and turns it back to herself, but her attention is on the nurses now-- her expression briefly unreadable. But hey-- it's no secret to anybody who's been in Johto since the summer that Heather's relationship with the nurses of Violet City was an antagonistic one. Hell, she turned that Center upside-down on more than one occasion-- and laughed in the face of their authority, with no regrets (or shame)! Oh, the youthful shenanigans! Any second now she's gonna direct her gaze back at the camera and do a classic Heather "THEY MAD?" smirk or something, right?]

[.... Right?]

[Heather swallows hard, hunching her shoulders a little, as though trying to look a little more inconspicuous-- and then hastily shuts the camera off. Her last expression before the feed cuts out is one of... jeez, it kinda looks like ... guilt.]





[ooc: For those in the Pokemon Center, Heather can either be found milling uncomfortably around the edges of the Center lobby, looking like she just saw a Wanted poster for herself, or (most likely), hiding out in whatever room Phoenix's in to avoid contact with the Nurse Joys as much as she can.
ALSO, for those who weren't around back when this happened, this is why Heather's not feeling too hot about having to see these particular Nurses again.]</sub>

Comments

[video]

[tapestodiane]

So if the other cases are anything to go by, he'll be back in approximately a week with new memories from his home.

_{[Here Heather, have a frown. Bet you've seen a lot of those from this guy, but this isn't so deep - just one that indicates thought. He looks a bit distant, for a second, before adressing the gear more directly.]}

Are you alright?

[video]

[foolishwren]

Yeah, I figure that's what'll happen. _{[... She hoped he wouldn't be from too far in the future. That'd be weird.]}

And, uh... yeah. I'm peachy-keen.

_{[No, she's definitely not. She keeps on looking off-camera, almost nervously.]}

[voice]

[shellderkillder.livejournal.com]

He will be fine, I'm sure.

[Yep, just assuming you're like that because of Phoenix.]

[voice]

[foolishwren]

_{[And she's not going to correct that. She'd rather people think she was just worried about a friend than know why she was really anxious.]}

Yeah... I just hope he's not too different when he wakes up.

[Action] FFF....it WOULD be the place he's working

[catsteward.livejournal.com]

[Yeah, so, initially he wasn't terribly happy to hear Heather's voice over the feed as he sat in one of the pokemon center's back rooms, sorting through the ever-growing and neverending pile of patient files. He had enough to worry about for the remainder of his shift without his "favorite" antagonist on the scene.

As he listens to her tone and what she has to say, however, and hears the Joys' whispered discussion about 'that young lady' on one of his trips up front to drop off and pick up some more files about the miserable-looking girl with the boyish haircut trying to look as small as possible in one of the lobby's corners....well....

yeah... Somehow you looked a lot bigger and satan-like when you were harassing him about flaming blankets =/

So, hey Heather? How do you feel about a tall center assistant sweeping past where you are on one of his go-betweens to set down a styrofoam cup of cocoa on the end of the table nearest you? It's nothing fancy, just the watery, cheap stuff you'd expect to come out of a waiting room vending machine.]

[Action] HAHAH OF COURSE

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Man, what a great first (... second, actually?) impression... The stuff Gaga hears from those nurses is, as one might expect, nothing flattering. The best of it is that she's a disrespectful hoodlum, and the worst of it... is that she actually freaked the eff out and gave one of the nurses a concussion with an IV pole last fall. So, unsurprisingly, they're... not too thrilled with her being back in town. And Heather seems perfectly aware of this. Which is WHY she's cringing around when Gaga spots her...]

[Needless to say, he's right. She's a lot less intimidating-looking right now.]

[So when the cup is set down near her elbow, she looks up in surprise.]</sub>

Uh--

_{[.... oh. ... oh crap it was that guy she kind of totally trolled mercilessly a little while ago. And right now she was SO not feeling like keeping up that act.]}

.... Erm.

_{[... a-awkward.]}

Hey...

[video]

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

Another one...? And here I thought things might've quieted down for a while.

...Heather? I'm going to guess you're upset about a little more than just Phoenix.

[video]

[foolishwren]

Yeah... well, I guess you could say it is quieting down a little... not like he'll be makin' much noise in his sleep, heh.

_{[She nods, though. He's right on the money and while she's not too keen on broadcasting it everywhere, he already knew this story. He was the one who'd cleaned her up when she came out of the woods like some kind of wild woman after it was all over, after all.]}

It's just... it's reeeaaal awkward being back here again.

[video]

[quickattackjack]

Heather! You're in Violet too?

_{[Maybe he'd get to see some of his friends before he and Dash set out! That'd be nice! But...poor Phoenix. He can't keep that cheer up. He's worried. Phoenix is always sick or falling off cliffs or...into comas?]}

I-I'm...sure he'll be okay. But that's sort of...one of our travel friends disappeared very recently. Dash ended up with all her Pokemon.

_{I hope home is where people go when they disappear.}

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[OHAI JACK. She manages to scrounge up a smile for the old skeleton when he pops up on the screen.]}

Heh, yeah, I got here about a week ago. Came back with Phoenix and Snake so that I could meet somebody.

But yeah, I'm... sure he'll be okay, too.

_{[Her brows peak a little when he mentions his vanished traveling-mate.]}

Oh... I'm sorry... _{[She hadn't known Rainbow Dash was traveling with him... what an odd pair, seriously.]} ... Yeah, I hope so too.

[action]

[bakaitoukid]

[Kaito is actually milling about the city, performing small tricks for pocket cash for the citizens of Violet when he receives Heather's message. At first, he simply plans on responding via gear, but then he notices the Nurse Joys in the background and the way her expression shifts quickly into something... so very un-Heather-like.

Deciding she needed more than just a pick-me-up via video, he tips his baseball cap at his latest audience member, gives her a charming wink, and makes his way towards the Center.

A mere few minutes later, he pushes open the door and scans the lobby for a girl with tousled blonde hair. She isn't difficult to pick out among the crowd (she's the girl who's trying not to be seen), and without hesitation he slides up to her discreetly]

Dinner, huh? [As typical (and predictable) as his greeting is, he never tires of it, and he's almost positive his audience never does either. With a snap of his fingers, a yellow flower blossoms in his palm, and he's tilting it toward her with a lopsided (and encouraging) grin.

He knows exactly why she's so hesitant to be in Violet again (especially the Center), so he'll do his best to make her forget the events of the mysterious nightmare fog that rolled through Johto months ago]

[action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She IS easy to spot-- well, right NOW, anyway. Heather's good at making quiet escapes but when she's hanging around and feeling guilty about something, it kinda stands out. He'll be spotting her lurking over by the water cooler, rubbing one arm and sort of leaning behind it so that she's just out of view of the nurses behind the counter.]

[Needless to say, given that she's a bit twitchier than usual, she jumps a little when his voice suddenly speaks up next to her, whipping her head around with a startled expression. Said expression melts into a relieved and sort of sheepish grin almost immediately.]</sub>

Dinner. My treat, even. _{[ANY EXCUSE TO GET OUT FROM UNDER THOSE NURSES' NOSES FOR A LITTLE WHILE.]}

[1-2-jango-zzzz.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's Cra~ZY~! There's some really weird illnesses here, huh!

[foolishwren]

_{[Man, for once, Heather's feeling too anxious to be properly annoyed and/or creeped out by Jango. So she actually smiles weakly at him in response.]}

Heh... yeah, I'll say.

[video] 1/2

[usedsubstitute.livejournal.com]

P-Phoenix is....!

[video] 2/2

[usedsubstitute.livejournal.com]

Oh and just when I thought we'd gotten past this horrible ordeal! I-I had hoped we wouldn't have to deal with this sort of thing again. It was h-hard enough with Miles and now this.... _{[Here Heather, have a crying Iris. She never did do well with this sort of thing-and when it happens to Phoenix? Yeah, she's a wreck right now.]}

[audio]

[corvus-veritas.livejournal.com]

[Byrne's currently trekking through the wilderness, so grass and leaf crunching noises can be heard in the background. Too busy walking to go on video ATM, but that doesn't mean he can't be sympathetic all the same! And no, he doesn't realize there's something going on beyond worrying for Phoenix.]

I'm sorry to hear that about your friend. I hope he recovers soon.

[audio]

[foolishwren]

_{[Well that's a new voice! Still, she appreciates the sentiments. She's also not gonna do anything to let on that there might be something else she's upset about. She'd rather strangers NOT know that she went berserk awhile back and gave somebody a concussion with hospital equipment.]}

I'm sure he'll be okay. Just hopefully he'll be okay sooner rather than later.

[video]

[itsthebutz.livejournal.com]

Aw maaaaan...

[Larry sighs loudly and rubs his temples. Why does this keep happening to his friends sob. He wonders what Phoenix will remember when he wakes up.]

[video]

[foolishwren]

They're gonna take good care of him, at least...

_{[Of course, she has to convince herself of that-- Heather doesn't trust hospitals too much. She knows it's irrational, though.]}

And I'll watch out for his Pokemon while he's conked.

[video]

[exeggutorhead]

That guy gets into trouble a lot, doesn't he?

[He frowns a little though, curious and a bit concerned about Heather's odd behavior.] What's those nurses' problem anyway, you can't have destroyed the Center that badly.

[Envy doesn't quite realize that it miight not be the best thing to joke about. But he's attempting to make her feel better, even if he kind of sucks at that sort of thing.]

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[She shakes her head a little, a smirk tugging up one side of her mouth, despite herself.]}

I swear, he'd fall in a ditch and die if he didn't have like three people watching his ass all the time...

<sub>[It's a mistake that's easy to make-- even for people who know Heather well. Humor is how she copes, after all-- and most things, she can joke about. Even terrible things. ... But this...]

[That incident had just hit too hard. Close to home... in more ways than one.]

["Monsters? ... They looked like monsters to you...?"]</sub>

Uh... yeah. Heh...

[voice]

[dontshootmebro.livejournal.com]

So I take it that fainting is a common thing around here.

[a pause. she's...well, yeah, she's concerned. especially seeing Heather's expression]

You need any help?

[voice]

[foolishwren]

Well... recently, yeah. It's got something to do with home, I guess. People pass out for a week or so sometimes and then wake up as if they'd gone back home for awhile. It's... weird. This place doesn't make a whole lot've sense sometimes.

_{[At the question, though, she falls silent for a second or two.]}

Iiieee.... nah, I'm good. This town and me don't get along too well, that's all.

_{[The last thing she wants to admit to Cybil is that last fall, she assaulted one of these nurses with an IV pole and then ran off in a berserk, hallucinogenic fit. Especially since it resulted in her ALSO assaulting a police officer...]}

[action]

[yattagarasu.livejournal.com]

[ there's a Wooper bouncing her way into Phoenix's room, wooping incredibly insistent with her trainer trotting after her. Kay's been sitting on pins-and-needles, just waiting for her father to arrive, but the news about Phoenix is both a needed distraction and a new source of worry. ]

... He's got to be setting a record for how many times he's wound up in bed. Do you think they've got an award for that?

[ sorry Heather, Kay is not going to let the mood be dark and gloomy. ]

[action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Heather's curled up in one of the tiny white waiting-room chairs, knees to her chest and arm lazily crooked so that she can rest her head on her shoulder. None of her Pokemon are out of their Balls, but she's rubbing Butch's head absent-mindedly, with eyes half-shut.]

[When Kay enters, she perks up, expression brightening.]</sub>

Wh-- hey! I didn't realize you guys were in town yet!

_{[Grinning ruefully, she looked over at the bedridden lawyer.]}

If they do have an award, I think they should present it to him like... right now.

[Action] Ffff they finally meet and it's a bad day for both of them. I-IRONY...?

[used-defog.livejournal.com]

[Dash has been wanting to move out of Violet for a while, continuously telling herself that she needed to keep moving toward whatever awaited her after obtaining all those gym badges. And now she was second-guessing that idea. First, there was the gaggle of friends she had made that made her feel rooted in Johto, then Kaitlyn, the person that'd been with her since the beginning of the little adventure, had disappeared without warning. What if she reappeared here and Dash wasn't there to meet her?

It took her a few extra days to decide to finally move out of Violet after getting the Zephyr Badge. ... Geez, maybe Jack's touristy mentality was rubbing off on her.

She's just gotten through reluctantly placing some of Kaitlyn's left behind Pokemon into a PC (minus her Togepi and Furret, out of worry) and saying goodbyes to her coworkers (sure, she didn't try very hard at her job, but some workers had to admit she was entertaining to have around) when she spots Heather in the lobby. Dash is the Spirit of Loyalty and friendship is friggin' magic-- she can spot a familiar face anywhere.

The whispered talk of the nurses behind her just makes her narrow her eyes, and she approaches Heather without hesitation, albeit with some empathic caution.]

Hey, uh... Heather?

[Action] ;-; FFFF POOR BBS. a-also I am totally gonna tag Coraline's thread as soon!!

[foolishwren]

_{[Heather's a little distracted when Dash first approaches-- but when she does look up, well-- Dash is the ONLY person in Johto to have rainbow-colored hair, so Heather recognizes her instantly.]}

... Oh! Uh-- heh. Hey, uh-- Dash. _{[The words 'Rainbow Dash' together were WAY too silly for Heather to want to say them right now. No offense, Dash. It's just-- ... pony names.]}

Nice t'finally see you in person.

_{[Oh shit Dash worked here, didn't she. She had to have heard the story-- or at least seen the way those nurses were looking at Heather like she was a ticking time bomb...]}

[audio]

[madegrowth.livejournal.com]

Wha- in the hospital? [She's a little distressed now.]
Mr.Wright lent me two of his Pokemon to help me. Right now I can't get back to Violet. Do you want me to hold onto his Pokemon for a bit longer? Or try and send them to you?

[audio]

[foolishwren]

Uh-- oh, he did?

_{[She THOUGHT he'd been a few Pokeballs short when they'd been handed over to her...]}

Uh-- ... no, uh, I'm sure he'd be okay with you keeping them till he wakes up... Where are you?

[Voice] I totally didn't forget about this...no sir

[smilegonnakillu.livejournal.com]

How awful. I do hope he does wake up. It would be a shame if he never woke up.

[Which is sort of her telling the truth...because killing him in a coma would be boring.]

[Voice]TOTALLY BREAKING BRIEFLY FROM ANIMATING TO TAG THIS

[foolishwren]

....

_{[When Heather speaks, her voice is a low snarl.]}

He is gonna wake up.

Too bad for you.

_{[It's not much of a comeback. But Heather's not always the wittiest when she's really, really angry.]}