71. [Action/Video] Backdated to Sunday afternoon.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[You know when you wake up and you feel like there's a leaden weight sitting on your chest, stopping you from moving? Most of the time when that happens, it's because of sleep paralysis. Somewhat less of the time, it's a close encounter of the third kind. ... This time, however, it's a very large Furret curled up neatly in the middle of Heather's chest, taking advantage of the fact that her trainer both produces heat and is stationary and comfortable, AND of the fact that there is currently a brief moment in which nobody is looking over in this direction to shoo her away.]

[... Except that Heather's not going to be stationary much longer.]

[The first thing that happens that disrupts the vacant, sleeping stupor of Heather's face is a wince and a scrunched nose, because fluffy Furret tails are not the best things to have brushing up against your nostrils when you're coming out of a deep sleep.]</sub>

Nhngngnh...

<sub>[Ffffh what was-- what. Oh, ow. Opening eyes that haven't seen light in a good seven days kind of hurts. And trying to talk through a throat that hasn't made a single noise kind of hurts too, which is why all that Heather manages at first is a sort of croak.]

[But that croak is enough to get SOMEBODY'S attention.]

[From the foot of the bed, Cujo snorts into wakefulness from where he's been faithfully sleeping on his trainer's ankles. With a deep wuff, he surges to his feet and joyfully clambers over the blanketed body, stepping on Arty and causing her to vacate her perch atop Heather's chest with an indignant hiss, until he's standing over her with a great big doggy smile and a paw on either side of her.]

[Heather squints up at him, scrunching up her face. On one hand, the sight of those floppy orange ears and big black nose is one for sore eyes, but on the other... oh god does she not want to see a dog right now after the kinds of dreams she'd been having...]

[Coughing and lifting her arms weakly, she tries to shove him away long enough for her to get her bearings.]</sub>

Cooj, gimme some spac-- acklPHTHG OFF.

_{[No force in this world or any other could stop Cujo from greeting his favorite human being's return to wakefulness with lots of licking. Startled into a slightly more awake state, Heather makes a still-sleepy noise of disgust and shoves feebly at the Growlithe, scooting away.]}

Dammit, mutt, I mean i--

_{[Turns out, trying to slip out of bed after not moving for a week? Hurts, too. WHOMP. Face, meet hotel room floor. And possibly part of Henry's sleeping bag.]}

[VIDEO]

_{[A few minutes later, presumably after proving sufficiently to her father that she's not DEAD, the feed clicks on, revealing a very, very bedraggled Heather who looks like she went a week WITHOUT sleeping instead of spending the whole time unconscious.]}

Mornin'.... what'd I miss?



_{[ooc: Because the nightmare threads will likely affect CR pretty strongly, I'll tag them as long as anybody wants/it takes them to be finished! I'm also fine with discussing their outcomes, though, if anyone needs a conclusion right away.]}

Comments

[video] 2/2

[bakaitoukid]

There you are. [his tone is teasing, but behind that playful aura is a hint of concern. HE WAS BEGINNING TO WONDER...]

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[A weary grin. She looks exhausted, but not too exhausted to retain her sense of humor. It's her way of saying 'I'm fine', after all.]}

What can I say, I really needed that beauty sleep.

I didn't miss out on anything epic, did I?

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

We had a huge boss battle with the remaining Shedinja. There was even appropriate boss battle music.

You really missed out. It was awesome.

[video]

[foolishwren]

Aw man, seriously?

I miss out on ALL the good stuff...

_{[She breaks off for a second or two with an enormous yawn-- a week's worth of sleep didn't really count when you spent the whole time going from one nightmare to another...]}

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

That's what happens when you sleep in, heh.

[he notices that and gives her another sheepish grin]

Tired?

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[She nods, rubbing absentmindedly at one eye with her fist.]}

Mmhm.

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

. . .

You're at the inn, right? Mind if I visit?

[video]

[foolishwren]

Yes. Get out.

_{[She's too tired to hold the srsface for long though, and she flops back against the pillow, grinning.]}

'Course not. I could use some conversation that's not just Dad fretting.

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

[giving her a salute!]

Five minutes. Tops!

[AND FIVE MINUTES LATER-- knock knock!]

[video]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[If he can get past the VICIOUS GUARD DAD (which he will, because Harry's sure to know who Heather's trusted friends are by this point...), Kaito will be allowed entry-- it's a pretty cramped room, as he no doubt has already experienced in his OWN inn room. There's two beds, with a messy sleeping bag in between them, littered with like... three half-finished bowls of marshmallow Jiggly Puffs (tm).]

[Heather, on the other hand, is lying on one of the beds and is partially engulfed by a mass of Cujo.]

[She waves a hand from somewhere under the pile of dog.]</sub>

Heeeey, Smiley.

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

[... man someone really likes their marshmallow Jiggly Puffs]

Ooooi Awesome-san~ [he lifts a hand and gives her a lazy wave]

You look like an invalid.

[video]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[HENRY FUCKING LOVES CEREAL-- although he doesn't seem to be there at the moment.]

[Heather strains to peer over Cujo's fluffy mane and grins.]</sub>

The Republic of Dad overruled my request to get up and walk around. So the K9 unit is making sure I stay down for at least another couple of hours.

_{[Of course, if she'd been feeling 100%, she'd have gotten up and walked around anyway.]}

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

You should tell your dad this isn't a dictatorship. It's a democracy, and your vote should count.

[video]

[foolishwren]

Are you kidding? I already tried that back in fifth grade when we were studying the U.S. government.

He just told me that since there were only two people in the house, every vote would be a draw and therefore the decision fell to him.

... And he was taller so he usually won the ensuing fight. _{[YOU BET YOUR BOOTS THAT GRADE-5 HEATHER WENT DOWN FIGHTING, THOUGH.]}

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

... heh.

You could've given each of your stuffed animals a vote, y'know.

[video]

[foolishwren]

But then came the arguments of which of us was the more capable translator from Stuffed Animal to English. He got all my teddie bears to gang up on me.

_{[AS ONE COULD IMAGINE, EARLY BEDTIMES WERE AN INTERESTING AFFAIR IN THE MASON HOUSEHOLD.]}

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

[... snrk]

Wouldn't you be the expert? They're your stuffed animals!

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[A grin.]}

Yeah, but he'd do the voices for them and everything.

_{[When you had a story-writer for a father, silly pretend games were pretty much a given.]}

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

And you couldn't do voices for them yourself?

[video]

[foolishwren]

I was usually laughing too hard.

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

Sounds like your dad knew exactly what he was doing.

[video]

[foolishwren]

Oh, he knew exactly what he was doing, the jerk.

_{[She can't mask the fondness in her tone, though.]}

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

Luckily for you those techniques don't work on teenagers.

[video]

[foolishwren]

Nah, now he just gives me that sad, tired, old man look and I have to give in for fear that a single tear will run down his cheek or something.

[video]

[bakaitoukid]

[... pfffft]

He is a master of manipulation.