foolishwren | 76. [Accidental Video/Text/Action for Olivine]

Current Mood: distressed
Current Location: Olivine City

Entry tags:

76. [Accidental Video/Text/Action for Olivine]

_{[The feed opens in a decidedly innocent fashion. It's jauntily wobbling back and forth as its holder walks, and the screen is filled by a big blue :D face, backed by an even bluer sky. ... And the occasional waving green tips from the sand dunes he's passing. Yes, Butch the Quagsire is on the beach, waddling happily down to the shore with Heather's 'Gear-- perhaps stolen in hopes of being able to carry on a happy WOOOOO-filled long-distance conversation with Flapper.]

[But an angry-sounding gurgle rings out behind him-- and Butch turns to face his pursuer, who is equally blue, but a great deal smaller.]}

Ttt-t-toto!

QUAAAA--

_{[What follows is a very shaky view of the sky jittering around as the two Pokemon engage in a fierce tug-of-war over the gadget. Occasionally their faces pop into view, and while it's more or less impossible for a Quagsire to actually look angry, it's obvious that it's a heated debate. Finally, apparently deciding that it's too much trouble, Butch lets go of the 'Gear with a huffy 'QUA!' and waddles off.]

[Godzilla's concerned red eyes appear in front of the screen as he checks over the 'Gear delicately, as if checking to make sure it wasn't damaged. Anyone who's gotten used to the Totodile's presence in Heather's transmissions before may note that he seems a lot more... contrite than usual, maybe? Which has actually been the case ever since the OMNOM ELBOW incident a couple months before... strange.]

[In any case, once satisfied, he sets off waddling back across the sand, determinedly. If anyone's actually cared enough to keep watching that long (or is just tuning in now), his destination becomes apparent immediately.]

[In a shady spot juuuuust where the sand starts to shift over to grass and trees, Heather is sprawled on her back on an unused old picnic table, arms folded behind her head, along with her wadded-up vest for a pillow. There's a few old chip bags and soda bottles scattered around the little sun-dappled area, but it would seem that whoever left them had probably packed up and left much earlier, since Heather's the only one there.]

[... That's probably why she's there... judging from the dull, despondent quality of the way she's staring up at the foliage above.]

[And then she's lost from view briefly, as Godzilla struggles to clamber up to her, first onto the bench-seat, and then the tabletop itself. Then he's standing next to her and fumbling with the 'Gear, giving viewers a view first of her jeans pocket, then one hand, then the card-deck pattern on her shirt, then (inexplicably) a zoomed-in view of worn-out wooden table-top, before it finally settles on her face as he presents the 'Gear to her with a self-important gurgle that can only be an attempt to tattle on Butch.]

[At first, she doesn't even turn her head. It's pretty obvious her mind is elsewhere. But when he tries again, this time nudging her shoulder with the 'Gear, a flicker of irritability crosses her face and she looks over.]}

... Zilla, what--

_{[... Oh. It's the 'Gear. ... And the damn red light is blinking.]

[... Heather frowns with lidded eyes and shoves the 'Gear away.]}

Get that thing outta my face.

_{[The Totodile makes an apologetic (and slightly hurt) sound, but relinquishes the 'Gear when she takes it and ends the feed abruptly.]}

[Private text to Harry Mason and Henry Townshend]

Hey

I was thinking maybe we could try and head east to Ecruteak City in a few days??


We've been here awhile now

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

_{[Yeah. Not to mention, more off than anything that's happened before... barring maybe Harry's first disappearance.]

[It's a little while before he gets an answer, but when he does, she doesn't even bother pretending. She's not exactly being an opaque wall of stoicness.]}

No.

. . .

Need to talk about it? [leaning forward a bit, resting his elbows on his knees, too]

_{[... Yeah. Yeah, she does... because screaming about it the other night hadn't really helped much when there was nobody there to listen. And it's a little easier in person ... than it is over the 'Gear network, like when she'd contacted people over the matter of Vincent. Talking to people dozens, possibly hundreds of miles away, even people who she trusts unconditionally, or loves, about this... in some strange way, it was just really difficult to do.]

[... But he's right here, and out of all the people she knows in Johto, he's one of the ones she trusts the most.]

[She's silent for awhile. It's something she's always done in response to difficult questions, and it's honestly remarkably easy to be mistaken for her just IGNORING the questions (which, to be fair, was sometimes the case). ... But Kaito's probably known her long enough by this point to at least know she's not blowing him off.]

[... Especially since somewhere in the middle of the silence, a flash of something painful flickers across her face-- eyes squinching shut, brows creasing upwards, like she's about to either laugh or cry-- before she suppresses it again and just resumes staring down at the flower... without really seeing it.]}

... The woman who killed my dad is in Johto.

[... he actually feels something cold course through him when she says that, and his entire body freezes in shock, poker face slipping along with it.

The woman who killed my dad is in Johto.

He can only imagine how that feels... to be pulled away from all of the danger of home and to have your father returned to your side, only to have the person who had snuffed out his life follow suit. He knows he would be livid if Snake showed up here... and he can imagine Heather feels similarly]

Heather...

[he isn't quite sure what to do, what to say to make her feel better, so for right now, all he is doing is sliding his hand up her shoulder in what is hopefully a comforting gesture]

Edited 2011-08-19 08:35 (UTC)

_{[Her expression isn't so blank now... She's gone through a whole whirlwind of emotion since Claudia's arrival... hell, everything about Claudia is just a whirlwind of emotion for Heather. She doesn't know what to make of it... and when Heather doesn't know what to make of something, 'anger' and 'sadness' are the usual two defaults. And right now, her face is sort of struggling to be one or the other.]}

... She was dead. She's supposed to be dead.

I...

_{[... That poor flower. She's not exactly crushing it, but her hands have curled into fists so tight that her scar-mottled knuckles look like white rocks.]}

[his hand tightens on her shoulder as he scoots a bit closer, expression empathetic-- he doesn't just sympathize, he feels her confusion with her.

especially since he now feels a gripping uncertainty clutching at the pit of his stomach. if she was here, then... what if Snake...]

... she can't do anything like that here, you know?

_{[She doesn't scoot away, but where she normally would have... maybe leaned on his shoulder or invited a hug or something, she.... doesn't. Her shoulders are quivering, but whether it's with tears or just pent-up rage is... sort of hard to tell.]

[Her voice is hushed and high-pitched enough that it's starting to crack.]}

I don't care.

I want to kill her.

[he doesn't pull her in for a hug either, knowing that he needs to give her a certain amount of space, but he does tense a bit when she speaks. he lets out a breath and closes his eyes]

... oi.

[his voice is low, even] You really think that'll make things better...?

_{[She doesn't answer that question directly... just sort of shakes her head, though it's more of a lost, upset gesture than it is one that means 'No'.]}

I didn't get to before.

All the things she did...

The things she made me do...

_{[Even now, she can still mentally call up the gut-wrenching feeling of something squirming around in her insides, just like those two years hadn't passed at all. Feel the pain gripping every inch of skin as that something grew and changed her while it did so...]

[The truth is, she has no idea what she wants.... or even what she'd be capable of doing when the time came. Everything is so complicated... so much more than she's revealed to ANYBODY yet, apart from her own father.]}

... I know how that feels.

[after all, wasn't a majority of the reason he was heisting as Kaitou Kid because of revenge?]

But you're not her. You'll never be her. She's... I dunno, some person who deserves every bad thing that comes to her, but...

[he shakes his head. taking life was something he never felt like he could do]

Ha... but I'm not in a position to tell you what you should or shouldn't do, Heather.

_{[That's one place where he and Heather are somewhat different... the thought of taking human lives is still something that shocks her, fills her with disgust... but somehow that never seemed to stop her from doing it. As long as she convinced herself that they were a monster... beyond redemption.]

[Heather's life had never held the glitzy glamor of something like the Kaitou Kid... when she had confronted her destiny, most of it had consisted of fighting like a rabid animal in she bloody bowels of a place that was as spiritually rotten as a festering piece of meat. Even though she'd emerged from it alive, that sort of experience took its toll on your humanity.]}

I don't care-- I don't care, she took everything away from me...!

EVERYTHING!

_{[Her voice had raised a little bit, but... it doesn't actually sound like she has too much of a voice LEFT. She's kind of spent the last few days raging off and on.]}

[Kaitou Kid is far from glitzy and glamorous; if anything, Kaito's outlook is naive. But he holds onto it tightly, because it's the one thing he has over the men who killed his father. The one thing he can take pride in... the fact that he refuses to stoop down to their level.

But at the same time, Kaitou Kid is nothing like the hell of Silent Hill. It's one reason why he knows he can't scold her, can't tell her what she should or shouldn't be doing or feeling. Heather had it so much worse than him, and now she has to face it all over again.

He darts from her side to perch himself on the bench in front of her now, both hands clutching at her shoulders. He's crouched a little below her eye level, looking up at her, concerned blue gaze seeking out her own]

I know. But do you know what you do with people like that?

[A deep breath]

You don't ever give them the satisfaction of knowing they got to you, all right? You give them what they deserve. You tear them down piece by piece, but you do it on your own terms, not theirs. You never stoop to their level. You keep being you so that when you finally take them down, you can stand over them and stare them straight in the face and tell them how sorry they are.

[... yeah a lot of this is personal for him now. He's never said this to anyone, and he feels his stomach tighten a bit as the words tumble from his mouth. He's talking to her and about her, but... these are his ideals. How he feels about Kaitou Kid and his mission and his father's murderers.

It feels odd, to be this open with someone.]

_{[Once he's in front of her and clasping her shoulders like that, she can't avoid looking him in the eye. Not that she was actively avoiding it to begin with... just staring straight ahead was easier than trying to make eye contact like a normal person, was all. But when her brown eyes meet his, they're swimming with enough unshed saltwater that if the rest of her wasn't perfectly dry, she might've looked like she took a dip in the ocean right before he got there. Heather doesn't cry often, at all. And when she does, it's usually a brief affair that's over and done with before anybody takes too much notice, like a person ducking out for a discrete smoking break. But judging by the way that pouchy, overtired look's returned to her eyes, crying might be something she's been doing quite a bit of off and on over the past few days.]

[She doesn't interrupt Kaito. What he's saying is true... idealistic, yes, but true. Not to mention, under all the roiling emotions she's got to deal with right now, she can tell he's speaking straight from the heart. Which is why it's so hard for her to summon up a response. How do you explain that it won't work for you...? Couldn't work? Not on Claudia... Oh, this was just all so messed-up...]}

... She knows she got to me. She knows, and-- ... she's not the kind of person you think, not the kind of person who you can-- do that to.

She knows I hate her... wanted me to hate her, no matter how much it hurt both've us... It's over, Kaito, it all already happened, and I don't--

--I don't HAVE terms, I just-- I just KILL things and-- and there's no-- ... there's no w-- ... nothing I could ever do or say will be enough to make things right, not without just-- taking my hands and--

_{[... She stops suddenly, looking down at her hands, which she'd sort of... clenched together as if tightening around someone's neck. ... Crushing the flower, which had valiantly persevered until now. Well, shit.]

[Grimacing, she shuts her eyes and breaks his gaze, leaning back a bit and raking her fingers through her hair to give them something to do that wasn't mangling innocent plantlife.]}

... I'm sorry, Kaito.

I must sound like a monster.

[... and whatever tightened uncomfortably inside him earlier suddenly twists when he realizes how close she is to crying. Some time during her own speech, his hands slid up from her shoulders to her cheeks, palms pressing tightly against her skin. He pushes himself upward as she leans back, tilting his forehead against hers and holding her close.

She really wasn't so different from him. Different viewpoints, different methods, different circumstances, but... similar enough that he knew he couldn't condemn.

And similar enough to know that the only difference between him and her was the fact that he was given the choice not to stoop down to the level of his enemies. And that no matter how tightly he stuck to his convictions, even he was prone to moments of weakness where sometimes he wondered--]

No.

Heather... you sound like anything but. You sound human, s'all.

_{[There's too much noise in her own head to be as surprised at the close proximity as she might normally have been. In the year she's known him, she's usually been the touchy-feely one... and under all the emotional turmoil going on, the touch of his hands on her face is something she hadn't expected. ... But it's not unwelcome, and when they cup her cheeks to direct her gaze back over in the direction of the conversation instead of off in the distance, she opens her eyes again. She can practically see herself in his.]

[If anything, she's glad that he's not letting her look away. ... Even if it means that when the tears inevitably do start to trickle out (and they do... when his words sink in), they're probably getting all over his hands. S-sorry man.]

[After a second or two of visibly trying to keep composure, she casts her eyes downwards (though she does keep her forehead against his) and holds up the smushed flower, speaking in a sheepish croak.]}

I kinda annihilated your flower...

[It's such an unexpected statement that he can't help but grin wryly, head bobbing back and forth as he shakes it]

S'okay... [He doesn't move away, not yet, and he might be brushing away some of those tears with his thumbs] There are plenty more where that came from.

_{[Yeah, it kinda just... came out.]

[The absurdity of it isn't quite lost on her, and even through the steady tears, she actually manages a small, wheezy laugh and a hint of a sardonic tone. Not even blubbering in front of somebody can get rid of that ol' Heather sense of humor.]}

Still... s'not very 'ppreciative of me...

I said s'okay, right? I'll get you a new one.

[... there is a small bit of hesitation before he moves next, but once he does, he quickly tilts his head to the side and brushes a light kiss against her moist cheek. And before she can do anything else, he pulls her into a tight hug, dropping his chin on her shoulder as he embraces her.

Kaito isn't by nature a very physical person, but for the right people, he can let down a few guards...]

_{[She'd been in the process of using the flower-holding hand to scrub at one eye when she felt his lips on her cheek.]

[She doesn't gasp (Heather Mason, gasp? PSHAW) or flush (her face is about as flushed as it can get anyway, just from the tears), but she does freeze for a second, eyes blinking wide open over his shoulder. She's so surprised that the tears literally just sort of STOP.]

[Did... did he just...?]

[... And then before she can even totally register what just happened, she's being tugged into the hug-- which she doesn't hesitate over at all. Letting herself slouch forward a little so that she can wrap her lanky arms loosely around his neck, she goes right ahead and buries her face against his shoulder. She always HAS been a physical person, and somehow, more than words or flowers, a hug ... sounds mighty nice right now.]

[No matter how bad everything is or will possibly get... she's got no reason (or desire) to deny that it doesn't seem a bit better now. Just a little.]}

[THEN HIS MISSION HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.

... also he is just going to hold onto her for a bit until she feels like pulling away, as long as she doesn't mind]

_{[She's in no hurry... so chances are they'll wind up just... sitting like that for quite some time, rocking slightly with the sound of the waves on the shore ... because if she doesn't let herself have some kind of rhythmic motion, she has a feeling she might start crying again and the last thing anyone needs right now is more of that.]

[Eventually, she does sit up, gently slipping her arms back from around his neck and grimacing as something in her back makes a stiff cracking noise. Ow. That position had been a little awkward.]}

Ow... note to self, make more effort to hug with better posture...

[oooow yeah, he's feeling the stiffness as he pulls away too, lifting his arms above his head to stretch as he hops off the bench]

And when you're not crouching down, either. Geez... [stretching a leg too, ow]

_{[Squaring her feet on the bench seat, she rolls her shoulders to get the kinks out of them and watches Kaito with a crooked grin.]

[Her eyes are puffy and cheeks still glossy with tears, but she's not crying anymore.]}

Sorry if I contributed to any future back problems you might experience later in life...

[still streeeeeetching, but he's glad to see that she isn't crying anymore... and that she seems to be a bit more cheerful]

I'll send you the doctor bills, how's that?

_{[Fortunately, Heather rarely stays in tears for very long. Crying isn't something she's ever been ashamed of-- so it's not so much that embarrassment cuts it short or something. It's more that in Silent Hill, wallowing in your self-pity for too long usually just meant that eventually something would come along and EAT you. Nnnnnot exactly a great environment for fostering big long weepfests.]

[She's swiping at her cheeks, now.]}

Sure... sounds like a plan.

So, um... y'won't tell anybody I was crying, right?

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]