foolishwren | 78. [Video/Action for Ecruteak Inn]

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Location: Ecruteak City Inn

78. [Video/Action for Ecruteak Inn]

_{[It's a fairly common occurrence for Godzilla the Totodile to hijack Heather's 'Gear-- he's sort of had an affinity for filming ever since he first hatched, after all. But apart from his one little act of philanthropy a few weeks back, he's actually been surprisingly absent for the most part, at least in the sense that he hasn't been filming with the 'Gear much, with or without permission.]

[But TODAY when Heather's feed fizzles on, it's not the blond trainer but instead the little blue crocodile Pokemon.]

[His pebbled brows are furrowed, though, and ... are those BAGS under his eyes? Is it even possible for reptiles to GET bags under their eyes? Is Heather just rubbing off on him or what?]

[He seems to be sitting on the little balcony outside his trainer's room at the Ecruteak Inn, stubby legs dangling off the edge between the rail bars. Ecruteak is a quiet town at night, and as such there's none of the loud nightlife that characterizes many late-night city posts. Just crickets, and the occasional sound of people or Pokemon moving about in the brightly-lit room behind him.]

[It's a moment or two before he actually says anything, but the look in his red eyes is deeper and more contemplative than the normally self-centered little animal usually has.]}

... What do you have to do to be a good Pokemon?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

_{[... Boy does he look beat.]

[The smile she'd been wearing (which admittedly'd had a little forced upbeatness) softens a bit and she sits down at the foot of the bed.]}

Hey, at least kick your shoes off first if you're gonna pass out!

[He tilts his head to the side to give her a one-eyed Look, before he toes off his shoes and faceplants into the pillows again]

_{[... Yeah y'know maybe she shouldn't get on his case about Aoko until he's had a chance to sleep.]

[She leans over a bit to plant a hand in his hair and ruffle it soundly before getting up, with a creak of bedpsrings as her weight leaves the mattress.]}

If you wanna sleep, I'll try to make sure everybody stays quiet when they get back.

[ajdspof he lifts a hand to swat at her hair ruffling with a muffled grumble, then tilts his head to the side again so she can understand him]

Not tired. [very tired] Don't wanna sleep.

_{[.... WELL CLEARLY THAT'S JUST INCENTIVE TO RUFFLE IT MORE--]}

Really.

Y'look tired.

[SWAT.

rolling over onto his back and covering his head with this hands]

Just wanted to sit down.

_{[Once he does that, she goes ahead and sits down again, this time next to him.]}

All right, fair 'nuff.

_{[... A slight pause. There really isn't a way to gracefully ease into this sort of thing, was there.]}

... So, uh.

How you doin'?

[... nope, not really. His demeanor doesn't change much when she asks, though. He merely links his hands behind his head]

'M fine. What about you?

_{[Okay. Time for serious.]

[Leaning on one arm, she twists around a little bit so she can look down at him.]}

Probably doing better than you are right now, considering.

_{[That's it. No beating around the bush, no accusation of lying... just a simple statement that confirms that she doesn't believe that he's fine in the slightest.]}

[exhale]

... I've had a lot of time to think about it. 'S fine now. I promise.

[No, it isn't, but he can pretend it is]

_{[... Yeah you can pretend all you want, buddy, but Heather's not buying it.]

[And she tells him so, by tilting her head just a tad and heaving a sigh, not moving her gaze from his.]

[C'mon, Kaito... you've got like one more try before she starts actually prodding you verbally.]}

. . .

[s-sigh] I'm just starting to really hate this stupid place, that's all.

_{[Okay, that's much better than nothing. And she sure as heck isn't going to argue with him... her feelings on this world have been decidedly mixed as of late, after all.]}

I sure don't blame you...

[another shrug]

_{[Looking back over to him now, this time with a bit of a furrowed brow.]}

Look, Kaito...

You know you can talk to me, right?

What's there to say?

... 's not like I can do much about it, now that it's happened. It's just annoying. Especially after Kay and Johan.

_{[Heather lifts her arm and re-plants her hand down on the other side of Kaito so that she can look him in the eye better. And oh boy is she looking him in the eye. This isn't the same as the conversation they'd had over the 'Gear network when Kay and Johan vanished. As much as she'd tried to get through to him there, it just wasn't the same when it was through a screen. She'd had to ease off.]

[But NOW he's right in front of her and unless he actively tries to storm off in a huff, she's not gonna leave him alone. ... and honestly even THAT'S debatable, if he storms off she might well FOLLOW him.]

[She fixes him with a dead-serious stare.]}

When Dad disappeared, there wasn't much I could do about that, either.

But I still had to talk to somebody.

_{[... Okay so Aoko disappearing wasn't the same thing as Harry disappearing had been for Heather, but it was still a biggie, all right?]}

[Luckily for her, there won't be any storming off, mostly because in this position he can't without shoving her away, and he really doesn't want to do that right now.

His expression is even, unreadable, and he isn't looking away from her, determined to prove that he's okay, damn it, no matter what he's actually feeling]

I don't have anything to say. [a shrug] I'll see her again whenever I make it home.

_{[Yeah, that was sort of her intention. Anything to make it just a little more inconvenient for him to just get up and leave...]

[She stares evenly back. Unlike him, she's NEVER had a good poker-face (if that wasn't obvious the time he'd comforted her back in Olivine...), but she's not gonna give up. She KNOWS he's not okay.]}

Bullshit, Kaito.

None of us know when or if we're gonna get home. You had your BEST FRIEND here with you and then she poofed without even getting to say goodbye to you.

I've known you for a year. Do you really expect me to believe you don't care? That it didn't even get to you a little?

[... that gets a flicker of something, and for once, he actually tilts his head away from her. A few more moments of heavy silence pass before he inhales deeply]

'M just tired of losing people, that's all.

_{[It's okay, she'll wait.]}

Of course you are...

And it's okay to be upset about that stuff, you know? You don't need to pretend it doesn't hurt.

'Least of all to your friends.

[more silence passes.

... and before he can even really think about what he's doing, he reaches up and tugs on her shoulder, drawing her in for a much needed hug]

_{[Okay, THAT'S unexpected... but you know what? It's the good kind of unexpected. Because if there's one thing she's pretty sure Kaito could really use right now, it's a damn hug.]

[She has to twist in her seat a little before letting herself be tugged into the embrace just so that she won't, like, sprain something in her back, but then the hug is being returned wholeheartedly.]}

It's okay.

[there's no talking on his end, just hugging]

_{[She lapses into silence as well-- just sitting there with her arms around him. It feels weird, a little-- to be doing this without cracking some joke or other to ease the tension like she so often does. Not that she's incapable of being serious-- hardly. But she's never been the friend that people ran to for comfort, probably because she so often resorted to humor. Still, this is one situation where humor's not the right solution.]

[So she'll just hug. And rock back and forth a little, just because it seems like the thing to do. Motion can be comforting sometimes, right?]}

[action]

[action]

[action]

Re: [action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]