80. [Voice/Action] Locked to Rise, backdated to the evening of October 6th

[foolishwren]

<sub>[TIME IS SHORT. The Tournament's only lasting so long, so Heather's gotta take advantage of the time she's in-town while she can. It's time to make good on a promise.]

[Which is why she's hurrying down the darkening streets of Goldenrod City for the first time in a good few months, hastily following the directions she's got written down on a scrap of paper. With the fights starting first thing in the morning, she's gotta squeeze out every last drop of bonding time the night will hold.]

[When she does reach her destination (with just a FEW wrong turns in the process), her first reaction is to stop and let out an impressed whistle.]

[... And then tug her PokeGear out of her pocket.]</sub>

[VOICE, to Rise]

RISE.

Your house is huge. Come let me in.

Comments

[restardom.livejournal.com]

[ there's no vocal response from Rise, save for the muffled growling of a Furret who recognizes that voice and what sounds like the idol shushing her.

No less than twenty seconds later, THE DOOR IS FLYING OPEN and hopefully, Heather wasn't standing right there, because that's not a very touching reunion if you break your best friend's nose. ]

There you are!!

[foolishwren]

_{[FORTUNATELY, SHE IS NOT RIGHT THERE. She's a safe distance away, and grinning like a fool. It's been way too long since she last laid eyes on her friend in person.]}

Heeeeeey! Look, I made it here without getting lost down an alley forever!

_{[She holds her arms out for the inevitable crushing hug, although maybe it'll only be crushing on Heather's part. She's one of those rib-crackers.]}

[restardom.livejournal.com]

I knew you could do it!

[ sadly, Rise doesn't have the strength to crack ribs, but what she lacks in strength, she makes up for in enthusiasm, and she's got no problem all but tackling Heather for a very happy hug. ]

[foolishwren]

_{[It's a good thing that Heather's a little stockier than her younger friend-- she'll just brace herself for impact before catching Rise in the hug, fortunately able to STAND STRONG and not topple over under the almost-tackle. She squeezes back with one of those affectionate RRRRRRRRGHGH! sounds that accompany any bear-hug worth its salt.]}

There were a couple of close calls, but my keenly-trained senses eventually led me here.

[restardom.livejournal.com]

You sound a little like a bloodhound that way, you know.

[ she says as she doesn't budge from the hug. It's been so LONG. ]

[foolishwren]

Well, my nose sure is big enough for it!

Don't have the right ears, though.

_{[It HAS been long, which is why Heather just-- can't stop grinning as she hugs. SHE MISSED YOU, MAN.]}

[restardom.livejournal.com]

Or the wrinkles.

[foolishwren]

Maybe in a few decades, I'll fit the bill.

_{[She finally breaks off of the hug, grinning hugely.]}

SO.

Dude. Your house? GIANT.

Gonna show me around?

[restardom.livejournal.com]

Definitely!

[ Rise steps back, only to latch onto Heather's wrist and drag pull her closer and inside. ]

Um, just a warning, we've got a lot of Pokémon wandering around, and if you pick something up and it suddenly gets all gooey on you, that's just Dupin.

[ she rattles this off so matter-of-factly. ]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[YOINK. Cue dragging.]

[Heather lets out a small whoop of surprise, but stumbles along after the idol, hanging onto the strap of her bag to make sure it doesn't go bouncing off her shoulder.]</sub>

Don't worry, I've been trapped in a room with my Pokemon AND Henry's obnoxious blue cat thing for like... AWHILE. I can handle a wide-open space that happens to have a bunch of animals...

[restardom.livejournal.com]

... Blue cat thing? I guess Kanzeon's normal enough after that.

[ but hark, what is that butterball of a Hoothoot hopping your way?

Try not to accidentally punt Fukuro, Heather, he's happy to see you. ]

[foolishwren]

Yeah, it's like... a cat, with a really long-ass prehensile tail and it makes the most obnoxious noises every morning, but it's pretty cute so I guess it's all ri--

... Oh my god.

_{[Digging her heels in against the dragging for just a second, because EEEEE IS THAT BABBYOWL.]}

Aw, look at you!

[restardom.livejournal.com]

[ look how happy he is, FLUTTERFLUTTERHOOT-- ]

Oh, right... it's been awhile since you've seen him, huh?

[foolishwren]

<sub>[HI LITTLE BABBU OWLBALL aww lookatyouuuu]

[Heather goes right ahead and scoops him up-- out of the three, she'd been the only one who was more or less totally unbothered by her Noctowl's small army of spherical owlets, and probably spent the most time with them.]</sub>

It HAS!

... He's gotten even BIGGER.

_[eeeeeee]

[restardom.livejournal.com]

Don't say that... he's probably going to be bigger than me when he evolves.

[ but there's affection in the tone; he's grown on her, and he knows it. Cue all the happy hooting in Heather's arms. ]

[foolishwren]

Haha, yeah, probably. He was practically as big as his mom when he hatched. <sub>[Claudy wasn't too large... but go figure she'd have a MONSTER SON who'd be big enough to carry off small children. Fortunately, it looks like Fukuro doesn't have the temperament for that to be dangerous.]

[She just cradles the basketball-sized owl, grinning back to Rise.]</sub>

Okay, detour over, lead on!

[restardom.livejournal.com]

My room's on this floor-- I'm sharing it with four other people, though, so we can crash in the living room tonight if that's okay!

[ Yuushi may be a brosis, but it really is hard to have girly talk with boys there. ]

[foolishwren]

Sounds fine to me!

More room to PARTAY.

_{[And she makes some dancey motions to emphasize that last word. Still holding Fukuro.]}

[restardom.livejournal.com]

[ who hoots a little lyrically. ]

Hey, now... don't PARTAY too hard, or you won't have any energy for that tournament.

[foolishwren]

Hm, that's true...

I guess we'll have to keep the partay level down to ... like, maybe a six.

HEY, speakin' of the tournament! You gonna be there watching?

[restardom.livejournal.com]

You're in it, aren't you? And Athrun, and Kanji, and Chie-senpai-- there's no way I'd miss out on it!

[ Rise would never pass up a support opportunity. ]

[foolishwren]

Sweet!

_{[She removes one hand from cradling the Hoothoot and holds it up for a high five.]}

Man, I'm gonna have way more support at this thing than I EVER had at my track meets back home. _{[... Douglas had shown up sometimes after her father had died, but that was pretty much it. Depressing.]}

[restardom.livejournal.com]

You did running? I never really thought about it, but that suits you...

[ and then she's grinning and doing a little bounce for a high five. ]

[foolishwren]

_{[HIGH-FIVE WOOOOO]}

Yep! I was on the track team for the last couple years of high school.

... Joined it so that I'd have something to do after school that'd keep me away from... all the stupid bad-kid crap I was getting up to before.

_{[Drinking, smoking, fighting, vandalism, minor theft ... yeeeeaah, for good reason, her father'd thought it a good idea for her to stay away from temptation, even if she HAD decided to sever her ties with those old crowds all by herself.]}

Worked pretty well, to be honest!

_{[... And it had been a necessary distraction from the aftermath of her SILENT HILL ADVENTURE, in that last year...]}

Not to mention, it wound up being great practice for all the running I wound up... y'know. Having to do.

_{[NEENER NEENER NEENER MONSTERS, YOU CAN'T CATCH ME I'M ON THE TRACK TEAM.]}

[restardom.livejournal.com]

... You? Running from anything?