87. [Text/Action for Ecruteak in the evening]

[foolishwren]

_{[The following is sent out network-wide.]}

[Text]

gonna be gone today

won't be back till late

if it's important leave a message and I'll get it later


[Note left on the bedside table in hotel room, for Harry Mason and Henry Townshend]

Gotta take care of something

Won't be at work.

See you guys later in time for dinner probably

-Heather


[ACTION]

<sub>[There's a little rec center towards the south end of Ecruteak City. Given that the town's full of old people, it doesn't see a whole lot of activity.]

[But today, someone passing by might notice a small group of Pokemon hanging out JUST inside the door-- normally Pokemon waiting for their trainer would be playing or gamboling outside in the snow, but they look unusually subdued. Butch the Quagsire and Alessa the Absol, probably recognizable to anyone who's spent a significant amount of time around Heather, are sitting in the chairs by the entrance, although they're accompanied by two new faces...]

[A babbling Wooper is cuddled up to Butch's side, and a small, purple ball of fur is nestled deep into the Absol's bristly mane, not moving aside from the occasional little shiver or reflexive squirm as Alessa lifts her head to give it a gentle nudge every so often.]

[They're Heather's Pokemon, all right-- plus two of Kaito Kuroba's, Flapper the Wooper and Biz the Aipom, and they're clearly hunkered down morosely in the front lobby of the rec center, probably waiting for Heather.]

[But... where WAS Heather?]


[Smiling.]

[At the end of the letter, he'd told her to keep smiling.]

[Well, she couldn't do that. Maybe later. Maybe in a few hours, or tomorrow. But not today. Sorry, buddy...]

[If anyone actually went into the recreation center's lobby to see why the hell Heather's Pokemon were just sitting there, waiting around, they would likely hear it-- the repeated thwak THWAK THUD of someone viciously venting their spleen on a punching bag.]

[Which is exactly what she was doing, and HAD been doing for the past god knows how many hours. She hadn't even looked outside since she'd gotten there in the morning-- for all she knew it was past dark. She didn't know and she didn't really care, either-- which actually surprised her. She'd left that note for her father and Henry specifically with the intention of guilting herself into returning when she'd told them, because hey. They'd worry.]

[That wasn't good, she knew. Getting so sucked into hitting something that she didn't even care about getting 'home' on time. That sure was a throwback to the old high school years, wasn't it.]

[But hey... she wasn't punching a wall or a tree this time.]

[That was an improvement, right...?]</sub>




[OOC: PokeGear responses will be replied to around 10:00 at night, when Heather returns home from beating the shit out of gym equipment. 8I]

Comments

[text?]

[darkenedgales]

[He wanted to call. Oh, he did. But, you see, after spending half of last night making calls that never reached, a person gets kinda tired of those. And it's not like he'd be able to say anything anyway -- the only sounds he's managed to make in the past 24 hours were different sorts of cries, sobs and, if that counts, wall- and floor-punching.

But he's somehow managed to force himself to type. Which is good enough.

... Except, what is he supposed to type? Heather already knows; there's... nothing to add.

So there, Heather. When you stop killing the punching bag and check your Gear again, you'll find an empty message from a familiar number.]

[text--> ACTION c:]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's okay. She understands. Completely.]

[In fact, she's pretty sure the only person who's going through EXACTLY what she is right now is Crow. ... Well, maybe not EXACTLY, but... close enough.]

[When she comes back to the room, she's exhausted. She had walked back through the snow without putting her coat back on-- despite the bitterness, the cold felt good after all that overheating in there...]

[Needless to say, when she receives the empty text, she doesn't respond to it in kind.]

[Instead, Crow will hear a knock on his door.]</sub>

[action]

[darkenedgales]

[Close enough is good, too. Heck, that's the only reason he's made that pathetic attempt to contact her -- he's not even sure if he wants to talk to anyone right now, but if it was Heather... then maybe it wasn't such a bad option after all.

Therefore, when Heather knocks on the door, she will hear some muffled grumble that... doesn't sound like any word at all, but at least is an indication someone is inside. That works as an invitation, no...?]

[action]

[tapestodiane]

<sub>[Something struck him as a little odd with that network text when he first saw it - it didn't quite have her usual 'voice'.]

[So he left her a message, naturally. It was his first impulse. Don't stay out past bedtime, because he's learnt that banter is a pretty good way to get a positive response from her, but also Let me know if you need anything. because he's always trusted his intuition and it's better to let people know the door is open than have them assume it's closed.]


[... and she doesn't reply, naturally, but he figured it was personal and let himself be distracted by a variety of things (like taking care of baby pokémon because that had certainly been a while) - until he did spot the little group outside of the gym on the way to do ... something, some hours later.]

[He recognises Alessa, although not by name, and Butch (who he totally knows the name of by now) and lingers by them, noting their unusually quiet nature and the two additions.]

[And it bears repeat, really: he always trusts his intuition. So after thinking about something for a while he opens the door and steps inside, listening to the sounds.]

[Sharp, strong, precise, and with quite a bit of force. And with them, human noises: grunts, pants.]


[Yeah, he's concerned. Then again, he finds himself concerned for the girl quite often lately.]



[Following the corridor until he finds the right room, he remains standing quietly for a moment before he knocks on the doorframe to announce his presence, not sure what to expect.]</sub>

[action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Although Alessa looks up and chuffs a low greeting-- although she's normally wary of others, Heather's been spending enough time around the agent to reassure the Absol that he's no thread-- otherwise, the sorry little gang doesn't react much to his entrance.]

[Ironically, their trainer doesn't actually react a whole lot either at first, although she stops her vicious assault on the punching bag, at least.]

[She looks over her shoulder briefly, but then lets her head hang a little bit, lungs heaving as she catches her breath for a few seconds.]

[When she does speak, her voice is flat and she keeps her back to the door.]</sub>

... Not in a very conversational mood, Coop.

[action]

[tapestodiane]

_{[He nods - he'd figured as much, but he still gives her a calculating once-over. Whether she sees that or not it's probably still clear that he's not planning on leaving, at least not immediately.]}

Well, as they say, Heather: a picture says more than a thousand words.

Action

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

[Waiting up for her. He's writing in his notebook and there's a cup of tea next to him so it's not like he was up waiting for her. Just Harry never sleep and writing and she's old enough...yeah, no totally waiting up for her.]

Action

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She gets home a little later than she said she would.... but she does come home eventually.]

[Unlike all the times she came home late in high school, though, there's no sneakiness involved. The door opens and Heather steps in, followed by a sorry-looking little troop of Pokemon. She looks exhausted-- and her coat is in her hand rather than on her shoulders. But judging by the way she looks overheated more than anything else, the cold hadn't been an issue.]</sub>

Hey, Dad...

Action

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

Hey.

There's some tea here for you, but you look like you'll want a glass of water more.

[Action]

[metatrolled]

<sub>[Stalking is a harsh word; for what Vincent's been doing to Heather since he got here would be 'keeping an eye out' and

also following her places when he has nothing to do, usually as a passing when he sees her.

And now, he stands in front of the Pokémon outside the door, head tilted a little, one brow raised.]</sub>

Why if it isn't Heather's Pokémon... Where's your trainer?

_{[Cleo's on top of Valtiel, staring at the Pokémon from his head, interested in what's going on.]}

[Action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[The Absol looks up instantly at the sound of the voice-- and bristles. Like Trainer, like Pokemon, apparently. She gets to her feet with a skitter of talons on tile, with the Aipom on her back still clinging, and wrinkles her snout in the direction of Vincent and her Pokemon.]

[She might well have stayed that way for awhile (her only reply to Vincent, apparently, was STOCK STILLNESS), if-- well hey, speak of the devil.]</sub>

Sorry 'bout that, you guys... we can go n-- ... oh, hell.

_{[Drenched in sweat and swiping her hair out of her eyes with fingers that were just a tad swollen, Heather had come back into the lobby from a doorway that looked like it led to a gym-like area-- there were a couple of older folks in there on treadmills, but the place was quiet otherwise. Needless to say, she'd noticed Vincent and stopped in her tracks, glaring.]}

[Action]

[metatrolled]

[He takes in the changed attributes, making the obvious connection between the gym and the sweat. She seems a bit pissed off, but that is her usual reaction to him.]

Oh 'hell'? I thought you wanted to avoid that..?

[text]

[show_my_cannons]

... Take care, kid.

Send word, if you need.

[text]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Hey old man...]

[He'll receive a reply fairly late at night. ... There's a few more misspellings than normal, oddly enough...]</sub>

hey

sorry if i worrid you or somethign

[text]

[show_my_cannons]

[That's okay. He's up anyway.]

Nah.

Always worry about my charges.

[text]

[exeggutorhead]

[Envy doesn't think much of the message at first, but something seems...off about it. He figures it can't hurt to ask.]

something happen?

[text]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[There was little point in lying... little point in trying to seem unaffected.]

[Kaito was her best friend. Most people who knew her knew that much. And now he was gone.]

[So when she did eventually reply, much later in the day... it was a short one.]</sub>

yeah.

[text]

[exeggutorhead]

what was it?

Text

[secondgrave]

[He's not sure if this counts as important enough to answer, but might as leave a text.]

Is everything okay?

Text

[foolishwren]

_{[The text he receives comes back a good many hours after he set his initial one.]}

not at the moment


but it'll get better.

Text

[secondgrave]

... if you need anything just call, okay?

[miniworth]

[Every time he sees Heather upset, he just thinks about that December. He doesn't know what has gone down yet, but he's going to text Heather with concern...]

Heather. What happened?

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's... a pretty valid comparison, really.]

[Sure, the dynamics are different... everyone knew she was friends with Kaito, as opposed to the whole ridiculous waiting game that she'd been playing when her father had disappeared. She has shoulders to turn to. No more wall-punching, and no showing up at Phoenix's doorstep with mangled hands.]

[But it still hurts.]

[Her reply contains a few more misspellings than normal, and it arrives late in the night.]</sub>

kaito went home


were takin it pretty hard over here

but it'll be okya.

[text]

[isahero]

hey, you alright?

[text]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Man... what can she say to that? :(]

[She doesn't know America overly well (although she likes him a lot just based on the cheery conversations they've had thus far), and she's having a hard enough time opening up even to those she's close to... but she's not gonna lie. There's no point in lying. Everyone who's been in Johto for any length of time has gone through this. ... And if they haven't before now, they will.]</sub>

not really