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

Current Mood: crushed
Current Location: Ecruteak City

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

_{[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]

_{[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...?]}

[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]

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_{[There's a pause, but then she sniffs audibly and nods again.]

[She's had a lot of friends disappear over her time in this place. Some close, others not AS close but still important... but not even Phoenix's disappearance had her feeling... feeling like this.]

[Heather had a knack for words. Not eloquence so much as being able to find the right ones for a feeling, even if it wound up sounding uncomfortable.]

[But she can't think of words for this, and the brief battle that takes place on her face even as she turns it to face away from Cooper probably shows that. He's seen her on several occasions shortly after losing friends, by now... Aoko, Old Snake, L... But none of those did this.]

[When she speaks up again, her voice is tight and strained.]}

... I didn't think he'd go anywhere.

_{[Yeah, this is big. He's seen her upset a fair number of times and he's always listened, but this is different because it's present, now, it didn't happen a few years ago. It makes it worse to talk about by default.]

[And he's not sure where, exactly, he stands with her. It wouldn't normally stop him from going about things his normally perhaps-too-blunt way but he finds himself thinking a little more carefully about Heather in particular just because they got off to such a rocky start.]

[Dale Cooper isn't usually uncertain about things, but he finds that he is here. It says a lot, really, but it's not about him. In the end he just sighs softly and sort of lets her be, for now.]

[But man she must get a hug later.]}

We never do.

_{[Heather's probably more sure of where she stands with him than he is... but that's the furthest thing from her thoughts at the moment.]

[She's not really crying-- between the sweat and all the tears she'd shed earlier, there's not much in there for her tear ducts to work with anymore. He's come across her around the tail end of her energy reserves, and now she just looks drained-- shoulders slumped, head hanging. She'd pretty much only been able to keep going at that punching bag out of pure inertia. Bodies in motion want to stay in motion and all that. Yaaaay high school physics.]}

... He was one of the first friends I ever made here.

_{[Again, he smiles a bit in response. She's talking, and he figures that's a good thing.]}

So you go way back, huh?

_{[He didn't know, even if he assumed. He'd only talked to Kaito twice or so but from what he could tell he was pretty similar to Heather, so it doesn't surprise him to hear that they'd been friends a while.]}

_{[A very small nod.]}

He got here not too long after I did.

Few weeks, maybe.

You're going to have a hard time the next few days.

_{[It's not insensitive, though. Of course not. This is Cooper.]}

_{[Insensitive? Maybe a little. But ... well, it's the truth. And how can Heather be upset at him for speaking the truth? It's something she knows.]

[She lets out a sort of sobbish laugh, reaching up to rub an eye again. It looks painful. They're always sore and exhausted-looking, but right now they look like she's been scrubbing them with steel wool.]}

You figure?

_{[Sniffing, she pulls the towel from around her shoulders and rubs her hand dry on it, although there hadn't been much to wipe off of her face, tear-wise. The single nice thing about dehydration: shuts those tear ducts up good and hard.]}

... Feels like... feels like it's gonna be a lot longer than the next few days.

Like maybe just forever.

_{[It's almost hilariously dramatic-sounding, especially coming from a girl like Heather. She'd experienced so many losses before. All of them lingered in one way or another, but ... well, she did move on. She'd moved on from Phoenix, moved on from James and L and Old Snake and all the others... hell, even from her father's, although that had only been because he'd returned.]

[But this was different. She sort of knows she'll be embarrassed for saying that later, but she's emotional enough right now that she can't bring herself to care.]}

_{[He raises an eyebrow slightly, because - yes. That was a rather unexpected response from her and he tilts his head slightly to look her over.]}

Few things last that long, Heather. Pain isn't one of them.

_{[NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE]

[But it's actually true. It gives way to resignation and acceptance, or in SOME cases, guilt and the fact that he keeps feeding it, but it's not like she needs to know that.]}

_{[It's not like her at all. But to be fair... the last time she'd been this attached to a particularly unique friend-- a boy-- was... well. She's not sure she's ever had a friend she felt this way about. Not long from now, she's going to facepalm in horror at her own melodrama.]

[But right this second... it seems perfectly reasonable.]

[She shakes her head and replies in a flat, resigned voice.]}

Nn.... no. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna feel this way forever.

_{[You were a teenager once, Cooper. Surely you understand.]}

_{[Yeah, sure. Although it's been a while since he had to step into that particular dramatic mindset, so it takes him a moment to catch on. But when he does ...]

[He pulls a sympathethic smile. He might have teased her a bit about it if, well, said boy hadn't COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED, but now he has and as such that makes it a pretty terrible time to poke fun.]

[So instead he moves a bit to look her in the face properly with an open kind of expression.]}

I hightly doubt that.

_{[Yeeeeeaaaah.]

[Under normal circumstances, Heather would likely weather teasing fairly well, all things considered. Right now? She'd probably try to use Cooper in place of that punching bag.]

[As it is, though, she just looks up at him with a sort of puffed sigh. She doesn't really want to look this upset. Not even in front of him, and she's actually grown rather okay with being emotional in his general presence, which is a fairly big deal.]

[But there's not a lot she can do about it except be grateful that the waterworks died down.]}

I guess...

_{[It's said somewhat grudgingly.]}

_{[To which he offers her a halfway, slightly crooked smile and a brief clap to the shoulder, all encouraging.]}

Then you'll guess and I'll know.

_{[Not that he's entirely sure what he's going to accomplish there, but he still somehow manages to say that in a mild way that means it's sincere and not belittling.]

[That said, her teenage drama-y self is new to him and it's honestly a little, well ... weird and funny to see.]}

_{[It's a side of her that hasn't had any reason to surface since what seems like forever ago, and therefore really hasn't before now. Not even when Phoenix left.]

[She doesn't shrug out from under his hand, but does sort of let out a defeated sigh. She knows it'd be silly and pointless to argue, that she'll be cringing at her own emotions in a few hours, even while her insides still ache with the loss.]

[But she appreciates what he's saying, for what it's worth. Even if she's not in much of a state to show it right now.]}

I guess.

_{[She reaches up to rub some of the salt (from tears and sweat alike-- no blood, thankfully-- from her face after repeating herself.]}

... It's all pretty stupid, isn't it.

_{[To which he shakes his head lightly, because why would it be?]}

Stupidity is relative, you know. We only notice it when comparing it to something that isn't. On its own an act, thought or emotion doesn't have to be one thing or the other.

_{[A quiet snort.]}

I dunno. I can think of some acts and thoughts that are pretty stupid.

_{[But he does have a point, so she just sort of shakes her head and sighs.]}

Did you.... come in here because of me?

Yes. I did.

_{[It's an unlikely friendship, theirs, but he values it. Of course he did.]}

_{[... There is something incredibly touching about that, but Heather's in no state to find accurate words for specific kinds of sentimentality.]

[Instead, she just sort of manages a small smile.]}

... I was gonna say, you don't look like the type to hang out in a gym.

... Thanks.

_{[She'd be surprised at the amount of time he's spent in gyms, actually - per Bureau guidelines, of course, but it still counts. He doesn't bring that up though, instead taps her gently on her chin in Weird Display of Affection #2 before he lets go of her.]}

With a little luck you'll feel better by morning.

_{[It's a subtle way of saying that she might want to move on home and get some rest.]}

_{[Yeah, okay, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea.]}

Yeah... maybe.

_{[It's better than saying she'll NEVER feel better, at least.]

[She pulls the towel from her shoulders and just drapes it on one end of one of the benches in the hall.]}

_{[He waits for her, then starts heading down the hallway to where her pokémon are waiting, by the looks of it still anxious about her.]

[He doesn't feel like he's got a lot more to say so for now he's really just company. He thinks she could use it, if nothing else just so she can see that not everyone have left, at least not yet.]}

_{[His presence speaks louder than words.]

[She walks silently beside him, head bowed.]

[When they arrive in the lobby, Alessa scrabbles to her feet, stiff tail wiggling. The others are more subdued-- largely because it looks like Butch and Flapper fell asleep curled up in one of the seats together, and Biz is still curled up in the Absol's mane, face buried.]}

Hey, girl...

_{[He looks to the Absol as well, comes to a stop with his hands in his pockets. He understands the significance of the dark type's name now, and he can see it, he supposes.]}

She's not the only one worried about you.

_{[He says it quietly, but it's not a reprimand. It's more like "people will be waiting for you. Keep that in mind."]}

_{[The Disaster Pokemon trots up to her and shoves her sharp muzzle into the girl's palms silently, tail still doing its sort of partial-wag.]

[Heather greets the Absol for a moment or two, equally silent, before murmuring.]}

I know.

... I left a note. For Dad and Henry. Saying I'd be back a little late.

_{[She looks back to Cooper.]}

... M'not making the same mistake I did last time.

No, I didn't think you would.

_{[Because he didn't. He looks back, remaining solidly just behind her.]}

_{[She's quiet a moment or so longer... then turns around to face him.]}

Hey, Coop?

This doesn't change anything.

All that stuff I said before about talking to people and stuff... I still know that.

I was just-- ... I just had to do this before I talked to anybody. ... Before I ... punched any walls.

You don't think I was being hy-- ... irresponsible, right?

_{[There's a genuinely concerned note in her words. SHE CARES WHAT YOU THINK, COOP.]}

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