90. [Video/Action for Olivine Inn] Dated to whenever Team Silent + Crow gets to Olivine.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[It's quiet.]

[In more ways than one.]

[Actually, 'quiet' is a pretty good word to describe everything over the past few days, from Heather's perspective.]

[She's been quiet. After making an angry spectacle of herself in front of everyone, she hadn't been in much of a talkative mood. The trip down Route 38 had been spent largely in solemn silence, even after Crow had joined them mid-journey-- something that practically didn't seem possible.]

[The network's been quiet. Relatively, anyway. So many previously-prolific voices had vanished. Those who were left had understandably been left to pick up the pieces of everything that had come undone and, well, it's hard to blame them for being quiet-- those ones who had lost people, anyway. God knows Heather couldn't muster the fire to keep getting angrier as word of new disappearances had continued to flow in. The moment when she had seriously considered destroying a harmless Pokemon egg and its contents had been the moment she'd burnt herself out.]

[And, perhaps the only one that's sort of comforting right now, the city is quiet. The hustle and bustle of summer is both long ago and far in the future and as such, Olivine City in February is a great deal calmer than it had been the last time Heather had been here. That's sort of good, really. They've all needed to do a lot of thinking lately.]



[It's morning-- hardly even dawn yet.]

[At first, the camera isn't even SHOWING Heather. More a very close view of the floor, and the railing at the top of the staircase leading up from the lobby of the Olivine Inn. The cameraman is probably a Pokemon, but who knows which one it is... Godzilla has long since retired from his 'Gear-stealing shenanigans and so has Butch, now that he can WOOOOOO and QUAAAAAAG at his beloved Flapper in person.]

[But whichever one it is, it carries the camera with an air of quiet determination, and once it situates itself within view of its trainer, who seems to be sitting silently by a window in the deserted lobby, it sits itself down with a rustle and zooms in.]



[Eyes shut, she almost looks asleep, except for the fact that she's absent-mindedly stroking something with one finger-- something bristly-looking and pale yellow that seems to be in the process of contentedly nuzzling its way under her chin. ... Something with four bright blue eyes not dissimilar to the odd markings on that little egg she had been threatening to crush last week.]

[The video doesn't last long. It lingers on Heather and the new Pokemon for fifteen or twenty seconds, and then shuts off. Whoever had been filming, it seemed, had no agenda outside of showing the network that, no, Heather had not gone through with her impulsive plan. Fortunately.]


[The whole time, Heather just carries on obliviously.]

[Remembering hurts... but there's nothing anybody can do to change that.]

[Half to herself and half to the creature, who doesn't seem to be aware of how close it had come to maybe NOT EVER GETTING TO HATCH, she mumbles after a few seconds.]</sub>

... Stage five. I think.

That's acceptance, right?

Comments

[action]

[no_ufo_ending]

<sub>[You did not get between a man and his smokes.]

[They were not in his bag. His sleeping bag. Or the cuffs of his hoodie. 8( IT WAS A MYSTERY. Egg under his arm, Henry crept up to Heather's bag.]

[She wasn't around...she wouldn't care, right?]

[Maybe he had just gotten confused and hidden them in there. Yeah! Yeah, that had to be it! Heather's R-K-9 bag practically looked like the ratty little duffle he had dragged through the dirt the whole way into town. Totally!]</sub>

Nnhhhh. 8(

<sub>[Anybody walking into the room would catch him poking around uneasily in his fellow survivor's things. He pushed them out of the way or pulled them out and placed them to the side with the same care that an archaeologist might. He was even holding his breath.]

[Partially from just being Henry. And partially because there JUST MIGHT be owls in there. Oh, Jesus.]</sub>

[action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Henry, you are SO lucky that Claudy's not in Heather's party right now...]

[The bag is mercifully free of owls, but there aren't any cigarettes in sight. And c'mon, man, Heather's classier than that! ... She'd at least ASK you for one first!]

[In any case, the door opens as he's rummaging through her bag and she steps inside-- only to just sort of stop and watch him for a few seconds.]</sub>

... What are you doing?

[action]

[darkenedgales]

[It might have as well been the most quiet journey Crow has ever participated in.

Somewhere down the line, the duelist stopped being shocked or distressed by the disappearances. It was... bothersome, yes, slightly annoying maybe, but after Kaito disappeared, that was it. There wasn't anything that could hurt him more -- sure, he was saddened by the seemingly unending flow of bad news, but he couldn't bring himself to feel as angry as a month ago. He was too tired for that.

So instead, he kept telling himself that all of those who remained need to move on. That he needs to move on.

Being an early bird that he is, Crow's been up for some time already, but has only now decided staring at the celling of his room is not a very productive thing to do the whole day, so he came to the lobby in search of some caffeine or anything that would make him feel relatively useful. When he enters the room, a small, feathered creature totters closely after him. He didn't really expect to see Heather here, but it doesn't surprise him that much, either. Crow gives her a faint, not-fully-awake smile and waves his hand, walking in her direction.]

Mornin'. What's up?

[action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Kaito had been a deep loss.]

[But there were others... others who, at this point, would still hurt.]

[Even if, as they'd traveled, Heather HAD become somewhat numb to all the new disappearances being announced.]

[At the sound of footsteps (both Crow's and the tottery skitters of his new bird), Heather looks up, turning her head to face the stairwell. The little spider on her shoulder scurries under her chin as she does so. Cave. c:]</sub>

... Hey...

Not much.

... Just was a bit stuffy in the room, y'know?

[seasaltkeys]

You got a Joltik to?

[His is currently sitting on his head. Because there's something about the spikey hair that is familiar]

[Video?]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She doesn't reply until later-- when she returns to her room to get her bag.]

[Then she blinks down at the screen. ... Bwuh?]

[Oh... oh yeah... that must be what it's called... but how did Roxas know? (DERP).]</sub>

Uh... yeah, I guess.

[video]

[vulpesvivus]

...yeah, I think so.

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[SUP OTACON you get a reply later, once she realizes she'd been recorded.]}

... Hey.

_{[She still looks... pretty tired, and more than a little sad. But she's doing better.]}

voice;

[licentious]

Hm. Well, it's nice to know I was correct about your decision.

[ She pauses. ]

Nice addition to your team by the way. It seems this pokemon is particularly common for whatever reason. [ Maybe because you can step on it! ]

voice;

[foolishwren]

... I decided to see what would happen...

<sub>[There's some static on the feed-- it happens every time she strokes the little thing. There's also a sort of rustle as Heather shrugs at the second part.]

[Eh... who cares if it's common...]</sub>

[Video]

[shiromadoushi]

[[a faint smile]]

Yeah. I think that's it.

Congratulations on hatching your egg...

[Video]

[foolishwren]

_{[Her voice is quiet and a little husky when she replies, which is some time later-- after she's realized that she'd been recorded.]}

Yeah, well... it's not like I did anything...

_{[It's more what she DIDN'T do...]}

[video]

[exeggutorhead]

Congratulations.

[Not just for the hatched egg, but for getting to that acceptance stage. Also he sees she's in Olivine now. Prepare for incoming homunculus in a few days, Heather.]

[video] IF YOU WANT, THIS THREAD CAN BECOME A 'several days later...' MEETING THREAD TOO

[foolishwren]

_{[Yeah... it was a pretty wild trip, she'll say that much.]}

... Thanks.

[audio]

[tapestodiane]

_{[Yeah, he's not responding to that particular feed, but he does give her a call a few hours later. He's started worrying for her on and off and really, he's seen her through so many different hardships the last few months, he feels it's only fair to see it through to what looks to be the beginning of ... well, hardly a happy ending, but at least a better place.]}

Hi, Heather. It's Cooper.

_{[JUST CHECKING UP ON YOU AS PER USUAL, but you probably figured that one out.]}

[audio]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Good man. It was a little "... BWUH?!" finding out after the fact that she'd been ~mysteriously~ recorded. She knows that he's just checking up on her... but somehow she doesn't really mind that much.]

[When she replies, her voice is a little bit soft and husky, but he might be happy to note that her sense of humor, noticeably absent the last time they talked, is back.]</sub>

Ew, really? Gross, I'm hanging up.

<sub>[Only not.]

[A little more serious, she adds shortly after that--]</sub>

Hi, Coop.

private

[usedshooshpap]

OKAY, WHAT IS THIS EMOTIONAL REFUSE THAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH LATELY?
LIKE, I DIDN'T BOTHER TO ASK BEFORE BECAUSE IT WAS NONE OF MY BUSINESS.
NOW? WELL, SINCE IT'S AN ON-GOING ISSUES AND I AM ONE PORTION NOSY AND FIVE PORTIONS BORED
I'M ASKING.

private

[foolishwren]

_{[Huh. Well, here's something she didn't expect. She recognizes that font, though. Hard not to.]}

well, you're right that it's not any of your business.

but take a look at the past few weeks of network posts.

if you don't notice the pattern, then I'll just tell you some entertaining BS that we both know isn't true and we'll call it a day.

<sub>[Because it's no big secret what's been happening lately. She might've been a little more volatile than most of the other people affected, but she's hardly the only one.]

[Still, she's resigned more than mad. Can't blame someone for being curious.]</sub>

[video]

[used_fireblast]

Yeah. It sucks.

[He's relatively serious, for once.]

...I didn't think spiders usually got that furry.

[Because that is important, okay.]

[video]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She's since realized that her little thinking-out-loud moment had wound up on camera, so she's not surprised to hear Harry's response.]

[She sort of nods in thoughtful agreement for a moment because... well, it does suck. But it's better than the place she was at a few days ago, at least...]</sub>

Neither did I. ... Not complaining, though.

It's like someone took a tarantula and turned the adorability knob up to Spinal Tap Eleven.

[Video]

[pianokeys]

[He's been pretty busy lately, looking after so many kids and working and training Pokémon. Most of the kids have left now though, so he has time to go through the network and really take note of what's there.

And then he scrolls on this. And although he knows she's not a kid- and it's been a while since they've spoken- he can't help but pout at this.

He's not quite sure what's wrong, having not been up to date with her previous posts; he knows the stage of acceptance though. He faced this stage four times, but really, he's only ever accepted it once. He once accepted that he would die, but it was to possibly fix the last three, unaccepted deaths he had had to face.

He begins to reply with a welcoming, sympathetic smile and a more hushed voice than his usual quite-loud one.]

Wanna talk about it?

[Video]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Oh hey... it's you, Slightly Creepy Adoptive Dad Guy. But he doesn't seem quite as creepy now. Not that he was overly so in the first place, but.]

[She rolls her shoulders in a shrug when she eventually replies, not completely looking at the screen. She's arrived at 'acceptance', of course, but that doesn't mean she's happy with all that's happened.]</sub>

There's not much to talk about at this point.

... Lots've people have disappeared. Important people.

I guess I'm only just now sort of getting to the point where I don't have the energy to be angry about it anymore.

[video]

[thinkimsuperman]

[when Heather gets around to picking up her 'gear, there'll be a long-running feed from Douglas, who's been quiet while she sat and reflected, not wanting to disturb her. When she does pick it up he'll look up from his notebook, where he's scribbling down some notes for a case, and smile]

Morning, Heather.

[for now, he'll keep the conversation light and ask her about her progress in her emotional healing later. He'll just take a bite of breakfast and keep smiling, just relieved as hell that she didn't crush the egg]

That's a new one, right? Have you named it yet?

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[When she does pick it up, she offers a tired smile. At least today, it's more because she woke up early and less because... everything else.]}

Hey.

Not yet...

Haven't thought of anything good yet.

[video] and now that i'm the latest of them allll...

[shadowdive]

[Remaining quiet for a bit longer, just watching and somewhat inspecting the new Pokemon, Vanitas finds himself giving a soft sigh.]

Yeah. It is.

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[When she responds later, she's tired-looking but not torn-up like she was in that video broadcast the week before.]}

You ever lost anybody here yet?

Action

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

[Sitting down next to her. His egg is still tucked away in his bag. Unhatched for the moment.]

That's generally what it is.

Action

[foolishwren]

_{[As he sits down, she wordlessly leans sideways to rest her head on his shoulder, letting out a sigh. The little spider Pokemon skitters quickly over to her other shoulder as he does so, to avoid being squished.]}

I think I skipped most of the other steps and just stayed on 'Anger' for most of the time, Dad.