foolishwren | 93. [Video/Action for Cianwood Inn]

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Location: Cianwood City inn

93. [Video/Action for Cianwood Inn]

_{[Well, THAT had been fun.]

[After over a week, lots of bad weather, a few waterlogged hugs and a whole lot of flying, Heather's finally back on Cianwood, with a nurse, a mysterious young woman, a bird-obsessionist, and a magician-thief in tow.]

[She's exhausted and wants nothing more to just faceplant on the bed and let her father play host to the new additions to the 'family' (and the one returning member) for awhile... but as usual, something's come up.]

[The feed comes on from above-- she's flopped on her back on one of the hotel room's beds, hair still curly and wet from the shower she spent at least forty-five minutes in after arriving back on the island. She'd had to use an unoccupied hotel room (with Arty guarding the door to make sure no unsuspecting guest walked in on her) to do it on account of the fact that she'd been accompanied by four equally tired and dirty people who ALSO needed showers.]

[She picks tiredly at one eye, the camera wobbling above her on account of being held up with just one hand.]}

Sooo.

Yeah, I uh... was totally planning on visiting some people on the way home, but... yeah.

All that weather sort of sucked all the sociability out of everybody. Sorry, Cliff. Wish I'd made it.

_{[YEAH, she's spoiling the surprise, but hey, she can always drop in on him and Ironhide later, assuming no giant storms pop right the fuck out of nowhere like last week. Ugh.]}

But anyway, back safe and sound, nobody died, the world's still turning, chocolate and peanut butter are still an awesome combination, life goes on. Hope nobody got too battered during all that crazy apocalyptic weather.

_{[And around this point is where she'd usually turn the camera off (and maybe she intended to but is just so damn tired it slipped her mind) but the screen blurs as she rolls over, propping herself up on her elbows and resting the 'Gear against the bedspread next to her instead. Next to it are two things--]}

_{[--a battered old medallion with red marks inscribed on it... and a piece of paper. The camera's gaze only lingers on it for a second or two, but quick readers might be able to make out the words Make her suffer written in loopy handwriting before the 'Gear moves again.]

[This time, it's aimed crookedly at the side of the bed, where the somber, doberman-like face of a Houndoom is watching the off-camera Heather in silence.]}

....

Gonna have to come up with a different name for you.

_{[End feed.]}

[AUDIO // LOCKED TO COOPER]

_{[Later that night:]}

Hey, Coop.

You got a minute?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

_{[He'd been reading a book, himself, which he set aside (open, pages down) when he got her call. Something about Ghost and Dark types and their similarities and differences.]

[Which was interesting, but not altogether captivating.]}

It has been a hectic last few days. _{[An agreement, and the familiar silent prompt.]}

Heh, you can say that again...

_{[She trails off for a moment-- gotta figure out exactly how to get to the topic. She hasn't brought this SPECIFIC subject up with Cooper since that snowy night back in Ecruteak.]}

... So, uh... I dunno if you saw, but... my friend Kaito came back...

_{[He hadn't seen, actually.]

[He'd checked the Network for things pertaining to the whole thing that went down with the beasts, but between trying to make sense of it and going to Olivine, he chose to do so sporadically rather than attentively.]

[The news make him stop for a moment. He it that could be a complicated situation, so he asks that question first.]}

Does he remember his time here?

Wh--oh, yeah! Yeah, he remembers everything!

_{[Thank God. She's ... not sure how she would have been able to deal with him coming back and seeing all his old friends as strangers...]}

Well, that's a relief. I'm glad to hear it.

_{[Because the opposite would have been terrible - and it really is a heartbreaking thing to deal with, as they both probably know.]

[But that also largely eliminates the problem, so...?]

[He can sense the BUT HOW ROMANCE looming around the corner, but he'd rather her get into that topic. Cause it'd also codify it to herself to say it.]}

_{[Yeah, it's rough... Heather is fortunate in that she hasn't had to deal with that coming from someone close to her. Not yet-- unless you counted what happened with her father the first time around.]}

Yeah, me too. Seriously.

_{[He's right. Because...]}

But, uh...

_{[If the 'Gear were a phone, she'd be curling the phone's wire around her pinky finger.]}

Back there in Ecruteak at that rec center, you... I mean... you kinda did your police analyzation thingie and totally figured me out...

_{[... No, Heather. He didn't need his police analyzation thingie because you were completely and blaringly obvious.]}

_{[Yep, which is exactly what he's going to say, not without some fondness.]}

To be frank, Heather, I think most people would have.

_{[GOSH COOPER JUST LET HER PRETEND, OKAY?]

[She's quiet for a moment on that front, and you can bet she's trying to will her cheeks a less intense shade of red.]}

--okay, okay.

Look, the POINT is that you're the only person who KNOWS and-- well, except for my dad, but I can't talk to HIM about this, that would just be WEIRD--

_{[Because calling up an FBI agent to ask for boy advice is perfectly normal.]}

_{[NO. Because it's OBVIOUS and thus LOVE IS IN THE AIR and thus LIVE LIFE, GIRL, it doesn't wait up.]

[If this was face to face, he would've held a hand up in the stop sign of 'calm down', but he settles with clipping in, rather to-the-point to stem the flow of words a bit,]}

Do you want to tell Kaito?

_{[He's kind of silently gleeful, in a way, because he loves love in people, but he also does understand the perils of teenage emotions.]}

_{[SHE KNOWS SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DOING THAT YOLO THING, BUT COME ON.]}

No! ... I mean-- I don't know.

_{[Stop being gleeful, Cooper, she has no idea what to do. :c]}

I mean... ever since all those people disappeared, I've been trying to do that whole... you know, carpe diem, seize the day, live like you're dying thing, but...

There are SO many ways that saying something could screw it all up. It was a lucky chance that he came back at all, and I don't wanna ruin that.

_{[Ssh Heather, it'll be okay.]

[And he does listen seriously on his end, but you know what? He's very familiar with these doubts, and he's still a believer of that YOLO thing. So he's not going to let her settle with that idea.]}

Tell me something. How would you describe your friendship?

_{[The question seems to baffle her. She's never exactly tried to describe a friendship in words.]}

You mean like...

Well... I don't know.

We've known each other almost as long as either of us has been here. We cheer each other up when one of us is down. We screw around, we do kid stuff...

We can talk about the bad shit and still laugh after.

He's probably one of the best friends I ever made.

That's why I don't wanna make things all AWKWARD.

_{[Despite the small, almost knowing smile on his end, he still sounds serious when he speaks.]}

Embarrassment is quite far from a recipe for "ruin", Heather.

I understand where you're coming from in this but if you want to pursue a romantic relationship with him - and I believe that you do - those are doubts you shouldn't allow to hold you back.

_{[--oh god PURSUE A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP that sounds so... drastic and-- and sophisticated. When in fact Heather feels anything BUT sophisticated.]}

Augh, Coop, look, you don't get it!

If people are like-- really close friends, and then one of them is all... HEY ACTUALLY I WANT TO PUT MY MOUTH ON YOUR FACE, but the other person doesn't feel that way?

It changes the whole dynamic and it's uncomfortable and if that's what would happen I'd really rather just keep quiet, you know?

... And for the record, the 'mouth on face' thing is just an example.

_{[There's a moment of silence. It could be taken any number of ways, but really he's taking a second to ponder what to say to her, to explain the way he sees it without it going over her head.]}

I was your age once, Heather. I've been in similar situations.

_{[BELIEVE IT OR NOT, pictures to prove it, etc.]}

In my experience, it's better to be honest. Trust me when I tell you that you're unlikely to be able to pretend that you're not entertaining the idea _{[of putting your mouth on his face]} of something more.

_{[And that .. might have come out pushy, in a way, but he doesn't mean for it to be, and that little speech was actually pretty soft in tone.]

[There's a gentle nudge when he adds,]} Besides, you're not normally averse to taking risks.

_{[SLIGHT POUT.]}

Yeah, but that was ages ago.

_{[BUUUUUURN except not really. As flustered as she is, she DID call him for a reason. He's calm and level-headed. ... And less likely to go menace Kaito with a shotgun. Unlike a certain father.]}

Well, so far I've been able to keep it cool... it's not like this is the first crush I've ever had, y'know.

_{[She sighs, letting her head thump into the pillow for a moment. Putting this into words is SO frustrating.]}

I'm fine with taking risks. I just... back home, I didn't have friends. Not GOOD ones.

I don't... want to lose that.

_{[He can understand her general iffyness about trying to verbalize it, but what's interesting here is that Coop's been in similar situations - he never did keep many friends, but he still had a few romantic partners, and that's cause he always did take the risk.]

[... although, to be fair, it was also often a case of love first and friendship later, but that's how it happens when you live for the moment.]

[Still, though, he sounds like he gets it. But he'll just point this thing out.]}

If you trust him to be the friend you just described to me, I don't think you'll have to worry about losing anything.

_{[She lets out another sigh, and there's a somehow defeated note to it.]}

I really, really wish it was that simple.

But a friend is DIFFERENT from a... you know. And... I'm not some low-self-esteem wreck or something, I think I'm a perfectly fucking good friend. I've got plenty of friends and I think I do well by them, so I've gotta be doing SOMETHING right, you know?

But it's different.

Having a really, really good friend isn't the same as having a frigging girlfriend and if I were in his shoes, and his screwed-up, wrong-side-of-the-tracks buddy with more issues than a National Geographic subscription turned out to want that ...

I'm not even his type. He ca-- he SHOULD do better.

_{[Oh, he's definitely sensing those issues she's talking about. Not that he can blame her, given what she's been through, but he still thinks he's wrong.]}

Heather, friendship is the basis on which you build any lasting relationship. You are a good friend - I know as much - and there is no doubt in my mind that you will be an equally good girlfriend.

_{[First time he ever called her his friend, too.]}

_{[She doesn't really take notice of that right off the bat-- maybe it's because SHE'S thought of him as a friend for awhile now, but she never even really realized that he'd never used that word to describe her before. It'll probably occur to her later on...]

[But for now, she's got a point to shoot down!]

[Her tone is challenging.]}

All right then, Mister Relationship Advice, if all it takes to be a decent girlfriend is being a decent friend, would YOU want me for one?

_{[BECAUSE YOU SAID IT YOURSELF COOPER SHE'S YOUR FRIEND!!! HA. >8I]}

_{[That brings a small chuckle just because of the way she says it. Almost smug.]

[He doesn't miss a beat though.]}

If I several years younger and knew you as well as I do now, I don't think I'd write you off.

_{[Because really Heather, first impressions? ... :I let's work on those.]}

_{[HA TOLD YOU S-- ... wait that wasn't what he was supposed to say.]

[A moment of shocked silence follows that (he totally threw off her groove there), before she splutters--]}

--well, no, that's-- c'mon, Coop. You're being nice. Because you're a nice guy.

Like, I appreciate the SENTIMENT and all, but guys like you? Like Kaito? There's a REASON they don't wind up with people like me, even if they're friends!

It's not that I've never had guys interested in me. But they're not-- you know. Good guys. And that's FINE, it's LIFE. Good people deserve other good, not-fucked-up people. That's how it goes. I'm cool with that.

_{[Junk attracts junk.]}

_{[... wow, Heather. No.]}

Have I ever lied to you before?

_{[Because seriously. Now he knows what to work on with her. She'll work on making him open up to people more and he'll work on her self worth. Good deal, y/n?]}

Heather, you're not a bad person. If you consider your friends to be good people that means they believe you are as well.

_{[SOUNDS LIKE IT, though Heather would rather he focus more on HIS end of the deal than hers.]}

I don't think I'm a bad person!

I just-- look, you can be a good person and be absolutely crap material for stuff that's more than friendship, okay?

_{[Well he'd much rather focus on hers, so there you go.]

[There's something almost wary and careful when he speaks here, though. He knows she's been through hell and back - but he doesn't really see why THIS is where it all settled, in her notion that she doesn't deserve romance in her life, since she seems to accept friendship.]

[Then again - maybe she doesn't in the way he'd first thought.]}

Why are you so convinced?

93. [Video/Action for Cianwood Inn]

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