97. [Action for Goldenrod/Private Text]

[foolishwren]

[Locked to Ironhide, Minnie Mouse, Otacon, and Dale Cooper]

I don't know if it'll fix anything at this point, because I said some pretty horrendous things to all of you, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry.

I'll understand if you're still mad. None of you need to reply to this.




[Action for Goldenrod]

<sub>[It's probably not surprising that there's been radio silence from Heather on the 'Gear for awhile, considering... well, everything. Even if she hadn't had her 'Gear confiscated as part of the 'grounding', she hadn't exactly been in a chatty mood.]

[But even if she's bound to the city, she's not bound to the hotel room, and considering that she's sort of in the doghouse at the moment, she's not too interested in staying cooped up with the people who are rightfully upset with her.]

[So she can be found wandering the streets of Goldenrod City with Cujo padding along at her side, window-shopping or occasionally lounging on a bench-- minus the firepowers that blew the metaphorical Diglett-hole into a volcanic mountain a few weeks ago, but unfortunately still with the unattractive aftereffects of the whole ordeal: smoky black hair, patches of scorched-looking skin, and a permanent burnt-toast smell following her around.]</sub>

Comments

Action

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

[Sits down next to her on the bench.]

Hey.

Action

[foolishwren]

_{[She glances over... then lets her gaze drift away again with a deep sigh.]}

... Y'know, I kinda went out to get away from all the judgment.

_{[She doesn't sound angry so much as resigned.]}

[vulpesvivus]

I'm not angry.

[foolishwren]

I basically told you to fuck off

you have every right to be angry

Text

[her_mouse_jesty]

Thank goodness you're all right!

You are all right, aren't you?

Text

[foolishwren]

I'm in one piece

_{[She can't rightfully say that she's 'all right'.]}

[action]

[quickattackjack]

<sub>[With a couple of Mart bags in one hand, and his umbrella in the other, Jack's out on the streets enjoying the weather. It's not long before he spots a familiar freckled face--one he's been sort of concerned about.]

[...was something burning somewhere?]</sub>

Miss Mason!

[action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[A freckled and pock-marked face at this point, but at least she's not as disfigured as her past self wound up being. Johto's not that cruel.]

[She looks up at the sound of her name.]</sub>

... Oh. Hey, Jack.

[action]

[darkenedgales]

[The atmosphere has been a little... tense, to put it mildly, so it shouldn't come as a surprise Crow doesn't fancy the idea of staying in his hotel room all day either. Besides, they're in Goldenrod -- there's too much to do and see to be sitting around glaring at each other!

... Although he'd probably be enjoying everything the big city has to offer much more if a) he had someone to enjoy it with, and b) the whole thing from a few weeks ago wasn't still hanging in the air. So there he is, wandering around aimlessly, not even in mood to try doing anything potentially fun. That's when he spots her -- or maybe he could smell that strange burnt stench first, it's hard to tell -- but the point is, Crow notices a familiar figure sitting on a bench nearby. His first impulse is to turn away and walk in a different direction, but... really, that would be kinda childish and although the duelist may not be the shining example of maturity, he's also sick of this whole situation.

So a couple of minutes later, a can of soda materializes itself on Heather's head seemingly out of nowhere, followed by a voice coming from behind her.]

Hey.

[There's a brief pause, in which he looks at the bench rather than at Heather -- this particular bench turns out to be extremely absorbing, you see!]

... Mind if I join ya?

[action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Yeeeeaaaaaaah.]

[She jumps at the sudden coldness on her scalp, jerking away from it and whipping her head around, only to freeze when she sees who it is. Her expression is a little bit confused but mostly closed-off. After looking at him silently for a couple seconds, she heaves a sigh and indicates the spot on the bench next to her before turning back around.]

[She doesn't say anything, but at least she's not telling him to go away, right?]</sub>

i am not sorry

[saltwaterwounds]

[Can "Helga" hear it?

Sisuca is in Goldenrod, too. She has been for a while, minding her own business and using her Audino and Alomomola to heal Pokémon while the Pokécenter is down. She's just being helpful, really.

But she sees you, Helga. Her motherly instincts cannot be stopped.

She moves closer, verifying that it's her window-shopping. Maybe "Helga" will notice that someone is moving closer, but if she turns around to check...well...Sisuca is blocked from view thanks to the Machamp she's walking with.

She moves closer still.

And closer.

And then it's too late.]

Oh, Helga! It really is you! It's been so long since I've heard from you, I was starting to get really worried!

asgklh HAHA BEST ACTION TAG EVER

[foolishwren]

<sub>[O lawd. If there was one thing Heather did not want right now, it was probably mothering. But it was too late. She'd already been sighted.]

[By the time she actually looks up and sees the walking, talking source of alarm coming her way, it's too late to do anything about it. Except draw up her shoulders like a startled bird and turn back around in hopes that she hadn't been seen, anyway. A last-minute maneuver that is sadly in vain.]</sub>

... Oh... uh. Heeeey...

Action

[hintcoinplz]

[As Heather finds a bench to sit on, Luke will spot her from behind and come running up with his arms full of shopping bags.]

Hey Heather!

[He's a little hard to see over the bags he's carrying, and completely oblivious to why she may not be in such a good mood.]

Action

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Now there's a voice she hasn't heard in person in awhile...]

[She looks up in time to see what seems to be a large pile of bags tottering towards her on a pair of little legs... and also in time to see Cujo go excitedly barreling towards it, mane flopping. Uh oh.]</sub>

--Cooj, no!

text; | of her own initiative, but posted here for ease of reference

[doitrockapella]

I hear you're grounded.

text;

[foolishwren]

_{[Ugh, who hasn't heard...]}

I think everybody's heard by now.

_{[Thanks to Harry's broadcast...]}

[text]

[show_my_cannons]

Message received.

[He's. Trying Very hard. Not to be angry. He has his own temper, though, and knows letting it loose can't possibly be constructive.]

[text]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Well, she'd sort of been hoping that if they were still mad at her, they'd take the out she'd provided and just not reply. But Ironhide's message has a certain sense of dread to it. What's she supposed to do with that?]

[Reply? Not reply? She doesn't want to make it worse, but leaving it hanging doesn't feel right either...]</sub>

if you want to yell at me, i can't exactly ask you not to

[Action]

[pianokeys]

[When Snapdragon evolved, when he was feeling to a point he could get up again, when one of the children gave him the Fly HM to use, it didn't take long for the Other Father to see if he could fly his Dragonite. Luckily, what he found was that with a sturdy Pokémon and previous knowledge of flying a robotic mantis tractor, it's actually not that hard!

Other Father was flying overhead on the orange dragon, giving him some quality time with his trainer as a thank you for protecting him back during the Pokémon attack. It's then that he sees Heather down below.

With a direction spoken to Snapdragon, the Pokémon swoops to the side]

Woah~

[And flies around the girl, a wave from the Other Father as he does.]

Hey there, Heather.

[With a few scales still on his face and arms and the remains of webbed fingers, Father's not entirely free from the mutation either.]

[Action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Normally, Heather's somewhat loathe to sit around doing nothing. She's not the type to relish in moping. If she's gonna sit there, she has to at least be doing something. Like peoplewatching. So that's what she's doing.]

[Until the Dragonite swoops past, anyway-- it'd take something more than a morose, contemplative mood to miss something like that.]

[She doesn't startle, but does sit up rather abruptly-- and it takes her a minute to recognize him. They don't exactly talk all too often, and it would seem he's bearing the scars of that mystery illness as well.]</sub>

--Oh.

Hey...

[text | private; independent of post]

[exeggutorhead]

Hey, call me when you get this. or text, either way.

[He wants to make sure she's alright.]

[Audio]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She probably should have contacted people a whole lot sooner than now. But... well, the whole thing kind of sucked away her desire to interact with anyone.]

[But it's about time she rejoined society.]

[So Envy'll get a call a few hours or so after he sent the text.]</sub>

... Hey...

[text]

[bakaitoukid]

[well... Kaito had never been the kind of guy to let something like a little yelling ruin a friendship. especially when he had done plenty in the past to frustrate, or even anger, those close to him.

and especially not when murdered parents were involved.

so Heather'll be getting a text to her gear soon after she sends out the message, short and to the point]

Department store roof. Fifteen minutes. From this vantage point 'm pretty sure I can see a guy playing tug-of-war with his Growlithe over a pair of pants, and I dunno how much longer they'll be at it.

Seriously, this is quality entertainment.

[text]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[8I Yeah Kaito you don't have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to that.]

[Heather had stopped for a break and something cold to drink in one of the many little park areas that Goldenrod City sported when Kaito's text arrived. Straw between her teeth, she looks at the screen for a moment or two with her thumb on the 'exit text' button for a couple minutes before just shutting the 'Gear and standing up.]

[It's an obvious peace offer on Kaito's part-- an extended hand. And she'd be an idiot to reject it, out of guilt or pride or generalized hurt feelings or anything else. So maybe thirteen minutes later, she's heading up the stairs to the Goldenrod Department Store's rooftop.]</sub>

action

[buttpinched]

[ Look at that face he hasn't seen either. Also, as someone who is a friend of your father, he's concerned too. ]

Heather.

action

[foolishwren]

<sub>[UH OH YOU KNOW SHIT'S GOTTEN REAL WHEN THE FAMILY FRIENDS ARE CONCERNED TOO.]

[Heather looks up, mildly startled.]</sub>

--Oh. Uh, hey, Will...

[text]

[tapestodiane]

_{[Yeah, text. That in itself should say a lot. There are several reasons, but one is that it's a distanced option. For now, he'll take it.]}

I want you to tell me what happened.

[text]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[... Yeah. It DOES.]

[She'd never really paid too much attention to it before, but getting a text message from Dale Cooper is... surreal. She doesn't think they've ever communicated that way before. He's always contacted her by voice, if not video.]

[So it's awhile before she answers, fingers hovering over the keys.]

[What can she say? What can she say that won't make things WORSE?]

[Of all the people who she alienated, who the text had been aimed at, ALL of whom she cared for deeply in various ways, Cooper's opinion is perhaps the one that matters to her the most.]</sub>




i found her near cherrygrove

i knocked her around while our pokemon fought and i screamed at her and a lot of things got lit on fire



i couldn't kill her

is there anything else you'd like to know


_{[As hard as it is to convey tone through text, there's not an ounce of sarcasm, and the lowercase letters are like the textual equivalent of slinking along apologetically, belly to the ground.]}