foolishwren | 008. Video

008. Video

_{[When the screen comes on, it's pointed straight at the sky-- specifically, at the deep, smoke-gray thunderheads starting to roll in. The foliage just peeking over the bottom of the screen's view is whipping around in a frenzy, buffeted by the foreboding winds that have sprung up in the face of the storm.]

[Heather's voice then cuts in over the roar of weather. She's YELLING to make herself heard.]}

Can you BELIEVE this!?

Can you friggin' believe this?!

All day yesterday I'm slogging along through the heat and then the moment I get to the city to actually chill around in civilization, THIS happ--

_{[A handful or so of wet leaves is quite suddenly plastered against the camera lens. Thank you, 60 mph wind. Thank you]}

Ackplthh--!!

_{[... And apparently Heather was hit in the face by several, too.]}

PLHHHFFLT! If I have to spend another week sitting in the Pokemon Center in order not to drown, I am gonna...... oh boy.

_{[Aaaand here comes the rolling wall of pure downpour. The camera turns sharply and any viewers still watching are treated to a tilta-whirl of grass, dirt, a running Sentret, and occasionally Heather's boots as she high-tails it away from the rain. THAT'S RIGHT, HEATHER. IF YOU RUN FAST ENOUGH, YOU CAN OUTRUN NATURE.]

[Eventually the video feed cuts out.]}

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Hey Heather, are you good with boys?

_{[She holds the 'Gear under the dryer and leans against the wall, herself. But then she looks up in surprise, the unexpected question making her quirk a brow.]}

... Uhhhh....

I... uh. I guess that would depend on your definition of 'good'.

_{[She was good at getting stalkers, at least.]}

... What brought this on?

Um... Something happened the other night, something really confusing.

_{[Uh ohhhh, girltalk time. First things first, though, she wants to make sure everything's okay. Kairi's a bit younger than she is, after all, and Heather can't help but feel like she should be... y'know, a good role model or something. Let's see how well THAT goes.]}

Everything okay? What happened?

I'm alright, I guess. Someone... someone kissed me the other night. And it was really nice but he- after he did it he looked horrified. And I... I don't know.

_{[WELL OKAY THEN. This was a little awkward-- Heather had been around the block when it came to the whole makin' out thing. Not that she'd done anything during THAT particular rebellious phase like the stuff they make horrible Lifetime movies about Kids Making Bad Decisions (tm) based on (or... well, maybe. There was the smoking... aaaand the shoplifting.... aaaaannd the fights. But, uh, that wasn't the point).... well needless to say, it was a little weird playing big sister. Heather felt like the Role Model Police should be sweeping down on her any second.]}

Well, uh... he was probably... y'know. Surprised at himself, maybe?

_{[And then, just in case Kairi needs the reassurance, she hastily adds]} I'm sure he wasn't horrified because of you. Guys are just weird sometimes.

No, if you had seen the look on his face- I feel like I did something really wrong.

_{[Oh man. Awkwardness central. And-- mean as it is, Heather's actually finding it a little hard not to laugh. Partly because... well yeah it's what you do when something's awkward, and partly because here's this fifteen-year-old kid wondering if she did something wrong while kissing a guy and boy has Heather been there.]}

I-- ... okay, well, here's the thing. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this is the first time a guy has kissed you, right?

Yeah, but, I really don't think that was it. He seemed upset.

I'm just saying... you... shouldn't worry that it was something you did, okay? Just... for the record. No offense or anything, but you're just a kid. Don't be so hard on yourself.

_{[Then she sobered up a little, because she didn't want to seem like she was laughing at Kairi.]}

But uh... like upset how?

I just feel like it had to have been something I did.

Just- upset. And almost horrified. Like he had just done something awful.

_{[Hooboy. Let's see if Heather can remember how to do this. ... It's been well over a year since she's had to console ANYBODY about this sort of thing. ...And it wasn't even like some of the people she was friends with back then even deserved it-- it had been a bad crowd.]

[A little awkwardly, Heather tucked the Pokegear back into her pocket (the fan had stopped, anyway) and reached out to pat Kairi's shoulder.]}

Okay, I know it sounds like I'm just saying it to make you feel better or something, but it's the truth. You just kissed a dude for the first time. On the off-chance that it IS something you did, it's not like it's your fault.

And chances are, he probably had his own reasons for wigging out. Maybe he left the stove on. _{[Okay it was probably a lot more serious than that but she's trying to keep the tone light-- it's not always appropriate, but Heather's just used to dealing with things via humor.]

[There was a pause.]}

.... Man, you wanna know how my first kiss went?

_{[She looked at Kairi with a very serious expression.]}

I bet it'll make yours look like an epic romance by comparison.

I guess I didn't expect Zack to-

Sure, tell me.

_{[... Zack? ... Crazy mad-scientist-scheme-buddy, Beedrill-bashing, 'I bet it's real CORROSIVE!' Zack? That makes Heather do a mental double-take. Because... well, he was kind of old, wasn't he? Too old to be kissing fifteen-year-olds. Unless he was some kind of mutant, or Heather had just gotten really bad at judging ages. And he had a girlfriend. .... And bam, in an instant, that description of his look of horror makes sense. Still, it gives Heather a big internal WTF. She's not going to ask any more about it, but she IS going to keep that in mind. ... Because... yeah. She's no big damn hero but she's a protagonist for a reason. And given her background, it wouldn't make sense for her not to be a little wary for the sake of an innocent kid like Kairi.]

[...But she's not about to let this interrupt her groove.]}

Well.

_{[Grinning slightly, she makes a casual gesture.]}

Firstly, it was spin the bottle. Secondly, it was dark. I'd had a crush on this guy for more or less ever. The moment comes, my heart's in my throat, yadda yadda.... and then instead of kissing, we wound up clunking our teeth together like a car crash. He had a chip the size of a small rodent missing from one of his teeth by the time someone turned the light on in all the commotion.

He thought I punched him and never talked to me again.

_{[Cue a big ol' grin. She'd been as heartbroken as any young hormonal teen at the time, but in hindsight, she had realized that it was hilarious. And it made for good story fodder.]}

... So the moral of that story is, no first kiss ever turns out right.

No matter what the storybooks say.

Wow, that is pretty bad! You got better at it though, right?

Well, I like to think so. _{[Not that she'd... done any smooching in a good long while. She'd left the dating world-- temporarily was her reasoning at the time-- before Silent Hill had ever decided to come poking into her life. And then once it did, well... There were a lot of things about her old life that just... went away.]} Not that I'm an expert or anything.

But like I said, don't worry. You got nothin' but time.

Thanks, Heather.

.... Hey, don't mention it.

Does it look like you pokégear is working?

_{[WHEW awkward subject over.]}

... Oh! Right. _{[Looking down at the screen, she gives it a couple of taps-- then her face brightens.]} Heeeey, look at that! _{[She holds it up-- the screen is a little fizzly, but it appears to be working.]}

That's great! Maybe it will get better over time.

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008. Video

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