foolishwren | 104. [Video]

Current Mood: aggravated
Current Location: Saffron City

104. [Video]

_{[As is fairly regular with Heather, who never really plans AHEAD when she turns her feed on, the video opens with a brief glimpse at something entirely-unrelated!]

[Two large Houndooms, one bare-necked and the other wearing a large, studded leather collar-- are at play in a sunny patch of park. Or more accurately, the big collar-wearing one is TRYING to get the other to play, in a show of big-dog posturing, and the uncollared one is sort of just mild-manneredly humoring him.]

[Right before the camera shifts, though, a blur of blue and yellow barrels into the larger of the two hellhounds and the one-sided playtime promptly becomes an enthusiastic wrestling match between Tricia (the Manectric recently inherited from Cooper) and Huan (the Houndoom even more recently inherited from Otacon).]

[But then it's Heather's face dominating the screen, because she apparently has other things in mind than just showing the network a bunch of dogs running around the park.]}

Hey.

So.

If there's anyone around who knows much about horses... riding horses, specifically...

I'm looking to learn. Any advice's appreciated. Thanks in advance.

_{[... Well that was unusually businesslike and to the point. ... For someone like Heather, anyway. There's not much humor in the usually-goofy girl's voice today.]

[Before she can flick the 'Gear off, there's a commotion offscreen and she looks off in the direction of the noise, clearly exasperated.]}

... TCH, god dammit Cujo.

_{[The view shifts as she gets up and it becomes apparent that Cujo the Hulking Behemoth of a Growlithe (tm) had decided to join the fray and promptly plowed straight OVER at least two of the participants, who are now chasing after him in a big herd of barking chaos across the park. OH THOSE CRAZY DOGES.]

[End feed.]}

[PRIVATE MESSAGE TO JEANE]

HEY. How did you do that shit at the party?

_{[... well wtf is that supposed to mean, Heather. Clarification is apparently not going to be provided until she gets a reply.]}

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I guess not

_{[But she swallows, because this presents a problem.]}

it probably sounds mental since we're talking about learning some insane new skill here, but... this is sorta time-sensitive...

_{[Under normal circumstances, a chance to solve one of Carmen's 'where am I' puzzles is something Heather would be all over, but with her reasons behind wanting to learn, on this one occasion it's more worrying than exciting.]}

[. . .]

Tell me what happened, Heather.

[SPOILERS: YOU'RE NOT SUBTLE.]

_{[YEEEAH, NOT REALLY. It's hard to be subtle when you're desperate, even if you want to be. Still, she's a little startled when Carmen cuts straight to the chase, though she really shouldn't be.]}

huh??

nothing, yet.

I just need to learn since flying won't always be an option in emergencies

_{[Except if it were a generic emergency failsafe, there's no reason it would be time-sensitive GOD DAMMIT why is her mouth faster than her brain...]}

[That's one of those Carmen-isms you just get used to after awhile. There's a time for playfulness and the elegant dance of avoiding the subject, and there's a time for throwing that all out the window and simply getting the job done.]

Nothing, yet. Are you expecting that something will?

If it's just ground travel you're concerned with, there are easier mounts than a horse.

_{[There's a pause before Heather replies, because she's wracking her brain for a way to put it that won't really indicate just how troubling her situation is.]

[But how do you say that the horse is the only tool that's remotely worked in the past on something when you don't want to let on that something happened to begin with?]}

well it's more about getting out of a situation in a hurry...

_{[But that still doesn't explain why she's picking the four-legged beast she's never ridden rather than one of her several birds, who she has.]

[She has no answer for that first part... because she DOES but saying so is incriminating as hell.]}

it's personal i guess

but important

It's something in particular about the horse?

[Well, what else could she be getting at, really.]

Why wouldn't one of your birds be faster for escaping in a hurry? Ground travel confines your escape to two dimensions; taking to the air gives you three in which to run.

[SO SAYS THE REIGNING EXPERT ON ESCAPES.]

yeah, basically, actually! I guess.

_{[WHAT it is about the horse... she has no idea. Is it because she's on fire? Is it because she's a horse? Has a horn? WHAT? SHE DOESN'T KNOW. She just knows that sending Carousel out at BOB had been the one thing that seemed to get to him. Even if it was just making him angry.]}

it's an intimidation thing i guess

getting charged at by someone on a horse is friggin' scary... if i ever have to like, get out of an altercation with someone or something

i'd rather come off as the scarier one


does... that make sense?

Now we're not really talking about escaping anymore, are we.

Someone's afraid of your horse, I take it.

_{[She actually mangles the first word into a minor keysmash in her enthusiasm to type back because YES THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT]}

YBEF



*yes

yeah actually that's kind of it

_{[She wasn't sure if BOB was afraid of Carousel, exactly... but still, the general idea...]}

Mm.

How soon can you get to Goldenrod City?

how soon?

I could probably catch the Magnet Train out sometime tomorrow...

would that be ok?

It's going to take you time and effort to master it no matter how well or how much I teach you. If you're in a hurry, then sooner is better. The trip isn't too hard for me to make.

yeah... honestly i should have started trying a lot sooner.


but i can make it out tomorrow.

i just need to clear it with dad.

_{[She has a feeling he'll say 'Yes', as long as she promises him she's not gonna help Carmen steal the Radio Tower or something.]}

Wait for me out in the open. I'll find you.

_{[... For a second Heather ALMOST considers writing back something a little dubious, but then she remembers it's Carmen she's talking to. Of course she'd rather not set a specific meeting place.]}

all right




hey, um

thank you.

I know Zack's been in touch more than I have lately.

[By which she means ever since...you know.]

I'm glad to see Tricia found her way to you.

_{[Yeah. She doesn't need to elaborate on that one.]}

yeah, me too

she's a good girl.

_{[Heather had never actually interacted with her a lot, despite seeing Cooper all the time-- recognizing her discomfort around strange dogs, he had always made sure the Manectric was otherwise occupied when Heather was around.]

[But she's glad to have something to remember Cooper by... and Tricia's not as intimidating as she used to seem early on.]}

I know some of the others went to the Sheriff and stuff... are any with you?

i kind of didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the network while it was all going on...

He loved her.

[He had a habit of loving things, damn him.]

Zack's been on a mission to round up a headcount — for Julee's sake, if I'm not mistaken. Harry ended up with Holmes; Chief Cole has his Wooper, Minute. Agent Rosenfield has Sheriff, Rosie, and I think Emily in his care. You found Tricia, and I have Aidan and Julee.

I think that's most, if not all, of the usual suspects. He hasn't found the others yet.

_{[That he did.]}

that's good

that most of them are are around, i mean

sometimes it seems like all but one or two just vanish

It does.

I'd hate to think of most of them being left to fend for themselves, though.

yeah

I wish we knew where the ones who disappear go

probably the wild I guess.

That would be the likely outcome, I'd think.

Some of Hiccup's did recently, too.

wait, Hiccup's?

how??

he's still here!

We're still working on that, ourselves. Something got into them and a whole group of them just took off, en masse.

It was after he singlehandedly averted the crisis between warring factions in the Dragon's Den, though, so I suspect that might have something to do with it.

that is... weird as HELL

I've never heard of Pokemon just running off like that

how's Hiccup doing, I mean, is he okay?

_{[She JUST TALKED TO HIM so obviously he's not languishing away in a corner or anything, and also it's impressive as hell that he managed to stop a dragon-on-dragon war, but still!]}

Edited 2013-05-13 02:51 (UTC)

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doitrockapella - 2013-05-13 02:55 (UTC) - Expand

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foolishwren - 2013-05-13 05:37 (UTC) - Expand

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104. [Video]

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Text; (Oh yeah, do you want to do a log of them meeting up in Goldenrod for the teachin'?)

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