104. [Video]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[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.]</sub>

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.


<sub>[... 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.]</sub>

... TCH, god dammit Cujo.

<sub>[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.]</sub>



[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.]}

Comments

[foolishwren]

... Uhhhhh.

_{[Okay man when a grown woman asks you how old she looks, it's never a recipe for anything good. Heather knows that much.]}

I dunno, like... thirty?

[licentious]

[ Lust chuckles. She's off. By about 220 years, but, still, that's a nice observation. ]

That's one of the best answers I've received. [ No, she's not telling you how old she is but she's pretty much giving a sincere U Tried star (no mocking intended, unlike usual recipients of this award). ]

[foolishwren]

Really?

_{[Most women she can think of would probably take 'thirty' as an insult... which means she probably shouldn't have said it in the first place but HEY ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.]}

[licentious]

Yes. I'm actually twenty nine. [ Close enough. ] However, as my birthday has yet to pass back home, I believe I will be stuck as twenty nine for a good deal. After all, if we return from the moment we're taken from, any aging is inconsequential. I'm physically thirty one. [ #blatantlies. ]

[foolishwren]

Yeah, I guess birthdays DO work a little weird, here...

I was eighteen when I got here.

Time flies, huh?

_{[She's not sure whether she's supposed to keep going by THAT or assume that she's turning twenty-one this summer... no matter which you go with, it still feels weird.]}

[licentious]

And just how long have you been here? I know you'd be twenty right now by all the time that's passed in the real world, but, that's only based off of how long I've been here. [ Wait until she hears that Heather was one of the first to arrive. Her eyes might just flash into some sort of "KNOWLEEEEDDDDGEEEE" craze. ]

[foolishwren]

_{[BACK IN HEATHER'S DAY THEY HAD TO WALK TWENTY MILES TO EACH TOWN IN BLINDING SNOWSTORMS.]}

Three years.

I'm gonna turn twenty-one soon.

_{[... Of course, she doesn't really FEEL twenty-one... but c'est la vie.]}

[licentious]

[ BACK IN LUST'S DAY, THERE WEREN'T EVEN ROADS TO WALK ON. YOU JUST MADE YOUR OWN PATH IN THE FIELDS AND THE HILLS... ]

Are you doing anything special to commemorate the day? You've completed a quarter of your life. Your brain has almost completed its growth. [ Oh so positive Lust... ]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[YEAH WELL IN HEATHER'S DAY YOU COULD ONLY USE A TM ONCE AND YOU LIKED IT.]

[Heather made a slight face.]</sub>

... Not really.

Birthdays have never been very sentimental to me.

<sub>[Oh, she'd been enthusiastic about them when she was little, sure. But even before she'd regained her memories, there had always been a shadow hanging over those days. The day she'd been born had been the day her past self-- the daughter her father had loved first-- died.]

[Even if it had been the same soul, reforged into a whole, it had still been a deep, troubling date for all kinds of reasons.]</sub>

[licentious]

[ IN LUST'S DAY, THERE WERE ONLY TWO REGIONS: KANTO AND JOHTO... ]

Really? I hope you don't mind explaining your reasoning. People always take a stance to celebrate what they've made it through that year. [ There's a slight level of disdain towards those people that's slightly palpable in Lust's voice. ]

[foolishwren]

Just never saw a whole lot of reason to, I guess.

Some bad stuff happened around the time I was born, so I guess nobody in the family was ever really in the mood for celebrating.

<sub>[Except Harry HAD done is darndest to make her birthdays nice even if he associated her arrival with a great deal more unpleasant things than just receiving a new bundle of joy to add to the family...]

[But in the end, the truth outed itself.]</sub>

[licentious]

In other words, they took their misfortune out on your day. [ That's mildly depressing...

to anyone with a soul. Lust just says that very clinically. ] It's very fascinating on how you have similar views on your own date of birth.

[foolishwren]

Wh-- no. No, not really.

It's just-- ... it's complicated, basically.

I can't put it any better than that.

_{[Harry had always been very good at not letting himself blame Heather for everything that had happened. Of course he'd struggled sometimes-- he was only human. But he'd done a pretty damn good job of keeping himself in check, like any father should.]}

[licentious]

[ The true emotional reaction is something that briefly stuns Lust. She wasn't expecting some emotional honest from Heather, who seemed more guarded than Fort Knox. ]

I have to admit, impassioned responses were not something I'd expected from you, Heather.

[foolishwren]

<sub>[She's still as guarded as ever... but wouldn't you know it, after so many chip-ins from Lust whenever she happens to be dealing with something emotionally difficult, maybe she's finally opening up with feelings that don't involve flat-out anger! ..... Maybe. A little. Unfortunately for her. STOP TALKING TO THE VILLAIN, HEATHER!]

[All the same, SHE seems a little stunned at the observation herself, because she hadn't quite been thinking about it too hard.]</sub>

... Well, I mean...

I dunno, I'm just-- you know, sayin'.

_{[Which doesn't say anything at all, really-- she's flustered and can't find a quick and ready response to that.]}

[licentious]

I don't know what you're saying here, but such honesty is rather appealing. It's been a while since I heard someone uncertain of their path back home. Here, there's no goals so being uncertain is certain, but, the trepidation from your voice is actually rather nostalgic.

[ She has manipulated so many people with that same tone! Still, Lust has come to a conclusion on just how close Heather considers her. Any and all suspicions that her manipulative attempts at Johto were failing were immediately blown away here. However, there's a part of her that knows she can't discard a veteran like her. Her endless amount of associates, knowledge and pokémon would make her a hell of an enemy. ]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[The funny thing about it all is that Heather doesn't really consider Lust to be close... at all. And perhaps that's why she opened up without her usual stockade of cautionary instincts squalling and clamoring for her attention before she could even open her mouth.]

[After all... all the women in her life who manipulated and hurt her the most were far far far too close to be safe.]

[Lust is a voice on the phone and letters on the screen. Faraway. Safe. And she's never displayed the most worrying sign (at least to Heather) at all-- an attempt to be all motherly and supportive.]

[Heather doesn't even suspect.]</sub>

... Nostalgic?

<sub>[Despite said lack of suspicion, she DOES sound a little uncertain of herself. Trepidation's a good way to describe it, really.]

[But it is true-- the 'veteran' status does make Heather dangerous, even if she's rather unwitting for the moment. So Lust is smart to be cautious in her dealings.]</sub>

What's that supposed to mean?

I mean... MOST people who think they've got it all figured out are fulla shit anyway, so...

[licentious]

[ Lust remains calm and careless as usual. Not a single damn is really given about Heather's emotional turmoil, but she covers anyways. ]

I have been with tons of philosophers, and teenagers and children. Hearing insecurity about the future, about the past, about themselves, is almost natural to hear for me. Deprived of that, as I've been, for the past two years has almost made it like a hive without bees. [ ): She needs it to thrive! ]

[foolishwren]

... I... guess that makes sense.

_{[There's an uncertain pause, but then she adds, a bit of confidence seeping back into her tone--]}

Well I won't make any go at hiding it.

Life's complicated. If I tried to claim I knew exactly how to feel about everything, I'd be lyin'.

[licentious]

I have confidence in this place, but I believe that's because nothing really happens. It's actually a scientific anomaly. Everything remains constant, while moving. It's like a river, you know? The water is always flowing, but it's always different water molecules than the ones that were just there a moment earlier. [ It's somehow on the boarder of progressive and stagnant. ]

[foolishwren]

Huh?

... What're you talking about?

Things happen here.

_{[THIS IS GETTIN' TOO EXISTENTIAL FOR HEATHER, ABANDON SHIP.]}