foolishwren | IC CONTACT (Victory Road)

Entry tags:

IC CONTACT (Victory Road)

ffzzbrrttzzckssshhhh

"Yo, it's Heather. I'm probably asleep or one of the Pokemon ate my 'Gear or something so I can't answer you right now. But feel free to leave a message or something.
I'll probably get back to you. ... Probably. Peace out."

Click!

[Need to send Heather a private message, or start up any other thread that doesn't need a log or post of its own? Tag here with the date of the interaction in the subject line!]

[(NOTE: The old contact post containing all threads from Route 29 can be found here!)]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, I know that firsthand.

_{[... Even if she might not... technically have been 'mortal' at the time.]}

[For a second, it looks like he's going to argue. But then he scowls off to the side, clenching his hands. He wants to do something now, but...]

Yeah, guess you're right.

I'll try and come join up with you guys after I hit Cerulean, then.

If he tries anything before I get there, knock some of his teeth out for me, okay?

_{[If they'd both been back in Goldenrod, there would be no question in her mind that Envy and Lust together would be the best people to have with her while rescuing Henry from jail and potentially a literal serial killer.]

[But they're far from home, and speed is the name of the game.]

[She's already bending down to finish stuffing things into her pack. Carrying it WILL slow her down, but... she doesn't want Envy to have to lug all her shit through a bunch of CAVES when she's not even there.]}

Oh, don't worry.

_{[Straightening up, she slings her bag over her shoulder. Now that the shock has worn off a little, there's a weird light in her eyes. A cousin of what he saw in his dream when she'd been staring down at his mother. Her voice darkens.]}

That man might think he's devout, but if he so much as breathes on Henry, I'll show him what it's really like to have the fear of God put into you.

_{[Jack's response is a solemn hum before his smile returns.]}

My promise to you still stands--no frightening friends, so you won't have to worry about me popping out of the shadows.

_{[That drags her out of the murky thoughts some, and she smiles.]}

Heh.

I appreciate that.

_{[Jack's own smile, in turn, twists into something challenging. Mischievous almost.]}

That is to say...I wouldn't mind if you scared me. I mean--you could try...

... Oh, Jack.

Are you trying to tempt me?

Maybe.

... You know, I come from a place that's much scarier than Halloween Town.

You might regret this.

_{[Jack's lip forms something of a pout, though it's still challenging. He's convinced that his realm is the scariest!]}

If you manage to frighten me before Halloween, I'll let you be Pumpkin King for a year!

Things had been...different since Henry's arrest. For the first time in a while, all of Shark House was in one place. And while he had been giving everyone Walter 101, he had taken the time to slow down and observe things. It was what had kept him alive in the Otherworld.

And he'd noticed...a thing or two. Or three. Or four.

With Boo on his shoulder, he made his way into the kitchen where he'd seen Heather go--a rare moment when she was alone. Very rare. Hmm. The little Litwick didn't tire him one bit, he had more than enough energy for her. She'd been suggested to keep him calm but, well, you just can't tell a Survival Horror Protagonist to chill out.

At least the thing that had been on his mind today was less dire.

"Heather, are you busy? This isn't about the nails, I took those down."

... You know what?

I'll take those odds.

I like a good challenge.

_{[... LITTLE DOES JACK KNOW, the challenge will be less about scaring him and more about finding a way to scare him WITHOUT traumatizing a literal Disney character for life. ... Or unlife. Whatever.]}

Different is putting it lightly.

Heather was just relieved that so far, there had been a lot of emotionally-charged talks and standing vigilant, but no actual encounters.

Still, life rolls on, even in the face of crisis, and when Henry found her in the kitchen, she was in the middle of mixing up some sugar-water for Honey, who was hovering insistently by her shoulder, and Carrie, who was sequestered under a chair and only peeped out at Henry when he came in.

"Hmm?"

Heather looked over her shoulder-- there were bags under her eyes, but that was nothing new.

"No, I'm not busy. What's up?"

Henry approached the counter and stood there side by side with her. His attention was on the window though. He knew it was silly but he fully and wholly expected to see a disembodied head drift by.

"It's been a rough week...but I've felt more awake this week than I have since I got here. And I've been thinking."

Boo leaned around his shoulder curiously but also sent a wave to Honey.

"When you picked me up from the police station, you were wearing Envy's shirt."

And for a little while he didn't say anything--it sounded for all the world like one of Henry's Shower Thoughts but...it wasn't. Finally once he was sure a head wasn't going to drift by the kitchen window he turned to Heather, his eyes curious.

"I came home from work early four nights ago since we had to shut down the computer system. You talked to Envy for four hours on the 'gear. Since he's been home you've blown three raspberries against his neck after your effortless victory in Sofa Battle. Those aren't your jeans."

None of it sounded accusing or particularly damning. Henry, the Receiver of Wisdom, was simply listing facts.

"This is the first time I've seen you by yourself since The Woods."

Honey, in turn, flicked his antennae distractedly. He was on friendly terms with just about every Pokemon in the house but he really wanted Heather to hurry up with that sugar-water.

The stirring of which slowed and then halted completely as Henry rattled off his little laundry list of observations, which, yes, had started out sounding very... Henry, only for it to quickly become apparent to Heather that they were anything but.

By the time he finished, Heather was standing there with the spoon slightly raised, looking thunderstruck.

After a solid fifteen seconds, she just says the first coherent thought to come to mind.

"... You were counting?"

"Only because of the other things," Henry offered with a shrug. He reached up into the cabinets to grab a packet of cheese and crackers. "Envy's my best friend. I've been noticing him too."

It seemed to take a million years for Henry to open the crackers--but not out of any deliberate slowness. He was just thinking.

"He used to be so sad. Now he's not."

Heather continued to stare for a moment, not really able to think of anything to SAY to that, until Honey fluttered to the floor and let out a loud, impatient squeak. At which point she started to stir the contents of the dish again, albeit distractedly. After having briefly gone pale, her cheeks are now starting to redden.

"--I... we were trying to be discreet..."

Heather, blowing raspberries on someone's neck is not discreet.

Even if it's just kind of something you tend to do.

THERE IT IS.

So that wasn't just a bruise! He had been right about two mysterious phenomenon lately!

Henry let out one of his quiet breathy laughs.

"Don't feel bad." Henry finally opened the crackers and shoved two of them into his mouth at once. He continued to speak around them. "I am th' rethebur of wiffdob. Walter pig'd me fo a resom."

CONFIRMED.PKMN

Still blushing furiously, Heather finally bent down to set the dish on the floor where both Carrie and the overeager Butterfree can get to it. And then stayed kneeling for a moment-- an excuse to not look her adopted brother in the eye.

"... We've been... a thing since the tail-end of January."

Which the Receiver may remember as being that one Friday when everybody felt compelled to blurt out whatever was on their mind regardless of the consequences.

Squirming a little at the memory (even if it had resulted in something she doesn't regret at all, the build-up? Had been agonizing), she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly before muttering, "... Does... anybody else know?"

Henry's brows lifted in surprise. His mental cataloging hadn't gone back that far. He could see why they had started slipping up recently. He waited until he was done eating to speak again.

"Nobody's said anything. And I haven't said anything to anyone else about it. I couldn't think of anyone better for my best friend or my little sister." But now it was time to be curious instead of just observant. "Why didn't you want us to know?"

Neither Heather or Envy seemed like bashful people.

"... Well... I mean..."

With a sigh, she got back to her feet. Henry's words of commendation had brought a smile to her face-- hey, someone approved! But remarking on their, in hindsight, silly logic is a little embarrassing.

"I haven't... you know, been involved with anyone since I was in high school, and like... on the off-chance that it immediately didn't work out, we thought it'd be less... embarrassing if no one knew? ... And then we found out Scar was gone and Lust was, you know, so we couldn't exactly say anything about it then, and..."

She let out a deep whoof of breath, shaking her head.

WHAT TANGLED WEBS WE WEAVE.

"... It wasn't that we, like... thought people wouldn't APPROVE, or something..."

Henry also shook his head, still smiling. He understood. They all cared about Lust's feelings. But this was a little excessive.

"What are you going to do now?"

One person in Shark House knew. Henry had no problem not saying anything--it was practically his main character trait. But he hated to think of his friends having to hide, no matter the reason.

As an afterthought, he reached out to pat her on the shoulder.

"Well, we'd... talked about telling you guys. I guess we probably will soon. It's just... you know, it wasn't a priority. With... everything else going on."

Letting him pat her, she sort of gestured absently around them.

To be fair, there had been a lot going on.

"Well I won't say anything--I do want to talk to Envy though, so he knows."

He had important Your Girlfriend's Older Brother things to say to him--but also the usual congratulations. Now that things were out in the air, Henry smiled more broadly. He was happy for them--and happy that him knowing hadn't upset Heather. And also that WHO WAS RIGHT?

HENRY FUCKING TOWNSHEND WAS RIGHT!!! THATS WHO!!!

"And hey. If you ever need anyone to talk to..."

She let out a slightly weak but genuine chuckle.

"Heh. Gonna give him the 'I'd totally have a gun collection if it were legal here' conversation in Dad's place? ... And yeah, I know. ... But you've been going through some shit lately, though, and 'Hey so I'm dating your best friend' is a little... well, I won't call it frivolous, but... you know what I mean."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 2 of 28

IC CONTACT (Victory Road)

[Video]

no subject

no subject

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Action for Shark House] Sep 13th

[Video]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject