027. Video

[foolishwren]

<sub>[ooc: Forward-dated to the wee hours of the morning, around 3:00 or 4:00.]


[So she'd been having some problems with fire lately, and it had been rattling her nerves. That was normal, right? This was normal.]

[When the camera turned on, there was the usual firelight that indicated that Heather was, once again, sleeping out in some sheltered area of the woods on account of A) Being totally broke, and B) having a increasingly-strained relationship with those Center nurses. But this time, the fire's a fair distance away, leaving most of Heather's features in shadow.]

[Normally she was okay with fire in most situations. She could light matches without freaking out, and while campfires weren't exactly her favorite thing in the world, they were kind of necessary for, y'know, camping, and they didn't make her want to run screaming for the hills or anything. But tonight... tonight, for some reason, that fire sent vicious little shivers down her spine and she'd realized that she did not want to sit near it.]

[Even through the shadows, the glaze of sweat on her skin was visible, as was the fact that she was unusually pale. In her lap is Arty, who seems to be a little confused at being used as a squeeze-toy, but is holding abnormally still for once, whiskers twitching and black eyes glistening in the fire's light. She can tell there's something wrong.]</sub>


H-hey, um...

... That was a pretty crazy storm earlier, huh?

I can't be the only one still awake.


.... James? Uh-- ... man, what am I saying, you're probably not even awake. _{[Forced, awwwwkward laugh. Of course he wouldn't be awake, and anyway, he was going back to get his wife, he didn't have to hear about her fucked-up dreams. In fact, why would she even want to tell him? They were just dreams! So what if they were about...]}

.....

_{[Nightmares like that had to be normal after everything she'd been doing, right...?]}


.... SOME weather we've been having lately, huh, guys?

Comments

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

I'm Wataru. Nice to meet you!

...Didn't we talk one time before? When I first got here.

[foolishwren]

... Hey... now that I think of it... you do sound kinda familiar.

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

Yeah! It was when I was testing out the Pokégear for the first time. We didn't trade names, though.

[foolishwren]

That's right!

Well, now we have.

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

[He nods. Great! A new friend!

...Speaking of friends, his expression suddenly falls. He never did find her...]

Uh, Heather? Have you... been here for very long?

[foolishwren]

_{[Her expression sobers up a little, too. It's a weird thing to think about.]}

Three months, goin' on four I think.

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

...Oh.

[He hesitates because it seems like a depressing topic, but at the same time, he's really gotta know.]

Do you know if people... normally disappear here?

[foolishwren]

_{[It is depressing, but it's something Heather's had on her mind a lot too, lately.]}

... Yeah.

They do pretty frequently, actually.

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

...So she really did vanish. I thought it was weird how there weren't even footprints...

[foolishwren]

.... I'm sorry.

Was it a friend?

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

[Another nod.]

We were traveling together... I guess I'll have to travel by myself now.

[foolishwren]

... Traveling alone isn't so bad...

_{[Of course, she said that as a chronic loner... but even she knew those words probably weren't very comforting.]}

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

I've done it before on the way to Tearshaven. I just didn't expect to be on my own again so soon.

[Just the thought is getting him depressed. It doesn't help that he just dreamt about that exact affair all over again. Come to think of it...]

...! ...Maybe that's why I thought of that.

[foolishwren]

_{[She blinks a little, tilting her head.]}

Huh? Thought of what?

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

[...Er, he just said that out loud, didn't he?]

Huh? Oh. Um, before I woke up, I was having a bad dream. It was from around the same time I got separated from my friends in another world. It... wasn't a lot of fun. In real life, or in the dream.

[foolishwren]

_{[There's a moment of slightly concerned silence on Heather's part.]}

... A bad dream, huh.

_{[It had to be a coincidence...]}

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

[And now he's sighing.]

I was so excited to be here, I don't think I've had a bad dream until just now. The creepy fog sure doesn't help, either.

[foolishwren]

... Yeah... you're tellin' me.

<sub>[She'd had nightmares before tonight-- she always did, after all. Silent Hill had a way of sticking with you like that, like funky old gum you can never get off of the bottom of your shoe no matter how hard you try or how far you walk. But none of them had been like these ones.]

[It had almost been as if they'd really been happening...]</sub>

So that's why you're awake?

Bad dreams?

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

Y-yeah. Sounds kind of lame, huh?

[foolishwren]

_{[She smiles wanly.]}

Nah, it doesn't sound lame.

Everybody gets nightmares sometimes. Even badasses like me.

_{[But is she gonna admit that SHE just had one right now, too? Noooo~]}

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

Really? But you seem so... so strong.

[foolishwren]

_{[.... AWWW.]}

Well... _{[Her voice held a sort of joking lilt.]} That's true and all...

But m'also human.

Everybody gets bad dreams.

[hasavision.livejournal.com]

...I guess you're right.