foolishwren | 027. Video

Current Mood: distressed
Current Location: Outskirts of Violet

027. Video

_{[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.]}

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?

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[James offered a small nod, his facial expression unwavering as he stared at the camera. He was slightly regretting being so far away from her during a time like this, but what can you do? It wasn't like he could say "BE RIGHT THERE" and show up.]

I know what you mean. I've been... Having dreams about that place since I showed up here, at first it was alarming, but as time went on they became expected and in a way, easier to handle.

But like you said, this was different. It almost felt like--like I was there again. Almost as if even being in this place doesn't matter. It's almost like we can't escape that place...

Or maybe only I feel that way...

[James was feeling a little embarrassed, like he had said too much. It wasn't like him to really open up but, this was Heather. She'd understand what he meant. That and his sleep deprivation wasn't exactly helping him with his decisions--neither was the eeriness of the fog either.]

_{[Inwardly, the (QUITE WELL-HIDDEN)soft, squishy part of Heather's personality was regretting the exact same thing, because... well, to put it bluntly, she wanted a hug. She was used to getting by without them by this point, but that never stopped the longing.]}

Yeah. I mean... bad dreams're bad dreams, normally I just deal with 'em like I would any other.

_{[She fell silent when James went on. The notion... had already occurred to her, in the mad panic with which she'd awoken, but ... hearing it said out loud sent a chill through her.]}

.... No... no, you're not the only one.

_{[She didn't know James's history-- maybe he was tied into the town's nervous system just as tightly as she was, or maybe he wasn't-- but the possibility that she'd never been meant to escape her roots, that her defiance of her destiny was nothing more than a temporary reprieve before the powers that be went "Ahahah. Cute try, kid." and engulfed her like the tide flowing in, had occurred to her many times. She'd always blown it off as late-night paranoia. But tonight... that was hard to do.]

[Suddenly Heather winced, hunching her shoulders slightly and squeezing her arms more tightly around her stomach. Of all the stress responses she'd had to carry away from her experiences in Silent Hill, why'd it have to be THAT one...!?]}

[He took some solace in the fact he wasn't alone. The topic wasn't something he really wanted anyone to be a part of, but if he was in charge of who was effected by Silent Hill or not he'd definitely be on that list. Or, he'd like to say that, but there was a feeling that maybe he was meant to go there, a feeling he couldn't exactly explain.]

[To say the least, he was caught off guard by what Heather was doing and immediately he began to worry.]

H-Heather are you okay?

[James didn't really know Heather's history with that place either. Hell he just recently found out from her that there was even a cult. He knew there was a religion from that place with weird traditions, but he just pegged it up to weird old stuff he really didn't know anything about, but it was actually a lot darker.]

[...Something he had learned to expect from the little resort town.]

_{[Squeezing her eyes shut and biting her lip, she held up one hand to show she was okay, waiting for the pain to pass. Once her muscles un-knotted themselves, she straightened up again.]}

Yeah... m'fine... sorry about that.

_{[This is what happened when a somewhat large portion of your trauma involved a demonic, otherworldly fetus growing inside you. In times of stress, your body would just sort of randomly blip back into the OH MY GOD BABIES mindset. Heather did not appreciate it.]}

[James was hardly convinced, but he didn't think he'd be able to get an answer out of her about what exactly happened there.]

It's alright... But really, are you okay?

[James may not be the doting Father Harry is, but he's a concerned friend at least!]

_{[Maybe someday, James. Maybe someday.]

[She pauses a little before replying, and when she does, she just sounds... resigned.]}

M'as okay as ever. Don't worry about it, man.

_{[She smiles tiredly, though she knows he's gonna keep worrying anyway.]}

How about you?

Aside from the nightmares, r'you holding up?

... Have you gotten to your wife yet?

[James followed suit in that silence. It wasn't for he same reasons as Heather, more so he was just thinking.]

[Though once he realized he had been silent a little longer than he had intended, he was quick to fix it.]

I.. Well I'm okay... I guess.

[Que another pause.]

Yeah... I have.

[James was keeping that short. While he was happy to see his wife, there were things he couldn't quite explain, so leaving it there would be for the best.]

[Though if Heather questioned further, there wasn't much else he could do but avoid it entirely, or explain how he was feeling on the subject... Which to say the least, was quite a feat to do since he wasn't even sure of how he felt on things.]

_{[Heather wasn't much of a nosy person to just anybody, but James was her friend and his silence was... weird. He'd spent so much time NOT SHUTTING UP about his wife and now that she was here, she'd have thought he'd be ecstatic.]}

... Did I miss something?

You don't uh... seem very enthusiastic.

_{[Heather had been a little weirded-out by Mary's TRADITIONAL HOUSEWIFE-NESS but she seemed like a sweet lady-- and a good match for James for that matter.]}

Haven't you been looking for her this whole time?

[James sort of stared off for a second, looking unsure as to what to say. He had been looking for Mary this whole time, without a doubt. But he hadn't expected finding her to feel so... bittersweet.]

[He had thought once he found her everything would be great, he'd be happy, she'd be happy everything would be exactly as it was. But it wasn't. No. There was some feeling deep in the pit of James' stomach that just made things seem wrong. He couldn't explain why, but it just hurt to see her.]

[It hurt to be without her and hurt almost just as much to be with her again and he couldn't explain why. He should be happy.]

I... I don't know. It's hard to explain. I mean, of course I am psyched to see her, I've been without her for so long... Three whole years... But for some reason something feels--I dunno...

[James decided it'd be best to leave it at that. It wasn't like he could explain something that didn't make sense to himself anyways.]

_{[Heather's brows furrowed. He hadn't mentioned before that he'd been separated from her for three years....]}

... Were you guys divorced or something?

_{[That was the explanation that leaped to mind more readily than what ACTUALLY happened... Mary had mentioned to Heather that she'd been in the hospital, but it didn't occur to her that those things might be related.]}

[James sort of stared at the screen dumbfounded for a moment. Divorced? No, why would Heather even think that? Of course not, she was dead. Silly Heather!]

Oh no, we were never divorced. Just she got really ill three years ago...

[And with that he stopped, his expression looked almost pained, but he did his best to curve it, so it wouldn't be too suspicious. He really didn't want to go into any further detail than that.]

_{[Luckily, she doesn't expect anything. It's normal to be upset about your spouse getting sick, right?]}

... She DID say she'd been in the hospital... but she looks pretty okay to me NOW.

What's the deal?

[James shrugged.] Yeah she looks better now. A lot better...

[Well considering the last James saw of Mary was when she died and didn't quite look her best...]

I can't honestly say. I can't explain it. I'm happy but something just feels.. Off.

[James kind of stares off more a moment, as if trying to discern what exactly that feeling was, but it was obvious he was still just as clueless as before. Letting out a sigh he just stared at the camera with a lost, almost puppy-dog like expression.]

_{[Heather just stared back, one brow furrowed and the other raised questioningly. You're sounding a little weird there, James. But he looks so damn miserable that friend wins out over the skeptic in Heather for the moment]}

You gonna be okay, man?

Yeah... I think I'll be fine.

[James was as skeptical about his own feelings as you were at him, Heather. He wish he could explain it, he wish he knew what was wrong, why he felt this way.]

[But he couldn't and he didn't.]

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