route_1065 | five days after black and red collide

Who: Dale Cooper and Heather Mason
Where: The Ecruteak City Dinerrrr
When: December 14th
Summary: After those three days that were lost a lot of people probably had weird dreams about things they can't for the life of them remember. Coop and Heather are two of these people. And they've got some things to talk about. _{(..or as Kit excellently summarized it, this is AWKWARD CANON ENCOUNTERS: THE THREAD.)}
Rating: Oh umm, PG for possibly triggery conversation?
Log:

It's absolutely freezing out and the snow is falling thick and heavy when Dale Cooper makes his way to the Ecruteak City Diner, jacket collar folded up against the wind and hands buried deep in his pockets for what little warmth there is to be found there. He's not particularly used to this kind of winter despite having grown up with something resembling it - he blames having lived in California for the past nine years where the winters are, honestly, quite pitiful attempts at everything the season is meant to be.

Especially when compared to Johto. Good old sparkling completely-covered-in-snow Johto. The weatherman had announced a break in the persistent precipitation yesterday, but today's weather is another prime example of just how trustworthy those people are. The weather gods must be at odds with them. Either that or the deities have a not-so-secret penchant for practical jokes.

Needless to say he's cold and shivering a little once he enters the diner, gratefully shutting out the wind and swirling snow behind him as the little chime above the door welcomes him inside. It's warm in there - warm and quiet. Doesn't look like a lot of people felt like braving the weather to get a cup of coffee better than what the Inn can offer (which really isn't all that good, in his opinion, entirely too mild) but Cooper is a man of habit ... or standard, if you will, and if he's going to start the day with coffee it better be a (damn) good cup of the stuff.

And that's what he's set on, really. He takes his coat off even as he walks through the area to one of his favourite booths: by the windows, just a little secluded, comfortable seats. He's got a few things to ponder and brought one of his notebooks, but his first priority is to allow himself to just melt into the seat for a second there.

...and man that is sweet. But what will be even sweeter is coffee. And possibly something sugary.

Waaaiiiitress? c:

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's the most 'intimate' physical contact he's ever initiated with her, and the weight isn't lost on her. It's hard to find it comforting, given the seriousness of the situation... but she appreciates it all the same. Where she might have jerked away and snarled a 'Don't touch me!' four or five months ago, she only looks up at him.

There's no grin on her face. Although she's been generous with those quiet, determined smiles of reassurance, right now she just looks perfectly serious, albeit fairly calm, given the circumstances.

"I will..." is what she first murmurs, gaze sliding off of Cooper's face and off to the side, thoughtfully.

But then it snaps back to him after a second or two, and although there are still traces of fright lingering on her face, there's a certain grim, hardness in her eyes. Part of it is resigned, somehow-- but an equal part of it is something else. Something steadfast and sure.

"This isn't the first time something like this has happened. ... I'll be fine."

Although it could easily be mistaken, there's something about the way she says 'something like this' that indicates that she does not mean other encounters with BOB. Not specifically, anyway. She's already told him about the times she's seen his face.

Cooper doesn't make that mistake, but he also doesn't put a lot of weight to it. He probably will come morning when he will undoubtedly go over it all in his head, but for now, it doesn't mean more to him than what he already knows: that Heather's been through a lot.

Right now, he attributes it to the evil salt and pepper shakers, the cult in general. Alessa was abused by their hands and today's coffee demonstration made sure he wouldn't forget. Death by someone else's hands, right? Death by evil forces that are using others to get to you?

It's pretty similar. And it's not at all what she means, but he doesn't know that. Not right now.

But studying her face, he nods slowly. He doesn't want to argue with the look she's giving him. He's worried, and he's going to stay worried for ... a while, but if he didn't already know it today made pretty clear that she's a fighter.

And while he doesn't feel too optimistic about her fate if BOB keeps showing himself to her, he does trust that she'd put up one hell of a fight.

There's even a hint of a smile in the tug of his mouth when he lets her go.

(Man, they've sure done a lot of bonding in this little town.)

"Alright."

Because what else can he say, really.

They really have.

It's something she'll associate with Ecruteak long after she's moved on to other cities, and it's not a bad association to make.

Her own mouth corners quirk up slightly, although her expression remains rather solemn, even as he lets go.

"I'm serious. I'll be fine. I always am in the end. One way or another."

Just to REALLY IMPRESS IT UPON HIM-- or try to. It's likely there's very little the girl can do to dispell the terror of BOB, really. But she's trying, if only to give Cooper a little peace of mind to last him the night.

He nods again and even if he doesn't take her words entirely to heart, well ... there's still a small kind of comfort in the way she presses it despite knowing what's going on. Despite having seen it first hand.

So he tilts his head just slightly, lets her words be for a moment, but it is clear he paid attention to them, before he indicates the stairs. It's not like they're going to stand around the lobby all day, and they are on the same floor.

Doesn't answer, though.

"Coming up?", because if not, he's gonna go ahead himself. He needs to sort a few things out.

She nods.

"Oh-- ... yeah."

Her feet feel almost sluggish as she turns to head for the stairs, but they pick up speed at the prospect of a hot shower and getting to curl up in bed under a pile of blankets and Pokemon afterwards. Although she'd never have predicted it when she'd first arrived in Johto and become acquainted with her slobbery starter, surprisingly she finds that right now, one of the few things she can think of to make herself feel better about this whole alarming situation is having Cujo's warm, thick-furred weight pressed up for her to bury her face in.

"Just gonna take it easy for the rest of the night, I think. ... You?"

She hopes he will.

If it's physically possible for him to take it easy.

Starting to pick up on how troubled his mind can be, is she?

The answer is of course a no, regardless of how much he'd like to kick back and just forget about it, even if only for a moment, but he knows full well that's not how it's going to play out. Then again, who can blame him? In some ways this is to him what it was to her when Vincent and Claudia showed up, except in Cooper's case this is more about pure terror than personal betrayal.

He will naturally obsess over it, turn it over in his head, and feel, well ... absolutely terrible that BOB seems to find Heather to his liking.

Then there's the part she doesn't know, of course: that he'd once again seen the Little Man ... and Audrey Horne.

In short, he's got a lot to think about, and he's not going to deny it.

"I've got some work to do," he answers briskly in a way that doesn't quite manage to cover up how weary he's actually feeling. But hey, he's trying. And knowing himself he can probably relax for at least five minutes when he'll open the hotel room door to be greeted by a small army of happy magical creatures happy to see him. That's one little thing to look forward to, after all.

Yeah. It's personal. And for that reason, Heather can't and doesn't expect him to be overly comforted by anything she says.

But she's still trying. She can't not.

Glancing at him sidelong as she climbs the stairs, she frowns a little bit. Doesn't sound like he'll be getting any sleep tonight...

"... Y'know, my dad makes really good tea. We could bring you a cup later."

The relaxing kind.

Nobody needs caffeine when they're already anxious.

That makes him smile, just a bit, and he contemplates it before he makes a small sound in agreement.

"That would be great. Thank you."

He can see what lies behind the offer and that's why he's not going to turn it down.

At the acceptance of the offer, she gives him a small smile.

"I'll ask Dad to make some after I take a shower."

God knew she was kind of craving some herself, and she wasn't even a huge fan of tea.

"All right. I guess I'll see you then."

Having reached the top of the stairs at that point, and it really only being a matter of steps to get to his room, it seems a good place to say bye.

There's a very, very brief thought that it might be the last time, but he shakes it off, not wanting to explore that any further.

"Yeah. See you in a bit."

She flashed him a last hopefully-reassuring smile, before continuing on to her own room.

And hoping to dear god that she'd feel well enough to give him a more real one later.

five days after black and red collide

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Aaaaand that's a wrap? :U