victory_road | 001. [Video/Action for Cherrygrove City]

_{[Heather didn't make any video posts during the long, long slog from the rocky slopes of Route 46 to the pleasant, nostalgic beaches of Cherrygrove.]

[That reason is because she and everybody else on the hike look like absolute shit.]

[Even after a VERY LONG shower (thank god for Pokemon Centers that virtually never run out of hot water), there's still grime on her skin. SHE CAN FEEL IT. But oh well, she's gotta make a video anyway. So here network, please accept for your consideration one (1) exhausted, disheveled Heather Mason in what is very obviously a generic T-shirt on loan from the Center itself.]

[Behind her is what everyone will no doubt recognize as a Center lobby-- a place she hasn't had to crash in in years.]}

Well, that sucked.

Hey, everybody.

This is Heather, checkin' in along with Henry-- _{[She shifts the 'Gear to the right so that it will show a man lying facedown and completely still across multiple lobby chairs, still streaked in mud and being tentatively nosed at by a very small Phanpy.]}-- and Envy-- _{[She starts to shift the 'Gear to the left but is cut off with an indignant bark of "DON'T FILM ME."]}

--well, point is, we're alive.

Uh, Lust? We're gonna stay here-- or in the hotel if we can scrounge the money-- for the night, and then fly home in the morning.

And Tobias? I did wind up gettin' a couple of Blake's Pokemon-- uh, a Kingler and a Gallade. Didn't check their names, but they're there. So, I'll be takin' care of those unless he comes back, I guess.

_{[She lifts a hand to cover up a barely-stifled yawn-- there's still dirt under her nails.]}

So yeah I'm gonna go sleep forever now. Peace.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Alphonse is waiting outside the Pokemon Center for the trio, his attention switching between a game on his Gear and keeping an eye out down the road for them. He got into town a few days ago, and he's been staying in the Center since then while he helps with crisis calls.]

[But finally when he looks up there's something worth taking note of, and he pockets the Gear to go jogging up to meet them.] Hey, there you--holy crap, you all look like hell.

--gee, thanks.

_{[She can't keep the dryness out of her voice as she says it, even as she gingerly makes her way to Al and gives him a limp, one-armed hug. She doesn't have the energy to deliver one of her usual full-throttle bearhugs and that alone says a lot about the ordeal they've just been through.]}

[Envy doesn't even respond, which also says a lot about what they've just gone through.]

[No, he just straight up ignores Al and walks right on by, his entire being focused on the doors of the Center as though if he stops moving he'll just keel right over.]

[His shoulder bumps into Al's on the way, but it's barely even a bodycheck and more it would take more effort to correct his path than not.]

[AND AWAY HE GOES, THROUGH THE DOORS.]

[BYE]

_{[And here comes Henry, dead last on his long legs. However he does not wear a look of defeat. Oh no! His face is serene and his eyes stare out beyond Al as he approaches the boy. His face is streaked (deliberately) with mud and in one hand is a stick with a sock tied around one end. The sock has a little face made of rocks and more mud.]}

I don't feel like hell though...I feel free. At peace. I am one with nature. I accept death.

[--WELL, FUCK YOU TOO, ENVY??? Al will just...uh. Return Heather's attempt at a hug and give Henry a very worried look.]

If, uh...if you say so. Come on, we can all catch back up after you've washed up and sat down for a bit.

[Seeing as he's the only uncompromised person here at the moment, Al turns to lead the way inside, keeping an arm around Heather's back if she needs it.]

_{[ENVY'S HAD A ROUGH WEEK OK]

[And so has Henry. Henry is not okay.]

[Groaning, Heather doesn't bother yelling after Envy to act civil. She just plods onwards. Behind them all, a tiny line of three Phanpys holding onto each others' tails comes trundling after them.]}

Yeah... I gotta get everybody up to the counter so that they can heal first. After that, showers.

I would literally kill a man for a shower right now.

Please don't, I can't make bail for you right now.

[He's...pretty sure she's joking about that. He really hopes she is.]

[Thankfully the doors to the Center are automatic, so there's no juggling of bodies to be made as the group trudges in, and if the Joys are surprised to see a bunch of trainers arrive in such a state, they at least don't make any comment about it. Pokeballs are handed over, cheery music plays, and finally Al ushers the weary trio over to the showers.]

I'm gonna go get food for you all while you're getting clean; anything you're craving?

_{[For all that she's probably the most "there" of the trio right now, Heather still zones right the fuck out while they're all standing at the counter waiting for Joy to finish up with the Pokemon. No conversation, no smalltalk. She's perfectly happy to just lean on the counter with her head bowed and her eyes shut.]

[Only the prospect of a nice, hot, water-that-doesn't-smell-like-swamp shower is enough to get her engine running again.]}

Craving?

Food. Food in general.

... But no salads. Nothing that can be found in nature.

Maybe something deep-fried.

Alphonse, you're an angel descended from the heavens and we all owe you a life-debt, but if you'll excuse me I'm gonna go lie on the floor of a shower stall until all my skin is boiled off.

001. [Video/Action for Cherrygrove City]

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[action] THIS WAS APPARENTLY NEVER REPLIED TO, sorry for the lateness, just wrapping the thread up!