[Video, backdated to May 4th or so]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[WELLP. Heather's on a rooftop at the crack of dawn. That always means good news!]

[Or not. Weirdly, it's... actually been awhile since she's had to do something like this. A good, long while.]

[Losses are nothing new. She's had dozens of them over the years, some close and some not. In a horrible way, they almost fade into the background after awhile. As long as none of your core group leaves, the way others come and go eventually stops meaning so much.]

[And no matter how long you're here, it's easy to let your defenses be lulled by the longterm presence of friends into thinking that they are in any way permanent.]

[Which is why Heather is up on one of the higher towers on Goldenrod, sitting on a deep window-ledge with Hurricane the Pidgeot roosting nearby, and the yellow fuzz of a Joltik nestled in the hood of her vest for moral support-- Mully's been with her for so many of these.]

[After popping the video on, she offers whoever might be watching at this hour a weary smile. She doesn't look like she's been crying... she just looks tired.]</sub>

What's up, Goldenrod City. And the rest of Johto. ... And Kanto.

I guess.

I feel like I only ever make my own videos anymore when like... something super emotional and serious happened. I'm gonna make a late new year's resolution to cut that out and start recording dumb stuff like reaction videos to the cereal running out or something. I dunno.

What that was a lead-in to was that if anyone out there knew Henry Townshend-- and a few years ago this might not have even been worth it, but he's been opening up and getting out a LOT more lately-- he's... gone.

I honestly never... thought it'd happen.

But here we are.

Unlike me, he actually had something important to do back home. Had to save the world from something pretty crazy that he didn't sign up for, that he had to spend years here recovering from because it messed him up so much.

He was always scared he wouldn't be able to do it, that he'd just crumble when the time came.

But after watching him grow, all these years? I... hope that everything he's done here will give him the confidence he needs-- deserves. I believe in him. If you only knew him as your... zest dealer, or the guy at the Pokemon Center, that might sound nuts, but I promise you, he's something special.

_{[Okay, she may not have cried before making the video, but her voice does crack a little on that last sentence. She lets out a sigh, lifting a hand first to rub the side of her face and then to gently scratch the Joltik's head.]}

My 'Oh no someone I loved is gone!' videos used to be a lot more explosive. One time I tried to smash a Pokemon egg on video-- this guy's egg, actually-- because I didn't have anger management issues, I was the anger management that angry customers ask to speak to. I don't know if that joke landed or not. Don't tell me.

Point is, I uh... handle things better, now.

So I'm not gonna smash anything.

But... I wouldn't be me, and it wouldn't be a loss video... if I didn't do a little somethin'.

_{[She turns the 'Gear a little bit so that she can lift up a large Sawsbucks chocolate-chip matcha frap with almost an entire extra cups' worth of whipped cream on top. Don't even ask her how she got it up here.]}

This is Henry's favorite Sawsbucks drink.

And to celebrate us being anti-authoritarian rebels sticking it to the man in various rude and awful ways forever, I'm gonna pour it out right over Main Street.

... And then drop some money down for dry-cleaning if it hits somebody. I'm technically supposed to be an adult now, and also my dad will probably see this video later and I think his dad powers might actually be strong enough to still ground a twenty-something.

_{[There's some rustling noises as she twists the 'Gear around to show the drop, and the sidewalk far below. She holds the drink out, top popped off.]}

To Henry... wherever you are. You'd better be killing God right now, you big stupid weirdo, or I'm gonna give you the wedgie of a lifetime the next time I see you.

<sub>[And then she upturns the drink.]

[It does not hit anybody. But it does leave a big green splat on the sidewalk that somebody's Lillipup immediately runs over to lick.]</sub>

... Sweet. Don't have to drop any money.

_{[The camera spins around again.]}

That was super satisfying. Now let's keep the train rolling. To everybody who replies, I will share a weird Henry story, because I am determined to laugh instead of crying. I've got tons and they're all great so even if you don't know him, you know you gotta hear about the stoner guy who once got picked up with the trash and rode all the way to a different city in a garbage truck one time.

Comments

audio

[a_sin_for_him]

He is something special. I thought he was the strangest man, when we first met...

[Lust is well used to loss, but...Henry's has cut her rather deeply. When she thinks back over the years in this house, Henry has always been a constant. So many come and go, in and out, but not Henry. He's always been here, a quiet presence that had grown to become exceptionally comforting. It had become a fact of her life, that regardless of how scattered her little cobbled together family was, Henry would always be there.]

[Except now he won't be.]

Did you know that for weeks I didn't even know his name? I called him 'Banana Man'.

...well I still called him that after I learned his name, but only for a few months.

audio

[foolishwren]

Well, you weren't wrong.

_{[HENRY WAS, IS, AND WILL PROBABLY ALWAYS BE A VERY STRANGE MAN.]}

I think he told me about that-- he butt-dialed you in the middle of the night talking about bananas, right? That was how that started?

[a_sin_for_him]

No, I suppose I wasn't.

Yes, he meant to contact Envy. He got me instead. I was asleep, and it was one of the most disorienting things...

[foolishwren]

Hehe, sounds like the standard 4 AM Henry Phonecall Experience.

But hey, did I ever tell you about the time he blackmailed me into a free lunch?

_{[BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO TELL FUN HENRY STORIES.]}

Video

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

[It's a hard loss for Harry as well, seeing as Henry was pretty much part of the family back even when it was just the three of them. But he's pleased Heather is taking it well. As well as you can.]

Never underestimate my dad powers.

[There's a smile, a sad smile but a smile.]

He can do it. I know he can.

And I'll never forget how we had to track him down in the forest to even get him to start travelling with us in the first place.

Video

[foolishwren]

<sub>[They've already had their own little talk about it-- probably even more than one.]

[But one thing is for sure-- she's grown a lot since the days when her responses to loss were violence and destruction. The hurt is still there. But she's a hell of a lot healthier.]</sub>

I never HAVE underestimated your dad powers.

_{[She laughs a little, but it trails off into a sigh.]}

... Me either.

I... wish you'd gotten to see him these past couple of years.

There were pitfalls every now and then, but... he was really coming into his own.

Video

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

[Definitely more then one. You don't just lose a member of the family, whose also gone back home to kill god and not have a few talks about it privately. There might be people here who have seen and experienced the town thanks to this places weirdness, and even those who know a lot or most of the story. But they're the only two left whose lives have been defined by it. Whose home world it was.]

[The hurt will always be there but it's expressing itself much healthier and so he's proud.]

You're too clever for that, I know.

[Yeah....]

Me too...I'm glad I got to see him though. Even for a little bit.

You'll have to fill me in on more of the stories I missed but....it was good to see him like that.

[Video]

[cyan_maid]

...Oh, no...I'd...I had wondered where he'd gone, he was...we worked at the Center together, but I never did manage to get to chat with him, or...

[Even though she didn't know him, there's still genuine sadness in Jane's expression. Truthfully, she'd been meaning to reach out to Henry for some time, since they worked in the same place and it'd only be right to know your fellow other-worlder coworker, but now...

Dammit.]

[Video]

[foolishwren]

--oh, wow, really? You worked with him?

_{[He talked plenty about his job, but more about the Pokemon he met than the people. She's not too surprised they'd never talked, both because the Goldenrod City Pokemon Center is always busy and also because, well, Henry.]}

Yeah, he...

He went a few days ago.

I'm sorry you guys never got to talk, but... well, in all fairness, he's not much of a talker.

[Video]

[cyan_maid]

Even so, that...it wasn't really right of me not to try before. Sure, it was always busy, and Dinah and I would end up tending to a lot of minor scrapes and cuts more than getting chances to take breaks, but...

[Jane frowns, glancing to the side a little sadly.]

You ought to get to know the people you work with, right?

video;

[shiro2hero]

[Because Heather's not the only one awake at Butts O'clock in the morning. Aka dawn. She's got better reasons. But his video still finds the spaceman sitting on the porch of their Sevii house, sympathy and weariness both all over his face.]

I... ran into him a few times. Always managed to throw off his photos at the worst possible time.

[He drags a hand down his face.]

Did any of his pokemon...? [Transfer? Are they still here...?]

video;

[foolishwren]

<sub>[At that, her expression falls a little bit.]

[All things considered, she's managed to come to terms with most of this pretty well. But that particular part still stings a little...]</sub>

No.

His Pokemon are all gone.

Which... I mean, I know it happens, but... I don't know.

In the past, there's always been... at least one...

video;

[shiro2hero]

Ah... Heather, sorry.

[He probably shouldn't have asked that. But it seemed like the logical next step. Krieg had one of Angel's pokemon. He had one of Allura's.]

I don't know how much it helps, but. He ... wouldn't be the first to go without leaving a pokemon behind.

[video]

[charcoalfeather]

[Rakka looks quietly depressed, not partly because she was tired at this hour, but the news of yet another person disappearing back to where they came. It's never an occasion she enjoys, and that's plain on her face when she starts to speak.]

I... I'm sorry. I never knew this person, and I don't think we met very much, but I'm still sorry for him disappearing.

I hope he saves the world from... whatever he should be doing.

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[Henry is one among many-- that much Heather is aware of. That lots of people have been disappearing. She knows that just happens from time to time... but man, when it rains, it pours.]}

He kept to himself, mostly.

He was kind of... gunshy around people.

But for all my trash-talk, I know he's got what it takes.

So I'm not worried so much as just... sad.

[video]

[charcoalfeather]

...I understand. A lot of people I knew here aren't around anymore, and back home... a good friend of mine disappeared.

[No, it wasn't disappeared, was it? She went away. Somewhere she still isn't sure of.]

He sounds like a good person. I wish I had the chance to talk to him now.

video;

[notvaljean]

I'm sorry, Heather.

[Jean didn't know Henry, but Heather is his friend, and he doesn't like her feeling bad.]

Fuck Sawsbucks, though.

[Seriously. Fuck those guys.]

Re: video;

[foolishwren]

Hey, Jean.

<sub>[HE'S UP FROM HIS LONG NAP! That's good!]

[But while she did offer him a tired smile right away, she looks surprised at the VEHEMENT DECLARATION OF HATRED TOWARDS THE MOST POPULAR MAINSTREAM COFFEE CHAIN!]</sub>

Whoa.

Did you find hair in your latte or something?

_{[She does not know what befell him at the hands of Sawsbucks.]}

video;

[notvaljean]

[Ah, distraction. That's always good when someone is sad, right?]

Those bastards fired me!

[Admittedly, he did just not come into work for a month, but it's not like it was his fault!]

[video]

[exeggutorhead]

[Envy's video is from his room, where he has been for the past several days straight. For probably a straight minute it's just a video of him staring directly into the camera, seeming deep in thought. There's a black, somewhat sparkly lump of feathers tucked tightly into the crook of one arm. Misery does love company.]

[Finally, Envy speaks up.]

Did...did you know he told me who spiderman was.

And then later he explained that he only dressed up as one. I thought he was a chimera.

With a lot of arms.

[video]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Oh jeez Envy...]

[Yeah, there's kind of a reason she came out HERE to do her griefpost because Envy's been VERY DEPRESSING these past few days.]</sub>

... Haha, well, to be fair... Spider-Man is, like, a spider mutant.

He just looks human.

He can still like, crawl up walls and shoot webbing and stuff.

[video]

[exeggutorhead]

[At...at least he didn't vanish into the woods this time. He hasn't been hard to keep track of at all, really only going as far as the bathroom (and even in this state, he's taken at least one or two showers) and sometimes the kitchen if nobody can be convinced to bring him food up.]

[Envy has to stop and think very hard about her response.]

Hm. Maybe like Greed's.

But...still.

And that was his nickname for...a while. And he called me Aquaman.

[He actually cracks something approaching a grin, thinking about it.]

video;

[armoredsoul]

You know, the first time I spoke with him, he'd mis-dialed me about getting some berries? Or--no, he'd wanted to go get high, I think. ...and then we started talking about ants.

[He sighs softly and leans back against a dark fuzzy bulk--hard to tell which Pokemon it is.]

I'm not sure there's any more accurate way to be introduced to him, honestly.

video;

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Al's not the first one to inform her that his first interaction with Henry involved misdialing, drugs, and an obscure conversation topic, so she starts to laugh.]

[Because that is apparently the quintessential Henry experience and she's not even surprised.]</sub>

No, I really don't think there is.

Unless you count finding him in the forest like a wild man.

Because that's how I met him and honestly that's pretty appropriate, too.

video;

[armoredsoul]

Heh--yeah, that's pretty true to character, too. Or--oh jeez, do you remember the whole toast ghost mess?

[Henry was hardly the one at fault there, but it was still a very Quintissential Henry Experience.]