victory_road | Great googly moogly, it's all gone to [extremely loud incorrect buzzer]

Envy decides to keep to himself that he doesn't feel bad at all.

"Anyway."

The preoccupying weight of things like "corral Scar" and "call Lust to tell her about Scar" and "stand witness to That" is starting to recede. Had the reunion been awkward? Yes. But now it was done and they didn't have to wonder about what the hell was going to happen. A grin starts to form on his face.

"It's good to have you back."

ANYWAY!!!

Leaning back against the counter with a thoughtful huff herself, Heather turns away from the rotating pepperonis and back to her prodigal brother, finally smiling again.

"I'll say. C'mere, I want another hug."

If he's not fast enough she's gonna get'em.

Henry's arms stick out to the sides and he sets his feet apart on the tile to form a STANCE. He lets her get 'em. He puts his arms around her and butts his forehead against hers.

"Guess what...I'm addicted to cigarettes again. So that's gonna be fun. I want a Koffing so bad."

He shoots Envy a pitiful look since he's the one that can see his face.

"The last thing I remember...was the Elite Four. How's that going?"

Envy shuffles over to stand Near the hug that's happening. Hug adjacent.

He honestly doesn't know enough about cigarette addiction to comment much more on that than pulling a face, if only because he sort of remembers when Henry had quit the last time. It hadn't seemed pleasant.

"Well, we've been working on a gym out near Ecruteak, times of year when the weather's good enough. I don't think it'll be too much longer before it's ready."

STANCE ASSUMED, HUG INCOMING!

With a little less force than she might normally do it with, because... well, you know. Broken wrist, fresh out of the Otherworld... also, she's tired. But she still squeezes him with gusto, giving a little RRRRRRRGH growl for emphasis.

"Congratulations on killing God. Now you get to be in the cool club with me and Dad. Who's proud of you too, by the way."

She remembers having that talk with her father, after the first time Henry disappeared. How there was no doubt in their minds that he'd succeed.

"And we'll help with the cigarette thing."

The gym HAs been looking more and more complete-- although she has a feeling she won't really believe it's done until they open it for real and she sees it full of trainers (as full as it will get in the weird no-man's-land between Ecruteak and Mahogany, anyway-- but that's why they chose it).

"Maybe we can take you out there tomorrow and give you a little tour."

"I would like that..." Wow, his friends were Gym Leaders. It was amazing to think. How far they had come. How people like them were making a place for themselves in this strange, wonderful world of Pokemon.

At the mention of Harry, he takes it to mean that he wasn't around. He feels a little somber about that, but he understands. It happens. And he'd been a good man. Without Heather and his help, he never would have left the woods. Hell, he might be a cryptid to this very day! Just him, a loin cloth, and that twisted deep fryer basket he used to brain Hoot Hoots with when they dove him in the dead of night.

"There's so much of this world I haven't seen. I need to see all of it."

"Maybe once it's not so hot out, we could go out traveling."

He's not big on sweating. ~~Could NEVER be Scar and his August coat~~. But he also doesn't want to see Henry go off on his own immediately after getting him back.

"Or...you do need to go pick your Pokemon up, don't you? Heather, where was that place? The ranch? That's traveling."

"Yeah, the uh... Together Forever Ranch or something. It's near Lavender Town, over in Kanto."

They could PROBABLY even find a way to do it that wouldn't involve ANY camping! 8')

"But before any of that, once you've settled back in, I'm gonna make you pick out a ritzy restaurant and then I'm taking you there. As a God-Killing Graduation present."

Because she can afford it now. B)

And Envy can come too, she guesses. Even if he hasn't killed God.

"I miss them so much...I haven't seen them in years and also in minutes. It's so weird."

A fancy restaurant outing and a quest to reclaim his Pokemon. It sounded like a plan!

"I've never been to Kanto--or. Maybe I have." He shakes his head. "I haven't been there though. I remember reading that the town used to be haunted. Do you think it still is? I'm...kind of tired of ghosts."

He'll happily come to the killed God party even though he doesn't quite have the credentials. It's less of a party with just two people, anyway.

"I think there's ghost Pokemon around, but I know there's a lot of fashion that comes from there."

He would know about that aspect. Especially since there's a fair amount of goth designers ...although maybe that's because of it being haunted. Hm.

"And there's a radio tower. So it can't be too haunted."

"Well, we can always bring our Dark-types. God knows Envy's got plenty of those."

She does too, but. It's kind of Envy's whole thing.

"I wouldn't be too worried. And if it sucks, well... you already know about the warp pads."

They can HIT DA BRICKS.

Henry nods thoughtfully. He could always just warp back. Retrieving his Pokemon wasn't the only reason the journey was a good idea. He would have more of the world opened up to him. More Pokemon Centers to work at.

"Yeah."

The kettle behind him whistles and he turns to pour the hot water into the tea pot.

"I'm looking forward to it."

"That's right, I can have us inside a protective anti-ghost-type guard at all times."

He's very pleased with himself about it.

"No ghosts'll get anywhere near you on my watch."

Henry doesn't have to be the one man ghost defense squad of the apartment anymore! He can just relax. His best friends, cult god and alchemy zombie, will take care of everything.

The microwave has long since dinged, but Heather's just leaving the pizza in there. It'll stay warm longer that way.

"We'll be a walking No-Ghost Zone. The Ghostbusters theme is just like, playing at all times within a fifty-meter radius of us."

After getting Scar set for his shower, Lust leaves him to it. There's no sense in hovering outside the door. And god knows she needs to sit and settle herself. It has been quite a tiring night, and it's beginning to catch up with her. The emotional upheaval, the mad dash from Ecruteak, reuniting with Scar...

She heads back downstairs, pulling her hair back into a haphazard ponytail so she can eat without it in her face. Food and a bit of special tea should certainly help. And of course she would like to greet Henry properly. His return had been...heavily overshadowed.

Attempting to make it very obvious she's coming back down, Lust steps heavily on the stairs to announce her descent. She has no doubts that she - and Scar - were a topic of discussion once they'd left the room. She seems mostly her usual self when she enters the room.

"Someone said something about pizza?"

A forcefield of Dark-types. No ghosts could get him. It feels so nice to have people behind him again.

"That's perfect--Lust!" Henry calls to her when he hears her footfalls. "The Tea is ready. And there's pizza in the microwave."

When Lust comes into view looking very normal, he gives her a smile. He's not gonna say anything about whatever all of That had been.

"It's so good to see you."

And here comes Lust!

Envy definitely caught the politely loud I'm-coming footsteps, and he doesn't blame her for thinking they might be discussing the Scene from earlier. If it weren't for Henry also having arrived home, they probably would have been. But luckily for her, she's safe from inter house gossip for now.

He does repay her politeness with his own of not bringing it up either. She's so normal and definitely wasn't crying on the floor.

"Welcome back, we were just talking about going to Lavender to get Henry's team back."

He can also let her know that they weren't gossiping! At least not right now.

INCREDIBLY, THEY WERE NOT TALKING ABOUT LUST!! ~~That's for later!!!!~~

Heather had honestly been relieved for the chance to focus on Henry, even if it was only for a little idle chatter. He seems happy, and relaxed. And coming fresh out of Silent Hill, that's the perfect best of the best-case scenarios.

"Yup, it's in the microwave. Should still be warm, but you can always nuke it for another ten seconds if it's not hot enough. ... So how is... uh..."

HOW IS YOUR TRAUMATIZED HIGH BOYFRIEND DOING, IS HE OK.

"It's good to see you, too." Lust does manage a friendly smile for Henry. She is quite fond of the man, they'd forged a friendship by the time he'd left. He's a part of this household and it's good to have him back.

""Scar's fine, he's taking a shower. And thank you." She retrieves her pizza and her cup of tea, grateful for both. "Lavender town sounds like a very good idea. It's getting to be a good time to travel, with summer on the way out soon."

And she imagines Henry is eager to reunite with his Pokemon. God knows she would be. Perhaps Scar would be interested in the trip as well. His Pokemon had been important to him.

She settles herself on the couch with her dinner and her tea, going for the latter first. Already she's resisting the urge to glance at the stairs, her mind refusing to focus on anything but the Ishbalan man in her shower.

Envy, thankfully, knows better than to make an inappropriate joke about the shower right this second. Especially after That had happened!

He grabs his own second mug of tea and another pizza slice to go join her. Isn't it nice to just easily go to sit in the living room without it being a whole wrangle!

"It's not too far from Saffron, so if we take the train it won't be a bad hike."

Ugh, hiking. But it could be worse, and he'll do it for Henry's sake. He has not considered the idea that Scar might also be hiking with them just yet. He sips his tea, very ready to settle back in to round two of not thinking a lot, less stress edition.

Wandering into the living room after Lust, Heather flops right down on the floor.

Now that the most stressful aspect of this unexpected reunion has passed, she no longer feels the need to be stoned-- the cold pizza is calling to her much more loudly than the tea.

"Yeah, n'I know the terrain around Saffron fairly well... spent the better part of a year there awhile back."

For one bittersweet moment, she wonders if the farm that Cooper and Carmen had spent so much time on is still there. That moment is enough for her to know, decisively, that she'd rather not know. Thankfully, the path to Lavender will be taking them west, not north.

"It's a neat city. I forget, have either of you guys been there?"

Henry follows the little procession with more pizza and tea. For a moment, he's torn. He could sit on the couch with the homunculi or he could sit on the floor with Heather. After a moment of obvious decision making, he sits on the floor with Heather so that things would be even.

Plus, there would be room for Scar when he got out of the shower!

Henry blows on his tea before taking a sip, savoring that bitter taste. He has a thought. Then he smiles and says,

"I want to see some Pokemon. Right now."

"I have been, but not in years. I barely remember it."

Lust sips her tea slowly, letting her dinner cool. The taste of it is soothing, even before the effects begin to hit her. Though she hopes they will soon.

Henry's comment reminds her.

"Oh!" She rarely keeps any of her Pokemon in their balls, but for this trip...well, it had been the quickest way. But she's home now and there's no sense keeping them confined any longer.

"Here we are." She retrieves the six balls and sets out her little family of psychic cats. Four Espurr and two Meowstic - one male and one female. They tumble out in a collection of giant eyes and soft purrs and meows.

"I've been too, but yeah it's been a while."

And then, suddenly, a pile of cats!

"I could whistle and wake up some of mine, but that might turn into a stampede pretty quick. You fine with that?"

Henry's just gotten back here from he and Heather's fucked up nightmare world so he's not so sure about mobbing him with too many large animals.

With half a slice of pizza literally crammed down her throat, Heather goes "MM!" and visibly perks up when Henry mentions 'Pokemon'.

Because YES!!! Now they can share Pokemon!!

Before Lust had come back downstairs, she'd been waiting for a good moment to let Cujo out to greet one of his missing favorite humans, but... well, there would be a lot of barking and jumping around and flying slobber. Henry might not appreciate that right this second, and Lust definitely wouldn't appreciate that right this second.

However, this is Pokemon-land. She has options.

"Henry," she says (a little thickly, after swallowing), "I know a bunch of my team is gonna be really happy to see you again, but first, there's someone I want you to meet. I will be right back."

AND THEN SHE SKITTERS OFF SOMEWHERE. Because while she does keep many of her Pokemon in balls simply because her life would be an unending sea of perpetual chaos if she didn't, she doesn't have any of them on her person when she's in her pajamas.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject