closed ― he's not coming back

[ingestion]

WHO: Heather Mason + Dylan Brock
WHEN: After the event, prior to the V-day mingle
WHERE: Corrine's Cafe
WHAT: Meeting up to discuss past problems + pet play date
NOTES\WARNINGS: none at the moment

( heather had intended on meeting up with dylan right after their text introduction, with her little friend more than excited to meet a new [bug] friend. unfortunately for them both [and all residents of etraya], the next mission came swooping in and hauled them into a rather long affair.

it wasn't until they returned back and heather picked up mr. cheese from the hospital, that she sent dylan a quick message to meet up again. she suggested corrine's cafe at first, implying it to be a good jumping point for whatever else they wanted to do or go.

she arrived first, securing a table with a large box for the two creatures to hang in while they talked. with a coffee in hand, when she saw him come in, heather smiled and held it up as a greeting. )

Hey, Dylan I presume? Sit, want anything to drink or eat?

Comments

[codicies]

Dylan approaches with Jake on his shoulder, grinning and waving as he makes his way over to Heather's table. "That'd be me. Nice to meet you, Heather."

He looks into the box. "And I take it this is Mr. Cheese? Come on, Jake, meet your new buddy." He puts his hand in to offer scritches, letting the beetle climb down his arm as he does so.

"I think you had the right idea with that coffee."

[ingestion]

As he approached the table, Heather took a sip of her drink before placing it down and moving her eyes to look at the box below her. Mr. Cheese seemed content enough with the attention, showing little to no hesitation towards both Dylan and Jake. With a twitch of his nose and whiskers, he rose up to accept the affection and welcome in his new friend.

Once Heather felt confident the two would get along well enough not to fight each other, she returned her focus to her guest and nodded her head a bit before speaking. "Had trouble sleeping last night? Need a pick me up?" Her voice is a bit teasing, but really she's trying to see what kind of person he was. So far, all she knew was how hard things had been for him back home, being homeless and all.

[codicies]

Beneath the beetle's large crest are little feelers that Jake uses to explore the box and his new buddy. Dylan settles across the table from her with a hollow laugh. "Yeah. I even had this crazy dream we were all stuck on a train."

Of course, the callouses and minor burns on his hands and fingertips are enough of a reminder of all the dangerous grunt work the train had him doing among the Dregs.

A robot waiter comes by and Dylan orders his own coffee and a pastry, watching the animals play as he waits for it to be brought over.

"He loves to show off his strength. I bet if we got a little cart or something, Jake would enjoy pulling him around in it."

[ingestion]

"Uh....hate to break it to you but that wasn't a dream.", she quipped immediately with a smile still resting on her face. As much as it felt like a hazy and confusing dream, it was very much real and she was very much there for the uprising and after math of it all. Thankfully she was more than glad to be back in Etraya, returning to whatever 'normal' meant here.

As the robot waiter rolled by, she sat back in her chair in a more comfortable posture, drink still in hand as she watched him and took in all of his details. He seemed quite familiar to what she would run into at home, and most certainly not at all like one of the various people running around here from an older point in time.

"Yeah? I wonder if that was part of the whole egg thing...Mr. Cheese also seems to like showing off a bit too. How long have you been here anyways? I haven't kept up with the new arrivals but I don't think I saw you at my party in December?"

okay back to this thread

[codicies]

Dylan shakes his head. "Nope, didn't get here until January. Guess you'll just have to throw another one."

He's a scruffy looking kid, but his clothes are clean, if basic & focused on comfort more than style. He could probably stand to get a haircut, if only to take care of some split ends. But he's definitely skinny — Not as malnourished as when he got here, but there is clearly some evidence that he was telling the truth about being homeless.

"So... as much as I love talking about our pets, there was another subject we were talking about before." His voice is softer as he says it, his expression uncertain. "If you still want to talk about it, I'll listen."

[ingestion]

"You know, that's not the worst idea but having to look after drunks at my party is....a bit of a chore.", she said. The last time she was lucky because Gorgug helped her out and kept an eye on things, dragging away Hank who so happened to be that person at a party. It's a suggestion she'll keep at the back of her mind—

perhaps a yearly tradition? But the thought of being here long enough to do that was also rather daunting.

"Oh my dad?", she said, keeping her eye on him and wondering if she really should divulge much. At this point she had told an abridged version of that specific event to so many people, and while she had appreciated the sympathy, by now the only emotion that remained was an intense amount of regret over not saving him. Still, looking over Dylan and seeing him in a rather questionable state that led credence to his story did make her feel like trusting him was probably not the worst thing she could do. So she decided he would get the story people like Harold got—

"Yeah he passed away shortly before I arrived and I never got a chance to really mourn him. I'm doing it now though, taking some suggestions people here have given me."

tw for briefly implying abuse from an alcoholic caretaker

[codicies]

"Okay, yeah, probably a good call. I've... known a chronic drunk or two. That aftermath is not a good time."

Of course, Heather's not the only one holding back details. But Dylan's not going to trauma-dump about his grandfather's violent temper on a first meeting like this, especially when he was hoping to help talk her through her problems. Besides, Dylan doesn't need to talk about old childhood trauma. It's in the past and the solution is clearly to not think about it anymore. That is the healthy option with zero drawbacks.

His expression softens when she talks about losing her dad not long ago. He knows what that feels like... several times over, actually. But he doubts Heather's from the kind of world where death can be undone.

"That sucks. And getting pulled into another universe so soon after... that's gotta be rough." It is rough. He knows that from experience. "It sounds like you've got people helping you through it. What have they been recommending?"

[ingestion]

His kindness is something she's begun to find here and while people like Vincent kept whispering in her ear not to trust anyone so easily, she found it hard to follow his advice fully. It truly seemed that most of the people here were just like her―

a little bit lost, easy going enough, and not looking to start trouble with anyone. Dylan seemed that way, especially given how trusting his own pet seemed to be with him. With a softer expression she spoke up, but not before taking another sip of her drink.

"Well one friend recommended building a little shrine for my father, a picture of him, some of his favorite things and keeping it at home. Another recommended I write his memoir, a recollection of his life. For myself...well I'm doing what he always told me to do. Be happy."

[codicies]

Dylan listens, giving an approving nod. "Yeah, that all sounds reasonable. I mean, I'm not a therapist, but it's good that you're writing down what you remember about him while it's still fresh in your mind."

He briefly considers making a shrine, too, but quickly dismisses it. The impermanence of death in his world has already brought dad back from oblivion twice, who's to say it won't happen again? Besides, he's got some... mixed emotions about his father. Dylan loves him, but isn't sure enshrinement is the appropriate course of action. Maybe if it were like, one of those one-day things... maybe. If other people were doing it.

"The shrine thing sounds kind of like Dia de los Muertos. Or O-bon in Japan. Maybe it'd be good for Etraya to dedicate a whole day to people we lost."

[ingestion]

"Yeah, yeah.", she said at his comment, smiling a bit. It was true, none of them were too well equipped to deal with the complexities that came with how difficult life was, much less help others fully with their issues at a professional level but the best they could do was be there for each other.

"It does doesn't it? Not that I've heard of O-bon but uh....yeah. As for that, I wonder if Aurora would be up for it. I'm already thinking of asking her for a huge favor so I'm not sure...", she said, thinking back on her plan. If she told Dylan was she was fully going to do, he might call her out on it, repeating the whole 'therapist' thing.

[codicies]

"Yeah, I read about O-bon somewhere and thought it was interesting." And by read about it he means he saw it in an anime, but Heather doesn't need to know that.

He wonders for a moment what kind of favor she'd ask for related to her father. Would she put in a request for Aurora to pull her father in, too? From an earlier point in the timeline? He knows from experience how muddy that sort of thing can get. Besides, if people could make those kinds of requests, they'd be doing it. Surely that's not it.

"Using the whole point thing? What sort of favor?"

[ingestion]

If she knew about it, and he was willing to share, they'd probably get along far better than he would have imagined. For now though she simply shrugged her shoulders and kept an eye on their pets, making sure they were still getting along well.

As far as his second question went, unfortunately she wasn't bold enough to ask for such a thing [at least not until someone else implanted that idea in her mind]. No, this was something a bit different.

"Well I was going to ask Aurora for a building, as crazy as that sounds. It doesn't have much to do with my father, but I think if he knew what I was up to here, he'd be proud."