Second Injection. [video - backdated to the night of the 9th.]

[bluedespitebeing]

I've been thinking about words.

[Hello, Route! Today, this nurse is blood- and static-free, and she's also tied her hair back in a loose ponytail. Seems she's quite comfortable. Her tone is more one of musing, than confusion, which is always a step-up in her book.]

Things can have a price, but they can also have a worth. And both of those are good things, generally, and reflect something's value. So why is it good when something is priceless, but not when it's worthless?

[Lisa shakes her head.]

I suppose it's not important. But--

[She's cut off by a sharp series of taps at her window behind her, and she turns to see...a Hoothoot. And frowns. That thing sure is staring at her pretty hard...]

Again? Maybe I shouldn't have fed it...

Comments

[Video]

[foolishwren]

_{[Fortunately, Heather looks quite a lot more stable than the last time they talked. Not bright and sunshiney like she was when she first greeted Lisa to Johto, but... better, anyway.]}

Very philosophical...

_{[Then she catches sight of the Hoothoot and grins a little.]}

I'm starting to think it's a tradition for us to wind up getting followed around by those things...

Gonna catch it?

[Video]

[bluedespitebeing]

[It's definitely a relief to see the girl doing better--after all, wounds should heal. With their history, Lisa might have distanced herself further had Heather still been as bad as before.

She focuses on the words, though, instead of those hypothetical feelings.]

Ah... Do these pokemon do this kind of thing often?

[The nurse studies the bird again, who puffs out his chest a bit before pressing his beak against the window.]

...I'm not sure. I only fed him because Peony kept stealing his food. [A pause, before her tone becomes a bit more uncertain.] Will he keep following me, if I don't?

[Video]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[In all honesty, Heather probably wouldn't have blamed her if that had been the case. The kind of deep, burning helplessness and rage she'd felt a few weeks ago... that sort of emotion is strong. And toxic. And while it couldn't hope to compare with what she had felt during those seven years on that hospital bed... it was the same rage.]

[But yes. She was doing better. Heather wouldn't let herself sink into despair. Couldn't. No matter how bad things got, you had to keep going. She'd done it after her life had been chewed up and spat out again by Silent Hill a year before coming here, and she'd do it again. No matter how difficult.]

[So she smiles, and it's genuine even if it's a little subdued.]</sub>

Sometimes, if they're friendly and they decide they like you.

Those round owls, though, us Silent Hill survivors seem to attract those little guys like magnets. _{[It's like a tradition by this point! A round... owly tradition.]}

They're pretty persistent... my buddy Henry-- dunno if you've talked to him-- he had one that like... legit followed him from New Bark all the way across the country.

... Yours looks friendlier, though.

_{[There's a reason that Henry left Walter Owl in the PC box.]}

[Video]

[bluedespitebeing]

Huh...

[Lisa slowly moved her eyes back over to the owl, where it seemed as if the Hoothoot still hadn't even entertained the idea of blinking. It hoots softly through the glass before smushing his face back against it.

HI LISA AND OTHER BLONDE LADY IN THE BOX. HI. PAY ATTENTION TO ME.]

I...see... That's a bit, uh... [Weird.]

...I might catch it. If it doesn't go away by morning.

[Video]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[AREN'T YOU JUST THE CUTEST THING ABUBUBUBUUU--]

[Heather won't lie, as creepy as Hoothoots are, she's grown to find them adorable. Which is why she sort of grins at the unstated 'weird'.]</sub>

Something tells me it's still gonna be there. At least it's not doing those freaky owl old-woman-screams, right?

_{[Heather you're not helping]}

[video]

[vulpesvivus]

Sounds pretty thought-provoking. Wish I had an answer, but I don't really think I do.

[A pause. Arceus save us, he's not really going to-]

Have you ever heard this proverb before? [Dammit. Don't you ever learn, Otacon?] 'A drop of water shall be returned with a burst of spring.' See, what this one means is...er...I-it's related to the saying 'when it rains, it pours'. Probably. And they both mean that weather is really unpredictable.

[Otacon please. Please. You're getting two proverbs wrong at once.]

So if it starts sprinkling, it's probably safe to assume it'll start raining a lot harder not long after. But even bad weather can't last forever, and it can change to bright sunshine with almost no warning.

[...i swear to god this man is actually a genius.]

[video]

[bluedespitebeing]

[Lisa starts off with a smile, but the more Otacon talks...]

Er... Somehow, I don't think that's what those proverbs mean... Though I suppose your conclusion was true, anyway. I think.

[Her brows are furrowed as she stares.]

[video]

[vulpesvivus]

[lisa i am so sorry]

Oh...did I get that one wrong? I seem to do that once in a while.

[try 'always', honey.]

[video]

[bluedespitebeing]

[Even through her...massive amounts of confusion...Lisa does seem a little amused.]

May I ask why you're using proverbs in the first place?

[Video]

[show_my_cannons]

Why are you babbling about words?

[Video]

[bluedespitebeing]

[She shrugs, sinking into the headboard a bit.]

No reason. I just found it interesting, I guess.

[Video]

[show_my_cannons]

Words... are interesting?

[Don't take it personally, Lisa. This is just Ironhide being Ironhide.]

[Video]

[bluedespitebeing]

[She's guess as much... This guy had seemed pretty serious-faced in their last conversation as well. Lisa offers him a smile anyway.]

You don't think so? Not even a little bit?

[video]

[darkenedgales]

'S 'bout the price being the money value of things, and worth being something more than that, ain't it? [He scratches his cheek thoughtfully.] That's how I see it, at least. You've got things that are so good no money can buy 'em and that's 'priceless' for ya, but on the other hand--

[A sudden pause, in which Crow shakes his head with a smile.]

... Never mind. There ain't things that would be really 'worthless', after all.

[video]

[bluedespitebeing]

[Lisa nods.]

Yeah. I don't think anything can be truly worthless. Everything has value, whether monetary or not.

[video]

[scientificflair]

Come now, my dear - it's all a matter of connotation; surely everyone understands this.

[...well, since she's asking, clearly not; either that or she's attempting to be philosophical. Or Descole's missing the forest for the trees again. He's. Prone to that.]

Price is monetary value; worth is how useful something is to someone else. Not being able to describe the former is a good thing. The latter is quite a different story.

[video]

[bluedespitebeing]

[The blonde's brows lift as she listens to Descole, but there's still a hint of a smile in the corner of her mouth.]

That's quite true, when you think about it that way.

Video

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

[There's a Togepi staring at you Lisa. Someone managed to hijack the communicator again.]

Video

[bluedespitebeing]

[Oh my, a cute little bitty creature... She has a Togepi, as well, but the distraction of this one is much more welcome than having a staring contest with the Hoothoot.]

Well hi there, sweetie...

Video

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

[The little Togepi seems happy and waves. Jumping up and down. Hi, hi, hi.]

Video

[bluedespitebeing]

Aren't you just the cutest thing...

[Lisa squints a little, trying to see the background behind the Togepi for clues. When she speaks again, her tone has picked up the same musing tone as earlier.]

Who do you belong to, hmn? Do they know you're going around talking to people?

[video]

[no_ufo_ending]

<sub>[A Wild Henry Appears and it listens to Lisa's observation. He didn't have an answer for her--not a useful one anyway. He opens his mouth to blurt out some disjointed observation of his own but stops]

[HOOT HOOT! DB OH SWEET HOLY FROSTED FLAKES THE OWLS WERE BACK]</sub>

Get out of there, it'll eat your eyes!

[video]

[bluedespitebeing]

[Wow Henry, THAT IS NOT HELPFUL IN THE LEAST. Lisa was already creeped out, especially since Heather has mentioned Henry's own troubles with his Hoothoot, and the sudden exclamation causes her to jump a little. In fact, she blurts out an assurance with very little thought.]

Don't worry, it's outside and it already ate!

[video]

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[Henry doesn't look satisfied, but he puts down his pointing finger.]}

I don't know what's wrong with those pokemon. The only one I've ever seen that acted like an owl was Heather's. And that's when she wasn't busy acting like a caterpillar.

_{[CLAUDY THE OWL BAG LIVES FOREVER.]}

[video]

[bluedespitebeing]

[Now that her heart rate is returning to normal...]

Caterpillar...? How can an owl act like a caterpillar?