01<@Ardweden> [Day: Tuesday, September 28. Time: 12:10 am.] 01<@Ardweden> [After staying after hours in the library to work on a Cold War paper with Tiffany and Tyler, Heather fell asleep and ended up in a dream with the latter, which... well. Things happened, and they both remember exactly what that was. Tyler grabbed his stuff and left immediately, which meant it fell to Heather to finish cleaning up and sneak out, as it was after hours, but she does know her way around the library pretty intimately.] 01<@Ardweden> [Now she's on her way home - or to wherever she would go after something like that, but the GM assumes it is home. If it's not, that's fine, too! It's a dark night, overcast, chilly, and wet - not raining, but the residue is there from the showers earlier that day (or yesterday, really). Her phone's lightning up, probably from any messages left while she was asleep/busy.] 01<@Ardweden> [Start!] 06* Heather pulls her jacket around herself tighter and checks her phone. 01<@Ardweden> [She finds a voicemail and a text message, both from her dad and both from when she was asleep.] 06* Heather checks, though she suspects it's just a "where are you?" thing. 01<@Ardweden> [That's exactly what it is. The voicemail is more worried than the text, though how can one even tell with text?] 06* Heather types off a quick "sry fell asleep @ work omw". Hey, it's the truth! For once. 01<@Ardweden> [Heather doesn't a response - not immediately, anyway.] 06* Heather figures he'll get it when he gets it, then! 01<@Ardweden> [And so Heather walks! Sadly, it's too cold and wet for fun walking (unless, for some reason, she likes cold and wet). But the streets and sidewalks are practically deserted, so she's making good time as she approaches the Square. At least the lighting is better there; it helps that a couple of places - the bar and the diner - are open even at this time of night.] 06* Heather heads through the square, because why not? In the back of her mind thinking that she won't be dreamwalking tonight, it seems. 01<@Ardweden> [That does seem to be the case, as the clock both on her phone and city hall indicate it's early morning instead of late at night. A clearly drunk woman in a low cut top, light jacket, and jeans stumbles out of the bar while Heather passes by, a drunken man nearly running into her as he follows. "Srry," he says, somehow missing the O in his slurs as he steadies himself on the teenager. He reeks of alcohol.] 06* Heather brushes him off, taking a step back. "No problem," she says, contrary to her actions. She keeps an eye on him as she makes her way past. 01<@Ardweden> [He stumbles back and manages to keep his footing, sways for a second, then heads after the woman, calling, "Alleas' lemme drive you home!" while he gives chase.] 01<@Ardweden> [She just keeps walking; it's hard to say whether she heard him or not.] 06* Heather keeps on her own way, too, glad to not have to deal with a drunk tonight. 01<@Ardweden> [And so Heather continues! As she's passing Lunatic Fringe, she sees some movement in an alley nearby - it's not that uncommon, as drug deals happen frequently enough, but in her experience they almost never happen in that particular alley.] 06* Heather pauses, because that's weird. Cautiously, she moves to check out the alley. Which probably isn't the best idea, but! 01<@Ardweden> [She sees two people, talking in hushed voices about something: one exceedingly tall and thin, looking like he's in his mid- twenties but rapidly balding, and dressed a long, dark coat, and the other with his back to Heather, wearing ripped jeans and a leather jacket with chains and patches. He looks about her age.] 01<@Ardweden> [As Heather approaches, she steps on the neck of a glass bottle. The sound fills the alley. The pair stops talking, the taller one jerking his head up to look straight at Heather; with the new angle, she can see that his nose was broken at some point. The shorter turns at that same instance, and Heather can see that it's Tony.] 06* Heather freezes momentarily. But then recognition sets in. "Tony?" 01<@Ardweden> ["Heather?" Tony says at the same time.] 06* Heather glances from Tony to the other guy. Anyone familiar? 01<@Ardweden> [He's not, actually, though he's looking at Heather as though trying to place her himself. It seems he can't, though, as he looks down at Tony. "Friend of yours?"] 01<@Ardweden> ["I... uh." Tony looks at him, then back at Heather, obviously trying to figure out what to say. Eventually he settles on, "Give us a sec, okay?"] 06* Heather nods. "Um, okay." She backs away. And instantly tries to hide around the corner, hopefully close enough to hear. 01<@Ardweden> [Heather manages to hide around the corner! All she gets, unfortunately, is a few minutes of something shifting hands - paper, maybe. "That enough?" Tony asks. Silence, then from Tony: "Thanks, man." And she hears someone walking for the alley entrance.] 06* Heather backs away and waits next to the door of Lunatic Fringe. Totally inconspicuous. 01<@Ardweden> [Yup. Totally inconspicuous. No way Tony noticed that, with the way he walked out of the alley and looking at her somewhat suspiciously. The tall man, who walked out with him, is striding quickly down the road and away from them.] 06* Heather watched him go. "Who was that?" 01<@Ardweden> [Tony shrugs, hands in his pockets. "What are you doing here?" he counters.] 06* Heather looks at him. "I was on my way home. What are YOU doing here?" 01<@Ardweden> ["Picking up some stuff." Tony starts walking to who knows where; either way, it's the same direction Heather was heading in the first place.] 06* Heather follows! Because she was going that way anyhow. "What kind of stuff?" 01<@Ardweden> [Tony shrugs again. Instead of answering he says, "How've you been?"] 06* Heather halts. "Tony, what are you avoiding my questions? Are... Did you buy drugs?" 01 [Tony stops, too. "What if I did?" he asks, turning to face Heather. "It's not like it's your business."] 06* Heather shrugs. "You're right, but... I just don't want to see you get hurt." 01 [Tony looks at Heather for a long moment, then says, "Don't see why not," before he starts walking again.] 06* Heather follows. "You're nicer than those guys you hang out with." 01 [Tony laughs. "Bullshit."] 06* Heather shakes her head. "It's true." 01 ["So?" Tony half looks at Heather. "Let's pretend I am. So what?"] So I don't want to see you get hurt. 01 [He keeps his eyes forward. "Then maybe you should stop looking." At this point, the pair has left the Square, and Tony takes a turn that is definitely not towards Heather's house.] 06* Heather chases after him. "Tony, wait!" 01 [At Heather's yell, Tony stops, but he doesn't turn around. His hands are clenched.] 06* Heather asks, totally out of left field. "Do you wanna go to the dance?" 01 ["... What?" All of the hardness just disappeared from Tony's voice, leaving nothing but confusion.] 06* Heather clarifies. "Homecoming. You're not going with someone already, are you?" 01 ["No?" Tony says without thinking, before turning to look at Heather. Yup, she totally caught him off guard.] 06* Heather shrugs. "Well, neither am I, so...." 01 ["So you're asking me?" Brief pause, then he follows up with, "Don't you got half a dozen guys' pants to get into?" His usual sting isn't quite there.] 06* Heather ignores the barb. "I'm asking you." 01 [Tony looks at Heather. He looks away. He brings one hand up to scratch at the back of his head. He looks up at the sky, but there's no moon or stars - only clouds. Who knows what he thinks he'll find there. "It's not a good idea," he says, finally.] Why? 01 [He turns his attention back to Heather. "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm kinda fucked up and you slept with Josh within the last decade."] 06* Heather folds her arms. "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm kinda fucked up too." 01 [Tony laughs, though it's not harsh. "Yeah. I was trying to be nice."] 06* Heather unfolds her arms. "So?" 01 ["So apparently I'm nice." A chill breeze sweeps through, and Tony shoves his hands in his pockets. "Listen. It's a bad idea. That doesn't mean I don't want to go with you. I'm just saying it's a bad idea. I don't care if you slept with half the fucking school - and maybe you did, who the fuck's counting - you slept with Josh."] Not exactly something I'm proud of. 01 [Tony just shrugs.] So... What? 01 ["So he's going to try to murder us."] For what? It not like I haven't slept with anyone after him. 01 ["Not the point." Tony shakes his head. "Don't know why you'd want to go with me anyway."] Because. 01 [He looks at her and waits.] Because most people aren't as nice as you. They make fun of me, or they're nice because they want sex. But you're not expecting anything, and you don't bully me like the rest of the guys you hang around. That's why. 01 [Tony looks at Heather for a long moment, then shakes his head. He lets out a sigh. "Okay."] Okay what? 01 ["Okay. Yes. I like you, too. I just..." Tony trails off for a moment, then says, "Yeah. Homecoming."] 06* Heather grins. "Great." 01 ["I just..." He trails off again, looking at the ground, then plunges ahead with, "If this is going to be a thing, do you want it to *actually* be a thing or just... Is this just for the dance?"] 06* Heather scratches her cheek. "I guess.... see where we end up?" 01 [Tony snorts. "Sure." He pulls his phone from his pocket and starts messing with it.] 01 [After a minute or two, he hands it to Heather. "Here."] 06* Heather takes it, looking at the screen curiously. 01 [It's a contact entry for Heather, a cursor where her phone number would go.] 06* Heather enters her number, possibly disappointed that there wasn't something awesome on there. She hands it back to Tony when done. 01 [He takes his phone, glances at it, then sets it to sleep and pockets it.] Aren't you going to give me your number? 01 ["Didn't know you wanted it," Tony says before he pulls out his phone and sends his name as a text to Heather.] 06* Heather inputs it. "Thanks." 01 [Tony smiles a soft, little smile. "Sure." And then the smile's gone. "So, uh... what were you doing here at..." He checks his phone. "Fuck, it's one already?"] 06* Heather frowns. "Damn it, I've got to go. My dad's going to kill me." 01 ["Me too. You need a ride?"] 06* Heather raises an eyebrow. "But you were walking..." 01 ["To my car," Tony finishes. "Come on."] Okay. 01<@Ardweden> [And they hoof it to Tony's car and he drives Heather to a block from her house. The end!]