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It was snowing. Again.
The locals had assured her that it would stop soon, once the temperature dropped further. Ino had smiled, thanked them, and as soon as she'd gotten away from them had thrown an entirely silent temper tantrum.
Ino was not built for cold weather and Icicle had nothing but cold weather and she'd been here for weeks already, ever since Homecoming. She was cold all the time.
To make things worse, everyone around here was obsessed with snowboarding. Obsessed. In its own way, this place was as big a tourist attraction as Costa del Sol or the Gold Saucer.
She glowered out the window, spitefully, at the snow. It didn't care.
Neither did Tseng, who was very nearly avoiding her calls to report in on her progress on the mission. He was never exactly chatty but now he was nearly as terse as Rude was. And Rosa had hung up on her twice already, which was a clear sign that something was going on.
Elena, at least, was still willing to talk to her whenever Ino got lonely enough to call her. She hadn't called Aerith, though Aerith would've talked to her. Given her mission and what she'd been slowly gleaning from the locals, talking to Aerith would be a bit awkward, so Ino hadn't bothered…
But now it was two in the morning and she was cold—even indoors Ino always felt like she was slowly freezing to death—and she wanted someone to talk to.
Well, he did say that I could call anytime…
[Expecting one, but open for calls and texts, sure!]
The locals had assured her that it would stop soon, once the temperature dropped further. Ino had smiled, thanked them, and as soon as she'd gotten away from them had thrown an entirely silent temper tantrum.
Ino was not built for cold weather and Icicle had nothing but cold weather and she'd been here for weeks already, ever since Homecoming. She was cold all the time.
To make things worse, everyone around here was obsessed with snowboarding. Obsessed. In its own way, this place was as big a tourist attraction as Costa del Sol or the Gold Saucer.
She glowered out the window, spitefully, at the snow. It didn't care.
Neither did Tseng, who was very nearly avoiding her calls to report in on her progress on the mission. He was never exactly chatty but now he was nearly as terse as Rude was. And Rosa had hung up on her twice already, which was a clear sign that something was going on.
Elena, at least, was still willing to talk to her whenever Ino got lonely enough to call her. She hadn't called Aerith, though Aerith would've talked to her. Given her mission and what she'd been slowly gleaning from the locals, talking to Aerith would be a bit awkward, so Ino hadn't bothered…
But now it was two in the morning and she was cold—even indoors Ino always felt like she was slowly freezing to death—and she wanted someone to talk to.
Well, he did say that I could call anytime…
[Expecting one, but open for calls and texts, sure!]
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:06 am (UTC)... Wasn't it fortunate that Jono was an insomniac? He'd been downstairs on the sofa with a fortunately-less-sick cat in his lap, reading, when the call came in, and answering was just a matter of flipping from his e-reader app (shut up, he sometimes actually used things with e- at the start of the name) over to answer the call.
//Ah... Ino?//
Even odds something was on fire that shouldn't be, or the multiverse had them in mismatched timezones. Jono was going to be wary until he knew which was which.
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:09 am (UTC)"I'm freezing to death, bored, and you said I could call any time!"
Hi, Jono! Ino was still bad at hellos.
Also that maybe came out a bit defensive. He sounded wary.
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:16 am (UTC)//I did say that,// he agreed. //And I stand by it. For a moment I was just worried that something was serious. Er. Immediately serious. You are using hyperbole when you say you're freezing to death, right?//
Because imminent death was still serious.
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:18 am (UTC)A beat.
"My boss has me working out of a place called Icicle. I haven't been truly warm for weeks."
So she was probably not really dying. She just felt like she was going to.
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:23 am (UTC)Jono's sympathy only ran so deep.
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:26 am (UTC)Ino was not Icicle's biggest fan, no.
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:30 am (UTC)For completely unrelated reasons.
//How important is this mission? Too important to grab a portal and head somewhere tropical to warm up? It's November here, but it still can't possibly be as bad as all that.//
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:39 am (UTC)Ino toyed with the end of her braid.
"I don't know," she admitted, sighing. "I feel sort of like I've been sent out here to get me out of the way but I can't tell. It could just be my own bitterness at being here. At the same time, no one's talking to me."
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:50 am (UTC)//You're intelligence, aren't you?// His brow knotted a little bit. //Hard to be what they need you to be if they keep you in the dark completely. I'd be worrying, too.//
He didn't like putting himself in those shoes, these days, but it wasn't as though he couldn't.
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:56 am (UTC)Ino hadn't come up with a good, satisfactory reason yet.
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:59 am (UTC)//Seems like a waste of resources,// he said, bluntly. //Like there's something they don't want you to get involved in, perhaps. What's the range on that telepathy of yours, again?//
From one telepath to another, this was starting to sound shady.
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Date: 2016-11-08 01:07 am (UTC)A beat.
"I ain't the strongest telepath Fandom ever had, but I know damn well my range is really good. For more complicated stuff, I got to be closer, but to just hear...? That don't take much work."
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Date: 2016-11-08 01:10 am (UTC)Sorry, Ino. 'Paranoia' was Jono's other middle name.
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Date: 2016-11-08 01:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-08 01:17 am (UTC)Were they with you, Ino?
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Date: 2016-11-08 01:25 am (UTC)"First loyalty is always to the job," she said flatly. "Then it's to the Turks."
It varied, of course depending on the job. But generally speaking that was true.
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Date: 2016-11-08 01:33 am (UTC)//Then... perhaps it isn't about your loyalty to them. Perhaps they're worried about your reaction to the job itself.//
If the Turks were loyal to the Turks second, and to the job first, it would only make sense. It would be a slap to the face, perhaps, but... better to keep her away from it entirely than risk losing an asset as powerful as the only telepath on the planet.
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Date: 2016-11-08 01:41 am (UTC)A beat.
"Mostly I'm just frustrated and cold, which don't help none."
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Date: 2016-11-08 01:46 am (UTC)Which was still unhelpful. And worrying.
//Think they'd notice if you took a night off and went somewhere warm, maybe to consider what to do about this over more hot chocolate than is strictly wise?//
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Date: 2016-11-08 01:51 am (UTC)A beat.
"You offering?"
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Date: 2016-11-08 01:56 am (UTC)Sage advice from a man who couldn't eat the stuff.
//Hell, maybe thawing you out will help you sort things more easily. I can't imagine freezing your brains solid was their intent, but it's certainly not helping you think any, is it?//
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Date: 2016-11-08 02:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-08 02:18 am (UTC)The Boards came with the added bonus of not having to worry about waking up Hannibal. Or about being judged because Jono had no idea how to even start making hot chocolate using anything but a powder mix.
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Date: 2016-11-08 02:25 am (UTC)"Meet you there," she said, feeling a bit better. "In about thirty minutes. Talk to you in a bit!"
Then she hung up to start making arrangements to get there.
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Date: 2016-11-08 02:35 am (UTC)After scribbling a quick note for Hannibal - not that he figured he was going to be out all hours of the night, but it couldn't hurt to cover his bases - he slipped out the front door and headed for the Boards.
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Date: 2016-11-08 02:52 am (UTC)She knocked and waited, a slim shadow in the late night darkness.
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Date: 2016-11-08 03:04 am (UTC)In this case, it was immediately followed by Joni giving a tiny squeaky meow from somewhere by their feet, and Jono stepping to the side to let Ino in.
//Water's hot and just waiting for chocolate,// he shared. //Even have some milk and those tiny marshmallows for the occasion.//
Because Jono was fancy, unless you asked that man he kept trying to marry.
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Date: 2016-11-08 03:09 am (UTC)Ino smiled at him gratefully as she stepped inside, stooping to pet Joni once she was past the door.
"That sounds amazing," she said. "I feel like I'll never be warm again."
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:21 pm (UTC)... One of his two old apartments. Really, he should start contemplating renting those out, now that he was living with Hannibal.
//Fortunately, I also have a space heater upstairs, and the sofa is about as warm as it is old. Plus, bonus kitten. Those are basically made of warm as it is.//
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Date: 2016-11-08 12:38 pm (UTC)"You know, I think I've noticed that," she said a bit whimsically. Ino would still be a terrible person to own a cat, which was why she didn't. Silly lived in hair usually, she couldn't likely do the same with a cat. "And you're my very favourite person right now."
Not that it was hard to be. Pretty much everyone was on her shit-list at the moment.
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Date: 2016-11-24 12:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-24 12:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-24 12:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-24 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-24 12:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-24 12:50 am (UTC)"It'd be a mystery with my name on it," she agreed. "And they'd have to believe you're a blessing then."
Because it worked that way, right?
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Date: 2016-11-24 12:57 am (UTC)Kettle filled with water and turned on, Jono wandered out again to rummage for the space heater.
//I'm still not complaining.//
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Date: 2016-12-30 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-30 04:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-30 04:43 am (UTC)Which was funny, given what her job was.
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Date: 2016-12-30 05:04 am (UTC)//See? So you've got no choice, really. Joni simply wouldn't stand for it.// A few moments of rummaging in the hallway closet, and Jono was pulling out the little space heater, heading back into the living room to set it up near Ino's feet. //There. That ought to help, at least some.//