Icicle Inn, Icicle, Gaia, Monday Late Night/Tuesday Early Morning

[intraspective]

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!]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Jono's phone was ringing. It was stupidly late at night, and Jono's phone was ringing.

... 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.

[intraspective]

No, no their timezones matched up perfectly well.

"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.

[furnaceface]

Well, at least the wariness in his reply was giving way to relief? That was good, right?

//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.

[intraspective]

"I," she said dramatically, "am a delicate, tropical, hot-house flower."

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.

[furnaceface]

//As a man who went to war in the winter months in a place called Glacia, I empathize whole-heartedly,// Jono offered, and hey, he was sounding just that little bit more relieved, now. //How many layers have you got on? Is there a fire? I'd offer to come start a fire, but you're in a place called Icicle.//

Jono's sympathy only ran so deep.

[intraspective]

"I'm buried in four blankets, with a heating pad, a roaring fire going, and enough tea to drown in," she said disgustedly. "And I'm still cold."

Ino was not Icicle's biggest fan, no.

[furnaceface]

//For what it's worth, while I was in Glacia, I was literally blue.//

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.//

[intraspective]

"I'm not blue at least... but ouch."

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."

[furnaceface]

Jono tilted his head a little at that. He didn't know the Turks from Adam, but at the same time, that situation sounded... odd.

//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.

[intraspective]

"Yeah," she said grimly. "And I'm the only telepath in the world. Figure that for why they've sent me to the ass-end of nowhere."

Ino hadn't come up with a good, satisfactory reason yet.

[furnaceface]

Jono wrinkled his nose a little.

//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.

[intraspective]

"Big," she said moodily. "And it's gotten bigger over the years. Ain't got an exact measurement--there ain't no one here to help with that and keeping my powers from bein' noticed by the wrong people were more important than getting it set down what I could do."

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."

[furnaceface]

//Then the question is, can you hear them from where they have you?//

Sorry, Ino. 'Paranoia' was Jono's other middle name.

[intraspective]

"No," she said reluctantly. "They've got me up in the ass-end of nowhere. It ain't scut work but I've been thinkin' more along your lines. Just... don't know why. There's nothing I've got that would even hint that my loyalties weren't with them."

[furnaceface]

That reply earned a thoughtful pause. Jono wasn't going to presume to know Ino's comrades, of course, but, //What about their loyalties?//

Were they with you, Ino?

[intraspective]

Ino was silent for a long moment.

"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.

[furnaceface]

Jono would be frowning then, if only he could. As it stood, his brow furrowed and he stared up at the ceiling in thought.

//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.

[intraspective]

"That's about as far as I got," she admitted, reaching for her tea and clinging to the warmth of it. "But I can't think of nothing that would set me off that bad. I've been doing this for years and it's not a walk amongst the roses even on the best of days by anyone's standards."

A beat.

"Mostly I'm just frustrated and cold, which don't help none."

[furnaceface]

//Can't imagine it would,// Jono replied, a sigh in his tone, if not actually touching his body. //I can guess at the sort of resolve it takes to do what you do. Danced that dance for a while myself. It'd have to be bloody dire to have them resort to sending you away like that.//

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?//

[intraspective]

"Probably not," she said thoughtfully, after a moment. "There's no watchers on me. I'd have noticed that."

A beat.

"You offering?"

[furnaceface]

//Sure,// Jono replied, amiably. //I'm not sleeping either. Might as well spend some time in good company, and chocolate makes most things better, at least for a little while.//

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?//

[intraspective]

"Not when most of my thoughts are some pathetic variation of 'I hate everyone'," she admitted freely. "I'll be there shortly."

[furnaceface]

//Excellent. Th'Perk isn't open this late, but I know I have hot chocolate mix at th'Boards. Meet you there?//

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.

[intraspective]

That was just fine with her, Jono. Ino wouldn't know how to make anything more than a powdered mix either.

"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.

[furnaceface]

And Jono, in turn, hung up and scooped Joni up off his lap, settling her on his shoulder so that he could make a grab for his jacket. It was no Icicle out there, no, but that didn't mean he was going outside at this hour of the night in November without some layers.

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.

[intraspective]

Ino showed up about when she'd meant to, pale and thin and bundled up. She hadn't been lying about being frozen.

She knocked and waited, a slim shadow in the late night darkness.

[furnaceface]

You know, in any situation besides this, a man on fire opening the door to a theatre building to a shadowy figure in the night would probably be some sort of foreboding image to behold.

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.

[intraspective]

He was more than fancy enough for her though.

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."

[furnaceface]

//I'm fairly certain there's a club for that,// Jono mused, making his way across the lobby toward the back, toward the stairs to his old apartment.

... 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.//

[intraspective]

Ino scooped up the bonus kitten, because kitten, and followed after him.

"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.

[furnaceface]

//Your very favourite? My, I must be doing something right, then,// Jono mused as he led the way up the stairs and into the... more than a little sparse... upstairs apartment. It was more storage space than living space these days, but he kept the living room functional, at least, mostly because they still used the upstairs space from time to time when the Boards themselves were in use. //Or everyone else is doing something terribly wrong.//

[intraspective]

"Pick the one that's more flattering to you," Ino advised, a bit ruefully. She swept the room with a glance. Eh, it worked. She'd bunked in worse places before. "The other way lies tears and tragedy."

[furnaceface]

//Well, it's good to know that I'm undeniably amazing, then,// Jono decided, a little smirk in his eyes. //Grab a seat, make yourself comfortable? I'll put on th'water and then set up the heater for you.//

[intraspective]

"You are a blessing and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise," Ino said, wandering over to the couch and flopping down into it. Carefully, though, since she was still snuggling bonus kitten. "I'm vicious! I'd win!"

[furnaceface]

//Now there's a fight I want to see,// Jono mused, ducking into the kitchen and pulling out the kettle. Poor kettle didn't see much use since he stopped having a mouth, alas. //That and the bewildered look on their face afterwards, when they're staring up at the sky wondering how they wound up on their back.//

[intraspective]

Ino laughed.

"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?

[furnaceface]

//They'd be afraid not to,// Jono mused. //I'm not certain that they'd take it as a blessing that they were laid flat just for disagreeing with me.//

Kettle filled with water and turned on, Jono wandered out again to rummage for the space heater.

//I'm still not complaining.//

[intraspective]

"It'd be funny," Ino said, watching him. "Should I stop hiding on your couch and make myself useful?"

[furnaceface]

//Make yourself useful? Bah, you're a guest,// Jono replied, waving a hand dismissively. //Make yourself warm first, and we'll go from there. Anyway, you're Joni's, now. She'll cry if you put her down, just go ahead and try it.//

[intraspective]

"It would be the worst if she cried," Ino said, snuggling Joni some more and curling back up on the couch. She was still stupidly cold, though it wasn't that cold on Fandom or in here. "I wouldn't be able to cope with it. Tragic."

Which was funny, given what her job was.

[furnaceface]

Look, crying kitties were totally different from crying kiddies. It was science.

//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.//