Room 504, Saturday Late Morning

[intraspective]

Ino sat cross-legged on her bed, in one of Kabuto's shirts, grinning at the tortoises and making sure that they stayed far, far away from Kusanagi’s terrarium. Oh, Fandom. Silly silly Fandom.

She was very pointedly Not Thinking about last night’s discovery, or the fact that she’d woken earlier than normal thanks to weirdish dreams and something still was a bit off. Maybe she’d had too much sugar yesterday? Too much excitement?

Or something.

Either way, her door was wide open, and the tortoises were doing a good job at distracting her.

So. Cute.

[Door and post are open!]

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[intraspective]

"Yeah, yeah, 'cause you're a boy, or whatever and it means you can't think things are cute."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

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"I don't care about being a boy," he said with a snort. "It's just not a word that comes to me very often."

[intraspective]

She rested her head against him. "Why not?"

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He shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe because no one ever used it around me. I couldn't tell you."

He leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

"How was yesterday, incidentally? Up to all your expectations?"

[intraspective]

She stiffened at the question, then forced herself to relax.

"It was good," Ino said, closing her eyes. "I met a lot of people. A guy named Cal, a girl named Alice, a Kaylee who let me kidnap some of her slang, a very nicely shirtless Toby too. I had fun."

Until, you know, the evening.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Except for whatever just made you tense like a hunted rabbit," he said quietly.

[intraspective]

She glanced moodily at the terrarium in her room and didn't answer him.

It had taken her a while last night to get it across the hall without disturbing Kusanagi, Kabuto's snake, too badly. And on her desk was a laptop, and a bunch of books that weren't hers.

Small differences. She shrugged.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Small differences he wouldn't notice as he was right now.

"Whenever you're ready," was all he said.

[intraspective]

She picked at her shirt, Kabuto's shirt really, but she was wearing it. "You'll be waiting a while."

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"That's never been a problem for me," he told her.

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Her eyes narrowed at that.

"What if I never want to talk about it?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"You promised," he reminded her quietly.

"Though," he continued, "you don't have to talk about it. If you honestly aren't in pain about it anymore."

[intraspective]

She twitched.

"I promised I'd try." Not that this trying, but whatever.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"You did," he said. Not pressing. Just... firm. Then he sighed.

"If talking to me is going to make things worse, than don't. But if you're just being stubborn because you think you'll be putting anything on my shoulders..."

He didn't finish the thought.

[intraspective]

She shrugged. It wasn't like that? Not really. It wasn't about him at all.

Ino rolled it over in her head, poking at the new pain she'd discovered last night and sighed.

"Kabuto's gone." And he promised he wouldn't go.

But she wasn't going to explain further. No way.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

She didn't have to.

"Ah."

He didn't say sorry. He didn't say anything about Kabuto. He just said 'ah' because that explained it.

[intraspective]

She closed her eyes for a moment.

"Tell me something fun?" She'd been fine until they'd wandered on to this topic.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Certainly," he said, without a bit of gloom.

"I met someone from your village yesterday," he said. "And I met a Worm. And I think I might have gotten close to the right kind of path for figuring out how to make you your broom."

He figured the first and last would be the most important.

[intraspective]

...

...

Ino blinked up at him. "My village? Like, seriously? From home?" She sat up, still close to him, but not quite leaning on him now, "and a Worm? Like the Mice? And, seriously, my broom?"

Ah, sweet sweet distraction.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"A girl named Hinata," he told her. "She was very nervous and even more shy than I am.

"And yes, a Worm, though... not like the Mice."

He grinned broadly.

"And yes, for your broom. I think I might have figured out how to accomplish it. Would you be willing to help me with testing?"

[intraspective]

"Hinata," Ino said incredulously, "she's here." It wasn't that Ino didn't believe him, it was just...

It was hard to believe. "I so need to track her down, seriously."

And she wrinkled her nose cheerfully at him. "Of course I'd be willing to help!" As if she wouldn't, honestly.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Well," he said primly, "I will have to set aside some time on Thursday to start working up a prototype for you to try. I'll come get you when I think it's ready for testing. Fair?"

[intraspective]

The hug he was getting? Made it very very clear that she thought it was fair.

"I envy your free time on Thursdays," she said ruefully, "I've got three classes that day."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"One on Monday, two on Tuesday, and I'll have to skip out at work to attend mine for Wednesday since they fuddled up my paperwork on that one," he said with a wry grin. "And work Friday as well. Thank goodness my weekends are still free."

[intraspective]

"What ones are you taking," she asked, leaning against him, "I've got a class on Tuesday too, and then of course work on Wednesday. I get four day weekends though, so that's a shiny thing."