Room 504, Monday Evening

[intraspective]

Ino had showered, found the oldest of Kabuto’s shirts and put it on (she was guessing that, from the amount of wear on it), and curled up on her bed with a purple notebook. Clearly she needed to figure out what was going on with her.

Stupid thoughts.

And she still couldn’t center herself. Ugh.

She was going to work this out. Seriously. For Lana, who’d made her promise to listen to Cable-san. For Liir, who’d said he’d believed in her. For Cable-san ‘cause she kept messing up there and even though she thought that he’d done his own share of mess-ups that didn’t mean she had to keep going with it. Or something.

And for herself, she supposed. Yeah. That too.

Ino stared blankly at the notebook for a long time before picking up her pen (purple, of course) and starting to write furiously in it. Every thought, every issue, every stupid thing she’d done lately.

Who knew? Maybe it would help. It could, really, hardly make anything worse.

[Open! ETA: Ino getting a letter from Kabuto via snake comes last, please! Everything else is before that!]

Comments

[sound-loyalty.livejournal.com]

A small, vibrantly violet snake suddenly appeared at the foot of Ino's bed, its arrival heralded by a puff of white smoke. It spat a scroll onto the bedspread, staring up at Ino with dark grey, slit-pupiled eyes. Quite possibly daring her to pick up the scroll.

[intraspective]

...

...

Okay. Okay. There was a snake in her room and she only knew of three people that could do that and only one would even have any reason to (because, um, if she was getting letters from Orochimaru now? Ino was taking them to Cable-san Right Away because that'd be Bad).

Either way. There was no way she could ignore something like that. "If you bite me," she informed the snake, as she went to pick up the scroll, "I'll kill you."

[sound-loyalty.livejournal.com]

The snake allowed her to take the message, but gave Ino a very smug look. A very intelligent look.

The scroll, when opened, had only a few short lines.

Ino,

This was not my intention. However, even miscalculations can lead to unanticipated discoveries.

I won't be gone long.

-Kabuto

P.S. I'd prefer you to take care of Kusanagi, but you can always tell him to go home. He'll know what to do.

[intraspective]

...

Her hands shook as she opened the letter and she glared at the snake, as if daring it to say something about that.

She read the letter once; twice, then again.

Okay. Okay. She could do that. She could deal with that. "What's your definition of long?" Ino asked the letter. "It's already been a month you moron."

Kusanagi was hers for now. He was useful. For eating Andrew-mice. Shut up.

[sound-loyalty.livejournal.com]

The snake hissed, almost laughing at her, than vanished the way it had come, leaving nothing behind but rapidly dissipating smoke.

[intraspective]

Ino was... just going to sit back... and cling to the scroll. Shut up. She was allowed to cling to the scroll.

And really really wish Kabuto came back soon.

So she could kick his ass.

"You. Are. So. Dead."

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

Having just recently come back from an eventful trip to Gotham, Dick decided to check in with Ino and see if he missed anything good while he was away.

And so he knocked on the door.

[intraspective]

"Come in!" Ino called, quickly finishing up her sentence and then shoving her notebook under her pillow. "It's not locked!"

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

Dick opened the door and walked in. "Hey. Did I miss anything good the past few days?"

[intraspective]

"Define good?" Ino asked wiggling into a sitting position and gesturing for him to come and hug her Right Now.

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"People turned into something interesting, cute animals fell from the sky," Dick listed as he walked over to hug Ino. "Anything along those lines."

[intraspective]

"There were wee monkeys," she told him, with the hugging. "It was cute, but not real exciting, I guess."

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"So I didn't miss much?" Dick asked. "Well, except for one class, but I can let that slide."

[intraspective]

"You missed a festival," she told him. "There were fire-dancers and dolphins and swings. I gave Cal soap."

Stick to the lighter things. She could do that.

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"Why did you give him soap?" Dick asked. "Was it a soap festival?"

[intraspective]

"Because the soap was cute, and nice smelling, and I thought he'd like it?"

Not really no.

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"That sounds like as good a reason as any. And this way he'll be especially clean now," Dick said. "By the way, where is the island now anyway? I haven't been able to place it and it's been bugging me since I got back."

[intraspective]

"He said he's not going to use it," that got a moment's pout. "But he's still getting more from me anyway."

"Bali Ha'i," Ino chirped. "Land of the really fantastic beaches."

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"In the south Pacific?" Dick asked. "That's why I didn't recognize it. I've never been down here before. Are the beaches really that good?"

[intraspective]

Ino gave him a Look.

"I skipped work for them. They're that good." And she was so going to pay for that on Wednesday.

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"That does sound pretty fantastic," Dick said. "I'm definitely gonna have to make it out there."

[intraspective]

"You've totally got to," she insisted. "Before the island moves again, even though I think it should just... stay here. That'd be really nice."

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"What's the fun in it staying in one place?" Dick asked. "I hope it ends up somewhere cold next time just to change things up."

[intraspective]

...

...

"You've got to be kidding me."

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"Why not? Might as well keep things interesting," Dick said.

[intraspective]

"But the cold!"

Ino was not a fan of the cold, no.

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"It would only be temporary," Dick said. "You know. Probably. Unless it stopped there."

[intraspective]

"Now you're just making fun of me!" Ino protested.

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"That's what little brothers are for," Dick pointed out.

[intraspective]

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll totally win in the long run."

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that's mature," Dick said.

He then returned stuck his tongue out as retaliation. Sure he could fight immaturity with maturity, but where was the fun in that?

[intraspective]

Nyaaaaaaah.

Ino was totally better at this than he was. Pfffft. Who needed maturity?

"I'm only treating you the way you seem to want to be treated."

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"You're supposed to be rising above this kind of thing," Dick said, shaking his head exaggeratedly and making 'tsk tsk' noises. "I'm extremely disappointed in you, Ino."

[intraspective]

Ino's expression changed lightning-quick. "Most people are lately," she said flatly.

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"I was just kidding," Dick said, dropping the silly quickly. "What's wrong?"

[intraspective]

"Nothing," she said. "I'm fine."

What she was, really, was an awful liar.

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"Look, I'm not going to push, but you're not coming off as very convincing," Dick said. He smiled a little at Ino. "For what it's worth, I don't have any complaints about you. You've been nothing but good to me."

[intraspective]

"Yeah," she said, "I'm doing okay on the sibling scale but messing up everywhere else it seems."

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"Hey, every winning streak starts with one win," Dick said. "If you can get at least one thing right - and trust me, you have - you can get everything else straightened out. I'm sure of it."

[intraspective]

She shook her head. "It's not working like that."

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

Dick put an arm around Ino's shoulders and gave a small, encouraging hug. "Give it time. Ride through it. You'll see. And if you need anything, I'm here to help."

[intraspective]

Ino leaned into the hug, just a bit. "Thanks," she said, "you don't have to though."

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"That's true of most of the things I do," Dick said. "I tend to do them anyway."

[intraspective]

"Dork." But she gave him a little smile.

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"I've been called worse," Dick said. "Hey, I have to get going, but seriously; anything you need, just let me know. Okay?"

[intraspective]

"Okay," she said, though she wouldn't. Ino hated asking for help. "If I need anything, I'll tell you."

A beat.

"Thanks for coming to see me when you just got back," Ino told him. "It means a lot. You'll have to tell me about your trip next time, okay?"

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you'll hear all about it," Dick said. Honestly, he appreciated the extra time to come up with a better story about how he spent his trip home. "Have a good night. And I mean it."