Room 504, Monday Afternoon

[intraspective]

Ino got out of class, and it was one she was really going to have to reread her notes for and hope the handouts made sense because paying attention had kinda... failed her there, grabbed a quick sandwich from the common room (because, really, sandwiches were just about the easiest thing ever to make and she was hungry) and wandered back to her room with it in tow.

And the mirror. And the fact that, if she was going to make sure she was ready for things, then she ought to maybe make sure she had everything all set out. For the moment though, she was just sitting on her floor and staring at the mirror while she ate her sandwich.

[Open door, open post!]

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[intraspective]

"Sit, sit," she ordered, gesturing at one of the desk chairs. "Penelope? That's so cute." Awww.

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

Hurley sat down, and blushed a bit. "Yeah, it... I think I like, like like her."

Yes, he used 'like' three times in a row in one sentence.

[intraspective]

Awwwwww.

This was much better than brooding. "Do you think she likes you?" Awww.

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

Hurley bit his lip. "That doesn't really matter, I think."

[intraspective]

Ino frowned. "Why not?"

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"She's kinda... engaged," Hurley said.

[intraspective]

...

"Then what," Ino asked, very slowly, "is she doing going out on dates?"

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"...She doesn't want to be?" Hurley said. "The engaged part, not the date thing."

Pause.

"I hope."

[intraspective]

"Still," she said, "technically, even if she doesn't want it to be, that's called cheating. And you deserve better."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

Hurley frowned. "So I shouldn't have asked her out?"

[intraspective]

"No," she said, considering that. "It's more, even if she likes you a lot, that it's wrong of her to say yes when she's engaged. Because whether she wants to be or not... that's what she is, right? And that is cheating. You acted just fine."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"But... she's only engaged because her mom forced her," Hurley said. "The dude doesn't even like her. I think."

[intraspective]

Ino shrugged a little.

"Where do you draw the line. Whether it's her choice or not--it's still technically cheating. And, honestly, if she doesn't want to be engaged then she could say 'no'."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

Hurley frowned. A lot.

"Man, this sucks."

[intraspective]

"No, at least not for you," she said stubbornly. "It's just, that yeah, what she's doing is technically wrong."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"I just wanted her to have fun without having to worry about all that stuff," Hurley said. "I'm making her do bad stuff."

[intraspective]

"You're not making her do anything," she informed him sharply. "You're a good guy, trying to help. You didn't do anything wrong."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

Hurley wasn't so sure. "I guess," he said.

[intraspective]

"Hurley," Ino said, glad to be focusing on someone else's issues right now, "you can't take responsibility for her actions. She's completely old enough to know her own mind. Your asking wasn't out of line, seriously, I'm not kidding at all."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"But it's not like I didn't know about the engagement and stuff," Hurley said.

[intraspective]

"She still could've said no," Ino insisted. "You understand that, right?"

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

Hurley thought. "So... is it wrong for me to want to date her, even though she has to marry the dude?"

[intraspective]

"No," she said, completely confident. "It's not wrong for you to want to date her--because you're not the one in another relationship, even if hers isn't her ideal."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"Right," Hurley said. "...thanks, Ino."

[intraspective]

"Sound more confident," she ordered.

Because that'd work.

"And remember you're worth way more than you think you are."