Room 504, Sunday Evening

[intraspective]

Ino had been sleeping all day and while she felt way better for it, because clearly she’d needed it, she couldn’t help but feel… weird.

A whole day was gone and she’d done… nothing. And she wasn’t even supposed to be doing anything now, she was supposed to be relaxing and Ino was quickly coming to the conclusion that relaxing was very, very boring.

…or maybe it was just because she didn’t have a whole lot to do that wasn’t related to some sort of study project? Ino flopped back on her bed, still in her pyjamas because, whatever, if she was going to be lazy she might as well look the part, right?—and stared up at the ceiling for awhile before grabbing Kabuto’s laptop and powering it up. Maybe she needed a hobby, or something?

[Open door, open post!]

Comments

[intraspective]

"I am not boring!" she protested sulkily, leaning over to try and poke him. "I'm just not... very... hobby inclined."

Right, Ino, because that totally made sense.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

The poke managed to connect right onto one of Cal's bruised arms, and he winced, sucking in a breath a little through his teeth and hoping Ino wouldn't notice.

Cal was sometimes delusional.

"You should take up knitting," he suggested.

[intraspective]

"Knitti--what happened to you?" she squinted at him, mood flipping in the blink of an eye. "You're not that much of a baby that a poke ought to get a reaction like that."

So kind to his ego there.

"Let me see your arm." Imperious.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Or you could take up being bossy," Cal offered, shaking his head. Still, he dutifully rolled up one of his sleeves, revealing the fist-sized bruise against his pale but obsessively muscled arm, all purple and blue.

"There's another one on the other side."

[intraspective]

"I was born bossy," Ino told him, with a toss of her head as she inspected the bruise.

"What the hell were you doing? Geez." She glanced up. "Want me to heal them for you?"

No, he was totally imagining the hopeful tone there. Really! Nevermind that heading them would mean she a) got some practice in and b) would no longer be able to claim to have done nothing all day.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"They're birthday presents," Cal said, "from Fanbutt. And, hell no, I don't want you to heal them. How else am I going to subtly get bored ninjas to check out my muscles then?"

[intraspective]

"You have very nice muscles," she parroted obediently. "But they'd be nicer if they were healed."

Just looking at them made her fingers itch.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"What does healing them involve doing?"

[intraspective]

"You sitting there, and letting me hold my hands over the bruises with a pretty green glow?" And a wee bit of effort, but she was pretty good a bruises now, come on.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"What do I get out of it if I let you heal them?"

[intraspective]

"You get a happy blonde keeping you company instead of a sulky one?"

Well, she tried.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Oh, come on," Cal said, refusing to look at Ino because then she might start getting some sway. "You can do better than that."

[intraspective]

She ramped up the level of sulkiness, undeterred.

"I'd owe you a favour?"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal shook his head. "Way too open-ended," he said. "But I'll consider it."

[intraspective]

More sulking, oh yes.

"Open-ended?" she protested. "It is not!"

Yes it was.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"How can you get any more open-ended than a favor?"

[intraspective]

"I could always say I'd so something sometime maybe for you? That's more open-ended." Honest!

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"That was kind of a rhetorical question," Cal said. And then laughed, because he couldn't help it.

[intraspective]

"Caaaaal," Ino complained. "You're awful!"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"I'm not letting you heal my bruises unless I can get something good out of it," Cal insisted. "Especially since they'll heal on their own, anyway."

[intraspective]

"And me being in a good mood isn't good enough?" Ino asked, frowning at him. "You're so not getting another drop it forever card."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Healing my bruises," Cal asked doubtfully, "will put you in that good of a mood?"

[intraspective]

"Yes?" she tried.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal sighed. "Fine," he allowed. "But only if you go ahead and feel all special and stuff because you in a good mood will make me happy."

[intraspective]

"Victory!" she crowed, doing a little wriggle of glee. "Arms out!"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Ino was just lucky she was cute. Cal sighed again, pushing up his sleeves before obediently putting up his arms for her.

[intraspective]

She was utterly silence for a few moments, before a soft green glow enveloped her hands. That done, she placed her hands just over his bruises.

"It shouldn't hurt," she said conversationally, "maybe a tingle, or something, but nothing more than that."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

The green glowing was definitely different, especially now that Cal could see it, and that alone could make his skin tingle before Ino even did anything. Just a bit too sci-fi for his complete comfort, but he shifted a little, and just let Ino do her weird little healing thing.

[intraspective]

It didn't take that long at all really, half a minute maybe, and when she was done, she grinned up at him, letting the glow fade.

"Was that so bad?"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"I'm going to miss those bruises," Cal said, frowning just slightly as he inspected his newly unharmed arms. "They were pretty impressive ones."

[intraspective]

"Why would you miss your bruises?" Ino asked. "Is this some weird macho thing?"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal scoffed. "No," he insisted, although it totally was. "I just thought they were cool."

And one had to admit, they were kind of pretty in color.

[intraspective]

"...they were causing you pain and you wanted to keep them?"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"They only hurt," Cal said, "if they got touched."

[intraspective]

She blinked at him.

"You are so weird."

And she sounded mildly impressed about it too.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Besides that," Cal offered, "they were gifts. They were like big, purple reminders of how much Fanbutt loves me."

[intraspective]

"And yet you let me heal them," she hummed. "Such a sacrifice."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"It made you happy to heal them, though, right?"

[intraspective]

"Yes!" She beamed sunnily at him. "I am happy."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Then," Cal said with a nod, and a faint smile of his own. "There you go."

Cal's own way of saying what he pretended the bruises did, without having to say it.

Plus, he knew the magic word that could always get him more.

Might actually turn into a pretty clever set-up, until the two of them caught on. Tease Fanbutt, get bruises, make Ino happy for healing bruises and yelling at him.

[intraspective]

...

That was an awful set up in Ino's opinion, if she could read the narrative! Ino would rage at him when she found out! Rage.

"There I go." She beamed.