Room 504, Thursday Afternoon (After Classes)

[intraspective]

Ino had to admit that, really, she was pleased as anything about the fact that she got to show off her plants and have them be admired by someone who actually knew a bunch about them.

Which would be why she was fussing with her plants, rearranging them infinitesimally while she waited and tried not to look like she was waiting. Luckily, her plants were a rather good distraction.

Even if she was tired, and kinda wanted a nap instead.

[Expecting one, totally open for all. Door is open!]

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[intraspective]

"I talk out loud a bunch," she admitted. "And leave the radio on for them a lot. Haven't tried anything classical though." Mostly because Ino wasn't entirely sure what counted as classical.

Her reaction got a grin. "Well," Ino said, "you can always ask people. Seeds generally aren't hard to get for a lot of people, and they might bring you back some."

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

"You're lucky in that aspect," she said, smiling. "You have no roommate, and not that I begrudge mine, because Claire is wonderful. But for fear of sounding insane, I don't often speak out loud when she is in the room. So far she hasn't said anything about my piano music."

She nodded, a little. "I'm not entirely sure who is from other worlds. I do know Gavin is -- do you know him? He looks just like my Max from home."

A small frown. "I didn't mean 'my' Max. Just Max."

[intraspective]

"If it's insanity you've got," Ino said, grinning. "Then anyone who likes plants as much has it too. It's terribly natural, I find, to talk to them."

"Gavin, Gavin, Gavin... oh! Desert boy, who flies ships or something," Ino said, bouncing a bit. "I know him a little bit, but not much."

A beat.

"Maaaax?"

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

She beamed, literally. Ino understood! "Yes! I would find it oddly sad and strange if someone loved plants and did not talk to them. After all, they are your very own."

"He's very nice, Gavin."

Penelope blushed and nodded and looked back down at Ino's plants.

"Max. He is... was, a really good friend."

[intraspective]

"They're like, babies almost," she said. "And it'd be weird if you didn't talk to a baby, right? Well, a plant depends on you too for affection so you've got to give it."

"Is, was?" she asked. "So you're not sure?"

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

"Exactly. Anything can die without care and love, whether physical or not," she added.

"He... was, until he saw what I looked liked." She knew that needed explaining. "I only ever conversed with him through a two-way mirror. After days of visiting like this, I was able to muster up the courage to actually present myself to him."

[intraspective]

"And he didn't..." Ino waved one hand, looking uncomfortable.

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

"He cursed and I fled the room, and I later learned that he was there... only to try and capture a picture of me. He wasn't serious. He didn't like me, for me... he just wanted my picture so it could be plastered all over the papers."

If he had only liked her, she could have made it work. The curse would have been broken.

[intraspective]

Somehow, Ino didn't think offering to beat him up would go over well.

See? Even Ino sometimes had a bit of tact.

"Do you, like, want a hug?" She could do hugs.

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

She looked up, smiled. "I wouldn't mind a hug, but I'm over him, if that helps."

She so totally wasn't over Max. He was the first boy she ever, truly liked, and had thought, felt... that he liked her too.

[intraspective]

Which meant Ino had to bounce over, kneel down, and throw her arms around Penelope.

"You," she said, "totally deserve someone who won't run no matter what."

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

Penelope giggled and hugged her back tightly.

"That is so easier said than done, you do realize?" Hurley wasn't running, however, and she did like him.

[intraspective]

"Well," she said, hugging back a moment longer before flopping on the ground beside her. "Isn't that true of anything worth doing?"

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

"I suppose so," she replied, looking at her. "But people are so... human." Therefore, at times, very difficult to deal with.

[intraspective]

"True," she said, thinking about Liir and how badly that had gone even though he didn't seem to care. Which hurt more than the fighting, really. "But sometimes, in being human, they can be pretty amazing beyond anything you could dream up, don't you think?"

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

"Forgive me if I sound a little pessimistic, but I'm not sure I know that. I've never been close to anyone to judge properly. People are nice here, caring, and I suppose that can be considered amazing. Hurley is amazing."

[intraspective]

"Hurley is incredibly sweet, isn't he? And it's not just in real life," she said, grinning a bit. "In books too. You find it all the time--awful horrible things, and really amazing things all at once. Life's like that too, if you give it a shot."

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

"Like a big teddy bear," she replied, kindly. "He is very sweet. And yes, of course in books, and in movies too, I'm learning."

Penelope paused, and looked at Ino as though she were questioning whether or not to speak to her about something. She was a good listener and it was easy to be comfortable around her. But... the debate she was having in her head was walking the line and she just wasn't sure enough of herself.

[intraspective]

"I don't like movies," she confessed. "I get bored just sitting there, and staring at the screen. I like books better 'cause then I get to imagine it."

Ino glanced back at Penelope curiously. "Anything on your mind?"

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

She laughed lightly at that. "I think they're amazing. I'm in Movie Appreciation and before then, I'd never seen a movie. I think they are incredible."

A slight nod followed. "Yes? I was hoping, maybe I might could hear your opinion on something, if you're willing?"

[intraspective]

"They're well done," Ino conceded, "but still. Sitting there."

She leaned over, snagging her pillow, and hugged it to her chest. "Sure, let's hear it. I'll do my best."

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

Penelope chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, considering how to press forward.

"I've spoken to Hurley about this, so please don't think I've not thought of his feelings, but I want a another girls opinion and... I trust you." A slight pause. "You know that he likes me, and I'm not saying that lightly. And I like him. But... there is the matter of who I am and what will be required of me in the near future. I cannot dismiss my family, nor my obligations to them, and moreover I cannot dismiss the means to an end: my curse."

She hoped she was making sense, and getting to her point.

"I'm afraid to let him get too close to me yet I'm not sure how to go about not allowing this to happen. I like him, but he would never be accepted by my family. I know that must sound terribly snobbish to you. I am from a family who socializes with aristocrats and I will only ever be able to marry into blue blood, and while marriage is something I hope to avoid for sometime yet, it is something I long for if only to rid myself of this curse I was born with." She waved a hand. "I understand how weak I must sound, especially here, considering the acceptance of everyone. But at home, Ino? It is so very much different. I am a freak, a monster, and this is what I will eventually go home to."

Penelope wrung her hands. "I'm not sure what to do with this, with Hurley. I don't want to lead him on only to break his heart and mine in the progress."

[intraspective]

Ino was silent for a long moment, staring over her pillow.

"Is marriage the only way to cure your curse?" The rest, for the moment, she kept her mouth shut on.

[bad-nose-job.livejournal.com]

She nodded. It was all she knew. What her mother drilled into over and over and over again. It was what was believed, so yes, it was the only way to Penelope.

[intraspective]

She tugged at her hair for a moment.

"Does it have to be for true love?"