Room 504, Thursday Evening

[intraspective]

So, once upon a time Ino was pretty sure Romeo had made her promise to tell him about anything crappy happening on the island before someone else did. Which explained the message she left for him.

… Four days late, sure, but she was trying here.

Leaving her door open, Ino was sprawled out on her bed and scribbling into a notebook she'd started working through on Tuesday. Writing down every little thing she could remember about Jenova, what she knew about Jenova from other sources (well, Elena and Reno), and what she could guess about her from—being her for a weekend.

Ino wasn't sure what purpose there was in it, really, except for the fact that—

This way she'd know her new shiny fear as inside and out as she could.

[Open door, open post!]

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[intraspective]

Her fingers curled in her blanket as she blinked rapidly.

"I--don't," she said hesitatingly, "I m-mean, it's over... No monsters here any more. You've got work and I... it's been four days, almost."

Translation: Ino felt like a baby for wanting him to come.

And four days. She was supposed to be over it by now, right?

[raspberryturk]

"Eh. I miss the island anyhow. An' you're probably not the only Rookie it went and fucked with last weekend. Gotta check up on my girls, yo."

Tseng could go suck himself if be protested, too.

[intraspective]

Ino bit her lip.

"I..."

More words would be good here, Ino. Find them.

[raspberryturk]

Yeah. Reno had thought so.

"You gonna be around come the weekend? I can show up, kick your ass in a spar, somethin' like that."

Possibly hug her until she couldn't breathe anymore. See? Totally went and got soft.

[intraspective]

"Can't spar for 'nother week," she said, a bit sulkily. "Nurses will kill me."

Yes, she had potions that would take care of the whole taking-it-easy thing the nurses had her doing with training and crap.

No, she wasn't drinking them. Ino just... wasn't in the mood for them. Slow was good. Sometimes.

"But I'll be 'round come the weekend if you don't mind that." That came out a bit more pathetic sounding than she'd wanted it to. Her eyes widened as she thought of something, though. "H-Have you talked to Elena since Monday?"

[raspberryturk]

"Nah, not yet," Reno replied, blinking.

Now there was a question that had kind of come right out of the blue, wasn't it?

"Why? There somethin' Elena knows that I should be pokin' at her about?"

Or, conversely, something that he didn't want to know about that Elena was looking to share?

[intraspective]

"I don't suppose if I said not to that you'd listen?"

Ino wasn't hopeful.

And, in all honesty, she wasn't sure if it would be better for--him to find out from her, or from Elena about what she'd been for the weekend.

[raspberryturk]

"Um." See? Here was where Reno was going to facepalm and count to three before making words again. "She's a Turk, Ino. Not talkin' to her ever again ain't exactly an option, zoto."

So, that would be a no.

[intraspective]

"Never said not to forever," she said, a bit grumpily. "I ain't that stupid."

[raspberryturk]

"An' how long you figure I should go on avoidin' her?"

Hint: He wouldn't anyhow.

[intraspective]

"I don't know!" she exploded. "And you don't care anyway how long I'd want!"

[raspberryturk]

Inhale. Exhale. Sigh right there into the mouthpiece.

"Rookie."

And that was... it. Just that one word. From the mouth of a Turk to the Rookie who was yelling at him. He didn't doubt for a moment that she'd been through some sort of hell on the weekend. But at the same time...

He pinched the bridge of his nose and found himself wondering if this was how Tseng found himself feeling on a frequent basis.

[intraspective]

No, no Tseng had it worse for sure.

She flinched, pulled up short.

"Sorry," Ino muttered. It was automatic. She was about as sorry as she was a civilian--so, not at all. But she had been out of line. Was she supposed to call him sir? Like hell. "Reno."

[raspberryturk]

Reno probably would have laughed in the face of anybody who ever decided to call him 'sir.' Sir was his boss. He was just Reno.

"Thanks," Reno replied easily. He was about as thankful as she was sorry. It evened out nicely, that way. "So. Why is it you don't want me findin' out?"

[intraspective]

"I don't--not want you knowing," she said, hunching her shoulders as tried to put it into words. "I just... don't know how you'll take it."

[raspberryturk]

"I'm ain't goin' nowhere, Rookie."

He meant that. He wasn't in the habit of taking people under his wing just so he could spook and take off, after all.

[intraspective]

Ino swallowed. Maybe one day she'd believe that. It was nice to hear--more than nice, if she was honest with herself--but there was always that doubt.

Everybody left sometime.

"I..."

Her free hand clenched in her blankets so tight it ached. She was still scared--admitting it made it worse.

"Fandom turned me into Jenova."

Almost toneless, as she braced herself for--for however he'd react. She was trusting him and that was hard too.

[raspberryturk]

She was afraid of how he would react, and he was being very, very careful not to react at all. At least until he could get his head around that statement.

Fandom had turned him into some guy called Axel. It had turned Rikku into a psychotic fairy.

Ino had definitely gotten the short end of the stick, there.

"Free?"

Deal with this one step at a time. First, find out what Jenova had been capable of. Then, find out what state the island was in. Systematically. He was a Turk. He could freak the fuck out when he wasn't on the phone.

[intraspective]

She shook her head then remembered he couldn't see it.

"No, there was this--tube thing. And wires and machines everywhere."

And Jenova had been equal parts angry and contemptuous about that.

[raspberryturk]

Okay. Not free. Fandom wasn't burning to the ground, or else Elena would have called him. Elena wasn't dead because Ino was telling him not to talk to her. He could breathe again.

"Been a while since I saw her ugly mug," he shared. Conversationally. Really.

[intraspective]

Ino didn't laugh. Or--do anything, really, in response to that.

Jenova wasn't something she could make light of yet. If ever.

Being called 'the mom in the tube' by Jen was something completely different than Reno saying something--like that.

"Elena said she's gone."

[raspberryturk]

"She's gone," Reno agreed, his tone taking on an almost sharp note, as though really driving that point in would mean that this fact would never change. "I didn't see what happened to the head, myself," he'd been too busy being fairly certain that he was dead at the time, "but I got it on good authority that we ain't seein' it again."

[intraspective]

"For you," she said, nodding jerkily. "Elena said that too. But--that's only one world."

And there was more than one Jenova and how scary was that with Fandom's multi-universal travelling capabilities taken into account?

[raspberryturk]

Okay. After this conversation, Reno was going to take a few minutes to just lurch forward and puke, before freaking out. That sounded like a plan.

"Fuck."

Still a multi-purpose word, right there.

"There's Zack's timeline too."

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuckity fucking fuckerfuck fuckshit.

[intraspective]

"I--"

Ino closed her eyes.

"Yeah."