Room 504, Thursday Evening

[intraspective]

Ino had a fairly busy life, really, so was it any surprise that she hadn't gotten around to checking her e-mail in the last few days?

Either way, after a day of bouncing around, mostly in training and fooling around with a few of her theories (she had to get this stuff down, geez), Ino was sprawled out on her bed, planning doom and destruction on one hand and planning how to stop it on the other, when she finally got around to checking her e-mail.

She brightened at finding one from Hurley. Ino was frowning about two seconds later, mood plummeting as she typed out a response:

To: hugo.reyes@fandomhigh.edu
From: yamanaka.ino@fandomhigh.edu
Re: [No Subject]

You had better respond to this, Hurley. What's wrong? What happened? Can I help? Answer me or you're nothing but a liar.

And then, before she thought better of it, hit send. Was it awful of her to be sulking now? Either way, she was.

And worried. That too. Ino wondered if she ought to start listening to radio again: surely it would have said something about Hoshi being upset about this and then she would have heard the news sooner (or checked her e-mail sooner…) but for the moment, it was mostly a full-out sulk.

Sulk sulk sulk. Augh.

[For the puppy only, please.]

Comments

[puppy_fair]

Really, for as much time as Zack spent in this room, they might as well just consider having him move on in. It had been a busy day full of not much in particular (and only Zack could consider 'not much in particular' to be a busy day and be accurate about it. He'd spent it running laps around the island and now he needed to snag a change of clothes to account for a day's worth of sweat and whatever he'd kicked up along the way), and he was in a fairly decent mood as he poked his head in and offered Ino a smile.

... Which was followed up surprisingly quickly with a furrowing of his eyebrows and a small frown, instead.

"Hey, Ino... You okay?"

[intraspective]

She looked up from her inspection of her knees (and glowering at her laptop) and offered him that was, well, a very weak attempt at her normal sort of smile.

"Someone else ain't comin' back to Fandom."

So, no, she wasn't exactly okay.

[puppy_fair]

Zack sucked in a short breath, at that, and then offered a tiny smile back, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him before making his way over.

"Anybody I know?"

They could play the 'not exactly okay but still being casual about this' game for as long as she wanted. It wasn't going to stop him from sitting down on the bed beside her and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. So there.

[intraspective]

And it wasn't going to stop her from snuggling into him and making a rather good attempt at wriggling her way into his lap.

He was warm and there and safe. Perfect.

"Hurley?" she said, not sure if Zack had ever met him.

[puppy_fair]

Zack pursed his lips a bit at the name, shifting his weight about and scootching back to lean against the wall. It worked nicely for moments like this, where she would fit quite cozily into his lap. Like so.

"I've seen him around, I think," Zack replied, nodding faintly. "Nice guy. Always friendly, yeah?"

He gave her a little squeeze, snuggling right on back.

"Is he okay?"

[intraspective]

"Always friendly. And--I don't know," she said, resting her head against him. "He just said 'in an accident, won't be back'. I e-mailed him back to see if I could get more details but there's been nothing yet."

[puppy_fair]

Zack nodded again, pulling her a little closer. A little tighter against his chest. Hopefully she'd be able to forgive that 'out all day sweating' smell that was lingering in his clothing right now. Hugs were a little more important than clean shirts.

"That's... Not the most reassuring e-mail to send someone," he sighed, shaking his head a bit. "Do you have a phone number or something that you could try?"

[intraspective]

She barely even noticed, really. It wasn't the first time she'd wound up curled up in his arms after he'd been working. He needed a shower but she was happier just... having him there.

He could stay, even if he smelled.

"I just sent the e-mail," Ino admitted. "I... haven't tried calling or anything yet."

[puppy_fair]

"No?" Here seemed like a good time to sigh and press a kiss to the top of her head. "Maybe he'll get back to you, then? And if he doesn't by maybe tomorrow, then you can call. An accident is worrisome, but he was okay enough to send the e-mail in the first place, right?"

That had to count for something. Even if that something was just 'Zack is working on his relentless optimism' all over again.

[intraspective]

"Maybe," she said slowly, peeking up at him. "But... wouldn't you contact people sooner? I got the e-mail late but it's been days..."

[puppy_fair]

"He could be busy," Zack reasoned, smiling back down at her. "There are all sorts of accidents, right? Maybe there are pieces to pick up, and he just hasn't had the chance to get back to his computer very often? And you know that he's got you in mind, because he told you that something happened in the first place."

Zack was kind of where pessimism went to die, sometimes.

[intraspective]

He really was. It was nice, though, when she was willing to be talked out of her worries.

"Is it bad of me to wish that, in that case, he hadn't sent the first e-mail?" She tugged hard at her hair. "I mean, then I'd just be--fussing that he hadn't wrote. Not worried."

[puppy_fair]

Zack shook his head a little, snuggling right on in even more. He'd just make himself right at home, here. This snuggle configuration was a keeper.

"Nah, it's not bad," he decided. "Nobody wants to worry, you know?"

[intraspective]

A keeper forever and ever!

"I'm going to shriek at him," she said, almost comfortably. "When I get a hold of him. For making me worry."

[puppy_fair]

"That's the spirit!"

See, Zack could totally get behind this 'shrieking at people' thing. It seemed more healthy and productive than sitting around and worrying. The next step from there, of course, would be snark, and then denial. And with any luck it wouldn't all boil down to Hurley turning himself into a monster or something crazy like that.

... Yeah, he was going to just give himself over to the soft, goopy urge to cuddle for the rest of his life.

"He'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

[intraspective]

"You can't possibly know that," she said, poking at his arm. "He's nice but I don't know that he's very... strong. It depends on the kind of accident? He might be taking it really badly."

[puppy_fair]

Zack glanced at where his arm had been poked, and then he wrinkled his nose a little, and sighed.

Oh. That did seem like a valid reason to worry, really. Not everybody was able to shrug things off and force a smile nine times out of ten.

"And if you can't get in touch with him, you have no way of knowing for sure," he replied. See, he got it, now.

[intraspective]

"Right," she sighed and snuggled in more. "I just... have to wait."

Funtimes. Only not.