Room 504, Monday Evening

[intraspective]

The nice thing about playing with a puppy for most of the day was that, once she’d gotten back to their room, Zack had conked out fast and hard in a pile of limbs and fuzzy ears on the edge of their bed. Which meant that, until he woke up, she had the freedom to think and do what she wanted to.

Which, tonight, was a matter of finishing her e-mails. It was the matter of seconds to actually send them after proofing them one more time, and then Ino just leaned back against the headboard and frowned thoughtfully, absently toying with her hair.

It was weird, now, to not have something to write as a goal. ‘Sending out the e-mails’ had been a good way to have something to focus on that made her feel like she wasn’t going to suffocate under her worries.

Nothing to stop that now.

[Ooopen door, open post, yes!]

Comments

[puppy_fair]

It was the way of puppies, really, to MOVEMOVEMOVE and then to thud out for a nap after a good while of bouncing about like a hummingbird on speed, yes.

It was also the way of puppies, of course, to go from zero to sixty in about ten seconds flat, once their nap was over and they were made acutely aware that their most favorite person in the world was nearby.

So, really, was it any surprise after the past few days that Zack the puppy was rolling over, barking out a happy little hello, and then plodding across the bed to peer over at her. Forlornly. Like a sad, lonely little puppy who only wanted to be hugged and snuggled forever, was that really so much to ask?

[intraspective]

The bark got her attention, yes. She blinked out of her thoughts--her not so very fun thoughts--and offered Zack a smile.

"You don't fool me," she said, leaning over to snuggle him right into her lap unless he squirmed away. "You're spoilt, not lonely."

[puppy_fair]

Oh, yeah, as if he was going to squirm away! There was a lap! Laps afforded puppies the wonderful luxury of immediate facial access! If he just stood on his hind legs with his feet on her knees, and then planted his front paws on each shoulder, then he could let his tail wag a mile a minute and he could lick Ino's face like it had never been licked before!

HI! Hi, Zack looooves you, Ino! And you're his bestest friend ever and nomnomnom, face!

[intraspective]

It was a testament to how much she a) adored him and b) indulged him that this was met with laughter instead of shoving him off even as she scrunched her eyes up to avoid getting doggy slobber in her eyes.

Because ew.

"Spoilt rotten," she decided, and ruffled his fur lovingly.

[puppy_fair]

Oh, he totally was! He was the most spoiledest rottenest puppy in the whole wide world and that was how he knew that Ino looooved him too! Because loved puppies were spoiled puppies, and she had the most lickable face in the universe! Did she know that?

And, when somewhere between a tailwag and a lick, Zack realized that Ino was suddenly a good deal smaller than he'd gotten used to her being over the weekend, he paused for a moment. That wasn't right, was it?

...

That was not going to stop him from laughing, and then giving her cheek another lick for good measure, just because it was there.

What? Why not?

[intraspective]

So she'd been used to fending off Zack the puppy as he licked her face, right? Well, it was rather a different story when Zack the puppy became Zack the very naked man and still licked her face.

Ino could be forgiven for laughing and shoving at him, even though he was a great deal heavier as a person.

"Ew!" Her face was dog slobbered! And he was licking it! Ewwww!

[puppy_fair]

What! Why not? It was his own slobber, after all! And no matter how you looked at it, he was still going to have kibble breath until he could get a chance to brush his teeth.

That chance was not going to arise particularly swiftly just yet, no. Because right now, he was going to tumble back onto the floor and crack right the heck up.

"What? It was a kiss! You don't like kisses?"

He was a big, naked brat. That was what he was.

[intraspective]

Ino tried to pull off 'outraged' but the sight of him, laughing naked on the floor, just meant that she was going to giggle, a startled broken sort of giggle and then full out laugh.

"Not like that!"

[puppy_fair]

"I could give you real kisses," Zack noted, still caught somewhere between giggles, "but everything kind of tastes like dog food right now."

Mmmm, Kibbles 'n Bits!

[intraspective]

"No kisses until you're clean," she said loftily. "And that's my final decree. I don't kiss people with doggy breath."

Unless they happened to be real dogs as she'd done a lot of snuggling Zack the puppy over the weekend.

[puppy_fair]

And in response to that, Zack laughed for another minute more, and then settled back on the floor, just grinning up at Ino with bright eyes.

It was so good to hear her voice again. He'd been worried sick for days, after all.

"I guess that means I'm going to have to grab some pants so I can go gargle, huh?"

Gargle, and probably shower, Zack. Get rid of that wet dog smell that was bound to settle in if you didn't.

[intraspective]

"And shower," Ino said, leaning back and offering him a smile that was nearly as bright as his. For the moment, it was easy to be happy. "Or you're not allowed in bed tonight."

So there!

[puppy_fair]

"What, not even sleeping on your feet? You have really comfy feet, you know."

Well, she did! He'd learned that over the past few days, too! Being a puppy was a very educational sort of experience.

... Okay, okay, he was going to go scrounging about for pants, now.

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

Aaaaand just in case she didn't get a response to the email she'd sent...

This would be the phone ringing.

[intraspective]

The phone was ringing and, stupidly perhaps, it made Ino jump.

She hadn't been expecting it, not really, half-convinced that her e-mails were just a bother as she reached for the phone.

"Hello?" Ino's voice was a bit--tentative. Dubious.

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Hey, silly girl," Lana said warmly. "Haven't you figured out you could never be a bother?"

[intraspective]

She flushed and toyed with her hair.

"I just wanted to make sure," Ino muttered, embarrassed. "I can't tell what people far away are thinkin', you know?"

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Well, now you know," Lana said firmly. "Ino... I'm so sorry you had to go through something like that again."

[intraspective]

She took a deep breath before even trying to formulate a response to that.

"I just... I thought it wouldn't happen again," Ino said, her voice tiny. "And then it did and it was worse and the only thing that made it better was that we weren't there for months and months."

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Lana said quietly. "I think we all thought we were safe from that happening again."

She remembered all too well what it had been like in the past - finally giving up on getting home, making a whole new life, and then losing that too.

[intraspective]

Ino bobbed her head. "It didn't get you, did it? I haven't--heard back from those off the island really."

Probably because they had lives and she'd e-mailed them just a little while ago. Ino knew that.

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

Lana shook her head. "No. I've been safe here all along. Just came back from a wonderful birthday weekend away with Shawn. We were both fine."

[intraspective]

She...

"I forgot," Ino said quietly. "Sorry about that--was your birthday a good one?"

It was something to think about that wasn't disastrous. Ino was okay with that.

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Hey, don't worry about it," Lana said easily. "Sounds like you had plenty of stuff to keep your brain occupied. And yeah, it was good. Really good."

[intraspective]

"What did you do?" Ino asked, seizing on the distraction gratefully.

Not the healthiest coping method around, no, but it was her favourite.