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]

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.

[intraspective]

"They're cold and probably way less pleasant now that you don't got fur," Ino said, almost mildly as she admired the view.

... Shut up. She was allowed.

[puppy_fair]

Honestly, now. It wasn't like it was anything she hadn't seen before. And Zack was still a little too busy grinning to let himself get too flustered, anyhow.

"Well, it helps that they're your feet," he pointed out.

[intraspective]

...

"...you did not just say that they're comfy 'cause they're mine."

Which she was pretty sure he had and that was something that flustered her because it was very--sweet, really.

But feet. Feet were not comfy.

[puppy_fair]

Feet were totally comfy! If you happened to be the sort of guy who could tromp around in army boots all day, and clank around in armor, and flop backward onto a sword without thinking anything of it!

By comparison, when it came to Zack's usual antics, feet were totally the most comfy things ever.

"Sure they are!"

[intraspective]

"That's weird!" she protested, waving her hands at him. "Shower! You!"

[puppy_fair]

"Shower! Me!" Zack took a moment to give Ino a cheeky little grin, and then he pulled himself into a pair of more-or-less clean uniform pants and grabbed for a towel and some shampoo. "Fine, fine. But only because I don't want to smell like dog for the rest of the night, either."

He was laughing a little again as he made his way through the door and down the hall. A shower was much-needed, really.

[intraspective]

Ino left the room long enough to thoroughly wash her face and hands--puppy slobber wasn't fun for her either--and then came back and curled up on their bed.

She resisted the urge to reread her e-mails and the time to think found her, rather than fidgeting or writing, just staring at nothing in particular.

[puppy_fair]

And by the time Zack came back to the room, shampoo in hand, towel flung over one shoulder, and hair dripping and clinging to the sides of his face and sticking out in crazy directions, he'd had a chance to mellow out some, himself.

The smile was still there, but then, the smile was a fixture. Something like worry had crept back into his eyes, though, and he was looking at her with that worry in place as if he was wondering if he should be opening his mouth and speaking his mind now, or what.

...

"You know... It was really good to hear you talk again."

That would be Zack, speaking his mind, somewhat, by hedging in sideways a little.

[intraspective]

She toyed with her bangs while considering that, and him, with eyes that took in that smile and dismissed it from the equation.

"I could tell," she said, finally.

Puppy him had been pretty obvious about that and she wasn't stupid. Perhaps deliberately missing the point, but... if he was going to smile then, well, her own methods were going to rear their ugly heads.

[puppy_fair]

Zack had to swallow a lump in his throat now, before he could talk again. He'd brought it up, and now there was no turning back. He'd have to barrel blindly forward and hope for the best.

The smile wavered a little.

"I was worried," he added.

[intraspective]

She studied her hair--it was such a useful hide-a-way and struggled to find something to say to that.

'I knew that too' probably wouldn't go over that well.

"Do you want me to say I'm sorry?" She was. For upsetting him.

Not for being silent.

[puppy_fair]

"No," Zack replied, shaking his head and chewing the inside of his cheek. "I want you to be okay."

Not just acting okay. He wanted her to be okay. And he figured that she knew him well enough by now to be able to tell the difference.

And he knew that she knew that he knew her well enough to be able to tell the difference, too. So there.

[intraspective]

So there so there so what?

My her hair was getting a lot of use as a cover.

"Am trying," she muttered, finally. "And you--I want the same."

[puppy_fair]

"I... don't know where to start," Zack confessed. He was starting to wonder if perhaps growing his hair out and slicking it backward had been a wise hairstyle choice. His floppy bangs had been so much easier to hide behind, too. "If it isn't one thing, it's another, lately."

[intraspective]

"And I didn't help," she said, in a teeny voice.

[puppy_fair]

Zack didn't even try to hide the surprised look that crossed his features at that. He'd been worried, yes, but that didn't mean she hadn't helped at all.

"What makes you think that?"

[intraspective]

She kinda curled in on herself.

"You were upset and I didn't--"

Ino shrugged helplessly.

"I didn't do nothing."

... Can we try that again with a logical explanation, Ino?

[puppy_fair]

"Ino... you were there."

Which was more than he could say for... Well... for ghosts now, mostly. It meant the world to him that she hadn't just run away. Running away seemed to be like the best option to default to, didn't it?

[intraspective]

She blinked and struggled to absorb that thought, that idea.

"Ain't... Ain't... even if everythin' is fallin' apart," Ino mumbled, "there ain't no place else I wanna be."

[puppy_fair]

"Then that," Zack informed her, taking a seat beside her, dripping towel and all, and reaching to pull her into his arms, "is a whole lot more than 'nothing.'"

[intraspective]

She wriggled her way not just into his arms, but into his lap as well.

"Doesn't feel like enough," Ino replied, melting into his hold.

[puppy_fair]

She was more than welcome to sit in his lap. He'd keep her there, though. Once his arms were around her, she was never getting away again. Ever. Ever.

"You shouldn't expect yourself to be able to fix everything overnight, Ino."