Room 504, Friday Afternoon

[intraspective]

After saying goodbye to Hannibal, Ino had wandered back to her room and, upon finding Zack out, had smiled slightly, determinedly, and went about making her own preparations. It was not really necessary to change her clothing into something she'd have worn out on the streets of Midgar—pink, frilly, short (because short she could fight in, and pink and frilly could be worked around and the entire thing made her look ridiculously harmless)—and brush her hair out so that it was a bit fluffier than normal. A tiny bit of make-up to make her eyes look larger and her lips poutier (and her head emptier).

None of that was necessary, no. And yet, in order to get properly into the role it was.

Ino closed her door, but didn't lock it. If Zack came back he'd be concerned by a locked door. Taking a seat at her desk and crossing her legs, Ino took a moment to center herself in order to properly play the role she wanted to here.

(Reno was going to be angry, she thought, then shoved it from her mind.)

Then, she picked up her phone and dialled a number that she wasn't, absolutely wasn't, supposed to have.

Another deep breath and she let an insipid smile cross her face as she waited for the phone to be picked up a world away.

[Primarily for the one on the other end of the line, though open if you want. Door closed.

ETA: That Ino is calling someone is FB, the topics and identity of who she's calling is NFB, please!]

Comments

[puppy_fair]

... And pointing out the superstitious number was an interesting way to make Tseng suspect that you were Wutaian in spite of your blond hair, Ino. Which only managed to pique Tseng's curiosity all the more.

"Dare I ask how a half managed to come into play?"

[intraspective]

"Someone was here and then gone and might come back," Ino clarified cheerfully. "But I can't count them out because the moment that happens they'll show up again, the island is like that."

[puppy_fair]

"This island you're residing on sounds like a fairly fickle place," observed Tseng.

[intraspective]

"It has feelings," she confided, making her sound no doubt even insaner. "And don't ever give it ideas as it listens like a toddler told they can't have cookies."

[puppy_fair]

No, it really wasn't helping Ino sound any more sane. Tseng would have discounted that observation entirely, were it not for some of the more... interesting stories that Zack had passed on to him about the place already.

"I suppose I shouldn't discount any opinion of an island capable of drawing people in from different points in time itself."

He frowned for a moment.

"You didn't call simply to ask for the photos, then."

Obviously not so, by this point, but he wanted to hear it from her mouth, now.

[intraspective]

Ino laughed merrily. That empty-headed bubble-brained laugh of hers. "I did say I didn't want to waste your time, didn't I? I am pretty sure I did which is good because otherwise I'd be being desperately rude. But how else would I know Reno? You'd know if I knew yours?"

And how cute a Reno he was with his hair so short? Awww.

[puppy_fair]

"Especially if he considered you a Rookie, yes," Tseng agreed, his frown going thoughtful for a moment.

Was she from one of these potential futures, then? And if so, was she a Turk?

... And now he was simply hoping that they never became that desperate. She could be the most competent individual in the field, but that laugh got his blood pressure up.

"I do have work to do," he intoned, eyes travelling to a report on possible Wutai spy movement within Midgar's city limits. "If you have a point to make, I suggest you get on with it, then."

[intraspective]

Little did he know that she was using that laugh deliberately just as part of the persona. Her real laugh was far less grating.

"I always have points," she giggled, because he needed some insipid giggling as well too, right? "Even if it's just that people really shouldn't be so afraid to wear colours out. Some of the future isn't sparkly bright enough for ShinRa. Twinkle twinkle little corporation; which doesn't have the right ring to it at all, no? Avalanches can try and block the sky. The future knows--you wanna become clairvoyant?"

[puppy_fair]

Oh, now Ino had Tseng's attention all over again. AVALANCHE was the first thing that leapt to mind, of course. And from there...

"I'd be remiss to turn down any information that I might come to find useful," Tseng pointed out. "Particularly from any source that purports to know first-hand what the consequences of our actions might be."

He'd lost the luxury of simply hanging up the phone and ignoring her not far into the conversation at all. Now he didn't seem terribly upset about that, anymore.

[intraspective]

"It's so sad the lack of trust," she sighed. With a giggle. "It's like looking in a mirror and not seeing yourself, don't you think? I think so, though my hair is just dreadful today."

At least he was still talking to her. That was the important thing.

"I'll be your contact," Ino continued, making sure to keep her voice terrifyingly empty of thought--it was a sham, but it was a useful sham. "Assuming you have no objections?"

[puppy_fair]

"It would seem," Tseng noted, dryly, "that I'm hardly in any position to object."

Whether it was because this girl actually knew something, or because she knew too much, all remained to be seen.

[intraspective]

"That too," she admitted, and laughed. "But that would be like pointing out the sky is blue if you're not in Midgar."

[puppy_fair]

Obvious, then?

"I hope you realize," he said, in a rare moment of simply out and speaking his mind, "that I will be taking very little of what you say at face-value."

Because for all that he assumed that she knew what she was talking about, she was still an unknown to him. And he didn't tend to trust unknowns any farther than he could throw them.

[intraspective]

"If you didn't," Ino said, with a giggle in her voice but not actually laughing this time. "Then you wouldn't be who we called."

[puppy_fair]

Terribly reassuring, that.

"We."

Yes, he had to single out that word.

[intraspective]

"I told you didn't I?" Ino replied, a titter of a laugh escaping. "What sort of bad, bad Rookie would play a this game?"

Well.

Her.

[puppy_fair]

If she kept laughing like that, Tseng was going to start to question her sanity.

"I don't know," he replied, "you tell me."

Yes, that was an insinuation that she was, in fact, a Rookie. If only because Reno had called her one, first.

[intraspective]

"Not me!" Ino told him, wide-eyed at the thought. "I'm a good Rookie!"

With an annoying laugh just for him, yes.

[puppy_fair]

Could she hear him grinding his teeth at that laugh?

"I'm hanging up now," he informed her, "unless you have something else to say."

[intraspective]

"I'll be in touch," she said, smiling. She could, at the least, feel his frustration with her. "And thank you so much for agreeing to look for the pictures."

[puppy_fair]

Tseng did not bother with anything remotely resembling a closing statement, no. But then, he never did. He simply hit the button to terminate the call.

And then he proceeded to look at his PHS thoughtfully for a moment, before scrolling down the menu, and saving Ino's number.

She hadn't given him her mailing address, no, but he could surmise that she lived in the dorms. Knowing how much Zack liked to talk about life on the island, it was probably only a matter of time before he heard more about this girl.

For now, filing away her phone number was the closest that he could get to satisfying his need to have some sort of information about an informant, beyond a few dropped names and the world's most grating laugh.

[intraspective]

Ino's lips twisted as she slumped in her chair and closed her eyes. She was tired. A bit strung out.

Acting that vacant had been hard. Making sure he got enough, but not too much, information even harder. She studied the phone for a moment then moved to set it down.

Step one: initiated.

Reno was likely going to kill her.