Room 504, Saturday Afternoon

[intraspective]

Being back in Fandom was a peculiar… sort of disconnect.

Ino was curled up on hers and Zack’s pushed together beds and pretending to read. Which was rather futile because she knew it was pretence and so it would have been more productive to actually do something…

But she didn’t really feel like it. There were a lot of things she had to think on, but those thoughts felt almost like she was clinging to broken glass in her hands, and that hurt.

Like a toothache, however, she couldn’t quite stop poking at them. Even when doing so only hurt things more.

And, turn the page. Keeping up appearances, even just to herself, was important.

She was supposed to be reading. Would claim to be reading.

But her gaze wasn't on the book.

[Open door and post!]

Comments

[withoutverona]

Eventually, her phone rang. Romeo was still worried by what Reno had hinted at -- and waiting a few days had quashed his kneejerk impulse to lecture her on sparring with deadly weapons. (As if she'd listen anyhow.)

Ring, ring...

[intraspective]

Her phone was ringing! That meant... that meant she could stop pretending to read and actually do something that wasn't brooding, right?

As Silly came bumbling over to see what the noise was, Ino picked her phone up.

"Hello?"

[withoutverona]

"It's Romeo," Romeo answered, trying to figure out where to start from.

'Reno thought I should check up on you' seemed like a bad place.

"Just ... wanted to call. It's been a while, and I wanted to let you know I hadn't dropped off the face of the Earth."

[intraspective]

She smiled slightly, rearranging herself on the bed, so that she was comfy, and tried to remember the last time she'd talked to him.

"I appreciate it," she said, wriggling her fingers for her chicobo. "I've told you before, yeah, that I suck at keeping in touch...? Sorry. I should've called."

[withoutverona]

"Phones work both ways, the last I heard," Romeo answered. "The important thing is, we're talking now. I was on the island last weekend, but I didn't spend much time just visiting..."

[puppy_fair]

Just like any other day, Zack had been up early and out early, doing his morning laps around the island, warming up with his sword.

This week, he'd been staying out longer than usual. Thinking. Running. Losing himself away in some combination of the two. Morning jogs had begun to take half the day, and it wasn't until he'd almost exhausted himself that he'd head back to the dorms at all.

It took him a little longer than it used to, to be able to put Angeal's sword away, lately.

"Hey," he greeted, when he finally made his way back into the room. There was nothing in the world that was possibly wrong, judging by his tone of voice or the way that he carried himself. That was how he'd like it to stay. "How's your day been so far?"

[intraspective]

"If you looked for me, I wasn't around," she admitted. "I didn't get back 'till right before the picnic for the new kids."

[intraspective]

"Okay," she said, with a bit of a shrug. "Ain't been doin' much."

Which was truth, even if it sat uncomfortably with her. She'd been... staring. And watching Silly be ridiculous.

And reading, right.

[puppy_fair]

"No...?" Zack's lips pursed slightly at that, as he took in the sight of her, her book, the tiny little chocobo. "Does he have a name yet?"

... She. Whichever.

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

Ino's phone was quite popular that day, as Hurley gave her a call after he was all settled back in LA.

Ring ring, Ino.

[withoutverona]

"What did you do instead?" Romeo asked. "I should admit -- Reno mentioned you'd not had the easiest time of it, lately."

[intraspective]

Ino bit her lip.

"It's not the best name," she said because, well, it wasn't. "But--Silly."

Because Silly was silly.

[intraspective]

It was popular, but that wasn't going to bother her--quite the opposite, really, as it gave her something to do.

"Hello?"

[puppy_fair]

Ino, you were talking to the guy who named his gerbil Mr. Winkles.

"That's a great name," Zack decided, grinning brightly at the little ball of yellow puff on the bed. "Silly!"

And if Zack approved, it had to be awesome, right?

"It suits, don'cha think?"

[intraspective]

Ino cringed and was glad that Romeo couldn't see her reaction.

"Reno's right," she said, a bit clipped in saying his name. "Zack and I were--exploring Gaia."

There. Pure truth. No one, not even herself, could say she was lying.

(Not telling the whole story, on the other hand...)

[intraspective]

"It's the only thing I thought of that worked," she admitted, as Silly flailed at... a piece of lint on the bed spread.

Well done, Silly.

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"Uhhh, hey," Hurley said, not sure how else you greet someone after, like, 3 months.

"It's Hurley. Ummm, surprise?"

Hopefully she wouldn't freak out before he had a chance to explain.

[puppy_fair]

Lint was dangerous. Silly was clearly a well-trained watchbird.

"Well, then it's the perfect name," chuckled Zack, making his way over to flop on the edge of the other bed, so as to not disturb the little bird. "How are you doing for greens, by the way? I can put another order in pretty soon, if you want?"

[intraspective]

Blinking was a good start.

As that was... not a voice she'd really expected to hear. Ino had sort of... relegated that to the land of 'people who left' and tried not to deal with that fact because it sucked and so blinking was... definitely going to happen first.

"Hurley?" Disbelief, it turned out, was a good way to distract her from--issues. "You're kidding."

But maybe he wasn't?

[intraspective]

"Might be a good idea in the next few days?" she said, leaning towards him a bit. "Even if Silly can't eat what I've got left, it'll start going bad."

[likes-chicken.livejournal.com]

"It's not like a knock-knock joke or anything," Hurley said, sounding just a little hurt. "Just... letting people I'm not dead, in case they'd gotten that news report or something."

[puppy_fair]

Zack nodded a little.

"I wonder if he'd," she'd? "be okay eating some of the different veggies that they have here on Earth, too? I mean... Gysahl greens and carrots are almost the same thing, right? Or maybe radishes or something."

Earth vegetables were weird.

"We'd probably be able to get way fresher greens if we just figured out what a chocobo might like to eat, instead of the stuff from home. Instead of the wilted junk that would come in the mail."

Yes, Zack. Because they totally just stuck vegetables into envelopes to send off when somebody ordered them.

[withoutverona]

"I've only been there once," Romeo reported. "It -- wasn't for me. But I was told what we saw wasn't all of it, or the best of it."

[intraspective]

"I--"

She sighed.

"It's good to... hear from you," she said, a bit lamely.

Ino was... hardly at the top of her game today, no.

[intraspective]

Ino wrinkled her nose at the idea of veggies in an envelope. Ewww.

"Maybe?" she said, looking down at Silly as Silly made her (his?) way across the bed.

To poke at Zack's leg with a chirp. It was either a hello or a war cry. Hard to tell the difference with Silly.

"It'd be simpler, though, but I don't want to make Silly sick if there's not everything she needs, you know?"