Apartment Above the Boards, Monday Night

[intraspective]

It would be a damn dirty lie for Ino to even pretend she wasn't really into what was out of Taylor Swift's new album. She totally was. No shame.

"My castle crumbled overnight," she sang while scrubbing the floor. Cleaning the kitchen wasn't very glamourous but it was pretty important. "I brought a knife to a gun fight."

Ino was pretty sure she'd win in a case like that. She was also reasonably sure Taylor would too, if she cared enough.

Still, misdirection was a useful tool. She leaned back on her heels and stretched, smiling at where Silly watched her from the counter.

"And I know I make the same mistakes every time
Bridges burn, I never learn, at least I did one thing right
I did one thing right
I'm laughing with my lover, making forts under covers
Trust him like a brother, yeah, you know I did one thing right
Starry eyes sparkin' up my darkest night
My baby's fit like a daydream
Walking with his head down
I'm the one he's walking to
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to…

She was possibly going to sing this song until the kitchen sparkled. It was catchy.

[For ze boy, please!]

Comments

[puppy_fair]

Zack needed a few moments to look up again. And when he did, he needed a few moments more before speaking, to be sure he wasn't going to choke on his words.

"It's a good song." A pause. "It's not an easy song."

[intraspective]

Ino hitched one shoulder up, in a bit of a shrug, even as she studied the sponge she was still griping. Poor sponge.

“She’s got a lot of songs like that. They’re catchy and fun and good. But they bite too.”

[puppy_fair]

Zack nodded wordlessly, staring down at that sponge as well for a few seconds more.

"A knife to a gun fight?"

That part stood out. A lot of parts stood out.

[intraspective]

Ino paused, thinking of how best to explain Taylor Swift to Zack.

"The singer--and writer--of the song is known for writing autobiographical snapshots about her life," she said, finally. "It's one of the things that made her famous. It's also something people judge and shame her about. She... had a bad year, last year. Her latest album--this is the fourth single off of it--is her addressing it."

Ino chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment.

"Did you want to hear another?"

[puppy_fair]

Zack chewed the inside of his own cheek, too. And then he nodded.

"Sure," he said, softly. "I'd like to hear more, yeah."

Maybe it would give them some insight, too.

[intraspective]

"Okay," Ino said, not... really sure what to make of any of this really. But... okay.

Singing. Sure, she could do that. It wasn't like she didn't know (and love) the music.

Doing it while mostly on the floor wasn't going to happen though. Ino stopped mangling the poor sponge and tossed it in her bucket, standing.

"Like, what, just a couple or I start from the beginning and give you a better idea of it that way?"

No way was she singing every single song Taylor Swift had done, but she could go in order, sure.

[puppy_fair]

Zack tilted his head a little at that. That was a good question. How many songs were there to go through, anyway?

"Maybe... just pick some of your favorites?"

That seemed like a better idea. Or possibly a worse one, depending on what they were about.

[intraspective]

Yeah, she probably wasn't going to be singing Better Than Revenge.

"My favs?" Ino shrugged. "Alright, if that's what you want, that's fine with me. Can we do this in the living room, though?"

[puppy_fair]

Zack blinked and tilted his head, and then nodded.

"That's more comfortable than the kitchen," he agreed. "Sure, let's take it to the living room."

[intraspective]

"Great," Ino said, going to wash her hands in the sink first. Silly bumbled over to her arm and, after wiping her hands dry on the dish towel, she scooped her ridiculous chicobo up onto her shoulder. "After you?"

[puppy_fair]

Zack nodded, then made his way out to the living room, pausing to look at the couch. Huh. Right. They had one of these. People sat in them and talked and stuff.

He'd slept in it a few times when Ino wasn't home. He was pretty sure this would be their first conversation in it. He sat down on one end, leaving plenty of space if she wanted the other.

[intraspective]

Well, first conversation that wasn't about things like... food. And getting clothing. And stuff like that. They'd done that, hadn't they, back when they'd moved in?

Ino drifted in after him and, after a moment, took the other end of the couch.

She fiddled with her hair, for a moment, thinking.

"This one is pretty old, I liked it before we left..."

But she liked it more now. Wasn't it funny how things like that worked out?

Ino drew in a breath and then began to sing:

"I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us,
How we met and the sparks flew instantly,
and people would say, "They're the lucky ones."
I used to know my place was the spot next to you,
Now I'm searching the room for an empty seat,
'Cause lately I don't even know what page you're on."

[puppy_fair]

Well. That was...

Zack wasn't sure if she'd chosen that song for a reason, but it was one hell of a punch to the guts. He didn't realize he was holding his breath until she was through, and his throat felt tight and his head was spinning maybe a little bit.

"Are they all like that one?"

[intraspective]

"They're not all like that," she said, tilting her head. "She's got another a lot like it." Forever & Always.

And it rains in your bedroom
Everything is wrong
It rains when you're here and it rains when you're gone
'Cause I was there when you said forever and always

But Ino hadn't wanted to sing that. It hurt more.

"She's got a lot of ones that are--deep feeling. She writes as she feels."

[puppy_fair]

"Not many people do," Zack noted. Or maybe that was just his experience. His friends had all been SOLDIER, or Turks, or stubborn students of Fandom High. Not many of them were prone to sharing their feelings. He bit the inside of his cheek for a few seconds, mostly just to pull his head out of a thought spiral he wasn't ready for. And then he ventured, "I'd like to hear another one."

[intraspective]

Ino studied him for a moment, sideways. "You sure?" she asked.

[puppy_fair]

Zack knew that look. And he was pretty sure she knew the look on his face, in turn.

"Yeah," he said, at length. "Yeah, I'm sure."

[intraspective]

Yeah, she did.

Ino didn't sigh. Though she wanted to.

"Alright," she said quietly. "Then..."

It was a pretty different song she picked this time. Less a slap to the face, but still... hard.

"Looking at it now
It all seems so simple
We were lying on your couch
I remember
You took a Polaroid of us
Then discovered (then discovered)
The rest of the world was black and white
But we were in screaming color
And I remember thinking…"

[puppy_fair]

Zack's breath wasn't coming any easier after song number two. Funny, that. He listened in silence, looking somewhere in the general direction of his toes, and then he ventured, "Any particular reason you like these most?"

[intraspective]

That... was not a question Ino really wanted to answer, no.

Still, they were talking and that was... she didn't want it to stop, even though she didn't want it to happen at the same time.

(Feelings were stupid. And complicated.)

"They're catchy," Ino said, though that wasn't all it was. "And they're things people can relate to."

[puppy_fair]

"They are that."

Zack was certainly finding a lot to relate to in these ones. He didn't think for an instant that was the entire reason, though, and that on its own was chewing at his head. He didn't want to ask. He really didn't want to push.

But he had to.

"You relate to them?"

[intraspective]

Wow, my, her nails were fascinating. She was going to have to repaint them later, wasn't she? Maybe a teal...

Maybe a purple. She hadn't done purple for a while.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I do."

[puppy_fair]

Zack nodded a little, ignoring the way it felt like his guts had just been kicked in. It wasn't a surprise. It really, really wasn't.

That didn't make it hurt less. But it wasn't a surprise.

"Are we ever going to talk about it?"

[intraspective]

Ino watched him again. It was tempting to say she didn't know what he was talking about. Or to try and laugh it off and ask why they'd talk about the songs she'd been singing.

But she knew damn well what he was asking.

Her shoulders tensed, pulling in slightly, just a little. Gods, she didn't want to.

"Here's another song," she said, her voice coming out a little too tight. "Okay?"

She didn't give him a chance to interupt her. Just went:

"You and I walk a fragile line
I have known it all this time
But I never thought I'd live to see it break
It's getting dark and it's all too quiet
And I can't trust anything now
And it's coming over you like it's all a big mistake"

[puppy_fair]

Zack's mouth had opened, but she'd started singing before he could get a word in edgewise.

He wished she hadn't. But he closed his mouth again and listened, and now there were tears pricking at his eyes to go with that inability to breathe. He swallowed. He forced himself to inhale.

He closed his eyes and slumped in the shoulders.

"This isn't working," he said, trying not to sound half as small and defeated as he felt. "Is it?"