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!]

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[intraspective]

Ino resisted the urge to pull a piece of hair out of the braid it was in to toy with. A nervous habit. One she didn’t need. Silly was soft under her fingertips.

“That’s… that’s a lot to stop ignorin’,” she said. Just thinking of not pretending it wasn’t there made her stomach roll.

[puppy_fair]

"It's a lot more to keep ignoring," Zack pointed out, his tone going a little softer. "I can't speak for you, but... I can't keep doing that anymore. It's suffocating."

[intraspective]

When had he gotten so good at talking? So brave at facin’ the shit they didn’t want to talk about?

Ino felt like a coward compared to him.

“I been drowning so long I’m scared to come up for air,” she admitted.

Honesty sucked. Shame was a good motivator though.

[puppy_fair]

They'd both been through a lot. Ino had suffered through it in silence surrounded by people who were willing to talk. Zack had been through it with nobody, talking to a man who wasn't capable of listening.

It made some manner of difference, apparently.

"I miss breathing." Zack swallowed. "I miss you."

He missed himself.

[intraspective]

“I miss you,” Ino admitted. “Not sure I miss me, though.”

And that was the crux of it, wasn’t it? She didn’t want to deal with the mess underneath that she was.

[puppy_fair]

Zack couldn't help but fall silent for a few more moments, mulling that over.

"I want what we used to have," he said, finally. "And I don't know if that's what you want, too. And I... I need to know. If the answer is yes, it'll be hard work to get there again, and if the answer is no..."

He shrugged.

"Better to just say it so we both stop waiting for something we can't have."

[intraspective]

“I want what we had,” she said, standing and not remembering getting to her feet. Ino paced restlessly, feeling trapped. “I want it. I didn’t pay your phone bill for five years ‘cause I were over and done with you. I want you. I want us.”

Ino hugged herself tightly.

“But, like, what if there ain’t no us no more?”

[puppy_fair]

Zack didn't stand. For the first time in a long while, he didn't have it in him to throw his restlessness into pacing, or doing squats.

"We're never going to find out if we don't try," he pointed out. "If there is or if there isn't."

He pulled in a deep breath.

"But I think the longer we avoid it, the lower our chances are of ever going back. There's-- there's a lot. That needs to be worked through. Knee-jerk reactions. Stuff we're afraid of. Things that are going to hurt to unpack."

[intraspective]

She’d be restless enough for the both of them then.

“I want to try,” she said quietly. “I want it to work. But, like, I ain’t even sure where to start stopping what this is right now.”

[puppy_fair]

"I think this is it," Zack said softly. "I think what we're doing right now is the start."

It was more than they'd had, yet. That had to count for something.

[intraspective]

“Then what?” Ino asked, eyes huge. More terrified than she wanted to admit. “We play Twenty Questions to hash it all out?”

Ino would be very, very bad at that game right now.

[puppy_fair]

Zack shrugged faintly.

"Maybe... we take that part slowly," he acknowledged. "Over... coffee... or something."

He paused, and then added, tentatively, "Maybe we just start over. Get to know one another again. I... I don't know. This is about as far as I've thought ahead."

[intraspective]

Ino ducked her head a little.

“What,” she asked gently, “is this where you ask me for just one date?”

[puppy_fair]

Zack hadn't seen that one coming.

He actually barked out a little laugh at it, startled out of him all at once. And then he brought up a hand to swipe at some tears that came to his eyes just as suddenly.

"Maybe," he replied. "Should I?"

[intraspective]

She could help but smile, just a little.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Did… did you want to?”

[puppy_fair]

"Just one date?"

Zack smiled a little in spite of everything, and held up one finger.

"I'd love to."

[intraspective]

Ino blinked, feeling teary-eyed all of a sudden.

“Then yes,” she said, “to one date.”

[puppy_fair]

Zack swallowed. And then nodded a little. And then pulled himself to his feet, finally.

"Can, uh. Can we hug on that?"

He'd needed a hug for a long time. He was only now going to admit to it.

[intraspective]

“A handshake’s the usual way to seal a deal,” Ino said, not taking her eyes off of him. “But I’d prefer a hug right now too, if that’s okay?”

[puppy_fair]

"Of course it's okay," Zack replied, and held open his arms.

He had just asked for it himself, after all. He could be fickle, but not that fickle.

[intraspective]

She was. Sometimes.

But not now.

Ino crossed the space between them and flung her arms around his waist and held on tight for dear life.

[puppy_fair]

And Zack wrapped his arms around her and held her close, in one of those strong, firm hugs that he hadn't given her in years.

"We'll figure it out," he murmured. "It'll be hard. But we will."