Apartment Above the Boards, Tuesday Morning

[intraspective]

Like Zack, Ino hadn't slept much after they'd sent Kueng home. There was a lot to think about and--in her case--a lot to read, look at, and watch. Tseng, Kueng's Tseng, had come through for her with every little bit of information he could scrape up that might change the future.

She'd wanted to go through it herself, first, before sending off copies to both the Tseng in her timeline (even in her head, she wasn't sure about calling him 'her' Tseng) and to Reno, with an email explaining what this information was and how she'd gotten it.

Then she settled in to review the information again.

Maybe it was morbid to watch herself die, but the fact she went out laughing, made her smile.

[Late post is late, but open, sure~]

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[ponytailedturk]

"Our lives are our work. There's no time for that."

They were going to be standing in the hallway outside the locker room until the end of time, weren't they?

[intraspective]

All she wanted was a bath! Not a shower!

Why was that so hard to understand?

"There's always time for a bath, 'less there's no time before bedtime," Ino said sulkily. "And to sleep. And to cuddle. And to talk. There's lots and lots of time!"

[ponytailedturk]

"There's also no bathtub."

It made bathing tricky.

[intraspective]

Reno would figure out a solution to that.

"Well, that's stupid."

Ino sat down on the floor.

[ponytailedturk]

And Tseng just stood there, staring down at her.

When Reno came by in a new suit some twenty minutes later, he kind of paused in the hallway and stared.

Tseng had given up and sat down beside her. She was still filthy. And Reno was going to just stand there and snicker.

[intraspective]

Her head snapped up, and she beamed in the direction of the snickers.

"Reno! Reno! Reno, why can't I have a bath? I don't want a shower! And I'm still hungry!"

She flailed her way to her feet, and trotted over towards him.

[raspberryturk]

Reno grinned and crouched down to greet her as Ino made her way over to him.

"Can't help but notice she's still filthy, Boss," he noted, holding out a hand for her to take.

"She wants a bath," Tseng replied dryly.

Reno rolled his eyes.

"So give the kid a bath."

Tseng raised an eyebrow.

"Don't mind Tseng," Reno said to Ino, leaning in to whisper as if she'd understand what was coming out of his mouth. "Decent at the job. Ain't got a fuckin' imagination."

[intraspective]

Yeah, she had no idea what he was saying, but she giggled anyway, like she did, as she took his hand again.

"Where were you? You were gone forever! And he doesn't laugh like you do!"

Though he hadn't been mean or anything. Just kind of... well.

Boring.

[raspberryturk]

Yeah, that was Tseng for you, wasn't it? Reno shrugged his shoulders and stood again, giving her hand a little squeeze.

"Here," he said, starting to walk down the hallway with her, leaving Tseng to scramble back to his feet, "first, let's get you that bath, yo."

"How do you propose to do--"

"And then we'll get some food in you, because I'm bettin' you ain't eaten yet, yo."

"Reno, how--"

"What do kids your age eat, anyway? I got, like... ramen or somethin'?"

Tseng was going to murder him.

[intraspective]

Yes, he was.

Not that Ino cared.

She got one word out of Reno's entire spiel, but she was enthusiastic about it as she walked with him.

"I like ramen!" Ino volunteered happily. "And cherry tomatoes and candy!"

[raspberryturk]

"Ramen it is! Okay!"

Tseng had fallen into step beside them by this point, and was just looking at Reno sidelong.

"But first, you clean her up?"

"Right, a bath," Reno mused. "Yo, Tseng, tell the Rookie we're gonna figure out a bath for her, yo."

"Where are you going to find a bath for her here?"

"They got them big sinks on the cleaning floor," Reno replied, shrugging. "You know, by the laundry rooms?"

...

"Reno says he's figured out a place you can have a bath."

And Tseng hated him for it.

[intraspective]

Ino beamed even more. See, she'd known there were baths somewhere around here!

"I knew it! You had to have baths!" She reached out to hold onto Tseng's pant leg too. There. She had both of them in reach.

Life was good.

"You should have said we were waiting for Reno!"

[ponytailedturk]

"Apparently I should have."

That hadn't been the plan, but she didn't need to know that, and Reno didn't need to know what they were talking about right then. Tseng's dignity preferred it that way.

"Perhaps I should prepare your food while you have your bath."

Not that he wanted to just hide from the small child for twenty minutes or so...

[intraspective]

"But your pants are all dirty," Ino said reasonably. "So you should have a bath too."

And whose fault was that, Ino?

[ponytailedturk]

"I won't fit in the tub Reno's found."

Of that, Tseng was almost absolutely certain.

"A bath won't clean my pants. I'll just change my clothes."

They reached an intersection at the end of the hall, and Tseng was a half-step in the direction of the elevator while Reno was a half-step the opposite way, in the direction of the stairwell.

"... You can't be serious, Reno."

[intraspective]

But it would be hilarious to see him try!

Ino paused between the two of them, before letting go of Tseng's pants and peering the way Reno had been heading.

Already she'd figured out that if Reno wanted to go someway, it was likely to be more interesting than Tseng's way.

"Baths are that way?"

[ponytailedturk]

"My way is faster."

Well. It was.

[intraspective]

She frowned.

That was a pretty impressive argument.

For a four year old.

"Reno's pretty fast?"

[ponytailedturk]

"Reno's way is the stairs."

"Wanna let me in on the conversation?"

"No."

[intraspective]

Ino looked between the both of them.

"Your way doesn't have stairs?"

This was pretty confusing all around for her.

[ponytailedturk]

"My way is the elevator," Tseng explained.

Around the same time, Reno's annoyed look at Tseng turned into something with a slightly more dangerous edge, and he crouched over and gestured to his back again.

"Whatever," he muttered. "Rookie an' I are gonna take the stairs. You're welcome to take the elevator or jump out the friggin' window if you want, yo."

"Reno."

[intraspective]

Ino... had no idea what an elevator was.

And, besides, the last time she'd gotten a piggyback ride, it had be crazy fun.

"Are we going to go fast again? she asked, clambering onto Reno's back again. "What's an elevator?"

[raspberryturk]

Reno just gave Ino a little grin over his shoulder.

"Yo, Tseng. Make yourself useful, find the kid some clean clothes and a towel if you ain't gonna find her some food, yo."

And then he was taking off at a run for the stairwell.

Tseng reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose and sighed, then turned to... well. To find the kid some clean clothes and a towel. There had to be something to fit her in the gift shop in the lobby, at the very least.

Why was this his life?

[intraspective]

Because he suffered so wonderfully?

Ino squealed with delight as Reno took off running.

"Are we going up again?" she asked eagerly. "Even if we're taking the stairs?"

[raspberryturk]

Reno had no idea what she was saying, again. But that wasn't going to stop him from grinning over his shoulder at her. Don't worry, Ino. He'd find a way to make this fun for you no matter what. He stepped through the door into the most disappointingly boring stairwell on the planet, looked over the edge of the railing, and then, making sure she was holding on tightly, simply jumped over the edge into freefall.

Apparently they were going down.