Yamanaka Ino (Iris)

Having a free Monday hadn’t been too bad—since Zack was, in ShinRa’s eyes supposed to be back on Fandom that day, they’d had a chance to spend the time all to themselves without him having to hare off on missions and her having to stay behind.

Tuesday, however, she could not say the same about. When an attempt to get through to Portalocity had netted them the same drivel as yesterday (We are sorry for the inconvenience, but portal service from Midgar is temporarily unavailable due to routine maintenance.) Ino had sighed, more than a bit put out by missing not only work but class, as well, and had fired off a quick text to Reno.

Sry 2 miss class. Portals r down, zoto

Then she’d begun contemplating how to spend the rest of her day, with Zack.

( Unfortunately, ShinRa had decided… )

Truly, she had the best boyfriend in the world.

One who’d taken a long considering glance at the fact that she’d been in a truly hideous mood since Tuesday and added to it what was going on around the island and had decided that, really, they didn’t have to stay on the island…

Which would be why Ino was currently balancing, on one foot, while reading a newsletter about the music scene, on the edge of the fountain in the middle of Sector Eight. Whatever was—in the air—in Fandom wasn’t entirely gone, being here, but it definitely was better.

And when Zack got back from getting them hot chocolates that’d be even better.

But seriously, already she felt less like kicking people where it would really desperately hurt them.

[For the modded with permission one, la!]

Ino had managed to get back to their room with only minimal having to look pathetic and frazzled and adorably dim. Once there, she'd cleaned the blood off her arm and inspected it. Fine, of course, but Potions still weren't her first thing to want to trust when it came to healing.

But no, there was no need to give away anything like that right now.

She glanced at the clock and bit her lip. Reno had said Zack would be okay, but she could be forgiven for--being a worried girlfriend, couldn't she?

And an angry one. That he'd been keeping something like that from her after all their talks about trying to be more honest with each other. Which was unfair of her, perhaps, but really...

Still, as midnight ticked by and still no sign of Zack, even Ino couldn't keep from being tired. Their normal schedule had them up early but that also meant to bed fairly early and she was determined to stay up. She was just going to read until he came back and sleep in.

For all her efforts, though, by half-past one, Ino had passed out on the bed, still in her pink dress, though sans the heels. Sleep wasn't something she'd been able to deny. Not after being angry for hours on end. Worried for hours on end.

Anger tired her out. Worry did moreso.

( And it was about quarter after two that Zack finally made his way into his room, cracking the door open quietly and dragging his way in. )

[NFB, NFI and preplayed with the awesome puppy_fair!]

There had been a party! And it had been an awesome party but parties had to end eventually, really, and so it was way late at night that Ino found herself, with the birthday boy himself, outside of their room.

Keeping a promise and dealing with a sudden attack of nerves.

"Hey," she said softly, while getting the door open. "Have fun tonight?"

He had, she knew it. But it was still somehow important for her to hear it just then.

Before she gave him one more gift. One that he wouldn't expect.

[For the birthday boy.]

Ino was busy.

If you could call having cranked the music up with her door wide open and cross-legged on her bed reading busy.

(Ino was also inconsiderate of her neighbours and their sleeping in habits, yes.)

And reading was busy even if it was simply the same information she was pouring over in an attempt to glean new details from (so far: not working) and giving her something to look at while she struggled to come up with something to say to the e-mail she'd gotten on Tuesday. She needed to answer it, but it made her feel like crying, so she wasn't. Happy thoughts only. At least for the moment.

One thing, she thought with a sigh. All she wanted was one thing that was simple.

... she could go get a hot chocolate. That was about as simple as it got. Hmmm.

[Oooopen door and post.]

If you asked Ino the steps that had been involved in getting her from the lobby to her room and being clean for the first time in days… Ino wouldn't have been able to answer you.

At the moment she was more consumed with toying with the edge the over-sized shirt she normally slept in (it was soft and clean and the room was clean and smelled like flowers and Zack was there and and and) and leaning against Zack.

She knew she should… say something. Or do something. Her hair desperately needed to be brushed out.

But she was just going to take a bit before thinking that far ahead was plausible and, at the moment, just be.

That was okay, wasn't it?

[For that boy.]

It didn’t seem to matter that, when they’d woken up in a tangled grouping of hands and legs and eyes and smiles that touched their eyes until they’d woken up enough that the smiles stopped hitting their eyes, that they hadn’t really spoken at all as they’d gotten dressed.

As they’d headed down into town to pick up something for breakfast—they hadn’t really even glanced at the kitchen in the cabin—they still kept mostly to their silence, though he held her hand as they walked.

Or she held his. Ino wasn’t really sure if that distinction mattered. Either way, neither of them was letting go of the other.

It wasn’t a conscious decision either to head out to the preserve once food in neat brown bags had been obtained.

It wasn’t conscious, but she wasn’t going to complain as they walked deeper and deeper into the trees. Ino liked trees, she liked Zack, and she liked breakfast. The silence was just something that had happened. They’d work it out.

She glanced sidelong and up at him, blue eyes worried. Her smile had faded into something more serious. Last night had been only part of it. He’d needed last night. (He’d scared her last night.)

Ino didn’t know what this would bring, out here, with breakfast and him. Just that it happening was the only thing that made sense to her. A weird and twisted snarl of emotions curled in her mind and Ino thought it couldn’t be anything as bad as how he felt. That wasn’t comforting.

[For the one whose hand she won’t let go of.]

After talking to Hurley, Ino was glad to wander back to the room she shared with Zack—that was still weird to her, that she couldn’t say it was just her room anymore—and collapse on her bed.

Yay. A week gone by and she hadn’t—been weird and issuey at people other than... well, Bod had gotten a bit, but he hadn’t seemed to care and Ino just... wasn’t going to push that. All right, fine, and so on. She was fine.

Repression was probably bad, yes. Ino closed her eyes briefly, then sat up and stared at the open door. She should shut it. But that seemed like far too much work and instead she fumbled for one of her notebooks. A pen.

If she was thinking, she didn’t have to think.

It made sense to her.

[Open door, open post.]

Clearly they'd had to use the fact that there was a dance that evening to wander back to the dorms, right?

In some ways it wasn't as poor an excuse as it sounded, really, considering that both of their outfits were at to the dorms, hanging in her closet (they really would have to do a bit of rearranging, in that case, if he wanted his own closet—two years of her room being just hers meant that, well, her stuff had taken over).

Never mind the fact that it was also an excuse to just hang around each other. Ino peered at the mirror as she applied her minimal makeup for the evening.

"How're you coming along?"

Yes, she could've turned around and seen, but really asking was likely to be more entertaining.

[For that boy!]

It was highly likely that, had she been back in the dorms and able to curl up against Zack, Ino would not have gone through with her hastily tossed together plan for dealing with her fears about Jenova.

( She wasn't sure, yet... )

That was why, when she wound up calling Zack, Ino was laughing. Because Ino was stupidly tired and it was either laugh or cry and hilarity was better than giving up and admitting that she was still scared.

It was half past two Saturday morning.

[NFB due to distance. World hopping done with permission. For that boy she's calling.]