Yamanaka Ino (Iris)

Iris settled back on her heels, taking a few snapshots of their Hojo and Smoochy masterpiece for her own safe keeping (though she'd get a copy of the video from Reno too, later, since she needed that in all sorts of ways). She felt tired, but… happy.

In an ugly, wrung out sort of way.

She'd done her work in setting the charges they were using to burn the mansion to the ground and Reno was off adding, he'd said, a few special touches. Since, of the two of them, he was the explosives expert, Iris let him be.

Tseng (any Tseng) hadn't replied to their selfie yet. It had been a bit.

From most of them, she could wait.

From the one here, though, she needed to contact him. Iris didn't know Sephiroth or Cloud's minds well enough to feel them at great distances.

But she knew Zack's mind—any Zack—enough to know exactly where he was and he was close. They were running out of time.

She huffed out a breath, set her elbows on her knees, looking up at their handiwork, and then hit the speed dial for the boss.

[NOTE: Second verse, same as the first. Talk of torture, actual murder, torture, and blowing up a building in it.]

They had left more than a week ago for home and they still weren't there yet.

In fact, they weren't anywhere near home given that they were currently being chased by a giant gummy bear that was half the size of a skyscraper. And Gaia had some monsters--even some jelly-like monsters--but nothing like this.

The fact that the rest of the world also seemed to be made of various types of gummies was honestly making getting away more complicated than it would be usually.

"Next time you suggest a detour, I'm going to tell you to shove it where the sun don't shine!" she snapped at Reno. "What's our portal ETA?"

( More under the cut, yo! )

[NFB, yo. Cowritten with raspberryturk and to be continued in the comments on the most SPiest basis possible.]

Rosa had voted for the sunny shores of Costa del Sol, but she'd been out-voted three-to-one.

They'd wound up at the Gold Saucer instead. It was tacky, it was beautiful. There wasn't an inch of that wasn't infused and inundated with blaring noises and lights that dazzled the senses. It was rotten to the core and unabashed about it. Come play a game, the Gold Saucer beckoned, try and win against me.

Ino loved it.

She loved the sparkling lights, the crowds, the sheer noise of it. She loved the quiet glittering world that spread out beneath her when she rode the gondola, she loved the chocobo races, she loved all the different ways she could cause trouble and not get in trouble.

(Though her uniform likely helped with that.)

As soon as they'd ditched their things in their hotel room, Ino had grabbed Reno, since Rosa had been too slow at not being left with Rude to avoid such a fate (secretly, that was exactly what Rosa had wanted), and headed out.

They hit the games room about twenty minutes after they'd arrived. Two Turks, in jet black suits, Reno's looking sloppy, hers' adorned with a flimsy pink ribbon instead of a tie. His hair was pulled back into that ridiculous ponytail of his, while her hair was loose and shimmering down around her in a pale blonde waterfall. Neither of them was visible armed, which meant nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

She tended to bounce a little when she walked, he sauntered, or slouched, as the step and his mood took him.

Ino's grin was unrepentant as she took in the rising wariness of the employees of the Gold Saucer and picked out her first target.

"Oh my gods," Ino said, leaning around Reno, and pointing with one hand. Her nails were the same pink as her ribbon. "Reno, you still owe me from the last job. Get me one of those chocobo plushies or I cut you."

[OOC: Unlike the puppy, as of this post, Ino is reachable by phone/email/text! Post is for the one she's threatening to cut and anyone who feels like calling. I'm so happy to have her back! \o/]

Something in her relaxed and tightened all at once when the portal closed behind her, leaving her staring at the empty Causeway. Go back to your island.

Well, she had. Here she was.

It didn't really feel solid or real or firm. Like walking through a fog. Those were her feet and they were moving but Ino didn't remember making a conscious decision about where to go. She should go to the dorms. Was she going there?

It didn't really matter, did it? Not right now. There was something wrong with that train of thought but she couldn't be bothered to figure out what it was. There was walking, that was close enough to properly functioning for her, right now.

Maybe she was heading towards her garden? That would make sense, almost. Things felt muffled, strangled, thoughts only half-formed before they skittered back, dissipating under the weight of the ennui that had fallen over her.

The preserve was another option. She had a hideaway there. That seemed… almost… like a good idea. Ino didn't really feel like company. She didn't feel like a whole lot, honestly. Blanked out, washed out, numb.

When her feet stopped moving, she blinked at her surroundings. Oh.

Well that wasn't much of a surprise either, though it twisted weirdly in her chest.

Ino didn't so much sit as collapse like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Slumping down against the wall outside the door, sandaled feet out in front of her, as she just closed her eyes.

Knocking just seemed like too much effort right now.

[For he whose apartment she's sitting outside of.

Warning: There is discussion of character death happening in this post.]

Zack had the crazy idea to let the baby chicobo go and Ino and sulked and pouted and kissed the wee bird and informed him that he couldn't sleepover anymore ever if he managed to get rid of it.

She was pretty sure he hadn't even heard her since he'd already been out the door and rambling at Mister Chocho. So Ino was going to spend the afternoon talking to the plants in the room and making sure they were all watered just exactly as her Daddy had taught her.

Being Ino, she wasn't doing that bad of a job considering her age. She did know her plants.

And they were getting a very grave recitation about why boys were stupid and boys who wanted to get rid of something as adorable as the chicobo were even stupider.

(… Sorry, Zack.)

[puppy_fair's leaving modded with permission. Open door and post!]

So, once upon a time Ino was pretty sure Romeo had made her promise to tell him about anything crappy happening on the island before someone else did. Which explained the message she left for him.

… Four days late, sure, but she was trying here.

Leaving her door open, Ino was sprawled out on her bed and scribbling into a notebook she'd started working through on Tuesday. Writing down every little thing she could remember about Jenova, what she knew about Jenova from other sources (well, Elena and Reno), and what she could guess about her from—being her for a weekend.

Ino wasn't sure what purpose there was in it, really, except for the fact that—

This way she'd know her new shiny fear as inside and out as she could.

[Open door, open post!]

Ino would be lying if she claimed that she hadn't told Reno the wrong time to expect her.

So she had absolutely no plans to actually let anyone know about that tiny insignificant fact. Especially not Reno. Fully armed and wearing leggings and a turtleneck rather than anything like she fought in at home, but that she'd found more comfy for dealing with Midgar's weather, and so had figured the same would apply roughly to Edge's weather, Ino's gaze when she stepped through the portal was scrutinizing. (You try staying warm in the middle of winter in what basically amounts to a short skirt with slits clean up the sides, a tank top, and a bunch of bandages wrapped around your torso and see how long it takes you to find something warmer to wear.)

She had a bit of time to kill. A few hours before Reno would even think to wonder where she was.

Plenty of time to explore Edge on her own. Reno would… probably not approve. He didn't need to know. Making sure she knew which direction his apartment was in, Ino darted off on silent feet.

Edge was, she determined a few hours later, making her careful way to his place, a lot worse off than Reno had told her. Despite the fact that some of the areas she'd snooped through had made her, well, violently ill (Ino had not been prepared for the number of starving people, of homeless people, of hopeless dying people she'd seen living on the streets in conditions she'd only vaguely grasped before), Ino was tentatively calling her snooping a good idea.

Also, mints were amazing things. Shut up. She was a ninja and a Rookie. He absolutely didn't need to know she'd gotten sick over some of what she'd seen. Ino had no intentions of telling him anything at all about that. Need to know basis said he totally didn't need to know. She found the building he lived in and headed up the stairs exuding an air that said she totally belonged here no really.

So, it was a pale (but for the colour quickly pinched into her cheeks) and rather wide-eyed Rookie that rapped smartly on his door at exactly the time she'd told him she'd be there.

[For the Turk expecting her, zoto! NFB due to distance!]

Paperwork was not Ino's very bestest friend ever, no.

Especially when she probably didn't know enough about the subject to fill in all the blanks. This was not stopping her from going through the pile and filling in anything she did know, mind, but it did mean she was gathering a list of questions that Ino was pretty sure the village only wanted so they could totally be insanely nosey.

Did it really matter if he had siblings, after all?

Ino was pretty sure he didn't, anyway, but that wasn't the point.

Once you'd ascertained that, oh hey, no they were not a threat to Konoha and yes were willing to swear on this, Ino was of the opinion that the rest of it was garbage.

This did not stop her from doing it, of course, but it did mean she was muttering to herself about utter idiots who needed a book written for a visitor as she steadily worked her way down the questions. Music was on, the door was half open and Ino was working on her bed.

[Open door, open post!

ETA: The phone call with Reno is chronologically last, plz. The content of the call is NFB!]

Ino had not been out begging for candy with many of her peers. It was not that she didn't want candy, naturally, because she most certainly did, it was simply that something far more nefarious and interesting had needed the preparation time and Ino had willingly devoted herself to that.

After all, she could always buy her candy half off and no one would know the difference, right?

( Because it got long, and a costume was graphically tortured to death and described herein, yes )

Leaving her macabre present for Tyle—Mr. Durden to find.

[Warning: Smoochy's end result is described in detail. He was tortured to death. If that bothers you, please don't read this/keep it in mind! House and tree modded with permission of those whose property it is. The identity of the culprit is NFB, that there was a culprit is FB, and this is open for reaction from the one whose birthday it is only, please. Unless, naturally, he calls you over/you've his mun's permission.]

Ino had her stuff packed and was cross-legged on the floor giving the seedlings she'd sent Reno a little while ago a good looking over while waiting for her portal.

She was still… iffy about that whole Fandom Thing, but while being around was fun, she was pretty sure that putting it off would only make it worse.

Zen. She was zen. Okay. As much as Ino ever was.

Which… wasn't very. But alrighty then. Lying to herself was totally healthy!

"So," she said, "you wouldn't whine if I wanted to come kill monsters some more sometime?"

[NFB due to distance and for the red-haired Turk!]