The Gym, Sunday Early Morning

[intraspective]

Ino was at the gym bright and early. In theory she was waiting for Liir, but really Ino had no idea how they were supposed to train with Andrew-bunny nearly surgically attached to her big brother.

It was cute, yes. But it did rather put a crimp in any physical training for the day.

Ah well. Maybe they'd work on his meditation instead? Ino shook her head and fell to practicing her taijutsu, hand-to-hand, combat while she waited for him.

[Ino is here for Liir, but totally open for any of your gymish or Inoish needs.]

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[intraspective]

"Practice makes perfect," she said, bobbing her head, "and you really are doing fine, honest."

Ino tugged at her hair thoughtfully. "The stances? And how to put them together? Um, well, Dad says I got into his kunai when I was really little--could've cut myself to ribbons--and when he took them away from me that I'd screamed so much about wanting to be a ninja 'like Daddy' that he caved and gave me my first taijutsu lesson right then. Though," she admitted with a laugh, "it wasn't much of a 'lesson', not at that age. Too little to want to pay attention for long."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Something brittled entered his smile before he nodded again. He said nothing, though. It wasn't Ino's fault that she'd had a father, that she'd wanted to be like him, that he'd doted on her. She was wonderful family for him, more than he'd ever really thought he'd have, goldfish lies or no.

She wasn't a father, though.

He suddenly, desperately, wanted the diamonds back. Even for a second. Even for just long enough to look down at his hands. It would hurt less to tell himself he wasn't Fiyero's than to hear it in Sarima's voice from dusty, rusted memories.

"Good," he said. "I'll keep up with my practice then."

[intraspective]

"Practice is always good," she said, frowning a little at him. "You alright?"

Ino was, slowly, getting better at reading him.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"As all right as I ever am," he told her truthfully. But she deserved more than that.

"I'm being childish. If there was anything to be done for it, I'd mention."

[intraspective]

"Hmmm," Ino said, slipping out of her stance to just sneak over and hug him. Which wasn't really very sneaky but oh well. "Hopefully you're getting better?"

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He relaxed into the hug and hugged her back. He did feel better.

"If you want to hear what it was, you can. But you've already made it better. So you know."

[intraspective]

"Tell me anyway?" Ino asked, glancing up at him.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He leaned down and kissed her hair.

"I always wanted a father. That's all. Desperately."

Part of the discontent was with his reaction. He loved Ino dearly. He should be happy for her. He should be glad that she hadn't been denied as he had. But that touch of jealousy was still there and he couldn't help it.

[intraspective]

Her arms tightened a little around him. "You know," she said tentatively, after a few moments of thinking about what to say, and sounding entirely like she wasn't sure how he'd react to what she was thinking, "on the trip to Oz, right? Well, um, it looked rather like to me that you do have one. Of a sort. Professor Ambrose."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

It doesn't mean I know where I come from. Where my black hair comes from. Where my gawky legs come from. Where my stutter is from, or my green eyes.

But it would have been enough. If.

"He's already taken me as family. It would be ridiculous for me to expect him to take me on as more."

He smiled faintly.

"But thank you, Ino."

[intraspective]

She shook her head, not wanting to call her brother stupid when he so clearly was being so.

"Then he's already your father, if you're family. It's not ridiculous at all 'cause it's already happened. You just haven't caught up."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He shook his head.

"I won't assume so much. It would be an insult to what he's already pledged. I'll only try to do him proud as I am. He's a great man, a kind man."

He smiled.

"Sometimes, it's hard to think of him as another Ozian."

[intraspective]

There was eye-rolling carefully hidden under the pretense of burying her head against his chest for a moment.

"I'm sure you'll make him proud, no doubt about that." Her eyebrows raised slightly at the last bit though. "Most Ozian's aren't kind and great?" 'Cause that's what he sounded like he was saying...

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He shook his head.

"I lived on the streets of the Emerald City for months before coming here. I knew the soldiers who took the Arjiki royal family, who brought them to their deaths. I got to speak to one of them afterwards.

"No," he said, "in my time, most Ozians are cowards or bastards, selfish, fearful creatures. Cowering, as I am, and without much charity for any sake but as a balm on their own conscience. I thought the Witch was bitching as she did when her bones ached when she spoke of the people of the Emerald City, those in charge.

"I don't think she was. Oz is a much poorer place."

[intraspective]

Ino only really had one thing to say to that. "I don't think you're a cowering sort." And she really didn't.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He rolled his eyes faintly, kissed her hair, and nodded.

"Perhaps," he said. "You do know better than I do."

That was with a teasing smile.

[intraspective]

She huffed. "I do," Ino declared, "so you'd better listen to me."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He laughed, but not at her.

"Always, Ino."

He gave her a squeeze.

"Stances?"

[intraspective]

"Sure, stances," Ino said, letting him go and shaking her head, "back to work, and all that fun."

She grinned at him.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"It is fun," he pointed out with a waggling finger. "I like knowing things I didn't know before."

He rolled his shoulders.

"And it feels good."

[intraspective]

"And it's definitely useful." Ino grinned, slipping back into the stance she'd held before. "So yeah, totally a good thing to learn."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

What she said reminded him of something as he dropped into the same stance.

"Ino? What do you know about Kabuto?"

[intraspective]

That earned him a sideways glance. "What about Kabuto? We were dating for a while and now it's sorta... all over the place..."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He looked at her for a moment before nodding thoughtfully.

[intraspective]

She stomped her foot and narrowed her eyes. "That's not useful!" Ino protested.