5th Floor Common Room, Friday Early Morning

[intraspective]

It was... too quiet.

Ino was bored.

Neither was a particularly good thing. Especially not when combined. This would be why she wandered down to her common room and cranked the volume of the radio up as high as it could go. Which was... well, ‘pretty loud’ was a severe understatement.

There. Even if it would probably give her a headache (scratch that, already was), it’d be worth it if the noise brought entertainment with it. Even if this entertainment would probably come in the form of people bitching at her.

Ino could work with that.

She flopped down on the couch, and flicked idly though a gardening magazine as she waited to see if anyone would come by and tell her to turn the music way way down.

[Very open of course!]

Comments

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

Amber raised her brows. "Huh. I'm not makin' excuses; I've just never seen or been around him when he's all pissy."

She grumbled. "He... blushes alot around me. That's all. Geeze. That's what I was going to say but you don't need to be repeatin' it, Ino. Okay?"

[intraspective]

"Whatever," Ino shrugged, "if you say so."

"Why would I repeat it? What's the point in that?" she made a face. "And who'd care but you and him if he does? I mean, seriously. What?"

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

Huh.

Amber glared at Ino. Again. And she doesn't usually glare often. "I can see now why he might have thrown cards at you."

[intraspective]

"You're the one accusing me of things," Ino said, raising her chin, "making it sound like I'm going to go 'round telling people shit about you and Cal, and then saying things like 'oh, you must have done something because Cal's always so nice'."

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

"I didn't! I just suggested! There is no me and Cal and god, what were you doin'? Just sittin' up here waitin' for someone to walk in so you could be a total bitch to them? What have I ever done to you?"

[intraspective]

"You didn't accuse me of anything? Then why did you almost immediately ask 'What'd you do?'," Ino quoted that bit, and the next, "'That's what I was going to say but you don't need to be repeatin' it, Ino.' That sounds an awful lot like accusing to me."

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

"Only because Cal has only ever been nice," she said, quite possibly realizing now just how that had sounded. "Well... whatever. I didn't mean to sound like that. I didn't."

[intraspective]

"And, have I ever be anything else besides nice to you before this?" Ino asked, raising her eyebrows. "Because that's not sounding very good either, 'cause I'm pretty sure I've been good."

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

Amber frowned down into her coffee cup. "You have been. You've always been nice. So I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

[intraspective]

Ino shrugged, then grinned. "I'll survive, I'm sure."

Talking to Ino was sometimes like getting a lesson in Moodswings 101.

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

Amber wasn't sure what to make of that grin. Or the moodswing. But she went with it and grinned back.

"What have you been up to lately?" Amber still doesn't listen to the radio very often.

[intraspective]

"Sleeping! 'Cause there was dangerous funtimes last weekend! And nagging at Liir, 'cause he's not talking to enough people."

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

Amber giggled. "Sleepin' is always good and oh my gosh I hope not too dangerous, I mean you're here and all and you said funtimes?" Wow. Amber was trying to think of dangerous being fun. It was hard to do. "I ate lunch with him Wednesday. He did see kind of quiet."

[intraspective]

"There might've been shooting, and explody-fun, but no one got hurt, so it was definitely a lot fun."

Ino had a warped definition of fun.

"And, yeah, he's not even cooking as much as normal--which isn't like him at all. I told Michael 'bout it, and Michael's going to talk to him." With a little nod.

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

"Shooting? Oh my gosh," Amber's worse fear ever.

"What do you think is goin' on with him?"

[intraspective]

"It's okay," Ino said, "none of the bullets hit anyone."

"And I've totally got no idea. He wouldn't tell me and then tried to say he was fine, but then let slip that he's pretty much talking to only, uh, you and well, me. It's been weeks, apparently, since he's talked to Michael. And they're friends."

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

"That's good to hear," she said, sounding a little dazed.

"Oh, goodness. That doesn't say much then does it? I mean, I don't know how often he talks to you, but I don't see him on a regular basis or anythin'. At all."

[intraspective]

"You okay?" Ino asked, noting the dazed-ness.

"And, I know, seriously. I mean, we talk at least twice a week, but still... that's not much compared to the rest of the time, you know? So even though he told me not to worry..." she worried.

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

"Shootin' scares me," she said. "Gladys Leeman would like to blow my head off and has tried actually."

Amber nodded. "I understand your concern. But what can be done about it? You don't think it's his break-up with Andrew that is still affectin' him do you?"

[intraspective]

"Why?" Ino asked curiously. Because, uh, Amber didn't seem like the sort to be mixed up in that kind of thing.

"Michael said he's going to make Liir talk even if he's got to melt the door down to do it," Ino said, "He'll get the truth out of him no matter what. And Andrew... ugh, whatever. Who knows?"

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

"She blames me for her daughters death," Amber answered. "Totally unfounded but there it is anyway. The woman's crazy."

She twisted her lips up. "Whatever it is, I hope he comes out of it, but you know... some people just have to work through their own problems, especially if they don't want to talk to anyone."

[intraspective]

"I suppose..." Ino said dubiously. "But, you know, he's trying to pretend he doesn't even have a problem and that's not on. He can say that much and then say he's dealing with it, but I don't think he is so... nagging."

She was good at nagging.

"Um. Her daughter's death?"

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

"Hopefully Michael can kick some sense in then, so to speak."

Amber wasn't a good nagger. At all. She tended just to be quiet unless it was something that really got to her.

"Blew up sittin' on a swan float. Wasn't my fault. We all tried to tell everybody we smelled the gasoline."

[intraspective]

"Michael," Ino said confidently, "will get the job done. I know it."

...

"So, why is it your fault? What about the other people included in 'us'?"

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

Amber nodded.

"...I was second runner up, you see, in the beauty pegeant. When Becky blew up, I became first. Gladys Leeman is Becky's mom and she had been killin' off people, hurtin' other contestant girls throughout. She blew up my trailer and my ma's hand. She tried to kill me. So... I was easy to blame when BOOM! her daughter blew up. Like I said, she's crazy, but she's also an escaped convict and I'm number one on her list."