fandomhighdorms | third floor hallway - monday morning

Entry tags:

third floor hallway - monday morning - 9/8

He had put this off too long.

He had been positively slovenly in his disregard for this task.

...he was down to his last pair of wearable pants.

As such, Liir was headed for the bathrooms to get his laundry done, wincing faintly at the load he had in his arms. It was unfortunately one of two, and there was actually enough where he was quite sure he'd have to buy a new bar of soap soon. Perhaps he could have used the washing machines, but they were too tik-tokish for him to consider them seriously.

[open!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was, really, barely morning, and she still had a few hours technically before her portal arrived so she could go see Lana, but Ino had figured that that was an excellent time to go and show up early. She'd just study one of her scrolls as she waited.

As soon as she picked it up again, as it slipped from her fingers as she bounced down the stairs between the fourth and third floor and landed with a clatter of wood against the floor.

He almost stepped on it. It was a good thing that he was barefoot at the moment. Instead, his foot curled around it and nudged the scroll between his feet as he struggled to hold the laundry against himself to free up a hand.

"Just one moment--"

Streeeetching.

Ino wasn't sure if she should help or not, but either way she kind of cringed and waited for a crash.

If the scroll wasn't so expensive she might've just left it and grabbed it later, but definitely not as it was.

"Sorry!" she blurted.

"Not a problem," his mouth answered, his brain entirely bent on retrieving the scroll. He thumped against the wall to lean on it before inching down and--

"Ha!"

He turned to put himself flat against the wall, smiled, and held it out to

Oh.

The smile didn't fade, but it did look a bit nervous now.

"Here you go, Ino."

"Thank you," she said, pleased that her voice was even, and taking her scroll back.

He nodded.

"You're welcome," he said, proud that he wasn't reacting as much as he'd thought he would. What did that mean? Or did it mean anything when you were in such a knot. Was it just that you couldn't feel the tug for the whole mass moving?

"It looks important."

"It is," she admitted, fiddling with it. "Medical scroll. They're fairly hard to get a hold of 'less you do it the proper way."

"The proper way? As in... I'm assuming you don't mean a store or anything," he admitted with a faint frown.

"Registration with the hospital, testing, proving that you're a shinobi of Konoha," Ino shrugged. "They keep close tabs on anyone learning medical jutsu."

"To protect their secrets? I suppose it makes sense," he agreed with a nod.

He put the laundry down.

"May I say something? Just... quickly? I won't trouble you too long. I've just been considering it lately, and I thought, whatever else, you should know."

Ino considered that. "I suppose," she said, with a carefully careless shrug. "Shoot."

He breathed in deep before speaking.

"I'm... sorry I treated you so unfairly. I wasn't thinking clearly, which is no excuse, and I had no right to treat you as I did. Whatever else, I did want you to know that I was, and am, sorry about that."

He swallowed and nodded his head.

"I won't bother you anymore, though. I promise."

The last was said in a tone looking to please, peaceful if a little sad.

That last had her crossing her arms and frowning at him.

"And why not?" No, seriously, why not bother her anymore?

He blinked.

"...because you asked me to leave you alone?"

Now he's really confused.

"I don't recall putting a time limit on it," Ino said, frowning more.

"Exactly," he said with a soft nod.

He wasn't trying to be difficult. But a request without a time limit usually got taken as a 'standing order'. And being disowned, at least to him, was rather serious business.

To Ino, see, something without a time-limit, when it came to an argument (not a mission) was... maybe a day. Or two.

No more than a week.

Her frown deepened. "I didn't say forever."

"What you said sounded very much as if it meant forever," he said delicately. "Not that... I couldn't understand why you would."

He's perpetually surprised anyone wants to deal with him at all, usually.

"And not that I wanted it to mean that. That's just... how it seemed."

"I was angry!" she said, exasperated. "Of course I was going to sound like I mean forever then and there!"

Because, right in those moments, that was what she'd meant. Ino didn't say that though.

He nodded but couldn't quite meet her eyes.

"I'll take you at your word. As I said, that isn't what I wanted."

Yeah. That was getting a whole lot of frowny Ino there.

"It," she said crisply, "was a fight. An argument. It was not the end of the world."

He looked sideways, a little lost, as if trying to find the sense.

"Well, no. The world is still here. I have noticed."

He sighed and shook his head, put the laundry down, and sat on it for the moment.

"And?"

His tone wasn't irritated or short-tempered. Instead, it was tired and lost. Let her continue talking, because he didn't know what to say, or what to do.

"It's a saying," she snapped. "It means that just 'cause something went badly--like, say, having a fight with someone--doesn't mean that it's all over."

He looked up at her.

"I never thought that. Why would I?"

Most of his interactions with people prior to this place had all been fighting. Squabbling with Nanny had practically been a show of affection; at least he cared enough to talk to her, unlike Elphaba at times who'd just snap off a command and head on back up.

"Uh, hello, you're the one trying to end this all!"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject